Confession: I like musical movies. Not the newer versions, so much; things like Hamilton make my blood run a little cold, and prompt me to start yelling “Get off my lawn!” But the older musical movies, put out by people like Stephen Sondheim and so on, tickle my fancy.
But a movie doesn’t have to be a musical to have music in it. Most movies have a soundtrack, and sometimes that music, or a certain song, can be key to the movie. Some great scenes have been accompanied by a certain song. Some of those scenes, and the songs, have woven their way into the heart of American culture.
So here are six great movie tunes – not themes, but songs from the movie itself, songs that were part of the story. Some are in musicals, some are just songs for the movies. Let’s jump in.
Casablanca, As Time Goes By (1942): One of the most misquoted scenes in movie history from one of the greatest movies ever made – Humphrey Bogart never once says, “Play it again, Sam.”
In fact, you know, if I had to pick one film that I would call the best movie ever, the best production in film history, it would be Casablanca. And this song, this elegy of the long-lost love between Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) and Ilsa Lund (the utterly lovely Ingrid Bergman) gave us perhaps the best moment out of a movie full of great moments – better even than Claude Rains as Captain Renault, shouting “I’m shocked – shocked to find there is gambling going on in here!”
Read More: Start Your Weekend Right With 7 Great Pieces of Moon Music
Singin’ In the Rain, Title tune (1952): Gene Kelly as Don Lockwood, Debbie Reynolds as Kathy, and the underrated yet gorgeous Jean Hagen – this is one of the best musicals ever. This was Debbie Reynolds at her best, before she was best known as the mother of Carrie Fisher, the famous Princess-With-No-Underwear in Star Wars. In this video, Gene Kelly turns in what has to be one of his best-ever performances.
Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Moon River (1961): Yes, Audrey really did sing this song in this movie. Henry Mancini wrote Moon River, specifically for her limited vocal range, and she did it great. It certainly didn’t hurt that the young Audrey Hepburn was almost painfully beautiful. She had a classic style and grace, even when playing someone like the mildly confused Holly Golightly.
Audrey Hepburn, in this film, was actually better than she was in My Fair Lady, and that’s saying something. And combine that with a young, handsome George Peppard, and the always-wonderful Patricia Neal, and you’ve got a great movie.
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Everybody Ought to Have a Maid (1966): Stephen Sondheim did a wonderful job with the movie version of his stage hit. This is my favorite, right up to the classic Stephen Sondheim big finish. The movie is great; Phil Silvers nearly steals the show with his portrayal of, again, a shady character, this time a brothel-keeper. And who knew Jack Gilford could sing? But it’s Zero Mostel’s great voice and constant on-screen antics that really make this one worth watching.
The video on this clip is not so great; there are no really good movie clips of this song, which is baffling. But it’s the song we’re after here, so…
Read More: Start Your Weekend Right With Some Great Sing-Along Tunes
Animal House, Shout (1978): True story – when I was at Ft. Sam Houston for my Medical Service Corps Officer’s Basic Course, we had a guy in the company who was a heck of a piano player, had been in a band, and we just loved to have that guy call cadence when we were on a run. This was one of the tunes he would sing, and it worked remarkably well as a running cadence. And yes, we did have the fun of running in a crouch during the "...a little bit softer now..." part.
Bonus: At our class reception in the big formal Officers’ Club on post, there was a piano – with all the brass around, this guy sat down and started banging out the piano portion of the Clash’s Rock the Casbah.
Blues Brothers, Think (1980): Aretha Franklin rocked it. She was one of the best that’s ever been, and in this wonderful movie, she played the wife of Matt “Guitar” Murphy. Aretha laid into Murphy over rejoining his old buddies Jake and Elwood Blues, who were on “a mission from God,” and were getting the band back together. It didn’t work – Matt went out with the boys anyway – but man, you got one of the best movie cameos ever in a movie filled with great cameos, including Cab Calloway. But nobody could do this song like Aretha Franklin.
America is all about movies. Great old movies, musical or otherwise, are so much a part of our culture that, in many cases, we can recognize the movie from just a few bars of the song. Several cases, just like that, are presented above.
I’m sure you all have a few examples of your own. The comments, as always, are all yours.
