Singin' in the Rain: the world's most famous jukebox musical - Where the songs originated

      1952's Singin in the Rain is no doubt a classic that has stood the test of time and has proven to have staying power even today. The film has been covered in length on this blog before, so the purpose of this post is not to review or pay tribute. Today, I'd like to analyze the music of Singin in the Rain and in what films the songs were originally featured in. All of the songs in the film, save for one, were written by Arthur Freed and Nacio Herb Brown, from roughly 1929. Several songs, especially the title song became pop standards of the day and were used in multiple films over the years. These songs were all written while Freed and Brown were working for MGM, most before Freed became the head of his own unit.

One of the first films to use some of these songs was the 1929 film The Hollywood Revue of 1929. This was one of the earliest attempts at sound pictures and does not feature any real plotline. instead it is a series of songs and skits, with masters of cermonies Conrad Nagel and Jack Benny. The film was produced by Harry Rapf and Irving Thalberg, MGM's head of production. In the book Conversations with Joan Crawford, that actress said of it "Revue was one of those let's-throw-everyone-on-the-lot-into-a musical things, but I did a good song-and-dance number." (She does a song called "Got A Feeling for You". Crawford would be an important contract player for MGM in these early days, and would later become a contract player for Warner Brothers in the mid 1940's.) Singin' in the Rain and You Were Meant For Me are featured in this film, the latter being sung by a dubbed Conrad Nagel. The former is a Fascinating example of early sound film making. It starts out with "Ukulele Ike", real name Cliff Edwards (later to gain notoriety as the voice of Jiminy Cricket in Disney's Pinocchio) strumming and singing by a tree with silver sequins hanging from it while it rains. Then, as Edwards continues to sing, he is all but hidden by the tree and shut out by a wide shot featuring a horde of dancers, who proceed to dance as a strobe light goes off. Then, The Brox sisters, three young women in one rain poncho, sing a little different spin on the song, and then we cut to another wide shot where our dancers parade up two sets of steps while Edwards, still hidden by that  tree, continues to vocalize as they dance.  This is early musical film making at it's most primitive, and I've never seen it done quite like this before. The main singer being shut out while still singing is something that would probably never fly today. Maybe we are spoiled because of the invention of the music video. 

The Brox Sisters, three young women in one rain poncho

Another film to used many of the songs later featured in Singin in the Rain is 1935's Broadway Melody of 1936, which was "so new it's a year ahead" according to marketing material of the time. (MGM also used this tactic with Broadway Melody of 1938.) This was the first starring vehicle for tap dancer Eleanor Powell, who would go on to start in two more Broadway Melody films, 1938 and 1940. The songs used in this film were Broadway Rhythm, You Are My Lucky Star, All I Do is Dream of You, and others. One song, I've Got A Feeling You're Fooling, is used briefly in Singin' in the montage leading up to the Beautiful Girl number. In Broadway Melody of 1936, I've Got A Feeling You're Fooling, is an amusing duet between June Knight (who appeared in 12 movies between 1930 and 1940) and Robert Taylor, who at the time is being groomed for leading man status. It is his tenth appearance on film and he sports a surprisingly competent singing voice. Known mostly for being a romantic leading man in soaps and light comedies, to my knowledge he didn't sing again on film, but I could be wrong.  In addition to being Eleanor Powell's film debut, it was also Buddy Ebsen's film debut. as far as musical staging goes, by 1935 they had learned a lot more about sound filming, so the musical numbers are not primitive, nor or the sets. Dance is a main focus in this film, with such great dancers as Ebsen and Powell, along with Ebsen's sister, Vilma. The number is a long one, and features dance breaks for the Ebsens as well as Powell in sequined top hat and coat tails. Man, was she good! 

Eleanor Powell in the finale of Broadway Melody of 1936 (So new it's a year ahead!)

Another film to feature a song from Singin' in the Rain is the 1933 Marion Davies and Bing Crosby film Going Hollywood, which features the song Beautiful Girl. In an amusing tracking shot, Crosby travels around his apartment singing the song while shaving and doing other things as someone holds a radio microphone for him. In another, the 1940 Judy Garland vehicle, Little Nelly Kelly, Garland sings Singin' in the Rain with amusing added lyrics. The film also featured a song called "A Pretty Girl Milking Her Cow" and Garland's only on-screen death scene. 

Singin' in the Rain's songs have a vast and rich history, and I have only scratched the surface of their many uses. Most of the songs will probably forever be remembered for being in the famed movie musical, and that is not a bad thing in the slightest.

Bells are Ringing (1960): The Freed unit goes out with a ding-a-ling

The Freed Unit has been touched on on this blog several times, but to refresh your memory, it was the unit at MGM that specialized in filming musicals, from, roughly, 1939 to 1960. Headed by Arthur Freed, a former songwriter and song plugger, the unit was responsible for such films as For Me and my Gal, Meet Me in St. Louis, The Harvey Girls, Till The Clouds Roll By, On The Town, Annie Get Your Gun, Royal Wedding, An American in Paris, Singin' in the Rain, and Gigi. Bells are Ringing is the final musical film produced by the Freed unit, and the final film for star Judy Holliday, all under the capable tutelage of Vincente Minnelli.

Judy Holliday

Judy Holliday had a short, but successful film career, and twice reprised roles she appeared in on stage (the first being in Born Yesterday, for which she won a Best Actress Oscar, and  the other being this film, Bells are Ringing.). Holliday is sort of like a mix between Doris Day and Lucille Ball, but of course is in a class by herself. She's got all of the expert musical talents of Day, paired with the uproarious comic timing of Ball. Holliday's first big film role was in Adam's Rib, starring Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. After she won the Oscar for Born Yesterday, she appeared in the stage version of Bells are Ringing, and her film career kicked into high gear. She appeared in 5 films before Bells Are Ringing was filmed. Holliday died in 1965, due to breast cancer.

Bells are Ringing is a perfect showing off of Judy Holliday's talents. In it, she plays Ella Petersen, a lonely switchboard operator for an answering service called Susanswerphone, who amuses herself by getting involved in the lives of her clients. She does this by putting on different character voices for different people. One client, down on his luck playwright Jeffrey Moss (Dean Martin), knows Ella as a old lady character he calls Mom. Ella, has of course, fallen in love with Moss, and romantic comedy complications ensue when Ella meets Moss under a false name. A subplot involves Ella's boss and cousin Sue (Jean Stapleton, also reprising her Broadway role) and her boyfriend Otto (Eddie Foy, Jr.), a bookie, who is using Susanswerphone's offices as a front for his horse gambling, disguised as a mail order record company.

Holliday and Martin in the musical number "Just in Time"

The film is based on the stage musical, which ran for three years on Broadway, and features music by Jule Styne and lyrics and book by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, favorites of the Freed Unit. I'd go out on a limb and say that if it hadn't been for Comden and Green's involvement in the musical, and their involvment in the Freed unit, this film never would have been made, but thank goodness it was! The stage musical was written for Holliday by Comden and Green, who had come up with her through the Broadway ranks. Holliday took home a Tony award for her performance in Bells are Ringing in 1957.

Dean Martin

Dean Martin is the leading man in this film, and I realized while watching that it was my first time ever seeing him on screen. He is a fine actor, and of course as we all know, an excellent singer. Martin and Holliday have a great chemistry together, and Martin, in his scenes alone is great fun to watch too.

There is not a dull song in the movie, and a few were written for the movie, replacing original songs from the stage play. Styne, Comden, and Green again write all the songs, and the latter two wrote the screenplay. the two most famous songs from Bells Are Ringing are "Just in Time" and "The Party's Over", but as stated before, all of the songs are great fun. "A Perfect Relationship", "Drop That Name", and "I'm Going Back" were all highlights for me.

The movie has all of the lush settings of previous Freed unit musicals, and also has the feel of romantic comedy films like Pillow Talk, which was made the year before. Bells are Ringing is a delightful treat to watch and a definite new favorite of mine. The fact that Holliday played this role before shows. She seems supremely comfortable in Ella's shoes and I am so glad that it was preserved on film.

Movie soundtrack album cover

Dinner at Eight (1933): Pre-code fun with an all-star cast

Critics rolled their eyes when in 2010, the film “Valentine’s Day” (and it’s 2011 companion film “New Years Eve”) was released, with it’s star- studded cast, and measly plot lines. This film, while it had it’s endearing moments, didn’t work, mostly due to it’s poor script, but also because it had too much going on. “Dinner At Eight” is a very early example of the same tactic that “Valentine’s Day” employs, and is a film that does it right. An answer to the film “Grand Hotel” from a few years earlier with similar elements, “Dinner At Eight” features an all- star cast for 1933, which includes, but is not limited to Marie Dressler (in a very memorable and perhaps show stopping role), Billie Burke (the future Glinda the Good Witch), John Barrymore (who will break your heart), Lionel Barrymore, Madge Evans, Wallace Beery, and Jean Harlow, who is divine in the role of the spoiled, self centered wife of Beery. The plot concerns Burke as a society lady who is planning a dinner for a wealthy British couple coming into town and the people she invites.

The first half of “Dinner at Eight” almost plays like a series of vignettes as it expertly jumps between different story lines, telling us exactly what we need to know about these characters. Being a pre-code, depression era film, it also deals with depression era problems, and has a message about hope shoehorned in, which is of course what audiences probably needed to hear in 1933. The performances are all spectacular, but Harlow, Dressler, and John Barrymore, not to leave out the others, are standouts as well as smaller roles played by Louise Closser Hale (who died shortly after filming was completed) as society lady Hattie Loomis and Hilda Vaughn as Harlow’s put upon maid, Tina. No moment in the film is dull, nor does it lag. There is a purpose to every scene and character. The story expertly moves along at a rapid pace.

Promotional image of Jean Harlow

Harlow was something of a sex symbol in the early to mid thirties. Her life and career was cut short by kidney failure, her last film being 1937's Saratoga. She died during filming and a body double and voice double had to be used. Popular films she appeared in besides Dinner at Eight included The Public Enemy, The Beast of the City, Redheaded Woman, Red Dust, China Seas, Wife Vs. Secretary, and Libeled Lady.

"Dinner at Eight" is truly a wonderful picture from start to finish, and helmed by the great George Cukor is a real treat to watch. It just goes to show you that with a good script, cast, and the right director (not to put down Garry Marshall), a film with many story lines can be done well.

Singin' in the Rain (1952): What can be said that hasn't already?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Lover Come Back (or When Lovers Meet) (1946): Lucille Ball and George Brent in a post war fluff romcom

Ball in the trailer for  1943's "Best Foot Forward" 

What many people don't know about Lucille Ball is that her career had been going for nearly 2 decades when she rose to international fame on "I Love Lucy". Ball had been climbing up the professional ladder in Hollywood since 1933, and had appeared in small roles in films like That Girl From Paris (1936), Stage Door (1937), opposite Katherine Hepburn and Ginger Rogers, and Room Service (1938), co-starring the Marx Brothers. By 1946, Ball had appeared in more then 60 movies, and had lead roles in several including as herself in Best Foot Forward (1943), and the 1942 drama film The Big Street, costarring Henry Fonda (Ball considered The Big Street her favorite of her film career). 

Lover Come Back, which has also been known as When Lovers Meet to avoid confusion with a 1961 Doris Day-Rock Hudson comedy of the same name, is a breezy, post-war romcom, and it's plot is pure fluff. Ball stars as Kay Williams, a woman who discovers her beloved husband wasn't faithful while away as a war correspondent and reacts by planting clues that she hadn't been faithful either. This film is cute, and thinly plotted.  It is a good showcase for Ball, who also is given a great wardrobe, designed by Travis Banton and Al Teitelbaum. She was a beautiful woman and looks great in all of her outfits.  George Brent plays her husband, Bill.  Brent gets some fun moments, and has a bit of Cary Grant's comedic flair. Most of the time, Brent can be seen playing romantic lead to Bette Davis in romantic dramas such as Dark Victory and The Great Lie, so it is nice to see him in a lead role that is also a comedic one.  

Vera Zorina

Vera Zorina, who gets third billing and was a new name to me,  plays a woman who Bill had been romancing on the side, and while her acting is mediocre, her looks are stunning. There are great supporting players, especially Raymond Walburn, Carl Esmond, and William Wright as eager suitors of Kay's, and Charles Winninger and Elisabeth Risdon as Bill's fuming father and tolerant mother. Winninger got a lot of laughs out of me and I found Risdon to be amusing in her part as the long suffering wife. Louise Beavers is also a delight as Kay's jovial maid, Martha, and it is a typical role for a black actress of the time. The script is often times silly, but the story is not dull, and the film does have some fun moments for Ball's comedic chops as well as Brent's. Throughout I was smiling and giggling, and I think that was the intent of the filmmakers.

Ball and Brent in a promotional image

"Love Affair" (1939) Reveiw: Dunne and Boyer shine in a romance film that doesn't feel old hat

Love Affair , starring Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer, is truly one of the quintessential romance films of the 1930's. It has been remade twice, most notably as An Affair To Remember in 1957, by the same director, Leo McCarey (That version starred Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr). The story follows a famous French playboy and painter Michel Marnet as he falls in love with American singer Terry McKay. They two meet shipboard and Terry is at first weary of his playboy image and does not want to have her picture taken with him. Later however at port, they visit Michel's grandmother, played by a memorable Maria Ouspenskaya, and realize they are in love with each other. Later, before they disembark the ship, they agree to meet atop the Empire State Building in 6 months if they are fiscally able to marry each other, even though they are each kept by other people (Lee Bowman and Astrid Allwyn).

What is wonderful about Love Affair is that even though it's been done before (like in Chained from 1934, starring Joan Crawford and Clark Gable) it doesn't feel old hat and doesn't lag or get boring. This was the first time I had seen Dunne or Boyer, and both are completely wonderful and captivating in their roles. They have a good chemistry together as well. Dunne is an amazing actress. She was a good comedic and dramatic actress as well as an amazing vocalist. She gets to show off all three skills here. Boyer plays his role to perfection and goes through the range of emotions believably. The film never at any point seems overtly melodramatic or corny. The script is full of funny moments as all as tear jerking moments. Bowman and Allwyn as Dunne and Boyer's "others" respectively, turn in good performances, but they maybe seem understated only because of Dunne and Boyer's chemistry. Ouspenskaya is the other draw here, and she is simply wonderful and memorable in her role as Grandmother Janou.

Dunne and Boyer lovingly embrace before leaving each other.

The film also has amazing 1930's period flavor, including it's costumes and sets. Some of the sets and costumes just made me go "Wow!". In short, it is a nearly perfect and well crafted film. It will make you laugh as well as tug at your heart-strings.

"Curly Top" (1935) Review: Overtly cutesy, but not in a bad way

Shirley Temple was America's sweetheart and saving grace during Depression era America. The little girl was all of 4 when she appeared in her first film The Red-Haired Alibi in 1932 and by 1934 she appeared in Bright Eyes, which was the first film expressly written for her. Curly Top  came on the heels of Bright Eyes, and is in many ways a similar picture. In Bright Eyes, Temple plays a lovable little girl who is the subject of a custody battle between a pilot and her mother's rich employer when her mother passes away. Curly Top follows Temple as an adorable and somewhat mischievious young orphan, who is whisked away to be with a rich orphanage trustee who has told her she has been adopted by a man named Jones, but it is really him. In both films, Temple is overtly cutesy, but not in a bad way. She was a fine and possibly the best child actress there ever was. In looking up information about the film, it was unearthed that Temple's mother coached her through her scenes, but her performance does not show any signs of coaching. She is a natural. Her co-stars in the film were unknown to me, John Boles as the Trustee, and Rochelle Hudson as Temple's sister, Mary, whom Boles fall in love with. The film also has several songs, 2 for Temple, 2 for Boles, and 1 for Hudson. This is the film where Temple's famous "Animal Crackers in my Soup number debuted.

Animal Crackers in my Soup!

The film also includes an expert supporting cast of character actors and actresses including underused Jane Darwell as a kindly matron of the oprhanage, hilarious Arthur Treacher as Reynolds, the butler, and Rafaela Ottiano as a firm matron of the orphanage. Ottiano has minimal screen time, but is immensely memorable. The film contains one of my favorite exchanges in which Ottiano's Mrs. Higgins is scolding Temple for letting her pony she inherited (and she also has a duck) from her parents into the orphanage and out of the rain. Missus Higgins tells Elizabeth that she is going to send her duck and pony away and temple says "My duck can do a wonderful trick! My duck can lay an egg." Mrs Higgins sneered back "Just what is so wonderful about that?" and Temple responds "Well, can you lay an egg?" It's an adorable and funny moment in the show, well executed by Ottiano.

The main conflict in Curly Top is a romantic one. Mary and Mr. Morgan (Boles) have fallen for one another but a young pilot named Jimmy (Maurice Murphy) has also fallen in love with Mary and proposes. Mary accepts, only after she overhears Morgan saying he doesn't love her. In the end of course, all the wrinkles are ironed out and they all live happily ever after.

Boles and Hudson

It's a silly plot line, but just what Depression era audiences craved. Temple was the beacon of hope for early and mid '30's audiences and her roles reflected the times. She was often cast as a young precocious little girl who won everyone over, and she had certainly done that with the American public.

Sheet music for "Animal Crackers" with promotion for the film