Movies about learning to sing

I believe The Bells of St. Mary's was a partial template for Sister Act.

And then there's The Sound of Music.

But I rarey see films where the true WORK of learning to sing is explored in-depthly.

I think Jody Foster was in a film with Peter O'Toole where she was his voice student. (I don't recall the title.)

And then of course there's the Brady Bunch episode where Peter's voice changed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyooALwfxO8

There's an old Deanna Durbin movie where she's being operatically trained. Can't remember the name, though.

The best, though not a movie, is Terrance McNally's play Master Class. As a former professional opera singer, I can vouch for its authenticity.

Plot Device said:

I think Jody Foster was in a film with Peter O'Toole where she was his voice student. (I don't recall the title.)

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That was a remake of Svengali, which was also the inspiration for My Fair Lady.

There is also, and you may already know, Sister Act II: Back In the Habit. I'm not kidding. She becomes a choir teacher at a Catholic school and teaches (gasp!) Lauryn Hill and some other high school kids. It's a great movie, actually.

Honestly, you're probably putting too much thought into this.

It's the same formula as the sports misfits movie.

There is a band of people that are barely functioning at job X. The outsider comes in, upsets the balance and gets them to believe in themselves.

And, just before the big competition they have a misunderstanding that causes the outsider to leave the group.

Only to be reunited just in time to win whatever was at stake.

I know that probably comes off a bit cynical, but it's not. Those are some of the best feel good movies out there.

Like, switch the Bad News Bears. instead of kids, it's convicts in a prison. and instead of baseball it's a singing rehabilitation program.

It isn't about singing, but "Hula Girls" is a charming recent Japanese movie that made it into US release. It's about a reluctant dance teacher from the big city going to a remote mining town to teach hula dancing. I think it would apply to the model you're looking for.

Of course, the script is in Japanese. But if you watch the movie, you'll see that the in-studio teaching scenes are not simply teaching scenes, but integral parts of the overall story and character development. The teaching parts, while adding interest and color, are just plot devices, which is as they should be. I suppose you need just as many teaching scenes as are necessary for the story development, no more and no less. The instruction scenes must be part the story on more than one level, not something thrown in on top.

Kosh said:

I'm writing a script where a character has to refine her voice. Besides Sister Act (I'm reading the script now) can anyone suggest a movie where a character takes singing instruction? I'm trying to work out how much of the instruction is enough for the story.

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Citizen Kane had singing instruction.

So did Gaslight, the 1944 flick with Ingrid Bergman.

I don't have any other movies to suggest, but I can tell you about my private voice lessons in college. I was taller than my professor, at 5'2", but she scared me at times. With serious instruction, it's entirely realistic to have your character be frustrated to tears at least once as a voice student, and that's not the teacher being mean, either......there are things you're asked to do that you just aren't going to get the feel of the first day, and you have to trust your teacher when they tell you the sound is correct or incorrect.

A good voice teacher will take you much farther in a year of classes than being in a choir for years, though.