# Best musical on film?



## PlaySalieri

For my money it has to be: Oliver!

There were some fine musicals in the 50s and 60s - but nothing beats Oliver.


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## Phil loves classical

Mary Poppins for me for nostalgic reasons


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## JAS

stomanek said:


> For my money it has to be: Oliver!
> 
> There were some fine musicals in the 50s and 60s - but nothing beats Oliver.


Have there ever been such merry prostitutes, killers, thieves, and abused children? All of the performances, sets, costumes, etc. are beautifully done. (Ron Moody makes a fine Fagin.) And how can one not fall in love with Shani Wallis?


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## JAS

Phil loves classical said:


> Mary Poppins for me for nostalgic reasons


I think my brother and I made my grandmother take us to see this movie a dozen times. (I don't remember what year it was, but since I remember it, it was probably not the first run.)


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## Vaneyes

Cabaret (1972), Hellzapoppin (1941), Singin' in the Rain (1952), Oliver! (1968), My Fair Lady (1964), Gigi (1958), The Wizard of Oz (1939), Shine a Light (2008), Top Hat (1935), Funny Face (1957).


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## Pugg

*Cabaret* stands lonely at the top for me, follow by Oliver and My Fair Lady.


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## PlaySalieri

Phil loves classical said:


> Mary Poppins for me for nostalgic reasons


I like it too - though I think Oliver is a more powerful story and has more great songs. what can beat consider yourself.


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## jegreenwood

Vaneyes said:


> Cabaret (1972), Hellzapoppin (1941), Singin' in the Rain (1952), Oliver! (1968), My Fair Lady (1964), Gigi (1958), The Wizard of Oz (1939), Shine a Light (2008), Top Hat (1935), Funny Face (1957).


Nice list.

I've never seen "Shine a Light", so I'll substitute "The Last Waltz."

I've also never seen "Helzapoppin." Trying to maintain the spirit, I'll substitute "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum." I wish Richard Lester had kept more of the Sondheim score.


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## Judith

West Side Story for me! Love the story and the music is amazing!!


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## Metairie Road

Hard to choose, so I'll say all of the above. Can't say how many times I've watched Oliver!. Probably in triple digits by now.

I'd say post WWII to 1970's was the golden age. 1920's and 30's musicals never appealed to me much, even when the songs and music were good. They had a pretentious and cheesy sophistication, too many tuxedos, cigarette holders and champagne* glasses for my taste. In the late 1940's musicals came down to Earth, which is where I live.

The only DVD's I buy are film musicals because I know I will keep going back to them and they wont just sit there and gather dust on my shelf.

To the above I'd like to add:

*The Music Man*
*On The Town*
*Gypsy*
*Sweet Charity* (they shot two endings for this movie. I think opting for the sad ending was the right call, it was devastating, I cried like a baby)

Would this be considered a guilty pleasure in a classical music forum? - If so, I'm guilty. I mean not guilty.

*I've got nothing against champagne, a good champagne buzz is a thing to behold.

Best wishes
Metairie Road


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## Totenfeier

Based purely on the first one that popped into my head uopn reading the question: _Singin' in the Rain_.


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## Pugg

I did see once Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat from Tim Rice, bought it, watched last night an still like it.


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## Bellinilover

stomanek said:


> For my money it has to be: Oliver!
> 
> There were some fine musicals in the 50s and 60s - but nothing beats Oliver.


OLIVER! is one of my favorite musicals, and probably one of my favorite movie musicals(?) I actually don't like a great many musical versions of stage shows. CAROUSEL, for example -- I watched the movie of it over the weekend, and thought it was terrible. On the other hand, I do like the movie versions of OKLAHOMA! and THE KING AND I; those are two of the best, in my opinion.

As far as movie musicals _not_ based on stage shows -- AN AMERICAN IN PARIS is my favorite.


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## Gordontrek

I'd go with West Side Story. Musicals aren't usually my thing, but this is one that really grabbed me. Plus it won more Academy Awards than any other movie musical.


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## Pugg

Gordontrek said:


> I'd go with West Side Story. Musicals aren't usually my thing, but this is one that really grabbed me. Plus it won more Academy Awards than any other movie musical.


I dare calling it a contemporary opera .


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## Bellinilover

ANNIE GET YOUR GUN is another very well-done movie musical. The cast (Betty Hutton, Howard Keel, Keenan Wynn, etc.) is delightful.


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## jegreenwood

One musical not mentioned so far, that while imperfectly structured, has a lot going for it is "The Band Wagon."


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## SoleilCouchant

Well by no means have I seen all of them....but yeah, I'd agree Cabaret is pretty much the top...probably one of the best movies anyway.... and it is also a musical...thus making it one of the best movie musicals. 

Then personally, I like The Rocky Horror Picture Show...haha....and Tommy (by the Who) brings back nostalgia. For some reason I loved that one as a kid, so the nostalgia plays in for me now. I doubt either of those would be considered "the best," but I like them. As far as more classic, West Side Story and My Fair Lady are nice, too. I feel like I'm forgetting something.

Oh! I really like the Jesus Christ Superstar movie, too.


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## Brahmsian Colors

My Fair Lady and Gigi.


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## Pugg

SoleilCouchant said:


> Well by no means have I seen all of them....but yeah, I'd agree Cabaret is pretty much the top...probably one of the best movies anyway.... and it is also a musical...thus making it one of the best movie musicals.
> 
> Then personally, I like The Rocky Horror Picture Show...haha....and Tommy (by the Who) brings back nostalgia. For some reason I loved that one as a kid, so the nostalgia plays in for me now. I doubt either of those would be considered "the best," but I like them. As far as more classic, West Side Story and My Fair Lady are nice, too. I feel like I'm forgetting something.
> 
> Oh! I really like the Jesus Christ Superstar movie, too.


Once you've got the songs in your head, they are like earworms .


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## Antiquarian

I really enjoy Rodgers and Hammerstein productions put on film. _South Pacific_ (1958) with Rossano Brazzi and Mitzi Gaynor is probably my favourite, although _The King and I_ and _Oklahoma!_ (the Todd A-O version) are right up there too.

I love _My Fair Lady_, Rex Harrison is brilliant, and Audrey Hepburn is, well, Audrey Hepburn!

I recently watched the restored director's cut of _1776_, a Stuart Ostrow production with music and lyrics by Sherman Edwards. This was made back in 1972. I remember watching this on television as a young adult and not being very impressed by it, however this extended edition, with several previously cut songs is relevatory. It's so much better.


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## AfterHours

Altman's Nashville ... if it counts 

If not, I'll go with Cat Ballou (also comedy & western, and quite funny at that!). Not far below that, I'd say Cabaret, or Singin' in the Rain.


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## jegreenwood

AfterHours said:


> Altman's Nashville ... if it counts
> 
> If not, I'll go with Cat Ballou (also comedy & western, and quite funny at that!). Not far below that, I'd say Cabaret, or Singin' in the Rain.


I haven't seen "Nashville" since its original release (twice then), but I recall thinking it was great.


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese

The mission


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## Pugg

EddieRUKiddingVarese said:


> The mission


Brave man......


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese

Pugg said:


> Brave man......


I like to stick it up my jumper


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## Larkenfield

"Chicago" is my current favorite. I love everything about it, starting with its fantastic cast.


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## Fugue Meister

How has no one said "Fiddler on the Roof"? 

... but my favorite is "The Music Man".


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese

Mormon the Musical


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## Guest

EddieRUKiddingVarese said:


> The mission


The Mission was a musical? 

Assuming the OP meant a film of an already written stage musical, I'd go for _Fiddler on the Roof_. If any film musical is to be included, probably _Singin' in the Rain_


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## David Phillips

I remember travelling halfway across London years ago to see a rare showing of 'Carousel'. At the end the audience was copiously weeping. I never heard that in a cinema before.


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## CypressWillow

"Carousel" has always been my favorite musical. 

"Carousel" was the musical adaptation of "Lilith," a film starring Charles Boyer. It was much darker, with the Boyer character in Purgatory, not Heaven. 

Frank Sinatra was apparently the original star contracted to play "Billy Bigelow" but left just before shooting started. I've always liked the performance of Gordon MacRae in the film, but would really, really, really have wanted to see Sinatra in the role. 

The "Carousel Waltz" and "You'll Never Walk Alone" are gorgeous and elevate the film to the status of an operetta, for me.

Edit: Oops, the Charles Boyer film was "Liliom" not "Lilith" - sorry.


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## Eschbeg

_West Side Story_ is the only one I can think of at the moment whose film version is better than the stage version.


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## David Phillips

Eschbeg said:


> _West Side Story_ is the only one I can think of at the moment whose film version is better than the stage version.


I have never like the movie of 'West Side Story'. It starts great with that panorama of New York and the street dancing but then retires to the studio for the rest of the film where the sets are more stagey than the stage. Natalie Wood was OK as Maria but the beefcake they got to play Tony was useless. Neither of them sang.


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## Eschbeg

David Phillips said:


> I have never like the movie of 'West Side Story'. It starts great with that panorama of New York and the street dancing but then retires to the studio for the rest of the film where the sets are more stagey than the stage.


That opening sequence is one of the main ways in which the movie improves on the stage, as it is far more extensive and is really enhanced by the cuts and edits that the camera makes possible.

The other much more substantial improvement is the order of events and songs. In the stage version, "Cool" is sung by Riff in Act I after the dance at the gym (right after the Sharks sing "America"), while the comedic "Gee, Officer Krupke" is sung by Ice after the rumble, totally deflating the shock of Riff's death.


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## Harrowby Hall

*Best musical on film*

What a subject for my first post on this forum!

I saw the original London production of West Side Story
at her Majesty's Theatre and I saw the 50th anniversary production when it visited Birmingham. I have always regarded the film version as entertaining but not as immediate, as powerful, as intimate as the stage play. I love the theatricality and constraints of theatre - the work was conceived for theatre, after all. The small pit orchestra adds an astringency that the film's symphony orchestra cannot match. That the West Side is in a major world city is immaterial. The play, the story, is an intimate one involving just a handful of characters, it is about a minor tragedy that will go completely unnoticed a couple of streets away.

Maria, in the 50th anniversary production was Sofia Escobar - her Maria was fragile. On-one could say that of Natalie Wood.

An aside - I heard a performance of the Symphonic Dances by the CBSO a few years ago. At the end (and the conductor played no part in this) there was total silence from the audience. It must have been about fifteen seconds before any applause started. West Side Story is inside all of us.

As far as favourite film musical? Probably South Pacific (but the film WAS flawed) and My Fair Lady.


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