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April 11, 1952
April 11, 1952
Warner Home Video
G (General Audience)
Stanley Donen
Cyd Charisse, Mae Clarke, Harry Cody, Douglas Fowley, Lance Fuller, Jean Hagen, Joi Lansing, Millard Mitchell, Rita Moreno, Donald O'Connor, Dorothy Patrick, Debbie Reynolds, Shirley Jean Rickert, Dennis Ross, David Sharpe, Elaine Stewart, Jimmy Thompson (IV), Bobby Watson
Decades before the Hollywood film industry became famous for megabudget disaster and science fiction spectaculars, the studios of Southern California (and particularly Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) were renowned for a uniquely American (and nearly extinct) kind of picture known as The Musical. Indeed, when the prestigious British film magazine Sight & Sound conducts its international critics poll in the second year of every decade, this 1952 MGM picture is the American musical that consistently ranks among the 10 best movies ever made. It's not only a great song-and-dance piece starring Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, and a sprightly Debbie Reynolds; it's also an affectionately funny insider spoof about the film industry's uneasy transition from silent pictures to "talkies." Kelly plays debonair star Don Lockwood, whose leading lady Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen) has a screechy voice hilariously ill-suited to the new technology (and her glamorous screen image). Among the musical highlights: O'Connor's knockout "Make 'Em Laugh"; the big "Broadway Melody" production number; and, best of all, that charming little title ditty in which Kelly makes movie magic on a drenched set with nothing but a few puddles, a lamppost, and an umbrella. --Jim Emerson - Amazon.com
Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor and Debbie Reynolds in 45th-anniversary restoration of the best-loved Hollywood musical ever-filled with memorable songs, lavish routines and Kelly's fabulous song-and-dance number performed in the rain. - Description
