Singin' In The Rain

Singin’ in the Rain came from a rotten assignment from songwriter and MGM producer Arthur Freed: to use his catalog of songs for a movie named after one of them.

Betty Comden & Adolph Green came up with the brilliant idea of setting the action at the time when these songs were written: when Hollywood made the transition from silent to sound films. It opened the way for a series of gags and plot twists that actors and crew members who had worked then were only too glad to contribute.

The scene where Jean Hagen and Gene Kelly are being “wired for sound” is a classic example of how sound technicians of the era had to devise news ways of hiding huge microphones on the set out of view of the camera.

Many elements from this awesome film did not make it to the final cut though: scenes, recordings, songs, etc.

A different musical arrangement was composed for the main title. It is available on the soundtrack album and was used in various documentaries about the film.

Gene Kelly originally sang a reprise of “All I Do Is Dream Of You” after Debbie Reynolds’s version. There was a scene where he went back home and sang himself to sleep with this tune. The scene was cut and all that is left now are a few stills of the set and the soundtrack.

Apparently there was an attempt to limit the number of performances for each song. The first instance where “You Are My Lucky Star” was heard in the film was originally right after the “You Were Meant For Me” number. Debbie Reynolds sang the song to a poster of Gene Kelly. This scene is still extant and has been featured in the extra section of many home video editions.

Jean Hagen parodying Norma Talmadge

It was one of the few instances where Debbie Reynolds was intended to sing with her own voice. Ironically, when she is supposed to dub Jean Hagen’s voice in the film, and although the actress worked hard at her singing before recording, most of her songs were either cut or dubbed.

When Jean Hagen’s character briefly speaks (supposedly dubbed by Debbie) in “The singing Cavalier”, she is actually speaking for herself. It is the only time you can hear her normal voice without the high-pitched accent she affects throughout the picture.

When Debbie sings for Jean Hagen, she is sometimes dubbed by singer Betty Noyes. And if her voice sounds familiar then, it is probably because Betty sang the heartbreaking ballad “Baby Mine” in Walt Disney’s Dumbo.

But Debbie’s versions are still available on the soundtrack. Here is her take on “Would You?”:

Finally, there is a snippet of an outtake from this film that can be glimpsed in the main title of “The Fall Guy” (of all places!). Watch out for an alternate take of Gene Kelly’s stunt double Russell Saunders falling flat on his behind instead of Kathy Selden’s car seat.

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That’s all for today folks!