"... make 'em laugh, make 'em laugh..."

Now, let’s start this off by stating the obvious – aside from Disney movies, Hollywood has been incredibly hit or miss when it comes to musicals. Big-time miss when it comes to that… thing… they released last year that was supposed to be Cats. I will not waste your time or mine trying to dissect that brown bag of overused kitty litter, trust me. I didn’t go see it because the stage show it is based on is just as insipid as it has always been, and, well, me and the whole feline species have never been friendly to begin with...

But, if we are talking true movie musicals, ones you can sit back and enjoy any time and smile your way through, there can be only one. It’s wonderfully funny, the songs are superb, the acting is brilliant, and the dance numbers are arguably the best ever put on film. Let’s talk about Singin’ In The Rain for a few minutes, shall we?

The story starts at the brink of the big change in Hollywood, when silent movies were suddenly rendered a ‘thing of the past,’ thanks to Warner Brothers’ The Jazz Singer. We are introduced to silent matinee idol Don Lockwood, played by the ALWAYS genius Gene Kelly, and his on-screen romantic partner, Lina Lamont, played by Jean Hagen (who we will discuss later, I promise…). They are attending the premiere of their latest movie, where Don is asked by a gossip reporter about his rise to stardom. Don tells the story of how he and his best friend, Cosmo Brown (Donald O’Connor), worked their way up from third-rate vaudeville shows to movies, with Don doing all the swashbuckling and adventuring scripts he can get, and Cosmo writing all the music.

Their studio boss shows them a film at the after-party that has (GASP!) sound! “A talking picture,” as the man in the film says. The party attendees all laugh it off as a trick that will never catch on, but, when The Jazz Singer hits, the studio boss immediately shuts everything down to convert to talking pictures.

There is one… small… problem, though. While Don has a great speaking voice, his usual screen love interest, Lina, has a voice that could peel paint off a brick wall. She sounds like someone taking a fork to a chalkboard, and she is also… well… let’s say she is not the sharpest tool in the shed. Oh, who’s kidding, who here? She’s dumber than a football bat...

Without spoiling some great storytelling, Don also meets Kathy Selden, played by a NINETEEN-YEAR OLD Debbie Reynolds. Kathy wants to be an actress, and she and Don happen to fall madly in love with one another. Meanwhile, the studio’s attempts to turn the latest Lockwood and Lamont movie into a talking picture become a horrible joke because of Lina’s shrieking harpy-like voice. Cosmo comes up with the idea of having Kathy do all of Lina’s vocals to save the movie, and also turning it into a full-blown musical instead of another swashbuckling adventure.

Yes, I know, I am WAY oversimplifying the plot, but there are so many wonderful moments in this film, I don’t want to spoil any of them for those who haven’t seen the movie. The musical numbers are outstanding, especially the legendary title song, filmed while Gene Kelly was fighting a 102-degree fever, no less. But I would be remiss if I didn’t give a special shout out to Donald O’Connor’s “Make ‘Em Laugh” routine, a number combining dance, slapstick comedy, and O’Connor’s athleticism into a mix that would honestly put most people in a hospital bed. And I also want to point out that Debbie Reynolds, who, again, was only nineteen when she was cast in this, was pushed to her absolute limits, having to learn dance routines with a master like Kelly. She said many times that her shoes would be full of blood from the rehearsing Kelly put her through, but she endured it all with her glorious smile shining on-camera.

Now… a moment about Jean Hagen. She all but steals this movie from her WELL-established co-stars, simply by acting her hiney off! Her portrayal of spoiled movie star Lina Lamont should have earned her more than just a nomination for Best Supporting Actress. How she did not take home the Oscar is still a huge mystery. She goes all-in with this role, and it pays off brilliantly! She is actually the whole center of the plot, a point you don’t really realize until you watch the movie a few times. Without Lina, there IS no need for Kathy to be brought in, there IS no rivalry between what everyone else wants and what Lina demands. She is a classic “movie star” stooge, an actress who believes her own publicity without even suspecting that all those fan magazine stories could possibly be fiction. She has no clue that her voice is like listening to glass breaking. She has no idea that she is the dumbest person in the room, no matter what room she walks into. And yet, she keeps right on going like nothing is wrong. Hagen did many movies, in MANY genres, but she was NEVER as great as she was in Singin’ In The Rain!

This movie is like a love letter to the early ages of Hollywood in every respect. All of the supporting characters are the stereotypes we still know – the bombastic studio boss, the frustrated film director, the “chorus line” girls who are catty about anyone new, and certainly the “movie stars” who shine every time a spotlight hits them, but have doubts about their talent when the camera is not on them. It’s a Technicolor dream of music and comedy and dance and storytelling, all blended to perfection by co-directors Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly himself.

If you’ve never seen Singin’ In The Rain, do yourself a wonderful favor and treat yourself to a viewing. If you HAVE seen it, do yourself an even more wonderful favor and treat yourself to another viewing! You will quickly find yourself singing along with the tunes, and probably noticing your feet trying to do a few of the dance steps, too!

Singin’ In The Rain is available on Amazon Prime Video for about $3.99, but I would be more than willing to bet you will want to buy it so you can watch it over and over again, if you don’t own it already!