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Apollo Theatre (film)

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Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate "production numbers".

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151-507: Apollo Theatre (Spanish: Teatro Apolo is a 1950 Spanish musical film directed by Rafael Gil and starring Jorge Negrete , María de los Ángeles Morales and Juan Espantaleón . It takes its title from the Teatro Apolo in Madrid . This article related to a Spanish film of the 1950s is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about a musical film

302-625: A Bollywood-style song-and-dance number during the film's end credits, Tallika (2022) was the first movie with Maximum Genres of Music Composed by Maharaja and registered as a World Record Holder in Music, Spain has a history and tradition of musical films that were made independent of Hollywood influence. The first films arise during the Second Spanish Republic of the 1930s and the advent of sound films . A few zarzuelas (Spanish operetta ) were even adapted as screenplays during

453-692: A New York-bound fruit steamer . At three years old, Minnelli made his debut stage performance portraying Little Willie in East Lynne , alongside his mother performing dual roles as Lady Isabel and Madame Vine. During the performance, Minnelli broke character when his character was supposed to have died. His family moved to Delaware, Ohio , where he spent the first three years of high school at St. Mary's. Since St. Mary's had no twelfth grade, he spent his last year at Willis High School [1] in Delaware , graduating at 16 years of age. There, he appeared in

604-467: A Sixpence , The Happiest Millionaire , Star! , Darling Lili , Goodbye, Mr. Chips , Paint Your Wagon , Song of Norway , On a Clear Day You Can See Forever , 1776 , Man of La Mancha , Lost Horizon , and Mame . Collectively and individually these failures affected the financial viability of several major studios. In the 1970s, film culture and the changing demographics of filmgoers placed greater emphasis on gritty realism, while

755-446: A black surrealist musical comedy, with Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart composing the score. Both men collaborated with David Freeman on the script, but Saroyan exited the project. During the spring of 1940, Harburg brought Arthur Freed into Minnelli's studio on East 54th Street. Minnelli remembered, "Then Arthur Freed came to see me at my studio and convinced me to come to MGM to do the kind of thing that I liked, you know?" After

906-772: A career spanning over half a century, he is best known for his sophisticated innovation and artistry in musical films . As of 2024 , six of his films have been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry . Minnelli made his stage debut as an actor in a production of East Lynne , staged by the Minnelli Brothers' Tent Theater (co-founded by his father and paternal uncle). After graduating from high school, he worked as an apprentice window designer at Marshall Field's department store in Chicago . There, he attended

1057-406: A contract to produce and direct films. Although he was initially reluctant, Minnelli accepted the offer and was paid $ 2,500 a week. His first project was Times Squares , a mystery film set on Broadway. Leo Birinski was hired to write the script, with the plot detailing characters venturing throughout various musical numbers from Broadway shows to piece together vital clues. Minnelli also proposed

1208-551: A directing job by Lee Shubert for his stage company. Despite the offer, Minnelli continued working for Radio City Music Hall until he left in April 1935. After months of considering, he joined Shubert's organization, signing a contract to produce three musical shows over eighteen months. Minnelli was handed his first directorial project titled At Home Abroad , with music composed by Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz . Starring Beatrice Lillie , Ethel Waters , and Eleanor Powell ,

1359-507: A discussion, Minnelli agreed to be paid $ 300 a week. On April 2, 1940, Minnelli began working for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In 1941, he did minor consulting work, which included critiquing Norman Z. McLeod 's Lady Be Good (1941) and advising Pandro Berman to change the beginning of Rio Rita (1942). Sometime later, McLeod had filmed Panama Hattie (1942) but received lackluster responses during test screenings. In reaction, Freed hired Roy Del Ruth to film reshoots and Minnelli to direct

1510-479: A few dramas) included their own musical numbers. The Marx Brothers ' films included a musical number in nearly every film, allowing the Brothers to highlight their musical talents. Their final film, entitled Love Happy (1949), featured Vera-Ellen , considered to be the best dancer among her colleagues and professionals in the half century. Similarly, the vaudevillian comedian W. C. Fields joined forces with

1661-408: A few well-received films, but even their popularity waned by 1932. The public had quickly come to associate color with musicals and thus the decline in their popularity also resulted in a decline in color productions. The taste in musicals revived again in 1933 when director Busby Berkeley began to enhance the traditional dance number with ideas drawn from the drill precision he had experienced as

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1812-558: A live audience were watching. In a sense, the viewer becomes the diegetic audience, as the performer looks directly into the camera and performs to it. With the advent of sound in the late 1920s, musicals gained popularity with the public and are exemplified by the films of Busby Berkeley , a choreographer known for his distinctive and elaborate set pieces featuring multiple showgirls. These lavish production numbers are typified by his choreographic work in 42nd Street , Gold Diggers of 1933 , Footlight Parade (all from 1933). During

1963-526: A musical and India producing the most movies in the world (formed in 1913), the first Bollywood film to be a complete musical, Dev D (directed by Anurag Kashyap ), came in 2009. The second musical film to follow was Jagga Jasoos (directed by Anurag Basu ), in 2017. Bollywood musicals have their roots in the traditional musical theatre of India , such as classical Indian musical theatre , Sanskrit drama , and Parsi theatre . Early Bombay filmmakers combined these Indian musical theatre traditions with

2114-531: A musical during their honeymoon. The story tells of Manuela, a local Caribbean woman, who daydreams of the pirate Macoco, better known as Mack the Black. She is unknowingly engaged to him, now identifying as Don Pedro, the portly and elderly village mayor. Serafin, a traveling actor, roleplays as the pirate to win Manuela's affection. Freed initially resisted the idea but reluctantly agreed to produce it after reading

2265-725: A renaissance of the genre. The Guru and The 40-Year-Old Virgin also feature Indian-style song-and-dance sequences; the Bollywood musical Lagaan (2001) was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film ; two other Bollywood films Devdas (2002) and Rang De Basanti (2006) were nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language ; and Danny Boyle 's Academy Award winning Slumdog Millionaire (2008) also features

2416-518: A romantic and professional interest in Jerry. Meanwhile, Jerry romances Lise Bouvier ( Leslie Caron ), a young teen engaged to Henri Baurel ( Georges Guétary ), a friend of Jerry's. Filming began on August 1, 1950 at the MGM studios, though production was halted on September 15 to prepare for the ballet sequence. Minnelli left to direct another film, Father's Little Dividend (1951), the sequel to Father of

2567-489: A scandalous affair. Upon its release, critics praised the film's seedy depiction of Hollywood and the performances from the cast, most particularly Douglas, Turner and Gloria Grahame . The scene of Georgina's emotional breakdown inside a moving vehicle was highlighted. At the 1953 Academy Awards , The Bad and the Beautiful was nominated for six Oscars, winning five including Grahame for Best Supporting Actress . At

2718-720: A school production of H.M.S. Pinafore and starred in The Fortune Hunter at the Delaware Opera House. Following his high school graduation, Minnelli moved to Chicago, where he lived briefly with his maternal grandmother Le Beau and his aunt Amy. In search for a job, Minnelli took his portfolio of watercolor paintings to the Marshall Field's department store . Arthur Valair Fraser, the store's display director, reviewed his portfolio and hired him immediately as an apprentice window dresser . There,

2869-519: A show-biz plot about two sisters competing for a charming song-and-dance man. Advertised by MGM as the first "All-Talking, All-Singing, All-Dancing" feature film, it was a hit and won the Academy Award for Best Picture for 1929. There was a rush by the studios to hire talent from the stage to star in lavishly filmed versions of Broadway hits. The Love Parade (Paramount 1929) starred Maurice Chevalier and newcomer Jeanette MacDonald , written by Broadway veteran Guy Bolton . Warner Brothers produced

3020-418: A soldier during World War I . In films such as 42nd Street and Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933), Berkeley choreographed a number of films in his unique style. Berkeley's numbers typically begin on a stage but gradually transcend the limitations of theatrical space: his ingenious routines, involving human bodies forming patterns like a kaleidoscope, could never fit onto a real stage and the intended perspective

3171-533: A string of successes with live action fantasy adaptations of several of their animated features , Disney produced a live action version of Beauty and the Beast , the first of this live action fantasy adaptation pack to be an all-out musical, and features new songs as well as new lyrics to both the Gaston number and the reprise of the title song. Bill Condon , who directed Dreamgirls , directed Beauty and

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3322-406: A surrealist ballet featuring Paramount's contract actors, and held conversations with Kurt Weill about a potential musical film. Minnelli discussed the project with Adolph Zukor , the head of Paramount, but he was uninterested; discussions with William LeBaron , the studio's head of production, did not move the project forward. Meanwhile, Minnelli proposed the title Shall We Dance (1937) to

3473-425: A tabletop, while George Pal provided the stop motion animation of the musicians made of fruit. During filming, Minnelli met Garland, who had just turned 18 years old, for the first time. Minnelli subsequently worked on Busby Berkeley 's Babes on Broadway (1941), which also starred Rooney and Garland, for the "Ghost Theater" sequence. Minnelli suggested they imitate veteran Broadway stars, but Berkeley rejected

3624-538: A team of Tin Pan Alley lyricists. The show premiered on Christmas Day 1936 and ran for 237 performances during its initial run. A reprise opened in September 1937 and played for two weeks. Based on his Broadway success, Hollywood had taken notice of Minnelli as a rising director. Samuel Goldwyn tentatively approached Minnelli to direct The Goldwyn Follies (1938), and in 1937, Paramount Pictures offered him

3775-500: A treatment. To replicate the success of For Me and My Gal (1942), Gene Kelly was cast to reunite his pairing with Garland. On December 27, 1946, a recording session with Garland had to be cancelled due to her illness. Due to Garland's frequent absences, filming did not begin until February 1947. Out of 135 days for rehearsals, filming and reshoots, Garland was absent for 99. After a preview in October, Minnelli agreed to shorten

3926-498: A way to break away from their typecasting. For instance, the multi-talented James Cagney had originally risen to fame as a stage singer and dancer, but his repeated casting in "tough guy" roles and mob films gave him few chances to display these talents. Cagney's Oscar -winning role in Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) allowed him to sing and dance, and he considered it to be one of his finest moments. Many comedies (and

4077-461: A young heiress living a sheltered life in a convent and decide to con her. One night, Yolanda prays for a "guardian angel" which Astaire's character impersonates. Freed had come across the magazine story and hired Bemelmans and Théry to write a treatment, and Robert Nathan to write the final screenplay. Filming began on January 15, 1945 and wrapped four months later. Upon its release, the film received mixed reviews with criticism towards its script and

4228-482: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Musical film The musical film was a natural development of the stage musical after the emergence of sound film technology. Typically, the biggest difference between film and stage musicals is the use of lavish background scenery and locations that would be impractical in a theater. Musical films characteristically contain elements reminiscent of theater; performers often treat their song and dance numbers as if

4379-432: Is considered the first African American A-list film star. Celebrated director Howard Hawks also ventured into the genre with Gentlemen Prefer Blondes . In the 1960s, 1970s, and continuing up to today, the musical film became less of a bankable genre that could be relied upon for sure-fire hits. Audiences for them lessened and fewer musical films were produced as the genre became less mainstream and more specialized. In

4530-549: Is suspected of murdering, and investigates his disappearance. Robert Mitchum , who portrayed the missing brother, was loaned out to MGM by RKO Radio Pictures to co-star in the film. During filming, Hepburn was initially displeased with Minnelli as her director, though both became cordial as production continued. Meanwhile, Taylor grew irritated at their developing friendship and was feeling overshadowed by Mitchum. The idea to adapt S. N. Behrman's play The Pirate originated with Minnelli, with Garland suggesting it be adapted into

4681-535: Is viewing from straight above. Musical stars such as Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers were among the most popular and highly respected personalities in Hollywood during the classical era; the Fred and Ginger pairing was particularly successful, resulting in a number of classic films such as Top Hat (1935), Swing Time (1936), and Shall We Dance (1937). Many dramatic actors gladly participated in musicals as

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4832-568: The Academy Award for Best Original Song (1938), the film earned an ASCAP Film and Television Award (1989) for Bob Hope's signature song " Thanks for the Memory ". During the late 1940s and into the early 1950s, a production unit at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer headed by Arthur Freed made the transition from old-fashioned musical films, whose formula had become repetitive, to something new. (However, they also produced technicolor remakes of such musicals as Show Boat , which had previously been filmed in

4983-663: The Art Institute of Chicago and became a costume designer for the Balaban and Katz theater chain. By the early 1930s, he moved to New York City and served as the art director for the Radio City Music Hall . In 1935, Minnelli became a theatre director with At Home Abroad (1935), starring Beatrice Lillie and Eleanor Powell . In 1937, Minnelli moved to Hollywood and served a brief stint at Paramount Pictures before returning to Broadway. In 1940, Minnelli

5134-515: The Fred Astaire – Ginger Rogers film. He consulted on Raoul Walsh 's 1937 film Artists and Models devising the "Public Melody No. 1" number, featuring Louis Armstrong and Martha Raye . After six months of negotiating, Minnelli was released from his contract and returned to Broadway. Lee Shubert offered him the musical Hooray for What! , which starred Ed Wynn and featured music and lyrics by Harold Arlen and E. Y. Harburg. Minnelli

5285-676: The Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy in their respective years, while such films as The Phantom of the Opera , Hairspray , Mamma Mia! , Nine , Into the Woods , The Greatest Showman , Mary Poppins Returns , Rocketman , Cyrano , Tick, Tick... Boom! , Elvis , and The Color Purple were only nominated. Chicago was also the first musical since Oliver! to win Best Picture at

5436-659: The Sherman Brothers . Starting with 1989's The Little Mermaid , the Disney Renaissance gave new life to the musical film. Other successful animated musicals included Aladdin , The Hunchback of Notre Dame , and Pocahontas from Disney proper, The Nightmare Before Christmas from Disney division Touchstone Pictures, The Prince of Egypt from DreamWorks, Anastasia from Fox and Don Bluth, Eight Crazy Nights from Columbia, and South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut from Paramount. Beauty and

5587-607: The Ziegfeld Follies musical revues, starring many of MGM's contracted talents. Midway through filming, Sidney asked to leave the production and Minnelli was hired to finish filming. Garland's segment was shot in July 1944, with principal photography concluding in August. Minnelli directed a total of ten segments, with the remaining four directed by Sidney, Lemuel Ayers , Roy Del Ruth, and Robert Lewis . The Clock (1945)

5738-527: The dailies . At the time, Garland was married to David Rose , but after they divorced, she began dating Joseph L. Mankiewicz . Premiering in November 1944, the film received universal critical acclaim and exceeded box office expectations, earning $ 7.56 million worldwide during its initial run. Meanwhile, the 1945 musical Ziegfeld Follies was in production with George Sidney as the film's initial director. The film featured several musical numbers from

5889-600: The "Golden Age" of Hindi cinema . Some of the most critically acclaimed Hindi films of all time were produced during this period. Examples include Pyaasa (1957) and Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959), directed by Guru Dutt and written by Abrar Alvi , Awaara (1951) and Shree 420 (1955), directed by Raj Kapoor and written by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas , and Aan (1952), directed by Mehboob Khan and starring Dilip Kumar . These films expressed social themes mainly dealing with working-class life in India , particularly urban life in

6040-478: The 1930s it was clear that if the Soviet cinema was to compete with its Western counterparts, it would have to give audiences what they wanted: the glamour and fantasy they got from Hollywood. The musical film, which emerged at that time, embodied the ideal combination of entertainment and official ideology. A struggle between laughter for laughter's sake and entertainment with a clear ideological message would define

6191-527: The 1930s, the musical films of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers became massive cultural fixtures in the eyes of the American public. These films included, Top Hat (1935), Follow the Fleet , Swing Time (both 1936), and Shall We Dance (1937). Victor Fleming's The Wizard of Oz (1939) would become a landmark film for movie musical as it experimented with new technology such as Technicolor . During

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6342-666: The 1930s.) In 1939, Freed was hired as associate producer for the film Babes in Arms . Starting in 1944 with Meet Me in St. Louis , the Freed Unit worked somewhat independently of its own studio to produce some of the most popular and well-known examples of the genre. The products of this unit include Easter Parade (1948), On the Town (1949), An American in Paris (1951), Singin' in

6493-700: The 1940s and 1950s, musical films from MGM musicals regularly premiered. These works included: Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), Easter Parade (1948), On the Town (1949), An American in Paris (1951), Singin' in the Rain (1952), The Band Wagon (1953), High Society (1956), and Gigi (1958). During this time, films outside the Arthur Freed unit at MGM included Holiday Inn (1942), White Christmas (1954), and Funny Face (1957) as well as Oklahoma! (1955), The King and I (1956), Carousel , and South Pacific (1958). These films of

6644-533: The 1950s, Minnelli directed numerous comedies, dramas and musicals, including Father of the Bride (1950), An American in Paris (1951), The Bad and the Beautiful (1952), Lust for Life (1956) and Gigi (1958). An American in Paris and Gigi respectively both won the Academy Award for Best Picture , with Minnelli winning the Best Director for the latter film. For over 26 years, Minnelli became

6795-639: The 1960s created specifically for film were Mary Poppins and The Jungle Book , two of Disney's biggest hits of all time. The phenomenal box-office performance of The Sound of Music gave the major Hollywood studios more confidence to produce lengthy, large-budget musicals. Despite the resounding success of some of these films, Hollywood also produced a large number of musical flops in the late 1960s and early 1970s which appeared to seriously misjudge public taste. The commercially and/or critically unsuccessful films included Camelot , Finian's Rainbow , Hello Dolly! , Sweet Charity , Doctor Dolittle , Half

6946-672: The 1960s, films based on stage musicals continued to be critical and box-office successes. These films included, West Side Story (1961), Gypsy (1962), The Music Man (1962), Bye Bye Birdie (1963), My Fair Lady , Mary Poppins (both 1964), The Sound of Music (1965), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum , How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying , Thoroughly Modern Millie (all 1967), Oliver! , and Funny Girl (both 1968). In

7097-631: The 1960s, the critical and box-office success of the films West Side Story , Gypsy , The Music Man , Bye Bye Birdie , My Fair Lady , Mary Poppins , The Sound of Music , A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum , The Jungle Book , Thoroughly Modern Millie , Oliver! , and Funny Girl suggested that the traditional musical was in good health, while French filmmaker Jacques Demy 's jazz musicals The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and The Young Girls of Rochefort were popular with international critics. However popular musical tastes were being heavily affected by rock and roll and

7248-750: The 1970s, film culture and the changing demographics of filmgoers placed greater emphasis on gritty realism, while the pure entertainment and theatricality of classical-era Hollywood musicals was seen as old-fashioned. Despite this, Scrooge (1970), Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971), Fiddler on the Roof (1971), Cabaret (1972), 1776 (1972), Disney's Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971), and Pete's Dragon (1977), as well as Grease and The Wiz (both 1978), were more traditional musicals closely adapted from stage shows and were strong successes with critics and audiences. Throughout

7399-520: The 1980s and 1990s, musicals tended to be mainly coming from the Disney animated films of the period, from composers and lyricists, Howard Ashman , Alan Menken , and Stephen Schwartz . The Disney Renaissance started with 1989's The Little Mermaid , then followed by Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992), The Lion King (1994), Pocahontas (1995), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), Hercules (1997), and Mulan (1998). In

7550-557: The 1990s, the three biggest Bollywood movie stars have been the " Three Khans ": Aamir Khan , Shah Rukh Khan , and Salman Khan . Combined, they have starred in most of the top ten highest-grossing Bollywood films . The three Khans have had successful careers since the late 1980s, and have dominated the Indian box office since the 1990s, across three decades. Baz Luhrmann stated that his successful musical film Moulin Rouge! (2001)

7701-561: The 21st century, the musical genre has been rejuvenated with darker musicals, musical biopics, musical remakes, epic drama musicals and comedy drama musicals such as Moulin Rouge! (2001), Chicago (2002), The Phantom of the Opera (2004), Rent (2005), Dreamgirls (2006), Across the Universe , Enchanted , Hairspray , Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (all 2007), Mamma Mia! (2008), Nine (2009), The Muppets (2011), Les Misérables (2012), Into

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7852-564: The Academy Awards. Joshua Oppenheimer 's Academy Award-nominated documentary The Act of Killing may be considered a nonfiction musical. One specific musical trend was the rising number of jukebox musicals based on music from various pop/rock artists on the big screen, some of which based on Broadway shows. Examples of Broadway-based jukebox musical films included Mamma Mia ! ( ABBA ), Rock of Ages , and Sunshine on Leith ( The Proclaimers ). Original ones included Across

8003-525: The Beast , The Lion King , and others were adapted for the stage after their blockbuster success. In the 21st century, movie musicals were reborn with darker musicals, musical biopics, epic drama musicals and comedy drama musicals such as O Brother, Where Art Thou? , Moulin Rouge! , Chicago , Walk the Line , Dreamgirls , Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street , Les Misérables , La La Land , and West Side Story ; all of which won

8154-488: The Beast . The second film of this live action fantasy adaptation pack to be an all-out musical was Aladdin and features new songs. The third film of this live action fantasy adaptation pack to be an all-out musical was The Lion King and features new songs. The fourth film of this live action fantasy adaptation pack to be an all-out musical was The Little Mermaid and features new songs with lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda , replacing Ashman. Pixar also produced Coco ,

8305-412: The Bollywood blockbuster format. Yaadon Ki Baarat (1973), directed by Hussain and written by Salim-Javed, has been identified as the first masala film and the "first" quintessentially "Bollywood" film. Salim-Javed went on to write more successful masala films in the 1970s and 1980s. Masala films launched Amitabh Bachchan into the biggest Bollywood movie star of the 1970s and 1980s. A landmark for

8456-489: The Bride . Filming began on October 9 and was finished 23 days later. After this, Minnelli returned to film the ballet sequence, starting on December 6 and wrapping on January 8, 1951. The film proved popular with audiences, earning over $ 8 million in the United States. Kelly and Caron were praised by film critics, though the film's dramatic continuity was criticized. At the 1952 Academy Awards , An American in Paris

8607-663: The Broadway musical centered on a married couple who flee the United States, and travel across Europe, Africa, Japan , and the West Indies . The musical had a try-out in Boston and opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on September 19, 1935. In his New York Times review, Brooks Atkinson praised Minnelli's efforts, writing: "Without resorting to opulence he has filled the stage with rich, glowing colors that give

8758-829: The Chocolate Factory , Pete's Dragon , and Disney's Bedknobs and Broomsticks were also released in the 1970s, the latter winning the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects . By the 1980s, financiers grew increasingly confident in the musical genre, partly buoyed by the relative health of the musical on Broadway and London's West End . Productions of the 1980s and 1990s included The Apple , Xanadu , The Blues Brothers , Annie , Monty Python's The Meaning of Life , The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas , Victor/Victoria , Footloose , Fast Forward , A Chorus Line , Little Shop of Horrors , Forbidden Zone , Absolute Beginners , Labyrinth , Newsies , Evita , and Everyone Says I Love You . However, Can't Stop

8909-663: The Flame (1930), Song of the West (1930), Sweet Kitty Bellairs (1930), Under a Texas Moon (1930), Bride of the Regiment (1930), Whoopee! (1930), King of Jazz (1930), Viennese Nights (1930), and Kiss Me Again (1930). In addition, there were scores of musical features released with color sequences. Hollywood released more than 100 musical films in 1930, but only 14 in 1931. By late 1930, audiences had been oversaturated with musicals and studios were forced to cut

9060-470: The Gershwins, respectively. Warner Bros. produced Calamity Jane and A Star Is Born ; the former film was a vehicle for Doris Day , while the latter provided a big-screen comeback for Judy Garland, who had been out of the spotlight since 1950. Meanwhile, director Otto Preminger , better known for "message pictures", made Carmen Jones and Porgy and Bess , both starring Dorothy Dandridge , who

9211-496: The Good Old Summertime (1949). Pandro Berman phoned Minnelli at his office, offering him to direct a film adaptation of Gustave Flaubert 's novel Madame Bovary . Minnelli accepted as it was one of his favorite novels. Lana Turner was initially offered the lead role but Minnelli rejected the idea as Turner was perceived as a sex symbol . The Production Code also warned that Turner's onscreen image, along with

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9362-444: The Minnelli Brothers' Tent Theater, serving as the musical conductor . Both had met each other at a musical revue; although they initially argued over her accompaniment, they grew closer and were married in November 1894. Following the marriage, she joined the Minnelli Brothers troupe. His paternal grandfather, Vincenzo Minnelli, and grand-uncle, Domenico Minnelli, both Sicilian revolutionaries , were forced to leave Sicily after

9513-692: The Music , starring the Village People , was a calamitous attempt to resurrect the old-style musical and was released to audience indifference in 1980. Little Shop of Horrors was based on an off-Broadway musical adaptation of a 1960 Roger Corman film, a precursor of later film-to-stage-to-film adaptations, including The Producers . Many animated films of the period – predominately from Disney – included traditional musical numbers. Howard Ashman , Alan Menken , and Stephen Schwartz had previous musical theater experience and wrote songs for animated films during this time, supplanting Disney workhorses

9664-509: The Musical (all 2022), The Little Mermaid , Wonka , The Color Purple (all 2023), Mean Girls , Wicked , Mufasa: The Lion King , Joker: Folie à Deux , A Complete Unknown (all 2024). The 1930s through the early 1950s are considered to be the golden age of the musical film, when the genre's popularity was at its highest in the Western world . Disney 's Snow White and

9815-496: The Rain (1952), The Band Wagon (1953) and Gigi (1958). Non-Freed musicals from the studio included Seven Brides for Seven Brothers in 1954 and High Society in 1956, and the studio distributed Samuel Goldwyn 's Guys and Dolls in 1955. This era saw musical stars become household names, including Judy Garland , Gene Kelly , Ann Miller , Donald O'Connor , Cyd Charisse , Mickey Rooney , Vera-Ellen , Jane Powell , Howard Keel , and Kathryn Grayson . Fred Astaire

9966-520: The Seven Dwarfs , the earliest Disney animated feature film, was a musical which won an honorary Oscar for Walt Disney at the 11th Academy Awards . Musical short films were made by Lee de Forest in 1923–24. Beginning in 1926, thousands of Vitaphone shorts were made, many featuring bands, vocalists, and dancers. The earliest feature-length films with synchronized sound had only a soundtrack of music and occasional sound effects that played while

10117-487: The Soviet musical was first and foremost a form of propaganda. Vladimir Lenin said that cinema was "the most important of the arts". His successor, Joseph Stalin , also recognized the power of cinema in efficiently spreading Communist Party doctrine. Films were widely popular in the 1920s, but it was foreign cinema that dominated the Soviet filmgoing market. Films from Germany and the U.S. proved more entertaining than Soviet director Sergei Eisenstein 's historical dramas. By

10268-479: The Streeter treatise much beloved." The film was nominated for three Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Screenplay. The basis for An American in Paris (1951) began from Freed's friendship with Ira Gershwin at his residence. Freed told Ira he wanted to adapt his brother George 's orchestral piece An American in Paris into a film and potentially include a ballet sequence. In 1949, MGM and

10419-929: The Unicorn , and Spellbound . Biopics about music artists and showmen were also big in the 21st century. Examples include 8 Mile ( Eminem ), Ray ( Ray Charles ), Walk the Line ( Johnny Cash and June Carter ), La Vie en Rose ( Édith Piaf ), Notorious ( Biggie Smalls ), Jersey Boys ( The Four Seasons ) Love & Mercy ( Brian Wilson ), CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story ( TLC ), Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B ( Aaliyah ), Get on Up ( James Brown ), Whitney and I Wanna Dance With Somebody ( Whitney Houston ), Straight Outta Compton ( N.W.A ), The Greatest Showman ( P. T. Barnum ), Bohemian Rhapsody ( Freddie Mercury ), The Dirt ( Mötley Crüe ), Judy ( Judy Garland ), Rocketman ( Elton John ), Respect ( Aretha Franklin ) and Elvis ( Elvis Presley ). Grossing over $ 900 million at

10570-590: The Universe ( The Beatles ), Moulin Rouge! (various pop hits), Idlewild ( Outkast ) and Yesterday ( The Beatles ). Disney also returned to musicals with Enchanted , The Princess and the Frog , Tangled , Winnie the Pooh , The Muppets , Frozen , Muppets Most Wanted , Into the Woods , Moana , Mary Poppins Returns , Frozen II , Encanto , Better Nate Than Ever , Disenchanted , Wish , Moana 2 and Mufasa: The Lion King . Following

10721-542: The Woods (2014), La La Land (2016), Beauty and the Beast , The Greatest Showman (both 2017), Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again! , A Star Is Born , Mary Poppins Returns , Bohemian Rhapsody (all 2018), Aladdin , Rocketman , The Lion King (all 2019), In the Heights , Respect , Dear Evan Hansen , Cyrano , Everybody's Talking About Jamie , Tick, Tick… Boom! , West Side Story (all 2021), Elvis , Spirited , Disenchanted , Matilda

10872-496: The actors portrayed their characters just as they did in silent films: without audible dialogue. The Jazz Singer , released in 1927 by Warner Brothers , was the first to include an audio track including non- diegetic music and diegetic music, but it had only a short sequence of spoken dialogue. This feature-length film was also a musical, featuring Al Jolson singing "Dirty Hands, Dirty Face", "Toot, Toot, Tootsie", " Blue Skies ", and " My Mammy ". Historian Scott Eyman wrote, "As

11023-609: The art direction for the operetta, The Dubarry . During rehearsals, Minnelli and Moore had creative differences but remained cordial. The operetta had tryouts in Boston , and premiered in New York in November 1932 where it ran for 87 performances. Based on his success, Paramount executives selected him for costume and set design for the 1933 edition of Ziegfeld Follies . However, by 1933, Paramount-Publix filed for bankruptcy protection, in which Adolph Zukor fired B. P. Schulberg as

11174-640: The behest of Sidney Franklin , Minnelli was approached to direct two segments ("Mademoiselle" and "Why Should I Cry") for the 1953 anthology film The Story of Three Loves . Minnelli agreed to direct the segment "Mademoiselle," adapted from the short story "Lucy and the Stranger" by Arnold Phillips . Reuniting with Leslie Caron, the segment featured Ricky Nelson , Zsa Zsa Gabor , Farley Granger , and Ethel Barrymore . Filming lasted for three weeks before wrapping in February 1952. The segment "Why Should I Cry"

11325-1096: The big screen. It set a new template for Bollywood musical romance films that defined Hindi cinema in the 1990s. The period of Hindi cinema from the 1990s onwards is referred to as "New Bollywood" cinema, linked to economic liberalisation in India during the early 1990s. By the early 1990s, the pendulum had swung back toward family-centric romantic musicals. Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak was followed by blockbusters such as Maine Pyar Kiya (1989), Chandni (1989), Hum Aapke Hain Kaun (1994), Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995), Raja Hindustani (1996), Dil To Pagal Hai (1997), Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha (1998) and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998). A new generation of popular actors emerged, such as Aamir Khan, Aditya Pancholi , Ajay Devgan , Akshay Kumar , Salman Khan ( Salim Khan's son ), and Shahrukh Khan , and actresses such as Madhuri Dixit , Sridevi , Juhi Chawla , Meenakshi Seshadri , Manisha Koirala , Kajol , and Karisma Kapoor . Since

11476-470: The box office Bohemian Rhapsody is the most commercially successful musical biopic. Director Damien Chazelle created a musical film called La La Land , starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone . It was meant to reintroduce the traditional jazz style of song numbers with influences from the Golden Age of Hollywood and Jacques Demy 's French musicals while incorporating a contemporary/modern take on

11627-425: The box-office. Marisol , Joselito , Pili & Mili , and Rocío Dúrcal were the major figures of musical films from the 1960s to 1970s. Due to Spanish transition to democracy and the rise of " Movida culture ", the musical genre fell in production and box-office, only saved by Carlos Saura and his flamenco musical films. Unlike the musical films of Hollywood and Bollywood, popularly identified with escapism,

11778-468: The bride and her mother respectively. Filming began on January 16, 1950 and wrapped a month and a day later. Released in May 1950, the film earned $ 4.15 million in distributor rentals at the box office. Critical reception was positive, with Bosley Crowther of The New York Times calling the film "equally wonderful" when compared to the book, with "all the warmth and poignancy and understanding that makes

11929-655: The collapse of the provisional Sicilian government that arose from the 1848 revolution against Ferdinand II and Bourbon rule . Domenico Minnelli had been Vice-Chancellor of the Gran Corte Civile in Palermo at the time he helped organize the January 12, 1848, uprising there. After the Bourbon return to power Vincenzo reportedly hid in the catacombs of Palermo for 18 months before being successfully smuggled onto

12080-687: The comic actress Martha Raye and the young comedian Bob Hope in Paramount Pictures musical anthology The Big Broadcast of 1938 . The film also showcased the talents of several internationally recognized musical artists including: Kirsten Flagstad (Norwegian operatic soprano), Wilfred Pelletier (Canadian conductor of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra ), Tito Guizar (Mexican tenor), Shep Fields conducting his Rippling Rhythm Jazz Orchestra and John Serry Sr. (Italian-American concert accordionist). In addition to

12231-404: The conventions of Hindi cinema for decades. In the 1960s and early 1970s, the industry was dominated by musical romance films with "romantic hero" leads, the most popular being Rajesh Khanna . Other actors during this period include Shammi Kapoor , Jeetendra , Sanjeev Kumar , and Shashi Kapoor , and actresses like Sharmila Tagore , Mumtaz , Saira Banu , Helen and Asha Parekh . By

12382-848: The curriculum. While working at Marshall Field's, a blind female customer arrived to rent stage props for the Radical Playhouse. She asked Minnelli to join their acting group where they were performing one-act plays by Eugene O'Neill . Minnelli agreed, and read for the part of a retired sea captain in O'Neill's Where the Cross is Made . He disliked this acting job, but Minnelli remained a frequent attendee of Chicago's theatre district . In his spare time, he painted watercolor sketches of contemporary theatre actors, including Ina Claire and Mary Nash . Encouraged by his friends, he sold his paintings backstage, and earned enough money to live on his own. One night, while selling his artwork backstage, he

12533-972: The decline of the musical film is Indian cinema , especially the Bollywood film industry based in Mumbai (formerly Bombay), where most of films have been, and still are, musicals. The majority of films produced in the Tamil industry , based in Chennai (formerly Madras), the Sandalwood industry , based in Bangalore , the Telugu industry , based in Hyderabad , and the Malayalam industry are also musicals. Despite this exception of almost every Indian movie being

12684-484: The era typically relied on the star power of such film stars as Fred Astaire , Gene Kelly , Bing Crosby , Frank Sinatra , Judy Garland , Ann Miller , Kathryn Grayson , and Howard Keel . They also relied on film directors such as Stanley Donen and Vincente Minnelli as well as songwriters Comden and Green , Rodgers and Hammerstein , Irving Berlin , Cole Porter , and the Gershwin Brothers . During

12835-479: The estate of George Gershwin entered negotiations, by which the studio acquired the rights to Gershwin's catalogue for $ 158,750 (equivalent to $ 2,032,888 in 2023). The story was inspired by a Life magazine article of American G.I.s studying art in Paris on sponsorship from the G.I. Bill , which Freed had remembered. In the film, Jerry Mulligan (Kelly) is an artist studying in Paris. He meets Milo Roberts ( Nina Foch ), an heiress and arts patron who expresses

12986-609: The experimental films of Jean Cocteau and Luis Buñuel , and the writings of Sigmund Freud . Around this time, Minnelli dropped Lester from his name, replacing it with "Vincente"; the final "e" was added in order to seem more sophisticated and elegant. One day, Minnelli approached Frank Cambria, who headed the Chicago Theatre , which was a part of the Balaban and Katz theater chain. He told Cambria that he should open his own costume department, and allow him to run it. Cambria took Minnelli to A. J. Balaban 's office, where he

13137-794: The family's celebration of the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair . Judy Garland was cast as Esther Smith, though she felt her role would be overshadowed by Margaret O'Brien , who was portraying Tootie. Principal photography began on December 7, 1943 though continued filming was frequently delayed by Garland's tardiness and claims of illness. Determined to have Garland's physical beauty showcased, he requested make-up artist Dorothy Ponedel be assigned to Garland. Ponedel refined her appearance, which included extending and reshaping her eyebrows, changing her hairline, modifying her lip line and removing her nose discs and dental caps. Filming wrapped on April 7, 1944. During filming, Garland and Minnelli had some creative differences, though Garland grew closer to him after watching

13288-557: The film and Jones's performance, though it earned $ 2 million at the box office. That same year, Minnelli reportedly directed the climax sequence in Robert Z. Leonard 's The Bribe (1949). Minnelli's subsequent collaboration with Berman was Father of the Bride (1950) based on the bestselling 1949 novel by Edward Streeter . Jack Benny pursued the lead role and was given a screen test, but Minnelli wanted Spencer Tracy and cast him. Elizabeth Taylor and Joan Bennett were cast as

13439-474: The film ended and applause grew with the houselights, Sam Goldwyn 's wife Frances looked around at the celebrities in the crowd. She saw 'terror in all their faces', she said, as if they knew that 'the game they had been playing for years was finally over'." Still, only isolated sequences featured "live" sound; most of the film had only a synchronous musical score. In 1928, Warner Brothers followed this up with another Jolson part-talkie, The Singing Fool , which

13590-556: The film unfinished, and MGM dissatisfied with his cut. The film's producer Jack Cummings hoped Minnelli would inject his style into the film. Onboard as director, Minnelli hired Sig Herzig and Fred Saidy to rewrite the script. A loose remake of Spite Marriage (1929), Skelton plays Joseph Renolds, a tailor's assistant, who becomes enamored with Constance Shaw (Powell), a Broadway star, and attends every performance of her Civil War melodrama. Shaw impulsively marries Renolds to spite her lover ( Richard Ainley ). Herzig and Saidy updated

13741-474: The film's run time. Between October 21 and December 19, reshoots were taken with the musical number "Voodoo" replaced with a livelier reshoot of "Mack the Black". When filming concluded, the film had gone over budget, costing $ 3.7 million. The film earned over $ 2.9 million at the box office, but posted a net loss of $ 2.2 million. Despite the financial failure of The Pirate , Minnelli was slated to direct Easter Parade (1948) with Garland and Gene Kelly cast in

13892-516: The first computer-animated musical film by the company. Other animated musical films include Rio , Dr. Seuss' The Lorax , Rio 2 , The Book of Life , Trolls , Sing , My Little Pony: The Movie , Smallfoot , UglyDolls , Trolls World Tour , Over the Moon , Vivo , Sing 2 , The Bob's Burgers Movie , Under the Boardwalk , Trolls Band Together , Leo , Thelma

14043-455: The first colour film in Hindi , Kisan Kanya . The next year, he made another colour film, a version of Mother India . However, colour did not become a popular feature until the late 1950s. At this time, lavish romantic musicals and melodramas were the staple fare at the cinema. Following India's independence , the period from the late 1940s to the early 1960s is regarded by film historians as

14194-556: The first screen operetta, The Desert Song in 1929. They spared no expense and photographed a large percentage of the film in Technicolor . This was followed by the first all-color, all-talking musical feature which was entitled On with the Show (1929). The most popular film of 1929 was the second all-color, all-talking feature which was entitled Gold Diggers of Broadway (1929). This film broke all box office records and remained

14345-411: The former two examples; Awaara presented the city as both a nightmare and a dream, while Pyaasa critiqued the unreality of city life. Mehboob Khan 's Mother India (1957), a remake of his earlier Aurat (1940), was the first Indian film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film , which it lost by a single vote. Mother India was also an important film that defined

14496-489: The freedom and youth associated with it, and indeed Elvis Presley made a few films that have been equated with the old musicals in terms of form. A Hard Day's Night and Help! , starring the Beatles , were audacious. Most of the musical films of the 1950s and 1960s such as Oklahoma! and The Sound of Music were straightforward adaptations or restagings of successful stage productions. The most successful musicals of

14647-421: The golden age of the Soviet musical of the 1930s and 1940s. Then-head of the film industry Boris Shumyatsky sought to emulate Hollywood's conveyor belt method of production, going so far as to suggest the establishment of a Soviet Hollywood. Vincente Minnelli Vincente Minnelli (born Lester Anthony Minnelli ; February 28, 1903 – July 25, 1986) was an American stage director and film director. For

14798-453: The highest-grossing film ever produced until 1939. Suddenly, the market became flooded with musicals, revues, and operettas. The following all-color musicals were produced in 1929 and 1930 alone: The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (1929), The Show of Shows (1929), Sally (1929), The Vagabond King (1930), Follow Thru (1930), Bright Lights (1930), Golden Dawn (1930), Hold Everything (1930), The Rogue Song (1930), Song of

14949-470: The idea. In 1942, Minnelli was called to Freed's office where he was offered to direct Cabin in the Sky (1943). Minnelli accepted, writing he "interpreted the assignment, with more freedom than I'd dreamed possible, as just reward for past contributions." Based on the 1940 musical by Vernon Duke and John La Touche , Cabin in the Sky tells the story of Petunia ( Ethel Waters ), a devout woman, who prays for

15100-641: The late 1980s, Hindi cinema experienced another period of stagnation, with a decline in box office turnout, due to increasing violence, decline in musical melodic quality, and rise in video piracy, leading to middle-class family audiences abandoning theaters. The turning point came with Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988), directed by Mansoor Khan , written and produced by his father Nasir Hussain , and starring his cousin Aamir Khan with Juhi Chawla . Its blend of youthfulness, wholesome entertainment, emotional quotients and strong melodies lured family audiences back to

15251-446: The lead roles (though Kelly was later replaced by Fred Astaire after a rehearsal injury). Rehearsals began on September 5, 1947, but five days later, Minnelli was called into Freed's office and removed from the film. Freed had cited Minnelli's removal based on the advice of Garland's psychiatrist. Charles Walters was hired to replace him. For almost a year, Minnelli was without a film project while Garland filmed Easter Parade and In

15402-699: The longest-tenured film director for MGM. By 1962, Minnelli's relationship with MGM worsened due to the commercial failures of The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and Two Weeks in Another Town . He formed his production company called Venice Productions, partnering with MGM and 20th Century Fox on The Courtship of Eddie's Father (1963) and Goodbye Charlie (1964). He directed his final film A Matter of Time (1976), starring his daughter Liza. Ten years later, in 1986, Minnelli died at his Beverly Hills residence, at age 83. Lester Anthony Minnelli

15553-429: The look, Minnelli used the 1880s as inspiration for the hair styles and elegant costumes. Opening on January 30, 1936, the Ziegfeld Follies was a commercial success, running for five months and reopened for another five months after a summer hiatus. Minnelli was not involved in the revival, but instead chose to direct a musical revue titled The Show Must Go . Minnelli devised an original story, featuring new songs from

15704-643: The masala film genre was Amar Akbar Anthony (1977), directed by Manmohan Desai and written by Kader Khan . Manmohan Desai went on to successfully exploit the genre in the 1970s and 1980s. Along with Bachchan, other popular actors of this era included Feroz Khan , Mithun Chakraborty , Naseeruddin Shah , Jackie Shroff , Sanjay Dutt , Anil Kapoor and Sunny Deol . Actresses from this era included Hema Malini , Jaya Bachchan , Raakhee , Shabana Azmi , Zeenat Aman , Parveen Babi , Rekha , Dimple Kapadia , Smita Patil , Jaya Prada and Padmini Kolhapure . In

15855-508: The music from films that were then being released. For example, Life of the Party (1930) was originally produced as an all-color, all-talking musical comedy. Before it was released, however, the songs were cut out. The same thing happened to Fifty Million Frenchmen (1931) and Manhattan Parade (1932) both of which had been filmed entirely in Technicolor . Marlene Dietrich sang songs successfully in her films, and Rodgers and Hart wrote

16006-529: The musical film format that emerged from early Hollywood sound films. Other early influences on Bombay filmmakers included Urdu literature and the Arabian Nights . The first Indian sound film, Ardeshir Irani 's Alam Ara (1931), was a major commercial success. There was clearly a huge market for talkies and musicals; Bollywood and all the regional film industries quickly switched to sound filming. In 1937, Ardeshir Irani, of Alam Ara fame, made

16157-467: The musical numbers featuring Lena Horne . Meanwhile, Minnelli visited the set for Strike Up the Band (1940), starring Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland . Freed mentioned they needed a musical number for a scene where Rooney's character aspires to be like Paul Whiteman , a bandleader. Minnelli suggested using a bowl of fruits, having spotted one on set. Freed liked the idea and hired Henry Fox to create

16308-516: The musical's first act, Minnelli unsuccessfully tried to rearrange the second act. The musical opened at the Alvin Theatre on November 17, 1939, with musical critic Brooks Atkinson writing in his review that Minnelli had not "solved the confusion of the story." Adjacent of this time, William Saroyan 's play The Time of Your Life had opened three weeks before and was well-regarded. Minnelli became friends with Saroyan and they partnered on

16459-566: The musical's heyday. They include 1776 , The Wiz , At Long Last Love , Mame , Man of La Mancha , Lost Horizon , Godspell , Phantom of the Paradise , Funny Lady ( Barbra Streisand 's sequel to Funny Girl ), A Little Night Music , and Hair amongst others. The critical wrath against At Long Last Love , in particular, was so strong that it was never released on home video. Fantasy musical films Scrooge , The Blue Bird , The Little Prince , Willy Wonka &

16610-565: The musicals Pins and Needles and Four Saints in Three Acts , Minnelli began developing a surrealist fantasy titled The Light Fantastic , with Beatrice Lillie in mind to star. He offered her four musical numbers and four sketches outlining his vision, but Lillie, then in England, had not responded in time. He then shifted to a musicalization of S. N. Behrman 's play Serena Blandish , wanting to feature Black American actors. Cole Porter

16761-499: The novel's portrayal of marriage infidelity, would violate its guidelines. Jennifer Jones was considered but was under contract to her husband David O. Selznick , but MGM executive Benjamin Thau successfully negotiated a stipulation deal to borrow her. James Mason had wanted to play the role of Flaubert, while Louis Jourdan and Alf Kjellin (billed as Christopher Kent) were lent onto the film courtesy of Selznick. Madame Bovary

16912-506: The offer to direct Lili (1953). During a lunch meeting at the Romanoff's, MGM producer John Houseman showed Minnelli a screenplay draft titled Memorial to a Bad Man based on a short story by George Bradshaw . It was later retitled The Bad and the Beautiful (1952). Minnelli agreed to direct, with Kirk Douglas as his sole choice to portray ruthless film producer Jonathan Shields. However, MGM production head Dore Schary had offered

17063-585: The plot by having Skelton's character reveal John Hodiak 's character to be a spy for the Axis powers . Between projects, Minnelli directed Lena Horne in her " Honeysuckle Rose " segment in Thousands Cheer (1943). For Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), Freed again hired Minnelli to direct. Framed around the four seasons, the film tells of the Smith family and their conflicts, with the conclusion focused on

17214-511: The premiere of the R&;B band Bloodstone 's movie Train Ride to Hollywood , but problems in distribution rendered it barely getting token theatrical release. The year 1976 saw the release of the low-budget comic musical, The First Nudie Musical , released by Paramount. The 1978 film version of Grease was a smash hit; its songs were original compositions done in a 1950s pop style. However,

17365-540: The pure entertainment and theatricality of classical-era Hollywood musicals was seen as old-fashioned. Despite this, Fiddler on the Roof and Cabaret were more traditional musicals closely adapted from stage shows and were strong successes with critics and audiences. Changing cultural mores and the abandonment of the Hays Code in 1968 also contributed to changing tastes in film audiences. The 1973 film of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice 's Jesus Christ Superstar

17516-571: The role to Clark Gable but he declined. Douglas read the script and accepted the role. Lana Turner was hired to portray Georgina Lorrison, the "beautiful"; when both casting choices were announced, the trades questioned: "when these two get together..." The story focuses on Jonathan Shields (Douglas) and his Hollywood rise by manipulating three individuals: actress Georgina (Turner) whom he deceives by professing his love, director Fred Amiel ( Barry Sullivan ) whose picture he expropriates, and screenwriter James Bartlow ( Dick Powell ) who loses his wife to

17667-486: The scene which then was excised from the film. Modestly budgeted at $ 679,260 (in 1942 dollars), Cabin in the Sky earned $ 1.6 million at the box office. Three weeks after he finished filming Cabin in the Sky , Minnelli was assigned to direct I Dood It (1943), starring Red Skelton and Eleanor Powell . Del Ruth was the film's original director but he had been drafted into the United States Army , leaving

17818-482: The screenwriting team of Betty Comden and Adolph Green to devise the script. The film tells of Tony Hunter, an aging musical star who hopes a Broadway show will restart his career. He meets with two writer friends and a Broadway producer who stage a musical, starring Hunter and a ballerina. Fred Astaire was cast as Troy Hunter, while the writers Lester and Lilly Marton (portrayed by Oscar Levant and Nanette Fabray ) were loosely based by Comden and Green. Cyd Charisse

17969-730: The sequel Grease 2 (released in 1982) bombed at the box-office. Films about performers which incorporated gritty drama and musical numbers interwoven as a diegetic part of the storyline were produced, such as Lady Sings the Blues , All That Jazz , and New York, New York . Some musicals made in Britain experimented with the form, such as Richard Attenborough 's Oh! What a Lovely War (released in 1969), Alan Parker 's Bugsy Malone and Ken Russell 's Tommy and Lisztomania . A number of film musicals were still being made that were financially and/or critically less successful than in

18120-685: The silent era. The beginnings of the Spanish musical were focused on romantic Spanish archetypes: Andalusian villages and landscapes, gypsies, "bandoleros", and copla and other popular folk songs included in story development. These films had even more box-office success than Hollywood premieres in Spain. The first Spanish film stars came from the musical genre: Imperio Argentina , Estrellita Castro , Florián Rey (director) and, later, Lola Flores , Sara Montiel and Carmen Sevilla . The Spanish musical started to expand and grow. Juvenile stars appear and top

18271-571: The soul of her gambler-husband "Little" Joe Jackson ( Eddie "Rochester" Anderson ). Filming began in August 1942, with only Waters and Rex Ingram reprising their Broadway roles. Lena Horne was cast as Georgia Brown, a seductive woman who tempts Jackson. During production, Minnelli had shot a musical number "Ain't It the Truth," featuring Horne in a bubble bath. Joseph Breen of the Motion Picture Production Code objected to

18422-430: The start of the 1970s, Hindi cinema was experiencing thematic stagnation, dominated by musical romance films . The arrival of screenwriter duo Salim–Javed , consisting of Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar , marked a paradigm shift, revitalizing the industry. They began the genre of gritty, violent, Bombay underworld crime films in the early 1970s, with films such as Zanjeer (1973) and Deewaar (1975). The 1970s

18573-474: The store windows were changed four times a year with elaborate themes matched to each corresponding season. Minnelli was first assigned to design the men's store, but he instead asked to design windows on Wabash Avenue where furniture and decorative antique items were frequently rearranged. Meanwhile, Minnelli enrolled in the Art Institute of Chicago with personal ambitions to become a painter. However, he dropped out due to his work schedule and lack of interest in

18724-974: The story and characters with balances in fantasy numbers and grounded reality. It received 14 nominations at the 89th Academy Awards , tying the record for most nominations with All About Eve (1950) and Titanic (1997), and won the awards for Best Director , Best Actress , Best Cinematography , Best Original Score , Best Original Song , and Best Production Design . In 2013, NBC produced The Sound of Music Live! as part of their effort for expanded live entertainment events, which became an annual tradition of adaptations of stage musicals, created specifically as live television events. The following years featured Peter Pan Live! , The Wiz Live! , Hairspray Live! , Jesus Christ Superstar Live! , Dr. Seuss' The Grinch Musical Live! , and Annie Live! . ABC and Fox also produced similar events, including Grease Live! , A Christmas Story Live! , Rent: Live , and The Little Mermaid Live! . An exception to

18875-775: The studio's head of production and began a corporate restructuring. Paramount's East Coast studios were relocated to Astoria, New York , but it was decided their touring theatre unit was no longer profitable and was closed down in favor of touring big bands . Minnelli was eventually employed as a set designer at Radio City Music Hall , after it opened in December 1932. During rehearsals, theatre businessman Samuel "Roxy" Rothafel harshly criticized Minnelli, art director Clark Robinson, and dance director Russell Markert. Following another heated discussion, Robinson immediately resigned, to which Minnelli assumed Robinson's former position. In July 1933, Minnelli's first art direction assignment

19026-520: The whole work an extraordinary loveliness. Nothing quite so exhilarating as this has borne the Shubert seal before." While At Home Aboard continued its Broadway run, Minnelli returned to costume and scenic design for the Ziegfeld Follies of 1936 , starring Fannie Brice . John Murray Anderson was the director, but during rehearsals, he transferred directing duties to Minnelli. To update

19177-526: Was Yolanda and the Thief (1945) starring Fred Astaire and Lucille Bremer . Before he was hired for The Clock , Yolanda and the Thief was intended to be Minnelli's next film. Adapted from the 1943 magazine short story by Ludwig Bemelmans and Jacques Théry , the film tells of two con men (Astaire and Frank Morgan ) who are hiding from extradition in South America . Both men learn about Yolanda,

19328-510: Was Garland's first straight dramatic film after starring in several musical films. Fred Zinnemann was initially hired to direct the film. By August 1944, he was removed at Garland's request after they could not get along and the dailes proved disappointing. When Freed asked who she wanted to replace him, Garland requested Minnelli to direct. Minnelli accepted the assignment on two conditions: Zinnemann would not object to his hiring and he would have creative control over Garland. Zinnemann's footage

19479-408: Was a blockbuster hit. Theaters scrambled to install the new sound equipment and to hire Broadway composers to write musicals for the screen. The first all-talking feature, Lights of New York , included a musical sequence in a night club. The enthusiasm of audiences was so great that in less than a year all the major studios were making sound pictures exclusively. The Broadway Melody (1929) had

19630-523: Was a commercial disappointment. By this point, Garland had become pregnant with her first daughter, Liza . A musicalized biopic of Jerome Kern titled Till the Clouds Roll By (1946) was scheduled to begin production in October 1945. Garland had been cast as Marilyn Miller and Minnelli had been assigned to direct Garland's scenes. Her scenes took two weeks to complete and were finished on November 8, 1945. However, one number "D'Ya Love Me?"

19781-500: Was also coaxed out of retirement for Easter Parade and made a permanent comeback. The other Hollywood studios proved themselves equally adept at tackling the genre at this time, particularly in the 1950s. Four adaptations of Rodgers and Hammerstein shows - Oklahoma! , The King and I , Carousel , and South Pacific - were all successes, while Paramount Pictures released White Christmas and Funny Face , two films which used previously written music by Irving Berlin and

19932-435: Was also when the name "Bollywood" was coined, and when the quintessential conventions of commercial Bollywood films were established. Key to this was the emergence of the masala film genre, which combines elements of multiple genres ( action , comedy , romance , drama , melodrama , musical). The masala film was pioneered in the early 1970s by filmmaker Nasir Hussain , along with screenwriter duo Salim-Javed, pioneering

20083-600: Was approached by Paul Stone, who admired Minnelli's pictorial composition. "If you can do this sort of thing, you can become a fine photographer," Stone told him. Minnelli left his Marshall Field's job, and worked for Stone as an assistant photographer. Stone specialized in photographing actors and socialites from Chicago's theater district at theatrical luminaries, society matrons and wedding parties. At Stone's Raymor studio, Minnelli photographed numerous celebrities, including Ina Claire, where he coaxed them into capturing their best angles. Minnelli reflected, "Stone's photography

20234-426: Was asked to work on New York stage productions for $ 150 a week. He left Chicago and rented a tiny Greenwich Village apartment. At Paramount, Minnelli worked exclusively in costumes, and restricted from designing sets because he wasn't in the set designers' union. He was eventually accepted into the union membership thanks to sponsorship from J. Woodman Thompson, a prominent stage designer. His first Broadway assignment

20385-500: Was born on February 28, 1903, to Marie Émilie Odile Lebeau and Vincent Charles Minnelli. He was baptized in Chicago, and was the youngest of four known sons, only two of whom survived to adulthood. His mother, whose stage name was Mina Gennell, was born in Chicago. She was of French-Canadian descent, and there is a likelihood of Anishinaabe lineage through her mother, who was born on Mackinac Island, Michigan . His father co-founded

20536-579: Was designing a "Water Lily" ballet, a Cuban potpourri illustrated with a backdrop of fighting cocks , a Big Top interior for a circus number, and a Rue de la Paix dress shop to display the Roxettes . In December 1933, Minnelli art-directed a production of the Scheherazade suite by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov . His efforts were applauded in the mainstream press, including The New York Times and New York Herald Tribune . Despite this, Rothafel

20687-614: Was designing the show curtain for Earl Carroll 's 1931 edition of the Vanities musical revue. Taking inspiration from Léon Bakst 's designs for the Ballets Russes , Minnelli fashioned a 300 feet (91 m)–tall green and silver curtain to accompany the Art Deco theatrical style. Impressed, Carroll rehired Minnelli as a costume and set designer for the 1932 Vanities . By this time, Grace Moore asked Minnelli to supervise

20838-448: Was directly inspired by Bollywood musicals. The film pays homage to India, incorporating an Indian-themed play and a Bollywood-style dance sequence with a song from the film China Gate . The critical and financial success of Moulin Rouge! renewed interest in the then-moribund Western live action musical genre, and subsequently films such as Chicago , The Producers , Rent , Dreamgirls , and Hairspray were produced, fueling

20989-472: Was discarded aside from exterior shots of New York. The Pennsylvania Station was recreated on the MGM soundstage while local New York sites were filmed using rear projection . On January 9, 1945, before Garland was to film The Harvey Girls (1946), Minnelli and Garland were engaged to be married. The two married on June 15, inside Garland's mother's house in Wilshire, Los Angeles . Minnelli's next film

21140-433: Was dropped and reworked into Torch Song (1953), starring Joan Crawford . Because of the success of An American in Paris (1951) and Singin' in the Rain (1952), Freed decided to produce another film adapting the musical catalogue of renowned composers. For The Band Wagon (1953), it was decided to adapt the music and lyrics by Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz . To write a suitable storyline, Minnelli turned to

21291-502: Was enlisted to film the fashion show finale for Mervyn LeRoy 's Lovely to Look At (1952). Adrian Greenburg (also known as "Adrian") and Tony Duquette had designed costumes for the sequence, costing over $ 100,000 (equivalent to $ 1,147,368 in 2023). Minnelli declined to be credited for the film. On September 21, production on Huckleberry Finn was postponed indefinitely due to Kelly and Kaye's withdrawal. Due to similarities with An American in Paris (1951), Minnelli turned down

21442-413: Was excised from the film. Minnelli was next approached to direct Undercurrent (1946) by Pandro Berman with Katharine Hepburn and Robert Taylor cast in the lead roles. Based on a story by Thelma Strabel , the film is about the daughter of a small-town college professor who marries an industrialist and moves into the city with him. She soon learns about her missing brother-in-law, whom her husband

21593-401: Was given only three months for preparation before its premiere on December 1, 1937. The musical was well-received, with Life magazine calling it "the funniest show of the year." Time magazine also applauded: "Sharing credit with Wynn for the show's success is able Vincente Minnelli, trained in the hard school of movie stage-shows, who directed it and designed the scenery." Inspired by

21744-613: Was hired as a costume and set designer . Assigned to give the stage productions "a custom touch", Minnelli was shocked the costume department operated on meager budgets. At the time, theatre productions ran one week at the Chicago Theatre where the sets and costumes were disassembled and reused at the Tivoli and Uptown Theatre . In 1931, Balaban and Katz merged with the Paramount-Publix theater chain, and Minnelli

21895-647: Was hired by Arthur Freed to work for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer , where he directed sequences in Babes on Broadway (1941) and Panama Hattie (1942). He made his directorial film debut with Cabin in the Sky (1943). A year later, Minnelli directed Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) starring Judy Garland . He married Garland a year later, and their daughter Liza was born in 1946. He subsequently directed Garland in The Clock (1945), Ziegfeld Follies (1945) and The Pirate (1948). He divorced Garland in 1951. Throughout

22046-473: Was hired to write the musical score. Sid Perelman wrote the libretto, while Lena Horne read for the title role. After six months of development, Minnelli abandoned the project. Exhausted, Minnelli took a sabbatical break until producer Max Gordon offered him to direct Very Warm for May . Oscar Hammerstein II and Jerome Kern were hired to write the lyrics and compose the musical score, respectively. Pleased with

22197-597: Was later fired and was replaced by W. G. Van Schmus. In 1934, Schmus selected Minnelli to produce his first stage show titled Coast to Coast , which opened on October 25. Accompanied with music from E. Y. Harburg and Duke Ellington , the show displayed several sets, illustrating the French Riviera , the British Gold Coast , Ivory Coast and the Barbary Coast . Backstage, Minnelli was offered

22348-448: Was met with some criticism by religious groups but was well received. By the mid-1970s, filmmakers avoided the genre in favor of using music by popular rock or pop bands as background music, partly in hope of selling a soundtrack album to fans. The Rocky Horror Picture Show was originally released in 1975 and was a critical failure until it started midnight screenings in the 1980s where it achieved cult status. That same year also saw

22499-453: Was nominated for eight Oscars, winning six including Best Picture. On January 18, 1951, Minnelli was announced to direct a musical film adaptation of Mark Twain 's Huckleberry Finn . Dean Stockwell was cast in the title role. William Warfield was cast as Jim, along with Gene Kelly and Danny Kaye as the Duke and Dauphin respectively. Rehearsals began in August; simultaneously, Minnelli

22650-536: Was shot from mid-December 1948 to February 1949. During production, Minnelli notably filmed an elaborate waltz sequence, utilizing 360-degree pan camera movements accompanied to Miklós Rózsa 's pre-recorded instrumental score. Biographer Stephen Harvey called it "one of the audacious epiphanies in any Minnelli movie." Released in August 1949, critics deemed Madame Bovary as an unusually distinguished film, adapting its source material with considerable drama and atmosphere. Sneak preview audiences responded favorably to

22801-614: Was soft, but in sharp focus, so that it could reproduce on the printed page. This taught me a way of creating mood." Months later, Stone suffered a nervous breakdown , and Minnelli assumed his photography duties. Feeling photography was not his suited profession, Minnelli grew dissatisfied and began reading Elizabeth and Joseph Pennell 's 1911 biography of James McNeill Whistler , an American painter. Inspired by Whistler's art techniques, Minnelli immersed himself in impressionist and surrealist painters, such as Henri Matisse , Marcel Duchamp , Max Ernst and Salvador Dalí . He also admired

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