In creating this list, I had 3 qualifications for defining a musical:
1) characters must break into song and dance, even if it's in the context of a performance; musical montages (e.g., "Team America: World Police") don't count as musical numbers.
2) musical numbers must be a thread that runs through the film, rather than a one-off gag like in "The 40 Year-Old Virgin".
3) concert documentaries don't count (the top 5 concert docs in no particular order: "Don't Look Back", "Gimme Shelter", "Stop Making Sense", "The Last Waltz", and "This is Spinal Tap").
With that mind, here is my list of the top 25 musical films of all time:
All That Jazz
An American in Paris
Dumbo
42nd Street
Funny Face
The Girl Can't Help It (pictured above)
The Gold Diggers of 1933/1935
A Hard Day's Night
I'm Not There
Lady and the Tramp
Meet Me in St. Louis
One From the Heart
On the Town
Phantom of the Paradise
Pinocchio
Purple Rain
Singin' in the Rain
Snow White and the Seven Dwarves
Swing Time
Top Hat
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (pictured below)
Viva Las Vegas
The Wizard of Oz
A Woman is a Woman
Yellow Submarine
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5 comments:
"Guys and Dolls" was robbed!
gbomb
Dub said the same thing. I actually just saw "Guys and Dolls" for the first time last week (otherwise, it would have made its way on to the ESFS schedule eventually), and it was a late cut from the list. It's a damn fine film, but I have to say that Brando is just okay in the lead role. It's not like he's bad, he's just adequate; meanwhile, Sinatra and Jean Simmons and everyone else are great. That said, it makes me happy that Brando made at least one singing-and-dancing film, even if it did hurt the picture.
Now you're talking.
No cabaret?
I know its a personal thing, but I love that movie. Even the parts where it sort of embarasses me.
"Cabaret" is one that I need to see again. I saw it when I was 15 or so, and didn't like it. But in the meantime, I've seen every other Bob Fosse movie, and loved them all. I also don't have as severe a knee-jerk negative reaction to Michael York as I used to.
I get what you are saying about York, you just have to go with it.
And Cabert isn't for 15 year old boys, well not you at least.
Natalie.
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