- Singin' in the Rain (1952)
This musical set in Hollywood during the conversion
from silent to sound films has Kelly singing, dancing and splashing
in puddles. Reynolds and O'Connor lend support in some
of the most delightful song and dance numbers ever filmed.
- West Side Story (1961)
The Romeo and Juliet tale gets resurfaced on the streets of New York
with music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, based
on their breakthrough Broadway hit. The Sharks and the Jets mix it
up for some of the most memorable dance sequences in film history.
- The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Garland's Dorothy Gale is transported from her black-and-white
Kansas home to the colorful land of Oz via tornado. From here she
journeys down the Yellow Brick Road and is helped by a Scarecrow,
a Tin Man, and a Cowardly Lion on their way to see the Wizard. The
Harold Arlen/E.Y. Harburg score is highlighted by "Somewhere Over
the Rainbow."
- The Sound of Music
(1965)
Andrews is Maria, a nun who becomes governess to the
Von Trapp family in this film adaptation of the Rodgers and Hammerstein
Broadway musical. Maria falls in love with the children and their
handsome widowed father just as Austria is being annexed by the Nazis.
The film's songs
include the title song, "Do-Re-Mi" and "Climb Every Mountain."
- Cabaret (1972)
"Willkommen" to 1930s Berlin and the Kit Kat Club, where
mischievous emcee Grey holds court and American entertainer Sally
Bowles, played by Minnelli, lives life in divine decadence as the
Nazis rise in power.
- Mary Poppins
(1964)
This supercalifragilisticexpialidocious musical fantasy introduced
Andrews to film history as the magical nanny who at arrives at the
home of Jane and Michael Banks via umbrella and teaches them that a
spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.
- A Star Is Born (1954)
Garland's comeback performance highlighted this remake of the
1937 film in which a young film star's rise to fame coincides
with the decline of her once famous, alcoholic husband.
- My Fair Lady (1964)
Professor Henry Higgins bets he can turn a flower girl into a lady
just by teaching her to speak properly. Based on George Bernard Shaw's
Pygmalion, Lerner and Loewe's celebrated Broadway musical
comes to the screen with Hepburn celebrating her transformation with
"The rain in Spain, stays mainly in the plain!"
- An American in Paris (1951)
Kelly and Caron fall in love to the tunes of Gershwin - "I Got
Rhythm," "Our Love Is Here To Stay" and "S'Wonderful"
- in postwar Paris. The film's legendary finale, the 17-minute
ballet, was both daring and innovative in 1951.
- Meet Me in St. Louis
(1944)
Minnelli's nostalgic musical picture-post card follows the
lives of the Smith Family in four seasonal vignettes as they wait
for the 1904 World's Fair. Garland's enduring renditions
of "The Trolley Song" and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"
are just two of the film's many memorable songs.
- The King and I (1956)
The East and West collide in Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical
based on the true story of a 19th century English school teacher
who teaches the children of the very stubborn, yet forward thinking,
King of Siam. Getting to know each other is a hard- earned lesson,
etc, etc, etc!
- Chicago (2002)
A razzle-dazzle song and dance extravaganza based on the Broadway
musical. A couple of murderesses get away with the crime and claw
their way to celebrity in 1920s Chicago...and all that jazz!
- 42nd Street (1933)
This quintessential backstage musical stars Keeler as the girl whose
career begins when she stands in for the leading lady ("You're
going out there a youngster, but you've got to come back a
star!"), and saves the show from closing. It was the first
film to feature choreographer Busby Berkeley's dizzying overhead
shots of dancers in kaleidoscopic patterns.
- All That Jazz (1979)
This is Fosse's semi-autobiographical, highly stylized musical
of a pill-popping director/choreographer torn between too many women
and "Death," beautifully embodied by Lange. "It's
showtime, folks."
- Top Hat (1935)
This was the first original screenplay specifically written for Rogers
and Astaire, who "meet cute" in a London hotel and dance
along the canals of Venice. The film contains some of Irving Berlin's
most memorable hits, "Cheek to Cheek" and "Isn't
This a Lovely Day to Be Caught in the Rain?"
- Funny Girl (1968)
Streisand, in her film debut, is Fanny Brice, legendary vaudeville
comedienne whose career blossoms as her personal life falls apart.
Adapted from the hit Broadway musical, Streisand wowed audiences
as she chased after Nicky Arnstein singing "Don't Rain
on My Parade" and lamented his loss with Brice's iconic
"My Man."
- The Band Wagon (1953)
Film actor Astaire is washed up in Hollywood and heads to New York
to resurrect his career, this time on Broadway. With enduring standards
like "That's Entertainment" and "Dancing In The Dark",
Comden and Green take a light-hearted look at how an ill-fated concept,
an updated Oedipus [Faust], becomes a musical smash.
- Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
Cagney sings and dances his way through the patriotic songs George
M. Cohan composed in the early years of American vaudeville and musical
theatre. Songs like "Over There", "It's A Grand
Old Flag" and "Yankee Doodle Dandy" inspired generations when the
world was at war.
- On the Town (1949)
A trio of sailors on leave in New York City romance
three females during a triple date to the Empire State Building,
in this exhilarating on-location musical directed by Stanley
Donen and hoofer/star Kelly, featuring Leonard Bernstein's "New
York, New York."
- Grease (1978)
A love poem to the 1950s, this nostalgic musical follows the exploits
of seniors at Rydell High - particularly Newton-John's
Sandy, an innocent teenager who falls in love with Travolta's
Danny, a greaser from the wrong side of the tracks. Based on the
Broadway musical, the film's songs include "Hopelessly Devoted
to You" and "Summer Nights."
- Seven
Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)
Marriage is in the works for eldest son Keel (for Jane Powell)
and his six younger brothers, amidst amazing athleticized choreography.
- Beauty and the Beast (1991)
This animated musical is based on the classic fairy tale of the girl
who is trapped in the castle of a hideous beast but eventually falls
for his unusual charm. The film's musical highlights include
the title song and the show-stopping "Be Our Guest."
- Guys and Dolls (1955)
Joseph L. Mankiewicz's romantic musical was a tale of two gamblers,
Sinatra's Nathan Detroit and Brando's Sky Masterson (in a musical?)
who bet on the chances of romance between Sky and local prim missionary
Jean Simmons.
- Show Boat (1936)
James Whale's original, classic black-and-white version of the
1927 Oscar Hammerstein-Jerome Kern musical set in rural Mississippi
River towns, with the inimitable performance of Paul Robeson as
Joe singing "Ol' Man River."
- Moulin Rouge! (2001)
Set in late 19th century Paris, Luhrmann's striking fantasy is
a reinvention of the Hollywood musical. Kidman is a consumptive nightclub
singer, desired by the world's most wealthy suitors, but it
is struggling writer McGregor whom she loves. Some of the greatest
American standards are sung by Kidman and McGregor.
|
The