The Music Man (1962)

Best movie of this year hands down!

To me, this movie is perfection.

How sad is this?

Great Film overall

I just watched this movie again on TV (06/2018) and it's still a terrific movie. Although a couple of the songs are forgettable, the production puts this movie way above most other musicals. The "76 Trombone" scene for one is just tremendous. And one of my favorite production numbers of all musicals is "Lady Librarian". I can watch that scene over & over again. Not sure about the rest of you, but I think Shirley Jones was under-appreciated for her singing voice! What to say about Robert Preston? I still can't believe he wasn't at least nominated for an Oscar for his performance! Oh, a great tidbit is how the composer, Meredith Willson and his estate, made more money from royalties on The Beatles' recording of "Till There Was You" than they did on the musical and the movie! Amazing! If you get a chance to watch this with your family, I recommend it.

So corny, it hurts. Robert Preston plays the scoundrel and despite his fast talking does not have the talent to make him likable. Totally overrated movie and the music is far from being stellar. The 2 points are for Shirley Jones alone. Don't waste your time with this cornball and listen to a real good musical

It's 1912 when (Professor) Harold Hill (played by Robert Preston) visits River City, Iowa. Although he appears to be a salesman, he is actually a con man with a well-rehearsed plan for parting the townsfolk and their money. He proposes to give the small town a rousing, glittering, breathtaking marching band. All they have to do is buy the instruments and the uniforms and Professor Hill will do the rest.During his stay in River City, Hill becomes enamored of the town librarian, Marian (played by Shirley Jones). She has a young brother named Winthrop (Ron Howard) who, due to a lisp, is socially awkward. As Hill's plans take form, he eventually has second thoughts about conning Marian. Will he make the evening train with the town's cash in his pocket? Or will his feelings for Marian trip him up?Other reviewers have lavished praise upon this musical and its star, Robert Preston. The kudos are warranted. The film does a good job of recreating an ideal small American town and the music is very entertaining. Preston surely captures the sing-song shill of the shyster and he is as slippery as fish oil. The wonderful voice of Shirley Jones elevates the production, while other roles are delightfully cast with Buddy Hackett, Hermione Gingold, Paul Ford and others.One aspect of this musical sets it apart from most others. You will note that most musicals--from "Oklahoma!" to "Carousel" include a darker element--a character who adds danger or ill intent--or a theme that is not cheerful, e.g. racism in "South Pacific" or Nazism in "The Sound of Music". The closest thing "The Music Man" has to this is the shady character of Harold Hill, but the story deflects any darkness with its cheerful tunes and comic diversions. As a result, the film remains upbeat throughout.Preston's performance of "Ya Got Trouble" is iconic and one of the best numbers in musical history.

Robert Preston, the vivacious actor, did outdo himself in this heart-warming musical classic about a typical film-flam man who, in the first score of years in the twentieth century, claimed to be a music professor when the truth of the matter was he didn't know the first thing about music. He steps off the train in this Iowa town where too many people were very naive, and their naivete was something upon which this "music professor" (known by the pseudonym Harold Hill) preyed. Little did people know, however, that he would bring the community much good. Shirley Jones, (who even at the age of seventy-eight is still a very pretty lady,) does a fine turn as the librarian Marian Peru (sp.) (?), a lady who definitely distrusts and dislikes the music man. (Her thoughts about him do later change.) Ron Howard, who even here is like Opie, does a superb acting job as Marian's little brother Winthrop. (Who would have thought then that many years later he would be producing such movies as "Backdraft" and "A Beautiful Mind"?) Paul Ford is nutty as Mayor Schinn, a cantankerous man who is, to some extent, someone no one fears. The mayor's wife, played by the veteran actress Hermione Gingold, is equally as amusing. Buddy Hackett, there in the movie mainly for decorative purposes as well, is convincing in his role as "Harold Hill"'s conniving friend. The costumes are colorful, there is much good humor, good acting by a great cast, excellent directing by Morton DaCosta, and, again, it is a wonderful story. Truly, it is Meredith Willson's "signature work".