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Richard Barrios

A Song in the Dark: The Birth of the Musical Film 2nd Edition

by Richard Barrios (Author)

18 ratings

4.4 on Goodreads

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Drawing on meticulous research, sharp wit, and insightful analysis, Richard Barrios illuminates the origins of the movie musical in this extensively revised and updated edition of his highly acclaimed A Song in the Dark. From Warner Bros. and Jolson, to the Oscar-winning Broadway Melody and beyond, here is the whole funny and peculiar history of these films, their creators, and their audiences. Ranging from the smash hits of The Singing Fool and Sunny Side Up to bizarre flops like Golden Dawn and Cecil B. DeMille's Madam Satan, they form a body of work unlike anything else in the history of popular entertainment. Here too are legendary performers, directors, and composers: from Fannie Brice, James Cagney, and Mae West, to Busby Berkeley, George and Ira Gershwin, Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein, and countless others. With many new rare photographs, some not published in nearly 80 years, this new edition traces the rise and fall, and rise again, of this quintessential piece of
the American experience.

ISBN-10

0195377346
ISBN-13

978-0195377347
Edition

2nd
Publisher

Oxford University Press
Publication date

November 11, 2009
Language

English
Dimensions

9.1 x 6.1 x 1 inches
Print length

496 pages
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Editorial Reviews

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

About the Author

Richard Barrios has lectured extensively on film, served as a commentator on numerous DVDs, and co-hosted a series on Turner Classic Movies. He currently lives outside Philadelphia.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oxford University Press; 2nd edition (November 11, 2009)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 496 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0195377346
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0195377347
Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 1400L
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.56 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9.1 x 6.1 x 1 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #3,147,378 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,267 in Film & Television
- #1,393 in Musicals (Books)
- #2,887 in Music (Books)

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Bic Parker

Terrific Book, Cheap Binding

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 9, 2022

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Reading the introduction to this book I was afraid it would be a wonky, didactic slog. Boy was I wrong! It's scholarly in its research, unbelievably thorough in it's scope -- the original production notes of several musicals are referenced -- he seems to have seen every one of them from 1926 on. But it's written with so much wit and affection that it's hard to put down. Everyone with any interest in Hollywood history should read this book.
Unfortunately the quality of the product is poor. My volume split at about page 360 simply by opening it. Too bad the glued binding is so feeble.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Interesting and encyclopedic work on the early talkie musical

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 30, 2007

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I don't know of any other book that does such a thorough job covering the history of the American musical film from the years 1926-1934 as this book does. It starts out shattering the myth that Warner Brothers invested in the Vitaphone sound system because it was near bankruptcy. Instead, Sam Warner saw the potential for sound in films and literally dragged his brothers kicking and screaming to the sound revolution. The book talks about Warners' first experiments that led up to the first hit picture with sound - "The Jazz Singer", and the untimely death of Sam Warner one day before the film's New York City premiere. The surviving Warners saw the potential after the money started rolling in, but they didn't have Sam's vision of how to make a success out of talking pictures. Thus, Warner Bros. was literally a Vitaphone train without a conductor.

This starts the reader through a three year journey of all the major studios groping to see what does and doesn't work, their many flops, and their few artistic triumphs. What got the studios through the early days was the novelty of sound attracting audiences regardless of the quality of the film, and the author does a good job of being thorough without being dry. His descriptions of some of the early sound musicals, some of the strange decisions that were made, and the early technical obstacles and their solutions are outright hilarious. The author describes how all of the bad products and bad decisions eventually cause audiences to have had their fill of musicals by 1931. Then he describes how "42nd Street" revives the genre, the lessons that were learned, and how the musical was ultimately reborn as a popular artform.

You can read this book all the way through, but more than likely you'll have to read it more than once to get everything out of it since it is densely packed with information about individual films as well as overall trends. I highly recommend it if you are interested in the early talkie musical and its history.

8 people found this helpful

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Peggy B. Foreman

Entertaining and lots of info and insight

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 9, 2009

Verified Purchase

Let me begin by saying that normally this type of book would not usually get my attention. But, the author is my brother and so I read the book. It is very evident that Richard loves these musicals--it should be evident that Richard loves movies. He always has. I also know that he knows his "stuff," he's informative and witty, and yes, he is opinionated. His writing style can be a lesson in itself. More than anything, he is entertaining and his prose can "sparkle."
He has been watching these movies since his early childhood and he has been reading about movies and the Hollywood scene also during his growing years. Join him on this journey to the past, in a time and place that exists no longer, but still influences our 21st century culture. If you love music, the musical theatre and especially those gems from the past--you will love Richard Barrios' "A Song in the Dark."

8 people found this helpful

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Eric Mascarin Perigault

Things we can not see

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 2, 2013

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The book describes the musicals produced from the beginning of talkies until about 1934. His descriptions are detailed and meticulous, with interesting comments. The only problem is that films of he writes we can not see, unless we have access to places like the file of Film and Television at UCLA. Films simply are not available to the general public. Except for a few like Broadway Melody of 1929 and the films of Busby Berkeley and Astaire-Rogers (thanks WB). So, we have to imagine about what he writes or see some shorts on YouTube.

One person found this helpful

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Scott E. Miller

Fascianting

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 19, 2021

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Excellent, insightful book that's a pleasure to read.

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W. R. Muhr

Can be confusing, but basically OK

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 2, 2014

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"You can't tell the players without a scorecard" is an old baseball line, but applies to this book. You are all of a sudden reading something about one film/person/etc. and you are suddenly shoved back 10 years, or forward 5 years and reading about something/somebody else. It is,however,an enjoyable book with much humor from Barrios. It is a good read, but.......keep the scoreboard going!

One person found this helpful

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Teri Parker

an excellent read

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 2, 2013

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I never heard of this book and it unabled me to learn more than I would have thought. Great price; great seller.

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H.D.

Singing the praises of A Song In The Dark

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 1, 2011

An entertaining history of early musical film from 1926-1934 accompanied by B&W photos and discography as well as listings of films that survive today and those that are lost to time. The book makes you wish you could still view all of these wonderful musicals.

One person found this helpful

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ACB(swansea)

The Emergence of an Art Form

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 1, 2013

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Richard Barrios has created a compendium of the factual birth of the musical. Hollywood orientated it should be, but his critique of the industry is both illuminating and informative. With the advent of 'talkies', it was inevitable that song and musicals would dominate a period in cinema history. No longer a stage performance it expanded to a widespread seated audience. The elements of stardom with a largely elite star production core led to another dimension of escapist pleasure. The music came first but when combined with acting and direction blew the coventional cinema apart

This book is more than a history or analysis of the development of musical film, Barrios takes us through the historical journey of the movement with an appropriate wit and humour that time has allowed to look back on with the difficulties of filming from the technical filming aspects through to the producers, directors and actors. The pressures of fashion and public opinion are here to enjoy and that is the attraction of the book. No studio propaganda, just a memorable romp through the development of the musical. A really marvellous, entertaining, humorous and objective view of the subject that lives up to it's title. Not just a reference book but a repeatedly readable one. Having had this for a few years and with a love of musicals it is indispensable and thus highly recommended.

2 people found this helpful

NickG

Unputdownable!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 8, 2013

Verified Purchase

I have had this book for several months now and in that time I have red and re-read it many times. I would heartly recommend it to anyone with an interest in the early years of talkies. What's more the author has that rare talent of making you want to rush out and see all the films described - even the bad ones! I have now seen a selection of these (on DVD) from the sublime (The Broadway Melody) to the ridiculous (Glorifying the American Girl). The book sets all these films within the context of the era in which they were made, and makes you appreciate them all - even the bad ones - and see them for what they were, the faltering steps of a new kind of entertainment. I would also recommend Alexander Walker's 'The Shattered Silents' and Ethan Mordden's 'The Hollywood Musical' which cover the same era.

One person found this helpful

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