# Your Favorite Musical Film? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 14, 2001, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-musical-film/58005 "2001-03-14T21:12:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2001, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-musical-film/58005/41 "2001-03-15T16:02:19Z")
. . . I’m amazed in the Worst Musical category no one has yet nominated “Can’t Stop the Music” . . . ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2001, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-musical-film/58005/42 "2001-03-15T16:32:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eve \* > \*\* . . . I’m amazed in the Worst Musical category no one has yet nominated “Can’t Stop the Music” . . . \*\* I thought about that one. Valarie Perrinne(sp) and Bruce Jenner(!!) are Gawdawful, and the Village People were distrubingly heterosexual, but I’ll stand by my “At Long Last Love” nomination. At least the Village People could sing. And no Cole Porter songs were injured in the making of “Can’t Stop…” There’s a Gene Kelly musical called “Take Me Out To the Ballgame” that Berkley directed, and If I’m remembering properly, all the dance scenes are shot from the waist _up_. It’s been years since I’ve seen it so I may be misremembering, but…if I’m remembering right, what was Berkley _thinking?!_ Fenris ---
**Author:** ![SkeptiJess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@SkeptiJess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkeptiJess)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2001, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-musical-film/58005/43 "2001-03-15T16:37:17Z")
_Guys and Dolls_ – Although I like the original score better than the movie score. I’m very fond of _More I cannot Wish You_ and _Marry the Man Today_, both of which were left out of the movie. Several other songs were changed for the movie – and in every case (IMO) the change was for the worse. _I’ve Never Been In Love Before_ is a beautiful song – much more so than _A Woman in Love_, and I hated _Pet Me, Poppa_ because I love _Bushel and A Peck_ (which it replaced) so much. When my teenage son was little, I always sang him _Bushel and a Peck_ at bedtime. However, the movie had the young Marlon Brando, and that is a good, good thing. ---
**Author:** ![Daniel\_Sugar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/da6949/32.png) [@Daniel\_Sugar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daniel_Sugar)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2001, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-musical-film/58005/44 "2001-03-15T16:43:18Z")
My two favorites have to be “A Nightmare Before Christmas” (Danny Elfman is amazing!!) and “The Pirates of Penzance” with Kevin Kline, Linda Ronstandt, Rex Smith, and Angela Lansbury. Close behind those two have to be “Little Shop of Horrors” and “The Commitments.” Anything with Gene Kelly is good. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2001, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-musical-film/58005/45 "2001-03-15T16:44:20Z")
Oh, I forgot all about “Golden Dawn” (1930), which is one of the worst films ever made, not just one of the worst musicals! Vivienne Segal stars as a blue-eyed, blonde-haired “African native” who is worshipped by her tribe (the rest of the cast is in unconvincing blackface). Noah Beery is the villain who sings a love song to his whip, and Viv trills “My Bwana” to her beloved Englishman . . . I taped it once on TCM and had a “Springtime for Hitler” expression on my face the whole time. It’s one of those “what were they THINKING?” movies. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2001, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-musical-film/58005/46 "2001-03-15T17:34:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dropzone \* > “Poor Judd is Daid” is the high point of the American Musical Theater. “He looks like he’s asleep, it’s a shame that he won’t keep, but it’s summer and we’re running out of ice.” \*\* There were a lot of things about Oklahoma I didn’t like, but Rod Steiger did one of the best, most totally unexpected performances in a movie musical I’ve ever seen. Gordon MacRae may have been handsome and had a good voice, but it was almost embarassing to watch him next to Steiger. Speaking of bad leading men, anyone ever see a Nelson Eddy movie? While most of my favorites have been mentioned here, but when you just want to have a good time and fun for the kids, you can’t beat “Joe’s Apartment”! ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2001, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-musical-film/58005/47 "2001-03-15T17:50:31Z")
“Speaking of bad leading men, anyone ever see a Nelson Eddy movie?” —Ooooh, Kunilou, thanks for reminding me! I hope I don’t offend any MacDonald/Eddy fans, but I can NOT sit through those things. I love Jeanette MacDonald’s naughty, lively work at Paramount in the early '30s (“Monte Carlo,” “Love Me Tonight,” “One Hour with You”)—but then they shipped her off to MGM and sewed her vagina shut. Jeez, what that studio did to Jeanette and the Marx Brothers . . . Thank goodness they never got their hands on Mae West or Marlene Dietrich. ---
**Author:** ![Zumba\_The\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/779978/32.png) [@Zumba\_The\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zumba_The_Cat)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2001, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-musical-film/58005/48 "2001-03-15T17:52:44Z")
I almost forgot all about **Show Boat**! I love the music, especially “Old Man River” and “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man” [singing] Fish gotta swim Birds gotta fly And I gotta love one man till I die Can’t help loving that man of mine [\singing] ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2001, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-musical-film/58005/49 "2001-03-15T17:56:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eve \* > \*\*“Speaking of bad leading men, anyone ever see a Nelson Eddy movie?” > > —Ooooh, Kunilou, thanks for reminding me! I hope I don’t offend any MacDonald/Eddy fans, but I can NOT sit through those things. \*\* Ever heard Nelson Eddy in a studio recording of Oklahoma? It’s…different. Fenris ---
**Author:** ![Evnglion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f04885/32.png) [@Evnglion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evnglion)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2001, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-musical-film/58005/50 "2001-03-15T18:07:15Z")
Personally I liked **Singing in the Rain** a lot. Also **South park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut** has gotta be on the list. Gotta love **HMS Pinnafore** as well, but I am not sure if this ever made it to the glorious silver screen or not 😉 ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2001, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-musical-film/58005/51 "2001-03-15T18:16:19Z")
Okay, **Fenris** , I’m reevaluating my assumption that you are straight. 😉 **Eve** , I don’t think you have to worry about NE/JMcD fans, seeing that they are all dead. I don’t know about “Rocky Horror.” While it has some good songs, and any movie that keeps Susan Sarandon in her skivvies much of the time generally gets a thumbs WAY up from me, the book’s dreadful and the directing, cinematography, editing, acting, and everything else are atrocious. Campy on purpose misses the point. “Fantasia” isn’t really a musical, fine piece of work that it may be. (Plus cartoon nudity! Yes, I _do_ have a one-track mind. Why do you ask?) How about “Hair?” “Jesus Christ, Superstar?” “Godspell?” No, I didn’t think so. Not even entertainingly bad. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2001, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-musical-film/58005/52 "2001-03-15T18:17:20Z")
“…but then they shipped her off to MGM and sewed her vagina shut.” Thanks, Eve, for that wonderful visual. I’m now poking my mind’s eye out with a very sharp stick. “When I’m calling yoooouuuuuuu…” I think Nelson Eddy’s Canadian Mounted Police costume was a little tight in the inseam. ---
**Author:** ![Skelji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Skelji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skelji)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2001, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-musical-film/58005/53 "2001-03-15T18:25:28Z")
My all time favorite, **Yankee Doodle Dandy**. **On The Town** , with Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra. Also, the **Wizard Of Oz** , and **Oklahoma**. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2001, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-musical-film/58005/54 "2001-03-15T18:35:00Z")
> [@](#): > > “Fantasia” isn’t really a musical, fine piece of work that it may be. (Plus cartoon nudity! Yes, I do have a one-track mind. Why do you ask?) I agree, but you give me an opportunity to comment on something that bugs me. I’ve been watching Fantasia a LOT lately (we have it on DVD, and my daughter loves it), and I notice that the centaurettes, even when bare-breasted, have no apparent nipples. But the harpies, in the “Night on Bald Mountain” sequence, DO. The moral seems to be that Evil gets all the good sex. (Chernobog, the Lugosi-faced Devil-thing in Bald Mountain, also creates pretty sexy fire-women TWICE in this sequence. Good gets no sexy women. Just emphasizes my point.) ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2001, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-musical-film/58005/55 "2001-03-15T18:38:45Z")
Christ, what do you WANT from Disney ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2001, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-musical-film/58005/56 "2001-03-15T18:43:42Z")
YES HALLELUJAH!!! SWEET JESUS I’M GOING HOME!!! Someone else who loathes Carousel! I must be dead, standing before the Pearly Gates. 🙂 I’m fond of “Swing Time” and “Pirates of Penzance” Why? Because I am the very model of the modern major general… ---
**Author:** ![Zumba\_The\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/779978/32.png) [@Zumba\_The\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zumba_The_Cat)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2001, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-musical-film/58005/57 "2001-03-15T18:52:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by slortar \* > \*\*I’m fond of “Swing Time” and “Pirates of Penzance” Why? Because I am the very model of the modern major general… \*\* And I am a pirate king! (And it is a glorious thing.) I just love this thread! ---
**Author:** ![caircair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/91b2a8/32.png) [@caircair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caircair)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2001, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-musical-film/58005/58 "2001-03-15T19:13:44Z")
Ok, most of my favorites are already listed. But: Nearly every Disney movie (NOT including Fantasia) also works as a musical. The latest ones have some GREAT songs! Anything by Gilbert and Sullivan, if it hasn’t been filmed, SHOULD be. I even liked “Penzance” with Linda Rondstadt and Rex Smith, and they AREN’T truly “Comic Opera” singers. I’m eagerly waiting for the day they finally make a movie of HMS Pinafore and/or Mikado. (Yes, I know “Topsy Turvy” was about the MAKING of the Mikado, but it wasn’t the same thing as watching the show itself). Actually, even the worst musicals are fun to watch. Husband and I are HUGE musical fans. ---
**Author:** ![Bumbazine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbazine/32/362_2.png) [@Bumbazine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbazine)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2001, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-musical-film/58005/59 "2001-03-15T19:25:22Z")
I’ve actually seen about 80% of these. I don’t feel competent to comment authoritatively on anything, but I will say that _A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum_ is my all time favorite _musical_ comedy and my favorite musical, if I had ever gotten to see it all the way through, would be _Porgy and Bess._ That counts doesn’t it? **Eve,** I was going to mention _The Producers_ just for that great classic _Springtime for Hitler (and Germany)_ but you beat me to it! ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2001, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-musical-film/58005/60 "2001-03-15T19:25:28Z")
“Pirates of Penzance?” [Rolling my eyes at people who don’t understand the difference between an operetta and a musical] Okay, I give up. What IS the difference between an operetta and a musical? I used to think it was spoken dialog, until I HEARD an operetta. Then I decided it was a nationalistic thing, but Friml lived most of his life in America. Then I decided that it was, if the composer was embarassed that he wrote musicals, they were operettas. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-musical-film/58005.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-musical-film/58005.md?page=4)