The author has an impressive body of work about movies and, specifically musical comedy ("the two most glorious words in the English language”). This is a very entertaining, comprehensive look into the pioneers who took an exclusively theatrical language and translated it into a brand new medium. From even before The Jazz Singer, Hischak dispels some myths about the birth of “talkies” and explains the factors that influenced this new medium. He explores all the significant movies, the stars, the musicians, choreographers, producers and, at the center of it all, the directors. Some of the protagonists are obvious choices (Minnelli, Busby Berkeley, Gene Kelly), but others were better known in other genres. I’m a huge musical comedy geek, so I knew many of the movies, songs and even dances but, after reading this, I will have to add a few entries to my “to-watch” list. The style is approachable and fun. De-Lovely!
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/Bloomsbury Academic.

I struggle to pinpoint who would benefit from this overview of the Golden Age movie musical, organized by director. My gut answer: “It could be used as a reference guide in a film history class about the Hollywood movie musical.” But then, the director bios in this book are broad and fit on a page or two. If you were to ask me after reading, “What made So-and-So a unique director of musicals?”, with a few exceptions like Minnelli or Lubitsch, I could only give you a vague, “They were talented at filming all the key aspects of a movie musical: song, dance, group numbers, and such.” Well, of course. They wouldn't be in this book if they weren't. But what made Lloyd Bacon special? What about Rouben Mamoulian? James Whale’s 'Showboat'? I couldn’t rightly tell you. Maybe the responsibility rests on me for that - maybe the information was there and I just wasn't retaining it. But as someone who cares very much about Hollywood musicals and history, I should be the target audience for this book and it just did not land for me.

While I did learn some new-to-me titles, the film synopses in this book don’t dig under the surface and don't provide much cultural context or illuminating insight, such as when Hischak points out that many studios didn't want to produce King Vidor's 'Hallelujah', but doesn't tell us why. (Since it was an all-Black musical, we can take a lucky guess.) This skimming past controversy feels especially distasteful when discussing movies or dance numbers that feature offensive imagery, like blackface in 'The Jazz Singer' or yellowface in 'Footlight Parade'. (In fact, the yellowface isn't even mentioned.) A brief acknowledgment of these harmful practices would suffice, but Hischak instead plays at objectivity and that’s just not my cup of tea.

Hischak seldom provides openly subjective criticism of the movie musicals but also won’t commit to blanket statements. “Many feel” that Gene Kelly’s dancing and choreography in An American in Paris are “the finest of his career.” Who are “many”? What about this film makes it "the finest"? That same movie “is a kind of high point for the Golden Age of movie musicals.” Kind of? Is there something else fighting for the title? There's a lot of vague language like this and passive sentences throughout the book.

I found myself shutting my Kindle in frustration shortly after picking this book up, so I decided to DNF 'Bringing Song and Dance to the Screen'. I think I may just use the author’s favorite adjective to describe this work: cockeyed. (I decided not to finish after reading "cockeyed" for the third or fourth time in the first fourth of the book.) The author clearly loves the genre and the skeleton of a good book lives underneath the clunky prose and surface-level analysis.

interesting perspective and history. I can't say it was all new to be but enjoyable none the less. thanks for the early read and good luck