Review of Singin` In The Rain (Special Edition)

Introduction

"Singin` In The Rain" is almost universally regarded as one of the best movie musicals of all time, and frequently heads the favourite movies lists of a great number of top directors, critics and cineastes. I may not be any of those but I know I love "Singin`". Famously homaged by Ernie Wise, "Singin` In The Rain" was made by MGM`s famous Freed Unit (headed by musical producer Arthur Freed) in 1951. The plan was to weave a plot around a number of songs Freed had written in partnership with Nacio Herb Brown back in the 1920s and 1930s. The storyline was developed by veteran screenwriters Betty Comden and Adolph Green, who came up with a piece about the transition in the late 1920s from silent to full-sound motion pictures. Initially the story involved a singing cowboy (to be played by Howard Keel), but the ideal character for the story was somebody like Gene Kelly. Kelly was unavailable, making "An American In Paris", but Comden and Green sent him the screenplay anyway and were startled when Kelly not only voiced an interest in making the picture but wanted to bring his director-collaborator Stanley Donen along. The singing cowboy idea was dropped and Kelly`s character became a Douglas Fairbanks type.

"Singin` In The Rain" opens with the premiere of the latest Lockwood and Lamont silent picture - "The Royal Rascal". Don Lockwood and Lina Lamont are a movie making team, churning out romantic potboilers. Encouraged by a radio gossip columnist, Lockwood (Gene Kelly) offers the Studio version his life story - backed with visuals of what actually happened.

Lockwood`s romantic lead, Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen) is one of the great comedy characters of the cinema, a completely self-absorbed creature with the face of an angel, the voice of Betty Boop (crossed with Miss Piggy) and the mind of Macchiavelli. Said to be based on Mary Pickford, she latches herself on to rising star Don Lockwood. She buys into every word the fan magazines print about her and lets it go completely to her head. This includes a romance between them - in spite of the fact Lockwood can`t stand her. Throughout the movie she has all the best lines - about earning more than Calvin Coolidge "put together", and ultimately describing herself as a shimmering, glowing star in the cinema firm-a-ment ("it says so - right there"). Her voice is her weak point, and like many silent era stars, she has voice training (hilarious in itself). Her comeuppance at the movie premiere is delicious, although I like to think she`s made of stern enough stuff to have made a comeback in later years (and probably won an O*car in the process - Jean Hagen was nominated for one for playing Lina, after all).

In comparison to Lina, the three leads in the movie - Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and Donald O`Connor come a poor second. Genial Gene turns in his usual, slick, smiley performance and he`s an engaging hero for the piece - even though his character admits his own shortcomings after the disastrous test screening of their first talkie "The Duelling Cavalier". Donald O`Connor offers Gene the perfect sidekick in Cosmo Brown, offering advice and dry wit in equal proportion and (honestly) outclassing him in the breathless "Make `em Laugh" sequence. O`Connor shot this sequence in one take and went to bed for 72 hours afterwards. When he got up again, the director had to tell him the footage had been ruined and he had to do it all over again.

Debbie Reynolds turns in a terrific performance as the ingenue who captures the movie star`s heart after offering him a lift. There have been a number of movies which have used the gimmick of a fading or problematic star having their performances enhanced by the singing talents of another, but this is the first and best version.

"Singin` In The Rain" is a classic - you can`t argue with that. It`s 100 minutes of sheer joy but don`t take my word on it - ask anybody.

Video

"Singin` In The Rain" has been available on DVD and video for a great many years in a rather unkempt version. The movie was made in 1.33:1, as it is presented here. Previous releases were struck from a master that was far from perfect. Shrinkage of the colour separation elements of the masters had caused colour fringing, which apart from putting red haloes around light coloured objects gives the impression the image is out of focus. This edition has been completely digitally remastered, and the colour separation materials have been realigned to make the image as sharp and colourful as it was in 1951. All of the dirt and wear and tear of the old version is also banished. If you have the old single DVD, don`t get rid of it until you have this version because a side-by-side comparison is genuinely amazing.

Audio

There has been just as amazing a transformation of the picture`s soundtrack. You can still listen to it in the original mono if you like (there is a supplementary soundtrack), but I`d advise switching on your amp and listening to it in Dolby Digital 5.1. No, I haven`t been drinking. 5.1. It isn`t of course a dynamic mix and you won`t be blown out of your seat by LFE effects, but the movie is now in all enveloping stereophonic sound. There`s a warmth to the soundtrack that wasn`t there in mono and of course the songs and the music sound absolutely wonderful.

Features

Where to start? There`s a whole second disc of extras. On the main disc along with the feature, there`s a communal commentary track with contributions from Debbie Reynolds, Donald O`Connor, Cyd Charisse, Kathleen Freeman, Stanley Donen, Betty Comden and Adolph Green, Baz Luhrmann and film historian Rudy Behlmer. A theatrical trailer and full subtitles round out the disc.

Disc Two includes a 50th Anniversary documentary "What a Glorious Feeling", hosted by Debbie Reynolds. This is full of reminiscences about the making of the movie by some of the cast and filmmakers - some of whom have sadly passed away since. There is also the song "You Are My Lucky Star" sung by Debbie Reynolds and cut from the movie - the version in the movie was a reprise. There are scoring session music cues included - 90 minutes of audio material - and another documentary about the Arthur Freed Unit at MGM. Scene Indexed, this includes material on "Wizard Of Oz", "Annie Get Your Gun", "On The Town" and of course "Singin` In The Rain". There is a stills gallery, and an Easter Egg from Baz Luhrmann. Exhaustingly, there is also a slew of movie excerpts taken from movies where the songs in "Singin`" originated. This includes the Ukelele Ike version of "Singin` In The Rain" from "The Hollywood Revue of 1929". Ukelele Ike went on to provide the voice of Jiminy Cricket in "Pinocchio".

Conclusion

This is a quite staggering package for a fifty-odd year old movie, and Warners are to be congratulated for it. The digipak packaging needs careful handling, but the contents are worth every penny.

If you need a smile on your face, this is the movie to get.