Cinema
Singin' in the Rain
Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly · 1952
Synopsis
Hollywood, 1927. Don Lockwood and Lina Lamont are the silent-film stars of Monumental Pictures, which stages a false romance between them for publicity. Fleeing his admirers, Don jumps into the car of Kathy Selden, a young chorus girl. The success of a singing film from another studio leads Monumental to remake their new film, The Dueling Cavalier, as a talkie; Lina's shrill voice and the uneven sound ruin the test screening. Cosmo Brown, Don's friend, suggests turning it into a musical, in which Kathy would lend her voice to Lina.
Context
The title number was shot over several days; according to accounts, Gene Kelly danced it with a high fever. The story of milk mixed with the rain is a legend: it is the backlighting that makes the water visible. Debbie Reynolds, nineteen years old, had never danced and trained eight hours a day for three months. In the scene where Kathy dubs Lina, it is in fact the voice of Jean Hagen, who plays Lina, that is heard, and Betty Noyes sings two songs in place of Debbie Reynolds.
Who it is for
A musical comedy of one hour forty-three minutes, in Technicolor. The shift from silent films to talkies is the very subject of the film.
Prizes and reception
A modest reception on its release and two Oscar nominations; ranked first in the AFI's list of musicals in 2006.
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