Singin in the Rain Comedy Musical Film

A 1952 comedy musical film, Singin in the Rain was directed by Kelly and Stanley Donen. The movie is a comic depiction of Hollywoods transition from silent films to talkies. It is one of the best musicals ever made, topping the AFIs 100 Years of Musicals list. It ranks fifth in the list of the greatest American films.

Set in 1927, Singin in the Rain is a colorful and witty film. Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly) is a silent film star with humble beginnings as a musician, dancer and stunt man. Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen) is his spoilt leading lady whom Don barely tolerates. Lina is convinced that their screen romance is real.
The first talking film, The Jazz Singer, is a smash hit and the head of the studio, R.F. Simpson (Millard Mitchell), is convinced about converting a silent movie into a talkie. So he decides to convert the new Lockwood and Lamont film, The Dueling Cavalier, into a talkie. The production faces a lot of difficulties, one of them being Linas voice. She has a comical, grating voice with thick New York accent. Singin in the Rain progresses further depicting the difficulties which transition from silent to talkies are beset with.
A screen test is conducted which is a disaster. Dons best friend, Cosmo Brown (Donald OConnor) suggests overdubbing Linas voice. They convince R.F. to change The Dueling Cavalier into The Dancing Cavalier, a musical comedy which features the song Singin in the Rain. Don falls in love with the aspiring actress Kathy Selden (Debbie Reynolds) who is dubbing for Lina. This infuriates Lina and she tries to spoil the romance.
Lina is jealous and demands that Kathy would dub for her in all future films without being credited for it. R.F. has no choice but to concede to Linas demand and Kathy has to accept this because she is under contract. The premiere of The Dancing Cavalier is a tremendous success. The audience clamors for Lina to sing live. Singin in the Rain reaches its climax when Don and Cosmo plot to expose Lina. They convince Lina to lip-synch while Kathy sings into another microphone. As Lina starts to sing, Don, Cosmo, and R.F. gleefully raise the curtain revealing the real star of the film. Lina flees in embarrassment while Kathy is introduced to the audience.
Singin in the Rain was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Music Score while Jean Hagen was nominated for Best Supporting Actress. The film has appeared twice on Sight and Sounds list of the ten best films of all time, in 1982 and 2002 and the American Film Institute placed it at the top of their 100 Years of Musicals list. It is also tenth in the AFIs 100 Years…100 Movies (1997) list and fifth in their 2007 edition. The title song is third in their 100 Years… 100 Songs list.
In 1989, Singin in the Rain was deemed culturally, historically or aesthetically significant by the United States Library of Congress and was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. Wikipedia