My wife and I have had a running debate
of sorts for a number of years. I have always contended that Fred Astaire is
the greatest movie dancer of all time while my wife holds the opinion that the
title belongs to Gene Kelly. I have always held that the reason she prefers
Kelly is because he is a more handsome man to look at gallivanting across the
screen. After watching 1952’s Singin’ in the Rain this past weekend, I am
reminded that she has some far more substantial reasoning behind her view.
Coming in at #5 on the AFI list, Singin’in the Rain is its highest ranked musical. It is generally considered to be the
greatest of all the MGM musicals (of which there are many) and I would have to
say that I find no reason to argue with that assessment. It is a movie that is
filled with fantastic performances and contains some of the most iconic moments
in movie history.
Set late in the silent film era Kelly
plays screen legend Don Lockwood who for publicity reasons is romantically
linked with his frequent co-star Lina Lamont an irrepressible diva played by JeanHagen. Don is often accompanied by his best pal Cosmo Brown, a studio musician
brought to life by Donald O’Conner, and finds himself falling for plucky
newcomer Kathy Selden who is played by then plucky newcomer Debbie Reynolds. Don
and Lina’s careers are threatened by the arrival of talkies due to the fact
that Miss Lamont’s voice is akin to a cat having its tail stepped on. (For a
more recent take on this same theme check out 2011 Best Picture Oscar winner
The Artist which no doubt took much of it inspiration from this film) A solution is devised whereby Kathy’s voice
will be dubbed for Lina’s and this will then be used as a launching pad for
Kathy’s career. Complications and
misunderstandings arise of course but in reality all of this is just an excuse
to give Kelly and company a vehicle to provide some of the greatest musical
numbers in movie history. Here is a sampling.
Don’t the
actors look like they are having a great time in this scene? After doing a
little research I found that the truth of the matter is Gene Kelly was
such a tyrannical perfectionist that Donald O’Conner was smoking 4 packs of
cigarettes a day in order to cope during filming and Debbie Reynolds commented
later that the two hardest things she ever experienced in life were giving
birth and making this movie.
Talk about
a performer putting his all into a scene. Amazing.
I am not
an opera fan but I will stop and listen to Luciano Pavarotti sing.
I don’t know the first thing about art but I’m pretty sure I would be
transfixed if I could look at the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Even if you
don’t really care much for musicals or song and dance numbers you have to recognize
the greatness of what Gene Kelly does in the above scene. Everything from the set
to the choreography to the expressions on his face captures the emotion and
message that the scene was intended to send. Great fuel for my wife’s fire.
In the midst of all this though, this time around I
actually found myself drawn once again to the villain and Jean Hagen’s
portrayal of Lina Lamont. Hagen is asked to play an arrogant, dim-witted,
obnoxious, schemer with a rusty screen door for a voice. She does so in
such a way that instead of making the audience cringe when she is on screen she actually makes her
scenes a highlight. She is a lot of fun to watch. Her performance earned her an Academy
Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress which she lost to Gloria Grahame in
the Bold and the Beautiful. I have never seen that film but I have to believe
she was robbed. She is terrific in this movie and Singin’ in the Rain would not
be as good without her.
I know there will come a time on this little trip I am
taking that I will come to a stop where I won’t really enjoy the view. I know
there will be times when I will ask myself, “What were they thinking?” This is
not that stop and this is not that time. I have probably seen this movie at
least 10 times before and you know what? I would gladly see again.
