Now, completely outside of the rest of this post, I would to state that the 16 minute ballet at the end of An American In Paris is one of the top 3 achievements of the Musical genre. Just needed to get that out there. Now back to our regularly scheduled rant:
If The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and Singin’ in the Rain got into a death match, I’d be hard pressed to decide who I hoped came out alive.
Singin’ In The Rain (1952)
Sure, Singin’ has Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor, and Debbie Reynolds cracking wise and hoofin’ up a storm. The songs are more hummable, the story more fun, the writing sharp and witty. The thing I enjoy most about Musicals has always been the dancing and Singin’ has that in great quantities. From the highlight of Gene Kelly splashing through the streets of Hollywood in long, perfectly choreographed takes, to O’Connor’s slapstick “Make ‘em Laugh.” The pair have a couple of great tunes together, as well. Jean Hagen kills as vain (and clueless) movie star Lina Lamont. In fact, some of the best lines are between her and Gene Kelly. Example:
Don Lockwood:Why, you rattlesnake! You got that poor kid fired.
Lina Lamont: That’s not all I’m gonna do if I ever get my hands on her.
Don Lockwood: I never heard of anything so low. Why did you do it?
Lina Lamont: Because you liked her. I could tell.
Don Lockwood: So that’s it. Believe me, I don’t like her half as much as I loathe you, you reptile.
Lina Lamont: Sticks and stones may break my bones…
Don Lockwood: I’d like to break every bone in your body.
Lina Lamont: You and who else, you big lummox?
There are two parts of the movie that I think demonstrate exactly what I love about it. The first is Gene Kelly’s performance of the theme song. As he dances and sings on the MGM backlot, jumping on lamp post, skipping on curbs, he is letting all the exuberance of being in love almost literally wash all over him. The particular part of this scene that warms my heart (and this is one of the small handful of movies I watch if I need a lift in spirits) is when he sings “C’mon with the rain/ I’ve a smile on my face” and the camera cranes into a closeup of Gene Kelly beaming as rain falls onto him. That is a thing of perfection.
The other part of the movie is the grand finale, the “Broadway Melody” sequence. This sequence is presented by the Gene Kelly character to the studio head as the introduction to the new Musical movie they are making for the fictional RF Studios. He sets it up a very “imagine this” manner, then the camera pans to a movie screen behind him, reminding us that this is free of the storytelling restraints of the rest of the movie. We’re then treated to several treats. For starters, two words: Cyd Charisse. Yowzers. I didn’t start out as a man with an unhealthy appreciation of women’s legs. You can thank Cyd for that. Secondly, there’s just the scale of the piece. It lacks the beauty of the ballet in An American In Paris, which it is clearly trying to emulate, but it has a greater sense of humor. The large sets, the “bright lights, big city” setting of this “young hoofer’s” story, are reminders that they really don’t “make them like this anymore.” The punchline of all this comes after this amazing, vivid, colorful, beautiful sequence has been shown and the studio head walks up to say ,”I just can’t imagine it.” *giggle*
This is exactly the sort of Musical that I love, with dancing, lighthearted humor, and songs that stick will stick around for a long time, always hummable, in the back of your head.
The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg (1964)
Normally, this is the sort of Musical that would drive me insane. It’s overly melodramatic. It’s sentimental like a Hallmark card. There’s 
no dancing. Every line of dialog is sung. In French.
This is still, however, a beautiful movie. The cinematography is gorgeous, with sets and costumes designed to pop with color. Catherine Deneuve is lovely, as she always is. Besides being one of the most romantic movies about the fire of young love I’ve ever seen, the music (which is important in a Musical, probably? You think?) is the most beautiful music ever used in a musical. Yes, I just now said that. Right now.
Sure, I can’t sing any of it (because it’s French), can barely hum some of it, but good God, when Deneuve’s Genevieve walks alongside a train (carrying her lover off to the Algerian War) and she can only sing out “Je t’aime” over and over again…Michael Legrand’s music carries the scene to a heartbreaking finale. Even the character’s normal interactions with each other are more fun, even they’re just saying…
“We’re going to Opera, see ya later.”
“Yeah, alright, have fun.”
…but sung in French with a jaunty (Yes, I said JAUNTY and I’m okay with that!) jazz score in the background.
The story is the stuff of soap operas: The girl and the guy want to be together. Her mother doesn’t approve. He gets drafted for war. They spend one last night together. He goes to war and doesn’t come back.
There aren’t any twists to the plot, just a progression of the characters lives that leads down unexpected roads. The ending is the natural conclusion to young love. You love someone with what feels like the totality of your heart, thinking you will die without their touch, only to age away from them. You can’t remember what they look like. The memory of their touch is a forgotten in a gray fog of a million disregarded thoughts. Then, you see them and you smile. They smile. Pleasantries are exchanged and you finish paying your dry cleaning bill, filling your tank with gas, returning your movie, picking up your Chinese take-out…and move on with life. You maybe think a couple of “what-ifs”, but dismiss them quickly with a smile and head off to pick up the kids from soccer practice.
Earlier this year, I wrote an essay for a class project. It was an entry into the “This I Believe” series about something that we believed as a truth that guided us in life. My belief was that music was everything. I believe that wholeheartedly. There was a passage in one of the drafts about how I hear music everywhere I go, even if it’s just in the steps I take (which are timed perfectly with Spoon’s “I Turn My Camera On“). This movie is that belief as there is music in every interaction with the characters. All the little moments of life are backed by strings that lift emotions or a beat that drives the momentum forward. So Umbrellas has that working for it…
but, again, there is Gene Kelly in the rain.
I have seen this movie enough times where A Clockwork Orange didn’t ruin the song for me.
