The Great Musicals on Film and TV
This list will take a while to create. I am a big fan of musicals. I believe musicals generally should be uplifting and cheerful about life. Generally that means they will not be about war and violence, though war may be taking place in the background, such as in Sound of Music and South Pacific. There are exceptions where violence & upset are very prominent, such as Evita and West Side Story, which are great musicals due to the effect they created.
Two musicals, Les Miserables and Phantom of the Opera, have seen many more productions and longer runs on stage than any other stage musical. A current stage production of Phantom of the Opera holds the record for being the longest continuous stage production, as it has been running in New York continuously since 1988 (24 years through 2012). Les Miserables ran for 16 years into 2003. Compare that to the Broadway runs of South Pacific at six years, Sound of Music at four years and My Fair Lady at six years. This does not bode well for mankind's views about entertainment, in that he would favor the sad stories over much more cheerful ones. However I will retain my optimistic view of musicals, because it is the cheerful ones that I enjoy most.
A search of IMDb lists 23,096 musicals through 2012. Within that number are 138 films IMDb considers to be musicals prior to 1928 (introduction of sound to films). Some of those 138 films date back as early as 1900. It escapes me how one could call a film without singing (let alone speech) to be a musical. Simply having an organ or piano play music, during the showing of a film, does not constitute a musical. Clearly IMDb's idea of what a musical consists of needs some attention.
In the IMDb glossary, IMDb defines a musical as a work that "includes unrealistic episodes of musical performance". However, that is simply too vague, simplistic and incomplete a definition. Dictionary.com says a musical is a performance "in which the story line is interspersed with or developed by songs, dances, and the like". This is much closer to the real definition of a musical. A musical is a performance (either stage, cinema or TV) wherein at least a portion of the plot dialog is expressed in SPONTANEOUS song, rather than in prose. It is key in the definition to indicate that spontaneous song is part of the plot dialog. Simply having songs, sung to an audience within a film, does not constitute a musical. Spontaneous dancing is another important component of a musical, and should accompany much of the singing.
The film, Walk the Line (2005) with Joaquin Phoenix & Reese Witherspoon, has a lot of music & song and is a great film. However, it is not a musical by definition, because there is no spontaneous singing in the plot dialog. All the singing in that film is done in performance for an audience within the plot of the film.
For me, a musical must be acted with real people to show how real people feel about real things. This eliminates animated films from consideration on this list. Some may be partly animated, such as Song of the South (1946), but the singing of plot dialog is done by actors in that film, not caricatures.
The following films are often credited as musicals, but in fact are not, as they do not have singing in the story line.
All That Jazz (1979)
(film about the production of a stage musical, but not a
musical unto itself)
Cabaret (1972)
(film about a singer, but not a musical unto itself)
The Jazz Singer (1927)
(For the life of me, I can't understand how you can
credit a silent film as a musical.)
Love Me or Leave Me (1955)
(Very fine story about a singer, but not a musical unto
itself)
Pal Joey (1957)
(Story about the building of a night club with singing,
but not a musical unto itself)
That's Entertainment, Part II (1976)
(a documentary about musicals)
Ziegfeld Follies (1945)
(a series of disjointed vaudeville acts done on film in a
tribute to Florenz Ziegfeld)
Great musicals should be in color. Color adds a great deal to the upbeat feeling in a film. Nowadays there is no reason to not make a musical in color. Therefore it is easy for me to say the great musical era started in the 1940s, as color took hold in the film industry. This great era of musicals started wanning in the late 1960s. There were a few great musicals in the 1970s, but by 1980 the great musical era had died. Since 1980 great musicals have been very few, Chicago (2002) being most prominent.
Personally I believe this was partly caused by music in our society becoming less harmonious and more and more just grating noise. Nobody sings heavy metal or acid rock music spontaneously in the shower or to friends on the spur of the moment, so it has no place in a musical. Keep in mind that the definition of a musical is spontaneous singing & dancing embedded in the plot.
Much of the verbiage in modern singing cannot be comprehended, as it is just noise. That factor excludes such music from musicals, since the plot is widely explained in song in musicals. One must be able to understand the verbiage in the dialog in a film to understand the plot. Modern music is making this increasingly difficult.
Rock of Ages (2012) with Tom Cruise, while technically a musical, the music has no harmony. The music is grating. It's just noise - no harmony. So the music in a great musical must be harmonious and pleasant.
A major factor, in the greatness of musicals, is the effect the film has had on the industry. One looks at how prominent it was in the film industry. One considers how the songs of the film are received socially. Do people have those songs running in their minds? Do they sing the songs to others, or even to themselves? This would show the film had a great effect on that individual.
A final consideration in the greatness of a film is the plot. One of my favorite musicals is Silk Stockings (1957) with Fred Astaire & Cyd Charisse. In addition to being a musical, it is a comical satire on communist Russia. At that time Russian society was very suppressed and this film shows how silly that was. Other films such as Annie (1982/1999) & Oliver (1968) show the plight of children in poverty. Bugsy Malone (1976) is a satire on the violence in the prohibition era.
Most musicals (not all) tend to fall into two categories of plot - 1) Romance and 2) Musical Revue. The romance category is where the plot centers on a developing romance with all it's trials and tribulations, such as in Brigadoon (1954), Camelot (1967), Funny Face (1957) and My Fair Lady (1964).
I define a "musical revue" as a story about the development of a musical, a musical team, or the story of a musical personality. If it's about the development of a musical, it's usually a stage production within the film. That stage performance is almost never shown in the musical film, as the film is about its development, and film time being a consideration. So a musical revue is a musical within a musical of sorts. Examples include The Band Wagon (1953), There's No Business Like Show Business (1954), Anything Goes (1956), and A Chorus Line (1985). Chicago (2002) included musical revue as a subplot, but was majorly about murder & crime culture.
I can't say that I have seen all these films. I have seen a little more than half of them. In any case, I cannot attest that they all meet these definitions and standards. Some have been included because of the plot or the effect they had on the industry. I will find out how they fit in as I continue to see them. If anyone knows of a musical I have missed, that they feel should be included, I would certainly like to know about it.
Picking the top eleven (can't cut it to ten), I would select:
Bugsy Malone (1976)
(Included here, as it is great for children, being acted
entirely by children making a satire of violence in the
prohibition era.)
Camelot (1967)
(Included here because in addition to being a musical fan,
I am a big fan of the King Arthur legend.)
Chicago (2002)
(Included here because it is by far the greatest film
musical since the 1970s.)
Funny Girl (1968)
Hello, Dolly! (1969)
(Barbara Streisand's commanding voice and comedic
acting carried both of these films into greatness.)
My Fair Lady (1964)
(In addition to the great songs, I enjoy the comedic
cattiness between Eliza and Higgins, as well as his
comedic indifference to human feelings and emotion.)
Silk Stockings (1957)
(The most striking thing about this film is the satire on
socialism. There are very few musicals having social
commentary, and it is a pleasure to see one with satire
on socialism, coupled with great upbeat singing & dance.)
Singin' in the Rain (1952)
(I include this film here because IMDb's rating is so high
and because Paramount thinks so highly of its creation.
(see That's Entertainment (1974) documentary)
To me romance and revue are themes that are too trite
to bring the film to the top. Nevertheless, Gene Kelly and
Donald O'Connor had to have some credit in this list.)
Song of the South (1946)
(Political correctness by Disney (producer) virtually
suppressed this film out of existence. Even today, the
DVD version is suppressed by IMDb, as the IMDb link to
Amazon doesn't work. This is done in the mistaken belief
the film is racist because it depicts a poor Black man,
Uncle Remus. In reality Uncle Remus helps a young white
boy resolve problems in life by telling him animal stories.
It's a great musical for children, as Uncle Remus' stories
are accompanied with cartoons depicting his stories.
There are too few great children's great musicals.)
Sound of Music (1965)
(This film has music that is widely sung and played, even
today. Flash mobs, singing Do Re Me, have been
performed around the world - Korea, Brussels and else
where. The plot is very uplifting, as it depicts a real life
escape from the Nazis as they took over Austria in 1938.
There are two romances and children do a great deal of
the singing. )
South Pacific (1958)
(I really like Mitzi Gaynor's singing and dancing. She is
about the most upbeat actress / singer I can think of.
It is that quality of her upbeat singing that has carried
this film into familiarity, even today.)
These are in no particular order except alphabetical. However, for me, My Fair Lady is #1, and Silk Stockings is #2.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MUSICALS AND OPERAS
People often confuse operas and musicals. They are different genres with different followings. A reference in the NY Times very clearly explains the difference:
New York Times
Opera? Musical? Please Respect the Difference; by Anthony Tommasini; 7 July 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/10/theater/musical-or-opera-the-fine-line-that-divides-them.html
"Both genres seek to combine words and music in dynamic, felicitous and, to invoke that all-purpose term, artistic ways. But in opera, music is the driving force; in musical theater, words come first. This explains why for centuries opera-goers have revered works written in languages they do not speak."
Thus people who listen to Mozart's Figaro generally prefer to hear it in Italian. However, a translation of My Fair Lady to Italian would miss all the English nuances in the original.
Two musicals, Les Miserables and Phantom of the Opera, have seen many more productions and longer runs on stage than any other stage musical. A current stage production of Phantom of the Opera holds the record for being the longest continuous stage production, as it has been running in New York continuously since 1988 (24 years through 2012). Les Miserables ran for 16 years into 2003. Compare that to the Broadway runs of South Pacific at six years, Sound of Music at four years and My Fair Lady at six years. This does not bode well for mankind's views about entertainment, in that he would favor the sad stories over much more cheerful ones. However I will retain my optimistic view of musicals, because it is the cheerful ones that I enjoy most.
A search of IMDb lists 23,096 musicals through 2012. Within that number are 138 films IMDb considers to be musicals prior to 1928 (introduction of sound to films). Some of those 138 films date back as early as 1900. It escapes me how one could call a film without singing (let alone speech) to be a musical. Simply having an organ or piano play music, during the showing of a film, does not constitute a musical. Clearly IMDb's idea of what a musical consists of needs some attention.
In the IMDb glossary, IMDb defines a musical as a work that "includes unrealistic episodes of musical performance". However, that is simply too vague, simplistic and incomplete a definition. Dictionary.com says a musical is a performance "in which the story line is interspersed with or developed by songs, dances, and the like". This is much closer to the real definition of a musical. A musical is a performance (either stage, cinema or TV) wherein at least a portion of the plot dialog is expressed in SPONTANEOUS song, rather than in prose. It is key in the definition to indicate that spontaneous song is part of the plot dialog. Simply having songs, sung to an audience within a film, does not constitute a musical. Spontaneous dancing is another important component of a musical, and should accompany much of the singing.
The film, Walk the Line (2005) with Joaquin Phoenix & Reese Witherspoon, has a lot of music & song and is a great film. However, it is not a musical by definition, because there is no spontaneous singing in the plot dialog. All the singing in that film is done in performance for an audience within the plot of the film.
For me, a musical must be acted with real people to show how real people feel about real things. This eliminates animated films from consideration on this list. Some may be partly animated, such as Song of the South (1946), but the singing of plot dialog is done by actors in that film, not caricatures.
The following films are often credited as musicals, but in fact are not, as they do not have singing in the story line.
All That Jazz (1979)
(film about the production of a stage musical, but not a
musical unto itself)
Cabaret (1972)
(film about a singer, but not a musical unto itself)
The Jazz Singer (1927)
(For the life of me, I can't understand how you can
credit a silent film as a musical.)
Love Me or Leave Me (1955)
(Very fine story about a singer, but not a musical unto
itself)
Pal Joey (1957)
(Story about the building of a night club with singing,
but not a musical unto itself)
That's Entertainment, Part II (1976)
(a documentary about musicals)
Ziegfeld Follies (1945)
(a series of disjointed vaudeville acts done on film in a
tribute to Florenz Ziegfeld)
Great musicals should be in color. Color adds a great deal to the upbeat feeling in a film. Nowadays there is no reason to not make a musical in color. Therefore it is easy for me to say the great musical era started in the 1940s, as color took hold in the film industry. This great era of musicals started wanning in the late 1960s. There were a few great musicals in the 1970s, but by 1980 the great musical era had died. Since 1980 great musicals have been very few, Chicago (2002) being most prominent.
Personally I believe this was partly caused by music in our society becoming less harmonious and more and more just grating noise. Nobody sings heavy metal or acid rock music spontaneously in the shower or to friends on the spur of the moment, so it has no place in a musical. Keep in mind that the definition of a musical is spontaneous singing & dancing embedded in the plot.
Much of the verbiage in modern singing cannot be comprehended, as it is just noise. That factor excludes such music from musicals, since the plot is widely explained in song in musicals. One must be able to understand the verbiage in the dialog in a film to understand the plot. Modern music is making this increasingly difficult.
Rock of Ages (2012) with Tom Cruise, while technically a musical, the music has no harmony. The music is grating. It's just noise - no harmony. So the music in a great musical must be harmonious and pleasant.
A major factor, in the greatness of musicals, is the effect the film has had on the industry. One looks at how prominent it was in the film industry. One considers how the songs of the film are received socially. Do people have those songs running in their minds? Do they sing the songs to others, or even to themselves? This would show the film had a great effect on that individual.
A final consideration in the greatness of a film is the plot. One of my favorite musicals is Silk Stockings (1957) with Fred Astaire & Cyd Charisse. In addition to being a musical, it is a comical satire on communist Russia. At that time Russian society was very suppressed and this film shows how silly that was. Other films such as Annie (1982/1999) & Oliver (1968) show the plight of children in poverty. Bugsy Malone (1976) is a satire on the violence in the prohibition era.
Most musicals (not all) tend to fall into two categories of plot - 1) Romance and 2) Musical Revue. The romance category is where the plot centers on a developing romance with all it's trials and tribulations, such as in Brigadoon (1954), Camelot (1967), Funny Face (1957) and My Fair Lady (1964).
I define a "musical revue" as a story about the development of a musical, a musical team, or the story of a musical personality. If it's about the development of a musical, it's usually a stage production within the film. That stage performance is almost never shown in the musical film, as the film is about its development, and film time being a consideration. So a musical revue is a musical within a musical of sorts. Examples include The Band Wagon (1953), There's No Business Like Show Business (1954), Anything Goes (1956), and A Chorus Line (1985). Chicago (2002) included musical revue as a subplot, but was majorly about murder & crime culture.
I can't say that I have seen all these films. I have seen a little more than half of them. In any case, I cannot attest that they all meet these definitions and standards. Some have been included because of the plot or the effect they had on the industry. I will find out how they fit in as I continue to see them. If anyone knows of a musical I have missed, that they feel should be included, I would certainly like to know about it.
Picking the top eleven (can't cut it to ten), I would select:
Bugsy Malone (1976)
(Included here, as it is great for children, being acted
entirely by children making a satire of violence in the
prohibition era.)
Camelot (1967)
(Included here because in addition to being a musical fan,
I am a big fan of the King Arthur legend.)
Chicago (2002)
(Included here because it is by far the greatest film
musical since the 1970s.)
Funny Girl (1968)
Hello, Dolly! (1969)
(Barbara Streisand's commanding voice and comedic
acting carried both of these films into greatness.)
My Fair Lady (1964)
(In addition to the great songs, I enjoy the comedic
cattiness between Eliza and Higgins, as well as his
comedic indifference to human feelings and emotion.)
Silk Stockings (1957)
(The most striking thing about this film is the satire on
socialism. There are very few musicals having social
commentary, and it is a pleasure to see one with satire
on socialism, coupled with great upbeat singing & dance.)
Singin' in the Rain (1952)
(I include this film here because IMDb's rating is so high
and because Paramount thinks so highly of its creation.
(see That's Entertainment (1974) documentary)
To me romance and revue are themes that are too trite
to bring the film to the top. Nevertheless, Gene Kelly and
Donald O'Connor had to have some credit in this list.)
Song of the South (1946)
(Political correctness by Disney (producer) virtually
suppressed this film out of existence. Even today, the
DVD version is suppressed by IMDb, as the IMDb link to
Amazon doesn't work. This is done in the mistaken belief
the film is racist because it depicts a poor Black man,
Uncle Remus. In reality Uncle Remus helps a young white
boy resolve problems in life by telling him animal stories.
It's a great musical for children, as Uncle Remus' stories
are accompanied with cartoons depicting his stories.
There are too few great children's great musicals.)
Sound of Music (1965)
(This film has music that is widely sung and played, even
today. Flash mobs, singing Do Re Me, have been
performed around the world - Korea, Brussels and else
where. The plot is very uplifting, as it depicts a real life
escape from the Nazis as they took over Austria in 1938.
There are two romances and children do a great deal of
the singing. )
South Pacific (1958)
(I really like Mitzi Gaynor's singing and dancing. She is
about the most upbeat actress / singer I can think of.
It is that quality of her upbeat singing that has carried
this film into familiarity, even today.)
These are in no particular order except alphabetical. However, for me, My Fair Lady is #1, and Silk Stockings is #2.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MUSICALS AND OPERAS
People often confuse operas and musicals. They are different genres with different followings. A reference in the NY Times very clearly explains the difference:
New York Times
Opera? Musical? Please Respect the Difference; by Anthony Tommasini; 7 July 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/10/theater/musical-or-opera-the-fine-line-that-divides-them.html
"Both genres seek to combine words and music in dynamic, felicitous and, to invoke that all-purpose term, artistic ways. But in opera, music is the driving force; in musical theater, words come first. This explains why for centuries opera-goers have revered works written in languages they do not speak."
Thus people who listen to Mozart's Figaro generally prefer to hear it in Italian. However, a translation of My Fair Lady to Italian would miss all the English nuances in the original.
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