Everyone loves a good movie and ones with singing and dancing are no exception. Take a look at Footloose, the Step Up trilogy and Fame to name a few. My ultimate movie with a lot of dancing and singing is Singin’ in the Rain. I have watched it dozens of times and sing along to the words and talk through the script.
Singin' in the Rain is a 1952 American comedy musical film starring Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor and Debbie Reynolds. It was directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen. Gene Kelly also provided the choreography. It offers a comic look at Hollywood, and its transition from silent films to "talkie”. A talkie is a movie as we know them today, people talk and you can hear them. One of the funniest parts is when they are trying to film the first “talkie” movie and they need Lina Lamont has to say the line “and I can’t stand him”. Her voice is not very nice and it’s funny how they try to correct her “tones” with a speech coach.
Donald O'Connor had to be hospitalized after filming the "Make 'em Laugh" sequence. He smoked up to four packs of cigarettes a day. Another interesting fact is that Donald did not like working with Gene because he thought Gene was a tyrant. You would never know that by watching the movie. They danced in perfect stop with one another and appeared to get along very well. Don won a Golden Globe for his portrayal of Cosmo Brown, Don Lockwood’s (Gene Kelly’s character) best friend.
Debbie Reynolds was 19 when she filmed the movie. When Debbie Reynolds' character is supposedly dubbing the singing for Jean Hagen’s character (Lina Lamont), Debbie’s voice was, in fact, dubbed by Betty Noyes. In several scenes the Debbie Reynolds’ character (Kathy Shelden) is supposedly lip–synching and rerecording Jean Hagen’s speaking–voice. In actuality, Jean Hagen’s real voice was much more cultured than Debbie’s voice, so Jean dubbed Debbie dubbing Jean’s character. Another fact you wouldn’t know by watching the movie. Debbie made the comment that the filming was one of the hardest things she has ever done and that it was difficult to keep up with Gene Kelly, who was 40 at the time.
In Gene Kelly’s famous dance number, Singin’ in the Rain, while twirling an umbrella and running through puddles and getting soaked, Gene was sick with a 103 degree fever and it actually took two to three days to film. The rain was a mixture of milk and water so you could see the rain. The “rain” made his wool suit shrink.
Regardless of the problems with filming or how the actors and actresses got along, the finished movie was great. In 1989, Singin' in the Rain was among the first 25 films chosen for the newly established National Film Registry for films that are deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation.
I recommend you see the movie; you’ll LOVE it!
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