The different film genres in the Fifties
Fifties genres
In the fifties Hollywood began to change its films. First the length changed from 90 minutes to 3 hours (in the sixties it became 2 hours). Second every production was presented as a splashy big-budget spectacle whether this was the case or not. Thus most genres lost their original forms and new ones had to be created.
The Musical (blz. 486-487)
The musical had reached a high point under auspices of MGM producer Arthur Freed. With him were directors as Vincente Minelli, Stanley Donen, Charles Walters and Gene Kelly. Also performers as Fred Astaire, Judy Garland, June Allyson and Cyd Charisse. This team produce medium-budget musicals as Singin' in the rain (Kelly / Donen, 1952) and Brigadoon (Minelli, 1954).
Freed believed that musical production numbers should be integrated with te film's dialogue and not stand-alone intermezzos. In theory it should advance the narrative but it practice id produced the fact that the character began to sing at the slightest dramatic convention. An example of this is The Wizard of Oz (1939). This went on during the fifties and sixties.
By 1955 musicals adapted the popular Broadway stage plays as West Side Story (Robert Wise, 1962) and My Fair Lady (George Cukor, 1964). The stars in these musicals couldn't sing (professional singers and dancers were used as stand-ins) and most directors had never filmed a musical before. Peak in this tendency was The sound of Music (Robert Wise, 1965). This one was followed by more enormous productions wich destroyed nearly the fortunes of the repective studios, glutted tyhe public on musicals and viryually killed the genre by blowing it out of proportion. In the seventies it returned to its original form (Hair (1979), Pennies from Heaven (1981)).
Comedy (blz. 487 - 491)
Comedy was another genre that suffered seriously from widescreen inflation and the generally depressed social ambiance of the MacCarthy - Cold War era.... [continues]
Fifties genres
In the fifties Hollywood began to change its films. First the length changed from 90 minutes to 3 hours (in the sixties it became 2 hours). Second every production was presented as a splashy big-budget spectacle whether this was the case or not. Thus most genres lost their original forms and new ones had to be created.
The Musical (blz. 486-487)
The musical had reached a high point under auspices of MGM producer Arthur Freed. With him were directors as Vincente Minelli, Stanley Donen, Charles Walters and Gene Kelly. Also performers as Fred Astaire, Judy Garland, June Allyson and Cyd Charisse. This team produce medium-budget musicals as Singin' in the rain (Kelly / Donen, 1952) and Brigadoon (Minelli, 1954).
Freed believed that musical production numbers should be integrated with te film's dialogue and not stand-alone intermezzos. In theory it should advance the narrative but it practice id produced the fact that the character began to sing at the slightest dramatic convention. An example of this is The Wizard of Oz (1939). This went on during the fifties and sixties.
By 1955 musicals adapted the popular Broadway stage plays as West Side Story (Robert Wise, 1962) and My Fair Lady (George Cukor, 1964). The stars in these musicals couldn't sing (professional singers and dancers were used as stand-ins) and most directors had never filmed a musical before. Peak in this tendency was The sound of Music (Robert Wise, 1965). This one was followed by more enormous productions wich destroyed nearly the fortunes of the repective studios, glutted tyhe public on musicals and viryually killed the genre by blowing it out of proportion. In the seventies it returned to its original form (Hair (1979), Pennies from Heaven (1981)).
Comedy (blz. 487 - 491)
Comedy was another genre that suffered seriously from widescreen inflation and the generally depressed social ambiance of the MacCarthy - Cold War era.... [continues]
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