THE HISTORY OF THE HOLLYWOOD MUSICAL

OLLI at ILLINOIS

SPRING SEMESTER 2018

INSIDE A HOLLYWOOD SOUNDSTAGE

Warner Bros.

1943

Filming This Is the Army

AN AMERICAN IN PARIS (1951)

An American in Paris (1951) Singin’ in the Rain (1952)

EXPRESSING EMOTIONS THROUGH DANCE

AN AMERICAN IN PARIS

• Directed by Vincente Minnelli

• Produced by Arthur Freed

• Written by Alan Jay Lerner

• Music by George Gershwin, with lyrics by Ira Gershwin; and additional music by Saul Chaplin, the film’s musical director

Academy Awards for. . .

• Best Picture• Art Direction – Color• Cinematography – Color• Costume Design – Color• Music-Scoring of a Picture• Screenplay• Nominated, but did not win, for Best Director and Film Editing

STARRING GENE KELLY and LESLIE CARON

LESLIE CARON

GEORGE AND IRA GERSHWIN

“An American in Paris Ballet”

Emmanuel Levy, in Vincente Minnelli:

Hollywood’s Dark Dreamer

• The ballet “represented Minnelli’s long-standing belief that words presented unnecessary barriers between the images and the emotions that they convey. . . .As a composer, Gershwin transcended the boundaries between Europe and America, theater and film, concert hall and music hall. A hybrid artist, Gershwin served as a role model for Minnelli. . . .For Minnelli, the ballet was an American renewal of the spirit that produced Gershwin’s music in the first place.”

A 5-MINUTE BREAK!