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Musicals with spectacular production numbers (1 Viewer)

David Grove

Stunt Coordinator
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Apr 6, 1999
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227
I wonder if the knowledgable folk that frequent HTF might help me assemble a list of DVD-available musicals with spectacular production numbers.

"Spectacular" can be interpreted individually, as it involves personal taste. But, I'm thinking of big numbers that are impressive due to exceptional skill of performers, or sheer number of performers, or elaborate/creative costuming, or a spectacular set, or camera angles, or any other element that might make for a grand performance.

For this list, I'm not particularly interested in plot, dramatic content, etc.

Just spectacular production numbers (or even spectacular solo or small ensemble performances) in musicals available on DVD.

Thank you for any suggestions.

DG

Edit: I suppose I should give some examples. First, let me proclaim my large ignorance (which is the reason for the thread), but I recently viewed 42nd Street, and thought it would qualify. I also recently viewed White Christmas, and was struck by talented dancing and right in-your-face colorful costuming. In the distant past, I viewed The Producers, and enjoyed the over-the-top Spring Time for Hitler and Germany number. I'm a sucker for grand stairs, impressive circles, "Big" stuff. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers is another one.

But my lack of knowledge is much greater than my experience, so thanks for suggestions.

DG




CUMMULATIVE LIST OF TITLES MENTIONED IN THIS THREAD:


INDIVIDUAL TITLES

42ND STREET
A STAR IS BORN (1954)
ALL THAT JAZZ (Joe's Dream, Bye Bye Love)
AN AMERICAN IN PARIS
ANNIE
ANNIE GET YOUR GUN (There's No Business Like Show Business)
BEDKNOBS & BROOMSTICKS (Portobello Road)
BRIGADOON
BROADWAY MELODY OF 1940 (Astaire & Powell/Begin the Beguine)
BYE BYE BIRDIE 1963
CABARET (Money, Money)
CABIN in the SKY (Honey in the Honeycomb)
CAROUSEL
CATS (opening, and 1/2 way thru)
CHICAGO
CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG (Me Ole Bamboo)
CHORUS LINE (finale)
DUCK SOUP (Freedonia's Going To War)
EASTER PARADE
EVITA 1996
FIDDLER ON THE ROOF (To Life, Tevye's Dream)
FOLLOW the FLEET (Let's Face the Music and Dance)
FUNNY GIRL
GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES (Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend, Two Little Girls from Little Rock, and Ain't There Anyone Here for Love?)
GOOD NEWS (The Varsity Drag)
GREASE 1978
GUYS & DOLLS (Luck Be a Lady, Sit Down Your Rockin' the Boat)
HALF A SIXPENCE (Money To Burn, Flash Bang Wallop)
HELLO, DOLLY!
HOLIDAY INN (Astaire Fire Cracker Dance)
INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM (Anything Goes)
KISS ME KATE (Fosse/From THis Moment On, Miller/Too Darn Hot)
LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME (Shakin' the Blues Away)
MARY POPPINS (Step in Time)
MOULIN ROUGE (2000)
MY FAIR LADY (Get Me To the Church on Time)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK (Title Number, Happy Endings sequence)
OKLAHOMA!
OLIVER (Consider Yourself; It's a Fine Life; Who Will Buy)
ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER
ON THE TOWN
PENNIES FROM HEAVEN (Yes Yes, Pennies from Heaven, Love is Good for Anything that Ails You, Let's Misbehave)
PENNIES FROM HEAVEN (1981)
PETE'S DRAGON (I Saw a Dragon)
ROYAL WEDDING (Astaire on ceiling)
SCROOGE
SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS
SHALL WE DANCE (Let's Call the Whole Thing Off; Slap that Bass
SINGIN' IN THE RAIN
SOUTH PACIFIC
SOUTH PARK THE MOVIE 1999
STAR
STORMY WEATHER (Lena Horne's Stormy Weather and The Nicholas Brothers' The Jumpin' Jive)
SWEET CHARITY (Big Spender, I'm a Brass Band, Rhythm of Life, et al)
SWING! SWING! SWING! (USO Dance/Fight)
SWING TIME (Bojangles of Harlem)
THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT (Box Set)
THE BAND WAGON (Shine on Your Shoes, Triplets, The Girl Hunt Ballet, and That's Entertainment)
THE BARKLEYS of BROADWAY (Shoes with Wings On)
THE BLUES BROTHERS
THE CLIFF RICHARD COLLECTION (The Young Ones, Summer Holiday, Wonderful Life)
THE COLOR PURPLE (God's Tryin' To Tell You Something)
THE GANG'S ALL HERE (Lady w/Tutti Frutti Hat)
The GREAT MUPPET CAPER (The First Time It Happens)
THE GREAT ZIEGFELD
THE HAPPIEST MILLIONAIRE (Ballroom scene, Let's Have a Drink)
THE HARVEY GIRLS (On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe)
THE KING AND I (Small House of Uncle Thomas)
THE MUPPET MOVIE (The Magic Store)
THE MUPPETS TAKE MANHATTAN (Finale)
THE MUSIC MAN
THE ONE AND ONLY GENUINE ORIGINAL FAMILY BAND (West of the Wide Missouri)
THE PAJAMA GAME (Once-a-Year Day)
THE PRODUCERS (Springtime for Hitler)
THE SOUND OF MUSIC
THE WIZARD OF OZ (Munchkinland)
THERE"S NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESS (Alexander's Ragtime Band)
THIS IS THE ARMY
VARSITY SHOW (baton dancers)
VICTOR/VICTORIA 1982
VIVA LAS VEGAS 1964
WEST SIDE STORY
WHITE CHRISTMAS
WILLY WONKA & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY (World of Pure Imagination)
ZIEGFELD GIRL (several)



GENERIC

ALL BUSBY BERKELEY
ANY ELEANOR POWELL MGM, for example
___Broadway Melody of 19XX
___Born to Dance
___Rosalie
___Lady Be Good (Fascinating Rythmn)
___Ship Ahoy
GARLAND-ROONEY musicals (Busby Berkeley numbers)



INDIAN

AWAARA (1951)
DEVDAS (2002)
DIL SE (1998)
KABHI KHUSHI KABHIE GHAM (2001)
LAGAAN (Rain Dance)
MUGHAL-E-AZAM (1960)
 

GeorgePaul

Second Unit
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Aug 1, 2004
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274
An American in Paris
Oklahoma
Moulin Rouge (2000)

It's not a musical, but the best part for me of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom was the "Anything Goes" production number in the beginning. I wish I could make the screencap with the production designer credit part of my signature, but I can't seem to get it to fit.:frowning:
 

ScottR

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Apr 1, 2000
Messages
2,646
Annie
Chicago
Easter Parade
The Sound of Music
Oklahoma!
South Pacific
Carousel
A Star is Born (1954)
Any Busby B. musical
 

Eric Vedowski

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Ziegfeld Girl-one number begins with Tony Martin singing to a reclining Hedy Lamarr and the camera pans downward to an aquarium and focuses on a piece of coral that becomes a headdress on the head of a chorus girl which leads into a song that has Judy Garland eventually caged in huge bamboo sticks. Trippy indeed.
As someone said about MGM back then-it's the way God would do it if he had the money.
 

Herb Kane

Screenwriter
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May 7, 2001
Messages
1,342
David,

This should be a good start as far as the MGM side of things go.

http://members.aol.com/mgmfanatic/

I'd also strongly recommend you take a look at WB's recent release of the That's Entertainment trilogy - released about a month ago. It is a terrific set.

Herb.
 

TonyDale

Second Unit
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Messages
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HALF A SIXPENCE - Money To Burn, Flash Bang Wallop
THE CLIFF RICHARD COLLECTION: THE YOUNG ONES, SUMMER HOLIDAY, WONDERFUL LIFE. (Trust me on these)
CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG - Me Ole Bamboo
MARY POPPINS - Step In Time
GOOD NEWS - The Varisty Drag
 

Rob W

Screenwriter
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HELLO, DOLLY! is a superb example, since it is overstuffed with huge production numbers that are often at odds with the simple framework of the story. The disc is also a flawless transfer.
 

Mark-W

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I second Herb's suggestion that you rent or buy the That's Entertainment boxed set. For $35, you get many of the best musical numbers ever put to film, and then, those that really "wow!" you can be purchased (hopefully, if they're available) on DVD in their entirety.

In fact, I would say a set like That's Entertainment is PERFECT for someone with little knowledge of "good musicals" who wants to know what is out there.
 

Ernest Rister

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Here's two that don't come up very often, but they're among my favorites (some will quibble that the films themselves are not musicals, but these are definitely musical *moments*):

1941 - "Swing! Swing! Swing!" (USO Dance/Fight)

The Color Purple - "God's Tryin' To Tell You Something"

Here's hoping Spielberg finally takes the plunge and directs an all-out musical one of these days -- his films contain many purely musical moments and it is obvious to me the talent for a musical is in his blood, soaked down to his very bones.
 

Bob Graham

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Bob Graham
I nominate MONTY PYTHON'S MEANING OF LIFE for the "Every Sperm is Sacred" and "Christmas in Heaven" production numbers. ;)
 

Haggai

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All That Jazz has some good numbers, particularly the last one, Bye Bye Love. And of course there are a lot of big numbers in The Blues Brothers.
 

Doug Bull

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"STAR"
"SCROOGE"
"OLIVER"
"ANNIE"
"THE MUSIC MAN"
"THE GREAT ZIEGFELD"
and "THERE'S NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESS" which probably has the best over the top production numbers of them all. ( eg. Alexander's Ragtime Band sequence)
 

MatthewA

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Also look out for sequences from these films:

The Wizard of Oz: Munchkinland
The King and I: Small House of Uncle Thomas
The Pajama Game: Once-a-Year Day
My Fair Lady: Get Me To the Church on Time
The Happiest Millionaire: ballroom scene; Let's Have a Drink
The One and Only Genuine Original Family Band: West of the Wide Missouri
Oliver: Consider Yourself; It's a Fine Life; Who Will Buy?
Bedknobs & Broomsticks: Portobello Road
Fiddler on the Roof: To Life; Tevye's Dream
Pete's Dragon: I Saw a Dragon (beer barrel dance)
All that Jazz: Joe's Dream, Bye Bye Love
The Muppet Movie: The Magic Store
The Great Muppet Caper: The First Time It Happens
The Muppets Take Manhattan: Finale
 

Ryan Wong

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
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Messages
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I recommend these besides all the titles that already mentioned:

BYE BYE BIRDIE 1963
VIVA LAS VEGAS 1964
SOUTH PARK THE MOVIE: BIGGER, LONGER AND UNCUT 1999
GREASE 1978
EVITA 1996
VICTOR/VICTORIA 1982
 

David Grove

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Apr 6, 1999
Messages
227
Thank you all for your helpful and excellent suggestions.

I have to admit that I already have several of the titles mentioned, including "That's Entertainment". I'm waiting until our home theater room is finished to "break them out". (Makes for "extra encouragement" to get the project done.)

Anyway, I'm delighted with your collective assistance.

In the past, I've seen a few of the musicals (such as Rodgers & Hammerstein titles) that you almost can't miss being familiar with growing up in the U.S., but am mainly unfamiliar with many of the older MGM titles, etc.

Thank you for the MGM link.

You folks have given me a great start to accumulating a collection of musicals.

Regards,

DG
 

Luke Petschauer

Auditioning
Joined
May 3, 2003
Messages
5
I'm surprised no one's suggested Kiss Me Kate.

Not only do you get to see Bob Fosse (!) and his first choreography for the silver screen (in the "From This Moment On" number), but there's also Anne Miller's "Too Darn Hot" routine, which is also fantastic.

Watching Fosse through the picture is a revelation - he revolutionized dance and from his time on screen you can see why.

Kiss Me Kate is less of a "production value" movie in its 2d form, I think, even though I love the sets and costumes.

Also you should check out Broadway Melody of 1940. Fred Astaire and Eleanor Powell's "Begin the Beguine" number is not only fantastically performed, but the production value of the number is great. It's performed on a mirrored floor that the studio had made for the number. When it was filmed was the first time that the dancers actually danced on the surface. Amazing!
 

Dennis Nicholls

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Then there's Irving Berlin's This Is The Army, sadly only represented on DVD with a poor public-domain transfer.

In it, Ronald Reagan directs a cross-dressing number "Ladies of the Chorus". :eek: Plus a "minstrel show" number with guys in black-face AND cross dressing. :eek: :eek:
 

Paul Hillenbrand

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"Funny Girl"
"On A Clear Day You Can See Forever" (DVD will be released on February 22nd, 2005)
 

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