Singin' in the Rain: How Gene Kelly battled illness to film iconic dance

10 November 2025, 12:08 | Updated: 3 December 2025, 14:35

One of the greatest moments in one of the greatest musicals.

Singin' in the Rain has a fair claim to being one of the greatest musicals of all time.

Unlike many musical hits of the era, it wasn't based on a stage production, but a newly written story by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, riffing on the bank of songs by Arthur Freed (lyrics) and Nacio Herb Brown (music).

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The reasons for its enduring success are many. Not just the classic tunes and witty story that had fun exploring Hollywood's transition from silent films to "talkies", but also some absolutely stunning performances.

There was Jean Hagen on hilarious form as silent star Lina Lamont whose voice doesn't translate to the sound era. Debbie Reynolds as the mellifluous Kathy Seldon. Rita Moreno pops up, and there are key roles for Donald O'Connor, Millard Mitchell, Cyd Charisse and Douglas Fowley.

Topping the billing though was Gene Kelly as Donald 'Don' Lockwood, and his crowning glory was the song 'n' dance performance of the title track.

Naturally such an iconic movie moment (named the AFI's third greatest ever movie song, only beaten by 'Over The Rainbow' and 'As Time Goes By') has spawned countless stories and urban legends.

Singin' in the Rain (Full Song/Dance - '52) - Gene Kelly - Musical Romantic Comedies - 1950s Movies

It's been claimed that the finished version was recorded in just one take with multiple cameras. Not so – it actually took anything from a day and a half to three days of painstaking shooting to get all the footage.

There's a long-running rumour that the "rain" in the film is actually... milk. Supposedly, transparent water just didn't show up right on film.

Again, that's pure legend. The rain was captured was achieved through some clever work by cinematographer Harold Rosson, which is something of a relief as after two or three days under studio lights we can't imagine that milk would smell too pretty.

"Shooting the title number was just terrible for the photographer," Kelly told American Film. "That was as tough a job as I've ever seen, because you can't photograph in rain and see it.'"

In 2016, Gene's widow Patricia Ward Kelly confirmed to Radio Times: "They say they put milk in the water to make it so you could see it, and it's really preposterous. What is was, is really, really terrific cinematography and lighting."

But other stories were true. Gene Kelly's woollen suit did shrink during filming. It turns out that "dry clean only" label on your Sunday best is there for a reason.

And yes, Gene really did film the iconic sequence while suffering a pretty serious fever, reported to be at a 103 °F (39.4 °C). He took a couple of days off but came in to shoot that sequence.

"You have to remember he's directing, choreographing and starring in the picture, and so it is hard to have any downtime for someone of that magnitude," Patricia said.

Singin' in the Rain | 4K Trailer | Warner Bros. Entertainment

"Occasionally people would get sick, but you could often shoot around them, or do other segments and things. But with Gene, he's it."

She added: "It was all draped in black tarpaulin, so he would come outside of the tarpaulin into the daylight and just lie in the sunlight and just kind of bake this fever out of him, and go back in and start over again."

In 1994, a couple of years before his death, Gene Kelly told Entertainment Tonight of the magical moment: "It was an easy number, dance-wise. It was a scene. It had a beginning, a middle, and an end.

"The whole thing had to be done like a child in a state of euphoria. His mother says, 'Don't jump in the puddles.' And we all wanted to do that all our lives. The guy was so much in love, he did it."