Singin' in the Rain (1952) Review

Singin’in the Rain (1952)

Directed by Stanley Donnen

Starring: Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, and Donald O Connor

Rated G 1hr 43min

    Whenever I list this movie as possibly my favorite movie of all time, (at least top 3) I always get a number of raised eyebrows and puzzled looks. Which makes sense. I don’t consider myself a big fan of musicals. I’ve sat through White Christmas, the Music Man, and Oklahoma, they’re all fine, but nothing to write home about. I’ve never seen West Side Story and, in all likelihood, will never see it without an offer I couldn’t refuse. Don’t get me wrong I love music and have spent a large amount (probably too much) time devoted to making/listening to it, but by and large I can’t stand the way people just randomly break into song. Simple as that, it just takes me right out of a movie. But for some baffling reason Singin’ in the Rain creates a chink in my anti musical armor, and I have really grown to like it more and more. Before explaining why this is, let’s bring the uninitiated up to speed. The story follows Don Lockwood (Kelly) a silent movie actor in the 1920s as sound takes ahold of the movie industry, and all the upheaval that entails. So, reason number one this movie works for me is that it’s a movie about making movies. Little known fact I like movies (again probably too much) and the history of them. This movie has so many jokes, references, and critiques of cinema at the time. I don’t get all of them but the ones I do get I like quite a bit. Reason number two is the humor. I have often described Singin in the Rain as the musical for people who don’t like musicals. The humor is why. This movie is hilarious. The character of Lockwood’s best friend Cosmo Brown (Connor) was probably my biggest influence to spend my life being as sarcastic as possible. Every time he’s on screen the movie is 10x better. From the slapstick in Make Em Laugh to the dancing in Moses Supposes it’s all great. But he’s just one third of trio of main characters. Debbie Reynolds’ Kathy Seldon and Gene Kelly holds up their end of the dancing, and singing. It’s hard to pick a best song. What’s more important than my favorite is that this is a musical where I have a favorite. But it’s not all great. The Broadway Melody number runs a bit long for my taste. Every number has something positive. Catchy tune, good set, good choreography, something, but not this one. It’s a unique Gene Kelly thing where he dances out his inner turmoil or summarizes the plot so far in a dreamlike manner. In some of his other movies like On the Town or An American in Paris, this can be insufferable, but here it just pales in comparison to every other song. So much that whenever I watch this movie I fast forward through it or take a bathroom break. Then the movie picks back up again and wraps up pretty well, but that part always brings the movie down for me. That being said the movie as a whole is solid. Like most of the films I love it’s a simple story told simply, coupled with people like Gene Kelly and Stanley Donnen at the top of their game. In my opinion Gene Kelly never made a better movie before or after. This movie is a classic, and I think it completely deserves its status. So, if this at all sounds interesting then I would recommend giving it a watch.  If not than I guess I can’t blame you. I can’t stand musicals.