Singin' in the Rain

I really enjoyed Singin’ in the Rain. I’ve actually seen it before but not for a while, so it was nice to watch it again. It’s a classic film that I think everyone should watch at least once in their lives. The color, music, dancing, and just about everything else is so well done. The dance numbers were especially fun to watch. Gene Kelly and Donald O’Connor have amazing chemistry together, which makes watching all the scenes with them almost mesmerizing. I think my favorite number may have to be “Singin’ in the Rain”. This title number is incredibly famous for a reason. It’s beautifully executed by Gene Kelly and helps to draw the audience into the world of the film. They can feel the joy from Kelly radiating through the screen, and can’t help but feel the same. While it’s not as extravagant as some of the other musical numbers in the film, I think its simplicity is part of what I love about it. 

Something I find really interesting about this movie is the conflict. While typically in most movies the central conflict is between two characters, in Singin’ in the Rain the conflict is actually about the sound. Yes there is still strife between characters, Lina Lamont being the antagonist, but still the larger and main conflict is sound itself. Sound is an extremely important aspect of film, but is often overlooked. This movie shows just how important it can be in the success of a film. We see this illustrated when they begin filming for their first talkie movie, The Duelling Cavalier. Lina struggles to talk into the mic. We then later see when the film is premiered, that problems with sound ruined everything. 

The “Broadway Melody” dream sequence was really interesting as well. It feels a little out of place and very long, almost drawing you back out of the world of the film to wonder what's happening. However, I think it’s comparable to “Remember my Forgotten Man” in Gold Diggers of 1933. While both feel odd and out of place, it fits with the larger theme of the film. 

Another musical number I really enjoyed was “Make em’ Laugh” mainly featuring Donald O’Connor’s character, Cosmo. It effectively uses bricolage to create an illusion of spontaneity that gives more of a live performance feel. Cosmo uses the props around him that seem to just happen to be in the room giving it a haphazard feeling, when in reality everything was meticulously thought out and engineered for the scene to happen just as it did. Jane Feuer talks in her book about how bricolage and engineering may at first glance “appear polar opposites...become instead twin images of a paradox, for in the Hollywood studio film it takes engineering to give an effect of tinkering” (Feuer 6). “Make em’ Laugh” as well as almost all of the numbers in the movie use everything Feuer talks about ultimately to draw the audience in and make it feel like a live performance, which was incredibly popular at the time.