# Greatest Musical Moments in Film **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 26, 2011, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-musical-moments-in-film/597616 "2011-09-26T01:56:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![enomaj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/59ef9b/32.png) [@enomaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enomaj)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-musical-moments-in-film/597616/1 "2011-09-26T01:56:32Z")
A few of my favorites: Radio Raheem and Public Enemy’s Fight the Power from **Do the Right Thing** Two scenes from **The Five Heartbeats** : [Heart is a House for Love](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqUay9wtsCk&feature=related) Breakdown begins at 2:14 but I recommend the whole clip. Note the woman squirming in her seat. [I Feel Like Going On](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCW1-XW88a8) Duck comes to church at Choirboy’s request. This is after Eddie’s downward spiral and the group had broken up. Eddie was the lead singer. You try! ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-musical-moments-in-film/597616/2 "2011-09-26T02:10:08Z")
At the start of George VI’s first wartime broadcast in _The King’s Speech_, Beethoven’s Seventh starts to play softly in the background. The movement starts off softly, and builds as the king works his way through the speech, gaining confidence as he goes. A beautiful matching of music and action. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-musical-moments-in-film/597616/3 "2011-09-26T02:41:31Z")
Gene Kelly Singin’ in the Rain. For the win. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-musical-moments-in-film/597616/4 "2011-09-26T02:47:59Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Gene Kelly Singin’ in the Rain. For the win. Yeah pretty much anything with Gene Kelly EVER. Though I love everything from “White Christmas”. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-musical-moments-in-film/597616/5 "2011-09-26T03:04:36Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/_59pP_Xcw0g/hqdefault.jpg "Newsies - The World Will Know") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_59pP_Xcw0g) Also this, from Disney’s “Newsies”: perhaps the most under-rated musical of all time? I understand this is a Broadway play now and I REALLY hope it makes it to San Francisco because I would LOVE to see it. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-musical-moments-in-film/597616/6 "2011-09-26T03:18:23Z")
[Sinnerman by Nina Simone in the movie The Thomas Crown Affair.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qie9icuHp-Y). Excellent song matched up to a great scene. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-musical-moments-in-film/597616/7 "2011-09-26T03:43:06Z")
I have a ton that I know will be posted, so I won’t bother. But I don’t think one of my faves will get a mention, so I will mention it. ['Ya Got Trouble"](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LI_Oe-jtgdI) I love this song so much. The slang is top notch, and makes me wish I was fluent in 1920s street jive. One of my favorite ‘hip hop’ songs. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-musical-moments-in-film/597616/8 "2011-09-26T04:04:17Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > I have a ton that I know will be posted, so I won’t bother. But I don’t think one of my faves will get a mention, so I will mention it. > > ['Ya Got Trouble"](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LI_Oe-jtgdI) > > I love this song so much. The slang is top notch, and makes me wish I was fluent in 1920s street jive. One of my favorite ‘hip hop’ songs. A thousand times yes. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-musical-moments-in-film/597616/9 "2011-09-26T04:31:13Z")
Fearless If you are not familar with the movie… The film opens just after a plane crash. It follows the survivors. Throughout the film, Jeff Bridges is suffering form PSTD. He takes crazy chances with his life and he has a few flashbacks to this scene but it isn’t till the end of the film that we see it in all it’s glory while Jeff Bridges is suffering an allergic reaction to eating a strawberry, which he knows he is allergic to them. [the crash](http://youtu.be/wkO4zp83Ig4) ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-musical-moments-in-film/597616/10 "2011-09-26T14:30:00Z")
Any song from the original Blues Brothers. That movie kicked ass. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-musical-moments-in-film/597616/11 "2011-09-26T14:45:08Z")
I loved the use of Layla with the discovery of the whacked mobsters in [Goodfellas](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IowunN9Y5yE&feature=related). ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-musical-moments-in-film/597616/12 "2011-09-26T14:48:26Z")
Etta James in [“Pleasantville”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORPiiLLPyok) has got to be up there. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-musical-moments-in-film/597616/13 "2011-09-26T15:08:09Z")
Possibly the greatest production number ever filmed, and probably Busby Berkeley’s best, “The Lullabye of Broadway” [The Lullaby of Broadway (Gold Diggers of 1935) - YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySpUTnvO2jM) My favorite-ever movie opening (also Busby!), with Charlotte Greenwood and a baby Betty Grable, from Palmy Days: [- YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euMPniJrASM) God I love Carmen Miranda: [CARMEN MIRANDA ON CHATTANOOGA CHOO-CHOO - YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7F28K9Glsg) ---
**Author:** ![jali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecae2f/32.png) [@jali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jali)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-musical-moments-in-film/597616/14 "2011-09-26T15:42:39Z")
_Perfect Day_ by Lou Reed in **Trainspotting** used during Renton’s O.D. _God Is Trying To Tell You Something_ in **The Color Purpl** e. _Only Love Can Break Your Heart_ in **Leap Year**. Touching moment. The entire soundtrack for **The Italian Job** (the 2003 version) ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-musical-moments-in-film/597616/15 "2011-09-26T16:22:38Z")
I love _Pick Yourself Up_ from _Swing Time_. Not a huge production with dozens of chorus girls, so perhaps deceptively simple. But that’s why it has to be perfect. ---
**Author:** ![Misery\_Loves\_Co](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7cd45c/32.png) [@Misery\_Loves\_Co](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misery_Loves_Co)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-musical-moments-in-film/597616/16 "2011-09-26T18:03:11Z")
twofer: Platoon, the Samuel Barber Adagio for Strings playing when Elias is running out of the forest and the choppers are already bugging out. Immortal Beloved: Beethoven bashing away on a new piano, then resting his head on it as he plays some twiddly notes that resolve into the Moonlight Sonata ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-musical-moments-in-film/597616/17 "2011-09-26T18:13:48Z")
Three obvious classics as yet unmentioned are **Also Sprach Zarathustra** at the beginning of **2001** , the **Ride of the Valkyries** in **Apocalypse Now** , and the opening theme from **Star Wars**. But I think they all lose to a scene from **Amadeus** , I just can’t decide which one. Probably the dying Mozart dictating his requiem to Salieri, but possibly one of the opera performances with Salieri commenting, or Salieri reading the written music that Stanzi brought over and hearing it in his head (talking about the squeezebox, etc.) ---
**Author:** ![Pitchmeister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pitchmeister/32/3459_2.png) [@Pitchmeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pitchmeister)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-musical-moments-in-film/597616/18 "2011-09-26T19:13:34Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > Three obvious classics as yet unmentioned are **Also Sprach Zarathustra** at the beginning of **2001** , the **Ride of the Valkyries** in **Apocalypse Now** , and the opening theme from **Star Wars**. > But I think they all lose to a scene from **Amadeus** , I just can’t decide which one. Probably the dying Mozart dictating his requiem to Salieri, but possibly one of the opera performances with Salieri commenting, or Salieri reading the written music that Stanzi brought over and hearing it in his head (talking about the squeezebox, etc.) Can I nominate the scene where Mozart totally pwns Salieri and his welcome march at the piano by repeating it by heart and “improving” it? So awesome! ---
**Author:** ![Stormcrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/0ea827/32.png) [@Stormcrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stormcrow)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-musical-moments-in-film/597616/19 "2011-09-26T19:16:14Z")
> [@Pitchmeister](#): > > Can I nominate the scene where Mozart totally pwns Salieri and his welcome march at the piano by repeating it by heart and “improving” it? So awesome! “and after that, it’s just the same thing, over and over again…?” ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-musical-moments-in-film/597616/20 "2011-09-26T19:18:35Z")
> [@Pitchmeister](#): > > Can I nominate the scene where Mozart totally pwns Salieri and his welcome march at the piano by repeating it by heart and “improving” it? So awesome! And the flip side: Salieri playing tune after tune and failing to impress the guy until – _“Yes, I know that! Oh, that’s charming! I’m sorry, I didn’t know you wrote that!”_ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-musical-moments-in-film/597616.md?page=2)