A bit of trivia no one seems to have mentioned yet..."Make 'Em Laugh" was a very strenuous number to dance and Donald O'Connor had a four-pack-a-day cigarette habit. To make matters worse, the first time they filmed the number, the film stock got ruined. They had to scrap every frame of film from the first time filming the song, and re-schedule and film the whole thing all over again. By the time they were done, O'Connor needed oxygen and was bedridden for several days afterward. Also...if you didn't know...Debbie Reynolds was the mother of Carrie Fisher (best known as Princess Leia from 'Star Wars'). Debbie's granddaughter is actress Billie Lourd, who was in the 'Star Wars' sequel trilogy with her mom, and many other tv and film projects. Debbie died tragically only one day after Carrie died, quite suddenly of cardiac arrest after a transatlantic flight where she experienced a medical emergency during the flight. Cyd Charrise (pronounced Sid Sha-reece) was the main dancer during the "Broadway Melody" number. She was best known as a dancer, although she did leading roles in musicals...was not a singer, and her voice was almost always replaced (like Lina's in SitR). I personally love her in 'Brigadoon'. She has one niece who is quite famous (if you are into 'Star Trek')...Nana Visitor from 'Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'. Jean Hagen (Lina Lamont) did not sound like that in real life. It was a voice that she put on for the role. She was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for this...and she deserved to win, but lost to Gloria Grahame for 'The Bold and the Beautiful' (which is a classic film, but nowhere near as iconic as this one is today).
Another bit: “Make ‘em Laugh” is a direct rip-off of a Cole Porter song, “Be a Clown,” which Gene Kelly did in the movie “The Pirate.” They basically only got away with it because it was the same studio making both films.
I was about to comment on what I knew of the 'make em laugh' scene but I'm glad you beat me to it as I knew less that half of what you have here. Thank you for sharing. I'm a little sad about some of it but I'm glad I heard it nonetheless.
"Hi, Donny!" "Morning, Gene." "You look like hell. Rough routine yesterday, huh? You think you could ever do that one again?" "Sure, no sweat. Very funny, Gene." "Good. 'Cause there was a mistake at the lab, the whole thing came back blurry, we can't use any of it. So you have to do it again, we're setting up for it now." And that's the take that's in the film. I'm still not sure if his collapse at the end of "Make 'em laugh" was planned.
I had the good fortune of studying comedy for a number of years under Kathleen Freeman (who played Phoebe Dinsmore, the diction coach, in Singing in the Rain). In a tribute I attended for Betty Comden and Adolph Green (composers and also the ones who wrote the script to Singing in the Rain) at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, they showed clips of musicals the duo had written and scored over the years, with Kathleen being the only one honored that night who actually never sang in one of their movies (showing her scene in Singing in the Rain). Kathleen wasn't able to attend that night, but when I told her the next day she had been honored during the show (she had no idea that was to happen), she was very gratified to have been remembered. That night I was also thrilled to see Gene Kelly in person for the first time.
I LOVE that the Dueling Cavaliers has Kathy dubbing over Lina, while Singin' in the Rain has Jean Hagen (who plays Lina) dubbing over Debbie (who plays Kathy) for all the Dueling Cavaliers work. So awesome.
Gene Kelly was running a temp of 102 from a case of pneumonia when they were filming his iconic street dance. Debbie Reynolds had never danced as strenous a role as this one. Some days after filming her feet were bleeding when she took her shoes off. Kelly was a very demanding partner (choreographer as well as actor) and there were tike swhen sho was so spent that she had to coaxed out sobbing from under a table in her trailer. Consumate professional of the highest caliber! Thanks for covering this one, it's one of my all time favorites.
Fred Astaire found Debby Reynolds crying under a desk in the studio after filming one day because Kelly was so hard on her. FA gave her the talk that helped her make it through filming
This is one of the SMARTEST musicals I've ever seen. Everything is just so expertly crafted; nothing rings false. The opening "dignity, always dignity" narration sets the tone perfectly, as we hear Don's lofty description of the beginning of his career and see the truth at the same time. "I can't make love to a bush!" One of the best lines of dialogue in cinema history. I know I'm late to the party, having discovered this video more than a year after it was posted, but I'd recommend 1942's "Yankee Doodle Dandy" for a future video. It's another musical that takes place primarily in a showbiz milieu, and James Cagney (who won an Oscar for his performance here) is phenomenal.
If you watch West Side Story, you’ll recognize Rita Moreno, who plays Zelda here in SitR in her first movie role. Rita went on to become the rare EGOT winner (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony), and she has a significant role in the Spielberg-directed WSS remake coming out in December. The Broadway Melody number is an example of the “ballet sequence” that showed up in both stage and film musicals in the 1940s and 1950s. On stage, these dream sequences allowed the characters to be played by different actors who are principally dancers, instead of singer/actors, and the choreographers could showcase their best moves as the characters expressed their true selves through dance. The film versions allowed the writers to create a play-within-a-play as we see here in SitR. Favorite classic musicals: Cabaret, Easter Parade, Fiddler on the Roof, A Hard Day’s Night, All That Jazz, The Music Man.
Rita being in it is also interesting because in West Side Story actress Natalie Wood was overdubbed without her knowing it (she thought they'd mix in a pro singer for the difficult parts, but not that they'd be completely replacing her singing voice).
Great reaction and review. Everybody talks about the three leads but Jean Hagen was the one who made the whole film work with her brilliant comedic talent. The voice she did for the movie was an impersonation and nothing like her actual one. If you like tap dancing at its height you should check out the Nicholas Brothers routines sometime if you haven't already.
Funny Girl is similar but is a biopic musical of real life star Fanny Brice and her time with the Ziegfeld Follies, which was one of the things featured in the dream sequence of this movie
A bit of trivia: Zelda Zanders was played by a young Rita Moreno. After the recent passing of Cyd Charisse, Debbie Reynolds, and Stanley Donen, I believe that she is the last surviving member of the cast or crew of this movie, as she is still kicking after all these years.
Thanks for this reaction. It is so rare to see anyone reacting to this particular movie. Watched these films on tv as a child back in the day. Dont know if anyone else has mentioned it but Debbie Reynolds is Carrie Fishers mother. Also according to Wikipedia it was the tenth biggest grossing movie of the year in USA and Canada. It is considered widely a musical classic.
You have had a lot of good recommendations. Here is another: SOME LIKE IT HOT Perhaps the funniest movie ever made, with Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemon, and Tony Curtiis.
@@sarahellie4113 Actually..he was running a fever when he did that scene....So was Gene during the "Singing in the rain" number...those guys were superhuman!
19:24 The diction coach is played by Kathleen Freeman, who would become better-known on 1960s television, where she'd often play "grouchy/battle-ax" types to perfection. She would even go on to appear in _Naked Gun 33⅓_ in 1994!
I can think of three classics you could react to; An American in Paris(starring Kelly), The Band Wagon(Astaire), and Easter Parade(Astaire and Judy Garland). Fantastic dancing and enjoyable plots.
Lovely reaction! Some cents dropped in: Cyd Charisse is a wonderfully talented dancer, always beautiful to watch, so even if the number goes on long for what it is in the story structure, it's a beautiful number, so I personally don't mind it. Jean Hagen was a dramatic actress with a full, sweet voice, which, as noted below, you can actually hear in the dubbing section: that's her saying "Our love will last till the stars turn cold." TCM occasionally shows a small interview with Donald O'Connor talking about this movie. He says that it was a stroke of genius to cast Hagen, a serious actress, in the role of Lina, instead of a comic one, because Lina's character becomes all the richer with what Hagen can give her.
One of my favourite musicals. And it's remarkable how Debbie Reynolds can hold her own in the dancing segments with Kelly, having never danced before proffesionally and being only 18 years old.
Grauman's Chinese Theatre is quite famous as it has hand-prints in the cement outside of a lot of famous stars. This movie works on a few levels. It's a great feel-good film (always cheers me up) but also deals with real history in that the transfer from the silents to the talkies wasn't easy. Some of the players just didn't speak well with harsh-sounding voices or accents that conflicted with their suave, onscreen personas. Also, it's a funny comedy about egos, etc. The there's the musical number and dance scenes-never bettered. This is just about the epoch of the genre. The people in it were never better. For a laugh, watch Morecambe and Wise's 'Singing in the Rain'. 'On the Town' is good with Kelly, Sinatra and Ann Miller and 'Always Fair Weather' is good for the roller-skates scene. That movie was also the inspiration for The World's End with Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Edgar Wright's direction. For an early example of the genre, try 'Top Hat'.
I really enjoyed your appreciative reaction to this great classic. I think you would also love my other all-time favorite musical, ON THE TOWN, which also stars Gene Kelly along with Vera-Ellen, Frank Sinatra and the incredible Ann Miller. It's just as wonderful and joyous as this one.
There’s an actress/singer who was basically forced into being a real-life Kathy Selden. Marni Nixon was the “ghost-singer” for a number of actresses in musicals, including Deborah Kerr in “The King and I,” Audrey Hepburn in “My Fair Lady,” and Natalie Wood in “West Side Story.”
Marni is the mom of singer songwriter Andrew Gold. Andrew wrote theme song for the Golden Girls, Thank You For Being A Friend and Oh What A Lonely Boy.
You know, 40+ years after this movie, Donald O'Connor was in an episode of The Nanny! And he danced in that too! Didn't do any parkour though... and still as charming as ever.
My brother was the understudy for the friend in his High School's production. The guy playing the friend destroyed his leg, and suddenly my brother was playing that part with two weeks left before opening night. He had to learn to tap dance in the course of two weeks, along with a number of crazy stunts. (Not quite as many as in the movie, but plenty enough for a high school production.) His biggest "stunt" was to leap up onto the piano on stage and slide along the top nearly to the edge. On the last night of production he slid right off it, dropped almost 20 feet into the orchestra pit, and fractured his arm on landing. Impressively, he passed it off as a gag and finished the night's production despite the injury.
Although not billed as a musical, Blues Brothers is well worth watching. It even has Cab Calloway performing his signature tune. It's topped off by the greatest car chase ever.
Debbie Reynolds who played Kathy Seldon is also Carrie Fisher's mom. Carry Fisher of course was Princess Laya in Star Wars. Debbie passed away one day after her Carrie passed away.
Gene Kelly was always my childhood heartthrob, i watched all of the Hollywood musicals.Donald O'Conner was incredible and 18 year old Debbie Reynolds certainly was incredible and i love Cyd Charisse.
Jean Hagen was the 'gun moll' in the stellar ASPHALT JUNGLE, and often best friends in many other films. You should see ASPHALT especially after seeing Jean in this. I appreciated this SINGIN' performance even more because she did 'put on' that voice. Soooo perfectly.
One the best movie scenes of all time [in top 5 for me] is Gene Kelly singing and dancing in the rain to Sing in the Rain. It's just iconic and perfect. every little kid waiting for a school bus on a rainy day somewhere has danced in the rain.
Great reaction video! You're also beautiful. The one thing about this movie that is amazing to me is how well the young Debbie Reynolds with no previous dance experience kept up with two of Hollywood's best and most experienced dancers..
Something I haven’t seen mentioned is the origin of Singin’ in the Rain. The studio had a catalog of songs so it wrote the movie to use those songs. That explains the dream sequence using songs that would have no logical place in the Dueling Cavalier. Most of the songs also had been used before in other films.
I'm always so happy to see someone react to this movie. It's one of my favourites of all time and I watch it whenever I just want a little feel good pickmeup. (I'm also happy that this reaction brought you to my feed -- I really love your reactions and look forward to continuing to see more.)
Loved the reaction. My favourite musical by far - don't think it could ever be bettered, fast-paced, packed with amazing dance sequences, full of colourful sets and amazing costumes. La La Land made a good attempt but it shows how difficult it is to top it. Would recommend The Wizard of Oz which is another great musical I think you will like
In keeping with the classic musicals theme: 1) The Music Man (original 1962 version) with Robert Preston, Shirley Jones and a 10-year-old Ron Howard 2) Guys and Dolls (1955) with Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons, Frank Sinatra and Vivian Blaine (Brando and Simmons weren’t singers, but they sang anyway.) 3) Oklahoma (1955) with Shirley Jones, Gordon McRae and Rod Steiger 4) Fiddler on the Roof (1971) with the legendary Topol in the starring role 5) Victor/Victoria (1982) with Julie Andrews, James Garner, Robert Preston and Lesley Ann Warren (It's not what I consider a “classic” in the strictest sense of the word, but it's really good and super fun.)
@@jnagarya519 I'm not saying when it came out, i mean from the perspective of today. Can you name how many movies he was in? When you think of this era of movies, who is the first person to come to mind? is it Gene Kelly? Fred Astaire? Bing Crosby? in the years of being a Don fan, the casual viewer only knows them or doesn't know Donald except maybe as Francis's sidekick. That's what I mean by underrated.
@@logicaldreamer9641 Because a person is unaware of Donald O'Connor's existence does not mean O'Connor is underrated. It means that the person doesn't know that O'Connor exists. O'Connor's talent is O'Connor's talent, regardless who knows or doesn't know he exists.
@@jnagarya519 thus... He's undervalued because he is extremely talented and should be known as well as the others...therefore...underrated. I'm sorry for stating an opinion that you seem to not agree with...though I'm not sure you really understand the definition of underrated.
5:13 The "gossip-columnist/Hedda Hopper/Louella Parsons"-type character shown speaking is played by Madge Blake, who is probably best known for playing "Aunt Harriet" on the 1966 _Batman_ TV series.
The story of Lina Lamont was inspired by Norma Talmadge, who did all of these great historical dramatic parts in Silents and looked like an empress, but talked like a girl from "da Bronx," - which she was. Luckily she'd married rich, so was able to spend her life in a haze of privilege and alcohol, just as she wished.
I saw the stage version in Melbourne, Australia a few years ago. It followed the movie very closely, including Cosmo's amazing acrobatics during Make 'em Laugh. Imagine having to do that run up the wall into a backflip every performance, and twice on Saturdays!
"Laura" is a great film, it basically originated the "noir" genre as people know it. I'd also recommend you try "Roman Holiday" since we know you love Audrey Hepburn. It was her first starring role. Also, anything with Cary Grant is right up your alley!
Greatest musical ever! Debbie Reynolds turned 18 during the filming. she said that at the end of shoot the Good Mornin' number, her her feet were so raw that her shoes had blood in them.
With the advent of synchronized sound in the late 1920s, Hollywood began producing musicals. Silent films had ruled the world for the previous 20 years, but they always had musical accompaniment with either a pianist, organist, combo or full orchestra depending on the size of the theatre with musical suggestions or specific sheet music supplied by the film studios with appropriate music timed to be played during whatever sort of scene was on the screen at the moment. When synched sound came in, everything changed and that's what Singin' In The Rain is having some fun with. Many careers ended, but many more were added. A film that deals with the more depressing aspects of the transition is Sunset Boulevard.
I first saw this in Grade 10 Canadian History class. Teacher put it on while we were doing our assignments. I'd always finish the assignment quick, getting excellent marks on every single one, so I can watch and focus on the film. I fell in love - waiting for the 4K to come out. Great commentary video!
Oddly, Jean Hagen (Lina Lamont) actually dubbed Debbie Reynolds for the songs in this film. This means she dubbed herself whenever she was seen singing on screen. The producers preferred her voice to Reynold's. Adolf and Green, the screen writers were writing a script homage to all kinds of old Hollywood silent movies and stories about the transition from silent to talking pictures. When you study film, Singing In The Rain is often screened as a sort of history lesson. One of my favorite movies.
No, Debbie Reynolds does indeed sing her songs. You can tell because she always has that same Texas accent that she has throughout the entire film. Only once is her voice dubbed, and it was the song “Would you” both times it’s played.
Debbie Reynolds doesn't sing all of the songs in the movie. In the "dubbing scenes", Jean Hagen dubs Debbie Reynolds' speaking voice. So Jean Hagen is dubbed by Debbie Reynolds who is dubbed by Jean Hagen herself. Can you still follow? But the songs " Would you" and "Lucky Star" were sung by a singer named Betty Noyes. The other songs in the movie Debbie Reynolds sang herself of course.
Debbie Reynolds is AMAZING, ESP considering that she didn't know how to dance and then was cast opposite to the legendary Gene Kelly and dancing alongside Donald O'Connor. Speaking of Donald, I highly recommend checking out "There's No Business Like Show Business."
The Band Wagon is the perfect companion piece to Singing' In The Rain and is very nearly as good ... this time with Fred Astaire instead of Gene Kelly ... he's also dancing with Cyd Charisse, and it features perhaps the most beautiful dance number in a musical, Dancing In The Dark. it also features the famous private eye ballet, The Girl Hunt.
In all the scenes when Lina was lip-syncing Kathy's voice (recorded or live), it was not Debbie Reynold's voice they used, it was Jean Hagen's. Crazy, huh.
The reason that MGM's peak musicals from this -- their greatest period -- included so many gargantuan, long ballet-style sequences like the one you mention going on a bit -- is because Gene Kelly had seen the British fantasy-musical-drama, The Red Shoes, 1948, which raised the bar for the film musical with its long, massive and beautiful Red Shoes ballet fantasy sequence, and Kelly and subsequently MGM could not allow themselves to be outdone in musical largesse by some Brit upstarts, and thus in films like An American in Paris, Singin' in the Rain, the Band Wagon and some others you see this sort of thing. Interestingly, I had always suspected that MGM's musical numbers got this way because of The Red Shoes before I had ever read or known about this fact. The Red Shoes, btw, is my all-time favorite film. Thanks for reviewing the classics. I like seeing younger viewers dipping deep into the foundational classics, since most seem to think movie history began with Star Wars, and it's kind of sad.
I was fortunate to be able to see this film on the big screen back in 2002, shortly after it had been lovingly restored by Warner Bros. (which owns the copyright now, even though it's an MGM film) using a then-new process called the Ultra Resolution process (it was the very first film restored using this process), and it had so impressed director Stanley Donen that he said that the film looked better than it had when it originally opened in 1952! I have to admit, I was STUNNED when I saw the images on that big screen - even from the back rows, I could see the makeup on Gene Kelly's face (and even the pores in his skin!) in the opening scene at Grauman's Chinese Theater. I never imagined I'd be able to see such a crystal-clear image from a film from that era! This is one of those movies that's truly a "feel good" film, exuding so much positivity and joy that it's infectious. And it never gets old! No matter how many times I see it, I'm always dancing in my seat or tapping my toes, and laughing and smiling throughout it! It's perfect on a gloomy day when I feel down. It really helps to pick me back up again.
Oh my dear, if you loved the dance numbers, then you MUST watch Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. It has some of the best choreography (by Michael Kidd) ever put on film! Most people love the barn-raising dance, and the "Goin' Courtin' " dance (deservedly so on both counts), but please don't overlook the evocative and ingenious "Lonesome Polecat" dance -- the most creative combination of ballet and homestead labor ever.
A few more musicals: The Wizard of Oz(1939), Meet Me in St. Louis(1944), The Harvey Girls(1946) all starring Judy Garland; and Gigi(1958) starring Leslie Caron with songs by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe who worked on My Fair Lady.
I'd seen most of the song and dance numbers from this movie before I saw the whole movie, there used to be tv shows in the 1980's that showed clips from classic musicals such as this. I'd recommend "Gold Diggers of 1935" if you like big song and dance numbers- apparently they made a few Gold Digger movies back in the 1930's, 1935 is the one I remember. The big dance number near the end of this film was, I believe, inspired by Gold Diggers. Another recommendation from me is "Calamity Jane", also a classic :)
Fun fact after Donald O'Connor filmed the Make em laugh number he spent the next few days in bed for exhaustion. Only to be told when he returned to the set that the film they shot had been ruined and he had to do it all over again.
I didn't discover this movie until I was in my 40s...fell in love with it. I wasn't much into musicals until then. Discovered other musicals..you should check out Music Man or On the Town.
The voice played in the videos and songs for Lina that was supposedly Kathy's was actually Jean Hagen's (the actress for Lina) normal voice, one of the greatest ironies in cinema history.
One of my favorite bits of trivia, which is mentioned already in the comments, is that Jean Hagen (Lina Lamont) real voice was used to dub for Debbie Reynolds (Kathy Selden), the opposite of how it’s played in the film. Additionally, Jean’s voice as Lina is a mimic of the ICONIC Judy Holliday, one of my personal favorites both on and off screen.
Ash - I would recommend two additional musicals: 1) The Bandwagon with Fred Astaire. 2) Kiss Me Kate with Howard Keel. There are many excellent movie musicals to check out.
Not always, but fairly often, when it's raining, I put on my earbuds, start up the song Singin' in the Rain on my phone and sing along while (no doubt badly) dancing in the rain.
Ash, absolutely love your reactions :-) I know you will get a lot of classic musical suggestions, but I am going to add a non-musical - my personal favorite John Wayne film: The Quiet Man. Even if you don't react to it, I think it is worth a watch. Keep doing what you do, and keep being who you are!
If you liked this movie, I think you'd enjoy "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" (1954), also directed by Stanley Donen, starring Howard Keel and Jane Powell. Great songs, great dancing. The barn raising scene alone is worth the price of admission.
You do have to roll your eyes at the caveman attitudes and kidnapping women being played for laughs, not to mention the WTF Lonesome Polecat song. But I agree the barn dancing is incredible. Plus Howard Keel was so dreamy.
@@janleonard3101 "Caveman attitudes?" "Kidnapping women?" Those are the best parts! Well, besides Julie Newmar's "parts." But...yeah..."A man can't sleep when he sleeps with sheep" is...umm...okay, WTF?
@@janleonard3101 Not to mention Jacques d'Amboise swinging an axe around while he's dancing. I think it probably gave Tobe Hooper the idea to have Leatherface dance with a chainsaw at the end of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre."
A musical in the same vein as this would be 7 Brides for 7 Brothers. Also, The Unsinkable Molly Brown (also with Debbie Reynolds). And Calamity Jane (with Doris Day). I'd say each of those films are very similar in tone, with lots of great dancing and great songs. Meet Me in St. Louis (with Judy Garland) is also highly recommended. Each of the films above are stocked with famous songs that you might recognize once you watch the film, and all are comedies!
In answer to your question if anyone has ever sang in the rain the answer is yes. About 15 years ago I went out for the evening. It was mid June and it had been a delightful day so I went out in just jeans and a t shirt. By 11pm it was raining torrentially. There comes a point where you cannot possibly get any wetter. So I just walked home jumping in puddles and having a brilliant time. 😀😀 I loved your review. This has been one of my favourite movies since I was a kid.
Excellent reaction. Love to see the joy of today’s audience enjoying and appreciating the classic movies . Keep picking movies from AFI, but another great musical is The King and I, with Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr.
Arthur Freed wrote music for movies before becoming a producer. He produced the movie An American in Paris starring Gene Kelly. That movie was built around the music of George Gershwin. Freed thought since he has a catalog of songs why can't he make a movie featuring his songs. That's how this movie started. It's interesting watching movies from the 1930s and suddenly realize I am listening to one of these songs.
I'm not sure what you read that indicated "Singin' in the Rain" was unusual for not being based on a stage play but... that actually was not uncommon at all for movie musicals in the 1930s, 40s, and 50s. Nowadays most movie musicals are based on stage plays but, during the height of MGM, although some movie musicals were Broadway adaptations (like "The King and I", "Brigadoon" or "Girl Crazy"), a lot of movie musicals were original (like "The Wizard of Oz", "An American in Paris" or "Easter Parade"). Even some of the ones that were "based" on stage musicals really just took some of the soundtrack and structured them around an original story (like "Anything Goes", "The Band Wagon" or "Funny Face"). It was even relatively common to take successful Broadway composers and just bring them to Hollywood to write new songs for original movie musicals rather than completely adapt their Broadway shows. (Examples include: Cole Porter writing songs for "High Society", the Gershwins writing for "Shall We Dance", and Irving Berlin writing all the songs in "Holiday Inn"). So, although "Singin' in the Rain" is brilliant, its status as an original Hollywood musical was really not that unusual for an early 1950s movie musical.
This is a timeless classic that should be a required watch for anyone who fancies themselves a movie buff.As already mentioned Carrie Fisher, Reynolds' daughter is also in a musical of sorts that you should check out The Blues Brothers lots of singing and some dance numbers. One of my personal favorites
I would definitely suggest Brigadoon (a personal favorite) and An American in Paris, both starring Gene Kelly. Both my children were raised with many songs from musicals, but haven't necessarily seen the entire movie the song is from. Both in their 20's, but can sing Singin' in the Rain.
One of my favorites! I’d venture a guess that most people (now) don’t know that this film introduced the song “White Christmas”, not the movie of the same name 🎄
This *obviously* made Debbie Reynolds a gargantuan star. Just before she died, clearly of heartbreak days after her daughter Carrie Fisher died, they made one of the best documentaries of recent years. You should check out Bright Lights (2016). Raw, beautiful and touching. And a perfect marriage of Hollywood old and new.
Two interesting behind-the -scenes facts: 1: The Good Mornin' dance scene took around 14 hours to film, and by the end it actually caused burst blood vessels in Debbie Reynolds' feet. 2: During the filming of the Singin' in the Rain dance scene, Gene Kelly was very sick, with a fever of 103°, and the water used in the scene caused his wool suit to shrink.
they premiered the first talking movie in 1928, "The Jazz Singer" with Al Jolson, not many actors/actress of that era did have a pleasant or nice voice, so they was dubbed to hide it!
someone who finds comfort and love of rain is called a Pluviophile, and I am most certainly influenced by having watched this as a child, I still sing the song to myself whenever it begins to sprinkle and I find such joy in being caught by it
For a pronunciation of Cyd Charisse, think "shareese". By the way, there's a hard to find outtake of the stuntman doubling for Gene Kelly jumping from the streetcar and missing the open convertible, landing flat on his ass in the middle of the street. It probably really hurt.
I've always thought that Donald O'Connor was one of the most talented people to ever walk the earth.
True...
I agree. Apparently, he could dance and sing as well as Gene Kelly, AND he could play the piano!
And he was so effortlessly charismatic
No question. He was one of a kind. Brilliant.
A genuine genius
A bit of trivia no one seems to have mentioned yet..."Make 'Em Laugh" was a very strenuous number to dance and Donald O'Connor had a four-pack-a-day cigarette habit. To make matters worse, the first time they filmed the number, the film stock got ruined. They had to scrap every frame of film from the first time filming the song, and re-schedule and film the whole thing all over again. By the time they were done, O'Connor needed oxygen and was bedridden for several days afterward.
Also...if you didn't know...Debbie Reynolds was the mother of Carrie Fisher (best known as Princess Leia from 'Star Wars'). Debbie's granddaughter is actress Billie Lourd, who was in the 'Star Wars' sequel trilogy with her mom, and many other tv and film projects. Debbie died tragically only one day after Carrie died, quite suddenly of cardiac arrest after a transatlantic flight where she experienced a medical emergency during the flight.
Cyd Charrise (pronounced Sid Sha-reece) was the main dancer during the "Broadway Melody" number. She was best known as a dancer, although she did leading roles in musicals...was not a singer, and her voice was almost always replaced (like Lina's in SitR). I personally love her in 'Brigadoon'. She has one niece who is quite famous (if you are into 'Star Trek')...Nana Visitor from 'Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'.
Jean Hagen (Lina Lamont) did not sound like that in real life. It was a voice that she put on for the role. She was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for this...and she deserved to win, but lost to Gloria Grahame for 'The Bold and the Beautiful' (which is a classic film, but nowhere near as iconic as this one is today).
Grahame won for The Bad & the Beautiful. :-)
Another bit: “Make ‘em Laugh” is a direct rip-off of a Cole Porter song, “Be a Clown,” which Gene Kelly did in the movie “The Pirate.” They basically only got away with it because it was the same studio making both films.
I was about to comment on what I knew of the 'make em laugh' scene but I'm glad you beat me to it as I knew less that half of what you have here. Thank you for sharing. I'm a little sad about some of it but I'm glad I heard it nonetheless.
Thanks so much for all of this detailed info! I love knowing more about one of my favorite movies and scenes -- !
"Hi, Donny!"
"Morning, Gene."
"You look like hell. Rough routine yesterday, huh? You think you could ever do that one again?"
"Sure, no sweat. Very funny, Gene."
"Good. 'Cause there was a mistake at the lab, the whole thing came back blurry, we can't use any of it. So you have to do it again, we're setting up for it now."
And that's the take that's in the film. I'm still not sure if his collapse at the end of "Make 'em laugh" was planned.
I had the good fortune of studying comedy for a number of years under Kathleen Freeman (who played Phoebe Dinsmore, the diction coach, in Singing in the Rain). In a tribute I attended for Betty Comden and Adolph Green (composers and also the ones who wrote the script to Singing in the Rain) at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, they showed clips of musicals the duo had written and scored over the years, with Kathleen being the only one honored that night who actually never sang in one of their movies (showing her scene in Singing in the Rain). Kathleen wasn't able to attend that night, but when I told her the next day she had been honored during the show (she had no idea that was to happen), she was very gratified to have been remembered. That night I was also thrilled to see Gene Kelly in person for the first time.
I love Jean Hagen in this movie!! Her voice in this film is a put on and she was nominated for an Oscar for her role.
"CAAAHHN'T"
"ceeaaaaan't"
She's amazing! :)
Her real voice can be heard in the singing scenes where it's supposed to be Cathy's overdubbing.
I LOVE that the Dueling Cavaliers has Kathy dubbing over Lina, while Singin' in the Rain has Jean Hagen (who plays Lina) dubbing over Debbie (who plays Kathy) for all the Dueling Cavaliers work. So awesome.
'An I caeeeent stan em' 😅😂
Gene Kelly was running a temp of 102 from a case of pneumonia when they were filming his iconic street dance. Debbie Reynolds had never danced as strenous a role as this one. Some days after filming her feet were bleeding when she took her shoes off. Kelly was a very demanding partner (choreographer as well as actor) and there were tike swhen sho was so spent that she had to coaxed out sobbing from under a table in her trailer. Consumate professional of the highest caliber! Thanks for covering this one, it's one of my all time favorites.
Fred Astaire found Debby Reynolds crying under a desk in the studio after filming one day because Kelly was so hard on her. FA gave her the talk that helped her make it through filming
@@martinpatrick4321 man, I wish that talk had been recorded
In fact it was a temp of 38.9 C - that's a scale that the world outside USA understands.
@@martinpatrick4321 Apparently Fred took her to watch him rehearsing for a movie to show her that he made plenty of mistakes too.
26:56 Like mother, like daughter: Leia kissed both Luke and Han.
wow you are so right!
Now I want to see Mark Hamill as Cosmo and Harrison Ford as Don.
This is one of the SMARTEST musicals I've ever seen. Everything is just so expertly crafted; nothing rings false. The opening "dignity, always dignity" narration sets the tone perfectly, as we hear Don's lofty description of the beginning of his career and see the truth at the same time.
"I can't make love to a bush!" One of the best lines of dialogue in cinema history.
I know I'm late to the party, having discovered this video more than a year after it was posted, but I'd recommend 1942's "Yankee Doodle Dandy" for a future video. It's another musical that takes place primarily in a showbiz milieu, and James Cagney (who won an Oscar for his performance here) is phenomenal.
If you watch West Side Story, you’ll recognize Rita Moreno, who plays Zelda here in SitR in her first movie role. Rita went on to become the rare EGOT winner (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony), and she has a significant role in the Spielberg-directed WSS remake coming out in December.
The Broadway Melody number is an example of the “ballet sequence” that showed up in both stage and film musicals in the 1940s and 1950s. On stage, these dream sequences allowed the characters to be played by different actors who are principally dancers, instead of singer/actors, and the choreographers could showcase their best moves as the characters expressed their true selves through dance. The film versions allowed the writers to create a play-within-a-play as we see here in SitR.
Favorite classic musicals: Cabaret, Easter Parade, Fiddler on the Roof, A Hard Day’s Night, All That Jazz, The Music Man.
Two more movie recs! Victor/Victoria and Little Shop of Horrors.
Rita being in it is also interesting because in West Side Story actress Natalie Wood was overdubbed without her knowing it (she thought they'd mix in a pro singer for the difficult parts, but not that they'd be completely replacing her singing voice).
She is also a part of my childhood, along with Morgan Freeman, when they were on The Electric Company
@@mjdaniel8710 Same here. Having written that I have seen "Marlowe." 1969. She was hot! Very, very beautiful. Hot.
West Side Story 1961 version and new version of Little Shop of Horrors are definitely worth to watch 🙂
Cyd Charisse (the woman in green in the Broadway scene) was one of the great dancers of her era!
Most beautiful and talented ballerina ever!
Fred Astaire nicknamed her "Beautiful Dynamite".
Great reaction and review. Everybody talks about the three leads but Jean Hagen was the one who made the whole film work with her brilliant comedic talent. The voice she did for the movie was an impersonation and nothing like her actual one. If you like tap dancing at its height you should check out the Nicholas Brothers routines sometime if you haven't already.
Omg just found this channel and see that you reacted to Casablanca and Singin' in the rain. So glad to see classic reactions.
Funny Girl is similar but is a biopic musical of real life star Fanny Brice and her time with the Ziegfeld Follies, which was one of the things featured in the dream sequence of this movie
A bit of trivia: Zelda Zanders was played by a young Rita Moreno. After the recent passing of Cyd Charisse, Debbie Reynolds, and Stanley Donen, I believe that she is the last surviving member of the cast or crew of this movie, as she is still kicking after all these years.
I didn't know that, and I love her!
Thanks for this reaction. It is so rare to see anyone reacting to this particular movie. Watched these films on tv as a child back in the day. Dont know if anyone else has mentioned it but Debbie Reynolds is Carrie Fishers mother. Also according to Wikipedia it was the tenth biggest grossing movie of the year in USA and Canada. It is considered widely a musical classic.
You have had a lot of good recommendations. Here is another:
SOME LIKE IT HOT
Perhaps the funniest movie ever made, with Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemon, and Tony Curtiis.
Say what you want about Marilyn she was a good actress just look at some of her other movies like River of No Return and Don't Bother to Knock
@@ellenhannon5298 She was also very smaet, and loved books.
15:00 Oh, you didn't show him running up the wall and flipping. That's iconic!
Oh I still watched and enjoyed it 😅 He flipped so many times! He must have been so tired 😫
@@houseofmash5748 That moment is referenced in The Full Monty
@@houseofmash5748 Donald O'Connor did that entire number in one take to.
The "Make 'em Laugh" scene was filmed in one continuous take. There are no cuts in that scene. It's an Iconic Donald O'Connor film moment.
Didn’t he have to go to the hospital after that because he was so tired
@@sarahellie4113 Yep. He was a very heavy smoker.
@@sarahellie4113 Actually..he was running a fever when he did that scene....So was Gene during the "Singing in the rain" number...those guys were superhuman!
One of the best scenes ever
After they filmed that number the lab damaged the film, so he had to do the whole thing over again another day. That is the take we see.
19:24 The diction coach is played by Kathleen Freeman, who would become better-known on 1960s television, where she'd often play "grouchy/battle-ax" types to perfection. She would even go on to appear in _Naked Gun 33⅓_ in 1994!
Elinora Poultice (Barney's music teacher) from Andy Griffith!
I *just* placed her as Sister Mary Stigmata (The Penguin) in "The Blues Brothers"!
I can think of three classics you could react to; An American in Paris(starring Kelly), The Band Wagon(Astaire), and Easter Parade(Astaire and Judy Garland). Fantastic dancing and enjoyable plots.
Lovely reaction! Some cents dropped in:
Cyd Charisse is a wonderfully talented dancer, always beautiful to watch, so even if the number goes on long for what it is in the story structure, it's a beautiful number, so I personally don't mind it.
Jean Hagen was a dramatic actress with a full, sweet voice, which, as noted below, you can actually hear in the dubbing section: that's her saying "Our love will last till the stars turn cold." TCM occasionally shows a small interview with Donald O'Connor talking about this movie. He says that it was a stroke of genius to cast Hagen, a serious actress, in the role of Lina, instead of a comic one, because Lina's character becomes all the richer with what Hagen can give her.
One of my favourite musicals. And it's remarkable how Debbie Reynolds can hold her own in the dancing segments with Kelly, having never danced before proffesionally and being only 18 years old.
I knew she was young when the did this, but 18?! Wow.
@@billolsen4360 I think she actually turned 18 while filming.
Debbie was 19 when filming began.
@@cmr8er8 She was 19
Grauman's Chinese Theatre is quite famous as it has hand-prints in the cement outside of a lot of famous stars. This movie works on a few levels. It's a great feel-good film (always cheers me up) but also deals with real history in that the transfer from the silents to the talkies wasn't easy. Some of the players just didn't speak well with harsh-sounding voices or accents that conflicted with their suave, onscreen personas. Also, it's a funny comedy about egos, etc. The there's the musical number and dance scenes-never bettered. This is just about the epoch of the genre. The people in it were never better. For a laugh, watch Morecambe and Wise's 'Singing in the Rain'.
'On the Town' is good with Kelly, Sinatra and Ann Miller and 'Always Fair Weather' is good for the roller-skates scene. That movie was also the inspiration for The World's End with Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Edgar Wright's direction.
For an early example of the genre, try 'Top Hat'.
I really enjoyed your appreciative reaction to this great classic. I think you would also love my other all-time favorite musical, ON THE TOWN, which also stars Gene Kelly along with Vera-Ellen, Frank Sinatra and the incredible Ann Miller. It's just as wonderful and joyous as this one.
I saw this movie when I was 5, then when I was 7 I started tap dancing JUST because of THIS movie !
Now you know were the term "the golden days of Hollywood" comes from! Never again will you see movie-making like this again. Savour it!
There’s an actress/singer who was basically forced into being a real-life Kathy Selden. Marni Nixon was the “ghost-singer” for a number of actresses in musicals, including Deborah Kerr in “The King and I,” Audrey Hepburn in “My Fair Lady,” and Natalie Wood in “West Side Story.”
Marni is the mom of singer songwriter Andrew Gold. Andrew wrote theme song for the Golden Girls, Thank You For Being A Friend and Oh What A Lonely Boy.
"Moses Supposes" was the only original song in the film. Even "Make 'Em Laugh" was a rewrite of "Be A Clown".
Actually, it was a bit of a plagiarism because Be A Clown was written by Cole Porter (who didn't make a fuss about it).
You know, 40+ years after this movie, Donald O'Connor was in an episode of The Nanny! And he danced in that too! Didn't do any parkour though... and still as charming as ever.
My brother was the understudy for the friend in his High School's production. The guy playing the friend destroyed his leg, and suddenly my brother was playing that part with two weeks left before opening night. He had to learn to tap dance in the course of two weeks, along with a number of crazy stunts. (Not quite as many as in the movie, but plenty enough for a high school production.) His biggest "stunt" was to leap up onto the piano on stage and slide along the top nearly to the edge. On the last night of production he slid right off it, dropped almost 20 feet into the orchestra pit, and fractured his arm on landing. Impressively, he passed it off as a gag and finished the night's production despite the injury.
Although not billed as a musical, Blues Brothers is well worth watching. It even has Cab Calloway performing his signature tune. It's topped off by the greatest car chase ever.
Debbie Reynolds who played Kathy Seldon is also Carrie Fisher's mom. Carry Fisher of course was Princess Laya in Star Wars. Debbie passed away one day after her Carrie passed away.
Absolutely one of my very favorite movies! It's one where I pretty much have a smile on my face for the WHOLE movie!
Gene Kelly was always my childhood heartthrob, i watched all of the Hollywood musicals.Donald O'Conner was incredible and 18 year old Debbie Reynolds certainly was incredible and i love Cyd Charisse.
One of my top ten favorite movies of all time. My mom was a big fan of the singing and the dancing and raised me on it.
Jean Hagen was the 'gun moll' in the stellar ASPHALT JUNGLE, and often best friends in many other films. You should see ASPHALT especially after seeing Jean in this. I appreciated this SINGIN' performance even more because she did 'put on' that voice. Soooo perfectly.
One the best movie scenes of all time [in top 5 for me] is Gene Kelly singing and dancing in the rain to Sing in the Rain. It's just iconic and perfect. every little kid waiting for a school bus on a rainy day somewhere has danced in the rain.
Great reaction video! You're also beautiful. The one thing about this movie that is amazing to me is how well the young Debbie Reynolds with no previous dance experience kept up with two of Hollywood's best and most experienced dancers..
my favorite movie ever, finaly someone reacting to it
Something I haven’t seen mentioned is the origin of Singin’ in the Rain. The studio had a catalog of songs so it wrote the movie to use those songs. That explains the dream sequence using songs that would have no logical place in the Dueling Cavalier. Most of the songs also had been used before in other films.
Famous for the dancing and singing, but the film was also a great history lessen in Hollywood's transition from silents to talkies.
I'm always so happy to see someone react to this movie. It's one of my favourites of all time and I watch it whenever I just want a little feel good pickmeup. (I'm also happy that this reaction brought you to my feed -- I really love your reactions and look forward to continuing to see more.)
West Side Story and South Pacific are musts!
Loved the reaction. My favourite musical by far - don't think it could ever be bettered, fast-paced, packed with amazing dance sequences, full of colourful sets and amazing costumes. La La Land made a good attempt but it shows how difficult it is to top it.
Would recommend The Wizard of Oz which is another great musical I think you will like
Thanks for reacting to this film. There's so many great musicals to watch. Enjoy!
Thank you so much for watching! Glad you enjoyed it :)
In keeping with the classic musicals theme:
1) The Music Man (original 1962 version) with Robert Preston, Shirley Jones and a 10-year-old Ron Howard
2) Guys and Dolls (1955) with Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons, Frank Sinatra and Vivian Blaine (Brando and Simmons weren’t singers, but they sang anyway.)
3) Oklahoma (1955) with Shirley Jones, Gordon McRae and Rod Steiger
4) Fiddler on the Roof (1971) with the legendary Topol in the starring role
5) Victor/Victoria (1982) with Julie Andrews, James Garner, Robert Preston and Lesley Ann Warren (It's not what I consider a “classic” in the strictest sense of the word, but it's really good and super fun.)
Donald O'Connor is the most underrated actor of this era. He's one of my all time favorite actors.
I'm not sure playing second fiddle to a talking mule was a good career move for him.
He was given the co-lead because he wasn't underrated.
@@jnagarya519 I'm not saying when it came out, i mean from the perspective of today. Can you name how many movies he was in? When you think of this era of movies, who is the first person to come to mind? is it Gene Kelly? Fred Astaire? Bing Crosby? in the years of being a Don fan, the casual viewer only knows them or doesn't know Donald except maybe as Francis's sidekick. That's what I mean by underrated.
@@logicaldreamer9641 Because a person is unaware of Donald O'Connor's existence does not mean O'Connor is underrated. It means that the person doesn't know that O'Connor exists. O'Connor's talent is O'Connor's talent, regardless who knows or doesn't know he exists.
@@jnagarya519 thus... He's undervalued because he is extremely talented and should be known as well as the others...therefore...underrated. I'm sorry for stating an opinion that you seem to not agree with...though I'm not sure you really understand the definition of underrated.
Love watching that Cyd Charrise dancing!
5:13 The "gossip-columnist/Hedda Hopper/Louella Parsons"-type character shown speaking is played by Madge Blake, who is probably best known for playing "Aunt Harriet" on the 1966 _Batman_ TV series.
An American in Paris is another great musical with gene Kelly. and Top Hat with Fred Astaire
debbie reynolds is carrie fisher (princess leia) mother
The story of Lina Lamont was inspired by Norma Talmadge, who did all of these great historical dramatic parts in Silents and looked like an empress, but talked like a girl from "da Bronx," - which she was. Luckily she'd married rich, so was able to spend her life in a haze of privilege and alcohol, just as she wished.
I saw the stage version in Melbourne, Australia a few years ago. It followed the movie very closely, including Cosmo's amazing acrobatics during Make 'em Laugh. Imagine having to do that run up the wall into a backflip every performance, and twice on Saturdays!
Me too. Got to sit in the very front row and had water splashed on us.
"Laura" is a great film, it basically originated the "noir" genre as people know it. I'd also recommend you try "Roman Holiday" since we know you love Audrey Hepburn. It was her first starring role. Also, anything with Cary Grant is right up your alley!
Charade!
I love Roman Holiday.Not only was it Audrey Hepburns first starring role as you said but also she won the Academy Award for it .
Yes, Laura. This movie is great
One of my favorite movies!
Greatest musical ever! Debbie Reynolds turned 18 during the filming. she said that at the end of shoot the Good Mornin' number, her her feet were so raw that her shoes had blood in them.
With the advent of synchronized sound in the late 1920s, Hollywood began producing musicals. Silent films had ruled the world for the previous 20 years, but they always had musical accompaniment with either a pianist, organist, combo or full orchestra depending on the size of the theatre with musical suggestions or specific sheet music supplied by the film studios with appropriate music timed to be played during whatever sort of scene was on the screen at the moment. When synched sound came in, everything changed and that's what Singin' In The Rain is having some fun with. Many careers ended, but many more were added. A film that deals with the more depressing aspects of the transition is Sunset Boulevard.
I first saw this in Grade 10 Canadian History class. Teacher put it on while we were doing our assignments. I'd always finish the assignment quick, getting excellent marks on every single one, so I can watch and focus on the film. I fell in love - waiting for the 4K to come out.
Great commentary video!
Oddly, Jean Hagen (Lina Lamont) actually dubbed Debbie Reynolds for the songs in this film. This means she dubbed herself whenever she was seen singing on screen. The producers preferred her voice to Reynold's.
Adolf and Green, the screen writers were writing a script homage to all kinds of old Hollywood silent movies and stories about the transition from silent to talking pictures. When you study film, Singing In The Rain is often screened as a sort of history lesson.
One of my favorite movies.
No, Debbie Reynolds does indeed sing her songs. You can tell because she always has that same Texas accent that she has throughout the entire film. Only once is her voice dubbed, and it was the song “Would you” both times it’s played.
Debbie Reynolds doesn't sing all of the songs in the movie. In the "dubbing scenes", Jean Hagen dubs Debbie Reynolds' speaking voice. So Jean Hagen is dubbed by Debbie Reynolds who is dubbed by Jean Hagen herself. Can you still follow? But the songs " Would you" and "Lucky Star" were sung by a singer named Betty Noyes. The other songs in the movie Debbie Reynolds sang herself of course.
You'll enjoy An American in Paris. More Gene Kelly. For a great early romcom The Philadelphia Story.
Debbie Reynolds is AMAZING, ESP considering that she didn't know how to dance and then was cast opposite to the legendary Gene Kelly and dancing alongside Donald O'Connor.
Speaking of Donald, I highly recommend checking out "There's No Business Like Show Business."
Love your commentaries! More classic films!!
The Band Wagon is the perfect companion piece to Singing' In The Rain and is very nearly as good ... this time with Fred Astaire instead of Gene Kelly ... he's also dancing with Cyd Charisse, and it features perhaps the most beautiful dance number in a musical, Dancing In The Dark. it also features the famous private eye ballet, The Girl Hunt.
In reality, Jean Hagen (Lina) had an amazing singing voice. I find it noble of her to take that role.
In all the scenes when Lina was lip-syncing Kathy's voice (recorded or live), it was not Debbie Reynold's voice they used, it was Jean Hagen's. Crazy, huh.
The reason that MGM's peak musicals from this -- their greatest period -- included so many gargantuan, long ballet-style sequences like the one you mention going on a bit -- is because Gene Kelly had seen the British fantasy-musical-drama, The Red Shoes, 1948, which raised the bar for the film musical with its long, massive and beautiful Red Shoes ballet fantasy sequence, and Kelly and subsequently MGM could not allow themselves to be outdone in musical largesse by some Brit upstarts, and thus in films like An American in Paris, Singin' in the Rain, the Band Wagon and some others you see this sort of thing. Interestingly, I had always suspected that MGM's musical numbers got this way because of The Red Shoes before I had ever read or known about this fact. The Red Shoes, btw, is my all-time favorite film. Thanks for reviewing the classics. I like seeing younger viewers dipping deep into the foundational classics, since most seem to think movie history began with Star Wars, and it's kind of sad.
So fun to watch new people watch it. Makes me laugh at everything, like the first time I did, all over again.
I was fortunate to be able to see this film on the big screen back in 2002, shortly after it had been lovingly restored by Warner Bros. (which owns the copyright now, even though it's an MGM film) using a then-new process called the Ultra Resolution process (it was the very first film restored using this process), and it had so impressed director Stanley Donen that he said that the film looked better than it had when it originally opened in 1952! I have to admit, I was STUNNED when I saw the images on that big screen - even from the back rows, I could see the makeup on Gene Kelly's face (and even the pores in his skin!) in the opening scene at Grauman's Chinese Theater. I never imagined I'd be able to see such a crystal-clear image from a film from that era!
This is one of those movies that's truly a "feel good" film, exuding so much positivity and joy that it's infectious. And it never gets old! No matter how many times I see it, I'm always dancing in my seat or tapping my toes, and laughing and smiling throughout it! It's perfect on a gloomy day when I feel down. It really helps to pick me back up again.
Oh my dear, if you loved the dance numbers, then you MUST watch Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. It has some of the best choreography (by Michael Kidd) ever put on film! Most people love the barn-raising dance, and the "Goin' Courtin' " dance (deservedly so on both counts), but please don't overlook the evocative and ingenious "Lonesome Polecat" dance -- the most creative combination of ballet and homestead labor ever.
Kiss Me Kate is a fun musical retelling of Taming of the Shrew.
When he jumped on the piano, "That's impressive!" You ain't seen nothing yet!!!
Every sound that came out of Lina, was voiced by Jean Hagen, she dubbed Debbie's singing and speaking for her.
I've never seen this movie despite it being on my to see list for several years. I'll be watching it this weekend! Thank you!
A few more musicals: The Wizard of Oz(1939), Meet Me in St. Louis(1944), The Harvey Girls(1946) all starring Judy Garland; and Gigi(1958) starring Leslie Caron with songs by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe who worked on My Fair Lady.
I'd seen most of the song and dance numbers from this movie before I saw the whole movie, there used to be tv shows in the 1980's that showed clips from classic musicals such as this.
I'd recommend "Gold Diggers of 1935" if you like big song and dance numbers- apparently they made a few Gold Digger movies back in the 1930's, 1935 is the one I remember. The big dance number near the end of this film was, I believe, inspired by Gold Diggers.
Another recommendation from me is "Calamity Jane", also a classic :)
Fun fact after Donald O'Connor filmed the Make em laugh number he spent the next few days in bed for exhaustion. Only to be told when he returned to the set that the film they shot had been ruined and he had to do it all over again.
I didn't discover this movie until I was in my 40s...fell in love with it. I wasn't much into musicals until then. Discovered other musicals..you should check out Music Man or On the Town.
IT make me so happy when i see young people interested in old movies and enjoy them . Thanks ❤❤❤
The voice played in the videos and songs for Lina that was supposedly Kathy's was actually Jean Hagen's (the actress for Lina) normal voice, one of the greatest ironies in cinema history.
One of my favorite bits of trivia, which is mentioned already in the comments, is that Jean Hagen (Lina Lamont) real voice was used to dub for Debbie Reynolds (Kathy Selden), the opposite of how it’s played in the film.
Additionally, Jean’s voice as Lina is a mimic of the ICONIC Judy Holliday, one of my personal favorites both on and off screen.
They originally wanted Judy Holliday for the role but she wasn't available.
Wonderful, Ash! 😊 I really enjoyed rewatching this classic with you. Great job!
Ash - I would recommend two additional musicals:
1) The Bandwagon with Fred Astaire.
2) Kiss Me Kate with Howard Keel.
There are many excellent movie musicals to check out.
Not always, but fairly often, when it's raining, I put on my earbuds, start up the song Singin' in the Rain on my phone and sing along while (no doubt badly) dancing in the rain.
Ash, absolutely love your reactions :-) I know you will get a lot of classic musical suggestions, but I am going to add a non-musical - my personal favorite John Wayne film: The Quiet Man. Even if you don't react to it, I think it is worth a watch. Keep doing what you do, and keep being who you are!
Yes! "The Quiet Man", is one of my all-time favorite pictures!
If you liked this movie, I think you'd enjoy "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" (1954), also directed by Stanley Donen, starring Howard Keel and Jane Powell. Great songs, great dancing. The barn raising scene alone is worth the price of admission.
You do have to roll your eyes at the caveman attitudes and kidnapping women being played for laughs, not to mention the WTF Lonesome Polecat song. But I agree the barn dancing is incredible. Plus Howard Keel was so dreamy.
@@janleonard3101 "Caveman attitudes?" "Kidnapping women?" Those are the best parts! Well, besides Julie Newmar's "parts." But...yeah..."A man can't sleep when he sleeps with sheep" is...umm...okay, WTF?
@@a.g.marshall2191 🤣🤣😂😂
@@janleonard3101 Not to mention Jacques d'Amboise swinging an axe around while he's dancing. I think it probably gave Tobe Hooper the idea to have Leatherface dance with a chainsaw at the end of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre."
A musical in the same vein as this would be 7 Brides for 7 Brothers. Also, The Unsinkable Molly Brown (also with Debbie Reynolds). And Calamity Jane (with Doris Day). I'd say each of those films are very similar in tone, with lots of great dancing and great songs. Meet Me in St. Louis (with Judy Garland) is also highly recommended.
Each of the films above are stocked with famous songs that you might recognize once you watch the film, and all are comedies!
In answer to your question if anyone has ever sang in the rain the answer is yes. About 15 years ago I went out for the evening. It was mid June and it had been a delightful day so I went out in just jeans and a t shirt. By 11pm it was raining torrentially. There comes a point where you cannot possibly get any wetter. So I just walked home jumping in puddles and having a brilliant time. 😀😀
I loved your review. This has been one of my favourite movies since I was a kid.
Excellent reaction. Love to see the joy of today’s audience enjoying and appreciating the classic movies . Keep picking movies from AFI, but another great musical is The King and I, with Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr.
Arthur Freed wrote music for movies before becoming a producer. He produced the movie An American in Paris starring Gene Kelly. That movie was built around the music of George Gershwin. Freed thought since he has a catalog of songs why can't he make a movie featuring his songs. That's how this movie started.
It's interesting watching movies from the 1930s and suddenly realize I am listening to one of these songs.
I'm not sure what you read that indicated "Singin' in the Rain" was unusual for not being based on a stage play but... that actually was not uncommon at all for movie musicals in the 1930s, 40s, and 50s. Nowadays most movie musicals are based on stage plays but, during the height of MGM, although some movie musicals were Broadway adaptations (like "The King and I", "Brigadoon" or "Girl Crazy"), a lot of movie musicals were original (like "The Wizard of Oz", "An American in Paris" or "Easter Parade"). Even some of the ones that were "based" on stage musicals really just took some of the soundtrack and structured them around an original story (like "Anything Goes", "The Band Wagon" or "Funny Face"). It was even relatively common to take successful Broadway composers and just bring them to Hollywood to write new songs for original movie musicals rather than completely adapt their Broadway shows. (Examples include: Cole Porter writing songs for "High Society", the Gershwins writing for "Shall We Dance", and Irving Berlin writing all the songs in "Holiday Inn"). So, although "Singin' in the Rain" is brilliant, its status as an original Hollywood musical was really not that unusual for an early 1950s movie musical.
I sang in the rain yesterday. No joke. I was in the pouring rain for a good 30 minutes just loving it
Your appreciation of great things is... to be greatly appreciated. This is true cinema.
This is a timeless classic that should be a required watch for anyone who fancies themselves a movie buff.As already mentioned Carrie Fisher, Reynolds' daughter is also in a musical of sorts that you should check out The Blues Brothers lots of singing and some dance numbers. One of my personal favorites
Thank you for watching :)
I would definitely suggest Brigadoon (a personal favorite) and An American in Paris, both starring Gene Kelly. Both my children were raised with many songs from musicals, but haven't necessarily seen the entire movie the song is from. Both in their 20's, but can sing Singin' in the Rain.
Around Christmas time you would like "Holiday Inn", It was a big production with lots of comedy, singing and impressive scenes.
One of my favorites! I’d venture a guess that most people (now) don’t know that this film introduced the song “White Christmas”, not the movie of the same name 🎄
@@arthurerickson5162 'White Christmas' is a great film too, though. The Best Things Happen When You're Dancing...
The funniest inside "joke" is that Debbie Reynold's singing is dubbed in the movie!
Debbie Reynolds’s is so cute in this movie and does an amazing job holding her own against Gene and Donald.
This *obviously* made Debbie Reynolds a gargantuan star. Just before she died, clearly of heartbreak days after her daughter Carrie Fisher died, they made one of the best documentaries of recent years. You should check out Bright Lights (2016). Raw, beautiful and touching. And a perfect marriage of Hollywood old and new.
Always love a young person who loves old films.
Some fun trivia for those unaware...Debbie Reynolds is the mother of Carrie Fisher, "Princess Leia " from Star Wars.
Two interesting behind-the -scenes facts:
1: The Good Mornin' dance scene took around 14 hours to film, and by the end it actually caused burst blood vessels in Debbie Reynolds' feet.
2: During the filming of the Singin' in the Rain dance scene, Gene Kelly was very sick, with a fever of 103°, and the water used in the scene caused his wool suit to shrink.
they premiered the first talking movie in 1928, "The Jazz Singer" with Al Jolson, not many actors/actress of that era did have a pleasant or nice voice, so they was dubbed to hide it!
someone who finds comfort and love of rain is called a Pluviophile, and I am most certainly influenced by having watched this as a child, I still sing the song to myself whenever it begins to sprinkle and I find such joy in being caught by it
For a pronunciation of Cyd Charisse, think "shareese". By the way, there's a hard to find outtake of the stuntman doubling for Gene Kelly jumping from the streetcar and missing the open convertible, landing flat on his ass in the middle of the street. It probably really hurt.
@Randy White If you want to see the clip, it's at The Fall Guy - Season 1 intro HD.