Singin' in the Rain (1952)

Hollywood, 1927: the silent-film romantic team of Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly) and Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen) is the toast of Tinseltown. While Lockwood and Lamont personify smoldering passions onscreen, in real life the down-to-earth Lockwood can't stand the egotistical, brainless Lina. He prefers the company of aspiring actress Kathy Selden (Debbie Reynolds), whom he met while escaping his screaming fans. Watching these intrigues from the sidelines is Cosmo Brown (Donald O'Connor), Don's best pal and on-set pianist. Cosmo is promoted to musical director of Monumental Pictures by studio head R.F. Simpson (Millard Mitchell) when the talking-picture revolution commences. That's all right for Cosmo, but how will talkies affect the upcoming Lockwood-Lamont vehicle "The Dueling Cavalier"? Don, an accomplished song-and-dance man, should have no trouble adapting to the microphone. Lina, however, is another matter; put as charitably as possible, she has a voice that sounds like fingernails on a blackboard. The disastrous preview of the team's first talkie has the audience howling with derisive laughter. On the strength of the plot alone, concocted by the matchless writing team of Betty Comden and Adolph Green, Singin' in the Rain is a delight. But with the addition of MGM's catalog of Arthur Freed-Nacio Herb Brown songs -- "You Were Meant for Me," "You Are My Lucky Star," "The Broadway Melody," and of course the title song -- the film becomes one of the greatest Hollywood musicals ever made.

Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen have produced the best musical written directly for the screen. They have used the period in film history during the transition to sound movies and embroidered it with the wonderful songbook of Arthur Freed and Nacio Herb Brown. The icing on the cake, of course is the choreography of Kelly and Donen. From the first moment, the movie takes flight as Kelly relates the tale of his rise as a silent film star with his sidekick, the incomparable Donald O'Connor. Watch the flying feet of O'Connor and Kelly in the "Fit as a Fiddle" number. It doesn't get much better than this. Everyone is familiar with the classic "Singin' in the Rain" sequence. Donald O'Connor's hysterical "Make 'em Laugh" number is probably the funniest musical three minutes on film. Even the Broadway Ballet is a kaleidoscope of color and movement, with a minimum of the highbrow balletic choreography found in the later "An American in Paris."

What makes "Singin'" such an entertaining classic is its superb integration of comedy and music. Jean Hagen gives the performance of her life as the vocally challenged silent film star, Lena Lamont. Every scene she's in is a comic gem. Her "fingernails on a blackboard" voice and massacre of the English language make her a figure of ridicule. However, in the end when she finally gets her comeuppance, one can't help feeling a little sorry for her.

This delightful film has been given its due on video. On VHS it can be purchased with the complete remastered soundtrack on CD. The laserdisc versions include one with commentary by film historian Ronald Haver (Criterion) and the film-only version from MGM/UA Home Video with a restored Dolby Digital stereo soundtrack., Last,but not least,is a masterful rendering on DVD with, unfortunately, no supplementary material to speak of.

This is truly a film for all time that can be watched just for its entertainment value and studied as probably the apex of the Hollywood musical in its Golden Age.