# What musicals should I/can I watch on DVD? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 25, 2007, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musicals-should-i-can-i-watch-on-dvd/427670 "2007-11-25T05:09:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2007, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musicals-should-i-can-i-watch-on-dvd/427670/21 "2007-11-25T23:34:01Z")
[QUOTE=rowrrbazzle] Two Busby Berkeley musicals: “Gold Diggers of 1935”, “The Gang’s All Here”. [/QUOTE] \*Gold Diggers of 1935 \*is an all time favorite. When the first number includes Ginger Rogers singing “We’re in the Money” in Pig Latin, you know you’re in for a treat. ---
**Author:** ![mks57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@mks57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mks57)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2007, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musicals-should-i-can-i-watch-on-dvd/427670/22 "2007-11-25T23:54:11Z")
Gilbert & Sullivan - The Mikado / Eric Idle, Lesley Garrett, Richard Van Allan, Felicity Palmer, Richard Angas, Bonaventura Bottone, Susan Bullock, English National Opera (1987) An interesting and entertaining production of a classic, moved from Japan to an English seaside resort in the 1920s. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2007, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musicals-should-i-can-i-watch-on-dvd/427670/23 "2007-11-25T23:57:47Z")
Oooh! Also, _Guys and Dolls_ is great! (Yes, yes, we all know Brando’s singing sucked.) ---
**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:** [November 26, 2007, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musicals-should-i-can-i-watch-on-dvd/427670/24 "2007-11-26T01:52:05Z")
**Singin’ in the Rain** is a must. The acme of movie musicals. **The Music Man** is very good on film since it had the same stage director as it had on Broadway (and Robert Preston). For old ones, there’s **Footlight Parade** (Busby Berkeley, Harry Warren, and Jimmy Cagney) and **42nd Street** (More Berkeley and Warren, plus surprisingly dark). **Chicago** and **Moulin Rouge** are the best of the more recent musicals, but check out Woody Allen’s **Everyone Says I Love You** , an early entrant into the trend. ---
**Author:** ![SiouxChief](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@SiouxChief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiouxChief)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2007, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musicals-should-i-can-i-watch-on-dvd/427670/25 "2007-11-26T03:23:53Z")
I absolutely love [Hello Dolly](http://www.netflix.com/Movie/Hello_Dolly/60010436?trkid=189530&strkid=1894740207_0_0) (link goes to Netflix), with Barbara Streisand – who, no matter what anyone says, was the perfect choice for Dolly Levi. Speaking of Barbara, I’ve also heard that [Funny Girl](http://www.netflix.com/Movie/Funny_Girl/60010377?trkid=189530&strkid=537600011_0_0) is a very good musical, but I’ve never seen it. ---
**Author:** ![Jaade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dfb087/32.png) [@Jaade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaade)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2007, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musicals-should-i-can-i-watch-on-dvd/427670/26 "2007-11-26T04:08:15Z")
Already mentioned but I definitely vote for Moulin Rouge, Chicago and My Fair Lady. Three of my favorite movies. I’m sure that you have seen The Wizard of Oz but I will mention it since no one else did. Meet Me In St. Louis was good in my opinion- but then again I think Judy Garland is just a wonderful creature, I enjoy anything she’s in. Re-reading the OP, I realize that you’ve likely seen all of these from your statements but if not, be sure to watch them. ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2007, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musicals-should-i-can-i-watch-on-dvd/427670/27 "2007-11-26T04:17:14Z")
Two that I think are quite important to the genre, and that haven’t been mentioned yet, are _Porgy and Bess_ and _Show Boat_. ETA: And you might get a kick out of a singing and dancing Clint Eastwood in _Paint Your Wagon_. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2007, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musicals-should-i-can-i-watch-on-dvd/427670/28 "2007-11-27T01:04:26Z")
[QUOTE=lissener] \*Gold Diggers of 1935 \*is an all time favorite. When the first number includes Ginger Rogers singing “We’re in the Money” in Pig Latin, you know you’re in for a treat. [/QUOTE] That’s from GD 1933. The number starts great, but it’s interrupted (by creditors). GD 1935 has “Lullaby of Broadway”. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Nader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Darth\_Nader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Nader)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2007, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musicals-should-i-can-i-watch-on-dvd/427670/29 "2007-11-27T01:58:20Z")
Milos Forman’s version of Hair is fairly cool, if you don’t mind seeing Beverly D’Angleo’s boobs. ---
**Author:** ![Enter\_the\_Flagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Enter\_the\_Flagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enter_the_Flagon)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2007, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musicals-should-i-can-i-watch-on-dvd/427670/30 "2007-11-27T03:34:17Z")
I tend to hate musicals, but I did like “Oliver”, along with “Man of La Mancha”. ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2007, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musicals-should-i-can-i-watch-on-dvd/427670/31 "2007-11-27T04:10:25Z")
Damn Yankees with Ray Walston as “Applegate” ---
**Author:** ![from\_a\_to\_z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5fc32e/32.png) [@from\_a\_to\_z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/from_a_to_z)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2007, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musicals-should-i-can-i-watch-on-dvd/427670/32 "2007-11-27T14:40:46Z")
[QUOTE=jsgoddess] What are your favorites? What musicals aren’t available on DVD at all? [/QUOTE] It could help if you could share mini reviews with us of what you liked, thought was mediocre, not worth the time, etc. Lots of people like [Damn Yankees](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0051516/), but I found it to be somewhat blah overall. The creative musicals that I like include [Black Orpheus](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0053146/) with its (at least for me) almost hypnotic music. [The Umbrellas of Cherbourg](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0058450/) may be too intensely romantic for some tastes. It’s another musical that seriously stirred me. And a musical that can be seriously haunting is [Hallelujah I’m a Bum](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0024083/), currently out in a DVD with a mediocre audio track (the VHS version was better). Maybe with the renewed interest in Jolson MGM will re-issue a better DVD, assuming that Criterion can’t/won’t. If you like Busby Berkeley, then you could try [Footlight Parade](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0024028/), with its fun, pre-code script and cast. Another fun pre-code is [Love Me Tonight](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0023158/). Later fun includes some Doris Days, [Calamity Jane](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0045591/) and [The Pajama Game](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0050814/), each with (for me anyway) lots of lively and memorable songs. If you like knock-your-socks-off singing, then Ethel Merman has several good numbers in [Alexander’s Ragtime Band](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0029852/). For what is not (yet) on DVD, Jessie Matthews made several enjoyably silly musicals, with perhaps [It’s Love Again](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0027810/) the best. Englewood Entertainment released some good-quality VHS tapes around the turn of the century. There are many good musicals out there (some with Judy Garland). I hope that you have plenty of time to experience and enjoy them all. You gotta have heart. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musicals-should-i-can-i-watch-on-dvd/427670.md?page=1)