Evolution of American Musical Movie

 

Evolution of American Musical Movie

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Musical movies (films) were developed from theatre or stage musicals. They are characterized by singing, dancing, and dialogues. The Jazz Singer starring by Al Jolson in 1927 was recognized as the first musical movie in the US. It introduced the sound era of motion pictures with the advent of sound in the early 20^th century. Afterwards, a series of musical movies were produced on the novelty of sound. In 1939, The Wizard of Oz became a landmark for musical movie because of adoption of new technology such as color motion picture process and better sound recording. Color had not become a popular feature until late 1950’s. Musical movies got developed toward better synthesis of plot and music. This beginning period was called the first classical sound era or First Musical Era.

In the 1960’s, musical films became critical and achieved box-office successes, such as The Sound of Music produced in 1965. During the 70’s, classical Hollywood musicals were considered out of date due to changes of moviegoers and movie culture. In the 80’s and 90’s, musicals were mainly from Disney animated movies with advancement of graphic technologies, such as Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, and Mulan, etc. The styles of singing evolved to more modern free styles, and musicals based on music from pop or rock artists became more dominating. It seemed that producers applied innovative pop music and filmmaking techniques to musicals to exploit the attraction of popular singers, such as Elvis Presley. In fact, it was the music (rock, disco, or classical) inspired the musical production during this period.

Since 21^st century, musical movies enter the second classical era or New Musical Era. Musical genre became more diversified, such as darker musicals, biopics, drama, and comedy-drama musicals. Chicago (2002) and The Greatest Showman (2017) were among the popular ones. Pandemic in 2020 fostered popularity of newly produced musical movies through Netflix since the majority were encouraged to hanker down and shelter in. One of them is the American Chinese animated musical movie Over the Moon.

In this post, I chose three singing performances in three musical movies over the past ninety years to  the portray the evolution of musical movie in the US, including “Mammy” in The Jazz Singer (1927) by Al Jolson, “Edelweiss” in The Sound of Music (1959) by Richard C. Rodgers, and “Ultraluminary” in musical Over the Moon (2020) sung by Phillipa Soo. I will also analyze some of the musical elements of these singing performance.

 

 Please click here for the link to song Mammy by Al Jolson in Musical The Jazz Singer (1927), and here for the lyrics. 

Image source: https://cdn.britannica.com/95/175595-050-D2BC7503/Al-Jolson-Eugenie-Besserer-The-Jazz-Singer.jpg

 My Mammy is considered as a tribute sung by a man to his childhood nurturer and caregiver – mammy as his surrogate mother. Mammies at that time were mostly African American nurse maids who cared for white children. The bond and affection between children and their mammies could even exceed their biological mothers. This song illustrated an adult man returning to his aging mammy to express his great love for her as once her little baby. It is interesting and controversial to see Jolsen’s performance in blackface and “white” lips. I personally take it as respect to his mammy instead of racial stereotyping.

The original published key for My Mammy is C Major. Piano was the key instrument with voice range C4-D5. Its tempo was Moderato, and it was a traditional pop song. Even though it was black and white filming with coarse sound effect, Al Jolson as a famous Jazz singer performed so well with his magnetic vocal and genuine emotions. I have personal connections to the lyrics because I had a nannie for over 3 years as a baby back in China… “My little Mammy, I'd walk a million miles, for one of your smiles. My Mammy! Oh oh oh...”

  

Link to Edelweiss in The Sound of Music (1959)

Please click here for the lyrics.

The Sound of Music (1965) was listed among the top five AFI’s Greatest Movie Musicals in 2006. Edelweiss was created as a song for the character Captain von Trapp in this musical. Its genre is folk music and Jazz. Edelweiss is a small white flower growing high in the Alps, and it was used as the name of the song to represent patriotism and loyalty to Austria while running away from the Nazi in the Captain’s homeland.

When I was in my late teens, I loved Edelweiss and a couple of other songs in the musical, which is still one of my most favorite movies. The meter of Edelweiss is ¾ or triple meter. It is in AB or binary form, which has two contrasting sections: verse and chorus. Its melody remains the same with change of lyrics and easy to sing. Comparing with the video clip of My Mammy, Edelweiss is in full color and high definition. The timbre or sound effect is also clear and resonant. One interesting fact I learned is that actor Christopher Plummer did not actually sing this song, and only the entrances and exists from Edelweiss were his voice. The producers filled in the song with vocal from artist Richard Rodgers. New technologies in sound and video synthesis made it possible.

 

Please click here  for Ultraluminary in Musical Movie Over the Moon

Lyrics are available here

Ultraluminary is a song performed by character Chang’e in the newly released musical movie Over the Moon, which is an American Chinese animated movie produced during the present pandemic. It was sung by vocalist Phillipa Soo. It is F# Minor with BPM 130 or Allegro. The form or overarching organization of the song is much more complex compared with Edelweiss in the 60’s. Ultraluminary starts with an intro, followed by verse 1, pre-chorus, chorus, and post-chorus. Then verse 2 comes in. There is a bridge after verse 2. The song ends with chorus and post-chorus. The dynamics of this song is vibrant with clear beats for most of it. The intro is single vocalist without instrumental accompany. It has lovely chorus with voice of audiences. You can see advanced technologies and complexity of music in this modern musical movie.

Looking over the evolution of American musical movie, I am thankful to technologies in filming, animation, and sound effect. Musical movies in the First Musical Era were classic and have their original taste, however I love the 50’s and 60’s production more because they are close to real life experiences and feelings. I also enjoy the musical movies in the New Musical Era, which brought new additions and diversities. Somehow, some of the latest musical movies seem a bit “too much” to me, but they are enjoyed by the younger generations. Despite all the changes, the basic truth and themes remain.

 

Sources:

“AFI’s Greatest Movie Musicals.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 5 Dec. 2020. Web. 23 Feb. 2021.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AFI%27s_Greatest_Movie_Musicals

“Al Jolson – My Mammy.” SongMeanings, 4 Aug. 2017. Web. 24 Feb. 2021. https://songmeanings.com/songs/view/3530822107858621181/

“Edelweiss.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 6 Feb. 2021. Web. 23 Feb. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edelweiss_(song)

“Musical Film.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 28 Jan. 2021. Web. 23 Feb. 2021. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_film

“My Mammy.” Musicnotes, Inc. 2021. Web. 24 Feb. 2021. https://www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusic/mtd.asp?ppn=MN0070571

The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. “Musical Film.” Britannica. Web. 23 Feb. 2021. https://www.britannica.com/art/musical-film

“Ultraluminary Lyrics.” Genius Media Group Inc. 2021. Web. 24 Feb. 2021. https://genius.com/Phillipa-soo-ultraluminary-lyrics

“Phillipa Soo Ultraluminary.” Musicstax. 2020. Web. 24 Feb. 2021. https://musicstax.com/track/ultraluminary/4JUwY5F2ULraA4CZdbcdjW