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It’s no exaggeration to say that Singin’ in the Rain is the most splendid musical film ever. If anything, it feels like an understatement. It’s a dream of a film in which pure unadulterated joy leaps off the screen. But it’s more than just a happy musical. With cheekiness and playful sarcasm, it is also a dead-on spoof of Hollywood. Still there’s more. It is among the best written of musicals and populated by characters we grow to love. It’s one of the few movies that hardly anyone can speak poorly of.
Set at the dawn of the sound-era in Hollywood, Singin’ in the Rain is a nostalgic view of a by-gone era. The glittery 20s come to life in the stylish costumes, but even in more nuanced props like the posters of swashbuckling pics, then in vogue, and songs of the day (all but two of the songs were old and dependable stock tunes). Silent stars were adapting to an innovation and many, despite lionization during their heyday (such as Valentino and Mary Pickford), could not make the transition. This scenario is played for laughs in the situation of Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen) a vapid screen beauty with shrill vocals and a shortness of brains.
Her screen partners fair better. Cosmo, who is turned by Donald O’Connor into everyone’s favorite sidekick, survives as a piano player and funny man. Then, there is golden boy Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly), a matinee idol and serious actor. As he does with practically all of his characters, Kelly manages to make Don both arrogant and likeable. When he meets the spunky dancer Kathy Selden (Debbie Reynolds), Don reveals himself to be something of a cad. But Kathy puts him in place and, as is often the case in romantic musicals, love blossoms.
Singin’ in the Rain, a tribute to that lost Hollywood, fuses the story of this memorable troop with great music. There is a variety of styles to the numbers. O’Connor’s “Make ‘em Laugh” is the finest song ever set to physical comedy, and a daring dance by any measure. The little discussed but cheerily snappy “Moses Supposes” practically forces viewers to dance along. Its joviality is infectious. Like “Broadway Rhythm”, “Beautiful Girls” adds nothing to the plot but is still fun because they both capture the spirit of the Roaring 20s so well.
All of this is a build-up to one of the happiest moments in movie history, Gene Kelly swirling around light poles to “Singin’ in the Rain”. It is, among many other wonderful things, a truthful evocation of what it feels like to be in love. The sequence is lovingly done without irony. Such sincerity of sentiment is sorely missed. It even has a nice finish in which Don, realizing that the feeling of being in love is all the cover he needs, offers his umbrella to a pedestrian. Who knows if the lucky guy realizes his benefactor was Don Lockwood?
Parts of Singin’ in the Rain are pure comedy. There is a funny moment during the shooting of The Dueling Cavalier (the swashbuckler in production before the talkie revolution) when Don, steamed at Lina for maliciously arranging Kathy’s dismissal from her job as a flapper girl, fuels his romantic lines with angry passion.
Before The Dueling Cavalier is turned into a musical and saved, it is one of the funniest fake bad movies ever created. Even the production of the film becomes funny when everything that could possibly go wrong with setting the microphone does with amusing consequences. For some silent stars, however, this may not have been all that funny. Just as some rock stars found This is Spinal Tap a little too close to reality for comfort, so may have the Norma Desmonds who were unable to cross the bridge into the talkies.
Stanley Donen deserves his legacy as the emperor of screen musicals, but his gifts for character, comedy, and visual craft are often overlooked. In Singin’ in the Rain he creates austere wonders with imaginative simplicity. Look at how easily he creates a gorgeous shot in the empty movie lot. With a sunrise backdrop and artificial mist, Don creates a scene of pastoral beauty, but the transpiring imagination is all Donen.
Consider also what he does with Debbie Reynolds. Kathy is a member of the trio on equal status with Don and Cosmo, and not the disposable love interest she would have been in lesser hands. It was her idea, in fact, to resurrect the dying film in production as a musical. Donen treats her character so richly that it could drop her romantic link with Don and the basic plot points would remain unaffected. Lina would still be jealous of her since she is taking credit for dubbing her voice. However, the romance does lead up to the “Singin’ in the Rain” in which Don practically walks on air.
Of course, the film wouldn’t work without Gene Kelly. He wasted little time in establishing himself as a song and dance man, but he always exudes manliness. No one would ever call him effete. As such, Kelly broke the false perception of what a musical star was with his preppy football player build just like Singin’ in the Rain brought the possibilities of the musical beyond expectations. Since the early 30s musicals were considered big box-office business since they were a commodity, but Singin’ in the Rain transcended the perceived limits of the genre and demonstrated not only what the best musical ever should look like but also that the musical at its zenith could make for one of the greatest movies ever.
When was the last time a musical of this caliber appeared in the cinema? Chicago is almost a decade old and the gap between movie musicals is becoming increasingly wide. One is tempted to explain the sad state of a once profitable genre by saying it has run out of flavor for the public, but the success of Glee proves otherwise. The answer may lie with Singin’ in the Rain. With the longevity of the film and its enduring charm spanning generations, few other musicals are needed; so few of them could compare.

(Friday / April 2, 2010 / 2:06am)

Whenever I see the film “Singin’ In The Rain,” it always reminds me of my childhood, growing up dancing and singing in the rain. This film never seem to disappoint me, yet it gives me a whole other feeling in an amusement way that sometimes I cannot describe. This film is the greatest musical film ever, and most people would agree with me in terms of the performances that Gene Kelly had provided. Kelly’s performance can never be forgotten because of his charisma and confidence. “Singin’ In The Rain” will be cherished for infinite times because of its rich presentation and undying excellence.

(Originally written December 26, 2006)

Singin’ in the Rain is one of the greatest films of all time, but it is also a strange film. It is a film exploding with energy and was very much the Moulin Rouge of its day. Although the mediocre 2001 release is not in the same league as the 1952 masterpiece, both films are post-modern pieces of escapist entertainment that weave together known pieces of music into unique tapestries. One took from Elton John and Kiss; the other took from just about every significant musical before it. It makes sense that director Baz Luhrmann does one of the commentary tracks for the film. What Singin’ in the Rain did was truly ahead of its time, and what makes the film starring Gene Kelly work is that it is full of charm, a grand production without ever overstepping its ambitions. In fact, the film is at its best in some of the deceptively simple numbers: Donald O’Connor’s “Make ‘Em Laugh” and Gene Kelly’s now-classic title sequence. I will admit that the first time I saw this film, the modern dance sequence seemed irrelevant to me. I felt it was an overlong diversion from the central plot. However, this film is not just about its plot but about the joys of music and movies. Singin’ in the Rain is a time capsule of the beauty of Hollywood around the 1950s, the imagination and the quirks. Each musical number contributes to its vision of the world of entertainment. The sequence in which Gene Kelly sings to Debbie Reynolds on the movie set reminds us that we are not simply watching a love story but a love story taking place amidst the magic and fantasy capable only because of Hollywood.