Let's Start The New Year Right

Readers of Pajama Guy know I'm a big fan of Fred Astaire. He's the #1 guy in Hollywood musicals, no contest. But that doesn't mean I don't like Gene Kelly. And, all things considered, I agree with just about everybody that Singin' In the Rain is the best musical of all.

I just rewatched it. What was to follow was a long, dull essay on the movie, but let's save that for some other time. Instead, let's watch one of my favorite bits, the first big song, "Fit As A Fiddle," which manages at once to be a parody of a cut-rate vaudeville act and better than any vaudeville number you're likely to see. (Gene Kelly said he learned quickly that wow material on stage often wasn't good enough in a movie. I actually saw a live performance of "Fit As A Fiddle" when they did Singin' In The Rain in Broadway--in fact, my friend Peter had the Donald O'Connor role. I don't recall how closely they reproduced the movie's choreography, but I remember Peter telling me he'd spoken to Donald O'Connor, who told him that there was no way you could do the same numbers they did in the movie every night without ending up in the hospital.)