There weren't many great movie musicals in the 40's. The Office of War Information reviewed movies to make sure they had a parotic message. It was much easier and cheaper to produce dramas and comedies with bad guy Nazis than musicals so that is what Hollywood produced during the war years. There were a number of musical produced after the war but most of these didn't come close to the those made in the golden era of musicals that followed.. There were a few exceptions that were really good.
Yankee Doodle Dandy made in 1942, is based on the life of George M. Cohan. It has a good story with a strong patriotic message and great music and dancing. Cagney who was stereotyped as the kingpin of the underworld in the thirties surprised audiences with his singing and dancing. The movie got very good reviews and won 5 academy awards. Cagney's dancing and singing captivated audience because it was really unique. However as one critic said, "Cagney can't dance or sing but, he is such an incredibly good actor and he gives such a vigorous performance, he convinces his audiences that he is a great singer and dancer which he is not. The fact is Cagney was never trained as dancer or singer. This movie is well worth seeing just to watch Cagney perform. My only criticism of the movie is that it does not really portray Cohan accurately. The basic facts of his life are correct but there was a lot of literary license taken. For example, Cohan was awarded the Metal Honor by Roosevelt for his war effort, however the scene with Cagney and Roosevelt never happened, still it is good movie to watch even today.
Meet Me in St. Louis made in 1942 with Judy Garland was another good musical. It was a gigantic success both at the box and with critics. Judy Garland was perfect in the movie and the songs were great. AFI rates it as the 10th best musical ever made. Judy Garland made 5 other good musicals in 40s, which include Easter Parade and Strike Up the Band.
Song of the South was made in 1946. I know this may upset some folks, but it is one of the better musicals of the decade. It is based on the Uncle Remus stories as adapted by Joel Chandler Harris. It is a simple story of Johnny, a young boy visiting his grandmother on a plantation where he hears the tales of Br'er Rabbit, Br'er Fox, and Br'er Bear from Uncle Remus, an elderly plantation worker. Johnny learns from the stories how to cope with the challenges he is experiencing while living on the plantation. The boy thinks of the tales and the movie switches to animation bringing the characters to life. There were 14 original songs written for the movie which includes Zip-A-Dee-Dah which won an academy award as did James Baskett who played Uncle Remus. Kid's around the country loved the song and the animation of "Every Body Has a Laughing Place". The movie was so popular with kids that that dolls, games, coloring books, figurines were in all the toy stores. Song of South would have been a Disney classic had it not been for the fact that Disney created an idyllic plantation where blacks and whites lived happily together. The NAACP objected that this idyllic master-slave relationship was a distortion of the facts. Disney has responded by locking the master away deep in it's vault, never to be shown again. You won't find Song of the South on any of the popular streaming services. However, I have provided a link below to the complete film. Be warned it has some very racist scenes which shows black and white people living together happily on the plantation. Now, if Disney had thrown in a couple of scenes with a slave master beating some of slaves then we would probably have this film available today. The link below is the full movie, one of the few on the Internet. The quality of the film is not good as it has never been restored. Films that have been deemed not fit for audiences today, don't get restored.
Yankee Doodle Dandy made in 1942, is based on the life of George M. Cohan. It has a good story with a strong patriotic message and great music and dancing. Cagney who was stereotyped as the kingpin of the underworld in the thirties surprised audiences with his singing and dancing. The movie got very good reviews and won 5 academy awards. Cagney's dancing and singing captivated audience because it was really unique. However as one critic said, "Cagney can't dance or sing but, he is such an incredibly good actor and he gives such a vigorous performance, he convinces his audiences that he is a great singer and dancer which he is not. The fact is Cagney was never trained as dancer or singer. This movie is well worth seeing just to watch Cagney perform. My only criticism of the movie is that it does not really portray Cohan accurately. The basic facts of his life are correct but there was a lot of literary license taken. For example, Cohan was awarded the Metal Honor by Roosevelt for his war effort, however the scene with Cagney and Roosevelt never happened, still it is good movie to watch even today.
Meet Me in St. Louis made in 1942 with Judy Garland was another good musical. It was a gigantic success both at the box and with critics. Judy Garland was perfect in the movie and the songs were great. AFI rates it as the 10th best musical ever made. Judy Garland made 5 other good musicals in 40s, which include Easter Parade and Strike Up the Band.
Song of the South was made in 1946. I know this may upset some folks, but it is one of the better musicals of the decade. It is based on the Uncle Remus stories as adapted by Joel Chandler Harris. It is a simple story of Johnny, a young boy visiting his grandmother on a plantation where he hears the tales of Br'er Rabbit, Br'er Fox, and Br'er Bear from Uncle Remus, an elderly plantation worker. Johnny learns from the stories how to cope with the challenges he is experiencing while living on the plantation. The boy thinks of the tales and the movie switches to animation bringing the characters to life. There were 14 original songs written for the movie which includes Zip-A-Dee-Dah which won an academy award as did James Baskett who played Uncle Remus. Kid's around the country loved the song and the animation of "Every Body Has a Laughing Place". The movie was so popular with kids that that dolls, games, coloring books, figurines were in all the toy stores. Song of South would have been a Disney classic had it not been for the fact that Disney created an idyllic plantation where blacks and whites lived happily together. The NAACP objected that this idyllic master-slave relationship was a distortion of the facts. Disney has responded by locking the master away deep in it's vault, never to be shown again. You won't find Song of the South on any of the popular streaming services. However, I have provided a link below to the complete film. Be warned it has some very racist scenes which shows black and white people living together happily on the plantation. Now, if Disney had thrown in a couple of scenes with a slave master beating some of slaves then we would probably have this film available today. The link below is the full movie, one of the few on the Internet. The quality of the film is not good as it has never been restored. Films that have been deemed not fit for audiences today, don't get restored.
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