Singin' in the Rain

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, and Debbie Reynolds. It offers a lighthearted depiction of Hollywood in the late 1920s, with the three stars portraying performers caught up in the transition from silent films to "talkies".

Plot
In 1927, the former stunt Don Lockwood becomes a successful actor with the company of his best friend Cosmo Brown forming a romantic pair with the actress Lina Lamont. In the period of transition from silent movies to talking pictures, Don accidentally meets the aspirant actress Kathy Selden while escaping from his fans and fall in love with her. Lina has troubles with the sharp tone of her voice, and Cosmo and Don decide to dub her, using Kathy's voice, to save their movie. When the jealous Lina finds out the strategy of the studio, she does not want to share the credits with Kathy and tries to force the studio to use Kathy in the shadow to dub her in other productions. But when Lina decides to speak and sings to the audience, the truth arises.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) Unlike most musicals at the time, the songs within the film blended into the story fluidly, and the characters don't suddenly burst into song without warning. Plus it's one of the rare examples of a musical with a plot that's just as well told as the songs within it.
 * 2) The film cleverly represents how sound films were a real game-changer back then, and how difficult it was to make an adjustment. The film knows how Hollywood lore was filled with stories about the casualties of sound; the same way many newcomers got their start because of the new technology
 * 3) As an affectionate satire of Hollywood, it's filled with stories; some apocryphal, some experienced by Arthur Freed and Nacio Herb Brown themselves. It deconstructs the movie trade and finds humor in the truth about the industry's shortcomings. So basically the film's all up in the movie business, to the point where the film ends with a reference to the picture itself? It punctuates the satirical nature of the movie. The humorous moments throughout the film are smart and on track.
 * 4) The film's characters are brittle, self-deluding show-biz types who pretended to be impervious to rejection and humiliation while embracing the hedonism and adulation that came with stardom. The script mocks everyone from Clara Bow to Richard Barthelmess, whose Weary River (1929) was an early example of a star's singing voice being dubbed. Part of the fun is guessing which real-life figures the characters represented.
 * 5) *R.F. Simpson is close to Arthur Freed while Roscoe Dexter is possibly a Busby Berkeley stand-in.
 * 6) Well-written and entertaining characters all around including Don Lockwood, Cosmo Brown, Kathy Seldon, and especially Lina Lamont.
 * 7) Incredible star-making performances from Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, and Debbie Reynolds.
 * 8) Jean Hagen does an especially memorable and hilarious role, and she's often considered one of the best parts of the film.
 * 9) Even though most of the film's songs were from other movies before this one, those songs became more memorable and iconic than ever when this film came out, and once again, they blend in perfectly with the actual movie.
 * 10) Even the two songs that were actually written for the film ("Make 'Em Laugh" and "Moses Supposes") still manage to be laugh-out-loud show stoppers.

The Only Bad Qualities

 * 1) A couple of historical inaccuracies.
 * 2) For one thing, during Singin' in the Rain, The Jazz Singer was a smash hit all the movie theatres are instantly installing sound equipment, the studios are racing to adapt and actors are struggling to make the transition, all within the space of a few months. In reality — as at the beginning of the film — the sound was first regarded as a fad that wouldn't last, and it wasn't until 1929 that the studios really adopted 'talkies' as a standard feature; the first full-length talking picture, Lights of New York, was released in 1928. Even until the mid-1930s, most Hollywood films were produced in dual silent and talking versions, and cinemas only gradually adopted the equipment necessary to play 'talkies'.
 * 3) Also film takes place in the late 1920s at the very start of the sound era, however the "Beautiful Girl" segment, supposedly being shot for a movie of the era, is technologically too advanced for what was possible at the time.
 * 4) "Broadway Melody", as well-choreographed as it was, was out of place and unnecessary to the film's plot, and it goes on for 14 minutes.
 * 5) False Advertising: Cyd Charisse was advertised as being a central character in the film, but during the actual film, she only appears in the "Broadway Melody" number, which once again doesn't fit into the main story.

Trivia

 * The only two original songs that were composed for the film were “Make ‘Em Laugh” and “Moses Supposes”, which makes this a "jukebox musical". Producer Arthur Freed brought in screenwriters Adolph Green and Betty Comden to specifically write a movie that included songs that he had previously written.
 * Since Debbie Reynolds had no dancing experience before Singin in the Rain, Gene Kelly took it upon himself to train her for the movie. Reynolds went through a grueling three months of dance lessons to be ready for filming.
 * Judy Holliday was initially considered to play Lina Lamont. However, once she won an Oscar in Born Yesterday, the filmmakers had to search elsewhere for another actress for the supporting role. Ironically, Jean Hagen – Holliday’s Broadway understudy – ultimately won the part.
 * Gene Kelly had a bad cold and a fever while performing the “Singin’ in the Rain” dance number.
 * In one scene where Debbie Reynolds' character Kathy Seldon is dubbing the high-pitched Lina Lamont saying, “Nothing can keep us apart, our love will last ’til the stars turn cold,” Jean Hagen’s own voice was used. The filmmakers preferred Hagen’s naturally deep, rich voice to Reynold’s more youthful one.
 * Donald O’Connor shot the physically exhausting “Make ‘Em Laugh” song and dance number in just one day. Due to the film being overexposed, he had to reshoot the entire number again a few days later.
 * Rita Moreno’s Zelda Zanders was planned to sing a song called “Make Hay While the Sun Shines". The song – and most of Moreno’s role – was cut from the film.
 * This is the second of three films co-directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen. The other two are On the Town (1949) and It's Always Fair Weather (1955). The two also wrote the story for Busby Berkeley’s Take Me Out to the Ball Game (1949).

Reception
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a perfect 100% "Certified fresh" approval rating based on 56 reviews with an average rating of 9.27/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "Clever, incisive, and funny, Singin' In The Rain is a masterpiece of the classical Hollywood musical".