1940–1943: Early MGM films During the spring of 1940, Harburg brought
Arthur Freed into Minnelli's studio on East 54th Street. There, Freed suggested he should work for
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Minnelli was hesitant at first because of his unfruitful tenure at Paramount. After a discussion, Minnelli agreed to be paid $300 a week. On April 2, 1940, Minnelli began working for MGM. In 1941, he did minor consulting work, which included critiquing
Norman Z. McLeod's
Lady Be Good (1941) and advising
Pandro Berman to change the beginning of
Rio Rita (1942). Some time later, he was brought onto
Panama Hattie (1942), filmed by McLeod, which had received lackluster responses during test screenings. In reaction, Freed hired
Roy Del Ruth to film reshoots and Minnelli to direct the musical numbers featuring
Lena Horne. Meanwhile, Minnelli visited the set for
Strike Up the Band (1940), starring
Mickey Rooney and
Judy Garland. Freed mentioned they needed a musical number for a scene where Rooney's character aspires to be like
Paul Whiteman, a bandleader. Minnelli suggested using a bowl of fruits, having spotted one on set. Freed liked the idea and hired Henry Fox to create a tabletop, while
George Pal provided the
stop motion animation of the musicians made of fruit. During filming, Minnelli met Garland, who had just turned 18 years old, for the first time. Minnelli subsequently worked on
Busby Berkeley's
Babes on Broadway (1941), which also starred Rooney and Garland, for the "Ghost Theater" sequence. Minnelli suggested they imitate veteran Broadway stars, but Berkeley rejected the idea. In 1942, Freed offered Minnelli the direction of
Cabin in the Sky (1943). Minnelli accepted, writing he "interpreted the assignment, with more freedom than I'd dreamed possible, as just reward for past contributions." Based on the 1940 musical by
Vernon Duke and
John La Touche,
Cabin in the Sky tells the story of Petunia (
Ethel Waters), a devout woman, who prays for the soul of her gambler-husband "Little" Joe Jackson (
Eddie "Rochester" Anderson). Filming began in August 1942, with only Waters and
Rex Ingram reprising their Broadway roles. Lena Horne was cast as Georgia Brown, a seductive woman who tempts Jackson. During production, Minnelli shot a musical number, "Ain't It the Truth," featuring Horne in a bubble bath.
Joseph Breen of the
Motion Picture Production Code objected to the scene, which was then excised from the film. Modestly budgeted at under $700,000,
Cabin in the Sky earned $1.6 million at the box office. , Eleanor Powell, and
Thurston Hall in
I Dood It (1943) Three weeks after he finished filming
Cabin in the Sky, Minnelli was assigned to direct
I Dood It (1943), starring
Red Skelton and
Eleanor Powell. Del Ruth was the film's original director but he had been drafted into the
United States Army, leaving the film unfinished, and MGM dissatisfied with his cut. The film's producer
Jack Cummings hoped Minnelli would inject his style into the film. Onboard as director, Minnelli hired
Sig Herzig and
Fred Saidy to rewrite the script. In the film, a loose remake of
Spite Marriage (1929), Skelton plays Joseph Renolds, a tailor's assistant, who becomes enamored with Constance Shaw (Powell), a Broadway star, and attends every performance of her Civil War melodrama. Shaw impulsively marries Renolds to spite her lover (
Richard Ainley). Herzig and Saidy updated the plot by having Skelton's character reveal
John Hodiak's character to be a spy for the
Axis powers. Between projects, Minnelli directed Lena Horne in her "
Honeysuckle Rose" segment in
Thousands Cheer (1943).
1944–1949: Films with Judy Garland For
Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), Freed again hired Minnelli to direct. Framed around the four seasons, the film tells of the Smith family and their conflicts, with the conclusion focused on the family's celebration of the
1904 St. Louis World's Fair. Judy Garland was cast as Esther Smith, though she felt her role would be overshadowed by
Margaret O'Brien, who was portraying Tootie. Principal photography began on December 7, 1943 though continued filming was frequently delayed by Garland's tardiness and claims of illness. Determined to have Garland's physical beauty showcased, Minnelli requested make-up artist Dorothy Ponedel be assigned to Garland. Ponedel refined Garland's appearance, which included extending and reshaping her eyebrows, changing her hairline, modifying her lip line and removing her nose discs and dental caps. Filming wrapped on April 7, 1944. During filming, Garland and Minnelli had some creative differences, though Garland grew closer to him after she saw in the
dailies how good he made her look. (At the time, Garland was estranged from her husband
David Rose, and had just ended an affair with producer
Joseph L. Mankiewicz.) Premiering in November 1944, the film received universal critical acclaim and exceeded box office expectations, earning $7.6 million worldwide during its initial run. Meanwhile, the 1945 musical
Ziegfeld Follies was in production with
George Sidney as the film's initial director. The film featured several musical numbers from the
Ziegfeld Follies musical revues, starring many of MGM's contracted talents. Midway through filming, Sidney asked to leave the production and Minnelli was hired to finish filming. Garland's segment was shot in July 1944, with principal photography concluding in August. Minnelli directed a total of ten segments, with the remaining four directed by Sidney,
Lemuel Ayers, Roy Del Ruth, and
Robert Lewis.
The Clock (1945) was Garland's first straight dramatic film after starring in several musical films.
Fred Zinnemann was initially hired to direct the film. By August 1944, he was removed at Garland's request after they could not get along. When Freed asked who she wanted to replace him, Garland requested Minnelli to direct. Minnelli accepted the assignment on two conditions: Zinnemann would not object to his hiring and he would have the unconditional trust with Garland. Zinnemann's footage was discarded aside from the exterior shots of New York.
Pennsylvania Station was recreated on the MGM backlot while local New York areas were filmed and used as
rear projection. On January 9, 1945, before Garland was to film
The Harvey Girls (1946), Minnelli and Garland were engaged to be married. They were married on June 15, in Garland's mother's house in
Wilshire, Los Angeles. Minnelli's next film was
Yolanda and the Thief (1945) starring
Fred Astaire and
Lucille Bremer. Adapted from the 1943 magazine short story by
Ludwig Bemelmans and
Jacques Théry, the film tells of two con men (Astaire and
Frank Morgan) who are hiding from extradition in
South America. Both men learn about Yolanda, a young heiress living a sheltered life in a convent and decide to con her. One night, Yolanda prays for a "guardian angel" which Astaire's character impersonates. Filming began on January 15, 1945 and wrapped four months later. Upon its release, the film received mixed reviews with criticism of its script and was a commercial disappointment. By this point, Garland had become pregnant with her first daughter,
Liza. A musicalized biopic of
Jerome Kern titled
Till the Clouds Roll By (1946) was scheduled to begin production in October 1945. Garland had been cast as
Marilyn Miller and Minnelli had been assigned to direct Garland's scenes. Her scenes took two weeks to complete and were finished in November. Minnelli was hired to direct
Undercurrent (1946) by
Pandro S. Berman, which starred
Katharine Hepburn,
Robert Taylor, and
Robert Mitchum. Based on a story by
Thelma Strabel, the film centers on a college professor's daughter from a small town who moves to the city to live with her new husband, an industrialist. She soon learns about her missing brother-in-law, whom her husband is suspected of murdering, and investigates his disappearance. During filming, Hepburn was initially displeased with Minnelli as her director, though they became cordial as production continued. Released in November 1946,
Undercurrent received mixed reviews but was a box office success. The idea to adapt S. N. Behrman's play
The Pirate originated with Minnelli, with Garland suggesting it be adapted into a musical during their honeymoon. The story tells of Manuela, a Caribbean woman, who daydreams of the pirate Macoco, better known as Mack the Black. She is unknowingly engaged to him, masquerading as Don Pedro, the portly and elderly village mayor. Serafin, a traveling actor, roleplays as the pirate to win Manuela's affection. Freed initially resisted the idea but reluctantly agreed to produce it after reading a treatment. To replicate the success of
For Me and My Gal (1942),
Gene Kelly was cast to reunite his pairing with Garland. On December 27, 1946, a recording session with Garland had to be cancelled due to her illness. Due to Garland's frequent absences, filming did not begin until February 1947. Out of 135 days for rehearsals, filming and reshoots, Garland was absent for 99. After a preview in October, Minnelli agreed to shorten the film's run time. Between October 21 and December 19, reshoots were taken with the musical number "Voodoo" replaced with a livelier reshoot of "Mack the Black". When filming wrapped, the production had gone over budget, costing $3.7 million. The film earned over $2.9 million at the box office, and lost the studio nearly $2.2 million. Despite the financial failure of
The Pirate, Minnelli was slated to direct
Easter Parade (1948) with Garland and Gene Kelly cast in the lead roles (though Kelly was later replaced by Fred Astaire after a rehearsal injury). Rehearsals began on September 5, 1947, but five days later, Minnelli was called into Freed's office and removed from the film. Freed had ordered Minnelli's removal based on the advice of Garland's psychiatrist.
Charles Walters was hired to replace him. For almost a year, Minnelli was without a film project while Garland filmed
Easter Parade and
In the Good Old Summertime (1949). Pandro Berman then asked Minnelli to direct a film adaptation of
Gustave Flaubert's novel
Madame Bovary. Minnelli accepted, because it was one of his favorite novels.
Lana Turner was initially offered the lead role but Minnelli rejected the idea because Turner was perceived as a
sex symbol. The Production Code also warned that Turner's onscreen image, along with the novel's portrayal of marriage infidelity, would violate its guidelines.
Jennifer Jones was under contract to her husband
David O. Selznick, but MGM executive
Benjamin Thau successfully negotiated a stipulation deal to borrow her.
James Mason had wanted to play the role of Flaubert, while
Louis Jourdan and
Alf Kjellin (billed as Christopher Kent) were lent onto the film courtesy of Selznick.
Madame Bovary was shot from mid-December 1948 to February 1949. During production, Minnelli notably filmed an elaborate waltz sequence, utilizing 360-degree
pan camera movements accompanied to
Miklós Rózsa's pre-recorded instrumental score. Biographer
Stephen Harvey called it "one of the more audacious epiphanies in any Minnelli movie." Released in August 1949, critics deemed
Madame Bovary as an unusually distinguished film, adapting its source material with considerable drama and atmosphere. At the box office, the film earned $2 million. That same year, Minnelli directed the climax sequence in
Robert Z. Leonard's
The Bribe (1949).
1950–1958: Peak years Father of the Bride Minnelli's subsequent collaboration with Pandro S. Berman was
Father of the Bride (1950) based on the bestselling
1949 novel by
Edward Streeter.
Jack Benny pursued the lead role and was given a screen test, but Minnelli wanted
Spencer Tracy and cast him.
Elizabeth Taylor and
Joan Bennett were cast as the bride and her mother, respectively. Filming began on January 16, 1950 and wrapped a month and a day later. Released in May 1950, the film earned $4.15 million in distributor rentals at the box office. Critical reception was positive, with
Bosley Crowther of
The New York Times calling the film "equally wonderful" when compared to the book, with "all the warmth and poignancy and understanding that makes the Streeter treatise much beloved." The film was nominated for three Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Screenplay.
An American in Paris An American in Paris (1951) began when Arthur Freed told
Ira Gershwin he wanted to adapt his late brother
George's orchestral piece
An American in Paris into a ballet sequence for a film. In 1949, MGM acquired the rights to George's catalogue from his estate for $158,750 (equivalent to $2.2 million in 2026). The story was inspired by a
Life magazine article of American
G.I.s studying art in Paris on sponsorship from the
G.I. Bill, which Freed had remembered. In the film, Jerry Mulligan (Kelly) is an artist studying in Paris. He meets Milo Roberts (
Nina Foch), an heiress and arts patron who expresses a romantic and professional interest in Jerry. Meanwhile, Jerry romances Lise Bouvier (
Leslie Caron), a young teen engaged to Henri Baurel (
Georges Guétary), a friend of Jerry's. Filming began on August 1, 1950 at the MGM studios, though production was halted on September 15 to prepare for the ballet sequence. Minnelli left to direct another film, ''
Father's Little Dividend (1951), the sequel to Father of the Bride''. Filming began on October 9 and was finished 23 days later. After this, Minnelli returned to film the ballet sequence, starting on December 6 and wrapping on January 8, 1951. Released in 1951,
An American in Paris proved popular with audiences, earning over $8 million in the United States. Kelly and Caron were praised by film critics, though the film's dramatic continuity was criticized. At the
1952 Academy Awards, the film was nominated for eight Oscars and won six, including Best Picture. Kelly was given an
Academy Honorary Award. Minnelli was nominated for Best Director, though he lost to
George Stevens for
A Place in the Sun (1951). On January 18, 1951, Minnelli was announced to direct a musical film adaptation of
Mark Twain's
Huckleberry Finn.
Dean Stockwell was cast in the title role.
William Warfield was cast as Jim, along with Gene Kelly and
Danny Kaye as the Duke and Dauphin respectively. Rehearsals began in August; simultaneously, Minnelli filmed the fashion show finale for
Mervyn LeRoy's
Lovely to Look At (1952).
Adrian Greenburg (also known as "Adrian") and
Tony Duquette had designed costumes for the sequence costing over $100,000 (equivalent to $1.2 million in 2026). Minnelli declined to be credited for the film. On September 21, production on
Huckleberry Finn was postponed indefinitely after Kelly and Kaye had withdrew.
The Bad and the Beautiful Due to its similarities with
An American in Paris (1951), Minnelli turned down an offer to direct
Lili (1953). During a lunch meeting at the Romanoff's, MGM producer
John Houseman showed Minnelli a screenplay draft titled
Memorial to a Bad Man based on a short story by
George Bradshaw. It was later retitled
The Bad and the Beautiful (1952). Minnelli agreed to direct, with
Kirk Douglas as his sole choice to portray ruthless film producer Jonathan Shields. However, MGM production head
Dore Schary had offered the role to
Clark Gable but he declined. Douglas read the script and accepted the role. Lana Turner was hired to portray Georgina Lorrison, the "beautiful"; when both casting choices were announced, the trades insinuated: "when these two get together..." The story focuses on Jonathan Shields (Douglas) and how he rises in Hollywood by manipulating three individuals: actress Georgina (Turner), whom he deceives by professing his love, director Fred Amiel (
Barry Sullivan), whose picture he expropriates, and screenwriter James Bartlow (
Dick Powell), who loses his wife to a scandalous affair. Upon its release, critics praised the film's seedy depiction of Hollywood and the performances from the cast, most particularly Douglas, Turner and
Gloria Grahame. The scene of Georgina's emotional breakdown inside a moving vehicle was singled out for praise. At the
1953 Academy Awards,
The Bad and the Beautiful was nominated for six Oscars, winning five including Grahame for
Best Supporting Actress. At the behest of
Sidney Franklin, Minnelli directed two segments, "Mademoiselle" and "Why Should I Cry", of the 1953 anthology film
The Story of Three Loves. Minnelli agreed to direct "Mademoiselle", adapted from the short story "Lucy and the Stranger" by
Arnold Lippschitz. Reuniting with Leslie Caron, the segment featured
Ricky Nelson,
Zsa Zsa Gabor,
Farley Granger, and
Ethel Barrymore. Filming lasted for three weeks until it wrapped in February 1952. "Why Should I Cry" was dropped and reworked into
Torch Song (1953), starring
Joan Crawford.
The Band Wagon ,
Cyd Charisse,
Jack Buchanan,
Fred Astaire, and
Nanette Fabray Because of the success of
An American in Paris (1951) and ''
Singin' in the Rain'' (1952), Freed decided to adapt the songs of
Arthur Schwartz and
Howard Dietz for MGM's next musical film,
The Band Wagon (1953). To write a suitable storyline, Minnelli turned to the screenwriting team of
Betty Comden and
Adolph Green to devise the script. The film tells of Tony Hunter, an aging musical star who hopes a Broadway show will restart his career. He meets with two writer friends and a Broadway producer who stage a musical, starring Hunter and a ballerina. Fred Astaire was cast as Troy Hunter, while the writers Lester and Lilly Marton (portrayed by
Oscar Levant and
Nanette Fabray) were loosely based by Comden and Green.
Cyd Charisse was cast as the ballerina Gabrielle Gerard. Filming began on October 20, 1952 and was finished on January 28, 1953. Premiering in July 1953,
The Band Wagon received enthusiastic critical reception and earned $5.6 million at the box office.
Archer Winsten, writing for the
New York Post, called the film "the best musical of the month, year, the decade, or, for all I know, of all time." The film received three Academy Award nominations for
Best Story and Screenplay,
Best Costume Design (Color), and
Best Scoring of a Musical Picture. Minnelli reteamed with Pandro S. Berman and the screenwriting team of
Albert Hackett and
Frances Goodrich for
The Long, Long Trailer (1954), which starred
Lucille Ball and
Desi Arnaz. Adapted from the 1951 novel by Clinton Twiss, a married couple, Nicky and Tacy Collins, purchases a new
travel trailer home and spend a year traveling across the United States. Shot during the summer hiatus for
I Love Lucy, filming began on June 18, 1953 and wrapped the next month. On February 18, 1954, the film premiered at the Radio City Music Hall and earned $4.5 million in distributor rentals.
Brigadoon In March 1951, MGM acquired the screen rights to
Alan Jay Lerner and
Frederick Loewe's Broadway musical
Brigadoon. Gene Kelly and
Kathryn Grayson were set to star, though Kelly's precommitments delayed production for two years. During the interim, Grayson departed and
Moira Shearer was considered as a replacement, but Freed decided to cast Cyd Charisse.
Brigadoon was Minnelli's first film recorded in stereophonic sound and shot in the widescreen
CinemaScope format, which Minnelli had disliked as he was concerned the format would crop the actors' feet. Minnelli, Kelly and Freed initially planned to film on location in
Scotland while interior scenes would be shot at the
MGM-British Studios in
Borehamwood. In the spring of 1953, Kelly and Freed scouted potential filming locations. Minnelli stayed behind, as he was occupied with
The Long, Long Trailer. Kelly and Freed were convinced the Scottish climate was unreliable, and decided to film entirely on the MGM backlot in
Culver City, California. The story concerns two Americans, Tommy Albright and Jeff Douglas (Kelly and
Van Johnson), who get lost during a hunting trip in Scotland. They wander into the village of Brigadoon, which becomes visible once every century. During a joyful wedding, Tommy falls in love with a local woman Fiona Campbell (Charisse) despite his engagement to Jane Ashton (
Elaine Stewart) back home. Filming began on December 9, 1953, and wrapped on March 18, 1954. During filming, Minnelli and Kelly held creative differences over the film. Kelly had envisioned
Brigadoon as an outdoor picture whereas Minnelli saw it as a theatrical artifice. Released in 1954,
Brigadoon premiered at the Radio City Music Hall, and received mixed reviews from film critics. In his
New York Times review, Bosley Crowther dismissed the film as "curiously flat and out-of-joint, rambling all over creation and seldom generating warmth or charm." The film earned $3.3 million at the box office but did not earn enough to offset the production and distribution costs. During the fall of 1953, Minnelli began developing a film adaptation of
William Henry Hudson's novel
Green Mansions. The next year, Lerner was recruited to write the screenplay. Intending to shoot on location in
South America, Minnelli scouted locations in
Peru,
Panama,
British Guiana, and
Venezuela. There, he, art director
E. Preston Ames, and a skeletal film crew shot
16 mm test footage of the jungles in Venezuela.
Pier Angeli and
Edmund Purdom were courted for the lead roles and given a screen test, but Freed was left unimpressed. The project was cancelled, though it later became a
1959 film starring
Audrey Hepburn.
The Cobweb Minnelli accepted the offer to direct
The Cobweb (1955) after John Houseman handed him the 1954 novel by
William Gibson. The story concerns the staff working at a psychiatry clinic, who are embroiled in a dispute over the latest draperies to be installed in the library. Minnelli read
John Paxton's script adaptation of the novel, but he felt it lacked "the flavor of the book." He then approached Gibson to write additional dialogue to the script.
Richard Widmark,
Lauren Bacall, Gloria Grahame,
Lillian Gish, and newcomers
John Kerr and
Susan Strasberg were cast in the ensemble. The film was shot over seven weeks, starting in December 1954. It received mixed reviews and failed at the box office, earning $1.5 million in distributor rentals.
Lust for Life While
The Cobweb was being edited, Minnelli discussed with MGM production head
Dore Schary a film version of the novel
Lust for Life by
Irving Stone as his next project. MGM had already obtained the film rights, though they requested an extension as its moratorium would lapse by December 1955. In the meantime, Schary and Arthur Freed wanted Minnelli to shoot
a film adaptation of the Broadway musical
Kismet. Minnelli refused as he disliked the original Broadway production. Schary offered Minnelli creative autonomy to film
Lust for Life provided he would film
Kismet first. Set in
Baghdad,
Kismet is about an impoverished poet (
Howard Keel) who impersonates the sorcerer Hajj the Beggar that deceives an elderly thief (
Jay C. Flippen) and the Wazir (
Sebastian Cabot) and his wife Lalume (
Dolores Gray). Meanwhile, the poet's daughter Marsinah (
Ann Blyth) falls in love with the young Caliph (
Vic Damone). The film began shooting on May 23, 1955. Ten days before filming was complete, Minnelli left for France to begin filming
Lust for Life (1956).
Stanley Donen was brought in to finish the film, which was completed on July 22, 1955.
Kismet premiered on October 8, 1955 at the Radio City Music Hall, earning $2.9 million at the box office, against a production budget of $2.6 million. Simultaneously, Kirk Douglas' production company
Byrna Productions announced they were producing
Lust for Life, with
Jean Negulesco as director. Soon after, Douglas was contacted by MGM, who stated they held the rights. A compromise was reached to have Minnelli direct and Douglas star as
Vincent van Gogh. Filmed entirely on location in France,
Belgium and the
Netherlands, filming started in August 1955 and ended in December 1955. Throughout filming, Douglas notably remained in character. Minnelli called the film his personal favorite of the ones he directed. Released in September 1956,
Lust for Life was mildly received by audiences, earning nearly $1.6 million in box office rentals. However, at the
1957 Academy Awards, the film received four Academy Award nominations for Best Actor (Kirk Douglas), Best Supporting Actor (
Anthony Quinn), Best Screenplay, and
Best Art Direction/Set Decoration — Color. Quinn won for Best Supporting Actor.
Tea and Sympathy Robert Anderson's play
Tea and Sympathy premiered on Broadway in 1953, and ran over 700 performances. Directed by
Elia Kazan, the play starred
Deborah Kerr as Laura, the wife of a housemaster at an all-boys prep school, who becomes affectionate towards Tom, a young student at the school, who is accused of being a homosexual. Laura offers herself to Tom to allow him to demonstrate his masculinity. To satisfy the Production Code Administration and the Catholic
Legion of Decency, Anderson removed references to homosexuality from his script, and restructured it to tell the central drama in flashback and explain how Laura and Tom paid for their affair. Minnelli had agreed to direct
Tea and Sympathy before he left for Europe to film
Lust for Life. Deborah Kerr,
John Kerr (no relation), and
Leif Erickson reprised their roles from the Broadway production. Principal photography began in the spring of 1956, and wrapped after seven weeks. Released in September 1956,
Tea and Sympathy received positive reviews from film critics. It earned nearly $2.2 million in box office rentals.
Designing Woman Designing Woman (1957) began as an original story by
Helen Rose, MGM's costume designer, loosely taken from
Woman of the Year (1942). Intended as a star vehicle for
Grace Kelly,
James Stewart was cast opposite her as the male lead and
Joshua Logan was to direct. However, Kelly left the project when she retired from acting, two months after marrying
Rainier III, Prince of Monaco. Stewart and Logan departed as well. In haste, Schary hired Minnelli to direct the film. As the new director, Minnelli selected
Gregory Peck and
Lauren Bacall as the new leads. Principal photography began on September 10, 1956 and was finished ten weeks later, with on-location filming at the
Newport Beach,
Beverly Hills Hotel, and
Marineland. Released in May 1957,
Designing Woman earned $3.7 million worldwide, but resulted in a loss of $136,000. During pre-production for
Gigi (1958), Minnelli replaced
Ronald Neame during filming for
The Seventh Sin (1957), a film adaptation of
W. Somerset Maugham's novel
The Painted Veil. Neame had developed creative differences with MGM producer
David Lewis. Sidney Franklin replaced Lewis as producer. Despite his contributions, Minnelli personally requested not to be credited.
Gigi Gigi (1958) originated as a
1944 novella by
Colette, which was adapted into a
1949 film starring
Danièle Delorme. In 1951, playwright
Anita Loos adapted the novella into a
play, which went to Broadway and starred
Audrey Hepburn in her first major role. Minnelli and Arthur Freed had discussed adapting
Gigi years prior, but in 1953, Freed's interest was renewed after seeing the Broadway play. Both approached Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe, fresh off their success from
My Fair Lady, to compose songs for their adaptation. Lerner agreed on two conditions: that Honoré Lachaille's role be expanded, and that
Maurice Chevalier be cast in the film. In March 1957, Lerner approached Hepburn to reprise the role, but she declined. Minnelli instead cast Leslie Caron, having directed her in
An American in Paris (1951).
Louis Jourdan was cast as Gigi's lover Gaston, while Chevalier,
Hermione Gingold,
Eva Gabor and
Isabel Jeans filled the supporting roles. In July 1957, principal photography began on location in Paris during a massive heat wave. Because of the heavy period clothes, the cast members became overheated and even Minnelli contracted a case of
whooping cough. Concerned about the escalating production costs, Benjamin Thau ordered for the production to resume on the MGM studio backlot. A scene that was intended to be shot in
Trouville, France was instead filmed in
Venice Beach, California. Filming was finished on October 30, 1957. Test previews for
Gigi were poorly received, in which MGM president
Joseph Vogel ordered for nine days of reshoots. However, Minnelli was unavailable as he was filming
The Reluctant Debutante (1958) overseas.
Charles Walters was brought in to film the reshoots. The film premiered on May 15, 1958 at the
Royale Theatre in New York, and received critical acclaim. At the
1959 Academy Awards,
Gigi won all nine of its nominations, including for Best Picture and Best Director for Minnelli. When
Gigi premiered, Minnelli had spent seven weeks filming
The Reluctant Debutante (1958) from mid-February to early April. Adapted from the
1955 play by
William Douglas Home, the story centers on Jane Broadbent, an American teenage girl, who arrives in London to attend
debutante balls for her wealthy father Lord Jimmy Broadbent and stepmother Lady Sheila. During the fall of 1957, Pandro Berman showed Minnelli a first draft of the script. Minnelli felt Americanizing the play was the wrong approach, but agreed to direct. Berman and Minnelli approached
Rex Harrison and
Kay Kendall with the central roles; Harrison joined Minnelli in insisting on a rewrite of the script which reinstated the London locale. Berman nevertheless added American actress
Sandra Dee to the cast to broaden the film's appeal to Americans.
The Reluctant Debutante premiered at Radio City Music Hall in August 1958 to positive reviews. It earned $1.9 million in box office rentals against a production budget of nearly $2.3 million.
Some Came Running ,
Martha Hyer, and
Frank Sinatra at the world premiere of
Some Came Running In spring 1958, MGM purchased the film rights to
James Jones's 1957 novel
Some Came Running.
Sol Siegel, who had succeeded Schary as the new production head, hired Minnelli to direct the
film adaptation. The novel tells of David Hirsh, an Army veteran and novelist, who returns home to the fictional town of Parkman, Indiana. He romances Gwen French, an emotionally repressed high school teacher, and befriends Ginny, a young, uneducated girl with loose morals.
Frank Sinatra was cast as David Hirsh, alongside
Shirley MacLaine,
Martha Hyer, and fellow
Rat Pack member
Dean Martin as Bama Dillert. Because of its potential as an
Oscar contender, Minnelli was given six months to complete the film for its winter 1958 release. During filming in
Madison, Indiana, Sinatra and Martin grew tired of Minnelli's meticulous shooting and walked off the film. Siegel however brought them back to finish the film.
Variety called
Some Came Running "one of the most exciting pictures of the season" and wrote it "has been brilliantly directed by Vincente Minnelli with fine performances" from Sinatra, Martin, and MacLaine.
Time magazine praised the first half but felt afterwards "there is nothing to hang around for except for occasional flickers of brilliant overacting by Shirley MacLaine, the chance to watch Frank Sinatra play Frank Sinatra, and the spectacle of Director Vincente Minnelli's talents dissolving in the general mess of the story, like sunlight in a slag heap." Competing against
Gigi at the Academy Awards,
Some Came Running garnered Best Supporting acting nominations for MacLaine, Hyer, and
Arthur Kennedy.
1959–1966: Last years at MGM Home from the Hill . The dual success of
Gigi and
Some Came Running solidified Minnelli's tenureship as director for MGM. On February 8, 1960, Minnelli received a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the film industry. Overseas, his films had been acclaimed by French critics, some of whom published for the
Cahiers du Cinéma film magazine. French critic
Jacques Doniol-Valcroze wrote a lengthy critique for
The Bad and the Beautiful (1952), as did
Jean Douchet for
Lust for Life (1956). Douchet and Jean Domarchi had written assessment essays on Minnelli's filmography and jointly interviewed him in 1962.
Home from the Hill (1960) was an adaptation of the
1958 novel of the same title by
William Humphrey. It tells the story of a Texas family headed by patriarch Captain Wade Hunnicutt (
Robert Mitchum), who is married to Hannah (
Eleanor Parker), an embittered and sexually withdrawn wife, and the father to Theron (
George Hamilton) and an illegitimate son Rafe (
George Peppard). The film was shot on location in
Oxford, Mississippi and
Paris, Texas, followed by a month of filming on the MGM backlot. A review in
Variety called the film a "powerful and absorbing story, and its production has the added interest of creating a vital and promising young star, George Peppard."
Bells Are Ringing In 1958, Arthur Freed purchased the film rights to the Broadway musical
Bells Are Ringing, with its book and lyrics written by
Betty Comden and
Adolph Green and music by
Jule Styne. Comden and Green were hired to adapt the musical into a screenplay with instructions that the script be no longer than 110 pages and delivered by December 31, 1958. Comden and Green met the deadline but delivered a 159-page script, which Minnelli felt was too long. Filming was delayed twice until the script was ready.
Judy Holliday reprised her Broadway role as Ella Peterson, a switchboard operator who listens in on the lives of private clients. She involves herself with playwright Jeffrey Moss (Dean Martin), and falls in love with him. Filming began on October 7, 1959 and lasted until December 24. Throughout filming, Holliday held creative differences with Minnelli as she disliked the script and his cinematic approach to the film. Larry Tubelle of
Variety felt the musical adaptation was "ideally suited to the intimacy of the film medium" and complimented Freed for remaining "faithful to the buoyant spirit and whimsical personality of the original"; Minnelli's direction was praised as inserting "spirit and snap into the musical sequences[,] warmth and humor into the straight passages and manages to knit it all together without any traces of awkwardness in transition". A review in
Time magazine praised Holliday for her "showmanly style" while noting Minnelli "manages to jog and jazz and jigger a merely middling book and some fairly forgettable tunes into one of the year's liveliest and wittiest cinemusicals." By January 1961,
Bells Are Ringing had earned $2.8 million in anticipated box office rentals from the United States and Canada.
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse While promoting
Home from the Hill (1960), Minnelli was informed he was to direct a remake of the 1921 silent film
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. For the
1962 remake, the script was to occur during
World War II although it retained the events culminating in
World War I. Minnelli disagreed with this change; while
John Gay was hired for rewrites, the revised script retained the updated setting. For the lead role, Minnelli had wanted French actor
Alain Delon but Sol Siegel disagreed.
Glenn Ford was cast instead after he had signed a new multi-picture contract with MGM. As typical with Minnelli's films, the film was shot in Paris with interior scenes filmed in California. Shot from October 1960 to March 1961, it was scheduled for release by winter 1961; however, reshoots were done during the summer. Postponed for release in February 1962, the film received criticism for its script and production values. It earned $2 million in distributor rentals against its $7 million production budget. Overseas, the film was appreciated by European critics and said to have influenced
Bernardo Bertolucci's
The Conformist (1970) and
Vittorio De Sica's
The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (1970).
Two Weeks in Another Town In 1960, MGM purchased the film rights to
Irwin Shaw's novel
Two Weeks in Another Town for $55,000.
John Houseman was appointed producer and approached Minnelli to direct. Minnelli recognized the novel's similarities to
The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) and hired that film's screenwriter
Charles Schnee and composer
David Raksin. The story tells of Jack Andrus, a washed-up actor, who arrives in
Rome to help his old mentor Maurice Kruger and supervise the dubbing of his latest film. Minnelli offered the lead role to Kirk Douglas, while
Edward G. Robinson and
Cyd Charisse portrayed Kruger and Carlotta, Jack's ex-wife, respectively. Filming began in October 1961 in Rome with a scheduled nineteen-day on-location shoot. However, Minnelli did not finish until a month later. Filming resumed on the MGM backlot for eleven weeks, starting on November 9. Minnelli had shot an orgy sequence, which infuriated MGM head
Joseph Vogel. In spring 1962, the film received poor test responses during sneak previews. Siegel was replaced by
Robert Weitman as production head, while Vogel appointed studio editor
Margaret Booth to drastically re-edit the film. The orgy sequence was condensed while Charisse's ending monologue was also removed. Minnelli and Houseman were not consulted during most of the film's post-production. The film was released without fanfare and was another box office failure. By 1962, MGM was in financial turmoil due to severe commercial flops, including
Cimarron (1960),
Mutiny on the Bounty (1962), and Minnelli's own
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1962). This, along with the re-editing of
Two Weeks in Another Town (1962), fractured Minnelli's relationship with MGM. His contract with the studio was up for renewal. He formed his own production company, Venice Productions, to increase his
bargaining power, and negotiated to earn 25 percent of any net box office profits, in addition to his salary as director, as well as retain
final cut privilege through second previews. In April 1962, MGM and Venice Productions agreed to co-produce six films over four years.
''The Courtship of Eddie's Father'' Under his new contract, Minnelli directed ''
The Courtship of Eddie's Father'' (1963), having found the 1961 novel about a young son wanting his widowed father to remarry to be "warm and winning." The film's producer,
Joe Pasternak, cast
Glenn Ford and
Ron Howard as the father and son respectively. Released in 1963, film critics found the film sentimental and mildly engaging. It earned $2 million in distributor rentals. Minnelli's next project was meant to be
My Fair Lady (1964), but
Warner Bros. had outbid MGM for the film rights at $5.5 million. Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe pleaded with
Jack Warner to hire Minnelli as director, but negotiations broke down due to salary disagreements; Warner instead hired
George Cukor.
Goodbye Charlie For most of 1963, Minnelli was without a film project. MGM allowed him to accept outside directing jobs. In 1964, producer
Arthur P. Jacobs asked Minnelli to direct a
musical adaptation of the novel
Goodbye, Mr. Chips with Rex Harrison in mind for the title role. Minnelli declined that offer, but he accepted
Twentieth Century Fox's offer to direct
Goodbye Charlie (1964) starring
Tony Curtis and
Debbie Reynolds. This was his first film produced outside of MGM. Adapted from
George Axelrod's 1959 play, the story involves Charlie Sorrel, a womanizer who is shot by a jealous husband and returns to Earth reincarnated as a beautiful blonde. As a woman, Charlie meets with his friend George Tracy (Curtis) to consult about her new identity. Pre-production and filming lasted from January to July 1964 on Fox's studio backlot with location shoots in
Malibu, California. Released in November 1964, it received mixed reviews from film critics, with Bosley Crowther stating that "Debbie Reynolds and Tony Curtis [are] so sadly cast in distasteful roles that it causes even a hardened moviegoer to turn away from it in pain and shame." By January 1966, the film had earned $3.7 million in distributor rentals from the United States and Canada.
The Sandpiper (left) talking with Minnelli (with cigarette) while filming
The Sandpiper Minnelli returned to MGM to direct
The Sandpiper (1965) starring
Elizabeth Taylor and
Richard Burton. Intended as a vehicle for the star couple,
Martin Ransohoff devised an original story of a love affair between a married Episcopalian minister and a free-spirited single mother. The couple first turned to
William Wyler, but he declined the offer. Taylor and Burton then asked Minnelli, who had previously directed Taylor in
Father of the Bride (1950) and ''Father's Little Dividend'' (1951). Minnelli needed a commercially successful film and accepted the offer. The film was shot on location in
Big Sur, California before filming in Paris. The film was released in 1965 and was a box office success earning $6.4 million in distributor rentals. By January 1971, the film had earned $4.75 million in box office rentals in the United States and Canada.
A Matter of Time Minnelli then turned to a film project which would star his daughter
Liza Minnelli, who had been nominated for an
Academy Award for Best Actress for
The Sterile Cuckoo (1969). They brainstormed a biographical film of
Zelda Fitzgerald, but it failed to proceed after discussions with Paramount Pictures president
Frank Yablans. Minnelli concurrently began developing a biographical film of
Bessie Smith with
Tina Turner in mind, but it fell through. In 1974, Minnelli became interested in adapting
Maurice Druon's 1954 novel
The Film of Memory (''La Volupté d'être
). Retitled A Matter of Time (1976), it tells of a financially distressed contessa who tutors a young chambermaid. He turned to veteran collaborators, including screenwriter John Gay and producer Edmund Grainger. After several major studios declined, American International Pictures (AIP) agreed to finance the film with a $5 million production budget. Ingrid Bergman, who had won her third Academy Award for Murder on the Orient Express'' (1974), was cast as the Contessa. Filming began in August 1975 in Rome and
Venice for a 14-week shoot. However, filming lasted 20 weeks due to harsh winter conditions, labor strikes, and mandated shorter production hours. Minnelli's first assembly cut was over three hours. AIP president
Samuel Z. Arkoff subsequently wrestled control of the film away from Minnelli, deleting several flashbacks and restructuring the film entirely. Alarmed by the news,
Martin Scorsese had a petition signed by several prominent Hollywood directors, protesting Arkoff's treatment of Minnelli. Flattered by the support, Minnelli nevertheless had to wash his hands of the film. It premiered at the Radio City Music Hall on October 7, 1976 but was a financial disappointment. ==Personal life==