Singin' In The Rain

In light of "The Artist" most likely sweeping the Academy Awards this year, let's go back to 1952 with a similar story: "Singin' In The Rain." An early form of meta-filmmaking "Singin' In the Rain" takes us on the journey from silent films to movies with sound. It follows a Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly), a silent movie star and his "sidekick" Cosmo Brown (Donald O'Connor) through the tough transition silent movie stars and makers had to endure in the 20s and 30s.

The acting is just fun to watch. Watching Gene Kelly is always a pleasure. His dancing is as good as ever and Donald O'Connor is a perfect counterpart on the screen. Making a great impression with his song "Make 'Em Laugh," one of the best and most entertaining dance sequences in all of Hollywood films. Of course the title song provides the iconic moment of Kelly, literally singing in the rain hanging on a light post.

Kathy Selden played splendidly by Debbie Reynolds is Don's love interest and she is a great singer and dancer. How these three actors came together on this movie is perfection!

This is one of my favorite stories to see unfold every time. I'm never bored find myself humming along to the songs and getting them stuck in my head. Like "Citizen Kane" it is a semi-historical film and shows how movie making was forever changed by the invention of talking pictures. The story would be much less entertaining if it weren't for all of the dancing throughout. Gene Kelly, one of the great dancers of all time, choreographed many of the dances and all three of the actors did all of their own dancing.

The best scene in the movie occurs at a late night brainstorming session when the characters realize that it is no longer a late night, but rather an early morning. Cue "Good Morning." Putting everything they have into every dance scene really pays of and makes this a classic.

Simply put, this is the best movie musical ever made.

10/10