A Film Canon

Singin' In The Rain stands in relation to Gene Kelly as Now, Voyager to Bette Davis, or Gentleman Jim to Errol Flynn, positing a myth of origins to explain the kind of world from which the pecular features of his screen persona might have emerged. To this end, his self- conscious, jerky theatricality is located within a period of wider aesthetic awkwardness - the transition from silent to sound cinema - which has clear analogies with the film's own instantiation of an dramatic transition from a widespread black and white (1940s noir) to Technicolor (1950s musical) cinematic mileu - and, as in all Donen and Kelly's efforts, the musical takes on a the character of an anti-noir prescription, invoking and neutralising its various scenarios, types and flourishes. For the first time, Kelly feels entirely naturalised within the cinematic medium - and it may be this that prompts his most spectacular, ingenious choreography, encompassing the death-defying stunt-work of "Make 'Em Laugh" (performed by Donald O'Connor); the overwhelming hyperactivity of "Moses Supposes"; the lyricism of the title song, which recalls Astaire in its desire to extend the principles of choreography to the entire physical universe, here condensed to the play of rain and water that accompanies Kelly's graceful movements; and, finally, "Broadway Melody Baby", Donen and Kelly's trademark ballet synecdoche for their narrative, and the peak of their lavish Technicolour theatricality, constituting America's answer to Powell and Pressburger.