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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 favorite of her films. Original release poster Directed by George Marshall, It Started With a Kiss (1959) tells the story of Joe Fi tzpatrick (Glenn Ford) and Maggie Putnam (Debbie Reynolds), an Air Force sergea nt and a dancer who meet at a charity ball, whe re he purchases a raffle ticket from her for a c ustom-built luxu ry car. After a two-day cou rtship , Joe marries Maggie and then trave ls to Spain to join his com pany. Maggie meets him there a m onth later, with the new s that he has won the raffle, making them the pro ud owners of a 1955 Lincoln Futura. Alth ough she is happy to see Jo e, Mag gie soon qu estions that sudden commitment to one another. Concerned 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 foll...