“Dames” and “Girls:” Staples in a Changing Medium

Caribay Franke, Daniel Gavidia, Milo Stewart, and Jake Tokosh

Dr. Casper
CTCS-190
28 January 2014

“Dames” and “Girls:” Staples in a Changing Medium

Singin’ in the Rain (1952) is ideal for introducing and commenting on the foundations of cinema. The film embodies cinema history by exemplifying the financial, technological, artistic, and cultural developments that have allowed the industry to thrive for decades. Simultaneously, the film exemplifies the unchanging fact that although film transforms over time, its content does not necessarily undergo the same evolution.

This film discusses cinema as a business through the escapades of its characters, who work vigorously to produce The Dancing Cavalier. Technological advancements, such as the development of “talkies” and the success of The Jazz Singer, drive the film’s main conflict. The power of film as entertainment manifests through the attention levels of onscreen audiences, who serve as a reflection of our own societal obsession with film. And most importantly, just as this film describes a part of history, it has become a part of history, revered as a feel-good, romantic comedy produced in the 1950s, but somehow capturing perfectly the blithe aura of the roaring 20s.

Each musical number, in the style of the 20s, follows the golden rule of musicals and advances the plot with purpose. Each song has a particular reason to be sung, and for the most part, the musical does not break into a wholly-divided, tangential world, in which song and dance are separated from the world of plot. That said, the music of Singin’ in the Rain is blatantly unoriginal and frequently copies the style and form of musical numbers from the 1920s. But this is purposeful and hardly degrades the film’s quality. In fact, the film sets a clear goal of alluding to and honoring the 20s and its musicals, as seen in the musical number, “Beautiful Girls.”

This song, from its lyrical content to its presentation, shares a plethora of similarities and comparable differences to the musical number, “Dames,” from Berkeley’s 1939 film of the same name. Both songs appear in traditional musical form, though “Dames” is clearly more cinematic and dream-like in its performance. Despite the technological limits of its time, “Dames” creates stunning cinematography by playing with black and white images onscreen and utilizing patterns and symmetry, quickly catching the eye of viewers. This style likely required masterful editing work to obtain. In stark contrast, “Beautiful Girls,” which appears in color and plays with varying shades and hues to appeal to viewers, is much simpler and could easily be staged in a theatre. It lacks the intricate cinematography of “Dames,” but still serves its purpose in Singin’ in the Rain.

While some may argue that these musical similarities and contrasts devalue Singin’ in the Rain, the film recycles music purposefully in its goal of alluding to musicals from the 1920s; the rehashing of music is actually a common practice in musicals on screen and off. The film’s ability to reuse music while adding and subtracting certain qualities, thereby creating an altogether new, melodic entity, validates the purpose of Singin’ in the Rain as an exhibition of antiquated yet viable performance styles.

Written by Jake Tokosh

 

Sources:
Busby Berkeley’s “Dames”
URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDe9upTQcpk