The Musical
The history of cinema is filled with many genres, some of which I abhor. Take the genre horror. Those movies give me nightmares. Yet, some love the suspense, payoff, and thrill of blood spattering everywhere. I find it distasteful at best.
Music has been my life as long as I can remember. How convenient then that I was introduced to musical theater when I was eight years old. My first play was Meredith Wilson’s “The Music Man” in an off Broadway production in 1960. As I grew, my interest segued from the stage to the screen, hungering for bigger orchestras, larger casts, and giant size sets upon which large chorus numbers were played in gargantuan terms. Needless to say, size does matter.
Outside of the most cultured form of “musical”, Opera, I fell hopelessly in love with musical film. Granted, by today’s standards, the musical looks like a lot of silly prancing around phony sets with heavily made up actors doing lousy schtick. Still, there are some moments in the musical film, which can be considered memorable, both for their music and their art.
Here then is my contribution to a long lost genre that will never be again, but is a fading memory of a time that once was…
1. The Red Shoes – The Red Shoes is more like a ballet with music than a musical in the strict definition, but to me, this film is the epitome of dance, acting, and music as a combined art form. The picture of Moira Shearer in those Red Shoes will forever be engraved in my memory. The lush Technicolor hues, the brilliant direction by Michael Powell (The Black Narcissus), Jack Cardiff’s incredible camera work (The African Queen), the outstanding orchestrations by Brian Easdale, (Sir Thomas Beecham conducted “The Ballet”) and finally, the concise dancing by Sir Robert Helpmann (Tales of Hoffmann) make this film one of the most unique musical experiences to ever grace the silver screen. Nominated for five Academy Awards including Best Picture (winning Art Direction and Scoring), The Red Shoes is one of the finest films ever made, let alone a musical film left to rot in a forgotten genre.
2. An American In Paris – Vincent Minnelli had many successes in his long career, Gigi was certainly one of them. However, An American in Paris went one step further into the realm of art for the sake of art. Transcribing the famous George Gershwin score into a dance ballet was the most difficult parts of this film for principle star, choreographer, and the director of the ballet sequence, Gene Kelly (done without Minnelli on the set!). Creating the convoluted plot to revolve around this great work of art was the MGM studio machine that put Kelly into one of the worst story lines ever thought up. It is to Kelly’s credit that the ballet is so engrossing, we can forgive the filmmakers for creating such a silly intro to such a magnificent middle of the film.
3. Singing in the Rain – Stanley Donan was wise to allow Kelly to direct many of the sequences of Singing in the Rain. After all, Kelly had only two years before elevated the musical “dance” to an art form with American in Paris, which was voted Best Picture of the Year by the Academy. Now Kelly and Donan, along with script writers Betty Comden and Adolf Green, wanted to poke fun at the genre and Hollywood in general, combining art (like the Broadway Melody sequence) with humor (“Make ‘em laugh”). The formula has never again been repeated with such finesse as in this film. Even people who hate musicals, love Singing in the Rain. Now available in a very special edition DVD (which has many more facts than I’d care to repeat here), one can truly appreciate how talented these actors were who used song and dance to tell their stories.
4. Oliver – British cinema has contributed some of the greatest images in the history of film, but in the musical genre, none is greater than Oliver. As a very good friend of mine from the Hollywood Reporter once said, “You can sit and watch best picture films all night, but when they finally get around to showing “Consider Yourself”, from ‘Oliver’ hold on to your seat. You’re about to take the ride of your life!” Carol Reed’s adaptation of the Lionel Bart play, taken from the novel by Charles Dickens, is about as gritty and down to earth as musicals get. But the music rings true, and just as Reed did with “The Third Man”, he creates a different vision for the musical film that puts his unique stamp on the genre and makes his lasting contribution.
5. Mary Poppins – I chose Mary Poppins instead of My Fair Lady, because this is the performance that should have been but never was. Jack Warner was a fool not to sign Julie Andrews to play Liza Dolittle. No matter what anyone says about Audrey Hepburn, she was miscast and out of her league to play that part. Julie had done it for years in New York and London. She would have been perfect. Those who saw her will only have their memories taken to the grave. All we have left from that era is Mary Poppins. Andrews is practically perfect in every way, just like Poppins. Thank goodness, Walt Disney saw that. For her brilliant work, she was very deservedly given the Oscar for Best Actress and launched a career that still made her shine at the 2004 Academy Award Ceremony. That said, it leads us to her next performance and perhaps, her best…
6. The Sound of Music – While Mary Martin is a fine stage actress, she does not translate to film the way Julie Andrews did. Martin did Maria on Broadway for nearly two years, but she was much too old for the Robert Wise production that did not come until years later. After her tour de force display in Poppins, it was only natural that Julie play this part. The rest is musical history. This film made more money than any other musical film (based on the dollars from the time, Evita making more in 1990’s dollars), and for good reason. It is simply perfection, sheer perfection. The Richard Rogers score is flawless, flowing with such a waltzing beauty that one is lifted up out of the seat and carried away on cumulous clouds. Andrews plays the ingenue so well that the part casts a shadow over the rest of her struggling career. For she made such a strong impression with this part, from then on fans always see her as Maria.
7. Broadway Melody of 1940 – There are far too many movie musicals from the “Black and White” era, however, none really stand out as an art form the way this film does. For Eleanor Powell, this film was the crowning glory to a long list of achievements she had made during the decade of the 1930’s. From the advent of sound, the musical took its place next to many of the new struggling genres. It held it’s own for years until 1970, when it died a quick and painful death after “Hello Dolly” flopped and almost bankrupt the entire Hollywood community. However, this film took place when Fred Astair and Eleanor Powell, two of the best tap dancers to ever be filmed (except for perhaps the Nicholas Brothers), were at the top of their game. The athleticism demonstrated is astounding to watch. It almost takes the breath away. I wanted to run up on the set and offer both dancers a foot soak and Band-Aids, for surly they danced until the skin came off their feet!
8. Top Hat – Of the early RKO films with Ginger Rogers, this film was the most successful and probably the most famous. Top Hat also brought the whole musical genre into another realm, that of art. For the first time in cinema, the role of choreographer was recognized as vital to a production. Although Mark Sandrich directed, it was the dance of Hermes Pan which made Top Hat the elegant and wonderful film it is to watch. Great songs by Irving Berlin and some wonderful humor from writer Dwight Taylor (who also wrote the story) are the added touches that transform this film from just one of the many “B” musicals made then, into the classic it has become.
9. Funny Girl – As many of you know, I am a huge fan of William Wyler. I love all his films; they are brilliantly executed, and this film is no exception. Now add Harry Stradling, Jr.’s soft photography and Jule Stynes incomparable score and anyone could have made Fanny Brice look good… or could they? I would have to say that Barbara Streisand took the entertainment business by storm, and we are all still feeling the effects of that whirlwind. Her first performance on film earned her the only Best Actress tie with Katie Hepburn. How that happened only heaven knows. Barbara’s is the voice that all modern singers try to emulate to this day. She finishes the film with a slam-dunk, home run, fireworks end that ranks the finest of any actor in any musical film. That’s all folks.
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