Pretty funny, but with the status of this being a classic I would not (yet?) agree

Rating: 6/10 (30 December 2019)

"Singin' in the Rain" is an American English-language movie from 1952, so this one is almost 70 years old now. It is a color film, which should be said because it really wasn't too common for the early 50s although I believe for non-dramas it was probably more often the case than for drama films. It runs for little over 100 minutes and the director here as well as the lead actor is Gene Kelly, well co-director. It was not his first directorial effort, but still an early project as the man in charge behind the camera. As for acting, he was pretty established already, an Oscar nominee. His film here managed two Oscar nominations and looking at how popular musicals were back then and how people still love this film considerably over half a century later, it is a bit surprising it is "only" two I'd say. One is for the score (expected sort of), the other is for actress Jean Hagen. And deservedly so I'd say. She was really the comedic highlight of the film and it is unusual to say something like that about what maybe can be best described as the main antagonist. I will talk a bit about her in detail later on. The Golden Globes gave a prestigious award to Donald O'Connor and I really like that because he gave my favorite male performance in this film (come on, it is clear he is much younger than Kelly's character, don't tell us early on before the flashback they are the same age) and his marvellous qualities as an entertainer really made the film so much better at times. The best example is relatively early still when we see all he can do with his face. Great expressions! Sadly the Oscars did not nominated him, maybe because his turn is more supporting really although he has a lot of screen time. And it was a bit of a category conflict. Still nice to see these two getting the biggest awards recognition because character-wise they are a key reason to watch this film. As for Gene Kelly, I have not seen too much from him really, but in this movie here he did not impress me too much. I rarely felt the sympathy for him where I really would have cheered him on, but then again maybe this is not even what the character was made for. It was more about cheering for Reynolds' to get the recognition she deserves. She was cute as a button no denying and the two I just mentioned also had a romance story in this film. But it is not a romance movie. It is not at the center of the film at all. They quickly get together without us seeing it, but I must say it felt not too credible with how much she apparently despises him (and his profession) early on. Reynolds died a little over three years ago (maybe you remember the tragedy that she died just one day after her daughter), but there is still one cast member alive and that is Rita Moreno, even if she really just plays a minor character who doesn't even have any lines I think. She was roughly 20 back then and now she is almost 90. But looks still really good for that.
Now I also want to say a lot about the music, which is really the heart and soul of the film. The score I mentioned already, but I also want to talk about a few specific songs. It's truly baffling how none of them weren't even nominated. Were they not eligible? Anyway, my favorite song is probably "All I Do Is Dream of You". I mean the title song is obviously really good and a classic too, but this one was the one I liked the most and it also played pretty early, still before Reynolds' character loses her initial job. As for the title song, I think I liked the Reynolds version more than the one by Kelly, even if the latter has a lot of charm too because it actually plays outside in the rain and boy was it a storm. But seeing Reynolds sing and Hagen in the front move her mouth was really among the most special moments of the entire film, already before the audience finds out what is actually happening. I still want to say that despite the mean things Hagen's character says and does, it is also not really too nice how they did not tell her that they got somebody performing as a voice actress for her and especially the girl who is dating the guy she loves apparently. And there is also a bit of a serious story to it because so many actors back then from the silent film industry vanished when sound took over, maybe also because their voice did not allow them to make the transition and still get cast. Anyway, I was talking about the songs: A third song I like and that I want to mention would be "Good Morning". Huge fun number. Speaking of fun, the opposite is also relevant here. I just mentioned one serious aspect already, but there is also some serious business to how this film can be seen from a historical perspective, not only because it is film on film, but also because it is really about one of the most interesting eras in filmmaking, namely when sound took over and "The Jazz Singer" being referenced on several occasions is just evidence of this. This is mostly fictionalized, but for me it also works as a historical movie. Now let me think what else I can say about this one. I definitely liked it overall. It made me smile and laugh on many occasions really. I will not give too many individual scenes or sequences, but basically everything including Hagen was great. The long scene with the guy who struggles to get her microphone in a spot where it is working steadily was a riot really, also because they let us hear her exactly the way they heard her and it wasn't even every other word we understood. Speak to the plant! Or a little later I think when the initial showing goes all kinds of wrong, there is a moment when we have Kelly's character throw away an item and we hear it crash down, something you never hear in a film unless it matters where it lands.
So there are really several perspectives from which this film is a success and worth seeing. I would not call it a triumph and maybe say that (according to imdb) this being almost among the top100 best films of all time is a bit much, but I was also sometimes close to giving it 4 stars out of 5, which would lift it into my top250 films of all time. One such moment would be the scene I already mentioned when we have the camera in a spot where we see Hagen's character on the stage and behind her (and behind the curtain) Reynolds' sing. This was really a great camera shot and angle. Other than that, I would say that maybe I appreciate this film also from other perspectives at least as much as I appreciate it for the musical component. For example I don't think this is really one of the best five musical movies ever made like many would say it is. Or maybe I need to watch it a few more times to think so. I don't know. But even if I was grateful to get the chance to see this on the big screen for the first time (and actually really for the first time because I have not seen it before), I don't intend to see it again soon. Like for the music, there were also segments that did not do too much for me. The best example was the really long Broadway song sequence (the one that features Moreno prominently) that than turns out to be just in the protagonist's mind. I mean it was super spectacular, maybe the biggest challenge performance-wise, but it felt like it had absolutely no connection with the film before and after that and was just included to make sure we won't forget who is the big star here, namely the director himself. Not to me though. Almost everybody from this relatively small key cast felt more impressive to me than Kelly in terms of the character and performance. Certainly a bit of a pity that some characters here did not grow too old at all. Hagen died 25 years later in her mid-50s from cancer. And cancer it was too that killed Millard Mitchell (R.F.) really briefly after this film came out and even more briefly after he won a Golden Globe for another film where he apparently managed the unusual feet to not be nominated for an Oscar after winning a Golden Globe for Supporting Actor. Never happened before. Okay, but now we are drifting a bit away. This film is pretty uplifting overall in my opinion and will entertain you well and make you smile a lot. With the key story, but also with minor moments and quotes like when one character tells another to call him a cab and he says something like "you are a cab". I just like plays on words and that is why I found this a lot funnier than I should have maybe. But I'm glad I did. "Singin' in the Rain" certainly gets a thumbs-up from me and I am off now to put my favorite songs from this one on my MP3 player. If you have not seen it yet, then go for it, certainly one of the better 1950s films.