Singin' in the Rain
Cyd Charisse had to learn how to smoke a cigarette just for this role. While Singin' in the Rain is famous for its happy-go-lucky title track, the "Broadway Melody" ballet is where directors Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen flexed their artistic muscles. They cast Cyd Charisse as the silent, dangerous "vamp" to contrast with the innocent Debbie Reynolds. The visual hook of the scene is the massive 50-foot white veil. Coordinating the movement of the silk required precise timing between the dancer and the wind machine operators. If the wind blew a second too late, the fabric would collapse; a second too early, and it would whip her in the face. It turns a romantic duet into a gravity-defying special effect. This was the first time Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse danced together on screen. They would later team up again for Brigadoon. The "Broadway Melody" sequence cost $600,000 to film, which was a massive portion of the film's total budget. Cyd Charisse was actually a classically trained ballerina from the Ballets Russes, which is why her extension and lines are so much sharper than the other chorus girls in the film.