A Song in the Dark: The Birth of the Musical Film [Hardcover]

Richard Barrios (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 13, 1995

This work examines in full detail the creation and development of the musical film in the years 1927-1934. Although emphasis is placed on the films of Hollywood, musicals from France, Germany and England are also described.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Barrios offers a meticulous, historical account of early musical films, which though they appear amateurish and even ridiculous are groundbreaking experiments, technological feats, and an important stage in film history. Without the efforts of their directors, sound engineers, studio executives, and talented performers, treasured films such as Singin' in the Rain or The Wizard of Oz would not exist. Barrios debunks the myth of The Jazz Singer as the first of its kind, conveys the significance of The Broadway Melody to the "talkies" that followed, and goes to great lengths to reveal the films' progress from idea to footage and their role in the larger history of film. Barrios' knowledge of the subject is apparent, but this book provides too much information for the average film buff. Although it will aid people researching the subject, it is not "light reading" by any stretch of the imagination. Janet St. John

Review

"This lively, intelligent and well-researched survey tells the tumultuous and often delightfully absurd saga of the film industry's frantic, disaster-laced efforts in the late 1920's and early 1930's to fabricate a new, lucrative product -- the movie musical -- as part of its effort to come to grips with the new technology of sound. Mr. Barrios makes clear that contrary to myth The Jazz Singer, featuring the overbearing Al Jolson, was neither the first major motion picture to use sound nor the first to make notable use of music. A Song in the Dark deals engagingly with its colorful and fascinating subject, and it is illuminating not only on artistic concerns, but on business and technical ones as well, including the process by which many of these films, previously declared lost, have been found and restored. It makes an effective case for a re-examination of this audacious, excessive and underappreciated moment in motion picture history."-New York Times

"For anyone who is drawn to the American Movie Classics channel on cable, or the 'Oldies' shelf at the local video store, Richard Barrios and his book will serve as a hugely well-informed and immensely authoritative ...companion."--Los Angeles Times

"Fascinating and exhaustive.... The general reader will find immense pleasure in the wealth of detail the author provides about those films that are long-forgotten and in most cases completely lost to the movie student."--The Stage

"With his definitive A Song in the Dark ...Richard Barrios fills the gap with a zestful account of the teething problems the cinema encountered when it first found its voice and out on its dancing shoes....Informative and hugely entertaining."--The Sunday Express

"This book fills an important gap in literature on the early days of the musical film, and charts its rise in detail."--BBC Music Magazine

"Richard Barrios provides an in-depth look at Post-Depression Hollywood."--Tutti

"Anyone interested in the Broadway and/or movie musical will find this history as engrossing as it is informative...One must be grateful to the author for bringing to life a faraway, misunderstood time of trial and error and turning both the triumphs and the misfires of early movie musicals into fascinating history." --Fontes Artis Musicae

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 512 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (July 13, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195088107
• ISBN-13: 978-0195088106
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.2 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,516,973 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As Enjoyable As The Movies Barrios Writes So Wittily About, October 14, 2000

By 

"tom926" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Song in the Dark: The Birth of the Musical Film (Paperback)

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 analyzes are to watch. Put some butter on the popcorn, put your feet up and enjoy a book that is truly a joy to read.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Easily the best book on early musical film, January 1, 2002

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"[e-mail]" - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Song in the Dark: The Birth of the Musical Film (Paperback)

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!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Read, over and over, March 19, 2000

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[e-mail] (Chicago) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Song in the Dark: The Birth of the Musical Film (Paperback)

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