Musical+Film

=Musical Film ('Movie Musicals')=

The idea of a musical, in particular a movie musical, is one where the characters sing songs that play a part of the movie narrative. There are some in which the entire movie may well pretty much sung, while other, like most, where the character simply break out into song after some dialogue and the songs sung become part of the dialogue.

The musical film became popularized by the film industry's transition from silent film to sound film ('talkies'). Perhaps they were fascinated with the technology of sound films that they wanted to exploit every aspect of it. Essentially, why just talk, when we can even sing?!

The 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s were considered the golden era of musical film, because this was when the popularity of this film genre was at its highest. The more notable musicals include Singing in the Rain, The Wizard of Oz, and an American in Paris. There were certainly many more and these films won plenty of acclaim and awards. Notable stars of musical film include, Judy Garland, Ginger Rogers, Fred Astaire, and even members of the famous singing group The Rat Pack, such as, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr.

Since the 50s, the popularity of the musical decline, most like due to the cultural changes in tastes and music, and possibly due to the rise in popularity of Sci-Fi genre. Many of the musicals done after the golden era were only adaptations of successful stage productions, such as The King and I and the Sound of Music. Occasionally, a film, considered a musical, would have some success and receive acclaim, for example, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, which starred Gene Wilder. Also right from the beginning till now, the most consistently successful musicals have been children's films, in particular Disney films.

Also, comedic genius and parodist, Mel Brooks, in many of his movies, has included a few musical numbers, not only as a parody of musicals themselves but to show his admiration of the golden era in particular.

Recently the popularity of the has experienced somewhat of an upward trend, with the releases of such movies adapted from the stage, such as Chicago, Rent, The Phantom of the Opera, and The Producers. Soon to be released are Hairspray (2007) and Dreamgirls (Dec 25 2006), which has already received great acclaim in early viewings.

More notable are The Producers, which as a musical has won a record breaking/making 12 Tony awards, and it's on screen adaptation, was quite well done, but the consensus among critics was that it was better on stage. The Producers: movie musical, is a film produced by Mel Brooks himself, which had the famous tagline, 'the movie musical, based on a broadaway musical, based on a movie [1968 comedy The Producers also by Brooks] about making a musical'. This film is quite funny, the songs a fun and catchy, and the acting is great.



Another notable film is The Phantom of the Opera, which is broadway's longest running musical. This film, itself was a spectacle to watch. The sets, art design, costumes and music itself, is beautiful and captivating. This is highly recommended.

Some of the best musical movies come from Bollywood in India. Bollywood began movies in the early 1900s, and is the biggest producer of films today; even larger than Hollywood.

Hopefully this resurgence in popularity for this movie genre continues, because for those who dont have $100 a ticket to pay to watch on stage, watching in the movie theatre, though not as involving, still is a great experience in itself.

Musical Film. __Wikipedia.__ Dec. 6th, 2006. __http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_film__ 2006.__ The Producers Image. __http://www.mcnblogs.com/theawardsblog/archives/The%20Producers%20Soundtrack%20Cover.jpg__ The Phantom of the Opera image.__ http://www.virgin.net/movies/wallpapers/images/phantom_800.jpg__ Singing in the Rain image.__ http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/insideindies/favoritefilms/images/singingintherain.jpg