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 .. Read more
| Starring | Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, Cyd Charisse, Debbie Reynolds |
|---|---|
| Director | Gene Kelly, Stanley Donen |
| Genres | Comedy, Music/Musical, Romance |
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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 co-star, 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?
| Starring | Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, Cyd Charisse, Debbie Reynolds, Jean Hagen, Millard Mitchell |
|---|---|
| Director | Gene Kelly, Stanley Donen |
| Studio | WARNER HOME VIDEO |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 38 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Collections | 100 must-see movies |
| Genres | Comedy, Music/Musical, Romance |
| Language | English |
| Hearing-impaired | English, Italian |
| Subtitles | Arabic, Bulgarian, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish |
| Released | DVD: 09 Apr 2001 Production year: 1952 |
| Format | DVD |
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Never, in the whole history of the American cinema, has such a collection of talents come together at the peak of their abilities to generate such an enjoyable and clever movie. Not only is this utterly irrepressible, but the story also beautifully evokes the excitement and pleasure of making motion pictures. Gene Kelly, co-director (with Stanley Donen) and star, was responsible in his lifetime for providing enormous pleasure for movie audiences, and his joyous rendition of the title song in this film stands as a lasting tribute. For those who don't know, this film is an affectionate parody of the days when sound came to Hollywood in the wake of The Jazz Singer, and every incident wittily referred to in Betty Comden and Adolph Green's screenplay actually happened. And, for those who do know, Singin' in the Rain is the supreme original — it wasn't a book, it wasn't a show, it was a unique work of art crafted for the screen in a studio (MGM) at its height.
"...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
This movie never fails to cheer me up - perfect for rainy afternoons with a cup of tea and a pack of biscuits!
This is "the" musical with "the" scene.
It's hard to judge without the trappings of all the references to it that have littered the modern media of film and television - but -
Who needs a plot when you have a series of song and dance routines like these!
Plus, look out for Donald O'Connor - next to Gene he may be in the shadows but he plays his heart out.
There are some movie fans who will, no doubt, be quite content to leave the musical genre outside Singin' In The Rain, preferring their silver screen experience to remain uninterrupted by spontaneous bouts of singing, tapping and dancing. For others, however, the innocent charm exuded by film genres poor relation, will ensure that The Sound Of Music will emanate from many a home movie system. Compulsive list-maker the American Film Institute (AFI) has now compiled its list of the 25 greatest... Read more