It's amazing that I could keep up with him and Donald O'Connor. The original negative of this film was destroyed in a fire. The script was written after the songs, and so the writers had to generate a plot into which the songs would fit. However, it's not Reynolds who is speaking, it's Jean Hagen herself, who actually had a beautiful deep, rich voice.
And when Debbie is supposedly dubbing Jean's singing of "Would You? The screenwriters bought a house in Hollywood from a former silent film star who lost his wealth when the innovation of sound film killed his career.
This was part of the inspiration for the film. According to supplemental information on the DVD, the first time they tried to film the "Singin' In The Rain" sequence they shot it in the late afternoon. Unfortunately the homeowners in the area had just come home from work and had turned on their lawn sprinklers so there was not enough water pressure for the "rain" to work.
They finally filmed the sequence the next day, early enough so that everyone was at work and the water pressure was adequate for the shot. Because he knew that her crying would hold up filming, Gene Kelly would use Donald O'Connor as his "whipping boy" when he was frustrated with Debbie Reynolds. Kelly knew O'Connor could take the tongue lashing he really wanted to lay on Reynolds, who was only 19 at the time of filming.
This fact was revealed to Reynolds by O'Connor years later. Costume designer Walter Plunkett said that this was the most work he ever did on a film, including Gone with the Wind Both films were period pieces, but this one required a greater number of elaborate, ornately detailed costumes than "Gone With the Wind" did. They had to be more accurate, too, since audiences remembered Hollywood of the late '20s more clearly than audiences remembered the Civil War.
All told, Plunkett designed about costumes. Debbie Reynolds had no professional dancing experience. She pointed this out when she was asked to be in the film. Reynolds had been a gymnast, so she wasn't unfamiliar with physical movement requiring grace and stamina.
Ever the trouper, she buckled down and rehearsed day and night until she could share a dance floor with Kelly and Donald O'Connor. The "Broadway Ballet" sequence was originally to have featured Gene Kelly and Donald O'Connor , but the latter was forced to leave because of a prior TV commitment, so Cyd Charisse was tapped to replace him.
She was made up to look like Louise Brooks and had to diet off the extra pounds she had just gained during her recent pregnancy. Charisse, a ballet dancer who had never before worked in heels, had to adjust her dancing style considerably to mesh with Kelly's jazz background. He later stated that he was angry that MGM had repeatedly prevented him from accepting lead roles in other films, such as Guys and Dolls Kelly's extremely hostile attitude throughout the filming of Singin' in the Rain resulted in MGM releasing him from his contract.
The last shot of the "Good Morning" number, with Don, Kathy, and Cosmo falling over the couch, took 40 takes to shoot. Studio technicians had to cover two outdoor city blocks on the backlot with tarp to make them dark for a night scene, and then equipped them with overhead sprays for Gene Kelly to perform the title number. Their efforts are all the more remarkable since there was a severe water shortage in Culver City the day the sequence was shot.
This was the seventh time the song "Singin' in the Rain" was used on the big screen. A clip from Edwards' footage was later used as part of the talkie montage in " Babes in Arms Judy Garland put her spin on it in " Little Nellie Kelly Costume designer Walter Plunkett had worked in films since , and some of his recollections were the source for gags about the perils of early sound shooting.
Most of the characters are based on actual people: R. Simpson, the studio head, is obviously a parody on Louis B.
Mayer , with touches of Arthur Freed. Dora Bailey is an obvious caricature of Louella Parsons. Roscoe Dexter, the director is based on eccentric director Erich von Stroheim. Olga, the vamp at the premiere, is based on Pola Negri and Gloria Swanson , both of whom landed royalty as husbands.
Like Lina Lamont, when sound films arrived, many silent screen actors lost their careers because their voices didn't match their screen personas. One famous example is silent star John Gilbert. However, it wasn't the sound of his voice that killed his career, but the ridiculously florid lines he had to say. The lines that Gene Kelly 's character speaks in "The Dueling Cavalier" are based on the types of lines that killed John Gilbert 's career.
Cyd Charisse said that the long veil she wore during the "Broadway Ballet" sequence caught enough breeze from the fan that the pull almost caused her to lose her balance during some of the steps. This film begins with the premiere of Lockwood and Lamont in "The Royal Rascal", a black-and-white silent film.
Both the color and sound were taken out of the footage and title cards added. After Kelly throws the guard with the spear over the stairway railing, Lana Turner , who played Lady de Winter in the earlier film, is briefly seen coming through the door on the landing before it cuts to new footage of Jean Hagen hugging Kelly.
The discontinuity is made more noticeable because of the drastic difference in hairstyles and dresses worn by the two actresses. Before this film, Cyd Charisse had appeared in films as a "dance specialty" or as a supporting player since her arrival at MGM in Her torrid performance as the Louise Brooks -like vamp in the "Broadway Ballet" was so revelatory that producer Arthur Freed was moved to elevate her to star status.
Working days sometimes stretched to 19 hours. Filming of the "Crazy Veil" section of the "Broadway Ballet" had to be stopped for several hours after it was discovered that Cyd Charisse 's pubic hair was visible through her costume. When the problem was finally fixed, the film's costume designer Walter Plunkett apparently said, "It's okay, guys, we've finally got Cyd's crotch licked.
Gene Kelly choreographed his dance scenes with Cyd Charisse to hide the fact that she was taller than he was. To keep the height difference from being obvious, Kelly staged the routine so that the two were rarely upright when standing next to each other, always bending toward or away from one another instead.
Cyd Charisse had to be taught how to smoke a cigarette for the "Broadway Ballet" sequence. She stated that she never smoked another cigarette after that.
The role of the ditzy movie diva Lina Lamont was written with Judy Holliday in mind. Holliday was a close friend of Betty Comden and Adolph Green , and they even modeled the character on routines they had worked up with Holliday back when they were part of a satirical group called The Revuers in New York. Timing was everything, however, and the idea of casting Holliday was vetoed after she hit it big in Born Yesterday Everyone figured she'd be uninterested in the supporting part but, as it turned out, Jean Hagen , Holliday's understudy on Broadway for "Born Yesterday", got the part.
Additionally, both Holliday and Hagen had worked together in Adam's Rib both in key supporting roles, Hagen playing a woman involved with Judy's husband.
Hagen's speech in that film was similar in "pitch" to what she later exhibited as Lina Lamont. As O'Connor noted in an interview, "Gene didn't have a clue as to the kind of number it was meant to be. The two of them brainstormed ideas in the rehearsal room, and came up with a compendium of gags and "shtick" that O'Connor had done for years, some of which he had performed in vaudeville. O'Connor recalled, "Every time I got a new idea or remembered something that had worked well for me in the past, Gene wrote it down and, bit by bit, the entire number was constructed.
Gene Kelly was suffering from a temperature of when filming the title number. The title number was originally supposed to be a showcase for the three leads but Gene Kelly figured it would work well to illustrate his character's joie de vivre. Given that the plot centers around a worthy performer working in an uncredited and unrecognized capacity in a movie, it is ironic that many of the film's on-camera performers even ones with relatively major supporting speaking roles and significant behind-the-scenes crew members did not receive onscreen credits.
Likewise, accomplished Broadway dancers Carol Haney and Gwen Verdon were both uncredited choreography assistants to Gene Kelly , whose job as the film's main choreographer also went uncredited. After finishing filming the "Make 'em Laugh' dance sequence, Donald O'Connor found the effort so taxing that he went to bed for three days. For the dream segment within the "Broadway Ballet" sequence, Gene Kelly choreographed a scarf dance, using an enormous foot veil of white China silk attached to Cyd Charisse 's costume.
Most of the costumes from this film were eventually acquired by Debbie Reynolds and housed in her massive collection of original film costumes, sets and props. Many of these items were sold at a auction in Hollywood. This film was well received by theatergoers but recalled from Lowe's Theaters by the spring of , so as to not compete with the reissue of An American in Paris , which also starred Gene Kelly.
It was commonplace, at that time, for a film to have a second run after winning an Academy Award, as it did for Best Picture. Howard Keel was the original choice to play Don Lockwood; however, he was replaced by Gene Kelly as the screenwriters evolved the character from a "Western actor" background to a "song-and-dance vaudeville" background. Although there is no precise documentation of what or where it was, close examination of footage toward the end of the dance shows an abrupt cut when Charisse is wrapped around Kelly, indicating the probable location.
Contrary to popular belief, Jean Hagen didn't base the voice of Lina Lamont on any actual silent film stars. The entire performance--the squeaky, raspy voice; the Sunnyside, Queens, accent; the hair, makeup and body language-- was based on the characters Judy Holliday often portrayed, especially Holliday's Oscar-winning performance in Born Yesterday Hagen had had the opportunity to observe Holliday in person when they were co-stars in Adam's Rib Originally, Debbie Reynolds was going to play Gene Kelly 's partner in the "Broadway Melody" sequence, but her dancing wasn't up to the task.
Leslie Caron , who had danced with Kelly in An American in Paris , was the second choice, but she was unavailable. Betty Comden story by Adolph Green story by. See more at IMDbPro. Top rated movie Trailer Singin' in the Rain. Video Photos Top cast Edit. Millard Mitchell R.
Simpson as R. Cyd Charisse Dancer as Dancer. John Angelo Dancer as Dancer uncredited. Jimmy Bates Boy as Boy uncredited. Stanley Donen Gene Kelly. More like this. Watch options. Storyline Edit. Monumental Pictures' biggest stars, glamorous on-screen couple Lina Lamont and Don Lockwood, are also an off-screen couple if the trade papers and gossip columns are to be believed.
Both perpetuate the public perception if only to please their adoring fans and bring people into the movie theaters. In reality, Don barely tolerates her, while Lina, despite thinking Don beneath her, simplemindedly believes what she sees on screen in order to bolster her own stardom and sense of self-importance. Simpson, Monumental's head, dismisses what he thinks is a flash in the pan: talking pictures. It isn't until The Jazz Singer becomes a bona fide hit which results in all the movie theaters installing sound equipment that R.
Musician Cosmo Brown, Don's best friend, gets hired as Monumental's ideas man and musical director. And by this time, Don has secretly started dating Kathy Selden, a chorus girl who is trying to make it big in pictures herself. Don and Kathy's relationship is despite their less than friendly initial meeting. Cosmo and Kathy help Don, who had worked his way up through the movie ranks to stardom, try make the leap to talking picture stardom, with Kathy following along the way.
Warner Bros. Cohan and Jerome Kern, respectively. Many of those ditties were big hits, and Freed had certainly earned the clout at MGM to advance what might have otherwise been seen as a vanity project.
The studio head in the movie, R. Simpson, is based on him. The similarities were overwhelming and undeniable. She was quite young, too, turning 19 during the shoot. Kelly, her love interest, was Or she was when she wore heels, anyway, as she does in the film. To keep the height difference from being obvious, Kelly arranged the routine so that they were never both standing upright when they were next to each other, always bending toward or away from one another instead.
All told, Plunkett designed about costumes for the film. The whole shoot was difficult for that reason, and this number was particularly challenging.
Reynolds said that at the end of a hour day shooting the scene, her feet were bleeding. So the job went to Cyd Charisse, an acclaimed dancer whom Kelly had admired since seeing her work with Fred Astaire in Ziegfield Follies. The unconfirmed but probably true explanation is that censors deemed a portion of the dance too suggestive.
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