Stanley Donen: The Visionary Behind Singin’ in the Rain and Hollywood’s Greatest Musicals

The first image that comes to mind when I think of Stanley Donen is that scene from Singin’ in the Rain, when Gene Kelly crosses the street with his umbrella singing the song that would make him immortal. Stanley co-directed with Kelly this musical that would be a tribute to the great musicals of all time, and would itself become one of the greatest American films.

The director of this film died on February 23, 2019, at the age of 94. The director died of undisclosed causes, probably from natural causes. A remnant of old Hollywood, he debuted on stage in the 1940s. It was there that he met Gene Kelly, who was also beginning his successful career and would become his great ally. In 1944, the two were responsible for the choreography of Cover Girl, directing some sequences. The first full-length film he directed was On the Town (1949), which featured Sinatra, Kelly and Jules Munshin as sailors on a day off. One of the difficulties during filming was due to Sinatra’s fans, who constantly approached their idol.

In 1952, Singin’ in the Rain premiered, unanimously considered the greatest musical of all time. And no wonder, it had a great cast including Debbie Reynolds, Donald O’Connor, Jean Hagen and Gene Kelly himself. Combine this with well-known songs from other repertoires and musicals, with great choreography and you’ve got yourself a huge success.

Stanley was responsible for other classics such as Royal Wedding (1951), Funny Face (1957) and Charade (1963). The director is one of the last remaining figures from the golden age of classic cinema and has been retired since the 1980s, when he released Blame It on Rio (1984). From time to time he appears in documentaries about the era and also at film festivals. It is also worth checking out a documentary made about his work, “Stanley Donen: You Just Do It.

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Carla Marinho Leal

Writer, traveler and above all, curious about many subjects. She has studied cinema since 2002 and is a Specialist in Cinematographic Studies from UNICAP. Founder of the blog Purviance and the website Cinemaclássico. She loves Charles Chaplin, Raj Kapoor and constantly browses films from all over the world.

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