From Silence to Sound: A Revival Review for “Singin’ in the Rain”

Gene Kelly in "Singin' in the Rain"
Photo Credit: Imdb.com

Despite being a prevalent genre throughout mid-20th-century Hollywood, the movie musical still endures today.  With such box-office hits like “The Greatest Showman,” “La La Land,” “Into the Woods,” and many others, it’s evident that audiences still love to come out for a song-and-dance spectacle.  However, these films wouldn’t be possible today were it not for the iconic musicals that set the stage all of those years ago.  

In 1952, Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen gifted the world with “Singin’ in the Rain,” a musical that became essential viewing with its talented cast, memorable songs, and masterfully choreographed dances.  In short, it’s a film that’s loaded with the kind of talent that you can’t replicate today.

The story revolves around a trio of stars, Don Lockwood (Kelly), Cosmo Brown (Donald O’Connor), and Kathy Selden (Debbie Reynolds), who experience the whirlwind of change in the movie industry when Hollywood transitions from silent films to “talkies.”

Kelly radiates that classic movie-star aura that brightens up the screen like a million stage lights.  As a star of silent films, Kelly gives his character a playful, rascal demeanor that’s hard to resist, such as the scene where Ron meets Kathy.  Kelly displays the type of persona that proves that the big screen was his home and that he had too much talent to not be immortalized in this visual medium.  As you see him singing, dancing, and splashing through puddles in the celebrated “Singin’ in the Rain” sequence, he looks as though he’s having the time of his life and exhibits a happiness that seems like it can’t ever be taken away.

Donald O’Connor gives one of the most physically demanding performances ever put to screen because of how much he contorts his face in certain scenes for comedic effect, as well as the abundance of movement he does for his show-stopping solo “Make ‘Em Laugh.”  In this scene, he moves around the screen with such animation that it’s amazing how a viewer is able to keep up with him.  Some of the things he’s able to do leaves you wondering how he pulled any of it off, making this sequence one of the great joys in a film that has countless of them.

Reynolds, in her breakout role, more than holds her own when sharing the screen with Kelly and O’Connor.  Whenever you see Reynolds, you know that a star was born with her performance.  Throughout the film, there’s a sweetness and toughness to Kathy, and Reynolds brings out both sides in superb fashion with a character whose dreams take on bigger prospects than she ever expected.

Jean Hagen presents strong competition with O’Connor for getting the most laughs.  As Lina Lamont, a ditzy actress with an eardrum-shattering voice and inflated ego, Hagen provides a hilarious performance and runs away with each of her scenes, with the highlight being a sequence when her character can’t seem to figure out how to use a microphone on a movie set.

The screenplay by Betty Comden and Adolph Green (suggested from the song, “Singin’ in the Rain,” which is from the musical comedy, “The Hollywood Revue of 1929”), is, of course, loaded with scenes of cinematic perfection, such as Kelly’s “Singin’ in the Rain” sequence, O’Connor’s performance of “Make ‘Em Laugh,” and the trio’s exuberant “Good Morning” number.  However, in between all of the song-and-dance portions, the story also offers a wonderful look at Hollywood’s transition from silent films to those with sound, showing the humorous effects that are experienced by the studio bigwigs and their stars.

While the singing is fantastic, the dancing almost takes on a mythical quality because of how outstanding it is, and this is all thanks to Kelly and Donen’s choreography.  The way in which the actors accomplish their dancing gives you a sense of how much of a challenge it must have been to learn and perfect all of the steps, while also seeming as if it didn’t need any practice at all because of their flawless work.  

It’s impossible not to grin for the duration of “Singin’ in the Rain,” and watching this on a big screen is an experience that everyone should have because it doesn’t just sweep you away into the grandness of its production, but also into the grandness of classic Hollywood.

Final grade: A

*From June 6-28, the Jacob Burns Film Center in Pleasantville, New York, will be holding a film series called, “Back on the Big Screen: Hollywood Highlights 1952-1982,” which is part of their ongoing “Retro Revival” series, in which they present classic films.  “Singin’ in the Rain” opened the series on June 6.  It was my first time seeing it, and I wouldn’t have had it any other way than on a big screen at one of the Hudson Valley’s finest movie theaters.