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19207
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Cinéma & Cie. Film and Media Studies Journal
Ben Singer, Melodrama and Modernity: Early Sensational Cinema and Its Contexts (New York: Columbia University Press, 2001)
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https://riviste.unimi.it/index.php/cinemaetcie
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2003-03-01
2022-12-03
2003-03-01
2024-02-14
Cinéma & Cie
Rick Altman
2003/03/01
2036-461X
2
en
Ben Singer, Melodrama and Modernity: Early Sensational Cinema and Its Contexts (New York: Columbia University Press, 2001)
https://riviste.unimi.it/index.php/cinemaetcie/article/download/19207/17052
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less thorough than it could be). The penulti-      Both of the topics implied by the title are com-
mate chapter puts a further spin on this analy-    plex and controversial, yet the book handles
sis by also situating sensational serials at the   them with extraordinary clarity and generosi-
center of a culture war over gender roles, ana-    ty. Few important topics have been as shame-
lyzing the “pleasures and dangers” of the seri-    lessly neglected by scholars as stage melodra-
al queen (the prime example is Pearl White) as     ma and film serials; Singer rectifies that situa-
a figure of the American “New Woman,” and          tion with easily the best chapter ever written
how that figure could have appealed to             on stage melodrama and two solid chapters on
women (and men) of most classes. A further         film serials. Furthermore, this book boasts the
chapter then reverses the direction of the         most interesting illustration program of any
book’s intertextual investigation, exploring       recent film publication (though it is surprising
the “tie-in” marketing practices that sensa-       and disappointing not to discover more frame
tional serials helped to promulgate, from fash-    enlargements from a wider range of serials).
ion designs to early fan magazines.                From cover to cover, not only are the research
   Finally, Singer’s generosity encompasses        and scholarship first-rate, but they are support-
much more than the nearly 100 illustrations        ed by writing that is both forceful and clear.
that support the book’s analysis or the exten-        The overall quality of Singer’s book makes
sive twenty-five pages of bibliography. For one,   it all the more disappointing to note that this
he deals unusually even-handedly with his col-     major work on melodrama devotes hardly a
leagues’ objections to the modernity thesis and    word to the melos that distinguishes melodra-
accepts potential disagreement with certain of     ma from just plain drama. It is well known
his arguments. For another, he concludes the       that stage melodrama and melodramatic film
book with a number of provocative questions        serials were both accompanied musically. Did
intended to encourage further research,            this music not contribute to the experience
research that could not only extend or modify      and meaning of stage and film melodrama? It
but even counter his own invaluable work.          is a sad statement regarding the state of sound
                                                   scholarship that such an otherwise good book
                                                   should entirely ignore such concerns.
                                                      To be sure, there are easier problems to han-
SELECTED BY: RICK ALTMAN                           dle than music for stage or screen. It is impor-
                                                   tant to recognize, however, that substantial
  Ben Singer, Melodrama and Modernity:             resources are available in this area. On other
Early Sensational Cinema and Its Contexts          topics, Singer makes very good use of Lewin
(New York: Columbia University Press, 2001)        A. Goff’s outstanding 1948 Western Reserve
                                                   University dissertation, The Popular Priced
  (What follows is not a normal review.            Melodrama in America 1890 to 1910 with Its
Knowing that Richard Abel was reviewing            Origins and Development to 1890, but he
Ben Singer’s Melodrama and Modernity, I            draws little benefit from Goff’s substantial
exceptionally requested permission to review       material on melodrama music. More recently,
the same book, primarily to draw attention to      two scholars have produced a series of careful
a single aspect of the book’s coverage. This       and well-documented articles, chapters, and
review should thus be thought of not as an         books on music for stage melodrama. The fol-
independent statement, but as a complement         lowing works by British theater scholar David
to Abel’s general review)                          Mayer will be found useful:
                                                      “Nineteenth Century Theatre Music,”
 Ben Singer’s recent book on Melodrama and         Theatre Notebook, vol. 30, no. 3 (1976), pp.
Modernity is in many ways a book to admire.        115-122.

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   Henry Irving and The Bells (Manchester:           easy to locate, they are no more impossible to
Manchester University Press, 1980), p. 82.           find than the many contemporary newspaper
   “The Music of Melodrama,” in D. Bradby, L.        and magazine articles cited by Singer.
James, B. Sharratt (eds.), Performance and pol-         The problem here is of course not Singer’s
itics in popular drama: aspects of popular           alone, but that of the entire profession. For
entertainment in theatre, film, and television,      reasons having to do with the low status of
1800-1976 (Cambridge: Cambridge University           sound and non-musicians’ fear of music,
Press, 1980), pp. 49-63.                             silent film sound has not been approached
   D. Mayer, M. Scott (eds.), Four Bars of “Agit”:   with the determination characteristic of
Incidental Music for Victorian and Edwardian         recent work on virtually all other aspects of
Melodrama (London: Samuel French and The             silent cinema. Of all possible topics, I would
Theatre Museum, 1983).                               have thought that stage and early film melo-
   “Parlour and Platform Melodrama,” in M.           drama could not possibly be treated without
Hays, A. Nikolopoulou (eds.), Melodrama: the         attention to their music. I was wrong. Perhaps
cultural emergence of a genre (New York: St.         this short non-review will encourage future
Martin’s Press, 1996), pp. 210-234.                  scholars to consider music as an essential
   “Seeing With the Ear,” Nineteenth Century         aspect of their efforts.
Theatre, vol. 25, no. 1 (Summer 1997), pp. 66-77.
   “A ‘Secondary Action’ or Musical Highlight?
Melodic Interludes in Early Film Melodrama
Reconsidered,” in R. Abel, R. Altman (eds.),         SELECTED BY: FRANÇOIS ALBERA
The Sounds of Early Cinema (Bloomington:
Indiana University Press, 2001), pp. 220-231.          Germain Lacasse, Le Bonimenteur de vues
   The following writings by the American            animées. Le cinéma “muet” entre tradition et
musicologist Anne Dhu Shapiro/McLucas                modernité (Québec-Paris: Nota Bene/Méridiens
will be found especially helpful:                    Klincksieck, 2000)
   “Action Music in American Pantomime and
Melodrama, 1730-1913,” American Music, vol.             Le livre de Germain Lacasse possède une
2, no. 4 (Winter 1984), pp. 50-72.                   qualité plutôt rare dans le domaine de l’his-
   “Nineteenth Century Melodrama: From A             toire du cinéma, en particulier en langue
Tale of Mystery to Monte Cristo,” Harvard            française, il explore un aspect mal connu, met
Library Bulletin, New Series, vol. 2, no. 4          à jour une dimension oubliée du spectacle
(Winter 1991), pp. 54-73.                            cinématographique sur la base d’un travail
   Later Melodrama in America: Monte Cristo          d’ampleur dans des sources négligées jusqu’i-
(ca. 1883) (New York-London: Garland, 1994).         ci et il émet une thèse inscrivant le cinéma
   The latter book provides all the elements –       dans un ensemble plus vaste, celui de la
text, music, director’s cue sheet – necessary to     “modernité” et des pratiques sociales de son
document the intermittent nature of late-nine-       temps. L’aspect (encore) mal connu, c’est
teenth-century melodrama accompaniment               celui du “bonimenteur de vues animées”, un
practice. In the same series, Thomas L. Riis’s       commentateur, un narrateur, un conférencier
edition of Uncle Tom’s Cabin (New York and           ou un camelot, selon les opinions, qui verba-
London: Garland, 1994) will also prove useful.       lise avant, pendant ou entre les images en
   Unfortunately, no similar bibliography is to      direction des spectateurs. L’émergence de
be found on the music accompanying film              cette figure, insoupçonnée il y a encore dix
serials. Until current projects reach publica-       ans, a bouleversé considérablement l’appré-
tion, the only solution available is careful         hension qu’on peut avoir des conditions de
scholarship. While relevant materials are not        réception des films muets des premiers

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