Hollywood Musicals Year By Year

A chronologically arranged reference book on the Hollywood musical, with each entry including pertinent facts about a film and a brief essay about the plot and production. Includes hundreds of black & white stills.

Irresistible and authoritative, The Movie Musical! is an in-depth look at the singing, dancing, happy-making world of Hollywood musicals, beautifully illustrated in color and black-and-white--an essential text for anyone who's ever laughed, cried, or sung along at the movies. Leading film historian Jeanine Basinger reveals, with her trademark wit and zest, the whole story of the Hollywood musical--in the most telling, most incisive, most detailed, most gorgeously illustrated book of her long and remarkable career. From Fred Astaire, whom she adores, to La La Land, which she deplores, Basinger examines a dazzling array of stars, strategies, talents, and innovations in the history of musical cinema. Whether analyzing a classic Gene Kelly routine, relishing a Nelson-Jeanette operetta, or touting a dynamic hip hop number (in the underrated Idlewild), she is a canny and charismatic guide to the many ways that song and dance have been seen--and heard--on film. With extensive portraits of everyone from Al Jolson, the Jazz Singer; to Doris Day, whose iconic sunniness has overshadowed her dramatic talents; from Deanna Durbin, that lovable teen-star of the '30s and '40s; to Shirley T. and Judy G.; from Bing to Frank to Elvis; from Ann Miller to Ann-Margret; from Disney to Chicago . . . focusing on many beloved, iconic films (Top Hat; Singin' in the Rain; Meet Me in St. Louis; The Sound of Music) as well as unduly obscure gems (Eddie Cantor's Whoopee!; Murder at the Vanities; Sun Valley Serenade; One from the Heart), this book is astute, informative, and pure pleasure to read.

Stage Performances.

34 favorites from the very first musicals including The Jazz Singer, 42nd Street, Anything Goes, Showboat, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and more. Songs include: Forty-Second Street * I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm * I've Got You Under My Skin * Isn't It Romantic * Let Yourself Go * The Merry Widow Waltz * My Mammy * Smoke Gets in Your Eyes * Someday My Prince Will Come * Thanks for the Memory * and more.

As Hollywood entered the sound era, it was rightly determined that the same public fascinated by the novelty of the talkie would be dazzled by the spectacle of a song and dance film. In 1929 and 1930, film musicals became the industry's most lucrative genre--until the greedy studios almost killed the genre by glutting the market with too many films that looked and sounded like clones of each other. From the classy movies such as Sunnyside Up and Hallelujah! to failures such as The Lottery Bride and Howdy Broadway, this filmography details 171 early Hollywood musicals. Arranged by subgenre (backstagers, operettas, college films, and stage-derived musical comedies), the entries include studio, release date, cast and credits, running time, a complete song list, any recordings spawned by the film, Academy Award nominations and winners, and availability on video or laserdisc. These data are followed by a plot synopsis, including analysis of the film's place in the genre's history. Includes over 90 photographs.

Great songs from the famous 1940's musicals such as Fantasia, Birth of the Blues, Holiday Inn, Yankee Doodle Dandy, Meet Me in St. Louis, Going My Way, and more. 33 songs, including: Be a Clown * Happy Holiday * In the Still of the Night * The Lady Is a Tramp * Meet Me in St. Louis, Louis * St. Louis Blues * Yankee Doodle Boy (a/k/a I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy) * and more.

A year-by-year breakdown of American movie musicals is illustrated by black-and-white stills and includes information on each film's plot and a listing of actors, songs, and composers