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The Songs of Hollywood Hardcover – April 7, 2010

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Philip Furia (Author)
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Laurie Patterson (Author)
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Laurie Patterson (Author)
3.3 out of 5 stars 7 customer reviews
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Product Details

  • Hardcover: 280 pages
  • Publisher: Oxford University Press; 1 edition (April 7, 2010)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0195337085
  • ISBN-13: 978-0195337082
  • Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 1.1 x 6.3 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,512,978 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 starsThorough Textbook Applauds Original Movie Songs
By Richard E. Berger on August 5, 2010
Format: Hardcover
I studied movie musicals in college so had a "been there, read that" attitude going in. But I was impressed by the details included regarding the performers and creators of the original movie musical songs. The focus is mainly on the films from the 20's-60's when the creation of movie musicals with original songs was possible due to lyricists and composers being contracted by studios to create this unique art form with one picture after another. The conversion of movies to sound in the late 20's REALLY got the ball rolling. Then by 1930 the public was tired of movies with people breaking into song, the economy made the public more choosey plus the early equipment prevented creative filmmaking. Soon with the use of boom mikes and mobile cameras and prerecorded tracks, the golden age of movie musicals developed until television in the 50's forced studios to use gimmicks like wide screen Cinemescope, 3D, and stereophonic sound to compete. Studios also were compelled to adapt Broadway shows that were already familiar to audiences in advance as a way to create the movie musical. The authors of this book seem to be more impressed with the integrated musical than the performance musical. But when the integrated musical is adapted from Broadway, it no longer ranks as an original creation and just gets perfunctory mentions. To the authors' credit, the focus of this book is on the songs created for Hollywood but I enjoy well made movie adaptations of Broadway shows so feel they deserve inclusion along with the films with original material.

I do have issues with their descriptions of two particular films. There are two instances in which the description of the song's use is at least misleading and at worse false.Read more ›
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3.0 out of 5 starsYou better have 20/20 vision for this one.
By phillyrich on September 14, 2010
Format: Hardcover
The book is well researched and contains a wealth of chatty, back-stage information (a whole chapter on the Astaire-Rogers musicals at RKO, and right on the mark analysis of Bob Hope and Shirley Ross in "Thanks For The Memory."), but the tiny photo reproductions really do disappoint.

The whole issue of layout and photos really matters when they are handled so badly. Why include about 200 photos--when they mimic the tiny size of a 35mm film frame (not clever), and with poor resolution to boot? Frustrating. Makes you want to look elsewhere for the pictures. This also makes the layout a little too cluttered. In regard to content, the authors neglect the 1930's Jolson films at Warner Brothers, such as "The Singing Kid" (with extended lyrics by Yip Harburg for "I Love To Singa" that are hysterical). They also score a zero for ignoring the early Sinatra musical films, while treading too much of the same old ground with Judy Garland at MGM. It would also help if the technical issues around the conversion to sound and 1930's recording techniques, were handled with more authority.

This is the kind of book that one buys for the permanent library, so I'd have to rate it a missed opportunity. Hope this book is reissued with better layout, more on the forgotten musicals, and a judicious selection of larger photos with crisp resolution. I'll wait for that edition.
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2.0 out of 5 starsInaccuracies Cast Doubt
By K. Anderson on September 17, 2010
Format: Hardcover
The trouble with film reference books is that once you uncover a glaring inaccuracy, the rest of the volume is cast into doubt. I speak of a section devoted to the 1973 musical version of "Lost Horizon". How is it possible for the authors to have seen the film and not even know who sang what song and in context the song was sung? Sally Kellerman's dancing-on-a-rock solo number "Reflections" is mistaken for one of the two Liv Ullman/Peter Finch duets, and Bobby Van's schoolroom cute-fest song "Question Me An Answer" is attributed to Peter Finch and mistaken for "If I Could Go Back." Granted , "Lost Horizon" is not a memorable film, but its easy enough to ignore (people have been doing it for decades). If you go to the trouble to reference it in a book (devoted to songs), aren't you supposed to at least get the songs right? Trust me, the error here is not the kind of geek trivia minutiae you can shrug off. These are major facts that they get completely wrong...almost like they were guessing by reading the album liner notes. The book feels somewhat valueless to me now as I am left wondering what other films, less familiar to me, are equally as inaccurately written about. The credibility of the authors is called into question. And don't get me started on the obvious money-saving, teensy-weensy, poor quality illustrations!
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3.0 out of 5 starsSONGS OF HOLLYWOOD: TINY ILLUSTRATIONS
By Bob Berg on April 28, 2010
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
Just received this book and was astonished over the tiny postage-size illustrations. I have never seen anything like this before. In looking over the book it seems very informative and the authors seem to have done their job, but whose idea was it to illustrate with stamp like pictures? The publisher? the authors? If there was not enough room they could have used quarter page stills sparingly or as the prior reviewer said no illustrations at all. Makes the whole layout of the book ridiculous. I have given this book three stars since I have just browsed through the book and it looks like it is going to be an interesting read, but the book deserves 1 star for the sloppy layout.
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