This was a marvelous performance! One of the earliest musicals to attempt "natural" settings & singing instead of breaking to a Busby Berkley sort of thing. You cant really do that, of course, but it was a good try. And 'talking' a song isn't so bad - Rex Harrison did well with the idea in that show/movie they made out of Shaw's Pygmalion, after all. It's more like 'folk' stuff - heimish instead of stage performances.

In this line, I've sort of been collecting movies & stars that wended their way through genuine trad. material. Eg, Eastwood (again) singing "Rose of Alabammy" and Bogart, himself, singing the New York State version of "The Bold Fisherman." There must be more...