"Make 'Em Laugh" musical number

E66046

"Make 'Em Laugh" is a high-energy comic musical number from the film Singin' in the Rain, celebrated for Donald O'Connor's acrobatic slapstick performance and inventive physical comedy.


Statements (49)

Predicate Object
instanceOf film song
musical number
show tune
associatedPerformer Donald O'Connor
associatedWith MGM musicals
characterPerformedBy Cosmo Brown
choreographerOfFilm Gene Kelly
Stanley Donen
composer Nacio Herb Brown
countryOfOrigin United States of America
surface form: "United States"
criticalReputation classic Hollywood musical number
showcase for Donald O'Connor
danceStyle acrobatics
tap dance
directorsOfFilm Gene Kelly
Stanley Donen
era Hollywood Golden Age
surface form: "Golden Age of Hollywood"
featuredInFilm Singin' in the Rain
filmedIn Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
surface form: "MGM studios"
filmReleaseYear 1952
genre comedy
musical comedy
historicalContext transition from silent films to talkies (in film's story)
influencedByClaim Cole Porter song "Be a Clown"
language English
lyricist Arthur Freed
medium sound film
musicalForm up-tempo comedy song
narrativeFunction Cosmo Brown
surface form: "develops Cosmo Brown's character"

provides comic interlude in film
notableFor acrobatic physical comedy
high-energy choreography
self-inflicted pratfalls
wall-running stunt
partOf Singin' in the Rain
surface form: "Singin' in the Rain soundtrack"
performedBy Donald O'Connor
portraysCharacter Cosmo Brown
productionCompanyOfFilm Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
sequenceType comic relief number
style slapstick
tempo fast
theme making audiences laugh
show business
title Make 'Em Laugh
usesProp dummy
set walls
sofa
vocalRegister tenor
vocalType solo male vocal

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Singin' in the Rain famousFor "Make 'Em Laugh" musical number