Albert Johnson presents an illustrated lecture on The Rise of the American Musical, focusing on the early sound era, when films like The Broadway Melody ushered in a new kind of American film: “All Talking! All Singing! All Dancing!”
Albert Johnson is one of the most knowledgable film historians on the subject of the American musical. And, he's an able singer and hoofer himself! As program director of the San Francisco International Film Festival for many years, Johnson organized the first public tributes in the country to musical-film artists, including Busby Berkeley, Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Vincente Minnelli, Arthur Freed and others. A professor in the Afro-American Studies Department at U.C. Berkeley, Johnson has lectured in all corners of the world, and is often a guest programmer and juror at international film festivals.
The Broadway Melody introduced the MGM musical to the world with its formula of lively and imaginative production numbers, witty and entertaining dialogue, and the backstage story: two star-struck country girls who venture forth to make a name on Broadway. In his Dictionary of Cinema, Jean Mitry calls The Broadway Melody “the first sound film in which song and noises became partially integrated and significant in the film.” It was also the first sound film to receive the Academy Award for Best Picture. The film's original score by Arthur Freed and Nacio Herb Brown includes “You Were Meant for Me” and “The Wedding of the Painted Doll"--the latter notable as one of the first technicolor sequences filmed in a movie musical (only black-and-white prints exist today).