Calum Hutton
It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...
Darin
One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.
Justina
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
chaswe-28402
Hermione Gingold's indignant disapproval of the "smutty" Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, was the icing on the cake of this exceptional film. Are we to infer that she would have perhaps preferred to err along with Elinor Glyn ? Two dateless all-time best-sellers, but meaningless, no doubt, to the cinema-goer of today.Impossible not to admire the dexterity of Robert Preston's dynamic transference of his stage role to the screen. Highly theatrical, but wholly cinematic. Great cast, all the way. I agree with the reviewer who interpreted the story as an account of the way America buys into the conman's spiel, and finds happiness in being played for a sucker. Forget the US holocaust, ethnic cleansing of the natives, slavery, the fake revolution, the civil war. This is how the West was won, and the way Iowa once was. Makes you think !
alexanderasam
I really liked the production, and the moving camera, a rarity in film making in those days (I'm 60 so i grew up with these films) helps keep the film alive.Robert Preston was terrific. I love musicals and big films like this are a rarity, but the musical hasn't died -- it moved into the world of animation and to children's films... it resurfaces once in a while, with the spectacularCHICAGO...All the performers were delightful, though some overdrawn but Shirley Jones did a fine job as Marian...the credit goes to the screenwriter who apparently overhauled the Broadway play. I noticed that Ronnie Howard was listed in the movie...what a talented man he turned out to be.
vincentlynch-moonoi
A bravura performance!That's what makes this film so memorable -- the bravura performance of Robert Preston as Professor Harold Hill. Watching Preston prance through the initial performance of "76 Trombones", or musically preach in "Ya Got Trouble", or make Shirley Jones hot in "Marian, The Librarian" is not to be forgotten.The story is clever, as well -- a confidence man who attempts to hoodwink an entire Midwestern town, but cannot escape his conscience once he falls in love.Shirley Jones is excellent here, as well. In fact, this is probably my favorite of her films. And her performance of "Till There Was You" is particularly moving. Buddy Hackett is a surprise here -- quite competent in this period before he became a rather off-color comedian. Paul Ford, usually a buffoon I don't enjoy that much, was ideal here as...well...a buffoonish mayor. Hermione Gingold is a hoot as his wife. And we all remember the immensely cute (at that time) Ronny Howard as the bashful Winthrop with a humiliating lisp.I don't know how anyone can resist the charms of this delightful musical.
MartinHafer
By the early 1960s, musicals were, for the most part, passé in Hollywood. While a few really exceptional musicals would be made in this era (such as "My Fair Lady", "Oliver!" and "The Sound of Music"), the output of musicals was a tiny fraction of Hollywood during the 1930s, 40s and 50s. It was the final gasps of the genre--albeit some very strong and enjoyable gasps. One of the better ones of this time clearly is "The Music Man". While the ending really was very poor (more about that later), the sets and costumes are very lovely and nostalgic. And, most importantly, the songs are simply great! Robert Preston reprises his Tony Award-winning role as Professor Henry Hill--a shyster traveling salesman who is about to bilk yet another small town out of their money. His m.o. is this--he pretends to be a musical professor and convinces everyone to buy his overpriced musical instruments. He convinces them that it's easy for the town to create a band and become great--even though he apparently can't read music or play anything...except a con-game! Amazingly, the folks in this Iowa town are all complete idiots--and quickly fall for his routine. The only exception is the LOVELY town librarian, Marian (Shirley Jones). Soon she learns the truth--and at this point the film is simply terrific. However, what she does with this information makes no sense at all and the film loses a couple points in the final portion because of this as well as the town's reaction (though a hanging might have been more realistic, it would have been a bit dark!). In addition, while the songs are WONDERFUL, "Shipoopi" isn't. It, like the title, is pretty dumb--though the dance number is quite nice...but...SHIPOOPI?!?! Uggh! It has to rank as one of the dumber songs in film history. But, looking past the film's faults, it is a delight in so many other ways that it's still well worth seeing. Full of high energy and fun---it's still a lovely little film.
