Friday, January 25, 2008

The 10 greatest proper musicals

Only proper musicals need apply. Much as we enjoy those variations on the form in which performances - either on stage or before the camera - allow the characters to express their feelings, the Campaign for Real Musicals has decided to take a hard-line stance.

Only those films in which song takes the place of everyday dialogue have been considered. So, there is no place for Once , Walk the Line , Slade in Flame or (most regrettably) George Cukor's peerless A Star Is Born . The law's the law.

1 Singin' in the Rain (1952)

A seamless amalgam of comedy and inspirational dance that, like all the best Stanley Donen pictures, never for a second forgets that it is a film and must behave like a film.

2 The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Some maniacs might describe it as a comedy with songs, rather than a fully fledged musical. Whatever. It remains an endlessly amusing (and occasionally troubling) classic.

3 West Side Story (1961)

Yes, the original conception - watered down by co-director Robert Wise - was grittier and more experimental. This is still the best version of Romeo and Juliet on film.

4 The Umbrellas of Cherbourg/ Les Parapluies de Cherbourg (1964)

Catherine Deneuve stars in an intoxicating, candy-coloured meditation on the American musical that holds up better than many of the films it honours.

5 Love Me Tonight (1932)

Not as famous as it should be, Rouben Mamoulian's Ruritanian romance manages to invent conventions even as it was parodying them.

6 Mary Poppins (1964)

Julie Andrews's voice - as clean as the noise of a glass being struck - is a perfect match for the perfectly polished songs.

7 An American in Paris (1951)

Vincente Minnelli allows Gene Kelly to indulge himself with an epic ballet and, against the odds, the film manages to avoid pomposity.

8 Top Hat (1935)

Why this rather than any of the other musicals featuring Astaire and Rogers? Because this one features Cheek to Cheek , stupid.

9 Meet Me in Saint Louis (1944)

Garland again? Minnelli again? Well, this is a panel about musicals.