Singin’ in the Rain (film)

• Release Date: 1952
• Director(s): Stanley Donen; Gene Kelly
• Writer(s): Betty Comden ; Adolph Green
• Principal Actors and Roles: Jean Hagen (Lina Lamont); Gene Kelly (Don Lockwood); Donald O'Connor (Cosmo Brown); Debbie Reynolds (Kathy Selden); Cyd Charisse (Dancer); Douglas Fowley (Roscoe Dexter); Millard Mitchell (R. F. Simpson); Rita Moreno (Zelda Zanders)

Singin’ in the Rain is an American musical comedy film. Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly were the film’s choreographers, as well as its directors (with Kelly performing triple duty by also appearing in a starring role). Set in Hollywood in the late 1920s, the film depicts the transition from silent films to "talkies" (films with sound). It follows silent film stars and their struggle to remain relevant and adapt to a changing industry. Instead of using dialogue to communicate important moments, song and dance were employed.

The inspiration for the film came from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) producer Arthur Freed, along with his writing partner Nacio Herb Brown, and their back-catalog of songs written during the decades of Hollywood’s transition to talkies. Due to the nature of the times when the songs were written, it only made sense to craft the plot of the film around this same time period. Over half of the film is composed of songs and musical numbers. Arthur Freed was a main creative force at MGM Studios during the time Singin’ in the Rain was made. He and his team were known as the "Freed Unit," and consisted of Freed, Donen, Kelly, as well as director Vincente Minelli. Together, the members of the Freed Unit collaborated on other classic musical films of the time, such as Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) and An American in Paris (1951).

Gene Kelly’s performance as Don Lockwood in Singin’ in the Rain is considered iconic today. However, Kelly was not the studio’s first choice to portray Don; actor Howard Keel was cast instead. Eventually, the studio reconsidered when, during further development of the story, the character of Don was to be a song-and-dance man.

Plot

Singin’ in the Rain is set in 1927 Hollywood. The film begins at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre during the premiere of a new silent film, The Royal Rascal, starring silent movie darlings Don Lockwood and Lina Lamont. To help draw fans to their films, the movie studio, Monumental Pictures, constantly perpetuates rumors that Don and Lina are romantically involved—much to Don’s dismay. Lina enjoys the rumors and holds the delusional belief that she and Don are in love.

In order to escape the madness of the fans outside the premiere, Don jumps into a car driven by Kathy Selden. She agrees to drop him off, and during the drive claims that she is a stage actress and gives him a hard time for starring in movies. Later on at a party, R.F. Simpson, the head of Monumental Pictures, shows the guests a preview of a talking picture. Later on, as part of the entertainment, Kathy pops out of a cake, to Don’s delight. Kathy is embarrassed that she has revealed herself as a chorus girl, and ends up accidentally throwing a cake in Lina’s face. Don learns later that Lina had Kathy fired because she was jealous of Don’s obvious feelings for Kathy. Kathy and Don reunite, apologize, and begin to fall in love.

Monumental Pictures’ rival studio releases its first talkie, and it becomes a huge success, pressuring Simpson to make the transition from silent films for the next Lockwood and Lamont picture, The Dueling Cavalier. Unfortunately, the crew has a hard time with the sound equipment and it becomes apparent that Lina’s speaking voice is extremely unpleasant and shrill. The film’s test screening is a disaster, riddled with audio and synchronization problems.

After the premiere, Don, Kathy, and Don’s friend Cosmo come up with an idea to turn the film into a musical: The Dancing Cavalier. After brainstorming what to do about Lina, Cosmo suggests that they simply use Kathy’s voice to dub Lina’s. Simpson jumps on board with the idea, but gets bullied by Lina into not giving credit to Kathy.

The premiere of The Dancing Cavalier is a hit, and the audience, so pleased with film, demands to hear Lina sing live. She lip-syncs the song while Kathy, behind a curtain, sings into a microphone. Don, Cosmo, and Simpson pull back the curtain, revealing Kathy to the audience. Lina is horribly embarrassed, fleeing the scene, and Don reveals that Kathy is the real star of the film.

Significance

Compared to its current reputation as one of the best musicals ever made, the initial reception to Singin’ in the Rain is considered only modest. Donald O’Connor won the Golden Globe award for Best Comedy or Musical Lead Actor for his portrayal of Cosmo. In addition, the writers of the film’s screenplay, Betty Comden and Adolph Green, won at the Writers Guild of America Awards. At the Academy Awards, Jean Hagen, who played Lina Lamont, was nominated for Best Supporting Actress, but did not win. During its first theatrical release, the film brought it just over $3 million, making it the tenth highest grossing movie released in 1952. In 1989, Singin’ in the Rain was included as one of twenty-five films for the National Film Registry. It was selected for preservation by the US Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

There are several myths surrounding aspects of the film’s production and filming. One particularly iconic scene from Singin’ in the Rain is when Don (Gene Kelly) performs the title song. In the scene, Kelly dances and splashes through puddles while holding an umbrella. It is commonly believed that this sequence was one single performance, captured by several cameras hidden at different angles. This is not true, however, and the scene was filmed over the course of several days. Perhaps more impressive, though is the fact that Kelly was sick with a 103°F fever during the filming of the scene. The rainwater used in the scene was also rumored to be mixed with milk, to make the raindrops more visible on-camera. This is also not true, however, and was achieved by backlighting the scene instead.

Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds (Kathy) had some friction behind the scenes while filming Singin’ in the Rain. Reynolds was not a trained dancer, but instead had a background in gymnastics. Kelly gave her a hard time due to her shortcomings as a dancer, reducing Reynolds to tears. On one such occasion, Fred Astaire, who was at the studio that day, found Reynolds crying beneath a piano and offered to help her with her dance moves. Reynolds also finished the famous "Good Morning" dance routine with bleeding feet, and was later quoted as saying that the two hardest things she ever had to do in life were child birth and film Singin’ in the Rain. She was not the only member of the cast to struggle with the demands of filming. O’Connor had to be hospitalized after his iconic, physical "Make ‘em Laugh" routine, as he was a heavy smoker, often smoking four packs per day.

Awards and nominations

Won

• Golden Globe (1952) Best Motion Picture Actor (Musical or Comedy): Donald O'Connor

Nominated

• Academy Award (1952) Best Supporting Actress: Jean Hagen
• Academy Award (1952) Best Score
• Golden Globe (1953) Best Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy)

Bibliography

Ebert, Roger. "Singin’ in the Rain." RogerEbert.com. Ebert Digital, 14 Feb. 1999. Web. 19 June 2015. <http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-singin-in-the-rain-1952>.

Hess, Earl J., and Pratibha A. Dabholkar. Singin’ in the Rain: The Making of an American Masterpiece. Lawrence: U of Kansas, 2009. Print.

"Singin’ in the Rain." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2015. Web. 19 Jun. 2015 <http://www.britannica.com/topic/Singin-in-the-Rain-film-1952>.

"Singin’ in the Rain (1952)." Turner Classic Movies (TCM). Turner Entertainment Networks, 2015. Web. 19 June 2015. <http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/418/Singin-in-the-Rain/>.

Singin’ in the Rain: The MGM Screenplay. Warner Bros. Entertainment, 2012. Print.