The Movie Musical!

Author: Jeanine Basinger
Publisher: Knopf
ISBN: 1101874074
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 657

Book Description
Irresistible and authoritative, The Movie Musical! is an in-depth look at the singing, dancing, happy-making world of Hollywood musicals, beautifully illustrated in color and black-and-white--an essential text for anyone who's ever laughed, cried, or sung along at the movies. Leading film historian Jeanine Basinger reveals, with her trademark wit and zest, the whole story of the Hollywood musical--in the most telling, most incisive, most detailed, most gorgeously illustrated book of her long and remarkable career. From Fred Astaire, whom she adores, to La La Land, which she deplores, Basinger examines a dazzling array of stars, strategies, talents, and innovations in the history of musical cinema. Whether analyzing a classic Gene Kelly routine, relishing a Nelson-Jeanette operetta, or touting a dynamic hip hop number (in the underrated Idlewild), she is a canny and charismatic guide to the many ways that song and dance have been seen--and heard--on film. With extensive portraits of everyone from Al Jolson, the Jazz Singer; to Doris Day, whose iconic sunniness has overshadowed her dramatic talents; from Deanna Durbin, that lovable teen-star of the '30s and '40s; to Shirley T. and Judy G.; from Bing to Frank to Elvis; from Ann Miller to Ann-Margret; from Disney to Chicago . . . focusing on many beloved, iconic films (Top Hat; Singin' in the Rain; Meet Me in St. Louis; The Sound of Music) as well as unduly obscure gems (Eddie Cantor's Whoopee!; Murder at the Vanities; Sun Valley Serenade; One from the Heart), this book is astute, informative, and pure pleasure to read.

The Hollywood Film Musical

Author: Barry Keith Grant
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1405182539
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 197

Book Description
This revealing history of the American film musical synthesizes the critical literature on the genre and provides a series of close analytical readings of iconic musical films, focusing on their cultural relationship to other aspects of American popular music. Offers a depth of scholarship that will appeal to students and scholars Leads a crucial analysis of the cultural context of musicals, particularly the influence of popular music on the genre Delves into critical issues behind these films such as race, gender, ideology, and authorship Features close readings of canonical and neglected film musicals from the 1930s to the present including: Top Hat, Singin' in the Rain, Woodstock, Gimme Shelter, West Side Story, and Across the Universe

Hollywood Musicals

Author: Ken Bloom
Publisher: Black Dog & Leventhal Pub
ISBN: 9781579128487
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 287

Book Description
Offers an alphabetical survey of the most popular film musicals in history, with commentaries, synopses, behind-the-scenes information, and lists of songs and cast members for each film.

The Rough Guide to Film Musicals

Author: David Parkinson
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0756647126
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 340

Book Description
The perfect companion to cinema's most spectacular genre, The Rough Guide to Film Musicals reveals how an escapist entertainment became Hollywood's most ingenious art form. From such enduring classics as Singin' In The Rain and West Side Story to recent successes like Evita and Chicago, this book reviews 50 essential musicals, including several forgotten gems. There are profiles of musical icons such as Fred Astaire, Judy Garland and George Gershwin and details of musicals from around the world. Complete with a list of the best soundtracks, websites and books for further reading, this Rough Guide takes a behind the scenes look at this magical movie genre.

The First Hollywood Musicals

Author: Edwin M. Bradley
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 9780786420292
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 404

Book Description
As Hollywood entered the sound era, it was rightly determined that the same public fascinated by the novelty of the talkie would be dazzled by the spectacle of a song and dance film. In 1929 and 1930, film musicals became the industry's most lucrative genre--until the greedy studios almost killed the genre by glutting the market with too many films that looked and sounded like clones of each other. From the classy movies such as Sunnyside Up and Hallelujah! to failures such as The Lottery Bride and Howdy Broadway, this filmography details 171 early Hollywood musicals. Arranged by subgenre (backstagers, operettas, college films, and stage-derived musical comedies), the entries include studio, release date, cast and credits, running time, a complete song list, any recordings spawned by the film, Academy Award nominations and winners, and availability on video or laserdisc. These data are followed by a plot synopsis, including analysis of the film's place in the genre's history. Includes over 90 photographs.

The Movie Musical

Author: Desirée J. Garcia
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
ISBN: 197880380X
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 153

Book Description
Putting Asian and European musicals into conversation with Hollywood classics like Singin’ in the Rain and La La Land, this study demonstrates the flexibility and durability of the genre. It explores how the movie musical mediates between nostalgia and technical innovation, while foregrounding the experiences of women, immigrants, and people of color.

The Hollywood Musical

Author: Jane Feuer
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 9780253207685
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 176

Book Description
... both fresh and informed, as well as a pleasure to read. --Film Quarterly Since 1982, when this book first appeared, the Hollywood musical has undergone a rebirth, with the rise of teen musicals such as Dirty Dancing and Flashdance. In a chapter written especially for this second edition of her well-known study, Jane Feuer shows how this new development in the genre relates to important changes in the cinema audience itself. It is the text for the study of Hollywood musicals.

Roadshow!

Author: Matthew Kennedy
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190262443
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 318

Book Description
In Roadshow! The Fall of Film Musicals in the 1960s, film historian Matthew Kennedy explores the downfall of a beloved genre caught in the hands of misguided creators who glutted the American film market with a spate of expensive and financially unrewarding musicals between 1967 and 1972. In doing so, it offers an alternative view of this era in the world of American popular entertainment, telling of the cultural importance of the studios' death grip on the film business rather than dwelling on the failures of the flops themselves.

Hollywood Musicals Year by Year

Author: Stanley Green
Publisher: Hal Leonard Corporation
ISBN: 9780634007651
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 412

Book Description
A chronologically arranged reference book on the Hollywood musical, with each entry including pertinent facts about a film and a brief essay about the plot and production. Includes hundreds of black & white stills.

Hollywood Musicals, the Film Reader

Author: Steven Cohan
Publisher: Psychology Press
ISBN: 9780415235594
Category : Motion picture music
Languages : en
Pages : 226

Book Description
This book explores one of the most popular genres in film history. Combining classic and recent articles, each section explores a central issue of the musical, including: the musical's significance as a genre; the musical's own particular representation of sexual difference; the idea of camp, both through stars such as Judy Garland and Carmen Miranda and musicals themselves; and the displacement of race in Hollywood's representations of entertainment. Each section features an editor's introduction setting debates in context.