The Music Man (1962)

I've actually had this film for some time now. My grandmother took me to see this performed live 8-10 years ago so I haven't been all that interested in seeing something that I felt I had already seen. Truth be told when I started it up I couldn't even remember what it was about, but about 10 minutes into it, it all came back to me.

A traveling salesman, Mr. Hill [Robert Preston], has a scheme going where he travels around selling band equipment to the people of a small town with the promise of teaching their kids how to play the instruments. When the equipment arrives and he is paid he runs off. With each town the scheme grows and he sells more items, first sheet music, then uniforms, etc. The problem with this latest town is that is starts to fall for the librarian, Marian [Shirley Jones], and we also learn that actually conducting a band has always been a dream of his. So in a way running away at the last minute he has been running away from himself and commitment, just as much as the people he sold the instruments to.

For a film were I knew the outcome, I found it really quite good. I watched is because it won the Golden Globe, and was surprised to see that it won an Oscar and was nominated for 5 more.


Vote: 7/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056262/

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