Musical Comedy

Taking its cue from the successes of Broadway, the cinema began adapting the musicals of the theater with varying degrees of expertise. Hence, the musical comedy was born: a comic plot told primarily by songs and dancing, more often than not based on a theatrical venture. The form came to true fruition in the '50s and '60s, with several classics of the stage making the transition to the screen with surprising ease (in fact, it can be argued that such features as Seven Brides For Seven Brothers, My Fair Lady, Hello Dolly!, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum and The Music Man are enhanced by the cinema, as opposed to being confined by their theatrical roots). Stage actors such as Zero Mostel and Donald O'Connor were able to break into films primarily through musical comedies (O'Connor's Make 'Em Laugh routine in Singin' In The Rain is arguably the ultimate musical comedy number and rightfully earned him a notch in screen history) and often excelled playing musical comedy roles over other genre types. After the '60s, with very few exceptions, audiences seemed uninterested in the musical comedy; and like the dinosaurs, the subgenre withered away, leaving nothing but a legacy of legends in its wake.

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movies