Five Musicals that may Break your Brain

The advent of sound in film by the late 1920s changed the cinematic landscape forever and even more so when it comes to the movie musical, a format that wouldn’t translate too well with title cards, and for decades audiences have been treated to some pretty stunning films, from Busby Berkeley’s elaborately choreographed set pieces to the likes of Julie Andrews running up a hill exclaiming how great the world would be without Nazis – it’s been a while but I’m pretty sure that’s what her song was about – but movie musicals weren’t all about show-stopping numbers and Nazi bashing once and a while a musical would be released that would have many a viewer wondering “Did someone just slip me acid?”

Now, there have been plenty of terrible musicals released over the years that failed to garner much critical or audience appreciation, with films like Doctor Dolittle with Rex Harrison and Paint Your Wagon and its weirdly cast Clint Eastwood doing their best to kill the genre, but today I will point five titles that aren’t necessarily bad, or if so are so bad they’re good, but these five are at least entertaining misfires that once viewed I’ll guarantee will never be forgotten. Click on the links or posters below for a deep dive into these delightfully demented movie musicals.

The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T (1953)

If one were to think of music and the works of famed children’s author Dr. Seuss I’m betting “You’re a mean Mr. Grinch” is the first thing that would come to mind but almost a decade earlier there was this Dr. Seuss live-action film that was the only project written for the screen. The story revolves around a little boy who hates piano lessons and enters the dream world of the “Happy Fingers Institute” where Dr. Terwilliker has created a massive two-tiered piano that is designed to be operated by 500 boys.

Child labour laws were clearly a bit looser in the 50s.

The world itself looks almost like a Salvador Dali painting than anything found in a Dr. Seuss book and that is easily one of the film’s greatest selling points, it’s simply gorgeous and bizarre. One truly can’t do this film justice with mere words; this is something that has to be experienced, from the design and craftsmanship of the sets to all the talented performers who pour their hearts and souls into this truly magical project.

Phantom of the Paradise (1974)

There have countless adaptations of Gaston Leroux’s The Phantom of the Opera but in 1974 director Brian De Palma took the germ of Leroux’s Phantom and blended that in with Faust, The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Cask of Amontillado, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein into a rock opera with songs by legendary singer/songwriter Paul Williams who not only provided the film’s wild score but would also play the Faustian devil himself.

Paul Williams as the devilish Swan.

The movie tells the story of a talented songwriter who is tricked into signing over the rights to his rock cantata based on the story of Faust – that he didn’t see the Faustian bargain coming is totally on him – and when he is horribly disfigured the mad musician seeks revenge against the producer all while trying to win back the young ingénue who Swan has seduced and stolen away. The pairing of director Brian De Palma and sing/songwriter Paul Williams in the making of a rock horror movie may seem odd to many but somehow it really, really works. The cast is fantastic and the look of the film is a surreal and gorgeous take on this darkly satiric tale.

Bugsy Malone (1976)

Paul Williams makes a second appearance on this list as he was also the singer/songwriter for Alan Parker’s Bugsy Malone, a classic gangster tale where a lone hero must stand between two rival gangs while trying to win the heart of the fair damsel, a movie where the entire cast consisted of children. Set in 1920s New York City during Prohibition this musical comedy with the hub of the story surrounds a speakeasy called “Fat Sam’s” and the torch singer who also has her eye on Bugsy Malone.

Jodi Foster, in a role that will surprise you.

Strangely enough, the filmmakers decided to dub adult singers for the movie’s songs and thus we have the voice of Paul Williams coming out of the mouth of a nine-year-old black kid. Later Williams regretted the decision to not have the children do the actual singing but to me, that just adds to the film’s inexplicable charm. This is one of those films that will probably resonate more with you if you were a kid when you first saw it back in the day, but that aside, the songs are still great and the whole thing is just a lot of fun.

Popeye (1980)

When a film’s sole existence is due to a studio losing a bidding war for the rights to the musical Annie you know you’re in trouble and trouble is what famed director Robert Altman got when he tried to make a big-budgeted musical based on the comic strip Popeye. With upcoming comedic star Robin Williams as your lead and Shelley Duvall in a role that she was clearly born to play, what could possibly go wrong? Apparently, a lot, as rough weather and a script that could best be described as “a total mess” all went towards sinking this mighty sailor man at the box office.

It bombed so badly it made the studio execs see red.

That all said, there is a lot to love about this quirky extravagant mess between Shelly Duvall belting out “He’s large!” and Robin Williams running around with foam latex forearms. Robert Altman’s Popeye is not without its charm but neither he nor his screenwriter seemed to have any clear idea as to what to do with this particular comic strip character and the result was a convoluted mess bolstered up by a few great performances.

The Apple (1980)

In the case of Canon Films The Apple we have a film that clearly lands in the “So bad it’s good” category as not only did producer/director/writer Menahem Golan fail to realize that disco had already died before he went into his production of a disco version of The Devil and Daniel Webster but it had a laughably bad script, awful production values spawning some of the weirdest sets and costumes, and a collection of songs that I’m sure were designed to make you insane.

If disco wasn’t already dead this would have killed it.

The Apple is a bad film, there is no debating that point, even as a musical it fails for the song numbers range from the goofy to the forgettable to the outright awful, yet there is a certain level of earnestness that permeates the film and that is why some consider it a cult classic. It will certainly never reach the heights of such cult hits as The Rocky Horror Show but its unique visual signature and complete lack of restraint do merit some applause, and once you’ve seen The Apple you certainly will never forget it.