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"
Paris Blues (1961)
6.7/10
Director: Martin Ritt
Starring: Joanne Woodward, Louis Armstrong, Paul Newman, Serge Reggiani, Sidney Poitier, D...
From the smoky cellar bistros of Paris' Left Bank comes this tender, bittersweet tale of two American expatriate jazz musicians (Paul Newman, Sidney P... Read more
Blue Hawaii (1961)
6.1/10
Director: Norman Taurog
Starring: Elvis Presley, Angela Lansbury, Joan Blackman
Tour guide Elvis sings 14 songs and still manages to drive sightseers around the islands in golf carts in this lush musical that features great locale... Read more
West Side Story (1961)
7.6/10
Director: Jerome Robbins, Robert Wise
Starring: Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn
Leonard Bernstein's classic musical updating of "Romeo and Juliet" stars Richard Beymer and Natalie Wood as Tony and Maria, the doomed lovers caught u... Read more
Twist Around the Clock (1961)
4.9/10
Director: Oscar Rudolph
Starring: John Cronin, Alvy Moore, Mary Mitchell, Clay Cole, Dion DiMucci, Chubby Checker
Memory Lane anyone? This classic from 1961 features a paper thin plot, fabulous singing stars such as Dion ('Runaround Sue', 'The Wanderer'), Vicki S... Read more
Flower Drum Song (1961)
7/10
Director: Henry Koster
Starring: Nancy Kwan, James Shigeta, Juanita Hall, Benson Fong, Jack Soo
Nominated for five Academy Awards including Best Music for Rodgers and Hammerstein, this classic, musical comedy-romance stars Nancy Kwan as a young C... Read more
The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band / Babes in Toyland (1961)
Director: Jack Donohue, Michael O'Herlihy
Starring: Ray Bolger, Walter Brennan, Buddy Ebsen, Annette Funicello, Tommy Sands, Lesley...
'The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band' - Fun-filled musical stars Walter Brennan as the patriarch of the Bower family, a Dakota clan who or... Read more
The Music Man (1961)
7.7/10
Director: Morton DaCosta
Starring: Robert Preston, Shirley Jones, Buddy Hackett
If you are looking for a movie with 76 trombones and trouble in River City, have I got a musical for you. Robert Preston stars as the energetic Profes... 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
Wild In The Country (1961)
6.5/10
Director: Philip Dunne
Starring: John Ireland, Hope Lange, Elvis Presley, Tuesday Weld, Millie Perkins
A red-neck youth (Elvis) is desperate to become a respected writer! A real curiosity with good performances by Tuesday Weld and Hope Lange. Read more
The Cliff Richard Movie Collection: The Young Ones / Wonderful Life / Summer Holiday (1961)
Director: Peter Yates, Sidney J Furie
Starring: Cliff Richard, The Shadows, Robert Morley, Carole Gray, Susan Hampshire, Derek B...
A Cliff Richard triple feature! 'The Young Ones' (1961) - Nicky and his friends find their youth club threatened by a property tycoon who intends to b... Read more