Singing in the Rain (1952) is a movie musical that follows the story of Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly), Cosmo Brown (Donald O’Connor), Lisa Lamont (Jean Hagen), and Cathy Sheldon (Debbie Reynolds) attempting to create the first movie with sound. Specifically, the group created the first movie musical due to the poor reception of the original film, which makes Singing in the Rain a movie musical about a movie musical. In the article linked, Gardner speaks on the meta of Singing in the Rain, overall emphasizing the self awareness the film has, and the Russian nesting doll effect it creates.
Let’s begin with the characters. Gardner writes about Don’s struggle with fame and being unable to separate his public persona with his actual personality, which is seen in the car scene with Don and Cathy. There are two layers here, as Don escapes to Cathy’s car to avoid his famous persona, but then tries to use his famous persona to get with Cathy. Cathy shuts him down and expresses her disdain for celebrities who use their fame to get what they want, but it is later revealed that Cathy is trying to climb the ladder so she can achieve fame herself.
This examination is important and relevant to today’s society. Although in the film, this is done for comedic effect, similar situations happen in everyday lives. We will be quick to judge someone and their actions, but many times this is done out of envy. Don had the fame Cathy was actively seeking out, yet she called him a shadow on a film.
We can also see a Russian nesting doll effect with the scene “Broadway Melody” as it serves as a story, within a story… within a story. Gardner writes how this was done because “Broadway Melody”, Dancing Cavalier, and Singing in the Rain, all link to each other. I agree with this point, however I believe they link back to each other on one specific thing: deception.
In Singing in the Rain, deception is seen in the story of Don and Cathy, as highlighted above. In Dancing Cavalier, it is Cathy singing and speaking for Lina. “Broadway Melody” is a prolonged dream sequence that is incredibly vibrant, but it ends with “I just can’t quite picture it.” Sound in film brought more opportunity for creative freedom, but it also allowed for more deception to occur.