SINGIN' IN THE RAIN

Friday, August 7, 6:00 p.m. | A warmhearted look back at the period in the late 1920s when studios were scrambling to make the transition from silent films to talkies, SINGIN' IN THE RAIN places a typical Hollywood mirror before a trio of plucky troupers forced to adapt to the unknown world of sound cinema. As in GREASE or DAZED AND CONFUSED (both successful period pieces similarly distant from the eras they depict), the film puts forth a resonant vision of an age passing just beyond the edge of recent cultural memory. Filtered through the rosy postwar sensibilities of the then-present, SINGIN' IN THE RAIN creates a false but irresistible pop monument which has all but overtaken the actual era it depicts. But the songs! Debbie Reynolds's sunny flirtations saturate the cheerfully tender "Good Morning," the platonic ideal of a morning-after celebration. Donald O'Connor leaves no gag unattempted in his breathless, bravura "Make 'Em Laugh." And top-billed Gene Kelly's miraculous solo performance of the title song has come to exemplify all the optimism, pathos, and dream-magic of the American film musical itself. (Gabriel Wallace, Chicago Film Society)

Awards & Nominations

1953 Academy Awards - Nominee, Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Jean Hagen), Best Music
1953 Writers Guild of America - Winner, Best Written American Musical

Chicago Film Society Presents: Technicolor Weekend | August 7–9, 2026

The Chicago Film Society returns for its fourth iteration of Technicolor Weekend, a series which showcases prints made using the Technicolor printing process. All of the films in this series will be projected from prints that were at one point or another saved by private collectors. They were intended to last only through their initial runs, but instead have endured hundreds of screenings, studio mergers, film exchange closures, and multiple private owners. These unlikely survivors offer us a view of what these films looked like before digital color correction and other modern restoration techniques, and are stunning examples of an incredibly complex industrial process that delighted millions. Synopses courtesy of Chicago Film Society. Learn more at chicagofilmsociety.org.

The Film Center is ADA accessible. This presentation will be projected without open captions. The theater is hearing-loop equipped. For accessibility requests, please email filmcenter@saic.edu