GREATEST MUSICAL EVER MADE!!!!

Rating: 1/10 (12 September 2001)

Singin' in the rain is one musical that even the most devout of the musical haters in todays world cannot ignore. And speaking as a reviewer who generally dislikes musicals I feel it has everything a musical should have. The songs "You are my lucky star", "Good morning" and of course the title track are timeless classics to even the most cynical ear. The film also contains a lot of satirical humour which is aimed mainly at the attitudes of the Hollywood Film community of the 1920's.
The film is about Don Lockwood and his onscreen (but certainly not offscreen) love Linda Lamont who are big box office movie stars of the silent era. Also in the background is Cosmo Brown who used to work with Lockwood onstage during their early musical careers before making a name for himself as a silent movie actor. But thanks to the success of a certain film called The Jazz Singer their silent world is about to get loud. The Jazz Singer because of its talking segments has stirred a lot of interest among the general public and the Hollywood moguls decide to start making "Talkie" vehicles for their biggest stars. At first the silent movie stars mock the idea of these talkies but they soon find themselves undergoing speech therapy and singing lessons. Don Lockwood successfully passes these tests but it is his co-star Linda Lamont who cannot make the transition to be a proper "talkie" actress.
The Hollywood bosses decide to hire Kathy Selden who is a chorus girl to overdub Lamont's voice. But soon Lockwood falls for Kathy much to the dismay of Lamont who tries her best to break them up.
Singin' in the rain features some of the greatest dance numbers ever filmed particularily during the "Make 'Em Laugh" segment which is performed by Donald O'Connor. That dance sequence alone is reason enough to see this film. And of course the title track during which Gene Kelly takes his most famous dance steps is also highly entertaining. And the film does contain plenty of humour especially in the scene where Don Lockwood describes his early musical career to the press as being glamourous and artistically stimulating while we see images of his past that contradict this fact by showing scenes of Cosmo and himself being pelted by angry punters in a small music hall.
Though at times the humour is a little bit cruel as a lot of it is at the expense of the character of Lamont. Because of her annoying voice and inability to sing and dance she is constantly ridiculed in this film. The character of Lamont epitomises the actors and actresses who failed to transcend to the world of sound because many of them were from foreign countries who spoke with thick accents. These people were eventually cut loose by the Hollywood industry and many of them lived out their lives in poverty. The fact that this film mocks them by portraying Linda Lamont as an idiot villainess with a horrible irritating voice who deservedly gets pushed aside by the Hollywood Studios at the end of the movie appears to be quite an insult to their memory. These people were not talentless like the character of Linda Lamont they were artists of a different type of medium who suddenly couldn't catch up with the technological advances of Hollywood.
This film also places an emphasis on the romantic interest between Lockwood and the chorus girl Kathy. This is very good in parts but there are at times when it doesn't gel together quite right. A snobby movie star of the 1920's would never get too serious with a humble chorus girl. It would have been more believable if Lockwood had been penned as a struggling movie actor himself.
The film does have a rather weak ending which would stir up a lot of derision among people who dislike musicals. This is where Lockwood sings "You are my lucky star" to Kathy in an attempt to stop her angrily leaving a packed movie theatre. I think they should have just filmed Lockwood singing the song to Kathy alone without anyone else watching. This would have made the ending less cheesier to modern audiences.
I would recommend this film to anyone whether they were a musical fan or not. This film along with Calamity Jane, Finian's rainbow and Grease are I feel the greatest musicals of all time.