Music Man, The

Music Man, The

1962

It's the early 20th-century American Midwest. A con man going by the assumed name Harold Hill has used several different schemes to bilk the unsuspecting, and now travels from town to town pretending to be a professor of music - from the Gary (Indiana) Conservatory of Music, class of '05 - who solves all the respective towns' youth problems by forming boys' marching bands. He takes money from the townsfolk to buy instruments, music, instructional materials, and uniforms for their sons. However, in reality, he has no degree and knows nothing about music, and after all the materials arrive and are distributed, he absconds with all the money, never to be seen again. Many of the traveling salesmen in the territory have been negatively impacted by him, as the townsfolk then become suspicious of any stranger trying to sell them something. For Harold's scheme to work, he must gain the trust of the local music teacher, usually by wooing her, regardless of her appearance. And if the town doesn't believe it has a youth problem needing to be fixed, he will manufacture one for them. That is the case when he arrives in River City, Iowa, population 2,212, where he will have some unexpected help from Marcellus Washburn, a friend and former grifter colleague who now lives in River City and has gone straight, but he still wants to make sure Harold survives his stay in town. River City's music teacher is spinster and town librarian Marian Paroo. He's able to impress all the other River Citizens with his fast-talking sales pitches, but not suspicious Marian, whose hard-as-nails exterior is unlike all the other River Citizens. Her exterior is partly due to her somewhat removed standing in the town, as all the gossipy housewives believe she is a smut peddler - encouraging the teenagers to read authors such as Chaucer and Balzac - and mistakenly believe that she got her position as librarian through less-than-scrupulous means. What Harold does not know is that one way to Marian is through her young adolescent brother, Winthrop Paroo, a sullen boy who has withdrawn from life since their father's death two years before, when he started to lisp. Harold starts to fall for Marian, something that never happened with any of the other music teachers. Further complications may ensue if any of those traveling salesmen who have been following his route through the territory catch up with and expose him.
Show More ▼

It's just a bang-beat, bell-ringin', big-haul, great-go, neck-or-nothin', rip-roarin', ever'-time-a bull's-eye movie!

JBscale
85
Excellent

Film Detail

Genre
Musical - Comedy
Length
2 hrs. 57 mins.
US Theatrical Release
June 19, 1962
US Box Office
No Data Available
Global Office
No Data Available
Rating
G
General Audiences
All Ages Admitted

Collection Detail

Edition
Single Disc & Digital
Resolution | Digital Platform
Aspect Ratio
WS 2.40:1
Audio
English: DTS-HD Master 5.1
Studio
Warner Brothers
Released
February 2, 2010
Acquired Date
April 18, 2015
Times Seen
0 Times
Last Watched
Haven't seen it yet.

Actors

Robert Preston
Robert Preston
Shirley Jones
Shirley Jones
Buddy Hackett
Buddy Hackett
Hermione Gingold
Hermione Gingold
Paul Ford
Paul Ford
Pert Kelton
Pert Kelton
Timmy Everett
Timmy Everett
Susan Luckey
Susan Luckey
Ron Howard
Ron Howard
Harry Hickox
Harry Hickox
Charles Lane
Charles Lane
Mary Wickes
Mary Wickes

Directors

Morton DaCosta
Morton DaCosta

Producers

Morton DaCosta
Morton DaCosta

Writers

Marion Hargrove
Marion Hargrove

Awards & Accolades

  • 1962 Oscar : Music (Scoring)

Special Features

Featurettes
  • Right Here in River City
  • Featurettes

Other Recommendations

User Reviews

Ratings

JB Users
--
 
RT Fresh
94%
Tomatometer
18 votes
RT Fresh Certified
85%
Popcornmeter
934 votes
METASCORE
76
9 votes
IMDb RATING
7.7/10
19,683 votes