When I was a kid, my dad had this tendency to rent movies that the family ended up hating. My family were very conservative Christians (we didn’t even have a television for most of my childhood, but that’s a story for another time), so he usually selected films from our local Christian bookstore. Some of those were pretty terrible. One featured a British family screaming at each other for the majority of the movie, and he kept forgetting we’d seen it and renting it again.
For this first Strange Movie Sunday, I’ve decided to review one of those ill-fated rentals that we both hated and kind of loved because of its oddity: “The Music Box.”
The movie opens with the main character screwing tops on what look to be plastic containers of antifreeze in a factory. Is that a real job? Because while it would be terrible in most ways, there are days when I wish my career was as stress-free and mindless.
As he wends his way cheerlessly home, he’s startled to hear the sounds of a music box wafting through the bleak streets.
Suddenly, the heavenly hosts appear.
And they are angels dressed in white tuxedos with tiny wings on their back who burst into gospel song and dance. The dancing is … special. Let’s just say that I think Michael Jackson might be one of the angels.
As suddenly as they appeared, they disappear, leaving behind a music box that plays the tune they sang for our weary protagonist.
His wife is shocked when he returns home, greets her with a kiss and actually says hello to their son. Apparently screwing on bottle caps also sours your personality. Instead of sharing his music box discovery with her, he listens to it in secret. Can’t say I blame him much for that, as the music makes him break into what are, frankly, quite embarrassing dance moves.
The next morning he decides to share something “of great importance” with his wife and son who are giving him the stink-eye for the happy way he’s eating his cereal but chickens out and tells them he was named employee of the month at the plant.
Every chance he can get, he’s listening to the music box – even gargling the tune while he’s brushing his teeth, which is as painful to watch as it sounds. His wife can’t understand why he’s so happy. She says he’s changed so much she feels like he’s lost to her. She’d think he was someone else, but he’s home with her all the time, except for when he goes and hides in the bathroom or the closet. Um…
He knows he should tell her, but he’s afraid. He’ll tell her as soon as he figures out how to say it. Um…
The angels return while he is sleeping. Their little white wings are super creepy, if I’m being honest.
They tell him he’s not supposed to hoard his gift. “It was meant to be shared.” He’s not sure about that, but when they break into song and dance in his bedroom, his wife wakes up and is in on the secret. She’s a bit nervous at first. I would be too if I awoke to find four men with white gloves dancing in my bedroom. She gets over her fright surprisingly quickly, and their son wanders in, and everyone joins in the dance.
Then our mustachioed protagonist begins sharing the music box’s gift of song, holding it out his window, calling his friends and playing it over the phone. Then everything is happy and wonderful and the movie ends.
Now, I know the music box is supposed to represent the gospel, but I think my own takeaway message is that campy dancing angels make everything better.
If you’d like to enjoy this fine film yourself, there is a link below. If you have any suggestions for Strange Movie Sunday, feel free to leave a comment.
I want to hear more about the British family yelling at each other! Apparently, you got to see this one several times, too, so it should be easy to summarize.
I appreciated how the YouTube video of this was apparently produced by just aiming the camera at the TV screen, too.
I’m not sure the British family is strange enough to deserve a post of its own. They were pretty much a dysfunctional family screaming at each other until the mom had to go to the hospital, and they realized they should get along better, or something like that. I mostly remember the screaming.