Too Young to Die TV - Oscar Hammerstein - Comic Strip Presents TV - Secret Voices of Hollywood TV - Oliver! 1968 - Dick van Dyke - Easy Come Easy Go 1967 - The Office US TV - Spitting Image Election Special 1987 - What We Do in the Shadow TV - Ken Loach & The Wednesday Play TV -
For Saturday Night Live he [Belushi] had devised the Blues Brothers – their records sold millions. The Blues Brothers – a musical with crazy car chases. The film cost $27 million … A triumphant return for John. But shooting was overshadowed by Belushi’s alcohol and drug excesses. Too Young to Die s1e3: John Belushi, Sky Arts 2020
The hills are alive with the sound of music,
With songs they have sung for a thousand years.
The hills fill my heart with the sound of music,
My heart wants to sing ev’ry song it hears … Oscar Hammerstein, The Sound of Music, 1959
I really don’t think this picture should be a musical. Comic Strip Presents ... Strike! Al Pacino, Channel 4 1988
Hollywood musicals have been loved by generations. But many songs in the most famous musicals were not sung by the stars themselves – their voices were secretly replaced. Some stars were not told that their voices would be removed. A number of big stars have never forgiven the film studios. Secret Voices of Hollywood, BBC 2013
Singin’ in the Rain: So Debbie Reynolds, who was playing the Ghost Singer in the movie, eventually had her own voice ghosted. ibid.
Roughly half the movies made featured ghost singing. ibid.
The King & I: Kerr refused to keep quiet about being ghosted. ibid.
The royalties from record sales were not being shared by the performers. ibid.
The start of a public backlash against ghost singing. ibid.
After the Sound of Music there was a stampede to produce more musicals. ibid.
The musical all but died out. ibid.
Food glorious food,
Hot sausage and mustard.
While we’re in the mood –
Cold jelly and custard … Oliver! 1968 starring Ron Moody & Oliver Reed & Shani Wallis & Harry Secombe & Mark Lester & Peggy Mount & Leonard Rossiter & Kenneth Cranham & Hugh Griffith & Jack Wild et al, director Carol Reed, opening scene, Lionel Bart song
Please, sir, I want some more. ibid. Oliver to Mr Bumble
Consider yourself at home
Consider yourself one of the family … ibid. Artful Dodger’s song to Oliver
Shut up and drink your gin! ibid. Fagin to gang
In this life one thing counts,
In the bank large amounts. ibid. Fagin’s song
I mean who’s going to look after me in my old age? ibid. Fagin to owl
It’s a terrible thing, old age. ibid. Fagin to Oliver
Who will buy my sweet red roses? ibid. flower-lady’s song
Some living, gawd help me. ibid. Nancy to Bill
But I wish they would make a musical of some kind. I miss musicals so much. You don’t see them any more. Dick van Dyke
I want you to meet my buddies. Easy Come, Easy Go 1967 starring Elvis Presley & Dodie Marshall & Pat Priest & Pat Harrington & Skip Ward & Sandy Kenyon & Frank McHugh & Ed Griffith & Read Morgan & Mickey Elley & Elaine Becett et al, director John Rich, Elvis
Step right up to the love machine. ibid. Elvis
I found a million dollars in gold on an old shipwreck. ibid.
It’s beautiful down here. Positively beautiful. ibid. Captain Jack
It’s a form of art: it’s called a happening. Watch. No, we’re just a bunch of people who like to live a free life. ibid. bird
Now we sit here and fish. ibid. Elvis
Women cannot resist a man singing show tunes. It’s so powerful, even a lot of men can't resist a man singing show tunes. The Office US: Andy's Play s7e3, Andy, NBC 2010
All that singing got in the way of some perfectly good murders. ibid. Dwight
If you can give me an hour or two I can produce something much worse. Spitting Image: Election Special, Andrew Lloyd-Weber to Jeffrey Archer & Cecil Parkinson, ITV 1987
Musical theatre is the lowest of all entertainments. It’s a gutter pantomime performed by half-wits with painted faces, enjoyed by lower wits. What We Do in the Shadows s4e3: The Grand Opening, Laszlo to Guillermo, BBC 2024
More than sixty people were killed on the roads over the Bank Holiday period. The Wednesday Play: The End of Arthur’s Marriage, director Ken Loach, TV news, BBC 1965
Look, for God’s sake, buy it. I hate it. I can’t afford it. I’m still young. I got a good degree. I started a novel. I worked in a newspaper. Nobody wanted the novel. I tried to kill myself. It didn’t work. I got myself analysed. Then married. ibid. rival for house, out of earshot of wife
And so they made their way towards the West, to the great temples of spending. These temples, the cornerstones of democracy, were open to all. They were warm, beautiful and comforting. They were called the big stores. There were many of these religious buildings and they were always filled. ibid.