KnowraMusical filmMusical filmA film genre in which songs, music, and often choreography are integrated into the story or its presentation.BriefConnectMusical number: A self-contained song or dance sequence within a musical performance or film. Numbers organize the genre’s shifts from dialogue into song and movement.Playback singing: A filmmaking practice in which actors perform on screen to a prerecorded vocal track. It lets filmed performances combine visible acting with studio-recorded vocals.The Jazz Singer: A 1927 American film featuring synchronized singing and dialogue sequences. Its sound sequences helped make synchronized musical performance a commercial attraction.42nd Street: A 1933 American backstage musical film directed by Lloyd Bacon. Its backstage plot and Busby Berkeley numbers became a durable Hollywood template.Jukebox musical: A musical built primarily around previously released popular songs, often by one artist or from one era. Its songs are selected from an existing catalog rather than written chiefly for the film.Diegesis: The world and events represented within a narrative work. A song may be part of the story world or an expressive departure from it.Lip sync: The synchronization of visible mouth movements with recorded speech or singing. Accurate synchronization makes prerecorded songs appear performed in the scene.Vitaphone: A sound-on-disc system used to synchronize recorded audio with motion pictures. The system enabled early feature films to present synchronized songs and dialogue.Singin' in the Rain: A 1952 American musical comedy about Hollywood’s transition to sound films. It turns the history of sound cinema into the subject of a musical comedy.Concert film: A film documenting or staging a musical performance for an audience. It centers the concert itself rather than integrating songs into a fictional narrative.Show all 25Linked from 40 pagesSound filmBroader topic: Synchronized sound made performed songs and dialogue possible within a feature film.Oscar Hammerstein IIRelated: Film adaptations carried several Hammerstein musicals to audiences beyond the stage.Fred AstaireNarrower topic: Astaire’s performances helped establish how dance could function within a film rather than as separate stage footage.Masala filmCompared with: Masala films may use songs, but genre mixture—not musical structure alone—defines the form.Film genreBroader topic: Its distinctive transitions into song reveal how strongly genres can organize film form.Soundtrack albumRelated: Its songs are often released together as a soundtrack album.Gene KellyNarrower topic: Kelly treated musical numbers as parts of the drama rather than interruptions to it.Pierrot le FouCompared with: Its sudden songs and performances unsettle the polished integration typical of conventional musicals.Show all 40