"Just about the best Hollywood musical of all time," wrote Pauline Kael about SINGIN' IN THE RAIN.
After years of honing his skills on the vaudeville stage, hoofer Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly) has finally reached the top and become a swashbuckling star of the silent silver screen. Then the self-satisfied celebrity has his confidence shattered when ingenue Kathy Selden (Debbie Reynolds) dismisses film actors as "shadows" without substance. After getting over the insult, he falls hard for her--much to the consternation of his costar, the sexy, selfish Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen), who wants Don all to herself.
But Don has career troubles too. The wild popularity of THE JAZZ SINGER has studios scrambling to change from silent films to talkies, and Lina's shrill voice and Don's stiff acting left the preview audience roaring with laughter. There's only one way to save the movie and their careers: turn THE DUELLING CAVALIER into a musical, with Kathy secretly dubbing in Lina's lines and songs. But can they hide the truth from Lina?
This joyful musical sparks the desire to splash around in puddles and smile at the sky. Musical numbers glide from poignant ("The Broadway Ballet") to gleeful ("Singin' in the Rain"), with Gene Kelly lighting up the screen in scene after scene.
Hollywood in the 1920smust adapt: The unexpected popularity of talkies pushes studios and stars to reinvent themselves. Lockwood (Kelly) and his lovely but screechy-voiced costar's first talkie is a disaster in previews, but he convinces the studio to turn THE DUELLING CAVALIER into the musical THE DANCING CAVALIER. But this solution means dubbing his costar's voice, ensuring sparks will fly!
SINGIN' IN THE RAIN was an original selection to the Library of Congress National Film Registry in 1989.
Many of the dance sequences are an homage to Busby Berkeley musicals.
MGM still photos more than two decades old were used to reproduce faithfully the 1920s movie studio.
The piece of silk Cyd Charisse dances with in "The Broadway Ballet" is more than 25 feet long.
Ironically, Debbie Reynold's singing voice was dubbed in by Jean Hagen.
Songwriters Freed and Brown worked on the music for MGMs first all-talking musical film.
The song "Make 'Em Laugh" was based on a Cole Porter song used in the film THE PIRATE.
Other musical numbers include: "Singin' in the Rain," "You Were Meant for Me," and "All I Do Is Dream of You."
DVD Features:
Region 1
Snap Case
Full Frame - 1.33
Audio:
Dolby Digital 5.1 - English
Additional Release Material:
Trailers - 1.Original Theatrical Trailer
Interactive Features:
Interactive Menus
Scene Access
Choreographer
Stanley Donen: Director/Producer/Choreographer
Director of Photography
Harold Rosson:
Lyricist
Arthur Freed: Producer of musicals/Lyricist
Production Designer
Cedric Gibbons: Art Director/In USA
Production Designer
Randal Duell: Art Director/Production Designer
Costume Designer
Walter Plunkett: Costume Designer, FORBIDDEN PLANET (1956)
Review 1:
"...Near-perfect musical comedy....It's funny and fast-paced..."
Source: USA Today
p.10D 10/19/1994
Review 2:
"...A movie about movie-making, in which sound is married to image, it smoothly integrates its several superbly choreographed song-and-dance numbers into the storyline..." -- 5 out of 5 stars
Source: Total Film
p.106 12/01/2000
Review 3:
"...There is no movie musical more fun that SINGIN' IN THE RAIN, and few that remain as fresh over the years....SINGIN' IN THE RAIN is a transcendent experience, and no one who loves movies can afford to miss it..."
Source: Chicago Sun-Times
p.5 02/14/1999
Review 4:
"...More than ever, the sheer formal discipline of SINGIN' IN THE RAIN, from costumes to choreography, feels like a lost art..."
Source: Entertainment Weekly
p.63 09/27/2002
Review 5:
"...Sublime..."
Source: Sight and Sound
p.62 06/01/2001
Review 6:
"[O]ne of the greatest movies about Hollywood. With in-jokes galore and effortless breaks into song and dance..."
Source: Premiere
p.9 12/01/2003
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