Dickie Greenleaf

SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (1951) is a shot of pure cinematic adrenaline, a great film whose sole ambition is to simply please you. It is one of the most beloved of all time and its ability to enchant remains undiminished fifty years after its initial release. There are many reasons why SINGIN' IN THE RAIN, co-directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, stands out as such a rarity, not least of which is the way the film has been embraced by both adoring audiences and the elitist of critical bodies. Its recent tenth placing on Sight & Sound's poll of the greatest ever made is a testament to the beguiling force of the film's charms to win over the masses and academics alike, a feat scarcely achieved by an entertainment, much less a musical.

Personally speaking, my introduction to the film was somewhat less than auspicious. I noticed that it was showing on TCM one Sunday afternoon and made a mental note to try and catch it. I have to admit that I did so with a certain amount of indifference, and when I sat down in front of the TV, I did so with more than a little skepticism, despite knowing full well the cherished reputation that the picture has enjoyed since way before I was even born. After all, how could I connect with a story presented with such splashy artifice? But I love cinema and past experience has proven that it is always worth giving films of such standing a chance, so duty obliged.

Needless to say, it did not take long for any lingering doubts to be dispelled. I had enjoyed the film from the outset, but as Donald O' Connor ran up the wall and flipped over during his remarkable MAKE 'EM LAUGH number, I was totally blown away. The level of audacity and imagination that was suddenly being performed before my astounded eyes was nothing short of a revelation. It is one of those indelible memories, the kind of genuinely magical moment in a film of many that keeps us avidly watching screens all around the world in the hope of witnessing more.

The rest of the picture played out with that same sense of profound excitement. I think one of the things that I responded to so strongly was the innate innocence of the piece (although I suspect this may also be why others would dismiss it out of hand) which reminded me of so many of the Capra, Lubitsch and Wilder films that I love so dearly. However, what might be easy to mistake for naivete actually disguises a highly sophisticated approach to narrative. Like so many of the best films made about Los Angeles, and particularly Hollywood, from SUNSET BLVD. to CHINATOWN to L.A. CONFIDENTIAL to MULHOLLAND DR., Kelly and Donen's story and style is governed by issues of image and reality. Their storytelling sleight of hand is established in the film's opening salvo as matinee idol Don Lockwood (Kelly) recounts a fabricated version of his rise to fame ("dignity, always dignity!") outside the premiere of his latest smash, whilst we are party to the rocky road to stardom really travelled through a montage of variety shows and vaudevilles. The lightness of touch that Kelly and Donen bring to what is essentially exposition sets up a self-reflexivity that transforms the ensuing comedy into the sharpest of satires.

The picture is also put together with breathtaking technical acumen. Working with the invaluable contributions of editor Adrienne Fazan and cinematographer Harold Rosson, the filmmakers capture the energy of the awesome musical numbers with dazzling invention. The fluid motion of the roving camerawork stood unsurpassed until the arrival of Scorsese, which together with a series of staggering crane shot maneuvers working in tandem with the precisely choreographed set-pieces, produced a spectacle so grand that it still towers over most modern blockbusters.

But SINGIN' IN THE RAIN is, above all else, about entertainment, and its capacity to capture imaginations young and old is founded in the countless moments that never cease to delight; the first meeting between Don and the adorable Kathy Selden (Debbie Reynolds) as he leaps into her car in order to escape a gathering of his insatiable fans, and her subsequent embarrassment when she jumps out of the cake at the studio party after admonishing the lowly pedigree of his screen acting; the infuriation of hapless director Roscoe Dexter (Douglas Fowley) as he repeatedly attempts to explain the intricacies of sound recording to diva Lina Lamont (a wonderfully knowing performance by Jean Hagen); the artistry with which Don aranges the empty soundstage as he prepares to woo Kathy with a song; the absurdist diction coaching (MOSES SUPPOSES!) and the hilarity of the disastrous first preview screening of THE DUELLING CAVALIER; the irresistable vibes of GOOD MORNIN' and the showstopping title number; the outlandish daring of THE BROADWAY MELODY and the striking entrance of Cyd Charisse, one of the truly sexiest moments in cinema history...A glorious feeling indeed.

The film is presented in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.33:1 with a brand new digital transfer, and the results are incredible. I cannot overstate just how impressive this is, but it is a joy to behold unto itself. I bought the CITIZEN KANE special edition about a year ago and I remember being overwhelmed by how good that looked and this is right up there with it. The print is as clean as can be (there are literally no marks, scratches or defects of any kind) and the colors are so deep and vibrant that the image is invested with added dimension. A fantastic achievement.

Disc One also features an audio track with actors Debbie Reynolds, Donald O'Connor, Cyd Charisse and Kathleen Freeman, co-director Stanley Donen, screenwriters Betty Comden and Adolph Green, MOULIN ROUGE director Baz Luhrmann and film historian Rudy Behlmer. Their comments have been edited together, which usually doesn't make for the most engaging of listening experiences, but in this case the contributions of the participants are skillfully combined to provide real insight into the making of the film and its celebrated legacy. Of special note are Luhrmann's typically enthusiastic appreciation and Behlmer's exhaustive knowledge which provide welcome punctuation between the reminicences of the stars.

The first platter also boasts the interactive feature SINGIN' INSPIRATIONS which offers a variation on the FOLLOW THE WHITE RABBIT option on THE MATRIX DVD. An icon appears in the lower right corner of the screen which if selected will take the viewer to a combination of text and clips of the films and songs that influenced SINGIN' IN THE RAIN. This is supported by a seperate REEL SOUND feature which details specifically the early days of the 'talkie' by way of text and clips from DON JUAN, THE JAZZ SINGER (including the immortal "You ain't heard nothing yet!"), THE LIGHTS OF NEW YORK and the Oscar-winning THE BROADWAY MELODY.

Disc Two starts out with the new documentary WHAT A GLORIOUS FEELING: THE MAKING OF SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (35:33). This retrospective is a largely nostalgic piece that is dominated by the actors recounting their memories of working with Kelly and adds little, but given that the commentary provides a fairly comprehensive overview of the film, the documentary makes for reasonable, if unsubstantial viewing.

Taking pride of place, however, is MUSICALS GREAT MUSICALS: THE ARTHUR FREED UNIT AT MGM (86:03). Looking at both a remarkable producing career and the evolution of the musical genre, the generous variety of interviews and multitude of great excepts from classic films (including 42nd STREET, THE WIZARD OF OZ, MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS, ON THE TOWN, AN AMERICAN IN PARIS, THE BAND WAGON and many more) makes for an eminently satisfying documentary that invites endless replays.

The second disc also includes a deleted scene featuring Debbie Reynolds singing YOU ARE MY LUCKY STAR (4:06) which would have formed the penultimate scene of the picture, clips of many of the songs as they were originally performed in previous films, audio recordings from the first scoring sessions with the actors, and an extensive stills gallery of photographs from the set.

ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST

Milos Foreman's ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST (1975) represents what all great cinema should aspire to. The best films have the power to make you react; some make you laugh and some make you cry, some elevate the spirit with a triumph and some provoke righteous anger in the face of an injustice. The rare achievement of CUCKOO'S NEST resides in its searing ability to elicit each of the aforementioned and a great deal more besides.

The picture may also be seen as the pivotal example of what made filmmaking in the 70s so distinctive and memorable. The screenplay by Lawrence Hauben and Bo Goldman, adapted from Ken Kesey's seminal novel, is a politically charged polemic that reverberated far beyond the padded walls of the mental hospital and cut deep into the heart of the culture. Amidst the social unrest in the wake of the Vietnam war, the notion of America as an insane asylum presided over by insensitive tyrants still penetrates, but the film has lost none of its simmering vitality in the proceeding twenty-seven years. This is a film that is infused with life, and the nature of the themes and concerns expressed therein can be applied wherever relevant, for the primary impact of CUCKOO'S NEST is as a parable of human behaviour. Whilst the film clearly takes sides, it refrains from judgment. It engages the audience but never offers easy choices, instead challenging us to examine the motivations of each and every action performed by those depicted. The film's maturity is encompassed in the battle for supremacy between Randle Patrick McMurphy (Jack Nicholson) and his nemesis Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher), because whilst McMurphy tells the institution's doctors how "she likes a rigged game", the filmmakers clearly don't. Conventional narrative dictates that the viewer identifies with the central protagonist, but in this case that happens to be a raucous self-serving troublemaker convicted of statutory rape. McMurphy is set up as a conduit for the audience as the ordinary outsider venturing into this unknown milieu because his commitment is based on a pretense, but during the heated climax when he attempts to throttle Nurse Ratched, the camera gets close enough to capture the wild fury in his eyes. It is a moment of such unadulterated intensity that one is forced to question exactly how stable he really is. Nurse Ratched is sketched more broadly; since we are not privy to details of her life off the ward, she initially appears as a coldly obsessive authoritarian. However, when she says "I think I can help him", she does so with an unnerving sincerity that fuels their charged dynamic with great ambiguity. Do those words convey her genuine intent or do they mask a sadistic vendetta? The film demands repeated viewings because it constantly asks you to reassess on which side of the conflict the morality lies before it is lost forever.

The medium thrives when such ambition is demonstrated, and CUCKOO'S NEST arrived at a time when such work was regularly welcomed and encouraged. To pose unsettling dilemmas and ask the big questions requires a certain degree of arrogance that the auteur driven cinema of the time seemed to naturally foster, and it's hard to imagine the film (or, for that matter, any number of others, including M*A*S*H, THE FRENCH CONNECTION, A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN, TAXI DRIVER, APOCALYPSE NOW...) being produced at any other time since. The new millenium hopefully offers reason to be optimistic as there does seem to have been a gradual proliferation of films that once again begin to tear at the social fabric by cleverly incorporating prescient cultural issues into a variety of stories and settings; Alexander Payne's ELECTION, David Fincher's FIGHT CLUB, David O. Russell's THREE KINGS, P.T. Anderson's MAGNOLIA, Steven Soderbergh's TRAFFIC, both Spielberg's A.I. and MINORITY REPORT.

Foreman's accomplishment is also another instance in what seems to have evolved into a tradition of how effective the marrying of an inherently American story with a uniquely foreign sensibility can be. From Otto Preminger to Roman Polanski to Sam Mendes, the benefit of a skewed objective interpretation injects a freshness into the work that resonates to this day.

And then, of course, there's Jack. In his most renowned role, the legend that is Jack Nicholson came of age. After a string of impressive turns in equally memorable pictures, including FIVE EASY PIECES, THE LAST DETAIL and CHINATOWN, his portrayal of R.P. McMurphy found Nicholson at his most charismatic. There are very few other actors who can rivet attention so completely, and he transforms McMurphy into a force of nature so dangerously seductive, nobody in his path remains untouched by his presence. A truly inspired performance that gave life to what would become one of the screen's most famed creations.

The film is presented in a solid 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. The image is hard to judge since Haskell Wexler's gritty cinematography is intentionally drab, but whilst grain is occasionally apparent, the print is clean, so it is reasonable to assume that this is as close an approximation to the intended look of the film as one is likely to see.

Disc One includes an audio comentary featuring director Milos Foreman and producers Saul Zeantz and Michael Douglas. Each man is an articulate speaker, eloquently discussing their experiences making the picture and their personal connections with the material, providing a highly informative and compelling track.

Disc Two features THE MAKING OF ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST (47:24) which unfortunately evokes mixed feelings. On the one hand, it offers an impressive retrospective overview of the production, from its origins on the stage with Kirk Douglas in the lead and its passing to the younger Douglas and his determination to adapt it for the screen, to the surprising selection of Foreman as director and casting the principle characters, each of whom are interviewed. What is disappointing is that this is an abridged version of the documentary that originally appeared on a previous laserdisc, and as with the truncated documentary on the JAWS DVD, much has been lost and for no logical reason as far as I can discern.

There are also eight deleted and alternative scenes (a combined 13:20) that are largely forgettable. Most notable is the first meeting between R.P. McMurphy and Nurse Ratched, but it is easy to see why most of this footage was cut as it is often guilty of spelling out the film's themes far too forcefully, serving as an example of how the slightest changes can make such a big difference to the whole.

UNFORGIVEN

UNFORGIVEN (1992) is a deeply personal statement by the genre's most influential and iconoclastic figure. Both as an actor and director, Clint Eastwood is synonymous throughout the entire maturation of the western, from the theatrical stylings of A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS to the revisionism of THE OUTLAW JOSEY WALES, and his unparallel love and knowledge of the genre permeates every tragic frame of the best western made since Altman's McCABE & MRS. MILLER in 1971.

The genius of UNFORGIVEN lies in its restraint and simplicity. What Eastwood did was not strive to subvert genre tropes, but merely scutinize those facets that have become so familiar. Hence, the principle focus of the film revolves around the act of taking a life, and the physical and psychological impact on both killer and victim. The western dubiously boasts as high a body count as any other genre, but Eastwood stages the killings in UNFORGIVEN to drive home the cost to an extent not previously seen. There are no thrills to be gleaned from the sporadic action, and when each man is shot, his pain and agony are readily apparent. Whether it be the executions of the two cowboys who assaulted Big Whiskey prostitute Delilah Fitzgerald (Anna Thomson), where the audience must first sit helpless like William Munny (Eastwood), Ned Logan (Morgan Freeman) and The Schofield Kid (Jaimz Woolvett) and listen to the unbearable cries of Davey Bunting (Rob Campbell) as he slowly succumbs to the bullet embedded in his stomach, and then wince at the humiliation of Quick Mike (David Mucci) as he is literally caught with his pants down and shot whilst on the can, or Munny's pitiless retribution against the murderous town sheriff Little Bill Daggett (Gene Hackman), who is revealed as weak and frightened as any other mortal when faced with imminent death, the act of killing is shown to rob all men of dignity.

"It's a helluva thing killing a man," Munny later laments. "You take away all he's got, and all he's ever gonna have." These words are impeccably delivered by Eastwood, bearing the terrible burden of a regretfully gained wisdom, and this message is at the core of the film. The value of a life taken can never be replaced and the act of killing leads to a corruption of the soul. Munny is portrayed as a man who has changed, "cured of wickedness" by the tender love of a mourned wife, but redemption will remain beyond his grasp for the sins of the past are too great. The scene, much like the picture itself, feels like an historic moment, and one that will be replayed for a long time to come. By placing such emphasis on human and spiritual cost, Eastwood crafted a film that rightfully stands alongside THE SEARCHERS as the most important of a genre one so wishes would be revived.

The film is presented in pristine 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen, and is accompanied by an audio commentary with Time film critic and Eastwood biographer Richard Schickel who combines production details and thematic analysis to good effect.

Disc Two is replete with a selection of featurettes. First up is ALL ON ACCOUNTA' PULLIN' A TRIGGER (22:35), a selection of new interviews with Eastwood and the rest of the lead actors along with screenwriter David Webb Peoples who discuss the subtext of certain significant scenes and individual character motivations.

EASTWOOD & Co. MAKING UNFORGIVEN (23:53) was produced at the time of the film's shoot by Schickel and features on-set footage and interviews with all of the major players.

EASTWOOD...A STAR (16:08) is a standard promotional piece that is liitle more than a glorified trailer, but I don't mind the inclusion when it only supports material of greater substance as it does here.

EASTWOOD ON EASTWOOD (78:30) extends the disc's principle focus on the actor/director. Originally produced for TNT in 1997, this documentary takes a comprehensive look at his lauded career, and is an especially nice addition that amplifies the personal importance of the ideas that form the basis of UNFORGIVEN.

Finally, a vintage episode of MAVERICK entitled DUEL AT SUNDOWN (49:04) is also included which features one of Eastwood's earliest appearances, adding a little retro nostalgia to proceedings.

LONG WAY DOWN (ONE LAST THING)

I know this has run long, so I thank you for your patience and hope that it was found to be worthwhile. As we clutch our fall movie previews in the anticipation of a potentially exciting new season, revisiting these films on their admirable new discs provides a timely reminder that intelligence and complexity can be found in the studio arena, and it's important that such films remain vital in the hope of elevating the expectations of modern audiences so that they may demand more.

Best regards,

Dickie Greenleaf.

Outstanding work, man. SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN sounds like the best of the bunch for me, personally, but UNFORGIVEN really makes me ache. God... so many movies... and they all sound so good...

"Moriarty" out.