Singin' in the Rain

One of my favorite movie genres are musicals. I feel like a musical can do so much for people because of the elements that it relies on. Music touches people in so many ways are can immediately provoke emotions, be in happy, sad, uplifting, or depressing. The spectrum of what music can do is truly wonderful.

In Singin' in the Rain, Don Lockwood, played by Gene Kelly, and Cosmo Brown, played by Donald O'Conner, are best friends who decide that they want to try to make it in the movie business. Don is a stuntman and Cosmo is a musician; Don gets his big chance when he is paired with Lina Lamont, played by Jean Hagen, to do a picture. Their acting together soon becomes one of the hottest couples in Hollywood. Yet, as Hollywood transitions to pictures with sound it soon becomes evident that Lena's voice does not match her exterior beauty. Lena decides that she wants to sing a piece from their new hit, the trick is that Kathy Seldon, played by Debbie Reynolds, is an inspiring actress that sings for Lena and she is asked to sing while Lena lip sings her piece from the movie. Don and Cosmo decide to show everyone who is there that Lena is a fraud and they pull back the curtain behind her to reveal Kathy singing behind it. The crowd is in shock and Lena's name is tarnished.

Singin' in the Rain, directed by Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly, is somewhat satiric in nature and makes fun of classical Hollywood cinema. There is a lot of intense dancing that takes place and Gene Kelly is careful in choosing actors that compliment each other well in that sense. The goal of the film is to let all things be resolved and that does in fact happen. Overall I really enjoyed this film. Many of the styles that the film uses are evident in modern day musicals turned motion pictures.