Singin' in the Rain (1952, Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, Donald O'Connor): SPOILER Episode 50

“The sun’s in my heart and I’m ready for love”

The Spoiler team are back for series 8 and what better way to celebrate our 50th episode than by finally acknowledging the elephant in the recording studio that’s been hanging over Paul since series 1; Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly’s definitive film musical ‘Singin’ in the Rain’. It’s no secret that Andy and Rachael both adore this eternal classic but a self-sabotaging Paul is having none of it, putting off watching it until the first day back at work after the Christmas holidays and subsequently dismissing everything as annoying, bizarre and too yellow. That said, he just can’t get the ‘Good Morning’ song out of his head! Andy tells the story of his previous, magical viewing of the film on the big screen and Rachael warns of the dangers of trying to recreate the dance moves in real life. While everyone agrees that the central romance completely lacks chemistry, a grumpy Paul fails to get anyone else to say a bad word about Donald O’Connor’s Cosmo or the famous title routine, which he thinks Morecambe and Wise did better. And Andy gives Paul an intensive grilling with a specially-prepared set of notes designed to highlight the contradictions in our beloved host.

Elsewhere, Andy takes an in-depth look at a comparatively overlooked Hollywood musical, Mervyn LeRoy and Busby Berkley’s 1933 classic ‘Gold Diggers of 1933’.

This episode of Spoiler is brought to you by the letter C.

This week’s scale: Singin’ in the Rain or a wet Wednesday night in Wigan