Singin In The Rain Analysis

Both Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard (1950), and Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly’s Singin’ in the Rain (1952) tell the story about the film industry’s transition from silent pictures to “talkies,” however, they are drastically different in their themes and genres. Sunset Boulevard is drama, while Singin’ in the Rain is a musical comedy. Billy Wilder takes a darker approach to the transition to sound by depicting an actress, Norma Desmond, played by Gloria Swanson, that is left behind by the advent of sound unable to act. Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly take the opposite angle and completely contrast Wilder’s film with a spoof film about the movement to sound films. The clear contrast between these two films is seen in their camerawork. Wilder instills fear and sadness, while Donen and Kelly emit joy and laughter through their film. Each film features main characters that consider themselves actors, Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard and Gene Kelly in Singin’ in the Rain, but Gloria

She is terrifying with a glare of power. The low angle is clearly unflattering, but it creates an atmosphere of fear and anxiety as to what she may do next. The camera does not treat her as the star she wants to be, but as the lunatic she is going to become. Debbie Reynolds and Gene Kelly never have an unflattering angle. They always look sweet or handsome, never ugly. These looks all depend on the camera angle. An eye level shot, or a slightly above eye level shot, have an angelic quality to them where there are no harsh shadows. Singin’ in the Rain only contains shots of similar nature.
The contrast in stylistic camerawork creates two completely different stories, even though the stories are based around the same historical event. Billy Wilder tells a story about a forgotten star, while Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly make fun of the whole new situation with a