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As soon as movies learned to talk, they began to sing. In 1926, Warner Brothers released the short film April Showers, with Al Jolson singing a trio of songs. Jolson then starred in two silent features that included sound sequences in which he sang and spoke: The Jazz Singer (1927) and The Singing Fool (1928). By 1929, the first 34; all-talking, all-singing, all-dancing 34; musical was released: Broadway Melody, with a score by Arthur Freed and Nation Herb Brown. Produced by MGM, the studio that would dominate the genre, this backstage musical set a pattern by introducing the formula of an understudy becoming a star when she replaces the ailing lead.
Several directors of early musicals were remarkably inventive at integrating sound and music into their narratives: King Vidor in his look at black life in the South, Hallelujah (1929); Ernst Lubitsch and his sophisticated comic musicals, The Love Parade (1929) and Monte Carlo (1930), both starring Jeanette MacDonald; France 39; s Ren? Clair, with his delightful satires of contemporary life Sous Les Toits De Paris (1930), Le Million (1931), and? Nous La Liberty? (1931); and Rouben Mamoulian and his Lubitsch-inspired Love Me Tonight (1932), also starring Jeanette MacDonald. Other musicals of the period were more theatrical in nature, from outright revues (MGM 39; s Hollywood Revue of 1929, 1929; Universal 39; s King Of Jazz, 1930; Paramount On Parade, 1930) to star vehicles such as Al Jolson in Say It With Songs (1929) and Mammy (1930) and Eddie Cantor in Whoopee! (1930) and Palmy Days (1931). Those Cantor films introduced choreographer Busby Berkeley. In the early 39; 30 s, with the mighty technical resources of Warner Brothers at his disposal, he staged extravagant, purely cinematic production numbers with hordes of precision dancers, often filmed from unusual angles for breathtaking kaleidoscopic effects.
As comfortable with elaborate long takes as he was with rapid editing, always ready to introduce strains of humor or sexual innuendo, Berkeley permanently transformed the notion of what a musical could be. The Depression-era audiences delighted in his work and in the singing and dancing of stars Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler in the classic musicals 42 nd Street (1933), Gold Diggers Of 1933 (1933), Footlight Parade (1933), and Dames (1934). The year 1933 also saw the first teaming of two dancers who made an indelible impact on the musical: Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Supporting players in the RKO release Flying Down To Rio, they attracted enough attention to get their own starring vehicle, The Gay Divorcee (1934), directed by Mark Sandwich. A series of beloved RKO films followed: Roberta (1935), scored by Jerome Kern and Otto Harbor; Top Hat (1935) and Follow The Fleet (1936), both scored by Irving Berlin and directed by Sandwich; Swing Time (1936), scored by Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields and directed by George Stevens; and the Sandwich films Shall We Dance (1937), scored by George Gershwin, and Carefree (1938), scored by Irving Berlin. Working with choreographer Hermes Pan, Astaire and Rogers performed amazingly virtuoso routines with seeming effortlessness.
Both were also fine singers and skilled actors and could project elegant sophistication as persuasively as they could an endearing realness and warmth. In Big Broadcast (1932), singer Bing Crosby had his first starring role in a feature film, and his natural, laid-back style helped change the face of American popular music. Crosby crooned in numerous 39; 30 s musicals, most notably Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart 39; s Mississippi (1935), with W. C. Fields; Cole Porter 39; s Anything Goes (1936), directed by Lewis Milestone; and Double Or Nothing (1937).
A duo of singers who also captured the public imagination, despite being polar opposites to Crosby 39; s style, were Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy. The pair enjoyed great success with heavily revised adaptations of operettas such as Victor Herbert 39; s Naughty Marietta (1935), Rudolf Friml 39; s Rose Marie (1936), and Sigmund Romberg 39; s Maytime (1937). The mid 39; 30 s also saw the introduction of Judy Garland, perhaps the finest singer and actress ever to appear in American musicals. Premiering at age 13 in the MGM short Every Sunday (1935), she went on to perform in numerous successful musicals for the studio, including Broadway Melody Of 1938 (1937) and Thoroughbreds Don 39; t Cry (1937, the first of her nine appearances with Mickey Rooney). By the end of the decade, she secured stardom playing Dorothy Gale, the girl transported from Kansas to the magical Oz, in the classic fantasy The Wizard Of Oz (1939), scored by Harold Arlen and E. Y.
Hamburg. Other important musicals of the 1930 s include One Hour With You (1932) and Franz Learn 39; s The Merry Widow (1934), both directed by Ernst Lubitsch and starring Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald; Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill 39; s Die Dreigroschenoper (1931, aka The Threepenny Opera), directed by G. W. Pabst; Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein 39; s Show Boat (1936), directed by James Whale; and Fred Astaire in A Damsel In Distress (1937), scored by George Gershwin and directed by George Stevens. Busby Berkeley branched out into directing, most notably with Gold Diggers Of 1935 (1935), starring Dick Powell and Babes In Arms (1939), with Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney. Walt Disney 39; s first animated feature, Snow White And The Seven Dwarves (1938), combined humor, pathos, thrills, and songs in a formula that the Disney studios would continue to mine for over 60 years.
Musical stars worked constantly in the years of World War II. Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy made their final appearances together in Noel Coward 39; s Bitter Sweet (1940) and Rodgers and Hart 39; s I Married An Angel (1942). Disney 39; s song-filled animation produced major hits with Pinocchio (1940), Dumbo (1941), and Bambi (1942). Bing Crosby teamed with Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour for the first entries in their tuneful series of Road comedies, Road To Singapore (1940), Road To Zanzibar (1941), and Road To Morocco (1942); Crosby also won an Academy Award as 34; Best Actor 34; for his role as a singing priest in Leo Mc Carey 39; s touching Going My Way (1944). Fred Astaire continued to do first-rate work: Cole Porter 39; s Broadway Melody Of 1940 (1940); Porter 39; s You 39; ll Never Get Rich (1941) and Jerome Kern and John Mercer 39; s You Were Never Lovelier (1942), both co-starring Rita Hayworth (a superb dancer but a non-singer whose songs were always dubbed); and Holiday Inn (1942) and Blue Skies (1946), both scored by Irving Berlin and co-starring Bing Crosby. Busby Berkeley directed Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney in Strike Up The Band (1940) and Babes On Broadway (1942).
Both films featured dances staged by Broadway director Vincente Minnelli, who quickly graduated to directing at MGM with Cabin In The Sky (1943), an all-black musical featuring Lena Horne, Ethel Waters, Louis Armstrong, and Duke Ellington. Minnelli 39; s genius for the musical was revealed with one of the genre 39; s classics: Meet Me In St. Louis (1944), a nostalgic piece of Americana scored by Ralph Blaine and Hugh Martin and starring Judy Garland and Margaret O 39; Brien. The early 39; 40 s also launched the careers of some of the most beloved performers ever to appear in musicals.
The delightful Brazilian singer Carmen Miranda, who made her American film premiere in Down Argentine Way (1940), enlivened numerous 39; 40 s musicals with her bouncy, rhythmic songs and colorful, fruit-laden costumes, most notably in Springtime In The Rockies (1942) and director Busby Berkeley 39; s The Gang 39; s All Here (1943). Big-band singer Frank Sinatra began starring in musicals with Higher And Higher (1943) and Step Lively (1944). Broadway 39; s Gene Kelly made his film debut in For Me And My Gal (1942), directed by Berkeley and co-starring Judy Garland. A charismatic actor and singer and a brilliant dancer, Kelly went to on to star in Cole Porter 39; s Du Barry Was A Lady (1943); Thousands Cheer (1943), with Judy Garland, and Cover Girl (1944), with Rita Hayworth. Many tuneful biopics were also made in the 1940 s, most notably Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), directed by Michael Curtis, with James Cagney as composer / performer George M. Cohan, and The Jolson Story (1946) and its sequel, Jolson Sings Again (1949), both with Larry Parks as Al Jolson (and Jolson himself dubbing in the vocals).
Less impressive were the flurry of whitewash biographies of songwriters: Rhapsody In Blue (1946), with Robert Alda as George Gershwin; Night And Day (1946), with Cary Grant as Cole Porter; Till The Class Roll By (1946), with Robert Walker as Jerome Kern; Words And Music (1948) with Gene Kelly and Mickey Rooney as Rodgers and Hart; and Three Little Words (1950), with Fred Astaire and Red Skelton as Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby. The most striking musicals of the late 1940 s were Jerome Kern 39; s Centennial Summer (1946), directed by Otto Preminger; Billy Wilder 39; s The Emperor Waltz (1948), starring Bing Crosby; Summer Holiday (1948), directed by Rouben Mamoulian and starring Mickey Rooney; Cole Porter 39; s The Pirate (1948), directed by Vincente Minnelli and starring Gene Kelly and Judy Garland; Yolanda And The Thief (1945), starring Fred Astaire, and Ziegfeld Follies (1946), with Astaire, Gene Kelly, and Judy Garland, both directed by Minnelli; and Busby Berkeley 39; s final effort as a director, Take Me Out To The Ball Game (1949), starring Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly. That film was choreographed by Stanley Done, who had worked often with Kelly in theater and films. The two began directing and choreographing films as a team, starting with Adolph Green and Leonard Bernstein 39; s On The Town (1949). Their next collaboration was the classic Singin 39; In The Rain (1952), a satire of Hollywood in the early days of sound, in which Kelly co-starred with Debbie Reynolds and Donald O 39; Connor. Several handsome adaptations of successful Broadway musicals were made in the 1950 s.
George Sidney directed Irving Berlin 39; s Annie Get Your Gun (1950), Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein 39; s Show Boat (1951), and Cole Porter 39; s Kiss Me Kate (1953). Ethel Merman starred in two Irving Berlin hits, Call Me Madam (1953) and There 39; s No Business Like Show Business (1954). Vincente Minnelli directed Gene Kelly in Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe 39; s Brigadoon (1954), and Howard Keel in Kismet (1955). Rodgers and Hammerstein came to the screen with Oklahoma! (1955), directed by Fred Zinnemann; The King And I (1956); and South Pacific (1958), directed by Joshua Logan. Frank Sinatra starred in Frank Lesser 39; s Guys And Dolls (1955), directed by Joseph L.
Mankiewicz, and Rodgers and Hart 39; s Pal Joey (1957), with Rita Hayworth. Directors George Abbott and Stanley Done teamed up for The Pajama Game (1957), starring Doris Day, and Damn Yankees (1958), both choreographed by Bob Fosse. Most fondly remembered from this period, however, are the original film musicals. Despite studio interference, director George Cukor and writer Moss Hart made one of the genre 39; s classics with A Star Is Born (1954), giving Judy Garland the role of her career as a singer who becomes a star, while her husband, an alcoholic actor (movingly played by James Mason), descends into failure. Stanley Done directed two memorable films, the exhilarating Seven Brides For Seven Brothers (1954) and the Gershwin-scored Funny Face (1957), starring Fred Astaire. Done also had his final collaboration with Gene Kelly in It 39; s Always Fair Weather (1955); Kelly went on to direct the ambitious Invitation To The Dance (1956).
Doris Day gave outstanding performances in Calamity Jane (1953) and Love Me Or Leave Me (1955), with James Cagney. Cole Porter turned two popular films into musicals: High Society (1956), based on The Philadelphia Story, starring Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby, and Silk Stockings (1957), based on Ninotchka, directed by Rouben Mamoulian and starring Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse. Producer Stanley Kramer teamed up with children 39; s author Dr. Seuss for the delightful fantasy The 5, 000 Fingers Of Dr. T. (1953). Disney released the hit animated musicals Cinderella (1950), Peter Pan (1953), and Lady And The Tramp (1955).
Vincente Minnelli continued to direct landmark musicals: the Gershwin-scored An American In Paris (1951), starring Gene Kelly; The Band Wagon (1953), with Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse; and Lerner and Loewe 39; s Gigi (1958), with Leslie Caron and Maurice Chevalier. The 39; 50 s also saw several tuneful biopics of big-band artists: The Glenn Miller Story (1954), The Benny Goodman Story (1954), The Gene Krupa Story (1959). But swing music was on the way out, being supplanted by a new popular music of increasing importance to young people: rock and roll. In 1956, two low-budget films ushered in the rock musical: Rock Around The Clock, with Bill Haley and the Comets, and the band-laden Rock, Rock, Rock! . That same year, Elvis Presley appeared in Love Me Tender, and the 21 -year-old singer became the sub-genre 39; s reigning box-office star. He went on to star in his best work, Loving You (1957), Jailhouse Rock (1957), and King Creole (1958).
After a brief stint in the Army, he returned to movies, starring in 27 films over the 39; 60 s, most notably It Happened At The World 39; s Fair (1963) and Viva Las Vegas (1964). Other rock musicals of the 1960 s include the Dave Clark Five in Catch Us If You Can (1965, aka Having A Wild Weekend), directed by John Boorman; Sonny and Cher in Good Times (1967), directed by William Friedkin; Roy Orbison in The Fastest Guitar Alive (1968); and Bob Rafelson 39; s Head (1968), starring The Monkees. The rock-concert documentary produced such major works as Monterey Pop (1969), with Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin, and D. A. Penne baker 39; s Don 39; t Look Back (1967), with Bob Dylan.
The landmark rock musicals of the decade were two hit films directed by Richard Lester and starring The Beatles: A Hard Day 39; s Night (1964) and Help! (1965) combined humor, speed, and outstanding songs in a blend that remains irresistible to this day. As the rock musical gathered steam in the 39; 60 s, the most illustrious artists of the show musical ended their careers. Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby had their last singing roles in Sammy Cahn and James Van Heusen 39; s Robin And The Seven Hoods (1964). Busby Berkeley choreographed his final film with Rodgers and Hart 39; s Billy Rose 39; s Jumbo (1962). Judy Garland made her farewell appearance in I Could Go On Singing (1963). Fred Astaire hung up his dancing shoes after making Final 39; s Rainbow (1968) for director Francis Coppola.
The torch passed to capable but fewer hands. Barbra Streisand debuted in director William Wyler 39; s adaptation of her stage triumph, Funny Girl (1968). Julie Andrews was introduced with two major hits: Walt Disney 39; s Mary Poppins (1964) and Rodgers and Hammerstein 39; s The Sound Of Music (1965), directed by Robert Wise Choreographer Bob Fosse began directing with the inauspicious Sweet Charity (1969), starring Shirley MacLaine. The 1960 s marked the last decade of successful adaptations of Broadway musicals, with such memorable films as Lerner and Loewe 39; s My Fair Lady (1964), directed by George Cukor; Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim's West Side Story (1961), directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins; Bye Bye Birdie (1963), starring Ann-Margret; Sondheim 39; s A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum (1966), directed by Richard Lester; Frank Lesser 39; s How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying (1967), choreographed by Bob Fosse; and Lionel Bart 39; s Oliver! (1968), directed by Carol Reed. By the end of the decade, this trend was faltering, thanks to expensive flops such as Hello Dolly! (1969), directed by Gene Kelly and starring Barbra Streisand, and Lerner and Loewe 39; s Paint Your Wagon (1969), directed by Joshua Logan. Virtually all the subsequent show-musical adaptations failed to impress, artistically or financially.
The debacles include Vincente Minnelli 39; s last musical, On A Clear Day You Can See Forever (1970), starring Barbra Streisand; producer / director Norman Jewish 39; s Fiddler On The Roof (1971) and Jesus Christ Superstar (1973); Man Of La Mancha (1972), directed by Arthur Hiller; Mame (1974), starring Lucile Ball; The Wiz (1978), directed by Sidney Let; Stephen Sondheim 39; s A Little Night Music (1978), directed by Harold Prince; Hair (1979), directed by Milos Forman; Annie (1982), directed by John Huston; and A Chorus Line (1985), directed by Richard Attenborough. The only unqualified success was John Kander and Fred Ebb 39; s Cabaret (1972), directed and choreographed by Bob Fosse; this stylish, moving film made a star of Liza Minnelli, the daughter of Vincente Minnelli and Judy Garland. Original show musicals also fared badly in the 39; 70 s. Notorious flops include Blake Edwards 39; Darling Lili (1970); Lost Horizon (1973), with a score by Burt Bacharach and Hal David; Lerner and Loewe 39; s The Little Prince (1974), directed by Stanley Done; and Peter Bogdanovich 39; s Cole Porter pastiche At Long Last Love (1975). Once again, Bob Fosse scored a lone triumph with his autobiographical All That Jazz (1979).
Two stylish and ambitious musicals ran afoul of studio editing: Ken Russell 39; s Busby Berkeley-inspired version of Sandy Wilson 39; s The Boy Friend (1971), and Martin Scorsese 39; s New York, New York (1977), with a Kander and Ebb score and stars Liza Minnelli and Robert De Niro. Rock musicals in the 1970 s showed more vigor and originality, most notably Ken Russell 39; s striking adaptation of The Who 39; s rock opera Tommy (1975), starring Ann-Margret. Other memorable films include Brian De Palma 39; s horror comedy Phantom Of The Paradise (1974), scored by Paul Williams; the cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975); Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson in Frank Pierson 39; s version of A Star Is Born (1976); Bob Dylan 39; s Renaldo And Clara (1978); Grease (1978), starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John; and Rock 39; N 39; Roll High School (1979), with The Ramones. Rock-concert films include Gimme Shelter (1970), with The Rolling Stones; The Kids Are Alright (1979), with The Who; and Neil Young 39; s Rust Never Sleeps (1979).
The landmark documentaries, however, were Woodstock (1970), highlighting the epochal three-day rock festival of 1969, and The Last Waltz (1978), director Martin Scorsese 39; s account of The Band 39; s star-studded farewell concert. Popular 39; 80 s musicals include Fame (1980), directed by Alan Parker; Footloose (1982), directed by Herbert Ross; Flashdance (1983), directed by Adrian Lyne; and Purple Rain (1984), starring Prince. Most other genre efforts failed to attract audiences. Francis Coppola showed tremendous flair for the genre with two stylish musicals that were box-office flops: One From The Heart (1982), with songs by Tom Waits, and The Cotton Club (1984). Other original 39; 80 s musicals that sank without a trace include Xanadu (1980), starring Gene Kelly; Paul McCartney 39; s Give My Regards To Broad Street (1984); Carl Reiner 39; s Bert Rigby, You 39; re A Fool (1989), starring Robert Lindsay; and director Robert Wise 39; s Rooftops (1989). More successful were two musicals in which women impersonated men: Blake Edwards 39; Victor/Victoria (1982), starring Julie Andrews, and Barbra Streisand 39; s Yet (1983), scored by Alan and Marilyn Bergman and Michel Legrand.
The 1990 s saw little life in the musical, especially after costly fiascoes such as For The Boys (1991), starring Bette Midler, and Newbies (1992), with Ann-Margret. Biographies of rock stars Jim Morrison (Oliver Stone 39; s The Doors, 1991) and Tina Turner (What 39; s Love Got To Do With It, 1993) fared better, as did director Alan Parker 39; s look at an Irish band specializing in 39; 60 s soul music, The Commitments (1991). But the contemporary musical 39; s only real success story has been the Disney studios 39; animated features The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty And The Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992), and The Lion King (1994). Perhaps their success will provide the incentive for human beings to appear onscreen and once again sing and dance their way into America 39; s heart. 316
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