Sinatra sings the song beautifully, for a record, or TV or Vegas; but not IN the role of Billy. I think Richard Rodgers would have hated his phrasing. Whilst I agree that Gordon MacRae was totally miscast, neither he nor the producers were done any favours by the cuts and changes demanded by the Hays Code, which resulted in his character being castrated, and the film ending up as but a shadow of the original.
I always thought the filmmakers' worst mistake was to open the movie with Billy already in Heaven and then to treat all of Act 1 as a flashback. Way to drain out any kind of urgency or dramatic tension, guys. In the play he gets to Heaven and is desperate to get back to see Julie again - in the movie, well, he's just been hanging out there for the last fifteen years. No hurry or anything.
What might have been....
I love the detail and (as always) the insight here.
Sinatra sings the song beautifully, for a record, or TV or Vegas; but not IN the role of Billy. I think Richard Rodgers would have hated his phrasing. Whilst I agree that Gordon MacRae was totally miscast, neither he nor the producers were done any favours by the cuts and changes demanded by the Hays Code, which resulted in his character being castrated, and the film ending up as but a shadow of the original.
Love your take on this and then to hear that magical recording…looking forward to part 2!
I always thought the filmmakers' worst mistake was to open the movie with Billy already in Heaven and then to treat all of Act 1 as a flashback. Way to drain out any kind of urgency or dramatic tension, guys. In the play he gets to Heaven and is desperate to get back to see Julie again - in the movie, well, he's just been hanging out there for the last fifteen years. No hurry or anything.