Figure 1.--Many Austrian, German, and Scandinavian choirs had sailor suits for their choir uniforms.

Some interesting movies have been made in Europe about boys choirs. The movies have been of uneven quality, but do show some details about the cotumes worn by choirs in the various countries. The films reflect the various costumes worn by the choirs in the various countries, including sailor suits, short pants, lederhosen, liturgical vestments, and other outfits.

Themes

The various movies dealt with all sorts of themes, both religious and secular. The love of music is one popular contining theme. A 199? English film dealt with the intricaies of tunning a choir in a great cathedral. The difficulties of qualifying for a choir, the dedication of the choir master, and relationships and mischieviouness of the boys are continuing themes. The choir costumes sometimes are involved with the theme.

Costuming

The few films I know about at this time shows the boys wearing a variety of costumes, including large bows, white shirts, black short pants, white kneesocks, sailor suits, lederhosen, liturgical vestments, and other outfits worn by the choristers.

Traveling

Some choirs used to have traveling uniforms such as lederhosen or even sailor suits. Now many choirs just let the boys wear there regular clothes when traveling.

Performance

The movies have been of uneven quality. Few will qualify as notable films. Some are indeed have rather poor producyion values. The films do, however, show some details about the performance costumes worn by the boys.

Figure 2.--Costumes at French choirs were often dark short pants and white kneesocks.

Individual Films

HBC will list choir movies alphabetically here for ease of access. If you do not know the title, you can peruse the various country lists which may make them easier to find as the individual country lists are shorter than the overall films. HBC is listing documentaries along with the major feature films. We are including films about choirs as well as movies in which choirs are featured. This appears to be a topic which was of greater interest before the 1970s. We have noted few recent films about choirs, the British made for TV serial The Choir being a notable exception.

National Films

Boy choirs are important in several countries. Each of these countries have both feature films and domumentaries on these choirs. The films listed here are both American and foreign films. The documentaries, however, are mostly American or English. While there have been relatively few American films, there have been several European movies. We are including films about choirs as well as movies in which choirs are featured. This appears to be a topic which was of greater interest before the 1970s. We have noted few recent films about choirs, the British made for TV serial The Choir being a notable exception.

Overview

A few films have dealt with boy choirs in several different countries. These countries are documenraries about choir in general or brief visits swith specific choirs.

Austria

Some interesting movies have been made in Austria about boys choirs--aklmost always the Vienna Boys's choir. The movies have been of uneven quality, but do show some details about the cotumes worn by the Vienna choir boys. the various types of sailor suits they werar are featured.

England

A HBC contributor has provided information on an English movie, but unfortunately does not remember the title. One of the better productions about choirs was a recent BBC series called The Choir featured a noted young singer and many images of choristers in a full English choir costume, with a large collar.

France

Some interesting movies have been made in France about boys choirs. The movies have been of uneven quality, but do show some details about the cotumes worn by choirs in France. Unlike neighboring Germany, the sailor suit was not commonly worn for French boy choirs.

Germany

Germany about boys choirs. The movies have been of uneven quality, but do show some details about the cotumes worn by choirs in Germany. The sailor suit is the most common costume, but lederhosden are also often featured.

Japan

We only know of one Japanese film in which a choir plays a role. The title appropriately enough is "The Choir". The film is set in a boarding school.

Poland

An HBC contributor has provided some information on a Polish boys' choir film, but as it was in the Polish language, few details about the plot. HBC believes that the choir costumes portayed are authentic.

United States

The United States is not widely assocaited with boy choirs. There are actually quite a few boy choirs in America. HBC knows, however, of very few American movies dealing with these choirs.