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54-423: The show's theme song was "Animals Are Just Like People Too", created by Thickovit music (Alan and Todd Thicke and Gary Pickus). Four celebrities competed. Host Thicke introduced a video clip about an animal; at some point, the video was paused and Thicke asked a question about the clip. The celebrities give their answers, after which the remainder of the clip was played, revealing the answer. Any celebrities giving

108-589: A hedgehog puppet named "Reggie the Hedgie" (voiced by Susan Blu , performed by Lisa Sturz ) gave animal facts to the home viewers and read home-viewer mail. This article about a television game show produced in the United States is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Debbie Bartlett Debbie Bartlett (born Deborah DuBusky in 1951) is an American actress, dancer and choreographer, known for her work in film, television, and stage during

162-675: A 2011 auction in Hollywood. While most were sold to private collectors, Donald O'Connor's green check "Fit As a Fiddle" suit and shoes were purchased by Costume World, Inc. They are now on permanent display at the Costume World Broadway Collection Museum in Pompano Beach, Florida . According to MGM records, during the film's initial theatrical release, it made $ 3,263,000 in the US and Canada, and $ 2,367,000 internationally, earning

216-603: A Hollywood star, and a star-meets-girl, star-loses-girl sequence. Unable to decide which to use or how to proceed, they had just decided to return their advance to MGM and admit defeat, when Betty Comden's husband arrived from New York and suggested that they combine all three openings into one. The script with the re-written opening was approved by Freed and by MGM's head of production Dore Schary , who had recently replaced Louis B. Mayer . By this time shooting on An American in Paris had completed, and Freed suggested that Kelly be given

270-733: A buttercup mood." Variety was also positive, writing: "Arthur Freed has produced another surefire grosser for Metro in Singin' in the Rain . Musical has pace, humor, and good spirits a-plenty, in a breezy, good-natured spoof at the film industry itself ... Standout performances by Gene Kelly and Donald O'Connor, especially the latter, enhance the film's pull." Harrison's Reports called it "top-notch entertainment in every department – music, dancing, singing, staging and story". Richard L. Coe of The Washington Post called it "yet another fresh and breezy, colorful and funny musical" from Gene Kelly, adding, "Of

324-452: A documentary, the original trailer, and Reynolds' solo rendition of "You Are My Lucky Star", which had been cut from the final film. According to the audio commentary on the 2002 Special Edition DVD, the original negative was destroyed in a fire. Despite this, the film was digitally restored for its DVD release. A Blu-ray Ultimate Collector's Edition was released in July 2012. A Ultra HD Blu-ray

378-476: A fan of Don's, while Don professes his love for her ("You Were Meant for Me"). When Monumental's rival, Warner Bros. , releases its first talking picture, The Jazz Singer , an enormous hit, R. F. decides he has to convert the next Lockwood and Lamont film, The Dueling Cavalier , into a talkie. Lina and Don take elocution lessons ("Moses Supposes"), but the production is beset with difficulties, most notably Lina's grating, high-pitched voice and unfamiliarity with

432-533: A ghost dancer alongside Bill in the Disney film The Haunted Mansion . Debbie married William "Bill" Bartlett (1940–2024), a dancer and dance teacher, on August 3, 1971. She used her married name throughout her career. Bill had already begun establishing his career as a performer in Portland, Oregon , where he was discovered by Sophie Tucker. He went on to perform with luminaries such as Gene Kelly and Donald O’Connor. He

486-558: A lecture on the history of tap dancing, which Knowles later expanded into a book. When Bill Bartlett passed away on August 31, 2020, they had been married for forty-nine years. Latterly, the Bartlett's performed together in Hollywood in show written and directed by Cate Caplin (a former student of Bill's) called The Beat Goes On . Her final performance with Bill was in 2017 at the Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher Celebration of Life at

540-442: A lighthearted depiction of Hollywood in the late 1920s, with the three stars portraying performers caught up in the transition from silent films to " talkies ". Arthur Freed conceived the idea of the film based on the back catalogs of songs written by himself and Nacio Herb Brown. Because many of the songs had been written during the transition from silent films to "talkies", writers Betty Comden and Adolph Green decided that

594-492: A microphone while Kathy, concealed behind the curtain, sings into a second microphone. While Lina is "singing" ("Singin' in the Rain Reprise"), the men raise the curtain, revealing the ruse. Lina and Kathy both flee, but Don has the audience stop Kathy and proudly announces that she is "the real star of the picture" ("You Are My Lucky Star"). Some time later, Kathy and Don kiss in front of a billboard for their new film, Singin' in

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648-517: A screen credit for her dubbing, she gives interviews across Hollywood promoting her (non-existent) vocal talent. A clause in Lina's contract allows her to sue the studio for negative press, so R. F is forced to leave Kathy uncredited and agree to Lina's demand that Kathy continue anonymously dubbing for her. The premiere of The Dancing Cavalier is a success, but when the audience clamors for Lina to sing live, Don, Cosmo, and R. F. tell her to lip sync into

702-499: A secret romance between them. In reality, the rumors are a publicity stunt and Don barely tolerates Lina, although she believes that he loves her. After the premiere, Don is mobbed by fans and escapes by jumping into a passing car driven by Kathy Selden. Kathy reluctantly gives Don a lift. She claims to be a theatre actress and expresses disdain for film acting, particularly Don's hammy performances. Don responds by mocking her acting aspirations, and they part on bad terms. Don arrives at

756-468: A song-and-dance man, a story which Gene Kelly was well-suited for. Kelly could not be approached at the time, as he was deeply immersed in An American in Paris (1951), which he was co-choreographing with Stanley Donen, and in which he was starring. Comden and Green continued to work on the script, and had at that time three possible openings for the film: a silent movie premiere, a magazine interview with

810-456: A song-and-dance medley involving different sets in different soundstages on the studio lot, but they were asked for a romantic love song set in an empty sound stage, and it was needed immediately. Comden and Green provided such a scene for "You Were Meant for Me" and sent it off to Hollywood. Reynolds's singing in two songs was dubbed by Betty Noyes , one of them when Kathy is shown dubbing Lina Lamont, while her high notes and taps were dubbed in

864-422: A story to tie the songs together and to write the script. Comden and Green first refused the assignment, as their agent had assured them that their new contract with MGM called for them to write the lyrics to all songs unless the score was by Irving Berlin , Cole Porter , or Rodgers and Hammerstein . After a two-week hold-out, their new agent, Irving "Swifty" Lazar , having looked over the contract, told them that

918-623: A touring show group, where she performed alongside Bill until 1974. Alongside her husband she appeared in an Orange Shasta commercial in 1977 starring Barry Williams and choreographed by Peter Gennaro . She began her film career in 1978 in the comedy Shame, Shame on the Bixby Boys , where she played Suley Blue Bixby, but continued to work on stage. In 1979 she performed alongside Peter Virgo jr and Bruce Tuthill in Bells Are Ringing at The Muny , St Louis playing Michelle. In 1980, Bartlett

972-766: Is the Night at the Fountain Theatre , Los Angeles In 1998, at The Fountain Theatre once again, they choreographed Fitzgerald's The Last Tycoon for which they won the LA Weekly 1998 Production Design of the Year Award for Choreography . Other notable productions at the Fountain Theatre include Dottie! and Ancient History . Bartlett continued to perform as well as choreograph. Although predominantly in theatre, in 2003 she played

1026-759: The 1970s and 1980 particularly for her role on The Love Boat ., Debbie Bartlett was born Deborah Ann DuBusky in 1951, the third of four children of Jerome Joseph “Jerry” DuBusky (1919 to 1984) and Ann Elizabeth Donahue (1927 to 1987). Her father was born in Washington D.C. , with Prussian, French, Irish and Portuguese ancestry. Her mother was from Massachusetts with English and Irish ancestry. Jerry and Ann DuBusky began raising their family in Washington DC before moving to California. The four children were raised in West Covina and attended Edgewood High School , where Debbie

1080-812: The Forest Lawn Hall of Liberty. Debbie's niece, Rachel DuBusky, is also a dancer and owner-director of Solid Gold Dance studios. Having spent 29 years at Pam Rossi's Dance Ten studio, in 2021, she took over the studio and renamed it in tribute to Pam Rossi's time as a dancer on the TV show Solid Gold . Singin%27 in the Rain Singin' in the Rain is a 1952 American musical romantic comedy film directed and choreographed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen , starring Kelly, Donald O'Connor and Debbie Reynolds , and featuring Jean Hagen , Millard Mitchell , Rita Moreno and Cyd Charisse in supporting roles. It offers

1134-505: The Painted Doll", which Comden and Green had "painfully wedged into the script as a cheering-up song" was replaced with a new Freed/Brown song, "Make 'Em Laugh", which bore a remarkable resemblance to Cole Porter 's 1948 song " Be a Clown ". After Comden and Green had returned to New York to work on other projects, they received word that a new song was needed for a love-song sequence between Kelly and Debbie Reynolds. The original had been

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1188-433: The Rain and childbirth were the two hardest things I ever had to do in my life." Donald O'Connor, a four-pack-a-day smoker at the time, had to stay in bed in the hospital for several days after filming the "Make 'Em Laugh" sequence. Most of the costumes from this film were eventually acquired by Reynolds and became part of her massive collection of original film costumes, sets, and props. Many of these items were sold at

1242-442: The Rain on his Great Movies list, calling the film "a transcendent experience, and no one who loves movies can afford to miss it." On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes , the film has a perfect 100% approval rating based on 64 reviews, with an average rating of 9.3/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "Clever, incisive, and funny, Singin' In The Rain is a masterpiece of the classical Hollywood musical." On Metacritic ,

1296-486: The Rain was among the first 25 films chosen for the newly established National Film Registry for films that are deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation. Singin' in the Rain has appeared three times on Sight & Sound ' s list of the ten best films of all time , in 1982, 2002 and 2022. Its position in 1982

1350-563: The Rain was titled in French). He told them that he had seen the film so many times that he knew it frame by frame, and that he and fellow director and screenwriter Alain Resnais , among others, went to see it regularly at a small Parisian movie theatre where it sometimes ran for months at a time. The film is recognized by the American Film Institute in these lists: In 1989, Singin' in

1404-575: The Rain " ranked third in their list of the greatest film songs . In 1989, Singin' in the Rain was one of the first 25 films selected by the United States Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". In 2005, the British Film Institute included it in its list of the 50 films to be seen by the age of 14. In 2008, Empire magazine ranked it as

1458-444: The Rain . Uncredited Singin' in the Rain was originally conceived by MGM producer Arthur Freed , the head of the "Freed Unit" responsible for turning out MGM's lavish musicals, as a vehicle for his catalog of songs written with Nacio Herb Brown for previous MGM musical films of the 1929–39 period. Screenwriters Betty Comden and Adolph Green wrote one entirely new song, "Moses Supposes", with music director Roger Edens providing

1512-648: The afterparty, where Monumental Pictures' CEO R. F. Simpson shows a demonstration of a talking picture , though his guests dismiss it as a fad . A group of chorus girls then performs, Kathy among them ("All I Do is Dream of You"). Furious at Don's teasing, Kathy throws a cake at him, but it hits Lina instead. In the confusion, Kathy runs away. Three weeks later, Don has searched unsuccessfully for Kathy. Cosmo tries to cheer Don up (" Make 'Em Laugh "). Lina reveals that she had Kathy fired, infuriating Don. Cosmo finds Kathy working as an extra in another Monumental Pictures film ("Beautiful Girl"). Kathy admits to actually being

1566-401: The clause had been entirely an invention of their previous agent, and that there was no such language in the contract. After hearing this, Comden and Green began working on the story and script. Because many of the songs had originally been written during the time when silent films were giving way to "talkies" and musicals were popular with audiences, Comden and Green came up with the idea that

1620-435: The correct answer received a point; score was kept by placing a stuffed animal (a monkey in the first season, a hedgehog in later seasons) in front of the celebrity's podium. Co-host Debbie Bartlett provided the stuffed animals. The celeb with the most toy animals/points won the game and $ 2,500 for their favorite animal charity . If a tie occurred, the money was split between the charities. On segues to two commercial breaks,

1674-407: The eighth-best film of all time. In Sight & Sound magazine's 2022 list of the greatest films of all time, Singin' in the Rain placed 10th. Previously, it had ranked fourth in their 1982 list and tenth in their 2002 list. In 1927, silent film stars Don Lockwood and Lina Lamont attend the premiere of their latest film, The Royal Rascal , produced by Hollywood studio Monumental Pictures. On

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1728-463: The entire film. Although the film revolves around the idea that Kathy has to dub for Lina's piercing voice, in the scene where Kathy is portrayed recording a line of Lina's dialogue during the movie within a movie The Dancing Cavalier , Hagen's normal voice was used, because it was preferred over Reynolds'. Donen once explained that Reynolds' "mid-western" accent was not right for this one scene, preferring Hagen's natural, cultured speaking voice. In

1782-419: The film has a weighted average score of 99 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". The film made each site's list of best-rated films, ranked 46th on Rotten Tomatoes (as of 2021) and 9th on Metacritic. Betty Comden and Adolph Green report that when they met François Truffaut at a party in Paris, Truffaut was very excited to meet the authors of Chantons Sous la Pluie (as Singin' in

1836-496: The music (see below). Freed and Brown wrote a new song for the movie, " Make 'Em Laugh ", though it bears a striking resemblance to Cole Porter 's " Be a Clown " from another MGM Freed-produced musical, The Pirate (1948). Donen, who had asked the pair to write a song inspired by "Be a Clown", considered the result to be "100% plagiarism ". However, Porter never sued for copyright infringement. All songs have lyrics by Freed and music by Brown unless otherwise indicated. Some of

1890-513: The new recording technology. The film's preview screening is a failure due to multiple complications, including awkward microphone placements, Don's uninspired improvising and the audio going out of synchronization. Later that night, Kathy and Cosmo suggest The Dueling Cavalier be turned into a musical (" Good Morning "), and Cosmo, inspired by the film ' s synchronization error, suggests that Kathy dub Lina's voice. Don happily agrees, then takes Kathy home and dances through her neighborhood in

1944-457: The players there's not a dud in the lot, from Kelly's facile performing to the brief but electric dance appearance by Cyd Charisse, a swell partner for him." Pauline Kael , the long-time film critic for The New Yorker , said of the film "This exuberant and malicious satire of Hollywood in the late twenties is perhaps the most enjoyable of movie musicals – just about the best Hollywood musical of all time." Roger Ebert placed Singin' in

1998-449: The rain (" Singin' in the Rain "). Don and Cosmo pitch their idea to R. F., changing the title of the film to The Dancing Cavalier and adding a modern framing device ("Broadway Melody"). R. F. approves but tells them not to inform Lina of Kathy's involvement. Don helps Kathy dub Lina's lines ("Would You"), but Lina is tipped off by another actress. When Lina realizes that Don and Kathy are in love and learns that R. F. intends to give Kathy

2052-416: The red carpet, Don tells the story of his rise to stardom, claiming to have grown up cultured and highly educated. His words are contradicted by flashbacks showing his humble roots as a hoofer , vaudeville musician and stuntman alongside his childhood best friend and longtime collaborator Cosmo Brown (accompanied by the song "Fit as a Fiddle"). Don also expresses his admiration for Lina, feeding rumors of

2106-458: The script to read. Kelly and Donen responded enthusiastically, and immediately became involved in re-writes and adjustments to the script. Comden, Green, Kelly, and Donen were all old friends, and the process went smoothly. Besides the Freed-Brown songs, Comden and Green contributed the lyrics to "Moses Supposes", which was set to music by Roger Edens . Shortly before shooting began, "The Wedding of

2160-427: The sequence in which Gene Kelly dances and sings the title song while spinning an umbrella, splashing through puddles and getting soaked with rain, Kelly was sick with a 103 °F (39 °C) fever. The water used in the scene caused Kelly's wool suit to shrink during filming. A common myth is that Kelly managed to perform the entire song in one take, thanks to cameras placed at predetermined locations. However, this

2214-587: The songs, such as "Broadway Rhythm," "You Are My Lucky Star," " Should I? ", and especially " Singin' in the Rain " itself, have been featured in numerous films. The films listed below mark the first time each song was presented on screen. Arthur Freed, the head of the "Freed Unit" at MGM responsible for the studio's glossy and glamorous musicals, conceived the idea of a movie based on the back catalog of songs written by himself and Nacio Herb Brown, and called in Betty Comden and Adolph Green from New York to come up with

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2268-439: The story should be set during that transitional period in Hollywood, an era they were intimately familiar with. When Howard Keel was mentioned as the possible lead, they tried to work up a story involving a star of Western films who makes a comeback as a singing cowboy, but they kept gravitating to a story about a swashbuckling romantic hero with a vaudeville background who survives the transition by falling back on his abilities as

2322-423: The studio a profit of $ 666,000. It was the tenth-highest-grossing movie of the year in the US and Canada. Bosley Crowther of The New York Times wrote: "Compounded generously of music, dance, color spectacle and a riotous abundance of Gene Kelly, Jean Hagen and Donald O'Connor on the screen, all elements in this rainbow program are carefully contrived and guaranteed to lift the dolors of winter and put you in

2376-503: The touring production of Singin' in the Rain , playing Mary Margaret and participating in the ensemble. She then returned to TV to act as a gameshow cohost with Alan Thicke in Animal Crack-Ups (1987–1990). She also worked as a hostess on the short-lived syndicated series Home Shopping Game in 1987. In the 1990s, Bartlett worked alongside her husband as a choreographer. In 1995, they choreographed F. Scott Fitzgerald 's Tender

2430-419: Was at number 4 on the critics list; on the 2002 critics' list, it was listed as number 10, and it tied for 19 on the directors' list; on the 2022 critics' list, it was listed again as number 10. In 2008, Singin' in the Rain was placed on Empire's 500 Greatest Movies of All Time List, ranking at #8, the highest ranked G-rated movie on the list. The 40th Anniversary Edition VHS version released in 1992 include

2484-448: Was cast in Xanadu as one of the immortal Muses . She was the second muse to emerge from the mural during the "I'm Alive" sequence. However, she had to leave the production before its conclusion and was uncredited. In 1981, she made a guest appearance on the sitcom Three's Company as Marlene in the episode Some of That Jazz . Debbie then became well known as a game show cohost. In 1983 she

2538-529: Was crowned homecoming queen in 1969. Debbie DuBusky began her career in 1970 when she joined the cast of Disney on Parade. It was on that tour that she met Bill Bartlett whom she married the next year, taking the name Bartlett as her stage name. The Disney on Parade show and tour took her to Canada, Mexico and around the USA. At the end of the tour she joined the Chandler Conspiracy Night Club Act,

2592-583: Was featured on Dream House and then filled the cohost role on Every Second Counts in 1984. Bartlett's most significant television role came in the final season of The Love Boat (1985–1986), where she appeared in 19 episodes as Susie, one of eight dancers known as The Mermaids. Selected through a nationwide audition process from thousands of hopefuls, she was part of a team that included Teri Hatcher , who appeared as Amy in her first role. For this role she had to leave Every Second Counts midway through its run. From June 1986 to June 1987, Bartlett performed in

2646-443: Was in the studio, he found her crying under a piano. On hearing what had happened, Astaire volunteered to help her with her dancing. Kelly later admitted that he had not been kind to Reynolds and was surprised that she was still willing to talk to him afterwards. After shooting the "Good Morning" routine, which had taken from 8:00 a.m. until 11:00 p.m. to shoot, Reynolds' feet were bleeding. Years later, she said " Singin' in

2700-634: Was most renowned as a teacher, at various schools such as the Debbie Reynolds Dance Studios and the Madilyn Clark Studios. Bill's long teaching career included a notable tenure at Plaza de la Raza starting in 1987 as well as Idyllwild Arts Academy . Debbie assisted Bill's teaching from around 2007 at Idyllwild and began to take classes of her own. They were also close friends with dancer and choreographer Alex Romero and dancer and author Mark Knowles. They assisted Knowles in creating

2754-468: Was not the case; filming the sequence took two to three days. Another myth is that the rain was mixed with milk in order for the drops to show up better on camera; but the desired visual effect was produced, albeit with difficulty, through backlighting . Debbie Reynolds was not a dancer when she made Singin' in the Rain ; her background was as a gymnast. Kelly apparently insulted her for lacking dance experience, which upset her. Later, when Fred Astaire

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2808-491: Was only a modest hit when it was first released. Today, however, it is often regarded as the greatest musical film ever and one of the greatest films ever made. It topped the AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals list, ranked as the fifth-greatest American motion picture of all time in its updated list of the greatest American films in 2007, having ranked as the tenth-greatest in the original 1998 list , and Kelly's rendition of " Singin' in

2862-646: Was released on April 26, 2022. The digital version of the film is currently available to stream on HBO Max . The musical Singin' in the Rain was adapted from the motion picture, and the plot of the stage version closely adheres to the original. Directed and choreographed by post-modern choreographer Twyla Tharp , the opening night cast at the London Palladium in 1983 starred Don Correia as Don Lockwood, Mary D'Arcy as Kathy Selden, Richard Fancy as Roscoe Dexter, Faye Grant as Lina Lamont, and Peter Slutsker as Cosmo Brown. The musical opened on July 2, 1985, at

2916-464: Was when the story should be set. When the story morphed into that of a romantic hero with a vaudevillian background surviving the transition period in Hollywood and falling back onto his old song-and-dance habits, Kelly, who was chosen for the lead along with Donen, responded enthusiastically to it. The film was released after a premiere at the Radio City Music Hall on April 11, 1952. The film

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