From Issue 11, July 2003:

Musicals and Dance Movies

by Elaine Wilkins

(Complete Article: From time to time we will publish full articles on our website, particularly when connected to an event, promotion or scheme.)

Musicals and Dance is the third of the UK Film Council’s latest '25 Words or Less' genre initiative. Elaine Wilkins guides you through the steps.

To the uninitiated, musicals may have a tendency to appear nothing more than a bunch of people singing and dancing unnecessarily, destroying any chance of one enjoying the film.  However, to the enlightened masses, musicals offer some of the most adventurous, cinematic, imaginative and pioneering spectacles ever brought to the screen.

The Musical genre isn’t easy to define.  It is fluid and flexible: its form can change and alter within many stories and the recognition of a Musical is more akin to the recognition of Sci-fi and Comedy; it is a sense, an appreciation of the format, the patterns and the manner in which stories are played out.   Tuning in midway through any musical, whether it be The King and I or The Rocky Horror Picture Show, should leave no one in doubt of the genre.

Yet its location changes: a scriptwriter could set a musical in space, in history, the future or the present day and still remain true to the genre. The situations are varied, the characters diverse and, perhaps with the early exception of top hat and cane, icons unnecessary, all of which makes the definition of musicals – compared to other genres – even more elusive.  However, it is the inclusion of music – that ingredient which gives vent to the emotions and which transcends all barriers – that audiences latch on to and love.

The recognisable patterns and formats were established fairly quickly: the popularity of the stage operetta, vaudeville, Tin Pan Alley and musical revues established a recognisable format, which transpired easily into the early film musical bringing a ready-made audience with it.  The Jazz Singer (Warner Bros. 1927) is commonly accepted as the first 'talking' picture – one which incorporated dialogue on its sound track rather than captions accompanied by the cinema's resident organist – and, due to the presence of Al Jolson and the inclusion of his popular songs, was defined as a musical.  This early format developed from rather stagey, theatrical efforts into a stronger, narrative-driven product.

The introduction of a strong narrative, where the songs and dance were written especially for it and progressed the story or, at the very least, offered insights into character, reinvigorated the rather tired though novice genre.  The trend was set with The Broadway Melody in 1929, with songs written by Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed, when, as the first example of a backstage musical, it went on to win the first Oscar for a sound film.

Musical comedy was the next step, encompassing the trademark of innocence and escapism now associated with this increasingly popular genre. Realising the appetite for stories with music, rather than simply set pieces, successful composers and lyricists in the theatre were commissioned by the film studios to realise the concept. At this point they may have worked in collaboration with studio scriptwriters, or quickly developed that particular art themselves, in order to keep up with the prolific, formulaic output recognisable of the musicals’ heyday.

However, if there’s one criticism that is continually levelled at musicals, it’s the fact that they’re so unbelievable. Nobody just breaks into song and dance in real life. Yet it is the freedom that this suspension of disbelief affords which makes the musical format so expandable.  The genre is not confined to the rules governing other genres, such as the Western, where situation, dress, language and setting are so mandatory. The fact that there are no restrictions, save the odd song and/or dance, allows for the inclusion of dream sequences, fantasy sequences and the tampering with temporal relativity

Musicals should be a scriptwriter’s dream because there are no limits and a quick glance at the back catalogue illustrates their range.  From the earliest musical revue to the epitome of the production number, Busby Berkeley, from the simplicity of Shirley Temple to the highly stylised West Side Story, and from the trend-setting Flying Down To Rio to the imaginative mix of contemporary and traditional in Moulin Rouge, the musical, like any other good film of any genre, can cross boundaries.

The disco fever that was Saturday Night Fever in 1977 was a welcome shot in the arm for all musical filmmakers.  But would Saturday Night Fever be considered a musical?  In the sense that it has songs and dance, it should.  Yet, the songs are sung by a group the audience never sees, featured only as a means to demonstrate a dancer's prowess.  This, it could be argued, isn't particularly revolutionary either.  There were certainly dancers who never sang on film, just as there were singers who never danced.

Saturday Night Fever was different. The fundamentals of music and dance were there but refreshed and revitalised.  This was 'real' and ‘gritty’, a reflection of the younger generation's musical tastes and social behaviour, and caught at the beginning of a trend, Saturday Night Fever was able to identify with and influence its audience. The soundtrack from the movie captured the audience's imagination because it was the music of the hero's fantasy world – his means of escape – and was what he listened to and danced to.

If you still wouldn’t consider this particularly weighty or groundbreaking, then consider musicals that had come before it. West Side Story, based on a Shakespeare play with music by Leonard Bernstein took a traditional story and added the 1960s social conscience to it.  Black artists had their own musical vehicles – Cabin in the Sky in 1943 and Porgy & Bess in 1959 – long before this filtered into mainstream drama.  Bob Fosse’s Cabaret in 1972 chronicled, with metaphor, the rise of a political storm in 1930s Berlin. Yet this more adult fare is untypical of the genre as a whole.

The beauty of musicals is that they are made to appeal to a wide audience.  In general they offer light-hearted stories. Don’t tune in if you’re hoping to see violence, seedy liaisons or life threatening illnesses because generally it’s just dancin’ and romancin’.  The formula of a handsome leading man wooing a pretty lady has been designed to last and there is no better appeal to a teenage audience than to have the young man come from the wrong side of the tracks.

Two of Hollywood’s most successful musicals of modern years were designed primarily with the teenage market in mind: Grease and Dirty Dancing.  Both of these are a nostalgic look at bygone America where rock ‘n’ roll music, convertible cars and iconic clothes beg to be associated with teenage rebellion.  They tell the story of first loves and first kisses, of break ups and make ups, all to the backdrop of the emotive soundtrack.

But musicals are not so formulaic as to be unsusceptible to subversion.  For every Annie, where the appeal is obviously to children with the almost pantomime-like portrayal of good and evil, there is a Bugsy Malone where Alan Parker takes a magnificent look at an adult world through the eyes of adults trapped in the bodies of children.  Yes, splurge guns that shoot whipped cream may hit the spot for the younger audience but this knowing nod to all musical and gangster clichés makes it high-class entertainment for the grown-ups too.

As with any genre, there are those films that can only really be appreciated by the most ardent of fans. However, for sheer energy and all round entertainment with universal appeal, Calamity Jane must surely rank high on anyone’s list.  Doris Day has a remarkable track record in musicals, though her early outings in sentimental films reminiscing over forgotten times tagged her initially with the label of the girl-next-door.  Calamity Jane gave her the chance to rough it in deer hide and cowboy boots.  Yes, the story was undoubtedly a Hollywood version of the real life Wild West character but it was a fine example of Hollywood getting it right. It was the perfect showcase for Day’s abilities, giving her the chance to exercise her comedic muscles too when sparring with the impossibly handsome Howard Keel.  This is the kind of film that gives musicals a good name.

But lest we should get carried away with what Hollywood has to offer, it should be said that Bollywood continues to be the biggest exponent of the film musical, which has found a place in the country’s culture that transcends generations.  For sheer opulence and spectacle there are few Western musicals that could compete with these offerings. Costume and choreography play a large part in the Bollywood experience. But there are familiar patterns also: a melodramatic slant; honour within the family; a wealthy, handsome lead; a long lost brother; fights, and tears, plenty of tears.

Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, directed by Karan Johar is a lavish example of its type with an all-star cast and a multi-million selling soundtrack.  It is a blend of traditional Indian values, which clashes somewhat with the modern tale that it tells but it is a technically perfect Bollywood experience from a master director.

Although the success of Hollywood cinema’s latest musicals, Moulin Rouge and Chicago, naturally leads to the hailing of the genre renaissance, the Hollywood conveyor-belt production of this genre has passed and since there were along with the obvious highlights – An American In Paris, The Wizard of Oz, The Band Wagon, The Sound of Music – the inevitable lowlights, this can only really be regarded as a good thing. Now scriptwriters are challenged to find a new angle on this well-worn formula and to discover a fresh way of capturing today’s potential musical audience.

The musical experience should leave the audience in no doubt of what they have seen.  Within a wildly imaginative script or a simply told tale, it should be the music that dictates the different moods, the character nuances, the anticipations and, above all, the memories of the film.

Elaine Wilkins is a recent graduate of the BA (Hons) in Scriptwriting for Film & TV at Bournemouth University.  She has had work performed at the Salisbury Playhouse Youth Theatre and is currently working on a novel about the humorous side of life as a 30-something female.

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