Singin’ in the Rain

film by Donen and Kelly [1952]

Written by Lee Pfeiffer

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Last Updated: Nov 20, 2024 • Article History

Singin’ in the Rain, American musical comedy film, released in 1952, that was a reunion project for the American in Paris directorial team of Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly, who was also the films’ star. Singin’ in the Rain emerged as a classic, considered by many to be the greatest Hollywood musical ever made.

Writers Adolph Green and Betty Comden discovered that MGM had a cache of many wonderful but unheralded songs featured in the studio’s films from the early sound era. This inspired them to use these tunes as the basis of a screenplay about the trials and tribulations endured by people in the film industry when sound was introduced, a process that made plenty of new stars while destroying many established ones. Kelly portrayed a studio star who falls in love with an aspiring actress, played by Debbie Reynolds. Her lovely voice wins her a place opposite him in the new “talkie” films, pushing aside his screechy-toned leading lady, played by Jean Hagen.

Through some of the most memorable and exuberant musical and comedy sequences ever filmed, Singin’ in the Rain capitalized on the dilemmas of the transition to sound. Kelly, ever the perfectionist, found a way to include a now legendary extended-fantasy dance number with Cyd Charisse. Donald O’Connor’s gymnastics in the famed “Make ’Em Laugh” number are so stunning that, for today’s audiences, they might resemble computer-generated effects. Reynolds was only 19 years old when she starred opposite Kelly in the film, and it made her a major star. Singin’ in the Rain’s most unforgettable sequence is Kelly’s performance of the title song. The image of him swinging from a lamppost in the rain, delighted at falling in love, is one of the great images in film history.