Looking for Lela Simone
Singin' in the Rain and microhistories of women's sound work behind the scenes and below-the-line in Classical Hollywood Cinema
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4348829 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Helen Hanson (0000-0002-8547-6192, Department of English and Film Studies, University of Exeter, Queen’s Drive, Exeter, UK, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2020 |
| Volume | 29 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 822-840 |
| Publication date | 2020-07-28 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Women s History Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0961-2025 • E-ISSN: 1747-583X |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/09612025.2019.1703537 |
| OpenAlex | W2978008952 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 4 |
Despite her contribution to some of classical Hollywood’s most renowned musicals, the largely unknown Lela Simone exemplifies one of Hollywood’s ‘anonymous movie workers’ (Leo Rosten) working in the shadows of film history. As music co-ordinator for MGM’s Arthur Freed Unit (1944–1957), Simone’s exacting technical supervision of sound and music recording and post-production ensured films such as The Pirate (1948), On the Town (1949), An American in Paris (1951), Singin’ in the Rain (1952) and Gigi (1958) achieved perfect synchronisation and polished production values. Drawing on archival sources this article engages with the methodological and conceptual challenges of making visible the labour of women, like Simone, working below-the-line in technical roles. Taking Simone’s work on sound and music in the iconic ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ number as a case study, the article illustrates how a micro-historical focus can bring a previously invisible realm of women’s labour, and agency, into view
Acoustics · Aesthetics · Archaeology · Art · Art history · Hollywood · Literature · Movie theater · Realm · Social science · Sociology · Visual arts · Cinema and Media Studies · French Historical and Cultural Studies · History · Theater, Performance, and Music History
| Highly cited | No |
|---|