University of Illinois Press

University Film & Video Association

College Course Film: THE HOLLYWOOD MUSICAL

Author(s): JANE FEUER
Source: Journal of the University Film and Video Association, Vol. 35, No. 4 (Fall 1983), pp. 70-
78
Published by: University of Illinois Press on behalf of the University Film & Video Association
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 College Course Film
THE HOLLYWOOD MUSICAL
JANE FEUER

INTRODUCTION

The basic dilemma confronted by anyone
wishing to teach a course on themusical is
the seeming uniformityand trivialityof the
texts themselves. Although I believe that
many musicals do have 4'aesthetic
I do not stress an evaluative or "aesthe
tic" approach in the course. Rather, I feel
that a structural and functional approach
to themusical as genre film and as enter
tainment will ultimately prove to yield
more intellectually. In this way a course
on the musical can raise such important
issues as: the nature of film genres as they
functioned in the Hollywood studio sys
tem, the musical as a form of mass
the nature of popular entertainment
aesthetic practice in modern
societies.
the very real danger of monotony. In a
sense the films are all the same?the in
credible systematicity of the genre will be
our object of study?yet the course can't
value", be "all the same" too. By raising different
issues in each unit, I try to introduce some
diversity into the course, and also to in
dicate different styles and developments
within the genre. At the same time, I tryto
remind students of the relevance of the
concepts introduced in previous weeks to
this week's film. An excellent way to
achieve continuity of learning is to ask
students in their paper assignments to
art, and apply concepts from earlier weeks to a
as an later film. The three-section breakdown
industrial also provides convenient breaks for pa
pers or exams.

Although I stress analysis rather than The course is, for obvious reasons, cen

chronology, it seems useful to follow a tered around my own approach to the

roughly chronological order in covering genre. As major texts I use
the genre from 1929-present. Thus I have
divided the course into three overarching ?Jane Feuer, The Hollywood Musical.
sections: The first section (Units 2-4) cov Indiana University Press, 1982.
ers the early history of the genre, ba ?Rick Altman, ed., Genre: The Musi

sically, the 1930s. Section Two (Units 5-7)
focuses on MGM in the early 1940s-mid
fifties. Section Three (Units 8 and 9) goes
from themid-fifties-1981. In thisway, the
hegemony of MGM over the genre is
clearly indicated, sandwiched as it is be
tween an early period in which no one
studio dominated the genre, and a later
period in which the studio system itself
crumbled and the genre diffused both his
torically and structurally. Within each
unit, however, the organization
turalor thematic. In thisway I tryto avoid
cal. British Film Institute Readers in
Film Studies. Boston: Routledge and
Kegan Paul, 1981.
?I would also use Donald Knox, The
Magic Factory: How MGM Made an
American in Paris, New York: Praeger,
1973,were it still in print.
The existing historical overviews of the
genre do not provide very good models of
historical scholarship, but the instructor
is struc should probably have a familiaritywith the
entire scope of the genre. The most recent

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of theanecdotal histories (Ethan but also Hollywood itself. In this sense,
Mordden, The Hollywood Musical, New theHollywood musical is themost reflex
York: St. Martin's Press, 1981) isprobably ive of all film genres: itself a form of en
the best for this purpose. In addition, tertainment, it also offers an apology for
Clive Hirschhorn lists every musical ever entertainment in the form of the shows
made in his indispensable referencework within the films and the sagas of their
(The Hollywood Musical, New York: coming intobeing. This unit is also a good
Crown, 1981). A more scholarly work by place to discuss the ideological nature of
Jerome Delameter (Dance in the Hol entertainment, and also its '4mythic" na

lywood Musical, Ann Arbor: UMI Re ture, drawing on many issues raised by
search Press, 1981), is also quite com contemporary film theory in regard to
prehensive in scope, and is cited through genre.
out on the bibliographies. I have provided
an extensive semi-annotated bibliography There is no need to show a film for this
for the B.F.I, reader which you may want unit, but ifyou have themoney, itwould
to consult for other background readings be nice to show a pre- Busby Berkeley
published prior to 1979. musical. The following are recommended:
The Broadway Melody, Show Girl inHol
UNIT 1: INTRODUCTION lywood, Applause (Mamoulian), Hal
lelujah (King Vidor), Hallelujah, m A
This unit consists of a brief theoretical in Bum (A nice Jolson film), and The Love
troduction to themusical as a Hollywood Parade (Lubitsch).
genre film, a form of mass entertainment
that flourished under the Hollywood Readings
studio system. As entertainment, the mu
?Altman, Charles F., "Towards a
sical resists analysis. The students' (and
Theory of Genre Film," in Film:
sometimes the teacher's) own unseemly
Historical-Theoretical Speculations,
attachment to the films can be analysed as
The 1977 Purdue Film Studies Annual:
a formof resistance in itself.A question to
Part Two, Pleasantville, New York:
be raised early in the course is:why do we
Redgrave, 1977, 31-43.
feel thatanalysis will destroy the "magic"
of the texts? In thisway, the students' nat
?Walter Benjamin, "The Work of Art
in the Age of Mechanical Reproduc
ural reluctance to analyse can (paradoxi
tion," in Illuminations (New York:
cally) contribute to an analysis of the
stu
Schocken, 1969).
ideology of entertainment. For those
?Delameter, op. cit., Ch. 2.
dents who have not had previous film
?Kreuger, Miles, ed., The Movie Mu
courses, it is important to establish the
sical from Vitaphone to 42nd Street: As
nature of Hollywood genres in general
Reported in a Great Fan Magazine,
before going on to specialize in themusi
New York: Dover, 1975.
cal. The very redundancy of genre films,
?L?vi-Strauss, Claude, "The Struc
which is the reason many dismiss them,
tural Study ofMyth," (1955), reprinted
made them the ideal medium for cultural
in Richard and Fernande De George
rituals and for themediation in symbolic
form of cultural oppositions. The musical, (eds.) The Structuralists, Doubleday,
1972.
in particular, can be seen towork through
an opposition between the Puritan Ethic ?Neale, Stephen, Genre, British Film
and the pleasure principle, a dilemma Institute, 1980.
?Schatz, Thomas, Hollywood Genres,
which concerns not only American culture
New York: Random House, 1981.

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UNIT 2:THE BACKSTAGEMUSICAL: Readings
BUSBY BERKELEY
?Delameter, Ch. 3.

Itwas atWarner Bros, in the early 1930s ?Fischer, Lucy, "The Image of

that the basic formula for the backstage Woman as Image: The Optical Politics
musical that would dominate the genre ofDames". (In Altman)
into the fiftiescame together.This unit can ?Roth, Mark, "Some Warners Musi

thus serve both the historical function of cals and the Spirit of theNew Deal." (In

establishing the evolution of the "back Altman)

stage" subgenre into its "classical" form ?Thomas, Tony and Jim Terry with
and also to begin to raise central issues Busby Berkeley, The Busby Berkeley
about the structure and function of the Book, New York: A & W Visual Li
dominant backstage category to the genre brary, 1973.
as a whole. My filmof choice for this unit ?Turim, Maureen, "Gentlemen Con

is Dames for a number of reasons. sume Blondes," Wide Angle 1 (Spring

First,
the title number presents a fascinating 1976), 68-76.
early example of the extreme self
UNIT 3: THE OPERETTA OR "FAIRY
reflexivityof the backstage musical, and
enables one to introduce early in the TALE" MUSICAL
course the idea that themusical serves as
an explanation for the meaning of enter Proceeding through our survey of the do
tainment to its audience. Second, as the minant musical styles of the 1930s, we
article by Lucy Fischer (cited below) take up another major influence on musi
cal comedy: the fairy-taledream world of
points out, Dames illustrates the way in
which the backstage musical positions the the operetta. Although itwould be possi
spectator as a voyeuristic male; the eye of ble to use one of the Jeanette
the camera becomes the lustful eye of a Macdonald/Nelson Eddy films made at
male spectator at a girlie show. The MGM in the latterhalf of the decade, most
"Dames" number refers several times to viewers prefer the earlierMacdonald films
this phenomenon which permeates all the made at Paramount, usually costarring

Berkeley films. Here you can stress the Maurice Chevalier. As in the choice of
distinctiveness of this positioning, and Dames, my preference isLove Me Tonight
begin to distinguish the backstage musical not only because it's a brilliant film by
from the "folk" variety (see below) which anyone's standards but also because it

does not develop themale/female roles in
the same way. The plot of Dames is also
paradigmatic of the standard backstage
"syntax": the success of the young
romantic couple is linked to the success of
the show, the plot contrasts the Puritan
Ethic with the pleasure principle, love
making and show making are used as
metaphors for one another, and the film
ends with the celebration of theirmutual
success in the form of the extravagant
Berkeleyean spectacle. Alternate film
choices: 42nd Street, Footlight Parade,
more
Golddiggers of 1933. Gold Diggers of
already begins to parody the operetta form
towhich itbelongs. According to a forth
coming (Indiana University Press) book
by Rick Altman, the fairy-tale subgenre
parallels themaking of the couple not with
the putting on of a show but ratherwith
the need tomaintain order inan imaginary
kingdom, either actual (as in the operetta
tradition) or virtual (as in the mythical
hotels and ships of the Astaire-Rogers
series). One comparison that studentswill
see immediately is that in Love Me To
night the narrative and numbers are far
integrated than in Dames. The dis

1935. tinctionbetween narrative numbers (those

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belonging to the offstage world) and pros
cenium numbers (those taking place on
stage) can easily be illustrated here. It's
important to stress that this is a philo
sophical difference as well: Love Me To
night implies that music is part of life,
whereas the Warner Bros, musicals
separated the show from life, connecting
them only through the uniting of the
couple in and through the production of
entertainment. Thus one can distinguish
between musicals in which numbers are
motivated by the need to produce enter
tainment and those inwhich the numbers
are motivated by the need to delineate
character and the need to move
tive forward. Students can learn to ask the
question: what motivates the music? in
order to distinguish among the different
types of numbers and of musicals.
The theoretical issue that I stress in this
unit is theway inwhich the narrative of a
musical (especially one with narrative
numbers) operates by paralleling themale
and female halves of the couple inwhat
Altman calls (see article below) a "dual
focus" pattern. In class, using
article, one can do a detailed analysis of
the narrative function of each number in
the film.
Readings
?Altman, Rick, "The American Film
Musical: Paradigmatic Structure and
Mediatory Function," (inAltman).
?Bellour, Raymond, "Segmenting/
Analysing." (In Altman)
?Milne, Tom, Mamoulian,
Bloomington: Indiana University Press,
1969.
UNIT 4: ASTAIRE AND ROGERS
This unit brings to a conclusion the study
of the dominant musical "schools" of the
1930s, also bringing intoplay a thirdmajor
studio: RKO. The choice of film for this
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unit depends upon what you want to do
with it.Certainly, a few purposes could be
served by any film in the series (with the
exception of The Story of Vernon and
Irene Castle which I use in Unit Eight).
Specifically, the function of dance in the
had musical comes into the foreground with
this series and also the concept of integra
tion, often (inaccurately) said to begin
with the Astaire-Rogers series. To stress
continuity with the .backstage subgenre,
Shall We Dance is the best choice. Given
this option, I would follow Shall We
Dance with The Band Wagon, since both
deal with the theme of popular vs. elite art
the narra in themusical. This also provides a com
plete survey of the backstage subgenre
early in the course. However, ifyou wish
to stress continuity with the fairy-tale
tradition, either Top Hat or Swing Time
are better choices. Even in Shall We
Dance, it can be seen that the Astaire
Rogers filmsdifferfrom the truebackstage
type in that the success of the show is
never paramount: rather the uniting of the
couple and restoration of order to the un
iverse is the dominant concern. Any of the
the Altman films can be used to illustrate the way in
which dancing serves a narrative function.
It's also a good idea to try to categorize
the different types of numbers and their
function for the genre. The Astaire-Rogers
films are good vehicles for illustratingthe
links between number and narrative, a
concept usually referred to as "integra
tion." It's important to stress, however,
thatall musicals are integrated in the sense
that even in musicals with no offstage
numbers the numbers exist as examples of
entertainment for which the narratives
serve as an explication. For this reason, I
avoid using the term "diegetic" numbers
to refer to offstage performances, since I
feel the stage is part of the diegesis.
Readings
?Collins, Jim, "Towards Defining a
Matrix of the Musical Comedy: The
FILM AND VIDEO ASSOCIATION XXXV, 4 (Fall 1983) 73
 Place of the Spectator Within the Tex to stress the fluidity of these boundaries
tualMechanisms," (In Altman). since, arguably, they overlap at the edges;
?Croce, Arlene, The Fred Astaire and marginal films can be instructive in de

Ginger Rogers Book, New York: fining genres.

Galahad Books, 1972.
?Delameter, Ch. 4. Even ifyou don't show the film,most stu
?Feuer, Ch. 3. dents are familiar with Oklahoma! from
?Mueller, John,The Filmed Dances of high school productions, and it can be
Fred Astaire, Quarterly Review of Film used to illustrate the dynamics of this type
Studies, 6, No. 2 (Spring 1981). of musical inwhich singing and dancing
are motivated by a love of the land and the
UNIT 5: MGM: THE "FOLK" couple is united through a compromise in
MUSICAL which she unleashes some libido and he
agrees to give up ranching for farming as
Rick Altman, inhis forthcomingbook, has the territory becomes a state (nature/
identifieda third subgenre of the musical culture). It was the 1943 Broadway pro
inmany ways closely related to theWest duction of Oklahoma! which brought the
ern, which he calls the "folk" musical. In Hollywood folkmusical to itsclassic form.
this type of musical, singing and dancing Thus, assuming you use Oklahoma! as
are motivated not by the need for profes background, you can begin withMeet Me
sional entertainers to perform for a paying in St. Louis as an example of an early
audience, but by a love of the land or of MGM small-town variation of theWestern
the joys of ordinary life.Also distinguish theme. The above-mentioned Harvey
ing it from the backstage and fairytale Girls is a good substitution. The second
varieties is the centrality of the woman film in this three-filmunit should be On the
who is identifiedwith cultural stability and Town which takes the small town/outWest
the land, and who must tame the male? thematic s into the urban jungle of New
usually a free-spirited roving entertainer York and which is often overrated for its
type. (These roles may be reversed?as in location shooting and naturalization of
High, Wide, and Handsome?but the singing and dancing. Take Me Out to the
polar opposition remains.) This is the op Ball game is the same type of "buddy"
posite of the backstage musical where the musical. A crucial issue in regard to the
woman is liberated from her mundane development of the genre by MGM in the
existence by a Svengali-like male enter forties and fifties is the way in which a
tainer inorder to enter into show business mass art?the Hollywood musical?was
and become an object of spectacle. Such a made to appear as a spontaneous art of the
distinction highlights the variety of the people. The dynamics of this process (in
genre as well as its systematicity, since the which professional entertainment ismade
folk musical still belongs to the genre in to appear as amateur "folk art") are

that the merger of the couple still unites documented inmy book. There is no bet
the values of entertainment with values ter film to illustrate the mass/folk
opposed to entertainment. An issue that dynamics than Summer Stock, a folk mu

the folk musical can raise is that of the sical which becomes a backstage musical
borders between genres; in this regard it is midway through. This film also illustrates
instructive to contrast a Western musical how a non-Freed Unit, not especially
(e.g. The Harvey Girls) with a Western well-made musical can nevertheless reflect

proper and ask students to point out the nearly every crucial element of the genre.
similarities and differences. It's important

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Readings compared toHugh Fordin's view thatpro
ducer Arthur Freed was the author of his
?Bathrick, Serafina, "The Past as Fu musicals and to the conventional view that
ture: Family and theAmerican Home in only an auteur such as Vincente Minnelli
Meet Me in St. Louis", The Minnesota was capable of "transcending" the genre.
Review, New Series 6 (Spring 1976), But what does itmean for a director, a
132-9. producer or a studio production unit to be
?Britton, Andrew, 'Meet Me in St. an author? Here it's important to stress
Louis: Smith, or the Ambiguities,' Au the force that the generic elements exert
stralian Journal of Screen Theory, no. 3 upon individual and to dem
"creators",
(1978), 7-25. onstrate the extent to which the Freed
?Delame ter, Ch. 6. Unit recombined generic signifiers in es
?Feuer, Ch. 1. pecially meaningful and artful ways.
Another element made clear by the pro
UNIT 6: AUTHORSHIP INTHE duction chronicles is the flexibilityof the
MUSICAL: MGM'S FREED UNIT form by which a variety of songs/dances
could be used at a given point in the narra
At this point in the course, we take a de tive. This makeshift method of making
tour off the theoretical path to consider musicals is very different from the
issues of the production of the texts rather Romantic notion of individual genius; in
than their conditions of reception. Since fact, the Freed Unit frequently started
the majority of texts studied in the re with an already-existing catalogue of
mainder of the course are products of songs and bent the plot to fit this re
MGM or the Freed Unit or both, this ceived material.. Ultimately, discussing
seems a good place to introduce the issue the issue of authorship in the musical
of the role of the studio and the collective can call into question many of our re
production company as auteur. By now, ceived notions of what an author is and
students should be aware that each strand can engender a better understanding of the
of the genre is associated with a studio at a production of mass-consumed texts. At
particular moment in its history. In addi the same time,we can see film historians
tion, from the previous unit they will trying to make the Freed Unit fit the
already be familiar with some characteris Romantic model for film authorship as the
tics of the Freed Unit approach to the self-expression of a creative genius,
"integrated musical." This unit can be whether that be an individual artist (Min
interchangedwith the next one ifyou pre nelli), an organizing consciousness (Freed)
fer that students have even more textual or a collective endeavor (the Freed Unit).
familiarity. At a more advanced level, this unit can be
used to critique the filmhistorians read as
Until this point we have been discussing part of the unit. The obvious choice of film
the musical as if itwere a product of the for this unit isAn American inParis which
people speaking to the people (folk art). A can serve double duty in the next unit.
genre is a system of conventions through
which ideology speaks. But who is the Readings
author of a genre film? By reading ex
cerpts from The Magic Factory, an oral ?Delameter, Interviews in appendix.
history of the making of An American in ?Fordin, Hugh, The World of Enter
Paris, students can discuss the notion of tainment: Hollywood's Greatest Musi
the studio itself as auteur. This can be cals, New York: Doubleday, 1975.

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 ?Millier, Jim, 'Interview with Stanley thematic (see Elsaesser article). The best
Donen,' Movie, no. 24 (Spring 1977), choice of films here are Minnelli films
26-35. which bring out the dream/reality opposi
?Knox, Donald, The Magic Factory: tion: paradigmatically, The Pirate; or
How MGM Made an American inParis, Yolanda the Thief; or a film that
and
New York: Praeger, 1973. places the
dream world in a
?Masson, Alain, 'George Sidney: psychoanalytical context, On a Clear Day
Artificial Brilliance/The Brilliance of You Can See Forever. An alternate choice

Artifice', (In Altman). isLili which I consider a musical by virtue

?Schatz, Thomas, "MGM's Freed of its handling of the thematic elements
Unit: Studio as Auteur," in [Hollywood discussed in this unit, even though it has
Genres], op. cit. only one "number." You can also go on to
discuss the handling of dream/reality
UNIT 7: MGM: UTOPIAS, DREAMS, conflict in more recent musicals, e.g.
FANTASIES Saturday Night Fever.

Just as in the "folk" unit, we saw theway Readings

in which MGM capitalized upon a folk
strain, in this unit we examine theway in ?Braudy, Leo, "Musicals and the En
which MGM (especially Minnelli), took up ergy fromWithin," in The World in a
the thematics of the fairy-tale tradition in Frame: What We See in Films, New
filmswhich focused upon the desire of the York: Anchor/Doubleday, 1976.
characters to escape into a fantasy world ?Delameter, Ch. 7.
"over the rainbow." The Wizard of Oz is ?Dyer, Richard, "Entertainment and

paradigmatic and can be used as a point of Utopia," (In Altman).

reference, since everyone will have seen it ?Elsaesser, Thomas, 'Vincente Min
'
many times. This unit stresses the manner nelli, (In Altman).
inwhich dream sequences in the films par ?Feuer, Ch. 4.
allel the relationship of the audience to the
films. Just as the "dream ballet" stresses UNIT 8: THE SELF-REFLEXIVE
the achievement of Utopia by the charac MUSICAL: MGM IN THE 1950s
ters in the film and the eventual merger
(through the marriage of the couple) of Since this ismy main source of interest in
dream with reality, so theMGM musical the genre, I spend several weeks on this
offers itself as our Utopia, our dream. unit, dividing it into several subtopics. The
However, there is a discrepancy in that unit as a whole examines all the ways in
themusical has closure but our lives con which the musical in being about enter
tinue after the film ends. This raises the tainment is also about itself, and also the
issue of the ideological implications of the way inwhich latermusicals depend upon
vision of liberation promised by themusi the audience's generic literacy.
cal (see the pivotal article by Richard
Dyer, below). Through the readings and Thus the unit begins with two filmswhich
close analysis of dream-sequence musi render a source/quotation model for the
cals, students can examine the sources of history of the genre unmistakable. Going
their pleasure in the texts. It's important back to the 1930s, we view an example of
to bring out both the real and the false the entertainer biopic?The Story of Ver
promises the genre makes, and to stress non and Irene Castle?a "nostalgia film"
the extent to which Minnelli in particular which brought to a close the Astaire/
is grappling with the venerable art vs. life Rogers RKO series. The biopic illustrates

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how the genre sentimentalizes
dustrial way of life (as does the "folk"
musical, e.g. Meet Me In St. Louis) but
also pre-industrial forms of live entertain
ment. We then view the film which re
united Fred and Ginger ten years later
(1949)?The Barkleys of Broadway. The
latter film is instructive for the way in
which it seems to referback to the series
proper, and can thus serve
of the "intertextuality" of the genre as a
whole. (Another biopic that is not unbear
able towatch is Three Little Words.)
The next section of the unit takes up the
issue of those self-reflexivemusicals of the
early fiftieswhich appear to deconstruct
the genre only to reaffirm it in the end.
Any of the Comden and Green-scripted
films of this period will illustrate these
dynamics: The Barkleys, The Band
Wagon, or Singin' in theRain. Alternate
titles include Easter Parade, Funny Face
and Silk Stockings.
The third set of issues to be taken up in
this unit involves the positioning of the
spectator in lateMGM musicals. The au
dience in the films, for instance ismade to
stand in for the spectator, and numbers are
segmented in such a way as
a pre-in reflexivity?a self-referentiality which
serves to build up or construct the genre.
Now we are dealing with a reflexivity
which is de-constructive or critical. We
are not, however, necessarily dealing with
a new class of films, forwe have already
seen elements of deconstruction in those
filmswhich ultimately re-affirmthe genre.
In this section, however, I prefer to con
as exemplary centrate on two rather "grim"
musicals?A Star is Born, 1954 version,
and It's Always Fair Weather. Both films
seem to provide a link between the con
servative reflexive films and more radi
cally deconstructive films to follow. It's
Always Fair Weather was meant by Com
den and Green, Kelly and Donen, as a
sequel to On the Town but it's also a de
construction of the formerfilm's ideology
of the joy thatpermeates ordinary life.For
this reason the filmworks brilliantly as an
expose of the contradictions in the con
cept of the "folk" musical. Similarly, A
Star isBorn criticizes the notion that suc
cess in one's personal life stands in a
metaphorical relationship to success in
entertainment, an ideology crucial to the
classic backstage musical film.Many stu
dents find these films rather depressing
and will say they don't "seem likemusi
to position the cals." Thus it is crucial to point out that

spectator inside the text. It is instructive filmswhich critique the dominant syntax
to study closely the dynamics of numbers of the genre also belong to that genre and
such as "Shine on Your Shoes" and "You that the genre in a sense deconstructs it
Were Meant forMe" (in The Band Wagon self. A way of getting at this rather
and Singin' in theRain, respectively) for abstract notion is to discuss why these
the way in which MGM positioned the films are perceived as "downers."
spectator as part of the audience-in-the
text and for theway inwhich the apparent Readings
d?mystification of a number's production
is actually a remystification. -In Altman: Articles by Collins, Feuer,
Giles, Sutton, Williams and Robin
In the fourth and final section of the unit Wood.
we take up the issue of the historical evo -Feuer, Chs. 2, 3, and Ch. 5, pp. 134?
lution of the genre, which, like theWest 175.
ern, involves a process of deconstructing -Wood, Michael, "Darkness in the
its own conventions. To this point I have Dance," inAmerica in theMovies, New
stressed what I call "conservative" York, Basic Books, 1975.

JOURNAL OF THE UNIVERSITY FILM AND VIDEO ASSOCIATION XXXV, 4 (Fall 1983) 77

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UNIT 9: BEYOND MGM critiques the idea that lifefollows art in the
person of an artistwho cannot handle life
Even ifone can't afford the rentals, it is offstage. The numbers in the show also
crucial to continue the course beyond the refer back to conventional types of num
fifties inorder to refute the oft-stated claim bers from earlier musicals. The latter
that the genre "died" by 1960. Just as in comes close to being a European art film in
Six Guns and Society Will Wright asserts that a Brechtian, critical function seems to
that anti-Westerns dominate over an entertainment function.
remain Westerns, it is
crucial for genre theory to see that genres I findPennies from Heaven to be the per
transformbeyond a classical period with fect filmwith which to bring the course full
out really dying and that these transfor circle since it is about ordinary folk who
mations need to be correlated to industrial project their dreams as musical numbers
and cultural shiftsoutside the films.What butwho are unable to realize those dreams
faded with MGM was the couple/show in life. As such it provides the ultimate
to examine our own re
syntax which affirmed the continuity be opportunity
tween art and life. Of course affirmative lationship to the genre.
musicals continued to be made as "old
fashioned" or "family" entertainment but Readings
the process of deconstruction also con
tinued. Thus, those films which I would ?Delame ter, Ch. 8.
Ch.
single out from the post-studio era include: ?Feuer, 5, pp. 176-190.

That's Entertainment, The Boy Friend,

Cabaret, Saturday Night Fever, New
York, New York, All That Jazz and Pen
nies From Heaven. The latter two are JANE FEUER teaches filmat theUniversityof
Pittsburgh.She is theauthorof TheHollywood
preferred for in-class screenings since they Musical (Indiana University Press, 1982).
critique, respectively, the backstage trad
ition and the folk tradition. The former Copyright
? 1983JaneFeuer

78 JOURNAL OF THE UNIVERSITY FILM AND VIDEO ASSOCIATION XXXV, 4 (Fall 1983)

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