Singin In The Rain Film Analysis

Morgan Robertson

Thea 336: History of Theatre II

Essay #1: Film Comparison: Singin’ in the Rain, dir Stanley Donen with Sunset Boulevard, dir Billy Wilder

In the years of 1952 and 1950, Hollywood released two incredible films; both films incorporate many of the same elements, just shown to different sides. Both films surround the shift in film technology from silent films to talkies. The first, Singin’ in the Rain, surrounds a film studio thrown into the midst of talking films. Stanley Donen created a lighthearted musical which showed how the transition was not as easy as it seemed. The film industry was not only about looks and actions anymore, it became about voice and its usage on-screen. This shift led to the downfall of certain actors and actresses who could no longer hold their own. The second, Sunset Boulevard, presented the idea of what happens to these actors, or in the case of this film, actresses, who were proven to not hold their own. Surrounding a young writer and a washed up silent film actress, the film showed the madness of an actress who believed her career ended much too early.

Singin’ in the Rain begins with a madness of a movie première. At this première we meet an actor, Don Lockwood, and an actress, Lina Lamont; these two, we come to learn, are superstars of the silent film world. When new technology, the talkie films, premieres at a competitor studio, they must rise to the challenge of the talkie film. When the lead actress (Lamont) proves to have a horrific voice, they must find a way to hide this. A few musical numbers and a budding romance between Lockwood and another actress (Kathy Seldon) later, they come to a solution; using the recording tools in the studio, they could record ...

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...e story.

In both films, the female acting is very large and is incredibly emphasized, especially with Lina Lamont and Norma Desmond. These are both; parts of the character, and acting of the time period. The male acting in both is not quite as large; once again, this is going with the acting style of the time period. Females have been accepted as more dramatic, that is seen as part of their human characteristics; whereas the men have the need to be more subtle and relaxed.

Singin’ in the Rain and Sunset Boulevard are both incredible films; showing the transition from silent film to talkies and its impact on Hollywood’s leading ladies in a perspective that is hard to understand anymore. The styles of story-telling were original and made the films classic relics of the time when Hollywood was a glamorous dream with parties and swimming pools.