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I decided to lighten up on the movies today and cover some of the fun movies that revolve around music, musicals, singing, and dancing. Of course, I recognize that not all of these actually fit the formal definition of “musical” including the bio pics but as I’ve stated previously, after all, this is my list so my rules.
I think I will start with the straight up concert films. The combination of the music and movie, it’s tough to go wrong. The Last Waltz is the film of one of the handful of concerts that I really wish I could have seen in person. Monterey Pop is another of those concerts as well. (There are a couple of other concerts on my list of “I wish I coulda been there” but they don’t have films associated with them.) I’m content with the film (and soundtrack) for Woodstock. I gave my sister a copy of the soundtrack one year for Christmas way back when. It was a bit of a surprise when my dad listened to it with us that evening without condemning everything but Dub could surprise us like that sometimes. Festival Express came out in 2003 but was actually filmed in 1970.
There are a number of bio pics that I enjoy watching. Some of them surprised me that I enjoyed them as they were about people from my parent’s generation but that’s one of the areas I grew to enjoy as I’ve gotten older. The Benny Goodman Story with Steve Allen as Benny Goodman. The Glenn MIller Story with Jimmy Stewart. St Louis Blues (W. C. Handy) with Nat King Cole and Eartha Kitt. Yankee Doodle Dandy (George M. Cohan) with Jimmy Cagney. Moving forward a couple of decades (at least), there’s The Buddy Holly Story with Gary Busey, Coal Miner’s Daughter (Loretta Lynn) with Sissy Spacek, and What’s Love Got to Do With It (Tina Turner) starring Angela Bassett.
Some of the more traditional musicals I enjoy include Paint Your Wagon (even though Lee Marvin and Clint Eastwood both almost make my singing voice sound good), Guys and Dolls with Frank Sinatra and Marlon Brando, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, and Streisand’s Funny Girl. And Li’l Abner. A couple of more recent movie musicals I enjoy are Rocky Horror Picture Show and The Blues Brothers:
Elwood: It’s 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it’s dark… and we’re wearing sunglasses.
Jake: Hit it.
Now I’ll admit, I’m not all that big a fan of Blues Brothers 2000. The only reason I mention it is that they used my hometown as the location for the “warm-up concert” in this one although they did make a small error. The movie had them playing at the “Cynthiana, KY County Fair” when in fact, it would have been the “Harrison County Fair” since the fairgrounds belong to the county. But that’s just a quibble. . . .
A couple of fairly recent movies (relatively speaking) with a music theme although not quite musicals are Mr. Holland’s Opus and Music From the Heart. While the latter is based on a true story, I do find it a bit interesting that both of these movies deal with teaching music and cover at least peripherally the cutting of music out of school as part of the ongoing budget battles. Mambo Kings (with Armand Assante and Antonio Banderas) is also a pretty good movie with a lot of music.
A few movies with some heavy dance that I’ve enjoyed many times include Singing In the Rain, There’s No Business Like Show Business, It’s Always Fair Weather, The Cotton Club, and Tap.
Now then. While Elvis movies probably don’t fit the official definition of “musical,” I figured putting the ones I enjoy re-watching many times under music is probably the best fit. They are fluff and fun and should be watched mainly within the context of them being fluff and fun. And of course, there are always one or two or three or four or more beautiful women. Here are the ones I will watch most anytime they show up on the tube. I have to start with Jailhouse Rock, even though it gets a bit serious for me in places. GI Blues (Juliet Prowse). Blue Hawaii. Follow That Dream. Girls! Girls! Girls! (Stella Stevens). Fun In Acapulco. Kissin’ Cousins. Viva Las Vegas (Viva Ann-Margaret!). Girl Happy (Shelley Fabares). Spinout (also with Shelley Fabares). Easy Come, Easy Go. Clambake (and Shelley Fabares once again). Of course, this is not near all the Elvis movies out there, but they are the ones I find most fun.
Other posts in this series are Essential Movies, Westerns, Historical Settings (pre-1500), Historical Settings (post 1500), Sword and Sorcery, Science Fiction, War Movies, and Crime and Punishment.
And because I can:
12 Comments
Nice selection – and I love Blues Brothers (the original). Such a tremendous waste that we lost Belushi. Sorry, I could live without Elvis, I’ll gladly give you my share.
By now you know I’m a sucker for period films in nearly any genre including music. I’d have to recommend these:
Amadeus — This is in a class of its own. Tremendous.
Impromptu — love story about Frederic Chopin and George Sand features a very young Hugh Grant while he was still a relative unknown here in the States. Judy Davis is marvelous as George Sand if a bit heavy handed at times.
Immortal Beloved — Gary Oldman as Beethoven is a casting call I would never have thought of, but he does a most excellent job.
The Scent of Green Papaya — Beautiful period film reflecting Vietnamese society in a way that Americans don’t typically see – without our excessive influence in the late 1950s/early 1960s.
And now just for fun:
School of Rock — the kids are as much fun as Jack Black, and I love Joan Cusick as the uptight anal retentive principal. Miranda Cosgrove appears as one of the students in what was probably her breakout role; she’s going to be long-lived as a performer.
The Soloist — Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr. are most excellent together, providing the right amount of tension in a story about the nature of musical genius and its ability to transcend human limitations.
Drumline — This is a family favorite; the kids will drop everything to watch this together. Nick Cannon and Zoe Saldana have great chemistry, and I like anything with Orlando Jones.
I’m sure I’m missing some favorites; I’ll watch to see what others suggest and may that will inspire tonight’s movie line up at our house.
There will never be another movie like Singing in the Rain. Magical.
Yeah, Drumline is a good one. It’s tough to catch all the good ones and remember to add them to my ongoing lists.
I don’t see how you could leave out South Pacific, Showboat, Wizard of Oz, On the Town, West Side Story, Cats, Cabin in the Sky, The Socerer’s Apprentice, and the Ingmar Bergman filming of The Magic Flute.
Well, as good as those movies are, they have never been movies that I enjoyed seeing over and over again
The Muppet Movie
The Producers
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
Truly, there are not many movies that I want to see more than once. I always feel like I could use that time to see another movie, read a book, or do something else. Even though these are not movies you would see again, I would also throw in Carmen Jones with Dorothy Dandridge and Harry Belafonte, and the I Don’t Care Girl with Mitzi Gaynor.
There is a sad note that goes with the filming of Jailhouse Rock. The female lead, Judy Tyler, was Princess Summerfallwinterspring on the Howdy Doody tv show. The movie was filmed in Montana. She had just gotten married so she and her new husband drove to the set from Los Angeles. After the filming was complete, they headed home, but both died in a one car accident. She was only 24 with a bright future.
Top Hat (1935)
Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyfqW6td-yA
Astaire; Edward Everett Horton shows up at the very end
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fizrfcAI13A&feature=related
Cabaret (1972)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNMVMNmrqJE
Showboat( 1936)
Paul Robeson
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eh9WayN7R-s
There are two concerts on film that fit the “wish I had been there” bill for me. The first is Paul Simon’s 1987 “Graceland” concert in Zimbabwe. The music of all the performers is infectious, and the delight of the crowd even more so. When my kid was just three, he watched this concert three times on a single Saturday, then marched into his daycare on Monday morning with his little fist held high doing his best Hugh Masakela and singing “Bring back Nelson Mandela, bring him back home to Soweto . . .” Here’s Hugh Masakela’s original version of the song” from that concert.
The second concert film is Simon’s 1991 “Concert in Central Park.” I remember watching this with some friends in St. Louis live on cable and was taken by the way in which Simon and his band made his old songs sound new. Well into the concert, the camera swung onto an African-American guy at the keyboards. He began to play a gospel riff with this grin on his face, as if to say “I know what the next song is, and you don’t.” The music teased at my mind, and the minds of my friends: “Oh, that sounds like . . . what? . . . I can almost place it . . . What is he leading up to?” Then Simon himself answered the question by jumping in with the words “When you’re weary . . .” Very impressive musicianship all the way around.
I don’t have the movie, but I’ve got the CDs of the concert, and every time it gets to that part of the concert I can still see the smile on that keyboard player’s face. Priceless.
Whoops!
s/b Masekela
My all time favorite dance movie is All That Jazz. The airplane sequences are great, and there is plot! and meaning!
Second is Singing In The Rain, except for the parts where they dumb down the dancing so Debbie Reynolds can do it.
Third is any dance sequence with Fred Astaire. The dialog is fun for a while, but then it just gets irritating.