Anyhow! I know I’ve been away, but life tends to interrupt you like that doesn’t it? Aw well, lets keep going.
Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers were the definitive dancing couple, and still are for many today. The Band Wagon, while great, was when Fred was a bit older. Here, in Swing Time, he’s in his prime and it definitely shows. Ginger is, as always, lovely. They really do make a remarkable dancing duo.
When talking of choreography, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers immediately comes to mind. Watching 7 rough and tumble pioneer men turn into skilled dancers is both amusing and entertaining. The spirit of Americana, the colors, the music, and of course the dancing itself was always what appealed me to this film.
Though I always dreamed of being Cyd Charisse, I related more to Barbara Streisand in Funny Girl. Sure, I didn’t become a Ziegfield Folly, but everything up to the point mirrored my life more accurately. Always being the girl with the sense of humor and not the glamorous one. In this scene from the film, Barbara is able to display pretty much every single talent she has in one shot.
I’ve wanted to do a post like this for awhile now, even before I had this blog. Though my taste has branched out as I’ve grown, movie musicals is what first got me interested in classic film. I was introduced to them as a child by way of films like Bedknobs and Broomsticks and The Sound of Music. I believe this love was cemented for me in middle school when I saw My Fair Lady.
Since then I’ve tried to see as many as I could over the years. Though I enjoy the earliest movie musicals from the 1930s, to the most recent ones, my all-time favorites are the colorful spectacles from the 1950’s and early 60’s. However, on this on-going list of my favorite musical scenes, you’ll see films from every decade.
Lets get started :)
We’ll start off with a bang with this number from The Band Wagon starring Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse. I should get it out now that I totally adore and envy Cyd Charisse. She’s honestly one of the most beautiful, charismatic and talented women I’ve ever seen. Watching her dance is entrancing, and even Fred Astaire said “Once you dance with Cyd, you stay danced with.”
Some people will argue that this was the greatest movie musical to come out of this era, even rivaling Singin’ In The Rain. I think this scene sums up why.
Since I got on the subject of it, we’ll move right into it. Really, with a movie like Singin’ In The Rain, every single musical number is amazing. This is a movie I have to watch every time it comes on, even if I didn’t plan on it. I never get sick of watching Gene Kelly, especially in this film. I picked his most iconic performance because I don’t know a soul who doesn’t smile when they see this. We’ll surely see more Gene and more Singin’ In The Rain on the list later on.
You simply cannot have a movie musical list without Judy Garland. Meet Me In Saint Louis is an endearing movie, and this is about the catchiest song I’ve heard.
Though a self-proclaimed classic and musical movie lover, I had not seen Fiddler On The Roof until recently. As the most recent movie on the list, it definitely has a different style not only for that, but because of the overall influence that the story has on the music. I love this song and this scene because of the way it’s set up; just your average Jewish countryman on his simple farm, who just so happens to have an amazingly booming voice.
Bygone Films 