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| “Singin’ within the Rain.” Hollywood’s best musical? |
I have been watching
basic films since I used to be about12, over 50 years now. However I by no means noticed Singin’ within the Rain till my mid-40s. I
thought the MGM basic was simply one other cute and corny musical. Mother had informed
me to look at, who stated it was intelligent and humorous—and he or she was proper!
Whenever you have a look at the
passé musicals that different studios had been placing out within the early ‘50s, Metro’s Singin’ within the Rain is much extra
imaginative, humorous, sensible, vivid, and exuberant, by far.
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| Debbie Reynolds grew to become a star upon her twentieth birthday with “Singin’ within the Rain.” |
With Debbie Reynolds,
a star was born in Singin’ within the Rain.
Contemplating that she was then not a singer or dancer per se, Reynolds labored
very onerous to rise up to hurry. Co-director Stanley Donen had her two solos
dubbed as a result of Debbie sounded too Midwestern—typical MGM, residence of the
“mid-Atlantic” accent. You’ll find one among her solos on YouTube together with her personal vocals
and he or she sounds simply tremendous. Whereas Reynolds wasn’t a born dancer like these
dervishes Gene Kelly and Donald O’ Connor, Debbie retains up with them of their
group numbers.
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| Debbie Reynolds shines as Kathy Selden in 1952’s “Singin’ within the Rain.” |
Debbie Reynolds was simply
19 when Singin’ within the Rain filmed and
the discharge was simply days earlier than her twentieth birthday. Debbie was clearly working
with superior expertise and materials in Rain.
In lesser autos, Reynolds might come off as saccharine, like Doris Day; right here
Debbie is genuinely candy and girlish. As Kathy Selden, her power and pure clown
persona are well-utilized. This movie formally made her America’s
sweetheart, which got here in helpful through the downtimes of her profession. I desire
Reynolds in her early stardom, when she was a honey blonde sweetie slightly than
the later bleached blonde lifeless set on wowing her viewers. Debbie’s the lady
subsequent door and fairly endearing. I will not dwell on co-director Gene Kelly’s
taskmaster popularity. If Gene had handled prior co-star and neophyte
dancer Frank Sinatra the best way he handled Debbie, Frankie in all probability would have
knocked his tooth out. However Debbie was from a tricky working class Texas household,
and he or she survived.
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| Donald O’ Connor, Debbie Reynolds, & Gene Kelly are triple threats in “Singin’ within the Rain.” |
Debbie, Donald O’
Connor, and Gene Kelly had been a trio who had been triple threats at singing, dancing,
and comedy. “Good Morning” remains to be an prompt excessive, with its upbeat lyrics and
joyful dancing. Kelly labored onerous with them on the musical numbers and Stanley
Donen’s subtle contact shined on the remainder.
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| Donald O’ Connor’s famed acrobatic quantity, “Make ‘Em Snicker,” from “Singin’ within the Rain.” |
Everybody’s on their
sport right here. As Cosmo Brown, Donald O’ Connor’s impish and energetic, and his
dancing is simply as sensible as Gene’s. Donald was additionally an ideal clown,
showcased in “Make ‘Em Snicker,” although the track is a complete rip off of Cole
Porter’s “Be a Clown.” When Donald and Gene sing and dance to the imaginative “Moses
Supposes,” the track is a tongue-twisting delight and their dancing is like
watching an Olympic occasion. Gene as matinee idol Don Lockwood is fairly
dang excellent. Kelly is at his most good-looking and charismatic, and his dancing is
very good. There’s an ideal versatility in his showcased numbers, capped by his
rain dance of the title tune. And I am supposing that Stanley Donen, one among
Hollywood’s smartest administrators, helped reign within the three stars tendency to
mug. Whereas all of them get to clown, there’s little or no ham right here.
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| Apart from his many abilities, Gene Kelly is well-cast as a matinee idol in “Singin’ within the Rain.” |
Singin’ within the Rain has that favourite film fable connected that it
wasn’t an enormous stumble on launch, only a modest hit. Those that inform it normally
evaluate Rain to Kelly’s earlier An American in Paris. Nicely, should you’re
speaking about Oscars, sure. Paris bought
8 Oscar noms and received 6; Rain bought 2
noms, and received 0, which I discover ridiculous. The one ones nominated had been Jean
Hagen for Greatest Supporting Actress and Lennie Hayton for Greatest Musical Rating.
Once more, proof that Oscars usually are not part of what finally makes films
memorable. As for the field workplace, each movies price about the identical to supply and
Paris made barely more cash. However which
movie is healthier remembered right this moment? For my cash, it is Singin’ within the Rain.
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| Cyd Charisse makes a visitor look for “Singin’ within the Rain’s” “Broadway Melody.” |
One quibble: although
the 13 minute “Broadway Melody” is offered as a “pitch” to the studio
head within the film, it feels very tacked-on. Beautifully completed in each respect, it additionally
has zero to do with Singin’ within the
Rain or particularly, the film inside a film, The Dancing Caballero. It’s definitely superior to an identical showstopper,
Judy Garland’s “Born in a Trunk” from ‘54’s A
Star is Born. And Judy’s saga is twice as lengthy! Whereas I’ve learn some sensible
feedback in protection of “Broadway Melody,” it simply appears like a Kelly showstopper,
“All About Gene.”
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| Gene Kelly was by no means shy about searching for audiences’ adulation. |
I am additionally puzzled as to
why Jean Hagen’s hilarious Lina Lamont misplaced to Gloria Grahame that 12 months. Was it
as a result of Hagen’s shrill star sounded an excessive amount of like Judy Holliday in Born Yesterday, for which Hagen was her
understudy on Broadway? To me, Jean’s shtick is way simpler to get pleasure from in small
doses than Judy’s shrieking at bellowing Broderick Crawford all through the
film model of Born Yesterday. As
for Grahame, she was the “It” unhealthy lady of the early ’50s, however her position as a
flirty southern spouse in MGM’s The Unhealthy and
the Stunning was a mere 9 minutes… and he or she even dies off-camera!
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| Jean Hagen, proper, provides a hilarious efficiency as silent star Lina Lamont. With an equally humorous Kathleen Freeman, as Lina’s poor diction coach! |
With a few
exceptions, the songs are all from MGM’s early a long time, tied to the story of
Hollywood’s silent period ending and sound starting. The satire is snappy, with
some actual life nods to casualties of the silent period. Humorous bits abound, with a
nice solid right down to the smallest components, like hilarious Kathleen Freeman as
Lina’s voice coach. Cyd Charisse is spectacular within the “Broadway Melody”
quantity. Watch quick for Rita Moreno as starlet Zelda Zanders.
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| Maybe essentially the most well-known track and dance quantity in film historical past? Gene Kelly is “Singin’ within the Rain!” |
Singin’ within the Rain is such a deal with, with memorable track and
dance numbers, attractive units and costumes, nice humor and performances. All of it
provides as much as be MGM’s best musical.
Right here’s my tribute to
Debbie Reynolds, when she handed away, on her life and really readable memoirs: https://ricksrealreel.blogspot.com/2017/01/debbie-reynolds-double-dose-of-memoirs.html
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| Debbie Reynolds was now not within the film background after “Singin’ within the Rain!” |
FYI: I put all of the film overflow on my public FB film
web page.
Test it out & be a part of! https://www.fb.com/teams/178488909366865/
