Singin' in the Rain (1952)

User Rating:

8.4/10   

Directors:

Stanley Donen
Gene Kelly

Writers:

Adolph Green (story) and
Betty Comden (story) ...

Release Date:

11 April 1952 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Musical | Romance

Tagline:

Singin' Swingin' Glorious Feelin' Technicolor Musical

Plot:

A silent film production company and cast make a difficult transition to sound.

Plot Keywords:

Love | Actress | Friend | Singing | Talkie

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Gene Kelly	...	Don Lockwood
Donald O'Connor	...	Cosmo Brown
Debbie Reynolds	...	Kathy Selden
Jean Hagen	...	Lina Lamont
Millard Mitchell	...	R.F. Simpson
Cyd Charisse	...	Dancer
Douglas Fowley	...	Roscoe Dexter
Rita Moreno	...	Zelda Zanders

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour (Technicolor) | Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Canada:G (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Quebec) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | USA:Approved (certificate #15511) (original rating) | USA:TV-G (TV rating) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | Iceland:L | Germany:12 | South Korea:All | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Finland:S | Netherlands:AL | Portugal:M/6 | Spain:T | Sweden:Btl | UK:U | USA:G (new rating) (1975) | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Grauman's Chinese Theater - 6925 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Loew's

Trivia:

The film's title song, "Singin' In The Rain" is number 3 on the American Film Institute's (AFI) 100 Years... 100 Songs list.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: The audience at the movie premiere at the beginning of the film is the same as the ones at the premiere of "The Dancing Cavalier" at the end of the film.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Dora Bailey: [broadcasting on radio] This is Dora Bailey, ladies and gentlemen, talking to you from the front of the Chinese Theater in Hollywood. What a night, ladies and gentlemen, what a night! Every star in Hollywood's heaven is here to make Monumental Pictures' premiere of "The Royal Rascal" the outstanding event of 1927! Everyone is breathlessly awaiting the arrival of Lina Lamont and Don Lockwood!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Coming to America (1988)

Soundtrack:

Beautiful Girl

The talkies

The transition from the silent film era to the newly arrived technique of the 'talkies' proved to be the ruin for many well established stars that were great on the screen, but who had no professional training in the theater, or otherwise, and had horrible speaking voices. 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 film is one of the classics it is because of the marvelous direction of Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, two men who knew a lot about musicals. 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. As if those names weren't big enough, there is the fantastic musical numbers that even, viewing them today, have kept their freshness because of the care in which this film was crafted.

"Singin' in the Rain" is one of the best musicals of all times. It's right up there with the best of them thanks to the vision of Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen and it will live forever as more people discover this wonderful example of entertainment.