Numbers

Abstract This part parses musical from nonmusical actions in the film musical genre, outlining both how the studios understood this distinction and the method used in the book that grounds musical actions in bodily performance. Astaire’s films are broken down into musical numbers along several criteria, and the formal qualities of his musical numbers are discussed, in particular his use of the fragment. Quantitative data precisely measures the extent to which the classical Hollywood studios and the musical genre were whites-only spaces. The relative modesty of Astaire’s dancing is compared to the work of other Hollywood dancers, such as Gene Kelly and the Nicholas Brothers.