Singin’ in the Rain

Produced by MGM, Singin' in the Rain is a monument of cinema and joie de vivre, a sub-genre of musical comedy set in the world of cinema: romance, playfulness and wacky situations are expressed with surprising ease and vitality through exceptionally performed choreographies, songs with lyrics by Arthur Freed and a plot that partly takes place behind the scenes of a film studio.

The story is set during the transition from silent film to talkies, presented as a sudden revolution facing talented artists.

At a time when Hollywood was becoming aware of some of its limits (the Supreme Court had only recognised the illegality of Paramount's antitrust practices four years earlier, in 1948), it flaunts its own mythical dimension while consolidating it in the guise of criticism, denouncing the illusion of synchronicity between body and voice while illustrating it perfectly; Debbie Reynolds' singing is even at one point seamlessly dubbed by Jean Hagen, who plays a rattle-voiced star in the film.

 Alain Boillat (CEC, Unil)