Facts > Films > Singin' in the Rain
Singin' in the Rain (1952) Facts
| Director(s) | Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly |
| Producer(s) | Arthur Freed, Roger Edens (uncredited) |
| Featured Cast | Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, Debbie Reynolds, Jean Hagen, Millard Mitchell |
| Total Facts | 57 |
Very early on in the pre-production stage, Judy Garland, June Allyson, and Ann Miller were considered for the role of Kathy Selden, but all were considered "too old". Jane Powell and Leslie Caron were also briefly considered before Debbie Reynolds (then a newcomer) was cast.
Voted #8 on Empire magazine's 500 Greatest Movies Of All Time (September 2008).
Was voted the 10th Greatest Film of all time by Entertainment Weekly, being the highest ranked musical.
When deciding to give Donald O'Connor a song, it was originally to be "The Wedding of the Painted Doll". However, since O'Connor had a bag of tricks he used in vaudeville, a song was substituted to use O'Connor's comical background: "Make 'Em Laugh" (of which the melody is remarkably similar to "Be A Clown" from The Pirate).
While the film makes a central point of the idea that Kathy's voice is dubbed over Lina Lamont's, what is not told is that, ironically, in some of these songs - notably "Would You" and "You Are My Lucky Star" - Debbie Reynolds, the actress who plays Kathy, is actually dubbed by Betty Noyes. However, Reynolds' own singing voice can be heard on the outtake footage of "Lucky Star" as performed next to the giant billboard of Gene Kelly.
Working days sometimes stretched to 19 hours.
Norma Talmadge is parodied as Lina Lamont in Singin' in the Rain (1952).