The Musicals List REDUX

[knives]

Ouch, guess when I do get to that I'll have to be more cautious.

[roujin]

Most classic Bollywood films aren't available in particularly great DVD's. It's quite a shame. Quality is always a crapshoot.

[tarpilot]

SWING TIME George Stevens, 1936
You have to admire the gall in taking 25 minutes to get to the first number, only to knock us out with two stunners in succession that are such for completely different reasons: the dazzling “Pick Yourself Up” sets Fred and Ginger ablaze onto the floors of a beginners’ dance studio that is as good a showcase as any for the spontaneous energy they could produce together, and “The Way You Look Tonight”, with a shamp(w)ooed Ginger being drawn out of the washroom by Fred’s seductive plunking is almost too wonderful for words. But then, I could dole out equally ecstatic hyperbole for every single other number, particularly the single-take “Waltz in Springtime” and the moving Bill Robinson tribute “Bojangles in Harlem.” knives, watch that sequence when Ginger tries to peck Fred and he keeps stepping back and she throws up her arms and sputters out “how d’yuh like my dress?” and try not to fall in love.

YOU’LL NEVER GET RICH Sidney Lanfield, 1941
Hayworth really thought these were the pinnacle of her career? Well, this one’s uneven as all hell and turns into a middling war comedy about 30 minutes in, but she’s as good a dancer as Ginger and there’s a certain grace in her chemistry with Fred that I have yet to see him match with anyone else. A few of the side-gags with the soldiers are cute, I guess.

YOU WERE NEVER LOVELIER George A. Seiter, 1942
Even as a half-assed update of The Taming of the Shrew, the script handily outdoes that of Rich, and “I’m Old Fashioned” stands as one of Astaire’s shining gems. The highlights will probably secure it a spot somewhere on my list.

STATE FAIR Walter Lang, 1945
So exactly how ashamed should I be that I liked this? I’m perfectly open to arguments that it’s a travesty, but “It Might as Well Be Spring” is a lovely little paean to teenage longing and Vivian Blaine reminds me enough of Abby Elliott to get me through her scenes with the unbearable Dick Haymes. The dead halt that occurs during their time together can’t be emphasized enough.

ANNIE GET YOUR GUN George Sidney, 1950
When I was a kid, I used to think that Annie Get Your Gun was a sequel in which Little Orphan Annie takes to the streets with Punjab to fuck shit up. This isn’t that, but it’s great. As broadly as Hutton plays it, her sheer enthusiasm ekes out some surprising nuances, particularly in the the second rendition of “There’s No Business Like Show Business”. It’s a wonder of a performance that I doubt Judy would have been able to approach even in peak form.

GOOD NEWS Charles Walters, 1947
The closest anything I’ve watched for this project has come to supplanting Love Me Tonight as my #1. I don't have anything of much substance to add; it’s just perfection from start to finish and while “Pass the Peace Pipe” is every bit as good as its reputation, there isn’t a single dud in the bunch.

[domino harvey]

Two Two Musicals

Tea For Two (David Butler 1950) Lifeless adaptation of No No Nannette that can barely be bothered to move from one static shot of Doris Day to another. Film peaks with its opening framing device, where SZ "Cuddles" Sakall, armed with assorted groceries, disrupts a wacky fifties kid shindig and berates the whippersnappers before launching into the story proper. Disappointingly dry affair thereafter, though, and one that I can scarcely recall even though I just saw it.

Two Tickets to Broadway (James V Kern 1951) And here's the antidote to the TV set-ups of the previous film, a film where I'm not sure the camera ever stopped moving, capturing the exhilaration of youth as Janet Leigh and a gaggle of stage-burned hens including Ann Miller and Gloria DeHaven try to find success in the Big Apple. It's Musical math: take the manic energy of Stage Door's comedic parts with the "Let's Put on a Show" enthusiasm of the Rooney/Garland vehicles and divide it by My Sister Eileen's glum NY reality and what you get is a candy-colored (the vibrant hues threaten to break your TV at times-- fuck the Archive, this should've been a Blu-ray!) extravaganza peppered with extensive long takes and clever crane work from Berkley on the musical numbers, including one particularly stunning inverse rear projection of sorts early in the film (it involves Janet Leigh and a bus and I won't say any more except that it's simple on the surface but genius in how it subverts the filmic language of the studio era). This is why I gotta get through more of my unwatched before this list ends!

[knives]

Wow, Queen of Hearts is just adorable. Take away all of the great and unique elements and you still have just this wonderfully sweet film about getting over things and it's a musical. I am one lucky son of a bitch. Like I don't know where to begin it has so many great elements. It's shot academy and with all of the intelligence that needs it's under 90 minutes and is just so pleasant. The funny thing is that on paper the film shouldn't be pleasant at all. The story as it were, by long time actress and first time director Valerie Donzelli, is about a girl who's boyfriend breaks up with her sending her into a suicidal depression until she decides to sleep with every man she meets.

What helps keep the film light with this premise is that everything winds up a symbolic joke. Immediately after the breakup for example we see Donzelli crying to her Spanish neighbor with a series of posters lining the wall that not so slyly comments on her emotional state. Little gags like that abound and in fact one of these gags becomes the heart and soul of the movie as each of her encounters is played by Jeremie Elkaim, Donzelli's real life boyfriend. The meaning is obvious, and if it's not to you Donzelli spells it out in the linear notes, but builds the film in the way it needs to be considering the overall concern on unhealthy attachments.

The musical numbers are rather sparse and set up a bit like Cabaret where Donzelli, usually sitting, relays a commentary on the situation. This means that the numbers are actually some of the most sedate moments of the film which is usually very stylized. The music itself makes up for this by being so listenable and catchy. I actually wish there was more numbers as a result since they work so well, but moderation is probably the right thing to do here. The only serious negative I have is that the digital look of the film is bothersome to me, but she handles it so much better than most that I'll just blame myself on this one.

[knives]

Our Beloved Month of August is a musical, right?

[stroszeck]

Any chances of a decent transfer dvd of Lili? I remember Leslie Caron from quite a few movies from my younger years but except for a couple of films that are revered, like Gigi, most of her films (and those of Mel Ferrer) seem to be lost.

[tarpilot]

FOUR JILLS IN A JEEP William A. Seiter, 1944
So we’re into the real nitty gritty now, huh? This isn’t even a musical, it’s an adaptation of Carole Landis, Kaye Francis, Martha Raye, and Mitzi Mayfair’s USO show in stagnant, unimaginative concert sequences linked by dreadful interstitial skits. Guest appearances on the soundtrack by Carmen Miranda, Betty Grable, and my obnoxious snoring.

JAILHOUSE ROCK Richard Thorpe, 1957
The chief virtue of both this and Grease is undoubtedly their making Cry Baby possible, but unlike Grease, this is at least watchable, and about a third of the time, fun. I like how Elvis is this huge psychotic asshole who’s only the hero because he’s Elvis. My video store has like five of these, and if the biggest compliment I can pay Jailhouse Rock is that it might make me consider thinking about maybe picking up another one when I’m bored and lonely on a Saturday night, then I guess there’s much worse.

SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS Stanley Donen, 1954
The ‘sexism’ doesn’t really bother me, as that aspect seems pitched at a sharply satirical level that almost brings to mind an inverse of Pygmalion, “Going Courting” boasting a strong-willed and beautiful woman singlehandedly making mincing dainties out of a group of backwoods brutes, pairing them off to dance with each other and in the next scene, dressing them up in fancy, brightly coloured shirts to resemble a shining rainbow. After the barn-raising brawl in which Millie’s lessons are disregarded by the boys in favour of violence, there’s an insert of her tearful face in the midst of the celebration that takes a mean swipe at the joy on display, which, along with the unironic, genuine credence lent to Millie’s affection counter-balances “Sobbin’ Women” and further highlights its absurdity and ridiculousness. The barn-raising is a masterclass in staging, but I hold deep appreciation for the graceful camera movements and choreography that guide the exquisite single-take “Lonesome Polecat”.

[Dr Amicus]

Jailhouse Rock (Thorpe) Pretty much what Tarpilot said. There are far worse musicals out there, but this certainly isn't the great film some have claimed - and apart from the title song, the routines aren't terribly memorable.

Seven Brides... (Donen) - A lot of fun, although it does pretty much peak with the Barn raising sequence. The seeming sexism is apparent - and yet... It's pretty clear that the women prefer the brothers from the outset, offering an escape from the dull conformity of the townspeople (OK, so it's maybe not much of a choice - but still) - and I'm still not quite sure how they got away with the ending in the 50s.

It's Always Fair Weather (Donen) OK, so the 50s are all conformity, everyone's a podperson in Eisenhower's US and the films reflect this. Except they don't. The previous film ends on a decidedly risque note to tie things up neatly, whilst this suggests that the 50s are a betrayal of the post war optimism (and, by extension, of the soldiers themselves). All tied up with some damn good routines. The opening drunken dance is notably impressive in its casualness - almost always a sign of considerable effort to get there in the first place - turning movement (or rather drunken staggering) into a routine. This sequence, and the later routine with Kelly tapdancing in roller skates, are rare outbursts of joy in the film but it's all very impressive. The resolution to one of the subplots reminds me of the (much) later My Favourite Year (by which time it's possible to be nostalgic about the period), and strangely the final shot brought to mind Rossellini's Francesco as:

Spoiler

the music swells as the three pals make their separate ways back - suggesting this time they might actually remain friends.

The general bitterness makes this one perhaps hard to love, but very easy to admire - expect a high placing from me in my final list.

[domino harvey]

School Daze (Spike Lee 1988) Sophomoric examination of race relations by Lee, in which representational ciphers exchange musically-charged race-related barbs. The greatest strength of Lee's next film, Do the Right Thing, is its colorful characterization-- every character in that film, no matter how big or small the role, feels alive, like they existed before the film started and will continue after it ends. No such vibrancy here, and the attempts at gravitas and social commentary are often clumsily handled by a filmmaker who has a lot to say, though he's not yet sure how. That said, the film, like many a musical before it, does have one electric saving grace, and for all its modernization and urban approach, the film never is stronger than in the moment it gives in and becomes a traditional musical with the "Straight and Nappy" number. The conflict between the girls who wear tracks and contacts and those who don't explodes in a long challenge number that brings to the forefront one of the more coherent and cogent race-related arguments of the film. The tackling of the contentious issue is tempered, helped, furthered by the traditional musical format to great success, so much so that it overshadows anything else in the film (though I enjoyed Tisha Campbell's performance of "Be Alone Tonight," even if Lee stages it without much visual wit)-- if Lee had embraced the format for the entire film instead of trying to work around it, this might at the very least be a film that says half of what Lee thinks it does.

[domino harvey]

Lists are due in a week... is this going to be the loneliest list project ever? Not a single soul has given me a list yet. I hope y'all are just procrastinators/last minute viewers!

[zedz]

Don't worry, I've got a list pretty much ready to go.

I've come up with a completely artificial and idiosyncratic solution to my personal dilemma of ranking 'classic' musicals against eccentric, non-standard ones (or films I love that happen to be musicals but which don't primarily appeal for their musical content). I've restricted my top ten for 'classic form' musicals (though I'm sure some people will quibble with a couple of my selections in that respect) then opened up the floodgates for the weirdos in positions 11 to 20. After that it's a free-for-all. I've ended up with 57 films I want to include, which is a healthy enough overflow to struggle with.

[knives]

I've still got The Boyfriend, His Lordship, and three of the Day films to go (and that's me trying to be realistic about things). I should give a shout out to Applause and Einbrecher. Neither will make my list, but they're both great in their own way with Einbrecher being the most advanced as a musical of all of the films I've seen for this project. Applause is legitimately great and all dissatisfaction I have with the film I suspect has to do with me just not enjoying Mamoulian's style than anything else. It's definitely the sort of film that makes me wish or at least wonder the potential of a code-less Hollywood.

[domino harvey]

I've been so busy getting ready for the horror list (guys, I legit have at least eighty thumbnail reviews ready to go for when the thread opens next week) that my musical duties have fallen to the wayside a bit, but I already have a very healthy top fifty as well. Are there a lot of unseen films still lurking in my unwatched monument? Yes, but isn't that always the way of the List Project?

[knives]

It helps that you started with a good amount of knowledge. I started off with a miserable 44. I've got around 200 now though so, pheww.

[Cold Bishop]

I'm going to be honest: I'm not sure that I'm turning in a list. There are far too many blindspots and known-unknowns for me to feel confident in my final tally. Granted, I reserve the right to change my minds, but I'd rather keep exploring the genre comfortably than cram a bunch in within the last minute (I'm still burnt out on Westerns because of doing the latter)

[Matt]

I fell behind with my viewing, but I think I can still pull together a list. It's just one of many things I've been taking great pains to avoid doing this week.

[JakeB]

I'm going to be honest: I'm not sure that I'm turning in a list. There are far too many blindspots and known-unknowns for me to feel confident in my final tally. Granted, I reserve the right to change my minds, but I'd rather keep exploring the genre comfortably than cram a bunch in within the last minute

Same here.
I bought Clive Hirschhorns year by year book on Hollywood Musicals and just felt overwhelmed (over 1,300 films! and that's just Hollywood up to the 80's!), there are so many that sound really intriguing, but aren't out on DVD/are hard to find digital copies of (Loads of the early Betty Hutton films for example!) I'm so intrigued by the genre itself, and reading essays on the subject, that I'm going to carry on with a blog in the new year.

I'm looking forward to what top 50 lists people do come up with though.

[knives]

When did this start to become a completest jumble? In no list no matter what no body here will ever be able to see even half of the eligible films. Simply not possible, so stop the bean counting, have fun with what you got, and turn in a list of favorites so that any future beginners can go the easy route. None of these lists are meant to be definitive.

[the preacher]

I just submitted my list. Even if I eventually ruled out titles like "Subarnarekha" (a film with songs but hardly a musical), I have to say that most of my choices include few songs/musical numbers and are mixed with other genres.

[swo17]

When did this start to become a completest jumble? In no list no matter what no body here will ever be able to see even half of the eligible films. Simply not possible, so stop the bean counting, have fun with what you got, and turn in a list of favorites so that any future beginners can go the easy route. None of these lists are meant to be definitive.

No one needs to watch every single musical, but Cold Bishop brings up a good point about blindspots. I only really have time to keep up with the decades projects, which have, by some coincidence, introduced me to enough musicals that I could probably throw together a list. But if I did so at this point, I would be giving '50s musicals short shrift. I'd like to be able to use the overall list as a reference in the future, so I'd rather not dilute it with my partly uninformed opinions.

[domino harvey]

Well, three lists in so far, and only two films appear on all three lists, including one that might be a surprise spoiler given its high placement thus far. But lord, it's early yet

[zedz]

Domino will be pleased to hear that I'm holding back my list until I watch that Reefer Madness musical. [shakes fist] It better be good! [/shakes fist]

[domino harvey]

For Me and My Gal (Busby Berkeley 1942) My last remaining post-adolescence Garland film and not a particularly inspiring note to go out on. Some early energy in a coffee shop between Garland and Gene Kelly in his debut goes over well, but for the most part this is the millionth backstage vaudeville period piece and a poor example at that.

Two Weeks With Love (Roy Rowland 1950) Sorry to say, but I found this rather unbearable. Given my experience with nostalgic "old timey" musicals (as earlier elucidated), perhaps that was to be expected. I went in with an open mind but the endless talky segments dividing the not particularly clever musical numbers brought me down quickly and kept me there. Just about everyone here put in better work elsewhere in this genre, so I guess there's that.

[Shrew]

Numberwise I probably have a lot of blindspots (my total will probably be only 90something), but I'm still planning on submitting something because I think variation in taste (and experience) is important. By voting I may knock some grand rarely seen secret classic down a few spots, but it won't ruin the list or leave it incomprehensible, and I may well help the few great films I did manage to see. As great as one person's taste may be, it's good to have more and more input, just so a list is not completely skewed. (I'm thinking of when I was going through the 30s, how the original 30s list seemed to smell especially of Herr Schreck.) Plus, unfairly neglected films will still end up in run-on and orphan lists, which are a handy supplement to the list.

Anyway, a quick note over some stuff I should have mentioned earlier. I talked a bit about Street Angel in the 30s thread and I thought I did here too, but it seems not. Oops. This may not be a musical in the classical Hollywood sense (there's only 3 singing numbers, and they're rather front-loaded, and no dancing) but I think it's important to consider models outside the dominant form, and the intent was obviously to have people sing with the film. To borrow from another thread on this board, you might call it a "Disintegrating Musical" as the tragic and social commentary aspects of the film come increasingly to the fore as the film goes on. But the musical scenes themselves are quite nice and present 3 very different techniques.

First, "The Song of 4 Seasons" uses montage to contrast the uninterested young girl singing it with the wide ranging aspects of China it invokes (War, Life, Love, etc). The second tune is a standard instrumental/vocal love duet, but the director makes great use of the back and forth with a small budget, staging it from windows across an alley, finding a rhythm between routine chores and the glances the lovers exchange while singing. Then after the relationship goes sour, the same song is reprised, and the coquettish girl singer (Zhou Xuan) suddenly starts showing emotion. I should have mentioned it earlier, cause no one is going to be able check it out, but here it is on [url=youtubehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LC59ZJDaYkc]youtube[/url] (sans subs sadly).

Umbrellas of Cherbourg/ The Young Girls of Rochefort- Umbrellas falls subject to the operetta exception, but I don't think I'd vote for it anyway. It's beautiful, the music fun, and Demy's camera is wonderfully fluid, but it's just too much for me. I just need some kind of break in the music. Plus, I really can't take the normal everyday dialogue transformed into song conceit: it just sounds terribly banal (which may be translation's fault) and the music wanders during these exchanges. The worst part of Rochefort does the same thing, but overall it restricts itself and in constructing numbers around songs and set pieces it comes off much stronger. (Save that sadist/murder subplot. What?)

Cabaret- I think this is a better film than a musical. The songs are fun and I know it's intentionally stagebound, but the way Fosse edits the musical sequences is just distracting. He cuts at odd times, and often not to a close up or a long shot (which would help shake the staginess) but just to another angle. At other nonmusical times the editing can be inspired, so its a pity that the numbers feel so much like a tape of a (albeit perverse) high-school play.

Moulin Rouge!- Oh fuckgod. This may be the worst 30 minutes in the history of film. Many times since its release I've tried to watch this, only to give up 10 mins in. So for this project I finally just drank a bunch of bourbon and forced myself through. Maybe it was the inebriation, but it does eventually calm down and dig into the darker depths of all its shiny love songs. I was even a bit amused by Broadbent's "Like a Virgin" number. But of course the lady has to die so the man can learn a lesson, and I just can't bring myself to forgive those opening moments.

Cool As Ice- Now here is a modern classic. I feel this is a movie John Cope could create a legitimate defense for. But really, Vanilla Ice's existence is so absurd that the whole film just follows suit. But the cinematography is often gorgeous, the totally random modernist house/bike garage is an interesting set, and the dance/rap sequences are kind of well done (or at least Vanilla Ice doesn't look quite as much of an idiot as elsewhere). It's a lock for number 50.

Also, another vote for Pyaasa, which is lovely and quite different from the excesses and nonsense of later Bollywood. For the more recent stuff though, Om Shanti Om is fun. The plot is ridiculous, but shifts between playful and serious without falling on its face, and the musical numbers are more integrated, though some (but not all) are still too music-videoy. And it covers a big time frame, so there's a brief overview of how Bollywood has evolved.