The Ultimate Movie Musicals Bracket - Round Two, Day Six

Are they? Are the hills alive?

Hey, folks! Before we dive into today’s post, I want to remind you of something I didn’t do yesterday — you should check out the weekly post for paid subscribers, which went up yesterday. In that post, I revealed that my cold, cold heart finally could not be melted by the Muppets in the form of their 1984 musical romance The Muppets Take Manhattan. Read on to learn why:

Now, while you all ponder the question I posed in the subhed of today’s post — because I demand an answer from a certain nun in the Swiss Alps! — why don’t we dive right into today’s matchups in the second round of the Ultimate Movie Musicals Bracket?

(4) The Sound of Music vs. (29) Swing Time: I don’t know if this plea will fall on deaf ears, but here’s a not-fun fact: as of right now, there is just one remaining Astaire/Rogers musical in this bracket, and it’s Swing Time. (I know, I know: “Josh, you design the brackets, so you can’t act mad when films get eliminated based on how you seed and place them!” I know.)

As I type these words, I presume that Mary Poppins has already won its second-round matchup, just as I presume that at least one other Rodgers and Hammerstein musical will have made it to round three. And if those presumptions end up being true, then you really ought to vote for Swing Time. Astaire and Rogers are as iconic a duo as ever existed on film. They should not go down to a lonely goatherd puppet. Why, it’s the puppet in this video!

Anyway. Vote!

The Sound of Music

Swing Time

(52) 42nd Street vs. (45) Bye Bye Birdie: There are pieces of Bye Bye Birdie that I like, from the arresting opening with a young Ann-Margret to Dick Van Dyke’s expectedly energetic performance. But as a whole, I just don’t think it’s a very effective film. So if nothing else, I am voting against that film as much as I am voting for 42nd Street.

What do you think?

42nd Street

Bye Bye Birdie

(60) Annie vs. (28) A Hard Day’s Night: I kind of don’t get why Annie made it to this round! I realize a lot of you like that film, and no doubt, the number I am linking to below is my favorite part of the John Huston film. But against the Beatles, I don’t think the little orphan who could should stand a chance. Vote for A Hard Day’s Night.

Annie

A Hard Day’s Night

(12) On the Town vs. (21) Yankee Doodle Dandy: Two great films are entering the thunderdome here. I am leaning, ever so slightly, towards Yankee Doodle Dandy, a film that remains one of the finest old-fashioned musicals ever thanks to the sheer force of will embodied by the incomparable James Cagney. On the Town is great too, but Cagney as George M. Cohan is the type of performance actors ought to aspire towards.

On the Town

Yankee Doodle Dandy