THE HOLLYWOOD MUSICAL.   Term Paper ID:30214 Click to get this paper

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Paper Abstract: Brief history of the genre. Conventions of early musicals (1939s, 40s, 50s); influence of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movies. Issues of form and content. Musical conventions. Techniques that shaped the narrative. Sound & image unification. Fantasy elements. Examples of film "Singin' In the Rain," the film noir miniseries "The Singing Detective" and "Pennies From Heaven." Paper Introduction: The Hollywood musical was long a staple of the film industry, at least from the beginning of the sound era to the early 1970s, and the form continues to reappear from time to time. It has fallen into disfavor in recent years because it is viewed as artificial and unrealistic, given that orchestras play where there are no orchestras and people break into song in lieu of dialogue when the mood strikes them. Filmmakers always accepted the conventions and made use of them, but with Bob Fosse's film version of Cabaret (Bob Fosse, 1972), the trend in filmmaking turned away from the conventions of the musical in the belief that audiences would no longer accept them. Cabaret presented all of its musical numbers in a naturalistic way so that they took place as they would in life--on stage, for instance, or as part of a public rally. People no longer broke Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. This istrue of Debbie Reynolds and Donald O'Connor to a degree as well. BBC. Theacting style is natural but somewhat exaggerated. (1996). The dances would also reflect thenarrative emotion of the moment as well as styles of dance from differenteras. The film has fantasy but not in the same way as the musical; itevokes romance without actually having a romantic subtext; it connectsimage and music in a way that the Hollywood musical usually does not; andit includes musical elements without being a musical itself. Singin' in the Rain. It was considered daring when Lady inthe Dark (Mitchell Leisen, 1942) expanded the form with psychologicalinsight and a somewhat darker tone than normal. Hodsdon, B. (1986). When Kellysings the title song, he is expressing his emotion after leaving Reynoldsand is doing so to the audience more than to anyone else except himself. The settings might berealistic, but there was always a strong fantasy element in the musical, asthere would have to be given that it is not realistic for people to singand dance whenever and wherever the fancy strikes them. The Singing Detective as a whole mixes realisticelements and fantasy, but this mix is more complex and profound than in theHollywood musical. The music in The Singing Detective is deliberately drawn from theera of Marlowe's childhood. Within each setting, though, the romantic comedyremained the narrative form. Sound and image were unified through rhythm in the musical numbers ifnot elsewhere in the film. His mind often reshapes events in thepresent into musical numbers evocative of Hollywood musicals and othergenre films. Actingstyles tended to be more comedy-oriented than naturalistic in keeping withthe overall tone of the musical, which fit better with people who were aslikely to break into song as to speak normally. Thenarrative would be pushed forward by faster and more energetic music whenappropriate, by romantic numbers as needed, or by some other emotionalcontent as demanded by the narrative. The Hollywood musical: a checklist NationalLibrary of Australia. These elements can be seen in the film Singin' in the Rain, a musicalcomedy that deals with the beginning of the sound era in motion pictures.The acting style fits the fairy-tale quality of the movie, which does nottry to be realistic in its portrayal of the period or the developments inthe industry and which instead tries to create an image of Hollywood in the192 s as part of the fairy tale of the waitress-turned-star. The established actress is fighting alosing battle by trying to overcome her terrible voice, and the sound erameans she will have to give up her throne as a star. These are not complexcharacters but represent types that have to be made individual enough to bereal. The Gene Kelly character is given to exaggeration in the way he dealswith people because he is an actor and is never really offstage. The Hollywood musical was long a staple of the film industry, atleast from the beginning of the sound era to the early 197 s, and the formcontinues to reappear from time to time. As the musical genre evolved it sacrificed plausibility for internal narrative logic, steadily expanding its range of narrative, visual and musical expression (Hodsdon, 1996). Of course, the younger actress really is a threat, butit is through no fault of her own. TheAmerican film Singin' in the Rain (Gene Kelly, Stanley Donen, 1952) is agood example of how the conventions were treated through most of thehistory of the musical, while the British miniseries The Singing Detective(Jon Amiel, 1986) makes a different use of some of the conventions whilestanding as a very different sort of film. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. What he sees is not a straightadaptation at all but includes memories of his childhood and elements drawnfrom years of watching films. This Marlowe is not himself a detective but haswritten detective novels, and currently he is in the hospital, sufferingfrom a terrible and painful skin malady called psoriatic arthropathy thatattacks the skin and joints. The Singing Detective. The dance became more modernistic in later musicals such as On theTown (Gene Kelly, Stanley Donen) or An American in Paris (VincenteMinnelli, 1951), where the dance itself moved the narrative forward in theway lyrics had done in the past. The narrative form is most oftenromantic comedy, and indeed it is unusual for a Hollywood musical to beanything but a romance and a comedy. Marlowe is in the process of healing, but his need to heal extendsbeyond his skin malady and includes psychological healing because ofchildhood abuse and troubles in his adult life. Sometimes it is a direct reference, as whenhis father sings "It Might as Well Be Spring" in an English pub. The female movie star with the tiny voice projects one image whenshe is acting in silent films, such as we see in the early part of thepicture, and a different image when she is seen off-screen and speaks. The fairytale element is carried through the film in every facet, from the sets andcostumes to the way the actors relate to one another and the material. References Amiel, J. It was more common for theindividual music to be differentiated by setting, whether a backstagemusical, a college musical, a military musical, or even a different sort ofsetting such as the world of baseball, filmmaking, or some otherprofessional background. In otherplaces, the music is part of a hallucination, as when the entire hospitalward sings and dances to "Dry Bones" in a deliberate parody of theHollywood musical. Cabaret presented all of its musical numbers in anaturalistic way so that they took place as they would in life--on stage,for instance, or as part of a public rally. These sequences make use of the conventions of the musical, notablyromantic elements, music and dance, a sort of false and enforced gaiety,and fantasy elements. In the miniseries The Singing Detective, the conventions of themusical intermix with the conventions of the film noir in a way that evokesboth for the viewer but that creates something quite different from eitherof these American genres. His illness and hismedication leave him semiconscious at times, and he drifts in and out ofdreams and images as he tries to create a screenplay based on one of hisbooks, seeing the film in his mind. Image tended to predominate in strictlynarrative sequences, or those between musical numbers, while soundpredominated and empowered the images in the musical numbers. Hodsdon cites a definition offered by Thomas Schatz: Rather than create a realistic--or at least plausible--world whose inhabitants find reasonable motives for breaking into song (rehearsals, shows, etc.), the music itself seems to determine the attitudes, values and demeanor of the principal characters. http://www.cinemedia.net/NLA/ musical.html. Filmmakers always acceptedthe conventions and made use of them, but with Bob Fosse's film version ofCabaret (Bob Fosse, 1972), the trend in filmmaking turned away from theconventions of the musical in the belief that audiences would no longeraccept them. The narrative was shaped by and in turn helped shape musical numbers,including the type of music used and the form of the dances performed. Throughout, the musical scenes reflect Marlowe's half-drugged and unstable mental condition, and the sons selected, oftenembodying emotional lyrics of broken hearts and lost youth, guide theviewer into Marlowe's subconscious. Hodsdon (1996) points out that the conventions of the Hollywoodmusical were formed in the Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers musicals made at RKOin the 193 s and further developed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in the 194 s andearly 195 s. Thesound of her voice has to be grating and comical without making her anyless human. Kelly, G. (1952). The tone is much darker than the musical, moreevocative of the film noir, but even then going beyond that intopsychological realism expressed through the fantasies Marlowe develops inhis mind. We have to feel some sympathy with her even as this isundercut by her rather atrocious behavior toward the aspiring actress shesees as a threat. It has fallen into disfavor inrecent years because it is viewed as artificial and unrealistic, given thatorchestras play where there are no orchestras and people break into song inlieu of dialogue when the mood strikes them. Writer Dennis Potter had used popular music in a different sortof narrative structure before with his television miniseries Pennies fromHeaven. The threeinteract in a more exaggerated fashion when they are singing or when theyare "performing" in front of a group of people, such as happens at theparty or even when they are performing for one another. The acting stylethroughout is comic and serves the needs of the musical form, a form inwhich people are likely to burst into song at a moment's notice and breakthe fourth wall to sing and speak directly to the audience. & Donen, S. People no longer broke intosong simply to express their inner feelings or to advance the plot, andmany filmmakers shied away from the musical altogether because it wasviewed as an artificial form in an increasingly naturalistic cinema. The Hollywood musical conventions include issues of form, content,and the way the two are integrated. The main character is named Marlowe, a clear reference to the detective inworks by Raymond Chandler, featured in film noir films like The Big Sleep(Howard Hawks, 1946). This is a work that is much too complex for aHollywood musical, and the musical element is only on portion of the whole. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.

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