DavesMusicDatabase.com is devoted to ranking, rating, and reviewing music of all genres and eras. The DMDB blog serves up album and song reviews, best-of lists, music history snapshots, and music-related essays.
1. Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
2. West Side Story (1961)
3. The Sound of Music (1965)
4. Cabaret (1972)
5. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
6. Chicago (2002)
7. Moulin Rouge! (2001)
8. Grease (1978)
9. Mary Poppins (1964)
10. My Fair Lady (1964)
11. Beauty and the Beast (1991)
12. A Star Is Born (1954)
13. Top Hat (1935)
14. Fiddler on the Roof (1975)
15. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
16. Oliver! (1968)
17. Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
18. The King and I (1956)
19. The Band Wagon (1953)
20. On the Town (1949)
21. An American in Paris (1951)
22. Funny Girl (1968)
23. Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
24. The Little Shop of Horrors (1986)
25. All That Jazz (1979)
26. South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999)
27. Dancer in the Dark (2000)
28. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)
29. The Lion King (1994)
30. Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)
31. The Music Man (1962)
32. Hedwig & the Angry Inch (2001)
33. Swing Time (1936)
34. 42nd Street (1933)
35. Phantom of the Opera (2004)
36. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)
37. Gigi (1958)
38. Hairspray (2007)
39. Dreamgirls (2006)
40. La La Land (2017)
41. Rent (2005)
42. Annie (1982)
43. West Side Story (2021)
44. Hair (1979)
45. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1938)
46. Carousel (1956)
47. Oklahoma! (1955)
48. Funny Face (1957)
49. Fame (1980)
50. Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933)
Singin’ in the Rain was an Oscar-nominated film from 1952 which starred Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor, and Debbie Reynolds. Kelly and Stanley Donen directed the musical and Kelly also oversaw choreography. The comedic film follows the three main stars during Hollywood’s days of switching over from silent films to “talkies.”
Kelly plays silent film star Don Lockwood. He and co-star Lina Lamont (played by Jean Hagen) are a famous on-screen romantic couple and the studio has even promoted the idea that they are linked off-screen as well, even though Lockwood can barely tolerate her. When faced with the transition from silent film to talkies, Lamont’s shrill voice just won’t work and Lockwood faces career jeopardy.
Lockwood’s best friend, Cosmo Brown (played by O’Connor), suggests dubbing Lamont’s voice with that of aspiring actress Kathy Selden (played by Reynolds). Lockwood falls in love with her, which poses problems since Lamont is convinced her relationship with Lockwood goes beyond the screen.
The film wasn’t a big hit upon its initial release, but has achieved legendary status. It topped the AFI’s list of top musicals of all time and the AFI also ranked it as the fifth best American film ever made. Interestingly, while Kelly’s performance in the movie – especially the title cut – has become one of the most iconic images in movie history, he wasn’t originally cast for the role. Initially Howard Keel was slated to portray the character as an actor in Westerns, but the role become more one of a vaudeville performer.
Singin’ in the Rain
Awards:
National Film Registry
Oscars – nominated for best picture
BAFTA – nominated for best picture
Directors Guild of America – Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly nominated for best director
Golden Globes – Donald O’Connor won for best actor
Golden Globes – nominated for best musical or comedy
There is a moment in Pirate Radio (2009) – an inexplicably deleted scene relegated to DVD extras status – that nails the joy of being a music geek better than anything since High Fidelity (2000). Academy Award winner Phillip Seymour Hoffman leads his band of fellow DJs through London in the late ‘60s on a bachelor party night of depravity. They pause for reflection across the street from Abbey Road studios. Hoffman points out that the Beatles might be in there recording at that very minute. In a salute to the power of music, he states “there’ll always be poverty and pain and war and injustice in this world, but there will, thank the Lord, also always be the Beatles.”
Similarly, there will always be movies about poverty and pain and war and injustice, but there will also be those about the Beatles. And Elvis. And the Rolling Stones and the Who and Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash and Ray Charles and…Anvil.
Anvil? In the mid ‘80s, these metal-also-rans seemed poised to take over the world alongside contemporaries like the Scorpions, Whitesnake, and Bon Jovi. The where-are-they-now documentary Anvil: The Story of Anvil (2008) is a real-life This Is Spinal Tap (1984) that doubles as a heartwarming tearjerker about a group that should have hung it up years ago, but just can’t abandon the dream that they still might make it big. Singer Steve “Lips” Kudlow says that jumping off a cliff would be the easy way out to which drummer Robb Reiner replies, “You won’t jump off the cliff ‘cause I’ll stop you.”
Of course, music-oriented movies aren’t just about rock ‘n’ roll. The relationship between the two mediums dates to roughly the births of both art forms. The first couple of decades of the 20th century saw the simultaneous rise of recorded music and the addition of sound to film, the latter most notably in 1927’s The Jazz Singer. As soon as Hollywood saw dollar signs and discovered the power of pilfering instead of creating something new, they raided Broadway. If it was big on stage, it could be big on screen (1933’s 42nd Street, 1936’s Show Boat, 1949’s South Pacific, 1956’s The King and I).
Disney spawned its own version, complete with animated princesses, woodland creatures, and puppets (1937’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, 1940’s Pinocchio, 1940’s Fantasia, 1941’s Dumbo, 1942’s Bambi, 1950’s Cinderella).
When Elvis started swiveling his hips the musical gasped for breath. The rock ‘n’ roll era saw the arrival of vanity projects from the genre’s biggest stars. The King of Rock and Roll churned out Jailhouse Rock (1957) and a slew of other B-grade movies while the Beatles made A Hard Day’s Night (1964), which some call the greatest music movie ever made.
The traditional movie musical sounded a few last hurrahs (1961’s West Side Story, 1965’s The Sound of Music) before going largely mute until the new millennium (2001’s Moulin Rouge!, 2002’s Chicago). In the meantime, though, Hollywood figured out how to marry the musical to rock ‘n’ roll (1973’s Jesus Christ Superstar, 1979’s Hair) and churn out celluloid treatments of classic rock albums (The Who’s 1975 Tommy, Pink Floyd’s 1982 The Wall). The Wall and Heavy Metal (1981) also de-Disneyed the cartoon world with decidedly non-kid-oriented animated fare.
Shooting a dose of electric guitar into the film community didn’t just banish the musical to has-been status, but also birthed new genres. The tradition of seeing rock legends on stage and off kicked into high gear with 1967’s Don’t Look Back, 1970’s Woodstock, and 1970’s Gimme Shelter and has continued to the present with the aforementioned Anvil movie, Michael Jackson’s This Is It (2009), and It Might Get Loud (2008). How can you not be awed into rock star worship by the scene in the latter movie of Jack White crafting an electric guitar out of scrap material?
Of course, reality isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be so the film industry also embraced the biopic. This allowed film makers to more liberally edit which details of real-life personalities to embellish and which to forget. While telling the story of a musical legend was nothing new – the story of composer George M. Cohan in 1942’s Yankee Doodle Dandy comes to mind – the zest and decadence of rock star lives (1986’s Sid & Nancy, 1987’s La Bamba, 1989’s Great Balls of Fire) gave the format a new twist, for better or worse. On the plus side, the past decade has rewarded us with Academy-Award-winning performances in the depictions of musical icons Ray Charles (2004’s Ray!) and Johnny Cash (2005’s Walk the Line).
Then there was Crazy Heart (2009). While seemingly about a fictional character, it played like a biopic about Kris Kristofferson in an alternative world where he:
a) passes out nightly in a drunken or drugged stupor
b) is relegated to performing in small-town seedy bars and bowling alleys
c) has an inevitable meltdown on stage as “a” clashes headlong into “b”
d) still commands more than his share of sexual conquests no matter how old, fat, or drug-addled he becomes
Don’t get me wrong – Jeff Bridges earned his long overdue Best Actor Oscar – but did we need another musical journey through the life of a damaged soul who beds much younger women on his hopeful road to redemption?
Movies don’t always take music so seriously. The Blues Brothers (1980) reminded us just how fun music is. This Is Spinal Tap delighted in its absurdities. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) gave us the full-on participation of live performance in all its camp and bad movie-making glory.
Speaking of camp, the ‘80s saw the MTV-inspired era of “is this a film or one big soundtrack promo?” with Flashdance (1983), Footloose (1984), and Dirty Dancing (1987). Not that light, adolescent-oriented fare was new – Elvis’ movies weren’t exactly competing for Oscars and the Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon music-fueled Beach Party romps of the ‘60s weren’t focusing energy on commentary about the political relationships of the world’s super powers.
Of course, the very birth of rock ‘n’ roll, and subsequently its introduction in film, is tied to marketing to teens. Bill Haley & the Comets’ “Rock Around the Clock” provided the soundtrack for the opening of 1955’s Blackboard Jungle. While the movie aimed for anti-social commentary, it incited its audience to riot more than ponder the consequences of delinquent behavior.
Okay, so what’s the point of this music-goes-to-the-movies history lesson? Well, the first point is a music-goes-to-the-movies history lesson. Second, though, is this: at its worst, music-meets-film can evoke eye-rolls with over-the-top portrayals of people inspired to delinquency or decadence. At its best, however, a cherished musical film moment serves up a metaphor for pondering the human condition.
It doesn’t have to be that deep, though. Sometimes a movie simply prompts people to dance in the aisles or be transported beyond their surroundings for the moment. One afternoon, my sons and I were walking home from school during a light drizzle. We were all equipped with umbrellas but I soon noticed my boys twirling theirs on the ground and dancing around them instead of holding them aloft. Sure enough, their impromptu rain-soaked musical number was inspired by – what else? Singin’ in the Rain.
As explained on their website, jurors (it doesn’t say who they were or how many) were asked to select songs from feature-length films in English. They were asked to consider songs that were featured in films “that set a tone or mood, define character, advance plot and/or express the film’s themes in a manner that elevates the moving image art form.” They were also asked to consider the legacy and cultural impact by choosing “songs that have captured the nation’s heart, echoed beyond the walls of a movie theater.”
The TV special, hosted by John Travolta, aired on June 22, 2004. The website features a list of 400 nominated songs as well as the final 100 selected. Note: the performers listed with the songs are those who performed the rendition used in the movies. In some cases – especially with musicals – a remake of the song may have been more successful. In addition, the actor may be lip syncing and the actual singer is indicated. Also, the year indicated in parentheses refers to the release of the movie. In some cases, the song came out earlier.
1. Judy Garland “Over the Rainbow” (1939): The Wizard of Oz
2. Dooley Wilson “As Time Goes By” (1942): Casablanca
3. Gene Kelly “Singin’ in the Rain” (1952): Singin’ in the Rain
4. Henry Mancini with Audrey Hepburn “Moon River” (1961): Breakfast at Tiffany’s
5. Bing Crosby with the Ken Darby Singers "White Christmas (1942): Holiday Inn
6. Simon & Garfunkel “Mrs. Robinson” (1968): The Graduate
7. Cliff Edwards “When You Wish Upon a Star” (1940): Pinocchio
8. Barbra Streisand “The Way We Were” (1973): The Way We Were
9. Bee Gees “Stayin’ Alive” (1977): Saturday Night Fever
10. Julie Andrews “The Sound of Music” (1965): The Sound of Music
11. Judy Garland “The Man That Got Away” (1954): A Star Is Born
12. Marilyn Monroe “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” (1953): Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
13. Barbra Streisand “People” (1968): Funny Girl
14. Celine Dion “My Heart Will Go On” (1997): Titanic
15. Fred Astaire with Leo Reisman’s Orchestra “Cheek to Cheek” (1935): Top Hat
16. Barbra Streisand “Evergreen (Love Theme from ‘A Star Is Born’)” (1976): A Star Is Born
17. Marni Nixon “I Could Have Danced All Night” (1964): My Fair Lady
18. Liza Minnelli “Cabaret” (1972): Cabaret
19. Adriana Caselotti “Some Day My Prince Will Come” (1937): Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
20. Marni Nixon “Somewhere” (1961): West Side Story
21. Elvis Presley “Jailhouse Rock” (1957): Jailhouse Rock
22. Harry Nilsson “Everybody’s Talkin’” (1968): Midnight Cowboy
23. B.J. Thomas “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head” (1969): Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
24. Paul Robeson “Ol’ Man River” (1928): Show Boat
25. Tex Ritter “High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darlin’)” (1952): High Noon
26. Judy Garland “The Trolley Song” (1945): Meet Me in St. Louis
27. The Righteous Brothers “Unchained Melody” (1990): Ghost
28. Giorgio Tozzi “Some Enchanted Evening” (1958): South Pacific
29. Steppenwolf “Born to Be Wild” (1968): Easy Rider
30. Lena Horne “Stormy Weather (Keeps Rainin' All the Time)” (1943): Stormy Weather
31. Liza Minnelli “Theme from New York, New York” (1977): New York, New York
32. Gene Kelly “I Got Rhythm” (1951): An American in Paris
33. Ren Woods & Ensemble “Aquarius” (1979): Hair
34. Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off” (1937): Shall We Dance
35. Rita Morena, George Chakiris, & Ensemble “America” (1961): West Side Story
36. Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, & Ensemble “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” (1964): Mary Poppins
37. Bing Crosby “Swinging on a Star” (1944): Going My Way
38. Isaac Hayes “Theme from Shaft” (1971): Shaft
39. Chorus “Days of Wine and Roses” (1962): Days of Wine and Roses
40. Public Enemy “Fight the Power” (1989): Do the Right Thing
41. Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, & Jules Munshin “New York, New York” (1949): On the Town
42. Marlon Brando & Ensemble “Luck Be a Lady” (1955): Guys and Dolls
43. Fred Astaire “The Way You Look Tonight” (1936): Swing Time
44. Bette Midler “Wind Beneath My Wings” (1989): Beaches
45. Fred Astaire, Nanette, Fabray, Jack Buchanan, & Oscar Levant “That’s Entertainment” (1953): The Band Wagon
46. Barbra Streisand “Don’t Rain on My Parade” (1968): Funny Girl
47. James Baskett “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah” (1946): Song of the South
48. Doris Day “Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)” (1956): The Man Who Knew Too Much
49. Donald O’Connor “Make ‘Em Laugh” (1952): Singin’ in the Rain
50. Bill Haley & the Comets “We’re Gonna Rock Around the Clock” (1955): Blackboard Jungle
51. Irene Cara “Fame” (1980): Fame
52. Loulie Jean Norman “Summertime” (1959): Porgy and Bess
53. Shirley Bassey “Goldfinger” (1964): Goldfinger
54. Marni Nixon “Shall We Dance” (1956): The King and I
55. Irene Cara “Flashdance...What a Feelin’” (1983): Flashdance
56. Maurice Chevalier “Thank Heaven for Little Girls” (1958): Gigi
57. Noel Harrison “The Windmills of Your Mind” (1968): The Thomas Crown Affair
58. Bill Conti “Gonna Fly Now” (1977): Rocky
59. Marni Nixon “Tonight” (1961): West Side Story
60. Frank Sinatra/Harry Connick Jr. “It Had to Be You” (1989): When Harry Met Sally
61. Judy Garland “Get Happy” (1950): Summer Stock
62. Angela Lansbury “Beauty and the Beast” (1991): Beauty and the Beast
63. Bob Hope with Shirley Ross “Thanks for the Memory” (1939): The Big Broadcast of 1938
64. Julie Andrews “My Favorite Things” (1965): The Sound of Music
65. Whitney Houston “I Will Always Love You” (1992): The Bodyguard
66. Johnny Mandel “Suicide Is Painless” (1970): M*A*S*H
67. Carly Simon “Nobody Does It Better” (1977): The Spy Who Loved Me
68. Bruce Springsteen “Streets of Philadelphia” (1994): Philadelphia
69. Shirley Temple “On the Good Ship Lollipop” (1934): Bright Eyes
70. John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, & Ensemble “Summer Nights” (1978): Grease
71. James Cagney “Yankee Doodle Boy” (1942): Yankee Doodle Dandy
72. Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, & Donald O’Connor “Good Morning” (1952): Singin’ in the Rain
73. Maurice Chevalier & Jeannette MacDonald “Isn’t It Romantic?” (1932): Love Me Tonight
74. Kermit the Frog (voiced by Jim Henson) “The Rainbow Connection” (1979) The Muppet Movie
75. Joe Cocker with Jennifer Warnes “Up Where We Belong” (1982): An Officer and a Gentleman
76. Judy Garland “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” (1945): Meet Me in St. Louis
77. Chorus “The Shadow of Your Smile” (1965): The Sandpiper
78. Dolly Parton “9 to 5” (1980): Nine to Five
79. Christopher Cross “Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do)” (1981): Arthur
80. Ensemble “Springtime for Hitler” (1968): The Producers
81. Keith Carradine “I’m Easy” (1975): Nashville
82. Ensemble “Ding Dong the Witch Is Dead” (1939): The Wizard of Oz
83. Bette Midler “The Rose” (1979): The Rose
84. Anita Ellis “Put the Blame on Mame” (1946): Gilda
85. Nicole Kidman & Ewan McGregor “Come What May” (2001): Moulin Rouge!
86. Bill Medley with Jennifer Warnes “I’ve Had the Time of My Life” (1987): Dirty Dancing
87. Bob Hope “Buttons and Bows” (1948): The Paleface
88. Julie Andrews & Ensemble “Do Re Mi” (1965): The Sound of Music
89. Gene Wilder & Peter Boyle “Puttin’ on the Ritz” (1974): Young Frankenstein
90. Diane Keaton “Seems Like Old Times” (1977): Annie Hall
91. Carly Simon “Let the River Run” (1988): Working Girl
92. Gene Kelly & Martha Mears “Long Ago and Far Away” (1944): Cover Girl
93. Eminem “Lose Yourself” (2002): 8 Mile
94. The Temptations “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg” (1983): The Big Chill
95. Bing Crosby & Bob Hope “We’re Off on the Road Road to Morocco” (1942): Road to Morocco
96. Kenny Loggins “Footloose” (1984): Footloose
97. Ruby Keller, Dick Powell, & Ensemble “42nd Street” (1933): 42nd Street
98. Catherine Zeta-Jones & Rene Zellweger “All That Jazz” (2002): Chicago
99. Nathan Lane, Ernie Sabella, Jason Weaver, and Joseph Williams “Hakuna Matata” (1994): The Lion King
100. Bob Seger & Silver Bullet Band “Old Time Rock and Roll” (1983): Risky Business
Airplay/Streaming (in millions):
-- radio, 37.55 video, 24.0 streaming
Awards (Edwards):
Click on award for more details.
Awards (Kelly):
About the Song:
Arthur Freed was inspired to write “Singin’ in the Rain” when he saw a man outside his sheet music shop in Seattle dancing during a downpour. Nacio Herb Brown, who often worked with Freed on MGM musicals, then put it to music. SF It was introduced in 1929 by Doris Eaton Travis in The Hollywood Music Box Revue. Months later, it was performed by Cliff Edwards and the Bronx Sisters in The Hollywood Revue of 1929. Edwards was among three artists who charted with the song in 1929. Earl Burtnett took it to #4, Gus Arnheim reached # 9, and Edwards’ version went to the top of the charts.
Edwards, known as Ukulele Ike, was one of the most successful artists of the pre-rock era. His “jazz-flavored musical style made him a popular phenomenon of the 20s.” PM He charted thirty times from 1924 to 1940, including fifteen top-10 hits. He hit #1 with “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love,” but was probably best known for singing “When You Wish Upon a Star” as Jiminy Cricket in Disney’s animated film Pinocchio.
Years later Freed, now a producer at MGM, pitched the idea of a musical based around his songs. SF It became the 1952 film Singin’ in the Rain, one of the most celebrated musicals of all time. The most famous scene featured star Gene Kelly singing the song while dancing joyously in the rain and splashing in the puddles. The song became inseparable from “Kelly’s brilliant choreography.” LW
It found success again when Mint Royale recorded an electronica version in 2005. It was used in a Gene Kelly CGI-enhanced television ad for Volkswagen Golf SF and subsequently reached #20 on the UK charts. In 2008, 14-year-old George Sampson won Britain’s Got Talent replicating the routine from the ad. It revived the Mint Royale recording and it soared to #1.
