Musical masterpieces have been tap dancing throughout the years with its fair share to the cinematic world. These musicals moved out from the live theater halls to grazed the big screen. With the American Film Institute remembering these legendary works, here is a countdown to the top 10 of the most memorable and truly-enchanting movie musicals of all time. 10. Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) One of the first movies that top billed by Judy Garland where she was portrayed as the beautiful leading lady instead of her usual girl-next-door characters. Meet Me in St. Louis is a classic romantic comedy musical made by Metro Goldwyn Meyer (MGM) Studios, Inc. The movie shows four sisters on the cusp of St. Louis World's Fair that is set in 1904. The story focuses on the growth and It features the dark recesses of the Nazi period with a mix of dramatic visuals and music. 4. The Sound of Music (1965) In 1965, The Sound of Music won the 38th Academy Awards for Best Picture. Julie Andrews stars in another heartwarming musical. This time, she plays Maria, the tomboyish postulant. The story is based on the real life account of the Von Trapp Family singers. A family that is most popular in the time immediately preceding World War II. The Sound of Music's casts include Christopher Plummer as Captain Von Trapp, Charmian Carr, Kym Karath, Angela Cartwright, Heather Menzies, Nicholas Hammond, Debbie Turner and Duane Chase as the Von Trapp children. They are the people who brought life and timeless music for that generation and until today. 3. The Wizard of Oz (1939) A film inspired by the classic tale of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz book written in 1900. This musical is a top favorite by avid fans of musical movies. It brought fame to Judy Garland who later on continued to star in various
Wizard of Oz, The Movie. Director Victor Fleming, Metro Goldwyn Mayer, 1939.Film Youtube Feb 12th . 2014. Retrieved March 1st. 2014.
...e the Gambler part 1, Directed by Fritz Lang 1922, Youtube Video, 2:02 , Accessed May, 14, 2014 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqglLUaOUvc
Wizard of Oz, The. Dir. Victor Fleming. Perf. Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, and Ray Bolger. Warner Bros., 1939.
To fully understand the relationship between a filmmaker and a composer, it is helpful to take a closer look at the filmmaker’s position towards music in film in general; these can of course differ substantially from one director to another. It seems, one must think, that the complete narrative and emotive potential of film music is not yet fully recognized and appreciated in many film produc...
Chicago is an American musical with music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb and a book by Ebb and Bob Fosse. Set in Prohibition-era Chicago, the musical is based on a 1926 play of the same name by reporter Maurine Dallas Watkins about actual criminals and crimes she reported on. The story is a satire on corruption in the administration of criminal justice and the concept of the "celebrity criminal." Fred Ebb explains: “So I made it [Chicago] a vaudeville based on the idea that the characters were performers. Every musical moment in the show was loosely modeled on someone else: Roxie was Helen Morgan, Velma was Texas Guinan, Billy Flynn was Ted Lewis, Mama Morton was Sophie Tucker,” (Kander, Ebb, and Lawrence 127). Velma indeed is a reincarnation of Texas Guinan who “acted as hostess…for the entertainment…she was also a born press agent, constantly inventing stories and promoting herself,” (Slide 218). Roxie’s “Funny Honey” Amos is eerily reminiscent of Helen Morgan’s “Bill” from Kern and Hammerstein’s 1927 classic Showboat. Amos, too, in his “Mr. Cellophane” number, imitates Ziegfeld Follies star Bert Williams’ iconic hit “Nobody” “right down to Williams’ famous costume of oversized clothes and white gloves,” (Miller).
...wed this particular component to make differences to such challenges from one dance to the next. This was possible due to Fagan’s approach to choreography that are different compared to another choreography that was designed to other Disney films turned musicals i.e. Beauty and the Beast and Little Mermaid. These two notable musicals have taken the stages of Broadway by storm. However, there is an ingredient missing to those shows that Taymor was able to capture from beginning to end with the Lion King. The Lion King musical gave the critics an idea how actors are moving across the stage, embodying the human and animal aspects of all characters from an animated element. It was a risky challenge that Fagan took by radically going from the negative into the positive using dance and movement vocabulary to balance structure and pacing of the highly successful musical.
Music can decipher a narrative event by indicating a perspective. To unify a set of diverse images and provide rhythmic and formal continuity and momentum, a film’s structure is more often than not, directly articulated by a musical structure. Music can assist the dialogue and visuals of film and often is inaudible (e.g. music is meant to be heard unconsciously, not consciously). Music has been used by directors to reinforce or strengthen certain weak scenes in film and then on the other hand when music is not needed to reinforce a scene
The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 film directed by Victor Fleming, which follows Dorothy Gale on her journey through the magical land of Oz. Dorothy is swept away from a farm in Kansas to the land of Oz in a tornado and embarks on a quest to see the Wizard who can help her return to her home in Kansas. The director, uses a number cinematic techniques such as camera angles, lighting, colour and dialogue to portray a central theme of There’s no place like home.
The film is about Florence Cathcart, an author and debunker of the supernatural, sometime in post-World War I. After a boy 's death, she is requested to investigate a boarding school that is reportedly having sighting a ghost on the grounds. She soon finds out that there is more to the story.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a children’s novel that was published in 1900 and written by L. Frank Baum and because of its great success, it lead to the creation of the Oz series of thirteen additional books. Over the years, thousands of adaptations have been made of Baum’s novel. The most successful adaptation is The Wizard of Oz (1939) directed by Victor Fleming and produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). The film and the novel are both very similar, however there are many differences pertaining to the characters, plot and the series of events throughout the film.
The Wizard of Oz was directed by Victor Fleming and was released in 1939. The movie is about Dorothy Gale, a young girl living on a farm in Kansas with her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry. Dorothy gets into some trouble with her neighbor, Miss Gulch, but everyone else on the farm is too busy to pay attention to her. Miss Gulch arrives with the sheriff to take away Dorothy’s dog Toto, because he bit her leg. Toto escapes the sheriff and Dorothy decides to run away with Toto. She meets a fortune teller who makes her, falsely, believe that Aunt Em is ill. So she runs home straight away, but as she gets there a tornado starts coming up. Not being able to get into the cellar, she is knocked out by flying debris and awakens to the house being carried away by the twister. The house lands in the World of Oz in Munchkin Land. Dorothy is greeted by Glinda, the Good Witch of the North, and the Munchkins. Dorothy is treated like a heroine because she killed the Wicked Witch of the East. Glinda transfers the witch’s ruby slippers to Dorothy’s feet, and the Wicked Witch of the West swears revenge on her. Dorothy is told to follow the yellow brick road to the Emerald City and talk to the Wizard of Oz to get her back home. On the way, she befriends the brainless Scarecrow, the heartless Tin Man, and the cowardly Lion. They get into some trouble, along the way, but they get to the Wizard. He said that he wouldn’t help unless they return with the broom of the Wicked Witch of the West. After a lot of danger and the kidnapping of Dorothy, her new friends save her and Dorothy kills the evil witch. The witch’s guards rejoice and give Dorothy the broom. Back in the Emerald City the Wizard still will not grant the groups wishes and Toto exposes the Wizard to be ...
As I was growing up my family and I would usually go and see ballets and then as I grew older we stopped going. When you are in Elementary school you have music class and to make it fun your class usually had to put on a play/musical. When I was in 2nd grade maybe I remember I finally auditioned to be a reindeer in a Christmas musical that was taking place. I only got the role because the person who originally got it wasn’t sad enough and couldn’t sign because he was stage fright. I remember how fun it use to be but that feeling soon faded because of all the lines and things that went with it. Musicals all through school were always fun to hear about but I never really paid much attention because I found
...downfalls. Fagan in his own hope want the audience to look at dance without going through boredom or thinking dance as a medicine (Bramley 24:1997). The musical has allowed this particular component to make differences to such challenges from one dance to the next. This was possible due to Fagan’s approach to choreography that are different compared to another choreography that was designed to other Disney films turned musicals i.e. Beauty and the Beast and Little Mermaid. These two notable musicals have taken the stages of Broadway by storm. However, there is an ingredient missing to those shows that Taymor was able to capture from beginning to end with the Lion King. It was a risky challenge that Fagan radically took out of the negative into the positive with the use of vocabulary to approach the use of dance and movement as part of a highly successful musical.
The show is inspired by Maria Von Trapp and her family of Austrian origin, who became famous after fleeing their home country and becoming a touring musical ensemble. Director Vincent J. Donehue first gained inspiration for the musical from Maria Von Trapps memoir “The Trapp Family Singers”, along with the 1956 German film “The Trapp Family.”1, which was the first piece of work to tell the story of the family and slightly fictionalize it. With the thought of putting his good friend Mary Martin, a popular star of the time, in the leading role, Donehue enlisted the help of producers Leland Hayward and Richard Halliday (Martin’s husband). Ironically, they originally planned to create the show as a straight play with the exception of some Von-Trapp songs, and a couple of original numbers by Rodgers and Hammerstein. They quickly realized however, that to not musicalize the whole show would be next to impossible; thus sparking the creation of a full-fledged musical.
The musical selections and songs that were sung told a story and narrated the almost the entire film, as is expected in...