Freed and Minnelli era at MGM - Essay Example

Hollywood Musicals: Freed/Minnelli era at MGM Vincente Minnelli, prior to, and after becoming part of the Arthur Freed Unit, viewed the world through the camera lens, as a painter would. While this director is normally associated with musical films, together with Arthur Freed, he also worked on several other genres, always seeking to expose facades and the truth behind them (Fordin 52). The characters developed by the Freed/Vincente are seen to struggle between a greater reality and their inner world. However, the area of expertise for this unit was the musical and, together; the unit brought the MGM musical in the 40s and 50s to new maturity and cinematic sophistication with Technicolor cinematography, first-rate talent, and opulent sets. For example, the unit was the first to team Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire in 1946, in Ziegfeld Follies. They also directed such young stars like Barbra Streisand, Leslie Caron, Elizabeth Taylor, and Judy Garland. The Freed/Minnelli unit created films, which were definitive of Hollywood’s Golden Era of the 50s. These films were brightly coloured and, beneath the gloss, they sought to address human needs of the well-developed and drawn-out characters (Fordin 52). The Freed/Minnelli unit ushered in the 40s a new era for musical films, especially with regards to maturity of the genre. In the 1943 film, which was titled, Cabin in the Sky, for instance, as well as The Pirate and Meet Me in St. Louis, the unit came up with a seamless dance and song blend, coupled with plot development and film sets. They relished an over the top eclectic style that focused on melodious movement of the cameras and dazzling colour, while also establishing a new firmament standard for musicals (Fordin 53). While there were other masters of the film musical at MGM that came up with totally original works, these films were always judged against the Freed/Minnelli era standard. Closely cooperating with the Freed production unit offered an incentive and solid basis for continuing development in the musical genre for Minnelli, especially with regards to experimentation. Minnelli’s interest in other forms of art and his surrealist set designs came to a climax in the 50s. In this period, Brigadoon, the Band Wagon, and an American in Paris, as well as Singing in the Rain, came to epitomize a pop cinema form of ecstasy that to date remains unchallenged (Fordin 53). Meet Me in St. Louis, through its use of unforgettable music and Technicolor cinematography, marked the beginning of the Freed/Minnelli unit’s revolution at MGM (Fordin 53). Have Yourself a Merry Christmas and the Trolley Song, both renditions by Judy Garland, became instant classics on their release. The unit released The Clock in 1945 and by the release of An American in Paris in the 50s, the unit, especially Vincente Minnelli, had already made a reputation as a great innovator and visual stylist. By pairing Leslie Caron and Gene Kelley as the lead actors, the Freed/Minnelli unit won audience affection with An American in Paris, which, with its more mature take on plot in musicals, became the first musical recipient of the Academy Award for Best Picture dated from the beginning of sound film. Another career high point for the unit was 1953’s The band Wagon. This musical film was the zenith for combining dance and song with the inclusion of Oscar Levant, Cyd Charisse, and Fred Astaire in the backstage musical, as well as Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz handling the classic score (Fordin 54). In addition, this musical film also incorporated pulp fiction with the Girl Hunt ballet, which was a parody of Spillane. The musical film matured greatly with the entry of the Freed/Minnelli unit with the inclusion of dream-like exotic settings, which complemented the fantasy-based musicals. Gene Kelly was brought to mythical village in Scotland in 1954’s Brigadoon, while 1955’s Kismet took the audience to Baghdad in ancient times and 1958’s Gigi saw the unit transport their audience back to Paris (Fordin 54). This latter film had Leslie Caron being groomed to become a great courtesan from a young ingénue. The innovations in the musical film genre that was present in Gigi led to the film winning ten Academy Awards. However, this era came to a close when the government dismantled the monopoly by the major studios, including MGM, for production, distribution, and exhibition, which the Freed/Minnelli unit had helped to shape as the studio system. The Freed/Minnelli era is representative of the Dream Factory’s zenith with its films illustrating the studio system’s achievements. This involved synthesis cinematography, film sets, great stars, and great stories, which was more than standard musical films were offering before them. Especially, the unit’s films were able to cross to and from reality and fantasy, reflecting the painter’s eye of the director (Fordin 54). Considering the realism seen in films released in the 60s and 70s, the films released by the Freed/Minnelli are a reminder of the artistic achievements within MGM. The period dated between the 1930s and the 1960s can be viewed as the musical film’s golden age, at which time the popularity of this genre reached its highest level. More than one hundred musical films were released in Hollywood in 1930, although only fourteen were to be released in 1931. Film audiences, however, were becoming over-saturated with musicals by the end of 1930, which led to studios cutting out the music from films due for release (Fordin 60). Life of the Party, for instance, was an originally all talking and all colour musical comedy, but prior to its release, the studio was forced to cut out the songs. Similar approaches were taken with Manhattan Parade and Fifty Million Frenchmen that were entirely filmed in Technicolor. Even with the success of singers like Marlene Dietrich and the well-received films of Hart and Rodgers, the popularity of the songs in the musical waned by 1932. At this point, the film public had already come to make the association between musicals and colour, which led to the simultaneous decline of colour productions and musicals (Fordin 60). The audience’s tastes in musicals started again with director Busby Berkeley’s revival of the genre in 1933, during which time he began to enhance traditional dance numbers using ideas he borrowed from drill precisions. In such films as Gold Diggers and 42nd Street, Busby used this unique musical style, in which the numbers started on a stage before gradually transcending theatrical space limitations (Fordin 61). The ingenious routines that involved formation of kaleidoscopic patterns by human bodies failed to fit in the real stage and, as a result, the intended perspective became a view from the top. The Busby era was succeeded by the era of musical stars, which was another true precursor of the Freed/Minnelli unit at MGM. Ginger Rodgers and Fred Astaire were two of the most highly respected and popular Hollywood personalities as musical stars in this era (Fordin 62). Their pairing was especially a success, which resulted in several classic films, including Swing Time, Top Hat, and Shall We Dance. Most actors in dramas became more receptive of musicals in order to break off from typecasting. James Cagney, for example, who had initially been popular because of his abilities as a stage dancer and singer, was unable to display the talent he had because of repeated casting as a gangster tough guy. His ability to sing and dance again in Yankee Doodle Dandy paved the way for him winning an Academy Award. During this period, a number of dramas and comedies also began to include musical numbers. Films by the Marx Brothers allowed for a musical number to be included in each film, which enabled them to highlight musical talents. Love Happy, which was the Marx Brother’s final film, featured Vera-Elle, who was considered the best singer and dancer of all her colleagues. These precursors were what led to the renaissance of the musical film under the Freed/Minnelli unit, especially with regards to musical stars and film scores, giving the genre a more mature feel (Fordin 62). The Freed/Minnelli unit at MGM during the 40s and 50s made the transition from the repetitive old-fashioned musicals. Starting in 1944, the unit the Freed/Minnelli unit worked independently from the MGM studios in producing such films as Meet Me in St. Louis and other well-known and popular examples of the musical film genre. This era, especially created household stars like Kathryn Grayson, Howard Keel, Jane Powell, Mickey Rooney, Ann Miller, Gene Kelley, and Judy Garland. Works Cited Fordin, Hugh. M-G-M’s Greatest Musicals: The Arthur Freed Unit. New York: Da Capo Press, 2010. Print. Read More