The Music Man (1962 film)
| The Music Man | |
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Movie poster by Bill Gold
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| Directed by | Morton DaCosta |
| Produced by | Morton DaCosta |
| Screenplay by | Marion Hargrove |
| Story by | |
| Based on |
The Music Man by Meredith Willson |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Meredith Willson |
| Cinematography | Robert Burks |
| Edited by | William H. Ziegler |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
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Release date
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Running time
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151 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $15 million |
The Music Man is a 1962 American musical film starring Robert Preston as Harold Hill and Shirley Jones as Marian Paroo. The film is based on the 1957 Broadway musical of the same name by Meredith Willson. The film was one of the biggest hits of the year and highly acclaimed critically.
In 2005, The Music Man was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
In July 1912, a traveling salesman, "Professor" Harold Hill (Robert Preston), arrives in River City, Iowa, intrigued by the challenge of swindling the famously stubborn natives of Iowa ("Iowa Stubborn"). Masquerading as a traveling band instructor, Hill plans to con the citizens of River City into paying him to create a boys' marching band, including instruments, uniforms, and music instruction books. Once he has collected the money and the instruments and uniforms have arrived, he will hop the next train out of town, leaving them without their money or a band.
With help from his associate Marcellus Washburn (Buddy Hackett), Hill deliberately incites mass concern among the parents of River City that their young boys are being seduced into a world of sin and vice by the new pool table in town ("Ya Got Trouble"). He convinces them that a boys' marching band is the only way to keep the boys of the town out of trouble, and begins collecting their money ("76 Trombones"). Hill anticipates that Marian (Shirley Jones), the town's librarian and piano instructor, will attempt to discredit him, so he sets out to seduce her into silence. Also in opposition to Hill is the town's Mayor Shinn (Paul Ford), the owner of the billiard parlor where the new pool table has been installed, who orders the school board (portrayed by the barbershop quartet, The Buffalo Bills) to obtain Hill's credentials. When they attempt to do so, Hill avoids their questions by teaching them to sing as a barbershop quartet via "sustained talking." They are thereafter easily tricked by Hill into breaking into song whenever they ask for his credentials ("Sincere", "Pick-a-Little, Talk-a-Little/Goodnight Ladies", and "Lida Rose").
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