This was a very difficult musical, I suspect, for Morton da Costa to direct. To his great credit, it never looks to me like a stage musical; taking his cue from a few famous examples of adaptations done on non-musical films, he has used the entire River City, Iowa, USA town as his stage, moving his mobile cameras wherever the action could best be served. But I suggest "The Music Man" is most important not for its entertainment qualities, which are considerable perhaps, but for its importance as a fantasy-for-the-sake-of-an-idea plot. Without it, we might never have had "Finian's Rainbow", "Chicago" or "City of Angels" for instance. Hollywood's studio tsars, despite their surrealized applying of pseudo-Christian endings to plots, were always very cautious about introducing any "fantasy" element into a film. (Note the lengthy apologia by David Selznick for "Portrait of Jenny", for instance.) In this story, Meredith Wilson used his personal knowledge of the people and ways-of-thinking of Iowa to ground a charming and genial fantasy about music-course salesman Harold Hill firmly within its milieu--one of a group of U.S minds in need of more imagination. The town's kindly folk, in fact, are shown as barely tolerant toward its librarian, who inherited the institution from its elderly compiler; they are suspicious of how Marian Paroo acquired the stock, and suspicious of her desire to teach their young minds to think for themselves. Enter Professor Hill--to change the lives of the almost charming but repressed early twentieth-century denizens forever. The basic plot is very simple to state. Professor Hill comes to towns, sells the town's citizens on the idea of starting a boy's band, and then skips out before they can ever perform. Here, he is brought to the point of leading his troops, trained by his "think system", in a concert; and the townsfolk are enthralled by hearing their sons play. This simple tale starred Robert Preston as the wily city-bred Hill, Shirley

Jones as the lovely but doubting 'Marian the Librarian', Pert Kelton as her mother, Buddy Hackett as his fine friend, Paul Ford and Hermione Gingold as the pretentious Mayor and his wife, plus many citizens of the town young and old, Harry Hickox as the envious rival who exposes Hill and the Buffalo Bills singing quartet. Well-known songs in this sprightly US romp include, "Till There Was You", "Somethin' Special", "Goodnight My Someone", "Marian the Librarian" and "Trouble", among others. In the film, the leads are award caliber, everyone else from Ronnie Howard to Susan Luckey to the quartet do very well. Marion Hargrove adapted Wilson's libretto and songs written by Wilson and Franklin Lacey. The cinematography by Robert Burks was vivid and stylishly old-fashioned. Paul Groesse did the art direction, with set decorations being supplied by George James Hopkins and his staff. The very elaborate costumes were the work of the brilliant designer Dorothy Jeakins. This is a sense of life film written by, about and for non-practicing Christians of the last century that was mounted somehow in 1962, as an homage to a simpler and more optimistic time. We can all be grateful it was; it is a great deal of fun and its ending is a happy part of the fantasy, which needs to be seen to be appreciated.

The film adaptation of "The Music Man" is so superbly crafted on every level that even the most jaded cynic might find something to admire in it. This was one of the blockbuster movie releases in the summer of 1962, and in fact the anticipation for its release began as soon as it went into production at Warner Bros. in Burbank during the summer of 1961.

Of course there are minor flaws that might be pointed out, but for the most part, this is a nearly perfect adaptation of the original 1957 Broadway hit. Thankfully, most of the creative forces behind the Broadway success were retained. Most notably, the director, Morton DaCosta, was entrusted to adapt the story from stage to screen, and also the great choreographer, Onna White, who expanded her original dance numbers to fit the wide screen.

I disagree with those who think Barbara Cook should have been retained from the original Broadway cast. While it may be true that she had a stronger soprano voice than Shirley Jones, the fact remains that Barbara Cook was not "pretty enough" to make the leap to the big screen. Shirley Jones was at the peak of her beauty when she was cast as Marian the Librarian. Her vocal register is darker and lower than Cook's, but this is exactly what was necessary in a screen adaptation. Cook's singing voice is ideally suited to reach the back rows of a Broadway theater. It would not have translated well to the screen.

I cannot add any further insights into the greatness of Robert Preston's portrayal. Everything has already been stated so well here. But every part, from smallest to largest, is damn near perfect. That even includes the bit part assigned to Percy Helton as the train conductor. And Ron Howard was a genuine prodigy who was ideally suited to the role of Winthrop. Even little Monique Vermont shines in her role as Amaryliss.

This film might well have deserved an Oscar for Best Picture of 1962. Unfortunately, it was eclipsed by the end of the year by another legitimate masterpiece, "Lawrence of Arabia." But let there be no doubt. "The Music Man" was one of the finest pictures of 1962, or any year.

I suggest that dedicated fans of this work seek out the Capitol LP , "And Then I Wrote The Music Man," featuring Meredith Willson recreating his original investors' presentation from the Broadway run, assisted by his wife, Rini.