Another List - Least Favorite Hollywood Musicals

[Feodor Sverdlov]

Posted: 1/3/05 at 6:39pm

Okay, keep the list to 10! Any musical qualifies, not just film versions of Broadway shows. My least favorites, in no particular order:

Moulin Rouge - simply the worst film I've ever seen
Annie (1982) - (lousy cinematography, choreography and direction; and Burnett plays it nothing but drunk)
My Fair Lady - (claustrophobic, dull, plodding bore of film version of an exceptionally exciting and vibrant stage show. The two may be close in book, but the similarity ends there!)
Brigadoon - (Hollywood takes a wonderful singers' show and turns it into a dull dancers' film)
Lost Horizon - (good score that is all wrong for the piece; but worse, dreary script and performances from its cast!)
A Chorus Line - inept from beginning to end
The Music Man (TV version) - miscast and misguided
Cabaret - Not a single character or moment that is likeable (to be fair, I hated the stage show, as well)
Camelot - has Hollywood ever assembled a more non-musical cast?
Song of Norway - like it was made by inmates at the asylum

[AndyHardy]

Posted: 1/3/05 at 7:01pm

Feodor -- in total agreement and will try not to repeat your choices.

1. Annie Get Your Gun - (Betty Hutton -- all wrong. And George Sydney's direction paint-by-number.)
2. Kismet - (Minnelli snooze fest. Almost as bad as his Brigadoon.)
3. Dr. Doolittle - (Tried watching this on JetBlue and even stuck at 35,000 feet I couldn't finish it. Seemed like 20 ballads in the last hour and a half. A ballad sung to a seal?!?)
4. Thoroughly Modern Millie - (great opening number...)
5. The Belle of New York - (How could such talent be so off target?)
6. Man of La Mancha - (Honestly couldn't get past the first half hour.)
7. Mr. Imperium - (Lana Turner + Enzio Pinza = Intolerable)
8. Funny Lady - (Was not very funny. Swell songs though)
9. Xanadu - (Indescribable mess)
10. Almost every post-"Singin' In The Rain" Debbie Reynolds musical.

[zippyjen]

Posted: 1/3/05 at 7:03pm

victor victoria. THe movie just would not end!

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 1/3/05 at 7:12pm

Annie (1982) just sucked.

A Chorus Line - cut too many songs. changed too much.

Cabaret - the stage version is perfect. why the hell mess with it?

Chicago - cut class... BLASPHEMY! cut a lot of other good songs too for the sake of a lame concept.

THE FANTASTICKS... it's all there in the deleted scenes. woulda been perfection. one of the best movie musicals of all time had they not butchered it for it's release reissue it with all those scenes put back and we might have something...

[paradox_error]

Posted: 1/4/05 at 12:25am

Annie (1982) - bad. full stop.

Carousel - I hated the way they changed it for the film. I love the show. Gordon McRae and Shirley Jones are wonderful though...

Gypsy (60's version) - not bad, not good either

A Chorus Line - bad.



I happen to LOVE Victor/Victoria, My Fair Lady and Camelot
These are GREAT movie musicals.

Have to agree with Cats on Chicago. Class is one of the best songs in the show, and it is FABULOUS in the deleted scenes...

[MusicMan]

Posted: 1/4/05 at 1:23am

The mewling, puling wretchedness of Paul Williams' score for BUGSY MALONE.

Watching BRIGADOON is like watching heather dry.

GUYS AND DOLLS is a brightly designed, candy-colored snoozefest.

THE GIRL MOST LIKELY which has Jane Powell playing a totally idiotic and unsympathetic golddigger.

Streisand's wacky indulgence on A STAR IS BORN always reminds me of Norma Desmond: " Are you watching me now? (head toss) are you watching me now? (head toss), it's the PICTURES that got small!!"

GREASE is the word--so is moronic.

The bowdlerization of the script to BYE, BYE BIRDIE

Sally Kellerman and Olivia Hussey swinging from the library light fixtures has got to be one of the great stinky moments in film musicals and LOST HORIZON has plenty of them.

The charming pedophilic delights that make up THE PIRATE MOVIE with Krsity McNichol and Chris Atkins.

STAR! which pays "hommage" to every performer bio cliche ever invented.

And for good measure...

Not only does the script make hash out of SOUTH PACIFIC's structure but the decision to use color filters to suggest "emotion" has to be one of the biggest technical bone-headed boo-boos in movie history. And isn't it interesting that Josh Logan always manages to sneak in a close-up of a muscled, shirtless nobody for no good reason at all? Updated On: 1/4/05 at 01:23 AM

[paradox_error]

Posted: 1/4/05 at 2:33am

"And isn't it interesting that Josh Logan always manages to sneak in a close-up of a muscled, shirtless nobody for no good reason at all? "

but is that such a bad thing?

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 1/4/05 at 2:41am

no. but the movie still sucks. RNT version all the way!

[Feodor Sverdlov]

Posted: 1/4/05 at 8:36am

Until they made a television version of "South Pacific", I would have agreed that the theatrical version was really awful; but the remake put a lot of things into perspective. The original film version of 'SP' plays like a masterpiece by comparison with that television mess. And, regardless of its flaws, it does have the best orchestrations of any musical!

Updated On: 1/4/05 at 08:36 AM

[AndyHardy]

Posted: 1/4/05 at 12:26pm

MusicMan- LOL!! "The charming pedophilic delights that make up THE PIRATE MOVIE with Krsity McNichol and Chris Atkins."

and Josh Logan seemed to use scantly clad muscle boys in so many of his stage shows as well. Not complaining, mind you.

On the topic of South Pacific, it's funny (sad really) how these made-for-tv musicals started out so well (Midler's Gypsy) and soon turned into pure garbage (Music Man, South Pacific, Cinderella, Bye Bye Birdie...)

Updated On: 1/4/05 at 12:26 PM