Singin' in the Rain (1952)

Great fun. Great dancing. Singin' in the Rain is a great movie.

Too bad it's taken this movie fan so many years to finally see this wonderful dance film co-directed by Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly.

This is a must-see movie that, strangely, only garnered two Academy Award nominations - and no wins.

Singin' in the Rain gives an affectionate nod to Hollywood's silent era and the publicity machine that built up its stars, acknowledges studio politics, celebrity worship - love how the fans react to the stars arriving at a film premiere at the movie's start and how a movie can either captivate an audience's interest or send them disgusted to the exits.

It's the late 1920s in Hollywood. The first talkie, Al Jolson's The Jazz Singer, is released. The stars and bosses at Monumental Pictures aren't worried - initially. Novelty. Flash in the pan. That is until Jolson's movie starts doing boffo business at the box office. Suddenly, the silent screen pairings of supposed real-life couple Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly) and Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen) now provoke roars of laughter from movie-goers. It doesn't help that Lamont, a beauty on the screen, has a voice that can crack glass.

Lockwood needs a Plan B, pronto, or he figures his run on the big screen is kaput. Buddy Cosmo Brown (Donald O'Connor) and the girl he's really sweet on, Kathy Selden (Debbie Reynolds), decide to take his latest project and turn it into a musical. Lockwood can sing. He can dance. Substitute Kathy's voice for the irritating tones of Lina and all should be well.

Lina has other plans.

Kelly's dance sequence, in the rain, after he bids Kathy a good night is impressive, but so are many other scenes in this wonderful film. Check out Kelly's work with Cyd Charisse. I felt like I was in a Salvador Dali painting. Donald O'Connor's Make 'em Laugh dance. Fantastic.

There's some great dialogue too - especially between Lockwood and his supposed girl, Lina. He calls it a "cooked up romance." The sparks are real with Cathy though, despite a less-than-promising introduction.

Examples:

Lockwood to Lina: "I don't like her half as much as I hate you."

Lina: "I gave an exclusive interview to every paper in town."

Nice touch at the end. Movie is shot in "Hollywood, USA."

RATING: 9/10

NOTES: Millard Mitchell is always fun to watch. Here, he's studio boss R.F. Simpson. Mitchell died in 1953 at age 50. He'd appear in two other films after Singin' in the Rain.

The Big Knife (1955)

Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.



The Big Knife cuts deep in its depiction of the studio system of Hollywood's Golden Age.



There's not much happiness in these parts, as depicted by director Robert Aldrich (The Flight of the Phoenix) in this powerful 1955 effort.



Charles Castle (Jack Palance) is at a crossroads. His studio contract is up for renewal. Boss Stanley Hoft (Rod Steiger) wants him back for seven more years. Castle is disillusioned with the roles he's given. His wife, Marion (Ida Lupino), has left him. There's signs of a possible reconciliation, but only if Castle leaves Hollywood. His wife is tired of his cheating and is getting serious with another man, Hank Teagle (Wesley Addy).



TWO IDEALISTS Teagle and Castle are both idealists. Castle sold out for success. Scriptwriter Teagle stayed true, but his works never make the screen.



Castle's leverage in negotiations is limited by a nasty incident in his past that Hoft, and a floozy who he was with at the time, Dixie Evans (Shelley Winters), have in their arsenal. Evans is a potential powder keg to Castle's future. She drinks too much and starts talking too often at parties about what happened a few years back. Castle's next starring role could be as a prisoner in jail.



DIXIE IS IN TROUBLE



Smiley Coy (Wendell Corey) is the studio's fixer, just like George Clooney was for a law firm in 2007's Michael Clayton. Charles is concerned Coy's not joking when he describes what he'll do to make sure Evans stops yapping.



"Sorry to throw the meat on the floor," he offers when he explains what he'll have done.



The Big Knife offers many fine performances. Palance, known to today's audiences for his work in City Slickers, is explosive as Castle. He's shown sparring in the film's first scene, but it's him who's being beaten down at work and home.



Steiger is a powerful force as Hoft. His screen time is limited, but he dominates the screen. Corey's quiet, deadly authority is chilling.



Dixie shares Castle's disillusioment with Hollywood, but not his success. She's offered a studio contract to keep her mouth shut about Castle's indiscretion. But her roles are limited with studio bosses more interested in her shapely figure than her acting talent. "I'm a deductible item," she laments.



GREAT CAST, BUT LOTS OF TALKING



The Big Knife is based on a play penned by Clifford Odets. The film's stage origins are noticeable with most of the action set in the living room of Castle's swanky Bel Air home. Viewers be warned, there's a lot of talking and not much action. The musical score is often obtrusive too.



Movies offer occasional glimpses at Hollywood with efforts such as Sunset Boulevard and The Player. The Big Knife is a knockout.

RATING: 8/10

The Asphalt Jungle (1950)

It's easy to get lost in The Asphalt Jungle.

I mean that in the best possible way.

Director John Huston's film noir from 1950 is a crackerjack crime drama with standout performances, beautiful cinematography and an engrossing story. There's very little actual physical violence, but boy is there plenty of tension in an environment where double crosses, corruption and greed are ever-present.

What makes this film even more enjoyable is knowing that so many of the principal cast were just starting their film careers. Kudos to the film's casting for finding so many great performances from up-and-coming actors.

Marilyn Monroe is played up prominently in marketing material even though she's only in a pair of scenes as Angela Phinlay, the drop-dead gorgeous mistress of lawyer gone bad Alonzo Emmerich (Louis Calhern). But she does fine as Emmerich's eye candy. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Bus Stop and Some Like It Hot would follow before the decade ended.

The Asphalt Jungle was only Jean Hagen's fourth film role. She made her debut in another film classic, Adam's Rib, in 1949. Perhaps her most well-known role, Singin' in the Rain, would follow in 1952. Here, she's Doll Conovan, a young dame who can't shake her love for hood Dix Handley (Sterling Hayden).

James Whitmore, who just died in 2009, earned his fifth movie credit as Gus Minissi, a hunbacked restaurant owner only too happy to help out thugs in need of a little protection from pesky police.

Meanwhile, The Asphalt Jungle was one of the last roles for Dorothy Tree. She was Dracula's wife in Dracula (1931). Tree earned 49 credits before leaving Hollywood to work as a speech and voice coach at the Metropolitan Opera. Here, she's May Emmerich, bedridden wife of the said crooked, and cheating, lawyer.

Doc (Sam Jaffe) is a well-known criminal just sprung from prison. He doesn't waste time trying to go straight. Doc has a plan to rip off hundreds of thousands of dollars in jewelry from a safe. Emmerich offers him a generous deal to offload the valuable hot gems.

Doc assembles his caper team including Dix, a brute with a penchant for the ponies and Gus as the wheelman.

The heist, surprise, surprise, doesn't go through as planned. Stay tuned to see who crosses who before the credits roll. A preachy speech from the police commissioner greates, but that's a small beef for this well-made film.

RATING: 9.5/10

FUN FACTS: Marilyn Monroe's first film appearance was as a telephone operator in The Shocking Miss Pilgrim (1947). Wow. John Huston's directorial debut was The Maltese Falcon (1941). Sterling Hayden appeared in another crime classic, The Godfather (1972).