The titular song was actually a cover .
Last night, I was unwinding by playing through thePyramid Schemearchive and watching oldmusicals. Every time I turn on an old MGM film, I’m floored by the talent of the Golden Age of Hollywood, so here are 16 reallyinteresting factsaboutSingin' in the Rain.
1.Gene Kelly performed the titular dance number with a103º fever. The director wanted to send him home, but Gene insisted on one take to avoid wasted preparations.
2.They had toreschedule filmingthe scene to achieve the water pressure they needed. When they first attempted to film in the afternoon, everyone was coming home from work and watering their lawn, so their artificial rain was just a drip. They had to revisit in the morning when everyone was at work so they could get sufficient water pressure.
3.It was Debbie Reynolds’sfirst movie. She was 17 years old and had no dancing experience beforehand.
4.She alsoonly made$75 a week for the film.
5.In the “Broadway Melody” sequence,there is a cutduring the dance sequence because Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse’s moves were a little too risqué.
6.“Singin' in the Rain” isnot an original song. It was actually performed as early as 1928. Most of the songs in the movie are covers, making it a jukebox musical akin toMoulin Rouge!.
7.One of two “original” songs for the film, “Make ‘em Laugh,” is actually, thedirector admitted, a ripoff of “Be A Clown” fromThe Pirate.
8.Gene Kelly and Donald O’Connorended updoing a lot of their own stunts. In an interview with Roger Ebert, O’Connor said, “[Russ Saunders] was the stuntman. If a stunt was too difficult, they thought I would get hurt, or Gene would get hurt, so they would call in Russ. And 90 times out of 100, he would get hurt, and we’d have to go in and do it. "
9.Two blocksof outdoor sets were covered in tarps to make it dark enough for the “Singin’ in the Rain” number.
10.Real-life Hollywood personalitiesinspired charactersin the movie. Real-life gossip columnist Louella Parsons inspired Dora Bailey; Cyd Charisse is dressed up like ’20s film star Louise Brooks; and the Dueling Cavaliers director RoscoeDexteris modeled after Busby Berkeley.
11.Costume designer Walter Plunkettmade morethan 500 costumes for the film.
12.Rita Moreno, who plays Zelda in the film, is the last surviving member of the main cast.
13.The premier of “The Royal Rascal” in the film is actually footage taken from MGM’sThe Three Musketeerswith Gene Kelly, which came out four years prior. You can briefly see Lana Turner from the originalThree Musketeersfilm before it cuts to Lina Lamont.
14.For the “Broadway Ballet” number, Cyd Charisse’s scarf is40 feet longand made of China silk.
15.Jean Hagen was theonly actorfrom the film nominated for an Oscar.
16.Finally, it has a 100% onRotten Tomatoes.
