Singin’ in the Rain

The classic film musical Singin’ in the Rain combines a streamlined 1920s storyline with vivid characters, memorable wisecracks and comedy, romance, riveting dancing, beautiful musical arrangements, gorgeous sets, props, and costumes, and virtuosic camera work. It is one of the few films esteemed by arthouse critics that also regularly turns up on lists of the best films for children. But this simply told, safely portrayed modern fairy tale is not simplistic. It is a social satire with a point of view on human nature and morality-what screenwriter Betty Comden called “a deep thread of real feeling.” In this Oxford Guide to Film Musicals, author Andrew Buchman traces the film’s genesis and analyzes the music and dance that make Singin’ in the Rain Gene Kelly’s best-known work, in the process examining the modern scholarship and new artwork the film has inspired.