Rating: 
Summary: Find out why this musical was good enough to go to Broadway
Review: "Thoroughly Modern Millie" is a reminder that once upon a time in Hollywood singing stars made B-musicals. Here is a classic example from the career of Julie Andrews that reminds us her career was not all mega-hits like "Sound of Music" and super-flops like "Star." Unfortunately for lovers of musicals Hollywood stopped marking movies like this, leaving singing stars with Olivia Newton-John with a smash like "Grease" and a bomb like "Xanadu" with nothing in between. I also have fond memories of "Thorough Modern Millie" because it was a movie that was shown to us in class in high school; the reason why we were allowed this privilege is beyond me, unless we were supposed to get an appreciation of the Roaring Twenties from this film (so why did they show us the original version of "The Blob?").Our flapper heroine is Millie Dillmount (Andrews), who has decided to be a "mod" and turned in her long curls for a stylish bob. Her goal in life is to marry her boss and after interviewing several possibilities she hits the jackpot with Trevor Graydon (John Gavin), who hires her as his stenog and calls Millie "John" (as in "Johnny on the spot"). Millie likes young Jimmy (James Fox), who impresses her by inventing a new dance called the Tapioca and being a swell kisser, but he is poor and Millie has her ambitions. Millie's best gal-al is Miss Dorothy (Mary Tyler Moore), who is sweet, innocent, and has lots of curls. However, the life of Millie and her friends are caught between two imposing characters. At the hotel for young women where Millie lives there is Mrs. Meers (Beatrice Lillie), who is always looking out for young girls who are "all alone in the world," like Miss Dorothy, who could be of use to a Chinese White Slavery ring. But Millie also encounters an unstoppable force for life in the person of the irrepressible Muzzy (Carol Channing), who lives the good life at her Long Island "Cottage" estate and pops up at key moments throughout the narrative. The movie is not a great musical, mainly because it does not have any really great songs (as evidenced by the fact that the current Broadway musical has almost entirely new songs), but it is still great fun. Director George Roy Hill takes advantage of Andrews' comic flair and the film has great fun with her double takes and comic title cards as Millie periodically comments on the proceedings. The movie does employ stereotypes of the Chinese, but you have to admit these are balanced between the comic relief of Mrs. Meers' henchmen (Jack Soo and Pat Morita) and the wise old Tea (Philip Ahn). "Thoroughly Modern Millie" won an Oscar for music and Channing was nominated for supporting role (she won a Golden Globe for her efforts, were clearly tailored to her style). But Lillie is a delight as well and I personally enjoy Gavin's mock-heroic performance. Moore just has to look sweet, although she does get to say a bad word (!), and Fox is charming although clearly too young for Andrews. Unfortunately the debacle of "Star" pretty much derailed Andrews' musical career in Hollywood, which is a loss because the comic flair she shows here is the same that she showcased in films like "Victor, Victoria" a couple of decades later. The good news is that the Broadway show will bring this film back to the public's notice; I am sure that is the reason I have spent the morning watch the film on TV.
Rating:
Summary: Ummm..... can I tell you how much I love this movie?!
Review: "Welcome everybody! Welcome!" Yeah...welcome to one of the best movies this side of Saudia Arabia! Thoroughly Modern Millie is so much fun to watch over and over! Its hysterical and a fun musical. The cast is great- Julie is great as Millie, and Mary Tyler Moore is incredibly hysterical as Miss Dorothy, Carol Channing is simply the best as Muzz (Razzzzzberries!), and Beatrice Lillie is so off-the-wall as Mrs. Meers, the house-mother with a love for the Pacific Rim. This spoof made me laugh so hard and my friend Bonnie (who introduced me to this movie) and I quote the wonderful lines all the time! ("Don't worry Miss Dorothy, the kids will soon forget your dress is real lace and ask you to dance.") Everything from the dance sequence in the elevator to the "tap-tap tap-tap-ioca" to "SOYYYY SAUCE!!!!", to Baron Von Richter and his loop-de-loops (they do wonders for the inner ear, ya know!), the movie is non-stop fun. Go get it ahora mismo!
Rating:
Summary: Ummm..... can I tell you how much I love this movie?!
Review: "Welcome everybody! Welcome!" Yeah...welcome to one of the best movies this side of Saudia Arabia! Thoroughly Modern Millie is so much fun to watch over and over! Its hysterical and a fun musical. The cast is great- Julie is great as Millie, and Mary Tyler Moore is incredibly hysterical as Miss Dorothy, Carol Channing is simply the best as Muzz (Razzzzzberries!), and Beatrice Lillie is so off-the-wall as Mrs. Meers, the house-mother with a love for the Pacific Rim. This spoof made me laugh so hard and my friend Bonnie (who introduced me to this movie) and I quote the wonderful lines all the time! ("Don't worry Miss Dorothy, the kids will soon forget your dress is real lace and ask you to dance.") Everything from the dance sequence in the elevator to the "tap-tap tap-tap-ioca" to "SOYYYY SAUCE!!!!", to Baron Von Richter and his loop-de-loops (they do wonders for the inner ear, ya know!), the movie is non-stop fun. Go get it ahora mismo!
Rating: 
Summary: Thoroughly Marvellous Musical
Review: Absolutely delightful! Great fun and camp beyond belief! The story goes that the studio were all ready to make a movie version of The Boyfriend when suddenly they realised they did not have the rights to the songs! What to do? I know, why not do our own musical using the sets, costumes and cast that we have all lined up and ready to go! From the opening titles, where we see the hilarious transformation of Julie Andrews' Millie from a plain jane to a thoroughly modern, through to the hilarious round-up of villains and the subsequent end titles, this is a masterpiece of comedy acting! As you would expect with the likes of Julie Andrews, Mary Tyler Moore and Carol Channing, the songs and dancing get first class treatment. The famous 'lift scene' where Julie and Mary have to tap-dance to get the lift to work (due to a troupe of dancing girls who used to practice their routines in it, which did something to the mechanism) is hysterical. One-liners are strewn like rose petals all the way through the film and Beatrice Lillie as the White Slave Trader/House Mother is in fine fettle. The surprise of the film, to me at any rate, is James Fox as Jimmy. Not only does he show an exemplary flare for comedy but also his singing and dancing are not that bad! Everyone connected with the film seems to be having a whale of a time and it certainly comes over to the viewer. I can't wait for this to be released on DVD so that I can go to all my favourite spots in the film at the flick of a switch! Great fun, but only for those with a sense of humour!
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Summary: One of My All Time Favorite Musical Comedies
Review: Absolutely loved this movie as a kid and now as a bid kid. Wholesome entertainment with an actual plot, good acting and singing. I never tire of watching this film. Recommend to all!
Rating:
Summary: A rediscovered fan of classic musicals
Review: All the cast from Julie Andrews to James Fox offers an nostolgic look at the 1920's through music and song. I just enjoyed the experience and even though the film is over 30 years old it still retains the fun and innocence of the a good musical. Hope others appreciate the musical the many talents of James Fox and Julie Andrews. Especially as there may be few and far between musticals from Julie Andrews in the future. What a treasure this film is. I feel as if there a Millie in all of us. Great movie!!
Rating:
Summary: Birthday Party favorite
Review: As a child growing up in the 70's, this was a favorite movie with all my friends. Every birthday party usually began with "Thoroughly Modern Millie" on 16mm film projector. Today, my friends and I still use a few expressions we picked up from Carol Channing and Julie Andrews.
This is a funny and entertaining musical that takes place in the 1920's. I still enjoy seeing it everynow and then.
Rating:
Summary: "On the FAT side!!!"
Review: Even aside from her once-perfect voice, Julie Andrews has an amazing dry comic gift that is maybe akin to genius, and it never got a better showcase than in THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE. If you don't get it, you don't get it, but there are indeed many, many people who cannot even think of her facial expressions when she turns to the camera in this Twenties spoof just before her thoughts are flashed onscreen in intertitles without becoming helpless with laughter, and I confess to be one of them. This is the fullest chance she ever got to strut her comic stuff (especially when she decides to become "positively FATAL!"). There are many problems in this George Roy Hill spoof: its overlength, its bizarre plot excursions ( Julie at one point announces she has to sing "Trinkt Le Chaim" at a Jewish wedding which she does for no possible reason other than no one previous ever possibly IMAGINED what this song would sound like sung by her), and Carol Channing does overdo it as Muzzy (when she gets shot out of a cannon, you want to duck). But, it has one of the world's alltime best running sight gags (an elevator that works only if you dance in it), Mary Tyler Moore's peerless attempt to do the dance known as "the Tapioca," which practically stops the entire show, and finally Beatrice Lillie's famously hilarious performance as Mrs. Meers. Casting Lillie, the absolute unquestioned master of dry British comedy, against Julie Andrews was nothing short of inspired, and when Lillie attempts to figure out which of many cups of tea has a sleeping drug hidden in it the movie somes close to comic genius.
Rating: 
Summary: Channing and Company are Boffo!
Review: From the bizarre subplots about The Yellow Menace, to the happy-go-lucky dance numbers (the elevator hoofer sequence in the beginning is gratuitously hysterical), this comedy is simply wonderful. It's not a perfect film -- it does seem a bit long -- but on video it's a real pleasure because when it drags you can pause to get yourself a nice big bowl of "Razzzzzzzberries." It's a bit easy to overlook this now, but this is also parable about women in the 1920s empowering themselves (hey, it was made in 1967 when people were taking sledgehammers to the walls of gender stereotypes), thus slipping us a positive message amidst all the tomfoolery. Some people have criticized it for not following through with its promise: the women are "liberated," but aren't happy (or complete) until they get married. But in these days of "Ally McBeal post-feminism," perhaps we're all becoming comfortable with the notion that happiness - and therefore completeness - is an individual issue and we should please ourselves and not worry about what our choices mean on a sociological level. It also means you should ignore these weighty issues, curl up on the sofa with that special someone, and pop this great tape in the VCR. It's a blast!
Rating: 
Summary: To be watched only if there's nothing else...
Review: I did not think too highly of Thoroughly Modern Millie. The acting fell flat (especially the overstatement of Carol Channing) and it was mostly plotless. Plus it was blatantly racist. "If Mrs. Meers is with the Chinese, she's into something really big..." Two stars because the idiocy of the movie was funny in spots, and it is good only if there is no other alternative.
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