BFI Top 50: Singin’ in the Rain, Released in 1952, Directed by Stanley Donnen and Gene Kelly

 What I know going in

This will be my third time watching the film. I would count it as one of my favorites.

 

Immediate Reaction

Singin’ in the Rain is pure joy bottled in celluloid. Thirty seconds into the film my mouth involuntarily transformed into a smile and stayed that way for the next two hours. The reason for this is that Singin’ in the Rain just does not stop. Every line and joke is delivered with absolute relish and aplomb. Every scene is a parad of garish costumes and bold colors. And every few minutes a new infectious musical number or dazzling dance routine pops up. Even the camerawork is a delight to watch. It deftly follows it three leads, becomes gloriously mobile when needed, and is always perfectly in place to show off the faces, or the feet, of its ridiculously photogenic subjects.

 

Although Singin’ in the Rain is a huge musical, there are also many enjoyable smaller moments. On my third watch, I was not expecting to discover anything new in the film, but I was happy to be proven wrong. The film is packed with tiny visual gags and short funny lines that are easily missed. A great example of this, and I cannot believe I missed this before, comes during “Good Morning.” The three leads burst into song after figuring out how to fix Don’s first talkie. They tap dance over to a coat rack and Cosmo grabs Kathy’s hat. He wears it throughout the entire song, and the film does not call any more attention to this than necessary. Another fun moment is the delight with which Don’s diction coach goes through his tongue twisters after Cosmo eggs him on. A similar level of sophistication is applied to the score. It nimbly morphs around the character actions. Again, during “Good Morning”, when Cosmo charades as a toreador, a dash of Latin rhythm flares up, and during “Make em’ Laugh” hinge sounds are thrown in to make Cosmo’s movements more humorous. It is these little extra details that help make Singin’ in the Rain special.

 

In addition to all the fun, the film constantly points out its own artifice (it even ends with its two leads kissing in front of a billboard advertising the very movie we are watching), and calls out Hollywood bullshit. This theme is so central to the film, that it is evident from the first shot. The movie begins by showing the spotlights and neon-soaked marquee of a film premiere. The next shot is of a piece of audio recording equipment. Before we are introduced to the characters or thrown into the story, we are made aware of the technical side of movie making. Singin’ in the Rain then goes on to gleefully attack show business. One of the actresses at the premiere, Zelda, preens and gesticulates in completely unnatural way, Don’s fluffy retelling of his life story is hilariously mismatched to the truth, and Lina has become so absorbed with her own fame that she takes tabloid rumors as true. The film’s characters are so consumed with their own fame that they cannot even admit their feelings for each other without the correct “setting.” Don has to manipulate space, light, and sound for his confession to Kathy to match the image of a Hollywood romance. Still, and this is a testament to how effective clichés can be when done well, Singin’ in the Rain manages to be emotionally engaging.

 

I do have two miniscule criticism of the film. The first is that after three watches I still do not understand how Don’s “Broadway Melody” was supposed to fit in the film within the film. Although, R.F seems to agree with me: “I can’t quite visualize it, I’ll have to see it one film first.” Don responds with a meta-comment: “On film it will be better yet!” (wink ; ). Overall, I actually like the sequence, mainly because it is incredibly colorful and the sets are impressively huge. The second is that I cannot quite shake the feeling that there is a sexist undercurrent to the way Lina is shamed at the end.

 

Those are minor quibbles though, Singin’ in the Rain is fun from beginning to end, and I look forward to watching it many more times in the future.

 

Further thoughts

I’m afraid I do not have that much else to add. All of the reviews I have read take the same stance as me. This film is a sterling example of the Hollywood musical, endlessly entertaining, and a complete joy to watch. Probably the best way to appreciate it more is to just watch it again.

 

The one interesting things I did find was how the main storyline of Singin’ in the Rain mirrored its own production. The film’s writers, Betty Comden and Adolph Green, were told by producer Arthur Freed to base a film around old songs he had written with Nacio Herb Brown (the only new song in the film is “Moses Supposes”). The writers were worried the songs would come off as a dated in a modern context, so they came up with the idea to set the film during the transition from silent to sound. This process is almost exactly replicated within Singin’ in the Rain. Don, Cosmo, and Kathy are faced with the challenge of saving an outdated, problematic period film, so they decide to turn it into a musical set in the modern day with fantasy sequences set in the past (which will help explain how modern dances ended up in revolutionary France). I can imagine that Comden and Green even had an “Aha!” moment similar to the one experienced by the characters during the “Good Morning” sequence (probably with less singing and dancing though).

 

Why is the film on this list?

I have previously discussed the types of the films that tend to get put on this list. One type was a film being an exemplar of a particular genre, well, Singin’ in the Rain is that for the musical.