The Music Man

The Music Man is a 1962 American musical film directed and produced by Morton DaCosta, based on Meredith Willson's 1957 Broadway musical of the same name, which DaCosta also directed. Robert Preston reprises the title role from the stage version, starring alongside Shirley Jones, Buddy Hackett, Hermione Gingold, Ronny Howard, and Paul Ford. Released by Warner Bros. on June 19, 1962, the film was one of the biggest hits of the year and was widely acclaimed by critics. It was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, with composer Ray Heindorf winning Best Music, Scoring of Music, Adaptation or Treatment. The film also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, and Preston and Jones were both nominated in their respective acting categories. In 2005, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". Plot In 1912, con man "Professor" Harold Hill arrives in fictional River City, Iowa, anxious to swindle the famously stubborn citizens. A few traveling salesmen in the area have heard about Hill, who is infamous for a ploy in which he gets townspeople to pay to create boys' marching bands, with Hill completely faking his musical expertise and skipping town once he has their money. Hill discovers that River City is the home of his former associate Marcellus Washburn; with Marcellus's help, Hill incites concern among River City's parents that their boys are being seduced into sin and vice by the town's new pool table. He suggests that a marching band can keep young boys out of trouble. Anticipating that Marian Paroo, the town's conscientious librarian and piano instructor, is suspicious of his motives, Hill sets out to seduce her. Also suspicious is the town's Mayor Shinn, owner of the billiard parlor, who orders the school board to obtain Hill's credentials. When they attempt to do so, Hill distracts them by teaching them to sing as a barbershop quartet. Thereafter, Hill easily tricks them into breaking into four-part harmony whenever they ask for his credentials.