ABSTRACT
Writing on film music, whether in the trade-book or academic literatures, has heavily favored symphonic background music over source music. Yet the more fundamental distinction made by industry professionals is between the image track and the sound track. Early in the history of sound film the integrated sound track became an artistic requirement for sound editors; this greater control also facilitated more crossover between musical styles. This essay problematizes the priority of symphonic background music in the early Hollywood cinema. I argue instead that priority should go to the integrated sound track, with all of its stylistic and narrative complexity. I demonstrate this by examining how song performances are placed in the sound track. Examples are drawn from the earliest sound feature films (1927–28), dramatic films and musicals from roughly 1932 to 1936, and Casablanca (1943).
