5 MUSICAL FILM COLLECTION

5 great and not so great musicals from years gone by!!

MUSICALS - YANKEE DOODLE DANDY(1942)

This is a great movie, about George M. Cohan's life
(kinda)!! Several liberties are taken, however the cruxt
of Cohan's life is here! Wonderfully played by James
Cagney, and many great supporting actors, with the great
music of Mr. Cohan, and great sets!! Much better than you
might think!! A

From IMDb.com:

"Yankee Doodle Dandy" is one of those pictures that
define "Classic Film". It is amazingly watchable and
re-watchable. No matter how many times you see it, it
seems fresh and fun. It will make you laugh and cry
and just plain feel good.

Cagney is at his dancing best ! Watching him duplicate
the intricate foot (and leg) work of George M. Cohan
dancing up the walls and dancing down the White House
staircase just cannot be beat. He rivals the efforts
of such as Astaire and Kelly (not a small feat, that.)
There is a clip of the real George M. available for
viewing and Cagney's matching is amazing.

The story is not historically perfect but that's the
way Hollywood biographies are. The story as presented
is just right for this viewer.

The songs, singing, ensemble dancing, acting by all
and sundry = A+++. If you've never seen it, remedy
that situation ASAP. Watch the Black and White version
not the pink and baby blue "colorized" one. You will
swear that you saw it in color anyway. Warning : You
will find yourself humming and singing the songs for
days afterwards. - Byrdz

There are good musicals, then there's great musicals!
This movie is the BEST musical ever produced!! With the
wonderful cast of Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and Donald
O'Connor doing what they all do best, entertain!! Gene
and Donald do most of the hard work of dancing, and
there's one number that is one of the best in all of
musical lore, Make Em' Laugh!! This number alone is
reason enough to watch this movie!! But wait, there's
more!! Some of the greatest music is also here, "Singing
In The Rain" and "Good Morning" are wonderful!! And
then there's the story line: a couple of silent movie
actors are asked to make the jump to talkies, and while
Gene has no problems with it, the actress, who's been
an idol in the silent films, isn't having such an easy
time with it!! So bad of time, in fact, that they bring
in a voice actress to cover for her(Debbie)!! While
it seems like a pretty lame plot for a movie, it's not
really as the cast excels and the humor is hillarious!!
An absolute must watch for any musicals fan, or just a
fan of fun, and funny, movies!!

Also in this is William Schallert(Star Trek: TOS episode
"The Trouble With Tribbles", Patty Dukes father in The
Patty Duke Show), Madge Blake(Batman as Aunt Harriett
Cooper), Tommy Farrell(Elvis Presley movies Kissin'
Cousins & Girl Happy) and King Donovan(The Bob Cummings
Show, Invasion Of The Body Snatchers[1956])! A+

From IMDb.com:

An absolute masterpiece, and easily, easily the highest rating.
Gene Kelly's performance of 'Singin' in the Rain' has to be the
greatest dance numbers ever performed on film, and I could
watch it over and over again. He's a genius throughout this
movie as both actor and director. It's just one fantastic number
after another, including Donald O'Connor's 'Make 'Em Laugh',
the two gentlemen and a 19-year- old Debbie Reynolds performing
'Good Morning' which includes that beautiful sofa sequence at
the end, and Kelly dancing with Cyd Charisse in a stunning
"imagined sequence within an imagined sequence", with
beautiful modern art touches and many others. This film
works on all levels as a musical, of course, but also a
romantic-comedy, and an ode to Hollywood's past. It makes
you feel good not just because of the story, but because
of the irrepressible joy in the performances, and because
of you know you're seeing real artistry in the choreography
and execution. They make it look smooth and easy, often
making the most (so creatively!) out of an economy of
space, but if you read the stories of the effort that
went in, you'll appreciate it all the more. It's not for
nothing that the cast of LaLaLand watched this movie every
day on set for inspiration. Pure joy. -- Antonius Block

Remember back when I said this set has some great
and some not so great movies in it! Well, this is
in that second catagory for me! Trying to keep away
from spoilers as much as possible, the best part of
this musical is the raising of the barn scene! This
is truly a wonderful scene, well worth watching the
movie for that alone! However, again for me, the rest
of the movie seems to go downhill fast from there! I
kept waiting for another good number, or an exciting
scene, but it never materialized! However, like I
said, the barn scene is great!!

This co-stars Julie Newmar(Catwoman in the Batman
TV series, and in the Star Trek: TOS episode "Friday's
Child", she also co-starred with Bob Cummings in the
TV series My Living Doll)!! C

From IMDb.com:

Raucous, foot-stomping musical, seemingly one of the few
song-and-dances made more for men than for women. It's
certainly one of the most scenic and colorful. Those candy-
box colors are nicely blended into a visual treat, even with
the occasional painted backdrop. The movie's also one of
the best of the so-called 'pig pen' musicals of the time. These
sought to get the format off city streets and into American
farmlands. Others include Oklahoma (1955), and Lil' Abner(1959).

Of course, petite, girlish Jane Powell and big brawny Howard
Keel may seem a visual mismatch, and I believe they do appear
side-by-side only once. Still, Powell projects enough mother
hen authority to keep the brawling boys in hand, and enough
to hold her own with the macho Keel. The songs may be routine,
but the barn-raising centerpiece is a real smash. There's enough
kinetic energy in that sequence to light up LA for a week. Apparently,
the complex steps even took several weeks to rehearse. I believe it.

Too bad the rollicking good humor and risque storyline is too
often overlooked. I love that final scene of the dads with shotguns
standing behind their betrothed daughters. It's rather surprising
that the basic set-up of girls kidnapped as wives got past the
notorious censors of the time. But risque or not, this is one of
MGM's most energetic and fun-filled musicals that even men
can enjoy. - dougdoepke

Ya' got trouble, right here in River City!! This starts
out the biggest scams that's ever hit the state of Iowa!!
A man whose specialty is selling folks on his abilities
to put together a band and lead it when he doesn't know
anything about being a band leader comes to the small
town of River City, Iowa and plys his trade!! Of course
he runs into a woman who doesn't fall for his scheming
ways and catches his fancy!! Starring Robert Preston &
Shirley Jones, along with Buddy Hackett!!

This has some really great music in it, 76 Trumbones,
the very beautiful 'Til There Was You, Ya' Got Trouble,
the barbershop quartet numbers How Can There Be Sin In
Sincerely?, Goodnight Ladies and Lida Rose are quite
fun! There are a couple of numbers which could've been
left out(Being In Love is one!!)!!

A side note here, Rance Howard is in this! He was also
in Babylon 5 as Sheridan's father, and is the real life
father of Ron Howard(who is also in this), and Clint
Howard(Star Trek: TOS episode "The Corbomite
Maneuver"!)!! Much, MUCH better than I remembered!! A

From IMDb.com:

I really liked the production, and the moving camera,
a rarity in film making in those days (I'm 60 so i
grew up with these films) helps keep the film alive.

Robert Preston was terrific. I love musicals and big
films like this are a rarity, but the musical hasn't
died -- it moved into the world of animation< and to
children's films... it resurfaces once in a while,
with the spectacular

CHICAGO...

All the performers were delightful, though some overdrawn
but Shirley Jones did a fine job as Marian...the credit
goes to the screenwriter who apparently overhauled the
Broadway play. I noticed that Ronnie Howard was listed
in the movie...what a talented man he turned out to
be. - alexanderasam

VIVA LAS VEGAS:

This is a wonderful movie if only for the fact that
it's set in old Las Vegas! Several scenes show most
of the old casinos that are no longer alive! It also
has Ann-Margaret who does a pretty good job of
keeping up with Elvis in this!

This also has William Demarest(Uncle Charlie in My
Three Sons [he replaced William Frawly after he
left the show]), and Teri Garr(TVs Star Trek: TOS
episode "Assignment: Earth")!

The scene at the pool early on in the movie was
a lot of fun! And the music, while a lot of it was
just so-so, had a couple of top-notch numbers,
including the great title song, "What'd I Say" and
"I Need Somebody Tonight"! A number done by a
group called the Forte Four, "The Climb" was
another decent song.

The race at the end of the movie is absolutely
great, as the course runs through downtown
Vegas, as well as over the dam and through
a lot ot the desert surrounding Vegas!! Overall
a great movie! A-

From another reviewer at Amazon:

It's pretty tough to beat Jailhouse Rock in
terms of sheer entertainment, but Elvis
lovers are particularly fond of this 1964
hit. The Big E plays race-car driver Lucky
Jackson, who arrives in Las Vegas for an
upcoming Grand Prix race. Lucky's car
needs a new engine, so he gets a waiter
job at a casino and starts working his
crooning charms on Rusty Martin
(Ann-Margret). It's their on-screen
chemistry that makes this flick a lot of
fun; Presley never had a better costar
than Ann-Margret, and their race-car
romance is quintessential 1960s fluff.
Then there are the songs, of course,
including the snappy title tune, a rockin'
rendition of Ray Charles's "What'd I Say?,"
and "The Yellow Rose of Texas." Viva
Las Vegas is one of the Elvis movies that
stands the test of time, when the legend
was still at his peak. And if you're wondering
if the King gets his car fixed in time to win
the race, well, check out the movie to find
out. --Jeff Shannon

COMPLETE LIST OF DVDs
LIST OF MOVIE DVDs
LIST OF ANIME/ANIMATION DVDs
LIST OF BOND DVDs
LIST OF DISNEY DVDs
LIST OF ELVIS DVDs
LIST OF MUSIC DVDs
LIST OF STAR TREK/STAR WARS DVDs
LIST OF SUPERHERO DVDs
LIST OF TELEVISION DVDs

TO PHOTO PAGES OF MOVIES:

A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J-K
L
M
N
O
P-Q
R
S
T
U-V
W
X-Z

ANIME/ANIMATION
ANIME SUPERHERO
BOND
DISNEY
ELVIS
HOLIDAY
MUSIC
MUSICALS
OTHER
SETS #-M
SETS N-Z
STAR TREK/STAR WARS
SUPERHERO
TELEVISION A-B
TELEVISION C-D
TELEVISION E-F
TELEVISION G-H
TELEVISION I-K
TELEVISION L
TELEVISION M
TELEVISION N-O
TELEVISION P-Q
TELEVISION R
TELEVISION Gene Roddenberry
TELEVISION S
TELEVISION T
TELEVISION U-W
TELEVISION X-Z
TELEVISION STAR TREK/STAR WARS
TELEVISION SUPERHERO

Music playing is:
Music From The Music Man
Till There Was You