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Carol made a number of appearances in the chorus of films at MGM and also at Warner Brothers. She caught the eye of Gene Kelly, and he accordingly cast her in his first film in collaboration with Stanley Donen- "On The Town", as a specialty dancer (Dancer in Green!) in the "A Day in New York" ballet sequence. On The Town marked the beginning of Carol and Kelly's working relationship. She assisted Kelly with the choreography, posing as a stand in for the stars during rehearsal.
Carol also appeared in the Garland-Kelly musical "Summer Stock" (1950).
After On The Town, and before Summer Stock, Carol appeared in Warner Brother's Tea For Two in 1950, starring Doris Day, Gordon McRae and Warner's Gene Kelly, Gene Nelson. (ed: if anyone has more information on the bridging period between T42 and her MGM years I would be glad to hear of it. MGM was notorious for NOT loaning its assets out to competing studios and it seems strange that they were generous enough to chop off Gene Kelly's right arm...) During filming, Carol also helped Gene Nelson a great deal with his jazz and modern rountines.
Just my observation: I think that she is the female dance captain in this movie, because as you all can observe too, 1. most of the other dancers look as if they have no idea what is going on in most of the routines, even Carol's partner in "Charleston" appear to have trouble keeping up with the difficult steps 2. she is always in shot in the chorus sequences, and also has one quite extended (well, it was 15 secs, but it lasted longer than everyone-else's solos) partnered solo. You will discover (with much squinting involved) that she is in every dance number. Here are my favorite shots from her "solos".
Nelson was so impressed with her talent that he recommended her to be contracted to Warner Brothers, but the executives did not heed his advice and she was soon hired at MGM as a sidekick-assistant to Gene Kelly from 1950 to 1957.
