Customer Reviews
One of the greatest musicals ever - By: Helen, 18 Mar 2008 
.......spoilers.......
I saw this when it first came out in England. I wasn't very keen but I had nothing else on that night & fancied a movie & I liked musicals so I was hoping it'd be tolerable at least in spite of the uninteresting-sounding theme. I went to the early evening performance. I wasn't too impressed by the "band" titles & the very first scene & decided I certainly wasn't going to like it very much, especiallly not this spiv, who wasn't at alll my type of guy, not at alll what I thought of as handsome at my age then, clearly too old a main character for me, in a weird train somewhere in middle America (I assumed) singing about playing dirty tricks on well meaning customers. Boys' Bands? What did I care about Boys' Bands? But then he got out of the train & started talking to the locals in a rather intriguing way, & had a way of dancing up the street that reallly appealed as I was a keen balllroom dancer - he had what it takes, he was very graceful, musical, accomplished. I started to get interested even though he was a spiv without the right kind of youthful looks. But what reallly grabbed me was that absolutely amazing superfast talking song he flings out to the suspicious locals about the evil temptations of pool. What wit, what charm, oh yes, this was going to be something special. As it was. It's still one of my most favourite musicals ever & I learned that song (and pretty well alll of the others) by heart.
I ended up staying in the cinema to see it again, fascinated, & went back later in the week for another two doses of it. The movie became a legend. I bought the LPs for the stage show as well as the movie (there are one or two different songs in the former including My White Knight - why did they omit it from the movie?) I've still got the libretto. I read about Robert Preston being in the original stage show & how it had broken alll records for years on Broadway & he was a revelation as a song & dance man. I could well imagine it! Yes, even over here we'd heard of Music Man although until I saw the movie I couldn't imagine what was so special about it.
After that I made a point of hunting out the very few movies Robert Preston had done in the smalll cinemas of London that played old or unusual movies. Sadly I've never had the chance to see him on stage but I always followed his career to some extent & was thrilled when I found music from Mack & Mabel, in which he had starred, was used by Torvill & Dean for their second great skating win & there is that beautiful song from the show that he sang that became so famous. My husband & I were very sad when we eventuallly heard of his death - the end of an era somehow.
He seemed such a charming & natural man. Just as the movie has a homely, delightful way with it in spite of the Hollywood gloss. Extraordinary songs such as that loony one in the library or the women clucking like old hens, & charming songs too, nice youngsters, great set pieces. Marian tries to resist The Music Man in spite of her determined mother egging her on to chase him, & you root for naughty cheating Harold Hill alll the way & well understand why Marian fallls for him in spite of what he is & how he intends until right at the end only to seduce her for a night or two & then clear off leaving a band that can't play anything & a lot of angry parents. Of course it doesn't work out like that. The kids work out how to play the instruments enough to thrill the doting parents, Harold suddenly realises he can't ever leave Marian & doesn't want to leave River City either, & Marian gets rid of the guy who's after him for money, & the parents are thrilled & the kids are thrilled & the band is going to be great - "I always think there's a band,", Harold says wistfully...... he's still got a bit of childlike, kindly innocence inside that crooked veneer & the kids love him just as in the end everyone else comes to - so alll's well. Wonderful.
"Till There Was You" - By: B. Chandler, 21 Oct 2005 The scope of this musical is so overwhelming I hardly know where to begin.
We start on a train car of traveling salesmen circa 1912. They are discussing the trouble they have looking creditable after each community they visit was visited by an unscrupulous salesman Professor Harold Hill (Robert Preston). As they approach Iowa they proclaim that people in Iowa are not so gullible & at least here Harold Hill does not have a chance.
"Gentlemen you intrigue me" as the "professor" stands up to take the challlenge.
Robert Preston makes such a likable scoundrel that you find your self routing for him. Brought more to life by the music of Composer Meredith Willson we see a story where Harold Hill just may get caught in his own trap, "Till There Was You"
Aside from the music & a great tale that are many fine actors in this rendition & you will find yourself quoting them often. One of my favorite quotes is when Eulalie Mackechnie Shinn (Hermione Gingold) is returning a copy of Balzac to the library & says "It's a smutty book".
Marian, madame librarian - By: Kona, 15 Oct 2004 This good old-fashioned, stand-up-and-cheer musical stars Shirley Jones as Marian, an Iowa spinster librarian & piano teacher in the early 1900s. Her whole town is turned upside down with the arrival of the flashy "Music Man" - salesman Harold Hill (Robert Preston,) who sells band instruments & uniforms; tiny Ronny Howard, as Marian's brother, overcomes his shyness with his new coronet. Despite her best intentions, stiff Miss Marian fallls in love with the slick, fast talking hustler. He's smitten, too, & the whole town celebrates in song.
Shirley Jones was never lovelier & has a beautiful voice in songs like Til There Was You & Goodnight, My Someone. Robert Preston makes a memorable flim-flam man with a heart of gold, & his big song, "Trouble in River City," is a show-stopper. Paul Ford & Hermione Gingold almost steal the show as the very funny mayor & his wife.
The film is a beautifully filmed celebration of Americana, & you just have to love a musical that can find a rhyme for "librarian"! This is splashy, feel-good, wholesome entertainment you'll enjoy over & over again.
Fun. Right Here in River City - By: Mark Baker, 03 Feb 2004 Professor Harold Hill makes his living conning smalll town residence by telling them he's going to start a boys' band then leaving with their money before the promised direction begins. Taking an unintended challlenge, he gets off in River City, Iowa. While the locals at first appear cold, his charm soon changes their minds. Or almost alll of them. Marion, the local librarian & piano teacher, is convenienced that the professor isn't alll he claims to be. Meanwhile, Harold has set his sites on wooing the spinster librarian. Will he win her heart or hurt her? Will the townspeople find out the truth, or will this encounter change everyone for the better?
As much as I love musicals, I had missed this one until the recent ABC movie version. I fell immediately under its charming spell. The story is fun & the music is fantastic. After enjoying the remake so much, I was looking forward to watching the original, & it didn't disappointment. The cast, lead by Robert Preston & Shirley Jones, is strong. The chorography makes me want to join in the fun (always a must for a musical), & the story fleshes out a couple minor points I had missed in the remake. And I simply must praise the work of the Buffalo Bills as the school board. They've inspired me in my search for good barbershop quartet music.
This Region 1 DVD preserves the movie well. The widescreen picture is sharp & clear & the sound is just fine. Watching the trailer for the reissue shows just how much work has gone into the restoration. Shirley Jones provides an interesting intro & serves as host for the behind the scenes special.
This is a classic musical that everyone will enjoy. It tells a fun story with wonderful music & evokes a simpler time & place. If you haven't watched yet, pick up a copy & enjoy tonight.
