Singin' in the rain v02

2. Study Guide
EMC / JOUR 3000
Edward Bowen

3. “Singin’ In The Rain” 1952
MGM Studios
Produced by Arthur Freed
Freed produced more than 40 musicals for
MGM. His unit included Gene Kelly, Stanley
Donen, and Vincent Minnelli.

4. “Singin’ In The Rain” 1952
MGM Studios
Produced by Arthur Freed
Directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen
Written by Betty Comden and Adolph Green
Music by Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur
Freed
Starring Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor,
Debbie Reynolds, Jean Hagen, Millard
Mitchell, Cyd Charisse

5. The Technical Dimension
The Hollywood Montage – “Yankee Doodle Dandy” (1942)
http://youtu.be/2690vyc8HRQ

6. The Technical Dimension
The Hollywood Montage
http://youtu.be/cHMuAA0gBYI

7. The Technical Dimension
The Full Shot
http://youtu.be/ZFxWkUkUsQA

8. The Technical Dimension
The Full Shot
http://youtu.be/qu4v5hB1dKk

9. The Technical Dimension
Camera Choreography (Hey look, I’m dancing with Gene Kelly)
http://youtu.be/B0asbGJbLKc
http://youtu.be/_UmaFTEIZ84

10. The Technical Dimension
Dubbing
http://youtu.be/cirOHTYWi2k

11. The Technical Dimension
• How do camera work and editing integrate with music and
performance to help tell the story and evoke emotion?
• What part does color play in evoking emotion, defining character, and
setting mood?
• How are dance sequences shot and edited for maximum impact?
• What techniques are used to suggest the style of silent movies of the
time in which the movie is set? Of early sound musicals?
• What style of lighting is used in the movie, and what effect does it
have?
• How do the filmmakers use studio sets and back lots to stylize the
world of the film? To stylize the “Broadway Melody” sequence?

12. The Dramatic Dimension
The Unreliable Narrator
http://youtu.be/hC1R_szNzDM

13. The Dramatic Dimension
The Unreliable Narrator

14. The Dramatic Dimension
Emotion and Story Through Song
“That’s a reaffirmation of life.” Leonard Bernstein

15. The Dramatic Dimension
Emotion and Story Through Song
http://youtu.be/33c3drAfcI0

16. The Dramatic Dimension
• How does Don Lockwood change as the movie progresses? What forces are
at work in this change?
• What function does Cosmo serve to the story? Why include the proverbial
“third wheel?” Why is there no love interest for Cosmo?
• Which characters change and evolve? Which remain stagnant? Why?
• What are the impediments to Don and Cathy’s relationship? How are they
overcome?
• How are songs used dramatically and cosmetically to propel the story and
reveal character?
• What function does “The Broadway Melody” serve to the story and
characters?
• How are the plot elements connected and then resolved in the final climactic
scene?

17. The Auteur Dimension
Director Stanley Donen
“On The Town” (1949)
“Royal Wedding” (1951)
“Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” (1954)
“It’s Always Fair Weather” (1955)
“Funny Face” 1957
“Charade” (1963)
“Moonlighting – Big Man on Mulberry
Street” (1986)

18. The Auteur Dimension
“Moonlighting – Big Man on Mulberry Street” (1986)
http://youtu.be/HXvki5MKPAI

19. The Auteur Dimension
Director Stanley Donen
1998 Academy Awards
http://youtu.be/JMC8kHycgwM

20. The Historical Dimension
1952
• Elizabeth II is proclaimed Queen of the United Kingdom
• Organized baseball has its first African-American umpire
• “I Love Lucy” is the first TV show to be seen in 10,000,000
homes
• Dwight Eisenhower is elected president
• Charlie Chaplin is refused reentry into the United States
• Other movies – “The African Queen,” “The Greatest Show on
Earth,” “The Quiet Man,” “High Noon”

21. The Historical Dimension
1927 – The movies begin to speak, and sing.
http://youtu.be/OTFCctdiS04

22. The Historical Dimension
1927 – The movies begin to speak, and sing.
http://youtu.be/YMzV96LV6Cc
http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/paleofuture/2012/02/
musicians-wage-war-against-evil-robots/

23. The Historical Dimension
1930-1939 Technical Developments
• The soundproof “ice box” temporarily limits camera movement.
http://www.filmsite.org/30sintro.html

24. The Historical Dimension
1930-1939 Technical Developments
• A successful color photography system (Technicolor) is
introduced but it not widely used.

25. The Historical Dimension
1930-1939 Business Developments
• The Big Five studios (majors) included Fox, MGM, Paramount,
RKO, and Warners; and the Little Three included Columbia,
United Artists, and Universal.

26. The Historical Dimension
1930-1939 Business Developments
• Dominance is fully established for studio production methods,
which included vertical integration, block booking, and the
contract system (which reduced stars’ salaries).
https://picasaweb.google.com/114656905726841638976/MGM?feat=flashalbum#570
0597435138265986

27. The Historical Dimension
1930-1939 Business Developments
• The Film Program – Cartoons, Travelogues, Newsreels, Novelty
Shorts, Comedy Shorts, Musical Shorts, Coming Attractions,
Features, Double-Features

28. The Historical Dimension
1930-1939 Business Developments
• Cinema (single) screens are in every neighborhood.

29. The Historical Dimension
1930-1939 Business Developments
• Popular Genres – Musicals, Horror Films, Gangster Films,
Screwball Comedies, Westerns

30. The Historical Dimension
1930-1939 Business Developments
• Popular Genres – Disney Innovates the Animated Feature

31. The Historical Dimension
1930-1939 Business Developments
• American film dominates (up to 80% of the world market),
except perhaps in Japan.

32. The Historical Dimension
1930-1939 Business Developments
• Under pressure, especially from religious groups, the Motion
Picture Producers and Distributors Association begins to
administer a tough Production Code through an office headed
by Joseph T. Breen.

33. The Historical Dimension
1930-1939 Business Developments
• Production Code

34. The Historical Dimension
1930-1939
• 1939
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAE60830901D8BA3E&feature=view_all

35. The Historical Dimension
1930-1939
• 1939
http://dadsmovies.blogspot.com/2012/01/1939-montage-part-one-over-there.html

36. The Historical Dimension
• What if anything does the movie say about society in the 1950s?
• What can be learned from the movie regarding the period of time of
its story, in particular relating to the transition from silent to sound
movies?

37. The Genre Dimension
Science Fiction?
As Author Ray Bradbury has pointed out, if you apply the classic
definition of science-fiction as a story in which new and unexpected
technology impacts the lives of characters, then “Singin’ in the Rain” is
science fiction.

38. The Genre Dimension
Science Fiction?
As Author Ray Bradbury has pointed out, if you apply the classic
definition of science-fiction as a story in which new and unexpected
technology impacts the lives of characters, then “Singin’ in the Rain” is
science fiction.
https://youtu.be/s8LZgH5-x_U

39. The Genre Dimension
2012 – A struggling NBC, still reeling from the loss of “Must See
Thursdays” and the Jay Leno Prime Time debacle. places the hopes
of it’s stock holders and the might of its marketing department
behind one new show. And it’s a musical …
http://youtu.be/qtWTAN7ykcw

40. The Genre Dimension
2012 – Why is NBC struggling. Some blame the earlier firing of
Kevin Reilly as entertainment president in 2007. Reilly moved to
Fox and launched a breakaway hit series, and it was a musical …
http://vimeo.com/28788094

41. The Genre Dimension
1927 – “The Jazz Singer” Alan Crosland
Al Jolson
http://youtu.be/j48T9BoKxlI

42. The Genre Dimension
1933 – “42nd Street” Lloyd Bacon / Busby Berkeley
The Great Depression, Sugar Daddies, The Casting Couch,
Inebriation, Attempted Rape, Murder, Sex and Violence
http://youtu.be/SuqJJMSK15U

43. The Genre Dimension
1935 – “Gold Diggers of 1935” Busby Berkeley
http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/video/76736/Gold-Diggers-Of-1935-trailer.html

44. The Genre Dimension
1935 – “Top Hat” Mark Sandrich
http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/video/462008/Top-Hat-Movie-Clip-Isn-t-It-A-Lovely-Day.html

45. The Genre Dimension
1936 – “Swing Time” George Stevens
Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers
http://youtu.be/mxPgplMujzQ

46. The Genre Dimension
1937 – “Shall We Dance” Mark Sandrich
Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers
http://youtu.be/Fb-G07i35eE

47. The Genre Dimension
1937 – “Shall We Dance” Mark Sandrich
Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers
http://youtu.be/sdi6V6dsTKk

48. The Genre Dimension
1955 – “It’s Always Fair Weather” Gene Kelly / Stanley Donen
http://youtu.be/KgAmXb5UZlY

49. The Genre Dimension
1944 – “Anchors Away” George Sidney
Gene Kelly and Jerry Mouse
http://youtu.be/LiDeGrtjt2k

50. The Genre Dimension
1961 – “West Side Story” Robert Wise / Jerome Robbins
http://youtu.be/yA_aFprGzyc

51. The Genre Dimension
1964 – “A Hard Day’s Night” Richard Lester
http://youtu.be/Lkk-tspdZl8

52. The Genre Dimension
1964 – “Umbrellas of Cherbourg” Jacques Demy
http://video.nytimes.com/video/2011/05/16/movies/100000000818582/the-umbrellas-of-cherbourg.html

53. The Genre Dimension
1977 – “Saturday Night Fever” John Badham
http://youtu.be/tXsdH8XKy-8

54. The Genre Dimension
1979 – “All That Jazz” Bob Fosse
http://youtu.be/C74Pae3PpMo

55. The Genre Dimension
1979 – “All That Jazz” Bob Fosse
http://youtu.be/J5YRfCdeyOc
http://youtu.be/pr2JAlnV1eY

56. The Genre Dimension
1979 – “All That Jazz” Bob Fosse
http://youtu.be/fZS8LN4R9rU

57. The Genre Dimension
1980 – “Fame” Alan Parker
http://youtu.be/geWBJxWxT3M

58. The Genre Dimension
1983 – “Flashdance” Adrian Lyne
http://youtu.be/yJ6MtRfChg0

59. The Genre Dimension
1983 – “Flashdance” Adrian Lyne
http://youtu.be/8NjbGr2nk2c

60. The Genre Dimension
1991 – “The Commitments” Alan Parker
http://youtu.be/3paf2TLrgsg

61. The Genre Dimension
2001 – “Moulin Rouge” Baz Luhrmann
http://youtu.be/dtEgAx80NC4

62. The Genre Dimension
2002 – “Chicago” Rob Marshall
http://youtu.be/8IxcfbldgBY

63. The Genre Dimension
2002 – “Chicago” Rob Marshall
http://youtu.be/HVyg4MchBYM

64. The Genre Dimension
2002 – “Chicago” Rob Marshall
http://youtu.be/YW3MIixEps4

65. The Genre Dimension
2004 – “Bride and Prejudice” Gurinder Chadha
http://youtu.be/PoLtHqS_LhA

66. The Genre Dimension
2009 – “Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench” Damien Chazelle
http://youtu.be/H2NWRydVjA8
http://www.guyandmadeline.com/

67. The Genre Dimension
2009 – “Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench” Damien Chazelle
http://youtu.be/KJUzALdI--k

68. The Genre Dimension
2011 – “The Artist” Michel Hazanavicius
http://youtu.be/Z2s9ZlenQm8

69. The Genre Dimension
2012 – “Les Miserables” Tom Hooper
http://youtu.be/IuEFm84s4oI

70. The Genre Dimension
2012 – “Les Miserables” Tom Hooper
http://youtu.be/wwgQjfg0hZw

71. The Genre Dimension
2012 – “Les Miserables” Tom Hooper
http://youtu.be/S5AnWz8JaYU

72. The Genre Dimension
Proposition – All movies are and always have been musicals.
http://filmusik.com/eislers-ghost-or-what-the-devil-is-going-on-in-this-picture/

73. The Genre Dimension
Proposition – All movies are and always have been musicals.
http://filmusik.com/eislers-ghost-or-what-the-devil-is-going-on-in-this-picture/

74. The Genre Dimension
Proposition – All movies are and always have been musicals.
http://filmusik.com/eislers-ghost-or-what-the-devil-is-going-on-in-this-picture/

75. The Genre Dimension
Proposition – All movies are and always have been musicals.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/12/priceless-silent-movie-mu_n_925643.html

76. The Genre Dimension
Proposition – All movies are and always have been musicals.
http://youtu.be/2fBrpTHe9kk

77. The Genre Dimension
• What expectations do you have of a musical? How does “Singin’ in
the Rain” meet those expectations, and violate or subvert those
expectations?
• How have musicals changed over the decades?
• In what ways do musicals reflect the mores, attitudes, and fixations of
their eras?
• How do you react when a character in a movie bursts into song? Why
do you react this way?
• How does the factor of verisimilitude play in to the acceptance or
rejection of musicals as a genre?
• Are animated musicals more palatable than live action musicals?
Why?