Tag Archives: AFI musicals

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Song of the Day #4,452: ‘You’re the One That I Want’ – John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John

Concluding my personal ranking of the 25 movie musicals deemed essential by the American Film Institute…

#1. Grease – 1978
(#20 on the AFI list)

I don’t know if this will be a controversial choice as my #1 musical on the AFI list, but I have to say it wasn’t even close. Since I first saw Grease as a kid, this has been not just the best musical I’ve ever seen but one of my favorite movies, period.

This movie is such a blast from start to finish — from the melodramatic beachside embrace to the greatest end-of-school carnival ever. It’s impossible to start Grease and not finish it.

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Song of the Day #4,451: ‘Good Morning’ – Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and Donald O’Connor

Continuing my personal ranking of the 25 movie musicals deemed essential by the American Film Institute…

#4. The Sound of Music – 1965
(#4 on the AFI list)

My biggest blind spot going into this project. I wrote about my newfound love for The Sound of Music when I kicked off this series back in June.

#3. Meet Me in St. Louis – 1945
(#10 on the AFI list)

My biggest surprise. I knew next to nothing about this beautiful film before watching it, except that it featured one of my all-time favorite songs, ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.’ Now it’s one of my favorite musicals.

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Song of the Day #4,450: ‘Mein Herr’ – Liza Minnelli

Continuing my personal ranking of the 25 movie musicals deemed essential by the American Film Institute…

#5. Cabaret – 1972
(#5 on the AFI list)

One of two movies I’ve ranked in the same position as AFI, Cabaret is the second Bob Fosse-directed film on the list, and in my view a much more successful one than his other entry, All That Jazz.

Based on the 1966 stage show by John Kander and Fred Ebb, the film follows the denizens of the Kit Kat Klub in Berlin during the rise of the Nazi party in 1931.

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Song of the Day #4,449: ‘We Both Reached For the Gun’ – Chicago cast

Continuing my personal ranking of the 25 movie musicals deemed essential by the American Film Institute…

#7. Funny Girl – 1968
(#16 on the AFI list)

I’ve already written about how much I loved Barbra Streisand’s performance in this great film.

#6. Chicago – 2002
(#12 on the AFI list)

The most recent movie on the AFI list, director Rob Marshall’s Chicago is credited with sparking a revival of the musical genre in the 2000s, after it had been largely relegated to the world of animation.

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Song of the Day #4,448: ‘Luck Be a Lady’ – Marlon Brando

Continuing my personal ranking of the 25 movie musicals deemed essential by the American Film Institute…

#8. Guys and Dolls – 1955
(#23 on the AFI list)

Frank Sinatra fared well in my rankings, with his two AFI-recognized films placing at #11 (On the Town) and now #8. Sinatra’s film career is almost as impressive as his singing career, with multiple comedic and dramatic roles, an Academy Award (for 1953’s From Here to Eternity), several films as a producer and one as a director.

Sinatra is a treat in Guys and Dolls, but it’s his co-star Marlon Brando who really made this film for me. Brando as a song-and-dance man is not something I expected to encounter during this project.

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