Why Singing in the rain remains the reference of musicals – The Figaro

The film, which revealed the american actress Debbie Reynolds, who passed away Wednesday, December 28, is a legend of the 7th art who continues to live on the boards, more than 60 years after its creation

Singing in the rain, a film that revealed the american actress Debbie Reynolds, who passed away Wednesday, December 28, only a few hours after the death of her daughter Carrie Fisher, is the reference to musicals. A legend of the 7th art who continues to live on the boards today. More than 60 years after release, the film, co-directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen continues to inspire.

Under a ton of water, a man begins to dance with his umbrella, after having exchanged a kiss with her sister (Kathy, played by Debbie Reynolds). This scene dazzling dance and tap dance is engraved in the memories… even of those who do not know about the movie. However, at the time, Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly “didn’t know they were filming a scene mythical, tells the AFP Patrick Niedo, a lecturer and specialist of the american musical.

it is a scene of anthology, it’s because she “exudes the simplicity and that there is no better idea than to dance of joy”, he says. For the anecdote, his shooting took two days and a half, during which the costume wool Gene Kelly narrowed as outlets, because of… the rain!

Shot in 1952, a year after the success ofAn American in Paris, also with Gene Kelly, Singing in the rain (“Singin’ in the Rain” in the original version) takes place in 1927, when the film switches from silent to speaking, leaving in the path of the stars unable to meet this challenge. A film about the behind the scenes of the “7th art” in sum, where Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly) tries to adapt to this new situation. This will be accomplished after his meeting with Kathy.

Festival of color, song and dance numbers, Singing in the rain is also a “feel good movie“, combining a love story and rise to fame of a young woman. Oscars in 1953, he was named in two categories: best supporting actress (Jean Hagen) and best music film, to finally win any award.

from the 1980s, “Singing in the rain” has been brought to the stage, much to the chagrin of Stanley Donen, who notably hated the adaptation to Broadway in 2003. “They wanted to play the film, it wasn’t very clever: it would have been better to invent something completely different,” told to AFP in 2010. The musical has also been performed in London in 1983, Broadway in 1986, then again in London in 2000. In Paris, it was still on display last year at the théâtre du Châtelet, staged by the Canadian Robert Carsen.

Sacred to the Oscars, the French film The Artist( 2011) also describes the upheaval caused in the years 20 by the arrival of the talkies in Hollywood, paying homage to Singing in the rain. Jean Dujardin embodies George Valentin, an actor famous in the silent film that sees its star fade with the arrival of the talking, while the young extra Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo) rises to stardom. But where Singing in the rain exploded with colour and music, the film by Michel Hazanavicius stays faithful to the codes of the silent movie in black and white.