Before I talk about today's movie, Singin' In The Rain, I want to talk about the Castro Theatre where I saw it. The Castro Theatre is a San Francisco landmark. It is an old fashioned movie palace that has been carefully and lovingly maintained. It's historic neon can be seen for miles.
The theatre shows, revivals, art films, film festivals, live shows and first run movies. While the old fashioned luxury of an early 20th century movie house has been maintained, the projection and sound equipment is definitely 21st century. It is one of 4 movie houses in the world that can show a 70mm film with a separate DTS soundtrack. The theatre opened on June 22, 1922 showing Paramount Pictures Across The Great Divide, starring Walter Reid. Every year it host Frameline, the San Francisco Silent Film Festival, SF Indiefest, Noir City: The Film Noir festival and the San Francisco International Film Festival.
The outside of the building was completely restored for the filming of the movie Milk. In November 2008 Milk had it's world premiere here.
The ornate and extravagant interior design, including the chandelier, have been carefully maintained.
This month they are featuring a series of movies about movie making in Hollywood, and what better way to start than with Singin' In The Rain.
It's not an exaggeration to say that I have seen this film well over a hundred times and possibly more. I worked in video stores for years and it was one of the films we would play over the in-store monitors.
Released in 1952 it was popular hit, bit over the years it's critical acclaim and status as an American classic has grown. The American Film Institute ranks it #5 on it's list of all time great films.
I own the film on DVD and have watched it a few times. I will also leave it on if I happen to come across it on Turner Classic Movies. There is something about it that is contagious. Just hearing it in the background while I am doing other things makes me feel happy. But in all the times I have seen the film I have never seen it in a theatre, so I was really looking forward to tonight's showing.
The theatre was quite crowded for 7:00 PM on a weekday and everyone there was present because they loved movies, and Singin' In The Rain in particular. I really enjoy watching movies at home, but film is a communal art form and there is something special about enjoying a movie in a darkened theatre, sharing the experience with hundreds of others. The print was crisp and clean and the screen was huge and in some ways it was like watching the film for the first time, with the audience members clapping after the musical numbers. It was a great experience.
Then around 49 minutes into the film, right at the beginning of the "Moses Supposes" number, the screen went blank and the theatre went dark. Then the emergency lights popped on. We were disappointed to learn that the neighborhood had experienced a power failure and the management announced that they didn't expect the lights to be back on for two hours. We were offered re-admittance tickets for another show or a refund and asked to leave the theatre.
It was a frustrating and abrupt ending to a fun night out, but I went home and finished watching the film on DVD. The colors may have been more brilliant on my TV, but it seemed so small compared to the big screen and wonderful ambiance of the Castro Theatre.
About the film itself, I love it. I always have. It is one of the finest examples of that truly American art form, the musical comedy. The movie belongs to Gene Kelly, but Jean Hagen almost steals it from him as the best dumb blond ever put on film. She received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her work
Surprisingly the film was not nominated for Best Picture that year. None of the five films that
were nominated, The Greatest Show On Earth (winner), High Noon, Ivanhoe, Moulin Rouge and The Quiet Man, have gone on to receive the acclaim and recognition that Singin' In The Rain has achieved.
At The Movie House rating **** stars.
No comments:
Post a Comment