Singin’ In The Rain (1952)
Singin' in the Rain (1952), directed by Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly, is a classic Hollywood musical about the making of movies. Set in 1927, the film tells the story of Don Lockwood and Lina Lamont, a famous on-screen couple. Kelly plays Don, who effortlessly makes the transition to talking pictures, while his partner Lina (Jean Hagen) struggles to keep up. Lina has a shrill, unpleasant voice and is a stupid blonde who thinks she is in love with her leading man, Don Lockwood, because she read it in a fan magazine.
Kathy Selden (Debbie Reynolds) is brought in to dub Lina's role in the sound film ›The Dueling Cavalier‹ to ensure a smooth transition and a successful sound film. Don falls in love with Kathy, which makes the »great silent film star... [With the] annoying voice« was jealous of Selden. Hagen had a great voice, and she even dubbed Reynolds' singing voice in a scene in which Reynolds' character can be seen behind the screen singing for Lina Lamont. Hagen was rightfully nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as the narcissistic, jealous, and seemingly tone-deaf Lina Lamont in this movie.
The plot has been aptly described as a ›fairytale musical‹ and compared to Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid. However, it is set on Monumental Pictures' fictional Hollywood sound stage at the dawn of the talkies. Right at the beginning, one character boldly proclaims that ›The Jazz Singer‹ is »the greatest hit of all time in its first week,« but another character swiftly interjects, »the greatest flop of all time in its second week.« The film industry was considered a fad that would disappear, along with the trends that came and went.
Singin' in the Rain’ follows two silent film stars, Don Lockwood (Kelly) and Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen), as they adapt to the talkies that threaten to end their careers. Don, who looks like Douglas Fairbanks, learned to sing and dance as a vaudeville star. Lina hasn't been so lucky. She has star appeal, but she lacks the voice, diction, raw talent, and brains to make it in talkies. When the studio voices its concerns, Lina replies, »Who do they think I am, stupid or something?« I make more money than Calvin Coolidge combined! When the studio experiments with sound for its latest Lockwood-Lamont production, a French costume romance called The Duelling Cavalier, they quickly realize that Lina's shrill, garish voice will annoy audiences. Furthermore, their technicians are not prepared for sound. A wireless microphone attached to Lina picks up her heartbeat, and her raspy voice can be heard again and again when they stick the microphone in a nearby plant. The switch is laborious, and Lina demands, "I can't sleep with a bush!"
After a disastrous audience preview of ›The Duelling Cavalier‹ with sound, Don is certain that his film career is over. Meanwhile, his flirtation with young ingenue Kathy Selden (Debbie Reynolds) is successful. Together with Cosmo, Don and Kathy make the decision to turn The Duelling Cavalier into a musical called The Dancing Cavalier. Don and Cosmo's musical past and their idea of replacing Lina's voice with Kathy's guarantee that the new film will be an instant hit. They reshoot the historical scenes to reflect the new musical direction, while Don devises several elaborate modern dance sequences that frame the original period film. Lina is enraged when she discovers that Kathy is going to dub her voice. She blackmails Simpson into letting Kathy continue as her voice without being named in the credits. Simpson has no choice but to agree, despite Don's objections. Kathy will not be made a star as planned. At the highly acclaimed opening night of The Dancing Cavalier, the audience demands more singing from its stars, especially Lina. Don has a plan. He instructs Kathy to hide behind the curtain and sing for Lina, who is supposed to lip-sync. During the performance, the curtain suddenly rises, and Lina, whose deception has been uncovered, is the laughing stock. Kathy runs away, but Don confidently announces, »Ladies and gentlemen, this is the girl whose voice you have heard and loved tonight. She is the real star of the film. Kathy Selden!« Kathy becomes the star and founds the new Lockwood-Selden brand and her real romance.
The film's most prominent theme is the stark contrast between Hollywood artifice and reality. This is powerfully conveyed through the film's central metaphor: unwavering good luck and optimism, despite the rain. The film's portrayal of Hollywood illusions is a bold and witty commentary on the film industry, its technical practices, and the darker side of celebrity culture. The imitation and parody of the sound film era comes from Comden and Green, who were film lovers and had often written comic sketches in which they parodied the film industry. Like Kelly, they had a genuine affection and passion for the cinema. But even if film reveals the artificiality of cinema and shows that its magic depends on the illusions of the technicians, it nevertheless welcomes the end product and celebrates the films and filmmakers despite their manipulations. It is a rare accomplishment for an audience to sit through two hours of laughter, love, and being transported to another world without being distracted by the technical process of making a movie. Singin' in the Rain reflects Kelly's insistence on the unity of narration, singing, and dancing. It also reflects his desire to improve the way the cinema implements this unity.
The combination of musical performance, which was already an established form of entertainment, and the power of cinema is what makes Singin' in the Rain a timeless success. Characters like Don, Kathy, and Donald O'Connor's Cosmo Brown break into song and dance as part of every situation in a lighthearted, joyful way—and it's a winning formula. The lyrics and context are presented in a way that underscores the state of mind or personal situation of the character performing. This is in contrast to a more direct link to the characters' lives, which would lack the emotional power to engage the audience. The musical boldly integrates songs and dances in place of dialogue at key dramatic moments, and the story's characters are able to express their emotions naturally. One of the most memorable scenes in film history features Kelly's Don Lockwood singing in the rain when he realizes he is falling in love. He splashes around in the puddles and even dispenses with his umbrella. He doesn't mind getting wet because he is gripped by love.
Seeing integrated musicals is fun. It's all about the dramatic shifts in tone and style required to alternate between dramatic and musical performance. The whimsical and poignant song and dance numbers "pulsate with life." These elements of the integrated musical provide entertainment for all audiences.
Singin' in the Rain is an unquestionably entertaining film, boasting not only superb music and dancing but also a romantic and hilarious storyline set during the transition from silent to sound film production. It's about romance, as in most musicals. But it's also about the film industry in a time of dangerous transition. The movie gets the transition from silent to sound right, without distorting it. During this experiment with a completely new form of production, the people in this industry had to develop a functioning system for sound recording and projection. In fact, cameras were housed in soundproof booths called "blimps," and microphones were hidden almost invisibly, like the bush in Lina and Don's The Dueling Cavalier in Singin' in the Rain. Microphones, cameras, and sound engineering made it possible to make dialogue more understandable to the audience and forced changes in the way actors spoke. Hollywood cinema found humor in this transition from silent to sound film. Singin' in the Rain vividly and satirically depicts the technical difficulties of replacing the voice of one actor with that of another who has not learned to speak, moving a camera weighed down with a soundproof casing, and forcing actors to speak into microphones hidden in flower pots. The film industry had to contend with a number of challenges, including long static shots, unruly voices, a speaking style with a slow cadence, an emphasis on vowels, and poor recording quality.
Singin' in the Rain is a definitive celebration of Hollywood's golden age, the unparalleled joy of performance, and the unequivocal power of cinema. There's no doubt about it: Singin' in the Rain is one of the greatest musicals ever made. Its brilliant choreography, vivid imagery, and witty storytelling make it a timeless classic. The film's examination of the transition from silent to talkies, its satire of the star cult, and its infectious energy have secured it a place in the pantheon of cinema. As a tribute to cinema and as a work of art in its own right, Singin' in the Rain continues to captivate audiences today and reminds us of the magic of film.
