Traveling con artist Harold Hill targets the naïve residents of a small town in 1910s Iowa by posing as a boys' band leader to raise money before he can skip town.Traveling con artist Harold Hill targets the naïve residents of a small town in 1910s Iowa by posing as a boys' band leader to raise money before he can skip town.Traveling con artist Harold Hill targets the naïve residents of a small town in 1910s Iowa by posing as a boys' band leader to raise money before he can skip town.
- Won 1 Oscar
- 6 wins & 12 nominations total
- Jacey Squires
- (as The Buffalo Bills)
- Winthrop Paroo
- (as Ronny Howard)
- Ewart Dunlop
- (as The Buffalo Bills)
- Olin Britt
- (as The Buffalo Bills)
- Oliver Hix
- (as The Buffalo Bills)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe two songs "76 Trombones" and "Good Night My Someone" are the same tune, played in different tempos. Meredith Willson used this technique to present a masculine and feminine slant on the events surrounding Harold Hill's arrival in River City and his budding relationship with Marian.
- GoofsTwice when Harold Hill first arrives in River City, mountains are seen in the background. There are no mountains like that in eastern Iowa where River City is supposed to be.
- Quotes
Marian Paroo: No, please, not tonight. Maybe tomorrow.
Harold Hill: Oh, my dear little librarian. You pile up enough tomorrows, and you'll find you've collected nothing but a lot of empty yesterdays. I don't know about you, but I'd like to make today worth remembering.
Marian Paroo: Oh, so would I.
- Crazy creditsThe closing credits appear in the style of a Broadway show's curtain call. First the minor characters are shown with the performers' names. The credits then progress through the cast ending with the lead.
- SoundtracksMain Title
(1957) (uncredited)
Music and Lyrics by Meredith Willson
Performed by Ray Heindorf and the Warner Bros. Studio Orchestra
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.
- silverscreen888
- Sep 2, 2005
- Permalink
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Meredith Willson's The Music Man
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $4,240,000 (estimated)
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