Classic Movie Musical
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The Golden Age Hollywood studio musical — the tuxedoed, Technicolor product of the great song factories, built on the American Songbook, tap and ballroom dance, and playback perfection. The sound is a lush studio orchestra with big-band swing, legit and crooning voices, and orchestrations by house arrangers designed for maximum sheen. Numbers alternate romantic duets, comic specialties and grand production ensembles, and the mood is optimistic escapism honed for the mid-century mass audience. Signature craft includes pre-recorded playback with dance shot to it, the dream ballet, and integrated numbers pioneered by the Freed Unit.
History
After the 1929 novelty boom, the studio musical matured through the swing era and reached its artistic zenith at MGM under producer Arthur Freed and directors Vincente Minnelli and Stanley Donen, with Fox, Warner Bros. and Paramount running their own units. Standards by the Gershwins, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter and Rodgers and Hammerstein filled pictures like Meet Me in St. Louis, Easter Parade, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and An American in Paris. Rising production costs and changing tastes ended the studio system's musical output by the late 1960s, but the classic era's craft — and its stars Kelly, Astaire and Garland — set the permanent standard for the form.
Defining artists
Essential listening
- Puttin' on the Ritz(1946) — Fred AstaireSpotifyYouTube
- The Trolley Song(1944) — Judy GarlandSpotifyYouTube
- Time After Time(1947) — Frank SinatraSpotifyYouTube
- Bless Your Beautiful Hide(1954) — Howard KeelSpotifyYouTube
- Shakin' the Blues Away(1948) — Ann MillerSpotifyYouTube
- I Got Rhythm(1951) — Gene KellySpotifyYouTube
Sources
- Hugh Fordin, The World of Entertainment: Hollywood's Greatest Musicals (1975)
- Rick Altman, The American Film Musical (1987)
- Clive Hirschhorn, The Hollywood Musical (1981)