Synopses & Reviews
and#147;
Music Makes Me is a bold, engaging, and utterly original take on Fred Astaireand#8217;s incomparable artistry, his musical legacy, and his stature as a true Hollywood auteur. In this bold, fresh, and endlessly insightful study, Decker takes us inside the creative process, describing how Hollywood provided Astaire with the resources to reinvent the musical genre in his own inimitable styleand#151;a jazz-infused, dance-obsessed style that found expression when, and only when, Astaire and#145;let it swing.and#8217;and#8221;
and#151;Thomas Schatz, author of The Genius of the System: Hollywood Filmmaking in the Studio Era
and#147;Decker defines Astaire-the-dancer as a kind of musicianand#151;and specifically a jazz musicianand#151;attuned to the most recent inflections of American popular music. With perceptive readings of films, songs, and and#145;routinesand#8217; informed by an impressive array of archival material, he is able to analyze and describe Astaireand#8217;s artistry with unprecedented precision across his entire career. This is an outstanding book marking an important and unique intersection of music, dance, film, and race.and#8221;
and#151;Jeffrey Magee, author of The Uncrowned King of Swing: Fletcher Henderson and Big Band Jazz
and#147;Any residual hair-splitting about Fred Astaireand#8217;s relationship to jazz, as an incomparable dancer and engaging singer, has been deftly and resoundingly settled by Todd Decker. His deep research and authoritative writing aimed at fans of jazz and Astaire as well as musicians and musicologists elucidate the underpinnings of Astaireand#8217;s bond with jazz over a half-century. Add to the iconic songs Astaire performed (and that his career was song-driven), the perfect timing of his career, ability to adapt in film and later television and Deckerand#8217;s thesis stands on Astaireand#8217;s magical feet and transcendent feat.and#8221;
and#151;Tad Hershorn, author of Norman Granz: The Man Who Used Jazz for Justice
and#147;Music Makes Me is an important contribution in a much underexplored area, well researched, engagingly written, and insightful. It applies first rate scholarship informed by a warm and well informed (but not uncritical) empathy for its subject. A valuable contribution not only to studies of Fred Astaire and of the musical film, but of jazz and of twentieth-century American musical culture.and#8221;
and#151;John Mueller, author of Astaire Dancing: The Musical Films
Review
and#8220;Hubbert has provided a useful supplemental resource for those interested in the history of film music.and#8221;
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and#8220;Kalinak artfully weaves the history and pedigree of nearly every tune [in] Fordand#8217;s Westerns . . . with their social and cultural meanings.and#8221;
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and#8220;Thoroughly researched and well-written. . . . Illuminating.and#8221;
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and#8220;Mr. Decker digs deeply into Astaire's creative process, anatomizing what went into each production. . . . Illuminating, richly detailed analysis.and#8221;
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and#8220;Delving into production schedules, credit sheets, cast lists, and other studio paraphernalia, Decker gives us a good look at Astaire-related activity behind the scenes.and#8221;
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and#8220;Fascinating. . . . Much in Deckerand#8217;s account of Astaireand#8217;s musicianship and the range of this talents in Music Makes Me may come as a surprise.and#8221;
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and#8220;A worthy addition to the books that have been inspired by the genius of Fred Astaire.and#8221;
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and#8220;A worthy resource. . . . Highly Recommended.and#8221;
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and#8220;Illuminating. . . . There is something of an unabashed joy in watching and hearing Astaireand#8217;s routines, and Deckerand#8217;s book reflects that joy.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;Decker offers . . . fascinating observations to underscore the idea of Astaire as ardent listener and lover of all things and#8216;jazz.and#8217;and#8221;
Synopsis
Hymns for the Fallen listens closely to forty years of Hollywood combat films produced after Vietnam. Ever a noisy genre, post-Vietnam war films have deployed music and sound to place the audience in the midst of battle and to stimulate reflection on the experience of combat. Considering landmark movies such as Apocalypse Now, Saving Private Ryan, The Thin Red Line, Black Hawk Down, The Hurt Locker, and American Sniper as well as lesser-known films, Todd Decker shows how the domain of sound, an experientially rich and culturally resonant aspect of the cinema, not only invokes the realities of war, but also shapes the American audience s engagement with soldiers and veterans as flesh-and-blood representatives of the nation. Hymns for the Fallen explores all three elements of film sound dialogue, sound effects, music and considers how expressive and formal choices on the soundtrack have turned the serious war film into a patriotic ritual enacted in the commercial space of the cinema."
Synopsis
Celluloid Symphonies is a unique sourcebook of writings on music for film, bringing together fifty-three critical documents, many previously inaccessible. It includes essays by those who created the musicand#151;Max Steiner, Erich Korngold, Jerry Goldsmith, Elmer Bernstein and Howard Shoreand#151;and outlines the major trends, aesthetic choices, technological innovations, and commercial pressures that have shaped the relationship between music and film from 1896 to the present. Julie Hubbertand#8217;s introductory essays offer a stimulating overview of film history as well as critical context for the close study of these primary documents. In identifying documents that form a written and aesthetic history for film music, Celluloid Symphonies provides an astonishing resource for both film and music scholars and for students.
Synopsis
and#147;This is an amazing resource and a required text for just about any serious film music course in the United States, undergraduate or graduate. The research involved is enormous, thorough, and intelligently undertaken. The choice of readings skillfully reflects the industry, the audience, and many of the critical issues in the development of film, sound, and music in the 20th century."
--Michael Pisani, author of Imagining Native America in Music
Synopsis
James Stewart once said, "For John Ford, there was no need for dialogue. The music said it all." This lively, accessible study is the first comprehensive analysis of Ford's use of music in his iconic westerns. Encompassing a variety of critical approaches and incorporating original archival research, Kathryn Kalinak explores the director's oft-noted predilection for American folk song, hymnody, and period music. What she finds is that Ford used music as more than a stylistic gesture. In fascinating discussions of Ford's westernsand#151;from silent-era features such as Straight Shooting and The Iron Horse to classics of the sound era such as My Darling Clementine and The Searchers and#151;Kalinak describes how the director exploited music, and especially song, in defining the geographical and ideological space of the American West.
Synopsis
"How the West Was Sung is beautifully written, judiciously argued, and thoroughly researched. Even if you have a tin ear, Kathryn Kalinak will have you hearing Ford's Westerns in an entirely new way. This brilliant book represents a complete rethinking of films we thought we already knew."and#151;Krin Gabbard, author of Black Magic: White Hollywood and African American Culture
Synopsis
Fred Astaire: one of the great jazz artists of the twentieth century? Astaire is best known for his brilliant dancing in the movie musicals of the 1930s, but in Music Makes Me, Todd Decker argues that Astaireand#8217;s work as a dancer and choreographer and#151;particularly in the realm of tap dancingand#151;made a significant contribution to the art of jazz. Decker examines the full range of Astaireand#8217;s work in filmed and recorded media, from a 1926 recording with George Gershwin to his 1970 blues stylings on television, and analyzes Astaireand#8217;s creative relationships with the greats, including George and Ira Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, and Johnny Mercer. He also highlights Astaireand#8217;s collaborations with African American musicians and his work with lesser known professionalsand#151;arrangers, musicians, dance directors, and performers.
About the Author
Kathryn Kalinak is Professor of English and Film Studies at Rhode Island College and author of Settling the Score: Music and the Classical Hollywood Film.
Table of Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
PART ONE. PLAYING THE PICTURES: MUSIC AND THE SILENT FILM (1895and#150;1925)
Introduction
1. F.{ths}H. Richardson / Plain Talk to Theater Managers and Operators (1909)
2. Incidental Music for Edison Pictures (1909)
3. Louis Reeves Harrison / Jackass Music (1911)
4. Eugene A. Ahern / from What and How to Play for Pictures (1913)
5. Clarence E. Sinn / Music for the Picture (1911)
6. W. Stephen Bush / The Art of Exhibition: Rothapfel on Motion Picture Music (1914)
7. Edith Lang and George West / from Musical Accompaniment of Moving Pictures (1920)
8. George Beynon / from Musical Presentation of Motion Pictures (1921)
9. Erno Rapee / from Encyclopaedia of Music for Pictures (1925)
10. Two Thematic Music Cue Sheets: The Thief of Bagdad (1924) and Dame Chance (1926)
11. Hugo Riesenfeld / Music and Motion Pictures (1926)
12. Publishers Win Movie Music Suit (1924)
PART TWO. ALL SINGING, DANCING, AND TALKING: MUSIC IN THE EARLY SOUND FILM (1926and#150;1934)
Introduction
13. New Musical Marvels in the Movies (1926)
14. Musicians to Fight Sound-Film Devices (1928)
15. Mark Larkin / The Truth about Voice Doubling (1929)
16. Jerry Hoffman / Westward the Course of Tin-Pan Alley (1929)
17. Sigmund Romberg / Whatand#8217;s Wrong with Musical Pictures? (1930)
18. Verna Arvey / Present Day Musical Films and How They Are Made Possible (1931)
19. Stephen Watts / Alfred Hitchcock on Music in Films (1934)
PART THREE. CARPET, WALLPAPER, AND EARMUFFS: THE HOLLYWOOD SCORE (1935and#150;1959)
Introduction
20. George Antheil / Composers in Movieland (1935)
21. Leonid Sabaneev / The Aesthetics of the Sound Film (1935)
22. Max Steiner / Scoring the Film (1937)
23. Erich Wolfgang Korngold / Some Experiences in Film Music (1940)
24. Denis Morrison / What Is a Filmusical? (1937)
25. Aaron Copland / Music in the Films (1941)
26. Harold C. Schonberg / Music or Sound Effects? (1947)
27. Theodor Adorno and Hanns Eisler / The New Musical Resources (1947)
28. Arthur Knight / Movie Music Goes on Record (1952)
29. Elmer Bernstein / The Man with the Golden Arm (1956)
30. Louis and Bebe Barron / Forbidden Planet (1956)
31. James Hillier / Interview with Stanley Donen (1977)
32. Alan Freed / One Thingand#8217;s for Sure, R and#8217;nand#8217; R Is Boffo B.O. (1958)
PART FOUR. THE RECESSION SOUNDTRACK: FROM ALBUMS TO AUTEURS, SONGS TO SERIALISM (1960and#150;1977)
Introduction
33. June Bundy / Film Themes Link Movie, Disk Trades (1960)
34. Eddie Kalish / Mancini Debunks Album Values (1961)
35. Herrmann Says Hollywood Tone Deaf as to Film Scores (1964)
36. Gene Lees / The New Sound on the Soundtracks (1967)
37. Renata Adler / Movies: Tuning In to the Sound of New Music (1968)
38. Ennio Morricone / Towards an Interior Music (1997)
39. Harvey Siders / Keeping Score on Schifrin: Lalo Schifrin and the Art of Film Music (1969)
40. BBC Interview with Jerry Goldsmith (1969)
41. Harvey Siders / The Jazz Composers in Hollywood: A Symposium (1972)
42. Steven Farber / George Lucas: Stinky Kid Hits the Bigtime (1974)
43. Elmer Bernstein / The Annotated Friedkin (1974)
44. David Raksin / Whatever Became of Movie Music? (1974)
PART FIVE. THE POSTMODERN SOUNDTRACK: FILM MUSIC IN THE VIDEO AND DIGITAL AGE (1978and#150;PRESENT)
Introduction
45. Susan Peterson / Selling a Hit Soundtrack (1979)
46. Craig L. Byrd / Interview with John Williams (1997)
47. Terry Atkinson / Scoring with Synthesizers (1982)
48. Marianne Meyer / Rock Movideo (1985)
49. Stephen Holden / How Rock Is Changing Hollywoodand#8217;s Tune (1989)
50. Randall D. Larson / Danny Elfman: From Boingo to Batman (1990)
51. Interviews from The Celluloid Jukebox (1995)
52. Philip Brophy / Composing with a Very Wide Palette: Howard Shore in Conversation (1999)
53. Rob Bridgett / Hollywood Sound (2005)
Index