Hollywood Gets Wired For Sound

Rating: 7/10 (21 May 2015)

Favorite Movie Quote: "Whadda ya think I am? Dumb? - Or, something!?"
Of course, today, not a lot of people realize just how many Hollywood actors' careers were completely ruined back in 1927 by the coming of sound. Believe me, the number was not small.
In a nutshell, these famous actors of the Silent Era may have projected plenty of that wonderful thing called "charisma" onto the silver screen, but when it came to their voices (ugh!), they were atrocious!
Actors such as the super-dashing leading man, John Gilbert, with his laughable, high-pitched lisp, and the ultra-chic beauty, Barbara La Marr, with her horrendous Bronx honk, were literally laughed right off the screen when their voices were finally heard by movie-audiences all across the nation.
In Singin' In The Rain, actress Jean Hagen is absolutely priceless as Lena Lamont, the seductive superstar of silent films. I mean, Lena may have looked like a million bucks, but, whoa, when that babe opened her trap, man, she had a voice that could literally rupture eardrums from 50 paces. No kidding.
Hagen's "Lena" was a prime example of an actress whose career was, most surely, destined for the axe once "Talkies" took over in 1927.
All-In-All - Singin' In The Rain ranks right up there as one of the greatest and most entertaining Hollywood Musicals of all-time. Even if "Musicals" aren't your thing, you'll find it near impossible not to enjoy this high-energy, non-stop spectacle of song, dance, and comedy.
Singin' In The Rain is a fond recreation of that bygone movie-making era when the flourishing Hollywood film industry was making its shaky transition into the greatest sensation of all - Talking pictures.
The entire cast in this film are all absolutely first-rate, with everyone putting in a stellar performance from start to finish.
My favourite musical number was "Broadway Melody".