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#1
12-13-2005, 06:15 AM
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100 films: Singin\' in the Rain
 starring: Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, Debbie Reynolds, and Jean Hagen written by: Betty Comden and Adolph Green directed by: Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly NR, 103 min, 1952, USA Silent film stars Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly) and Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen) are in the midst of production of their latest film when the invention of the talkie forces the film to shut down and the stars are enrolled in classes to learn articulation and how to adapt to this new medium. Lockwood, with his background in Vaudeville, has no trouble, but Lamont's nasally tone does not translate even a little. In a moment of despair they hit on the idea of having Lockwood's new girlfriend Kathy Selden (Debbie Reynolds) dub over Lamont's dialogue and songs. The film is saved, but Lamont, feeling the pressure of losing her career, threatens to sue if Selden doesn't continue to supply her voice. Ask anyone anywhere what they know about Singin' in the Rain and they will invariably mention the title sequence with Gene Kelly stomping through puddles and twirling around the post of a streetlight. There's something inherently romantic about being so head-over-heels in love that you walk home in the rain with no regard for how foolish you look. Kelly captures that childlike joy so completely that it is the type of number that can melt the heart of the harshest cynic.[1] The image of Kelly hanging from the pole is so iconic that the temptation to mimic it surfaces nearly every time I walk down the street, especially in the rain.[2] Donald O'Connor's Cosmo Brown carries the responsibility of supplying the film's comic touch, and he does so in a memorable performance. There's a scene early in the film when Kelly is feeling low and O'Connor tries to cheer him up with a song. He launches into "Make them Laugh", punctuating the song with a procession of physical gags that culminates with him running up the wall and doing a backflip. He spends most of the song, which was filmed in one continuous take, throwing himself around the room with abandon in a manner more in line with a stunt double than a song and dance man. And it's definitely him the whole time, no question about it. Actually, O'Connor's character is really the brains behind the whole operation. O'Connor comes up with the impromptu songs, O'Connor comes up with the idea to turn the film into a musical, and O'Connor thinks to have Hagen's voice dubbed. And what a voice it is, only it doesn't belong to Debbie Reynolds. Ironically, the singing voice they used to dub the awful voice of Jean Hagen was actually dubbed by Betty Noyes[3]. Reynolds does all her own acting, though, and a fine job at that. The dilemma shown here, of the silent film industry struggling with the move to talkies, was a real one. Many stars, including none other than Buster Keaton, lost their careers when the public found out that they couldn't make the switch. Either they had annoying voices or they weren't articulate or perhaps they were just dumb (or in the case of Lina Lamont, all of the above), but people just didn't want to watch them any more. So I'm sure it was a natural reaction for stars to go the route of Lamont and examine their contracts for any bit of leverage to keep their jobs. Remember that film stars, while well paid back then, didn't make nearly the amount they do now, so most of them didn't have piles of money laying around. If they couldn't manage to keep their style the way Charlie Chaplin did, they had to resort to other means. Dubbing was one method. Veiled threats were another. But no one watches Singin' in the Rain to learn about the history of the film industry; we watch for the music, for Gene Kelly dancing in the rain, for the dancing, for the chemistry between the trifecta of Kelly, O'Connor, and Reynolds. We watch for a vibrant use of technicolor, where the images seem to jump of the screen. But let's be honest, we watch to see Gene Kelly hanging from that lamppost. And to our surprise, the rest of the film is a thoroughly enjoyable, expertly made musical. You can't ask for much more than that. *************** [1] The story is that Kelly performed the number despite having a temperature of 103 degrees. The next day must have been hell. [2] But not when it's really cold. A guy's got limits, you know. Regardless, this is not an urge that fits easily into my personality. [3] If you don't recognize the name, don't worry. Her only credited acting role was in a TV version of Cinderella in 1965. She played Mother. OOT film reviews as compiled by diebitter 
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#2
12-13-2005, 06:38 AM
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Re: 100 films: Singin\' in the Rain
I love this movie! I love it sooo much, words are inadequate. My favourite movie image ever is Gene Kelly smiling up into the pouring rain while hanging on that lamp-post.
I often gush over this when movies are talked about, and I find that there's quite a lot of people just don't like musicals, but I never met one that didn't like this film (Wizard of Oz is the other one). And in our house, when something goes wrong to make us look stupid, every one of us except the littlest member (who's not big enough to get this) will just say 'dignity, always dignity!'. Great great review, pryor, thank you!
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#3
12-13-2005, 01:45 PM
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Re: 100 films: Singin\' in the Rain
i wasn't gonna post this one here, as OOT isn't exactly falling over themselves for musicals, but i remembered you mentioning you liked this, so what the hell, right?
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#4
12-13-2005, 02:05 PM
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Re: 100 films: Singin\' in the Rain
[ QUOTE ]
i wasn't gonna post this one here, as OOT isn't exactly falling over themselves for musicals, but i remembered you mentioning you liked this, so what the hell, right? [/ QUOTE ] I love this film. The only musical I own.
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#7
12-13-2005, 06:35 PM
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Re: 100 films: Singin\' in the Rain
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ] Why wasn't the sequel to this movie mentioned in the sequel threads?  [/ QUOTE ] [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] [/ QUOTE ] I remember seeing this in a film school and everybody bursting out laughing during the Singing in the Rain song and dance, because everyone had seen A Clockwork Orange, and almost nobody has seen SITR, so their identification with the song and dance was indelibly linked with the viciously ironic Clockwork Orange rendition. It was just impossible to watch SITR without the brutal imagery Clockwork had seared into your brain coming back at you again, and it made the SITR passage screamingly funny. SITR could never quite win that passage back if you'd seen Clockwork first. Still, like all exceptionally good musicals, which to my tastes are quite rare, if you can surrender to the inherent absurdity of the very concept of a musical, you can have a heck of a good time in this one. The stars are tremendously personable here and the movie really gels with lots of funny bits and absolutely exuberant performances. Donald O'Connor gets my first vote as the main reason to watch the movie; he was easily Kelly's match here if not better. The brilliant athleticism and quirkiness of his dance style was far above the level of the average musical and still stands as a benchmark for absolute fun in the genre. I can't stand musicals, frankly, and I love this one. For that to happen, this one would have to be really, really good. And it is. It doesn't take itself too seriously and is all about joy, unlike many musicals that seem to plug their singing and dancing into the story in an almost dreary fashion at predictable and often, to those not a big fan of this strange type of entertainment, disappointing intervals. This movie actually delivers just about as well to people who don't like musicals as to those who do, which is quite an amazing trick to pull off. Anyway, this one is very easy to watch and love, and the sense of fun and energy of a cast that looked like they loved what they were doing sticks with the viewer solidly even if they haven't seen it for years. It's hard not to hold at least a little fondness in yourt heart for this movie no matter how much of a cynic you are, and even if you can't help guffawing or snickering as you recall one of its scenes played otherwise in A Clockwork Orange.
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#8
12-13-2005, 06:44 PM
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Re: 100 films: Singin\' in the Rain
[ QUOTE ]
Donald O'Connor gets my first vote as the main reason to watch the movie; he was easily Kelly's match here if not better. The brilliant athleticism and quirkiness of his dance style was far above the level of the average musical and still stands as a benchmark for absolute fun in the genre. [/ QUOTE ] i was shocked at just how good he was in this. i couldn't recall seeing him in anything else.
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#9
12-13-2005, 02:03 PM
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Re: 100 films: Singin\' in the Rain
Nice review. I've seen this movie 10-15 times with my kids and will happily watch it another 10-15 times. I think it is more of a comedy with musical interludes.
My kids cannot stop laughing when the first cut of the film is shown in the theatre and the voice track gets out-of-sync with the movie. No no no, yes yes yes, no no noooooooo
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