What else can it do but make you laugh?

Rating: 10/10 (4 November 2013)

I have a nudging feeling that Singin' in the Rain has gotten the reputation of being overly-corny and shamelessly frothy with age and those accusations have unfortunately lessened the impact of the picture. The film is very obvious in its emotions and obnoxiously sunny in its disposition and tone (don't consider these flaws or criticisms), but it's also a picture to laud for the professionalism of its cast and the inanely addicting melodies of its song and dance numbers.
The film concerns Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly), a popular and egotistical silent film star who is now feeling the switch from silent film to "talkies," films that have actual sound. Lockword often works with his cheery and humorous friend Cosmo Brown (Donald O'Connor) as well as the shallow and often incorrigible Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen) in his films. After the success of 1927's The Jazz Singer (the first film with sound), Lockwood and Lamont's next picture, titled "The Dueling Cavalier," is now a talkie but will need to overcome challenges. The most prominent challenge is Lamont's high-pitched, nearly-insufferable singing voice. Meanwhile, Lockwood meets Kathy Selden (Debbie Reynolds), an attractive and ambitious young actress. At first, they find each other to be irritating in their own ways. But Lockwood must learn to work with Kathy, once the crew discovers her presence may be necessary for the success of the project.
Such song and dance numbers from Singin' in the Rain need to be experienced and can't be done justice in a conversation or an analysis. If you've seen the film, would you rather discuss the hilarity of Cosmo's "Make 'Em Laugh" number, involving the character zealously prancing around a stage, doing flips and crazy dances while singing perfectly on key, or view it for the umpteenth time? Would you rather analyze Don Lockwood's titular song and dance (while battling a high-fever and a bad cold), or would you rather see it again and maybe wonder how Kelly performed so well when he was so ill? Musicals are a challenge to review because no matter what words you use to describe it or how you about analyzing the picture and its musical numbers, you simply don't feel like you're doing justice to its quality. I often laud musicals very heavily on atmosphere, sets, and acting, and all of those features are unsurprisingly top-notch here. The element likely to be neglected here is the acting, as Singin' in the Rain feature many talented people performing in a way few could. Such performers needed to be of a certain quality and such actors needed to be up to the challenge of performing a dance with such militaristic precision and rigor.
To me, that's why Singin' in the Rain is the masterpiece that it is. The sets can only hurt your eyes with color for so long. The songs can only be fun to hum and sing for so long (I confess - I've been singing "Moses Supposes" for two weeks straight now and feel it ranks as one of the best songs ever in any musical that I have yet to see for its difficulty in pitch and tongue-twisting lyrics). What Singin' in the Rain has that secures its long term success is its outstanding cast of performers that, from the start, are committed to delivering material with such memorable, complex force. Never have I seen a musical so assisted and made successful based solely on the talent of its actors.
Starring: Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, Jean Hagen, and Donald O'Connor. Directed by: Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen.