Battle of the Musicals!- What is the best musical film ever made?

[quote] There are so many musicals, so don’t come for me if your favorite isn’t listed. I know how you bitches get.

And yet you left off Cabaret and included Rocky Horror?

My thoughts precisely r1. Did we go out?

R1 I’ve never seen Cabaret

My thoughts precisely r1. Did we go out?

You also left off "The Music Man" which is practically perfect.

R5 didnt like it.

You included stupid Hairspray but not Mary Poppins, easily one of the greatest movies ever made not just musicals ?

Oh, so this is a thread about you, not about musical movies.

Thanks for letting us know, I guess.

R8 it’s about musical movies. But I only have TEN SPOTS. It’s like you all don’t know this

Oh, OP! Why did you position yourself for the amount of abuse you are going get (rightfully!) for this post?

No Oklahoma? No Gypsy? No Thoroughly Modern Millie? No Music Man? No Cabaret? No Sound of Music? No Pal Joey? No Top Hat? No Easter Parade?

I could go on....but I'll let the rest of DL pile on.

No Oliver!?

No "Love Me Tonight"? Still one of the greatest musicals ever made (and it's on TCM this week, btw on Maurice Chevalier Day).

Annie (1980) and The Wizard Of Oz are the only ones to make big impressions on me as a gayling so those ones.

(r12) I totally agree about "Love Me Tonight"! Brilliant and as fresh as the day it was made, 89 years ago. Chevalier and MacDonald at the peak of their talents.

OP is a dullard.

"Call Me Madam", which was out of circulation for years, is quite wonderful too with Ethel Merman, Donald O'Connor, Vera-Ellen and George Sanders all in peak form.

Hair is absolute genius, from the music to the costumes to the choreography.

So, Hair. #1 musical.

Little Shop of Horrors should replace several on that list.

How dare you OP? I just have one thing to add. Hsssssssss!

[quote] I’ve never seen Cabaret

[quote] didn’t like it

I thought you were asking for our opinions, not just confirmation of your uneducated tastes.

Singin' in the Rain is the best. Went to a revival screening of it a few years ago with a very mixed audience of young and old and it was getting more laughs than most modern comedies. The only low part of the film is the extended Broadway melody sequence that does nothing to further the story along. Even brilliant films have their flaws I suppose.

Grease would be my number 2. Had a similar screening experience with that around the same time and it still felt incredibly fresh, exciting, and new.

No Lucy Mame?

There are 3:

Singing' in the Rain, Meet Me in St Louis, Cabaret.

7 brides for 7 brothers

This list of choices is completely invalid without Cabaret as an option.

1776

Even with its flaws, "Hello, Dolly!" is a lot of fun and Barbra's singing is great.

"Singin' in the Rain" is THE best film musical! It's the one top film musical which is stuffed from beginning to end with enjoyable, memorable, song-and-dance numbers... but if you took away the musical elements it'd still be a great comedy. Most musicals have weak stores, but not this one, it's a fine comedy as well as a top musical.

My second favorite is "On the Town", which the OP couldn't be arsed to include.

"On the Town" would have been even better if they used more than 2 songs of the Bernstein score. Plus if they got someone else besides Jules Munshin, who has questionable appeal. He's so weird in "Easter Parade" too.

and Lina Lamont rules! I wish they made a sequel "Lamont's Lament: Revenge, or Do They Think I'm Dumb or Something?".

Oklahoma?

Can we argue that CABARET isn’t on the list because it isn’t a musical because all the music is DIEGETIC?

UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG

Young Girls of Rochefort also extremely entertaining, and has Gene Kelly in a featured role

In what world is Cabaret a musical?

Xanadu.

Can't Stop the Music.

Grease 2,

Grease 2?! Yet I’m getting yelled at for having Hairspray

Another for Gypsy

Another vote for the wonderful Umbrellas Of Cherbourg!

R5 is right. Musicals are about the music; otherwise they're just over-long films with unlikely plots. The Music Man is as nearly perfect as a musical can be - the story is sweet but sharp, and the songs are memorable, every single one of them. The performances are all good, especially Robert Preston who was born to play Harold Hill.

Also, the "Lida Rose/Will I Ever Tell You" is the best musical counterpoint ever. It's perfect.

All of the songs in Singin in the Rain are diegetic as well.

I am just going to answer OP's question and not bitch him out with what he didn't list.

West Side Story

1936 Showboat.

South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut

How did all those luscious Astaire-Rogers classics get left off this list, you callow twinks?

I'd trade at least 3 of the films on OP's list just for the Night and Day number.

And how how about some art house entries like Carlos Saura's "Carmen" that got a standing ovation at Cannes?

I guess I’m the outlier, but I never thought of “The Wizard of Oz” as a musical.

Thinking about it though … I guess it is? I’ll have to ponder this life altering question.

"Top Hat" is especially wonderful among the Astaire-Rogers films.

R47 Primo Astaire-Rogers.

R7 is a racist.

I saw Hairspray on Broadway a few months before the movie came out, and each are among the best stage and screen musicals of the last 20 years, but of all time? Not quite. For starters, both of them pale in comparison to the original John Waters movie from 1988, which is not technically a musical. For another thing, the pickings have been slim over the last 50 years. The last 30 years of the 20th century was a real take-what-you-could-get era in this respect.

But it is the better of the two Michelle Pfeiffer movie musicals, I’ll give it that.

It's Cabaret, end of story. One of the best films ever, never mind musical films, AND it vastly improves on the original show.

West Side Story improved significantly on the original show too by reorganising its structure (everything good in the show happens in the first half). BUT Beymer and [to a lesser extent] Wood.

[quote]Singin' in the Rain is the best.

[quote]”Singin' in the Rain" is THE best film musical!

Another vote for Singing’ in the Rain.

[quote]I guess I’m the outlier, but I never thought of “The Wizard of Oz” as a musical.

Me neither, R46

Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg would beg to differ. There are clear show spots for the Scarecrow, Tin Man and the Lion as well as Dorothy's big "I want" song "Over the Rainbow". Very much a musical, just different fantasy structure which makes it unique.

Singin'

"South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut"

It definitely deserves a mention, it's actually a hilarious movie with some absolutely terrific songs!

I have no idea why it's fantastically better than the TV show it spun off from.

Probably because it could be uncensored

Grease was the first musical I loved as a kid so I went with that

WHERE IS THE BALLAD OF SIBERIA!

HOW CAN YOU KNOW YOUR HERSTORY WITHOUT THE BALLAD OF SIBERIA???????

FOOLS!!!!!!!!!

We already had this discussion.

My Fair Lady is my favorite, but if OP had included Oklahoma, I would have voted for that. I found the story very powerful and it had everything - comedy, drama, romance.

Those too, R60. It is times like this that it is regrettable there are only 10 spaces for polls. Even the California recall has more choices than that.

R60 - It's hilarious that most of Rodges & Hammerstein's stuff, except for "The Sound of Music" is left off this list. That body of work contains some of the most beautiful scores ever written just below the operatic level - not just Oklahoma, but Carousel, Flower Drum Song (the first all-Asian story/cast musical), The King and I - scores whose songs are still out there being sung and orchestrated, etc.

The overture to Carousel stands on its own as concert hall piece. Anyone who's spent any time in New England can hear the strange aura of the place (or as it used to be) captured in the music.

Flower Drum Song has spectacular dance numbers, a compelling story, a wonderful cast, and a fantastic modern ballet sequence.

People who never saw these films recognise tunes from them.

I mean, really?!

Oh, and no mention of Pal Joey?

An American in Paris?

^*Rodgers

Cabaret belongs on the list. The Greatest Showman does not.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show is one of those classic cinema pieces where every element works together perfectly. Tim Curry's performance is in the same category as Liza and Joel's in Cabaret, deeply transgressive, exquisitely executed and unforgettable.

Also South Pacific, R62.

Rocky Horror is one of my favorites.

And I love The Greatest Showman.

What about High School Musical?

But Rocky Horror kind of loses its plot mid-way through. Otherwise, it's eye and ear candy the rest of the way, even though it doesn't seem to make clear what's happening.

Rocky Horror would have faired better had they done away with the weird alien coming to take him back home bullshit.

Yes, miscast for sure, but Guys and Dolls has terrific songs. More I Cannot Wish You. I'll Know. If I Were a Bell. Luck Be a Lady...etc.

They cut "More I Cannot Wish You" from the movie of "Guys and Dolls", along with "Bushel and Peck" (wtf!, as it was the most popular song in the show outside of it), "My Time of Day", "Marry the Man Today" and "I've Never Been in Love Before", although some of those made it into the underscoring.

If we were talking stage musicals, Gypsy would win hands down, but all the film versions of that have been less than exciting.

CABARET and ALL THAT JAZZ have to be occupying the Nos. 1 and 2 spots. There's no question about that. None.

Then, in no particular order: SINGING IN THE RAIN, UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG, LOVE ME TONIGHT, COAL MINER'S DAUGHTER. THE WIZARD OF OZ, A HARD DAY'S NIGHT.

Also, I include THE RED SHOES. It's not a conventional musical, but it's as musical as any musical film ever made and it is certainly not a straight drama. I give an Honorable Mention to GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES. It doesn't aim high, but everything in the film is rock solid. The casting. The performances. The wardrobe. Jack Cole's choreography. It's fluff, but delightful fluff, and very solid craft from start to finish.

No love for [italic]The Muppet Movie[/italic]?

I watched ME AND MY GIRL yesterday.

That sure took a dark turn!

How do you compile a list of musical films and omit A Star is Born and Cabaret?

Because Janet Gaynor and Frederic March are absolutely magnificent in A STAR IS BORN, but it's not a musical.

Oh, wait. You did not mean those tacky remakes???

"Irma la Douche" starring Helen Lawson

Any good choreography (Robbins) shot full frame (West Side Story) is good for me. Hate it when a close up ruins the movement. Gene Kelly understood this, Astaire may have demanded it.

R65 Thanks! South Pacific absolutely should be 9n the list. "Some Enchanted Evening" and "There Is Nothing Like a Dame" (yeah, fuck all you Woketards), "Younger than Springtime", "You've got to be Taught", "Bali Hai", and "I'm in love with a Wonderful Guy".

Not to mention the stunning photography.

R79, if only a great score made a great movie!

If that was so, then Elizabeth Taylor would be the star of one of the greatest film musicals of all time.

But it doesn't. And it turned out that she isn't.

R69 - Sit down sit down sit down sit down, sit down, you're rockin' the boat . . .

If I were a bell (I'd be ringing )

Luck be a Lady . . .

Take Back Your Mink . . .

It does have very catchy tunes . . .

I had a talk with Jonathan Tunick, who was the MD/orchestrator of the A Little Night Music movie. He said that Elizabeth Taylor was in a recording studio, learning Send In The Clowns in what was supposed to be an informal work session. Jonathan said to the engineer, "save everything she sings, I bet we never get her in the studio again." He was right, and the version of the song you hear in the movie was pieced together from that session.

And it is very, very, good. Kudos to everyone involved, including Miss Taylor.

Sound recorders, editors and engineers really don't get enough credit for what they have to be subjected to.

[quote]What about High School Musical?

Not without [italic]Song of the South, The Happiest Millionaire, Pete's Dragon[/italic], and [italic]Summer Magic[/italic].

and [italic]The One and Only Genuine Original Family Band[/italic]

Anyone voting for "Hairspray" or "The Greatest Showman" is obviously a frau.

I honestly can’t remember any of the modern Disney songs outside of the ones from [italic]Frozen[/italic].

Here’s Taylor singing Send in the Clowns.

"Anyone voting for "Hairspray" or "The Greatest Showman" is obviously a frau."

"Hairspray" is a damn good musical film, not the best ever (I voted for "Singin' in the Rain"), but possibly in the top ten best ever. Great score, good performances from the leads, unusual but involving story, very funny, and just plain fun. I think it's time for the musical film geeks to start taking it seriously and giving it its due, and not dismiss it as frau-bait.

"Greatest Showman" on the other hand, is forgettable piffle, and total frau-bait.

The first "Hairspray" film, more a comedy with music, is even better, more addictive to watch, standing up to repeated viewings. But Ok, not quite a musical.

I respectfully disagree, R91. I love the first film, but my totally subjective opinion is that the musical movie is even more fun than the original. It really is a terrific musical, and I think it's standing the test of time, the best of the new century so far.

Another great musical film that I think should be more widely appreciated is the 1980s "Little Shop of Horrors", which has fantastic music, some laugh-till-your-abs-hurt comedy, and the most amazing screen monster of the era. It ought to be on AFI "best musicals" lists, but gets no critical respect. Seriously, there's a bunch of musical movie fans on this thread - I challenge you all to watch it and appreciate it like you appreciate the classic musicals!

John Waters tried an actual musical film for real with that Johnny Depp thing, and it failed. Even the directors’ cut did not add anything of interest.

Wasn't Barbra offered Audrey at one point? Actually, she might have pulled it off if she had a similar hairstyle and tone of voice that she used in "All Night Long", which I saw a long time ago, and she actually was a bit different in her performance. But glad Ellen Greene's performance was captured in the film.

Barbra probably would have insisted her Seymour look like Ryan O'Neal.

Same here, r57. I was a 9-year-old gayling when I first saw "Grease" and it will always have a special place in my heart.

Hairspray the musical sucks. The book is terrible. It completely misses the point of the original. The original story followed they change from the rigid, girdles and hairspray, choreographed line dances, very early 1960s to the natural hair, no bra, improvised dances of the early mid 1960s, while following the progress of the civil rights movement. This was done with a wonderful sense of symmetry, e.g. the songs The Bug and The Roach. None of this is in the musical. It completely undermines the original to have a hairspray company be the "hero" at the end. There is no progression in either music, dress, or dance. (Putting a streak in Tracy's hairspray sculpture hairdo does not count.) You Can't Stop The Beat, is the same late 50s/early 60s line dance type song as all the others.

As to the civil rights aspect, integrating the amusement park is the important act. This is downplayed for integrating the TV show, which is really more of a "who cares" moment. Obviously, the record store is more fun. It is more of a personal victory than a civil rights victory.

Also, Tracy deserves being the winner, as in the movie, sorry little Inez.

Cat Ballou!

"Cat Ballou" isn't a musical, it's a comedy with a great theme song.

For your consideration: Sweet Charity (1969)