Warner Bros. and Its First Two Great Depression Musicals: Changing the Form and Reflecting the Times

TY - UNPB

T1 - Warner Bros. and Its First Two Great Depression Musicals

T2 - Changing the Form and Reflecting the Times

AU - Cohen, Harvey

PY - 2013

Y1 - 2013

N2 - This working paper analyses the production, content, public reaction and significance of the first two Warner Bros. Great Depression Musicals (this term was created by later scholars). "42nd Street" and "Gold Diggers of 1933," both released in the first half of 1933 during some of the direst months of the Great Depression, artistically and financially rejuvenated the previously failing genre of the film musical. They both featured extravagant highly cinematic dance numbers created by Busby Berkeley, indelible original songs by Harry Warren and Al Dubin, and scenarios as well as lyrics that reflected the reality of theatre life and the economic pressures put on that world by the Great Depression like films released by the Hollywood studio system rarely did in that period. With their salty scripts full of knowing innuendo and lightly clad chorus girls, the films also challenged censorship rules of the period. The overwhelmingly positive public reaction to these films showed that audiences of the Great Depression, in the United States and elsewhere around the world, welcomed films that mirrored the struggles many were experiencing during this time of economic upheaval. The Warner Bros. Great Depression Musicals demonstrated that musicals need not be divorced from the troubles of the real world; in fact, such exposure could make them more resonant.

AB - This working paper analyses the production, content, public reaction and significance of the first two Warner Bros. Great Depression Musicals (this term was created by later scholars). "42nd Street" and "Gold Diggers of 1933," both released in the first half of 1933 during some of the direst months of the Great Depression, artistically and financially rejuvenated the previously failing genre of the film musical. They both featured extravagant highly cinematic dance numbers created by Busby Berkeley, indelible original songs by Harry Warren and Al Dubin, and scenarios as well as lyrics that reflected the reality of theatre life and the economic pressures put on that world by the Great Depression like films released by the Hollywood studio system rarely did in that period. With their salty scripts full of knowing innuendo and lightly clad chorus girls, the films also challenged censorship rules of the period. The overwhelmingly positive public reaction to these films showed that audiences of the Great Depression, in the United States and elsewhere around the world, welcomed films that mirrored the struggles many were experiencing during this time of economic upheaval. The Warner Bros. Great Depression Musicals demonstrated that musicals need not be divorced from the troubles of the real world; in fact, such exposure could make them more resonant.

M3 - Working paper

SP - 1

EP - 32

BT - Warner Bros. and Its First Two Great Depression Musicals

PB - Department of Culture, Media and Creative Industries, King's College London

CY - London

ER -