It is a film often held up as the perfect example of the Hollywood musical, with its legendary dance numbers surviving and heralded as, stripped of their context, classics in their own right. Singin’ in the Rain has it all. With the release of the film this coming Monday the advent of a shiny new Blu-ray transfer, and the success of the London stage show, there’s never been a better time to revisit this film.
There’s a fair chance you’ll have seen some of the routines even if you’ve not seen the film. The title number, alleged to have been performed by Gene Kelly suffering a feverish temperature, has become an iconic moment in Hollywood history and still astonishes today. Kelly’s precision and graceful story-telling is a showstopping moment in cinema history, and though I’ve always been drawn to the ensemble performances there is magic in this routine, capable of rebuking parody (Morecambe and Wise did a fine job many years afterwards) and retaining its power.
Like last year’s Oscar magnet The Artist this film is a pure Hollywood fairy tale. Real life actors, producers and directors were amalgamated and lampooned, some playfully, others not so. Like Michel Hazanavicius’s film Singin’ in the Rain takes its narrative cues from the Tinseltown turbulence caused by the advent of Talking Pictures but the problems is the opposite, not a star performer unwilling to make the transition but an eager Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen in an Oscar nominated turn) whose vocal screeching harmonised only with the claws of a squealing cat being dragged across a chalkboard.
Spinning their story around a chorus girl, played with considerable charm by Debbie Reynolds, coming to rescue of a film hurriedly converted to take advantage of the new sound technology directors Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly do great work in weaving a collection of set pieces and dance numbers into a cohesive and engaging narrative. Though Kelly’s on set bullishness is part of the film’s lore, there is no doubting his tight control over the choreography and dance direction elevates the film to its masterly status. Donald O’ Connor’s fear of missing a step and suffering Kelly’s wrath gives his work her an urgency and sublime quality.
It’s impossible to sit through his famous Make Em’ Laugh routine without being amazed at his fearless, knockabout turn. Nor can you remain indifferent to the peppy charm of the trio’s snazzy rendition of Good Morning; the colour and vibrancy of this film leap off the screen (the Blu-ray is the best I’ve ever seen the film).
It’s not hard to identify what gives this film the reputation and significance in Hollywood history. In a self-congratulatory industry there are few films which offer up as glorious a vision of cinematic triumph as this. Though Glee has re-popularised the musical on the small screen (and the special feature on the new Blu-ray detailing the film’s perennial appeal features a number of the show’s cast) it’s true to say that they really don’t make them like this anymore. It is one of the few movies immune to the current plague of remakes sweeping the studios, and even rarer than that Singin’ in the Rain is as bright, bold and, crucially, as much fun as it ever was.
Singin’ in the Rain is out on Monday the 12th of November on Blu-ray and DVD. You can buy the Blu-ray here.
