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60 free Singin' in the Rain trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Singin' in the Rain was a routine MGM musical that opened to decent reviews in 1952 and only later became the film most critics call the greatest musical ever made. This Singing in the Rain trivia quiz covers the story of Don, Kathy, Cosmo and Lina at Monumental Pictures, the disastrous preview of The Dueling Cavalier, the cake, the dubbing ruse and the curtain that gives it all away. It then goes behind the camera: Gene Kelly dancing the title number with a 103-degree fever in a shrinking wool suit, the milk-in-the-rain myth, Debbie Reynolds' bleeding feet after Good Morning, Fred Astaire finding her crying under a piano, Donald O'Connor's hospital stay after Moses Supposes, and the irony that Reynolds herself was dubbed. There are questions on where the songs really came from, the Cole Porter number Make 'Em Laugh resembles, Jean Hagen's Oscar nomination, and the film's places on the AFI, Sight & Sound and National Film Registry lists. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's articles on the film and its cast, and each question shows its source once you have answered.
30 of 60 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In which year was Singin' in the Rain released?
1952
It went nationwide on 11 April and ended the year as the tenth-highest grosser in the US and Canada.
Q 02Gene Kelly co-directed and co-choreographed the film with whom?
Stanley Donen
The two had just finished working together on An American in Paris, which won six Oscars including Best Picture.
Q 03What is the name of the silent-film star played by Gene Kelly?
Don Lockwood
On the red carpet he claims a cultured upbringing while flashbacks reveal a past as a hoofer, vaudeville musician and stuntman.
Q 04Debbie Reynolds plays which aspiring actress?
Kathy Selden
It was her first leading role, and she was not a trained dancer when she took it.
Q 05Donald O'Connor plays Don's childhood best friend and musical sidekick, named what?
Cosmo Brown
The two are shown growing up together as hoofers and stuntmen in the flashback set to "Fit as a Fiddle".
Q 06What is the name of the screeching-voiced silent star who wrongly believes Don loves her?
Lina Lamont
The actress won the part by doing a dead-on impression of Judy Holliday's Billie Dawn at her audition.
Q 07What is the name of the fictional Hollywood studio in the film?
Monumental Pictures
Its boss, R. F. Simpson, dismisses the talking-picture demonstration at his own party as a fad.
Q 08The story is set in which year, at the moment silent films gave way to talkies?
1927
The writers chose the period because most of the songs had been written during that transition.
Q 09Which real Warner Bros. hit convinces the studio boss to turn Don and Lina's next film into a talkie?
The Jazz Singer
The film's success sends the studio into a panic over microphones and Lina's voice.
Q 10What is the title of the swashbuckler whose disastrous talkie preview drives the plot?
The Dueling Cavalier
The preview fails thanks to awkward microphone placement, Don's improvising and the sound slipping out of sync.
Q 11After the flop preview, the film is reworked as a musical under which new title?
The Dancing Cavalier
Don and Cosmo pitch the change to R. F. along with a modern framing device that becomes the Broadway Melody sequence.
Q 12Which song does Cosmo perform to cheer Don up after his search for Kathy fails?
Make 'Em Laugh
The number was a late addition, replacing "The Wedding of the Painted Doll", which the writers said they had painfully wedged into the script.
Q 13The film's one new comedy number was widely noted for its resemblance to which Cole Porter song?
Be a Clown
Q 21Debbie Reynolds was not a dancer when cast. What was her athletic background?
Gymnast
Kelly reportedly insulted her lack of dance experience and later admitted he had not been kind to her.
Q 22Which dance legend found Reynolds crying under a piano and let her watch his rehearsals?
Fred Astaire
He wanted to show her that dancing was hard work even for professionals, but worth it.
Q 23Reynolds' feet were bleeding after the marathon shoot of which number?
Good Morning
The routine was filmed from 8 in the morning until 11 at night.
Porter's song had appeared in another Freed-produced MGM musical, The Pirate, four years earlier.
Q 14The film's songs were drawn from the back catalogue of its producer and which composer?
Nacio Herb Brown
The pair had written for MGM musicals between 1929 and 1939, which is why the story was set in that era.
Q 15Which writing team wrote the screenplay?
Betty Comden and Adolph Green
They initially refused the job because their agent had invented a contract clause saying they must write all the lyrics themselves.
Q 16Who composed the music for "Moses Supposes", the only song written specifically for the film?
Roger Edens
The screenwriters wrote the lyrics, building on a 1944 tongue-twister of the same name.
Q 17The title song had first been heard on screen in which earlier MGM film?
The Hollywood Revue of 1929
Cliff Edwards and the Brox Sisters popularised it more than two decades before Kelly's version.
Q 18What was Gene Kelly suffering from while filming the famous title-song dance?
A 103-degree fever
The shoot took two to three days, contrary to the myth that he did it in a single take.
Q 19Per a persistent myth, the rain in the title number was mixed with what to show on camera?
Milk
The effect was actually achieved, with difficulty, through backlighting.
Q 20What happened to Kelly's wool suit during the rain-soaked title number?
It shrank
He kept dancing regardless, umbrella spinning, through puddles for the two- to three-day shoot.
Q 24Reynolds later said the film and what else were the two hardest things she ever did?
Childbirth
She was 19 during production and had never trained as a dancer.
Q 25What happened to Donald O'Connor after filming the "Moses Supposes" sequence?
He spent several days in hospital
He was a four-pack-a-day smoker at the time.
Q 26O'Connor's comic solo among the props and walls earned him which award?
A Golden Globe
He won Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical at the 1953 ceremony for the routine he choreographed with help from his brother.
Q 27In an ironic twist for a film about dubbing, Reynolds' singing on two songs was dubbed by whom?
Betty Noyes
Her high notes and tap sounds were dubbed throughout the film as well.
Q 28Who plays the vamp in the green sequined dress who tempts Kelly in the "Broadway Melody" ballet?
Cyd Charisse
Censors objected to a brief suggestive pose in the dance, and an abrupt cut near its end probably marks where it was removed.
Q 29Rita Moreno plays which flapper, known as the "Zip Girl"?
Zelda Zanders
As of 2026 Moreno is the last surviving credited star of the film.
Q 30The gossip columnist Dora Bailey, who interviews Don at the premiere, is based on which real writer?
Louella Parsons
She is played, uncredited, by Madge Blake, later Aunt Harriet on the 1960s Batman series.