Singin’ in the Rain (1952)

Directors: Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly

Starring: Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor, Debbie Reynolds

A silent film star falls for a chorus girl just as he and his delusionally jealous screen partner are trying to make the difficult transition to talking pictures in 1920s Hollywood.

Oh, what a glorious feeling!

Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly) is a famous actor during the silent movie era, but he starts doubting his acting ability when he meets Kathy (Debbie Reynolds), a chorus girl who claims to be a stage actress.

Don and his best friend Cosmo (Donald O’Connor) have been performing together from a young age. By chance, Don landed a job as stuntman for a movie, while Cosmo plays the piano for the silent film. Having starred together with Lina Lamond (Jean Hagen) in several films, Don and Lina became household names – “like bacon and eggs”!

After the premiere of Don and Lina’s latest film, producer R.F. Simpson (Millard Mitchell) shows the cast and crew a demo of a talking picture, but no-one believes it will amount to anything. However, after the success of ‘The Jazz Singer’ – the first talking picture – the demand is so great that Simpson decides to turn Don and Lina’s new film into a musical – only Lina can’t sing!

To the public, Don and Lina is the perfect couple, but Don can’t stand Lina. He is smitten with Kathy, who agrees to help them with their picture by dubbing Lina’s voice. Cosmo comes up with ideas to turn the film into a musical, and although Don is the film’s lead, Cosmo steals the show (for me). Donald O’Conner is absolutely fabulous as Cosmo and reminded me of a hilarious combination of Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. One particular musical segment he does is laugh-out-loud funny!!

‘Singin’ in the Rain’ boasts a great cast, good production design, beautiful costumes, and a good script with funny dialogue. The film depicts the transition from silent films to talkies, and is told in a highly entertaining manner. I absolutely loved it!

‘Singin’ in the Rain’ received Oscar nominations for Best Supporting Actress, and Best Music. It also won awards for Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical, Best Comedy or Musical Film, and Best Written American Musical among others. At the box office, the film earned $7.2 million on a budget of $2.54 million.

Would I watch it again? Yes.