The “Death” of the American Movie Musical

COM 329, Contemporary Film

See also:AMC’s web site on Musicals/Dance Films

The movie musical as one of the most popular genres

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)

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).

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)

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)

Factors related to the failure of the movie musical

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

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 Marni Nixon, 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.

 

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

 

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”

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 F

ace”

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

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, Petula Clark Peter O’Toole: “What a Lot of Flowers”

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”

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)

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”

And then came. . .

1. What Thomas Schatz calls the “music movie” (e.g., Saturday Night Fever, 1977)

And then came:

And then came: 2. The teen musical (e.g.,

Grease, 1978; Footloose, 1984; Dirty Dancing, 1987; High School Musical, 2006)

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

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

And then came: 5. Post-MTV musicals (e.g., Baz

Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge!, 2001, The Great Gatsby, 2013)

And then came:  6. The franchise musical

(e.g., The Producers, 2005; Hairspray, 2007)

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”

end