Musicals. Not really my thing. I've never burst into song to share my feelings with someone. Never spontaneously danced somehow perfectly in sync with another person in the middle of the street. In fact, I may have punched someone that tried to do that with me. That being said, I enjoyed Singin' in the Rain for the most part.
1952 Comedy Musical directed by Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly. We watched a standard DVD release, nothing special.
Singin' in the Rain stars Gene Kelly as Don Lockwood, a silent film star and Debbie Reynolds as Kathy Selden, a fledgling actress. Don stars with Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen) in a variety of silent films, the two of them rumored to be romantically linked by Monumental Picture's publicity machine, but Lina is screechingly annoying. Her voice dooms their transition to talking pictures, but Don has a plan! Let the love triangle and hi-jinx ensue.
I like movies about movies, and this teaches a bit about the period of time when sound came to film. There are tons of references to real people and inside jokes in the film, which make it all the more enjoyable. The musical numbers are not too frequent, although the final "Broadway Melody" number seemed to be over 15 minutes, which was about ten too long for my taste.
The comedy moved pretty quickly, the characters were likable, and once you get used to the BIG acting style of the time, the film holds up pretty well. I liked it, I didn't love it. I gave it a 7.5.
Oh, the iconic Gene Kelly dance sequence when he is actually singing in the rain is pretty cool. And on the ironic side, the premise of the movie is that Kathy Selden provides the voice for the screeching Lina Lamont. In actual production, there were instances where Jean Hagen (Lina Lamont) actually provided the voice for Debbie Reynolds (Kathy Selden). Go figure!
