"Enchanting. What?"

Rating: 10/10 (17 May 1999)

This movie is simply fantastic and certainly has a cushy spot in my top five. Singin' in the Rain was a high-water mark for musicals, and after 1952 there would be few true classics of the genre (just The Band Wagon, Kiss Me Kate, West Side Story and a couple of others). What a pity, especially since Kelly had only been in Hollywood ten years when this was released.
But regardless, Singin' in the Rain is a real treat, from the first time to the fiftieth, because this one just keeps getting better every time.
Yet I can see how it might seem overrated to some. When I first saw it I had never been very interested in classic film, so phrases like "best musical of all time" and "one of the greats" certainly weren't running around in my mind. I'd heard of it, it was supposed to be good, so I watched it and I was hooked. Only when I started looking around the net and the library for more information on this gem and it's star did those words pop up. I thought about it and, since by then I'd seen more of the genre, I decided it seemed to fit. So I am now one of the many who regards this as one of the greats. But people who go into it thinking this will have high expectations and will possibly be disappointed.
The songs and dances are sheer perfection. I love them all, but my favourite is the Broadway Melody Ballet in which Cyd Charisse slinks around a bewildered Gene Kelly. Incredible. I admit that the rest of the number is a bit lengthy, but it's worth sitting through for Cyd.
If you need encouragement beyond the comments on this page, forget it. It will be lost on you. But if you're willing to give it a try, do so, but don't go expecting entertainment that far surpasses anything you have ever seen, or a plot so complex that you have to take notes, but look for cute numbers, likeable characters, and great use of colour. You will certainly find these things.