Singin' in the Rain is perhaps one of the most well lauded films ever made. Along with The Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind, and Casablanca, it is among some of the most well known films of the classic era. It is considered not only as one of the best movies ever made, but also as one of the best movie musicals ever made. That being said, what can be said about it that hasn't already been said? For starters, we have to trace the steps of two men: Arthur Freed and Gene Kelly.
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| Nacio Herb Brown (front) and Arthur Freed |
In my review for
Till The Clouds Roll By I briefly touched on the Freed unit, which between 1939 and 1960 made musicals for MGM. Freed was hired in the '20's by MGM as a songwriter, and with Nacio Herb Brown, wrote dozens of songs that were used in many early musical films. Freed was an uncredited associate producer on
The Wizard of Oz, and then proceeded to produce many other popular films, including
Babes in Arms,
Cabin in the Sky (an all-black cast directed by Vincente Minnelli),
For Me and My Gal,
Meet Me In St. Louis,
The Harvey Girls,
Easter Parade,
On The Town,
Annie Get Your Gun, Royal Wedding, An American in Paris, and
Showboat. An American in Paris would win a best picture Oscar, as would 1955's
Gigi, which was the last successful picture produced in the Freed unit.
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| Gene Kelly |
The Freed unit is probably mostly responsible with getting Gene Kelly's career up and running. Since his start in Hollywood, Kelly took small steps in revolutionizing the American movie musical. In 1944's
Cover Girl, Kelly, in a loan-out to Colombia Pictures, danced the famous Alter-Ego Dance, in which he danced with a superimposed image of himself. The success of this film caused MGM to up the ante on Kelly's career, and by the early 50's he was one fo the top musical stars for MGM. in 1949, he starred in the first musical film to be shot on location,
On The Town. In 1950, He appeared with Judy Garland in her final film for the studio,
Summer Stock, and then the following year he starred in the famed
An American in Paris. He was teamed in the latter film, and frequently throughout his career, with Stanley Donen, who would co-direct
Singin', with Kelly.
In the early 50's, Freed approached Betty Comden and Adolph Green, famed Broadway lyricists and writers who worked for the Freed Unit, to write a story around his songs, which would be re purposed for the film. Comden and Green chose to set the story in the late '20's, among the transition from silent to sound films, since that was when a lot of the Freed/Brown songs were written. One song, Make 'Em Laugh, was written for the film, and is almost scarily similar to the Cole Porter tune, Be A Clown. The song was written to showcase Donald O'Conner's talents.
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| Jean Hagen as Lina Lamont. Hagen recieved an Oscar nomination for this scene stealing role. |
The film features along with Kelly, and O'Conner, and third billed Debbie Reynolds (who was all of 19 when the film was in production) a stellar supporting cast including Jean Hagen as the gorgeous but screechy-voiced Lina Lamont ( a role written for Judy Holliday), Millard Mitchell as grouchy studio head RF Simpson, Douglas Fowley as exasperated director Roscoe Dexter, and Cyd Charisse as the glamorous dancer in the Broadway Melody ballet sequence.
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| O'Connor and Kelly jumping for joy in the "Moses Supposes" number |
Singin' in the Rain succeeds on all fronts: as a musical, as a comedy, and as a romance. It is oftentimes laugh out loud funny, with a quick pace that makes the movie never dull. The musicals numbers are all awe-inspiring. Kelly is at the top of his game, and it is a joy to see O'Connor and Reynolds holding their own with him. My favorite musical sequences, aside from the iconic title song, are Moses Supposes and Good Morning. I also thoroughly enjoy the ballet in the middle of the film. This was a practice carried over from
An American in Paris, and it is like a little mini-movie within the movie, told completely in song and dance. It was the first time Kelly and Charisse had danced together, but it doesn't show. They have a scorching chemistry, and Charisse's dancing is very sexy in comparison to Debbie Reynolds and her traditional tap. As for romance, the number "You Were Meant For Me" is a very sweeping and sweet (but not overtly so) example.
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| Kelly and Charisse in one of my favorite moments of the "Broadway Melody" ballet |
All in all, Singin' in the Rain deserves it's place as one of the most recognizable films of the golden era, and I hope it's staying power will live on for many many years to come.
