Great film, with wonderful performances and a good script

Rating: 8/10 (28 July 2015)

There will be spoilers ahead:
This film has rightly become a classic, proving that the Academy Awards are quite fallible. A good case can be made that this was more deserving of a nomination for Picture than three of the five films nominated-including the eventual winner, The Greatest Show on Earth. That Jean Hagen lost out to Gloria Grahame can be chalked up to the fact that Grahame had three prominent supporting roles that year and won for the most dramatic of them in The Bad and the Beautiful. Hagen's turn was, in my opinion, the best of the year. Oh well.
This film is so well known that I doubt I need to discuss the plot much, so I'll give a brief outline. A silent film star and his leading lady have their careers jeopardized by the advent of sound and the reality that her voice isn't ready for prime time and would sink them and probably the studio. He cannot stand her, while she's convinced she's God's gift to the world. His love interest dubs her voice for the star's in order to save everyone.
Sounds clichéd and dull. Without the songs and the performances, it would have been forgettable. But Gene Kelly as the star, Debbie Reynolds as his love, Donald O'Connor as his best friend and collaborator and the incomparable Hagen as Lina Lamont, horrid voice and all, as the iceberg to the studio's Titanic, elevate the story and make the film magnificently fun! Hagen steals every scene she's in. Lina is crass, vulgar, crude, obnoxious, arrogant, vain, self-centered, mean and dumb-and those are her good points. Watch for Rita Moreno in a small role as Zelda, Lina's friend.
Cyd Charisse has a significant dancing role in one of the major musical numbers and O'Connor has the funniest musical number in the film, with "Make 'Em Laugh". But the film belongs to Kelly and Reynolds, who shine in their leading roles. There's a chemistry between them which makes the whole movie believable.
This film is available on DVD and Blu-Ray and is worth watching. Recommended.