All that jazz -- Everything's been done before -- Where do they come from (and where do they go?) -- Seeing's believing -- People from Jolson to Justin in 85 years -- The art of the possible -- Music makes me -- Music makes me -- With plenty of money -- I get the neck of the chicken -- Turn on the heat -- Painting the clouds: Snow White, South Park, and other ways to animate a musical -- Under my skin: musicals musicals and race, musicals and sexuality -- Put 'em in a box -- Epilogue : Dream dancing.
Summary:
Insightful, witty, as exuberant as its subject matter, this book offers a fresh, revolutionary take on a uniquely American institution: the movie musical. In a book that is at once history, analysis, investigation, and meditation, noted film historian Richard Barrios takes on the entire musical spectrum, from Al Jolson and The Broadway Melody to hip-hop and Les MiseĢrables. Over nine decades, the musical film has been a cornerstone of the entertainment world, yet its existence has been more erratic that any other type of film. Barrios delves deep into the genre, uncovering what makes it a commercially and artistically successful art form that, despite falling in and out of favor with the American public, has a firm and enduring hold on the American cultural imagination.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.