A glorious feeling… Singin' in the Rain (1952), 18th October re-release for BFI Musicals! The Greatest Show on Screen

Donald O’Connor, Debbie Reynolds and Gene Kelly stare smilingly out from the screen directly at you as, their heads  almost still, their bodies move as one, arms rotating around with impossible precision as they confirm that they’ve talked the whole night through and the way to rescue The Duelling Cavalier, their first talking film from disaster is to turn it into a musical. No other form allows you to hotwire your heart with such joyous ambition and chorused changes in fortune.

Singin’ in the Rain cannot be denied, it’s a natural force, full of perfect moments that somehow avoids sweetness by being anchored in the naturalistic friendships of the most likeable and down-to-earth cast imaginable. The sole exception is the ethereal cameo from Cyd Charisse channelling Louise Brooks as the woman of Kelly’s dreams who is not to be confused with the woman of his waking hours.

The film was being previewed as a taster for the BFI’s unstoppable new season, BFI Musicals! The Greatest Show on Screen with a new 4d transfer due to screen at the Institute and nationwide from 16^th October. Having never seen it on the big screen I can confirm that it is transformational: combining great tunes, movement and star power!

As a silent film fan there is lots to spot in the film with a story and song track picked from the era when silent transitioned painfully into sound. Jean Hagen’s Lina Lamont has the broadest of Big Apple accents mimicking the supposed accent of a Norma Talmadge (New Jersey) or a Clara Bow (Manhattan) who – by legend – struggled with sound but who, in reality, spoke just fine and had other reasons for fading away, in Clara’s case after a number of successful talkies and, for Norma, she just had better things to do.

Talking of Clara, there’s Rita Moreno as Zelda Zanders, the "Zip Girl" who’s not that far from the “It Girl” and Judy Landon as Olga Mara, a silent screen vamp not a million miles from Nazimova mixed with Pola Negri. These actors would still have been in the memory in 1952, no further away than Britpop is to now.

Most of the songs also hail from the late Twenties/early Thirties and, possibly written in 1927, Singin' in the Rain was first performed on screen by Doris Eaton Travis in The Hollywood Music Box Revue (1929) then by Cliff Edwards with the Brox Sisters in the early MGM musical The Hollywood Revue of 1929. Audiences would have associated the song with that era even as now we see it as an early 50’s creation.

The song was written by Nacio Herb Brown (music) and Arthur Freed (lyrics) and most of the pre-existing songs came from them including You Were Meant for Me from The Broadway Melody (1929) from which the title song along with Broadway Rhythm from Broadway Melody of 1936, provides the backdrop for Cyd and Gene’s balletic fantasy. Interestingly Talya Alon has argued that the other influence for this section was The Blue Angel (1931) so, whilst Brooksie was the look, Marlene was the attitude… and, unlike Emil Jannings’ professor, Kelly’s song and dance man makes it through to success: Gotta Dance, Gotta Dance, Gotta Dance...

This classic Kelly sidestep apart, the film’s narrative is, of course, mostly about Kelly’s silent actor Don Lockwood, adjusting to sound and pursuing Debbie Reynold’s ingenue Kathy Selden. Reynolds was just 18 at the time of filming and with a background in gymnastics not dance…she was obviously a quick learner matching the maestro and his energetic hoofer buddy step for step and her raw energy is ideal for the role.

But it’s now so hard to imagine anyone else in these roles so cemented in our personal cannon of great films has this film become. Jean Hagen’s Lina Lamont is one of the great “bad guys” with her shatter-glass vowels a joy: “Ah cain’t stayund ‘im!!” is a catch phrase for the ages.

Donald O'Connor as Cosmo Brown, Don's lifelong pal, and vaudeville partner, is quick-fire perfect and completes the perfect trio with Kelly and Reynolds – passing their lines around in a script-sprint relay of comic proportions. It’s a very inclusive approach that naturally plays direct to the watching audience. Millard Mitchell as RF Simpson (a reference to producer Arthur Freed) is also excellent as the grown up in the room trying to channel all these creatives in the most profitable direction.

Stanley Donan directed for the ages along with Kelly and their intelligence and improvisation was rarely equalled in the genre. But you can find out for yourselves as Singing in the Rain is being re-released nationwide by the BFI in October – there’ll be a run on the Southbank as well as cross country along with many others in this splendid season.

Full details of BFI Musicals! The Greatest Show on Screen is available on the BFI website along with showtimes for Singing in the Rain which, thanks to this new 4k transfer, has rarely looked this good in the last 67 years. It starts it's run on 18th October: not to be missed!!