It's All About SIngin' In The Rain

Added: 11/29/2007

Every single movie made in Hollywood has a story behind it and it is always interesting when the plots of some movies are about the things that go on behind the scenes in Hollywood. For all of its fame and everything Gene Kelly accomplished with Singin' In The Rain it is one of those movies where many people could pick out the famous dance scene but not many people know the plot. Yes there is a plot to the movie.

Singin' In The Rain was released in 1952 and to say that it was an easy movie to make is about the most incorrect statement you could ever make. Yes it is true that Singin' In The Rain stands as one of the most famous movies Gene Kelly ever made but even though millions of people could pick out Kelly's famous dance scene in the rain not many people know what went into making Singin' In The Rain or even what the plot of the movie is. Gene Kelly was not only the star of the movie but he was also the choreographer and even though Gene Kelly to this day has to share the Hollywood dancing spotlight with Fred Astaire the two could not have been more different in their approach to movie making and their dancing styles as well. Fred Astaire was known as the nice guy in the coat and tails that smiles when he dances and looks like about the easiest going guy you could ever want to meet. Gene Kelly was a very athletic dancer and his approach to dancing was very regimented and very precise. He demanded a lot out of his dancers and of himself. Not many people know this but he danced the very famous rain scene in Singin' In The Rain while fighting a 103 degree temperature. He also discovered part way through the title dance scene that the rain they were using, a combination of milk and water, was causing his wool suit to shrink as he danced. But through all of that Gene Kelly pushed on and, as with many of his other projects, Kelly's world would inadvertently collide with Astaire's world behind the scenes yet again.

At 19 years old Debbie Reynolds saw Singin' In The Rain as her big chance. She still lived with her folks and commuted 3 hours everyday to the set by bus, sometimes preferring to sleep on the set rather than take the bus. One day Kelly verbally, and loudly, admonished Reynolds for not being able to dance and this brought her to tears. Fred Astaire, while visiting the set of SIngin' In The Rain one day, found Debbie Reynolds sitting under a piano and crying from Kelly's insults and tirades about her dancing. Fred Astaire taught Debbie Reynolds how to dance and the rest, as they say, is history.

Singin' In The Rain is about two silent movie stars named Don Lockwood, played by Gene Kelly, and Lina Lamont who was played by Jean Hagen. Their studio decided that their new movie should have sound so they would have to sing. Lockwood has no problem with that but Lamont's voice is horrible. They bring in showgirl Kathy Selden, played by Debbie Reynolds, to dub over Lamont's voice for the movie. The problem is that after working together for years Lamont has fallen in love with Lockwood but he is not interested in returning the affection. Lockwood, instead, falls in love with Selden. From there all the singing and dancing commences. Another funny fact about Singin' In The Rain is that Jean Hagen actually had a very nice natural voice so in the scenes where you see Debbie Reynolds as Kathy Selden overdubbing Lamont's voice it is actually Jean Hagen overdubbing Debbie Reynolds as she is supposed to be overdubbing Jean Hagen's characters voice. See how much fun Hollywood can be?

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