Mystery man Skater Kurt Browning takes a break from his Olympic preparations to salute Bogey, Gene Kelly and movies of the '40s in You Must Remember This

Copyright 1994 Toronto Star Newspapers, Ltd.

How far can the TV ice-skating spectacle go, Kurt Browning wonders after finishing You Must Remember This.

"I think we did just about everything possible," he says of his homage to Gene Kelly, a Singin' In the RainD Anumber that's accurate right down to the sets.

"Of course, all Gene Kelly had to do was slosh in the rain. We'd set it up and the sprinklers would turn the ice to mush. So we'd stop for 20 minutes while the Zamboni sucked up all the excess water. It took a day to film because every bit of ice dancing had to seem smooth and in sequence.

"We made one improvement - we built the cafe so we could shoot through it to give extra dimension," says producer John Brunton of Insight Productions. "The rest was getting down Kelly's attitude, and that was Kurt's genius. He must have studied that sequence dozens of times. The steps are not the same - it's simply what Kelly would have done had he been on skates."

An even longer sequence was a Humphrey Bogart mini- movie on ice. Brunton says he even had a wooden floor painted in Bogey's office before flooding it for ice.

"You'll see it through the light from the Venetian blinds. In the nightclub we have props, such as pillars, to give that feeling of dimension."

Browning says he's become a different person since moving to Toronto from Alberta a year ago (part of the reason was to be closer to his girlfriend). "I had to grow as a skater and this is the place."

He laces up at the Granite Club but has also spent time working out with the National Ballet of Canada, a routine that's shown in his special.

"He's a very sophisticated guy," says Brunton. "Spending so much time at rinks hasn't hindered him in other ways - he's very knowledgeable about a slew of subjects."

"What everybody wants to talk about is the Olympics," sighs Browning. "It's going to be very, very competitive. I can only promise to do my best."

Former Olympic winner Brian Boitano is coming back and so is last year's winner, Victor Petrenko. "Then there's Elvis Stojko (Browning's teammate who last month beat him in the Canadian championships) - it's going to be the closest ever."

And winning is just the start. "It means millions in endorsements for the top contender; far less for also-rans."

Browning has his share of endorsements already, and a manager, agent and other handlers to help. "They're there to give me advice and they're wonderful at that. But it's true everybody wants a piece of you. Saying no to people is the hardest part of the job - practice is the easy part."

Browning is from Caroline, Alta., where his father, Dewey, once organized and guided hunting expeditions in the foothills of the Rockies. "Right now is the perfect time to get back home and spend time just thinking," says the skater. "But it will have to wait for later.

"I try to make improvements every year," he says of his competition performances. "I've gained so much working with (choreographer) Sandra Bezic, who always keeps the big picture in mind - what it's all going to look like."

Creates own magic

At 5-foot-6 and 145 pounds Browning is perfectly proportioned to be an ice skater. "A few more inches and I might have chosen hockey as my career," he quips.

Despite the success of his western-flavored Tall In The Saddle special in '91, Browning says he's still just getting used to skating on television specials. "You can create your own magic. Being Bogey for that long number with all those people and props couldn't be duplicated in competition. So that is going to spur me on to try other innovations, perhaps an entire hour with one storyline.

"The difference is no audience (for the specials). You're skating for youself, what pleases you. And you can do it again if you're not satisfied.

"Competition has gone crazy, with spectators demanding the latest thrill. The leaps have to be higher, but there's a limit.