Now showing · Gene Kelly · Debbie Reynolds · Donald O’Connor · 1952
A night storm, built in daylight on a back lot.
MGM Lot 2, Culver City · 1951
The rainy street where Gene Kelly sings the title song was shot on MGM’s Lot 2, under a black tarpaulin in the daytime. The equivalent of two city blocks of back lot were used and pumped with hundreds of gallons of water. The number took seven days to film, with rain needed for six hours each day. Build it yourself.
A sunny morning in Culver City. The number is set at night.
Kelly had a bad cold and a fever while he performed it. On PBS, Culver City’s historian points to Lot 2 as MGM’s first back lot, where you could once have watched Kelly dance, and says there are no back lots there any more.
The back lot has gone and the land has been built over. There is nothing to visit, so it is not on our map.
The lot today
Stage 6 on the MGM lot, now Sony Pictures Studios, was also used for the film. Stage 6 was built in 1929 and was the tallest stage ever built in Southern California.
A working studio, open only on the guided walking tour: two hours, Monday to Friday, $55. Ages 12 and up; under-18s with an adult.
10202 West Washington Boulevard, Culver City · Monday to Friday · $55
A two-hour guided walk round the old MGM lot in Culver City, where Stage 6 still stands. Ages 12 and up; under-18s with an adult.
Book the tourThe dubbing scene
On screen, Lina Lamont sings. Whose voice is it?
In the scene where Kathy dubs Lina Lamont’s voice, Reynolds’ voice did not work well, so Jean Hagen’s own voice was used, dubbing for Reynolds.
Listen to the title number again: not every splash is Kelly’s.
Hollywood and Sixth Avenue
In the film
Singin’ in the Rain was partially filmed in front of and inside the theatre. It opened on 18 May 1927 with the premiere of The King of Kings. Now the TCL Chinese Theatre, it is still a working cinema.
The forecourt of prints is on the pavement and free to walk. The theatre is a working cinema.
In real life
Singin’ in the Rain opened at Radio City Music Hall on 27 March 1952. The Los Angeles opening followed on 9 April 1952.
A working concert hall. Check the hall’s own site for shows and tours.
All three stars left their prints in the Chinese Theatre’s forecourt, years apart. Press each slab to set it.
0 of 3 slabs set.
After the picture
Debbie Reynolds spent decades saving Hollywood’s costumes. Turn the card to see where four things ended up.
Four cards, face down.
6067 Wilshire Boulevard · Wednesday–Monday 10am–6pm · adults $25, under-18s free
The museum that holds a cloche Debbie Reynolds wore in the film. Ask on the day whether it is in the galleries.
Plan a visit
Pittsburgh · born 1912
Gene Kelly was born in East Liberty, Pittsburgh, on 23 August 1912. In the Depression he ran the Kelly School of Dance with his brother Fred.
The Gene Kelly Awards for high-school musicals are held at the Benedum Center. The 35th, on 23 May 2026, drew 37 schools from Allegheny County.
A working theatre in the Cultural District. The Gene Kelly Awards come round each May.
Beverly Hills · a private home
Kelly owned a house on North Rodeo Drive from 1946 until his death in 1996; Sunday was volleyball day. A Christmas-tree fire nearly destroyed it in December 1983. Kelly, then 72, rebuilt it from the original blueprints in 1984.
A private home. It is not on our map.
Credits
Directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen; written by Betty Comden and Adolph Green; most of the songs by Arthur Freed and Nacio Herb Brown. Harold Rosson shot it in three-strip Technicolor. It came in at $2,540,800, $620,996 over budget. Jean Hagen was nominated for an Oscar as Lina; Comden and Green won the Writers Guild award.
Directors, writers, songwriters, final cost, Hagen’s nomination and the Writers Guild award.
Harold Rosson photographed it with three-strip Technicolor cameras.
American Cinematographer: Beyond the Frame, Singin’ in the Rain (David E. Williams, 28 June 2018)
Encore
Not in the film: the stage musical, based on the MGM film, plays the Crucible from 26 November 2026 to 16 January 2027, with over 14,000 litres of water on stage, before a UK and Ireland tour.
9 places you can visit; the Culver Hotel is 1.0 km from the studio gate. MGM’s Lot 2 has been built over and Gene Kelly’s house is a private home: neither is on the map.
Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.
General reference · Restricted access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working studio, open only on the guided walking tour: two hours, Monday to Friday, $55. Ages 12 and up; under-18s with an adult.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working hotel in Downtown Culver City, with jazz nights in the lobby.
10202 West Washington Boulevard, Culver City
Stage 6 on the MGM lot, now Sony Pictures Studios, was also used for the film.
A working studio, open only on the guided walking tour: two hours, Monday to Friday, $55. Ages 12 and up; under-18s with an adult.
9400 Culver Boulevard, Culver City
Not in the film: a hotel built in 1924 in Downtown Culver City, with 46 rooms and suites and jazz nights in the grand lobby.
A working hotel in Downtown Culver City, with jazz nights in the lobby.
Stay
A 1924 hotel in the studio town, about a kilometre from the old MGM gates.
9400 Culver Boulevard, Culver City
Not a filming location: a 1924 hotel in Downtown Culver City with 46 rooms and suites, and jazz nights in the grand lobby. The old MGM lot is about a kilometre away.
Check roomsGo there
Sony’s weekday walk round the old MGM lot, the Academy Museum, and tours of Hollywood.
10202 West Washington Boulevard, Culver City · Monday to Friday · $55
A two-hour guided walk round the old MGM lot in Culver City, where Stage 6 still stands. Ages 12 and up; under-18s with an adult.
Book the tour6067 Wilshire Boulevard · Wednesday–Monday 10am–6pm · adults $25, under-18s free
The museum that holds a cloche Debbie Reynolds wore in the film. Ask on the day whether it is in the galleries.
Plan a visitLos Angeles
Live marketplace results for Hollywood walking and studio tours. Check each itinerary for the places it really visits.
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Compare toursWhat’s on
The musical in Texas this autumn, in Sheffield for Christmas and round the UK and Ireland in 2027.
Checking current event dates…
Take it home
The soundtrack on record, the making of the film and Reynolds’ memoir, and original 1952 posters from our store.
A 1952 original, 27 × 41 inches plus linen border, previously folded and now linen-backed. Near mint.
In stock
View posterThe 1952 German release poster, 16.5 × 23.3 inches, rolled, previously folded. Near mint.
In stock
View posterGene Kelly and cast · 10-inch, MGM Records, 1952
MGM’s own 1952 album of the songs, taken from the film’s soundtrack.
Live marketplace search · listings and condition change
Find a copyNacio Herb Brown, Arthur Freed and cast · 2 CDs, Rhino, 2002
The soundtrack on two discs.
Live marketplace search · listings and condition change
Find a copyVarious artists · 12-inch LP, WaterTower Music, 2015
The soundtrack back on vinyl.
Live marketplace search · listings and condition change
Find a copyEarl J. Hess and Pratibha A. Dabholkar · University Press of Kansas
The whole production, 331 pages, from script to release.
Find the bookDebbie Reynolds with Dorian Hannaway
Reynolds’ own account, published in 2013.
Find the bookDates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.
Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.
11 of 11 places · 12 of 12 Moments
Former MGM back lot, Culver City
Gene Kelly dances in the rain down a street built on MGM’s Lot 2.
10202 West Washington Boulevard, Culver City
Stage 6 on the MGM lot was used for the film.
In the dubbing scene, Jean Hagen’s own voice stands in for Debbie Reynolds’ Kathy; Gwen Verdon and Kelly’s assistants dubbed his taps and splashes.
9400 Culver Boulevard, Culver City
6925 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood
Scenes were filmed in front of and inside the Chinese Theatre.
O’Connor (1953), Reynolds (1965) and Kelly (1969) leave their prints in the forecourt.
6067 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles
A cloche Reynolds wore in the film joins the Academy Museum collection.
5269 Lankershim Boulevard, North Hollywood
North Hollywood names a stage after Reynolds.
6300 Forest Lawn Drive, Los Angeles
Reynolds and Carrie Fisher are buried together.
North Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills
Kelly’s Beverly Hills house, his home for fifty years.
Sixth Avenue at West 50th Street, Manhattan
The film opens at Radio City Music Hall on 27 March 1952.
237 7th Street, Cultural District, Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh’s high-school musicals compete for awards in Kelly’s name.
55 Norfolk Street, Sheffield
The stage musical brings 14,000 litres of water to Sheffield.
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