Singin'g in the rain

Singin' in the Rain is probably the best known musical of all times. Not only because of the great music and dance scenes, but also because of a perfect combination of music, story and history.

Set in the transition of Hollywood from silent to talkie pictures, "Singin' in the Rain" is a portrait of the times, creating a plot based in actual events and problems faced by actors and technicians at that time of technological evolution. Several performers actually lost their jobs because their voices were not as pleasant as their facial features.

Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly) is a former vaudeville dancer and stunt double who became an infamous movie star, making with actress Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen). They became the most beloved screen couple of their time. The couple's movies were always box-office smashes until something happens, "The Jazz Singer" premiered and the movies began to talk.

In front of the outstanding success of "The Jazz Singer," the head of the studio had no other choice but teach the brightest stars of his firmament to talk. It's when the trouble began and also the laughs.

From the positioning of the mics, to the diction classes taken by the actors and the writing of new lines of dialog, the whole industry had to learn how to control the new technical feature, resulting in delightful moments, with a touch of reality.

As for the songs, everybody, of course, remembers the scene in which Gene Kelly tap-dances the title song in the rain. But one who has never watched this film can't imagine how great are several other musical numbers.

"Good Morning," performed by the dancing trio Donald O'Connor, Debbie Reynolds and Gene Kelly, or "Make 'Em Laugh," an amazing combination of dance, song and acrobatics performed by Donald O'Connor are just two examples of songs that are also captivating and wonderfully staged.

Gene Kelly also shared the directing with Stanley Donen, who won an Academy Award for lifetime achievement in 1998 and celebrated the moment singing and taping the music for "Cheek to Cheek" on stage.

For those who seriously enjoy cinema, "Singin' in the Rain" is an obligatory film, not only for being the most beloved musical of all times, but also for being a joyful reconstitution from an important time in movie history -- so fascinating that surely after watching it you will walk down the lane whistling a happy refrain and singing, just singing in the rain.