Ranked the top film musical and the 5th top film, period, of all time by the American Film Institute, M-G-M’s 1952 musical comedy about Hollywood’s transition from silents to talkies was conceived by Arthur Freed–head of the studio’s famed “Freed Unit”, which was responsible for the lavish musicals for which M-G-M is best known–as a vehicle for songs he had written with Nacio Herb Brown for M-G-M musicals from 1929 to ‘39, that first decade after Vitaphone changed moving pictures forever…and made singing on film even possible: “Singin’ In The Rain”, “You Were Meant For Me”, “Temptation”, “All I Do Is Dream Of You”, “Good Morning!”, “You Were Meant For Me”, and “Should I?” Only “Moses Supposes” and “Make “Em Laugh” were written specifically for the film.