25 Greatest Gene Kelly Movies Ranked Worst To Best

Gene Kelly's third feature and his first non-musical, "Pilot #5" is an interesting film, despite failing to use his dancing skills. It takes place in 1942 in Indonesia with an Allied base being bombed by a Japanese aircraft. With another attack expected, five American pilots volunteer to take the one remaining fighter to destroy the Japanese craft and avoid another attack. When George (Franchot Tone) is chosen, the remaining pilots spend time reflecting on George and what he means to them.

The film takes us on a journey, starting years earlier when George is working his way through law school. We soon meet his friend Vito (Gene Kelly), who invites him to join his law firm, and drama ensues. Peter Lawford and Ava Gardner appear in supporting roles. This WWII flick from 1943 was not received well at the time, but it is an intriguing addition to Kelly's film career.

Gene Kelly plays an American pilot in 1952's "The Devil Makes Three," which is set in 1947. It's another WWII drama, but the difference with this one is that we have an underlying love story. Air Corps Captain Jeff Elliot (Kelly) returns to Germany after WWII to thank the family that hid him to save his life during the war. When he shows up, he locates the (now) adult daughter of the family (Pier Angeli), who he begins to date. The problem is she is entangled with a Neo-Nazi group.

A wartime movie with a lot of heart and complications, this non-musical is a must-see for Kelly fans. The addition of Angeli is also a treat, especially given the short career she had — the Italian died of an apparent accidental overdose at the age of 39. This gripping movie has an authentic feel to it, having been shot entirely on location in Austria and Germany.

At first glance, "Christmas Holiday" appears full of odd casting choices. For a singer and a dancer to be placed in a film noir seems like a weird choice, but that's exactly what we have here. Operatic singer Deanna Durbin plays Jackie, whose husband Robert (Gene Kelly) gets arrested for the murder of a bookie. She sparks the interest of Charles (Dean Harens), who was recently dumped by his girlfriend. He falls in love with her, and they attend midnight mass together. She begins to tell him the story of her life and how her husband was arrested only six months into their marriage. The story is told mainly through flashbacks.

Durbin does get to tap into her singing talent with a few songs, but Kelly has no dance numbers — which makes sense since he is playing a villain. The role is all serious, and he does this well, coming across as quite the disturbing character at times. This film (which was based on a novel by W. Somerset Maugham) allows Kelly to flex his acting muscles and it's a rewarding watch for fans of the actor.

"Thousands Cheer" was released in 1943, one of the earlier entries in Gene Kelly's career. He plays a trapeze artist named Eddie, who enters the army and becomes acquainted with a colonel's daughter, played by Kathryn Grayson. Their romance grows, but the colonel disapproves. There is an army variety show which gives the film the opportunity to feature multiple MGM stars of the day.

The show within the film gives the studio the chance to showcase additional performers in specialty comedic sketches, songs, and dances. The ones who appeared include Judy Garland, Eleanor Powell, Red Skelton, Ann Sothern, Lucille Ball, Lena Horne, and Virginia O'Brien. Kelly only has one dance number — to the tune "Let Me Call You Sweetheart," where he dances with a mop all over the room. Although he received no choreography credit, it is obvious that his signature style is all over this number.

In another film noir role, Gene Kelly plays Johnny in "Black Hand," a man set on avenging the murder of his father. He returns to New York from Italy to find this man and make him pay. He gets distracted from his mission by a childhood friend named Isabella (Teresa Celli), and also meets a police detective named Louis (J. Carrol Naish). Both of them try to convince him that this isn't the way to go about setting things right.

Kelly was right in the middle of making some of his greatest musicals when he made "Black Hand" in 1950, a big detour for the dancer. This gritty film is worth watching to check out Kelly in a dark role that massively contrasts with these musicals. We also get to learn about the crime organization that the film is named after. The Black Hand was a real extortion ring that operated in the early 1900s.

Gene Kelly is surrounded by beauties in the 1957 film "Les Girls," which revolves around three former roommates who end up in a lawsuit. When Sybil (Kay Kendall) writes a memoir about her time dancing with the Les Girls Company, she reveals some secrets that Joy (Mitzi Gaynor) and Angèle (Taina Elg) would rather were kept under wraps. Namely, that Angèle had an affair with the proprietor Barry (Kelly) and attempted suicide when he left her. This leads to a lawsuit in which Barry must come to court and tell his side of the story.

While the subject matter of this film sounds a bit heavy, it's a musical with some fun numbers — Kelly dancing with Gaynor is the highlight. It is also a noteworthy movie because it was Kelly's last musical that he starred in under his contract with MGM. "Les Girls" is also the last movie that Cole Porter was involved in, and it features some of his great songs like "You're Just Too Too!" and "Why Am I So Gone (About That Gal)?"

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Even though Gene Kelly initially turned down his role as E.K. Hornbeck in "Inherit the Wind," it is a good thing that he reconsidered because this is a poignant movie. It is a fictionalized account of the "Monkey Trial" that happened in 1925 between two lawyers (Spencer Tracy and Fredric March), who debated evolutionism vs creationism. While the film and actual trial have similarities, they are different in that the characters are more like caricatures of themselves because their traits are exaggerated.

Kelly based his decision to participate in this film on director Stanley Kramer telling him that Tracy and March were going to be his co-stars. The truth was that Kelly was confirmed first, and although Kramer used Tracy and March as a selling point, they hadn't even been offered the parts yet. Kelly plays a newspaper reporter covering the trial. This film is an interesting look at a debate that still rages on in the world today.

The film "It's Always Fair Weather" was a bit of a box office disappointment because it came out in 1955 when the big song-and-dance Hollywood musicals were on the way out of favor. It was also the last collaboration between Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly, who had worked well together for many years. The film features three army buddies, who go their separate ways after the war. Before they do so, they agree to meet at the same bar in ten years. When they all show up, they realize how much has changed in that time and struggle to make a connection.

The film was originally to be a sequel to "On the Town" and a reunion for Kelly, Frank Sinatra, and Jules Munshin. The story was later changed because Sinatra was not available, and Dan Dailey and Michael Kidd were added to the cast. This movie is also the final collaboration between Kelly and Cyd Charisse. The highlights are Kelly dancing on roller skates and Charisse dancing to "Baby, You Knock Me Out."

The final pairing of Gene Kelly and Judy Garland came in 1950's "Summer Stock," and was also her last film for MGM before she parted ways with the studio. Originally intended to be a reunion of her films with Mickey Rooney, "Summer Stock" is the story of Jane (Garland), who is the owner of a struggling farm. When her deadbeat sister (Gloria DeHaven) and her theatrical friends show up to put on a show in her barn, she is at first extremely annoyed before she figures out she can put them to work in exchange for letting them do their show. Despite being engaged to a local (Eddie Bracken), she instead falls for her sister's boyfriend Joe (Kelly).

The reason that Rooney didn't reunite with her here is that he was no longer a box office draw like Kelly was by this point. Kelly probably would not have accepted the part except for his loyalty to Garland, who had been his champion during his film debut. When asked about it later, he said, "We loved her, and we understood what she was going through, and I had every reason to be grateful for all the help she had given me." After the failure of "Annie Get Your Gun" she was shaky and Kelly helped to steady her.

As Gene Kelly and Judy Garland's second film, sandwiched between "For Me and My Gal" and "Summer Stock," "The Pirate" is often overlooked. It centers around Manuela (Garland) and a circus leader named Serafin (Kelly). When Serafin encounters Manuela in Port Sebastian, he has an epiphany and is suddenly no longer a womanizer. When he learns she is engaged, he hypnotizes her during his show to uncover more about her true desires. He discovers that she has an admiration for the famous pirate Macoco and that her real fiancé Don Pedro (Walter Slezak) is the pirate in disguise. He pretends to be the pirate, but things backfire when the real Macoco turns him in to hang for his crimes.

Although Garland had difficulties filming, missing 99 out of the 135 shooting days, the chemistry between her and Kelly shines through. In addition to the love story, we have the beautiful and colorful sets that director Vincente Minnelli is known for, and a new invention by Kelly to improve shooting. He helped design a device that allowed the Technicolor cameras — which were quite bulky at the time — shoot from low angles to get the effect he wanted during his dance sequences, especially the pirate ballet.

"Take Me Out to the Ball Game" is the second pairing of Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra. Originally, the female lead was to be Judy Garland instead of Esther Williams, who plays K.C. Higgins. The film revolves around Higgins as she takes over the ownership of a baseball team, which Eddie (Kelly), Denny (Sinatra), and Nat (Jules Munshin) all play on. They are not happy with the ownership changing hands, but soon Denny and Eddie both fall in love with her. Things are complicated when a gambler (Edward Arnold) sets out to sabotage their path to win the pennant.

The idea was conceived by Kelly, who originally wanted to play shortstop for the Pittsburgh Pirates growing up. "I'd planned on throwing nothing but strikes," he once said, but he hurt his arm and had to shift his dreams to something else — dance! Making a baseball movie must have been a fun way for him to pay tribute to his past dreams and to baseball as a whole. This film is an enjoyable watch, and even includes an obligatory swimming scene from Williams.

Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra's third and final pairing is also their best. "On the Town" follows three sailors (Kelly, Sinatra, and Jules Munshin) on a one-day leave. When Gabe (Kelly) sees a picture of a beautiful girl (Vera-Ellen) on the subway, he decides he needs to find her. He drags along his reluctant buddies and soon they all find girls to swoon over, but they just have one night together before they must be back on the ship.

The opening sequence — which took five days to film — was a big deal because it was filmed on location in New York. The shoot was fraught with problems because of the rainy weather and Sinatra's popularity. To avoid crowds, the cast used taxis in place of limousines. Kelly, who shared directing responsibilities with Stanley Donen, held this film in high regard. "We made better pictures than that, but that was the apex of our talent," he once said. "I think [it was] maybe my biggest contribution to the film musical."

Don Lockwood is the part that Gene Kelly was born to play. "Singin' in the Rain" is an iconic film that follows Don as he and his co-workers attempt to navigate the transition from silent films to talkies. The problem is his leading lady Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen) has an awful, screechy voice, which does not translate well to sound. While Lina fancies Don, he falls in love with Kathy (Debbie Reynolds), who agrees to record Lina's dialogue and singing for her. Ever the perfectionist, Kelly worked hard to make sure everything was just right. He even danced the title song with a fever and completed 40 takes of the final piece of "Good Morning" with Reynolds, whose feet were bleeding by the end of the day.

Despite the hardships the cast experienced, they produced a movie with stellar dancing, an intriguing love story, and great music. According to Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian, "The songs themselves often float surreally free of the story, or subtextually provide the joins. In 'Good Morning' (celebrating their all-night conversation in which the genre of movie musical has been invented), Kathy, Cosmo and Don prophetically pick up rain macs, anticipating the legendary number to come." It is Kelly's masterpiece and often considered the greatest musical ever made.