British film music and film musicals / K.J. Donnelly.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Donnelly, K. J. (Kevin J.)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Motion picture music--Great Britain--History and criticism.

Motion picture music.

Musical films--Great Britain--History and criticism.

Musical films.

Musicals--Great Britain--History and criticism.

Musicals.

Great Britain.

Physical Description:

vii, 222 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Basingstoke [England] ; New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2007.

Summary:

British film music is one of the unsung stars of British culture. British cinema should be most proud of it, and yet it barely receives a mention in scholarly or popular writing. Yet during the 1930s, British-made musicals, starring actors such as George Formby and Gracie Fields, were the most popular films seen by British audiences. Any consideration of British music, or international film music, could not fail to note William Walton's outstanding score for Olivier's Henry V (1944) and Malcolm Arnold's music for The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957). Yet these are never mentioned in the kind of scholarly books and histories produced in the area of 'British film' studies. This book aims to open up debate on the subject as well as map a terrain that has for a long time been lost. It addresses music in British films, both as musical scores in the first half of the book, and as British film musicals in the second half.

Contents:

2 British Film Music 14

3 Wicked Sounds and Magic Melodies: Music in Gainsborough Melodramas 40

4 Did You Hear the One about the Irishman? Sound and Music, Forging Ethnicity in Odd Man Out (1946) 56

5 Experimenting with Film Scores, 1967-1970 69

6 Pop Music Culture, Synergy and Songs in Films: Hardware (1990) and Trainspotting (1996) 85

7 History of British Film Musicals 100

8 Stage to Screen: Whatever Happened to the British Musical Adaptation? 122

9 The Perpetual Busman's Holiday: Sir Cliff Richard and the British Pop Musical 138

10 The Musical Revolution: The Beatles in A Hard Day's Night 151

11 White Labels and Black Imports: Music, Assimilation and Commerce in Absolute Beginners (1985) 166.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 206-214) and indexes.

ISBN:

9781403996732

1403996733

OCLC:

77831126

Online:

Contributor biographical information