Overview

"As one of the most beloved and beguiling genres of entertainment, the film musical wears its style ostentatiously. The genre allows for hyperbolic expression, extravagant sonic and visual decor, and extremely stylized forms of movement and performance. By staging a glittering spectacle, by releasing a current of lush sentiment, by unveiling a world of elegance and romance, the film musical woos us with patterns, textures, finesse and sensory display. In this book, author Lloyd Whitesell asks what, exactly, makes film musicals so glamorous. As he argues, glamour projects an aura of ethereality or sophistication by way of suave deportment, sensuous textures, elevated styles, and aesthetically refined effects. Glamour, in other words, is what unites ""Cheek to Cheek"" from Top Hat and the title song from Beauty and the Beast, each a sonic evocation of luxury, sparkle, grace, and finesse. Whitesell redirects our attention from visual cues like sequins and evening gloves to explore how glamour resides in the sonic. Discussing dozens of musical numbers, analyzing ingenious orchestration, and appraising the distinctive styles of favorite musical stars, Whitesell illuminates fundamental traits of the genre, its aesthetic strategies, and cultural ambitions."

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9780190843816

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Reviews

"""Considering nearly 100 films across time periods, the author analyzes musical numbers in such works as Love Me Tonight (1932), Top Hat (1935), Follow the Fleet (1936), Ziegfeld Follies (1946), The Band Wagon (1953), and Dreamgirls (2006). The inclusion of music examples is a plus. That said, watching the film clip or listening to the song while reading will make the experience even richer. Appropriate for those interested in cinema, music, or their intersection, this book engages a broad range of scholarship and adds valuable insight to the conversation. Summing up: Highly recommended"" -- CHOICE ""This book, lovely in its evocations of so many wonderful musical sequences, achieves at least three remarkable things. It unpacks that taken for granted yet unexamined notion, glamour, providing a rich and flexible guide to its pleasures and complexities. It does this by concentrating on music, notoriously the art where it is hardest to pin down what is conveyed. And it does both these things with beautiful lucidity, managing to speak of the elusive allure of glamour and the specifics of music in precise and non-obfuscating terms. A breakthrough in analytical understanding and a joy to read."" -- Richard Dyer, Professor of Film Studies, King's College London ""Engagingly and fluidly written, Wonderful Design tackles some of the most compelling creative issues, ones that are often challenging to detail because of their seeming ineffability--they are both/and, in transition and/or transformation, in some way fantastical and yet logical in cultural context. The analysis presented here helps recover the original meaning of 'glamour' as magic, or enchantment."" -- Robynn Stilwell, Georgetown University"

This book, lovely in its evocations of so many wonderful musical sequences, achieves at least three remarkable things. It unpacks that taken for granted yet unexamined notion, glamour, providing a rich and flexible guide to its pleasures and complexities. It does this by concentrating on music, notoriously the art where it is hardest to pin down what is conveyed. And it does both these things with beautiful lucidity, managing to speak of the elusive allure of glamour and the specifics of music in precise and non-obfuscating terms. A breakthrough in analytical understanding and a joy to read. -- Richard Dyer, Professor of Film Studies, King's College London Engagingly and fluidly written, Wonderful Design tackles some of the most compelling creative issues, ones that are often challenging to detail because of their seeming ineffability--they are both/and, in transition and/or transformation, in some way fantastical and yet logical in cultural context. The analysis presented here helps recover the original meaning of 'glamour' as magic, or enchantment. -- Robynn Stilwell, Georgetown University

Considering nearly 100 films across time periods, the author analyzes musical numbers in such works as Love Me Tonight (1932), Top Hat (1935), Follow the Fleet (1936), Ziegfeld Follies (1946), The Band Wagon (1953), and Dreamgirls (2006). The inclusion of music examples is a plus. That said, watching the film clip or listening to the song while reading will make the experience even richer. Appropriate for those interested in cinema, music, or their intersection, this book engages a broad range of scholarship and adds valuable insight to the conversation. Summing up: Highly recommended -- CHOICE This book, lovely in its evocations of so many wonderful musical sequences, achieves at least three remarkable things. It unpacks that taken for granted yet unexamined notion, glamour, providing a rich and flexible guide to its pleasures and complexities. It does this by concentrating on music, notoriously the art where it is hardest to pin down what is conveyed. And it does both these things with beautiful lucidity, managing to speak of the elusive allure of glamour and the specifics of music in precise and non-obfuscating terms. A breakthrough in analytical understanding and a joy to read. -- Richard Dyer, Professor of Film Studies, King's College London Engagingly and fluidly written, Wonderful Design tackles some of the most compelling creative issues, ones that are often challenging to detail because of their seeming ineffability--they are both/and, in transition and/or transformation, in some way fantastical and yet logical in cultural context. The analysis presented here helps recover the original meaning of 'glamour' as magic, or enchantment. -- Robynn Stilwell, Georgetown University

Author Information

Lloyd Whitesell teaches music history in the Schulich School of Music, McGill University. He is the author of The Music of Joni Mitchell, and co-editor of Queer Episodes in Music and Modern Identity. His published research explores film music, queer biography and aesthetics, whiteness, and modernist culture.

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