Organization: Penn State University
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1992 11:43:18 EDT
From: <JIW2@psuvm.psu.edu>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies
Subject: Re: Favorite musicals


>There doesn't generally seem to be much discussion of musicals
>in this newsgroup.  Perhaps that's because there are so few made
>nowadays, aside from Disney animated features.

    Yeah, sad but true.


>So I thought I'd come up with the list of my favorite movie musicals.
>...So I'm definitely looking for your suggestions.

    Well, my all-time favorite musical is >The Pajama Game.<
Almost the entire Broadway cast was used, the main exception being
Doris Day in the lead.  Not being much of a Doris Day fan, this
would normally have bothered me, but it turns out that this is
one time where she is perfect for the role.  John Raitt has a
great voice, can act well, and has a fine stage presence that
he carries intact to the screen.  It's strange to me that
Hollywood never made more use of his considerable talents.
The dance numbers are sensationally staged, and the supporting
performances by Reta Shaw and Eddie Foy could hardly be better.
For some reason, this one took a long time to be released on
videotape, but now that it's available, I highly recommend it
to fans of the classic musical.

    Another favorite of mine is >Brigadoon<.  The Lerner & Lowe
score is beautiful (though I think not all the songs from the
stage version made it to the film), and the dancing, singing
and acting of leads Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse are without
detectable flaw.  Van Johnson is also remarkably good in a
supporting role as Kelly's boozily cynical pal.

    >Damn Yankees< came close to being a classic musical.  It had
Gwen Verdon as Lola, the incomparable Ray Walston as the funniest
Devil ever to appear on screen, and a good supporting cast.  Alas,
it suffers badly from Tab Hunter in the lead as Joe.  Why, you
ask, would Hollywood make a mediocre actor who can neither sing
nor dance the lead of a major musical?  Keep on asking -- maybe
someday an answer will appear.  I imagine the studio was counting
on Hunter's name (which was very hot in the late 50's) to draw
an audience.  I don't know if it worked, but it certainly doesn't
help the film at all.  Rent it, appreciate Verdon and Walston,
and just tolerate Hunter's presence stoically.

    >Singin' in the Rain< has already been mentioned, but I will
gladly second it.  Gene Kelly gets full rein here, and wisely so.
And Debbie Reynolds and Donald O'Connor are at their best.

    Anyone who notices a preference for Gene Kelly in these
choices is absolutely correct.  I'm going out on a limb and
nominate him for best musical performer of all time.  His dancing
was brilliant (And here I'll really take a chance and say I prefer
his style to Fred Astaire's), singing not brilliant, but certainly
competent, and he's really quite a fine actor to boot.  Kelly's
presence makes even otherwise unappealing (to me) movies worth seeing.


    Another related subject that might be worth bringing up is
the movie that isn't really a musical, but contains a lot of
music all the same.  >The Cotton Club< and >Dick Tracy< are
two recent examples (both of which I liked very much).  This
seems to be a fairly recent phenomonon; I can't offhand think of
any older films that have quite the same mixture of music and
action, without, strictly speaking, being what one generally
considers a musical.  Anyone have any suggestions for older
examples of this genre?


                                       John Wagner