Filmmakers Love Singin' in The Rain

Singin' in the Rain is obviously one of the most memorable and recognizable movies of all time. The song and dance numbers featured in the film have become iconic and a large part of simple film vernacular. Even those who have not seen the film know enough about it to recognize Gene Kelly's famous dance sequence through that drenched city street. In that scene, Kelly creates an iconic movie moment that has been steadily featured and referenced in other movies. Many films have characters that sing and dance and create their own versions of the numbers made famous by Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and Donald O' Conner.

Released in 1994, Luc Besson's film The Professional has several references to Singin in the Rain. Within the first few major scenes of the movie, the audience becomes emotionally introduced to the main character, Leon, when he goes to a theater and watches Singin in the Rain. Leon, who lives alone and has a rather dark existence, watches Gene Kelly with a huge smile on his face. For the first time in the movie, he laughs and grins. In this case, Singin in the Rain is used to signify a capacity for happiness in Leon. Later in the film, after Leon becomes acquainted with a young girl, the pair play a game involving dressing up and acting out movies. The young girl dresses up as Gene Kelly and acts out the famous sequence in the street (http://youtube.com/watch?v=-YoNzlS0hIw).

Singin' in the Rain has also been used in several other movies. There is an infamous scene in Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange in which the main character, Alex, sexually assaults a woman while dancing around as a crude, sarcastic version of Gene Kelly. The use of such a happy and light-hearted reference is seemingly supposed to add a level of irony and depth to Alex's brutal actions. He belts out the title song from Singin in the Rain while kicking and bashing people with a stick. This gimmick used by Kubrick would probably not have been as nearly as effective if Singin' in the Rain wasn't so unanimously associated with brightness, life and happiness. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066921/soundtrack). The title song was also used in the 1991 movie What About Bob? (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103241/soundtrack).

It's a grand achievement to create something so perfect and beautiful that it becomes synonymous with happiness. Directors Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen achieved just that and, in doing so, gave new filmmakers a whole new series of references to draw upon in their owns works.

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