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".

A Star Is Born (1954)

#7

Director George Cukor's dramatic epic musical from Warner Bros. was derived from a non-musical version of the William Wellman-directed film of 1937, starring Fredric March and Janet Gaynor; it was filled with Harold Arlen/Ira Gershwin songs showcased by Judy Garland (in her last great role as aspiring Esther Blodgett/Vicki Lester); the musical numbers were highlighted by the classic The Man That Got Away performed in a darkened nightclub (with stacked chairs all around), as well as the extravagant 18-minute production number Born in a Trunk medley (added after the film was completed) featuring I'll Get By, You Took Advantage of Me, Black Bottom, My Melancholy Baby, and Swanee; other great songs included Lose That Long Face and It's a New World.

A Star Is Born (1976)

In this third film version of the same story (also filmed in 1937 and 1954) in a rock music setting, Barbra Streisand starred as newcomer rock star Esther Hoffman opposite aging and alcoholic rock star Kris Kristofferson (as John Norman Howard); in a film with many of the songs penned by Paul Williams and Streisand, the best known was Evergreen (Love Theme from A Star is Born).

State Fair (1945)

This rose-colored, picture postcard Americana musical from Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II (their first filmed musical and their only musical written directly for the screen), directed by Jose Ferrer and Walter Lang, was a musical version of Fox Studio's 1933 hit (with Will Rogers, Janet Gaynor, and Lew Ayres); it included the show-stopping opening number Our State Fair (with each chorus sung by members of the Frake family) and also the Best Song Oscar-winning It Might As Well Be Spring sung by Jeanne Crain (as lovely, long curly-haired, teen-aged ingenue Margy Frake, with singing voice by Louanne Hogan) in a fake farm setting; other hit songs in the score included the lilting It's a Grand Night for Singing (pictured) (passed from one couple to another at the Iowa fairgrounds) and the bandstand-delivered That's For Me; there was also a 1962 rendition of the film with Ann-Margret & Pat Boone.

Stop Making Sense (1984)

Jonathan Demme and David Byrne's innovative and amazing Talking Heads concert film/art performance piece was shot by cinematographer Jordan Cronenweth during three nights of live shows in 1983 at the Pantages Theater in Hollywood; it began with Psycho Killer (pictured), which Byrne sang solo with an acoustic guitar on an empty stage, accompanied by a simple electronic drum percussion from a tape-deck (which memorably occasionally staggered Byrne with a "machine gun" burst) - as the stage slowly added musicians and their equipment (one new band member arrived with every song); other memorable numbers included Once in a Lifetime (pictured) (with an incredible long, unbroken chiaroscuro shot of Byrne), the famous gigantic "Big Suit" worn for Girlfriend Is Better (pictured), the show-stopping Burning Down the House, the climactic rendition and reimagining of Al Green's Take Me to the River; also Byrne and Tina Weymouth's early acoustic guitar duet Heaven ("Oh, heaven... heaven is a place where nothing ever happens"), and the high energy "aerobic exercises" during the lively Life During Wartime ("This ain't no party, this ain't no disco, this ain't no foolin' around!") - featuring Byrne and his chorus jogging in place, making swimming motions, etc.

Stormy Weather (1943)

This was one of the greatest and most entertaining of the all-black musicals - the Fox film included the ravishing Lena Horne singing what would become her signature song in the lengthy sequence Stormy Weather; there were other great songs, dance and band routines from Fats Waller (Ain't Misbehavin'), Bill "Bojangles" Robinson singing I Can't Give You Anything But Love with Horne, Horne's There's No Two Ways About Love (pictured) sung with Calloway and Robinson, the elaborately-costumed Diga Diga Doo (pictured), the Nicholas Brothers dancing duo (with an athletic dance to Jumpin' Jive), and the spirited Cab Calloway and his Orchestra.

Stowaway (1936)

Strictly Ballroom (1992)

Director Baz Luhrmann's feature film debut was this comedy/romance retro-chic dance/musical film that featured extensive ballroom dancing scenes, including the climactic, competitive ballroom dancing championship - the Pan-Pacific Grand Prix Amateur Five Dance Latin Final.

Summer Stock (1950)

This likeable but uninspiring MGM musical was notable for Judy Garland's famous male drag performance of Get Happy ("Forget your troubles, Come on, Get Happy!") in the final number (in which she wore black tights, half a tuxedo and a tilted black hat), as well as her "nice, easy dance" duet with Gene Kelly titled You Wonderful You; the film was also noted for Kelly's brilliant solo in which he danced on the bare stage of the barn theatre and used various props of his surroundings (a sheet of newspaper, squeaking floor boards) and incorporated them as dance partners.

Sun Valley Serenade (1941)

Scandinavian ice-skating champion and Olympic Gold Medal winner Sonja Henie appeared in a number of Fox films (such as Thin Ice (1937) pictured) and this was one of the best of the lot; it was set at the famed Idaho ski resort where Norwegian refugee Karen Benson (Henie) staged an ice show; this was also Glenn Miller's first film as an actor; the film was highlighted by Dorothy Dandridge's famous song-and-dance with the Nicholas Brothers to the Oscar-nominated Best Song Chattanooga Choo Choo, with other songs by the Glenn Miller Band (this was the first of the only two films featuring the band), including the In the Mood sequence.

Thin Ice (1937)

Sun Valley Serenade

Sweet Charity (1969)

Loosely adapted from director Federico Fellini's Nights of Cabiria, this excessive Bob Fosse-directed (his feature debut) and choreographed film version of the Neil Simon/Cy Coleman/Dorothy Fields stage musical (originally with Gwen Verdon) by Universal Studios starred Shirley MacLaine in the title role as dance-hall 'hostess' Charity Hope Valentine; it was best known for the show-stopping song Hey Big Spender (pictured) (sung by the dance hall girls of NY's dingy dime-a-dance Fan Dango Ballroom including Chita Rivera and Paula Kelly), and MacLaine's rendition of If They Could See Me Now (pictured); in the number I'm a Brass Band, MacLaine goose-stepped through the streets of New York dressed in a brilliant red majorette's uniform in the company of a marching band.

Swing Time (1936)

This RKO film, directed by George Stevens, marked the sixth film starring Fred Astaire (as incurable gambler/dancer John "Lucky" Garnett) and Ginger Rogers (as dance-school instructor Penelope "Penny" Carrol), and was considered one of their greatest teamings because it integrated many of the Jerome Kern songs into the story; it featured many famous musical numbers, including their poignant, ethereal, and melancholic duet in the finale titled Never Gonna Dance (pictured) on a dance floor with a stunning staircase behind them; also Astaire performed the magical and imaginative blackface solo dance Bojangles of Harlem (pictured) (his first and last blackface performance - a tribute to dancer Bill Robinson) in which he danced with three back-projected shadow-silhouettes of himself, the romantic duet Waltz in SwingTime (pictured) in a spotlight and backed by a small orchestra, and Astaire sang the Oscar-winning tune The Way You Look Tonight (pictured) as Rogers shampooed her hair; in a snow-covered setting, they performed the duet A Fine Romance together; and the film's early light courtship dance Pick Yourself Up (pictured) was performed during a dance lesson taught to a clumsy Astaire on the bare floor of the practice room.

MGM's That's Entertainment films (1974, 1976, 1994, 1995)

That Night in Rio (1941)

That Thing You Do! (1996)

Actor Tom Hanks' feature-film directorial debut film featured an early-'60s pop group named The Wonders - they performed many renditions of their debut song - the catchy Oscar-nominated tune That Thing You Do, in a talent show, in a disastrous Pittsburgh showcase, during a PlayTone Records Midwest tour, and finally culminating in their debut appearance on an Ed Sullivan-style show "Hollywood Television Showcase".