Singin' in the Rain

Plot synopsis:
Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly) is a popular silent film star with humble roots as a singer, dancer, and stuntman. Don barely tolerates his vain, cunning, and shallow leading lady, Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen), though their studio, Monumental Pictures, links them romantically to increase their popularity. Lina is convinced they are in love, despite Don's protestations otherwise.
At the premiere of his newest film, The Royal Rascal, Don tells the gathered crowd an exaggerated version of his life story, including his motto: "Dignity, always dignity." His words are humorously contradicted by flashbacks showing him alongside his best friend Cosmo Brown (Donald O'Connor). To escape from his fans after the premiere, Don jumps into a passing car driven by Kathy Selden (Debbie Reynolds). She drops him off, but not before claiming to be a stage actress and sneering at his "undignified" accomplishments as a movie star.
Later, at a party, the head of Don's studio, R.F. Simpson (Millard Mitchell), shows a short demonstration of a talking picture, but his guests are unimpressed. To Don's amusement, Kathy pops out of a mock cake right in front of him, revealing herself to be a chorus girl. Furious at Don's teasing, she throws a real cake at him, only to hit Lina right in the face. She runs away. Don is smitten with Kathy and searches for her for weeks. While filming a love scene, Lina tells him that she had Kathy fired. Don finally finds Kathy working in another Monumental Pictures production. She confesses to having been a fan of his all along.
After a rival studio has an enormous hit with its first talking picture, the 1927 film The Jazz Singer, R.F. decides he has no choice but to convert the next Lockwood and Lamont film, The Duelling Cavalier, into a talkie. The production is beset with difficulties, including Lina's grating voice and strong New York accent. An exasperated diction coach tries to teach her how to speak properly, but to no avail. The Duelling Cavalier's test screening is a disaster; the actors are barely audible thanks to the awkward placing of the microphones, Don repeats the line "I love you" to Lina over and over, to the audience's derisive laughter, and in the middle of the film, the sound goes out of synchronization, with hilarious results.
Don, Kathy and Cosmo come up with the idea to turn The Duelling Cavalier into a musical called The Dancing Cavalier, complete with a modern musical number called "Broadway Melody". Cosmo, inspired by a scene in The Duelling Cavalier where Lina's voice was out of sync, suggests that they dub Lina's voice with Kathy's. R.F. approves the idea but tells them not to inform Lina about the dubbing. When Lina finds out, she is infuriated. She becomes even angrier when she discovers that R.F. intends to give Kathy a screen credit and a big publicity buildup afterward. Lina threatens to sue R.F. unless he orders Kathy to continue working uncredited as Lina's voice. R.F. reluctantly agrees to her demands, as a clause in her contract states that she can sue whenever denied a role of her choosing.
The premiere of The Dancing Cavalier is a tremendous success. When the audience clamors for Lina to sing live, Don, Cosmo, and R.F. tell her to lip sync into the microphone while Kathy, hidden behind the curtain, sings into a second one. While Lina is "singing," Don, Cosmo and R.F. gleefully raise the curtain, revealing the fakery. Lina flees. A distressed Kathy tries to run away as well, but Don proudly announces to the audience that she's "the real star of the film." Later, Kathy and Don kiss in front of a billboard for their new film, Singin' in the Rain.

Tags: comedy, boring, flashback, satire, romantic, historical

Review:
Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly) and Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen) are a famed Hollywood duo, making films at the tail end of the silent era.
While he tries to track her down, he, Lamont and their studio have to deal with the changing nature of film in 1927--made much more difficult by the fact that Lamont may look glamorous, but she talks more like Fran Drescher in "The Nanny" (1993).Aside from the more serious aspects of the plot, Singing in the Rain is a great success as a romance and a musical.
In the "Singing in the Rain" sequence, they make sure that you can see the whole area is getting flooded, and they use Gene Kelly's umbrella, as torrents of water bounce off of it, to emphasize that no matter where he goes, "rain" is pouring down on him.While there are many musicals I like as much as Singing in The Rain, this is one of the better-loved examples of that genre, and for good reason.
One thing's for sure, if all Gene Kelly did was choreograph the dance numbers, he more than deserves the co-directing credit he has.They simply don't make films like this anymore.
Thus, a star of the magnitude of Lina Lamont, suffers a hard blow to her career and ego.That's the basis of one of the best movies about old Hollywood of all times: "Singin' in the Rain".
The screen play is by one of the best people in the business, Betty Comden and Adolph Green.MGM was the studio that employed all the stars one sees in the film, and what a cast they put together: Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, Debbie Reynolds, Jean Hagen, Cyd Charisse in a dancing part, Millard Mitchell and Rita Moreno.
Little bits and pieces of Hollywood lore find their way into this great film and it's a pleasure to get the joke or recognize the real star they're referring to.The star trio is just perfect: Gene Kelly give a funny performance as the hammy silent actor; Donald O'Connor makes the most of his "second banana" role; Debbie Reynolds is perfect as the ingénue trying to break into films.
The three stars perform many memorable numbers, including Kelly's "Singin' in the Rain" classic; all three in the "Good Mornin'" number; O'Connor's "Make 'Em Laugh"; and Kelly and Reynolds in "You Were Meant for Me." The masterpiece however may be the "Gotta Dance" production number with Kelly and Cyd Charissejust perfect.
Also great fun are O'Connor and Kelly in "Fit as a Fiddle" and "Moses Supposes."There are of course other production numbers, including the montage that shows Hollywood's race to transition to talkies, a scene that ends in the "Beautiful Girl" number featuring Jimmy Thompson.
It chronicles how it affects Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly), his leading lady Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen), best friend Cosmo (Donald O'Connor) and Lockwood's new girlfriend Kathey Selden (Debbie Reynolds).
Kelly isn't that good acting (he never was) but his dancing is superb; Reynolds (only 19 when she did this) is beautiful, energetic and full of life; Hagen is uproarious as Lamont (she was nominated for an Academy Award--she should have won!) and O'Connor is just great as Cosmo (his "Make Em' Laugh" number has astounding dancing).
Throw in dancing by Donald O'connor, Debbie Reynolds, Cyd Charisse and of course Gene Kelly, Great songs and the willingness of producer Arthur Freed to let the creative people to do their thing and you have a classic..
I love the pokes at early filmmaking ("She never *did* figure out where that microphone was, boss!") and the sheer energy of the musical numbers ("Fit as a Fiddle," "Good Mornin'").Not only that, but there's not a more romantic scene in all of filmdom that can compare with Reynolds and Kelly dancing to "You Were Meant for Me." Their side-by-side tap dancing says more about how they feel about each other than pages and pages of dialog.Great stuff!If you think this movie is just the sequence of Kelly splashing like a five-year-old in a puddle, you obviously haven't seen the entire film.
Her height, elegance, aloofness and those impossibly long legs -- along with an uncanny ability to match her style to that of her partner -- makes watching her dance a mesmerizing experience.Many have said that the two numbers in "Singin' in the Rain" that feature Charisse probably belong in another movie.
Featuring stunning choreography, Singing In The Rain doesn't cop out by merely having characters plodding thru a script and then bursting into song occasionally, each song furthers the characters and fleshes out the story unfolding to keep the plot lines tight and crucially, important.Make 'Em Laugh, Good Morning, and Singing In The Rain are just some of the brilliant songs and dance routines on show here, with the latter a now legendary piece of cinematic history that speaks volumes for the joyous nature of the film, whilst the finale sequence of the 'Broadway Ballet' is magic & elegance personified.
The cast are uniformly excellent, Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor & Debbie Reynolds interplay together like they were hatched from the same egg, and the joint direction from Stanley Donen (along with Kelly) is seamless.Full of hat tipping and self-referencing winks, Singing In The Rain regularly hits the top ten lists of critics and movie fans alike, so lets not beat around the bush about it...it flipping well deserves it.
Don Lockwood, played amiably by Gene Kelly, is the on-screen partner of Lina Lamont (Oscar-worthy Jean Hagen); she has mistaken his sincere performance for real interest; he is in love with Kathy Selden, played by too-young but plucky nineteen-year-old Debbie Reynolds, about whom Lina knows nothing.
Coaching becomes necessary; sensational dance numbers are introduced, including Kelly's solo "Singin' in the Rain", motivated by his falling in love with Kathy; Donald O'Connor's "Make 'Em Laugh" acrobatic classic; and the unnecessary but very-well-done "Gotta Dance" showcase ballet with Cyd Charisse as a gangster's moll, and Kelly as a Broadway hopeful.
The film never looked and sounded better!In a nutshell, the reason for the high praise, I would think would be: 1 - Likable lead characters (Debbie Reynolds, Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor); 2 - Excellent song-and-dance numbers, capped off by one of the most famous of all-time, the title song "Singin' In the Rain," featuring Kelly; 3 - Very good humor throughout the film, aided by Jean Hagen's dumb blonde imitation, which may be the best ever put on film; 4 - Spectacular color (please get this latest 2-disc DVD), and 5 - of course, simply a very entertaining film start-to-finish.A few side comments: Kelly gets the legacy with his title song dance but O'Connor's dancing in here is just as good.
Everybody knows Gene Kelly singing and dancing in the films title number, but this is just one of the many magical musical numbers in this epic piece of blissful entertainment.
Debbie Reynolds is feisty and sexy as Kelly's love interest, while Jean Hagen gives one of the screen's greatest supporting performances as the horrid Lena Lamont, a silent screen goddess whose voice will just not cut it in talkies.The musical numbers flow fast and furious as Gene and Donald perform amazing feats of choreography with Fit as a Fiddle' and Moses Supposes' while Good Mornin' will have you dancing in the aisles.
A sparkling comedy, with a cast that is 100% perfect, and one of the best movies about movies ever made too.Gene Kelly's genius has never been more apparent than in this movie, but, as always he never steals the show, in fact here practically having the show stolen from him by Donald O'Connor's gravity defying 'Make 'Em Laugh' and Jean Hagen's unforgettable Lina Lamont.
These numbers not only showcase the amazing ability of Kelly, Donald O'Connor, and even Debbie Reynolds, but also the exuberance of that happy and carefree feeling of the 1920's.Some of the standout numbers are of course the title dance through the rain, and Broadway Melody, but also the hilarious "Make Em Laugh" where O'Connor displays his talent of blending humor and acrebatic movements, and "Good Morning" where Reynolds holds her own between the  2 greatest dancers of the time.This film is an American classic and an absolute must see.
Even though the singin' in the rain number is the infamous trademark of the film and musicals everywhere, my personal favorite is "Make 'em Laugh."Not many people know, however, that Gene Kelly had a 103 degree fever during the filming of the infamous scene -- a dangerous thing to do, in retrospect, considering that he was flailing about and working up a sweat in pouring water with such a high temperature.
1, although any list that posts "Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Musical" higher on a list than "Singin' in the Rain" can't be trusted).Don Lockwood (Kelly) is a silent film star in 1927, an ex-musician living an on-screen romance with Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen) and letting the publicity take their screen relationship to a whole new level (think Ben and Jen's recent tabloid romance).
(Some scenes with a grammar instructor reminded me of "My Fair Lady," truth be told, although it was filmed 12 years afterwards.)Lockwood meets a young girl named Kathy Seldon (Debbie Reynolds), who refuses to fall victim to his Hollywood charm but eventually learns to love the guy after he gets her out of a tight squeeze or two.Meanwhile, Lockwood's pal, Cosmo (O'Connor), suggests that they start to stage film musicals instead of feature "talkies" -- that way, all Lockwood needs to do is sing and dance, something he already excels at.
O'Connor later admitted that he was extremely frightened to make a single mistake, afraid that Kelly would lash out at him.That strictness doesn't shine through Kelly's character in "Singin' in the Rain." In fact, many of the dance moves (such as the frantic splashing in the puddles) look quite haphazard, but they were all choreographed to an extreme.Is that why the film is highly regarded as perhaps the definitive American musical?
Finally, there are all of the great dance numbers and music, capped by probably one of the most famous scenes of all time - Gene Kelly's rendition of the title number that perfectly captures the joy of a man who has just fallen in love and feels he has the world at his feet.
In 1927, the former stunt Don Lockwood (Gene Kelley) becomes a successful actor with the company of his best friend Cosmo Brown (Donald O'Connor) forming a romantic pair with the actress Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen).In the period of transition from silent movies to talking pictures, Don accidentally meets the aspirant actress Kathy Selden (Debbie Reynolds) while escaping from his fans and fall in love for her.
Much as I admire the talents of Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and Donald O'Connor, it's really Jean Hagen who provides us with the funniest, most hilarious moments in her way-over-the-top performance of the dumb film star with the appalling accent.
SINGIN' IN THE RAIN's story is well known, and concerns 1920s silent romantic acting team Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly) and Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen.) Trouble is that sound is coming in--and Lina's speaking voice could peel paint off the wall.
Don's best friend (Donald O'Connor) and love interest (Debbie Reynolds) have the inspiration of revamping Lockwood and Lamont's debut sound film as a musical, with Reynolds dubbing Hagen's vocals.
The resulting story is a high-energy, extremely witty, and truly sparkling film laced with period songs by Arthur Freed, a film that many regard as the single finest musical to emerge from Hollywood.In many respects SINGIN' IN THE RAIN is a throwback to the early musicals of the era it satirizes, for many of its musical numbers ('Make 'em Laugh' is a notable example) have absolutely nothing to do with the story it tells--but unlike such early musicals the storyline is exceptionally strong, and since the film is about the creation of an early "all talking, all dancing, all singing" movie in which such musical numbers were typical, they have here a certain validity that could not otherwise be achieved.The cast is absolutely flawless, and without exception Kelly, Reynolds, O'Connor, and Hagen (particularly memorable as the literally unspeakable silent star) give the finest performances of their respective careers.
Making their new movie into a musical might then seem a bad idea, except that Don's new girl Kathy Selden (Debbie Reynolds) can sing like a dream, and doesn't mind dubbing Lina.Knowing humor abounds in this classic, clever film.
There's still "Make 'Em Laugh," the funniest song-and-dance routine ever done (by O'Connor and a mannequin) and "Good Morning," with some of the most intricate tap dancing ever performed times three.But "Singin' In The Rain" IS there, and it fully deserves its place in the pantheon, not only with Kelly's wonderfully irrational exuberance but some incredible camera work that pans over and around him to maximize the uplift in this goose-pimple number.If only they left out (and not just trimmed) that Broadway musical number near the end, the pseudo-ballet with Cyd Charisse.
Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, Donald O'Connor, and Jean Hagen are just great in this movie!
The best sequences are Gene's 'Singin' in the rain' dance in the rain (pure cinematic genius!), the scene where Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen) tries to say her lines with a diction coach (Kathleen Freeman) (her 'can't' comes out 'cain't), the 'Good Morning' dance with Gene, Debbie, and Donald, and the famous 'Broadway Melody' ballet with Kelly and Cyd Charisse (with a Clara Bow/Louise Brooks haircut and a seductive dress).
SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (1952) **** Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, Donald O' Connor, Jean Hagen, Millard Mitchell, Cyd Charisse, Douglas Fowley, Rita Moreno.
He and any number of people who were still working at MGM a quarter of a century later.The knowledge that folks had who worked on Singin' in the Rain and the talent of Gene Kelly are the two things that make that film some consider the greatest of all musicals.Arthur Freed who wrote a lot of the song lyrics in those twenties and thirties MGM musicals together with his partner, composer Nacio Herb Brown, just reached into his own catalog for the score.
Singin' in the rain features some of the greatest dance numbers ever filmed particularily during the "Make 'Em Laugh" segment which is performed by Donald O'Connor.
She obviously needed work!However, the character who really makes the whole story possible, and the movie fantastic, is Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen), Lockwood's silent screen co-star, who also happens to be a totally self-absorbed person with the most irritating voice possible.
Gene Kelly's talent is incontrovertible, and sequences such as the lengthy "Broadway Rhythm" number underscore his (and Stanley Donen's) remarkable vision and talent.They also hold up this snappy, bright, FUNNY comedy.Which is not to say that all of the musical portions are not entertaining adjuncts to the film; the "Beautiful Girls" fashion show is hysterically camp, and of course, Kelly's solo "Singin' in the Rain" is charming, romantic and joyous.
If we bring a little joy inta ya humdrum lives, it makes us feel all our hard work ain't been in vain for nothin'."There are countless comic gems in this film: gossip monger Dora Bailey's breathless account of a movie premiere; Lina's hopeless voice lessons; Lina attempting to "sing"; Don and Lina fighting as they act out a tender, silent movie love scene; and, most famously, the disastrous sneak preview of Don and Lina's first talking picture.This is one musical that can stand on its own merits as a fine example of Hollywood comedy at its best..
Overall, in a happy combination of chance and design, (not forgetting the chemistry a 19 year-old Debbie Reynolds brought to the screen and Adolph Green and Betty Comden's wonderful script), the production elements in 'Singin' in the Rain' flow together perfectly, revealing just how well the Hollywood studio system really could work at those special moments when everyone, craftsmen and artists alike, were on peak form.Due to loving restoration and the marvels of modern digital transfers, we can now see the film as it originally looked, in all its brilliant colour saturation - a far cry from the washed out versions you may have seen as Christmas time TV fodder.
Singin' in the Rain is one of the most-loved and celebrated film musicals of all time from MGM.The lively and energetic film, co-directed by Stanley Donen and dancer,star,and choreographer Gene Kelly.
Singin in the rain isn't just a basic musical it was outstanding, with not just great song and dance number's but good acting too.
Not only does it contain four superb performances (Gene Kelly as vain silent screen idol Don Lockwood, painfully making the transition to sound; Debbie Reynolds as Cathy Selden, a chorus girl who wants to be a great actress; Donald O'Connor as Cosmo Brown, the dependable friend who puts fun into the movie; and Jean Hagen as the screechy Lina Lamont, Don's erstwhile co-star) but is an affectionate tribute to the birth of the talkies.The best scene of all is of course, Gene's dance down a rain-sodden street, much anthologised and by far the most technically accomplished and totally joyous piece of musical cinema.
In this film, however, all the songs are part of a whole, and the whole works beautifully.If you watch one movie musical in your whole life, make it 'Singin' In The Rain'.
Mentions were made of the first talkie The Jazz Singer in 1927.The movie has a cast of three leads, Gene Kelly as Don Lockwood, Donald O'Connor as Cosmo Brown and Debbie Reynolds as Kathy Selden.
Don and Lina's latest film is being transformed into a talkie musical but with Lina being unable to sing and act in talkies Kathy Selden is brought in to help provide the voice for Lina, which was then recorded over Lina's.During the movie production Debbie Reynolds faced major criticism from Gene Kelly, because she couldn't dance.
'Singin' in the rain' is therefore a milestone in the evolution of movie making and deserves to be watched by everyone who likes dance and musical..