‘Singin’ in the Rain’ — the definitive musical

Press, 10 November 1983, Page 14

‘Singin’ in the Rain’ — the definitive musical

AT THE CINEMA

hons petrovic

“Singin’ in the Rain,” which is considered by many to be the best and definitive of all the musicals ever to be made in Hollywood, returns to the Academy tomorrow. Starring Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and Donald O’Connor, it features such bright and bouncy numbers of the early 50s as the title tune and “Good Mornin’,” “Fit as a Fiddle,” “Make ’em Laugh,” “You were

Meant for Me” and “Broadway' Rhythm.” The light, comic story also proved to be a fine satire of Hollywood itself, at the time of the change from silent movies to the talkies. Barry Day, of “Films and Filming,” has these reminiscences of “Singin’ in the Rain,” which proved that it was possible to make a successful satire of Hollywood:

It succeeds because it succeeds on two levels:

It exists quite consciously' on the level of pure entertainment. As a movie musical it is probably the most professional ever made, the work of an experienced team of complementary talents at their confident peak and undoubtedly the high watermark of the Freed Unit. As a pastiche it is also

sharply accurate, written and performed by people who know and love their subject matter for those who feel the same way. A little of all our lives was fashioned by the Dream Factory and the film knows it.

The result is something much more complex than it appears on the surface. It contains something for everyone as both entertainment and comment, and what you take from it is what you are capable of taking. Which is. why it repays repeated viewing.

In recent years, of course, we have become accustomed to this split level, tongue-in-cheek approach to film making, which allows us to embrace the simple story-telling virtues we emotionally need by providing our so-called sophistication with the escape clause of the send-up. If any other film did the same thing as knowingly and as thoroughly before “Singin’ in the Rain,” I certainly can’t recall it. The film gains a great deal in terms of surface texture by the fact that it is such a close parody of specific Hollywood characters and incidents.

Whether the original 1952

audience knew the references in detail is immaterial, the observations feel right because the actors are not being permitted to indulge themselves in the broad strokes of farce.

At the time, no-one could have foreseen that 30 years later a widespread revival of nostalgic interest in the whole period would give the

film even greater depth and resonance than it had on its release. You can virtually go through the cast list and check the references. . Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly) is Doug Fairbanks Snr, his silent swashbuckling running • out of steam with “The . Duelling Cavalier.”

But with a wry twist, Lockwood is also Kelly himself, who had not long before gone through similar antics in George Sidney’s “The Three Musketeers” (1949) in an attempt to keep his career options open and before “On the Town” (1949) cheerfully pinned him to the musical.