Singin' in the Rain (1952)

This movie shows the story of the film industry as it transitions from the silent era to that of talking films and shows the fears and difficulties for those crafts people going through that process. The Singin' in the Rain sequence with Gene Kelly really is a bit of magic that never fails to delight. Most of the other musical numbers were also quite good. I also like the story as well. I will say that the acting does have that kind of one-dimensional cheerfulness so prevalent amongst movie musicals of this era, but despite that I still find this film quite enjoyable.

Firstly the dancing is terrific Kelly's show stopper singing the rain but cyd charisse does it for most of men in e audience ,it catapulted her into top stardom-Donald o Connor is great too -Debbie is Debbie that being said the plot is very uncomfortable-40 year old man chasing a teenager while dumping his co-star is Kelly at his misogynistic worst. hes played this i 'm so irresistible guy in most of his movies stealing his best friends girls etc- women as chattels- the victim this time is Jean Hagen -Lina Lamont dim and exploited ,then humiliated well great- when i was kid i felt sorry for lina-I still do- the final calumny the beautiful girls number- jimmy Thompson not being given a credit -asked many years later why not Thompson said that is Gene for you and shrugged

Call me confused, but I have a hard time with this film. I appreciate the masterful singing and dancing in the film and can agree the vibrant colors were eye catching, but how is this the Greatest Musical of all time and the #5 movie overall according to AFI? I am truly baffled how this is rated so highly. The plot was tremendously weak, but that makes sense when you learn the songs were written before the movie. I thought the film was fun and well-paced until that Broadway "Gotta Dance" number hit. I feel like that sequence is playing on a constant loop in certain inner circles of hell to torture lost souls. It's honestly a violation of the 8th Amendment because watching it was "cruel and unusual punishment" for the viewer. I enjoyed Debbie Reynolds and Donald O'Connor, but the whole film felt like a ego-trip for Gene Kelly. He was simply too much even if the title song was iconic. Count me out as a fan of this film along with many younger viewers. I teach a high school film class where we view 20 of the top films of all time. This film is routinely rated in the lower portion of the list by our class. I wish AFI would update their list so a different film could win the title o the Greatest Musical so I could show something else.

Using the magic of the movies to make the most of inclement weather!Like its stars, the picture is nimble on its feet, and has a featherlight touch. I don't know about rain - it's a breeze to watch!In the most pleasant surprise, I didn't even know that the song "Good Morning" was also from this film, until I sat down to watch the whole thing... Ha, and I call myself a student of cinema! There's more to this wonderful concoction than just the rightly celebrated setpiece from which the movie takes its name.Truly a joyous, uplifting, life affirming experience... and yet, I still contend that I don't really like musicals! This crowning jewel is one of few glorious exceptions.