Musicals
As soon as sound was introduced to the movies, the movie musical was born. The musical was one of the most popular movie entertainments from the 1930s through to the 50s, before falling out of favour at the end of the 60s for audiences now being weened on Vietnam, race riots, political assassinations, flower power and psychedelia. The musical still continued onwards, albeit in a different form, with various efforts such as "Cabaret", "The Rocky Horror Picture Show", "Grease", "Hair", "All That Jazz" and "The Blues Brothers" appearing over the next decade. More recently, "Moulin Rouge" and particularly "Chicago" hark back to the glory days of the musical.
Right: Liza Minnelli does "Cabaret"
Great Balls Of Fire (1989)
6.2/10
Director: Jim McBride
Starring: Dennis Quaid, Winona Ryder, Alec Baldwin
Dennis Quaid plays Jerry Lee Lewis in this biopic that traces 'the killer's' rise to rock and roll stardom in the '50s and the marriage to his teenage... Read more
A Woman is a Woman ( Une Femme Est Une Femme ) (1961)
7.6/10
Director: Jean-Luc Godard
Starring: Anna Karina, Jean-Claude Brialy, Jean-Paul Belmondo
'A Woman Is A Woman'. Godard's light-hearted tribute to Hollywood musicals, with Anna Karina as a nightclub stripper who wants a baby and expects eith... Read more
Hendrix (2000)
5.5/10
Director: Leon Ichaso
Starring: Wood Harris, Billy Zane, Dorian Harewood, Vivica A Fox
Decades after his 1970 death at the age of 27, his name remains synonymous with rock guitar innovation. Wood Harris stars as doomed 60's icon Jimi Hen... Read more
Can Can (1960)
6.4/10
Director: Walter Lang
Starring: Frank Sinatra, Shirley MacLaine, Louis Jourdan
1896, Montmartre: the Can-Can, the dance in which the women lift their skirts, is forbidden. Nevertheless Simone has it performed every night in her c... Read more
Loving You (1957)
6.5/10
Director: Hal Kanter
Starring: Dolores Hart, Elvis Presley, Lizabeth Scott, Wendell Corey
This better than average Elvis Presley vehicle features him as a small town boy who makes good when his singing ability is discovered. Read more
Robin And The 7 Hoods (1964)
6.5/10
Director: Gordon Douglas
Starring: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Bing Crosby, Peter Falk, Sammy Davis Jr
The last of the "Rat Pack " films is set in Roaring Twenties Chicago, and Sinatra and crew play garrulous gangsters who rob from the rich and give to... Read more
Ziegfeld Follies (1946)
6.6/10
Director: Vincente Minnelli
Starring: Judy Garland, Lena Horne, Gene Kelly, William Powell, Esther Williams, Red Skelt...
This enchanting MGM musical treat has late, great showman Florenz Ziegfeld (William Powell) looking down from heaven and envisioning an assortment of... Read more
Hairspray (2007)
6.7/10
Director: Adam Shankman
Starring: Nikki Blonsky, John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer, Christopher Walken, Amanda Byne...
An adaptation of the stage musical which was itself an adaptation of the 1988 John Waters film. Overweight high school student Tracy Turnblad dreams... Read more
God Help the Girl (2014)
6.4/10
Director: Stuart Murdoch
Starring: Emily Browning, Olly Alexander, Hannah Murray
Fans of big screen musicals can thank fans of indie popsters Belle and Sebastian for this one. They crowd-funded the debut feature of the group's sing... Read more
A Star is Born (Blu-Ray) (2018)
8.4/10
Director: Bradley Cooper
Starring: Andrew Dice Clay, Sam Elliott, Dave Chappelle, Bradley Cooper, Lady Gaga, Lady G...
Seasoned musician Jackson Maine discovers -- and falls in love with -- struggling artist Ally. She has just about given up on her dream to make it big... Read more