A Gene Kelly Suit from "Singin' in the Rain."...

Description

A Gene Kelly Suit from "Singin' in the Rain." Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1952. The jacket made of beige and navy blue plaid wool, single breasted, two button front closure, three large frontal pockets, no label present; together with a pair of matching knickers, flat front, button fly, side pockets, two back welt pockets, buckle closures at knee, label reads "Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer / Gene Kelly / No. 1546 8607 / 30 1/2 / 14 1/2;" further included with a matching cap; worn by the actor as he portrayed "Don Lockwood" in the scene where he meets "Cosmo Brown" [Donald O'Connor] on the movie set and says "Hi-ya, Maxie" to one of the costumed extras. (Please note there are sweat stains on the lining of the cap and the wool of all three pieces is somewhat yellowed due to age.)

PROVENANCE:
This suit was originally sold at the now-famous 1970 MGM Auction; the current owner remembers buying it towards the end of the month-long event when hundreds of unidentified actors' suits were just hanging on a rack with price tags on them. He saw that the pants label read "Gene Kelly" and recognized the costume as being from "Singin' in the Rain," so bought it. Funnily, it was more expensive than the suit from Lot 46161.

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