MOVIE MUSICALS

How did the musical first develop in hollywood? Why do you think it play such an important role in the history of filmmaking? Why do you think there has been such a revival of the musical in pop culture in the 21st century?

   Ever since 1927’s The Jazz Singer, Hollywood movies were only musicals. During the early 30’s, film studios, all tried to surpass each other with their "over the top spectacles", putting out a lot of formulaic musical revues. Sadly, the money from the victims of the Great Depression stopped coming in. They got tired of the same thing over and over again. They demanded more. Then came Busby Berkley, he was a Broadway dance director. Warner Brothers brought him in in hopes that he would stop the obscurity of the movie musicals. And so he did. Movie musicals weren't a small phase that Hollywood went through, it was a very significant moment in film history. In fact, so significant that we still get musicals now-a-days. They can still hold up, they just must be done in a specific way. This is because films today aren't like films back then.