Ok, yesterday I was so against school, today it’s all about how happy kids are where they find their true love and break out into song. We’ve all been there, right? I know, when I was bullied, I started to break out into song, sing about my right to be me and start to dance where every bullied student starts dancing in unison, ending in a fireworks light show. Too much? Ok, without further adieu, here are my 3…
1. STRIKE UP THE BAND-1940
Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland star in this fun musical with the exuberant, ADHD high school student, Mickey trying to get his band to Chicago to win a best band trophy sponsored by Paul Whitman( who plays himself). First, he and Judy put on a show and make enough money to buy the instruments for their high school but now he must get his band and female vocalist to Chicago, and after many faux pas’s, they make it and put on a big show. This is fun, energetic with great singing and dancing led by the young leads of Looney er , I mean, Rooney and Garland. I love the one scene with animated fruit in an orchestra..yup, you heard me…animated fruit.
2. GOOD NEWS-1947
This high school musical stars Peter Lawford and June Allyson as high school students who deal with all the angst associated with high schoolers….love and football. Basically, Lawford thinks he is in love with a popular gal and asks the gal who works in the library what to do. Of course, she is played by Allyson who falls for Lawford even though he’s an idiot. You have a subplot with, well, the same thing, one gal loves an idiot who loves another. In the end, everyone falls for the right person and they break out in an exuberant sing and dance number. It’s another fun flick and the one dance number, “ Pass the Peace Pipe” is so much fun, led by the tragic Joan McCracken( she was a gifted, although odd, dancer and singer who died young from diabetes). Today, this song would never pass muster just the title alone, can tell you why, but you would lose a great scene and one I wish, did exist in real life.
3. GREASE-1978
We should all know about Grease that stars John Travolta and Olivia Newton John as 2 high school students who meet and fall in love, before high school starts. Travolta is in some beach town for a family vacation where he meets Olivia and they have dreamy days and nights before he leaves. Now high school starts and she is a new student who is sweet and innocent and does not quite fit in with the tough gals in high school. She reunites with Travolta and is confused because he is not the sweet boy from summer vacation, but a leather-clad Rock’N Roller who is not the type of boy you bring home to meet dad. In between you have a lot of singing and dancing especially the high school dance. I love some of the staff, like Eve Arden, Sid Caesar and Joan Blondell that adds to this movie’s success. The happy ending shows Olivia giving up who she is as a person for the love of John wearing a slutty outfit so tight that Newton John had to be sewn into those pants. Mind you, she does look good and many young guys had the hots for Olivia but I just hate this ending. She conforms to what her boyfriend wants her to be leaving her own identity in the dust. What a crock!
So, any high school musicals you can think of? Did you ever break out into song? I bet you did😁
Now that you've described it that way, that is a bummer ending for Grease.
ReplyDeleteHi, Birgit!
ReplyDeleteMickey & Judy were a great team and drew throngs of movie-goers to the box office. As I watched the trailer for Strike Up The Band, I became curious to know exactly why so many movies were made during the Great Depression and WWII era about kids or high schoolers putting on musical shows to raise money. I thought I'd share some of the results I found via the Google Gemini:
<< "Let's put on a show!" became a dominant cinematic trope during the Great Depression and World War II because it offered a cheap, highly relatable fantasy of community-driven financial rescue during times of extreme national crisis.This specific subgenre is known as the "backstage musical" (or more specifically, the "juvenile musical"), and its massive popularity was driven by a mix of economic reality, Hollywood studio strategy, and wartime morale-boosting. >>
<<1. Escapism and Financial Wish-Fulfillment>>
<< 2. High Value, Low Production Cost >>
<< 3. WWII Morale and Patriotism >>
<< 4. Generational Relatability >>
<< Collective effort over individual wealth: The movies argued that hard work, talent, and community cooperation could solve catastrophic financial problems, reassuring audiences that they could survive the Depression together.The "Judy and Mickey" Formula: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) perfected this with onscreen duo Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney in smash hits like Babes in Arms (1939), Strike Up the Band (1940), and Babes on Broadway (1941). >>
<< The 1930s saw the formal emergence of "youth culture" and the concept of the American high school as a central social hub. By centering stories on teenagers who took initiative without relying on beaten-down adults, Hollywood tapped into a massive, ticket-buying demographic of young people who wanted to see their own generation portrayed as capable, joyful, and heroic. >>
Hope you don't mind me posting all that. I find it fascinating. I always enjoyed watching Rat-Packer Peter Lawford, and June Allyson was my mother's favorite actress. To this day, young singing artists on YouTube are covering the songs from Grease and imitating its stars.
This Saturday, I'm returning to Shady's Place with Pt. 1 of my 3-part Halloween Spooktacular and hope you can swing by. Enjoy the rest of your week and weekend, dear friend BB!