Singin' in the Rain

Chumo II, Peter N. "Dance, Flexibility, and the Renewal of Genre in Singin' in the Rain." Cinema Journal 36.1 (1996): 39-54. Academic Search Premier. Web. 22 Mar. 2011.

Chumo II does an in-depth analysis of the musical Singin’ in the Rain in this article. He explores the physical flexibility and dance used in the musical and discusses how they became metaphors for generic flexibility. He describes generic flexibility as, “the ability to move among different forms of entertainment and survive Hollywood’s transition to talkies” (39). This film is a celebration of both genre and the history of the Hollywood musical through its references to The Jazz Singer, a Busby Berkeley-style dance montage, a Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers-like number, and Gene Kelly himself (40). While the character of Lina Lamont is static and does not make the transition from silent films to talkies, Don and Cosmo transition freely. Lina was trapped in her genre by her inability to sing and dance, while Don and Cosmo, both song and dance men who use their bodies both expressively and tirelessly, were able to incorporate themselves into many genres, thus becoming successful in Hollywood (52).

I read an article on Singin' in the Rain this week that convinced me that I want to zone in on this musical specifically for my research project. It was a very thoughtful analysis of the musical that looked to dance as a metaphor for the ability to survive in Hollywood via the musical and all encompassing genres. 

A lot of interesting interpretations of the screenplay were brought up. In one instance, the audio on a movie recording gets out of sync with the video. As a result, Lina appears to be the voice of the villain in the film. Ironically, Lina does seem to be the  villain in Singin' in the Rain.

It gave me a new way to look at this movie in a more analytical approach. It will be very helpful as I dive further into research.


I also re-watched this movie tonight, March 23. The famous "Singin' in the Rain" scene takes place on the night of March 23/morning of March 24. I hope it rains tonight. Although it is very cold, so I'm not sure I'll be singin' in the rain.