Classic 50s Movie: “Singin’ in the Rain”

May is Classic 50s Movie month. Today’s guest post comes from Megaen Kelly.

Movie Title: Singin’ in the Rain

Year: 1952

Writers: Story and Screenplay by Betty Comden and Adolph Green

Starring: Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor, Debbie Reynolds and Jean Hagen

Director: Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly

Plot Summary: Ambitious Don Lockwood has moved up the food chain in silent-era Hollywood, first as a vaudeville performer, then a stuntman until he finally becomes a bona fide movie star. He brings his best pal Cosmo Brown along with him on his rise to fame. Lockwood’s life takes an unexpected turn when he meets ingénue Kathy Selden, a chorus girl with dreams of hitting the big time. However, her dreams are temporarily put on hold by beautiful but scheming film star Lina Lamont who manages to get Kathy fired from an important job.

Added to these relationships’ ups and downs is a twist in the movie industry: the introduction of sound. How the players will embrace this new technology and each other is the stuff of Singing’ in the Rain.

Why I Think This Is A Classic 50’s Movie: A light, entertaining counterpoint to a decade that brought viewers intense dramas, xenophobic sci fi flicks and widescreen epics, Singin’ in the Rain is not only a classic 1950s film — it is a timeless classic. But it could very well have turned out differently in less talented hands.

The writing team of Betty Comden and Adolph Green — who had a lot of success over a career spanning decades on both stage and screen — were tasked by producer Arthur Freed to write a script around several disparate, pre-existing songs. What this gifted duo came up with is a script full of snappy dialog, interesting characters, and musical set pieces that seem organic to the plot. The plot, revolving around a film within a film, works well, especially since it is based on realistic occurrences of the (at the time) recent past, when the film industry was struggling with transitioning from silent to sound.

Their script was well served by another long-standing, talented team — that of directors/choreographers Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly. They created memorable dance numbers such as ‘Good Morning’ with Kelly, O’Connor and Reynolds; O’Connor’s show-stopping ‘Make ’em Laugh’; and the iconic ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ piece that allowed Kelly to shine as a performer.

The creative teams were further supported by actors to great comedic effect, especially Jean Hagen. She was in fact nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her turn as conniving Lina Lamont, a sometimes dumb blonde with major ambitions.

The film wasn’t initially a huge hit when it was released, but it has gone on to capture places in many ‘top movies of all time’ lists. And certainly the title song has been covered by many people, yet the song ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ wasn’t written for the film; it was originally performed in a movie over a decade earlier. And thanks to YouTube we can see an early version of the song performed by none other than legendary Judy Garland. Her version is amazing and quite a bit different from Gene Kelly’s and well worth a look.

My Favorite Moment In The Film: Because this is a musical, I have both an acting favorite moment and a musical highlight. For the acting, after all the trials and tribulations of changing an originally silent film to sound, the cast and crew are assembled in a theatre with a live audience to witness their first sound picture success. Initially giddy with excitement and anticipation, this quickly gives way to confusion and then humiliation as the technical difficulties result in unintended laughter from the audience as well as heckling.

While there are many amazing song and dance pieces in the film, I really love the ‘Moses Supposes’ piece. It showcases the mad dancing skills of O’Connor and Kelly. Forced to take elocution lessons in preparation for sound pictures, Lockwood in cahoots with Cosmo takes revenge out on his hapless diction coach.

My Favorite Dialogue In The Film: Jean Hagen’s performance as Lina Lamont provided much of the laughs in the film. However, it’s difficult to do her justice by simply ‘quoting’ what she said. It was as much how she said her lines as what she said. I will always be indebted to her ‘I can’t stand ‘em’. But she also spouted gems such as: “What do they think I am? Dumb or something? Why, I make more money than — than — than Calvin Coolidge! Put together!”

Donald O’Connor also got his fair share of comedy one-liners as well.

Don Lockwood: What’s the matter with that girl? Can’t she take a gentle hint?
Cosmo Brown: Well haven’t ya heard? She’s irresistible. She told me so herself.

and

Cosmo Brown: Talking pictures, that means I’m out of a job. At last I can start suffering and write that symphony.
R.F. Simpson: You’re not out of job, we’re putting you in as head of our new music department.
Cosmo Brown: Oh, thanks, R.F.! At last I can stop suffering and write that symphony.

Key Things You Should Look For When Watching The Film: This film is full of wonderful moments — comedic, musical, and romantic. Another funny moment is when the cast and crew are trying to film their first talking pictures — classic!

A dance number that is different from all the rest is the sequence with Gene Kelly and another dancing icon, Cyd Charisse.

Watching Don Lockwood woo and win Kathy Selden is also rewarding for romance lovers.

For someone who is not a huge fan of musicals, Singin’ in the Rain is my favorite.

Thanks, Megaen!

To show our gratitude for your guest post, here’s a dash of creative juju for you. Whoosh!

We already have a set of classic 60s Movies, 70s movies, 80s Movies and 90s Movies. This month, we’re working on 50s movies. And thanks to the GITS community, we’ve got 31 movies in the works! Those who I put in bold have already sent me their posts. If you haven’t sent yours to me, please do so as soon as you can:

12 Angry Men — Ipsita Barik
A Place in the Sun — Zach Jansen
A Star is Born — Melinda Mahaffey
A Touch of Evil — David Joyner
All About Eve — Ricardo Bravo
American in Paris — stefani1601
Bridge on the River Kwai — Tom Peterson
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof — uncgym44
Commando Cody: Sky Marshall of the Universe — J Nilsson-Acosta
File on Thelma Jordon, The — David Joyner
Harvey — Felicity Flesher
High Noon — Jeff Messerman
Invasion of the Body Snatchers — Rick Dyke
Kiss Me Deadly — John Henderson
Marty — jetwillie69
Night of the Demon — David Hutchison
Night of the Hunter — Mark Twain
On the Waterfront — Bilbo Poynter
Pickpocket — Zach Jansen
Pick Up on South Street — Vincent Martini
Quiet Man, The — Traci Nell Peterson
Rear Window — Roy Gordon
Rebel Without a Cause — Jack McDonald
Searchers, The — mkm28
Seven Samurai, The — Paul Graunke
Singin’ in the Rain — Maegan Kelly
Some Like It Hot — Will King
Stalag 17 — James Schramm
Sunset Blvd. — Lisa Byrd
Tokyo Story — Jeff Messerman
Vertigo — Jason Pates

Thanks to everyone!

For the original post explaining the series, go here.

For all of the 50s movies featured in the series, go here.