Ten Movies on an Island: Musicals

As promised, here is my first list of my top ten in each movie genre: musicals, westerns, dramas, comedies (screwball/romantic & regular comedies), comedy-drama, horror/ghost/sci-fi, suspense/mystery, biographical, and Disney.

This list will focus on musicals. First of all, what is a musical? According to the definition on Wikipedia, a musical is:

... a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing.

Throughout Hollywood History, the musical has evolved. A musical from the 1930s is not going to be the same as a musical from the 1950s. Over the decades, there have been Operetta's, Horse Operas (that's a Western that's also a musical), the Busby Berkley musicals, biopics about musicians and showmen, Historical costume epics, fantasies, musicals adapted from Broadway productions, rock & roll musicals, beach party musicals... the list goes on.

Now I'm not a huge musicals person (surprising since I love music, sing, and play both the piano and the ukulele).  But I've never been a huge fan of the musicals that typically come to mind when someone says the word "musicals,"  so you will not be finding such classics as Singing in the Rain and Oklahoma! on here.

In picking my films, I did decide on a certain criteria, aside from merely liking it. It had to be a movie that I enjoyed the songs as much as the storyline (aka I actually know most if not all of the songs by heart) and if I looked for it at the library I would find it in the musicals section. So with those two things in mind, here is my list:

1. The Great Ziegfeld (1936) - William Powell

2. The Wizard of Oz (1939) - Judy Garland

3. Ziegfeld Girl (1941) - Lana Turner, Judy Garland, Hedy Lamarr

4. Girl Crazy (1943) - Judy Garland & Mickey Rooney

5. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) - Marilyn Monroe, Jane Russell, Charles Coburn

6. White Christmas (1954) - Bing Crosby & Rosemary Clooney, Danny Kaye & Vera-Ellen

7. Daddy Long Legs (1955) - Fred Astaire & Leslie Caron

8. My Fair Lady (1964) - Audrey Hepburn & Rex Harrison

9. The Sound of Music (1965) - Julie Andrews & Christopher Plummer

10. Funny Girl (1968) - Barbra Streisand & Omar Shariff

Here is the list I consulted when choosing my Top Ten Musicals. What are your favorites?

Tomorrow, my top ten Westerns!