Singin in the Rain (1951)
Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, Debbie Reynolds, Jean Hagen; d. Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen; A-

Today, we're accustomed to talking pictures, but back in the twenties, talking pictures proved to be quite a problem, as shown in the wonderful musical comedy Singin In The Rain. The movie takes place in the roaring twenties, where flappers were abound and silent pictures were the norm. Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly) and Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen) are two of the biggest stars in America. They're also one of the hottest couples, according to the gossip columns. As usual, though, the gossip columns are wrong, even though Lina believes it to be true. The charade of the two being a couple plays off well until Don meets and falls in love with a studio dancer named Kathy Selden (Debbie Reynolds). He can't get her off of his mind, even after she insults his craft when they first meet. But, as they encounter each other more and more in the studio, their love blossoms, to the dismay of Lina. Lina's dismay, though, is not as grand as the panic the studio suffers when The Jazz Singer, the first talking picture, becomes a hit and the demand for more talkies grow. Such a demand shuts down production of Lina's and Don's new movie, until they decide to make the costume drama (as we can tell from the movie, they always make costume dramas) a talkie. There's only one problem, though: Lina's got the voice of a crow. She has a nasal, high-pitched, New Yorkese voice that most certainly will not go with the elegant, old world beauties she potrays on screen. On top of that, the studio is unable to produce a smooth talkie. Instead, the finished product is a sloppy, stagey, unintentionally funny mess that leaves its test audience in disgust. The studio, as well as Don and Lina, are petrified that the Lockwood and Lamont dinasty is over. That is, until Don's friend, Cosmo Brown (Donald O'Connor), comes up with the brilliant idea to make the movie into a musical. To solve the Lina problem, Cosmo also comes up with the idea to have Kathy dub her voice over Lina's dialouge and singing. The studio is so impressed with Kathy that they plan to give her screen credit, besides hiring her to costar in a movie and star in another. But when Lina finds out about the dubbing, all hell breaks loose.

Singin in the Rain is one of the most entertaining musicals I've ever seen. While it may seem a little too Hollywood for huge musical fans like myself, the fact that it's got the stamp of Hollywood doesn't make it any less an enjoyable film. What I enjoyed most about it was the hillarious behind-the-scenes look at 1920's Hollywood. This is probably one of the few musicals that you'll actually learn something from, even though the humor and the musical numbers may make it less realistic. But it's in the same tradition as AMC's current TV series The Lot, taking a real situation in Hollywood and making it funny. The energy of this film radiates from the screen, especially from the performance of Donald O'Connor, who is the best thing about this film. Jean Hagen also gives a great performance, even though it is more brassy than it is energetic. Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds have great chemistry together, Reynolds also gives a great performance, and unfortunatley Kelly is outshined by his supporting cast. The direction, cinematography, and camera work of this film are great, along side the great costumes (since I love the flapper styles of the 1920's, naturally seeing them in this movie was a treat). So this may be a little too Hollywood for it's own good, but it is very enjoyable. I am not sure if I would reccomend this to anyone, it really didn't move me (certainly made me laugh!), but if you want to go see it, see it.

© Vert A Go Go Reviews 2001