Milo Paulus’s review published on Letterboxd:
The quintessential film to brighten up a gloomy day; Singin' in the Rain is pure magic representing the joy of life, gaiety of love and the indispensable qualities of friendship.
Allow me to eulogize about this films' pure spellbinding brilliance for way too many words & paragraphs. Hang on if you want.
If there is 1 movie that i could watch 10x in a row or a couple times a week for the rest of my life. It would be Singin' in the Rain. If a war would break out, and i'd have to take shelter in a bunker and i could only take 1 movie with me. It would be Singin' in the Rain. If i'd be lying on my deathbed, with only 1 movie left to watch. It would be Singin' in the Rain. You get my point.
This is a great movie not just because of the music but because of the entire package; the premise, the comedy (which people often tend to forget), the characters, everything here works together to make you feel better any time you sit down to watch it. It's ironic that this movie was thrown together quickly to capitalize on the success of "An American in Paris", since the improvisational feeling of the movie is one of the things that makes it so much fun. Although this film is number ten on the top 100 films of all time as compiled by the AFI, it wasn't nominated for best picture the year of its release, 1952. Although it did well at the box office, it would be over twenty years before people would look back and realize just what a great film it was. Perhaps that was because the 1970's were such bleak and cynical years, with gritty movies that largely matched that mood, that people were eager to rediscover the fun that a motion picture viewing experience could be.
The movie focuses on that period of time in which the entire motion picture film industry was in nervous transition from silent to talking pictures. Although the movie compresses time in this respect - the transition actually took around three years - it does accurately describe the technical problems of that era along with their comical aspects, which is another reason i love this film so much. Aside from the fun, songs, music, and performances, the technical, historic, nostalgic aspects of the film is fascinating. There was an overabundance of musicals in the first batch of talking films, many stars did have heavy accents that made their speech undecipherable or voices that came across like nails on a chalkboard like Lina Lamont, as shown here, and saw their careers ruined, and early sound technology itself was so fragile that you would often see actors speaking to potted plants or to coat racks with comic effect. The preview of silent picture team Lockwood and Lamont's first talkie, "The Dueling Cavalier", is one of the most hilarious scenes in film. Ever.
Singin' in the Rain was unparalleled when it came out and unsurpassed now, it's a film with such a high standard, it casts a shadow over nearly every romantic/musical/comedy that came before or after it. This is the kind of film i watch whenever i'm down or a little sad, and it never fails to put me in a euphoric mood, with a good feeling in my tummy, a tear rolling down my cheek, and aching from laughter. The film does what far too few films do; it transports you to a place where what's happening on the screen in front of you is the only thing that matters in the world.
All of this is one of the reasons Singin' In The Rain will never get dated, it is a comic nostalgic look at a very narrow period in time. This movie is fun outside of its comic take on movie history, though. For one, it's hard to say who steals the show the most, since there are so many thieves involved. Most notably there is a 27 year-old Donald O'Connor as Cosmo, the studio music director and sidekick of Gene Kelly's character whose youthful exuberance really shines in the number "Make 'Em Laugh" along with all of his goofy facial expressions. He seems to be having as much fun as the audience. Finally, there are all of the great dance numbers and music, capped by probably one of the most famous scenes of all time, the titular music sequence. It's so iconic and brilliant, every time i watch it i feel like i'm experiencing a world-class legendary piece of art being created. Like seeing Michelangelo live-paint the Sistine Chapel ceiling or see Da Vinci paint the Mona Lisa. Gene Kelly's rendition of the title number that perfectly captures the joy of a man who has just fallen in love and feels he has the world at his feet. You just can't watch this film and not come away with a smile on your face and a tear rolling down your cheek. It is as good for the soul as a large extra-cheese pizza, just a lot more fun.
