Nov 12 2010
Streaming The Music Man Online
| Streaming The Music Man Online.
Movie Title: The Music Man The Music Man is available for streaming or downloading. |
Looking for the musical that beat WEST SIDE Legend for the Tony Award? You’ve found it here, in Meredith Willson’s THE MUSIC MAN — and its appearance on DVD, in widescreen format and with all the bells and whistles, is long overdue.
Pop the disc in, and you’ll immediately be taken to the “Apt Here In River City” documentary (you’ll have to press the MENU button on your DVD controls to catch to the main menu so you can actually opinion the movie — why the disc goes immediately to the documentary is rather outlandish) . Hosted by Shirley Jones, who level-headed looks big, the good, too-short documentary is crammed with lots of beneficial stories and bits of trivia, in the words of several of Those Who Were There. You’ll glean out, for instance, which segments were actually filmed first, how amazed Susan Luckey was at Robert Preston’s ability to lip-synch “Disaster” during filming, and why Shirley Jones wore so many frills and flowers on her dress in the scene at the footbridge.
As for the film itself — the print is delicate, and as someone who had only experienced the film in pan-and-scan format, it is a delight to finally peer entire dance sequences without the cropping. And you’ll finally be able to leer all four members of The Buffalo Bills barber shop quartet (the unpleasant fellow singing bass could never be seen in TV-formatted versions) .
Buy,Download, Or Stream The Music Man! Click Here
There are other, smaller moments that have always cried our for the letterbox format, and if you notice both versions closely, you’ll perceive the accurate advantages in seeing the entire scene as it was shot. For example, one particularly disorienting scene in pan-and-scan format is the “Select A Exiguous, Talk A Little/Goodnight, Ladies” sequence, when Professor Hill is speaking with Mrs. Shinn and the town ladies about Used Miser Madison, and dismebodied voices drift in from off camera. At one point, Mrs. Shinn says, “Miser,” and an off-camera pronounce says, “Madison,” causing Mrs. Shinn to grimace. In pan-and-scan, it looks like a mistake; in widescreen format, the speaker is finally visible to Mrs. Shinn’s true, bringing the scene together in a logical fashion. Sounds like a trivial moment, I know, but that scene in pan-and-scan has grated me for years!
The DVD also contains a theatrical trailer, but it’s not the trailer for the new 1962 release, but for the re-release a number of years later. It’s tranquil an moving curiosity, featuring a reworked version of the “76 Trombones” sequence with Preston signing fresh lyrics about the film.
If there’s any shortcoming in the disc, it lies in the sound quality. You’ll have to crank the volume up a bit to hear everything properly, but beware — the moment you hit the MENU button, you’ll be blasted by and ear-splitting version of “76 Trombones” on the menu shroud. Ouch. Hit Calm true before you touch MENU. You’ll thank me later.
Buy,Download, Or Stream The Music Man! Click Here
It’s a outmoded out cliche, but they really DON’T gain musicals like this any more. And if your only experience with THE MUSIC MAN has been with the pan-and-scan format, do yourself a favor and occupy up either the DVD or the letterboxed VHS format. You really WILL realize what you’ve been missing.
I appreciate this movie. As laughable as it is — a goofy station, absurd over-the-top characters, the wacky “deem system” — it is unbiased a whole lot of fun. Robert Preston sparkles as the fly-by-night con artist/salesman who fair happens this time to earn his foot caught in the door, and who better to glean that foot than Shirley Jones, who is as comely and talented a leading lady as has ever graced a grand cover musical. Ron Howard is as amusing as a kid can be in the movies, and the music will cease with you long after the movie is over.
The film also has a titanic cast of supporting character actors and comedians, not to mention the fantastic Buffalo Bills. I savor the anvil salesman character (THAT’S a mountainous line of merchandise for a traveling salesman!), and my celebrated song has to be the pool hall song, “There’s pains in River City.” The movie, silly as it is, also has its touching moments, especially when Professor Harold Hill, standing on the footbridge, confronts the gap between his dreams and his life for the first time, and really realizes he is in worship with the heavenly librarian. For pure fun and entertainment, it’s hard to salvage a better movie than this intelligent but affectionate kidding of the Hawkeye Situation, and hard to bag a more fun couple than the arresting Robert Preston and the glowing Shirley Jones.
Quitting Smoking Cigarette
Magazine Style Album
E Cigarettes
Popup Display