Top 5 Musicals of the 1930's

[@esmeephillips5888]

I nominate Eleanor Powell's 'Born to Dance' (1936). It confirmed the star power of Hollywood's unique solo choreographer-dancer and convinced MGM to put everything it had got behind musicals, leading to 20 years of classic productions.

[@jamessmithe5490]

Footlight Parade with James Cagney has some spectacular numbers.

[@FilmSnobReviews]

I actually own that one on VHS!

[@jamessmithe5490]

@@FilmSnobReviews And it's not just those fantastic musical numbers; the movie itself is quite good with some great pre-code zingers. eg. As long as there are streets you'll have a job.

[@frannygrace2191]

It's one of my favorites of all time. Great musical!

[@karac.a.]

The Gold Diggers of 1933 is in my personal top 5 ☺️💕

[@FilmSnobReviews]

Thats a really good one.

[@joycie014]

The first time I saw the My Forgotten Man number, I cried my eyes out. My father introduced me to these movies when I was about 8/9 and this one has stayed with me all this time - I’m 66 soon and every time I have seen it, it maybe around 10 times now, I still feel a thrill and a melancholic feeling that I’m not watching it with my dad.

[@karac.a.]

@@joycie014 The forgotten man number is so impactful! Petting in the park was supposed to be the original ending but the forgotten man number was so powerful that they changed it. Warner archives puts it out on DVD.

[@Muswell]

SO many great numbers in that one. Shadow Waltz, Forgotten Man, Pettin' in the Park &, of course, We're in the Money !! It's a really cracking script too ! (Great BB numbers in Dames too, but the story is rubbish).

[@joycie014]

@@Muswell like most of the musicals back then. The story was only the means to an end. Boy gets girl, boy loses girl, then boy gets her back and they all lived happily ever after. 😁

[@jorgerobles9484]

3 Fred Astaire movies? No Gold Diggers of 1933?, No Footlight Parade?, No Broadway Melody of 1936?, No Dames? Wizard of Oz was more a children fantasy rather than a musical movie, and Fred Astaire movies were more vehicles for him and Ginger Rogers, showing their talent for dancing

[@topogigio2879]

You could argue that The Wizard of Oz is more of a musical than 42nd Street. Oz has the greatest ballad of all time in the opening sequence and then wall-to-wall music throughout most of the color Oz segment. 42nd Street has one rehearsal scene in the middle and then virtually all of its numbers in the last 10 or 15 minutes.

[@AuntieMamie]

Obviously this is someone’s opinion. Eleanor Powell is missing.

[@FilmSnobReviews]

Quite the shocker. I know

[@MS-sd6rn]

I watched your clips from 30s to 2010s. Beautifully and subtly made! Thank you. It’d be one round when you make 2020s, amazing. These are my tops. The Wizard of Oz, Easter Parade, A Star is Born, The Sound of Music, All That Jazz, Fame, Evita, Dancer in the Dark and La La Land. How do you think?

[@FilmSnobReviews]

That’s a fantastic list!

[@MS-sd6rn]

So glad you like it!

[@Chechula1000]

Fred y Ginger copando el ranking!!! Gracias!!

[@amyclarke41]

top hat 2 showboat 3 wizard of oz 1

[@lizzieallen2284]

I nominate Show Boat (1936)

[@jbac45]

Lovely video....but why a 40s intro melody?

[@FilmSnobReviews]

"In the Mood" was released in 1939

[@cindyhutchins5532]

Why, why, why leave any of the great Eleanor Powell’s musicals out? Tsk, tsk!

[@topogigio2879]

I like The Gay Divorcee fine, but I would have replaced it with one of the Maurice Chevalier/Jeanette MacDonald operettas: Love Me Tonight (directed by Rouben Mamoulian) or The Merry Widow (directed by Ernst Lubitsch.)

[@joycie014]

The Wizard of Oz is a difficult film to categorise as a musical in comparison to most musicals. If you ask anyone to name any other song other than Somewhere Over the Rainbow, they would be hard pressed to name it. Maybe Follow the Yellow Brick Road and If I Only Had A Brain could come to mind and that’s it for me. I’m aware that at least one number with Ray Bolger and Judy was cut, which involved dancing, but I can’t think of any other numbers that had a lot of dancing either, which is usually one of the criteria to classify a movie as a musical. If you look at the other films you listed, it’s lacking in song and dance. By the way, I love all your other choices, but Golddiggers of 1933 could easily fit in there. Just my opinion.😁

[@lynnegreen2002]

I was a bit confused there for a second. My name's Lynne Green, too! 🤩

[@joycie014]

@@lynnegreen2002 I’m sure we’re not the only ones. Spooky, isn’t it? Especially the interest in classic musicals. I live in a small coastal fishing village in rural Victoria, Australia. If you tell me that you do too, I’m not leaving the house again! 😳😆

[@lynnegreen2002]

Nope. I live in Los Angeles!

[@joycie014]

@@lynnegreen2002 whew! I can leave the house! 😊

[@judekelly8324]

I totally agree with you. Also this list missing to great musicals, Gold Diggers of 1933 as you said and Footlight Parade

[@AzulCielo-g5y]

Bueno De rewreso a mi temporada

[@catlover34fl]

Gold Diggers of 1933 is my favorite and should have been #1.

[@cathysmith997]

What was your criteria? Box Office? Some other rating?

[@FilmSnobReviews]

My opinion.

[@jearnott]

This is a poor choice - both Glen Miller’s ‘In the Mood’ and ‘Wizard of Oz’ are late 1930s and have that Big Band Jazz sound, so different from the 1930s. Also this is typically Hollywood biased - Britain produced some great musicals during the 1930’s, usually starring Jessie Matthews, Gracie Fields or George Formby.

[@FilmSnobReviews]

I mean it’s my list so yeah...it’s biased. How about you recommend some great films to enlighten us on what we missed out on instead of stating that we made a poor choice. The former is far more helpful.

[@selcuksofular]

[@curtpiazza1688]

❤ 😊

[@legendvito5702]

🖐🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼🖐🏼🤝