Last night, I watched my favorite movie for what must have been the hundredth time. It is “Singin’ in the Rain,” with Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, and Donald O’Connor. I think it is very close to the perfect Hollywood musical (except for the song where Kelly and O’Connor ridicule the elocution teacher).
So, as I watched, I began googling sites about “The Making of Singin’ in the Rain”) and discovered some startling facts. (By the way, autocorrect hates it when you write the word “Singin’, and tries to make it “Singing”).
I already knew that Debbie Reynolds was a 19-year-old gymnast who did not have any dance training and was taught on the set by Gene Kelly. I knew that she cried and her feet were bleeding after the hours of making the famous number when they sing “Good Morning, Good Morning, It’s Great to Stay Up Late.”
In the climactic scene in the movie, Debbie (Kathy Selden) stands behind a curtain and dubs a song for the leading lady Lina Lamont (played by Jean Hagen), who has a horrible screechy voice.
What I didn’t know and just discovered was that Debbie Reynolds’ voice was dubbed in that famous last scene when she was supposedly dubbing for Jean Hagen! The actual singer of the song at the end, when Debbie was supposedly singing for Lina Lamont, was Betty Noyes.
Betty Noyes dubbed Debbie Reynolds’ voice in “Would You?” and “You Are My Lucky Star” and the final number “Singin’ in the Rain.”
Furthermore, when Kathy Selden dubs the line that Lina Lamont speaks (“Until the stars turn cold”) in the movie-within-a-movie called “The Dancing Cavalier,” the actual voice that was dubbed was Jean Hagen’s real voice.
So Debbie was dubbed by Betty Noyes, and Debbie was dubbed in the speaking line for the movie-within-the-movie by the woman she was allegedly dubbing.
Irony! The woman who was dubbing in the film was also dubbed.
This is a gem for those of us who love this movie.
And I still love Debbie, Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor, and “Singin’ in the Rain.”
Jean Hagen was wonderful and talented, even though she plays the dreadful and talentless Lina Lamont. She got her start in “Adam’s Rib,” where she held her own in a small role against the likes of Judy Holliday and Katherine Hepburn. “Singin’ in the Rain” is one of my favorites, too….
She won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in “Singing in the Rain.” She became a drop dead alcoholic. Beat that. Then died at 54 with throat cancer.
Thanks Wikipedia.
My favorite star bio: I read Betty Hutton’s autobiography years ago. She was the highest paid star in Hollywood at the peak of her career. Trusted bad men and ended as a pauper, a cleaning lady in a rectory. Saved first by two gay men who took her in. Then by the Church.
She was interviewed on TCM by Robert Osborne, shortly before she died, and she was brutally honest about her life.
AW. I watched it ,too. How interesting Thanks. I was a kid when Debbie made her first movie.
Love it as well
It’s one of my favorites as well. I love the tidbits of information, as well. 🙂
Also my favorite movie musical. It was in the theaters on its original run when I was born.
My bit of trivia to share- the actor who takes the umbrella from Gene Kelly at the end of his dancing and singing in the rain is Snub Pollard, the silent film comedian who was featured with Bebe Daniels in many of Harold Lloyd’s comedies.
OMG, that gave me a headache! But fun trivia!
I cherish film as our “co-literature”. I always enjoy the “backstory” of a film, especially a classic, like “Singin’ in the Rain”. Thanks for this anecdote. (My favorite film buffs site http://www.imdb.com) Film buffs can write their own reviews there!
“Singin in the Rain” is a classic and Gene Kelly’s rain dance has become iconic.
In related movie news, it’s the 50th anniversary of the release of
“2001: A Space Odyssey,” one of my all-time favorite films. I loved that it got the science right (in most cases) about space travel and living in space. There is no sound in space and the film wasn’t afraid of extended segments of relative silence.
I’m beyond excited for this re-release.
Me too!
Now there are digital bubbling technologies. One of the most interesting is this one, in part because of the origin story.
https://www.voiceq.com
A veritable gem of a flick. As iconic as “Good Mornin'” and “Singing in the Rain” are, my favorite number remains “Moses Supposes.” Donald O’Connor was a terrific foil for Gene Kelly, but never got the recognition he deserved as a performer. Sadly, he also was an alcoholic. It appears fame and fortune ain’t all it’s cracked up to be – even back then.
My favorite movie as well. Wonderful memories of watching it with my dad as a kid – and an adult. Loved loved loved Debbie Reynolds. Even had a scrapbook of her. Not past tense. Still have the scrapbook. Time to start cleaning out stuff !!
Heck of a movie.
Gene Kelley was an amazing person: he studied law before becoming an actor and dancer, and was also an open supporter of progressive causes during the very dark times of the Hollywood blacklist.
In fact, he was one of the few people the studios could not cow or blacklist, given his popularity and earning power during that era. They tried to go after his wife, who was accused of being a Communist/fellow traveler, but backed off, fearful of his star and ticket-selling power…
“Singin’ in the Rain” opens at the Engeman Theater in Northport this Thursday for a six week run, Diane. Go enjoy a live version of your favorite movie on stage here on Long Island.
https://engemantheater.com
I’m interested to know how you found this out because multiple sources say Debbie did all her own singing besides the “Would you” number and lina’s recorded lines. I’m almost certain it’s Debbie’s voice during the curtain scene.