‘The Music Man’ Is No Con Job

Director Morton DaCosta’s 1962 screen version of Meredith Willson’s “The Music Man” is arguably one of the best translations to film of any Broadway musical. But seen in its panned-and-scanned videotape version to fit the shape of a TV screen, it’s nothing short of a disaster. The intricate staging is lost, the dance numbers mutilated, 76 trombones reduced to more like 26.

Warner’s sparkling letterboxed laser-disc edition ($40), complete with digitally processed stereo Dolby surround-sound, at last does full justice to one of the most engaging and familiar scores of American musical theater--from the opening “Rock Island” down through “Ya Got Trouble,” “Goodnight My Someone,” “Pick-a-Little,” “The Sadder-but-Wiser Girl,” “Marian the Librarian,” “Gary, Indiana,” “Wells Fargo Wagon,” “Till There Was You” and the show-stopper “Seventy-Six Trombones.”

Robert Preston re-creates his memorable Broadway performance as supersalesman-con artist Prof. Harold Hill; Shirley Jones is Marian the Librarian, and little Ronnie Howard, then known as TV’s Opie and now as a director, is adorable as the kid who brings them together.

DaCosta’s effective use of blackouts and the wide screen to give the film a stage feeling while still opening it up can be seen clearly in the letterbox format. Ray Heindorf’s orchestrations, which won him an Oscar, sounds bright and brassy.

At 151 minutes, the film takes up three extended-play sides, with enough chapter stops (44) to take you to favorite scenes. The only thing missing is the original theatrical trailer.

This is the kind of wide-screen treatment musicals deserve. Next on someone’s reissue list should be a wide-screen version of “Oliver!”