The Music Man: My Favorite Movie

I was 22 when I first saw The Music Man. I was born in a small Iowa town and was raised primarily in small Iowa towns. I went to college at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. While Ames is larger than most of the towns where I lived during my growing up years, it still had a small-town feel to it. After graduating from Iowa State in 1962, I moved to Kansas City, Missouri, a huge city compared to Auburn, Iowa, Lake City, Iowa, Truesdale, Iowa, etc.

It was in Kansas City that I first saw The Music Man, and I kept returning to the theater until I had seen it approximately a dozen times! The story takes place in the mythical River City, Iowa. The plot involves Professor Harold Hill, a band instrument and band uniform salesman, who claims to be able to lead a band, but who, in reality, "don't know one note from another." In the process of "flim-flamming" the citizens of River City, Professor Hill falls in love with Marian the Librarian. When questioned about his band directing method, Hill says he has invented a new system called "the think system," where the band members simply think about the tune. Then they can play it without having to read music.

As the movie races to its inevitable conclusion of Harold and Marian expressing their love for each other and of Harold's think system being confirmed in actual practice, the viewer is treated to an incredible feast of great songs, including, just to name a few, "Iowa Stubborn," "Ya Got Trouble," "Seventy Six Trombones," "The Sadder-But-Wiser Girl," "Wells Fargo Wagon," "Gary, Indiana," and "Till There Was You."

Meredith Willson, the composer and writer of The Music Man, was born in Mason City, Iowa. Some feel that River City is based in part on Willson's memories of his hometown. According to an article on Wikipedia, Willson called The Music Man "an Iowan's attempt to pay tribute to his home state."

My attraction to the movie is twofold: (1) A nostalgia for the small towns I grew up in, and (2) The great music that Willson wrote for his story. Now that my wife and I and our children live in the Twin Cities, The Music Man seems even more attractive.

You can buy the movie at the following sites:

www.amazon.com/Music-Man-Special-Robert-Preston/dp/B00000F14B
www.buy.com/prod/music-man-special-edition/q/loc/322/40102592.html
video.barnesandnoble.com/search/product.asp

Source:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meredith_Willson