Singin’ in the Rain

Singin’ in the Rain is a musical film about the end of silent films and the rise of talking films also known as talkies. Main character, Don Lockwood played by Gene Kelly is in an onscreen relationship with Lina Lamont played by Jean Hagen. Even though offscreen Don is in no way interested in Lina she believes their relationship onscreen is as real as can be when they’re offscreen. Ever since the talking film The Jazz Singer gains wild success Don’s boss, R.F. Simpson decides that they need to start making talking films as well to gain attention. There’s only one problem Lina has the most annoying voice on the planet and she can’t sing. Don’s best friend Cosmo Brown played by Donald O’Connor knows a chorus girl with a beautiful voice, Kathy Selden played by Debbie Reynolds. She agrees to dub for Lina but without Lina’s permission. When Lina eventually finds out what’s happening behind the scenes she’s furious and wants no credit given to Kathy. Singin’ in the Rain is one of the best musicals that was ever made with iconic musical numbers like “Good Mornin’ ” and “Singin’ in the Rain”. According to That Was Entertainment The Golden Age of the MGM Musical by Bernard F. Dick “Singin’ in the Rain is also a model of integration with the musical numbers advancing the plot as dialogue does in a play” (Dick 2018). That has had so much influence on so many musicals. Nowadays almost if not all musicals use musical numbers to advance the plot. Everything from the plot, the costumes, musical numbers, the actors and actresses was amazing in this film. The scene with Cosmo Brown when he performs “Make em’ laugh” was incredible. Seeing all this talent balled up in this one actor. His energy was insane and he got the recognition he deserved and won a Golden Globe for Best Actor. The shocking thing is that the film itself didn’t really win many awards. According to the source mentioned above “The real mood spoiler occurred when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced its 1952 nominations. Singin’ in the Rain was ignored in the top categories (picture, director, actor, actress, screenplay) and only received nominations for supporting actress (Jean Hagen) and scoring. One of the most-honored films of all time won no Oscars” (Dick 2018). It’s crazy how groundbreaking of a film this was and it didn’t win many awards especially any Oscars nor was it really nominated for many things. It makes sense why Jean Hagen was nominated for supporting actress I had no idea that she wasn’t using her real voice when I was watching it for the first time. She also played the femme fatal role very well. The personality of Linda got under my skin. Debbie Reynolds did outstanding as well in this film. She apparently didn’t have any dancing experience before starring in movies for hollywood and she danced besides two professionals and held her own for sure (Dick 2018). I can’t get over how well the choreography in this film is. The actors were so in sync with each other it was so fun and amazing to watch. They made it look so effortlessly especially Donald O’Connor and Gene Kelly. Whenever those two danced together it was a real treat. Singin’ in the Rain is one of the best if not the best musicals of all time all the memorable and catchy tunes as well as the plot and the performances from the actors gives everyone something to enjoy. Singin’ in the Rain will forever be an iconic film that families and anyone can watch and enjoy, which is why I think it’s such a successful film anyone can enjoy it and I think many will continue to enjoy it for years to come.