A Song in the Dark: The Birth of the Musical Film

by Richard Barrios

Book Overview

It was the most chaotic era in the history of American entertainment, possibly its most dynamic, and in some ways its least understood. In a stunningly brief time, as the Jazz Age roared to a close, the art of the silent film became extinct, thrown over in favor of the unknown, virtually untested medium of talking pictures. Leading the way was a brand new American art form: the movie musical. Taking off like a shot from day one, this new genre instantly...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195088115
• ISBN13: 9780195088113
• Release Date: July 1995
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 512 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 5.9" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Simply Wonderful

When I picked up "A Song in the Dark" I was curious to see how someone could make a book about pre-42nd Street musicals. Most histories of the Hollywood musical start with 42nd Street and consign the earlier films to a dark, unknowable, unwatchable past.Barrios made this era come to life. He writes in an engaging, witty style that is a pleasure to read. He never takes a superior tone to his material, and he makes the reader want to track down and see some of these films. (He also makes it clear that some are best avoided.)"A Song in the Dark" greatly deepened my understanding of the Hollywood musical, and I strongly recommend it.

Easily the best book on early musical film

As the author of a popular website on the history of stage and screen musicals, I have read countless books on the musical film, and none can match what Barrios has done here. He approaches the mostly forgotten early sound era with genuine affection and a remarkable facility for detailed research. He also (thank heaven) writes with a delightfully readable style, avoiding the dry academic language that often makes studies of Hollywood's early sound era downright boring. Barrios includes a great selection of rare photos too. No other book on this subject is nearly as informative or enjoyable -- for those who are interested in early screen musicals, I cannot recommend this book too highly!

As Enjoyable As The Movies Barrios Writes So Wittily About

The poet Frank O'Hara once wrote that of all the American poets only Walt Whitman and Stephen Crane were better than the movies. While O'Hara's selection of poets is debatable, I think his point is applicable to this wonderfully witty analysis of the first generation of movie musicals: it's as much fun to read as the movies Barrios writes about are to watch.I was rather perplexed by the previous review that stated this book had no central thesis. It is, I believe, a serious misreading of the book. Barrios states quite clearly that the first generation of movie musicals were a matter of trial and error. Hollywood needed to find out what would--and what would not--work on FILM regarding musicals. This is one of the reasons why Barrios's analysis is so insightful. Busby Berkeley, for example, is such a great choreographer precisely because he realized that FILM choreography is a different art form from dancing on stage. His wonderful combination of vision and movement *as captured ON FILM* continues to delight us today. But Berkeley could not have known this without the previous examples of movie choreography that was filmed as if it were a theatre performance. Hollywood learned from its mistakes. And Barrios's writing is quite simply a delight. So much film analysis misses the popcorn for the postmodern theory. Whereas even a truly awful film can be a secret delight (as Barrios acknowledges over and over again), really dry criticism is like week old popcorn: pretty tasteless and hard to swallow. But I must admit that I laughed out loud again and again as I read about one disaster after another, all preserved on film for us to gaze at in wonder (as in "I wonder how in the world they thought THAT would work on film?"). And his analysis of the great musicals of the period made me long to be sitting in the third row from the back, transported to another world as only a really wonderful movie can do. The book is extensive in witty and incisive reviews of the good, the bad, and the truly ugly of early music musicals precisely to bear out Barrios's central thesis: that Hollywood did not approach the movie musical with preconceived notions of what would work like gangbusters on the screen. Rather they learned from their mistakes after watching gangs bust out in unintended laughter at some of the real bombs of the musical genre. And Barrios's book is the only one I am aware of that so truly captures the spirit of the age: hey guys, let's film a musical and see if it works.The auteur theory, while often instructive and interesting, has done some serious disservice to film criticism. It has led us to believe that directors all have these preconceived, "unified visions" that are applied to every film project they undertake. But I believe that Barrios is far closer to the truth: Hollywood laid some eggs and THEN learned to make some delicious omelettes.And Barrios is something that most film critics and historians are not: as much fun to read as the movies he a

Great Read, over and over

I found this book fantastic, I have read it over and over and find new things everytime.The only problem is, now I want to see the films and many are no longer available. It was a fun read also, not a dry , just the facts , study.Highly recomed to anyone interested in early talkies, not just musicals

A must-read, again and again

One of the funniest, best-researched and readable film history books ever written. Not only does Barrios have his subject matter where he wants it, but his text is so witty I found myself frequently laughing out loud. A book to set by your VCR for quick checking, and for reading again and again. A great antidote to all-too-often stuffy "senior thesis" film books.