| re: What is the general consensus on the film Bye Bye Birdie? | |
| Posted by: schauspieler 11:41 pm EDT 06/18/21 | |
| In reply to: re: What is the general consensus on the film Bye Bye Birdie? - Pokernight 10:09 pm EDT 06/18/21 | |
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| Well in defense of it, I guess you had to be there. I saw it at 13 going on 14 with my cool aunt at the Loew's 175th Street (now the United Palace) with a packed house and I think I had never been so exhilarated and transported with sheer hilarity and delight watching a movie before. Everything about it, from the way it started with the Columbia torch spreading color over the screen and Ann Margaret setting the mood to her return at the end to sing "Bye-Bye!" was startlingly new and just sheer heaven. The telephone number was the coolest thing I'd ever seen, and the dancing in "Gotta a Lot of Livin'" totally blew me away. Birdie's arrival and song was truly insane. The mayor's wife's turned-to-rubber legs spreading apart had my aunt screaming with laughter. I guess she had memories of her days screaming for Frank Sinatra outside the Paramount. I think part of what made it so exciting was how contemporary it was . Up til then, musicals I'd seen had always been set in exotic places or in times past, with adult romances. This had teenagers and ED SULLIVAN and TV!. Oh and not to forget that crazy hymn to Sullivan and the weird Paul Lynde. Looking at it now, much of it does seem tacky (Bobby Rydell!) and ridiculously chaste. But IMO a lot of it holds up. And I still love listening to the soundtrack recording. The fabulous orchestrations and Johnny Green's musical direction are examples of Hollywood virtuosity at its best. Oh, and about the guy playing Harvey Johnson. Just a bit of trivia apropos of nothing, but I think he shows up later looking collegiate in the "Gotta a Lot of Livin'" number. Yes, that's how many times I've seen the movie. | |
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