(Thanks to puppy-rescuer and all around good guy Ed Cunard for lending me his copy of today’s film.)
Singin’ in the Rain. How could I not have seen this movie before? I grew up loving musicals and somehow I didn’t see what is widely regarded as the best musical ever produced. Today, I’m adding my vote to that “widely regarded.”
Singin’ in the Rain is the story of silent film duo Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly) and Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen) who have to make the transition from silent film to talkies when sound comes to the movie industry in 1927. Unfortunately, Lina’s voice doesn’t exactly go with her glamorous reputation. Because of that and the steep learning curve for filming with sound, the preview of the duo’s first talkie is a disaster and it’s up to Don, his old friend/totally heterosexual life-partner Cosmo Brown, and Don’s new girlfriend Kathy Selden to save the day.
How do they do it? Turn the mess into a musical, of course! Oh, and Kathy overdubs all of Lina’s lines. Hilarity ensues, of course, as Lina finds out about the plan and. . . You know what? It doesn’t really matter. The plot is hardly incidental, but there’s so much going on that the exuberance overcomes any problems with plot or characterization.
It’s odd that the standards and expectations are different for a musical, but for me at least, they are. It’s not that the standards are lowered, it’s that the tools are different. For example, there’s the big scene (right) where Don and Kathy embrace their deepening love for each other. In a non-musical, it would be absurd for it to be done so overtly. But put it in the form of tender love ballad “Would You” and the absurd becomes the sublime.
Not only do they sing, they dance. Apparently, Debbie Reynolds had no dancing experience when she was cast, but I think she held her own, considering she was dancing between Gene Kelly and Donald O’Connor. O’Connor is a delight to watch in his song and dance number “Make ‘Em Laugh.” He and Kelly perform several numbers together, and I’m envious of their ability. (Not envious enough to do anything about it, but still.)
And then there’s the titular Gene Kelly solo that everybody knows from the vacuum cleaner commercials. He really was a wonderful showman.
There’s more to it than singin’ and dancin’ and schmaltz, though. This is a funny movie if ever I saw one. The problem with Lina’s voice was telegraphed pretty far ahead, but it still paid off with a big laugh. Later, when she was working with her diction coach, Jean Hagen’s performance was flawless. Lina was truly oblivious to how bad she was. If only more actresses today were willing to put themselves into positions like Hagen’s. She was the butt of a lot of the jokes, her true voice was never heard on the film, and she didn’t even get a song or dance number to showcase her skill! Most headlining actresses simply won’t put themselves in that position. I’m glad Hagen did.
That’s not to say that the film was without problems. Bob Boxbody*–I mean Millard Mitchell (above with Jean Hagen) is about the worst actor I’ve seen in a long time, and I’ve seen my share of bad actors. I figure he was either really bad but he knew somebody or he was really good and he was doing an impression of a real studio boss. Apparently the initials in the character’s name (R.F. Simpson) are a reference to Arthur Freed, a producer on Singin’ in the Rain. Maybe Mitchell was doing an impression of him. Either way, it was bad to the point of distraction.
I was also bothered by the resolution of the film. It was troubling that the men came up with a solution while keeping the “girl” in the dark about their plan, even while they used her. The bit with her not understanding was simply needless, and could just as easily have been written with her included instead of being used. As I said in my review of Casablanca, though, these were the times they were living in.
One more thing before I wrap up this already-too-long review. I had to smile at the irony that Singin’ in the Rain poked gentle fun at early talkies, even while they were committing heinous sins in their early use of color. Especially during the stage scenes it was clear that the production team was pretty new to the world of filming in TECHNICOLOR.
Overall, though, Singin’ in the Rain is a great film. It’s a classic that everybody should have on their shelf for those days when they need to watch an exuberant, unashamedly fun movie.
SIMPSONS SIGHTING!
Season 6, Who Shot Mr. Burns (part one)
Season 7, Radioactive Man
Also…
That last one’s a little bit of a stretch, but if you listen to it, the beginning of the melody for the Itchy and Scratchy Show theme is the same as the beginning of “Should I”, sung in Singin’ by the guy pictured above. It was also sung at one point by Frank Sinatra. Check out his version here and see if I’m wrong.
* This insult shamelessly stolen from Mike Nelson and MST3K (The Horrors of Spider Island episode). Keep up with Mike’s current project at rifftrax.com!
