"The Broadway Rhythm Ballet" (a long segment rejected in the context of its inclusion in The Dueling Cavalier) guides us through the progression of a young Broadway hoofer who makes his way towards success, inevitably tempted by a traditional noir vamp (Cyd Charisse wearing green flapper outfit and shoes). In stark contrast, Charisse danced later with Kelly wrapped in a 25-foot silk scarf billowed by a wind machine.
In the number "You Were Meant for Me" in which Don declares Kathy his love, a wind machine is exposed figuring as an element of demystification of romantic musical numbers. We also can find a synecdochical side in the flow of the storytelling, accentuated in the juxtaposing of Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds with their billboard images in "You Are My Lucky Star."
"As Gene Kelly danced and sang obliviously in the rain, he became an indelible image of Hollywood itself" -Michael Coffey in "The Irish in America" (1997).
Gene Kelly was chosen number 15 on AFI’s millennium list of most legendary actors. "He once said he hoped most that he had made people happy", said daughter Kerry Kelly. Speaking of Singin' in the Rain, Gene Kelly told People magazine, "The picture was done with joy, and it brings joy. That's what I always tried to do."
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