Favorite moment in a Movie Musical — Page 4

I'm going with "moments" not scenes or numbers...

1. Dorothy opening the door into Munchkinland in The Wizard of Oz.
2. Swooping down on Maria in the opening sequence of Sound of Music.
3. The final shot of the American In Paris ballet, when we watch Gene Kelly's drawing drain of color, and close in on a single red rose in his hand.
4. The lovers (Kidman and McGreggor) dancing on clouds while "Mr. Moon" sings and smiles down on them.
5. The final shot of Streisand in the spotlight singing "My Man" in Funny Girl.

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Off-the-cuff, here are some favourite moments --

For sheer spectacle --

*The Opening scene of THE SOUND OF MUSIC
*The Ascot scene in MY FAIR LADY
*The finale in WHITE CHRISTMAS ( so, I am sentimental - LOL!)
*Dolly going down the stairs (title song in HELLO, DOLLY)
*Chitty flying - LOLOL!


For haunting/poignant moments --

*Arthur telling the young squire/page at the end about that "one brief shining moment known as CAMELOT"
*The reprise of If I Loved You in CAROUSEL ( when Billy was about to leave Julie and his daughter)
*Bloody Mary singing about Bali Hai in SOUTH PACIFIC
*The Prince singing I'll Walk with God in THE STUDENT PRINCE

For sheer joy ( dancing or singing) --

*The dancing in SEVEN BRIDES AND SEVEN BROTHERS
*The dancing by Gene, Donald, and Debbie in SINGIN' IN THE RAIN
*The Jets and the Sharks in WEST SIDE STORY
*Bing and Frank's duet ( It's a Swell Party, etc...) in HIGH SOCIETY

I'm sure there were many more that I enjoyed watching

Updated On: 4/19/07 at 11:09 PM

Five more favorite moments (because I can't stop at just the first five):
1. Gene Kelly with his umbrella stretched out in front of him, whirling around an empty street, as the camera rises up, in Singin' in the Rain.
2. Judy's last tearful line, "This is Mrs. Norman Maine" in A Star Is Born.
3. The giant "birthday cake" of chorus people in The Great Ziegfeld's "A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody."
4. Audrey Hepburn, Fred Astaire and Kay Thompson cavorting around Parisian locations during "Bonjour, Paris!" from Funny Face.
5. The Barn Dance from Seven Brides For Seven Brothers.

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1. And I Am Telling You, I'm Not Going from Dreamgirls
2. The Title song in MAME even if the movie is so-so
3. Along Came Bialy from The Producers
4. Acid Queen from Tommy
5. Many of the sequences in The Boy Friend
6. Mien Herr from Cabaret
7. Cell Block Tango from Chicago
8. The Sidestep from Best Little Whorehouse in Texas

And many others, I love musical movies, even the bad ones.

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Gene Kelly singing & dancing the title song in "Singin' in the Rain", as well as the "Broadway Melody Ballet" sequence from that film. And Donald O'Connor doing "Make 'Em Laugh" gets me every time.

"I always have to wonder how mistakes like that make it into a finished film, particularly one that will be blown up to gigantic Todd-AO proportions and the choreography mishaps become much more noticeable. Out of all the takes they probably did, I bet this is the one with the least noticeable screw-ups and Robert Wise finally went, "Eh....print it!""

LoringsGuy---You're absolutely right. As "fun" as that sequence looks, the kids and Julie all describe it as just short of committing suicide. Try standing on a step, and (without looking) jumping backwards on the step below it. Then do it twice, and fast. It's a very clever moment in the film, and I agree a hugely memorable one... but those kids really should have demanded stunt pay. How one of them didn't fall backwards and crack their skull open is a miracle!

And, yes, Robert Wise said, "Whew! Print that one." Because trying it again might mean losing one of the actors for the rest of the European film shoot. So, it was go with that shot "as is," or re-stage the ending (losing this big memorable concept).

I think he made the right choice. And I (along with many) didn't notice it for years!

Just like I didn't notice Dorothy's pigtails growing 6 inches, then shrinking, then growing, then shrinking again, in her scene with the Scarecrow immediately following "If I Only Had a Brain." If you know it's there, it's pretty drastic. But most people don't notice it.

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On Broadway in All That Jazz

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There are a lot of great ones, but I'd have to say the Cell Block Tango in Chicago.

Cell Block Tango - Chicago

I love the opening of West Side Story with the whistling and those amazing shots (especially for their time) of New York. Also in WSS I *love* the transition of Maria in the store going into Dance at the Gym--I wish there were more transitions like that in the film but oh well...

(Having recently watched dvds of WSS and Sweet Charity back to back I can't help thinking that Fosse paid a LOT of attention to the film of WSS before he began filming--something I never noticed before. A lot of the shots and techniques used in Sweet Charity are like WSS on acid--I swear.)

And just cuz I just rewatched Charity--yeah it's always chosen but Rich Man's Frug is perfect and prob the best "stage to screen" transition of any of a slew of greatproduction numbers in the movie

I don't think I can pick just a scene. I would have to say that most of the time, I love the entire show. My favorites are:

The Sound of Music
Singing in the Rain
Cabaret
Gypsy
The Music Man
Chicago
Rent
The Producers (even though I don't think it should have been made, I still enjoy it)
A Chorus Line
My Fair Lady
Victor/Victoria

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