But I can think of several musicals that were then made into films quite successfully - Sweeney Todd, for one.
Oh, yeah. I have no quarrel with the genre. I happen to prefer the film of Pygmalion, but My Fair Lady is a classic and deservedly so—and if that's not the best example, having started life as a straight play,* I will gladly point to 1776 for a movie musical that originated from scratch onstage and Singin' in the Rain for one that was written for the screen and they're both terrific. And there are films that have been turned successfully into musicals: Sweet Charity retells Le notti di Cabiria in New York City, A Little Night Music is Smiles of a Summer Night straight with Richard Strauss; the idea of a musical Sunset Boulevard still troubles me slightly, but I'm incredibly fond of A Man of No Importance. There just seems something profoundly unnecessary about a movie of a musical of a movie that was all about movies! I could never see the point of a stage version of Singin' in the Rain, either, and no one even tried to film that.
* And there is a direct and visible line of descent from play to film to musical—and then back into film—so, yeah, I think that just complicated the argument rather than solving it. Never mind. But if you haven't seen the 1938 Pygmalion with Wendy Hiller and Leslie Howard, I love it.
Chicago was also well done, though I can't remember which came first, the original movie or the musical.
no subject
Oh, yeah. I have no quarrel with the genre. I happen to prefer the film of Pygmalion, but My Fair Lady is a classic and deservedly so—and if that's not the best example, having started life as a straight play,* I will gladly point to 1776 for a movie musical that originated from scratch onstage and Singin' in the Rain for one that was written for the screen and they're both terrific. And there are films that have been turned successfully into musicals: Sweet Charity retells Le notti di Cabiria in New York City, A Little Night Music is Smiles of a Summer Night straight with Richard Strauss; the idea of a musical Sunset Boulevard still troubles me slightly, but I'm incredibly fond of A Man of No Importance. There just seems something profoundly unnecessary about a movie of a musical of a movie that was all about movies! I could never see the point of a stage version of Singin' in the Rain, either, and no one even tried to film that.
* And there is a direct and visible line of descent from play to film to musical—and then back into film—so, yeah, I think that just complicated the argument rather than solving it. Never mind. But if you haven't seen the 1938 Pygmalion with Wendy Hiller and Leslie Howard, I love it.
Chicago was also well done, though I can't remember which came first, the original movie or the musical.
The 1926 play, I think. : P