#1 - Singin' in the Rain (1952, Stanley Donen / Gene Kelly)

Got #1 out of the way and I sure am glad I did (in the good way!). It's pretty obvious why this is considered the greatest musical of them all. Gene Kelly is, as usual, the corniest dude ever, but a fucking jaw-dropping dancer. Only being familiar with Debbie Reynolds as an old lady, I was surprised how totally adorable she is in this movie. But the star for me is Cyd Charisse, she of the 5 minute non-speaking dancing role in the "Broadway Melody Ballet" number. Look at the picture above. Look at it. Seriously, dude. Dude. OMG. Check for The Band Wagon in the next week or two on this blog- all Cyd all the time (!!!!). I wish Nick Ray's noir musical Party Girl was available (yes, I know I could order it from France but I want it for free!!).

Singin' in the Rain works even better as a comedy than as a musical for me (after all, hardly any of the songs were written for the film). The early sound edit of The Duelling Cavalier had me LOLing like no other. "No, no, no!" "Yes, yes, yes!" I really need to watch more 1920s talkies. Too bad all the really bad ones are off limits for us 21st century types. Hey, The Jazz Singer is coming to DVD finally this year. Tell your mamie, tell your massah.

new #100: Lola Montes