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Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide.

Print Price: $27.95

Format:
Paperback
280 pp.
200 screen stills, 6.125" x 9.25"

ISBN-13:
9780199931750

Publication date:
November 2012

Imprint: OUP US


The Songs of Hollywood

Philip Furia and Laurie Patterson

From "Over the Rainbow" to "Moon River" and Al Jolson to Barbra Streisand, The Songs of Hollywood traces the fascinating history of song in film, both in musicals and in dramatic movies such as High Noon. Well illustrated with 200 film stills, this delightful book sheds much light on some of Hollywood's best known and loved repertoire, explaining how the film industry made certain songs memorable and highlighting important moments of film history along the way.

The book focuses on how the songs were presented in the movies, from early talkies where actors portrayed singers "performing" the songs, to the Golden Age in which characters burst into expressive, integral song - not as a "performance" but as a spontaneous outpouring of feeling. The book looks at song presentation in 1930s classics with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers and in 1940s gems with Judy Garland and Gene Kelly. The authors also look at the decline of the genre since 1960, when most original musicals were replaced by film versions of Broadway hits such as My Fair Lady.

Readership : General readers interested in popular song and film. Film scholars and students; scholars and students of American popular song.

1. "You Ain't Heard Nothin' Yet"
2. "That's the Broadway Melody"
3. "That's the Song of Paree"
4. "Hip Hooray and Ballyhoo"
5. "Cheek to Cheek"
6. "Thanks for the Memory"
7. "Over the Rainbow"
8. "Blues in the Night"
9. "Singin' in the Rain"
10. "Something's Gotta Give"
11. "All That Jazz"

There are no Instructor/Student Resources available at this time.

Philip Furia is a Professor in the Department of Creative Writing at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. Laurie Patterson is a Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.

A Song in the Dark - Richard Barrios
Enchanted Evenings - Geoffrey Block
The Oxford Companion to the American Musical - Thomas S. Hischak
American Musical Theater - Gerald Bordman
Off Key - Kay Dickinson

Special Features

  • Extremely well-illustrated with 200 film stills.
  • Fascinating look at songs in both musical and dramatic films, the first book to cover both in one treatment.
  • Argues for original film musicals over film adaptations of Broadway musicals, and takes the latter to task for being "stagey".
  • Concluding chapter celebrates Hollywood's innovations in recent years, past the "golden age".