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I really need to see Oklahoma! before the deadline. I wonder how many titles with exclamation marks will make it. I predict more than any list so far...
Get me to watch your top musicals, but no promises
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Oklahoma! (1955)
Oklahoma!, one of my favorites and one of the more unusual of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals. It's both, a sweet love story of a young country girl (Shirley Jones) being courted by a cowboy (Gordon MacRae) and at the same time it contains one of the most psychologically violent and disturbing sub stories that I've seen in a mid 20th century musical. Rod Steiger plays a brooding farmhand who has fallen in love with young Laurey (Shirley Jones). We learn that at his last job a farm family had spurned him, making him feel like he was worthless, so he burnt the family up killing all of them in a horrible fire. In the movie Gordon MacRae visits his shack and taunts him to hang himself in a morbidly funny song. Steiger repays him by plotting to kill him...not the usual musical fare.
Gosh there are so many fine characters that are richly developed and played beautifully by the actors that I'd have to write way more than I want. So a quick shout out to Gloria Grahame as the comical Ado Annie the girl who just can't say no to the boys, love her character and the songs. Eddie Albert as a traveling foreign salesman is so funny in this. And hey it's that film noir guy again Gene Nelson dancing, didn't I just see him in another musical recently?
Oh, the dream sequence that Laurey (Shirley Jones) dreams...the first couple times I seen this I didn't care for it as it was so different than the rest of the film. But now on my fourth watch I've come to love the ballet styled dream sequence where other actors play the leads. I guess Jud Fry (Rod Steiger) is so plumb evil that he appears as himself even in the dream sequence.
Gosh there are so many fine characters that are richly developed and played beautifully by the actors that I'd have to write way more than I want. So a quick shout out to Gloria Grahame as the comical Ado Annie the girl who just can't say no to the boys, love her character and the songs. Eddie Albert as a traveling foreign salesman is so funny in this. And hey it's that film noir guy again Gene Nelson dancing, didn't I just see him in another musical recently?
Oklahoma! is one of my favorite musicals, and most likely a lock for my list.
Have you seen the 1999 Hugh Jackman version that was filmed live in London's West End? It's not eligible for the countdown, but it's a fantastic version and worth watching.
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I really need to see Oklahoma! before the deadline. I wonder how many titles with exclamation marks will make it. I predict more than any list so far...
I'm sure there are more, but off the top of my head, these are some of the possible movies with exclamation marks in the title that could make the countdown:
Hello, Dolly! (1969)
Mamma Mia! (2008)
Moulin Rouge! (2001)
Oklahoma! (1955)
Oliver! (1968)
That Thing You Do! (1996)
tick, tick... BOOM! (2021)
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I'm trying to rewatch all the really big musicals before sending in my ballot...there's alot of them!
I'm doing the opposite. I've seen most of the big musicals so many times that I practically have them memorized.
It's mostly the lesser known musicals that I'm rewatching for the countdown.
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Oklahoma! is one of my favorite musicals, and most likely a lock for my list.
Have you seen the 1999 Hugh Jackman version that was filmed live in London's West End? It's not eligible for the countdown, but it's a fantastic version and worth watching.
Have you seen the 1999 Hugh Jackman version that was filmed live in London's West End? It's not eligible for the countdown, but it's a fantastic version and worth watching.
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I'm doing the opposite. I've seen most of the big musicals so many times that I practically have them memorized.
It's mostly the lesser known musicals that I'm rewatching for the countdown.
It's mostly the lesser known musicals that I'm rewatching for the countdown.
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I haven't seen it, I actually haven't seen any of the filmed live musicals that they have done in recent years.
Some of them are better than the movie versions. They're not eligible for the countdown, but they're definitely worth watching.
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That makes sense for you of course if you know them that well. Almost every big musical I've watched in the last month I hardly could remember a thing about it. The only exception would be The Music Man and Oklahoma!.
I'm curious to see what musicals make the countdown that I haven't seen, or in some cases, possibly haven't even heard of.
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The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964)
Debbie Reynold's screeching throughout the first half of the movie gave me one huge headache! I don't know what she was thinking but her interpretation of an illiterate backwoods woman of the 1900s was painful to watch. There was nothing funny about it, it was just plain irritating. Debbie needed to take a cue from Doris Day in Calamity Jane on how to do a 'hick voice' and still manage to have some personality and charm. Doris Day achieved that in Calamity Jane but Debbie Reynold's failed miserably. Not surprising I've never thought that much of her as an actress. The second half of the film did improve some after her character got educated but still this movie is more like a bad Saturday morning cartoon. Buffoonish.
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The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964)
Debbie Reynold's screeching throughout the first half of the movie gave me one huge headache! I don't know what she was thinking but her interpretation of an illiterate backwoods woman of the 1900s was painful to watch. There was nothing funny about it, it was just plain irritating. Debbie needed to take a cue from Doris Day in Calamity Jane on how to do a 'hick voice' and still manage to have some personality and charm. Doris Day achieved that in Calamity Jane but Debbie Reynold's failed miserably. Not surprising I've never thought that much of her as an actress. The second half of the film did improve some after her character got educated but still this movie is more like a bad Saturday morning cartoon. Buffoonish.
Harsh. My mother loved this movie. And she was a saint!
I guess only us sinners hated it
...Have you seen it? I wonder if the 1960 stage play of The Unsinkable Molly Brown, inspired The Beverly Hillbites tv show which started in 1962? Seems possible.
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I'm sure there are more, but off the top of my head, these are some of the possible movies with exclamation marks in the title that could make the countdown:
Hello, Dolly! (1969)
Mamma Mia! (2008)
Moulin Rouge! (2001)
Oklahoma! (1955)
Oliver! (1968)
That Thing You Do! (1996)
tick, tick... BOOM! (2021)
Hello, Dolly! (1969)
Mamma Mia! (2008)
Moulin Rouge! (2001)
Oklahoma! (1955)
Oliver! (1968)
That Thing You Do! (1996)
tick, tick... BOOM! (2021)
We kind of define a musical as one where characters spontaneously break into song, often with instrument accompaniment that comes out of nowhere (or someone singing while playing an acoustic guitar on a beach somehow turns into the sounds of an entire orchestra).
In this sense, musicals tend to break with any standard, objective reality, to have the story told through brief periods of musical fantasy.
However, movies like your typical bio-pics about real or fictional musicians may contain a lot of music, but they're presented in a more realistic context; the music in the film is part of a planned performance - no one just spontaneously breaks into song with unexplained background instrumentation.
Most people don't classify the movie Amadeus (1984) as a "musical", yet it's filled with music created by famous musicians as the movie tells the story of a rivalry between Mozart & Salieri. That Thing You Do!, although fictional, presents music in the same type of context - it's presented as performances or rehearsals of the band "The Wonders" as they evolve toward one-hit stardom.
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The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964)
Debbie Reynold's screeching throughout the first half of the movie gave me one huge headache! I don't know what she was thinking but her interpretation of an illiterate backwoods woman of the 1900s was painful to watch. There was nothing funny about it, it was just plain irritating. Debbie needed to take a cue from Doris Day in Calamity Jane on how to do a 'hick voice' and still manage to have some personality and charm. Doris Day achieved that in Calamity Jane but Debbie Reynold's failed miserably. Not surprising I've never thought that much of her as an actress. The second half of the film did improve some after her character got educated but still this movie is more like a bad Saturday morning cartoon. Buffoonish.
I usually like Debbie Reynolds, but I didn't care for her in The Unsinkable Molly Brown. She just doesn't have the screen presence to pull off that role.
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Just to revisit an old topic of contention... is That Thing You Do! a "musical" or a movie about "music"?
We kind of define a musical as one where characters spontaneously break into song, often with instrument accompaniment that comes out of nowhere (or someone singing while playing an acoustic guitar on a beach somehow turns into the sounds of an entire orchestra).
In this sense, musicals tend to break with any standard, objective reality, to have the story told through brief periods of musical fantasy.
However, movies like your typical bio-pics about real or fictional musicians may contain a lot of music, but they're presented in a more realistic context; the music in the film is part of a planned performance - no one just spontaneously breaks into song with unexplained background instrumentation.
Most people don't classify the movie Amadeus (1984) as a "musical", yet it's filled with music created by famous musicians as the movie tells the story of a rivalry between Mozart & Salieri. That Thing You Do!, although fictional, presents music in the same type of context - it's presented as performances or rehearsals of the band "The Wonders" as they evolve toward one-hit stardom.
We kind of define a musical as one where characters spontaneously break into song, often with instrument accompaniment that comes out of nowhere (or someone singing while playing an acoustic guitar on a beach somehow turns into the sounds of an entire orchestra).
In this sense, musicals tend to break with any standard, objective reality, to have the story told through brief periods of musical fantasy.
However, movies like your typical bio-pics about real or fictional musicians may contain a lot of music, but they're presented in a more realistic context; the music in the film is part of a planned performance - no one just spontaneously breaks into song with unexplained background instrumentation.
Most people don't classify the movie Amadeus (1984) as a "musical", yet it's filled with music created by famous musicians as the movie tells the story of a rivalry between Mozart & Salieri. That Thing You Do!, although fictional, presents music in the same type of context - it's presented as performances or rehearsals of the band "The Wonders" as they evolve toward one-hit stardom.
I think That Thing You Do! is a movie about "music", but it's eligible for the musicals countdown because they perform in the movie. The music isn't background music.
However, I don't think Amadeus is eligible because the music is instrumental. I think the countdown rules require that the characters have to sing in the movie, whether in a reality setting as in a biopic, or by spontaneously breaking into song.
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I usually like Debbie Reynolds, but I didn't care for her in The Unsinkable Molly Brown. She just doesn't have the screen presence to pull off that role.
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My wife liked The Unsinkable Molly Brown and she's a saint too I guess only us sinners hated it...Have you seen it?
I guess only us sinners hated it...Have you seen it? Dames (1934)
There are some jobs in film making that are thankless...but that ain't one of them! That looks like Busby Berkeley in the director's chair and the cinematographer might be Joan Blondell's 1st husband, George Barnes. Joan Blondell is credited as staring in the film and her airtime is good. But most of the film revolves around Guy Kibbee who's set to inherit 10 million from his eccentric relative (Hugh Herbert) who's creating a decency league to stamp out 'immoral' stage plays. This comes right after the creation of the very real Hays Production Code and seems to be a comment on how silly that code was.
The millionaire's nephew (Dick Powell) is the black sheep of the family and is producing 'one of those' type plays called Sweet and Hot. Guy Kibbee's daughter (Ruby Keeler) is in love Powell. The movie is funny enough and charming too with Powell and Keeler pairing well as a young 'Romeo and Juliet' romantic couple.
Some amazing and strange numbers from Busby Berkeley. Like the staging for I Only Have Eyes For You where all the chorus girls look like Ruby Keeler. Poor Ruby I once read where she was horribly embarrassed by it all.
The millionaire's nephew (Dick Powell) is the black sheep of the family and is producing 'one of those' type plays called Sweet and Hot. Guy Kibbee's daughter (Ruby Keeler) is in love Powell. The movie is funny enough and charming too with Powell and Keeler pairing well as a young 'Romeo and Juliet' romantic couple.
Some amazing and strange numbers from Busby Berkeley. Like the staging for I Only Have Eyes For You where all the chorus girls look like Ruby Keeler. Poor Ruby I once read where she was horribly embarrassed by it all.
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I think That Thing You Do! is a movie about "music", but it's eligible for the musicals countdown because they perform in the movie. The music isn't background music.
However, I don't think Amadeus is eligible because the music is instrumental. I think the countdown rules require that the characters have to sing in the movie, whether in a reality setting as in a biopic, or by spontaneously breaking into song.
However, I don't think Amadeus is eligible because the music is instrumental. I think the countdown rules require that the characters have to sing in the movie, whether in a reality setting as in a biopic, or by spontaneously breaking into song.
I guess there are a few different kind of movie musicals, I'm just wondering if there are terms for each of them: we've got typical "musicals" (ala Elvis movies), then we've got "operas" (where virtually the entire story is told through song, ala The Umbrellas of Chambord), then we've got movies about music (this is where I'm wondering if there's a term for them) that feature music, but don't present it in the way typical musicals do.
I'd like to say that That Thing You Do is a musical bio-pic (which is a substantial category itself), but since it's fiction, I don't know if the term "bio-pic" would apply. (???)
Then I wonder how Fantasia (1940) would be classified? It's all music (no spoken words), but not exactly an opera. (I believe it's entirely instrumental as well.) "Animated Musical Anthology?"
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...I guess there are a few different kind of movie musicals, I'm just wondering if there are terms for each of them: we've got typical "musicals" (ala Elvis movies)...
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I see what you're going for there but Elvis in his movies did different kinds of song/musicals. Most common is him as a singer performing in some small bar. Then there's Elvis singing a song as he drives his motorcycle or boat. Then there's fully musical numbers that could be compared to early music videos. Like this one 'Relax' from It Happened at the World's Fair (1963):
)Funny thing is I watched MOST of that movie a couple years ago, but must have missed that part - I only remember Elvis's co-stars being a little girl he was taking care of and a blond nurse he was after.
Yes, Elvis often had a mix in his movies that switched between him performing music in a venue - such as singing in a nightclub - AND spontaneously breaking into song (where he'd drop the acoustic guitar he started with, only to have a full band mysteriously join in even though he was alone with a girl on a deserted beach).
I was thinking the same thing with Martin & Lewis movies (which few people think of as "musicals" but would usually feature a couple of musical numbers due to Deano's singing ability).
They would also mix it up: usually showing Dean performing a number on stage (possibly with or without Jerry joining in or interfering with comedic singing, dialogue, mime or pratfalls), then later, usually during a romantic moment, have Dean spontaneously start serenading a co-star (with an invisible background orchestra joining in).
Next controversial question: how many musical numbers make a movie a "musical"?
(Hint: I don't think it's just one because I can think of several movies that have only one or two musical numbers that no one thinks of a "musicals".)
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