Singin' in the Rain

I loved that movie when I fast forwarded through the songs. I'll have to turn in my homo card but I despise musicals.

A really good movie, not a wasted moment, has truly earned its high regard and reputation.

The acting in this movie is superb, if not a little bit over-the-top.

Everybody is so high energy, it's almost exhausting to watch!

I love that film and consider it the pinnacle of movie musicals (most of which I can't sit still for), but I wouldn't say there's not a wasted moment. The "Broadway Melody" sequence is a surreal drop-in that does nothing to advance the story and, I strongly suspect, was just an ego-wank for Gene Kelly. However, it gave us that wonderful Cyd Charisse number, with that green costume and those legs!, so I can't fault it completely. I won't dwell on the bizarre closing crane shot or I'll end up changing my mind again (shudder).

I'm watching it right now on TCM.

Is everybody in the movie, on meth?

Debbie Reynolds is beyond adorable in this. She's like a little Kewpie doll.

The dancing is incredible. Hard to believe Debbie Reynolds was just 19 when she made this movie and had to learn how to dance for it!

Jean Hagen practically steals the show as Lina. "An' I caaaaan't stan 'im!"

And I laugh out loud every time I watch the studio head come in and yank the cord and Lina goes toppling over backward.

Gene Kelly was pure sex. His ass alone was worth the price of admission to any of his movies.

Gene Kelly's "protege" Jimmy Thompson was so cute in the Beautiful Girl number.

I think Donald was hot. Much prefer him the Kelly.

You're right about Broadway Melody.

I'm watching it now, and it really does come in out of nowhere.

Definitely doesn't fit in the movie they were making. Ridiculous.

I don't know anything about either Gene Kelly or Donald O'Connor.

Were there any gay rumors about either of them? Because they both kind of pinged in the movie.

Donald was so cute. I know a guy who looks a lot like him and I could just get lost in his eyes. So beautiful.

One of my alltime favorite movies, but it seems like TCM shows it every week. I know it was just on last week.

Although the dancing in the Broadway Melody number is incredible, it's the one part of the film that just doesn't fit. Like it was a big vanity piece for Kelly.

Aside from that, his ass is a wonder to watch in that number. And the rest of the film is practically perfect.

R4 I think I read somewhere once that the Broadway Melody number was originally intended for An American in Paris, but for some reason was dropped, so they threw it into this movie.

I do love watching all the gay chorus boys dancing in that number, though. I wonder how many of 'em fucked Gene and/or each other.

The Gene Kelly's Butt Tumblr for your perusal DLers.

R18 Love it! Thank you!

Haha that ass was made for TWERKING!

LOL. I love how every photo on that Tumblr is captioned "Gene Kelly's Butt in ...." It's an undeniable truth that the man himself is second fiddle to his butt.

I am "a shimmering, glowing star in the cinema firmament." It says so, right there.

"Well, if it isn't Ethel Barrymore!"

"If we can bring a little happiness into your humdrum lives..."

Rofl R24. I loved that line!

Aww... I really loved that ending.

What a cute movie.

This interview segment with Debbie afterward makes it sound like Debbie wasn't all that crazy about Gene.

Gene Kelly was a stud.

Great face, and great ass!

When I see this it makes me wish that Donald O'Conner had made White Christmas instead of Danny Kaye as originally planned....

And then there's this story about Debbie & Jean.....

The Gene Kelly/Debbie Reynolds sappy romance ruined it for me. It was the worst thing about the movie.

Jean Hagen should have won an Oscar for this. She was perfect!

No, Debbie Reynolds had not much fondness for Gene Kelly. He worked her until her feet bled and when they did their first screen kiss (can't remember if it was during a rehearsal or actual filming) he shoved his tongue in her mouth. He 37 and she was all of 19. I thought they looked ridiculous as a romantic couple; he looked like her father. It was the same with Kelly and Leslie Caron; he looked more like her Daddy than her lover.

I love this movie. Donald O'Connor can dance but he's pretty homeless. Gene Kelly was gorgeous from the start of his career until the end.

Poor Donald O'Connor:

[quote] "O'Connor was married twice and had four children. His first marriage was in 1947 to Gwendolyn Carter, when he was 21 and she was 20. They married in Tijuana. Together they adopted four children: Donna, Alicia, Frederick, and Kevin. The couple divorced in 1955. During the turbulent nine year marriage, there was physical abuse toward O'Connor brought on by Carter and her frustration over the lack of an acting career. Carter was given ownership of their home and won full custody of their children. According to reports at the time the couple split, O'Connor was left with only the dog and sought the help of multiple psychiatrists.

[quote] "I have 60 years of emotional turmoil under my belt," stated O'Connor.

Donald was honored with a retrospective at New York's Lincoln center and an honorary degree from Boston University. He chose to keep much of his philanthropy work private. Some of it includes work for the United States Army and Red Cross. He created the Donald O'Connor Alcoholism Counseling Scholarship.

[quote] O'Connor had undergone quadruple heart bypass surgery in 1990, and he nearly died from pleuralpneumonia in January 1999. He died from complications of heart failure on September 27, 2003, at age 78 at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital, in Woodland Hills, California. His remains were cremated. His belongings were auctioned off and all proceeds were given to charity.

Damn yeah OP's pic is beautiful, very sexy.

I'm with R1, cant stand musicals either. I'll have to watch this with one finger on the FFWD button. Or the sound off.

Would definitely watch a porn version though!

[quote] Donald O'Connor can dance but he's pretty homeless

Did you mean to say homely?

I don't think so at all.

He was really beautiful.

R29 Wow. If this is true, my Gene Kelly crush has been crushed.

My father served in the army with Donal O'Connor. He said O'Connor was very shy and not at all the goofy, outgoing, athletic character you see in this movie.

And of course after Gwen divorced O'Conner, she married his friend Dan Dailey.

Gene was very difficult to Barbra on Dolly. He wouldn't take Barbra's late night phone calls to go over the shooting schedule for the next day. She was hurt that he wouldn't go over the way he was going to direct scenes with her.

I have never heard that Kelly shoved his tongue down Debbie’s throat.

Kelly was a hard working perfectionist and Mayer forced him to put Debbie in the movie and she couldn’t tap dance. She had like 6 weeks to learn how to dance! She could have fucked up the whole movie.

[quote] He said O'Connor was very shy and not at all the goofy, outgoing, athletic character you see in this movie.

I can totally believe it.

He looked so scrawny in the movie. Full of life, but definitely a tiny guy.

Donald was probably bullied, growing up. Skinny, scrawny twink who liked to sing and dance and play the piano.

Hell, from the link at R32, even his wife beat him up.

Poor guy. But oh, what a talent!

O Connor was a vaudeville kid. He was put on stage as a young ‘in.

R28 I have never seen one picture of Kelly showing chest hair yet you found one! Thanks.

[quote]Kelly was a hard working perfectionist and Mayer forced him to put Debbie in the movie and she couldn’t tap dance. She had like 6 weeks to learn how to dance! She could have fucked up the whole movie.

Wasn't Mayer gone by the time they got around to casting this movie?

R43 No. Debbie Reynolds herself, in the interview after the movie was shown on TCM today, said Mayer called her and told her she was going to be in the movie. Since she was under contract, she said, "yes, sir."

For R41:

[quote] When O'Connor was only two years old, he and his sister Arlene, who was seven at the time, were in a car crash outside a theater in Hartford, Connecticut; O'Connor survived, but his sister did not. A few weeks later, his father died of a heart attack while dancing on stage in Brockton, Massachusetts. His brother Billy died a decade later from Scarlet Fever and his eldest sibling Jack died from alcoholism in 1959. His three other siblings died during childbirth. O'Connor said it "marred my childhood and it's still haunting."

[quote] O'Connor's mother was extremely possessive of her youngest son, not allowing him to cross the street on his own until he turned 13 and a typical stage mother, often striking him.

[quote] O'Connor later said regarding Effie, "She wanted me to be as great as I possibly could be. She did her best."

Once again, poor guy.

R4

I hated that scene as a kid. I would always fast-forward through it. As an adult, I appreciate it more. It's very well done; it's just in the wrong movie.

"I have never heard that Kelly shoved his tongue down Debbie’s throat."

Here's an excerpt from an article about Reynold's experience on "Singin' In The Rain":

Their oThe two actors have both since passed, but in the decades following their hit 1952 movie, both Kelly and Reynolds opened up about a working relationship spotted with tears, blood and an alleged sexual advance that forever stuck with Reynolds.

"I had just turned 19 when filming started ... Gene was 37," Reynolds said in 2013. "He never wanted me in 'Singin' In The Rain.' When studio chief Louis B Mayer told him I was going to be his leading lady, Gene stared at me and said, 'What have you done before?'"

Despite Kelly's apparent resistance, the studio had made its decision. But that didn't mean Kelly, who directed the film while also starring in it, would soften: "My feet were bleeding from all that dancing and when I pointed it out, Gene would say, 'Clean it up,'" Reynolds recalled. "He was very sentimental like that."

It wasn't just the technical stunts that drew Kelly's ire, she said. "If I wasn't smiling, Gene would yell at me to smile more. During filming I thought my cheeks were going to crack from all that smiling."

In her 2013 memoir, "Unsinkable," Reynolds described the moment she and Kelly filmed their characters' first kiss -- a kiss she expected to be chaste, as was typical in films of that era.

"The camera closed in. Gene took me tightly in his arms . . . and shoved his tongue down my throat," Reynolds wrote. 'Eeew! What was that?' I screeched, breaking free of his grasp and spitting. I ran around frantic, yelling for some Coca-Cola to cleanse my mouth. It was the early 1950s, and I was an innocent kid who had never been French-kissed."

She continued, "It felt like an assault. I was stunned that this thirty-nine-year-old man would do this to me."

Kelly died in 1996, years before Reynolds' memoir would be penned. But in the years before his death, he reportedly did once say, "I wasn't very nice to Debbie. I'm surprised she still speaks to me."

gratuitous Gene Kelly photo

The single best musical number in film. No CGI.

And a not so good imitation.

I loved what Donald O'Connor said about contemporary musicals. He said someone would be dancing and then the camera would be on the person's face; he thought that was ridiculous. He said "what are you doing, dancing with your ears?" He was right. Contemporary musicals always featured "dance" numbers where the camera keeps cutting away to show somebody's face, feet, legs, ass...it's obviously meant to disguise that the person "dancing" isn't really much of a dancer, if indeed they're a dancer at all. Remember "Flashdance?" Most of the "dancing" in that movie was done by someone other than the star Jennifer Beals. But her so-called dance scenes mostly featured shots of her face and ass. Mostly her ass.

Contrast contemporary musicals with the old MGM musicals. Look at the amazing dance number "Moses Supposes." You see Gene Kelly and Donald O'Connor dancing up a storm and you see THEIR ENTIRE BODIES THE WHOLE TIME. No need for cutaways. They were brilliant dancers. They didn't need the camera to cut away to their faces and asses or other people. They could REALLY DANCE.

Gene, Debbie, and Elizabeth all showed up for MGM's 50th Anniversary celebration, so if we are to believe the CDAN BI is about them, when did this dis-invite take place?

Gene and Liz

I wouldn't worry R35, that BI is just bullshit. There has never been any 'MeToo' gossip about Gene Kelly, even though most of his female co-stars outlived him and could certainly have dished the dirt if they wanted to. Debbie Reynolds loved to gossip about her life in Hollywood, especially towards the end of her life, yet the worst she ever said about Gene for years was that he was very hard on her during SITR. Indeed her revelation that he stuck his tongue down her throat was something she only mentioned in her autobiography a few years before she died when Gene wasn't around to challenge it. If you watch some YT clips of some of Debbie's earlier interviews, she speaks very highly of Gene, even though he was a hard taskmaster in SITR.

That's not to say that Gene Kelly was a saint, the man was known to be a perfectionist with a huge ego, but in all these years of Hollywood gossip, there has never been any talk of him being a predatory sleazebag (except of course that tidbit from Debbie..and she was selling a book).

Two of Gene's other co-stars, Cyd Charisse and Leslie Caron, have spoken warmly of Gene over the years. Here's a short clip of Leslie Caron describing her experience of working with him.

R54, you cannot really trust that kind of interview.

Stories about Kelly's overly competitive nature and sexualized behavior. Read Betty Blairs autobiography. Read other memoirs about that period. Reynolds spoke of his treatment of her decades before her book came out.

Kelly was respected. His work was admired. But he was not liked.

Donald was one of the Dancing Jacks & Jills that were in several Universal movies in the early 40's......here he is.....first guy on the bench - that's Louis DePron in the middle of the second group on the bench facing the camera......those guys could dance!!

Donald had a tendency to watch his feet while he danced - you can especially notice it in "Moses Supposes"......

Donald and Judy Garland, both vaudeville kids, were friendly as children. Once, when they were both playing the same place, they went across the street to get a meal and when they came back, Donald's mother slapped the shit out of him for crossing the road, something he was forbidden from doing. Judy never forgave Donald's mother.

[quote] Once, when they were both playing the same place, they went across the street to get a meal and when they came back, Donald's mother slapped the shit out of him for crossing the road, something he was forbidden from doing

Why would his mother behave that way? That's more than just being overly protective.

Is it because he was her meal ticket?

Chita Rivera, who has a reputation as one of the nicest dames in the business, had nothing good to say about O'Connor when they worked together on Bring Back Byrdie. Granted, if the OBC is representative, that show would have made anyone miserable, but part of the star's job is to try to keep morale up.

What exactly did she say, R59?

By all accounts, Donald O'Connor was a very nice and shy guy.

I can't imagine what he did to make her say that.

R55, I've read plenty of books about Hollywood and I'm well aware that it's a sleazy place with a lot of secrets. As I said in my original post, Debbie had long complained about Gene's harsh treatment of her but she only mentioned the 'tongue down her throat' in her autobiography towards the end of her life. This is a woman who had plenty of negative and salacious things to say about many people over the years, including her ex-husbands whom she savaged regularly. It seemed to be her way of getting payback for all the shit she had to put up. She could have dished dirt about Gene for years after he died, but she never did. If that blind item had actually happened both Debbie AND Liz would have talked about it in their later years. These two icons had no fucks to give at the end of their lives.

"you cannot really trust that kind of interview." I see no reason to believe that Leslie Caron would lie about her experience on An American in Paris. She is a strong independent woman who has never sugarcoated her life in Hollywood. and she has said in plenty of interviews over the years that Gene was kind to her. She also wrote her autobiography in 2012/13, I think, and could have told all then, if there was something to tell. She lives in Paris and doesn't care about Hollywood.

Whether Gene Kelly was liked in the industry is not the issue. As I said he was known to be a perfectionist with a huge ego, so it stands to reason that he was not liked by many. Esther Williams wrote a great autobiography where she dished a LOT of dirt on Hollywood, and yes she complained about Gene being cruel and sarcastic to her in their movie together, but she never said anything about sexual misconduct. If Esther had any juicy stories to tell about Gene Kelly, she would have told them because she obviously hated him.

Yes, he was an asshole to work with, but he was never known to be a sexual predator and there have been plenty of opportunities over the years for his co-stars to tell their stories. Cyd Charisse, in particular, seemed to be very fond of him and they worked in several movies together.

Just for reference all of the above have several interviews on YT where they talk about their time in Hollywood.

That was amazing, R56. Who's the crazy girl who solos at around 2:20+? I like her style. She seems familiar.

Oh, I think it's Peggy Ryan!

Incredible Gene Nelson dancing on the Auntie Mame stairs in "Tea for Two"

So charming, R64! I know very little about Gene Nelson. Why isn't he more revered? And look at this one; watch how the rhythm and dynamics match the jazz arrangement of the music. It's incredible!

"Singin' in the Rain" was pulled out of mothballs in the 1970s and played movie theatres. At least it did in NYC.

I saw it at Radio City (with the Rockettes as the opener) and enjoyed it so much I saw it again at another theatre a few weeks later.

I've wanted Gene Kelly to sit on my face since I was a teenager. Gorgeous man. Looked tiny, too. Probably was about 5'6-5'8. Those guys always have the best bodies with the best, roundest asses.

They re-released it for one of those TCM Fathom event things a few years back and the theater was packed with a shocking amount of young people who were laughing and applauding right along with the rest of us old farts. This might be one of the few truly timeless movies.

I've always heard that movies or stage shows that are period pieces rarely age, because even when they were made, they were already about the past and "dated" anyway.

R59 In her diplomatic way, she said he seemed very unhappy doing the show, took it out on the cast and made snide remarks to the audience about how bad the show was. I'm sure it was not how he wanted to return to the stage, but it must gave been hard for Chita, thinking she was returning to her first starring role (after being strong support in WSS) in something so tacky --without Champion's genius and her natural rapport with Van Dyke (who wisely declined the offer to do the show before it was offered to O'Connor). It's the only time I've heard Chita yo speak ill of any specific person. (And remember, she worked with Robbins and Laurents.)

He may have been too good and therefore, too much competition R65. "Listen kid, Hollywood already has ONE dancing Gene and there's no room for another. Now SCRAM!"

He’d have been a better match for Audrey Hepburn in FUNNY FACE than the ancient and homely Fred Astaire.

Donald should have been nominated for aoscar. Jean Hagen was divine but I would have liked to find out what happened to her character.

Unrelated, I know, but I wonder - does anyone know what ever happened to Judy Garland's two sisters from her vaudeville days?

R62 I think you're correct......Peggy Ryan.....she and Donald danced together a lot at Universal.

R72 - I always kind of wondered what happened to Lina Lamont as well......I guess she just quit the movies and lived on her savings......or maybe she became Norma Desmond......

Or one of Norma's bridge-playing "waxworks," R74.

"Cahhhhhhhhn't" "Caiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin't"

"Well I caiiiiiiiinnnnnn't make love to a BUSH!"

Jean Hagen was the bomb diggity in this movie.

R18 Thank you for that tumblr. The pictures are pure GOLD.

I have so much respect for Donald O'Connor. This is a quote from his wikipedia page about the "make 'em laugh" dance: " The film featured his widely known rendition of "Make 'Em Laugh," completely improvised. O'Connor composed the music for the famous scene at the last minute."

It's also sad to read that he went from an abusive mother to an abusive wife. Talk about trauma bonding. Poor guy, but he did the best he could and graced us with his wonderful talent.

R61, I think you referered to a blind item earlier. What is the blind item? I do not see it in this thread.

You cannot trust that kind of interview because 1) it is on video and 2) it is clearly for some entertainment program. There are some archival video interviews that are more boring but more trustworthy (like those American Television Institute does--always so full of surprises), but in general video interviews are not as strong as those for biographies and oral histories.

I do not know about him being a sexual predator, but there have been many stories about his over sexualized behavior. In general, he seems to have avoided acting out with women he worked with. And the acting out itself mostly seems limited to verbal innuendo and seductive behavior. He liked to be desired more than he liked to have sex is how one person said it. Maybe today it would not raise and eyebrow, but in earlier decades it did.

DL fave Tom Holland does his tribute.

"Make 'Em Laugh" was supposedly written for the movie by Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed, but is suspiciously similar to "Be a Clown", a song written by Cole Porter for the 1948 M-G-M Gene Kelly film The Pirate. Apparently Porter never complained.

R76 and here she is in a very different role.

R66, I wonder if the surprise success of That's Entertainment in 1974 catapulted Singin' in the Rain back into public consciousness. And since all the clips in TE were pristine and color-corrected, i'm sure the prints available for rental to revival houses were also sharp and clear, adding to its allure and prestige.

I took a friend to see it, she had only seen the dancing in the rain segment, and was so delighted and so surprised, she had no idea what to expect and we could not stop talking about it afterwards.

Jean Hagen in "Make Room For Daddy"

Brought to you by Dodge.

Thanks for the clip r83, I don't think the first three seasons are in syndication

R82I wonder if the surprise success of That's Entertainment in 1974 catapulted Singin' in the Rain back into public consciousness.

You're probably right about that.

Having been around back then, Singin in the Rain was in heavy rotation on television--which showed a lot of old films back then. It was already in the public consciousness and was already one of the most popular musicals before That's Entertainment.

Was that before it was colorized? I

[quote]Having been around back then, Singin in the Rain was in heavy rotation on television.

I was also around back then.

Although it was first shown on TV in 1964, and I may be wrong about this, but I just don't ever remember the film being shown on TV "in heavy rotation". MGM still protected certain classics.

I certainly had never seen it until it's re-release. And that re-lease was a big deal...opening at Radio City.

Hey Chita, he has had partners much more talented and charismatic than you, bitch.

Singin in the Rain was very popular before That's Entertainment. Look at any of those "100 Greatest Films Books" "Classic Movies" etc books that were put out by the dozens in the late 60s /early 70s. All of them cite SIngin in the Rain as one of the greatest musicals of all time.

If you look at That's Entertainment the film begins with Singin in the Rain because it was already so well-known and popular. They show how the song was used before the 1952 film and then finish by saying that "many say [Singin in the Rain] is the greatest musical ever made."

So while That's Entertainment unearthed a lot of obscure films, it is trading on the audience already knowing Singin in the Rain. It already was popular.

Where’d the bi rumors about Gene Kelly start? Who allegedly dipped into that pool?

R90 "Gone With the Wind" was also popular. "Wizard of Oz" was also popular. But they were not shown on TV "in heavy rotation".

Their showings were at most once a year, if that. They were special events.

And you couldn't record them or buy them, home video players did not exist. Most homes were only just getting color TV.

Remember too: Singin' in the Rain was not a big box office success at it's first release. Although the songs were classics from the 1920s and 30s, none of them became popular recordings after the film.

The re-release of "Singin'" in 1974 was obviously because few people at that time were familiar with the film. I certainly had never seen it.

[quote]"Gone With the Wind" was also popular.

I should have added: "Gone With the Wind" wasn't even shown on TV until 1976.

MGM protected it's classics.

Gone With the Wind was not shown on television at all. And The Wizard of Oz was only shown on network television.

And even so both films were very well known and popular. Lines were repeated as part of popular culture.

Singin in the Rain was seen on UHF stations, so it was seen a lot more frequently.

The script was published in 1972 in the MGM screenplay series, which was entirely made up of popular, well-known films.

Clockwork Orange used the song and Gene Kelly's vocal over the final credits.

Television station aired a lot of films in the 60s and 70s. Freed Unit musicals were seen a lot. My sister liked musical and made me watch Singin in the Rain, Summer Stock, and some other film I cannot remember one weekend in 1971 when my parents went to a wedding.

Then a month later we were flipping stations and Singin came up. We got into a huge fight.

I know it makes a better story for the film to be little known till 1974, but it just aint so.

[quote]Singin in the Rain was seen on UHF stations,

That is simply not true.

It was indeed on non-network independent stations. That is where films were seen back then. The TV dial had about a dozen stations--three were network, one was NET, and the rest were UHF stations which had little new programming, instead relying on old TV shows and films.

Some made film into their cornerstone--for example NYC's Channel 9 ran The Million Dollar Movie as their primary prime time offering.

They were VHF (Very High Frequency) stations, and not UHF (Ultra High Frequency)

In New York, channel 9 mentioned above, as well as channels 5 and 11, were VHF stations. And indeed they ran very old programming, although not exclusively: they had news and sports and children's programs…

As a kid, adults referred to all non-network stations as UHF stations. I do not think they were able to distinguish frequencies.

I never knew till now what UHF stood for. Thank you, R97.

UHF stations even had a separate dial, which started at 14 and went up.

R92, I believe that singing in the rain was a successful motion picture on its original release. Some charts have it at number five or six; this chart from Wikipedia has it at number 10.

R99, that dial never had any working stations.

In New York, I seem to recall channel 31 (owned by NYC?) had a strong signal...

Studios re-release popular films, R 92.

The point is to make money. They do not re-release films because people are unfamiliar with them. Otherwise, you could go to the nearest Odeon to see the re-release of The Truth About Cats and Dogs or Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins. No one is familiar with them.

Sorry to hear that R101 - I remember having to turn the VHF dial all the way to U and then turning the UHF dial to the higher number. We lived between two major cities with their own channels for each of the networks (NBC, ABC, CBS, PBS) and so I had 8 channels to choose from! Of course during morning and evening prime viewing times the programming on NBC, ABC, and CBS was the same, but sometimes the PBS stations differed in their programming even during primetime.

Most musicals have a threadbare excuse for a plot, if the characters talk it's only to provide context for the musical numbers.

"Singin' in the Rain" is probably the only movie musical that would still be great if you cut all or almost all of the musical numbers, because it's a great comedy as well as a great musical. And most of the musical numbers are absolutely wonderful, a few are just eye-poppingly good, it's as good as it's possible for a musical film to be.

And the excellent musical numbers do not need to be extravagances, just Gene Kelly and an umbrella singing and dancing in the rain or even more so, Gene Kelly and Donald O'Connor singing and dancing Moses Supposes at the very top of their considerable talents.

Funny that in the scene when Debbie Reynolds is dubbing Lina Lamont's dialogue, it’s actually Jean Hagen's real voice dubbing Debbie's. And when Debbie sings "You Were Meant for Me", she’s dubbed by another singer.

Donald O'Connor actually won the Golden Globe for "Singin' in the Rain" for Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical over Gene Kelly that year. O'Connor said that the best female dancers he worked with were Peggy Ryan (a frequent co-star at Universal before he moved over to MGM) and Vera-Ellen, who he co-starred in "Call Me Madam" and whose two dances together were sublime and up to the Astaire-Rogers standard. It's a shame they weren't able to be re-teamed as planned in "White Christmas" but O'Connor came down with something from working with Frances the talking mule; he was replaced with Danny Kaye, whose dancing was dumbed down or assigned to another dancer, since Kaye couldn't keep up with Vera, one of the film's best female dancers of all time.

I saw O'Connor in the 1980s "Show Boat" at the old Uris as Cap'n Andy. He was great and did some tapping and a very physical take on an old melodrama as part of the show-within-a-show on the show boat.

I think O'Connor was such a trouper that he was told he had to perform on the day his sibling died, and he did. He was good friends with Debbie Reynolds, re-teamed for "I Love Melvin", that Christmas Mouse song and appeared on tv talk shows later in their careers. Last thing I recall him doing was a delightful appearance on "Frasier" where he played an eccentric guy who I think owned a toy company or some sorts of fun contraptions.

From the old SUMMER STOCK MEMORIES thread on DL:

On opening night of CHARLEY’S AUNT at the Falmouth Playhouse, I was sent down to Donald O’Connor’s dressing room to inform him that we were holding the curtain a few minutes. Opening night was also critics’ night, and a key critic from a Boston paper hadn’t arrived. I knocked on the door and Mr. O’Connor opened it. He was dressed and ready to go onstage. I briefly introduced myself (we had met already, but I knew that he didn’t remember me) and politely told him what was happening and why. He simply looked me in the eye and then slapped me. Yes, it was an open palm, full throttle slap, and I fell back against the door, more surprised than hurt. I then did something really stupid – I apologized! I reacted as if I had done something wrong. I quickly exited the dressing room, and went back upstairs to report what had happened. After much discussion, the advance stage manager went down to talk him. That was it. Mr. O’Connor went on, and did a brilliant comic turn, to rave reviews. The next day, he summoned me to his dressing room and apologized. He said he wasn’t feeling well and that he overreacted. I didn’t believe him ( I thought he was drunk), but I accepted his apology and then kept out of his way for the rest of the week.

[quote] Funny that in the scene when Debbie Reynolds is dubbing Lina Lamont's dialogue, it’s actually Jean Hagen's real voice dubbing Debbie's. And when Debbie sings "You Were Meant for Me", she’s dubbed by another singer.

Wow, R107.

That's some terrific behind the scenes trivia.

Thanks for that!

Wasn't that Chita Rivera in the first scene of the movie? (or was it Rita Moreno?)

How many Singin in the Rain threads are we going to have on the DL? A quick Google search turned up at least 20.

R111 Her name is Rita, not Chita.

[quote]How many Singin in the Rain threads are we going to have on the DL? A quick Google search turned up at least 20.

Given that there are dozens and dozens of Golden Girl threads going on DL, I'd say 20 Singin' in the Rain threads is about right.

[quote]How many Singin in the Rain threads are we going to have on the DL? A quick Google search turned up at least 20.

If only there were just 20 threads about me!!

R82: " I wonder if the surprise success of That's Entertainment in 1974 catapulted Singin' in the Rain back into public consciousness."

YA THINK?

[quote]Gene Kelly and Donald O'Connor

Two of the hammiest hams who ever hammed.

Arthur Laurents's autobiography implied that there were gay rumors about Kelly, which made his use of the words "fags" all the more irritating.

Laurent tells a story about how competitive Kelly was. He was apparently a bad sport. And when Noel Coward was getting too much attention at Kelly's party by singing at the piano, Kelly tried to steal focus by dancing furiously about the living room. That seems sort of pathetic to me.

It seems ironic now that Singing In The Rain, while successful, got no major Oscar nominations (except for Jean Hagen), while An American In Paris won Best Picture. In retrospect, SITR seems so much more timeless and enjoyable, while AAIP seems kind of pretentious.

I have to agree that the Moses Supposes number is one of the most energetic dance numbers ever. I love numbers where you think "how on earth did they have the energy for that?". Just like Vera-Ellen's "Mandy" number from White Christmas.

Somebody mentioned Gene Nelson upthread. A few years ago, somebody posted a scene he did that wasn't really a dance number, but an acrobatic routine he did in a gym (I think).I'm still amazed to this day at how he did it.

[quote]AAIP seems kind of pretentious.

Hence the Oscar love.

[quote]Laurent tells a story about how competitive Kelly was. He was apparently a bad sport. And when Noel Coward was getting too much attention at Kelly's party by singing at the piano, Kelly tried to steal focus by dancing furiously about the living room. That seems sort of pathetic to me.

Well, at least he didn't have to resort to self-fellating.

[quote] I love numbers where you think "how on earth did they have the energy for that?"

Amphetamines.

R119, sad to know. But not surprising. IIRC he told Tommy Tune to change his name, because Kelly though it sounded too”theatrical”. Read gay.

He could have changed his name to Thomas Tankengine, everyone would still know he was gay the moment he appeared on stage.

It's just not that good a movie. And everyone looks 1950s instead of 1920s.

This is what 300 hopped up on amphetamines looks like....

"Judy Garland used to come in a lot to hear the band and dance herself silly. That girl can really, really dance."

My favorite movie

R126, this is what "hopped up on meth" looks like.

Especially towards the end. It was out of control!

R113, are your initials FB?

Little trivia: Gwen Verdon was one of the dancers that provided the tap sound affects for “Moses S’poses“

R129 Has there ever been a more blatant rip-off than "Make Em Laugh" stealing both the tune and idea of "Be a Clown"?

It's on again right now on TCM!

I just love the lady who plays Lina Lamont.

She is so fabulous.

Gene Kelly had some crow's feet in the movie, considering he was only 40 years old.

R133 - Jean Hagen. She stole show!

"Well, I can't make love to a bush!"

[quote]Unrelated, I know, but I wonder - does anyone know what ever happened to Judy Garland's two sisters from her vaudeville days?

The great-granddaughter of Dorothy Virginia (aka "Jimmie") is singer/songwriter Audra Mae. I first came to know of her when her haunting rendition of Bob Dylan's "Forever Young" was featured on SONS OF ANARCHY.

R35 I can't believe some people too much stock in blind items, especially those taking place in the distant past. They read like ESTs to me.

Gene was in the 1986 "Sins" mini-series with Joan Collins...then he died.

O’Connor was, to me, the superior dancer in Moses Supposes. He made it look effortless, while Kelly looked more labored. They were both fantastic, and it’s one of my favorite dance numbers, but O’Connor looked like he was having more fun. Astair always looked effortless in his dancing as well...