MGM musicals went into a decline after Louis B Mayer left. This reunited two stars of Singing in the Rain Debbie Reynolds and Donald O'Connor - the age gap is only seven years which is small by Hollywood standards.
The songs and stars are great as are the dances. It's all done with MGM gloss and skill - they had so many good people under contract it was hard for them to make a bad musical. On one level.
This has a dopey book. A really bad book. And that matters. Reynolds is a small town gal dreaming of stardom (cue fantasy sequences which I believe are generally a bad idea unless completely fantastical) who is loved by photographer assistant Donald O'Connor. She insists he get her on the cover of a magazine or she'll marry someone else which isn't very nice although Reynolds gives a charming performance. It's based on contrived misunderstandings and greed. It's a shame because the musical numbers are so good and the stars so strong.
Robert Taylor makes a cameo. Richard Anderson plays a fake love interest to O'Connor's love interest as he would do in The Buster Keaton Story.
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