The Music Man

"The story of that man and his 76 trombones, and the wonderful, wonderful tune he played on every heart in town!"

1962 2h 31m EN

👍

7.1

SOLID

★7.1TMDB · 202

ComedyFamilyMusicRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Traveling con artist Harold Hill targets the naïve residents of a small town in 1910s Iowa by posing as a boys' bandleader to raise money before he can skip town.

“The story of that man and his 76 trombones, and the wonderful, wonderful tune he played on every heart in town!”

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Cast

Robert Preston
Harold Hill
Shirley Jones
Marian Paroo
Buddy Hackett
Marcellus Washburn
Ron Howard
Winthrop Paroo
Hermione Gingold
Eulalie Mackechnie Shinn
Paul Ford
Mayor George Shinn
Pert Kelton
Mrs. Paroo
Timmy Everett
Tommy Djilas

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Morton DaCosta
Writers: Meredith Willson, Franklin Lacey, Marion Hargrove
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Clocks in at 151 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $4.2M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 3.5× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

64 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Morton DaCosta, shot by Robert Burks. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Meredith Willson. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor William H. Ziegler shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Robert Preston and Shirley Jones and Buddy Hackett carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Morton DaCosta directs. Robert Burks behind the camera. Meredith Willson scores. William H. Ziegler cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Clocks in at 151 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.
2Shot for just $4.2M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
3Made its money back 3.5× over at the box office.
464 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
5Directed by Morton DaCosta, shot by Robert Burks. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Meredith Willson. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor William H. Ziegler shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Robert Preston and Shirley Jones and Buddy Hackett carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "The story of that man and his 76 trombones, and the wonderful, wonderful tune he played on every heart in town!".
10IMDB entry: tt0056262 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 21 themes, including "hustler", "iowa", "con man", "piano lessons".