SINGIN' IN THE RAIN - DVD review

Some people consider "Singin' in the Rain" the greatest musical ever made, and it isn't just film critic Roger Ebert, who is quoted on the packaging. A lot of other folks will tell you the same thing. There is no doubt this 1952 movie from co-directors Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen is a classic among classics, and there's no doubt it is, indeed, among the best of its breed. These days the problem is getting younger viewers interested in a musical at all. It's a pity, really, an unfair prejudice, but maybe this new, Special Edition two-disc set from Warner Home Video will change a few minds and turn a few ears. If this doesn't do it, nothing will.

Song-and-dance man Gene Kelly ("An American in Paris," "Brigadoon") co-directed (with Stanley Donen) and stars in this colorful, lavish spoof of old-time Hollywood, co-starring with fellow hoofer Donald O'Connor and relative newcomer Debbie Reynolds. While the movie's key image is that of Kelly dancing his way through raindrops and puddles and swinging around a lamppost, the film has a multitude of other good scenes and songs to commend, as well as a humorous, sometimes zany plot line. This is one of those films where the whole thing is a pleasure from beginning to end.

The setting is 1927, the official end of the movies' silent era and the beginning of talkies with Warner Brothers' "The Jazz Singer." Kelly is a conceited silent-screen matinee idol, Don Lockwood, whose on-screen love interest is Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen), a relationship made in hell as Lockwood can't stand the lady. But thanks to their silent films and their studio's overactive public relations department, the public adores them; what's more, talking pictures loom on the near horizon and the public can't wait to hear them speak to one another. Two minor problems, and problems faced by any number of real-life silent-movie stars in the late twenties: Talkies required that an actor have a pleasant speaking voice and the ability to use it to act. Lamont can't speak properly to save her soul, and Lockwood can't act. In fact, Lamont's voice would peel paint at fifty yards.

The story involves Hollywood's transition from silent films to talkies and takes a comic and romantic personal spin on the subject with its stars. Debbie Reynolds enters the film as a young chorus girl, Kathy Selden, with a beautiful speaking and singing voice and a growing affection for Lockwood; while Donald O'Connor plays Lockwood's best friend and comic sidekick, Cosmo Brown. Millard Mitchell plays the harried head of Monument Pictures, R.F. Simpson. "Lamont and Lockwood: They talk!" exclaims Simpson. "Well, of course, we talk," responds Ms. Lamont. "Don't everybody?"

Every time Jean Hagen opens her mouth, I laugh. Her part of the quintessential dumb blonde, silent-screen vamp was originally to have gone to Judy Holliday, but Holliday had just scored a big hit in "Born Yesterday" and became unavailable for the role. Hagen more than fills her shoes, possibly even surpassing anything Holliday might have done. Cosmo says of her: "She can't act, she can't sing, and she can't dance. A triple threat!" But when the studio discovers the secret of dubbing someone else's voice over Lamont's, things look different. For a while. Until she gets too big on herself. "What do they think I am, dumb or something? Why, I make more money than, than, than Calvin Coolidge put together."

Kelly's dancing was always highly athletic, and O'Connor nicely complements his technique, with the director graciously allowing O'Connor space to do his own thing. So does the sultry Cyd Charisse complement Kelly in a highly stylized and exquisitely executed dance number late in the film. The movie's theme of what you see in Hollywood not always being the reality is nicely played up by everybody, and one of the film's most charming scenes is one where Lockwood professes his love for the talented ingenue Selden on a vast soundstage that can be transformed at the touch of a few buttons into anything romantic they choose: a beauteous sunset, a soft breeze, a gentle mist, and appropriate background music. Would that real life were so easy. "Singin' in the Rain" has a good deal of fun satirizing both Hollywood and itself.

The songs around which the movie revolves were written by Arthur Freed (who also produced) and Nacio Herb Brown for previous movies dating back as far as the mid 1920s, and they include some highly memorable tunes. In addition to the inevitable "Singin' in the Rain," there's "Fit as a Fiddle and Ready for Love," "All I Do Is Dream of You," "Make Em' Laugh," Beautiful Girl," "You Were Meant for Me," "Moses Supposes," "Good Morning," "Would You?," and "You Are My Lucky Star," among others.

Video:
I couldn't find a single thing to grouse about in this completely remastered, 1.33:1 ratio, standard-screen presentation. The film was originally made by MGM in Technicolor, and everything about it has been preserved by its new owner, Turner-Time-Warner, with loving care. The colors are bright and natural; the contrasts are vivid; and the image is sharply defined. What's more, there's hardly a trace of grain and virtually no moiré effects, pixilation, or other digital artifacts to be seen. It's as perfect a color transfer as I could imagine possible.

Audio:
The movie's soundtrack has been remixed in Dolby Digital 5.1, and it does open up the audio to a broader and more realistic degree than the original mono. However, this is not to say it is anything like modern, discrete, five-channel sound, the sonics here being more of a stretched monaural across the front speakers with few directional clues and a signal so comparatively weak in the rear speakers, it's almost nonexistent. However, the overall effect is still pleasing, the sound warm and smooth. With a background free of noise or hiss and possessing a fairly wide frequency range, the audio is quite listenable. It works best in the big musical numbers and, in fact, seems to improve as the film goes on.

Extras:
There are more bonus items on this two-disc set than there is movie. There must be three or four hours of documentaries and supplemental information for the viewer to pursue, making the package a bargain by any yardstick. Disc one contains the film itself, of course, its remastered DD 5.1 soundtrack; English and French spoken languages; English, French, and Spanish subtitles; plus an audio commentary with Debbie Reynolds, Donald O'Connor, Cyd Charisse, Kathleen Freeman, co-director Stanley Donen, screenwriters Betty Comden and Adolph Green, filmmaker Baz Luhrmann, and author/film historian Rudy Behlmer. In addition, there's a feature called "Singin' Inspirations: Hidden Treasures," which if utilized places the icon of a film reel on screen from time to time encouraging you to find out more background information about various scenes in the movie. Lastly, there's a cast and crew listing, an awards listing, thirty-eight scene selections, and a theatrical trailer. And that's just disc one!

Disc two begins with two full-length documentaries. The first of these, "Musicals Great Musicals: The Arthur Freed Unit at MGM," is eighty-six minutes long and was made by Turner Broadcasting in 1996. It contains a wealth of interviews from surviving filmmakers about producer Arthur Freed and film clips from the producer's musicals made from "Broadway Melody" in 1929 through "Gigi" in 1958. Note that Freed came in and went out with Oscar winners for Best Picture. The second documentary is called "What a Glorious Feeling: The Making of Singin' in the Rain," a 2002, fiftieth-anniversary production that's thirty-five minutes long and features interviews with host Debbie Reynolds, star Donald O'Connor, director Stanley Donen, writers Betty Comden and Adolph Green, and many others. Reynolds and O'Connor admit they had no idea at the time they making anything but just another musical. Next comes a series Arthur Freed/Nacio Herb Brown songs used in "Singin' in the Rain" shown from their originating movies; an outtake of "You Are My Lucky Star"; twenty-six scoring session music cues (the original prerecorded musical numbers from the show, including multiple takes); and a stills gallery. Whew, that's quite a lot of stuff, really, and most of it fun to view.

Parting Thoughts:
So, is "Singin' in the Rain" really the best musical of all time? I dunno. My personal preferences are still inclined toward "Cabaret," "My Fair Lady," and "The Music Man," but surely "Singin' in the Rain" isn't far behind. The film is light, frothy, and charming, a complete delight from beginning to end. It has fun, excitement, romance, humor, and high good spirits. What with the extra materials the current Special Edition sports on its two discs, plus its remastered sound and picture, it makes a tempting stab at number one.