What do you think the top five movie musicals, ever, are?
My list (and this is totally off the top of my head, I reserve the right to come back later and tweak it):
Best Ever: All That Jazz. I’m currently dating a fellow musicals freak, and he says Chicago has bumped it out of the “best ever” spot – I say “nay,” just because the opening is so. freaking. great.
Best Fred and Ginger: The Gay Divorce. This is my personal favorite, because it’s got “Night and Day,” the five most romantic minutes ever committed to celluloid. Yes, I know that Top Hat is probably better, but I don’t care.
Best of the MGM era: Neptune’s Daughter Esther Williams and Ricardo Montalban doing “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” – intercut with Red Skelton and Betty Garrett doing the same. Delightful.
Best from the '50s and '60s: My Fair Lady. So sumptuous.
Favorite Idiosyncratic Choice: Ken Russell’s version of The Boy Friend, with Tommy Tune, Twiggy, and the classic Glenda Jackson cameo. How did we all live through taking all those drugs?
Note: It’s not a mistake that Singin’ in the Rain isn’t on the list. Sue me. I like it, I don’t love it.
The top of my list BY FAR is Les Miserables - The stage show, haven’t seen any film versions! Seen it twice in London and it is THE BEST! By the way this is not up for debate okay? it is the best!
2, Moulin Rouge
3, The Lion King - film was great, stage show is superb! the opening number is outstanding!
4, Grease - seen both film and stage show! both still good.
5, We Will Rock You - London stage show - based around rock group Queen. Storyline a bit “iffy” but songs are great!
I’m not sure that All That Jazz really qualifies as a musical because the songs are not part of the storyline or all sung by the characters, but it is definitely one of my favorite movies.
As Eve noted, any Top 5 list is going to be so subjective as to be meaningless, but here are my own personal Top 5 Movie Musicals . . .
(This is not a typo - really - nothing else does come close)
A while after that I’d put the Sound of Music, The Wizard of Oz, West Side Story, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and maybe then Top Hat and Everyone Says I Love You. If Disney’s allowed you’ve got to include The Jungle Book and Beauty and the Beast.
I think Strictly Ballroom and Saturday Night Fever (love that!) are great films but I wouldn’t really class them as musicals because as far as I remember the characters don’t sing. I’d say they’re more about dance.
Moulin Rouge comes WAY down on my list. It’s visually great but other than that it’s rubbish - don’t get me started…
Ther are far too many even with my Hollywoodcentric first pass I miised Cabaret but one of my all time watching favourites is O Lucky Man - a very different musical.
Eve, gobear – of course the lists will be totally arbitrary and subjective! So what? This is just for fun.
And as for how to define musicals – well, that’s its own can of worms, isn’t it? I personally don’t see the need to have the songs “part of the storyline” or “sung by the characters,” but it’s probably a worthwhile distinction.
Elsewhere in my top ten: Hair (yeah, I know it’s not good, but it gets me crying at least twice every time – “Easy to Be Hard” and then the whole last 20 minutes or so); On the Town; Hedwig and the Angry Inch.
Anything Busby Berkeley is great stuff, but I’ve got to say, I loved Camelot (still makes me cry), Cabaret (still makes me cry), Guys ‘n’ Dolls, All That Jazz, and Chicago.
Sweeney Todd tops my list, easily. Especially the Angela Lansbury production. Then My Fair Lady for the sing-along fun. Then Cabaret for its darkness. Honourable mentions go to Fiddler on the Roof, Jesus Christ Superstar, Mary Poppins, Into The Woods, and Cats (don’t laugh).
