Of all the classic films I have seen and reviewed
lately this certainly takes the cake. Not only is this a great acting combination, but a
fun combination at the same time with a certain aura brought to the film by the fabulous
on screen magnets of Gene Kelly, Jean Hagen, Donald O’Connor and Debbie Reynolds.
Don Lockwood (Jean Hagen) and Lina Lamont (Gene Kelly) are an unstoppable hit couple in
the world of silent movies. Lina is the epitome of anoying dumb blondes and is convinced
that her and Don are set to be married purely because she heard it from the paparrazzi.
Don is scrambling to get away however and his oportunity pops up with the release of
talkie movies. Lina fails dismally as her annoying and grating voice are destined to be
scrapped from the big screen.
It is here around this point that Don meets and falls hopelessly in love with Kathy
Seldon (Debbie Reynolds). Kathy has a beautiful voice and is obviously the perfect on
screen combination for Don.
From here the pair rely on Don’s best mate and piano player Cosmo (Donald
O’Connor) to come up with a money spinning and entertaining creation to solve all of
Don’s problems. Get rid of Lina, get Kathy on side and make some big time money.
The musical about making one of the first musicals is sure to big a big hit!
...  |
So how does the transfer hold up?
VIDEO
This 1.33:1 Full Frame transfer is simply amazing given it’s almost
50 year old vintage. The images are consistently sharp compared to other recently released
film of this age. Given that this is considered the "The greatest Hollywood Musical
ever made" I would expect a considerable amount of effort has gone into giving us a
fantastic transfer for this classic. The colour pallette is also remarkable. The colour is
bright and highly saturated to give the fabulous cheery feeling that is portrayed in this
film. This colour enhancement has worked very effectively.
Shadow detail is also very good with only the occassional loss of detail. The film is
predominantly brightly lit though so tere isn’t too much room for deep shadows.
There were no MPEG artefacts, and only some minor film artefacts and occassional minor
shimmering.
AUDIO
Audio quality is also exceptionally sharp and clear for a Dolby Digital mono
track of this age. The dialogue is sharp and clear. The only downfall really is the lack
of quality in the musical soundtrack.
This world famous collection of musical numbers from Nacio Herb Brown is a little flat
with a mono soundtrack but then with source material of this age I would not expect a
remastered 5.1 track would really be much of an improvement.
This is the best quality you will find in a mono soundtrack of this age.
EXTRAS
Sadly not a one!
OVERALL
Buy it I say! Even if it’s only to say you have it in your collection. Everyone will
enjoy this regardless of their movie preferences.
| PICTURE
QUALITY |
7/10 superb for the vintage |
| SOUND Quality |
6.5/10 it’s mono what
can I say? |
| EXTRAS |
0/10 very sad |
| OVERALL |
8/10 classic musical and always will be! |
Review Equipment
TV: GE 68cm (16:9 selectable)
DVD: Samsung DVD909 (via S-Video)
Receiver: Yamaha DTS RX-V595a (Sweeeeet)
Speakers:-
Fronts: Wharfdale Diamond R6 (on a pair of custom made stands you'd KILL for)
Centre: Venturi
Rears: Sony bookshelf
- Reviewed 6th December 2000
* Singin' in the Rain jpeg files for
internet promotion use only. Copyright© exists on all aspects of these files by Warner
...