A lot of wonderful people have passed away recently, and each death has made the world a poorer place. But Stanley Donen, who passed away this week at the age of 94, has a special place in my heart.
Donen directed On the Town, Royal Wedding, Singin’ in the Rain, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Funny Face, The Pajama Game , Damn Yankees, Charade, Two for the Road, Bedazzled and The Little Prince, among his many films.
From the time I was a small child, a Stanley Donen film was, to me, the epitome of Hollywood magic. Not the new kind of magic we see today, created with digital special effects, but an older kind — the kind they don’t produce any more — made of pure fairy dust and moonbeams.
As a reward for all the joy he gave to this world, I hope that Mr. Donen is now reunited with Gene and Fred. I can picture them together, dancing with grace and style across a ceiling up in Heaven, or splashing happily through a celestial rain puddle, all in glorious Technicolor.