Singin' in the Rain

Rating: 4/10 (30 April 2020)

The classic quandary: One gorgeous melody (Kelly's song & rain-dance), one funny, incredible routine (O'Connor's "Make 'Em Laugh") and one sweet l'il song in Deb Reynold's "Good Morning," but besides those memorables, Singin-in-the-Rain (2/4) has the worst off-key opener in film and proves to be no more than smart-aleck's delight, mocking the Silent era for cheap laughs, usually on the bad, fake Brooklyn accent of beautiful and talented Jean Hagen (Doll in Huston's Asphalt-Jungle) and Millard Mitchell who shoulda stayed on the range (High-Spade in Mann's Winchester73).
The BIG numbers had better be perfect with Gene spending months getting each raindrop to fall right and Don likely devoting as much time climbing the walls. But the best musicals go beyond their numbers. They subtract the silly and pseudo sex to add serious sentiment to the equation and I just don't like K&D's arithmetic in what was in 1952 no masterpiece but has oddly become the best thing since buttered popcorn.
Someone once wrote, 'the pen is mightier than the sword,' and that would figure, coming from a scribe (ahem), but what they failed to factor in is a state that is mightier than both combined: The status-quo. There are so many joyous movie musicals, Oliver (68), Gigi (59), Swing-Time (36), The-Sound-of-Music (65), just to name a very few. That the AFI ranks Singin the #1 musical all-time, only shows the Cmte has many, many more Classic films to view, if they can put their phones down long enough to engage (oy).
If you want to see a super cinema from director Stan Donen, seek out his Charade (63) (4/4). No song or dance but your heart will be spinning all day long.