Oxford Guides to Film Musicals – serie

In this Oxford Guide to Film Musicals, renowned author Geoffrey Block introduces scholars, students, and general readers to a remarkable musical film, Love Me Tonight (1932), which has enjoyed considerably high esteem but remains less familiar than other acknowledged classics of its era. Individual chapters are devoted to the work's genesis and development of the screenplay, the songs and instrumental music, the role censorship has played in the history of the film, and the film's reception from its time to the modern day. The topics are informed by extensive archival holdings in several major library collections, as well as from the indispensable resources housed at the Paramount Studio archives. This Guide allows more space for the musical, literary, and dramatic dimensions that have received less emphasis in previous film studies and sheds new light on why Love Me Tonight is worthy of critical attention and respect.

In this Oxford Guide to Film Musicals, renowned author Geoffrey Block introduces scholars, students, and general readers to a remarkable musical film, Love Me Tonight (1932), which has enjoyed considerably high esteem but remains less familiar than other acknowledged classics of its era. Individual chapters are devoted to the work's genesis and development of the screenplay, the songs and instrumental music, the role censorship has played in the history of the film, and the film's reception from its time to the modern day. The topics are informed by extensive archival holdings in several major library collections, as well as from the indispensable resources housed at the Paramount Studio archives. This Guide allows more space for the musical, literary, and dramatic dimensions that have received less emphasis in previous film studies and sheds new light on why Love Me Tonight is worthy of critical attention and respect.

In this Oxford Guide to Film Musicals, author Hannah Lewis gives readers fascinating new insights into the development, style, and reception of the 2016 film musical La La Land. Directed by Damien Chazelle with music by Justin Hurwitz, the film tells the story of a romance between an aspiring actress and jazz pianist as the two pursue their dreams in Los Angeles. It uses a vintage form to tell a modern story and its blend of nostalgia and realism made it an instant classic even as it prompted a range of critical and audience responses. Drawing on extensive personal interviews with director Damien Chazelle, composer Justin Hurwitz, choreographer Mandy Moore, and lyricists Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, the book explores La La Land's aesthetic approach to the film musical genre, particularly its engagement with and subversion of the classic Hollywood musical's stylistic and narrative expectations. Lewis offers readers ways of listening to the film's depiction of jazz, focusing especially on how race and genre intersect in its narrative. She also reveals new insights into the film's reception, showing how the critical response from its premiere to its place at the Academy Awards reflected broader cultural expectations and understandings of the film musical and its continued appeal for twenty-first century audiences. By exploring the range of stylistic and cultural debates that La La Land prompted, this book gives readers new ways of thinking about the film musical genre's enduring and evolving place in contemporary American culture.

The classic film musical Singin' in the Rain combines a streamlined 1920s storyline with vivid characters, memorable wisecracks and comedy, romance, riveting dancing, beautiful musical arrangements, gorgeous sets, props, and costumes, and virtuosic camera work. It is one of the few films esteemed by arthouse critics that also regularly turns up on lists of the best films for children. But this simply told, safely portrayed modern fairy tale is not simplistic. It is a social satire with a point of view on human nature and morality-what screenwriter Betty Comden called “a deep thread of real feeling.” In this Oxford Guide to Film Musicals, author Andrew Buchman traces the film's genesis and analyzes the music and dance that make Singin' in the Rain Gene Kelly's best-known work, in the process examining the modern scholarship and new artwork the film has inspired.

In this Oxford Guide to Film Musicals, author Hannah Lewis gives readers fascinating new insights into the development, style, and reception of the 2016 film musical La La Land. Directed by Damien Chazelle with music by Justin Hurwitz, the film tells the story of a romance between an aspiring actress and jazz pianist as the two pursue their dreams in Los Angeles. It uses a vintage form to tell a modern story and its blend of nostalgia and realism made it an instant classic even as it prompted a range of critical and audience responses. Drawing on extensive personal interviews with director Damien Chazelle, composer Justin Hurwitz, choreographer Mandy Moore, and lyricists Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, the book explores La La Land's aesthetic approach to the film musical genre, particularly its engagement with and subversion of the classic Hollywood musical's stylistic and narrative expectations. Lewis offers readers ways of listening to the film's depiction of jazz, focusing especially on how race and genre intersect in its narrative. She also reveals new insights into the film's reception, showing how the critical response from its premiere to its place at the Academy Awards reflected broader cultural expectations and understandings of the film musical and its continued appeal for twenty-first century audiences. By exploring the range of stylistic and cultural debates that La La Land prompted, this book gives readers new ways of thinking about the film musical genre's enduring and evolving place in contemporary American culture.