Klarinet Archive - Posting 001218.txt from 2003/03

From: "Lelia Loban" <lelialoban@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] Benny Goodman Story (movies about jazz musicians)
Date: Sun, 30 Mar 2003 09:31:22 -0500

Ed Lacy wrote,
>We have mentioned several really sappy movies about
>jazz musicians. It might be fun to try to decide which
>one is the best (or the least bad) of the group.

Great lists from several of you! There are *hundreds* of movies about
musicians. Here some more, that I've enjoyed watching more than once. All
are (or have been; some may be out of print) available on VHS or DVD:

THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES (1971) and its sequel, DR. PHIBES RISES AGAIN
(1972), in which the science fictional villain is a mad organist.

ALL THAT JAZZ (1979), a musical, Bob Fosse's surreal autobiography; and
FOSSE (2001), a musical about him.

AMADEUS (1984), a heavily (controversially) fictionalized but entertaining
biography that apparently convinced a lot of people that Salieri murdered
Mozart (he didn't).

THE BAND WAGON (1953), the best musical about the making of a musical ever
made, IMHO.

CHICAGO (2002), hoofers in the hoosegow, not on DVD yet, but soon will be!

THE COMPETITION (1980), not one of the best movies on this list, but
notable because the stars, Richard Dryfus and Amy Irving, both studied
piano seriously enough to look good in wide shots where the soundtrack
looping is usually so distractingly apparent.

DANCER IN THE DARK (2000), anti-American and extremely depressing, but
brilliant surrealism, about an amateur singer trying to escape a lousy life
through dissociation into musical fantasy.

FIVE EASY PIECES (1970), about a pianist who quit.

42nd STREET (1933), another of those classic Golden Age musicals about
musicals.

MAHLER (1974), strange and frantic, but interesting, about a man with a
complicated life....

MARAT / SADE (1967), with the imprisoned Marquis de Sade as a musical
director.

THE MUSIC MAN (1962), another classic. (Has anyone *not* performed this
one in high school?)

OPERA (1987), dark, gory and sick, definitely not for watching with the
kids, for Dario Argento fans only.

THE ORCHESTRA REHEARSAL (1979), one of Fellini's best.

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, numerous versions (1924, 1925/29, 1943, 1962,
1998 and others), in which the anti-hero is a maimed mad organist.

THE RED SHOES (1947), the great re-telling of the Hans Christian Andersen
story, though I hate the ending, in which the ballerina heroine plays out a
damaging, anti-feminist stereotype.

SHOW BOAT (1933 and 1951), strong social commentary woven into a musical
about riverboat entertainers. The earlier version, with Paul Robeson, will
be on Turner Classic Movies channel this spring, so set your VCR on stun!

SONG OF THE THIN MAN (1947), a cross between a film noir mystery (the only
one in the Thin Man series that's a true film noir) and a musical, in which
a mentally ill clarinet player is accused of killing his band director.
I've never been able to find out who plays the clarinet on the soundtrack,
alas.

THIS IS SPINAL TAP (1984), a cult hit, satire about the world of rock stars.

THREEPENNY OPERA (1931), Kurt Weill's brilliant re-working that weaves the
musicians' stories into a revue.

Lelia Loban
lelialoban@-----.net

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