AFI's
Greatest Movie Musicals
of All-Time

25 Greatest Movie Musicals

The American Film Institute (AFI) in Los Angeles, California conducted its 2006 polling on the Greatest Movie Musicals of All Time, to highlight the 25 Greatest Movie Musicals of All Time.

See also this site's informative sections on Greatest Musical Song/Dance Movie Moments and Scenes (illustrated) and the genre of Film Musicals with a listing of the Top Film Musicals of All Time.

Other AFI pollings were for:

• AFI’s 100 Years…100 Movies (1998)
• AFI’s 100 Years…100 Stars/Legends (1999)
• AFI’s 100 Years…100 Laughs (2000)
• AFI’s 100 Years…100 Thrills (2001)
• AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions (2002)
• AFI's Heroes and Villains (2003)
• AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs (2004)
• AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes (2005)
• AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers (2006)
• AFI's 100 Greatest American Films - 10th Anniversary Edition (2007)

A ballot was distributed in 2006 with 180 nominated musicals to a jury of over 500 leaders from the creative community, including composers, musicians, film artists (directors, screenwriters, actors, editors and cinematographers), critics and historians. Due to the extensive number of memorable movie musicals in American film, jurors were also allowed to write in votes for musicals that did not already appear on the ballot.

The jurors were asked to consider the following criteria in making their selections:

• MUSICAL - A feature-length American film* in which music and lyrics significantly advance the plot, develop character or are otherwise integral to the film narrative. *AFI defines an American film as an English language motion picture with significant creative and/or financial production elements from the United States. AFI defines a feature-length film as a motion picture of narrative format that is typically over 60 minutes in length.

• HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE - Musicals that have left an indelible mark on the history of the moving image—through innovation in song and dance, visionary narrative devices or other groundbreakingachievements.

• CREATIVE IMPACT - Musicals with songs that evoke the memory of its film source, thus ensuring and enlivening both the music and the movie’s historical legacy.

• LEGACY - Musicals that continue to inspire artists and audiences alike.

Facts about the Selection of top 25 Musicals:

Note: The films that are marked with a yellow star are the films
that "The Greatest Films" site has selected as the 100 Greatest Films

• The top 10 films were: Singin in the Rain (1952), West Side Story (1961), The Wizard of Oz (1939), The Sound of Music (1965), Cabaret (1972), Mary Poppins (1964), A Star is Born (1954), My Fair Lady (1964), An American in Paris (1951), and Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
  
  
• The earliest film on the list was: 42nd Street (1933) (# 13), while the latest film was Miramax's Chicago (2002) (# 12) (followed closely by Moulin Rouge! (2001) (# 25)
  
  
• The studio with the most musicals was: MGM (8) including: Singin in the Rain (1952) (# 1), The Wizard of Oz (1939) (# 3), An American in Paris (1951) (# 9), Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) (# 10), The Band Wagon (1953) (# 17), On the Town (1949) (# 19), Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954) (# 21), and Guys and Dolls (1955) (# 23); the next highest was Warner Bros. (4) including: A Star is Born (1954) (# 7), My Fair Lady (1964) (# 8), 42nd Street (1933) (# 13), and Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) (# 18), while Twentieth Century Fox had the following four musicals also: The Sound of Music (1965) (# 4), The King and I (1956) (# 11), All That Jazz (1979) (# 14) - shared with Columbia, and Moulin Rouge! (2001) (# 25)
  
  
• There were only two Disney films on the list: Mary Poppins (1964) (# 6) and Beauty and the Beast (1991) (# 22), with only one Paramount film - Grease (1978) (# 20), one United Artists film - West Side Story (1961) (# 2), one Allied Artists film - Cabaret (1972) (# 5), one Miramax film - Chicago (2002) (# 12), one RKO film - Top Hat (1935) (# 15), one Universal film - Show Boat (1936) (# 24). Columbia had two pictures on the list: All That Jazz (1979) (# 14) shared with Twentieth Century Fox, and Funny Girl (1968) (# 16)
  
  
• Films by Decade:
  1930s: The Wizard of Oz (1939) (# 3), 42nd Street (1933) (# 13), Top Hat (1935) (# 15), and Show Boat (1936) (# 24)
  1940s: Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) (# 10), Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) (# 18), and On the Town (1949) (# 19)
  1950s: Singin in the Rain (1952) (# 1), A Star is Born (1954), (# 7), An American in Paris (1951) (# 9), The King and I (1956) (# 11), The Band Wagon ( 1953) (# 17), Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954) (# 21), and Guys and Dolls (1955) (# 23)
  1960s: West Side Story (1961) (# 2), The Sound of Music (1965) (# 4), Mary Poppins (1964) (# 6), My Fair Lady (1964) (# 8), and Funny Girl (1968) (# 16)
  1970s: Cabaret (1972) (# 5), All That Jazz (1979) (# 14), and Grease (1978) (# 20)
  1980s: none
  1990s: Beauty and the Beast (1991) (# 22)
  2000s: Chicago (2002) (# 12) and Moulin Rouge! (2001) (# 25)