Introduction: The following listing (in multiple parts, organized alphabetically) is a collection of many of the Greatest Song and Dance Musical Movie Moments in film history. Many of the greatest musical moments were accompanied by a well-staged production number, a lavish set, or a great memorable tune. Though the list appears to be dominated by musicals, other genres were examined and included. See also this site's writeup of the Musicals Film Genre.

Key to Iconic Symbols:

Exceptional examples of the development of song/dance

Entries in AFI's 25 Greatest Movie Musicals of All Time with ranking number (#)

Entries in Entertainment Weekly's 25 Best Movie Musicals of All Time with ranking number (#)

Blue Skies (1946)

This Technicolored Paramount production about a love triangle featured Fred Astaire's (as radio broadcaster Jed Potter) famous virtuoso and witty rendition of Puttin' on the Ritz, with his only prop being his cane (that he used in synchronized conjunction with his rat-a-tat tapping); in one segment of the performance, he danced in counterpoint with ten miniature Astaires; Puttin' on the Ritz was performed in homage in Mel Brooks' horror comedy Young Frankenstein (1974).

The Blues Brothers (1980)

In this anarchic musical comedy, Jake and Elwood Blues (Saturday Night Live alumni John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd) performed I Can't Turn You Loose, the bluesy Everybody Needs Somebody to Love, and in a bar - the main theme from the TV western Rawhide ("Rollin', rollin', rollin'...keep them doggies rollin', Rawhide"); there were also many other show-stopping performances by R&B and soul singers, like Jailhouse Rock (with the Blues Brothers, James Brown, Cab Calloway (reprising his famous Minnie the Moocher), Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin - with her show-stopping version of Think) and Shake A Tailfeather (with Blues Brothers and Ray Charles).

The Bodyguard (1992)

Born to Dance (1936)

A Boy Named Charlie Brown (1969)

This was the first (and best of four) animated theatrical feature film that starred Charles M. Schultz's famed Peanuts comic-strip characters, from director Bill Melendez; it was Academy Award-nominated for Best Original Song Score (by Rod McKuen and others), including these numbers among others: the catchy spelling rules song I Before E (Except After C) sung by Charlie Brown, Linus and Snoopy (on a jaw harp), the celebratory Champion Charlie Brown after he won the school's spelling bee for entry into the national contest, and the title song (sung by McKuen) -- A Boy Named Charlie Brown ("He's just a boy next door, perhaps a little more / A boy named Charlie Brown') - a heavily-orchestrated poignant ode to the perennial loser; the film was also noted for its Fantasia (1940)-like expressionistic musical interludes (a series of religious images and haunting portraits) during pianist Schroeder's (Andy Pforsich) playing of Beethoven's beautiful Pathetique Sonata; also, the brilliant visual interpretation of the The Star-Spangled Banner before one of the kids' baseball games, and Snoopy's fantasy in Rockefeller Center's ice rink - first performing a graceful ice dance/ballet, then imagining himself as a hard-nosed, gap-toothed hockey player.

Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)

Brigadoon (1954)

Director Vincente Minnelli's somewhat disappointing MGM musical (filmed on elaborate studio sets rather than on location) included many Lerner and Loewe hit songs, including the enchanting fantasy opening Come Ye to the Fair, Tommy Albright's (Gene Kelly) song-and-dance solo number Almost Like Being In Love, the graceful and lyrical dancing duet between Tommy and Scottish village lass Fiona Campbell (Cyd Charisse) in The Heather on the Hill (pictured), and Come to Me Bend to Me.

Bright Eyes (1934)

Broadway Melody of 1929 (1929)

The Broadway Melody of 1936 (1935)

This was the second (and the best of four) of the "Broadway Melody" films that attempted to recall the Academy Award-winning Best Picture The Broadway Melody (1929) - MGM's first all-talking film; it included Arthur Freed/Nacio Herb Brown songs that would be repeated in Singin' in the Rain (1952): I've Got a Feelin' You're Foolin', Broadway Rhythm and You Are My Lucky Star; this musical directed by Roy Del Ruth starred Eleanor Powell (in her first MGM film) with leading man Robert Taylor (as a Broadway producer), Jack Benny (as a columnist), and the dance team of Buddy Ebsen and his sister Vilma (in their first film musical); numbers included Robert Taylor (in his own voice) singing to June Knight in the production number I've Got a Feelin' You're Foolin' (an Academy Award winner for Dance Direction) (pictured), the title number Broadway Rhythm, Frances Langford's singing of You Are My Lucky Star (pictured) and reprised during the song and dance dream ballet of the same name, and Powell's song and dance performance of (You've Gotta) Sing Before Breakfast (pictured) with the Ebsens on a New York rooftop.

The Broadway Melody of 1938 (1937)

The Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940)