Musical Film Index

Musical Film Index: H

**** - Exceptional
*** - Very good entertainment
** - Mediocre
* - Just plain bad
NO STARS - Beyond bad

Hair (1979) *** - Fun version of the stage hit has wartime draftee Treat Williams adopted by a tribe of hippies.
Hairspray (2007) **** - Surprisingly well-handled adaptation of stage hit keeps much of the fun intact with a stellar cast, whacky humor and great score.
Half a Sixpence (1967) * - Stage hit falls painfully flat with Tommy Steele as a clerk who inherits a fortune.
Hallelujah (1929)
Hallelujah I'm a Bum (1933) ** - Al Jolson is a bum who tries to reform so he can marry the heiress he loves. Rodgers & Hart score and some fascinating moments, but overall effect is pretentious.
Hans Christian Andersen (1952) *** - Silly plot, but Danny Kaye is endearing in the title role. Some grand Frank Loesser songs help immeasurably.
Happiest Millionaire, The (1967) ** - Some fine moments and a fine Sherman Brothers score cannot save this overblown (and painfully long) tale of wealthy families battling over a wedding.
Happiness Ahead (1934)
Happy Days (1930)
Happy Go Lucky (1943) ** - Millionaire Rudy Vallee is pursued by Mary Martin on an ocean liner. A forgettable variation on Anything Goes with a nothing score.
Happy Landing (1938)
Happy-Go-Lucky (1936)
Harmony Lane (1935)
Harold Teen (1934)
Harum Scarum (1965)
Harvest Melody (1943)
Harvey Girls, The (1946) *** - Judy Garland heads a team of waitresses trying to bring civilization to the Wild West. Fun numbers like "On the Atchison Topeka" help immensely.
Hat Check Honey (1943)
Hats Off (1936)
Hawaii Calls (1938)
Hawaiian Nights (1939)
Head (NO stars) - The Monkees star in this incoherent psychedelic disaster.
Heads Up (1930)
Hearts Divided (1936)
Hearts in Dixie (1929)
Heat's On, The (1943) *** - Mae West battles shady producers, with solid comic relief from Broadway duo William Gaxton and Victor Moore.
Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001) *** - John Cameron Mitchell stars in his daring stage hit about a transsexual rock singer. Hard rock score, hard hitting film – not every musical-lover's thing, but heaven for some.
Helen Morgan Story, The (1957) * - Ann Blythe fatally miscast as the legendary saloon singer.
Hello, Dolly! (1969) *** - Jerry Herman's stage hit about a clever widow nabbing a husband in 1890s New York hampered by overproduction and a miscast Barbra Streisand in the lead, but there is lots of fun along the way.
Hello, Frisco, Hello (1943) ** - Alice Faye tries to keep John Payne's love in the madcap show biz world of the 1890s. So-so film, but Faye introduces "You'll Never Know."
Hellzapoppin' (1941)
Help! (1965) *** - The Beatles fight off a religious sect. Loads of laughs and a solid helping of the group's hit tunes.
Her First Romance (1940) ** - Ugly duckling becomes a man magnet. Good singing, with Broadway baritone Wilbur Evans in a rare film appearance.
Her Lucky Night (1945) ** - The Andrews Sisters as Manhattan night club singers.
Her Majesty, Love (1931) - Marilyn Miller is a barmaid in old Berlin, with W.C. Fields as her father.
Hercules (1997) *** - Lots of comedy but little magic in this Disney animated feature – the score is downright weak.
Here Come the Blondes (1945)
Here Come the Girls (not seen)
Here Come the Waves (1944) *** - Bing Crosby is a navy crooner romancing twin sisters – both played by Betty Hutton. Fresh premise, great score.
Here Comes Elmer (1943) * - Radio stars who should have stayed there stumble badly on the big screen.
Here Comes the Band (1935)
Here Comes the Groom (1951)
Here Is My Heart (1934)
Here's to Romance (1935)
Hers to Hold (1943) ** - Deanna Durbin in a wartime romance with soldier Joseph Cotten – unimaginative, with recycled songs.
Hey Boy! Hey Girl! (1959) * - Louis Prima and Keely Smith star as pop singers; otherwise, nothing to recommend in this one.
Hey, Rookie(1944) ** - Ann Miller puts on yet another show for the troops – made on the cheap, and the formula wears a bit thin.
Hi Buddy (1943)
Hi, Gaucho! (1936)
Hi, Good Lookin' (1944) * - A girl seeks radio stardom. Look elsewhere.
High School Hero (1946)
High Society (1956) *** - Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and some swell Cole Porter songs make this musical version of The Philadelphia Story a treat. Do not miss Bing's super "Now You Has Jazz" with Louis Armstrong.
High Society Blues (1930)
High Time (1960)
High, Wide, and Handsome (1937) ** - Some scholars rave over this basically dull tale of oil riggers in love. The Kern-Hammerstein score includes the popular "Folks Who Live On the Hill."
Higher and Higher (1944) ** - Jack Haley as a butler helping his impoverished boss. This weak Rodgers & Hart musical is stolen by a trained seal, just as it was on Broadway.
Hips, Hips, Hooray (1934) *** - Vaudeville vets Bert Wheeler & Robert Woolsey are lipstick salesmen out to help Thelma Todd save her cosmetics business. Ruth Etting, a fun score, a cross country race and a cyclone help make this an amusing, if corny, chaotic romp.
His Butler's Sister (1943)
Hit Parade of 1941 (1940)
Hit Parade of 1943 (1943)
Hit Parade of 1951 (1950)
Hit the Deck (1930)
Hit the Deck (1955) ** - Mediocre naval musical with good cast and a fine Vincent Youman's score.
Hit the Hay (1946)
Hit the Ice (1943)
Hitchhike to Happiness (1945)
Hitting A New High (1937)
Hi'ya, Chum (1943) NO STARS - Ritz Brothers run a restaurant. Don't bother.
Hi'ya Sailor
Hold Everything (1930)
Hold On (1966) NO STARS - Don't even bother catching it.
Hold That Co-Ed (1938)
Hold That Ghost (1941)
Holiday in Havana (1949)
Holiday in Mexico (1946)
Holiday Inn (1942) **** - Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire are former song and dance partners competing for the same girl. The stars and some great Irving Berlin songs make this a winner – "White Christmas" debuts here.
Hollywood Canteen (1944) *** - An all-star line-up redeems this one with fun cameos and musical performances. Roy Rodgers introduces Cole Porter's "Don't Fence Me In."
Hollywood Hotel (1938) *** - Berkeley's last for Warners, with some great numbers enlivening shenanigans in a drive-in diner.
Hollywood Hotel ** - Silly talent contest plot, but a grand score includes "Hooray for Hollywood."

Hollywood or Bust (1956)

Hollywood Party (1934)

Hollywood Revue of 1929, The (1929) ** - MGM's answer to the all-star revues that every studio put out at this time. Some good songs ("Singin' in theRain"), but some classic camp too
Holy Terror, The (1937)
Honey (1930)
Honeychile (1951)
Honeymoon Ahead (1945)
Honeymoon Lodge (1943)
Honolulu (1939)
Hooray for Love (1935)
Hootenanny Hoot (1963)
Hot For Paris (1929)
Hot Heiress, The (1931) - Rodgers & Hart musical about romance between a construction worker and a high society dame. Not the team's best effort.
Hot Rhythm (1944)
Hot Rod Gang (NO stars) - Moronic racing tale.
Hound Dog Man (1959)
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1967) *** - Robert Morse repeats his ingratiating stage performance in this delicious spoof of corporate culture. Fantastic Frank Loesser score, and Rudy Valee is a hoot as a pompous executive.
How You Can Love! (1940)
Huckleberry Finn (1974) * - Harvey Korman and David Wayne (as King & Duke) are the only signs of life in this terrible sequel to the previous year's Tom Sawyer.
Hullabaloo (1940)
Hunchback of Notre Dame, The (1996) **** - Underrated Disney masterpiece with superb Stephen Schwartz score, based on the classic Victor Hugo novel.