The Forecast Is Only Bright and Sunny for This Unparalleled MGM Classic

Rating: 10/10 (24 January 2007)

Only the cloudiest of curmudgeons could possibly begrudge a musical as pervasively buoyant and consistently inventive as this 1952 classic. Thanks to the unstoppable creative energy of Gene Kelly and co-director Stanley Donen and the sharp writing of the redoubtable team of Adolph Green and Betty Comden, what could have been just another MGM confection is really a non-stop singing and dancing entertainment and a clever satire on the talkie revolution that transformed Hollywood's movie industry in the late 1920's. Fortunately, the 50th Anniversary, two-disc set released in 2002 is an appropriate tribute to this film since it includes a pristine print, clear audio and plentiful extras.
Kelly's athleticism and natural braggadocio manner are put to optimal use in the fictionalized story of silent screen stars Don Lockwood and Lina Lamont, both of whom make a particularly bumptious transition to sound with their romantic costume epic, "The Dueling Cavalier". Thanks to the introduction of primitive and awkwardly placed microphones, the stars' mute over-emoting looks and sounds ludicrous, in particular, Lina's Bronx-accented helium squealing. Off-screen, Don can barely stand Lina, and what's more, he becomes smitten with young ingénue Kathy Selden much to the consternation of Lina. After the movie's disastrous preview, Don's best friend and piano accompanist Cosmo Brown comes up with the idea of turning the potential fiasco into a musical, "The Dancing Cavalier", with Lina's unbearably comic voice dubbed by Kathy.
While Lina uses blackmail to keep Kathy under wraps, the plot still comes to its inevitable conclusion but not before an elaborate and rather anachronistic production number, the fourteen-minute "Broadway Melody Ballet". Although not as enthralling as Kelly's similarly lengthy tribute to the French master artists in "An American in Paris" the year before, this number has all the razzle-dazzle one could possibly hope for in a single number, including the leggy Cyd Charisse dancing flawlessly as a coin-flipping femme fatale. In fact, the whole film is so energetic and saturated with color that it's hard not to be enraptured.
Most every musical number is a memorable classic from the classroom antics of Kelly and O'Connor in "Moses Supposes" to the ebullient furniture prancing of "Good Morning" to O'Connor's acrobatic turns on "Make 'Em Laugh" to Kelly's classic rain-drenched solo set to the title tune. Kelly is inarguably at his peak here, and so is the youthful O'Connor who proves even more than the females, to be Kelly's most compatible dance partner. Nineteen-year old Debbie Reynolds is kewpie doll-adorable as Kathy and dances with hard-earned ease with her veteran colleagues. The scene stealer, however, is Jean Hagen who plays the not-so-dumb Lina with genuine comic élan. You will also notice twenty-year old Rita Moreno playing a Clara Bow-like movie star named Zelma Zanders.
The DVD comes with a wonderfully insightful if somewhat crowded commentary track with participation from O'Connor, Reynolds, Donen, Comden, Green, Charisse, and co-star Kathleen Freeman (who plays Lina's failed elocution teacher), as well as film historian Rudy Behlmer and director Baz Luhrmann. Most of them also participate and repeat their recollections in a thirty-minute featurette on the second disc, "What a Glorious Feeling" made specifically for the DVD. There are two other shorts - one on the first disc called "Reel Sounds" which details the evolution of the sound picture during the setting of the movie, and the other is a lengthier 1996 documentary, "Musicals Great Musicals: The Arthur Freed Unit at MGM", which provides a broader view of the classic MGM musicals of the period.
There are also trailers, some outtakes and antiquated movie excerpts of songs written by Freed and Nacio Herb Brown, who penned "Singin' in the Rain". All in all, this is a terrific package for a most deserving Hollywood classic well worth repeated viewings.