Even though I was a film studies minor in college, I’ve forgotten a great deal about classic films. So that’s why, despite the fact that I’ve actually seen Singin’ in the Rain on the big screen, I completely blanked on Donald O’Connor’s classic performance of “Make ‘em Laugh” from the film.
I searched it out and was immediately impressed by how faithful Mr. Shue and Mike Chang stayed to the original. Sure, they jazzed it up a bit and made it a two-person performance instead of one, but watching O’Connor made the Glee performance that much more impressive. It was a beautifully choreographed number, and even though I’m convinced its existence in this week’s episode is solely due to some Sue Sylvester-like clauses in Matthew Morrison‘s contract, he and Harry Shum, Jr. did a fantastic job.
Here’s the original:
And just to refresh your memory, here’s the Glee version from this week’s episode:
There’s also a very important third version to keep in mind. In fact, it’s the one that I was thinking of as I was watching Glee. When Joseph Gordon-Levitt hosted Saturday Night Live last year, he make the bizarre yet interesting choice to perform this song as his monologue.
While it’s certainly not as polished as the other two performances, Gordon-Levitt certainly deserves credit for doing all of those moves without lip-syncing. Plus, the entire thing was done in one take on live TV. That, in and of itself, is pretty impressive.
Here’s Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s version of “Make ‘em Laugh.”
Clacked by Kona Gallagher 
on Nov 17, 2010 @ 13:00 EST5EDT
Joseph Gordon-Levitt always wins, as far as I’m concerned, but that could just be the fact that I want to marry him speaking.
How jealous were you of Ellen Page in Inception?
Any version is better than the community theatre version of Singin’ in the Rain I saw last summer where the guy playing the Donald O’Connor role was a bit on the heavy side (imagine Cam from Modern Family). He could not run up the wall, to say the least! The Glee version was faithful, but too bad about that mash-up at the end.
We need more Mike Chang… nuff said.
Yes, but he should join the school’s swim team and only appear coming out of the pool.
Chuck? Too bad about the mashup???? I thought it was outstanding.
“Make ‘em laugh” was good, not great. I loved how they did several of the set pieces from the original to pay homage, but it just wasn’t “wow” enough for me.
The best is obviously the original. Joseph Gordon Levitt’s was really high energy and I loved the slap-happiness of it.
The Glee version felt forced.
Also the Joseph Gordon-Levitt version was in one take and LIVE: I think we have to give him bonus points for that.
The newer ones are alright but neither can hold a match to the magic of Donald O’Connor. After all in ain’t Make Em Laugh unless you get hospitalized afterwards.