This week's installment of Cinema Sunday looks at one my wife's favorite films, The Music Man, a film that Andrea first discovered when she was a kid.
The Music Man is a 1962 film is based on the 1957 Broadway musical of the same name by Meredith Willson. The movie stars Robert Preston as 'Professor' Harold Hill, the "music man" of the title.
It's July 1912 and Hill is perpetrating a con on communities across the midwest. Hill presents himself as a music band instructor, willing to save the youth of the town from the dark depths of sin, vice and delinquency through the gift of music. For a modest sum of money, he sells instruments, band uniforms and his own services as an instructor of music.
It's the last part that's the con. Harold Hill is no "professor" and can't read a single note of music. He provides the equipment and uniforms but skips town before any actual band leading gets done.
The latest target of his 'Professor' Harold Hill's roving con? River City, Iowa. People in Iowa are notoriously stubborn so River City will be a tough nut to crack. But Hill finds his point of entry by decrying the vice of the town's newly opened pool hall.
Friend, either you're closing your eyes
To a situation you do not wish to acknowledge
Or you are not aware of the caliber of disaster indicated
By the presence of a pool table in your community
Well, ya got trouble, my friend, right here
I say, trouble right here in River City
Why sure I'm a billiard player
Certainly mighty proud I say
I'm always mighty proud to say it
I consider that the hours I spend
With a cue in my hand are golden
Help you cultivate horse sense
And a cool head and a keen eye
J'ever take and try to find
An iron-clad leave for yourself
From a three-rail billiard shot?
But just as I say
It takes judgment, brains, and maturity to score
In a balkline game
I say that any boob can take
And shove a ball in a pocket
And I call that sloth
The first big step on the road
To the depths of deg-ra-day--
I say, first, medicinal wine from a teaspoon
Then beer from a bottle!
An' the next thing ya know
Your son is playin' for money
In a pinch-back suit
And list'nin to some big out-a-town jasper
Hearin' him tell about horse-race gamblin'
Not a wholesome trottin' race, no!
But a race where they set down right on the horse!
Like to see some stuck-up jockey boy
Settin' on Dan Patch? Make your blood boil?
Well, I should say
Now, friends, lemme tell you what I mean
Ya got one, two, three, four, five, six pockets in a table
Pockets that mark the diff'rence
Between a gentlemen and a bum
With a capital "B,"
And that rhymes with "P" and that stands for pool!
And all week long your River City
Youth'll be fritterin' away
I say your young men'll be fritterin'!
Fritterin' away their noontime, suppertime,
choretime too!
Get the ball in the pocket
Never mind gettin' dandelions pulled
Or the screen door patched or the beefsteak pounded
Never mind pumpin' any water
'Til your parents are caught with the cistern empty
On a Saturday night and that's trouble
Yes you got lots and lots of trouble
I'm thinkin' of the kids in the knickerbockers
Shirt-tail young ones, peekin' in the pool
Hall window after school, ya got trouble, folks!
Right here in River City
Trouble with a capital "T"
And that rhymes with "P" and that stands for pool!
Having called attention to the trouble right there in River City, 'Professor' Harold Hill makes the pitch that the only way to save the souls of the town's youth is through music, specifically the music that comes from being in a marching band.
And Hill is off!
Ka-Ching! Ka-Ching! Ka-Ching! Ka-Ching! Ka-Ching!
Hill is racking up sales for instruments and band uniforms all over River City. His con is up and running.
One resident sees clearly that this is a con: Marian Paroo (Shirley Jones), the town's librarian and piano instructor. Hill seeks to head off any interference with his con by attempting to seduce Marian. Which doesn't work. Marian has a deep seeded distrust of men in general and of this particular con man especially.
Except...
When she sees the positive effect Harold Hill's appeal to music is having on the town, Marian begins to fall for him a little bit. Then a lot.
Meanwhile, Harold Hill might be influenced by Marian Paroo at little. Then a lot.
The Music Man is an enjoyable confection of humor and song as the stiff, stubborn residents of River City kept a collective kick up the back side by Harold Hill's shenanigans.
And Robert Preston owns the screen whenever Harold Hill is up to his con, a constant patter of sweet talk and bravado. Preston originated the role on Broadway and his confidence in his role as Harold Hill is palpable, making is con game even more believable.
Stretching things a bit is the relationship between Harold Hill and Marian Paroo which is not the fault of the actors; Robert Preston and Shirley Jones are acting their hearts out and giving it their all. It's the age gap with Robert Preston, all of 48 years old, wooing Shirley Jones who was in her mid-20's when The Music Man was filmed. Andrea, a life long fan of the Music Man says she never considered this age gap in all the times she's watched this movie. While the age gap is obvious to me, the power of the performances by Robert Preston and Shirley Jones make me not really care.
SIDE BAR: Shirley Jones was pregnant while filming The Music Man. During the romantic footbridge scene, Robert Preston could feel Jones' unborn child kicking him.
Even if you've never seen The Music Man before, there's a good chance you're familiar with some of the music. If I hear the number "76" used in any context, inevitably "Seventy-Six Trombones" will start playing in my head. The love ballad "Till There Was You" has found life beyond The Music Man; it was covered by the Beatles in 1963. And the classic "Ya Got Trouble" (part of the lyrics sampled earlier in this post) has been parodied and referenced in other works, most famously in the iconic "Marge Vs. the Monorail" episode of The Simpsons written by Conan O'Brien which borrowed from the plot of The Music Man.
There is a 2003 American made-for-television version of The Music Man starring Matthew Broderick and Kristin Chenoweth. Andrea and I watched this version when it first aired and found it to be an enjoyable version of the film. Broderick's relative youth actually makes for a more appropriate age for Harold Hill and does a great job with the role. But Andrea still holds that Robert Preston is the definitive Music Man.
Andrea and I watched the 1962 version of The Music Man again a couple of weeks ago and it does remain a funny and toe tapping pleasure.
Next week, I will write about another movie musical, one that Andrea and I watched for the first time ever a few weeks ago.
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