Thu 2/1 @ 7PM
The 1937 musical western High, Wide & Handsome isn’t a movie most people have seen. Starring Irene Dunn, Randolph Scott and Dorothy Lamour, among others, it features music by Jerome Kern with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, who also co-wrote the script with George O’Neil. It was also an early film project for director Roubon Mamoulian, who later directed the better-known Silk Stocking with Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse and ended his career resigning as director of the high-profile 1963 trainwreck Cleopatra, best known as the film where Elizabeth Taylor and Richards Burton launched their famous affair.
The plot of High, Wide, and Handsome involves a travelling medicine show, a young couple falling in love and a railroad tycoon trying to grab the land of some local farmers on whose land oil has been found. And this: “The townspeople block the plan, assisted by a herd of circus elephants, and instead construct their own oil pipeline.” Oh-kaaaaay ….
According to The Musical Theater Project’s artistic director Bill Rudman, who’ll be hosting a Movies at Home discussion of this movie, it’s only recently become available to watch, another factor driving its obscurity. He says, “There’s comedy here, but also real substance in a tale that focuses on the discovery of oil in 1859 Pennsylvania. The characterizations are strong, and there’s even a layer of social consciousness as the oil-drilling farmers find themselves up against a railroad tycoon who is up to no good.”
Here’s what you do. First watch Rudman’s introduction. Then watch the movie which is available free on YouTube. Finally, join Bill and other movie buffs on Zoom to talk about the film on Thursday February 1 @ 7pm. The discussion is free and open to all; no reservations are needed. Go here.