The Best Broadway Musicals on Film
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1.
The Music Man
(1962)
Harold Hill poses as a boys' band leader to con naive Iowa townsfolk. (151 mins.)
Director: Morton DaCosta
“ This is what a musical should be: joyous, hilarious, romantic, touching, and filled with wonderful quotable characters. Every song is meaningful and classic. Robert Preston, there are no words for his performance, incredible and Shirley Jones is beautiful in voice, looks, and class. ” - smith-d-c
2.
Fiddler on the Roof
(1971)
In prerevolutionary Russia, a Jewish peasant contends with marrying off three of his daughters while growing antisemitic sentiment threatens his village. (181 mins.)
Director: Norman Jewison
“ Can a shiktza love this movie? You bet. A timeless funny and sad story of holding on to your beliefs in spite of the changing times. A beautiful story with phenomenal dancing and songs. Topol is wonderful as Tevye. ” - smith-d-c
3.
Oliver!
(1968)
Musical adaptation about an orphan who runs away from an orphanage and hooks up with a group of boys trained to be pickpockets by an elderly mentor. (153 mins.)
Director: Carol Reed
“ The biggest most fantastic musical ever filmed. But more than that every song is wonderful, the characters are terrific, and though the movie is kid-friendly, this is not a children's movie. A perfect blend of light and dark elements. ” - smith-d-c
4.
My Fair Lady
(1964)
A misogynistic and snobbish phonetics professor agrees to a wager that he can take a flower girl and make her presentable in high society. (170 mins.)
Director: George Cukor
“ The film that made me an Anglophile. The greatest most beautiful looking musical of all time. The story is witty and timeless and both Audrey Hepburn, dubbed or not, and Rex Harrison are wonderful. ” - smith-d-c
5.
On the Town
(1949)
Three sailors on a day of shore leave in New York City look for fun and romance before their twenty-four hours are up. (98 mins.)
Director: Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly
“ Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra are wonderful. The movie took some liberties with the score but it paid off. The dancing, story, and characters, are spectacular. The first musical filmed on location. ” - smith-d-c
6.
Chicago
(2002)
Murderesses Velma Kelly and Roxie Hart find themselves on death row together and fight for the fame that will keep them from the gallows in 1920s Chicago. (113 mins.)
Director: Rob Marshall
“ The oscar winning musical is filled with energetic and spectacularly staged with each number directly corresponding to the mindset of Roxie. Rene Zellwegger should have won her oscar for her work but Catherine Zeta Jones is also wonderful. ” - smith-d-c
7.
The King and I
(1956)
A widow accepts a job as a live-in governess to the King of Siam's children. (133 mins.)
Director: Walter Lang
“ The look, acting, and songs are the stars of this classic. The story is beautifully told and romantic. Yul Brenner is terrific. ” - smith-d-c
8.
The Sound of Music
(1965)
A woman leaves an Austrian convent to become a governess to the children of a Naval officer widower. (174 mins.)
Director: Robert Wise
“ "Do Rei Me" is the greatest musical number ever!! Julie Andrews is phenomenal and the songs are so memorable. I do find that the movie can be cloying and odd because of the Nazis placed in this family movie. ” - smith-d-c
9.
Little Shop of Horrors
(1986)
A nerdy florist finds his chance for success and romance with the help of a giant man-eating plant who demands to be fed. (94 mins.)
Director: Frank Oz
“ Steve Martin should have won an oscar as the Elvis-like dentist. Rick Moranis is also very good and the music is terrific. ” - smith-d-c
10.
Guys and Dolls
(1955)
In New York, a gambler is challenged to take a cold female missionary to Havana, but they fall for each other, and the bet has a hidden motive to finance a crap game. (150 mins.)
Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
“ I love this musical but I do think Marlon Brando was miscast, it should have gone to Sinatra and they should have got the broadway actor to do his part. But the music is wonderful, the staging is great, and the acting is good. ” - smith-d-c
11.
Oklahoma!
(1955)
In the Oklahoma territory at the turn of the twentieth century, two young cowboys vie with an evil ranch... (145 mins.)
Director: Fred Zinnemann
12.
The Pirates of Penzance
(1983)
This movie is an adaptation of Gilbert and Sullivan's comic operetta of the same name, with parts of other of their operettas stirred in... (112 mins.)
Director: Wilford Leach
“ I know that the sets are so stagey but man, the energy of all the performances and the timeless style and wonderful songs, dialogue, and performances by Kevin Kline, Tony Azito, Angela Lansbury, George Rose, Rex Smith, and Linda Rondstat are phenomenal. I loved this movie when I saw it in an empty theater and I love it still. ” - smith-d-c
13.
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
(1967)
Armed with a "How to..." manual, an ambitious window washer seeks to climb the corporate ladder. (121 mins.)
Director: David Swift
14.
Tommy
(1975)
A psychosomatically deaf, dumb and blind boy becomes a master pinball player and the object of a religious cult because of that. (111 mins.)
Director: Ken Russell
15.
West Side Story
(1961)
Two youngsters from rival New York City gangs fall in love, but tensions between their respective friends build toward tragedy. (152 mins.)
Director: Jerome Robbins, Robert Wise
“ How can I place this so low? I never liked the story, the songs, or the acting, but it is spectacularly filmed in New York and the dancing and artistry that went into the film is special. I hated both the sappiness of Tony and Maria and found that the actors had no chemistry. The writing is pretty dated. ” - smith-d-c
16.
Brigadoon
(1954)
Two Americans on a hunting trip in Scotland become lost. They encounter a small village, not on the map, called Brigadoon, in which people harbor a mysterious secret, and behave as if they were still living two hundred years in the past. (108 mins.)
Director: Vincente Minnelli
17.
Gypsy
(1962)
Based on the Broadway hit about the life and times of burlesque dancer Gypsy Rose Lee and her aggressive stage mother, Mama Rose. (143 mins.)
Director: Mervyn LeRoy
18.
South Pacific
(1958)
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. (157 mins.)
Director: Joshua Logan
19.
Damn Yankees!
(1958)
Film adaptation of the George Abbott Broadway musical about a Washington Senators fan who makes a pact... (111 mins.)
Director: George Abbott, Stanley Donen
20.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
(1975)
A newly engaged couple have a breakdown in an isolated area and must pay a call to the bizarre residence of Dr. Frank-N-Furter. (100 mins.)
Director: Jim Sharman
21.
Jesus Christ Superstar
(1973)
Film version of the musical stage play, presenting the last few weeks of Christ's life, told in an anachronistic manner. (108 mins.)
Director: Norman Jewison
22.
Show Boat
(1951)
The daughter of a riverboat captain falls in love with a charming gambler, but their fairytale romance is threatened when his luck turns sour. (108 mins.)
Director: George Sidney
23.
Kiss Me Kate
(1953)
Fred and Lilly are a divorced pair of actors who are brought together by Cole Porter who has written a musical version of The Taming of the Shrew... (109 mins.)
Director: George Sidney
24.
Bye Bye Birdie
(1963)
A rock singer travels to a small Ohio town to make his "farewell" television performance and kiss his biggest fan before he is drafted. (112 mins.)
Director: George Sidney
25.
Godspell
(1973)
An adaption of the musical, in a modern-day song-and-dance recreation of the Gospel of St. Matthew. (103 mins.)
Director: David Greene
26.
Bells Are Ringing
(1960)
Ella Peterson is a Brooklyn telephone answering service operator who tries to improve the lives of her... (126 mins.)
Director: Vincente Minnelli
27.
Cabaret
(1972)
A female girlie club entertainer in Weimar Republic era Berlin romances two men while the Nazi Party rises to power around them. (124 mins.)
Director: Bob Fosse
28.
1776
(1972)
A musical retelling of the American Revolution's political struggle in the Continental Congress to declare independence. (141 mins.)
Director: Peter H. Hunt
29.
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
(2007)
The infamous story of Benjamin Barker, AKA Sweeney Todd, who sets up a barber shop down in London which is the basis for a sinister partnership with his fellow tenant, Mrs. Lovett. Based on the hit Broadway musical. (116 mins.)
Director: Tim Burton
30.
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
(1966)
A wily slave must unite a virgin courtesan and his young smitten master to earn his freedom. (99 mins.)
Director: Richard Lester
31.
Hello, Dolly!
(1969)
A matchmaker named Dolly Levi takes a trip to Yonkers, New York to see the "well-known unmarried half-a-millionaire," Horace Vandergelder... (146 mins.)
Director: Gene Kelly
32.
Annie
(1982)
A young orphan girl's adventures in finding a family that will take her. (126 mins.)
Director: John Huston
33.
Dreamgirls
(2006)
A trio of black female soul singers cross over to the pop charts in the early 1960s, facing their own personal struggles along the way. (130 mins.)
Director: Bill Condon
34.
The Producers
(2005)
After putting together another Broadway flop, down-on-his-luck producer Max Bialystock teams up with timid accountant Leo Bloom in a get-rich-quick scheme to put on the world's worst show. (134 mins.)
Director: Susan Stroman
35.
Evita
(1996)
The hit musical based on the life of Evita Duarte, a B-picture Argentinian actress who eventually became the wife of Argentinian president Juan Perón, and the most beloved and hated woman in Argentina. (135 mins.)
Director: Alan Parker
36.
The Wiz
(1978)
An adaption of "The Wizard of Oz" that tries to capture the essence of the African American experience. (134 mins.)
Director: Sidney Lumet
37.
The Phantom of the Opera
(2004)
A young soprano becomes the obsession of a disfigured musical genius who lives beneath the Paris Opéra House. (143 mins.)
Director: Joel Schumacher