Sunny (1941)

RKO, 1941

Starring Anna Neagle, Ray Bolger, John Carroll, and Edward Everett Horton

Directed by Herbert Wilcox

Music and Lyrics by various 

Anna Neagle was one of the biggest stars in British cinema from the early 30's through the early 50's. She and her director husband Herbert Wilcox went effortlessly from epic historical drama to elegant comedies to frothy musicals without batting an eyelash. RKO was impressed with their two biographies of Queen Victoria and offered them a four-picture contract in 1940. This is the third of the four, and the second of the three musicals they did. Is it as charming as the original Marilyn Miller film and the Neagle/Wilcox version of Irene, or should it be left at the altar? Let's begin at the Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans and find out...

The Story: Sunny O'Sullivan (Neagle) literally runs into millionaire Larry Warren (Carroll) at the Mardi Gras parade. The Queen of Hearts (Martha Tilton) and her entourage encourages Larry to give her a hug and kiss. He does, but she disappears shortly after. He wanders into a circus near where he met the lady. Not only are his sister Elizabeth (Frieda Inescourt), the family lawyer Harry Bates (Horton), and wealthy Juliet Runnymede (Grace Hartman) there, but so is Sunny. She's the premiere dancer and bareback rider and one of the circus' star attractions. He tries to get through to her, but she goes out with her old friend Bunny Billings (Bolger) instead.

They run across each other in the restaurant later that night. Larry convinces her to join him for a ride. They fall in love, and he proposes. She's ready to leave the circus, but his snobbish old-money family isn't ready to accept a bareback rider as a daughter-in-law. She does manage to win over tough Aunt Barbara (Helen Wesley), but Elizabeth still considers her to be beneath them. The circus people turn up on the day of Sunny's wedding to see her off. Elizabeth encourages them to perform, shocking and upsetting Larry. Sunny, furious with his behavior, takes off with the circus. With the help of Aunt Barbara, Larry now has to prove to Sunny that he loves her no matter who she is or what she does.

The Song and Dance: This wound up being a far better showcase for Neagle's talents than Irene. You get two major dance sequences, one with the truly great Bolger, costumes that are just as lovely (at least, what you can see of them in the terrible copies currently in circulation), and some great songs by Jerome Kern, Oscar Hammerstein, and others. (Including the trio that were cut from the 1930 Sunny.) Wesley, Horton, and Bolger all have fun with their limited roles, especially Wesley as the tough-as-nails aunt who unexpectedly softens for Sunny. 

The Numbers: After a montage of Mardi Gras parade sights and sounds, our first number is Queen of Hearts Martha Tilton and her entourage insisting that "The Lady Must Be Kissed." Bunny's first dance number lets him incredible splits and spins while executing slapstick falls. Bolger then sing-recites "Who" before we see Sunny with an enormous feather fan in a feather-bedecked gown and they do an elegant dance together. The title song is our first big chorus number as Sunny comes out on horseback to do her bareback tricks and dance with the horse while Carroll tries to flirt with her from the audience. 

"Who" turns up again as Larry takes Sunny on a riverboat ride, sung first by the chorus, then sung by Larry and danced by Sunny. Bunny and Sunny are "Jack Tar and Sam Gob," doing a comic dance dressed as horny sailors. She sings the old folk song "Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms" at her engagement party, thinking she's impressing Aunt Barbara. She asks Larry "Do 'Ye Love Me?" after she explains things to Aunt Barbara. Dance team Grace and Paul Hartman (in their first of two appearances together onscreen) perform the comic "The Mohache" to the tune of Ravel's "Bolero" at Sunny's wedding. Bunny dances as the "Ringmaster" at the sold-out circus show. Sunny starts singing "Sunshine"when she comes out...before Larry joins in and she realizes he's her only audience. Larry sings "Forever and a Day" as he drives Sunny's trailer to the riverboat in the finale. 

What I Don't Like: First of all, someone really needs to throw money at restoring this, too. This one is in even worse shape than the 1930 Sunny, with wonky sound and horribly scratched picture. Second, the wafer-thin story isn't really improved by the re-writing. Wesley's crotchety Aunt Barbara is a little bit more interesting than Sunny's father, but neither Bolger nor Horton have much to do other than Bolger's numbers. They do nothing with the New Orleans setting besides the opening at Mardi Gras, and only a little bit more with the circus folks than the first film. Dashing Carroll is also a bit of an improvement over the dull Lawrence Gray in the original, but he's still nowhere near Neagle's wattage.

The Big Finale: I did like this one a bit more than the 1930 Sunny or Neagle's first American picture Irene, but it's still mainly for her fans or fans of big 40's musicals. 

Home Media: This is in the public domain, so it's easily found anywhere. It's currently on Tubi for free with commercials.

DVD

Tubi

Sunny (1930)

First National Pictures, 1930

Starring Marilyn Miller, Lawrence Gray, Joe Donahue, and O.P Heggie

Directed by William A. Seiter

Music and Lyrics by various

Operetta, of course, isn't the only musical genre to see remakes. Nor are remakes a recent phenomenon. This week, we're going to look at a musical comedy that got two very different versions a decade apart from each other. Sunny was producer Charles Dillingham's follow-up vehicle for Broadway superstar Marilyn Miller after the phenomenal success of her hit Sally. Is this circus-set romantic comedy worthy of the $150,000 she earned for it, or should it be left in the center ring? Let's start at the circus, as men ogle the posters for bareback rider Sunny Peters (Miller) and find out...

The Story: Sunny's dad (Heggie) wants her to marry Harold Harcourt Wendell-Wendell (Mackenzie Ward), who is wealthy but deadly dull. She becomes smitten with Tom Warren (Gray), an old friend who stops by to see her before he takes a boat back to the US. Stealing boy's clothes, she runs away and follows him onboard. Not only is she caught, but she has no idea he's already engaged to socialite Margaret Manners (Barbara Bedford). 

The only way she can get off the boat is to marry her American friend Jim Denning (Donahue). They plan on getting a divorce the moment they can, especially since Jim is already in love with Weenie (Inez Courtney) from the circus. Sunny, still head over heels in love with Tom, tries to fool him into saying he's in love with her by appearing to be hurt at a fox hunt. When that doesn't work, she plans on returning to England and marrying Harold, at least until Tom sees the light.

The Song and Dance: And with a story that flimsy, song and dance...or really, Miller's dances...are the main points of interest. Miller's wattage, at least when she's singing and dancing, hasn't dimmed between films. She still loves what she's doing and is magnetic while doing it. Donahue and Heggie are the only ones who get anywhere near her as the good-natured guy buddy who helps her out and her stubborn father. Some of Jerome Kern's best songs can be found here, too - Gray and Miller singing "Who" is totally charming.

The Numbers: In fact, the movie puts its best foot forward and starts with its biggest hit song. Gray wonders "Who" stole his heart as he pours his heart out to a delighted Miller. They're both so adorable, it's by far the best sequence in the film. Sunny briefly sings "I Was Alone" after she boards the boat dressed as a boy as she wistfully watches Tom on board. She does a totally joyous instrumental tap dance after she's caught and allowed to stay onboard. After a massive wedding, she and Jim have their own hilarious dance as they wonder "When We Get Our Divorce." Tom and the men sing the old chestnut "Oh, He Didn't Ramble." Sunny finishes with her own interpretation of a fox hunt, complete with crop and top hat.

Trivia: This was supposed to have had three more numbers from the original show, "Sunny," "Do 'Ye Love Me," and "Two Little Love Birds," but they were cut from US prints when musicals fell out of fashion late in 1930. "Sunny" can be heard over the credits and as an instrumental number in the opening. 

The original Sunny debuted in September 1925. It ran a year, a pretty big hit for the time. It also did well in London, where ran nine months and toured for three years. 

What I Don't Like: There's a reason this hasn't turned up since that UK tour. The story is a soggy cream puff that collapses entirely in the second half. Cutting the music doesn't help. Miller's wonderful when she dances, but she's still not much of a singer and even less of an actress. Gray's deadly dull other than that charming "Who?" sequence. They really don't make much of that circus setting. I wonder if the cut numbers were set at the circus or did more with it. They're barely there at all before Sunny runs off to the boat. Oh, and Warners needs to throw some money at restoring this. The copy at Tubi and on DVD is scratchy and has wonky sound

The Big Finale: If you enjoyed Sally, you'll want to give Miller's second starring role a look as well.

Home Media: On DVD via the Warner Archives and on Tubi.

DVD

Tubi

A Salute to Mitzi Gaynor - South Pacific

Magna/20th Century Fox, 1958

Starring Mitzi Gaynor, Rossano Brazzi, John Kerr, and Ray Walston

Directed by Joshua Logan 

Music by Richard Rodgers; Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II

Gaynor wasn't the first choice to play Nurse Nellie Forbush this huge adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Rodgers and Hammerstein stage show. They wanted original Broadway stars Enzio Pinza and Mary Martin, but Pinza died in 1957, and Martin wouldn't appear without him. Doris Day passed, and Elizabeth Taylor failed to impress Rodgers and Hammerstein. Gaynor tested twice for them before they finally hired her. Italian actor Brazzi was mainly known for dramas like Three Coins In the Fountain, while Walston did have stage experience (and played the role in London). How well do they pull off the story of a nurse and officer who learn a lesson in prejudice on a South Seas island during World War II when they fall for a French planter and a local girl? Let's begin with the arrival of Lieutenant Joseph Cable (Kerr) to the island and find out...

The Story: Cable is there to persuade local French plantation owner Emile DeBeque (Brazzi) to help him with a reconnaissance mission in Japan, but he refuses. He has children and is beginning a romance with Navy nurse Nellie Forbush (Gaynor) and doesn't want to get involved. Seabee Luther Bills (Walson) convinces Cable to visit the nearby island Bali Hai, where he falls for local girl Liat (France Nuyen), to the delight of her mother, Bloody Mary (Juanita Hill). 

Both romances hit a snag when Nellie breaks up with DeBeque after she learns his children were born to a Polynesian woman and Cable insists he can't bring Liat home to Philadelphia. It's enough to finally convince LeBeque to take that mission. Nellie's horrified and worried when they fly out to fishermen on a Japanese-controlled island DeBeque knows, then come under heavy fire. Only one man makes it back to the South Pacific, but they're happy when their loved ones discover that just because you're "carefully taught" to shun different races doesn't mean you can't overcome those feelings. 

The Song and Dance: If anything, the message of tolerance and prejudice is even more important today then it was during the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement in 1958. No wonder this has seen successful revivals in the last ten-fifteen years or so. Gaynor is a sweet and bubbly Nellie. Her "Honey Bun" is especially delightful, and she works well with Walston. Kerr and Nuyen look gorgeous together and make their doomed relationship fairly believable. Hill's Bloody Mary is both hilarious in the opening with the Seebees and heartbreaking later after she realizes that no matter how much she wants him to, this man is not going to marry her daughter. Check out the historically-accurate costumes, including the hilarious showgirl outfits at the Thanksgiving show that were obviously cobbled together from whatever the sailors and nurses could get their hands on.

The Numbers: We open with the Seabees singing an ode to their favorite local lady "Bloody Mary." "There Is Nothing Like a Dame" is their complaint that they don't have enough women in the South Seas. After Luther points out "Bali Hai," Bloody Mary sings to cable about the beauty and lure of the island. At her date with Emile, Nellie claims that she's "A Cockeyed Optimist." "Twin Soliloquies" gives them their thoughts and worries that they aren't good enough for each other, which goes into Emile's smash hit ballad "Some Enchanted Evening." He introduces his children with their lilting number "Dites Moi." Nellie tells the other nurses "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Out of My Hair," but finally admits "I'm In Love With a Wonderful Guy" to Luther. 

Cable sings to Liat that she's "Younger Than Springtime" in the show's other hit ballad. Mary and Liat give Cable "Happy Talk" and try to talk him into staying with them. "Honey Bun" is the raucous number at the Thanksgiving show. Nellie starts off singing it in a sailor's uniform to Luther dressed as a woman in a coconut bra and hula skirt. Thank goodness for the sailors that real women show up for the chorus, all of them dressed in costumes cobbled together from bits and pieces of whatever fabric and materials could be found. 

Nellie reminds Cable of "My Girl Back Home" when he admits he's in love with Liat. He knows why neither of them can go further with their relationships. It's not ingrained. "You've Got to Be Carefully Taught" to hate others who are different than you. Emilio laments that "This Nearly Was Mine" before he leaves for that fateful mission. The children sing "Dites Moi" again when he returns...with a little help from their new caretaker...

Trivia: Won an Oscar for Best Sound in 1959.

South Pacific opened on Broadway in 1949 and was an instant blockbuster, continuing until 1954 and becoming the second-longest-running Broadway show at that time. It became the first show to win all four major acting prizes at the Tonys (and remains the only one to do so), along with picking up the Pulitzer for drama. The West End mounting in 1951 also saw a respectable run. It's been revived twice in London and on Broadway twice in 1967 (with Florence Henderson as Nellie) and 2008 (with Kelli O'Hara in the role). The 2008 revival was also a hit that ran two years and won Tonys for Best Musical Revival and for its Emile, Paulo Szot. 

"My Girl Back Home" was cut from the original show, but reinstated for the film. Most stage versions continue to use it, usually as a solo for Cable. 

For some reason, the first and second scenes are switched around from the stage version. On stage, the show begins with Emile, Nellie, and his children before introducing us to Bloody Mary and the Seabees. (Admittedly, a few stage productions have done this as well.) 

This was originally released at almost 3 hours. The roadshow version was considered lost until a few years ago. Though it's not online, it can be found on DVD.

Brazzi was dubbed by Giorgio Tozzi, who would play Emilie opposite Florence Henderson in 1967. Kerr was dubbed by Bill Lee. Muriel Smith dubbed Juanita Hill, even though she sings just fine on the 1949 original cast albums. 

What I Don't Like: Alas, the show's forward-thinking stance on racism is seen primarily though the lens of its white characters. Though this is apparently handled a bit better here than in the original show (at least Liat has some lines), the only natives we really see are the broadly comic and occasionally annoying Bloody Mary and Liat, who is more-or-less forced into bed with Cable. This is also stiff as a board at times. Despite the nice scenery, other than Cable's romantic swim with Liat after "Younger Than Springtime," people barely move or do much of anything. The only dance routines are "Honey Bun" and a bit of the Seabees goofing off during "Bloody Mary." It's more like a play with especially beautiful backdrops than a movie.

Let's talk about those infamous color filters. Apparently, no one wanted them, including Richard Rodgers and director Joshua Logan, but they ended up using them anyway. The blue towards the end during some night scenes isn't that bad, but the yellows and reds used elsewhere look weird and unrealistic rather than romantic and really take you out of the scene. I have no idea why the audience howling at "Honey Bun" was blue while the performers were left in realistic colors, either. It looks silly rather than dreamy.

The Big Finale: Mixed feelings on this one. Decent performances, gorgeous songs, and the important message don't always overcome the weird production and stagey stiffness. This isn't my favorite Rodgers and Hammerstein show (the stage casts are better), but it's still recommended for fans of theirs and the cast and lovers of huge 50's and 60's musicals.

Home Media: The original 2 1/2 hour version is easily found on all formats. It can currently be found streaming on Tubi for free. 

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Tubi

Cult Flops - High, Wide, and Handsome

Paramount, 1937

Starring Irene Dunne, Randolph Scott, Elizabeth Patterson, and Raymond Walburn

Directed by Rouben Mamoulian

Music by Jerome Kern; Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein 

We begin two weeks of All-American Weekdays with this rare and unique historical action tale. Paramount developed this after the overwhelming success of Show Boat at Universal the year before. They brought on a lot of the personnel from that film, including its leading lady Irene Dunne and its songwriters Kern and Hammerstein. 

Director Mamoulian was known for imaginative musicals like Love Me Tonight that put emphasis on music and a sweeping camera to tell the story, while Hammerstein and Kern's work often investigated different sides of American history. How do they bring their own touches to the story of a farmer who marries the daughter of a snake oil salesman, only to push her aside when he discovers oil on his land? Let's begin at Titusville in western Pennsylvania, as con-man Doc Watterson (Walburn) and his daughter Sally (Dunne) sell their latest wares to the disbelieving crowd, and find out...

The Story: Sally, Doc, and Doc's assistant Mac (William Frawley) are stranded in Titusville when the crowds accidentally burn their gypsy cart. They stay with sensible farmer Grandma Cortland (Patterson), who opens her arms to them. Sally falls for and eventually marries Grandma's idealistic grandson Peter (Scott), who has been trying to mine the "rock oil" found on his land. 

On the day of Sally and Peter's wedding, the oil suddenly erupts! Turns out there's oil all over the farmers' land. Railroad barons from Philadelphia, led by scheming Walt Brennan (Alan Hale Sr.), try to buy the land off of Peter. When he refuses, they raise the price of bringing the oil to the refineries beyond what the farmers can afford to pay. Peter finally decides to go around them and build a pipe to deliver the oil. He's spending so much time with his oil, he's neglecting Sally. She leaves him to return to her father's circus, but returns when the deadline for the pipeline is moved up from a week to a day.

The Song and Dance: For all the resemblance to Show Boat, I do commend Paramount for going with a fairly original story. I don't know of any other operettas (and only one stage musical) that revolves around oil drilling, and it's the only film I know of to be set in western Pennsylvania. It feels so much like a western, with its railroad barons opposing the farmers and trying to get them off their land, that for once, Randolph Scott isn't out of place in a musical. He's on far more accustomed turf here than he was in Roberta or Follow the Fleet. 

Paramount spared no expense on this one. There's a lot of complicated outdoor shooting, including near the end when they're building the pipeline. While Mamoulian doesn't use the dialogue flowing into song that was so effective in Love Me Tonight, he does shoot some truly exciting action sequences. In addition to the big finale, with Sally and her people riding to save the day, there's also a brawl at a town dance between Peter and Mr. Stark (Irving Pichel), who also wants Sally's hand. Great supporting cast, too. Patterson and Walburn almost steal the film as sensible Grandma Courtland and Sally's roguish parent. Kern and Hammerstein wrote some lovely songs, too, including two standards, "The Folks Who Live On the Hill" and "Can I Forget You?"

Favorite Number: We open with the title song as Doc and Sally sing, dance, and push Doc's literal oil tonic. Sally sings "Can I Forget You?" twice, first on the hill to Peter before she, Mac, and Doc hit the road, and later as her big number at the circus. The second is especially rapturous, with Dunne looking so gorgeous, you can understand why none other than PT Barnum was impressed with her. Mac leads the townspeople in "Will You Marry Me Tomorrow, Maria?" at Sally and Peter's wedding...at least until the derrick Peter spent the first half of the film fussing over strikes oil!

Sally and Peter do manage to have time to settle down and for her to sing about how they'll be "The Folks Who Live On the Hill." Saloon singer Molly Fuller (Dorothy Lamour) laments "The Things I Want" at the saloon for the oil drillers. Sally joins her at another saloon for the rousing "Allegheny Al" in an attempt to get her a job. She has so much fun, and the barflies enjoy it so much, she ends up with the job instead.

Trivia: Titusville is a real city in Pennsylvania and really is considered to be the birthplace of the American oil industry.

What I Don't Like: What the heck is this again? It can't decide if it wants to be a romance, an action film with western overtones, or Show Boat. Sally's right that she doesn't have much to do in the middle of the movie. Once the emphasis moves to Scott after he strikes oil, she and the music takes a backseat. Lamour has even less to do beyond her two numbers and seems out of place - historical films were never her forte. And frankly, the whole thing with the circus performers, including elephants, coming to the rescue in the end is too goofy even for a musical semi-western.

The Big Finale: While not a rediscovered masterpiece, there is a lot of interest in this charming action musical if you're a fan of Scott, Dunne, and Mamoulian or Kern and Hammerstein's other work. 

Home Media: On DVD from Universal Vault and Blu-Ray from Kino Lorber.

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Blu-Ray

The King and I (1956)

20th Century Fox, 1956

Starring Yul Brunner, Deborah Kerr, Rita Moreno, and Terry Saunders

Directed by Walter Lang

Music by Richard Rodgers; Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II

Anna Leonowens was, in fact, a real person who was indeed the governess for the King of Siam in the 1860's. Though the truth of her encounters with the King of Siam are called into question today, they did inspire a semi-fictional novel in 1944, Anna and King of Siam. The book had already been made into a black-and-white drama in 1946, with Rex Harrison as the King and Irene Dunne as Anna, when Gertrude Lawrence's agent thought she would be perfect as a musical Anna. 

Lawrence did ultimately go over well in the part, but she passed away before the end of the show's run. Yul Brunner was even more of a sensation as the King and was called on to repeat his Tony-winning role. Joining him was Jerome Robbins recreating his award-winning choreography. How does this story look nowadays? Let's begin as Anna (Kerr) and her son Louis (Rex Thompson) as they arrive in Siam and find out...

The Story: Anna immediately clashes with King Mongkut (Brunner) over his not building her a promised house. He convinces her to remain once she meets his many charming children, who she's to teach. She's also to teach his wives English and becomes friends with his head wife Lady Thiang (Saunders). Romantic Anna encourages his newest slave Tup Tim (Moreno) to meet her lover Lun Tha (Carlos Rivas), who brought her to Siam, in secret. 

Mongkut is more interested in proving to the rest of the world that Siam is a modern, scientific country. He and Anna set up a banquet and ballet for the visiting English consulate to prove that Siam isn't the barbaric country many in the West see it as. Things go swimmingly, until Tup Tim runs away. The King wants to punish her...but to do so would truly make him a barbarian in the eyes of the only person in Siam who ever dared challenge him. 

The Song and Dance: Kerr and Brunner put in some of their best performances as the strong-willed teacher and ruler whose constant battle for control eventually mellows into something like respect...and maybe more. Brunner won an Oscar to go with his Tony, making him the first person to win a Tony and Oscar for the same role. The stunning and elaborate period-accurate costumes and sets also won Oscars. Those heavy hoop skirts Kerr wears were so period-accurate, in fact, she lost twelve pounds by the end of filming. 

Favorite Number: We open with Anna teaching a nervous Louis to "Whistle a Happy Tune" as they step off the boat and into a new land...at least until they meet the imposing Kralahome, the King's prime minister. "The March of the Siamese Children" is too adorable as each child impresses Anna in their own way in time to the music. The kids also join Anna as she explains in the school room while she's glad to be "Getting to Know You." 

Lun Tha and Tup Tim meet secretly under the moonlight, admitting that "We Kiss In a Shadow," but love each other no matter what. All of this romance and talk of the Bible and creation is "A Puzzlement" to the amused King. Lady Thiang explains why the King is "Something Wonderful," even if he's also stubborn as a mule. He and Anna do better when he says "Shall We Dance?" and convinces her to teach him a western polka. 

The major set piece is "The Small House of Uncle Thomas Ballet." Actual Asian theatrical tropes are used to bring Tup Tim's version of Uncle Tom's Cabin to delicate life. It seems more Thai than almost anything else in the film, with its brilliant costumes and Asian-tinged re-write of the famously controversial novel. (In fact, to date this is the only theatrical sound version of Cabin, though it has turned up on TV.)

Trivia: Three of the songs cut from the show, Anna's "Shall I Tell You What I Think of You?" Tup Tim's "My Lord and Master," and more of "I Have Dreamed" were recorded; the first two were filmed, but the footage has since been lost. All three are on the soundtrack LP. "Western People Funny," a song for the ladies before the ball, can be heard briefly in underscoring. 

This was a four-year hit on Broadway in 1951 and also did well in London. Revivals in 1977 (with Brunner in his original role), 1985 (once again with Brunner), 1996 (with Donna Murphy and Lee Diamond Phillips) and 2015 (with Kelli O'Hara and Ken Wantanbe) were all fair-sized hits in their own right, with the latter two winning Best Revival Tonys. 

Paramount announced last year that they're currently developing a remake. 

What I Don't Like: First of all, Kerr, Moreno, and Rivas were all dubbed, Kerr infamously by Marni Nixon. Second, every version of Anna and the King is banished in Thailand for a reason. King Mongkut, his court, and their culture aren't always shown in the most flattering light, and can even be see as annoying stereotypes today. Doesn't help that none of the Thai characters are played by Asians (the lovers are actually Latin American). Those massive sets also feel a bit stagey nowadays, making the movie look more like a filmed play. Not to mention, there's all those cut songs that could have fleshed out characters other than Anna, the King, and Lady Thiang.

The Big Finale: Highly recommended for Kerr and Brunner's sparring and the musical numbers alone if you can deal with the dated portrayal of Thai culture.

Home Media: Easily found in all formats.

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Blu-Ray

Amazon Prime

Animation Celebration Saturday - The King and I (1999)

Warner Bros/Rankin-Bass, 1999

Voices of Miranda Richardson, Martin Vidnovic, Ian Richardson, and Allen D. Hong

Directed by Richard Rich

Music by Richard Rodgers; Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II

Warner Bros has never had much luck with their animated features. They distributed three independent animated films from 1990 to 1994, all of which underperformed at the box office. Their breakthrough came with Space Jam in 1996, which wound up being one of the biggest blockbusters of the year. Neither the medieval fantasy Quest for Camelot nor the musical Cats Don't Dance from the newly-acquired Turner Animation, both released a year later, came close. 

They tried again with another independent company, Morgan Creek Pictures. Producer Arthur J. Rankin Jr. convinced the Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization that animated family-friendly versions of their shows would expand their audiences, and even got Richard Rich, whose Swan Princess failed at the box office but did well on video, to direct. How did the first animated Rodgers and Hammerstein musical turn out? Let's begin at sea, as Anna Leonowens (Miranda Richardson) and her son Louis (Adam Wylie) travel to Siam (present-day Thailand) in 1862 and find out...

The Story: Anna's ship is battered in a fierce storm that nearly washes Louis overboard. They're attacked by a sea serpent, but manage to escape thanks to Captain Orton (Ken Baker). The serpent was sent by the Kralahome (Ian Richardson), who intends to use his magic to overthrow King Mongut (Vidinovic) and make himself king. Anna nearly leaves when she sees the king accept a gift of a slave girl from Burma named Tuptim (Armi Arabe) and realizes he hasn't built the house he promised. She finally decides to stay when she meets the king's adorable children, especially his teen son Chulalongkorn (Hong). 

Kralahome is still determined to get rid of her and get the kingdom, and he sends his lackey Master Little (Darrell Hammond) to eliminate her son and the other kids. The arrival of the British, however, may do more damage than the Kralahome ever could when Sir Edward Ramsay (Sean Smith) arrives to see how "civilized" the King is.

The Animation: Full of the rich colors of Siam, with glowing golds, greens, and reds creating a splendid backdrop for Anna and Mongut's adventures. The rest of the animation was farmed out to companies in 24 countries...and looks it. The lighting is terrible, the characters that are supposed to look Thai don't (except for Master Little, who falls a little too far into stereotypes territory), and there's scenes where characters barely move at all. On the other hand, they actually manage to nicely integrate the CGI and 2D animated effects, something you don't always see even in Disney movies during this era. 

The Song and Dance: For all the problems, Richardson and Vidnovic put in surprisingly convincing performances as Anna and the King, and Hong isn't bad as the young prince torn between his duty to his father, what he's learned from Anna, and his feelings for Tuptim. We even get a song for Anna, "Shall I Tell You What I Think of You?," that was cut from the 1956 live-action film. When the songs are blended well with the concepts, as with the elegant "Shall We Dance?," the movie almost works. I also like that, for all they whitewashed, they did keep the sequence with the King threatening to whip Tuptim and even make it fairly suspenseful. 

Favorite Number: "Shall I Tell You What I Think of You?" makes its screen debut as Anna rages and trips and kicks over the King telling her he won't build the promised house. For his part, the King wonders what all the fuss is about. It's "A Puzzlement" to him. Anna and the kids are "Getting to Know You" as they explore the markets and streets of Bangkok. Master Little's not far behind, but he's not terribly good at trying to catch her and the children. Tuptim and Chulalongkorn get a fairly romantic "I Have Dreamed/We Kiss In a Shadow" when she points out that their romance is forbidden. "Shall We Dance?" is just lovely, both when Anna and the King dance along to it in a fantasy world, and in the finale, when it's finally just the two of them and the music.

What I Don't Like: You can tell this was adapted by the same team that mangled Quest for Camelot. Why on Earth did Rankin Jr. think this particular Rodgers and Hammerstein property would make a great 90's animated fantasy musical? The Kralahome wasn't a pleasant person in the original show, but he wasn't Scar or Jafar, either. There's enough comic relief animals to fill the Bangkok Zoo, none of which add anything to the film but a few gags. Combining the eldest Prince with the slave who falls for Tuptim just makes that side-story even more cliched than it can come off in the actual show. Master Little is also unnecessary comic relief, and badly stereotyped comic relief at that. 

This also has the same problem as Camelot with inappropriate musical numbers, or numbers where the song doesn't really match the visuals. Why is "I Whistle a Happy Tune" done during that huge storm with the dragon? It sounds and looks utterly ridiculous. The otherwise well-sung and thought out "Getting to Know You" is mangled by Master Little and his ill-timed slapstick that's more suited for a Looney Tunes short than a major animated musical. And giving the story a happy ending doesn't make it any less dated or show the culture and history of Thailand in a better light. 

The Big Finale: I'm afraid even some good performances and songs can't save this one. No wonder the Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization banned any further animated retellings of their shows. Only for the most ardent fans of theirs or for families with indiscriminate younger children who may enjoy the animal antics and songs. 

Home Media: Easy to find on all formats; it's currently free on Amazon Prime with a subscription.

DVD

Blu-Ray

Amazon Prime

Cult Flops - The Night Is Young (1935)

MGM, 1935

Starring Ramon Novarro, Evelyn Laye, Charles Butterworth, and Una Merkel

Directed by Dudley Murphey

Music by Sigmund Romberg; Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II

As we discussed earlier this month, operetta made a comeback on the big screen in the mid-30's thanks to the success of Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy's vehicles from MGM and Columbia's for Grace Moore. Evelyn Laye was beloved stage actress on England's West End, but her one try at Hollywood was in the disastrous flop One Heavenly Night from 1931. Novarro's MGM contract was ending, but they decided to give him one more go at stardom, hoping to make him and Laye the next MacDonald and Eddy. How did they fare in this story of a ballerina who loves an archduke? Let's begin with a tinkling music box over the credits and a white ballerina twirling on and see...

The Story: Emperor Franz Josef (Henry Stephenson) has arranged for his nephew, the Archduke Paul Gustave (Novarro), to marry a princess. Paul really loves the Countess Zarika Rafay (Rosalind Russell), but the Emperor hates her family. Franz doesn't mind him seeing women, providing they're outside of the royal courts. Paul claims he's in love with one of the ballerinas they're watching, Lisl Gluck (Laye). She's always getting into trouble for watching her pianist fiancée Toni Berngruber (Donald Cook). 

Lisl is relieved she's merely a decoy while he spends time with the Countess. She's not as happy at first when he insists she live in the royal palace, until he agrees to produce Toni's ballet. They eventually get to know each other better as she reveals the music of the ballet to them, and after spending an evening at the local carnival, fall in love. Not only is Toni jealous, but there's also their class to consider. His marrying a ballerina won't sit well with his family, and his uncle reminds him to consider his country before he makes the sacrifice.

The Song and Dance: Lovely, romantic, and quite funny, especially for an operetta. No wonder Laye was considered one of the great beauties of the English stage well into the 50's. She's sweet and delicate as the so-so ballerina who finds herself falling for a duke in spite of herself. Merkel and Butterworth liven things up considerably as Lisl's best friend Fanni and her sweetheart, the dour carriage driver Willy, and Russell's appropriately haughty the few times we see her. Edward Everett Horton is back too, this time more appropriately as a fussy baron (this time with considerable sideburns). Glorious costumes and sets lavishly recreate the Austrian empire of the 1880's, with stunning gossamer bustle gowns for the ladies and elaborate uniforms for the men.

Favorite Number: The big hit here was "When I Grow Too Old To Dream." It remains a Romberg standard to this day, and the movie shows us why twice. Lisl gives us the lyrics the first time while singing it wistfully at the Archduke's home. Later, she and Paul perform it as one of their major duets. The other is the title song, which is one of the ones they write together at his home. Willy sings about how he prefers "My Old Mare" Mitzi to any girl in the world...including Franni tooting on a horn behind him. Franni and Lisl dress up at the Duke's home to parody a lady of the opera, "The Noble Duchess." The Duke is a lot more amused than you might think with their satire. Novarro and Laye sing the comic "There's a Riot In Havana" while out with Franni and Willy at a local nightclub. 

Trivia: Sadly, the movie was such a huge flop, Laye went back to England and wouldn't do another movie for a decade (and never again in Hollywood), and Novarro was relegated to lesser studios. 

What I Don't Like: This is about as typical of an operetta as you can get, from the middle-European setting to the schmaltzy story. I do give them credit for going with a fairly mature bittersweet ending, but the rest of the movie is one big cliché. Fans of the genre have seen this type of mawkish melodrama in everything from Maytime to The Student Prince. Speaking of...yeah, if you haven't guessed, you really need to be a fan of operetta to enjoy this one. If you aren't into the genre or old-fashioned romances, this is not the place for you.

The Big Finale: Fortunately, I am a fan of operetta. If you love Novarro or the supporting cast or the genre, this is a romantic treat that deserves to be rediscovered. 

Home Media: Sadly, this is another one that seems to be TCM only at the moment. 

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Lady Be Good

MGM, 1941

Starring Ann Sothern, Robert Young, Eleanor Powell, and Red Skelton

Directed by Norman Z. McLeod

Music and Lyrics by various

MGM hoped to build comedienne Ann Sheridan up as a major musical star with this release. They paired her with smooth leading man Robert Young and their most popular musical performer, Eleanor Powell, along with up-and-comers like Red Skelton and Virginia O'Brian, and brought Busby Berkeley along as choreographer. How does this mix of experience and vitality look today in this story of a pair of songwriters who can't seem to stay together look today? Let's begin in the courtroom, as Judge Murdock (Lionel Barrymore) hears the story of lyricist Dixie Donegan (Sothern) and her up-and-down relationship with composer Eddie Crane (Young) and find out...

The Story: Dixie and Eddie first start writing together when she's with him and his current lyricist Bill Pattison (Dan Dailey) and they can't think of words for his music. When she sings the words she wrote on a handkerchief, Eddie realizes that she and the words are a perfect match. The song is a hit, and they end up getting married. It doesn't last for long. She would prefer to return to work, and he wants to entertain his society friends. The judge decides they're not compatible and grants the divorce.

Dixie's best friend Marilyn Marsh (Powell), singer Buddy Crawford (John Carroll) who has a crush on Marilyn, Eddie's best friend Joe "Red" Willet (Skelton), and his deadpan girlfriend Lull (Virginia O'Brian) all try hard to get them back together. It seems to work for a while, long enough for Dixie and Buddy to write another smash hit, "Oh Lady Be Good" and get remarried. Once again, though, she wants to work and he wants to play - she wants to start in on a show, and he wants to go on a honeymoon. It'll take a ploy playing on Eddie's hot temper and jealousy to make the two of them realize just how much their words and music can't live without each other. 

The Song and Dance: This unique twist on the typical romantic comedy musical is mostly a peg on which to hang some excellent numbers. Powell gets two of her best solo routines and handles the sequence when she and Dixie are using Carroll to make Eddie jealous very well. Skelton and O'Brian have their own fun as the comic relief couple. The Berry Brothers, a black dancing trio, show of some amazing dance moves in several numbers. While not elaborate to the degree of his earlier Warners extravaganzas, Berkeley still puts in some great work, especially on "Fascinating Rhythm." Barrymore makes the most of his brief but memorable role as the judge with some wise words on marriage for Dixie and Eddie in the end. 

Favorite Number: "Your Words and My Music" is the major hit that brings Eddie and Dixie together after they divorce the first time. After they get a cute rendition at the piano, we hear a more operatic version from Carroll and O'Brian's deadpan spin. The Barry Brothers get two amazing, high-splitting dance routines to "You'll Never Know" and "Oh Lady Be Good." "Lady Be Good" turns into a long montage, showing how the song becomes wildly popular across the country. Sothern gives a lovely performance "The Last Time I Saw Paris" at the awards dinner honoring their partnership. 

Powell has the film's two most memorable numbers. She's joined by a lively pup who performs in perfect time to an instrumental "Lady Be Good." Berkeley's touches pop up for "Fascinating Rhythm," including the sets that move as Powell taps away in her white tuxedo, ending with a great finale that has her being tossed to the camera by many hands.

Trivia: When Powell couldn't find a trained dog she liked for the Lady Be Good dog number, she bought one from a prop man and trained it herself. 

"The Last Time I Saw Paris" won an Oscar, despite not being written for the film. Jerome Kern, who intended for it to be a pop song, was one of the major people who pushed for the rule change to only original songs written for the film being eligible. 

The original Broadway Lady Be Good debuted in 1924 and was a hit for the time, running almost a year. There were two film versions. The silent version from 1928 that used the original film has since been lost. This one uses absolutely nothing from the original show but "Lady Be Good" and "Fascinating Rhythm." The Broadway show itself doesn't often turn up nowadays outside of an occasional summer staging. 

What I Don't Like: First of all, as good as the musical numbers are, most of them don't really have much to do with the story and barely move it along. Young's charming and sings well, but he's too laid-back to be a temperamental musician. Southern has the same problem - she's funny, but doesn't seem much like a workaholic, either. The story is a bit of a muddle, especially once they get into the elaborate and rather annoying attempts to make Eddie jealous in the end. 

The Big Finale: The terrific numbers alone make this highly recommended if you're a fan of Powell, Skelton, or the MGM musicals of the 1940's. 

Home Media: Easily found on DVD via the Warner Archives and streaming.

DVD

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Sweet Adeline

Warner Bros, 1934

Starring Irene Dunne, Donald Woods, Ned Sparks, and Hugh Herbert

Directed by Mervyn LeRoy

Music by Jerome Kern; Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II

Though she's remembered primarily for her non-musical comedies and dramas nowadays, Irene Dunne was an accomplished singer who performed on Broadway before coming to Hollywood in the early 30's. By 1934, she was one of the top stars in Hollywood, able to easily glide between melodramas, brittle comedy, and operettas like this and Show Boat. How does this backstage romance of the 1890's look nowadays? Let's head to a beer garden in Hoboken, New Jersey as the all-woman band begins their first number to find out...

The Story: Adeline Schmidt (Dunne) is in love with songwriter Sid Barnett (Woods). Her father, the owner of the beer garden, would prefer she court wealthy military hero Major Day (Louis Calhern). Adeline's sister Nellie (Nydia Westman) is more in love with the idea of being on the stage. She runs off to New York after producer Rupert Rockingham, and Adeline and her Major go after her.

Meanwhile, Sid is trying to find someone who can sing the music for his new operetta. The producers want to star Spanish beauty Alysia, who is a star but no great shakes as a singer. Sid insists on Adeline appearing in the show the moment she comes in asking about her sister. Everyone is so impressed by her performance, she gets the role then and there. Alysia is not only jealous, she's a spy who is being pursued by inept government agent Rupert. Alysia wants that role and will do anything to get it, even harm her rival. Meanwhile, Sid is going crazy as Adeline goes between his attention and the Major's, but the Major isn't quite as wholesome as he appears.

The Song and Dance: Dunne is definitely the thing here. She beautifully performs several Kern and Hammerstein songs and shows off some smashing gowns amid the hustle and bustle of Broadway and beer gardens in the end of the 19th century. Herbert and Sparks get the occasional good bits as the harried producer and the incompetent agent, and Westman is cute as Adeline's goofy sister with stars in her eyes.

Favorite Number: The all-female orchestra kicks things off well with "Play Us a Polka Dot" giving us a lively dance routine at the beer garden. Dunne sings the throbbing hit ballad "Why Was I Born?" when Sid asks her for what amounts to an audition. Noah Beery attempts "Oriental Moon" as a sultan in rehearsal, but keeps getting interrupted by people moving scenery. "We Were So Young" is one of the big Busby Berkeley-style numbers in the operetta, with Dunne on a swing and dancers swinging in the air behind her as she and singer Phil Rosen recall their past love. Dunne gets Woods back by performing "Don't Ever Leave Me" as she pieces together the ripped parts of his song in the finale.

Trivia: This debuted as a vehicle for singer Helen Morgan on Broadway in 1929. It did well enough, but the Depression cut into its business, and it closed after six months.

What I Don't Like: This feels like Warners tried to make an operetta in the same style as their Busby Berkeley spectaculars. It doesn't work. First of all, what's with the spy subplot? It has nothing whatsoever to do with the rest of the story. Shaw doesn't look or sound like a spy. She sounds more vaguely French than Spanish and acts like a spoiled child. The love triangle is even less interesting. Woods has all the charisma of the piano he plays at the beer garden, and Calhern is so obviously smarmy, you wonder what either Adeline or her father see in him. References to the Spanish-American War and a young Al Jolson feel more forced than authentic. Apparently, it doesn't have much in common with the original show either besides "Why Was I Born?," "Here Am I?" and the 1890's setting.

The Big Finale: As lovely as the songs are, the story and most of the performances are too dull to make this of interest to anyone but the most ardent fans of Dunne, 30's musicals, or operetta.

Home Media: Currently DVD-only from the Warner Archives. 

DVD

Carousel (1956)

20th Century Fox, 1956
Starring Shirley Jones, Gordon MacRae, Cameron Mitchell, and Barbara Ruick
Directed by Henry King
Music by Richard Rodgers; Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein III

With a song called "June Is Bustin' Out All Over" among its hits, this movie is practically made for summer. Despite the dark plot, it's a great way to inaugurate the warm weather season. Fox thought so too and released it less than a year after the blockbuster film version of Oklahoma!, and like Oklahoma!, it was revived on Broadway as recently as 2018. Does this one reach the same heights, or does it remain Earthbound? Let's head to "The Highest Judge of All" in the heavens and find out...

The Story: Carousel barker Billy Bigalow (MacRae) recalls to the Starkeeper (Gene Lockhart) how he died, and how much he loved the beautiful mill worker Julie Jordan (Jones). They met when she and her friend Carrie Pipperidge (Ruick) decided to ride the carousel where he worked. His boss Mrs. Mullin fires him for paying too much attention to Julie, and Julie loses her job at the local mill when she's out after curfew, but they get married anyway. Billy can't find a job, and he's ready to go back to the carousel when Julie announces that she's pregnant. Desperate to make money for his child, Billy joins his sailor buddy Jigger (Mitchell) in a robbery during a clambake. The robbery is botched, and Billy ends up falling on his knife.

He convinces the Starkeeper to let him return to Earth fifteen years later to cheer up his daughter Louise (Bambi Lynn). She's now a wild-living tomboy who is tormented by almost every child on the island, especially rich children, because her father took part in a robbery. He comes as she is just about to consider running away to become an actress. His attempt to give her a star still doesn't end well...but he still wants to see his little girl to her graduation....

The Song and Dance: A sumptuous production and some good performances anchor this tragic tale. The majority of the movie was filmed in the real Maine, and it looks absolutely glorious in widescreen. The costumes and sets mostly do a colorful job of bringing turn-of-the-century New England to rousing life. Jones is touching and sweet as gentle Julie, especially in the first half, and Ruick and Rousenville are hilarious as Julie's perky best friend Carrie and her steadfast fisherman beau, and Mitchell radiates hot danger as the troublesome Jigger.

Favorite Number: "The Carousel Waltz," the stage show's prologue, is seen after the credits as we see how Julie and Carrie came to the carnival and Julie and Billy's first meeting. MacRae and Jones also get one of Rodgers and Hammerstein's loveliest ballads, "If I Loved You," as they dance around the idea that they might like each other. Julie's Cousin Nettie (Claramae Turner) leads the big ensemble routine at her spa "June Is Bustin' Out All Over" as the locals, their girls, and a group of sailors celebrate the start of summer. Ruick is adorable in her solo "Mr. Snow," and joins Rousenville for a sweet "When the Children are Asleep" performed on Mr. Snow's boat as they travel to the clambake. MacRae sings a stunning "Soliloquy" as he wonders what his new child will be like on the beach. Nettie reassures Julie that "You'll Never Walk Alone" in a stirring solo after Billy dies.

Along with "June," the other big chorus routine is "Louise's Ballet." Lynn joyously dances the life of Billy's tough tomboy daughter, who plays with the local boys, fights with the rich girls who taunt her for her plain dresses and her poor family, and falls for a carnival barker (Jacques d'Amboise) just like her mother.

Trivia: Frank Sinatra was originally going to play Billy Bigalow and even recorded his songs, but eventually left the production. Accounts differ as to why he walked off. He either didn't want to do a second movie in 55 milometer film or wanted to be with his then-girlfriend Ava Gardner.

The original Broadway production opened in 1948, and while it did run two and a half years, it wasn't anywhere near the success that Oklahoma! before it or South Pacific after it were.  It's done better in the intervening years. There was a TV version in 1967 with Robert Goulet as Billy and two major Broadway revivals in 1994 (with Audra Ann MacDonald as Carrie) and 2018.

What I Don't Like: Heavy dramatics were never MacRae's forte. He sings beautifully, but comes off as stiff and lacking the requisite sexy danger that Billy is supposed to have in the book scenes. As gorgeous as the Maine locations are, they make the few numbers filmed on sets look that much more fake. Turner doesn't really do much besides sing "You'll Never Walk Alone" and "June Is Bustin' Out All Over"

The biggest problem with this show is built into it from the original Hungarian play that inspired it, Lillom. Billy hitting his wife could get him arrested well before the robbery nowadays, and few women in the 21st century would put up with the abuse Julie does. The second half remains problematic for many productions to this day (many critics complained about it in the 2018 revival). Also, obviously, if you're looking for something light and fluffy, this is not going to be your Rodgers and Hammerstein show.

The Big Finale: I'm not the biggest fan of the original musical, but the rousing numbers and decent cast alone are worth checking out for fans of Rodgers and Hammerstein, Jones, or 1950's musicals.

Home Media: Out of print on DVD. Streaming is by far your best bet.

DVD
Amazon Prime

The Desert Song (1953)

Warner Bros, 1953
Starring Kathryn Grayson, Gordon MacRae, Dick Wesson, and Raymond Massey
Directed by H. Bruce Humberstone
Music by Sigmund Romberg; Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and others

With operettas popular on early TV, several of them saw big-screen remakes in the 1950's. As MGM did with Show Boat, Warners upgraded the swashbuckling sand saga with Technicolor, a glossy production, and Kathryn Grayson. Does it come off better than the Show Boat remake did, or should it be thrown down a sand dune? Let's go back to the Sahara, where the Riffs are once again at war, and find out...

The Story: This time, El Khobar (MacRae) and the Riffs are waging war with the French military and another tribe lead by the wealthy and corrupt Sheikh Youssef (Massey). When Khobar isn't living among the people of the desert tribes, he's Paul Bonnard, a nerdy young anthropologist who shares an apartment with reporter Benji Kidd (Wesson). The daughter of General Birabeau (Ray Collins), Margot (Grayson), arrives from school in Paris. She immediately flirts with every man at the garrison, to the dismay of her father and the handsome Captain Fontaine (Steve Cochran). Her father hires Paul to teach her history and keep her busy. He not only keeps her busy, he tells her about the Riffs and their poor treatment at the hands of Youssef. Youssef is an ally of the French...but he has his own plans for the garrison. El Khobar is determined to expose him and reveal the truth, even if he has to bring Margot and her father along for the ride.

The Song and Dance:  If nothing else, the movie returns the story to more-or-less the original plot. I actually like Margot being the General's feisty daughter and Paul being an anthropologist. It gives her more reason for being in Morocco and him more of an excuse to wander the desert. Grayson's having a marvelous time as the feisty Margot, Wesson's mostly funny as Paul's clueless buddy, and Massey makes a very menacing dessert ruler. The color here is gorgeous, glowing and jewel-like with its sandy vistas.

Favorite Number: "Gay Parisianne" is the only song retained from the 1943 film, and it's used as a chorus number here with Margot flirting with all the men at the garrison. Grayson also gets to sing a lovely "Romance," my favorite song from this score, as she reveals why she left Paris. MacRae leads the male chorus through a rousing "Riff Song" in the opening, and he gets a gorgeous "One Alone" when he serenades Grayson in the gardens.

What I Don't Like:  MacRae is stiff as a board as El Khobar and lacks the charisma Dennis Morgan showed in this role in 1943. He's slightly more believable as the shy scholar than the swashbuckler chieftain. In the original show, every character, including the stage versions of Benjy and Youssef, had a song.  Here, only Paul, Margot, and the chorus sings. Dancer Allyn Ann McLerie is Arabic dancer Azuri, and she's even less believable than MacRae as a passionate woman of the desert (and is stuck in dark skin makeup to boot).

The Big Finale: As much as I like the 1943 film, this one has its own charms, including one of Grayson's best performances and a story that gets at least a little closer to the original show. Either way, both movies are a lot of fun for fans of swashbuckling desert adventures or operettas.

Home Media: Like the 1943 film, this is currently only available through the Warner Archives.

DVD

The Desert Song (1943)

Warner Bros, 1943
Starring Dennis Morgan, Irene Manning, Bruce Cabot, and Gene Lockhart
Directed by Robert Florey
Music by Sigmund Rombert; Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, Otto A. Haurbach, and Jack Scholl

Like Show Boat, The Desert Song was first filmed in the early talkie era. It was, in fact, Warners first flat-out musical in 1929, a huge epic featuring John Boles as the mystery man of the desert, the Red Shadow. While that version does exist, it's very hard to find today. The 1943 version was also hard to find until very recently, thanks to a load of legal red tape. Now that it's back in the public eye, how does the wartime version of this romantic operetta look now? Let's head to Geneva, Switzerland in 1939 to find out...

The Story: The Nazis have invaded North Africa. They've captured the Riff tribes, using them to build a railroad that'll bring supplies to their garrisons. The Riffs fight back by blowing up tracks and trains. They're lead by the enigmatic El Khobar...who is actually Paul Hudson (Morgan), a pianist and reporter who respects the Riffs and their way of life. He works in an Arabic cabaret owned by Peter FanFan (Lockhart) and lives with perpetually drunk fellow writer Johnny Walsh (Lynne Overman). Paul falls for beautiful singer Margot (Manning), but she's in love with Colonel Fontaine (Cabot) of the French Army. Paul has to dodge the Nazis and bring Fontaine and Margot on the same page, before the Nazis build that train and destroy the Riffs' way of life.

The Song and Dance: Morgan makes an especially charming freedom fighter in this swashbuckling World War II adventure. He's surrounded by a nice cast of character actors, including Lockhart as the head of the cabaret where the Riffs hang out and have their headquarters, Cabot as Paul's stoic rival for Margot's affection, and Overman as Paul's cynical roommate who just wants to know who this El Khobar guy is, anyway. Some of the changes to the story are fascinating, especially how the Riffs are treated by the Nazis and how they finally rebel. There's some lovely Technicolor camera work, especially in the beginning on the desert.

Favorite Number: Most of the big numbers are performed as part of the cabaret show. Margot's "French Military Marching Song" is especially fun and colorful. Morgan and Manning do a lovely, simple duet to "One Alone" when they're covering the Riffs escaping the cafe before the Nazis arrive. "The Riff Song" gets a nice run-through in the opening by Morgan and the chorus just after they attack the Nazis.

What I Don't Like: Manning lacks her male co-stars' charisma and looks stiff and bored as the singer turned spy. I didn't mind the topical story changes, but I really wish they let the songs tell the story as they originally did, rather than relegating them to nightclub numbers. This feels more like an action movie with songs.

The Big Finale: If you don't mind the story changes and love the cast or World War II adventure films, you'll want to ride out into the desert and give this tale of "Romance" a look.

Home Media: Currently only available on DVD from the Warner Archives.

DVD

Show Boat (1951)

MGM, 1951
Starring Kathryn Grayson, Howard Keel, Ava Gardner, and Joe E. Brown
Directed by George Sidney
Music by Jerome Kern; Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein

MGM bought the rights to Show Boat in the 1940's, hoping to make it into a vehicle for their then-stars Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy. It took so long for them to get it off the ground, it was switched to featuring Grayson and Keel, along with the wildly popular Gardner. How does this glossy Technicolor retelling compare to other versions, including the one I reviewed on Tuesday? Let's return to the docks along the Mississippi as the Cotton Blossom is arriving and find out...

The Story: We kick things off with the boat's leading man Steve (Robert Sterling) and engineer Pete (Leif Erickson) fighting over leading lady Julie (Gardner), and Pete running off to tell the sheriff about them. Having gambled his ship ticket away, Gaylord Ravenal (Keel) tries to get passage on the ship as an actor. The head of the troupe Cap'n Andy (Brown) turns him down, but he still falls in love with Andy's stage-struck daughter Magnolia (Grayson). When Julie is discovered to be part-black, she and Steve are forced to leave the Show Boat, leaving an opening for Magnolia and Gaylord to become the new leads.

Magnolia and Gaylord are huge hits on the river. Over the objections of Magnolia's mother Parthy (Agnes Moorehead), they marry and move to Chicago, living the high life on Gaylord's winnings. Their "high life" ends abruptly when Gaylord's luck ends and he runs out, leaving a pregnant Magnolia destitute. She takes over Julie's job in a Chicago nightclub, making a big hit (with encouragement from Cap'n Andy) on New Year's Eve. She goes back to the show boat to bear her child, Kim. Gaylord is still gambling, but he never forgot his wife...and Julie's not about to let him abandon his woman like she was abandoned.

The Song and Dance: The movie mostly benefits from the bright and glossy Technicolor production. The jewel tones of the dancers and performers pop off the screen and make for a nice contrast with the less bold colors of the river workers, Magnolia and Parthy, and the river itself. Keel and Gardner have the best performances here. Keel is a far stronger Ravenal than Jones and handles the dramatic scenes a little bit better. Gardner, despite being dubbed, puts in one of her best performances as the tortured Julie.

Favorite Number: "Ol' Man River" is almost as strong here, with William Warfield's stirring performance matched by Roger Edens' simple and touching direction. (Sidney was sick and Edens took over the sequence.) Dancers Gower and Marge Champion have a blast with their adorable routines to two of my favorite songs from this score, "I Might Fall Back On You" and "Life Upon the Wicked Stage." Grayson and Keel's "Make Believe" and "Why Do I Love You?" are gorgeous and moving.

What I Don't Like: No amount of gorgeous scenery or cute dance numbers can mask the fact that this movie isn't as authentic or as interesting as the 1936 version. We'll start with Gardner being dubbed. Her real vocals were used on the soundtrack album, and they're not that bad. The entire premise of racism is pushed aside. The scene with Steve and Julie after Julie is accused of being black is rushed and mostly brushed aside.  Joe is seen only for "Ol' Man River," and Queenie is barely seen at all. While I am glad they brought Julie back in for the ending and it does come off as a little less sentimental than in 1936, it also loses the point of how love - and the river - endures for generations.

The Big Finale: While not as good as the previous version, it does have some things of interest for fans of MGM musicals or Gardner and Keel, including songs that didn't make the cut in '36.

Home Media: As one of the most popular MGM musicals of the 1950's, this is fairly easy to find on DVD and streaming.

DVD
Amazon Prime

Show Boat (1936)

Universal, 1936
Starring Irene Dunne, Allan Jones, Charles Winninger, and Paul Robeson
Directed by James Whale
Music by Jerome Kern; Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein

Last week, we looked at two musicals that were remakes of non-musical comedies. For the next two weeks, we'll be checking out musicals that were remade as musicals...but in both cases, the remake wound up being subtly different from the original. And in both cases, they in themselves were remakes. Universal released their first version of Show Boat in 1928, a year after its first run on Broadway...but it only a part-sound film, with the songs in a prologue in the beginning. Producer Carl Laemmle Jr. and director James Whale wanted to try again and make it as authentic to the original show as possible at the time. Did they succeed? Let's head to the docks on the Mississippi River, just as the titular show boat is arriving, and find out...

The Story:  Captain Andy (Winninger) is the head of the Cotton Blossom, a traveling show boat plying the Mississippi in the 1880's. His teenage daughter Magnolia (Dunne) would give anything to be on the stage, but her mother Parthy (Helen Westley) disapproves. She falls in love with a wandering gambler named Gaylord Ravenal (Jones) and marries him despite Parthy's protests. Despite her lack of experience, Magnolia eventually takes over from the leading lady Julie (Helen Morgan) when it's discovered that her husband is white and she's partly black. Their marriage is illegal in the Deep South, forcing them off the boat.

Gaylord and Magnolia have a daughter, Kim, and then become rich off his winnings...until his luck runs out. By 1899, he's abandoned Magnolia in Chicago, since he's unable to support her any longer. She takes a job at a local club, where Julie and fellow former Cotton Blossom players Frank (Sammy White) and Ellie May (Queenie Smith) are working. Magnolia takes over from Julie on New Year's Eve and becomes a sensation. She eventually goes on to become one of the most beloved stars in the world, with her daughter Kim following in her footsteps...but Gaylord has never forgotten them.

The Song and Dance: Universal didn't usually throw themselves into musicals, but they really went all out for this one. The costumes and sets are lavish and gorgeous, beautifully reflecting their late 19th-early 20th century Deep South setting. Winninger and Westley are hilarious as the head of the show boat troupe and his sensible and rather prissy wife. Check out the scene where Winninger re-enacts the plot of an entire melodrama by himself!

Definately my favorite thing about this one are the hilariously laid-back Robeson and tough Hattie MacDaniel as Joe the dock worker and his wife Queenie the cook. They get some of the best lines, and my favorite of the new songs, "Ah Still Suit Me." They play off each other perfectly and really elevate the first half of the film.

Favorite Number: "I Have the Room Above Her," a charming ballad performed by Gaylord when he's trying to get Magnolia's attention, is so adorable it's been used in several subsequent stage versions. Morgan, MacDaniel, and Dunne have a blast with the black workers with "Can't Help Lovin' That Man." Dunne and Jones have a gorgeous "Make Believe" and also do fairly well with "You are Love." "Ah Still Suits Me" gives us some hilarious banter between MacDaniel and Robeson, as she complains of being fed up with his shiftless ways.

Two performances here have never been equaled. Morgan gives the definitive poignant version of "Bill" on the piano just prior to Julie's audition. Robeson sang "Old Man River" live, directly for the cameras...and he's nothing short of magnificent, his voice aching with the bittersweet life of the black river-dweller.

What I Don't Like: The other newly added song is "Gallavantin' Around" for Dunne and the chorus on the show boat. While it is fairly true to the place and time period, the blackface and banjo stereotypes are more wince-inducing than rousing today.

I wish they'd used some of the other songs from the show. Frank and Ellie May's roles are greatly reduced from other versions, as two of their three big songs, "I Might Fall Back On You" and "Life Upon the Wicked Stage," were dropped. Queenie also loses her only solo, "Queenie's Ballyhoo." "Why Do I Love You" was apparently filmed, but not used. There was also supposed to be a lot more to Kim's big dance number in the finale, including a modern routine to contrast with the Old South dance.

MacDaniel and Robeson are such stand-outs, once they disappear during the second half of the film, things become considerably less interesting. Dunne is more believable as the adult Magnolia dealing with her husband's abandonment in Chicago than as a hopefully teenager, and Jones isn't up to the heavier dramatics. Their final moments come off as overly sentimental and rather cliched.

The Big Finale: Even with all the problems, this is still a legendary Show Boat, and the closest you'll get to the original 1927 Broadway show at this point. If you love Show Boat, darker shows, or the cast, this is one ballyhoo you'll definitely want to get behind.

Home Media: Currently only available on DVD via the Warner Archives (which is how I have it).

DVD

Oklahoma! (1955)

20th Century Fox/RKO, 1955
Starring Shirley Jones, Gordon MacRae, Charlotte Greenwood, and Gloria Grahame
Directed by Fred Zimmerman
Music by Richard Rodgers; Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II

I'm doing this one in honor of the 75th anniversary revival of the original stage show that just opened on Broadway a couple of weeks ago. This is a far more traditional take on this story than the stripped-down version that's currently playing in New York, and was a huge hit in 1955. Rodgers and Hammerstein personally oversaw the production and made sure it was represented faithfully. How does it compare now? Let's head to the wide open plains of Skidmore, Indiana Territory in 1912 to find out...

The Story: Cowboy Curly (MacRae) wants to ask pretty farm girl Laurey (Jones) out to the big box social that night, but her hired hand Jud Fry (Rod Steiger) gets there first. He ends up going with Laurey's Aunt Eller (Greenwood). Laurey likes Curly, but Jud has an edge of danger to him. Angry, Curly goes to the smoke house where Jud lives to more-or-less threaten him. Aunt Eller warns them off, but Laurey's still nervous. Turns out she has reason to be. Jud's interest in her is turning into obsession. His competing with Curly for Laurey bubbles over at the party...and ultimately ends in tragedy.

Laurey's best friend Ado Annie (Grahame) is having her own romantic problems. She's been pursuing the Persian peddler Ali Hakim (Eddie Albert), but her true love Will Parker (Gene Nelson) is back in town. Her father Mr. Carnes (James Whitmore) promised that he could marry Annie if he had 50 dollars. He had it, but he spent it on gifts for Annie. Ali's not really interested in Annie...and he may have a way to make everyone happy.

The Song and Dance: There's a reason this show was such a hit when it first debuted in 1943. While its relatively dark story and use of music to propel the action isn't as revolutionary today, the script and the simple story mostly still work. Of the cast, my favorites are Greenwood as a perfectly salty Aunt Eller, Jones as troubled Laurey, and Grahame as the indecisive Annie. Too bad Grahame didn't do more comedy, as her Annie is hilarious as she switches between beaus. Nelson makes an amiable Will Parker, and Stieger is darkly menacing as the loutish Jud. The gorgeous costumes and lovely color cinematography (in CinemaScope or ToddAO) give us a marvelous view of a changing state.

One of the things I really enjoy about the movie are getting to see details of farm life and local ritual that didn't make it onto the stage, like Laurey bathing in a local river or the "shiveree" with the men tossing corn husk dolls at Curly and Laurey on a hay stack. It brings at least a little more authenticity to the proceedings.

Favorite Number: Agnes de Mille recreated her famous dances from the original cast here, including Laurey's dream ballet mid-way through that gives us her dream of what will happen if she marries Curly...and her nightmare with Jud. Nelson gets to show off his ragtime steps with "Everything's Up to Date In Kansas City," and he and Grahame do an adorable "All or Nuthin'." MacRae's opening "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" sounds gorgeous, and he, Jones, and Greenwood have fun with "The Surrey With the Fringe on the Top." Grahame's not really a singer, but her expressions are so funny in "I Cain't Say No," it works anyway.

Along with "Laurey Makes Up Her Mind," probably the most famous numbers here are the ensemble routines. Laurey and the girls claim that "Many a New Day" will pass before they mourn a lost love as they perform a charming dance in lovely frilly petticoats. The big title song is appropriately rousing as well.

Trivia: The movie was actually made by the Magna Corporation and originally filmed in the 70 millimeter ToddAO process. My review is based on the CinemaScope 35 mm version, but the ToddAO one is also available and has a few different scenes.

It was supposed to film in the real Oklahoma, but oil drilling there forced them a few states over to Arizona.

The movie version cut Ali Hakim's comic number "It's a Scandal, It's an Outrage," and Jud's mournful "Lonely Room."

Marc Platt, who appeared the year before as Daniel, one of the brothers in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, can be seen in a few numbers and during the party. He's the one who buys Curly's saddle and claims Annie's sweet potato pie gave him a "three day bellyache."

What I Don't Like: As lovely as Arizona is, the location shooting makes the sound stage-bound sets look cramped and fake. Eddie Albert is funny as Ali Hakim, but his character is basically a stereotype and may annoy some people today. Speaking of plot points that don't work now, in 1955, Curly probably just looked like he was needling Jud a bit over his interest in Laurey during that "Poor Jud Is Dead" song. Nowadays, he comes off as a jerk who is practically encouraging a man to commit suicide. No wonder Jud attacks them later. The costumes are gorgeous and fairly authentic. The extremely 50's hair and makeup, especially the cute, short dos on some of the younger girls, are not.

And while "Scandal" isn't one of the better songs in the score and is no great loss, I do wish they'd kept "Lonely Room," even if they had to dub Steiger. It explains Jud's motivations and back story far better than any dialogue could.

The Big Finale: This has long been one of my favorite movies, and my favorite Rodgers and Hammerstein musical. If you haven't seen it yet, this is the perfect time to head to the brand-new Sooner State and meet its colorful residents. Highly recommended.

Home Media: My 2-disc DVD set that includes the CinemaScope and ToddAO versions is out of print, but was re-released in 2017. It's on Blu-Ray and most streaming platforms as well.

DVD
Blu-Ray
Amazon Prime

Look for the Silver Lining

Warner Bros, 1949
Starring June Haver, Ray Bolger, Gordon MacRae, and Charlie Ruggles
Directed by David Butler
Music by Jerome Kern and others; Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein and others

Dainty blonde dancer Marilyn Miller was one of the brightest stars on Broadway in the 1920's. We've already met her twice on this blog, in the 1929 film version of Sally and the 1946 Jerome Kern biography Til the Clouds Roll By; Judy Garland played her in the latter. Does her own film biography live up to her colorful and often tragic life? Let's head backstage on Broadway and find out...

The Story:  Marilyn Miller (Haver) recalls her life when a fan brings her a poster of her family's vaudeville act just prior to her final appearance in Sally. She started out with her family's act The Four Columbians when she was barely in her teens. After her father Caro (Ruggles) comes down with the mumps and her family's quarantined, she tries to go on for them, but is rejected because of her youth. Dancer Jack Donahue (Bolger) lets her come onstage with him to show just how good she is. She's not only taken into the act for good, but becomes its sole member when her sisters Ruth and Claire (Lee and Lyn Wilder) leave to get married.

Her role in a Broadway revue introduces her to Frank Carter (MacRae), a handsome and slightly egotistical singer. The two eventually fall in love, but have to put off marriage when he joins World War I. They wed the moment he gets back, but it doesn't last long. He dies in a car crash shortly after encouraging her to take her most famous role as Sally, the little dishwasher who becomes a star. Marilyn is heartbroken and wants to retire, but she's talked out of it by impresario Harry Dolan (Dick Simmons), who eventually marries her.

The Song and Dance: What makes the movie is the sweet relationship between Bolger and Haver. She has a huge crush on him at first, but he eventually becomes more like a mentor. It's rare to see a non-romantic friendship between a man and a woman depicted in a musical. Ruggles and Rosemary DeCamp are hilarious as her protective vaudevillian parents (especially when they're all quarantined for the mumps), and MacRae does fairly well in his brief appearance as Miller's first husband.

Favorite Number: Haver and Bolger have three numbers together that amply display the warm friendship between Jack and Marilyn. In the first early in the film, he brings her onstage to show her stuff after the manager won't let her perform because of her age. She does him the favor in the second after she's an older teenager and dances with him. The third much later on has them doing a fun duet to the title song from Miller's circus-themed vehicle Sunny.

I really love how realistic the numbers are in this movie. "Look for the Silver Lining," with long-time Warners favorite S.K Sakall in the star comic role, looks like it could have come straight from the original 1920 stage Sally, as do the two routines from Sunny and Frank and Marilyn's ballad in the Passing Show.

Trivia: Marilyn's name was created by combining her given name, Mary, with her mother's middle name, Lynn. Originally, it had an extra n on the end, but that was removed in the early 20's at the behest of Florenz Ziegfeld. It would also inspire the stage name of an even more famous - and tragic - blonde actress, Marilyn Monroe.

What I Don't Like: Unfortunately, that authenticity also extends to a brief version of Uncle Tom's Cabin that the family appears in early in the film. It's played for comedy when Marilyn gets stuck in a flying harness, but the rest of the family is in blackface and doing bad southern accents. Even though the scene is only about five minutes and is actually pretty funny, it's still likely to leave a bad taste in the mouths of many viewers today.

While the plot's a tad bit more interesting than the similar travails of Lillian Russell, it's still very toned-down from the real Miller's life. She actually started in her family's vaudeville act at the tender age of four and spent a lot of her early life dodging child labor laws. She did marry Frank Carter shortly after he got out of the army, and sadly, he did die in a car crash...seven months before Sally opened in December 1920.

There's absolutely no mention of her marriage to either actor Jack Pickford in the mid-20's or chorus dancer and stage manager Chester O'Brian in the 30's, possibly because the former was abusive and their union ended in divorce, and the latter was still alive and active at the time. She was married to a dancer named Jack Donahue in the late 20's, but he was quite different from Bolger's character. She was also said to have a blue vocabulary that would make a drunk sailor blush and any number of affairs, including with Ziegfeld and studio head Jack Warner.

The movie is maddeningly vague about how she died. It had nothing to do with dizzy spells; she passed away in 1936 from complications from surgery on a sinus infection she'd had all her life. She died two years after appearing in her last show, which was the revue As Thousands Cheer. And interestingly, there's no mention made of her brief film career, despite Warners having released all three of her movies.

The Big Finale: While there's some nice numbers and decent performances from Haver, Ruggles, DeCamp, and Bolger, it's not enough to overcome the cliched and melodramatic story. For fans of the cast or 40's musicals only.

Home Media: Currently, this is only available on DVD from the Warner Archives. (I actually dubbed my copy off TCM.)

DVD

Oscar Winners - The Sound of Music

20th Century Fox, 1965
Starring Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Eleanor Parker, and Richard Hayden
Directed by Robert Wise
Music by Richard Rodgers; Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein

Yes, I know the next musical to win an Oscar was actually My Fair Lady, but I covered that one back in October before I decided on this theme. We're going to skip ahead a year to our next winner. This was one of the biggest musicals of the 60's, in every way possible. It solidified Julie Andrews' status as a major star after the success of Mary Poppins and proved that musicals could still do big business in a changing Hollywood. How does the real-life tale of the Von Trapp Family, singers who fled Austria during World War II, look now? Let's make swooping tracking shot on a certain hill overlooking Salzburg, Austria and find out...

The Story: Maria (Andrews) is supposed to be a novice nun at an Abbey outside of Saltzburg in Austria, but she just can't seem to conform to the church's strict rules. At a loss with what to do with her, the Mother Superior (Peggy Wood) sends her to former naval officer Captain Georg Von Trapp (Plummer), who needs a governess for his seven children. They've driven off other governesses in an attempt to get their frequently-absent father to notice them, but Maria wins them over with her honesty and imagination. She especially becomes friendly with the oldest Von Trapp child, sixteen-year-old Lisel (Charmian Carr), after she helps the girl cover up her outdoor rendevous with a young messanger boy, Rolf (Daniel Truhitte).

The Captain has forbidden both play and music after the death of his wife. When he goes away for a month, Maria introduces the children to both, teaching them how to sing and have fun all over Saltzburg. The Captain is angry that Maria disobeyed him, but his new fiancee Baroness Elsa von Schraeder (Parker) and friend Max Liberman (Hayden) are so enchanted by the children's singing, he ends up encouraging Maria to stay. Maria, however, is quite smitten with the Captain, to the consternation of the Baroness. She tells her that his feelings are mutual. Confused, Maria returns to the Abbey, only to be sent back by the Mother Abbess when she realizes that the young woman is trying to hide her feelings.

Even as they confess their love, the Nazis are marching on Austria, annexing it into Germany. The Captain is against the Nazis and being conscripted into their navy. It'll take a little help from their friends in Saltzburg...including Max and the nuns at the Abbey...to help the Von Trapp Family Singers escape to Switzerland and freedom.

The Song and Dance: What I like about this film (and our previous Oscar winner West Side Story) is the dynamic cinematography. These films inhabit the slums of New York and the majestic Austrian alps in a way seldom seen in musicals. The stunning color and camerawork, including those famous tracking shots in the opening, give this movie a feeling of intimacy. The Von Trapps are a part of their world in a way characters in films, let alone musicals, almost never allow for. Maria takes the kids swimming and boating; we see them dancing and singing in various real-life locations, many of which still exist today.

The script is much better than I remember it (and than most critics give it credit for), especially in the first half, where the emphasis is more on the kids and the triangle between the Baroness, Maria, and the Captain. (I also appreciate how the Baroness bowed out gracefully, instead of prolonging things or fighting.) Andrews, Plummer, and Parker were all excellent, Carr was lovely in "Sixteen Going on Seventeen," and the other kids were adorable.

Favorite Number: The movie almost literally soars whenever it's outside. Andrews' opening rendition of the title song, shot as she twirls around the hills, is iconic today, as is Maria teaching the kids how to sing "Do-Re-Mi" as they frolic across a glowing Saltzburg. Maria and the Captain's "Something Good" in the gazebo in the second half is warm and touching, while Rolf and Lisel's "Sixteen Going On Seventeen" earlier in the same place is too cute. Andrews also has fun performing the holiday standard "My Favorite Things" with the kids during a thunderstorm.

But my favorite song from this show is the gentle ballad "Edelweiss," originally performed by the Captain solo after the kids and Maria do "The Lonely Goatherd." It's such a sweet number, one of Rodgers and Hammerstein's best ballads, and Plummer's dubber Bill Lee gives it the right soft sell.

Triva: "Edelweiss" isn't just sentimental for the Captain and the citizens of Austria. It was the last song Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein wrote together. Hammerstein had been diagnosed with stomach cancer;  he died nine months after the opening of the stage show.

Rodgers wrote the movie songs "Something Good" and "I Have Confidence" solo. Some current stage versions of the show will occasionally add them in.

The original Broadway show debuted in 1959, with Mary Martin as Maria and Theodore Bikel as the Captain. It ran for four years and shared a Best Musical Tony with Fiorello! It was an even bigger hit in London, running for nearly a decade. A Broadway revival in 1998 with Rebecca Luker as Maria and Michael Siberry as the Captain also did fairly well, running a year and a half. There was a live TV version in 2013 and another one in England in 2015.

The movie was the blockbuster film of 1965, running in theaters for over four years. It was the biggest hit film of all time until The Godfather surpassed it in 1972 and remains on the list of all-time top-selling movies today.

There's a lot of historical fudging here. The Captain did hate the Nazis and was supposed to join the German navy, but the family escaped by train to Italy, not by foot to Switzerland, and he and Maria had been married for almost a decade by that point. The real Von Trapp villa was closer to the border to Germany than Switzerland. Max is fictional as well.

What I Don't Like: With Maria and her children still alive then (Georg died in 1946), there's no way this was going to be anything like accurate. A lot of critics in the 60s, and even to this day, deride the film as overly sentimental...and while it's not nearly as treacly as Going My Way, it can get a bit cutesy at times. "The Lonely Goatherd" marionette number is cute and funny, but it seems kind of shoehorned in for no reason other than to use the song and pad the already overlong running time. And yeah, the mood whiplash at the end, from romantic comedy-drama to tense thriller, is a bit much.

The Big Finale: Too sweet? Maybe a little, but it's also beautifully shot and acted, with wonderful songs and some of the most stunning camerawork of any musical film. If you're a musical lover or a fan of Andrews, you owe yourself to check this one out.

Home Media: As one of the most popular films of all time, you can pretty much find this one in any format of your choosing, including many streaming platforms.

DVD
Blu-Ray
Amazon Prime