Movies!

Movies! has become a very interesting go-to over-the-air channel for old movies. And this isn’t just a selection of third-tier b-films of low-image-quality. I’ve caught some outstanding pictures (especially on their Film Noir night)

Yesterday they aired The Music Man. I had only caught bits and pieces of this before. It never piqued my interest to go further with it. But Mr. Kung spoke well of this film so I decided to have a go.

And those reasons that I was reticent remain valid: As a musical, the music in this isn’t particularly great. And although Robert Preston is hailed in this role (Cary Grant turned down the lead role and said he would never watch this as a movie without Preston), I don’t find him particularly charismatic. Nor is there much chemistry between him and Shirley Jones. It’s all forced and faked.

I’m not surprised to read that Barbara Cook had been the staple in the role of Marian Paroo on Broadway. I would have loved to see her instead. That chemistry might have worked better.



The only real heart in this film comes from the interplay of Preston and Ronny Howard who plays the very young child with the speech impediment. Professor Harold Hill may have had his heart tugged by Marian Paroo. But there was no reason to believe that he wasn’t doing the same short-term attachment that he’d done in so many towns before. Their love did not seem particularly everlasting.

But with little Winthrop Paroo, Harold Hill’s conscience was pricked. The kid had burst out of his bubble at the thought of getting a coronet, wearing a costume, and marching in a band. How could Hill disappoint him?

But then musicals typically are bare-threaded together by wafer-thin plots. This one is no exception. The plot is an excuse to get to one cleverly-choreographed song to another. And even if some of the songs are thing, the humor and staging is superb in this one. I think the best-ever musical number on film is still “With a Little Bit of Luck” from My Fair Lady. However, I’m willing to declare that the library scene from The Music Man is a close second.

The town-hall scene that comes before is excellent as well. The running shtick of the barbershop quartet, The Buffalo Bills, glues this picture together and gives it some kind of continuity. And they’re always good for a laugh. Harold Hill’s interaction with them is superb and probably the best comedy in the film

But I still find Shirley Jones to be wooden. But I loved her mother, Mrs. Paroo, played by Pert Kelton. She brought a solid humanity and believability to the role which is usually lacking in the cardboard-cutout characters typical of a musical.

Another bit of interesting trivia about this film is that apparently Meredith Wilson “made more income off The Beatles' version of his song Till There Was You than he did off the play and the movie combined.” Frankly, I hadn't known that this song came from this musical.

The movie is also noteworthy for it’s opening credits with some of the names “formed by a miniaturized, stop-motion animated marching band, who also form themselves into musical instruments on which the rest of the opening credits appear.”

At the end of the day, I think I would have liked (or appreciated) Preston better playing off of someone more charismatic than Shirley Jones. Paul Ford is, of course, wonderful as the suspicious Mayor Shinn who is constantly meaning to track down Professor Hill’s credentials but seems to always wind up getting distracted.

The lampooning of small-town life and characters remains just within the limits of charming rather than caustic. But at times it did feel like a Hollywood-outsider assault on normalcy. At the end of the day, the theme of the huckster-turned-hometown-boy was never much realized or believable. There seemed to be an act or two missing. On the other hand, one could easily trim 20 minutes out of what was already presented. I wonder how much they changed this from the stage play.