The following listing (in multiple parts) was an attempt to compile a collection of many of the greatest song and dance moments in film history. Though the list appears to be dominated by musicals, other genres were examined and included.

Those that are exceptional examples of the development of song/dance are marked with this symbol:

AFI's 25 Greatest Movie Musicals of All Time are marked with an icon and their ranking number (#)

Another point of reference for this kind of material may be found in the AFI's selections of 100 Years...100 Songs and in this site's genre writeup of "Musical Films".

It's Always Fair Weather (1955)

This Cinemascopic, widescreen MGM musical (a Betty Comden and Adolph Green collaboration that was co-directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen) reprised the story line of On the Town (1949) (although ten years later and more cynical); its male stars Gene Kelly, Michael Kidd (the famed choreographer in his first on-screen role) and Dan Dailey portrayed wartime buddies who performed an amazing opening dance sequence - a trash-can-lid ballet (that would later be recreated by the Yes/No Group and their hit musical STOMP); also memorable was Kelly's solo musical number I Like Myself (pictured) in which Kelly roller-skated (and tap-danced on the skates) on a New York street; it also featured Cyd Charisse (as advertising girl Jackie Leighton) solo dancing to Baby, You Knock Me Out (pictured) for Stillman's Gym boxers.

Jailhouse Rock (1957)

The Jazz Singer (1927)

This Warner Brothers film - "the pioneer outstanding talking picture, which has revolutionized the industry," included singer Al Jolson's two most memorable numbers - Toot Toot Tootsie, Goodbye, preceded by Jolson's scratchy-sounding warning to his audience: "Wait a minute, wait a minute. You ain't heard nothin' yet!" (with added bird sounds during the number), the lengthy scene of a natural conversation between Jack and his mother Sara (Eugenie Besserer) during the singing of "Blue Skies" at the piano in his home, and Jolson's curtain-closing blackface performance of My Mammy - dedicated to his mother in the audience.

The Jungle Book (1967)

This high-spirited animated Disney musical, loosely based upon the tales of Rudyard Kipling, included the carefree, Oscar-nominated Bare Necessities sung by Baloo the Bear (voice of Phil Harris), and the I Wanna Be Like You sung by King Louie (voice of Louis Prima) to Mowgli - the human child raised by wolves.

Key Largo (1948)

This John Huston-directed Warners' gangster film included the disturbing scene in which alcoholic moll Gaye Dawn (Oscar-winning Claire Trevor) was goaded by her gangster boyfriend Johnny Rocco (Edward G. Robinson) into singing Moanin' Low in front of him and his henchmen in exchange for a drink.

The King and I (1956)

#11

In this opulent Fox production (by director Walter Lang) of the Rodgers and Hammerstein 1951 musical play (based on Margaret Landon's book and the film Anna and the King of Siam (1947)), Englishwoman tutor Anna Leonowens (Deborah Kerr dubbed with singing voice of Marni Nixon) and the bald King of Siam in the 1860s, Mongkut (Oscar-winning Yul Brynner reprising his original stage role) danced energetically and joyously in the memorable number Shall We Dance? (pictured); other famous tunes included Getting to Know You (pictured) (sung with the King's children), Hello, Young Lovers, and Whistle a Happy Tune.

King Creole (1958)

This Michael Curtiz-directed film version of the story in Harold Robbins' novel A Stone for Danny Fisher (and inspired by Rebel Without a Cause (1955)) starred Elvis Presley in one of his finest early performances as troubled high-school dropout and New Orleans musician Danny Fisher who was drawn back into his criminal past with gangsters as a singer in a mob-owned nightclub (led by crime boss Walter Matthau); among other upbeat songs (King Creole, Trouble and Hard Headed Woman), the film was highlighted by Presley's opening Creole duet Crawfish (pictured) with black female vocalist Kitty White (as a street vendor).

King of Jazz (1930)

This was one of the most important early musicals (and early two-strip Technicolor films) -- it also contained the first Technicolor sound cartoon ever made - by Walter Lantz - featuring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit; it was an unscripted vaudeville revue of production numbers as a tribute and "scrapbook" honoring and showcasing "King of Jazz" band leader Paul Whiteman (Himself); it featured a young Bing Crosby (lead singer of The Rhythm Boys trio) performing Mississippi Mud and So the Bluebirds and the Blackbirds Got Together (pictured) and the memorable song Happy Feet; also notable was Al Norman's astounding rubber-legged dance that featured "impossible" double-jointed, loose snake-hips dance steps (pictured), and trick violinist Joe Venuti played Pop Goes the Weasel; the most striking numbers were the extravagant My Bridal Veil and the 10-minute reprised jazzy playing of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue in a giant blue piano (pictured); the film ended with The Melting Pot Medley (pictured) featuring dozens of chorines.

Kiss Me Kate (1953)

MGM's witty version of Cole Porter's successful 1948 Broadway musical, directed by George Sidney, was the first stereo-optic 3-D musical - in full Technicolor; it was also the first Cole Porter musical to retain most of its songs from the play-within-a-play stage production (mostly based on The Taming of the Shrew, with stars Howard Keel and Kathryn Grayson in the feuding lead roles); it featured many notable and dazzling songs from various performers, including Why Can't You Behave? (by singer-dancer Ann Miller in her greatest film role, to boyfriend Tommy Rall), Always True To You In My Fashion, the title song Kiss Me Kate (pictured), and the show-stopping Brush Up Your Shakespeare (pictured) (a comic duet delivered by Keenan Wynn and James Whitmore); Grayson and Keel sang duets to So in Love (pictured) and Wunderbar (pictured); the song-and-dance numbers included From This Moment On (pictured) and Tom, Dick or Harry - both featuring Ann Miller, Tommy Rall, Bobby Van, Carol Haney and a young Bob Fosse; in addition, one of the film's sizzling numbers was Too Darn Hot performed by Miller as a tap-dance solo.

Lady and the Tramp (1955)

Disney's first Cinemascope animated feature starred two anthropomorphic creatures - pampered female cocker spaniel Lady and wrong-side-of-the-tracks mutt named Tramp; all of the songs were written (with Sonny Burke) and mostly sung by Peggy Lee, including The Siamese Cat Song (pictured) ("We are Siameeiz if you pleeiz"), He's a Tramp (pictured) and the Spaghetti for Two song Bella Notte.

The Last Waltz (1978)

Director Martin Scorsese's documentary of the final performance of The Band in 1976 (at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco) has generally been considered one of the greatest rock concert films ever made - it featured the music of the legendary The Band (The Weight, The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down and Old Time Religion), and performances by Eric Clapton, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan (Baby Let Me Follow You Down), Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison (performing Caravan), Muddy Waters (singing Mannish Boy), Ronnie Wood, and Neil Young, and studio-set sequences with Emmylou Harris and The Staple Singers.