Michael (2026)

Lionsgate/Universal, 2026

Starring Jaafar Jackson, Colman Domingo, Nia Long, and Miles Teller

Directed by Antoine Fuqua

Music and Lyrics by Michael Jackson and others

I have a more personal connection here than I do to most musical biographies. I grew up alongside Michael Jackson's solo career. Off the Wall debuted four months after I was born. Thriller was one of the first albums I remember my family buying. We had Bad on cassette and Dangerous on CD in later years. I heard the stories about Jackson, about his bizarre behavior, how he was isolated, how he was a genius, about the infamous Pepsi accident...but as an 9-year-old when this movie ends in 1988, I cared nothing about all of that. I only knew I loved his songs, just like millions of other kids then. Does this movie fill in the gaps? We begin at a major concert and a man coming out for a number before fading into the past. Let's head to Gary, Indiana, as one small boy looks longingly out at the children playing in the snow, and find out...

The Story: That little boy is Michael Jackson (Juliano Krue Valdi), the youngest of the 8 Jackson children. Their father Joe Jackson (Domingo) is grooming them to go on the stage as a rock act, determined that they should have more than his grueling job in the steel mills. He pushes Michael and his sons hard and treats them rough, including using the strap when they speak against not having normal childhoods. The rehearsals pay off. They get bigger and bigger gigs, eventually landing a deal with Motown Records as The Jackson 5. Michael is delighted to learn all aspects of the record business from Motown's owner Berry Gordy (Laurenz Tate), but his father doesn't like sharing his son with other father figures.

The Jackson 5 rise to the top as one of the biggest artists on the Motown label, but despite them now having a far more lavish home, Michael is becoming more and more isolated. He loves the many pets his parents buy him, including a giraffe and a llama, but has no friends his own age. Gordy encourages Michael to go out on his own, but Joseph is afraid of what that would mean for the family and keeps him touring with the Jackson 5.

By 1979, Michael (Jackson) is a boy in a grown man's body who still loves toys and collects unique pets, including a chimp named Bubbles (Lily Colucci) he saved from a testing facility. He's even more eager to go solo after leaving Motown for Columbia's Epic Records label. Despite the tremendous success of his Off the Wall and Thriller albums and Michael having his new lawyer John Branca (Teller) fire his father via fax, Joseph is still convinced Michael is a little boy who will never leave the family. When the Pepsi commercial he talks Michael into doing with his brothers goes wrong and Michael ends up in the hospital, Michael has the time to reconsider his life, where it's headed, and just how loyal he should be to his abusive father. 

The Song and Dance: For all the cliches, there's some terrific performances here. Yes, Jaafar is Jackson's nephew, but he's wonderful as his uncle, ably capturing his slightly dorky little-boy mannerisms, his vanity over his nose and his skin disorder, and even giving us a hint of the bizarre paranoia and obsession with children that eventually took over his life in the 90's. Long and Domingo may be even better as Michael's soft-spoken mother who protests how he's treated and his dominating father who sees his sons as his ticket out of Gary and poverty...as long as they stay together. Jackson's real-life family had input on this, assuring that the costumes and sets are perfect reflections of what Jackson wore and where he lived.

The Numbers: We open with Jackson's "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" in 1988 at a sold-out concert in London. After we fade in on 1964, we get the Jackson 5 rehearsing "Big Boy," and seeing what a taskmaster Joseph was. "Oh How Happy" is their first montage number as we see Joseph getting them bigger and better gigs. "I'll Be There" is the song that gets them into Motown. They try to get Michael to record "You've Changed," but he can't stop dancing, even in place. "Stand" gives us their act through the years, as we move from polished home-made brocade vests to late 60's Paisley-and-fringe. Michael's thrilled to see Gladys Knight (Liv Symone) and the Pips perform their huge hit "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," but their "Never Can Say Goodbye" is an even bigger success. 

The Jackson 5 has a string of hits in the early-mid 70's, including "ABC," "Who's Lovin' You," and "I Want You Back." By 1979, Michael is a grown man, and it's becoming obvious that he's by far the most popular of the group. He gets his father to let him make Off the Wall for Epic Records after his solo ode to his pet rat "Ben" is a surprise success. "Don't Stop 'Till You Get Enough" and "I Can't Help It" are a smash, but Joseph would rather his son continue to record songs like "Rockin' Robin," "The Love You Save," and "We've Got a Good Thing Going" with his brothers.

Michael finally breaks from his family, hiring gang members from LA to dance in his "Beat It" video and turning "Thriller" into a dynamic horror tribute. His incredible performance of "Billie Jean" on the Motown at 25 TV special cements his popularity. He's heard humming "Smile," a song written by his idol Charlie Chaplin, before his father turns up again with his proposals. "Billie Jean" is briefly reprised during the Pepsi commercial before the pyrotechnics set fire to Michael's hair. The movie ends with Michael singing with his brothers before we return to "Human Nature" and "Bad" in London for Michael's first solo tour.

Trivia: This movie was originally supposed to come out in 2024, but it was delayed to 2025 due to the screen writer's strike in 2023. Heavy re-writes when the ending had to be reshot forced it to be moved to April 2026.

The movie was originally supposed to end with the allegations of child abuse Michael had to deal with in 1993, but the family protested, and due to a legal clause, it had to be re-written. Janet Jackson, Michael's younger sister, respectfully asked to be left out as well, and Diana Ross had to be written out due to legal clauses.

This is far from the only musical dealing with Michael Jackson's career. There's a stage jukebox biography running on Broadway at press time, MJ - The Musical, that starts in 1992 during the Dangerous World Tour and discusses some of the same topics as the film. We also have three TV projects, The Jacksons: An American Dream miniseries from 1992, Man In the Mirror: The Michael Jackson Story from 2004, and the Lifetime drama Michael Jackson: Searching for Neverland from 2017. 

What I Don't Like: See the family involvement above. On one hand, I'm kind of glad this ends on a relatively positive note, especially after the real-life burn accident. On the other hand, they leave out a good chunk of Michael's history by stopping at 1988. Yes, those child abuse accusations were real, but so was Michael's continuing success. He had some of his biggest hits from 1988 onwards, including "Black and White," "Heal the World," "Will You Be There," and "You Rock My World." There's also the fact that, good performances aside, a lot of this comes off as bland, ridiculously cliched (even for a movie musical biopic), and way too campy, especially for something that lasts two hours. 

The Big Finale: Yes, it's cliched to high heck and a little on the bland side, but it's still worth checking out for the great music and performances if you're a huge Michael Jackson fan or are like me and remember when he was the King of Pop, the biggest performer on Earth.

Home Media: No word on when the movie will be on physical media, but the soundtrack is currently available. 

Vinyl Soundtrack

Daddy Long Legs (1955)

20th Century Fox, 1955

Starring Fred Astaire, Leslie Caron, Fred Clark, and Thelma Ritter

Directed by Jean Negulesco

Music and Lyrics by Johnny Mercer

This week, we jump ahead to the 1950's for one of my favorite underrated musicals. Leslie Caron was one of the most popular stars of the decade, in and out of musicals. She started the decade in the Oscar-winning An American In Paris with Gene Kelly, and while Lili wasn't a huge hit, her personal notices were glowing. Astaire personally asked her to star alongside him in this updated musical version of the 1912 novel of the same name. We've already seen it done once at this blog, as the adorable Shirley Temple vehicle Curly Top in 1935. How different is this version from that previous one? Let's begin at the home of millionaire Jervis Pendleton III (Astaire) as we see people touring his home and find out...

The Story: Jervis is on assignment in France when he stops at an orphanage to use their telephone. While there, he sees 18-year-old Julie Andre (Caron) working with the younger children and is enchanted with her vivacity, her creativity, and her intelligence. Over the protests of his fussy aide Griggs (Clark), he arranges for her to attend college in the United States with his niece Linda (Terry Moore). To avoid a scandal, he says he'll keep a hands-off approach, and she can write to him about her progress once a month. 

Jervis doesn't even look at Julie's letters at first, until his secretary Alice Pritchard (Thelma Ritter) brings them to his attention. Julie calls him her benefactor "Daddy Long Legs," after the long shadow the orphans saw when he was first in France, but she's getting tired of never hearing from him. He finally connects with her at a school dance while visiting Linda with her mother Gertrude (Kathryn Giveny) and falls for her, taking her out on the town and sending the boy who is interested in her to work in Bolivia. Griggs points out their rather large age difference, which makes Jarvis flee for several long business trips. Julie, however, is almost finished with college. She thinks she still hasn't met her "Daddy Long Legs" and wonders if he or Jervis really love her. It's Alice who finally convinces the men that age matters less than love, companionship, and compatibility. 

The Song and Dance: For all the trouble they had making this - Fred Astaire's wife died right before filming began and they almost replaced him, the studio originally wanted Mitzi Gaynor for Julie - it actually came out quite well. Astaire and Caron work better than you might think. Like Audrey Hepburn in Funny Face two years later, Caron's warm, airy persona helps to transcend their age differences. The Technicolor glows here, especially in Caron's two witty dream ballets and the gorgeous 50's gowns, tutus, and suits for Astaire and Clark. Mercer's songs are lovely too. "Something's Gotta Give" was nominated for an Oscar and has since become a jazz standard.

The Numbers: We open with Jervis showing off his drumming skills to an annoyed Griggs in the instrumental drum-and-dance routine "History of the Beat." Julie teaches the orphans that "C-A-T Spells Cat" as Jervis watches them in delight at the orphanage. She wanders around the outdoor classroom in shock and delight as an offscreen chorus sings about her "Daddy Long Legs" after she's told she'll be going to college in the US. "Welcome Egghead" the other college girls tease when Julie arrives. "Julie's Dream Ballet" is the first of two instrumental ballets. Julie imagines what her "Daddy Long Legs" looks like. Jervis dances as a Texas millionaire doing a square dance, a sensual playboy after all the ladies, or Julie's guardian angel. 

"The Sluefoot" is the big chorus number at the dance, with Ray Anthony and His Orchestra and the Pied Pipers. Jervis and Julie turn the intimate dance into a delightful moment. Jervis brings her to New York, where he sings "Something's Gotta Give" at the penthouse he sets her up in, and they dance together. This is followed by the instrumental "Dancing Through Life" ballet as the two kick up their heels in all of the fashionable Manhattan clubs. Julie's dream of meeting her benefactor becomes a "Nightmare Ballet" as she dreams of dancing for Jervis in a Paris ballet, encountering him in a smoky cafe in Hong Kong, and chasing him through carnival in Rio. The movie ends with the brief "Dream" as Julie finally realizes who her benefactor is. 

Trivia: This would be the only movie Caron or Astaire made for 20th Century Fox.

If Astaire looks a little red-eyed and upset at a few junctures...well, see the death of his beloved wife mentioned above. They pushed back filming to give him more room to process his grief.

This is the third version of Daddy Long Legs 20th Century Fox made, and the fourth time the 1912 children's novel made it to the big screen. In addition to Curly Top, Mary Pickford did a silent version in 1919, while Janet Gaynor would appear in a non-musical sound remake in 1931. It would become a London stage musical, Love From Judy, in 1952. 

What I Don't Like: First of all, while the age difference doesn't bother me, some people may find 50-something Astaire dancing with 20-something Caron (and kissing her in the end, a rarity for Astaire's films) to be a tad creepy. Second, this movie, for all the lovely art direction and costumes, didn't really need the lavish Cinemascope. It's really an intimate four-person story at its core. We have the one chorus number in "Sluefoot." Most of the songs are duets, solos, or ballets. Clark and Ritter are the only ones besides Astaire and Caron who even remotely register. We barely see Caron's roommates, which is a shame because they're pretty funny when we do meet them, and Kelly Brown as Jimmy McBride barely registers as window dressing.

The Big Finale: The age difference aside, this is a must-see if you're a fan of Astaire, Caron, or the big lavish ballet-filled musicals of the 1950's. 

Home Media: The DVD and Blu-Ray are hard-to-find and often pricey at this writing. Your best bet would be streaming. 

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Amazon Prime

Tin Pan Alley

20th Century Fox, 1940

Starring Alice Faye, Betty Grable, John Payne, and Jack Oakie

Directed by Walter Lang

Music and Lyrics by various

Tin Pan Alley marks a turning point for 20th Century Fox musicals. They'd been doing the same Busby Berkeley imitations as the rest of Hollywood since 1933, but the wild success of Alexander's Ragtime Band set the tone for their musicals through the mid-50's. It also made Faye one of their biggest stars. Here, she's joined by Grable, who had been banging around Hollywood for a decade at that point, comedian Jack Oakie, and relative newcomer John Payne for another "through the years" tale. This one revolves around the famous lane in New York where songwriters had their offices from the turn of the 20th century until well into the 60's. Does the story of two Tin Pan Alley songwriters who fall for a vaudeville sister act still go over today, or should it be given the hook? Let's begin, not on Tin Pan Alley, but in the boxing ring, where Francis "Skeets" Harrigan (Payne) is finishing a match, and find out...

The Story: Harrigan only boxes to pick up extra cash. He and his friend Harry Calhoun (Oakie) are songwriters with ambitions of setting up their own publishing house. They're very impressed with vaudeville sister act Katie (Faye) and Lily (Grable) Blane. Neither woman is especially impressed with them. Dancer Lily auditions for a series of increasingly bigger and more amorous producers, but Harrigan convinces singer Katie to stay with them after they turn a lovelorn songwriter's (Elisha Cook Jr.) little melancholy tune into a huge hit. 

Harrigan and Calhoun do get their publishing empire, thanks to Katie being able to plug their songs. She's impressed with the big patriotic number "America, I Love You" and is furious when Harrigan reluctantly lets star Nora Bayes (Esther Ralston) sing it instead. They talk her out of going to Chicago, but the "America" number is the last straw. She joins Lily in England, where they're a hit on the West End. Having lost their empire and their ability to sniff out a hit song, Harrigan and Calhoun join the Army when America enters World War I. Harrigan thinks he has no chance with Katie when he sees she now has a fiancee, Captain Reggie Carstair (John Loder), but Lily knows which man her sister really wants.

The Song and Dance: It's a shame Grable and Faye would never star together again. They're warm, funny, and believable as sisters. They even kind of look alike. I actually wish they got to spend even more time together. Payne is even better as the less-goofy half of the songwriting team. He's one of the few men in these Fox musicals who can hold up his end of the musical chores, and in fact may be the best thing about this. He and Faye have a warm rapport that makes it all the more heartbreaking when she takes off for London. 

The Numbers: Oakie gives us our first song, writing and dancing to "Dixie" as Harrigan plays. The Blane Sisters' first song is their attractive hula and tap routine to "In the Land of Sweet Aloha." It's enough to convince Harrigan and Calhoun that they are the ladies to put over their songs. Joe Cobb's (Cook) funeral instrumental waltz turns into the sole new song, the now-standard "You Say the Sweetest Things, Baby." We get a (thankfully) brief shot of a minstrel group in burnt cork makeup performing it, then a stripper on a moon, then two tap dancers doing a soft shoe, then Katie with the chorus boys. Katie's not happy when Harrigan insists she sing "On Moonlight Bay" at a nightclub to one-up a rival publishing house. They were supposed to be out together. 

Grable has more fun showing off her famous legs with the chorus to the tune of "Honeysuckle Rose." Katie and Harrigan start off singing "America, I Love You" together, but everyone on Tin Pan Alley (including the Roberts Brothers and the Brian Sisters) end up joining in. Despite how energetically Calhoun puts it over, Harrigan still rejects Cobb's "Good-Bye Broadway, Hello France." Rotund Billy Gilbert is "The Sheik of Araby," in a huge chorus number with the Blanes and girls in harem costumes that were so brief, they ended up having to reshoot it. The Nicholas Brothers have a fabulous dance routine right in the middle of it. The movie ends with the doughboys arriving home as Calhoun finally figures out the lyrics to the song he'd been struggling with throughout the film, "K-K-K-Katy." 

Trivia: Several songs were cut from this movie, including Grable's "When You Were a Tulip and I Wore a Big Red Rose" and "Get Out and Get Under" for Grable, Faye, and Oakie, were cut from the film. Both sequences survive; "Get Out and Get Under" can be found on the 1994 video release. 

What I Don't Like: "Sheik of Araby" aside, this is actually pretty small-scale for a big 40's musical. It's even in black and white. Despite how well she works with her friend Faye, Grable's part almost feels like an afterthought. She's barely in a good chunk of the movie. Most of it revolves around Harrigan trying to push his songs and Katie either getting tired of it or resigning herself to it, both of which get pretty annoying after a while. You wish we could see more of the sister act and what made them such a hit together and less of Harrigan and Katie chasing each other. 

The Big Finale: There's enough that's good here to recommend for fans of the four leads or the smaller-scale musicals of the 30's and 40's. 

Home Media: Alas, the only place you can find this at press time is YouTube, in a blurry copy that seems to have been recorded off of AMC sometime in the late 90's.

YouTube

Happy Passover! - Fiddler On the Roof

United Artists, 1971

Starring Chaim Topol, Norma Crane, Rosalind Harris, and Leonard Frey

Directed by Norman Jewison

Music by Jerry Bock; Lyrics by Sheldon Harnick

We celebrate the last day of Passover, the Jewish spring holiday celebrating the Israelites' Exodus from Egypt, with one of the most famous movies about the Jewish faith ever made. The Broadway musical adaptation of the book Tevye and His Daughters by Sholem Aleichem was one of the biggest hit shows of the 60's, and the first to run over 3,000 performances. United Artists eagerly bought this and Man of La Mancha, another dark mid-60's stage hit, with an eye for a big roadshow adaptation. They knew they were taking a big risk after too many huge epic roadshow musicals in the late 60's and early 70's failed to make their money back, but they still threw everything they had into making this one as realistic and gritty as possible in a musical. Did they succeed, or should this one be sent to Siberia? Let's begin with Tevye the milkman (Topol) as he introduces the people of the Russian Jewish village of Anatevka and their "Traditions" and find out...

The Story: Tevye is hoping Yente the Matchmaker (Molly Picon) will find good husbands for his older daughters Tzeitel (Harris), Hodel (Michele Marsh), and Chava (Neva Small). His daughters have their own ideas. Tzeitel is promised to wealthy butcher Lazar Wolf (Paul Mann), but she falls for Motel (Frey), a poor but ambitious tailor. Tevye eventually gives in and agrees to the marriage, and finds a way to convince his wife Golde (Crane) that they're made for each other, too. He's less happy when Hodel falls for the handsome revolutionary Perchick (Paul Michael Glaser) but eventually accepts the marriage, even when Hodel follows her husband to Siberia after he's arrested. 

Tevye really hits the roof when book-loving Chava falls head over heels for Fyedka (Raymond Lovelock), a Russian Christian Orthodox scholar. Her eloping with him means she'll have to give up her faith. Her father thinks this is the worst of his problems, but then, the town's rabbi (Zvee Schooler) announces that their lives are about to be upended forever, and Hodel isn't the only one who is going to be "far from the home I love."

The Song and Dance: What I love about this movie is only The Sound of Music inhabits the world of the characters as much as this one does. The bleak landscape of Yugoslavia in the 1970's may not be much to look at, but it's as much of a character as Tevye and his family. The stunning cinematography, including gorgeous shots of that fiddler on the roof, won a deserved Oscar in 1972. Unlike most of the huge epic musicals that came out in the late 60's and early 70's, Fiddler really needs those three hours and the widescreen vistas to tell its entire story of how both a family and a town's "traditions" are upended by outside change. 

Topol was a bit of a controversial choice for Tevye after Zero Mostel won acclaim for the role on Broadway, but he's having so much fun shaking along to "If I Were a Rich Man" and is so lovely with his daughters, it's hard to complain now. Crane is equally good as his sensible wife Golde. Frey and Harris are especially touching as the adorably dorky tailor and the sweetly awkward young woman who loves him anyway.

The Numbers: We open with Tevye introducing us to the residents of Anatevka and their "Tradition" even before the credits begin. The fiddler (Tutte Lemkov) plays the overture over the credits while perched on that roof. The sisters dress and do the laundry as they sing about "Matchmaker, Matchmaker" and their hopes for their future husbands. Tevye really gets into wondering what he'd do "If I Were a Rich Man" in the barn, shaking and shimmying with absolute glee. Lazar Wolf joins Tevye's family for their "Sabbath Prayer." Wolf and Tevye announce "To Life" when they treat each other to drinks at the local bar and every man in town gets in on the spree, including the military and local students.

"Tevye's Monologue" is heard in his head as he recalls Tzeitel's childhood and realizes that she does love Motel and he wants her to be happy. Thrilled when Tevye agrees to their marriage, he hurries through the woods with Tzeitel, singing about their "Miracle of Miracles." The surreal "Tevye's Dream" is a black-and-white sequence where Tevye tells Golde about a dream he had where their ancestors and Lazar Wolf's wife claim Motel is the man for their daughter. Their wedding ceremony is a joyous occasion, including the touching "Sunrise, Sunset," men performing with bottles on their heads, and men and women dancing together holding hands for the first time in Anatevka...until local peasants, backed by the Tsar's men, attack and destroy the party.

After the fiddler performs the Entre'Acte, Tevye gives us a brief reprise of "Tradition" and explains what's changed. He has another monologue very similar to his first when Hodal insists on marrying Perchick. Feeling sentimental, he asks Golde "Do You Love Me?" Hodal admits at the train stop that while she does want to be with her husband, she's scared about being "Far From the Home I Love." There's a brief ballet segment shot in silhouette as we see Chava the way her father remembers her...and her in love now. His third monologue after Chava asks to marry Fydeka is briefer and far less congenital. It's one thing to go against an arranged marriage and follow a revolutionary, but very religious Tevye draws the line at giving up one's faith for love. The movie ends with the cast singing about their feelings on leaving their beloved "Anatevka." 

Trivia: Sadly, this would be Norma Crane's final film. She died of breast cancer two years after its release.

Fiddler On the Roof opened on Broadway in September 1964 and was a huge success, becoming the first Broadway show to run over 3,000 performances. Its stars Zero Mostel and Maria Karnilova won Tonys, as did the show as a whole. It was an equally big hit in London. The show been revived many times on both sides of the Atlantic since then, most recently on Broadway in 2015 and in London in 2019.

Two stage songs were cut from the film, a duet for Perchick and Hodel, "Now I Have Everything," and a number for Yente and the women of the town, "The Rumor/I Just Heard." Another song, "Any Day Now," was written for Perchick to replace "Everything," but was ultimately cut. 

What I Don't Like: This is not your typical lighthearted musical romp. This is a three-hour epic revolving around the fracturing of a family and of a society. It's not for someone who is looking for something more fun and upbeat. There's also that run time. Admittedly, once you get to the third daughter's marriage, you start looking at your watch and wishing some of this could have been trimmed. On the other hand, we don't get to know some folks as well as you'd like, including the rabbi and the hilarious Yente. 

The Big Finale: Families with older children and teens looking for thoughtful Passover viewing and who can handle the violence and fairly dark story and have time on their hands (or can split this into two night's viewing) may enjoy discovering Tevye, his family, and their "traditions." They may even be willing to discuss similar traditions and their importance in their own families.

Home Media: Easily found on disc and streaming, the latter usually for free with commercials.

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Tubi

Happy Easter! - The Tale of the Bunny Picnic

HBO, 1986

Voices of Steve Whitmire, Richard Hunt, Jim Henson, and Louise Gold

Directed by Jim Henson and David G Hiller

Music by Philip Balsam; Lyrics by Dennis Lee

This cable special is the closest Jim Henson got to doing something for Easter. He wanted to make another holiday program with realistic animals after the success of Emmett Otter's Jug Band Christmas on HBO in 1977. While that one was a bit gritty and bittersweet, he went with something a little more aimed at children here. This special also introduced Bean Bunny, who would later appear on the 80's version of Muppet Babies and still occasionally turns up in Muppet media to this day. How does this charming story of rabbits who learn compassion when they find out the dog who ruins their picnic isn't as bad as he seems look now? Let's begin with the bunnies singing about the beginning of spring and find out...

The Story: Bean Bunny (Whitmire) is known for his wild imagination and his goofy attempts to dream he's something else. He wants to help set up for the big spring Bunny Picnic, but his older brother Lugsy (Hunt) keeps telling him he's too little. He wanders off into the lettuce patch to daydream when he's chased out by the farmer's dog (Henson). Horrified, Bean tries to tell everyone what he saw, but they think it's just another imaginative story. 

It isn't until the dog attacks the Picnic that the bunnies finally admit Bean wasn't just imagining things. The rabbits try everything they can think of to shake him, until Bean comes up with an idea based on a puppet show put on by the Storyteller Bunny (Ron Mueck). That seems to do the trick, at least until the dog catches on. Bean escapes and saves his brother...but when they see the dog being abused by the mean farmer who owns him (Martin P. Robinson), they realize who the real villain is and decide to teach the bullying farmer a lesson.

The Song and Dance: Considering the sugary reputation this special in general and Bean Bunny in particular have, this was a lot better than I thought it would be. The songs are catchy, and Bean is a lot of fun, especially some of his wilder daydreams! I also like that the bad guy isn't who you think it's going to be. The dog is set up to be the villain until mid-way through, when you realize he's as scared as the rabbits and is just following orders. The ending with how they help him actually ends up being rather sweet. 

The Numbers: We open with the bunnies enthusiastically greeting the warmer weather in "Hello Sunshine." Poor Bean laments that no one will let people do anything special "When You're Little." The dog tells the bunnies "Run, Bunny, Run," because he's coming after them. The Storyteller encourages the bunnies to "Follow Me" as he sets up his puppet show. Bean's parents sing "The Bunny's Lullaby" to put their frightened children to sleep that night. The bunnies empower each other to help the dog and attack the farmer with "Drum of Time." "Hello Sunshine" reappears during the credits after we find out who the narrator was.

Trivia: The special originally opened with a live-action segment as Jim Henson explained what inspired the story. That has been cut from most current copies available, including the ones on video and YouTube. 

What I Don't Like: While it's not quite as cutesy as it's reputation would have it, it's still a lot more child-oriented and sweet than the gritty Emmett Otter or the slightly darker and wackier Muppet fairy tales. Those adorable bunnies may be just a little too precious, with their huge black button eyes, chubby cheeks, and breathless speeches. It's notable that, though this did well enough on cable and has turned up sporadically thereafter on HBO and video, it's not one of the better-known specials. Only Bean is even mildly remembered today.

The Big Finale: Charming and adorable springtime viewing for you and your younger children; older kids and teens may find it a tad too sugary. 

Home Media: As mentioned, the only place you can find this at press time is YouTube. 

YouTube

The Unsinkable Molly Brown

MGM, 1964

Starring Debbie Reynolds, Harve Presnell, Ed Begley, and Hermione Badderly

Directed by Charles Waters

Music and Lyrics by Meredith Wilson

We end our Women's History Month reviews with this rousing biography of one of Colorado's great ladies, featuring one of MGM's biggest stars of the late 50's and early 60's. Though the stage version wasn't quite as big of a hit as Wilson's The Music Man, it was still popular enough for MGM to option it as a huge vehicle for Reynolds and Presnell. Presnell was a big, strapping baritone not unlike Howard Keel the decade prior. MGM was willing to give him a big build-up and Reynolds the role of her career as the scrappy backwoods girl who rises first to Denver society, then to one of the heroines of the Titanic disaster. How does this story look today, especially as a far campier Titanic-based musical spoof prepares to hit Broadway next month? Let's begin with a tiny baby being flung along in raging rapids...and surviving...and see why this was so popular in the early 60's...

The Story: Brassy tomboy Molly Tobin (Reynolds) has big dreams. She heads to Leadville, Colorado to make enough money for a trip to Denver and marriage to a wealthy man. Her plans are derailed when she falls in love with Johnny Brown (Presnell), a poor miner with no desire to ever work the mine he owns. He's equally in love with Molly, teaching her to read and write and even building a cabin for her. 

When he does finally have a big strike at the mine, it propels them into Denver high society, just like Molly wished and hoped for. Denver high society, however, isn't ready for them. Gladys McGraw (Audrey Christie), the queen of wealthy Denver matrons, rejects them as being too vulgar. Mrs. McGraw's mother Buttercup Grogan (Badderly) suggests the duo go to Europe for some "polish." Molly loves it, but Johnny feels out of place among the princes and duchesses. Molly invites them to Denver, but Johnny brings his mining friends around too and ruin the introduction. 

Furious, Molly returns to Europe, only to realize she misses Johnny and Colorado. She returns on the S.S Titanic...and becomes not only one of the survivors when the ship hits an iceberg, but one who encouraged morale and kept at the captain to rescue more people. She returns to Denver as one of its greatest heroines, and to Johnny as the one man who could really keep up with her. 

The Song and Dance: Reynolds never had more fun than she did in this movie, especially the first half when she's brawling with her brothers, with drunk miners, and with J.J Brown. She had such a blast playing Molly, she got an Oscar nomination. Presnell and Begley nearly match her as the laid-back miner who preferred the simple life in Colorado to his wife's ambitions and her hilarious father. Gorgeous cinematography filmed in the actual Colorado and stunning costumes beautifully depicting backwoods Colorado and Denver and European high society in the 1900's and early 1910's help too.

The Numbers: We open with Molly brawling with her brothers, telling them "I Ain't Down Yet." She teaches herself to play "Belly Up to the Bar, Boys," competing with other local dancers and ladies of the evening for their attention. Johnny claims "Colorado, My Home" twice, in his introductory sequence when he's looking over his land, and later when he and Molly return to Colorado after their European trip. "I'll Never Say No," Johnny tells Molly as he teaches her to read and write, builds her a bigger cabin, and even gets the brass bed she wanted. "He's My Friend," says Buttercup, Mr. Tobin, Molly, and Johnny as half the royals in Europe sing awkwardly along. "Johnny's Soliloquy" is a brief reprise of "Colorado My Home" as he admits that he misses Molly.

Trivia: Molly Brown was no backwoods girl when she married "Leadville" Johnny Brown in 1886, but a spirited young lady of 18 who, indeed, had been looking for a wealthy husband. She actually ended up much-beloved in Denver society, as an early and ardent feminist and crusader for worker's rights. Yes, she not only survived the Titanic disaster, she pushed her lifeboat captain to look for more survivors, though the "unsinkable" nickname apparently didn't become more common until after her death in 1932. Unlike in the movie, she and Johnny legally separated, though Molly didn't remarry after Johnny's death in 1922. Their home in Denver and their summer home at Bear Creek, Colorado still exist today as museums.

The original Broadway show opened in 1960 with Tammy Grimes as Molly and Presnell as Johnny and ran for two years, pretty respectable for the time. Alas, despite the success of the film, it's rarely been seen again. It didn't make it to London until 2009. It was heavily reworked to include more of the real-life story of Molly Brown for a run at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts in 2014. This heavily revised version turned up briefly off-Broadway in 2020, and it's also available for regional productions. 

What I Don't Like: First of all, this takes forever to get where it's going. Those two hours can drag at times, especially during Molly's European jaunts in the second half. Second, note the historical inaccuracies above. This also isn't for people who like their musicals on the quieter or more introspective side. This musical is as noisy and brash as its heroine. Meredith Wilson's score isn't bad, but it's not quite at the level of The Music Man, either. And I wish we could have heard more of it. All but five numbers were cut. "He's My Friend" was written for the film (and has since been added to stage versions).

The Big Finale: If you love the brash, brassy musicals of the 50's and 60's or are a big fan of Reynolds, come on down and get to know the toughest, funniest lady to ever come out of Colorado.

Home Media: Easily found on all formats. The Blu-Ray is from the Warner Archives.

DVD

Blu-Ray

Amazon Prime

Somebody Loves Me

Paramount, 1952

Starring Betty Hutton, Ralph Meeker, Billie Bird, and Robert Keith

Directed by Irving Brecher

Music and Lyrics by various

We return to Woman's History Month with our second Betty Hutton biographical film. Hutton was still one of Paramount's biggest stars when she appeared in this film on one of the pioneering ladies of jazz. She's paired here with Ralph Meeker, then an up-and-coming leading man who was just coming off the original run of Mister Roberts. How well do they do as one of the most popular couples in vaudeville during the 1920's and 30's? Let's begin with Blossom Seely (Hutton) singing in a San Francisco nightclub in 1906...right before the San Francisco earthquake hits...and find out...

The Story: The first theater to reopen after the quake recovery is Grauman's Vaudeville. The manager said he'd put Blossom and her friend Essie (Bird) on the bill, but Blossom is last. Not only that, he gives her best song to the more refined headliner Nola Beach (Adele Jergens). Essie makes use of a banana and a hungry monkey to make sure Blossom gets that song. Not only does she get the spot, she's a sensation who becomes one of the top vaudeville headliners. 

While traveling in Paris, Blossom sees handsome Benny Fields (Meeker) and his buddies Forrest (Henry Slate) and Henry (Sid Tomack) performing at a club. She invites the guys to perform with her, but she really wants Benny. The other two go on without him after their number, which infuriates Blossom and Benny and causes Benny to break up the act. Blossom and Benny become a team, but he's consistently late for rehearsals and is always out with some girl...before he reveals that he wants to marry her. She's thrilled at first, but when she goes on vacation without him, he claims he married her for her fame. They break up, but he can't get bookings without her. She arranges for him to get a solo act...but he doesn't appreciate it until her friend Sam Doyle (Keith) points out how much she cares about him and wants him to be happy.

The Song and Dance: For all the Technicolor and lavish gowns for Hutton and Bird, I like how intimate this is compared to most biographies of this ilk. The focus is where it should be, on the two leads and Blossom's two best friends. Hutton herself is surprisingly subdued for her, though she does get to have fun tearing through two of Seely's signature numbers, "Toddlin' the Toledo" and "Way Down Yonder In New Orleans." Meeker matches her well as the tough guy who thinks he's marrying her for her fame, but ends up falling for her anyway. Oh, and look for Jack Benny introducing the two of them with a brief but hilarious routine with his violin. 

The Numbers: We open in that saloon in San Francisco with Blossom attempting the "Teasin' Rag" and "I Can't Tell You Why I Love You but I Do" before the earthquake hits. The more elegant Nola Beach sings "Honey, Oh My Honey" and starts "Toddlin' the Toledo" before a hungry monkey sits on her dress train. Blossom finishes the song in a far more energetic style. We then get a medley of "Dixie June," "San Francisco Bay," and "Smiles" for the doughboys in the trenches during World War I, ending with a major celebration after the end of the war. 

Meeker gets his first number on the ship to America, "I Cried for You." Their big number leads, with a stereotypical black maid dressing Blossom, leads into the more romantic "Rose Room." Blossom has way more fun with the black and yellow "Way Down Yonder In New Orleans." Forrest and Henry get into big trouble doing a number on their own afterwards, which leads to Benny breaking up the act. "Jealous" is a far simpler act, just the two of them at the piano...but it's a pretty accurate assessment of her feelings about his carousing. After they marry, she declares she'll "Love Him."

The one major chorus number is also the film's most problematic today. Hutton sings "Wang-Wang Blues," "Mister Banjo Man," and "Dixie Dreams" in blackface. Her rendition of "Dixie Dreams" is lovely, but it's also hard to separate it from the racial connotations. Benny's "I'm Sorry I Made You Cry" is drowned out by a noisy and indifferent audience and two comics who tear off his clothes. They sing "On Your Own Little Feet" together in her room, then he reprises "Dixie June." He reprises the number with chorus girls at the theater, along with "Thanks to You." They finish with "Somebody Loves Me."

Trivia: Unlike many film biographies, this one had a happy ending in real-life and on-screen. Seeley did go into retirement after the death of vaudeville in the mid-30's. The relative success of this film pushed her and Fields back out into the limelight. They performed together on stage, record, and television until his death in 1959. She would continue into the 60's as a solo act, becoming one of the great female jazz singers of the 20th century until her death in 1974. 

Hutton was pretty much the only person who wasn't dubbed. Meeker was dubbed by Pat Morgan, Adele Jergens by Barbara Ames, Sid Tomack by Le Clark, and Henry Slate by Jack Baker. 

Film debut of character actor Nick Adams.

Hutton's last movie for Paramount.

What I Don't Like: First of all, see all that dubbing above. Couldn't they have found someone whose singing voice actually sounded like it belonged to Meeker? Morgan's voice is way too deep to be Meeker's. Second, this is about as typical of a biography as you can get. Meeker usually did film noir or drama and is not the first person you think as a leading man in a musical, and Hutton is oddly subdued for her. (She'd just come from surgery to remove growths on her throat, which explains a lot about her performance.) It has some bright spots and good songs, but is largely pretty ho-hum. 

The Big Finale: This is mainly for major fans of Hutton or the big 50's biographical musicals. 

Home Media: Which makes it just as well that the only place you can currently find it is YouTube.

YouTube