Stanley Donen brought wit, style, heartache and joy to the movies
by Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times
Feb 25, 2019
4 minutes
What does pure joy look like on screen? Stanley Donen gave us no shortage of possible answers. Fred Astaire suavely defying the laws of gravity in "Royal Wedding" is one. The marvelously inventive barn-dancing number in "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" is another. By now it feels almost unnecessary to mention Gene Kelly in "Singin' in the Rain," splashing up a storm in a sequence of such iconic power it could justify the invention of motion pictures all by its glorious lonesome.
There are less obvious possibilities too. There's Kelly dangling his sailor buddy from the top of the Empire State Building in "On the Town," and also Kelly
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