| AN
AMERICAN IN PARIS + SINGIN' IN THE RAIN |
 An
American in Paris1951 - USA Director: Vincente Minnelli Starring: Gene Kelly, Leslie Caron, Oscar Levant, Georges Guétary, Nina Foch Singin'
in the Rain - Reviewed by Kerri  
I'm reviewing these two movies together because they are essentially the
same Gene Kelly movie. The plots are different, of course: Singin' in the
Rain tells the story of "talkies", the first movies to have sound. Kelly
plays an actor who falls in love with a singer (Debbie Reynolds). In An
American in Paris, Kelly plays a painter in Paris who falls in love with a
dancer, who happens to be engaged to his friend, but Kelly doesn't know
this. Both movies have the same formula: Kelly starts out with a humorous
montage of his life, introduces the other characters, falls in love with the
first girl he sees, dances a few numbers, throws in a hideously-long
dream/dance sequence, and then wraps it all up in a happy ending. Both
movies have pretty young girls who can dance; both have quirky best-friend
piano players; and both have Kelly's Warner-Bros sense of humor interspersed
throughout.
Singin' in the Rain is by far the better of the two, due to excellent performances of Debbie Reynolds and Donald O'Connor. Everyone is familiar with Kelly's dance scene in the rain after he falls in love; in An American in Paris, the requisite scene is a charming little number he taps for the Parisian children, teaching them different tap moves ("The Aeroplane!"). If there is any draw to Kelly's films, it's definitely the dancing, and there is no dispute that he was extremely talented. Every time I see his movies I'm ready to run out and take tap myself. However perhaps it's a sign of the times, but I find his films formulaic and bordering on boring. Each time the girl resists him in the beginning, he throws out a funny line, and she's in love with him. Each time he wistfully stares into the night as we watch the dreams in his head of him dancing with the femme, a metaphor for the happiness he would feel if only she loved him. Each time we see his piano-player friend hanging on the sidelines, unlucky in love but always there to play a tune for Kelly's feet. Oh sure, these aren't meant to be deep and artsy, but I feel that with all of Kelly's talent, couldn't there be more of a storyline? Superb dancing a movie does not make; give me more substance, please. Still, one or the other should round out a person's movie portfolio, and are great for examining the formulas of movies of yesteryear; actors then had to be so much more talented then they do today I believe. But don't watch either of these movies expecting a modern storyline; they are nothing more than eye candy at best. |
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