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This week's «Film Friday» is quite special because it is entirely dedicated to Debbie Reynolds, whose 85th birthday would have been today (hence why I am posting this on a Saturday). Sadly, Debbie pasted away last December, so I thought I would honour her with a compilation of all the Debbie Reynolds films I have written about on this blog. Singin' in the Rain (1952)   Directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen | Co-starring Gene Kelly and Donald O'Connor Singin' in the Rain gave 19-year-old Debbie her breakthrough role and it remains her best known work. She played Kathy Selden, a nightclub performer and aspiring actress who falls in love with Don Lockwood, the swashbuckling matinee idol played by Gene Kelly. Selected over established stars like Judy Garland , Kathryn Grayson, Jane Powell and June Allyson, Debbie always stated that Kelly and Donen did not want her in the film, feeling that they were «stuck» with her. However, Donen maintained that he and Kelly want...

To celebrate Debbie Reynolds' 84th birthday, which happens to be today, this week on «Film Friday» I bring you one of my favourite of her films. Directed by George Marshall, It Started With a Kiss (1959) tells the story of Joe Fitzpatrick (Glenn Ford) and Maggie Putnam (Debbie Reynolds), an Air Force sergeant and a dancer who meet at a charity ball, where he purchases a raffle ticket from her for a custom-built luxury car. After a two-day courtship, Joe marries Maggie and then travels to Spain to join his company. Maggie meets him there a month later, with the news that he has won the raffle and now owns a 1955 Lincoln Futura. Although she is happy to see Joe, Maggie soon questions the sudden commitment to one another. Worried that she might get pregnant before she can determine if they are suitably matched, Maggie declares they must have a trial marriage without sex for thirty days. The following day, the car arrives at the port of Cadiz. As they drive back to Madrid, Joe and ...