On April 11th, 1952, the MGM film, "Singin' in the Rain" was released to theaters across the United States. Directed and choreographed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, it is widely considered the greatest movie musical of all time! The film's production is widely characterized by the rigorous and often grueling perfectionism of Gene Kelly. A 19-year-old Debbie Reynolds, who was not a trained dancer at the time, famously remarked that making the film and the childbirth were the two hardest things she ever did. At one point, she was found crying underneath a piano after being insulted by Kelly, only to be confronted and encouraged by Fred Astaire. The film is also iconic for its title sequence where Kelly dances through a downpour. With a production budget of $2.54 million, which was a significant sum for 1952, the film grossed roughly $7.7 million in the worldwide box office. The film was nominated for two Academy Awards, but lost both.
