I know that Robert Preston is and always will be the very best Harold Hill ever, but seriously, Shirley Jones is brilliant as Marian! Her reactions to all of this feel authentically like she's a librarian (unlike Kristin Chenowenth, who you could tell was an actress). Of course, Jones was also brilliant in Oklahoma!.
Robert Preston OWNED this role the way Rex Harrison owned Prof. Henry Higgins of "My Fair Lady." You simply cannot think of the role without thinking of the person.
IKR?!? Whenever I listen to an alternate/stage performance, I'm always comparing them to Robert Preston for the Music Man, and Rex Harrison for My Fair Lady... Not that I can't appreciate a good alternate version, just it never means quite as much... Also, hello from the distant future! :D
I absolutely love this number - the beat is great and the dance is fabulous - complete mayhem, romance and freedom! Absolutely one of my favorite muscial scenes from any movie!
I love the beat of this song; Much different then the newer one. Plus, I can feel Marian's frustration at all the chaos. She's a librarian after all, and Harold's just making her job harder and harder to the point where's she's visibly upset and has enough of it.
The public library where I live is nowhere near this awesome. Come to think of it, no place in this town EVER bursts out into song and choreographed dance. I feel cheated.
This definitely is one of the things from growing up that makes me feel cheated. Never having encountered quicksand is another. That stuff was all over long ago, apparently.
AND THE NEXT THING YOU KNOW YOUR SON IS PLAYING FOR MONEY IN A PINCHBACK SUIT AND LISTENING TO SOME BIG OUT-OF-TOWN JASPER HERE TO TALK ABOUT HORSE-RACE GAMBLING!
@celtticnesses The other movie lacked the subtly of Marian's transition. In the new movie, Marian falls in love almost right away. In the classic film, you get the full breadth of Marian's journey to being in love. Marian isn't supposed to have chemistry with Harold in this scene. This is the better version by far. This is also my opinion. :-) Thanks for playing!
Robert Preston was short changed by not getting an Oscar nomination for this role. So many times the Broadway role original won the award e.g. Rex Harrison, Yul Bryner, Barbra Streisand, Judy Holiday, Shirley Booth.
A fantastic number: comic and seductive at the same time. And as someone mentioned below, the real appeal is in the subtle transformation of librarian Shirley Jones, who spends most of the number resiting and being annoyed by)Preston (1:57), but becomes intrigued enough to start dancing at 5:39- and actually takes off her glasses like in the "sexy librarian" fantasy. Infectious, in its way.
Shouldn't have cut off the last few seconds, where she gazes at his departing form with a mixture of sheer frustration and attraction, while Zaneeta looks daggers at her for having accidentally slapped Tommy instead. Nobody seems to have the complete number on RU-vid anymore. Rather lose the first half a minute than the last.
@celtticnesses The other movie lacked the subtly of Marian's transition. In the new movie, Marian falls in love almost right away. In the classic film, you get the full bredth of Marian's journey to being in love. Marian isn't supposed to have chemestry with Harold in this scene. This is the better version by far. This is also my opinion. :-) Thanks for playing!
Guys cmon, quit arguing. We all know that whoever did the original movie would be better. If boderick had been in the old one u would've liked him better. U think u wouldn't, but u would
I saw Broderick do Ya Got Trouble, and I saw Seth McFarlane do it too. They both recited it well, reverentially even, but neither of them conveyed the caliber of disaster the way Robert Preston did. Running around, arms waving, eyes bugging out, Bevo, cubebs - Preston is THE Harold Hill.
Well…this is harassment 👁 morning noon and night - I’d take a musical number any day, maybe my perceptions are skewered putting up with this 👁🐍 for years.. it probably is harassment and I’m getting used to dysfunction that is unacceptable completely
