Musical Film
Musical films are a genre that integrates music and dance within a narrative framework, offering audiences a vibrant blend of storytelling and entertainment. Their history began in the late 1920s, with the advent of sound in cinema, leading to a golden age from the 1930s to the 1960s. Iconic films such as *The Wizard of Oz* and *Singin' in the Rain* exemplified the genre's charm during this era, featuring memorable performances by stars like Fred Astaire and Judy Garland. Although the popularity of musical films waned in the 1970s, they remained present in various forms, including animated children’s films and adaptations of Broadway productions.
In recent decades, musical films experienced a resurgence, fueled by successful projects like *Chicago* and Disney's animated features. Contemporary interpretations often blend traditional musical elements with modern storytelling techniques, yet marketing strategies sometimes downplay their musical aspects to appeal to broader audiences. Factors influencing the genre's evolution include changing audience preferences, the rise of television, and the global market for films. Despite challenges, the musical film continues to captivate diverse audiences, reflecting cultural shifts and artistic innovation.
Musical Film
Musical film has had a long and diverse history that began with the introduction of sound in the 1920s. The golden age of musicals spanned the period between 1930 and 1969, introducing such classics as Top Hat (1935), The Wizard of Oz (1939), Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), Singin’ in the Rain (1952), White Christmas (1954), and The Sound of Music. These musicals continue to delight audiences in the twenty-first century on television and are available on DVDs or through streaming services. Although the popularity of musicals began to decline in the 1970s, the musical film has never completely disappeared. However, at times, it has been relegated to animated children’s films, teen dance films (Flashdance, 1983; Footloose, 1984; Dirty Dancing, 1987), and film productions of Broadway shows like Evita (1996) or Phantom of the Opera (2004).
Brief History
One of the most popular of all film genres, musicals thrived between the 1930 and the 1960s, drawing together elements from a variety of fields and focusing on love, comedy, and family. Most musicals had happily-ever-after endings. Lavish numbers were a regular feature of early musicals, and stars such as Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Judy Garland, Shirley Temple, and Gene Kelly were allowed to shine. These films are now considered classics.
The musical film was introduced in 1927 with The Jazz Singer, a mostly silent film that showcased the singing talents of master showman Al Jolson and employed the technologies of the new Vitaphone. The first musical that fully integrated sound was MGM’s Broadway Melody (1929), which won an Academy Award for Best Picture. In the 1940s, big studios were forced to end their monopolies, and they formed partnerships with media communication giants like Western Electric and RCA. It was a time of innovation and new technologies allowed musical film to reach new heights. Audiences came to see the stars and hear the music, so plots could be recycled many times. Catalog musicals provided studios with opportunities to showcase the lives and music of particular artists such as George Gershwin in Rhapsody in Blue (1945), Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart in Words and Music (1948), and Irving Berlin in Easter Parade (1948).
The postwar years of the 1950s introduced such films as An American in Paris (1951) with Gene Kelly and White Christmas (1954) with Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney. A young Shirley Jones was featured in both Oklahoma! (1955) and Carousel (1956). The early history of sound was fictionalized in Singin’ in the Rain (1952), starring Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor, and an unknown Debbie Reynolds. South Pacific (1958) presented a relatively lighthearted look at World War II but addressed the topic of racial prejudice at a time when the civil rights movement was gaining momentum.
Throughout the 1960s, musicals continued to delight audiences with films such as West Side Story (1961), The Music Man (1962), My Fair Lady (1964), Mary Poppins (1964), The Sound of Music (1965), Camelot (1967), and Funny Girl (1968). However, audiences were becoming more cynical in the wake of Watergate and Vietnam. Teen musicals of the 1970s employed pop music forms ranging from the disco of Saturday Night Fever (1977) starring John Travolta, to the rock-and-roll of Grease (1978) with Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. Films such as Jesus Christ Superstar (1973) and All That Jazz (1979) reflected the angst of the period. In 1974, the release of That’s Entertainment, a retrospective of fifty years of MGM musicals, was considered to eulogize a dying genre.
Musical Film Today
By the 1980s, the musical film was somewhat prematurely considered obsolete. Two popular musicals of the period showcased comedic talents from Saturday Night Live and Second City: Blues Brothers (1980) and Little Shop of Horrors (1986). In 1989, Disney released The Little Mermaid and followed that up with Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992), and The Lion King (1994). While intended for young audiences, these musical animated films also found fans among the young at heart; and the films were all turned into successful Broadway plays. Disney announced in 2014 that Beauty and the Beast would be made into live action movie starring Emma Watson as Belle. The 1990s were not kind to musicals, and For the Boys (1991), Newsies (1992), and Swing Kids (1993) were all considered epic box office failures.
The twenty-first century saw a renewed interest in the musical film, and television was significant in bringing about this change through offerings such as the High School Musical series (2006–2008) and Glee (2009–2015), which featured a high school glee club singing songs that ranged from Broadway hits to those of Brittney Spears and Lady Gaga. Josh Whedon’s musical episode, "Once More with Feeling" (2001), for Buffy the Vampire Slayer is now considered a classic. Such successes led to films such as Across the Universe 2007, which was set in the Vietnam era and featured Beatles songs, and Pitch Perfect (2012), which focused on a competition between all-female and all-male singing groups.
The success of Chicago (2002), which grossed $2.1 million in its first weekend with only limited release, hinted at the rebirth of musical film. Chicago went on to win Best Picture and Best Supporting Actress for Catherine Zeta-Jones and grossed a total of $170,687,518. Jukebox musicals such as the cabaret-style Moulin Rouge! (2001) and the feel-good Mamma Mia! (2008) raised hopes of a musical revival.
Nevertheless, contemporary filmmakers have begun downplaying the fact that their films are musicals. For instance, the trailer for the motion picture version of Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods (2014), a remake of familiar fairy tales, contains no singing. Even remakes of well-known musicals such as Annie (2014) were not promoted as musicals. Despite the popularity of the Frozen soundtrack (2013) and the release of a sing-along edition of the film, Disney never promoted Frozen as an animated musical. Marketers of Les Misérables (2012) chose to emphasize its authenticity, announcing that the music was recorded live and did not depend on pre-recording or overdubbing. With its dark story line, which focuses on such themes as poverty and prostitution, the film was not a typical musical. It ultimately grossed $148,809,770.
Film scholars and historians have dedicated significant time to explaining the decline of the musical film. Over the course of the 1950s, American families began buying televisions in large numbers, and the variety show brought stars and their music into homes for free. Some scholars suggest that musical film is considered passé because it is so heavily associated with female audiences and the gay community that heterosexual males often boycott them. Others point out that contemporary audiences are disinclined to accept the fact that characters frequently burst into song, insisting that music detracts from the action taking place in the film. It has also been suggested that the dislike of traditional musicals is a byproduct of the MTV era, which introduced slick and often explicitly sexual music videos. Studios are also mindful of the need to sell films abroad, and American musicals are not always popular abroad.
Bibliography
Barrios, Richard. A Song in the Dark: The Birth of the Musical Film. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford UP, 2010. Print.
Bartlett, Myke. "A Gleeful Art Goes Back to Black: Les Misérables and the Modern Musical." Screen Education 69 (Autumn 2013): 28–37. Print.
Biesen, Sheri Chinen. Music in the Shadows: Noir Musical Films. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 2014 Print.
Cohan, Steven, ed. Hollywood Musicals, The Film Reader. New York: Routledge, 2002. Kindle file.
Garcia, Desirée. The Migration of Musical Film: From Ethnic Margins to American Mainstream. New Brunswick: Rutgers UP, 2014. Print.
Hischak, Thomas S. Through the Screen Door: What Happened to the Broadway Musical When It Went To Hollywood. Lanham: Scarecrow, 2004. Print.
Kennedy, Matthew. Roadshow! The Fall of Film Musicals in the 1960s. New York: Oxford UP, 2013. Print.
Knight, Arthur. Disintegrating the Musical: Black Performance and American Musical Film. Durham: Duke UP, 2002. Print.