Great in all respects

Rating: 10/10 (22 November 2007)

Everyone seems to agree that not only is Singin' in the Rain the greatest of Hollywood musicals but one of the best of any kind of movie ever made. That's what I think too. Its plot line of the arrival of movie sound points one inevitably toward one of the greatest comic plays ever written, Kaufmann and Hart's Once in a Lifetime, (1931) written equally hilariously about the same topic. And its reminding us of all the vocal pronunciation coaching that went on in those panic stricken days irresistibly summons up analogies to Eliza Dolittle's language lessons in Shaw's Pygmalion and My Fair Lady.
The musical goings on are very hard to focus on in the crediting department. Usually one name in the credits will suffice for a movie composer. But between orchestrators and music directors there are about 15 musicians in the crew list, most of them uncredited, including Johnny Green as music director and Alexander Courage, later of Starwars fame. The lush adaptations, orchestrations, and ballet numbers, all especially written for this movie make it a festival of musical riches, never mind the great songs themselves. I found it strange that Donald O'Conor's "Make 'Em Laugh" song never broke into the more familiar words "Be a Clown" featured in "That's Entertainment." Anyone wanting to read an excellent background book on the whole silent-to-sound transition should read "The Shattered Silents," by Alexander Walker (1978).