Robert Alton was a ballet student in New York, and worked his way up to choreographer on many Broadway productions. He started choreographing films in 1936, and directed dance sequences in many of Hollywood's most famous musicals (The Harvey Girls (1946), Easter Parade (1948), Show Boat (1951)). He also directed many Broadway plays. He directed two films in the late 1940s and early 1950s, but both were critical and financial flops.