AFI picks the top 25 movie musicals of all time
 

The latest 'best' list from the American Film Institute...

Rain' tops AFI's musicals list

September 6 2006

The American Film Institute has revealed its latest list: The top 25 movie musicals of all time, headed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen's 1952 classic "Singin' in the Rain."

The AFI list, compiled by the vote of a jury of 500 miscellaneous industry professionals, was unveiled Sunday night at the Hollywood Bowl.

A bit of trivia: "Singin' in the Rain," an MGM film, earned only two Oscar nominations in its year of release.

(For those interested in beefing up their Netflix queue, the entire list is presented below.)

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AFI's Top 25

1. "Singin' in the Rain," 1952

2. "West Side Story," 1961

3. "The Wizard of Oz," 1939

4. "The Sound of Music, 1965

5. "Cabaret," 1972

6. "Mary Poppins," 1964

7. "A Star Is Born," 1954

8. "My Fair Lady," 1964

9. "An American In Paris," 1951

10. "Meet Me in St. Louis," 1944

11. "The King and I," 1956

12. "Chicago," 2002

13. "42nd Street," 1933

14. "All That Jazz," 1979

15. "Top Hat," 1935

16. "Funny Girl," 1968

17. "The Band Wagon," 1953

18. "Yankee Doodle Dandy," 1942

19. "On the Town," 1949

20. "Grease," 1978

21. "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers," 1954

22. "Beauty and the Beast," 1991

23. "Guys and Dolls," 1955

24. "Show Boat," 1936

25. "Moulin Rouge!," 2001

Replace Chicago with the Music Man.

Any list of "top movie musicals" that does not include "South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut" is complete bunk.

LOL! I completely agree. Well, you know the AFI voters are an older group. If that helps :)

Dancer in the Dark??????

No Producers? Seriously?

The original movie wasn't a musical.

I love all those titles, but the order is crazy. Meet Me in St. Louis and Wizard of Oz are the best, most well integrated musicals ever made. West Side Story is great...but #2!? You must be joking.

If only one Busbey Berkley film was going to be on the list it should be something other than 42nd Street. I never understood why that was considered the quintessential Berkley film.

I am VERY happy that the right version of Showboat made the list (the 1936 version). So where's the DVD Warners?!!

And Chicago should be taken off that list. Better than All That Jazz? Fuck no.

Regardless of it's Best Picture win, has Chicago (2002) really aged that much for us to reflect on it being the 12th best movie musical of all time?

It needs more Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Agreed.

Regardless, the list is pretty shitty.

Should have been WIZARD OF OZ #1 and WEST SIDE STORY #2, but close enough...

No Breakin or Breakin 2 Electric Bugalo?!?!? No From Justin to Kelly? No 8 mile?!!!

Let the "I can't believe AFI included Chicago on the list" flame war begin.

Well if Chicago (which I loved) has to be taken off the list then Moulin Rouge has to go.

After several years of buffering since I've see it and reading so many posts pledging undying love for it..I tried to watch again, just to see if my mind had changed....Nope, couldn't get through 10 minutes.

AFI = American Film Institute

Actually, both movies were on the official ballot. (pdf file)

Where is The Blues Brothers? Way better than Moulin Rouge.

I haven't seen many musicals, though I do agree with Singin' In The Rain and Wizard of Oz being up there, both classic films IMO, extremely enjoyable, well intergrated films.

Chicago deserves whatever place it receives upon the Best Musicals of all time. I don't understand the knocking of it.

Very decent list - everyone will always have favs that don't appear (why no <i>Oliver</i> or <i>Music Man</i>?) but there's nothing there that is a blatant affront. (Though I must admit, I wouldn't mind if <i>Moulin Rouge</i> had been ignored.)

Fiddler on the Roof would be my personal beef.

1. "Singin' in the Rain," 1952 - Classic and deserves a high spot.

2. "West Side Story," 1961 - This should be #1. Not only the best musical, but the best movie ever made. So sez me. :)

3. "The Wizard of Oz," 1939 - A great movie.

6. "Mary Poppins," 1964 - Haven't seen it since I was a wee lad.

8. "My Fair Lady," 1964 - Another great one. On a unrelated note, I saw it on Broadway in the early 90s with Richard Chamberlain as Professor Higgins.

12. "Chicago," 2002 - Decent, but #12?

19. "On the Town," 1949 - One of my favorites.

20. "Grease," 1978 - Good ranking. Even though Stockard Channing is the oldest high school senior in history.

25. "Moulin Rouge!," 2001 - Loved it.

No Hedwig = NO SALE

I enjoyed Chicago a great deal, one of the few musicals I actually like. It was fun and didn't give me a cringe-enduced headache (*cough* Moulin Rouge *cough*)

And while I enjoy both Bjork and the storyline/acting for Dancer in the Dark, that movie is almost impossible to watch.

I have few issues with the list, although I think <b>West Side Story</b> is ranked too high. But <b>Singin' in the Rain</b> is obviously the greatest musical ever made.

I would've put Wizard of Oz at no. 1 but other than that a pretty good list. Nice to see at least 1 Disney movie on there.

:up::D