Singing in the rain (revised)

Singing in the rain is and always will be one of the all time Hollywood greats ever made in modern cinema. With intricately crafted numbers like "Fit as a fiddle and ready for love", "Good mornin'" and even the show's namesake, "Singing in the rain", Singing in the rain will go down as one of the most beautifully crafted musicals in Hollywood. In each and every musical sequence, directors Stanley Donan and Gene Kelly pays detailed attention to every aspect of the mise-en-scene, from the choreography, costumes, setting, all the way to the lyrics and placement. In this essay, i especially want to highlight some of these songs which I find particularly intriguing. Interestingly, each and every song is perfectly placed at every important junction or turning point, to highlight the plot points the director intends to carry through.


Fit as a fiddle
In this beautifully choreographed number, we see Gene Kelly and Donald O'Connor dancing on stage in a vaudeville fashion. This number was intercut between Gene Kelly's narration of his dignified childhood days. Ironically, in this number, instead of dignity, we see Gene Kelly making a fool of himself for the audience's entertainment. In the fashion of vaudeville, we can see the childlike playfulness of Gene Kelly and Donald O'Connor as they performed, with jumping on each other's backs, tap dancing and what not. Also, the lyrics "Fit as a fiddle and ready for love", here reflect a pair of eager young men, ready to go out and conquer the world, naive as they may be.


The setting and costumes here play an important role in the narrative. The green striped suits the pair were wearing was aimed at drawing out laughs from the audience, while at the same time not fully exposing their vulnerabilities. The choreography seen here, while at the same time comic, is actually quite degrading. In fact, this is a stab at how Hollywood in actual fact is all a big lie, where so many things are made up to be more than what they are. Furthermore, this piece serves to introduce us to the two main protagonists in the movie, to show us who they really are on the inside, and their journey to achieving fame. Also, this piece injects a burst of energy into the audience, helping this film start off on a high note.

Good mornin'
We see our 3 protagonists at their lowest point in the film, where Gene Kelly is facing the end of his career with the flopped debut of his first talking picture, the "Dueling Cavalier". At the beginning of this number, Debbie Reynolds and Donald O'Connor renews his hopes by suggesting he turn the "Dueling Cavalier" into the "Dancing Cavalier". The lyrics and setting were precisely constructed to symbolize the optimism and new hope felt by the characters. With lyrics like "the sun was shining bright", and "sunbeam will soon shine through", this song serves to bring out the joy and optimism felt by the characters. The clearing sky after a storm also serves as a metaphor for the end of bad times. Also, the time, 1.30am, is right after the darkest hour of the night has passed, preempting the dawn of a new day.


The title of this song, "Good mornin'" also carries a double meaning where it is not just simply a greeting, but a celebration of a truly good morning. In this piece, the choreography is in itself brilliant. As the characters are dancing, they move from room to room, exuding energy, and to an extend of being boyish maybe. This type of choreography reminds us of the same playful boyish energy in the first number of this movie. Also, as the characters danced around the house, they began to pick up the same raincoats which they wore for the Dueling Cavalier's premier. When before, these raincoats served to protect them from the rain and the embarrassment, but now they were part of their celebration in the coming of a new dawn.


Singing in the rain
Lastly, we come to the film's titular song, "Singing in the rain". In a way, this is actually the most romantic song in the whole movie. In that simple gesture of sending his driver off, he metaphorically walked away from his previously glamorous Hollywood life into the simplicity of the rain, even as he is also walking away from the love and adoration of many to needing the sole love from Debbie Reynolds. This song is the culmination of Gene Kelly's passion and ecstasy that followed his kiss with Debbie Reynolds.


Here we see Gene Kelly shedding his outer raincoat, along with sending his driver off, symbolizing his move away from the need of the adoration of the people to the sole adoration of Debbie Reynolds, liberating himself from the conventions of Hollywood. His raincoat, which had previously always served to shield him, now was nowhere to be seen. As the song progresses, Gene Kelly waves and smiles to random strangers he meets, and dances around on lampposts, regardless of his own dignity. After awhile, he feels the raindrops, and simply closes his umbrella, his shield, in a way embracing the new life he now has. The symmetry of the film is also starkly ironic, in a hypocritical way, the very same man who previously bragged about the way he lived with dignity, was now without a trace of it. The mise-en-scene in this number is also very powerful. Water is used abundantly and freely drenching Gene Kelly from head to toe. Traditionally, water has been a symbol of purification, freedom and also new life.


From the lyrics, with lines like "Such a glorious feeling, I'm happy again", and "The sun's in my heart, I'm ready for love", we can see and feel Gene Kelly's unbounded joy and happiness, along with his euphoric love for Debbie Reynolds. This indicates Gene Kelly's sincere joy from his breaking free of the conventional norms that had tied him down due to his position in Hollywood. As the song reached its climax, Gene Kelly jumps and dances around in a puddle of water by the roadside. In that very instant, he became a kid again. The playful boyish energy that he had once had had returned, marking his transition into a man, fully confident of who he is.