The Music Man

Director: Morton DaCosta Morton DaCosta

Overview

After nearly 900 performances on stage, the hit Broadway musical and play The Music Man comes to the big screen. Harold Hill (Robert Preston) is a traveling con man who lands in River City, Iowa in the year 1912. He alerts the town to the evils of the poolhall and the potential to corrupt the town's youth. The solution is to form a musical band and put musical instruments instead of pool cues in the hands of the moppets. He convinces the townsfolk to give him plenty of money to buy marching band uniforms and musical merchandise. He meets fellow con man Marcellus Washburn (Buddy Hackett) who aids in the scheme. Marian Paroo (Shirley Jones) is the local librarian suspicious of Harold's motives. Harold doesn't know a thing about music, but has a system where wishing will make it so. Hill is almost whisked off to jail when a fellow con man warns Marian of the possible scam. Hill also does nothing to endear himself to Mayor Shinn (Paul Ford) who happens to own the pool hall of such disrepute. The Music Man is a colorful slice of nostalgic Americana and the song and dance film was nominated for Best Picture. Ray Heindorf won an Oscar for his musical direction. Memorable songs from the production include the finale "76 Trombones", "Till There Was You" and "Gary, Indiana." In one of the most glaring omissions by the Motion Picture Academy, Preston was not even nominated for his brilliant, memorable performance. This role marked one of the many highlight of his long and distinguished career, and his name is synonymous with the film. The classic was produced and directed by Morton DaCosta, who performed in similar capacity on the stage play.

Product Details

Release Date:	10/05/2011
UPC:	0883929152599
Original Release:	1962
Rating:	G
Source:	Warner Home Video
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	2:31:00
Sales rank:	4,804

Special Features

Closed Caption; Featurette: Right Here in River City: The making of eredith Wilson's The Music Man; Introduction by Shirley Jones; Theatrical trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Robert Preston	Prof. Harold Hill
Shirley Jones	Marian Paroo
Paul Ford	Mayor Shinn
Buddy Hackett	Marcellus Washburn
Hermione Gingold	Eulalie Shinn
Pert Kelton	Mrs. Paroo
Timmy Everett	Tommy
Susan Luckey	Zaneeta Shinn
Ronny Howard	Winthrop Paroo,Oscar Jackson
Harry Hickox	Charlie Cowell
Ewart Dunlop	The Buffalo Bill
Oliver Hix	The Buffalo Bill
Jacey Squires	The Buffalo Bill
Olin Britt	The Buffalo Bill
Charles Lane	Constable Locke
Mary Wickes	Mrs. Squires
Monique Vermont	Amaryllis
Ronnie Dapo	Norbert Smith
Jesslyn Fax	Avis Grubb
Patty Lee Hilka	Gracie Shinn
Garry Potter	Dewey
Delos Jewkes	Harley MacCauley
Ray Kellogg	Harry Joseph
William Fawcett	Lester Lonnergan
Roy Dean	Gilbert Hawthorne
David Swain	Chet Glanville
Arthur Mills	Herbert Malthouse
Rand Barker	Duncan Shyball
Jeannine Burnier	Jessie Shyball
Shirley Claire	Amy Dakin
Natalie Core	Truthful Smith
Therese Lyon	Dolly Higgins
Penelope Martin	Lila O'Brink
Barbara Pepper	Feril Hawkes
Anne Loos	Stella Jackson
Peggy Wynne	Ada Nutting
Hank Worden	Undertaker
Milton Parsons	Farmer
Natalie Masters	Farmer's Wife
Percy Helton	Conductor
The Buffalo Bills	Jacey Squires; Olin Britt; Ewart Dunlo
Peggy Mondo	Actor
Max Showalter	Actor
Ray Heindorf	Composer

Technical Credits

Marion Hargrove

Morton DaCosta	Director
Morton Da Costa	Producer
Marion Hargrove	Screenwriter
George Groves	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

The Music Man is among the best movie musicals, transforming Meredith Willson's Broadway hit into an energetic slice of Americana. Robert Preston's virtuoso portrayal of con man Harold Hill transfers from the stage (despite the studios' nervousness about casting no-name Preston), and the result is one of the most explosively vital performances in any movie musical. Until the very end, Preston never sugar-coats or softens Hill's rapacious self-seeking, nor does Shirley Jones downplay the stubborn snobbishness of his love interest, Marian Paroo. The portrayal of the River City townfolk is memorably caustic: "You can have your fill of the all the food you bring yourself!" runs only one of the snide remarks in their introductory song, which offers, "Glad to have you with us -- even though we may not ever mention it again." The film's embrace of small-town American life is not confined to its sentimental, sickly-sweet aspects (the movie's hero, after all, is a con man, whom Preston's vigorously charming performance dares us to like), and this dimensionality makes the movie as distinctive dramatically as it is musically. Preston carries the movie, but he receives memorable support from Jones, Ron Howard as her brother Winthrop, Buddy Hackett as his sidekick, and such stalwarts as Paul Ford, Hermione Gingold, and Pert Kelton among the River City townspeople. The underrated score includes "Till There Was You," later covered by The Beatles and often mistaken for one of their songs. Made at the acme (yet last gasp) of the blockbuster movie musical in the first half of the 1960s, The Music Man can hold its own among such better-known contemporaries as West Side Story (1961), My Fair Lady (1964), and The Sound of Music (1965).