Gire recalls Gene Kelly interview on 'Singin'' co-star Debbie Reynolds

<b>Gene Kelly on 'Singin''</b>

"Singin' in the Rain," one of the greatest movie musicals ever made, returns to the silver screen at 2 and 7 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 15, and Wednesday, Jan. 18, at the Stratford Square Theaters in Bloomingdale and at the Addison Cinema.

Tickets cost $4.50 for the matinee, $7 for evening. Go to fathomevents.com.

I met legendary dancer/choreographer/filmmaker Gene Kelly in New York City for the 1985 release of the movie "That's Dancing." Of course we had to talk about "Singin' in the Rain." I asked Kelly about co-star Debbie Reynolds' complaint that he rehearsed her so hard that her feet starting bleeding.

"She lies terrible, but she's a fun girl," Kelly said. "She tells those things in front of people and for some reason, they always get a laugh. But it's a straight-out lie.

"Another story goes that she worked so hard she fainted and had to call her doctor. Her doctor was way out in the valley. By the time he could have gotten to her, she'd have been dead."

Kelly insisted that despite calling his former co-star out for truth-bending, they were "great friends."

Kelly, then 72, said Reynolds, only 18 when she made "Singin' in the Rain," resented the long hours in endless rehearsals.

"She didn't really understand at the age of 18 why this was more important than learning to play the tuba," he said. "She'd get tired, and she wasn't a dancer. Dancers know you have to do that."

Although Kelly achieved his fame as a dancer, he regarded performing to be his least favorite showbiz job.

"I never tried very hard at it," he told me. "Writing a scene. Directing a show. Those were more fun. Once a dance is made up and I have to perform it, that's the least interesting part.

"Dancing is either learning or teaching. If you're a dancer, you're learning. If you're a choreographer, you're teaching."

Kelly did lament the relative injustice between the performing arts.

"It takes 20 years to play the violin well," he said. "It takes 20 years to learn to dance well. It takes you five or 10 minutes to - if you have a good voice - to get a little group together and sing a song. And you can become an overnight hit and earn millions of dollars."

Kelly died in 1996; Reynolds died late last month.

<b>Screen Test seeks best</b>

The deadline for entries in Schaumburg's 11th annual Screen Test Student Fest will be Feb. 13. (But if you blow it, don't panic. A "late deadline" comes up on Feb. 24.)

Films must be 10 minutes or less. Only three submissions per student. Cash prizes will be awarded, with $500 going to the Best in Show winning entry.

For rules, fees and details, contact Screen Test director Rob Pileckis at rpileckis@villageofschaumburg.com or (847) 895-3600.

<i> Daily Herald film critic Dann Gire's column runs Friday in Time out!</i>