I saw "The Music Man" when it first came out. I was around 12 years old and I loved it then. Unfortunately for me, I viewed this the other day on cable for the first time since then and had my fond memories dashed. The romance between the too-old and effeminate Robert Preston and Shirley Jones seems, at best, unlikely. "Shipoopi" is an embarrassingly bad song and dance number which makes me cringe today. Robert Preston doesn't just chew the scenery as Harold Hill, he eats it up and swallows it whole. Shirley Jones gave a very good performance. I kept hoping someone would tie an Acme brand anvil to the dreadful Ronnie Howard and throw him in the nearest deep body of water. His interpretation of a speech impediment was to talk like Daffy Duck and was, to say the least, unconvincing. There are some good performances by the secondary characters, some good songs and great cinematography but that isn't enough to save this picture.
Review of The Music Man
