| Summary: | Hollywood's conversion to sound in the 1920s created an early peak in the film musical, following the immense success of The Jazz Singer. Until the near-collapse of the genre in the 1960s, the film musical enjoyed around 30 years of development, with The Wizard of Oz, Meet Me in St Louis, Singin' in the Rain, and Gigi showing the exciting possibilities of putting musicals on the silver screen. This handbook traces how the genre has evolved, starting with screen adaptations of operettas such as The Desert Song and Rio Rita, and looks at how the studios in the 1930s exploited the publication of sheet music as part of their income. Numerous chapters examine specific screen adaptations in depth, including not only favorites such as Annie and Kiss Me, Kate but also some of the lesser-known titles like Li'l Abner and Roberta and problematic adaptations such as Carousel and Paint Your Wagon
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