Some independant research into the genre of musical film. . .

The movie musical had its base in vaudeville (a genre of variety entertainment that was prevalent in the U.S and Canada from the early 1880s to the early 1930s) and in Opera. With its blending of fantasy and reality, the musical provided audiences with an accessible and immediate escape from life in the Great Depression, and then beyond.

Stage adaptations:

In the early days of the musical, studios lavished fortunes on celluloid versions of Broadway shows in the hope of repeating their success, but these bore little resemblance to the stage originals. More faithful adaptations began in 1950, with films such as ‘Guys and Dolls’ (1955), ‘Oklahoma!’ (1955), ‘My Fair Lady (1964) and ‘The Sound of Music (1965) and so on. However, after the flop of 'Hello Dolly' (1969, the musical – like the western – became a rare phenomenon. A limited revival of the genre came in the 1970s with Bob Fosse’s 'Cabaret' (1972) and 'Saturday Night Fever' (1977) and 'Grease (1978) (the films in which John Travolta made his name.)

Up until the mid-1960s, British musicals were mostly rather genteel affairs that had little impact outside of the UK. That all changed with US born Richard Lester’s two Beatles’ movies, ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ (1964) and ‘Help!’ (1965). There followed Carol Reed’s Oscar – winning ‘Oliver’ (1968), and Alan Parker’s 'Bugsy Malone' (1976). Other examples were few and far between until Parker’s Evita (1996).

Interest in the American musical was retained in Baz Luhrmann’s visually extravagant ‘Moulin Rouge’ (2001), and in further reproductions of Broadway hits such as 'Chicago' (2002) and ‘The Producers’ (2005). Sadly, musicals written directly for the screen, which made it a cinematic genre independence of the theatre, have become almost obsolete. Could ‘HSM’ be the start of something new?