Meredith Willson is the author of 1962’s The Music Man. The film is based on Willson’s popular play in the late 1950s (which also starred Robert Preston). The casting of Preston (who had been around some time) is either an example of quite an exceptional eye for the pairing of talent and material— or good luck.
Preston plays Harold Hill- the fast-talking music salesman. He is a swindler. Preston does not really have a music background (Hill himself says “Singing is just sustained talking”) but he fits the role like a glove (so much so that it is sort of hard to see him as anyone or anything else looking back on his career). Preston can play one hell of a salesman. Apparently, Warners wanted a bigger name (this happens often) than Preston including asking both Cary Grant and Sinatra. Thankfully, both turned it down.
Little Ron (“Ronnie” here) Howard is here as redheaded 8-year-old with a lisp
It is a musical comedy- some of the humor works well. The Mayor’s pronunciation of Pompeii made me spit up my soda and the ongoing gag with the barbershop quartet is inspired.
Morton DaCosta mostly just films it like you would a play- he even shifts from one song to another by moving the spotlight over a few yards during one transition.
The music includes “Gary, Indiana”, the rousing famous “Seventy-Six Trombones” and the pre-The Beatles version of “Till There Was You”. “Till There Was You” is accompanied by a nice romantic scene with the pond reflecting the photography at the footbridge. The “Shipoopi” number by Buddy Hackett is a strange one—but there are some nice overheads like Busby Berkeley used to do.
Hill fixes the outlook of this grumpy small Midwestern town even if he fails to deliver the goods of his promises. He makes unhappy people happy—and this is a fascinating pre-Vietnam pre-JFK assassination look at middle America (based on Willson’s home town of Mason City, Iowa).
At the 89-minute mark the camera glides from left to right for a full minute during The Wells Fargo song as the ensemble belts out the tune.
Preston’s famous band leader strut pushes towards (and eventually right underneath the camera scrolling like a reverse Star Wars-prologue) once during his “Seventy-Six” number and again as part of the final shot.
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