Yes, "Singin' In The Rain" "The show you'll never forget!" Judging by the trailer, the poster, and the title, it just sounds like an ordinary film musical starring the great Gene Kelly. After his performance in the Oscar winning film "An American In Paris" no one would ever think there could be a greater Gene Kelly film than that. Well surprisingly, this film is not only superior than any other Gene Kelly Musical but it is also one of the best film musical of all time. Why, ON WITH THE REVIEW!
The film is about a silent film star named Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly) who is praised as being the best swashbuckling silent film star in Hollywood. However, talkies are now invented and it may not only end this silent actor’s career but also the studio as well.
I must admit, Gene Kelly is basically just playing himself like in almost every movie he's in, but that doesn't make his performance bad. He still brings that charm you'd see in his films along with his great singing and marvelous dancing. The character he plays is very likable and on top of it all is a great example of a silent film star struggling in that era. What I really find fascinating about the film is this is the second film that Gene Kelly helped direct. The first film he helped direct was "On The Town" (Along with Stanley Doene who also is the director for this film) which is a nice musical but it's nowhere as near as great as this film, I mean who would of thought his second film would be his best?
Debbie Reynolds as the love interest Kathy Selden is wonderful in this movie. She's funny, she's dramatic, she's charming and on top of it all, the love between her and Kelly's character is beautiful. When ever you see them together (Especially when they sing and dance together, which will get to later) you get that "Glorious feeling" that the characters are meant to be together. What's also amusing is Debbie Reynolds was only a young adult (Not even 21 yet) playing a young woman in this film and Gene Kelly was in his early 40s playing a man in his late 20s or early 30s, and when you watch the film you forget how old the actors are and focus on the love between the characters, even the kiss they share doesn't make you think for a second that this is perverted. It's truly a strong love connection and is one of the many reasons why the film’s so incredible.
Donald O' Connor as Don's best friend Cosmo Brown has to be
one of the funniest characters in cinema. Every scene you see him in, he's
over the top, over dramatic, and literally walking off the walls. There wasn't
one moment when he had me not laughing or smiling. I think the scene a lot of
people who have seen this film applauded his comedy for the "Make Em
Laugh" number and to be honest I not only applauded but gave him a
standing ovation while laughing. The performance is funny and the character is
just as endearing as Gene and Debbie's characters.
The supporting cast plays just as big of a role as our main
characters, and I find none of them forgettable. You got Millard Miller playing
the boss that's struggling with the change of times; Douglas Fowley as the over
dramatic director who's more stressed out than the boss; Cyd Charisse as the
dancer and love interest in the "Broadway Melody" sequence; but the
one who really steals the show from all the supporting characters is Jean Hagen
as the Hollywood diva Lina Lamont. I can't tell you how funny her performance
is, it's just something you got to see to believe and for the first 15 minutes
of the film we see her looking beautiful but never says word and the less you
know about it, the better.
Now let's talk about what defines a musical, the song and dance numbers. Sure the acting's great but what about the numbers in the film. All of them are fantastic and are beautifully sung and choreographed. Ok most of the songs are original songs from other musicals but it still works. The song "All I Do Is Dream Of You" (From "Sadie McKee") has good dancing, nice harmony, and excellent costumes. "You Were Meant For Me" (From The Broadway Melody (1929) has a dream-like set; and Gene Kelly's charming singing voice followed by a sweet dance that he shares with Reynolds, is so romantic that it magnificently expresses the beauty of Debbie Reynolds and Gene’s love for her. "You Are My Lucky Star"(From "Broadway Melody Of 1936" and "Babes and Arms") is so touching that it always sheds a tear in my eye for how powerful the song and the emotiond surrounding the scene are. And "Good Morning" (From "Babes In Arms") is probably one of the best dance scenes I ever seen in film and is also very uplifting and fun to watch. There's even a clever montage of musical numbers of what different studios were doing with musical films, while also leading up to an excellent rendition of the song "Beautiful Girls"(From "Going Hollywood").
There were only three songs that were made specifically for the film. The first is "Fit As A Fiddle" performed by Gene and Donald as we see their characters perform in Vaudeville being booed off the stage. If I was in that audience I wouldn't be the one booing, I'd actually scream for an encore because they sing great harmony, they're tons of fun to watch, and they can really dance! HOW DO THESE TWO STINK!? The second song is "Make Em Laugh" which shows Donald O' Connor just being funny and over the top. The song however is similar to the song "Be A Clown" from "The Pirate" (Another film starring Gene Kelly) but the writer of the song thought it was funny and told them to put it in the film. The song may not be too original but it's still catchy and die-hard hilarious. The third number is "Moses Supposes" as we see Gene and Donald turn a piece of diction into a swinging tap dancing song while scaring the teacher, that's simple and basic, and comes right out of nowhere, but still highly enjoyable none the less.
Now I'm sure a lot of you (Who haven't seen the film) are wondering "What does this all have to do with Singing In The Rain?!"
Well the song "Singin' In The Rain" is Gene Kelly's trademark song and he put the song as the film's title to make the audiences see it. When I first heard the title I thought to myself "What kind of title is that? It sounds like a cheesy dumb musical, that has no story and is just centered around the music", boy was I so wrong. I do wish the film had a different title, but then again the song is actually not only the highlight of the film but it's sung three times during the film. The first time it's sung by the three main characters in the opening credits; the second time it's sung by Gene Kelly; and the third time it's sung by (a dubbed) Debbie Reynolds as well as being briefly sung by Donald O' Connor. All three main characters have solos singing the title song, that's pretty neat. Another reason why I like the idea that the film is called "Singin' In the Rain" is because the rain symbolizes two things in the film, sadness and happiness. When the screening for the failed talking picture is shown, it's raining and as we cut to Don's place, the three main characters are looking out the window looking glum. Alright a typical cliche, it rains during a sad event and I'm guessing the sun shines when things go bright right? Wrong! When they have an idea to save the film, Don's career, and the studio, they sing and dance but it's still raining out and the idea they had is the solution to the film's conflict. When we see Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds finally in love with each other, Gene Kelly walks in the rain singing and dancing to his trademark, doesn't care if he looks like a fool, gives away his umbrella, completely soaks himself in rain, jumps into deep puddles acting all childish and it's all because he's in love, things are looking bright, and doesn't even care if it's raining. The scene is so memorable that's been parodied and homage over and over.
There's a huge sequence in the film that cost tons and tons of money but plays no part in the story and a lot of people tend to skip it on their DVDs, that sequence is called "The Broadway Melody".
It's true this sequence does not move the plot any further, however it's not out of place. The musical number is paying homage to first talkie to win best picture called "The Broadway Melody" and it also was the film that inspired a lot of movie musicals made in that era. This whole sequence is about a young hoofer who goes to New York to become a Broadway star. He starts out performing in a speakeasy to becoming a successful Broadway star and along the whole journey to becoming a star he falls in love with a girl (Cyd Charissie).
What can I say about Gene Kelly in this sequence, he's incredible, he's fantastic, he's just Gene Kelly! Cyd Charissie doesn't have any dialogue in this sequence at all but boy can she dance! She dances so swiftly that she up stages Gene Kelly at points. It's just really cute and amazing to see two great dancers dancing together. I think they're most beautiful moment together is the ballet dream scene. The songs just like most of the songs in this film are from other musicals but most of the songs are from "The Broadway Melody" films. The set design is spectacular; the cinematography is amazing; and the choreography is tremendous. Pointless, yes, but works with the film's theme on the rise of the "Talkie" era, as well as being an incredible number all together.
NOW LET'S JUMP RIGHT BACK TO REALITY!
The final reason why I think this film is the best movie musical of all time is because of its historic fiction. This film takes a serious historical topic that films studios have been going through at that time and turns it into a clever comedy. In the early scenes when you see the people watch the silent film that Kelly and Hagen are in together, the audience’s reaction is exactly how audiences felt when watching those films. All the problems you see with the studio with how they try to make a talking picture are the same exact problems that studios have been struggling with and actually used some of those techniques in early talking films. When the characters decided to turn a flop talking film into a musical that's what many studios decided to do at the time. We also get a few nods to famous Silent film actors. Gene Kelly's silent film character for example is a swashbuckling hero which pays homage to the great Douglas Fairbanks, who was best known for playing those roles. Another example of the film's nods to silent film actors is during Donald O' Connors musical number he does stunts and comedic things that Silent film stars did (Such as Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd). The film also pays homage to other films made during the 30s, 40s and early 50s. Jean Hagen's character is based on Judy Hollidays character from "Born Yesterday"; the "You Were Meant For Me" dance is similar to how Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers dance together; Cyd Charissie gangster boyfriend has a scar on his face and flips a coin like George Raft, which pays tribute to the original 30s film "Scarface" and how the characters expose Jean Hagens character is similar to how the great Oz is exposed in “The Wizard Of Oz”. The film was also nice enough to mention the first talkie film "The Jazz Singer" as being the film that will change the style of films (Also having Donald O' Connor sing a little Al Jolson, who was the star of that film) and a whole sequence dedicated to the first talking musical movie to win best picture "The Broadway Melody".
This film is one of the best films I've ever saw! It has a historical background; lovable characters; memorable songs that are mostly not original, but are still great renditions; great casting; a strong love story; has good comedy; and clever homages to cinema. This film is so great that even Disney's "The Great Movie Ride" payed tribute to the film and made a audio animatronic singing the song while leaning on the lamppost.
This film is the "Citizen Kane"of musicals and is indeed a must see!
RATING 5/5
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