Not much of a plot, really. Don Lockwood and Lina Lamont are the “it” screen couple of the silent film era. Stranded on the way to a party and besieged by fans, Don jumps into a passing car that is driven by Kathy Selden, aspiring actress. She insults his acting ability, and when she shows up later at the party jumping out of a cake, he’s smitten. But she disappears.

Meanwhile, the next Lockwood and Lamont picture is halted because of the advent of talking movies. When the studio tries to turn it into a talkie, Lina’s voice is high-pitched and whiny and she keeps forgetting to talk into the mike. Kathy shows up, and she and Don get together. With Don’s friend Cosmo, they come up with an idea — turn the movie into a musical with Kathy dubbing Lina’s voice.

It works great and the movie is a hit, but Lina schemes to keep Kathy from getting any credit. Don turns the tables on her. After the movie premier, Lina is asked by the audience to sing. Kathy is behind the curtain doing the actual singing when Don opens the curtains and reveals Lina to be a fraud. The final scene shows a billboard advertising the new Lockwood and Selden movie.

• Following the "Make Em Laugh" sequence, Donald O'Connor spent several days in the hospital, recovering from numerous bumps and bruises.

• Gene Kelly had a 103-degree fever when he danced to the title song.The rain consisted of a mixture of water and milk so it would show up better on film but it caused Gene Kelly's wool suit to shrink.

The story is based on reality — several silent movie stars did lose their careers when talkies came into being. But the plot exists only as a vehicle for the songs and was, in fact, written after the songs. That undoubtedly explains why the songs are the best part of the movie, by far, particularly Fit as a Fiddle, All I Do Is Dream of You, Moses and, of course, Singin’ In the Rain. I’m guessing that Singin’ In the Rain is the most famous and perhaps the best sequence in movie history. If I were to rate it on the bases of the songs alone, I’d give it a 9. If I were to rate it on the songs without the Broadway Rhythm Ballet (which totally interrupts the flow as if it snuck in from a different picture), I’d give it a 10.

The story is based on reality — several silent movie stars did lose their careers when talkies came into being. But the plot exists only as a vehicle for the songs and was, in fact, written after the songs. That undoubtedly explains why the songs are the best part of the movie, by far, particularly Fit as a Fiddle, All I Do Is Dream of You, Moses and, of course, Singin’ In the Rain. I’m guessing that Singin’ In the Rain is the most famous and perhaps the best sequence in movie history. If I were to rate it on the bases of the songs alone, I’d give it a 9. If I were to rate it on the songs without the Broadway Rhythm Ballet (which totally interrupts the flow as if it snuck in from a different picture), I’d give it a 10.

But there’s the rest of the movie to deal with, so I gave it a 7.