Very few movies are rated at 100% by the way so when my wife started talking to me about "Singing in the Rain(1952) with Debby Reynolds (mother of Carrie Fisher) this is a timeless musical from 1952. I would have been 4 years old then riding a train from Seattle to San Diego with my mother and Grandmother and my father had already driven down as we were moving from Seattle to San Diego then. This was an extremely big change in my life and my mother's life too as she had never moved away from Seattle (since she was 2 years old) and my grandmother likely had never been likely to San Diego ever before in their lives.
I remember being woken up by Mocking Birds (who make the sounds of all the other birds) and being amazed by these sounds waking up as a 4 year old in Vista, California. I started Kindergarten in Vista near San Diego then.
Singin' in the Rain is a classic 1952 American musical-romantic comedy film. Directed and choreographed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, it is widely celebrated as one of the greatest Hollywood musicals ever made.
Key Details
Release Date: April 11, 1952 (United States)
Directors: Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen
Writers: Betty Comden and Adolph Green
Producer: Arthur Freed
Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
Running Time:
103 minutes
Cast
Gene Kelly as Don Lockwood
Donald O’Connor as Cosmo Brown
Debbie Reynolds as Kathy Selden
Jean Hagen as Lina Lamont
Millard Mitchell as R.F. Simpson
Cyd Charisse as the dancer in the Broadway Ballet
Plot Summary
Set in Hollywood in 1927, the story satirizes the film industry's chaotic transition from silent movies to "talkies".
Silent-film star Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly) and his shrill-voiced co-star Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen) face a crisis when their studio decides to turn their new picture into a synchronized sound musical.
Lina’s terrible speaking and singing voice threatens to ruin the project.
Don, along with his best friend Cosmo Brown (Donald O'Connor) and aspiring actress/singer Kathy Selden (Debbie Reynolds), concocts a plan to save the movie by having Kathy dub Lina’s voice.
Complications ensue as Don falls in love with Kathy and Lina schemes to protect her fame.
Iconic Musical Numbers
"Singin' in the Rain" – Gene Kelly’s famous, joyful tap dance through a rain-soaked street.
"Make 'Em Laugh" – Donald O'Connor's high-energy physical comedy routine.
"Good Morning" – An upbeat number performed by Kelly, O'Connor, and Reynolds.
Singin' in the Rain is a 1952 American musical romantic comedy film directed and choreographed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, starring Kelly, Donald O'Connor ...
