Singing In The Rain Analysis

Singing in the Rain is a movie that I enjoy a lot. In this critique I will be talking about how the story interests me, and how that story is a Macguffin. I will also be talking about the choreography, and the dancing, as well as the music.

One of the things I like the most about Singing in the Rain is the plot or story. It is interesting to learn about the transition of silent films to "talkies". I can’t believe how hard it was for people to make that transition. Some people lost their jobs because they didn't sound very good. Like the Jean Hagen’s character Lina Lamont who's voice was very high pitched and screechy, and when audiences heard her voice they laughed at her.

Actors also had a hard time not using grand gestures in their movements. After sound was added

those grand gestures were no longer needed, because you could now hear everything that was going on. The camera had to go in a blimp as well to block out the noise if rolling the film. In Singing in the Rain, there is a hilarious scene when the director is trying to find a good place to put the microphone and has to run in and out of the blimp over and over again.
It was amusing to me to watch how the characters had to be right next to the microphone in order for it to work properly. The character Lina Lamont shows a great example of this in one scene. The director attached the microphone to the top of her dress and you can hear her very well when her head is turned towards the microphone but when she turns away the sound fades a little and you can't really hear her anymore.
I imagine it must have been limiting on actors to have to look in just one direction or stay in one place. You have to be aware of the cord connected to the microphone as well. In one scene the producer of the movie visits the studio and trips over the cord, which was attached to the character Lina Lamont’s dress. In tripping over the cord he pulled her down, which could have severely hurt her.
Within this story line is a Macguffin. I thought that this movie was really about these silent film stars, and how they have to make their first talking picture. How it was a stressful transition, and they had to learn how to act again, and speak in a way that sounds good to their audience. It isn’t really about that at all though. I think that this movie is about love, and how you will do anything for the person that you love.
I like that it is a Macguffin because who doesn’t love a good love story. I personally really like this love story. They meet in a crazy way with Don Lockwood running from a mob and jumping into her car like a maniac, but it’s a good story to tell the grandkids one day. I like the way Debbie Reynolds’s character Kathy Seldon didn’t know Gene Kelly’s character Don Lockwood was a famous actor, and how she was not fascinated by that fact. It is like saying we are all people it doesn’t matter to me what your job is, we are all equals.
I would love to have someone like the character Don Lockwood in my life. He found a way to give the love of his life everything she ever wanted, and could have ruined his own career doing so. When people found out that Don Lockwood’s costar Lina Lamont used another person’s voice in their first talking picture that could have been the end for his career. He was willing to do whatever it took to help his love, Kathy Seldon, and make her dreams come true.
I really love the choreography of the dances in this movie.
Gene Kelly does a wonderful job creating this rhythm and flow between him and all of his partners.

There are a few things about the dances I do not like, but overall all the choreography is beautiful.

My favorite dance number is Moses Supposes. I love everything about this dance; the tap dancing is my favorite part, and it is on point with the music. Something about tap dancing really says Broadway to me. However it is Donald O’Conner that really makes this dance my favorite. He makes it playful and silly, while the song is super catchy. I also really like Donald’s other dance number Make ‘Em Laugh. He adds so much personality to this little number and he sings it beautifully. It really does make me laugh.

The Broadway Melody ballet is another dance number I really like. I think Cyd Charisse is beautiful and so are both of the white outfits she wears in this number. The dissolve from her in one dress to the other is a nice touch. I think that Kelly and Charisse dance so well together; they are so in sync with each other, I find it to be a very romantic ballet. The part where they kiss is my favorite because you can just feel the passion between them and you can see how passionate a dance like this

is.
Although the Broadway Melody Ballet is beautiful it is also a confusing scene for me. I think that it is weird that Gene Kelly dances with Charisse because she isn’t a main character in this movie at all. I thought it should have been one of his leading ladies. There is one other scene that I do not understand. It is the scene where Don Lockwood is pitching a musical number for his new movie The Dancing Cavalier. The style in this number he is pitching does not match the style in the other scenes I have seen for it. It leaves me thinking, how those two things are related.
Another part about this movie that I really like is the casting. All of the actors in this movie are amazing. I do have a favorite, and that would be Donald O’Conner. I do think that he is a brilliant actor, and hilarious as well. It is never a dull moment when he comes on the screen. His facial expressions are great, and he does his character justice
Jean Hagen is my second favorite actress casted in this movie. I think that picking her to play Lina Lamont was a great decision. She plays this character to a T. I think that the point of her character is to show how some of the big time silent movie stars were not cut out for talking pictures. Hagen did an amazing job portraying that with her attitude and extremely annoying voice. I think she is sassy, funny, and just the right amount of annoying.
Obviously Gene Kelly is also amazing. He choreographed all the dances and starred in almost all of them. I would have loved to pick his brain about his inspiration for some of the dances he created for this movie. I think he did wonderful work on this movie.
All over this is a wonderful movie and I would recommend this movie to anyone and everyone. It is the perfect combination of drama, comedy and romance, I love it.