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Great "special effects"
by CarlosC (movies profile)
Aug 6, 2005
4
of
6 people found this review helpful
My favorite filmed sequence -- ever -- occurs in 1952's SINGIN' IN THE RAIN, after Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly) bids goodnight to his sweetheart (Debbie Reynolds) and walks off into a down-pour, with a song. It is four and a half minutes of sheer joy: "Let the stormy clouds chase/Everyone from the place/Come on with the rain/I've a smile on my face."
SINGIN' IN THE RAIN is a movie about movies. Kelly plays a big Hollywood star who is challenged by a struggling actress (Reynolds) to reconsider his values. Poking good-natured fun at everything that is wrong with the movies, SINGIN' IN THE RAIN exemplifies everything that is right. The story follows the travails of 1920s actors trying to transition from the silent era to sound -- and musicals. The silent screen stars include Lockwood; his prima donna costar (Jean Hagen, in a riotous performance); and his long-time song & dance man, Kozmo Brown (Donald O'Connor). The Hagen character is, to her misfortune, endowed with a voice to match her grating self-absorption. Her headache-inducing whine is impossible to capture in words, but her attitude is reflected in the words of a movie star who believes her own press: "People? I ain't 'people.' I am a - 'a shimmering, glowing star in the cinema firmament'."
Of course, today, some movie stars still give us that treatment -- punching-out autograph-seekers, ranting about their political views, or griping about the hardships of being rich and famous. That is why Kelly's words in the movie are still refreshing: "Well, we movie stars get the glory. I guess, we have to take the little heartaches that go with it." That indominable cheerfulness, humility, and gratitude for the chance to touch others, is captured brilliantly in the "Singin' In The Rain" sequence.
To sing in the rain -- "laughing at the clouds/So dark up, above" -- is to laugh at adversity. Despite the fact that he was running a high fever when the scene was shot, Kelly gets out there; not only "singin' and dancin'," but also acting, directing, and choreographing. The scene is magical in its simplicity. There are no car chases; only one man who walks "down the lane/With a happy refrain." There are no explosions; only happy feet, splashing around in puddles. A circumspect cop witnessing Kelly's strange behavior illicits an apologetic shrug. When Kelly meets a passing stranger, he gives his umbrella away. Boy, those were the days.
Outstanding among the other musical numbers is "Make 'Em Laugh," another one-man routine by sidekick O'Connor. It still gets the loudest applause at revival exhibitions. Also notable are "Good Morning," and "You Were Meant For Me" (ineffectively co-opted for a musical moment in 1998's THE OBJECT OF MY AFFECTION). "What a glorious feeling," indeed.
(Carlos Colorado) |
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