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COM 329, Contemporary Film. The “Death” of the American Movie Musical. See also: AMC’s web site on Musicals/Dance Films. The movie musical as one of the most popular genres. The movie musical as one of the most popular genres:. 1.RKO in the 1930s Astaire and Rogers Busby Berkeley - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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The “Death” of the American Movie Musical
COM 329, Contemporary Film
See also:AMC’s web site on Musicals/Dance Films
The movie musical as one of the most popular genres
The movie musical as one of the most popular genres: 1. RKO in the 1930s
Astaire and Rogers Busby Berkeley
Mostly “backstagers” (all diegetic music)
The movie musical as one of the most popular genres: 2. MGM in the 1940s and 1950s
The Freed Unit Many “integrated” musicals (some operatic)
Gene Kelly et al. Arthur Freed
The Freed Unit circa 1945, with Roger Edens on piano, flanked by Arthur Freed (left) and Conrad Salinger, with Kay Thompson singing to a rapt Jerome Kern (seated).
The movie musical as one of the most popular genres: 3. Roadshow musicals in the 1950s and
1960s e.g.:
South Pacific (1958) Porgy and Bess (1959) The Sound of Music (1965) Camelot (1967) Oliver! (1968) Funny Girl (1968)
The movie musical as one of the most popular genres: 4. Best Picture Academy Award winners
Four in the 1960s: West Side Story (1961) My Fair Lady (1964) The Sound of Music (1965) Oliver! (1968)
Factors related to the failure of the movie musical
Factors related to the failure of the movie musical: 1. Loss of “stable” of dancers, musicians,
choreographers, etc., due to the weakening Studio System
Busby Berkeley and dancers
Max Steiner conducting the King Kong studio orchestra
Factors related to the failure of the movie musical:
2. Dual acting/singing system Dubbing of singing voices works for playback singers
in contemporary Bollywood, but in Hollywood in the 1950s/1960s, not so much
The wonderful case of Marni Nixon, who sang for: Deborah Kerr in The King and I (1956) Natalie Wood in West Side Story (1961) Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady (1964) Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)—but
only the “high notes” Etc.
Factors related to the failure of the movie musical:
3. Failure of some big budget musicals
The Sound of Music (1965), a huge success, raised unrealistic expectations; musicals that followed did not give the same return on investment. . .Why? See #4 for a partial answer
Examples of notable failures: Goodbye Mr. Chips (1969) Hello, Dolly! (1969) Man of La Mancha (1972) Lost Horizon (1973) Mame (1974) New York, New York (1977) For a nice, comprehensive list,
see AMC’s Musicals/Dance Films,Part 5
Factors related to the failure of the movie musical: 4. Star power over musicianship
(forget the dubbing!) Guys and Dolls, 1955 (MGM, D: Joe
Mankiewicz; music and lyrics by Frank Loesser) with Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons Marlon Brando: “Luck Be a Lady Tonight” Marlon Brando & Jean Simmons: “I’ll Know”
Factors related to the failure of the movie musical: 4. Star power over musicianship
My Fair Lady, 1964 (Warner, D: George Cukor; by Lerner & Loewe) with Rex Harrison, Audrey Hepburn Rex Harrison: “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her F
ace”
Factors related to the failure of the movie musical: 4. Star power over musicianship
Camelot, 1967 (Warner, D: Josh Logan; by Lerner & Loewe) with Richard Harris, Vanessa Redgrave
Factors related to the failure of the movie musical: 4. Star power over musicianship
Goodbye, Mr. Chips, 1969 (MGM, D: Herbert Ross; songs by Leslie Bricusse) with Peter O’Toole, Petula Clark Peter O’Toole: “What a Lot of Flowers”
Factors related to the failure of the movie musical: 4. Star power over
musicianship Hello, Dolly!, 1969 (Fox, D: Gene
Kelly; music and lyrics by Jerry Herman) with Barbra Streisand, Walter Matthau Walter Matthau: “It Takes a Woman”
Factors related to the failure of the movie musical: 4. Star power over musicianship
Man of La Mancha, 1972 (UA, D: Arthur Hiller; lyrics by Joe Darion and music by Mitch Leigh) with Peter O’Toole, Sophia Loren Peter O’Toole: “The Impossible Dream” and Sophia Loren: “Dulcinea” (reprise)
Factors related to the failure of the movie musical: 4. Star power over
musicianship Paint Your Wagon, 1969
(Paramount, D: Josh Logan; by Lerner & Loewe) with Lee Marvin, Clint Eastwood, Jean Seberg Clint Eastwood: “I Talk to the Trees” Lee Marvin: “I Was Born Under a
Wandrin’ Star”
And then came. . .
1. What Thomas Schatz calls the “music movie” (e.g., Saturday Night Fever, 1977)
And then came:
And then came: 2. The teen musical (e.g.,
Grease, 1978; Footloose, 1984; Dirty Dancing, 1987; High School Musical, 2006)
And then came: 3. Notable exceptions
Bob Fosse in the 1970s (Cabaret, 1972; All That Jazz, 1979)
Disney’s animated musicals Great scores in the 1950s (e.g., Cinderella, 1950; Peter
Pan, 1953; Sleeping Beauty, 1959) Great success with Beauty and the Beast (1991)…with
many more to follow
And then came: 4. Alan Parker’s bold experiments (e.g.,
Bugsy Malone, 1976; Fame, 1980; Pink Floyd The Wall, 1982; The Commitments, 1991; Evita, 1996) Real mixture of all musical types—backstagers, integrated musicals, operatic
Sir Alan picks up his knighthood in 2002
And then came: 5. Post-MTV musicals (e.g., Baz
Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge!, 2001, The Great Gatsby, 2013)
And then came: 6. The franchise musical
(e.g., The Producers, 2005; Hairspray, 2007)
And then came: 7. Autotuning—a way to tolerate star
power over musicianship? (e.g., Moulin Rouge!, 2001; Les Miserables, 2012) Ewan McGregor: “Your Song” Russell Crowe: “24601”
end
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