This revealing history of the American film musical synthesizes the critical literature on the genre and provides a series of close analytical readings of iconic musical films, focusing on their cultural relationship to other aspects of American popular music.

• Offers a depth of scholarship that will appeal to students and scholars
• Leads a crucial analysis of the cultural context of musicals, particularly the influence of popular music on the genre
• Delves into critical issues behind these films such as race, gender, ideology, and authorship
• Features close readings of canonical and neglected film musicals from the 1930s to the present including: Top Hat, Singin' in the Rain, Woodstock, Gimme Shelter, West Side Story, and Across the Universe

About the Author
Barry Keith Grant is Professor of Communication, Popular Culture, and Film at Brock University in Ontario, Canada. He is the author or editor of more than two dozen books, including Auteurs and Authorship: a Film Reader (2008) Film Genre: From Iconography to Ideology (2007), Film Genre Reader (2003), and The Dread of Difference: Gender and the Horror Film (1996). As well as being an elected fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, he is the series editor of the New Approaches to Film Genre series for Wiley-Blackwell.

Reviews

"Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-and upper-division undergraduates; general readers." (Choice, 1 November 2012)

Book Information
ISBN 9781405182522
Author Barry Keith Grant
Format Paperback
Page Count 208
Imprint Wiley-Blackwell
Publisher John Wiley and Sons Ltd
Weight(grams) 264g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 11mm