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Filmmusical

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Genre

Filmmusical · As soon as film could talk, it could sing too. From 1929 the studios turned out musicals at a high rate, often with songs by Broadway writers. In 42nd Street (1933), the choreographer Busby Berkeley turned rows of dancers into kaleidoscopic patterns for the camera. Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers danced to songs by Irving Berlin in Top Hat (1935). At MGM, the producer Arthur Freed built up a musical department of his own. Singin' in the Rain (1952) looks back with humour on the difficult transition to sound film. West Side Story (1961) brought Leonard Bernstein's Broadway musical to the screen, with jazz, Latin American rhythms and sharp dissonances. La La Land (2016), with music by Justin Hurwitz, pays explicit homage to this tradition.

Listening

Listening tip. Notice the moment when a spoken scene turns into song: often the orchestra is already creeping in under the dialogue before the singer begins.

In School of Rock

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See also

Categories: Genres