COM 329, Contemporary Film

1. COM 329, Contemporary Film The “Death” of the American Movie Musical See also: AMC’s web site on Musicals/Dance Films

2. The movie musical as one of the most popular genres

3. 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)

4. 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).

5. 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)

6. 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)

7. Factors related to the failure of the movie musical

8. 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

9. 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 MarniNixon, 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.

10. 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

11. 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”

12. 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 Face”

13. 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

14. 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, PetulaClark • Peter O’Toole: “What a Lot of Flowers”

15. 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”

16. 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)

17. 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”

18. And then came. . .

19. And then came: • 1. What Thomas Schatz calls the “music movie” (e.g., Saturday Night Fever, 1977)

20. And then came: • 2. The teen musical (e.g., Grease, 1978; Footloose, 1984; Dirty Dancing, 1987; High School Musical, 2006)

21. 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

22. 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

23. And then came: • 5. Post-MTV musicals (e.g., BazLuhrmann’sMoulin Rouge!, 2001, The Great Gatsby, 2013)

24. And then came: • 6. The franchise musical (e.g., The Producers, 2005; Hairspray, 2007)

25. 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”

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