This movie was one of my favorites so far. I tend to gravitate towards more upbeat movies, so I liked this film. The first takeaway from this movie was understanding how big of a shift from silent films to talkies was. As someone who has only experienced films with sounds, I previously assumed that the transition was easy, as if films were becoming “normal.” However, after watching this film, I realized this was a revolutionary moment.
Firstly, I noticed that Lina’s character embodied the challenges of the sound transition. Before the sound was incorporated, Kathy mentioned to Don that theater people are the real actors; they have to do it all, but it is ironic because that line is more relevant to Lina. Sound serves as a new dimension in movies, which exposes people who do not have the skill set to adapt. Don can quickly adjust to this new change, but Lina lacks any skills to change. Her reliance on others for her success eventually embarrasses the production studio on their first sound film, and she attempts to bring everyone again in “The Dancing Cavalier.” Lina is eventually clowned for her lack of adaptability when the curtains unveil she is not actually singing, but I do not think she completely lacks adaptability. She understood that she would never be able to talk or sing like Kathy, but she adapted differently. She took a legal approach through her contract to try to put the production company in a bind. Regardless of the morals of this approach, this illustrates the necessity for adaptability in the film industry, through any means necessary, and the cutthroat nature of the industry.
Although I did like this movie, I still had some questions and issues with it. My first question was about the “Gotta’ Dance” number. I knew it was a number related to “The Dancing Cavalier, “but I did not understand its significance to the greater movie. What was the guy doing knocking on the agent’s door? What were the mobsters doing? What was up with the repeating dancing line but in different costumes? Overall, that entire scene confused me. Another issue I had was with the realism of the movie. I understand that film does not have to be a replica of reality, but some details in the movie do not seem possible. First, an issue I have with all musicals is that no matter how spontaneously a song might break out, every character already knows the lyrics and all the dance moves. Of course, a musical will have people singing, but I always think that while watching them. Another issue I had, more specific to “Singin’ in the Rain,” was how Kathy and Lina’s voices synch perfectly. We saw Kathy rerecording Lina’s lines while Lina’s mouth movements remained the same, but there was no way it would ever synch up that easily. Of course, for the movie’s plot, Lina and Kathy can not work on synching up together, but for realism, it does not make sense.
In summary, this was a great movie. I had heard about it but never seen it myself. I enjoyed the plot and found myself singing the songs without realizing they had come from this musical. It also brought my attention to how significant the transition to sound in films was, which I had never thought about.
Hi Nick,
I enjoyed reading your analysis of this week’s feature Singin’ in the Rain and had a few thoughts regarding some of the questions you posed in your post.
Firstly, I found the “Gotta’ Dance” number intriguing as well. My interpretation of that segment of the film was that it was meant to represent a “dream ballet” sequence. Dream ballets are prominent in older musical theater productions and involve a suspension of reality that allows the show’s primary themes to be revealed. At this point in the film, Singin’ in the Rain almost takes on the form of a Broadway musical. The “Dancing Cavalier” set no longer looks like a realistic movie set but rather the background of a low-budget theatrical production, with cartoonish painted-on details. While the entire number is also very theatrical, the moment when Don’s character enters a mystery sunset-hued space and performs a dance sequence with the female lead of the number, who is now clad in flowy white fabrics, is like a mini dream ballet within dream ballet, as it is a silent dance sequence meant to demonstrate Don’s personal love life. I think the larger dream ballet (the full “Gotta’ Dance” number) represents the larger theme of the movie, which is a discussion about what it means to be a performer.
You also raised some questions about the realism of the film. I think one aspect of the movie that is lost on modern-day viewers is that it is a jukebox-style production, which utilizes actual songs that existed during the time of film’s setting to tell a story. I think prior knowledge of the songs would allow the fact that all of the characters knew them to make more sense for the audience. However, it is important to consider the film’s genre, which is a movie-musical. In such films, the singing and dancing are not intended to be realistic. Rather, the emotions the music conveys are what audiences are meant to relate to.
Additionally, I found it interesting that you mentioned Lina’s lip-syncing accuracy as too perfect and unrealistic. I felt like her facial expressions did not fully display the effort actually needed to sing, further solidifying that her character is a fraud.
Hey Nick,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts about the revolutionary transition from silent film to movies with transition. I definitely think that the movie did well with describing how the popularity of it rise. How it helps actors like Kathy but hurt people like Lina. As viewer’s taste change, the demand and requirements for actors change as well.
I think Singin’ in the Rain really held historical significance because it literally records the transition from Pantomime to film with sounds. Many movie actors at that time did not start with that, someone like Charlie Chaplin, start with acting in silent film. This made me rethink for the progression of film development, and the blurring line between cinematic production and Broadway style musicals.
Another part of the film that records the history of film development was early on the part that showed Don’s progression to be the popular movie star. Like most other Hollywood actors, he started by playing someone insignificant. As a stuntman, he played in western and war movies. Those genres are all popular choices during the era of silent films. Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen really achieved their goal of describing the history of film well by using the character Don as an example, using his development as a story to let viewers understand the overall trends of the film industry at that time.