Classic Hollywood Reviews: Singing in the Rain

Singing in the Rain is one of those all time classic Hollywood musicals. It is perfection...except for one dance sequence in the middle that doesn't make any sense or add anything to the movie. But the rest of it is a wonderful story with great actors, wonderful songs, and dance numbers that make you want to get up and dance, too.

One of my friends mentioned this one on facebook, and someone commented that they wished it was possible to walk down a street and watch people break out into perfectly choreographed songs and dances.

Gene Kelly is brilliant as Don Lockwood, but I adore Donald O'Connor as Cosmo in this movie. He plays the funny man to the hilt, while Debbie Reynolds gets to play Kathy, the ingenue who has a dream and wants to chase it in Hollywood at the time talkies are making their move. Gene Kelly hams it up as an overdone silent movie star who has to make the transition to the talkies...unfortunately his costar has a voice that won't make the transition. So Don and Cosmo come up with a scheme with Kathy's help that will turn the Dancing Cavalier into a glorious talking film.

Singing in the Rain was nominated for two Oscars, but didn't win either category. It is listed at #79 in IMDb's top 250 list. Here's a link to the trailer.

This is a movie the whole family can enjoy -- though there is that one dance sequence with Cyd Charisse that just doesn't fit. Other than that, the movie is perfection.