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Singin' in the Rain, a 1952 Gene Kelly musical film, chronicled Hollywood's transition from silent films to "talkies". This is a copyrighted poster. ...
Stanley Donen (born April 13, 1924) is an American film director and choreographer hailed by David Quinlan as the king of the Hollywood musicals. His most famous work is Singin In The Rain, which he co-directed with Gene Kelly. ...
Gene Kelly (1912-1996) Eugene Curran Kelly (August 23, 1912 – February 2, 1996 in Beverly Hills, California) was an American dancer, actor, singer, director, and choreographer. ...
Comden and Green was the writing duo of Betty Comden and Adolph Green. ...
Adolph Green (December 2, 1914 - October 24, 2002) was an American lyricist and playwright, who penned most of his songs, plays, and movies with Betty Comden. ...
Gene Kelly (1912-1996) Eugene Curran Kelly (August 23, 1912 – February 2, 1996 in Beverly Hills, California) was an American dancer, actor, singer, director, and choreographer. ...
Donald OConnor ( August 28, 1925 - September 27, 2003) was a singer, dancer and actor who came to fame in a series of movies in which he co-starred with Francis, the talking mule. ...
Debbie Reynolds in 1954 Debbie Reynolds (born April 1, 1932) is an American actress and singer. ...
Jean Hagen (August 3, 1923 – August 29, 1977) was an American film actress. ...
Arthur Freed (September 9, 1894 _ April 12, 1973) was born in Charleston, South Carolina. ...
For alternate meanings of MGM, see MGM (disambiguation). ...
March 27 is the 86th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (87th in Leap years). ...
1952 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ...
The United States dollar is the official currency of the United States. ...
1952 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ...
Gene Kelly (1912-1996) Eugene Curran Kelly (August 23, 1912 – February 2, 1996 in Beverly Hills, California) was an American dancer, actor, singer, director, and choreographer. ...
A musical film belongs to a film genre that features songs, sung by the actors, interwoven into the narrative. ...
A sound film (or talkie) is a motion picture with synchronized sound, as opposed to a silent movie. ...
The movie has an extraordinarily intelligent plot, which greatly contributes to the work being systematically classified as the best musical comedy ever. Themes of certains arts being inferior to others, or the immortal if you seen one of them, you've seen them all (which is what Rossini also said about his operas) are today as vivid as ever. Gioacchino Antonio Rossini (February 29, 1792 — November 13, 1868) was an Italian musical composer who wrote more than 30 operas as well as sacred music and chamber music. ...
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow. Kelly plays Don Lockwood, a silent film star with humble roots. Lockwood barely tolerates his vapid leading lady, Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen), who is convinced their screen romance is real. After the smash-hit of the historical talking picture innovator, The Jazz Singer, Lockwood's studio decides to convert the current Lockwood/Lamont vehicle, The Dueling Cavalier, into a talkie. The production is beset with difficulties, not least Lina's inadvertently comical speaking voice. Jean Hagen (August 3, 1923 – August 29, 1977) was an American film actress. ...
A sound film (or talkie) is a motion picture with synchronized sound, as opposed to a silent movie. ...
The Jazz Singer is a 1927 U.S. movie notable for being the first talking motion picture to be widely commercially distributed. ...
After a terrible screen test, Lockwood and his partner Cosmo Brown (Donald O'Connor) decide to return to their roots and convince the studio to overdub Lamont's voice and turn The Dueling Cavalier into The Dancing Cavalier, a musical comedy. Meanwhile Lockwood falls in love with the overdub artist Kathy Selden (Debbie Reynolds) and Lamont does everything possible to sabotage the romance. Donald OConnor ( August 28, 1925 - September 27, 2003) was a singer, dancer and actor who came to fame in a series of movies in which he co-starred with Francis, the talking mule. ...
A musical film belongs to a film genre that features songs, sung by the actors, interwoven into the narrative. ...
It has been suggested that Seiyu be merged into this article or section. ...
Debbie Reynolds in 1954 Debbie Reynolds (born April 1, 1932) is an American actress and singer. ...
The film features a rendition of the 1929 song "Singin' in the Rain" by Arthur Freed (who also produced) & Nacio Herb Brown, along with other Freed and Brown tunes from the late 1920s and the 1930s. The song "Make 'Em Laugh" uncomfortably resembles the Cole Porter song "Be a Clown." Comden and Green wrote the music and lyrics to the number "Moses Supposes." See also: 1928 in music, other events of 1929, 1930 in music and the list of years in music. Events May 3 - Francis Poulencs Concert champêtre for harpsichord and orchestra is premiered in Paris May 17 - Sergei Prokofievs Symphony No. ...
Singin in the Rain is a song with lyrics by Arthur Freed and music by Nacio Herb Brown, published in 1929. ...
Arthur Freed (September 9, 1894 _ April 12, 1973) was born in Charleston, South Carolina. ...
Nacio Herb Brown (22 February 1896 - 28 September 1964) was a United States songwriter. ...
Sometimes referred to as the Jazz Age or primarily in North America as the Roaring Twenties. // Events and trends Technology John T. Thompson invents Thompson submachine gun, also known as Tommy gun John Logie Baird invents the first working television system (1925) Charles Lindbergh becomes the first person to fly...
// Events and trends The 1930s were spent struggling for a solution to the global depression. ...
Cole Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. ...
Be a Clown is a song written in by Cole Porter for the 1948 movie The Pirate. ...
Comden and Green was the writing duo of Betty Comden and Adolph Green. ...
The dance routine in which Gene Kelly sings the title song while twirling an umbrella, splashing through puddles and generally getting soaked to the skin, is probably the most famous of all movie musical sequences. It has of course been parodied several times, notably by Morecambe and Wise and Paddington Bear. It was also the subject of a 2005 advert for the new VW Golf GTI, in which Kelly appears to be break dancing instead of doing his usual routine until he reaches a policeman standing by the car. This was done using three break dancers, a recreation of the original set and superimposing Kelly's face onto the dancer. Morecambe and Wise Morecambe and Wise were a famous British comic double act comprising Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise. ...
Paddington Bear is a fictional character in childrens literature. ...
Shooting began on June 18, 1951 and was completed on November 21, 1951. June 18 is the 169th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (170th in leap years), with 196 days remaining. ...
1951 was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ...
November 21 is the 325th day of the year (326th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ...
The film was directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen. Kelly was also responsible for the Choreography. Jean Hagen was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Stanley Donen (born April 13, 1924) is an American film director and choreographer hailed by David Quinlan as the king of the Hollywood musicals. His most famous work is Singin In The Rain, which he co-directed with Gene Kelly. ...
Choreography (also known as dance composition) is the art of making structures in which movement occurs, the term composition may also refer to the navigation or connection of these movement structures. ...
The Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress is one of the awards given to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; nominations are made by Academy members who are actors and actresses. ...
The film has been deemed "culturally significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. Library of Congress, Jefferson building The Library of Congress is the unofficial national library of the United States. ...
The National Film Registry is the registry of films selected by the United States National Film Preservation Board for preservation in the Library of Congress. ...
The audio commentary on the movie's "Special Edition" DVD includes a claim that the original negative was destroyed in a fire. In spite of this, the movie has been digitally restored to an impressive standard of picture and sound quality. A major selling point of DVD video is that its storage capacity allows for a wide variety of extra features in addition to the feature film itself. ...
Trivia
- In the scenes where Kathy (Debbie Reynolds) is seen over-dubbing Lena Lamont (Jean Hagen), it is actually Hagen's voice we hear. She provided her own track for both talking and singing and Reynolds is actually miming to that.
- However most sources give Betty Noyes as the proprietor of the "beautiful" singing voice, used in Would You and the final You Are My Lucky Star. It is certainly different from Debbie's talking voice.
- This brings us to another legend, that Jean Hagen actually dubbed Debbie in the entire movie, since Debbie's Texas accent was judged too thick. Debbie certainly does not acknowledge anything like that during her extensive commentary on the Special Edition DVD and this appears incorrect to a careful listener too. Had this been the truth, the on-stage reality would have been an exact mirror image of the movie itself.
- In the famous rain scene, Kelly is actually dancing in a weak solution of milk so that it would be picked up by the camera.
- Gene Kelly was sick with a 103-degree fever when he danced to the title song.
- An additional performance of You Are My Lucky Star featuring Debbie Reynolds singing to a giant poster of Gene Kelly was cut from the final film and was not released to the public until the 1990s. One possible reason why the scene was cut is that it somewhat contradicts the initial scene where Debbie does not immediately identify Gene when he jumps into her car. Surviving prints of the sequence feature Reynolds singing in her own voice.
- The initials of the fictional Monumental Pictures' owner, R. F. Simpson are a reference to Arthur Freed. R. F. Simpson also uses one of Freed's frequent expressions when he says that he "cannot quite visualize it and has to see it on film first", referring to the Broadway ballet sequence.
- Dora Bailey, the gushy gossip columnist is an uncredited role played by Madge Blake who was later famous for her role as Aunt Harriet on Batman.
- In the lead in to Make 'em Laugh, O'Conner/Cosmo sarcastically references the tragic line "ridi pagliaccio" ("Laugh, clown") from I Pagliacci.
Madge Blake (31 May 1899 - 19 February 1969) was an American character actress most famous for her role as Aunt Harriet Cooper on the Batman TV series of the 1960s. ...
Burt Ward as Robin and Adam West as Batman Batman was the title of an exceptionally popular TV series based on the comic-book character Batman that aired on ABC TV for 2 1/2 seasons from 12 January 1966 to 14 March 1968. ...
Pagliacci (The Clowns) is an opera in two acts and a prologue by Ruggiero Leoncavallo. ...
See also Video killed the Radio Star is a pop song that also deals with the effect of new technology in the show business (in this case, singers who did not look good in video clips). Frame from Video Killed the Radio Star. Video Killed the Radio Star is a song recorded by the Buggles. ...
A music video (also video clip, promo) is a short film meant to present a visual representation of a popular music song. ...
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