Classic Movie Review: Singin' in the Rain
By Clint Chirpich
September 8, 2016
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Now I can add one more title to that list: Singin' in the Rain was a marvelous viewing experience, practically from beginning to end.
Widely considered one of the best movie musicals (if not the best, it's something I've had a vague interest in for years, but never went out of my way to watch it. Thanks to a recent airing on TCM, I was able to catch it and, like a lot of the classics I've been watching recently, it's one that I wish I would have seen much sooner.
Singin' in the Rain is set in Hollywood in 1927 and centers on a film studio, Monument Pictures, and their stars reacting to the advent of "talkies." The new technology and way of working is, at first, laughed off as a trifle, but soon it is obvious talkies are the wave of the future and they have to race to keep up with the competition.
Monument Picture's biggest stars are Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly) and Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen) a duo who have appeared in numerous silent film romances together. The studio consistently spreads rumors that the two are a romantic item off screen, as well, and even though Don vehemently denies it, Lina believes it to be true. Don's childhood best friend, Cosmo (Donald O'Connor) is a studio musician and piano player on all the Lockwood-Lamont features and is often brought along to premieres and other events.
After their most recent premiere, when mobbed by his adoring fans, Don jumps into a passing car and meets the beautiful Kathy (Debbie Reynolds). He's instantly smitten, but she rejects his advances. Of course, the two become an item and work together with Cosmo to save the day, in more ways than one.
What transpires is a fun, energetic, and beautiful motion picture. There are numerous great, catchy musical numbers in addition to wonderful performances and a witty script. From a technical perspective, I can't imagine any other musical from the era (or from today, for that matter) surpassing Singin' in the Rain.
One of my only complaints is about the opening credits where the filmmakers decided to use a truncated version of the title song - Singin' in the Rain - along with the three main protagonists. It's entertaining, for sure, but has the adverse effect of spoiling the reveal of the song later and of establishing that Don and Kathy will become friendly. These are small qualms, but I can't think of any reason why the filmmakers would want to start the movie in this way. A different song could have been used and it could have just featured Kelly and O'Connor, thus keeping Reynolds' involvement a little secret.
Singin' in the Rain is the first film I've ever seen with Gene Kelly and I'm anxious to see more. His performance as Don Lockwood is just so charming and funny and impressive, from a singing and dancing perspective. Kelly just exudes charm no matter what he's doing on screen, whether it be dancing along with his best friend, trying to woo Kathy, arguing with Lina or anything else. Kelly uses every ounce of that charm (not to mention his good looks and an impressive wardrobe) to make the audience fall for Don from the first frames of the film. Don seems like a guy you'd want to hang out with even if Kelly himself was - allegedly - a bit of a hard ass and perfectionist. There have been stories circulating for more than 60 years about his demanding nature on set and his reputation for making everyone do dozens and dozens of takes and work all day, just to get one particular move just right. For one sequence, Kelly had Reynolds perform so many times that her feet were bleeding by the end of the day. Of course, when the end result is so fantastic and the dance numbers appear perfect - at least to this untrained eye - you can hardly fault Kelly for acting that way. He knew what he wanted, knew how to get it, and did whatever it took.
When a romantic comedy has a star of Kelly's magnitude, it needs someone equally talented and charismatic to play opposite them. Debbie Reynolds was more than up to the task. Her performance as Kathy is sly, witty, charming, and surprisingly sexy. I've only seen Reynolds in films from the last 20-30 years and was caught off guard by how beautiful she was as a young woman. And, considering she wasn't a trained dancer before being cast in the role, I thought she handled all the musical numbers exceptionally well. In fact, while watching her perform, I assumed she did have a background in dance - it wasn't until researching for this review that I found out otherwise. Reynolds faltered, just a little bit, with some of the more dramatic moments, but never to the point of taking me out of the film. All in all, she turned in a wonderful performance.
The majority of the conflict in Singin' in the Rain comes directly from Lina Lamont, played wonderfully by Jean Hagen. Lina hates Kathy, especially when she finds out Kathy can sing, dance, AND Don is romantically interested in her, so Lina gets her fired. In addition to that, Lina's terribly grating voice - which obviously isn't an issue when they're making silent pictures - is hard to overcome when the studio decides to start making talkies. Don, Cosmo, and Kathy come up with an ingenious plan to overcome that obstacle, but it isn't long before Lina begins to exploit the situation. Hagen is the perfect foil in a film like this. She's devious and scheming, but not an awful person or anything. She does underhanded things, but doesn't stoop to anything too evil. Hagen is very attractive and you can imagine her being a star in the 20s with very little difficulty. Lina's speaking voice is a greatly exaggerated New York accent and is very funny when it's first revealed. Hagen is the only main character without a musical number, but she still shows off considerable talents as a comic actress. Her reactions and timing are first rate and she has more than enough personality to hold her own.
The last main cast member, Donald O'Connor, may have been my favorite of the film. Cosmo, as the best friend/comic relief character, could have just been a stock caricature, but instead is a blast to watch and shines in his solo number and alongside Kelly and Reynolds in several songs. O'Connor hit all sorts of comedy bases - like facial contortions, slapstick, and witty repartee - and hit them all very well, all while singing, dancing, and playing the piano! Whenever he was on screen, I felt my gaze pulled in his direction.
His showcase moment came when Cosmo performed "Make 'Em Laugh." It's an impressive routine of physical comedy mixed with singing and dancing. While slapstick comedy isn't normally my cup of tea, I thought it worked very well here. I wasn't laughing out loud, but it was amusing and, more importantly, I was taken aback by how gifted O'Connor was from a dancing perspective. It's all the more impressive when you consider that O'Connor had a heavy smoking habit - he went through up to four packs per day! - and could barely breathe after each take. The performance impressed a lot of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, too, as they awarded O'Connor the Best Supporting Actor prize at that year's Golden Globes. Surprisingly, this would be one of Singin' in the Rain's very, very few major wins in the 1952/1953 award season.
The musical numbers are, by far, the main draw of Singin' in the Rain and they do not disappoint. By my count, there are a dozen of them in the film and they range from amusing and lighthearted - "Fit as a Fiddle," "Good Morning," and the aforementioned "Make 'Em Laugh" - to love ballads - "All I Do Is Dream of You," "You Were Meant for Me," and "You Are My Lucky Star" - but the main attraction, the showstopper in my eyes, is definitely the title song. The song, "Singin' in the Rain," and accompanying dance number is probably even more famous than the film itself, and it's a wonderful achievement in choreography and performance. Don is in love and doesn't care who knows it as he dances down a wet city sidewalk and into the deep puddles of the gutter, singing and twirling his umbrella. Kelly choreographed all the dance numbers in the film, but he deserves special attention for the fantastic work he put in during this nearly five minute sequence. It's an even greater achievement when you know Kelly was very ill - 103 degree fever and potential pneumonia - during the two days it took to film the number. It's just another instance of Kelly being a perfectionist. Hey, at least he wasn't just pushing other people hard - he did the same to himself!
One of my favorite aspects of the film - other than the marvelous song and dance numbers - is the plot itself, most notably the Hollywood angle. I tend to really enjoy movies about movies and Singin' in the Rain is no different. I love the behind the scenes look at film-making, even if it's exaggerated for comedic effect like it is here. When the frustrated director, Roscoe Dexter (Douglas Fowley), is trying to adapt to recording sound AND picture at once, it's a joy to watch. His interactions with the woefully unsuited for sound Lina are hilarious. He's got this big star, but doesn't know what to do with her. The studio head, RF Simpson (Millard Mitchell), is also quite entertaining. He's probably a lot more affable than most real life studio heads and lends a bit of good-natured charm to the proceedings. In addition to the characters, I liked seeing the sets and how things worked during the time period. In this year's Hail, Caesar! from the Coen brothers, I was able to see similar aspects and I loved them there, too. That film is almost a love letter to the time period when Singin' in the Rain was made and the two films would make for a terrific double feature some night.
Another great facet of the film is how visually stunning everything is. From a cinematography, production design, and costuming standpoint, Singin' in the Rain is one of the best I've seen. Depending on the scene in question, you might be wowed by the bright colors, impressive shadows, or even how fantastic the rain looks as it falls to the ground. During one scene, Don sets up an impressive display to express his love to Kathy. He brings her onto a sound stage, adjusts the lights, the backdrop, and even adds in wind effects. The end result is beautiful. In another, for a Broadway sequence in the film they're making, bright neon and costume changes are used effectively, as is the gorgeous Cyd Charisse. Throughout the entirety of Singin' in the Rain, I was in awe of the visuals.
Even though I really enjoyed a lot about the "Broadway" sequence - including the visuals, music, and Kelly and Charisse's dance routine - it didn't seem to fit into the film all that well. It takes up a good chunk of time and kind of slowed the pace down a bit too much for my liking. Since it's a part of the movie within the movie, this sequence doesn't add anything to the plot or help to develop any of the characters. It's very well done, but I wonder how the film would feel if it were excised completely? Or if it had been shortened to a few minutes rather than ten? Maybe the next time I watch the film, I'll try to fast forward through it, but then I'd miss some great stuff, too.
Singin' in the Rain is nearly flawless from a technical level. In addition to the cinematography and direction, the editing is a strong suit. The "Broadway" sequence contains the only bad edit of the film, but it's not really due to any fault of the filmmakers. During a moment when Kelly and Charisse are dancing very closely together, there's an abrupt jump cut. It's a jarring moment made even more noticeable by the fact everything else is so smoothly handled. The cut was demanded by the censor board - reportedly because Charisse wrapped her leg around Kelly's waist - because the move was too suggestive. Apparently, the censorship committee thought movie audiences were too innocent to see a fairly standard dance move used by many ballet dancers at the time. It's strange to think about stuff like that now when pretty much anything can be shown.
Some films are well received initially and then mostly forgotten as time goes on. Some are mostly ignored or unfairly slighted during their release, but then get reevaluated later. Singin' in the Rain fits somewhere in between. It was a big success commercially - the fifth highest grossing film in North America in 1952 - but not critically. Like I mentioned earlier, it didn't win many awards - but it's held in much higher esteem now. The American Film Institute ranked it the #1 Greatest Movie Musical, #5 Greatest Film (regardless of genre), and has placed it on several other lists such as 100 Laughs, 100 Passions, and 100 Songs. In 1989, Singin' in the Rain was among the first 25 films selected by the Library of Congress to join the National Film Registry.
Singin' in the Rain is definitely worthy of its "classic" status and I'm excited to see it again. As I'm writing this, I'm considering ordering the 60th Anniversary Blu-ray set - it even comes with an umbrella! - so I can devour all the special features. It seems like the kind of movie that would never get old or lose its charm.
I can imagine people watching and loving it in another 60 years, it's just that good.