Older Movie Musical Gems?

[Mildred Plotka]

Posted: 4/13/11 at 4:35pm

Any recommendations of older movie musical gems from 40's, 50's, or 60's that ya'll would recommend? Seen all the big, obvious choices and looking for some hidden treasures with great musical sequences. Thanks in advance!

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 4/13/11 at 5:05pm

Have you seen any of the "Gold Diggers" movies from the 30s? They are all pretty much the same, but "Gold Diggers of 1933" is probably the best.

[Paulyd]

Posted: 4/13/11 at 7:23pm

Gold Diggr of 1933 is one of my favourite Busby Berkely films. The films closing number is just breathtaking

From the 50's I'm a fan of MGM's It's Always Fairweather and Silk Stockings. The latter especially gets better with more viewings.


Gold Diggers of 1933

[Paulyd]

Posted: 4/13/11 at 7:23pm

Gold Diggr of 1933 is one of my favourite Busby Berkely films. The films closing number is just breathtaking

From the 50's I'm a fan of MGM's It's Always Fairweather and Silk Stockings. The latter especially gets better with more viewings.


Gold Diggers of 1933

Posted: 4/14/11 at 5:08am

Not all that obscure, but howabout the Demy/Legrand tribute to classic MGM musicals, Young Girls of Rochefort? It seems to be much less seen than the earlier Denueve musical they did, Umbrellas of Cherbourg (I love their third, Donkey Skin as well but that's 70s )

Again not all that obscure, but I *love* the 1932 Rouben Mamoulian directed, Maurice CHevalier starring, Rodgers and Hart film Love Me Tonight, which was pretty groundbreaking for its musical integration at the time...

[TimesSquareRegular]

Posted: 4/14/11 at 9:48am

One of my favorites is GIVE A GIRL A BREAK. Amazingly under-rated score by Burton Lane and Ira Gershwin, direction by Stanley Donen - and where else can you see Bob Fosse and Gower Champion dancing together? Toss in Debbie Reynolds and Marge Champion, and what more do you need?

[Urban]

Posted: 4/14/11 at 9:50am

LOL. I came in here to recommend "The Golddiggers of 1933" and seen it has already gotten top billing in this thread. But it seriously a great pre-code film, and like alot of pre-code stuff, there is a tonne of witty banty, slightly risque but always fun!

And Joan Blondell is one of my favourite golden age actresses ever.

"Dames" is also a fun movie by basically the same team of people.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 4/14/11 at 8:06pm

Les Girls is a good one. I also like Anything Goes but they only thing it has in common with show is the title, a boat, and some of the songs. But if you can get past that it has Donald O'Connor and Bing Crosby.

Other good ones:

By the Light of the Silvery Moon
In The Good Old Summertime
Lovely to Look At
Neptune's Daughter
Tea for Two
Small Town Girl
I Love Melvin
It's a Great Feeling
Me and My Gal
On Moonlight Bay
Call Me, Madam
April in Paris
Nest Foot Forward
The Pirate
The Tunnel of Love
Slipper and the Rose
Lullaby of Broadway
Dangerous When Wet
Summer Stock
Texas Carnival
Lucky Me
Meet Me in St Louis
Starlift
Bells Are Ringing
Thrill of a Romance
Funny Face
Calamity Jane
Annie Get Your Gun
Easter Parade
Two Weeks with Love
Girl Crazy
Jumbo
On an Island With You
Fiesta
Words and Music
The Pajama Game
Two Girls and a Sailor
This Time for Keeps
Two Sisters from Boston
Til the Clouds Rolls By
Ziegfeld Follies
Babes on Broadway
Daddy Long Legs
My Dream is Yours
Pagan Love Song
Love Me or Leave Me
Strike up the Band
There's No Business Like Show Business
Lady Be Good
Nancy Goes to Rio
Hit the Deck
Anything that starts with "Broadway Melody of"
Born to Dance
Million Dollar Mermaid
Deep in My Heart
Easy to Love
Easy to Wed
Babes in Arms
I'll See You in My Dreams
Romance on the High Seas

Updated On: 4/14/11 at 08:06 PM

[best12bars]

Posted: 4/14/11 at 8:38pm

Here are a few musical "gems" that aren't super-big, but are worth checking out. All are on DVD:

My Sister Eileen (Betty Garrett, Janet Leigh, Jack Lemmon, Bob Fosse)
Li'l Abner
Les Girls
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
The Young Girls of Rochefort
Little Nellie Kelly
Alexander's Ragtime Band
My Wild Irish Rose
The Lemon Drop Kid
The Slipper and the Rose



Not yet available on DVD:

Sun Valley Serenade

[Eris0303]

Posted: 4/14/11 at 8:46pm

Ah, Alexander's Ragtime Band - a VERY young Ethel Merman. Sad that I forgot Little Nellie Kelly.

And I love how smarmy Tommy Rall is in My Sister Eileen.

Posted: 4/14/11 at 9:16pm

The Bandwagon! Great songs, incredible production AND Broadway Bashing!

[Eris0303]

Posted: 4/14/11 at 9:17pm

And any of the Fred/Gingers!

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Posted: 4/14/11 at 9:50pm

I was going to recommend Little Nellie Kelly. Haven't seen it in a long time, would love for it to come out on DVD.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 4/14/11 at 9:50pm

The Bandwagon is my all-time favorite movie musical.

A good silly wartime musical is The Gang's All Here. It has Busby Berkeley kaleidoscopic choreography--but in 1943 Technicolor--and it has Alice Faye singing the ballads, great swing music by Benny Goodman and His Orchestra and Carmen Miranda doing a trippy song with the giant bananas called "The Lady With the Tutti-Frutti Hat":

http://youtu.be/TLsTUN1wVrc

And of the Fred-and-Ginger movies, my favorite is Swing Time, with a gorgeous Jerome Kern score.

Updated On: 4/14/11 at 09:50 PM

[Eris0303]

Posted: 4/14/11 at 9:52pm

Little Nellie Kelly

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Posted: 4/14/11 at 10:04pm

Wow, thanks Eris.. I've checked amazon numerous times over the years to see if there was any sign of it coming, and there never was! I'm delighted. I had a tape of it when I was a child, and remember it vividly - sadly the tape disappeared long, long ago - I can finally replace it!

Pity amazon are out of stock already, but I'm sure I'll be able to find it elsewhere.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 4/14/11 at 10:11pm

If you look to the right on the amazon.com page you'll see a link that says "More Buying Options"

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Posted: 4/14/11 at 10:20pm

Oh, yeah...thanks!

[degrassifan]

Posted: 4/15/11 at 2:35am

The Slipper and the Rose, definitely!

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 4/15/11 at 12:57pm

Two of my favorites are Too Many Girls (the film that introduced Lucille Ball to Desi Arnaz) and Love Me or Leave Me (would make a wonderful stage adaptation).

[PalJoey]

Posted: 4/15/11 at 3:23pm

All right. Casting suggestions for the stage version of Love Me or Leave Me. I'll start.

In the Doris Day role: Kelli O'Hara

In the James Cagney role: Norbert Leo Butz

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 4/15/11 at 8:07pm

Nobody else seems to love it (except Martin Scorcese) but I'm a huge fan of the Gene Kelly/Stanley Donen IT'S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER...I actually prefer it to ON THE TOWN. So many great numbers. Kelly is wonderful, Cyd Charisse dances amazingly...but the show is completely stolen by Dolores Gray as a flamboyant television star and Dan Dailey as an uptight advertising exec.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 4/16/11 at 12:34am

Dolores Gray killing all the chorus boys? What's not to love?

[D.Parks]

Posted: 4/16/11 at 2:56pm

I do love this number. Quite funny and sexy at the same time.

[IMG]

[IMG]

[IMG]

[IMG]

[IMG]

[IMG]

[IMG] Updated On: 4/16/11 at 02:56 PM

[best12bars]

Posted: 4/17/11 at 3:09pm

Or you could just post the number, instead of all these frames ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IezpJyx1H4s&feature=related

The song kicks in around the 2:30 mark.

Hit it, fellas!