“Until I’m In Tears”: A Song in the Rain is a cult film, except for the lead actor.

Watching – with as much pleasure as ever – this timeless Hollywood classic, Let’s Sing in the Rain, the Feel Good Movie par excellence, we have a sense of perfect alchemy between the actors, especially the young Debbie Reynolds and Gene Kelly. . However, behind the scenes of the filming, a significantly different version came out…

If the film’s success lies mainly in Gene Kelly’s absolute – and undeniable – perfectionism, it eventually turns into an obsession. At the time, Debbie Reynolds, just 19 years old, was new to the Hollywood scene. She had little acting and dancing experience at the time and had to work very hard to learn to dance for six miserable months.

“If I didn’t smile enough, she would yell at me.”

Reynolds felt Kelly never wanted her on the set of the film, recalling years later the disgusted look she gave him when she told him she had never danced before.

For the famous musical number Good morningDonald O’Connor and Debbie Reynolds danced non-stop from 8am to 11pm. With Kelly’s tutelage, they didn’t have to stop dancing and repeat the number, even when Debbie’s legs were bleeding. When Debbie Reynolds showed Kelly her legs, she freaked out “Clean them up!”

Below, the famous, unforgettable sequence. Sweat, blood and tears to achieve the perfect result.

A slight drop in motivation? Gene Kelly was also there to cheer the actor on… in his own way. “He used to yell at me.” burst out the actor Interview in 2013. “If I didn’t smile enough, he would yell at me until I was in tears.”

One day, after another exhausting day of filming, the producer had to literally bring the actor to his dressing room to lie down because of very severe pain in his legs: the blood vessels in his legs were swollen.

Gene Kelly, a dancing genius, sure, but also capable of transforming into a domestic tyrant. The complete opposite of Fred Astaire, of whom Debbie Reynolds has fond memories. On one occasion he escaped crying under the piano, exhausted, Aster came to see him consolingly and advised him not to leave everything behind.

Re-watching this absolute classic of American cinema with this poignant story in mind gives a different perspective…