Seriously, how many different groups must we listen to in order to determine what is the best film of all time? We already have the periodic AFI specials. Tonight we had another group telling us which was supposed (I believe) to take the popular vote into account. One of several genres I caught was “Best Musical.” Of course, I had to comment on that one. I took umbrage with the five choices and their placement. Now we have “Best Kiss?” OH< PLEASE! Back to the topic at hand…
Best Musical:
- West Side Story (1961) I don’t believe that there has ever been a more celebrated movie musical… winner of 10 Academy Awards. The Romeo and Juliet story told amidst the backdrop of gang infested New York City. Elvis was offered the lead role of Tony; however, turned it down because he thought it would tarnish his image if he were associated with a film that dealt with violence. Fascinating, since one of his earliest films, King Creole, dealt with just that. I, personally would have placed this one higher.
- Singin’ in the Rain (1952) Classic, CLASSIC, CLASSIC! Gene Kelly dancing and singing with a 103º temperature while being drenched by a mixture of water and milk (because water alone did not show up well enough). My favorite scene, Donald O’Connor’s “Make Em’ Laugh” song and dance.
- The Wizard of Oz (1939) WHAT!!!! Totally missed out on this one! Especially when you look at the next two. One tidbit I was not aware of: at times, Judy Garland could not stand working with Toto because his breath was so awful. Help me out, Taylhis… have you heard THAT one?!
- Grease (1978) While I do enjoy a viewing from time to time, this one gets on my nerves. Maybe it is from all the times my siblings and I were allowed to stay up past our bedtimes to watch it on a school night… maybe it was the drama of a certain community theatre’s production. Definitely voted too high… should have been #5 at best. Well… at least the horrendous Dirty Dancing was not in the top 5. I guess there are some who consider it a musical.
- The Sound of Music (1965) The most profitable movie musical of all time. With inflation taken into account, it has made over $1 billion placing it third all time behind Gone with the Wind and the original Star Wars. I would have a hard time deciding between this and Oz as the top musical. Both are personal favorites.
At least they got the “Top Action Film” correct. Raiders of the Lost Ark. No bloody Indiana Jones and the… placed before the title. When did they add that, anyway? I dunno… would anyone be game for a fifth installment? Harrison Ford would be if the story was right. Just do away with Indy’s son.
There is no way that Grease should be in the top 10. There have been a lot of good musicals, and that isn’t one of them…. Just my opinion. I really dislike that show. It has been a while since I saw West Side Story, but I guess it belongs. The others, give me Singing in the Rain any day. The Sound of Music and The Wizard of OZ are classics in any movie category.
TOTALLY agree j. I can name a handful of musicals that put Grease to shame. Strangely enough, the number three musical was voted the number two movie of all time. Right behind the other great movie of 1939 which always seems to at least equal.
I had not heard the tidbit about Toto’s (Terry’s) awful dog breath. At first it sounded to me like one of the tall tales Judy Garland was fond of spinning to the media about the movie, but after some quick research, it seems that she did indeed tell her daughter Lorna Luft about Toto’s awful breath. Thanks for the new fact!
No problem, it was Ms. Luft who related the tale on the special last night. Although it does seem rather anti-climatic with each of these countdown shows, this one did provide some more insight that I was not aware of that I tried to include in the musical descriptions I provided.