Happy
June! Since it is my birth month, I am
being self-indulgent and writing about all of my favourite movies. For some of the more well-known movies out
there, I will be mostly reflecting on the why it is one of my
favourites, as opposed to the usual format of a plot rundown and a wee little
bit of reflection. Not all of my
favourite movies are classics – some fall into the guilty pleasure category –
but whatever. It’s my birthday month,
deal with it. OK, disclaimer out of the
way, let us begin…
#351:
Singin’ in the Rain (1952). I’m
hauling out the good ones early this month!
This is my go-to movie if I’m feeling blue or stressed. So I have watched it a lot over the
years. Again, one of the earliest movies
from my childhood, hence why it’s one of my favourites. But also because it is near-perfection. They really, truly don’t make them like this
anymore, and it’s a damn shame…
The
Players:
Lina
Lamont: Played to perfection by Jean Hagen.
Lina is a silent movie star/diva.
She has a horrendously squeaky speaking voice, and appears to be very
stupid, but can be conniving when she needs to be. She is just awesome.
Honorable
Mentions: Rita Moreno (of West Side Story fame) plays a contract actress
named Zelda who is pals with Lina and causes trouble; Cyd Charisse and her legs
play a fictional love-interest in the “Broadway Melody” sequence, a number from
the movie-within-the-movie.
So,
I understand that movie musicals aren’t for everyone, and that not everyone has
seen this (which is such a shame!) so, here’s a quick rundown for y’all:
We
open with a movie premiere of Lockwood and Lamont’s latest flick. It is 1927, the height of the silent
movies. We are introduced to Don
Lockwood, as he gives a red carpet interview telling the story of his career,
the main theme being “Dignity. Always
dignity”. However, the flashbacks played
over the narration shows us that his entire story is bullshit, which I
love. It’s so freaking Hollywood .
The
movie’s a hit, and we quickly discover that the beautiful Lina has a voice like
a dying cat. This is pretty realistic,
as many of the silent film stars had either squeaky and/or bullfrog-like voices,
or thick accents. Anyway, they all head
out to the after party at R.F. Simpson’s house.
Unfortunately, on the way Cosmo’s car gets a flat tire, and Don gets
mobbed by his fans. Using some of his
old stunt-man moves, Don escapes by climbing onto a trolley car and jumping
into the car of Kathy Seldon. At first,
Kathy doesn’t recognize Don, and thinks he’s going to rape and murder her (I’d
probably assume the same) until she pulls over and screams at a cop who
instantly recognizes Don. Embarrassed,
she offers him a ride home. You can tell
she’s secretly thrilled, until Don’s ego decides to join the party, and things
get ugly fast. She insults his
profession and his talent, admitting that she’s a stage actress. But oh, he mocks her right back, although his
exit from her car gives her the last laugh as his jacket gets caught in the
door and rips.
We
learn that Kathy is actually a dancer at the famed Coconut Grove as she arrives
at R.F.’s party. Well, this can’t end
well…
Don
shows up in a fresh tux, looking just… Mmmm… Sorry, went away there. I’m back!
OK, he asks for validation from Cosmo, gets it, and then R.F. shows a
brief little demonstration of this new fad called “talking pictures”. Of course, this will never amount to a thing…
R.F.
brings his two stars over to a cake to be cut and served, but instead a cute
little Coconut Grove dancer bursts out.
Of course, it’s Kathy, and an amused (and genuinely delighted) Don looks
on and proceeds to give her complete shit for her earlier grand-standing about
actors. Cue the adorable song and dance
“All I do is Dream of You”.
Don
corners and proceeds to flirt with Kathy, but Lina’s having none of that (she
has bought into the studio publicity that says her and Don are a couple), and
frustrated, Kathy goes to throw a cake in Don’s face. Of course, he dodges and it gets Lina. Don chases after Kathy, but she drives off…
We
learn from Don a few weeks later that Kathy is on his brain, and that she
doesn’t work at the Coconut Grove anymore, so he can’t go all predatory stalker
on her. He’s also still hung up on some
of the stuff she said to him about how all his movies are the same “If you’ve
seen one, you’ve seen them all”, and that he’s not a real actor. In an attempt to cheer his friend up, Cosmo does
a song and dance called “Make ‘em Laugh”, and it is made of awesome. You go, Donald O’Connor…
While filming a love scene for their latest
French Revolution love story movie, Don discovers that Lina is the reason why
Kathy lost her job. Ooooh, that snake! The dialogue here is great, though, and makes
one wonder what actors were really saying to each other in all those silent
films…
But stop!
R.F. declares that The Jazz
Singer and talkies are more than
just a fad, and that they are going to turn this movie into a talking
picture.
Cut to… weird but awesome montage of shit
you see in early musicals, complete with the “Beautiful Girls” number, which is
hilariously sexist, but for some reason I have always loved it. We see Kathy in the chorus, and Don is
brought to the set to talk to her. Afraid
that the whole pie-throwing incident will cost her another job, Kathy tries to
bolt, but R.F. decides she can stay.
Just make sure Lina doesn’t find out…
Don and Kathy stroll down the backlot, where
it is revealed that Kathy is indeed a huge fan of his. Ego back on track, Don decides he is falling
in love with Kathy. He takes her onto an
empty soundstage that conveniently has a ladder, a pretty backdrop, and a huge
fan so he can sing “You were Meant for Me” and have a lovely little dance
number with her. *Dreamy Sigh*.
So, because all of Hollywood is freaking out about sound, all the major
stars are being sent to diction coaches.
Lina is made of fail, but Don’s doing ok. Cosmo crashes his lesson, mocks the coach,
and the two of them do a completely random but fucking awesome song and
dance, “Moses Supposes”. It is probably
one of my favourite scenes ever committed to film, so I shall share it with
you. Check out the brilliance:
The following scenes are hilarious, and show
all the technical issues to be had with early film, and are brilliantly
funny. Not so funny? The reception The Dueling Cavalier
receives. It’s is unintentionally
hilarious, which does not bode well for Don’s career.
Depressed about his future, Don has Cosmo
and Kathy over to his insanely
gorgeous house. Somehow, Kathy gets the idea to turn The Dueling Cavalier into a musical. Sure, why not! This leads into the song “Good Morning”,
which again: perfection. Little
backstory for ya: Gene Kelly drove poor Debbie Reynolds crazy trying to get her
to learn this one number. She was young,
and not the most experienced dancer, so she was having trouble keeping up. Her feet bled, she got no sleep, and even at
one point went and hid out in a rehearsal room until Fred Astaire showed up and
helped her out (so the story goes). None
of this is evident as everyone appears to be having a flawlessly fun time in
this number. That is professionalism
right there.
So, Don is in love with Kathy, and after
dropping her off at her house, he takes a little stroll. In the rain.
Yes, ladies and gents, it’s that
song. It’s so simple – just Gene Kelly, an empty
street, the rain and his umbrella. And
it is genius. There’s a reason why it is
so iconic.
Don and Cosmo make the pitch to R.F., who is
totally cool with it, and even agrees to let Kathy dub Lina’s voice, but don’t let Lina know!
After a nice little montage of the beautiful song “Would You?” being
recorded and filmed, we are back to R.F.’s office, where Don pitches a number
for the modern part of the film they’re making.
And then we have the big, self-indulgent ballet-type musical number
“Broadway Melody”. And yes, it is long,
it is self-indulgent, and it is hypnotic.
I mean, it’s got Cyd Charisse and her legs being beyond sexy.
So, of course Lina finds out eventually
(thanks to Zelda) of their little plot, and goes to R.F. and threatens to sue
the studio for everything unless they take Kathy’s credit off the screen. Oh, and from now on, Kathy’s going to dub
Lina in all of her films; uncredited, of course. Lina is letting her claws show, and it is so
perfectly played by Jean Hagen.
Now it’s the premier, and the movie is a huge hit. Poor Kathy is getting shafted
left and right, but there is just so much going on, no one seems to care? But not before Lina insists on giving a
speech, which makes the audience be all “huh?
She sounded way sexier in the movie!”
So they ask her to sing! Oh
no! They set up a microphone behind the
curtain and insist that Kathy sing while Lina lip-synchs. In fact, Don demands it! Kathy agrees, because of her contract and
all, but wants nothing more to do with Don.
Until, of course, they pull up the curtain to reveal what’s actually
going on. Lina is laughed off the stage,
Kathy tries to run away, but it stopped, and Don sings a reprise of the cut
“You are my Lucky Star”, and they live happily ever after.
So, that was a very in-depth recap of this
movie, but it is just.that.good. This is
one of the earliest examples of Hollywood
poking fun at Hollywood . I mean, a lot of what is shown
actually went down, it’s just exaggerated for laughs, and in just the right
amount. It’s not cartoony or over the
top.
 |
| Arthur Freed |
Some history for ya: there once was a man
named Arthur Freed, and he produced some of the greatest musicals ever put on
film for MGM. But before he was a
producer, he was a song writer. Most of
his stuff was written in the 1920s-‘30s.
So, for some reason, the powers that be at MGM decided they wanted to
make a movie that would use all of his music.
 |
| Betty Comden and Adolph Green |
Writing team Comden and Green were given the task of coming up with
something, and it had to feature/be called Singin’ in the Rain. A lot of ideas were tossed around (including
a western starring Howard Keel), and eventually they were like “duh! These songs were all written during Hollywood ’s transition to sound! We can work with that!” And thus, Singin’ in the Rain was
born. And thank God it was…
There is a lot of awesome going on here. Hollywood acknowledges the importance of star power,
the ridiculousness of itself and the fakery that goes on behind the
scenes. The leading man is not
perfect. He’s cocky, but really insecure
of his talent and abilities. He falls in love with Kathy because not only
is she a challenge, she doesn’t fall for his bullshit.
So, this is a movie I’ve been watching
probably as long as The Wizard of
Oz, which is to say my whole
life. Gene Kelly as Don Lockwood was my
first crush, and I still swoon every time I watch him in this. It is beautifully shot, funny, and the song
and dance numbers are flawless. This is
about as close to a perfect movie as it gets, and still stands the test of
time. There are some inconsistencies in
the film (the random reprise of a song that was cut, complete with a final shot
that makes little sense without the cut song, but what can you do, other than
shoot a new ending?, and the fact that Kathy’s voice seems to change tone from
scene to scene, due to the fact that in some scenes Debbie Reynolds is also
dubbed), but really, those are kind of easy to overlook in the grand scheme of
things. If you haven’t seen this yet,
really, you should. It’s not full of
great meaning or depth, but I guarantee it will leave you with a smile on your
face and a song in your heart.
That’s a Wrap for today! Tune in tomorrow for some wacky hijinks in San Francisco !
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