The Movie Musical! Audiobook (Free)

Amazing and authoritative, The Movie Musical! can be an in-depth look at the performing, dancing, happy-making world of Hollywood musicals–an important audiobook for anyone who’s ever laughed, cried, or sung along at the movies.

Leading film historian Jeanine Basinger shows, with her trademark wit and zest, the complete story from the Hollywood musical–in probably the most informing, most incisive, most detailed, book of her long and remarkable job.

From Fred Astaire, about The Film Musical! whom she adores, to La La Land, which she deplores, Basinger examines a amazing array of celebrities, strategies, talents, and improvements in the history of musical movie theater. Whether analyzing a vintage Gene Kelly regular, relishing a Nelson-Jeanette operetta, or touting a powerful hip hop amount (in the underrated Idlewild), she actually is a canny and charismatic information to the many ways that song and dance have been seen–and heard–on film.

With considerable portraits of everybody from Al Jolson, the Jazz Vocalist; to Doris Day time, whose iconic sunniness has overshadowed her dramatic talents; from Deanna Durbin, that lovable teen-star of the ’30s and ’40s; to Shirley T. and Judy G.; from Bing to Frank to Elvis; from Ann Miller to Ann-Margret; from Disney to Chicago . focusing on many beloved, iconic films (Best Hat; Singin’ in the torrential rain; Match Me in St. Louis; The Sound of Music) as well as unduly obscure gems (Eddie Cantor’s Whoopee!; Murder in the Vanities; Sunlight Valley Serenade; One through the Heart), this book is astute, interesting, and pure enjoyment to read.