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I grew up in the middle of absolutely nowhere in a very small town in the Australian Outback and we only received what was considered in the '70s as junk — discarded old cinema that was cheap enough to be run on the one television station we had. Amidst that supposed visual debris, were a number of gems that would have a profound effect on my life and become part of the cultural tapestry of my upbringing: musicals from the Golden Era of Hollywood by artists like Robert Wise, Vincente Minnelli, Michael Powell, Ben K. Blake, Stanley Donen and, of course, George Sidney.
During my decade as a filmmaker, and perhaps even before, I've been on a long journey of trying to find a language to reinvent the musical. So when my wife Catherine Martin and I were in Las Vegas before the Academy Awards, a mutual friend of ours said, "You know, George Sidney actually lives in Las Vegas. Would you like to meet him?"
I didn't even know George Sidney was still with us and leapt at the chance to meet, face to face, the man who had shaped a part of my life through both his classical works and the Elvis movie Viva Las Vegas. So you can imagine how thrilled I was when I received word that he had graciously agreed to meet with us.
It was a fantastic scene. We were in Le Cirque in the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas having dinner with George Sidney, his wife Corinne, and Tony Curtis and his wife. What was so extraordinary about him was how unguarded he was in his storytelling. George was in a wheelchair. At first viewing, I remember thinking how frail he looked. But it wasn't long before I was absolutely enraptured and drawn in by his storytelling ability.
He took me through his whole career talking about musicals like Show Boat, Kiss Me Kate and even Viva Las Vegas. It was thrilling to be in Las Vegas talking to someone who had made a film with Elvis. But the facts behind the story of Viva Las Vegas' making were just as amazing as the finished product. George told me he'd made the film very quickly after having written it over a weekend. To him it was no big matter, just another fact from his life. But to me it was only one of many stunning things that I would learn in my short time with him.
I thought I knew everything about the way they made musicals in the Golden Age, but there were things that George told me that were extraordinary revelations, like the fact that they under-cranked so that in some cases, different things and performance qualities were sped up a little bit. It's a device that we've used in recent times, but the fact that they used that during the days when they were making the grand musicals was a surprise to me.
Then he told me: "All my career, I've not only made films but I've documented my life as a director photographically." I was crazy to see the photographs and, while time didn't permit on that trip, he welcomed me to his home some weeks later and it is then that I saw the photographs you see in this article. On the walls in every square inch of that room was nothing but never-before-seen photos of the career and life and friends of George Sidney. There were photographs of Sinatra, Marilyn and Judy Garland hanging out at his house with him... What a rich and unbelievable life he had! As I remember, George spoke several languages, lived in France and lived many lives in the kinds of life journeys I hope I can participate in some day.
What he made me realize was an idea of directing as an adventurer. He was someone who was not only telling stories, but was also on the journey of a story, in search of the meaning of that story. He really embodied that. From the stories that he told me, the pictures I saw in his home and the films he directed, it was easy to see that he had a life that was ridiculously full of adventure, experience and observation.
And on that day he was still having fun. George would lean over and casually drop startling facts. One of the first things he said to me was, "You know, I once had an elephant..." While I was wrapping my mind around this astonishing piece of information, he told me about having kept it in a private zoo area during the golden era of Hollywood and how he loved taking the girls out to see it. But even more amazing than the story was what it revealed to me about George Sidney. Inside this frail-appearing old man was still this incredibly young, totally alive and absolutely sharp as a whip wit and mind. He was almost demanding that I look past his exterior to see who he really was, an incredibly vital human being. I was really encouraged by it and thought, "If this is what directing all your life can do for you, then I'm happy. I just hope I'm as alive as he is inside his spirit when I'm that age."
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