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Musicals. ... The 1930s have been dubbed "the golden age of the musical," and it laid
the structural foundation for all subsequent film musicals (Collins 270). ...
... had scores in the style of contemporary popular music with simple melodies and lyrics,
lots of sentiment and a wry sense of street-smart humor (musicals 101.com ...
... John Mundy (1999) sums this up in the following quote: "Like so many folk musicals,
the film is suffused with a yearning nostalgia for a cultural past which is ...
... Most composers of musicals only create one good musical and are unable to create
any more. ... Andrew Lloyd Webber has composed a lot of fantastic musicals. ...
... line. Generally, musicals are about an alternative, escapist vision of reality
such as love, wealth, success and popularity. Moulin ...
Submitted by georgiam23 on May 1, 2007
Category: Music and Movies
Words: 2112 | Pages: 9
Views: 283
Popularity Rank: 38,039
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After the introduction of sound to motion pictures, the musical genre was a natural cinematic progression. According to film historian Rick Altman, "The musical is
one of the most characteristic creations of the Hollywood film industry" (294). It is a genre that is uniquely American, and encompasses more than 1,500 films (Altman 294). Surprisingly, though, there actually is evidence of silent film musicals, with the 1907 interpretation of The Merry Widow operetta, in which musical numbers were played to synchronized perfection by live musicians (Altman 294). An operetta was the first popular type of musical film, and was a perfect visual fit because of its sophisticated elegance, strong melodies, and intriguing geographical location settings (Neale 106). Not surprisingly, the first talkie,' Warner Brothers' The Jazz Singer (1927), featured the first musical numbers ever heard on film (Collins 269). The first film musical was the Broadway Melody of 1929, and its immediate popularity ensured this new genre would become an integral part of modern cinema.
The 1930s have been dubbed "the golden age of the musical," and it laid the structural foundation for all subsequent film musicals (Collins 270). With few exceptions, films that comprise the musical genre contain:
Narrative storyline connecting music and dance routines;
Male and female characters seeking happiness through love;
Acting that combines realism with rhythmic movements;
Mixture of diegetic music and spoken/sung dialogue (Altman 297-298).
This film genre has historically consisted of three evocative forms. First, there is the fairytale musical, which typically features some type of aristocratic setting such as a palace or hotel, and a romantic pairing that ultimately restores order to chaos (Altman 300). Next, there is the show musical set in New York City and considers a middle-class couple seeking riches who get together to...
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