Footlight Parade (1933) James Cagney had already made 13 features since his movie debut in 1930, but Footlight Parade reintroduced him to audiences as a song-and-dance man; a far cry from the gangster films, such as The Public Enemy (1931), that had made him famous. In Footlight Parade, the former vaudevillian plays a dance director with three days to whip three enormous production numbers into shape from scratch.
Born to Dance (1936) Although her name hasn’t enjoyed the long-lasting legendary status of his, at her best, fleet-footed genius Eleanor Powell could give Fred Astaire a run for his money (they’d soon be joining forces in Broadway Melody of 1940). Born to Dance paired Powell with James Stewart - it was the only musical of his career - and saw the two of them, along with a sparkling supporting cast headlined by Una Merkel, Buddy Ebsen and Sid Silvers, embark on a series of tuneful misadventures on their path to finding true love.
Love Me Tonight (1932) The third of four musical collaborations between Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette Macdonald, Love Me Tonight sees the former play a penniless tailor who, through a series of light-hearted contrivances, finds himself staying at the castle of Macdonald’s princess in the guise of a wealthy Baron. Mayhem - and of course, romance - ensues
A Night at the Opera (1935) A Night at the Opera is regularly cited as Groucho Marx’s favourite of the 13 feature films he and his brothers made together, and it’s easy to understand why. Groucho, Chico and Harpo (this was their first outing without youngest sibling Zeppo) play three lovable rascals who help further the romance and careers of golden-hearted opera singers played by Allan Jones and Kitty Carlisle; and as usual, wherever the brothers go - be it a restaurant, cruise ship or opera house - chaos follows.
I nominate Eleanor Powell's 'Born to Dance' (1936). It confirmed the star power of Hollywood's unique solo choreographer-dancer and convinced MGM to put everything it had got behind musicals, leading to 20 years of classic productions.
@@FilmSnobReviews And it's not just those fantastic musical numbers; the movie itself is quite good with some great pre-code zingers. eg. As long as there are streets you'll have a job.
The first time I saw the My Forgotten Man number, I cried my eyes out. My father introduced me to these movies when I was about 8/9 and this one has stayed with me all this time - I’m 66 soon and every time I have seen it, it maybe around 10 times now, I still feel a thrill and a melancholic feeling that I’m not watching it with my dad.
@@joycie014 The forgotten man number is so impactful! Petting in the park was supposed to be the original ending but the forgotten man number was so powerful that they changed it. Warner archives puts it out on DVD.
SO many great numbers in that one. Shadow Waltz, Forgotten Man, Pettin' in the Park &, of course, We're in the Money !! It's a really cracking script too ! (Great BB numbers in Dames too, but the story is rubbish).
@@Muswell like most of the musicals back then. The story was only the means to an end. Boy gets girl, boy loses girl, then boy gets her back and they all lived happily ever after. 😁
Musicals in 1930’s or Dance Films? Fred Astaire singing has to take a gentleman’s bow to the great Deanna Durbin, with the technical skill of a legitimate lyric soprano. Durbin a contemporary of Judy Garland) . . Her work was credited with saving the studio from bankruptcy, and led to Durbin being awarded the Academy Juvenile Award in 1938. Durbin starred in many successful musical films, including: One Hundred Men and a Girl (1937): A story about a young woman who leads her father's unemployed friends in a symphony orchestra, which leads to a radio contract Mad About Music (1938): A musical film starring Deanna Durbin That Certain Age (1938): A musical film starring Deanna Durbin Three Smart Girls Grow Up (1939): A musical film starring Deanna Durbin First Love (1939): A musical film starring Deanna Durbin. -Anne Frank was a fan of Durbin, and pasted two photos of her on the wall in the family's hideout; the photos are still on the wall today. One of the photos is from First Love (1939).Winston Churchill was also a fan of Durbin, screening her films "on celebratory wartime occasions.”
3 Fred Astaire movies? No Gold Diggers of 1933?, No Footlight Parade?, No Broadway Melody of 1936?, No Dames? Wizard of Oz was more a children fantasy rather than a musical movie, and Fred Astaire movies were more vehicles for him and Ginger Rogers, showing their talent for dancing
You could argue that The Wizard of Oz is more of a musical than 42nd Street. Oz has the greatest ballad of all time in the opening sequence and then wall-to-wall music throughout most of the color Oz segment. 42nd Street has one rehearsal scene in the middle and then virtually all of its numbers in the last 10 or 15 minutes.
I watched your clips from 30s to 2010s. Beautifully and subtly made! Thank you. It’d be one round when you make 2020s, amazing. These are my tops. The Wizard of Oz, Easter Parade, A Star is Born, The Sound of Music, All That Jazz, Fame, Evita, Dancer in the Dark and La La Land. How do you think?
I like The Gay Divorcee fine, but I would have replaced it with one of the Maurice Chevalier/Jeanette MacDonald operettas: Love Me Tonight (directed by Rouben Mamoulian) or The Merry Widow (directed by Ernst Lubitsch.)
What about the beautiful Deanna Durbin? She acted in quite a few movies in the 1930s. Three Smart Girls was a huge success and saved Universal from bankruptcy.
The Wizard of Oz is a difficult film to categorise as a musical in comparison to most musicals. If you ask anyone to name any other song other than Somewhere Over the Rainbow, they would be hard pressed to name it. Maybe Follow the Yellow Brick Road and If I Only Had A Brain could come to mind and that’s it for me. I’m aware that at least one number with Ray Bolger and Judy was cut, which involved dancing, but I can’t think of any other numbers that had a lot of dancing either, which is usually one of the criteria to classify a movie as a musical. If you look at the other films you listed, it’s lacking in song and dance. By the way, I love all your other choices, but Golddiggers of 1933 could easily fit in there. Just my opinion.😁
@@lynnegreen2002 I’m sure we’re not the only ones. Spooky, isn’t it? Especially the interest in classic musicals. I live in a small coastal fishing village in rural Victoria, Australia. If you tell me that you do too, I’m not leaving the house again! 😳😆
This is a poor choice - both Glen Miller’s ‘In the Mood’ and ‘Wizard of Oz’ are late 1930s and have that Big Band Jazz sound, so different from the 1930s. Also this is typically Hollywood biased - Britain produced some great musicals during the 1930’s, usually starring Jessie Matthews, Gracie Fields or George Formby.
I mean it’s my list so yeah...it’s biased. How about you recommend some great films to enlighten us on what we missed out on instead of stating that we made a poor choice. The former is far more helpful.
Footlight Parade (1933)
James Cagney had already made 13 features since his movie debut in 1930, but Footlight Parade reintroduced him to audiences as a song-and-dance man; a far cry from the gangster films, such as The Public Enemy (1931), that had made him famous. In Footlight Parade, the former vaudevillian plays a dance director with three days to whip three enormous production numbers into shape from scratch.
Born to Dance (1936)
Although her name hasn’t enjoyed the long-lasting legendary status of his, at her best, fleet-footed genius Eleanor Powell could give Fred Astaire a run for his money (they’d soon be joining forces in Broadway Melody of 1940). Born to Dance paired Powell with James Stewart - it was the only musical of his career - and saw the two of them, along with a sparkling supporting cast headlined by Una Merkel, Buddy Ebsen and Sid Silvers, embark on a series of tuneful misadventures on their path to finding true love.
Love Me Tonight (1932)
The third of four musical collaborations between Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette Macdonald, Love Me Tonight sees the former play a penniless tailor who, through a series of light-hearted contrivances, finds himself staying at the castle of Macdonald’s princess in the guise of a wealthy Baron. Mayhem - and of course, romance - ensues
A Night at the Opera (1935)
A Night at the Opera is regularly cited as Groucho Marx’s favourite of the 13 feature films he and his brothers made together, and it’s easy to understand why. Groucho, Chico and Harpo (this was their first outing without youngest sibling Zeppo) play three lovable rascals who help further the romance and careers of golden-hearted opera singers played by Allan Jones and Kitty Carlisle; and as usual, wherever the brothers go - be it a restaurant, cruise ship or opera house - chaos follows.
I nominate Eleanor Powell's 'Born to Dance' (1936). It confirmed the star power of Hollywood's unique solo choreographer-dancer and convinced MGM to put everything it had got behind musicals, leading to 20 years of classic productions.
Footlight Parade with James Cagney has some spectacular numbers.
I actually own that one on VHS!
@@FilmSnobReviews And it's not just those fantastic musical numbers; the movie itself is quite good with some great pre-code zingers. eg. As long as there are streets you'll have a job.
It's one of my favorites of all time. Great musical!
The Gold Diggers of 1933 is in my personal top 5 ☺️💕
Thats a really good one.
The first time I saw the My Forgotten Man number, I cried my eyes out. My father introduced me to these movies when I was about 8/9 and this one has stayed with me all this time - I’m 66 soon and every time I have seen it, it maybe around 10 times now, I still feel a thrill and a melancholic feeling that I’m not watching it with my dad.
@@joycie014 The forgotten man number is so impactful! Petting in the park was supposed to be the original ending but the forgotten man number was so powerful that they changed it. Warner archives puts it out on DVD.
SO many great numbers in that one. Shadow Waltz, Forgotten Man, Pettin' in the Park &, of course, We're in the Money !! It's a really cracking script too ! (Great BB numbers in Dames too, but the story is rubbish).
@@Muswell like most of the musicals back then. The story was only the means to an end. Boy gets girl, boy loses girl, then boy gets her back and they all lived happily ever after. 😁
Musicals in 1930’s or Dance Films? Fred Astaire singing has to take a gentleman’s bow to the great Deanna Durbin, with the technical skill of a legitimate lyric soprano. Durbin a contemporary of Judy Garland) . . Her work was credited with saving the studio from bankruptcy, and led to Durbin being awarded the Academy Juvenile Award in 1938. Durbin starred in many successful musical films, including:
One Hundred Men and a Girl (1937): A story about a young woman who leads her father's unemployed friends in a symphony orchestra, which leads to a radio contract
Mad About Music (1938): A musical film starring Deanna Durbin
That Certain Age (1938): A musical film starring Deanna Durbin
Three Smart Girls Grow Up (1939): A musical film starring Deanna Durbin
First Love (1939): A musical film starring Deanna Durbin.
-Anne Frank was a fan of Durbin, and pasted two photos of her on the wall in the family's hideout; the photos are still on the wall today. One of the photos is from First Love (1939).Winston Churchill was also a fan of Durbin, screening her films "on celebratory wartime occasions.”
What about the intro music?
Lovely video....but why a 40s intro melody?
"In the Mood" was released in 1939
3 Fred Astaire movies? No Gold Diggers of 1933?, No Footlight Parade?, No Broadway Melody of 1936?, No Dames? Wizard of Oz was more a children fantasy rather than a musical movie, and Fred Astaire movies were more vehicles for him and Ginger Rogers, showing their talent for dancing
You could argue that The Wizard of Oz is more of a musical than 42nd Street. Oz has the greatest ballad of all time in the opening sequence and then wall-to-wall music throughout most of the color Oz segment. 42nd Street has one rehearsal scene in the middle and then virtually all of its numbers in the last 10 or 15 minutes.
Fred y Ginger copando el ranking!!! Gracias!!
I watched your clips from 30s to 2010s. Beautifully and subtly made! Thank you. It’d be one round when you make 2020s, amazing.
These are my tops. The Wizard of Oz, Easter Parade, A Star is Born, The Sound of Music, All That Jazz, Fame, Evita, Dancer in the Dark and La La Land.
How do you think?
That’s a fantastic list!
So glad you like it!
Obviously this is someone’s opinion. Eleanor Powell is missing.
Quite the shocker. I know
Opinion it is! Thank you AuntieMamie. Eleanor Powell has been chosen by more music critics than any of her peers of that era.
I nominate Show Boat (1936)
I like The Gay Divorcee fine, but I would have replaced it with one of the Maurice Chevalier/Jeanette MacDonald operettas: Love Me Tonight (directed by Rouben Mamoulian) or The Merry Widow (directed by Ernst Lubitsch.)
top hat 2 showboat 3 wizard of oz 1
What about the beautiful Deanna Durbin? She acted in quite a few movies in the 1930s. Three Smart Girls was a huge success and saved Universal from bankruptcy.
Why, why, why leave any of the great Eleanor Powell’s musicals out? Tsk, tsk!
The Wizard of Oz is a difficult film to categorise as a musical in comparison to most musicals. If you ask anyone to name any other song other than Somewhere Over the Rainbow, they would be hard pressed to name it. Maybe Follow the Yellow Brick Road and If I Only Had A Brain could come to mind and that’s it for me. I’m aware that at least one number with Ray Bolger and Judy was cut, which involved dancing, but I can’t think of any other numbers that had a lot of dancing either, which is usually one of the criteria to classify a movie as a musical. If you look at the other films you listed, it’s lacking in song and dance. By the way, I love all your other choices, but Golddiggers of 1933 could easily fit in there. Just my opinion.😁
I was a bit confused there for a second. My name's Lynne Green, too! 🤩
@@lynnegreen2002 I’m sure we’re not the only ones. Spooky, isn’t it? Especially the interest in classic musicals. I live in a small coastal fishing village in rural Victoria, Australia. If you tell me that you do too, I’m not leaving the house again! 😳😆
Nope. I live in Los Angeles!
@@lynnegreen2002 whew! I can leave the house! 😊
I totally agree with you. Also this list missing to great musicals, Gold Diggers of 1933 as you said and Footlight Parade
What was your criteria?
Box Office?
Some other rating?
My opinion.
This is a poor choice - both Glen Miller’s ‘In the Mood’ and ‘Wizard of Oz’ are late 1930s and have that Big Band Jazz sound, so different from the 1930s. Also this is typically Hollywood biased - Britain produced some great musicals during the 1930’s, usually starring Jessie Matthews, Gracie Fields or George Formby.
I mean it’s my list so yeah...it’s biased. How about you recommend some great films to enlighten us on what we missed out on instead of stating that we made a poor choice. The former is far more helpful.
Bueno
De rewreso a mi temporada
Gold Diggers of 1933 is my favorite and should have been #1.
🖐🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼🖐🏼🤝
❤ 😊
Gene Kelly? The Wizard of Oz was not a musical