Gene Kelly, Please!

Ahhh! I have waited all semester to watch my favorite movie, Singing in the Rain and it was just as glorious as I had remembered! I was so excited to get to share the experience with my friends and fellow classmates and to see them discover and enjoy it as well. The energy and passion that radiates from every second of every scene of this movie is pure exuberance. I have often wondered what it is that sets this film and some of the other old classic movies apart from modern movies. Is it the use of three strip Technicolor? Or the angles at which the shots are filmed? Or the quality or style of acting? Or could it be the way the music and sound are done? Or is it the way the film is edited? What is it that makes these movies masterpieces? I wonder how the audience of today would perceive a film like Singing in the Rain. Musicals today, such as Chicago, have a very different style, not necessarily better or worse, only different.

One of the most visually interesting scenes that we did not have a chance to discuss in class was the musical number Beautiful Girls. The scene is a beautiful dance number full of light, airy choreography and charming lyrics. There is one shot in which the camera shoots straight down on the group of dancers surrounding the man singing. The are all looking up at the camera smiling and singing. This overheard style shot is rarely seen these days. If it is, I feel as though it is only in bar or club scenes or to scan over a traffic jam on a road, etc. This is the only time I have ever seen it used where the subjects in the scene are actually looking up and acknowledging the camera above them and are arranged in such a deliberate fashion.

Another scene in the movie that I have always been partial to, maybe simply because of my ballerina background, is the scene where Gene Kelly sees the elusive lady in green and imagines running up to her and dancing a beautiful pas de deux with her. It is interesting that this is actually a day dream within a dream, as the entire sequence is actually simply Don Lockwood explaining an idea for a number to R.F. It is not only beautifully choreographed (always the first thing to catch my eye) but also has impressive sweeping camera angles that dolly in and out seamlessly with the routine and the music. The use of the wind machine that was probably on a few feet off camera added a lot to the number, and it is interesting to think back to some foreshadowing that occurred earlier with the empty stage scene between Don and Kathy.

This movie is one that I could watch over and over again and never tire of it. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to share the experience with my classmates and hope to not only be able to appreciate it more, but also to be able to use some of what I have observed and learned in the projects later.