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Neil Brand explains how the movie musical had to continuously adapt and modernise for the modern age, looking at some of the most popular songs from films Grease and Bugsy Malone.

In this final episode, Neil Brand asks how the movie musical survived in our modern age.

By the 1970s the whole landscape of cinema had shifted; the biggest movies were no longer feelgood romances but gritty dramas of urban life. And yet, right at this point, two directors famed for such films ventured into the world of musical film. Martin Scorsese鈥檚 New York, New York and Francis Ford Coppola鈥檚 One from The Heart were glossy, highly stylised homages to the golden age of the musical. And both failed to connect with a modern audience.

The musical would find its modern voice by adapting rather than trying to ape the classic formula of old; by being maverick and unconventional, as Neil Brand discovers when meeting Mel Brooks, creator of the unforgettable Springtime for Hitler. And he also meets Turner Prize-winning artist Jeremy Deller, who argues that Ken Russell鈥檚 film of The Who鈥檚 rock opera Tommy is the best film ever made!

This recognition of the importance of pop culture, added to a 70s nostalgia for the seemingly more innocent days of the 50s, gave rise to another strain of successful movies: American Graffiti and, most memorably, Grease. It even hit the UK, as former teen star David Essex explains, with his starring role in 1974鈥檚 That鈥檒l Be the Day.

The 1970s also saw the movie musical become much more reflective of an increasingly multicultural world, with the huge success of films such as Car Wash, with its soundtrack written by the great Motown composer Norman Whitfield. In Los Angeles, Neil meets up with the film鈥檚 director Michael Schultz to discuss how Hollywood took on soul and disco to reinvigorate the musical genre.

As we come to see where the movie musical now stands, we discover it has been as blockbusting as ever; firstly, in India, where the emergence of Bollywood has completely taken over Hindi cinema, with stars such as Shah Rukh Khan selling a film on sheer screen stardom alone - but also back in its base camp of Hollywood, where the success of both La La Land and The Greatest Showman have demonstrated that the movie musical is still a force to be reckoned with.

59 minutes

Last on

Sun 3 Dec 2023 00:45

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Music Played

  • Bee Gees

    Stayin' Alive

  • Liza Minnelli

    New York, New York

  • Jimi Hendrix

    Born Under A Bad Sign

  • Tom Waits

    Midnight Lullaby

  • Mel Brooks

    Springtime for Hitler

  • The Teenagers

    Why Do Fools Fall In Love

  • Del Shannon

    Runaway

  • John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John

    Summer Nights

  • John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John

    Summer Nights

  • Del Shannon

    Runaway

  • Buddy Knox, The Rhythm Orchids

    Party Doll

  • Edward Elgar

    Symphony No. 1 In A Flat Major, Op 55: II Allegro Molto

  • Arthur Brown

    Eyesight To The Blind

  • Paul Williams

    Fat Sam's Grand Slam

  • Rose Royce

    Righteous Rhythm

  • Rose Royce

    Car Wash

  • Lorraine Velez

    Fame

  • Donna Summer

    Hot Stuff

  • Irene Cara

    Fame

  • Buggles

    Video Killed The Radio Star

  • Laura Branigan

    Imagination

  • Moving Pictures

    Never

  • Sex Pistols

    God Save The Queen

  • Jerry Dammers

    Riot City

  • David Bowie

    That's Motivation

  • David Bowie

    A Small Plot Of Land

  • Jodi Benson

    Part of Your World (Reprise)

  • Samuel E. Wright

    Under the Sea

  • Hans Zimmer

    Para Morirse

  • Sarah McLachlan

    When She Loved Me

  • Sarah McLachlan

    When She Loved Me

  • Benjamin Bratt

    Remember Me (Ernesto De La Cruz)

  • A.R. Rahman, Sukhvinder, Kavita Krishnamurthy

    Chaiyya Chaiyya

  • Sukhwinder Singh

    Dard-E-Disco

  • The Greatest Showman Ensemble

    Come Alive

  • The Greatest Showman

    This Is Me

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