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".

Singin' In the Rain (1952)

#1

This MGM classic, co-directed by star Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, featured an original story (a spoof set in the late 1920s during the age of the coming of 'talkies') by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, with a screenplay using songs from Arthur Freed and Nacio Herb Brown; this film's title scene has been considered part of movie legend - as the most famous solo song-and-dance in film history - it featured Gene Kelly singing the title song Singin' In the Rain (pictured) in a downpour, swinging his umbrella around, deliberately stomping in puddles, and leaping onto a lamp-post - also, the opening credits rendition of the title song was performed by Gene Kelly (as late 20's movie star Don Lockwood), Donald O'Connor (as friend and sidekick Cosmo Brown) and Debbie Reynolds (as ingenue dancer Kathy Selden) in yellow raincoats and umbrellas - they later sang the popular song Good Mornin' (pictured) in a living room ; Reynolds participated in a fabulous love duet/dance You Were Meant For Me (pictured) on a deserted sound stage with Kelly, and O'Connor performed the unforgettable acrobatic, comical and slapstick song-and-dance routine Make 'Em Laugh (pictured); the film was also highlighted by the satirical song-and-dance Moses Supposes (pictured) by Kelly and O'Connor in which they rebelled against their diction coach (Bobby Watson) as well as their song-and-dance Fit As a Fiddle (pictured); Kelly and gangster's moll Cyd Charisse (in her first teaming with Kelly) memorably danced in the climactic Broadway Rhythm Ballet (pictured), and the finale song was You Are My Lucky Star (pictured).

The Singing Fool (1928)

This even more successful Warners' film was star Al Jolson's follow-up to The Jazz Singer (1927) - this sentimental musical melodrama was best known for Jolson's role as singing waiter and Broadway star Al Stone and his heart-tugging repeated renditions of Sonny Boy in memory of his young son; other popular Jolson songs in the film included There's a Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder, and It All Depends on You.

Sleeping Beauty (1959)

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)

Disney's first animated feature film - a classic landmark in cinematic history - featured many memorable sweet songs, including Snow White's (voice of Adriana Caselotti) wistful I'm Wishing at a well, and the Prince's (voice of Harry Stockwell) courting response song One Song; also Snow White sang With a Smile and a Song to the creatures of the forest after fleeing from the Queen's wrath, and she sang the happy work song Whistle While You Work as she cleaned the dwarfs' cottage with her woodland animal friends; the dwarfs performed the famous Heigh-Ho ("Heigh ho, heigh ho, it's home from work we go") as they returned home from their work in the diamond mines; the dwarfs and Snow White sang together for the comical and entertaining musical song/dance The Dwarfs' Yodel Song, followed by her beautiful rendition of Someday My Prince Will Come to the admiring dwarfs - reprised at the film's end when the Prince awakened the Princess with love's first kiss.

Some Like It Hot (1959)

Song of the South (1946)

This rarely-seen Disney feature animation with live-action, based on the Uncle Remus cycle of stories by Joel Chandler Harris, contained the popular Oscar-winning Best Song Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah - sung by James Baskett (who was the first Disney actor to win an Oscar, albeit an Honorary one).

The Sound of Music (1965)

#4

Generally considered the most popular musical of the 60s and the film that saved 20th Century Fox studios - with music and lyrics by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, this Robert Wise-directed Best Picture-winning film was adapted for the screen from the successful 1959 Broadway stage musical play about the singing family of Maria Von Trapp; its famed iconic soaring opening, long-range images were taken by a helicopter that swooped down for a view of the Austrian Alps and mischievous Maria (Julie Andrews) with arms extended and whirling on a verdent hill to the title song The Sound of Music ("The hills are alive, with the sound of music..."); the remainder of the screen musical presented many other standards, including Maria's songs to the Von Trapp children - her music lesson in the beautifully-staged Do-Re-Mi, My Favorite Things, and the tender and poignant Edelweiss; an adolescent romance was capsulized in the song Sixteen Going on Seventeen between the eldest Von Trapp daughter and a shy town boy; Maria also arranged two charming songs for performances by the children: The Lonely Goatherd (using marionettes) and So Long, Farewell as each of the Von Trapp children bid partygoers goodnight; the film ended with the family's stirring flight over the Alps to Climb Ev'ry Mountain.

South Pacific (1958)

The many Rodgers and Hammerstein musical numbers in this widescreen Joshua Logan-directed 20th Century Fox film shot mostly on location on Kauai, adapted from the 1949 musical play based on two short stories by James A. Michener from his book Tales of the South Pacific; it included the hit standards: I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair (pictured) (performed by Mitzi Gaynor as Navy nurse Ensign Nellie Forbush), Bali Ha'i, Younger than Springtime, There is Nothin' Like a Dame (performed by Ray Walston but dubbed), Some Enchanted Evening, A Cock-Eyed Optimist, and Carefully Taught; the musical numbers were experimentally filmed with saturated and intensified hues of green, purple, or yellow - a much-criticized aspect of the film.

South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut (1999)

There were lots of subversive, profanity-laced songs (written by co-creator Trey Parker and Hollywood composer Marc Shaiman) that ripped off and spoofed traditional theatrical musicals such as Bye Bye Birdie and West Side Story in director Trey Parker's animated musical set in the small town of South Park, Colorado, including Blame Canada (Oscar-nominated for Best Original Song), What Would Brian Boitano Do?, Kyle's Mom's a Bitch, and Terrance & Philip's Uncle F**ka.

Stand Up and Cheer (1934)