Richard Barrios
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195377347
- eISBN:
- 9780199864577
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195377347.003.0010
- Subject:
- Music, Popular
Broadway musicals were a ready source for the early musicals, and RKO's smash Rio Rita led the way. Some of the adaptations were close, while others strayed wildly from the originals. Among the ...
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Broadway musicals were a ready source for the early musicals, and RKO's smash Rio Rita led the way. Some of the adaptations were close, while others strayed wildly from the originals. Among the Broadway stars repeating their stage roles were Irene Bordoni in Paris, and Ziegfeld diva Marilyn Miller in Sally. Such films as No, No Nanette bore less resemblance to the stage success than it did to the thriving backstage genre. Composers DeSylva, Brown and Henderson found their works transferred more successfully than did Rodgers and Hart or Cole Porter. By the time of the most lavish Broadway adaptation, Whoopee!, musicals were in decline, yet with Eddie Cantor, Busby Berkeley, and Technicolor it scored a notable success.Less
Broadway musicals were a ready source for the early musicals, and RKO's smash Rio Rita led the way. Some of the adaptations were close, while others strayed wildly from the originals. Among the Broadway stars repeating their stage roles were Irene Bordoni in Paris, and Ziegfeld diva Marilyn Miller in Sally. Such films as No, No Nanette bore less resemblance to the stage success than it did to the thriving backstage genre. Composers DeSylva, Brown and Henderson found their works transferred more successfully than did Rodgers and Hart or Cole Porter. By the time of the most lavish Broadway adaptation, Whoopee!, musicals were in decline, yet with Eddie Cantor, Busby Berkeley, and Technicolor it scored a notable success.
Richard Barrios
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195377347
- eISBN:
- 9780199864577
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195377347.003.0011
- Subject:
- Music, Popular
Led by the smash hit of Fox's Sunny Side Up, starring Janet Gaynor, original musicals fared well in the early sound era. Such originals as Marianne tended to be more cinematic than the stage ...
More
Led by the smash hit of Fox's Sunny Side Up, starring Janet Gaynor, original musicals fared well in the early sound era. Such originals as Marianne tended to be more cinematic than the stage adaptations, although routine could also be the order of the day in such uninspired pieces as Honey and Tanned Legs. The most distinctive entries came near the end of the era: Fox's Just Imagine, a science-fiction musical comedy set in the future of 1930, and MGM's Madam Satan, a combination sex farce, operetta, and disaster epic directed by Cecil B. DeMille.Less
Led by the smash hit of Fox's Sunny Side Up, starring Janet Gaynor, original musicals fared well in the early sound era. Such originals as Marianne tended to be more cinematic than the stage adaptations, although routine could also be the order of the day in such uninspired pieces as Honey and Tanned Legs. The most distinctive entries came near the end of the era: Fox's Just Imagine, a science-fiction musical comedy set in the future of 1930, and MGM's Madam Satan, a combination sex farce, operetta, and disaster epic directed by Cecil B. DeMille.
