The Golden Age of Hollywood Musicals(pre-1972), Best to Worst
by J_Frank_Parnell | created - 16 Feb 2022 | updated - 1 month ago | Public"Revival" era Musicals (post 1971) list here https://www.imdb.com/list/ls522240956
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1. Singin' in the Rain (1952)
G | 103 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
A silent film star falls for a chorus girl just as he and his delusionally jealous screen partner are trying to make the difficult transition to talking pictures in 1920s Hollywood.
Directors: Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly | Stars: Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, Debbie Reynolds, Jean Hagen
Votes: 260,630 | Gross: $8.82M
The pinnacle of 'Golden Age' Hollywood musicals. Gene Kelly is so effortlessly cool. 10/10
2. The Producers (1967)
PG | 88 min | Comedy, Music
A stage-play producer devises a plan to make money by producing a sure-fire flop.
Director: Mel Brooks | Stars: Zero Mostel, Gene Wilder, Dick Shawn, Kenneth Mars
Votes: 59,824 | Gross: $0.11M
Mel Brooks' funnyest movie, and gloriously politically incorrect, in the best way possible. 10/10
3. Top Hat (1935)
Not Rated | 101 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
An American dancer comes to Britain and falls for a model whom he initially annoyed, but she mistakes him for his goofy producer.
Director: Mark Sandrich | Stars: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Edward Everett Horton, Erik Rhodes
Votes: 20,701 | Gross: $3.88M
Spectacular and impressive. 9/10
4. The Band Wagon (1953)
Passed | 112 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
A pretentiously artistic director is hired for a new Broadway musical and changes it beyond recognition.
Director: Vincente Minnelli | Stars: Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse, Oscar Levant, Nanette Fabray
Votes: 12,570
A musical about musicals; one of the classics of the 'Golden Age'. The "Girl Hunt Ballet" sequence, parodying Film Noir/gangster movies is incredible, as well as the iconic "dancing babies" scene. 10/10
5. The Sound of Music (1965)
G | 172 min | Biography, Drama, Family
A young novice is sent by her convent in 1930s Austria to become a governess to the seven children of a widowed naval officer.
Director: Robert Wise | Stars: Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Eleanor Parker, Richard Haydn
Votes: 261,022 | Gross: $163.21M
I'm not generally a fan of super-saccharine, squeaky-clean movies like this. But it has so many classic songs, and Julie Andrews really is great in this (altho less fun than she is in 'S.O.B', in the early 80's, which made me appreciate her much more). 10/10
6. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
PG | 102 min | Adventure, Family, Fantasy
Young Dorothy Gale and her dog Toto are swept away by a tornado from their Kansas farm to the magical Land of Oz, and embark on a quest with three new friends to see the Wizard, who can return her to her home and fulfill the others' wishes.
Directors: Victor Fleming, King Vidor | Stars: Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr
Votes: 428,588 | Gross: $2.08M
10/10 If you haven't seen this already, you are just BAD at watching movies.
7. Stormy Weather (1943)
Passed | 78 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
The relationship between an aspiring dancer and a popular songstress provides a retrospective of the great African-American entertainers of the early 1900s.
Director: Andrew L. Stone | Stars: Lena Horne, Bill Robinson, Cab Calloway and His Cotton Club Orchestra, Katherine Dunham and Her Troupe
Votes: 2,887
10/10 This movie is just wild; Made for black audiences, in the ww2 'Zoot Suit' era, starring influential dancer Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson, and swing/Big-Band legends like Cab Calloway, Lena Horne and Fats Waller. Some of the most outrageous dancing, crazy 40's fashion, and unique, authentic, vaudeville-style performance you'll ever see. Woefully under-watched/under-rated (it's on Youtube, free; Trust me, it's worth checking out this insane, frenetic, unique, unfathomably cool snapshot of the black 'Hep Cat' scene in the 40s. Cab Calloway's suits, alone, are worth the price of admission.)
8. Oliver! (1968)
G | 153 min | Drama, Family, Musical
After being sold to a mortician, young orphan Oliver Twist runs away and meets a group of boys trained to be pickpockets by an elderly mentor in 1830s London.
Director: Carol Reed | Stars: Mark Lester, Ron Moody, Shani Wallis, Oliver Reed
Votes: 41,396 | Gross: $16.80M
Maybe it's just nostalgia, because my Mum used sing songs from this, when I was a kid. But even though it's not really up my alley, I still love this movie. 10/10
9. Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933)
Passed | 97 min | Comedy, Drama, Musical
A wealthy composer rescues unemployed Broadway performers with a new play, but insists on remaining anonymous.
Director: Mervyn LeRoy | Stars: Warren William, Joan Blondell, Aline MacMahon, Ruby Keeler
Votes: 9,142 | Gross: $4.80M
For almost a century old, this holds up insanely well. As well as some incredible spectacle, it also communicates the vibe of the 30's, making the era feel authentic and relatable, probably better than an other 30's movie I've seen. 10/10
10. Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)
G | 100 min | Family, Fantasy, Musical
A poor but hopeful boy seeks one of the five coveted golden tickets that will send him on a tour of Willy Wonka's mysterious chocolate factory.
Director: Mel Stuart | Stars: Gene Wilder, Jack Albertson, Peter Ostrum, Roy Kinnear
Votes: 227,297 | Gross: $4.00M
11. The Girl Can't Help It (1956)
Approved | 98 min | Comedy, Music
A gangster hires a down-and-out press agent to make his airheaded girlfriend a singing star.
Director: Frank Tashlin | Stars: Tom Ewell, Jayne Mansfield, Edmond O'Brien, Julie London
Votes: 3,918
A bunch of great early rock n' roll. 8/10
12. Calamity Jane (1953)
Passed | 101 min | Musical, Romance, Western
The story of Calamity Jane, her saloon, and her romance with Wild Bill Hickok.
Director: David Butler | Stars: Doris Day, Howard Keel, Allyn Ann McLerie, Philip Carey
Votes: 10,848
Doris Day at her most fun. 7/10
13. High Society (1956)
Not Rated | 111 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
With socialite Tracy Lord about to remarry, her ex-husband - with the help of a sympathetic reporter - has 48 hours to convince her that she really still loves him.
Director: Charles Walters | Stars: Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Celeste Holm
Votes: 17,527 | Gross: $13.00M
Kinda flawed as a movie, but still insanely cool, with Sinatra at his coolest, plus Grace Kelly and Bing, with the Louis armstrong cameo. And some of my personal favourite songs, from any musical ("Did you Evah", "Who Wants to be A Millionaire", "High Society") 7/10
14. 42nd Street (1933)
Passed | 89 min | Comedy, Drama, Musical
When the leading lady of a Broadway musical breaks her ankle, she is replaced by a young unknown actress, who becomes the star of the show.
Director: Lloyd Bacon | Stars: Warner Baxter, Bebe Daniels, George Brent, Ruby Keeler
Votes: 13,035 | Gross: $2.30M
Another spectacular, from the genre's heyday. 8/10
15. Swing Time (1936)
Passed | 103 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
Roguish gambler/dancer "Lucky" Garnett is challenged by his fiance's father to come up with $25,000 to prove he's worthy of her hand. But after he falls in love with a dance instructor, Lucky'll do anything to keep from earning the bucks.
Director: George Stevens | Stars: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Victor Moore, Helen Broderick
Votes: 14,581
Classic Fred & Ginger movie, with some timeless songs ("A Fine Romance", and "Pick Yourself Up"), but probably most notable for Fred Astaire's incredible, frenetic, over-the-top tribute to Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, now super-controversial, because of Astaire's wearing blackface
16. Mary Poppins (1964)
G | 139 min | Comedy, Family, Fantasy
In turn of the century London, a magical nanny employs music and adventure to help two neglected children become closer to their father.
Director: Robert Stevenson | Stars: Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, David Tomlinson, Glynis Johns
Votes: 186,038 | Gross: $102.27M
17. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)
Approved | 91 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
Showgirls Lorelei Lee and Dorothy Shaw travel to Paris, pursued by a private detective hired by the suspicious father of Lorelei's fiancé, as well as a rich, enamored old man and many other doting admirers.
Director: Howard Hawks | Stars: Jane Russell, Marilyn Monroe, Charles Coburn, Elliott Reid
Votes: 43,008 | Gross: $12.00M
18. Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
Passed | 126 min | Biography, Drama, Family
The life of the renowned musical composer, playwright, actor, dancer, and singer George M. Cohan.
Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: James Cagney, Joan Leslie, Walter Huston, Richard Whorf
Votes: 16,860 | Gross: $11.80M
19. Paint Your Wagon (1969)
PG-13 | 164 min | Comedy, Drama, Musical
Two unlikely prospector partners share the same wife in a California gold rush mining town.
Director: Joshua Logan | Stars: Lee Marvin, Clint Eastwood, Jean Seberg, Harve Presnell
Votes: 14,870 | Gross: $31.68M
A western, about Clint Eastwood and Lee Marvin building a frontier brothel, possibly the most manly musical ever made.
20. Sweet Charity (1969)
G | 149 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
Taxi dancer Charity continues to have faith despite endless disappointments at its hands, and hope that she will finally meet the man to romance her away from her sleazy life. Maybe, just maybe, handsome Oscar will be the one to do it.
Director: Bob Fosse | Stars: Shirley MacLaine, John McMartin, Ricardo Montalban, Sammy Davis Jr.
Votes: 6,695 | Gross: $3.43M
Very wierd, high-camp attempt attempt at Hollywood, cashing in on the peak of the 'hippy' movement... in the form of a musical, for some reason... Worth checking out, just for the weirdness.
21. Hello, Dolly! (1969)
G | 146 min | Adventure, Comedy, Musical
Matchmaker Dolly Levi travels to Yonkers to find a partner for "half-a-millionaire" Horace Vandergelder, convincing his niece, his niece's intended, and his two clerks to travel to New York City along the way.
Director: Gene Kelly | Stars: Barbra Streisand, Walter Matthau, Michael Crawford, Marianne McAndrew
Votes: 16,962 | Gross: $7.24M
22. Damn Yankees (1958)
Approved | 111 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
A frustrated fan of the hopeless Washington Senators makes a pact with the Devil to help the baseball team win the league pennant.
Directors: George Abbott, Stanley Donen | Stars: Tab Hunter, Gwen Verdon, Ray Walston, Russ Brown
Votes: 3,442
23. Curly Top (1935)
Approved | 75 min | Family, Musical, Romance
Wealthy Edward Morgan becomes charmed with a curly-haired orphan and her pretty older sister Mary and arranges to adopt both under the alias of "Mr. Jones." As he spends more time with them, he soon finds himself falling in love with Mary.
Director: Irving Cummings | Stars: Shirley Temple, John Boles, Rochelle Hudson, Jane Darwell
Votes: 2,111
24. Holiday Inn (1942)
Passed | 100 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
At an inn which is open only on holidays, a crooner and a hoofer vie for the affections of a beautiful up-and-coming performer.
Directors: Mark Sandrich, Robert Allen | Stars: Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, Marjorie Reynolds, Virginia Dale
Votes: 17,626 | Gross: $8.18M
25. The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T. (1953)
G | 89 min | Family, Fantasy, Music
A young boy dreams that he is in an imaginary world where, assisted by his family's plumber, he must save other piano-playing kids like himself from the dungeons of his dictatorial piano teacher who also mind-controls his mother.
Director: Roy Rowland | Stars: Peter Lind Hayes, Mary Healy, Hans Conried, Tommy Rettig
Votes: 4,459
BY FAR the best Dr Seuss movie, made under Seuss's oversight (although apparently he was dissappointed with the end product... lucky he never saw Cat in the Hat...), an incredible, surreal kids movie, that does an amazing job of bringing Dr Suess's aesthetic to live action.
26. Some Like It Hot (1959)
Passed | 121 min | Comedy, Music, Romance
After two male musicians witness a mob hit, they flee the state in an all-female band disguised as women, but further complications set in.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, George Raft
Votes: 283,503 | Gross: $25.00M
27. Fiddler on the Roof (1971)
G | 181 min | Drama, Family, Musical
In pre-revolutionary Russia, a Jewish peasant with traditional values contends with marrying off three of his daughters with modern romantic ideals while growing anti-Semitic sentiment threatens his village.
Director: Norman Jewison | Stars: Topol, Norma Crane, Leonard Frey, Molly Picon
Votes: 47,866 | Gross: $80.50M
I don't know why, but I've always thought of 'Fiddler' as the last gasp of the epic Hollywood blolck-busteer musical; All the other big 70s musicals, Cabaret, Grease, New York New York, Rocky Horror, Tommy, etc all feel more like "retro", and an attempt to revive the musical genre. While 'Fiddler' feels like the last big musical to NOT have that "nostalgia" vibe.
28. Annie Get Your Gun (1950)
Passed | 107 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
The story of the great sharpshooter Annie Oakley, who rose to fame while dealing with her love/professional rival, Frank Butler.
Directors: George Sidney, Busby Berkeley | Stars: Betty Hutton, Howard Keel, Louis Calhern, J. Carrol Naish
Votes: 5,276 | Gross: $8.00M
29. Li'l Abner (1959)
Approved | 114 min | Comedy, Musical, Family
As Sadie Hawkins Day approaches, Daisy Mae hopes to win the hand of Li'l Abner by catching him in the traditional race.
Director: Melvin Frank | Stars: Leslie Parrish, Stubby Kaye, Peter Palmer, Howard St. John
Votes: 1,494
Very weird attempt to to bring an old newspaper comic strip to the silver screen, so (like 'The 5,000 Fingers...') it's like a live-action cartoon; It's like 50's version of that 90s/00s fad of cartoon-based live-action movies, like The Fintstones, Scooby-Doo, the Jim Carry 'Grinch', Mike Myers 'Cat in the Hat;', etc. Extremely fun movie.
30. South Pacific (1958)
Approved | 157 min | Musical, Romance, War
On a South Pacific island during World War II, love blooms between a young nurse and a secretive Frenchman who's being courted for a dangerous military mission.
Director: Joshua Logan | Stars: Rossano Brazzi, Mitzi Gaynor, John Kerr, Ray Walston
Votes: 9,804
31. Jailhouse Rock (1957)
Not Rated | 96 min | Drama, Music, Musical
After serving time for manslaughter, young Vince Everett becomes a teenage rock star.
Director: Richard Thorpe | Stars: Elvis Presley, Judy Tyler, Mickey Shaughnessy, Vaughn Taylor
Votes: 9,832 | Gross: $4.00M
32. Robin and the 7 Hoods (1964)
Approved | 123 min | Comedy, Crime, Musical
In Prohibition-era Chicago, two rival gangs compete for control of the city's rackets.
Director: Gordon Douglas | Stars: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Bing Crosby
Votes: 5,687 | Gross: $9.81M
Cheesy, fun rat-pack movie, transfering the Robin Hood story to an 'old-timey gangster' setting. 7/10
33. The Court Jester (1955)
Approved | 101 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
A hapless carnival performer masquerades as the court jester as part of a plot against an evil ruler who has overthrown the rightful King.
Directors: Melvin Frank, Norman Panama | Stars: Danny Kaye, Glynis Johns, Basil Rathbone, Angela Lansbury
Votes: 13,946 | Gross: $0.02M
34. Gigi (1958)
G | 115 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
Weary of the conventions of Parisian society, a rich playboy and a youthful courtesan-in-training enjoy a platonic friendship which may not stay platonic for long.
Directors: Vincente Minnelli, Charles Walters | Stars: Leslie Caron, Maurice Chevalier, Louis Jourdan, Hermione Gingold
Votes: 24,495
35. Hellzapoppin' (1941)
Approved | 84 min | Action, Comedy, Musical
Olsen and Johnson, a pair of stage comedians, try to turn their play into a movie and bring together a young couple in love, while breaking the fourth wall every step of the way.
Director: H.C. Potter | Stars: Ole Olsen, Chic Johnson, Martha Raye, Hugh Herbert
Votes: 3,486
Very weird and fun
36. Funny Girl (1968)
G | 151 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
The life of Fanny Brice, famed comedienne and entertainer of the early 1900s. We see her rise to fame as a Ziegfeld girl, subsequent career, and her personal life, particularly her relationship with Nick Arnstein.
Director: William Wyler | Stars: Barbra Streisand, Omar Sharif, Kay Medford, Anne Francis
Votes: 25,161 | Gross: $58.50M
37. Cat Ballou (1965)
Not Rated | 97 min | Western
A young schoolteacher turns into an outlaw to avenge her murdered father.
Director: Elliot Silverstein | Stars: Jane Fonda, Lee Marvin, Michael Callan, Dwayne Hickman
Votes: 16,193 | Gross: $20.67M
38. Camelot (1967)
G | 179 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
The story of the marriage of England's King Arthur to Guinevere. The plot of illegitimate Mordred to gain the throne and Guinevere's growing attachment to Sir Lancelot, threaten to topple Arthur and destroy his "round table" of knights.
Director: Joshua Logan | Stars: Richard Harris, Vanessa Redgrave, Franco Nero, David Hemmings
Votes: 7,477 | Gross: $31.10M
39. The Music Man (1962)
G | 151 min | Comedy, Family, Musical
Traveling con artist Harold Hill targets the naïve residents of a small town in 1910s Iowa by posing as a boys' band leader to raise money before he can skip town.
Director: Morton DaCosta | Stars: Robert Preston, Shirley Jones, Buddy Hackett, Hermione Gingold
Votes: 19,166 | Gross: $14.95M
40. Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967)
G | 138 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
In New York City during the Roaring Twenties, would-be flapper Millie Dillmount's self-appointed mission to marry her boss is complicated by white slavers and true love.
Director: George Roy Hill | Stars: Julie Andrews, James Fox, Mary Tyler Moore, Carol Channing
Votes: 7,029 | Gross: $34.34M
41. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1949)
Approved | 106 min | Comedy, Family, Fantasy
A singing mechanic from 1912 finds himself in Arthurian Britain.
Director: Tay Garnett | Stars: Bing Crosby, Rhonda Fleming, Cedric Hardwicke, William Bendix
Votes: 2,744
42. Follow the Fleet (1936)
Passed | 110 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
A Navy sailor tries to rekindle a romance with the woman he loves while on liberty in San Francisco.
Director: Mark Sandrich | Stars: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Randolph Scott, Harriet Nelson
Votes: 4,720
43. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)
G | 144 min | Adventure, Family, Fantasy
A down-on-his-luck inventor turns a broken-down Grand Prix car into a fancy vehicle for his children, and then they go off on a magical fantasy adventure to save their grandfather in a far-off land.
Director: Ken Hughes | Stars: Dick Van Dyke, Sally Ann Howes, Lionel Jeffries, Benny Hill
Votes: 50,706 | Gross: $7.50M
44. My Fair Lady (1964)
G | 170 min | Drama, Family, Musical
In 1910s London, snobbish phonetics professor Henry Higgins agrees to a wager that he can make crude flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, presentable in high society.
Director: George Cukor | Stars: Audrey Hepburn, Rex Harrison, Stanley Holloway, Wilfrid Hyde-White
Votes: 101,803 | Gross: $72.00M
Does have some of the best, most memorable songs in any musical, and plenty of genuinely funny moments. But a bit tightly-laced for my tastes, drags on too long, and Higgins is just too unlikable as a character. I can see why many people into musicals love it, but not my personal fave. 9/10
45. West Side Story (1961)
Approved | 153 min | Crime, Drama, Musical
Two youngsters from rival New York City gangs fall in love, but tensions between their respective friends build toward tragedy.
Directors: Jerome Robbins, Robert Wise | Stars: Natalie Wood, George Chakiris, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn
Votes: 121,180 | Gross: $43.66M
46. Anything Goes (1936)
Passed | 92 min | Comedy, Musical, Mystery
A young man falls in love with a beautiful blonde. When he sees her being forced onto a luxury liner, he decides to follow and rescue her. However, he discovers that she is an English ... See full summary »
Director: Lewis Milestone | Stars: Bing Crosby, Ethel Merman, Charles Ruggles, Ida Lupino
Votes: 520
47. Pal Joey (1957)
Approved | 111 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
Joey Evans is a charming, handsome, funny, talented 1st class, A-Number 1 heel. When Joey meets the former chorus girl and now rich widow Vera Simpson, the pair of lecherous souls seem made for each other.
Director: George Sidney | Stars: Rita Hayworth, Frank Sinatra, Kim Novak, Barbara Nichols
Votes: 5,857
Sinatra at his coolest, before lapsing into self-parody in the early/mid 60's "Rat Pack" era
48. The Gang's All Here (1943)
Passed | 103 min | Musical, Romance
A soldier falls for a chorus girl and then experiences trouble when he is posted to the Pacific.
Director: Busby Berkeley | Stars: Alice Faye, Carmen Miranda, Phil Baker, Benny Goodman
Votes: 2,059
49. Springtime in the Rockies (1942)
Approved | 91 min | Musical, Romance
Broadway partners Vicky Lane and Dan Christy have a tiff over Christy's womanizing. Jealous Vicky takes up with her old flame and former dance partner, Victor Price, and Dan's career takes ... See full summary »
Director: Irving Cummings | Stars: Betty Grable, Carmen Miranda, John Payne, Cesar Romero
Votes: 753
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