Nowadays, they base stage musicals on successful movies, but it used to be the other way around.

I thought it would be interesting to see what folks around here considered the good, great, bad, and curious from this era of studio musicals adapted from Broadway hits.

What stands the test of time, and what is definitely dated? Great performances? Particularly great musical numbers? Recommendations?

Picked the years to cover State Fair to Cabaret.

I think Bye Bye Birdie is a great film adaption of the play, before they blow it with the idiotic new subplot during the last half-hour. She should have stuck to the structure of the play and not felt the need to heighten things just because this is THE MOVIES!

I hate that musical. So unbelievably square, and they treat Rock & Roll with such disdain, as if it's a brain washing cult. That said, Ann Margaret is as sexy in that film as any G rated performance could possibly be. The film doesn't deserve her.

I really like Fiddler on the Roof. Very pretty and well done. Doesn't feel corney to me and runs the gamut from heartwarming to heart-breaking..

Always felt conflicted on Cabaret. Obviously Liza is amazing,and the Fosse dance numbers are spectacular, but I never felt the serious subject of the rise of the Third Reich was treated with enough gravitos. Not really the movie's fault but Joel Grey winning Best Supporting Actor over Pacino in The Godfather is one of the worst travesties in the history of an awards show full of them.

The Oscars also screwed up the legacy of Oliver! which is a fine entertaining musical in its own right but of course not worthy of the Best Picture it won in any year, let alone in the year that 2001 A Space Odyssey came out.

When I think of my favorite musicals, almost none of them are based on stage shows. If I had to pick my favorite, I'd probably go with Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, but it's been many years since I've seen it.

WEST SIDE STORY (1961), first and foremost. I used to like THE SOUND OF MUSIC (1965) a lot, but I found it a chore the last time I watched it. I'm familiar with both of the stage shows they're based on. I can't think of any other major Hollywood movies based on musicals that I'm fond of. (I'm generally not a big fan of Rodgers and Hammerstein.) Most of them look pretty stodgy on screen.

I kinda forgot about Ann Margaret. I watch for PAUL LYNDE!

Technically State Fair doesn't count because it was written as a musical for the screen.

I like the other major R&H musicals but South Pacific is the least watchable. Still great songs, though.

West Side Story I've always considered the best screen adaptation, but I saw the Spielberg version and kinda like it better, go figure.

The Music Man is a great adaptation. Maybe it's because I grew up on the movie, but I prefer "Being in Love" to the original "My White Knight."

Lerner and Loewe: My Fair Lady is a good adaptation, even if Audrey was dubbed (that was popular at the time). Brigadoon is good. Camelot is not--the stars can't sing. Same problem in Paint Your Wagon.

Same problem in Guys and Dolls.

I don't think Pal Joey is a great film, but Sinatra is great, particularly "The Lady Is a Tramp." It is kinda nice how they shoehorned in a few great Rodgers and Hart songs from other sources.

Carousel and My Fair Lady are dated because of their treatment of women.

Seconding on The Music Man - does a great job of transferring the show to the screen. Also have a soft spot for The Pajama Game, Damn Yankees, Oliver and 1776. I think The Sound of Music actually improves on the stage show, as Salzburg almost becomes another character in the film. Its also the only R&H show I like. I also think West Side Story and Fiddler on the Roof improve on their stage counterparts. Funny Girl is also a really strong adaptation.

I know it gets ragged on but I also enjoy the Streisand version of Hello Dolly! Streisand's age never really bothered me for Dolly's character, as I think she nails the comedy so well. But I know I'm in the minority on that opinion. Similarly, I really enjoy Guys and Dolls. Yes, Brando's vocals leave a lot to be desired but he oozes charm as Sky and I'll take that over the vocal prowess. The rest of the cast is top notch including some carryovers from the original Broadway cast (most notably Vivian Blaine and Stubby Kaye). And Bye Bye Birdie is a lot of fun, even if its tangents from the stage show don't always work, and that film made Ann-Margaret my number one celebrity crush for most of my teen years.

While Gypsy is competent, Rosalind Russell is just not Ethel Merman. And Godspell and Jesus Christ Superstar are good but not great versions of their stage shows.

Cabaret is one of those shows I just don't get. I've seen the film and multiple stage productions, and while I admire the choreography, its score is mostly forgettable and I simply feel like Cliff and Sally just aren't interesting enough characters to hang a show on. As davidh777 mentioned, Camelot, Paint Your Wagon and I would add Man of La Mancha are all hurt by bad casting. I'd also add Mame to that list but it falls one year outside of your date range.

And then there's A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, which, even with the carryover of Zero Mostel in the lead role, is a tough watch. Probably my least favorite adaptation since the stage show works so well. Something about the broad, Catskill sensibilities of the humor in that show make it an ill fit for film...it really needs to be seen on stage. Really a chore to sit through.

2001: A Space Odyssey is my favorite film of all time, but Oliver is my favorite musical of all time and I don't mind it winning that year. That is probably because I don't take the Oscars seriously and don't put much stock in their nominations or awards...heck, 2001 wasn't even nominated. They could have given Best Picture to Romeo & Juliet that year and it wouldn't have bothered me. I learnt from an early age that they get it wrong way more times than they get it right.

Ah, I forgot to mention 1776. I think that's a very good movie, though I've only seen it once on stage (a good professional production). Oddly I grew up with the movie as a July 4 broadcast perennial (like The Music Man) so the Broadway cast sounds weird to me, but for whatever reason that soundtrack was never released on CD.

I remember Pajama Game as being good as well as Bells Are Ringing--talk about dated: it's about an answering service. But it has some great songs and the original stage star.

Bye Bye Birdie I don't really mind much. Fiddler is great. I really like Oliver! too and don't really care about the Oscar.

I've seen Cabaret on stage more recently than on screen. On stage a lot of the anti-Nazi bite So that compromises the movie, though it's still worth seeing for the musical numbers.

Funny Girl and Hello Dolly are on my list of shame. I started watching FG once but got daunted by the run time.

I don't think Gypsy worked that well. I prefer the TV version with Bette Midler (a lot of shows are available in better TV or stage versions).

Agree on Man of La Mancha and Funny Thing Happened.

Jesus Christ Superstar is very quirky and dated, but I kinda like it.

On the Town is a good film, but they cut some of the best songs (Lonely Town, Some Other Time, etc.).

Kismet is awkward and clunky. Granted the source material is too, but it doesn't really work on screen. Show Boat is pretty but doesn't really work either. The earlier black-and-white film is better.

I think Kiss Me Kate is a good movie. Finian's Rainbow is not, thought it's nice to have Fred Astaire and Petula Clark.

I know it’s not in the time frame listed but we gotta mention John Houston’s version of Annie which is like a master class in how you can cast a musical very well and still somehow completely miss the appeal of the source material and totally ruin the final product. Every possible mistake they could make, they did. It’s a truly remarkable achievement in fucking up an adaptation along with Bonfire of the Vanities and Clan of the Cave Bear.
And I think you can throw in A Chorus Line as well. Probably impossible to actually adapt into a movie musical, but shifting the focus from the cast to the previously unseen Director was such a weird choice. And if you’re going to add new songs, take out existing one and change the entire story’s POV, maybe cast a lead actor who can sing and give him a song or two? I can’t think of another movie musical where the lead character doesn’t sing (besides My Fair Lady ).

We never mention the crime against humanity that is the Chorus Line movie. Ever.

(I recently watched the documentary about casting the revival and liked that a lot.)