musicals
...iful gown, and her hair is perfect. During the scene where Dick Powell (Billy Lawler) is singing the song “What am I to do” the beautiful blonde chorus girl he is singing to is wearing a beautiful white gown with fur trim and the remainder of chorus girls are dressed in similar costumes. All That Jazz has a tone of self destruction and is somewhat different than the other films but does share the visual style in that the costumes used in all the musical scenes in general are very glamorous and theatrical. In specific, the musical scene is featuring the character of Michelle, the daughter of Joe Gideon. She is a little girl of probably 11 years of age and is dressed in a beautiful gown, her hair and makeup is done perfectly. These visual elements I believe tie into or compliment another visual element that these pictures share. That is, their representation of reality from fantasy and why the use of perfection. Musicals clearly contain acts of fantasy. No one will ever believe that people can break into song and dance in the middle of a conversation which happens consistently through Singin’ in the Rain. For example, when Gene Kelly as Don and Donald O’Connor (Cosmo Brown) are walking through the sets of Monumental Studios and O’Connor’s character begins to sing Make em’ Laugh and dances around the sets. Another example would be when Gene Kelly as Don breaks into singing Singin’ in the Rain after walking Debbie Reynolds (Kathy Selden) to her door. In All That Jazz we see scenes of singing and dancing in the hospital room that would never be allowed in the true setting. As well, the entire story of speaking to the Angel of Death about life is very unrealistic. So, to support the impossible elements of these films, they are given a look of fantasy quality perfection. Although these films have some unrealistic elements, they do share some realistic elements. These relate to the backstage musical. “Of all the traditionally recognized types of musical, the backstage variety is certainly the best known and the most often commented upon” (Altman 200). When researching for this essay there was much information available regarding backstage musicals; therefore, I believe Altmans’ statement to be true. I also believe it to be true because the backstage musical shows more elements. The backstage musical shows the audience the elements of creating the musical. These films show the auditions, the rehearsals of songs and dance choreography, the challenges facing the director in producing the production and retaining financing for the production. “In the theatre everything takes place on stage; in a backstage musical the stage is instead the intersection of the audience’s gaze and the actors’ backstage efforts” (Altman 204, 205). In Singin’ in the Rain we see the making of film go from silent to sound. As Don and Cosmo walk through the various sets at Monumental Studios, we see a number of different productions being shot at one time. The reason they could be shot at one time is because they are silent films. Later, when Monumental decides to make talking pictures, we view the struggle of trying to make this new technology work. We see Lena Lamont being wired with a microphone in her dress and the frustration she and the director experience in trying to make this new technology work. There is no big audition scene, but we do see the coming up of character Kathy Seldon, as she becomes the voice over for Lena. Kathy experiences difficulties when Lena demands Kathy continue to be used as her voice double and not be placed in any other production. In 42nd Street there are many shots of the audition process. We experience the frustration experienced by the director Julian Marsh played by Warner Baxter. He is a demanding director and we watch as he demands the chorus practice their choreography over and over for many hours. We see Peggy Sawyer played by Ruby Keeler be put in the leading role after the star, Dorothy Brock played by Bebe Daniels falls and hurts he ankle. The producer Marsh works with her endlessly to ensure she can play the part. In All That Jazz, we see many shots of dancers auditioning for parts in the show. We also see director Joe Gideon played by Roy Scheider spends many hours trying to put together the show. He is deciding on acts, music, rehearsing readings, and choreography. We see him struggling with a dancer named Porter who he has chosen, but has no real talent. Gideon is dealing with health issues, as Marsh is in 42nd Street. These could be compared to the struggle of Lena’s voice, in Singin’ in the Rain. Each of these films also share a common visual characteristic that appears at the changing of scenes. In the opening shot of All That Jazz we see the character of Joe Gideon putting on a tape of orchestral music, popping prescription pills, placing eyedrops in his eyes, showering, and when ready for his day says “It’s ShowTime folks.” This scene is repeated numerous times throughout the film as a way of joining scenes of the movie. In the same way we see in the intro of 42nd Street a close up of the W.42nd Street sign. As the scenes in the film change to a new scene we do not see a repeat of the same shot as in All That Jazz, we see next a close up of Dorothy’s contract, the next scene begins with a close up of Julian Marsh’s contract. The next scene starts with a close up of the W.42nd Street Times Square sign. In Singin’ in the Rain the opening scene be...