Singin' in the Rain (1952)

#10 on Original, #5 on Anniversary, #16 on Laughs, #1 on Musicals, #16 on Passions

Recently thanks to TCM and Fathom Events, I was able to see this film on the big screen.  There is something so amazing about seeing a movie you love, in a theater full of people who also love that film.  I always forget how funny this film is. I’ve seen it so many times, that I know all the punch lines…and the dialogue….and some of the movements the actors make. Whatever. Don’t judge me.

 But being in the movie theater setting, I really paid attention to the dialogue, and little things, like props and the looks on some of the actors faces. It was like direct injecting the funny back into watching it. I hope never to lose it again, because the film is so enjoyable.

Plot recap if you don’t know:  Set in the late 1920s, a new menace is coming to Hollywood: talking pictures.  Will the silent film stars Lockwood and Lamont be able to make the transition successfully? 

The casting in this film is right on. Gene Kelly has a great balance of arrogance at the start of the film, and he can play humble by the end just as well; Jean Hagan is great as the dumb blond starlet; Donald O'Connor pulls off funnyman sidekick, without venturing off into goofy unbelievability. And Debbie Reynolds has a perfect amount of wide eyed innocence, while still being clever when she needs to be.

I think the only bad thing about this film is the editing. There are some really obvious cuts where the scene does not line up, or it repeats from a close up.  And in the middle of a gorgeous dance number, that annoys me every time.  Other than that? It is just an all around great film. 

I think this musical made so many lists, but particularly #1 on the Musicals list, because it is so accessible throughout the entire thing (and awesome).   “An American in Paris” (which is #9 on the musicals list, and often I hear from people could be #1) is fantastic, but the ballet at the end, I find, can turn people off.  But Singin in the Rain is so much easier for anyone to enjoy and understand, even if you don’t usually like musicals and dance.  There are places where you feel more like you are watching a comedy, or a romance, not a musical. And then the musical numbers come, and Bam! You can’t help but be in awe of strength and grace of Gene Kelly, or the commanding presence when Cyd Charisse comes on the screen for one dance number.  Or the ball of energy that is Donald O’Connor. How could a viewer not smile and enjoy it? 

(I  could do a whole post on just the musical numbers alone. I think I will. So, enjoy the overview post!)

Favorite Quote

Lina Lamont: What do they think I am? Dumb or something? Why, I make more money than - than - than Calvin Coolidge! Put together!

[Also, I had a really hard time picking a favorite quote for this one, there are too many great lines!]

Gone with the Wind (1939)

#4 on Original, #6 on Anniversary, #43 on Cheers, #4 on 10 Top 10: Epics, #2 on Passions

Any of the movies in the “10 Top 10: Epic” category are going to be a commitment.  You are committing time, and emotions to watch one movie, one story, for hours. In the case of Gone with the Wind, it is a 4 hour long commitment. Sometimes the movies marked as Epics feel like they take days to experience.  Luckily, with GWTW the time flies. 

But watching Gone with the Wind always makes me so conflicted. I can view it so many ways.  I can get lost in the romance of it all (big sweeping house, Clark Gable taking Vivien Leigh into his arms, etc). Or I can get turned off by the way certain groups of people are portrayed, and what a brat Scarlett O'Hara can be.  And sometimes she is being a brat because she is doing what has to be done to save her families property, and sometimes she is just being a brat because she can. 

Clark Gable gets one of the prettiest entrance shots in any movie, ever.  Standing at the bottom of the grand staircase, camera zooming in to his handsome face. Just a classic movie moment. Hattie McDaniel ties the story together for me, with her portrayal of Mammy. Mammy is an almost constant presence in the film, except when Scarlett goes to Atlanta. Olivia de Havilland as Melanie was great at playing sweet, with out venturing into saccharine. The character of Melanie really was considered to be almost a saint by everyone, so it would have been easy to go overboard, and almost mock the character, but de Havilland was able to walk that line with out going over. 

It is interesting to see history interwoven into Scarlett's story. Make no mistake, this is not a film about the Civil War. It is a film about Scarlett O’Hara; the war just happened to coincide with her life. 

Overall, GWTW really is a story of survival. Life will always have ups and downs and hardships. But no matter what happens, you have to get up and keep on living, one day at a time. Or as Scarlett says "After all, tomorrow is another day."

Favorite Quote:

Scarlett: Sir, you are no gentleman.
Rhett Butler: And you, Miss, are no lady.  Don't think I hold that against you. Ladies have never held any appeal for me.