Classic 60s Movie: “The Music Man”

January is Classic 60s Movie month. Today’s guest post comes from Felicity Flesher.

Movie Title: The Music Man

Year: 1962

Writers: Screenplay by Marion Hargrove, based on the play by Meredith Willson in collaboration with Franklin Lacey

Lead Actors: Robert Preston, Shirley Jones, Buddy Hackett, Hermione Gingold, Paul Ford, Pert Kelton, The Buffalo Bills, Ron Howard

Director: Morton DaCosta

Plot Summary: Con man Harold Hill shows up in an Iowa town with a scam using a boy’s marching band program, but things don’t go according to plan.

Why I Think This Is A Classic 60s Movie: It’s a simple story. Take your lovable rogue, throw him in America’s hometown, have him fall in love, and tie up the loose strings. Add some music too for good measure and you’ve got a classic and a memory to live on in the annals of Americana.

The Music Man was composer Meredith Willson’s first musical and he knew better than anyone to write what he knew. It’s his portrayal of his childhood in early 1900s Mason City, Iowa, his life as a band member, and the personalities of his friends and family that come to life in this extremely personal musical… to the degree that it becomes nostalgic to all of us.

It stands as one of the greatest musicals ever in an era that brought us some pretty great musicals including West Side Story (1961), My Fair Lady (1964), and The Sound of Music (1965), just as studio movie musicals would go out of vogue by the end of the decade. But as a product of the early 1960s, The Music Man was the throwback we needed — a call to a time when things were simpler, a time of barbershop quartets and ice cream socials. While Professor Hill brings a degree of sin and corruption to the small town, warning of the perils of billiard parlors, so too would America cling to the familiarity of this folk musical as it entered a decade of revolution.

My Favorite Moment In The Movie: It’s moment after moment in this one: the first time the school board harmonizes, the arrival of the Wells Fargo Wagon, “Shipoopi,” the big romantic climax… but there’s always something magical about when the band shows up with those seventy-six trombones.

My Favorite Dialogue In the Movie:

MRS. PAROO: If you don’t mind my saying so, it wouldn’t have hurt you to find out what the gentleman wanted.
MARIAN: I know what the gentleman wanted.
MRS. PAROO: What, dear?
MARIAN: You’ll find it in Bal-zac.
MRS. PAROO: Excuse me fer livin’ but I never read it.

Key Things You Should Look For When Watching This Movie:

• Wit & Language — Willson has such a grasp of the English language and making it so naturally musical and memorable. At the same time, the writer, director, and performers have mastered intertwining comedy, innocence, romance, banter, and sentimentality. Don’s miss the comedic beats with Paul Ford as the mayor and Hermione Gingold as his wife.

He also innovatively uses “speak-singing,” such as in the opening number “Rock Island,” sung by a group of traveling salesmen on a train resembling the sounds of the locomotive and unaccompanied musically. It’s a beautiful use of language and its patter. It doesn’t rhyme and were it not delivered so rhythmically, could be plain dialogue if read.

Likewise, it is famous for its musical counterpoint, using two or more different, independent, but harmonious musical lines together, further reflecting the complex use of language. Contrapuntal examples include “Lida Rose/Will I Ever Tell You” and “Pickalittle/Good Night Ladies.”

• Adaptation — As a Broadway adaptation, this film is one of the best. Director Morton DaCosta also directed the stage version and unusually for a film adaptation, it maintains nearly all of the original. DaCosta adds cinematic touches including a trademark “iris in/iris out” effect that he also employed in 1958’s Auntie Mame. Choreographer Onna White adapts the dancing gorgeously to film as well.

• Regionalism — Although The Music Man is clearly a Hollywood/Broadway production, take note of the development of 1912 Iowa. There are the stubborn Iowan townspeople that it seems like you could only find there and the small-town sense that everyone wants to be in everyone else’s business that lend authenticity. Listen for the vernacular and idioms like “It’s as clear as a buttonhook in the well water” and references like “Captain Billy’s Whiz Bang” to immerse us in the time and place. And what a time and place it is!

• Performance — The Music Man would transform the career of its lead Robert Preston. No one had much faith in him as Harold Hill because he was known as a dramatic, supporting, B-movie actor, was not a singer or dancer, was considered too old for the part and had competition from every actor in the country. However, Preston’s charisma as the flimflammer, mastery of the speak-singing, and chemistry with his fellow actors make you follow his every gesture. Famously, Warner Brothers wanted Frank Sinatra for the part, but Willson told them “No Robert Preston, no movie,” and Cary Grant was likewise considered, but turned it down saying, “Not only will I not star in the movie, if Robert Preston does not star in it, I will not see it.” Consider the formation of such a lead character that such an actor was able to not only make his own, but steal for himself for good — to the last wave of the brakeman’s hand on the last train outta town.

Thanks, Felicity! To show our gratitude for your guest post, here’s a dash of creative juju for you. Whoosh!

Twitter: @thefelociraptor.

We already have a set of classic 70s movies, 80s Movies and 90s Movies. This month, we’re working on 60s Movies.

We have 26 volunteers. I have put in bold those who have already sent their guest post to me.

Ipsita Barik — Rosemary’s Baby
Bookman Film — The Sound of Music
Brandnewusedcar — Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Markham Cook — Jules et Jim
Steve Cook — The Blue Max
JasperLamarCrab — 2001: A Space Odyssey
N D — Lonely are the Brave
Drew Dorenfest — Easy Rider
Felicity Flesher — The Music Man
PaulG — Lawrence of Arabia
D.L. Gill — Zulu
Jeff Guenther — Cool Hand Luke
Kate Hagen — Repulsion
John Henderson — Night of the Living Dead
John Henderson — The Odd Couple
hoernsch — The Graduate
Zach Jansen — They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?
Will King — The Pink Panther
Lisaisfunny — Blow Up
Jack McDonald — Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Daryl Powell — The Apartment
jprichard — Persona
Ally Shina — The Jungle Book
Mark Twain — The Loved One
Liz Warner — The Manchurian Candidate
Michael Waters — Dr. No

I’m looking for more guest posts to take us through January. Why not pitch in to help add to this online resource to inspire writers to learn about and — most importantly — watch great movies.

If you have a classic 60s movies on which you’d like to do a writeup, please either post in comments or email me.

And for those who have signed up, but have yet to email me your post, please do so ASAP.

Thanks in advance!

For the original post explaining the series, go here.