05 "Stereophonic Sound" Silk Stockings
Even the most mediocre musicals usually manage to pull out at least one or two memorable numbers, but here's the king of that phenomenon. A hilarious diatribe on the excesses of cinema neediness in the mid 50s via aspect ratios, Technicolor, and yes, StereoPhonic Sound, told in long takes in a practically bare set with Fred Astaire and the hilarious Janis Paige (never as good as she is here) exchanging acrimonious cinema skepticism. A personal favorite for the self-reflexive film fan in me.
Ah, when you first mentioned this I thought you were insane. My grandmother took me to a rep screening of this when I was 11 and I had a vague memory of a movie opening with a terrible and interminable "Stereophonic Sound" sequence that was just an orchestra playing the same theme over and over. I think that actually belongs to How to Marry a Millionaire or some other film I saw the same summer.
Unfortunately any reflexive poking went right over my young head and I don't remember this at all. All I remember is Cyd Charisse dancing with a mop. I'll have to rewatch it.
Leslie Caron singing "Hi Lili Hi Lo" in Lili is on my shortlist, it's a very simple scene played wonderfully, also the end fantasy sequence where the puppets come to life. At the moment the film's my provisional number one.
Murdoch wrote:Leslie Caron singing "Hi Lili Hi Lo" in Lili is on my shortlist, it's a very simple scene played wonderfully, also the end fantasy sequence where the puppets come to life. At the moment the film's my provisional number one.
domino harvey wrote:04 "Stillman's Gym/Baby, You Knock Me Out" It's Always Fair Weather
In the world of the musical, no one is exempt from participation in the jubilant excursions into song and dance. While this is hardly the first musical to take masculine figures and transpose them into the world of the musical, rarely has it been done with as much gusto, as Cyd Charisse gallivants around with burly boxers in and out of the ring in this unstoppable two-part number.
Yes. Did you notice that the costumers sewed weights into Charisse's skirt to keep it swinging as she moves but tight-fitting when she's still? It's positively hypnotizing.
FWIW, I think Janis Paige's "Satin and Silk" number from Silk Stockings is also a scream. But yes, that movie really ought to be better than it is.
My potential list is still inchoate, and there are a lot of films I need to see or see again, but here are some personal favourites that haven’t been mentioned much yet:
Top Hat – There’s not much between this and The Gay Divorcee, but I find Top Hat funnier, and the completely artificial version of Venice featured in this film is one of the glories of Hollywood art direction. Knives, if you’re looking for splendidly fake sets, run don’t walk – actually, anybody participating in this project without the assistance of the big Astaire / Rogers set is taking their life in their hands.
Footlight Parade – The same probably goes for the two Berkeley sets, though many of those films are more likely to be candidates for the “great musical sequences” sub-list, since the films around the numbers get sillier and more annoying as the decade progresses. Dames, for instance, provides a handful of absolutely astonishing production numbers, with Berkeley pushing his tendency to pop-art abstraction about as far as it ever went, but it’s still not a great film. This weirdly back-loaded musical strikes the best balance for me, with a good basic backstage storyline, strong performances and, if not the greatest Berkeley numbers, a fine representation of his work at its height. Plus there’s dancing Jimmy Cagney to put things over the top for me.
Les Demoiselles de Rochefort – I actually rewatched this just a week or so ago. It’s simply sublime, possibly the last of the great musicals in the classical tradition, though Demy brings some interesting tension to the form, with his focus on (beautifully colour-controlled) actual locations. He realises that, if one of the joys of the musical is seeing ‘ordinary people’ burst into song and dance in public spaces, then upping the reality component should just make that particular high more intoxicating, and he’s right.
It’s Always Fair Weather – I suspect I like this film a lot more than most people, who tend to give it more respect than love. It’s a really bold rethinking of the genre in some respects, with its cynicism and disillusionment, but on the other hand it also delivers so many great, joyous numbers that it also succeeds on the traditional terms that it’s trying to undermine. Domino mentioned Cyd’s stunner, but my favourite, and one that’s very handy for converting genre sceptics, is Kelly’s gobsmacking roller-skate number.
Summer Stock – If you can look past some of the broader comic relief stuff, this is one of the tenderest and most moving of the classic musicals, circling elegantly around Garland at her most vulnerable and Kelly at his most generous, and it’s an interesting musical where some of the most indelible numbers are the quiet introspective ones (which makes the concluding punch of “Get Happy” all the more powerful).
Broadway Melody of 1936 – This movie probably would have been strictly routine if not for the talent on display. Two words: Eleanor Powell. As an actress, she’s appealing but somewhat limited, but as a dancer she might be the greatest thing ever put before a camera. All of her numbers, even the deliberately off-the-cuff one, blow me away.
Nashville – It’s a different beast, sure, but after the collapse of the sixties, so was Hollywood, and almost every musical made after then has a degree of self-consciousness you’d never have seen before. In this film, there are songs galore, all performed by major characters and most of which advance the plot. Unless you’re going to define the genre more stringently than even the MGM bosses of the 50s were prepared to do, I don’t think you can persuasively exclude this film from the mix (hell, it even borrows a bundle of tropes from the old Warners backstage musicals of the 30s).
Which makes me think it might be interesting to create a rough list of post-60s musicals of interest. Distant Voices and Pennies from Heaven I’ve already mentioned, and I expect I’ll be voting for The Wicker Man and The Hole, at least. The Hole is an interesting case in that the film has what amounts to a third lead whose sole purpose is to transform the film into a musical. Now, on the one hand you could argue that this element of extraneousness means that the film isn't really a musical, but since her “sole purpose is to transform the film into a musical”, then surely it is a musical. At any rate, I love the film and love the musical numbers, and when you peer through the Beckettian absurdism of the delivery, you’ll see plenty of other markers of the classical Hollywood musical present and correct.
Other late musicals I’ll be considering: A Mighty Wind, New York New York, Topsy-Turvy (Maybe Leigh’s best film?), Grace of My Heart (great, spot-on pastiches on the soundtrack, with the dreary exception of Dinosaur Jr.’s terribly lazy Wilson approximations), Velvet Goldmine (though I’m a bit leery about going back to it, since it’s a film that dropped like a stone in my estimation between first and second viewing, from a venue with great sound to one with mediocre sound), All That Jazz. I’d love to stick You, the Living in there too, since it’s a film that breaks into music over and over again, but I don’t think enough of those sequences are songs (rather than instrumental pieces) for it to qualify.
zedz wrote:My potential list is still inchoate, and there are a lot of films I need to see or see again, but here are some personal favourites that haven’t been mentioned much yet:
Top Hat – There’s not much between this and The Gay Divorcee, but I find Top Hat funnier, and the completely artificial version of Venice featured in this film is one of the glories of Hollywood art direction. Knives, if you’re looking for splendidly fake sets, run don’t walk – actually, anybody participating in this project without the assistance of the big Astaire / Rogers set is taking their life in their hands.
I actually have seen this one before and Blore aside it didn't really do much for me. I simply didn't like how the music is integrated. That said I will be searching out The Gay Divorcee because I've heard there's a fair split for people who enjoy the two. I'm also a tad curious about the love for The Hole, but not The Wayward Cloud which is tops for me at least for now. The drag musical number is an absolute stunner and I still can't get that song out of my head.
Murdoch wrote:Leslie Caron singing "Hi Lili Hi Lo" in Lili is on my shortlist, it's a very simple scene played wonderfully, also the end fantasy sequence where the puppets come to life. At the moment the film's my provisional number one.
A man after my own heart!
The film is just too delightful, everyone be sure to catch it Monday!
Since no one's mentioned it yet, I'll put in a good word for Inside Daisy Clover lest it be forgotten. While the film is more of a behind-the-scenes Hollywood drama then all-out musical, it has some particularly memorable numbers like The Circus is a Wacky World (sorry domino, but I'm afraid if I don't link this no one will pay attention). And you get to see Natalie Wood dressed like this (warning, spoilers!):
Spoiler
knives wrote:I'm also a tad curious about the love for The Hole, but not The Wayward Cloud which is tops for me at least for now. The drag musical number is an absolute stunner and I still can't get that song out of my head.
Oh, I should have mentioned The Wayward Cloud as well as it might well make my list, but that film's on the lower rungs of my personal Tsai ladder, whereas The Hole is up near the top. I think Cloud starts with a bang (ahem) and ends strikingly, but sort of meanders in the middle, and the musical numbers are sharper in The Hole, maybe because of their incongruity. The device was nowhere near as surprising the second time around.
zedz wrote:Footlight Parade – The same probably goes for the two Berkeley sets, though many of those films are more likely to be candidates for the “great musical sequences” sub-list, since the films around the numbers get sillier and more annoying as the decade progresses. Dames, for instance, provides a handful of absolutely astonishing production numbers, with Berkeley pushing his tendency to pop-art abstraction about as far as it ever went, but it’s still not a great film. This weirdly back-loaded musical strikes the best balance for me, with a good basic backstage storyline, strong performances and, if not the greatest Berkeley numbers, a fine representation of his work at its height. Plus there’s dancing Jimmy Cagney to put things over the top for me.
"By a Waterfall" is certainly a contender for best musical sequence though as a whole, I take Gold Diggers of 1933 hands down. Consider: 1) the best pacing of any Berkeley film, with a stunning number at the beginning and another every 20 minutes or so, 2) all the songs are great, with wildly inventive choreography for each one that fits each song just right and never falls back on the same tricks, 3) a nice, fluffy story in between that still manages to touch on some major issues of the time but never gets too weighed down in dull plot mechanics because of 4) Joan Blondell and (be still my heart) 5) Ginger Rogers, 6) Ginger Rogers, 7) Ginger, ahem...you get the idea.
Fortunately, unlike the '30s list, I presume vote splitting on the Berkeleys will be much less of a problem here.
Last edited by swo17 on Thu Jun 23, 2011 9:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
knives wrote:I'm also a tad curious about the love for The Hole, but not The Wayward Cloud which is tops for me at least for now. The drag musical number is an absolute stunner and I still can't get that song out of my head.
Oh, I should have mentioned The Wayward Cloud as well as it might well make my list, but that film's on the lower rungs of my personal Tsai ladder, whereas The Hole is up near the top. I think Cloud starts with a bang (ahem) and ends strikingly, but sort of meanders in the middle, and the musical numbers are sharper in The Hole, maybe because of their incongruity. The device was nowhere near as surprising the second time around.
It's at the top of my Tsai ladder, but I haven't seen The Hole yet so that may change. I just love everything about it in all the ways I typically do with Tsai and in a Waters sort of camp way. Is Visage a musical for anybody in the know. The production stills sure do suggest that.
Matt wrote:
knives wrote:
zedz wrote:Top Hat
I actually have seen this one before and Blore aside it didn't really do much for me. I simply didn't like how the music is integrated.
Man, you're one tough customer. Fortunately for my eventual picks, it looks like zedz and I are well aligned in taste.
I don't think I'm a tough customer, just really particular tastes. Like I said Blore is great and for the most part I think it's a okay movie but the musical numbers are treated in this, 'well we haven't had one in a while' manner that doesn't work for me. It doesn't help that I literally can't remember a single number which is a pretty huge demerit for a musicals list to me. The numbers just bring the proceedings to a grinding halt for me when the best should be able to ratchet the film up a notch.
knives wrote:It doesn't help that I literally can't remember a single number which is a pretty huge demerit for a musicals list to me.
Irving Berlin is spinning in his grave.
The numbers just bring the proceedings to a grinding halt for me when the best should be able to ratchet the film up a notch.
I'll grant the 'The Piccolino' is no 'Continental', but 'Cheek to Cheek' (you can't remember 'Cheek to Cheek'? What drugs were you on when you watched this!?) is probably the ultimate musical-number-standing-in-for-sex-scene, and for me it ratchets the film up to the apex of the genre.
The closest I can remember to any number is that there was one set in, I can't remember what they're called, one of those outdoor patio with a roof things. Even then I can't remember the music. Sorry.
knives wrote:The closest I can remember to any number is that there was one set in, I can't remember what they're called, one of those outdoor patio with a roof things. Even then I can't remember the music. Sorry.
Gazebo. And "Isn't This a Lovely Day to Be Caught in the Rain?" gets stuck in my head a lot. Even on non-rainy days. Ah well, different strokes . . .
knives wrote:The closest I can remember to any number is that there was one set in, I can't remember what they're called, one of those outdoor patio with a roof things. Even then I can't remember the music. Sorry.
I can't believe you don't at least remember this:
Here we are dancin'
In one of those patios with a roof
Those things you see outside a lot
I'm sorry I can't remember
I'm pretty sure we're dancin'
In a patio with a roof
If you need proof
There's the patio
And there's the roof
Oh, right that song. Now I think I might remember. Wait, no I don't sorry. :-" Time to move on, the one thing that I'm immediately discovering is that a lot of films promoted as musicals aren't.
Went through a couple of Gordon MacRae musicals I had sitting on my DVR for a rainy day.
About Face (Roy Del Ruth 1952) A fitfully silly musical remake of Brother Rat with Gordon MacRae and Eddie Bracken running around as soon-to-be graduates of a military academy. Joel Grey does proto-Jerry Lewis schtick that will only be as survivable as your personal tolerance for such things allows (I didn't mind). Virginia Gibson is unbelievably cute as the head honcho's daughter, even when stuck with Bogart's foppish doppelganger Dick Wesson. It's hard to defend the enjoyment I got out of the "Old Wooden Indian" number on any PC-era grounds, but I come to films from a position of privilege, sue me.
the Desert Song (Bruce Humberstone 1953) Putting an action-adventure movie into the musical format is an interesting idea, but any musical where I have to really pay attention to the plot is probably not that successful. MacRae and Wesson are back, this time as a Clark Kent-style Arab hero and cocky newspaperman, respectively. The middle east motif is not nearly as fun here as it will be in Minnelli's Kismet a few years later, and other than Kathryn Grayson's ever-creative wardrobe (good girls can't have breasts, y'know), there's not a whole lot to catch the eye. As for the ear, well, I've heard worse. Not a lost classic or a disaster, so, perfect TCM fodder.
Calamity Jane was the most fun I've had watching a movie since my screwball kick for the 30s list, and "Windy City" is the best number I've heard yet. Day really makes the movie, the side characters are enjoyable enough, but every time Day was off-screen I was waiting for her to return. Any other Doris Day musicals worth a look?
Murdoch wrote:Any other Doris Day musicals worth a look?
I have a lot of her films still in the unwatched stack (get ready for a lot of Doris Day recap days), but her debut film, Romance on the High Seas is wonderful, and has a very funny music number with Jack Carson and some Mexican balladeers. Carson and Day reteamed with less success for My Dream is Yours, which is a moderately entertaining musical wherein this unforgettable occurrence transpires:
Last edited by domino harvey on Fri Jun 24, 2011 12:37 am, edited 2 times in total.
