Singin' in the Rain #52A (1952) [CC1210L]Never seen Singin' In The Rain before. I ended up buying the wrong Criterion version and ended up with the CLV disc. I wasn't going to watch it and just move it on and buy the CAV edition. Two things though came out of watching this disc.
1. How the hell have I never seen this film until now and just dismissed it because it's a musical and they are not something I am in to. This is a great film, really
really enjoyed it! The film buzzed along at a rapid enough pace and the numbers are all utterly iconic, especially
that scene with the lampost of course. Every pore of this film just oozes pure, golden, iconic cinema. Plus of course, it has one of the most famous song's ever written in it.
One scene I really enjoyed was the Broadway sequence near the end. The whole thing was superb, but the part where Gene Kelly is dancing with the 'the dancer' (Cyd Charisse) on the deserted beach road was just magnificent. I haven't the first clue about choreography, dancing or anything like that, but you could tell that the sequence itself was incredibly technical, but add in the extraordinarily long, billowing veil as a part of the dance and you could just see how difficult, yet masterfully executed that dance was. If you watch closely, or use a jog wheel if you have one on your remote control, you will see the absolute fluidity and precision of Gene Kelly's dance expertise he musters to keep that veil under control. Especially towards the end when The Dancer is swaddled in the veil then unwrapped to fly away out of his arms. I wonder how many takes that took to successfully complete?
Plus the backdrop art on that scene was just wonderful. The kind of imagery I dream up in my mind sometimes of places and beaches I have seen on my travels. The whole thing is just iconic. Brilliant film. I'll be upgrading to UHD if one is released for sure. Firmly in my top films of all-time list now.
2. The CLV disc is nothing to be sniffed at. The image is actually superb. One of the very best discs I have ever seen in my experience watching Laserdiscs. Colours and detail are clear and concise. I imagine on a really high end set up, with a Lumagen etc in tow, this would look and sound even better. Goodness knows what the CAV version would be like if this single disc CLV edition is the benchmark.
Criterion really pulled out all the stops with this one I think. It really is well done and looks and more importantly sounds great across the board. If you cannot find the CAV version, or want to save a few Euro's, definitely get this CLV edition. I don't think you will be disappointed. Highly recommended. And again, I'm very disappointed in myself for waiting this long to actually see the film!