Singin' in the Rain (film)
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- For other meanings, see Singin' in the Rain.
Singin' in the Rain is a 1952 musical film starring Gene Kelly and directed by Kelly and Stanley Donen, with Kelly also handling the choreography. It offers a comic depiction of Hollywood's transition from silent films to "talkies". The movie is frequently described as one of the best musicals ever made (reference: That's Entertainment! (1974)). Shooting began on June 18, 1951 and was completed on November 21.
Plot
Gene Kelly plays Don Lockwood, a silent film star with humble roots. Don barely tolerates his hilariously vapid leading lady, Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen), who is convinced their screen romance is real. After the first talking picture, The Jazz Singer, proves to be a smash hit, Don's studio decides to convert the current Lockwood/Lamont vehicle, The Dueling Cavalier, into a talkie. The production is beset with difficulties (most if not all taken from real life), not least of which is Lina's comical voice. In fact, her ridiculously awful voice becomes the driving force behind the plot.After a disastrous test screening, Don's best friend, Cosmo Brown (Donald O'Connor), comes up with the idea to overdub Lina's voice and they convince studio head R.F. Simpson (Millard Mitchell) to turn The Dueling Cavalier into The Dancing Cavalier, a musical comedy. Meanwhile, Don falls in love with aspiring actress and overdub artist Kathy Selden (Debbie Reynolds). Furious, Lina does everything possible to sabotage the romance. She also demands that Kathy continue to provide her voice in all future films, but remain uncredited. An irate, but desperate R.F. is forced to agree; Kathy has no choice because she is under contract.
The premiere is a tremendous success. When the audience clamors for Lina to sing live, Don and Cosmo improvise and get Lina to lip-synch while Kathy sings into a second microphone from behind the curtain. Unbeknownst to Lina, as she starts "singing", Don, Cosmo and R.F. gleefully raise the curtain behind her, revealing the deception. Exit one star and enter a new one.
Themes
The movie includes a number of timeless themes: in particular the concept of certain arts being inferior to others, or the immortal "if you seen one of them, you've seen them all" (what Rossini said about his operas).Soundtrack
The soundtrack is largely composed of recycled songs from other MGM musicals from the 1929-1940 period. Main composers include Arthur Freed & Nacio Herb Brown.Songs
- "Singin' In The Rain" from Hollywood Revue Of 1929 (1929), by Arthur Freed (who also produced) & Nacio Herb Brown
- "Fit As A Fiddle (And Ready For Love)"
- "Temptation" - instrumental version only, from Going Hollywood (1933)
- "All I Do Is Dream Of You" from Sadie McKee (1934)
- "Make 'Em Laugh" - considered an original song, but a near-plagiarism of Cole Porter's "Be a Clown", although it is said Porter gave his tacit permission.[[Citing sources citation needed]] [Watch the scene.]
- "Beautiful Girl Montage" comprised of "I Got A Feelin' You're Foolin'" from Broadway Melody Of 1936 (1935), "The Wedding Of The Painted Doll" from The Broadway Melody (1929) and "Should I?" from Lord Byron Of Broadway (1930)
- "Beautiful Girl" from Stage Mother (1933)
- "You Were Meant For Me" from The Broadway Melody (1929)
- "You Are My Lucky Star" from Broadway Melody Of 1936 (1935)
- "Moses" with music and lyrics by Comden and Green.
- "Good Morning" from Babes In Arms (1939)
- "Would You?" from San Francisco (1936)
- "Broadway Melody Ballet" comprised of "The Broadway Melody" from The Broadway Melody (1929) and "Broadway Rhythm" from Broadway Melody Of 1936 (1935)
Afterlife and legacy
Acclaim
The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Music, and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Jean Hagen. The film has been deemed "culturally significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. Singin' in the Rain has appeared twice on Sight and Sound's list of the ten best films of all time, in 1982 and 2002.The original negative was destroyed in a fire (according to the audio commentary on movie's "Special Edition" DVD), but despite this it has recently been digitally restored for its DVD release.
Singin' in the Rain routine
The dance routine in which Gene Kelly sings the title song while twirling an umbrella, splashing through puddles and getting soaked to the skin, is probably the most famous of all movie musical sequences. It has been parodied several times, notably by Morecambe and Wise and Paddington Bear. The dance was also parodied, briefly, by The Goodies during their television episode Saturday Night Grease, where the music for the dance sequence was "Singin' in the Rain".
The sequence was also the subject of a 2005 advert for the new VW Golf GTI, in which Kelly appears to be break dancing instead of doing his usual routine until he reaches a policeman standing by the car. This was done using three break dancers, a recreation of the original set and a superimposition of Kelly's face onto a dancer.
The song was used mockingly by Alex DeLarge in the rape scene in Stanley Kubrick's film A Clockwork Orange (1971).
The 2003 film Shanghai Knights featured an homage to Singing in the Rain involving Jackie Chan using an umbrella as a weapon in one of the action sequences. The music heard during the sequence is none other than the song "Singin' in the Rain".
Trivia
Voices
- According to some sources, in the scenes where Kathy (Debbie Reynolds) is seen over-dubbing Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen), it is actually Hagen's voice we hear, except for the songs. She provided her own track for the talking and Reynolds is actually miming to that.
- It has also been confirmed that Betty Noyes dubbed Reynolds' singing voice in "Would You" and the finale, "You Are My Lucky Star".
- It was also rumoured that Jean Hagen actually dubbed Reynolds throughout the entire movie because her Texan accent was judged too thick, but this rumor has long been debunked.
- An additional performance of You Are My Lucky Star featuring Debbie Reynolds singing to a giant poster of Gene Kelly was cut from the final film and was not released to the public until the 1990s. Surviving prints of the sequence feature Reynolds singing in her own voice.
| Number | Apparent voice | Real voice |
|---|---|---|
| Good Morning | Kathy | Debbie Reynolds |
| Would You? | Kathy, Lina lipsyncing to Kathy | Betty Noyes |
| "Nothing can keep us apart" (dialog) | Lina dubbed by Kathy | Jean Hagen (real voice) |
| "Oh Pierre my darling" (dialog) | Lina dubbed by Kathy | Jean Hagen (real voice) |
| Would You? | Lina dubbed by Kathy | Betty Noyes |
| Singin' In The Rain (in A-flat) | Kathy, Lina lipsyncing to Kathy | Debbie Reynolds |
| You Are My Lucky Star (final) | Kathy | Betty Noyes |
| You Are My Lucky Star (outtake) | Kathy | Debbie Reynolds |
Behind the scenes
- Donald O'Connor apparently did not enjoy working with Gene Kelly, finding him to be somewhat of a tyrant on set, despite being quoted as saying that Kelly was "patient" with him.
- Gene Kelly apparently insulted Debbie Reynolds for her lack of dance experience. Fred Astaire was hanging around the studio and found her crying under a piano. Upon hearing the story, Astaire coached her. Kelly later admitted that he had not been kind to Reynolds while making this film and was surprised that she was still willing to talk to him. Years later, she was quoted as saying that making this film and surviving childbirth were the two most difficult experiences of her life.
- In the famous rain scene, Kelly was actually dancing in a weak solution of milk so that it would be picked up by the camera. He was sick, with a 103-degree fever, at the time.
- Dora Bailey, the gushy gossip columnist is an uncredited role played by Madge Blake who was later famous for her role as Aunt Harriet on Batman. Kathleen Freeman, who played voice coach Phoebe Dinsmore, also appeared on Batman as a guest star at one point.
- In the lead in to Make 'em Laugh, O'Connor/Cosmo sarcastically references the tragic line "ridi pagliaccio" ("Laugh, clown") from I Pagliacci.
- Howard Keel, who stood head and shoulders over Gene Kelly, was the original choice to play Don Lockwood.
Movie references
- The film The Dueling Cavalier that is made by the characters in Singin' in the Rain is probably a reference to The Cavalier (1928), a largely silent picture notable only for its poorly dubbed songs that were thrown in when it became clear talkies were popular.
- The song "Broadway Melody Ballet" is named after the first all-out musical produced by Hollywood in 1929: The Broadway Melody.
- The initials of the fictional Monumental Pictures' owner, R. F. Simpson, are a reference to Arthur Freed. R. F. Simpson also uses one of Freed's frequent expressions when he says that he "cannot quite visualize it and has to see it on film first", referring to the Broadway ballet sequence. (This is an obvious cinematic joke, since the audience has just seen it on film.)
See also
Video Killed the Radio Star, a pop song about technological transitions in the arts (in this case, singers who did not look good in music videos).External links
- Roger Ebert's review of Singin' In the Rain [link]
- [Singin' in the Rain Volkswagen Golf GTI Advert]
- [Page sur le film Singin'in the rain]
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