Produced in 1952 and directed by Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly, this film represents the dancing genius of its two stars, Gene Kelly and Donald O Connor, at their professional best. Debbie Reynolds more than adequately held her own, but was a 19-year-old novice when chosen for the part of Kathy Selden, which pitted her against these two veteran and highly seasoned hoofers.
The dance numbers and songs are positively fabulous. The weakness in the film is its very transparent plot, which revolves around the time period when movies were switching from silents to talkies. One of the reasons for this obvious discrepancy is the fact that the script was written after the songs. The writers, Betty Comden and Adolph Green, had the difficult task of generating a plot in which the songs would fit.
Jean Hagen is very funny as a star with a voice no one should ever have to remember. Cyd Charisse is her same old lovely dancing self, fabulous as always. Gene Kelly choreographed the famous dancing in the rain scene and when he danced to the title song, he shot the scene with a 103 degree fever! The rain that was used for that scene was a mixture of water and milk so that it would show up better on film. Unfortunately, it also caused Gene Kelly’s wool suit to shrink.
The work hours were grueling, totaling sometimes 19 hours day. Debbie Reynolds still lived with her parents and commuted to the set. She would have to wake at 4 AM and ride two busses to the studio and so sometimes, she would just sleep on the set. She remarked many years later that making this movie and surviving childbirth were the two hardest things she ever had to do!
What are some of YOUR favorite moments from this grand musical?