The Music Man (1962)
Average Rating: 8.1/10
Reviews Counted: 17
Fresh: 16 | Rotten: 1
No consensus yet.
Release Date: Jun 19, 1962 Wide
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Average Rating: 3.5/5
User Ratings: 30,102
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Movie Info
Meredith Wilson's hit 1957 Broadway musical was transferred to the screen in larger-than-life fashion in 1962. Robert Preston repeats his legendary stage performance as fast-talking con man Harold Hill, who goes from town to town selling citizens on starting a "boy's band," then extracts money from them by ordering instruments and uniforms, with the promise that he'll teach the kids how to be musicians. Once he's collected his bankroll, Hill skips town, leaving the kids in the lurch. Looking for
Jun 19, 1962 Wide
Feb 23, 1999
Warner Bros. Pictures
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Cast
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Robert Preston
Harold Hill -
Shirley Jones
Marian Paroo -
Buddy Hackett
Marcellus Washburn -
Pert Kelton
Mrs. Paroo -
Ron Howard
Winthrop Paroo -
Hermione Gingold
Eulalie MacKechnie Shin... -
Paul Ford
Mayor Shinn -
Susan Luckey
Zaneeta Shinn -
Harry Hickox
Charlie Cowell -
Charles Lane
Constable Locke -
Mary Wickes
Mrs. Squires -
Oliver Hix
Buffalo Bills -
Natalie Core
Truthful Smith -
Ronnie Dapo
Norbert Smith -
Roy Dean
Gilbert Hawthorne -
Timmy Everett
Tommy Djilas -
William Fawcett
Lester Lonnergan -
Jesslyn Fax
Avis Grubb -
Percy Helton
Conductor -
Rance Howard
Oscar Jackson -
Anne Loos
Stella Jackson -
Therese Lyon
Dolly Higgins -
Natalie Masters
Farmer's Wife -
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Milton Parsons
Farmer -
Barbara Pepper
Feril Hawkes -
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Monique Vermont
Amaryllis -
Hank Worden
Townsman -
Peggy Wynne
Ada Nutting -
Delos Jewkes
Harley MacCauley -
Ray Kellogg
Harry Joseph -
The Buffalo Bills
Jacey Squires; Olin Bri... -
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The Music Man Trailer & Photos
All Critics (21) | Top Critics (3) | Fresh (18) | Rotten (1) | DVD (9)
A treat to re-watch, almost 50 years from its original production date.
Glorious production, with gorgeous music, dancing.
...pure Iowa corn: Sentimental, nostalgic, gentle, and innocent. (Blu-ray Edition)
...a quintessential slice of Americana, featuring wonderful music, engaging characters, and an uplifting story.
The music is glorious, but as a movie, this is a photographed play, a nostalgic evocation of small-town American that was congruent with Kennedy's New Frontier; within a year, though, Kennedy would be assassinated and the optimistic mood would vanish
One of the most obnoxious musicals ever to be staged for movie cameras.
Robert Preston is note-perfect in a bright musical even non-fans of the genre will enjoy.
Too stagey and too gooey, but it preserves Preston's classic performance
Robert Preston shines in one of the sunniest ol' musical classics under the sun.
Audience Reviews for The Music Man
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
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- Zaneeta Shinn: Ye gods!
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- Harold Hill: We got trouble! Right here in River City! With a capital T that rhymes with P that stands for pool!
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- Eulalie MacKechnie Shinn: One Grecian urn... [pick-a-little ladies pose]
- Eulalie MacKechnie Shinn: Two Grecian urns... [different pose]
- Eulalie MacKechnie Shinn: And a fountain! [yet another pose]
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- Zaneeta Shinn: It's indecent to meet boys at the footbridge!
- Tommy Djilas: he answers Zaneeta: First thing after supper?
- Winthrop Paroo: she answers Tommy: All right! Ye Gods!
- Harold Hill: Mothers of River City, heed that warning before it's too late! Watch for the telltale signs of corruption! The minute your son leaves the house, does he rebuckle his knickerbockers below the knee? Is there a nicotine stain on his index finger? A dime-novel hidden in the corncrib? Is he starting to memorize jokes from Captain Billy's Whiz-Bang? Are certain words creeping into his conversation? Words like 'swell' and "so's your old man"? If so my friends, ya got trouble!
- Winthrop Paroo: No, thank you, AMARYLLITH! [Winthrop had an embarressing lisp]
- Harold Hill: Ladies and gentlemen, either you are closing your eyes to a situation you do not wish to acknowledge, or you are not aware of the caliber of disaster indicated by the presence of a pool table in your community!
- Marcellus Washburn: Well, ain't no call for a boys' band in this town. Anything these Iowa people don't have already, they do without.
- Tommy Djilas: Mayor Shinn, your honor, your daughter and I have been going steady behind your back.
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- Harold Hill: Oh, my dear little librarian. You pile up enough tomorrows, and you'll find you are left with nothing but a lot of empty yesterdays. I don't know about you, but I'd like to make today worth remembering.
- Mrs. Paroo: It's a well-known principle that if you keep the flint in one drawer and the steel in the other, you'll never strike much of a fire.
- Marcellus Washburn: I heard you was in steam automobiles. (to Harold Hill)
- Harold Hill: answers: I was... till someone actually 'invented' one!
- Harold Hill: 'Brooklyn'? Marce, this isn't even *Dubuque*!
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- Harold Hill: A man can't turn tail and run just because a little personal risk is involved. What did Shakespeare say? 'Cowards die a thousand deaths, the brave man... only 500'?
- Mayor Shinn: It's as clear as a buttonhook in the well water!
- Mayor Shinn: You watch your phraseology!
- Mrs. Paroo: When a woman's got a husband, and you've got none, why should she take advice from you? Even if you can quote Balzac and Shakespeare and all them other high-falutin' Greeks.
- Mrs. Paroo: I know all about your standards and if you don't mind my sayin' so there's not a man alive who could hope to measure up to that blend of Paul Bunyan, Saint Pat, and Noah Webster you've concocted for yourself out of your Irish imagination, your Iowa stubbornness, and your li'berry full of books!
- Harold Hill: The sadder but wiser girl for me.
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