Slideshow
SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN
U.S., 1952
Directed by Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly
Starring Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor, Debbie Reynolds
Screenplay by Adolph Green, Betty Comden
Approx. 103 min. DCP.
The switch to talkies proves a smooth one for silent swashbuckler Gene Kelly, but the nasal screech of perennial co-star Jean Hagen (“a shimmering, glowing star in the cinema firm-a-ment!”) calls for dubbing by Debbie Reynolds, while Donald O’Connor literally knocks himself out to “make ‘em laugh.” Betty Comden & Adolph Green took the early talkie songs of Nacio Herb Brown and producer Arthur Freed to script the CITIZEN KANE of movie musicals. In dazzlingly restored color! “An expert display of cinematic craftsmanship: an exemplary movie musical, a musical made for the movies, and if there is another one that has more verve or showmanship, or reveals a smoother way of staging musical numbers for the camera, I am not familiar with it.” – Foster Hirsch
Reviews
“PULSES WITH LIFE! In a movie about making movies, you can sense the joy they had making this one…Remains one of the few movies to live up to its advertising. ‘What a glorious feeling!’ the posters said. It was the simple truth.”
– Roger Ebert
“If you’ve never seen it and don’t, you’re bonkers.”
– Stephen Garrett, Time Out (New York)
“One of the shining glories of the American musical. A celebration of movement as emotion.”
– Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader