Tag Archives: AFI musicals

by

Song of the Day #4,354: ‘You and I’ – Leon Ames and Mary Astor

Of all the classic musicals I’ve watched as part of my quarantine project, the one that most surprised and delighted me is 1944’s Meet Me in St. Louis, directed by Vincente Minnelli and starring Judy Garland. The two met on the set of this film and later married.

Meet Me in St. Louis is based on a series of short stories written by Sally Benson and published in The New Yorker. The film follows a year in the life of a St. Louis family, the Smiths, during the run-up to the 1904 World’s Fair.

It’s a heartfelt helping of warm nostalgia, like a scene from Disney’s Carousel of Progress come to life, but it has a compelling dark streak and a hint of sensuality. AFI places it at #10 on their list of the 25 greatest musicals of all time.

Continue reading →

by

Song of the Day #4,353: ‘People’ – Barbra Streisand

I love the experience of seeing something I’ve heard of but never really known, something I think is one thing but find out is something else entirely. That was how I responded to 1968’s Funny Girl.

The William Wyler film is based on the Broadway show of the same name, and features Barbra Streisand’s film debut, reprising the role she brought to life on stage. It depicts the relationship of actress Fanny Brice and her high-roller husband, Nicky Arnstein (played by Omar Sharif in the film).

Continue reading →

by

Song of the Day #4,352: ‘Young and Healthy’ – Dick Powell

The earliest film on AFI’s 100 years of Musicals list is 1933’s 42nd Street. Directed by Lloyd Bacon, with choreography by Busby Berkeley, this movie was nominated for the Best Picture Oscar and shows up at #13 on AFI’s list.

While 42nd Street depicts the backstage antics surrounding the production of a Broadway musical, I question whether the film itself should be considered a musical. For over an hour of its running time, the only song-and-dance numbers are a couple of brief rehearsals for the show within the show. Only in its last 20 minutes does the film launch into a full-blown musical number, and that’s the one taking place on the Broadway stage.

Continue reading →

by

Song of the Day #4,351: ‘America’ – Rita Moreno and West Side Story Cast

With one epic musical directed by Robert Wise under my belt, I turned my attention to another.

West Side Story, with songs by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim, adapted for the screen from a classic stage musical, inspired by William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, winner of ten Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director, #2 of AFI’s list of the greatest musicals of all time… and, sadly, a major disappointment.

This is a case of a movie that simply hasn’t aged very well.

Continue reading →

by

Song of the Day #4,350: ‘The Sound of Music’ – Julie Andrews

One of my quarantine resolutions has been to catch up with some of my classic movie blindspots. Movies I’ve never quite found the time to watch despite their reputations.

After watching a few very worthy classics (including Paths of Glory and The Night of the Hunter), I shifted my focus to musicals. Using AFI’s ‘100 Years of Musicals‘ list as a starting point, I’ve vowed to watch the 25 films that body deems as essential.

Using the very strictest definition, I had seen only five of those titles before embarking on this project. I’m discounting anything I might have seen when I was a child, because I have long since forgotten those experiences. I’m not even counting The Wizard of Oz, which I’m sure I’ve seen in full at some point in my life, but certainly not since I was a kid.

Continue reading →