On S List of Movie Reviews

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Singin' in the Rain (1952)

Rate: 8
Viewed: 8/25

8/25: Singin' in the Rain is Gene Kelly's most famous movie.

I'm surprised it wasn't a huge hit back then. That's Best Picture material, but it may be due to the fact that An American in Paris came out the year before and the Academy didn't want a repeat of the success. After a while, the people started to realize how good the film was, surpassing the other one. However, I'm not going to call it the greatest musical ever made. It has a mix of strong, okay, and timeless parts, and I was never bored.

For starters, there's a story, but what does the eponymous musical number, one of the two most famous in movie history with the other being "The Hills Are Alive" in The Sound of Music, have to do with it? It's also funny when Jean Hagen is being dubbed, Betty Noyes supplies the actual voice for the singing parts which makes the whole thing ironical because why not cut out Debbie Reynolds as the middleman and use Betty Noyes instead? At times, I thought it was Jean Hagen dubbing Debbie Reynolds dubbing Jean Hagen.

Gene Kelly is quite athletic, and there's grace in how he moves. The second best scene of the film for him is the "Broadway Melody Ballet" with Cyd Charisse. Donald O'Connor does an excellent job and can keep sync with Gene Kelly when they dance together. But Debbie Reynolds is often out of step and looks weak compared to them. She had no dancing background to begin with. Back to Donald O'Connor, the reason why he isn't well known today is that he got typecast after Francis came out, resulting in a major but completely forgotten franchise of seven films in total.

All in all, Singin' in the Rain will always stand the test of time, thanks to Gene Kelly.

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