The hero gets the girl, the sidekick and the dumb blonde get the awards....

Rating: 10/10 (21 August 2014)

When "Singin' in the Rain" won praises in 1952 for its salute to the beginning of the Hollywood sound era, the critics praised everybody involved with the film, from producer Arthur Freed and director Stanley Donen, all the way down to minor characters Madge Blake as a Louella Parsons like gossip columnist and Kathleen Freeman as a diction coach. Gene Kelly was praised for his graceful dancing even more so than the classic musicals he had already starred in, and Debbie Reynolds was saluted as a promising new leading lady who was perky enough to rise to the top yet established enough to hold her own with the veteran leading man. Ironically, it was Kelly's pal Donald O'Connor who went home with a Golden Globe, and Jean Hagen as a dizzy movie star whose voice killed her transition from silents to sound who received an Oscar Nomination.
Now referred to as one of the best movie musicals ever made (certainly in the top 10), this has been re-done for the Broadway and London stage (with mixed results) and imitated through spoofs on T.V. variety shows and in various modern movie musicals. Even "Xanadou", a 1980 cult flop which was Gene Kelly's last musical film role, made a reference to this in one of their musical numbers. But it is this movie which stands the test of time and retains its place of glory in the movie musical hall of fame. Of course, Kelly's performance of the title song remains its most famous moment, but how can you not be amazed by the "Broadway Ballet" production number which features a gorgeous Cyd Charisse as a silent movie vamp. Future "West Side Story" Oscar Winner Rita Moreno is instantly recognizable as a Clara Bow like cutie, and Millard Mitchell is imperious yet comical as the perplexed studio head.
This was released at a precarious time in MGM's history, just as the transition from Louis B. Mayer to Dore Schary was taking place behind the scenes. Television was taking off, too, and movie audiences had to be really intrigued to skip Lucy, Uncle Miltie or Red Skelton to go to the movies. Reviews across the board were fantastic, and to this day, people can still quote Hagen's nails-down-a-chalkboard lines such as "What's wrong with the way I talk?" and of course, "Ta te tee to too." There's a fabulous montage saluting the early years of talkie musicals, and if you see some of the rare ones released between 1929 and 1931, you can appreciate the detail which went into the creation of this number.
O'Connor really steals the scene when he breaks into "Make Em' Laugh" which almost sounds like Cole Porter's "Be a Clown" from "The Pirate" which ironically was originated by Gene. Debbie gets her chance to show her dancing skills when she joins O'Connor and Kelly for "Good Morning" which has been utilized for orange juice commercials recently. O'Connor and Kelly prove that graceful dancing can be comic in Kelly's montage over his transition from vaudeville hopeful to flickers wannabe to matinÃ©e idol ("With dignity. Always dignity", he repeats as flashbacks show otherwise) and "Moses Supposes".
While there were no musical superstars at MGM during the early age of sound (Broadway veteran Charles King comes closest thanks to "Broadway Melody of 1929" and a few other forgotten musical antiquities), other studios had teams and individual stars who come close to representing whom Kelly, O'Connor and Reynolds play here. As for Hagen, there were a ton of forgotten silent stars whom she could be, but even if fictional, the reference to what was the major problem is hilarious, as is the revenge Kelly and O'Connor get on her in the conclusion and the discovery of Reynolds as a major musical talent.