James Baquet

I grew up in the waning days of what has been called the “Golden Age of Musical Comedy Films.” One of my favorites is called “The Music Man.”

The film opens in 1912 when a con man, “Professor” Harold Hill, arrives in River City, Iowa, to sell boys’ band instruments and uniforms. His con is to sell music lessons, too — which he skips town before delivering. He convinces the townspeople that he will save their boys from the evil effects of the new pool table arriving in town.

The local piano teacher — also the town librarian, Miss Marian Paroo — is the only person who might blow Hill’s cover. He sets out to woo her and neutralize the threat.

Much of the film’s charm comes from the town’s characters: pompous Mayor Shinn and his artsy wife, Eulalie MacKecknie Shinn; the town’s bickering school board; four gossipy old women, critical of Marian, who remind us of a bunch of old hens; the bumbling town constable; and a secretive young couple, Tommy Djilas (from “the wrong side of town”) and Zaneeta Shinn, the Mayor’s daughter.

There’s also Marian’s 10-year-old brother Winthrop, who suffers from a speech impediment.

As Hill works his magic, he manages to turn the town around. He convinces the school board to get along by singing together. He brings out Tommy Djilas’s leadership qualities so the Shinn’s accept him as a suitable beau for the daughter. He gets the ladies to read some of the books Marian was always touting, and — to their surprise — they loved them. And he inspires Winthrop to overcome his shyness.

Unfortunately, Marian discovers in a library book that Hill is a fraud, and is prepared to blow the whistle on him. But the uniforms and instruments arrive and, as badly as the boys play, their doting parents are swept away with pride.

In the end, the smooth-talking Hill falls in love with Marian, and we learn that he is something of an idealist. When Hill’s larceny is revealed, Winthrop calls him a “dirty rotten crook.” Hill tells him he always thought Winthrop was a “wonderful kid” and that’s why he wanted the boy in the band.

“What band?” Winthrop shoots back accusingly, pointing out the false promises.

And Hill answers with the revealing line that is my favorite: “I always think there’s a band, kid.”

Vocabulary:

Which word above means:

1. promoting

2. leaves suddenly

3. difficulty in speaking clearly

4. behaving foolishly

5. court, date

6. turn someone in

7. self-important

8. overly fond of

9. arguing

10. boyfriend

ANSWERS: 1. touting

2. skips town

3. speech impediment

4. bumbling 5. woo

6. blow the whistle 7. pompous

8. doting 9. bickering 10. beau