Customer Reviews

HOLLYWOOD MOVIE MUSICALS

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This is the sixteenth volume in a series of books under the general heading of "Hollywood Classics". I previously did a review for Reid's A Guide To The Best In Cinema Thrills

This one looks at the `great, good and glamorous' Hollywood movie musicals.

Over 140 musicals are covered, with listings of cast and crew, songs, and other credits; a synopsis, interesting notes, a viewer's guide to audience appropriateness, the author's personal comments on the movie, and other views by previous reviewers.

From 1930's Check And Double-Check to 1973's animated Robin Hood, there's a movie here for almost every taste and age.

Reid is very frank in his comments about the movies. If he likes it, he says so: "A brilliant script by Ben Hecht. A Western, would you believe? But what an inventive Western it is! Full of highly original incidents, plenty of action and color. The cast is magnificent. And it's all so masterfully directed by Jack Conway, one of my personal favorites". (Song Of The Plain)

By the same token, if he doesn't like it, he tells you that, also: "I know that Ed Wood is universally famed as the world's worst director, but I disagree. I'd like to nominate George P Quigley. On the evidence of this movie, Mr Quigley easily outdistances Mr Wood." (Murder With Music)

You'll have to read this fascinating book to find out why the author feels this way.

And, if you haven't treated yourself to a good musical video or DVD lately, you'll find an excellent selection of suggestions here.

Once upon a time your local cinemas were not a collection of ugly concrete boxes but true picture palaces. In those halcyon days, musicals were the most popular movie category of all. A raucous, colorful crowd-pleaser like "Annie Get Your Gun" would fill every seat in the house. Guaranteed! In fact, musicals were such a popular genre that some titles went the rounds repeatedly. I don't know how many times "Ziegfeld Follies" was re-released, but it seemed to be playing my neighborhood theater almost continuously. Another movie that kept on coming back "by popular demand" was (this may surprise you!) "Somebody Loves Me". Another was "Road to Rio". A fifth: "Night and Day". A sixth: "Maytime". A seventh: "Blue Skies". These were certainly the most popular musicals circulating in my youth, although a second echelon of favorites also played numerous repeat engagements: "My Friend Irma", "Funny Face", "On Moonlight Bay", "It's a Great Feeling", "The Red Shoes", "Dixie", "Athena", "White Christmas", "Limelight", "Lullaby of Broadway", "Excuse My Dust", "Pagan Love Song", "Road to Morocco", "Duffy's Tavern", "I Love Melvin", "Hips, Hips, Hooray", "Because You're Mine", "The Firefly", "My Wild Irish Rose" and my personal nomination for the Best Musical of All Time: "Rose of Washington Square". Around the university circuit, undergraduates demanded constant repeats of "One Hour With You", "Top Hat", "I'm No Angel", "Love Me Tonight", "Flying Down to Rio", "Singin' in the Rain" and "On the Town". True, there were also musicals that overjoyed the critics but left John Q. Public unmoved, like "Kiss Me Kate" (I was alone in the theater with the usherettes when I saw this wonderful show at its first release showcase, and even the usherettes didn't like it. They thought it too sophisticated), "The Shocking Miss Pilgrim" (Betty Grable's huge legion of fans deserted her for this one, but I still think it's the best movie she ever made) "Where Do We Go from Here?" (a rib-tickling satire with June Haver and Fred MacMurray that still has me chuckling) and "Invitation to the Dance" (another movie where I sat alone in a palatial city cinema). Then there were the pictures that played extended city seasons but failed to raise a spark in the neighborhoods: "Funny Girl", "Moulin Rouge", "The Sound of Music", "Thoroughly Modern Millie". And finally the movies that everyone hated: "The Vagabond King", "Ziegfeld Girl" and "People Are Funny". (I thoroughly enjoyed the first two, but I'd certainly give a thumbs down to "People Are Funny"). All the above movies represent just a few of the titles detailed in this book. There wasn't room for all my favorites (though I did include Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers), so I brought out another book, MORE MOVIE MUSICALS.

The following review by Ross Adams appeared in the Winter 2009 issue of "Dress Circle" magazine: This 262 page book is a must for all movie musical fans. The cover is adorned with a stunning full color photo of Zsa Zsa Gabor in the original "Moulin Rouge", while the back cover features a color photo of Betty Hutton standing in front of a huge Annie Oakley poster. All the great musical stars are represented in this book. Here are the Bing Crosby pictures and the Fred Astaire's, as well as the stars of the "Road to ... " movies, namely Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour. The list goes on and on: Ginger Rogers, Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, Debbie Reynolds, Dean Martin, Jack Haley, Tommy Trinder, Betty Grable, Esther Williams, Danny Thomas, Doris Day, Jeanette MacDonald, Lana Turner, Dan Dailey, and many, many more. There are of course detailed reviews of well-known musicals like "Annie Get Your Gun" (1950), "Broadway Serenade" (1957), "Funny Face" (1957), "Funny Girl" (1968), "Invitation to the Dance" (1957), "Jazz Singer" (1953), "Kiss Me Kate" (1953), "The Merry Widow" (1952), "The Mikado" (1939), "Miss Sadie Thompson" (1953), "Moulin Rouge" (1953), "Night and Day" (1946), "The Red Shoes" (1948), "The Road to..." movies, "Singin' in the Rain" (1952), "A Song Is Born" (1948), "The Sound of Music" (1965), "Thoroughly Modern Millie" (1967), "The Ziegfeld Follies" (1946), plus the perennial "White Christmas" (1954). Also included are oddities like "In the Navy" with Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Dick Powell, Dick Foran and the Andrews Sisters; "Minstrel Man" with Benny Fields (which Reid regards as the best "B" musical ever made); Walt Disney's "Jungle Book"; "My Friend, Irma" with John Lund, Diana Lynn, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis; and Charles Chaplin's "Limelight". In all, 139 movies are reviewed, ranging from "Glorifying the American Girl" (1929) to "Robin Hood" (1973), when this great movie genre had more than run its course. All the actors for each movie are listed, plus the production staff, release dates in various countries, story synopses, copyright dates, running times. In addition, John Howard Reid provides not only one, but several or more reviewers' comments. I repeat: This book is a must for the movie buff.