Roadshow! The Fall of Film Musicals of the 1960s
Roadshow! The Fall of Film Musicals of the 1960s
#1Roadshow! The Fall of Film Musicals of the 1960s
Posted: 5/22/21 at 8:30pm
I got the book by Matthew Kennedy and read the whole thing in one week; it's a fantastic read. Have any of you ever read it?
bk
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/20/03
#2Roadshow! The Fall of Film Musicals of the 1960s
Posted: 5/22/21 at 9:30pm
I read it when it came out - filled with errors and therefore of no interest to me.
#4Roadshow! The Fall of Film Musicals of the 1960s
Posted: 5/23/21 at 8:16am
Actually, I found the book off-putting and oddly depressing.
BrodyFosse123
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/27/06
#5Roadshow! The Fall of Film Musicals of the 1960s
Posted: 5/23/21 at 11:32am
Musical Master said: "What kind of errors?"
From one reviewer on Amazon:
I’m not quite a third of the way into this, and I'm disappointed. This is a subject that interests me, but I can't have any faith that Kennedy has his facts straight, because there have been serious mistakes in parts that I know something about. If you're going to quote a lyric from a show, get it right! In a song from "Finian's Rainbow," it's not "When I can't fondle the hand I'm fond of/I fondle the hand I'm near"; it's "I fondle the hand at hand."
Then in writing about "Funny Girl," he says Stephen Sondheim came on as lyricist; he didn't. Sondheim was approached to do it, but refused. The actual lyricist, Bob Merrill, isn't mentioned at all in the six pages Kennedy devotes to "Funny Girl." It's not like Merrill was some unknown -- he'd already had three hits as a composer-lyricist -- or that his involvement was a secret. Kennedy notes that Barbra Streisand dominates the cast album (which she does), and right there on the front it says "Lyrics by Bob Merrill."
Later he covers "Goodbye Mr. Chips" and tells of lyrics by Dory Previn that cause her and husband André Previn to be released from the picture. He quotes them: "He smiled...I smiled...we smiled/And the sky smiled, too/We talked...he talked...I talked.../And the sky was blue." Problem is, those lyrics, whatever you think of them, are by Leslie Bricusse, not the Previns -- and are in the finished film (Song: "And the Sky Smiled"
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When the author is making this kind of elementary mistake, how much can I trust him on areas where I know nothing and so am depending on him to get it right?
#6Roadshow! The Fall of Film Musicals of the 1960s
Posted: 5/23/21 at 12:18pm
Thanks Brody. Still despite whatever flaws in here, it's still entertaining to read. Especially about Hollywood mistaking the fact that Mary Poppins, My Fair Lady, and of course The Sound of Music were the great comebacks for movie musicals in a changing time like the 1960s when it reality it was good luck and Julie Andrews' connection to all three of them (with My Fair Lady being an indirect influence because she didn't star in it). Plus the behind the scenes stories of Doctor Dolittle, Camelot, and Hello, Dolly! are very funny in places especially Richard Harris' drunken antics and Barbra Streisand and Walter Matthau feuding like children. Who would've guessed that Rex Harrison was such a giant prima donna that he makes Carlotta from Phantom look like a kind-hearted professional?
If Matthew Kennedy waited just a little longer to release the book. I'll bet the ending to it would be a bit more optimistic that the genre never died, but waiting to be awakened by a new generation of people who either love to watch movie musicals in theaters whenever they appear or are now filmmakers who love the genre and want to make them. Also unlike the Disney Live-Action Remake craze and endless glut of CGI Superhero films we have now, musical films are healthy beings that are not riding a dying trend and are answering to people who actually want to watch them instead of the same old thing.
2021 alone looks like it's going to be a prolific year for the genre in a way that hasn't been seen in such a long time. Not to mention the countless more movie musicals that are in development right now.
#7Roadshow! The Fall of Film Musicals of the 1960s
Posted: 5/23/21 at 12:40pm
MusicalMaster: "Who would've guessed that Rex Harrison was such a giant prima donna that he makes Carlotta from Phantom look like a kind-hearted professional?"
In MF Lady, he didn't need to act. He reeks pomposity, even in posture....always has.
CGI movies are usually, but awful dialog in Kong v Godzilla. When they weren't fighting, it was boring. But they bring in bucks, so we're stuck with them. Hope In/Heights does well at BO.
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