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Singin In The Rain | Classification: Musical Directed: - Stanley Donen Actors/Actresses: - Debbie Reynolds - Donald O Connor - Gene Kelly 'Rain' reigns as year's best "Singin' in the Rain," the favorite Hollywood musical of just about every movie critic who matters, comes splish-splashing back in a splendid 50th anniversary DVD edition. Anyone still on the fence about getting a copy of this vividly restored gem can get their feet tapping on down to the software shop: This is one of the year's best DVD packages, quite possibly the best. Warner's two-disc special edition features significant improvements over the images on its 2000 DVD. The older disc had its charms in a Good Guys kind of way - especially the cartoon-like Technicolor images on the fantasy dance sequences -- but suffered from major speckling and flatness. The new version, from restored elements, removes virtually all signs of wear and delivers the ever-changing color schemes with authority. Viewers don't have to wait long to see the upgrades. Check out the shot of the aging fan at 2:14 and of star Gene Kelly at 9:35: Flesh tones look perfect and contrasts are rock solid; just amazing for a film made in 1951. Or the men's tuxedos and white shirts not long after that. Further proof: take a look at the Vixen's stockings in chapter 30 -- there's plenty of detail over the vast geography of Cyd Charisse's legs. As with the older DVD, the film comes full screen (1.33:1). The remastered 5.1 Dolby Digital sounds fine, conservative in its surround mix -- it's basically all up front. Viewers may want to see if they prefer the original mono track. Two contrasting documentaries anchor the extras. "Musicals, Great Musicals: The Arthur Freed Unit at MGM," from 1998, tells the story of the legendary musicals maker and his "untouchable" stable of song and dance talent. Producer Freed, a longtime songwriter, wanted "integrated musicals," in which the tunes no longer popped up out of nowhere, but served the plot. Freed, says Charisse, "changed the look of musicals -- suddenly we're not old-fashioned looking any more." Stanley Donen, the co-director with Kelly of "Singin' in the Rain," says of Freed: "He wanted to do something quite remarkable. He didn't approach it as if he were going to blow up the system." "Singin' in the Rain" came somewhat near the end of Freed's remarkable career and is one of the best expressions of his uplifting, upbeat aesthetic. The new "What a Glorious Feeling" making-of featurette has a nice breezy tone, but is far less ambitious than the Freed docu. It trots out some fun trivia: Kelly's iconic "Singin' in the Rain" solo wasn't in the original script; Judy Holliday suddenly became too famous for the squeaky actress part then memorably played by Jean Hagen; Oscar Levant had the Donald O'Connell role but couldn't handle the dance parts. There is a great clip of Kelly's stunt double leaping from a bus into a jalopy on the Sunset Boulvevard scene. "Rain" love interest Debbie Reynolds hosts the piece and seems right if quite fluffy. Less successfully, Reynolds introduces the often-awkward audio comme A Smile on My Face! "Singing in the Rain" is a moment of pure joy captured on film. I can never get over the look on Gene Kelly's face when he sings that classic line. It make me smile along with him everytime. This has got to be one of the happiest movies I have seen. Not silly or funny or goofy (well, there is a little bit of that), but just plain happy. Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor and Debbie Reynolds are excellent as three chums hatching a plan. These three conspirators want to save the silent movie dud "The Dueling Cavalier" by changing it into a musical. The roadblock to their success is the spoiled starlet, Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen, nominated for Best Supporting Actress for this role) who's squeaky voice and lack of talent are set to tank the picture. The plot, while fun, takes second place to the astounding musical numbers. "Good Morning, Good Mo-r-ning, We've talked the whole night though, Good Morning, Good Morning to you." (one of my favorites). "Make 'em Laugh" does just that, with Donald O'Connor strutting his vaudeville stuff. "Broadway Melody" (also known as "Gotta Dance") is a mesmerizing duet with Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse . That particular piece is studied in dance history courses and considered a major work of American dance. But at the end, it all comes down to "Singing in the Rain." What a wonderful thing, watching Gene Kelly splashing around in the puddles. Happiness caught on film. Wonderful Musical with Terrific Dancing -- a Trifle Dated "Singin' in the Rain" is the definitive Hollywood musical, and charms and delights our 21st century audiences despite the (very few) characteristics of the genre that don't hold up quite so well. There are so many high points to this movie -- the amazing cast, the songs, the choreography, and, most surprisingly, the satirical send-up of Hollywood and the "star system." The plot is well-known. Silent film star couple, Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly, who also co-directed with Stanley Donen) and Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen) are America's sweethearts. At a Hollywood premiere of their latest romance, breathless fans ignore sidekick Cosmo Brown (Donald O'Connor, in perhaps the best sidekick performance in film history) and scream in delight as Lockwood and Lamont pander to their adoration. Nobody, however, seems to notice that the gorgeous Lamont never speaks . . . Her imposed silence Lamont has a voice that recalls a cat with its tail caught in a wringer, although Lamont is such a "dumb blonde" (bless Hagen -- nobody ever played this stereotype better!) that she is blissfully unaware of her screech. No matter, 'cause it's the silent film era, right? Wrong! Progress brings in "The Jazz Singer" and the era of "talkies." No longer will clever staging of press events suffice. Soon, Don Lockwood is staring career meltdown in the face as the first Lockwood-Lamont "talkie" sends the audience into hysterics. Not only is Lamont's screech audibly offensive, they can't keep the sound synchronized to the film, and the sound editing even when in synch is as amateurish as a high-school film production. What to do? Fortunately, Lockwood had fallen for young, beautiful Kathy Selden (a teenage Debbie Reynolds), a starlet in the making. Cosmo comes up with the idea of dubbing Selden's voice for Lamont's, and all is fixed . . . or not. Lamont, an imbecile but smart enough to know her value, insists on ruining Selden's career to preserve her own . . . and so on and so forth. The plot, ingenious as it is, is really secondary. The main delight in this movie is the amazing dancin' and singin' that the performers offer up. While most of it is pretty silly, campy stuff (particularly the Kelly-O'Connor set pieces), they simply dazzle. Kelly is the most robust, athletic dancer of his generation, and O'Connor, well, the man doesn't have a bone in his body. While the movie's most famous scene comes from Kelly splashing in puddles during the title track, the most amazing dance number has to be O'Connor's comic flailings in "Make 'Em Laugh," where he runs up walls, flirts with a mannequin, and generally pulls out all stops. Debbie Reynolds does a magnificent job keeping up with these two giants, and is generally a pleasure to watch, even though she's clearly outclassed as a hoofer. While some great old films seem to get better with age (think "Casablanca," "Gone With the Wind," and "Citizen Kane"), "Singin' in the Rain" is an American classic that d Buy Singin In The Rain at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on Singin In The Rain Search with the Priority Search Engine on Singin In The Rain This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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