Skip to content
Home » Musical » Page 9

Musical

Babes in Toyland (1961) starring Ray Bolger, Annette Funicello, Tommy Kirk, Ed Wynn

Babes in Toyland [Annette Funiceello]

  • by

Babes in Toyland (1961) starring Ray Bolger, Annette Funicello, Tommy Sands, Ed Wynn

I am a large fan of Laurel and Hardy’s  March of the Wooden Soldier. It’s a wonderful children’s story for adults. Which, among other things, had a live-action version of Mickey Mouse appear. This was done with Walt Disney’s permission, since he and producer Hal Roach were close friends. In the same way, Walt Disney’s version of the story, Babes in Toyland had a comedy team impersonating Laurel and Hardy. And although I saw it many years ago as a child, I was eager to see it again as an adult.

Read More »Babes in Toyland [Annette Funiceello]
Bye Bye Birdie, starring Dick van Dyke, Janet Leigh, Ann Margaret, Maureen Stapleton, Paul Lynde

Bye Bye Birdie

  • by

Bye Bye Birdie (1963) starring Dick Van Dyke, Janet Leigh, Ann-Margret, Maureen Stapleton, Paul Lynde, Bobby Rydell

Bye Bye Birdie, starring Dick van Dyke, Janet Leigh, Ann Margaret, Maureen Stapleton, Paul Lynde

Bye Bye Birdie is a musical, with the songs held together by a fairly funny story. Actually, there are two or three stories interwoven together. It stars Dick Van Dyke as Albert, an unsuccessful songwriter who wants to be a successful chemist. But his controlling mother (Maureen Stapleton) pressures him into staying in the job. Much to the chagrin of his girlfriend Rosie (Janet Leigh). Rosie gets the idea of saving the song business by having them write a song. A song that’s guaranteed to be a hit.

Read More »Bye Bye Birdie
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, starring Dick Van Dyke, Sally Ann Howes, Lionel Jeffries, Benny Hill

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

  • by

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968), starring Dick Van Dyke, Sally Ann Howes, Lionel Jeffries, Benny Hill

Buy from Amazon I’m very conflicted writing this review of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.  I loved it as a child, but I have trouble enjoying it as an adult.  Time Magazine began its review saying the film is a “picture for the ages — the ages between five and twelve” and that’s probably accurate. Even as an adult, I truly enjoy the various musical numbers (especially with Dick Van Dyke at the fair, performing Me Ol’ Bamboo, and several others). As well as the first half of the movie, up until the fantasy dream sequence.

Read More »Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
She’s Working Her Way Through College (1952) starring Virginia Mayo, Ronald Reagan

She’s Working Her Way Through College

  • by

She’s Working Her Way Through College (1952) starring Virginia Mayo, Ronald Reagan

She’s Working Her Way Through College is an interesting musical. The basic plot has former burlesque dancer Hot-Garters Gertie (Virginia Mayo) having saved up enough money to attend college. So after talking to her former high school teacher (Ronald Reagan) who’s now a college professor. Who just happens to be in the audience for a  totally innocent reason … And getting hit on by a sleazy man who offers her an oversize fur coat (an important plot point later). She leaves to attend the college where Reagan is teaching, in hopes of writing a successful play.

Read More »She’s Working Her Way Through College
Brigadoon, starring Gene Kelly, Cyd Charisse, Van Johnson

Brigadoon

  • by

Brigadoon (1954) starring Gene Kelly, Van Johnson, Cyd Charisse

Buy from Amazon Brigadoon, like most Gene Kelly movies, is a musical with plenty of singing and dancing.  More than that, it is a movie with heart, and a strong message about the values that matter.  It begins with Tommy Albright (played well by Gene Kelly) and Jeff Douglas (played to the hilt by Van Johnson). They’re Americans who are caught up in the rat race, and not loving it.  Tommy is engaged, but is not eager to marry her. Partly to delay the wedding, he accompanies his best friend, Jeff, on a hunting trip to Scotland. There, they become lost.

Read More »Brigadoon
Royal Wedding (1951) starring Fred Astaire, Jane Powell, Peter Lawford, Sarah Churchill

Royal Wedding

  • by

Movie review of Royal Wedding (1951) starring Fred Astaire, Jane Powell, Peter Lawford, Sarah Churchill

Tom and Ellen Bowen (Fred Astaire and Jane Powell) are a brother and sister dance duo invited to perform in London during the same time that Princess Elizabeth and Prince Phillip are to be betrothed — only to find their own romances that threaten to break up the act!

Read More »Royal Wedding
Broadway Melody of 1938 - Robert Taylor, Eleanor Powell, Buddy Ebsen, Billy Gilbert, Judy Garland

Broadway Melody of 1938

  • by

movie review of Broadway Melody of 1938 (1937), starring Robert Taylor, Eleanor Powell, Buddy Ebsen, Billy Gilbert, Judy Garland

Synopsis of Broadway Melody of 1938

Buy from Amazon Steve Raleigh (Robert Taylor) wants to produce a show on Broadway. He finds a financial backer, Herman Whipple as well as a dancing leading lady, Sally Lee (Eleanor Powell). But Whipple’s scheming wife, Caroline, wants to force Steve to use a known star, not a newcomer. In a subplot, Sally (a former farm girl, who used to train horses on her parents’ farm before they lost everything in the Depression) purchases a horse and with two ex-vaudevillians, Sonny Ledford and Peter Trott (Buddy Ebsen), she trains it to win a race, providing the money Steve needs for his show.

Read More »Broadway Melody of 1938
I'll See You in my Dreams, starring Doris Day and Danny Thomas

I’ll See You in my Dreams

  • by

I’ll See You in my Dreams, starring Danny Thomas and Doris Day

Doris Day and Danny Thomas romantically collaborate in this affectionate biopic of tunesmith Gun Kahn that’s a treasure chest of some of this century’s greatest songs. Year: 1952 Director: Michael Curtiz Starring: Doris Day, Danny Thomas, Frank Lovejoy

Read More »I’ll See You in my Dreams