Music Man (1962)

So I'll put a little bit of a disclaimer on this movie before I start the review. I probably watched this movie about a kajillion times as a kid. I think I used to be able to quote this movie line for line as a kid and even as an adult I can pick up on every beat and line like I watched this film yesterday. I haven't seen the film in quite a few years but I do still think there is a bias towards it. I just wanted that to be kept in mind for this review and the one to follow.

The Music Man follows the story of a traveling salesman by the name of Harold Hill (played by Robert Preston). In 1912, he finds himself in the small town of River City, Iowa. Through catch music and a silver tongue, he works to convince the town that he can sell the town a boys band and that he will teach the kids of the towns to play music. He is helped by a local former salesman by the name of Marcellus Washburn (played by Buddy Hackett) to convince the town that the children of River City are in trouble unless they organize a boys band.

Of course, not everyone in the town is cast under the spell of Professor Harold Hill and the town Librarian, Marian Paroo (played by Shirley Jones) is very skeptical of the traveling salesman. The story mainly consists of Harold gas lighting a town and trying to seduce Marian the librarian while he gathers the money and plans to leave town.

Now I realize that is kind of nefarious way of describing the plot, but I'll be honest, I've never described the plot of the music man before. It's worth noting that while he's deceiving the small Iowa town, his promises of bringing music to the stubborn River City starts to bring enthusiasm for life to the town and people begin singing and dancing and just being happier because of his plot.

However the plot is a really good example of how this story has aged in the modern day. Back in the 50's when Meredith Wilson wrote the musical, it was to highlight the culture of middle america. However, multiple aspects of that 1950's image of 1912 America doesn't exactly translate to today.

I love the music, but it's very much your American feel good music rather than anything really epic that you might expect from musicals of today. Don't get me wrong, the songs are really good. Especially rewatching it years later, I've come to appreciate more songs that I ever did as a kid, it might not hit you until later.

A good example is that there is a barbershop quartet in the film. As a kid I just saw that group as some extra flavor but now I see that group as almost stealing the show because their quartet renditions are so good. A famous Barbershop Quartet called The Buffalo Bills play the characters who make up the quartet in the show and they're fantastic. However, if you're not a fan of Barbershop Quartet music, you might not be drawn to The Music Man.

There are also some moments in the movie where I had my mouth open in awe that I never realized how dated this story is. There's a club in the town that is essentially culturally appropriating native american culture that would never fly today. Also the whole relationship between Harold Hill and Marian is a little stalkery at times, and more representative of male dominant practices when it came to dating and relationships. While I like the character of Marian and I'm pretty sure Shirley Jones was my first childhood crush, she's probably not a great role model for young girls.

I was actually amazed at the dynamic between her and her mother in the show (played by Pert Kelton) that her mother is almost spending the entire movie giving her shit that she's not married and that she has too high of standards of men. Like Harold shows up, harasses her on her way home, and when Marian tells her mom a man followed her home, her mom says, "Did you say anything?". Again, it was a different time for when this musical was written but it's weird in today's context.

 The supporting cast of this show is just so great. Buddy Hacket is phenomenal despite not being the most musically or dancing talented. Paul Ford plays the Mayor of the town and I haven't seen anybody beat him. Hermonine Gingold plays the Mayor's wife and she's hilarious. Most of the actors besides Robert Preston, Shirley Jones, and Buddy Hacket probably don't ring any bells for most people but I can't think of one character that is out of place in this movie. Everyone's doing such a good job and they make an impact that you kind of forget that some characters have relatively small roles or only show up for a scene and then never really have another line in the film. I'll talk more about this in the next review, but even years later I remember these performances fondly because it just fits together so well.

And of course, the glue that keeps it all together is Robert Preston as Harold Hill.

As great as everyone in this movie is, this movie, especially today, would never work without the character of Harold Hill and good lord, Robert Preston owns this role. The man is so smooth and so confident that he made his performance so unique and hard to top. I know that this show is going to be redone. It was done in 2003 (I'll get to that) and Hugh Jackman is apparently doing it on Broadway, but in one way or another, Robert Preston was able to absolutely nail the role. Every time he's on screen he's hamming it up and just creating something so memorable and unique. He is the reason this movie succeeded and he's the reason it is still the gold standard for how this show is executed.

The main reason I watched this movie was because I had a buddy who played Harold Hill in a community theater production. This was the first time in a long time that I had seen the show on stage and not the 1962 film version. I think I became so interested in analyzing this story because of how funny I realized this show is. I already mentioned how there are songs that I didn't think too much of as a kid that I can't get out of my head, but there are jokes in the dialogue that I never picked up at a young age. There are implications and subtext that I totally missed out on as a kid and I'm seeing the show in a whole new light. The dialogue is almost Shakespearean in that the humor is so deep seeded that if you're not careful you'll miss it. And especially in a movie where there isn't a pause for laughter, it was very easy to miss as a kid.

Yes, a lot of elements of the show don't fit the culture we live in today, especially what counts as acceptable and what doesn't, but even that's interesting to analyze. I think I would love to see the Hugh Jackman production of this in 2019 because I imagine it would be very different.

 The last thing I'll mention is the amazing choreography. If you've the 1961 version of West Side Story, you know that musicals back in the 60 created these giant stage sets for huge dance numbers and to a certain extent, I think this movie meets if not exceeds some of the dance numbers from West Side Story. I think only big theater nerds like myself would notice that, but it is pretty amazing the amount of time and effort that for sure went into the song and dance numbers in this show.

Overall, this movie is an underrated classic. Everyone I know who has seen it absolutely loves it but I can't say this is a movie I've heard a lot of people have watched. If you haven't seen it, treat yourself and check it out, with the huge caveat that some elements of the show have not aged well. But if you can appreciate it for the music and dance numbers as well as the dynamite performance from Robert Preston and a great cast, you'll have a great movie watching experience on your hands.

But those are my thoughts on The Music Man (1962). Have you seen it? What did you think? Have you seen the 2003 version? Should I review that one too? Too late, I'm going to. But leave your comments below. You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @MovieSymposium as well as send me your requests for films I should review in the future. If you follow me on Twitter, you can get updates on future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog.

Thanks for reading!