The First Hollywood Musicals

<p> As Hollywood entered the sound era it was rightly determined that the same public fascinated by the novelty of the talkie would be dazzled by the spectacle of a song and dance film. In 1929 and 1930 film musicals became the industry's most lucrative genre--until the greedy studios almost killed the genre by glutting the market with too many films that looked and sounded like clones of each other.</p><p> From the classy movies such as <I>Sunnyside Up</I> and <I>Hallelujah!</I> to failures such as <I>The Lottery Bride</I> and <I>Howdy Broadway</I> this filmography details 171 early Hollywood musicals. Arranged by subgenre (backstagers operettas college films and stage-derived musical comedies) the entries include studio release date cast and credits running time a complete song list any recordings spawned by the film Academy Award nominations and winners and availability on video or laserdisc. These data are followed by a plot synopsis including analysis of the film's place in the genre's history. Includes over 90 photographs.</p>