Singing in the Rain (1952)

It’s been voted in the top ten of all films, and the best musical ever, so you’ll have to forgive if this Comden and Green slice of buttercake nostalgia seems oversweet today. Any movie about making a movie is going to be full of inside jokes, actor annecdotes, and trendspotting, but Singing in the Rain plundered MGM’s backlot to find the actual sets and props used in memorable silent films, every dance number is an homage of earlier musicals, meanwhile bigshot producer Arthur Freed bought back the library of songs he’d written during leaner days of the talkie-era.

It is a textbook example of 1952 Hollywood, showcasing a remarkable number of people at the peaks of their careers. Freed’s unit at MGM was creating arguably the greatest Hollywood musicals: An American in Paris, the Freed production from the previous year, bumped Singing in the Rain from cinemas when it swept the Oscars. Writing duo Comden and Green deliver rapidfire wordplay and lively dialog through their compelling autobiographical characters (see The Band Wagon), while Cyd Charrise ascends into legend in another stunning dual-character ballet (see The Band Wagon). The role of platinum blonde Lina was written for Judy Holiday, an early colaborator of Comden and Green, but her recent success in Born Yesterday meant she couldn’t take a secondary role. Holiday’s understudy on Broadway was hired instead, played Lina in the style of Judy Holiday, and was nominated for best supporting actress! Haters of Gene Kelly will delight to discover that he was a tyrant who put both his co-stars in the hospital, but he deserves his co-director status. The fluid camera movement is intimate to the choreography, and the dance performances build over the film erupting from passionate conversation or excited discovery.