Who needs a cohesive plot when you’ve got SINGIN’! And DANCIN’?! The rule behind musicals is that the music helps drive the plot and becomes part of the narrative. Well, in this film the plot drives about as smoothly as a bumper car into Arthur Freed’s catchy music. There are better musicals with more substance, but few are as much fun as this one.
Co-directed by dancing musical wunderkinds Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly, Donen simply wanted to call this flick Hollywood, but that title doesn’t nearly capture the childlike exuberance of playing around on film lots. And since this film was built around its music as an excuse to show off the stellar talent, let’s divvy up the shots by stand-out numbers, shall we?
•"Make ‘Em Laugh"
Donald O’Connor works hard for the yuks in this physically demanding slapstick marathon. From flipping off walls to wrestling with manikins, every bruise this endearing blue-eyed comic earns will make you smile. And personally, I’ll always fall the one that makes me laugh over the smooth talker. Which takes us to...
•"You Were Meant for Me"
...in which Kelly pours on the schmaltz. Do we mind? No. Because with a toothy grin bright enough to light up all of California, his Hollywood charm becomes liquid gold on his tongue. Kelly’s voice is unconventional – a little high and thin, a bit more vibrato than necessary, but like Astaire, his dancing lets him get away with it. He floats on air with a wink in his eye, and though 19-year-old Debbie Reynolds seems a bit more aware of her surroundings, she is still lovely to watch.
•"Moses"
This song proves that though Kelly and Reynolds make a sweet couple, Kelly and O’Connor are the pair with the best chemistry. It’s easy to buy that they’ve been lifelong buddies, and it’s impossible not to watch this scene without a smile on your face. O’Connor keeps up toe-to-toe with Kelly in terms of immense dancing ability and sheer skill. More proof that men who dance are sexy. Why hasn’t the present movie generation figured that out?!
•"Good Mornin’"
Reynolds is finally given the chance to prove she can keep in step and cut up just as well as the boys. Her voice is bouncy and light, and she makes the perfect girl-next-door. It’s in this scene that Cosmo has an inspiration for a Marni Nixon-like dubbing of the film-within-a-film’s leading lady’s (performed with ignorant bliss by Jean Hagen) horrendous screeching [Nixon performed the lead songs from The King and I, West Side Story and My Fair Lady...uncredited]. Ironically enough, Reynolds was dubbed for the number in which she’s portraying the dubber.
•"Singin’ in the Rain"
If merely an appetizer for the next number, this is an hors d'oeuvre with all the trimmin’s. Kelly splashes around with pure jubilation, voice cracking and smile beaming. If you’re not in love with him by this point, you never will be.
•"Broadway Rhythm"
Does this number have anything to do with anything else in the film? Absolutely not. There is an intertwining showbiz theme, though this vignette takes place on the opposite coast. But who cares? This wannabe performer’s gotta dance! And if he’s Kelly on a revolving sidewalk, we’ll let ‘im. This flashiest of finales uses the boldest of technicolors and the longest of legs. Cyd Charisse’s legs, that is, and boy does she turn Reynolds’ sweetness on its head with her sultry, professional moves. Continuing the dub theme, Charisse is replaced in a ballet fantasy sequence with another dancer. But as with every other incongruity in the film, we just don’t care.
This film is such a joy to watch, and it is obviously designed to purely entertain as the actors show off what they do best. There are few better cure-all examples of cinema therapy.
Comments (1)
What's not to like about this movie? I disagree with the statement that there are better musicals with more substance. Well, maybe a handful, but not many. First of all is the music. It has come as an unpleasant surprise to me that many musicals have maybe 1 great song, and the rest of the numbers are quite forgettable. Even movies with the names Gershwin, Porter or Berlin on them. Who would have guessed that Freed had that many good songs in his past? Admittedly, playing many of the numbers as antique pieces helps sometimes. Then the dancing - again, even some Fred Astaire movies have only one or two good dance numbers. This has both O'Connor and Kelly athletically dancing up a storm in a bunch of numbers. And the plot - the story of the birth of talkies is a hoot. Watching Lina Lamont's dimwitted stardom shooting to extinction is delicious fun. The majority of movie musicals I watch only for the musical numbers. The plots are what fast forward was designed for. This is one of the handful of musicals that would be fun to watch even if, Heaven forbid, there were no musical numbers. The writing by Comden and Green is classic. So it's a rare triple threat - great music, dance,writing. Time to watch it again.
Posted by Lolly | December 14, 2006 5:47 PM
Posted on December 14, 2006 17:47