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It’s easy to sing the praises of a great musical. Musicals are frequently high in emotion and energy, with the genre usually being definable as one that incorporates music in with its storytelling. Sometimes, this is done with characters breaking into song. Sometimes, musical sequences will only exist in dreams or fantasy sequences. Other times, a musical might center on characters who sing and dance as part of their profession, making the music feel more believably in-universe.
Not all musicals will necessarily be to everyone’s tastes, and the genre is perhaps one of the more divisive ones out there, at least broadly speaking (the same can arguably be said about Westerns and horror movies). Yet for those who love the genre, or for those who want to discover what it has to offer, the following titles are among the greatest musicals of all time. They showcase how varied and exciting the genre can be at its best, and are ranked below from great to greatest.
45
‘True Stories’ (1986)
Directed by David Byrne
Without a doubt, it’s fair to label True Stories as an offbeat and maybe even slightly weird musical, but its eccentricity is also what makes it endearing and memorable. It’s a film directed by David Byrne, who’s best known for being the frontman of Talking Heads, and it certainly has the same energy of much of the band’s music transposed to the medium of film, rather than exclusively music (though there are a bunch of songs in the film by the band).
It’s hard to pin down a plot here, given True Stories isn’t really about a, well, proper story, but it’s entertaining as a look at a bunch of unusual characters gathering together for a small town’s talent show. Byrne drifts through the film as something of an anchor point, musing about life and all the strange things in it, all in a very David Byrne way. Anyone who’s a fan of his music without having yet seen True Stories ought to make checking it out a priority.
True Stories
- Release Date
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October 10, 1986
- Runtime
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89 minutes
Cast
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David Byrne
Narrator / Lip-Syncher
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-
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Jo Harvey Allen
The Lying Woman
44
‘Help!’ (1965)
Directed by Richard Lester
The filmography of the Beatles isn’t nearly as impressive as the band’s discography, but they nonetheless still featured in some noteworthy film projects back in the 1960s, including Help! In a potentially comparable way to True Stories, it’s also hard to define the plot of Help!, as it’s generally a chaotic series of events that sees the four members of the Beatles going on a psychedelic and somewhat listless adventure.
They all play exaggerated versions of themselves, and there are a host of other unusual characters they clash with throughout Help!, all the while sometimes taking a pause to feature songs from the album of the same name. It’s a wild, unwieldy, and quite ridiculous movie, but it’s also so out-there and charming (at least at times) that it’s hard to forget about, even if it falls a bit short of “great” in the traditional sense.
43
‘The Muppet Movie’ (1979)
Directed by James Frawley
Who doesn’t like The Muppets? Well, somebody out there probably doesn’t like The Muppets, what with there being billions of people and everything. But they’re an inherently likable group of characters, and both the original show and the best movies featuring them tended to have appeal to older and younger viewers alike. Of those movies, it’s the original, simply called The Muppet Movie, that’s probably the best.
It has a story about Kermit the Frog tossing up whether to pursue a career in Hollywood, and going on a road trip there, with the usual Muppets fare—funny and charming songs alongside so many high-profile cameos—occurring along the way. The Muppet Movie is one of those movies that, cheesy as it might sound, kind of feels like a warm hug, and it’s prime comfy cinema.
42
‘Funny Girl’ (1968)
Directed by William Wyler
While it didn’t win director William Wyler any Oscars, Funny Girl was still a very good film he directed, though the standout person involved here was ultimately Barbra Streisand. It was her first major starring role in a feature film, and led to a successful career as an actress in some later musicals that were also quite good, including Hello Dolly and the 1976 version of A Star Is Born.
Funny Girl remains probably the best of the Streisand musicals, though, with a simple story about the real-life comedian Fanny Brice, focusing on her rise to fame, challenges within the entertainment industry, and her marriage to the infamous professional gambler Nicky Arnstein (Omar Sharif). It’s a very 1960s film, in terms of style, feel, and pacing, but most of it holds up, and it is one of the better musicals of that decade.
41
‘Mulan’ (1998)
Directed by Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook
It’s hard to talk about great musicals without mentioning some of the films that make up the Disney Renaissance, a period that began in 1989 and lasted until the end of the 1990s. That makes Mulan one of the last movies to come out during this era, but it’s one of the best, and was overall not the sort of Disney movie that needed a live-action remake by any means.
Still, it got one, and that film did away with the musical aspect of things, to its detriment. The songs in Mulan (1998) are all great, standing out on their own while also doing so much to further the story and make the characters feel well-realized. Beyond that, Mulan is also just a great story, being about identity, heroism, masculinity, and war, all done in a way that’s surprisingly still appropriate for audiences of all ages.
40
‘On the Town’ (1949)
Directed by Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly
On the Town has a sort of sincerity and goofy charm that might make it feel exceptionally dated to some, but for others, the datedness of it all might well be more of a feature than a bug. It follows three sailors who aim to do as much as they can in New York City during a brief period of leave, and they go around having a good time, falling in love, and just generally hanging out.
Well, they hang out while also being very busy, because this is one of those movies that takes place over the course of just 24 hours, and sees its characters do more than any mere mortal could within one day. On the Town has little story to tell beyond its core premise, but that premise is a great excuse to stage memorable song-and-dance numbers and engage in some goofy, broad comedy.
On the Town
- Release Date
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December 8, 1949
- Runtime
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98 minutes
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-
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Betty Garrett
Brunhilde Esterhazy
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Ann Miller
Claire Huddesen
39
‘Wicked’ (2024)
Directed by Jon M. Chu
Without Wicked, 2024 might well have been remembered as the year of infamous/divisive musicals, seeing as both Joker: Folie à Deux and Emilia Pérez caused quite a stir. Wicked, on the other hand, proved to be more of a crowdpleaser and more of a critics-pleaser, too, telling the first half of the story told in the stage musical of the same name in an appropriately cinematic and moving manner.
It’s sort of a prequel to The Wizard of Oz, but isn’t afraid to do its own thing either, expanding the world and some of the characters found within the original story. 2024’s Wicked is a touch overlong, considering it’s about as long as the stage musical and only tells half the story, but outside things being a little padded, it hits the high emotional notes it needs to and largely satisfies as a big-budget musical blockbuster.
38
‘8 Mile’ (2002)
Directed by Curtis Hanson
Sure, 8 Mile isn’t a musical in the traditional sense, but it is a film about music, and there are long sequences devoted to artists performing hip-hop, usually on stage. It’s not a direct biopic, but Eminem does play a character whose life mirrors his own in some ways, with Jimmy being an underdog in the Detroit hip-hop scene, and someone who has big dreams they want fulfilled.
It’s expected stuff as far as music-focused dramas go, but 8 Mile is effectively gritty and generally well-acted enough that the formulaic parts are easier to digest. It’s also well-directed by the overall underrated Curtis Hanson, whose other well-regarded films besides 8 Mile included Wonder Boys (2000) and the excellent neo-noir/mystery/crime/thriller movie that was L.A. Confidential (1997).
37
‘Sing Street’ (2016)
Directed by John Carney
One of the greatest and most close-to-perfect musical films of the 2010s, without a doubt, is Sing Street, which is romantic, funny, emotional, and unique. It takes place during the 1980s without being too in-your-face about it, in turn celebrating the era’s fashion and music while also gently poking fun at such things. It’s a film that strikes a wonderful balance between being heartfelt and genuinely funny.
Narratively, Sing Street is all about a young boy who starts a band with other kids his age, mostly because he’s in love with a girl and thinks becoming a musician is a surefire way of impressing her. It tackles the awkwardness of growing up specifically in the 1980s, and in Dublin, sure, but what it broadly has to say about fitting in, finding one’s identity, and overcoming emotional hurdles feels largely timeless.
36
‘The Band Wagon’ (1953)
Directed by Vincente Minnelli
Few filmmakers succeeded within the musical genre as consistently as Vincente Minnelli, the father of Liza Minnelli, who herself is also frequently tied to the genre. One of the best (and most underrated) musicals Vincente Minnelli directed was The Band Wagon, which is an entertaining and reliably colorful look at showbiz; both the world of Broadway and film.
It’s reminiscent of some other bright and lightweight musicals of the decade in question, but it’s hard to complain about a sense of familiarity when a movie provides as much entertainment value as The Band Wagon does. Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse are a dynamite duo, the musical numbers pop visually and still feel dazzling, and the whole thing is breezy and generally good-humored. Those who like classic Hollywood musicals will find The Band Wagon nearly impossible to resist.
The Band Wagon
- Release Date
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August 7, 1953
- Runtime
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112 Minutes
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Cyd Charisse
Gabrielle Gerard
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Oscar Levant
Lester Marton
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Nanette Fabray
Lily Marton
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