The 100 'Greatest' Musicals Meme.
Tuesday, 30 December 2003 20:33![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
For those of you unfamiliar with the 2003 television schedule on Channel 4 in Britain, this meme that's been going round is taken from their 100 Greatest Musicals show, which I was unfortunate enough to sit through the whole shebang. It's an odd list that just strengthens my opinion that the British public are DEEPLY STUPID, LACK TASTE and are MORONS.
Bold means I've seen the film, underlined means I've seen the stage show or am familiar with the music, italics means I've seen parts of it either on telly or in That's Entertainment!.
100. Let's Make Love (1960). Bad film really. La Monroe's opening 'My Heart Belongs to Daddy' is OK but rather exploitative IMO. Yves Montand is shite, truly shite.
99. Miss Saigon
98. Bright Eyes (1934)
97. The Cotton Club (1984). Bad film by a great director. This really should've been Richard Gere's last musical.
96. Lullaby Of Broadway (1951)
95. Breaking Glass (1980)
94. Sholay (1975)
93. How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1967)
92. The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg (1964)
91. Everyone Says I Love You (1996)
90. Cry Baby (1990) I really loved this movie although the first time I saw it I'd never even heard of John Waters!
89. A Little Night Music (1977)
88. For Me And My Gal (1942). How I love dear Gene.
87. Million Dollar Mermaid (1952). Esther Williams can swim, apparently.
86. There's No Business Like Show Business (1954) . I wouldn't want to watch the whole thing, methinks!
85. Funny Face (1957)
84. Ziegfeld Follies (1946)
83. A Star Is Born (Barbara Streisand) (1976)
82. Anything Goes
81. Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
80. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
79. All that Jazz (1979)
78. Hedwig And The Angry Inch (2001)
77. Porgy And Bess (1959) Saw a clip in class in California. Hardly ever gets shown on telly or put on video because the Gershwin estate isn't sure where they stand on it.
76. Dancer in the Dark (2000)
75. Dil Se (1998)
74. Shall We Dance? (1937)
73. Half A Sixpence (1967). Hurrah Tommy Steele, we salute you!
72. Godspell (1973). David Essex sucks.
71. Show Boat (1951). My grandad's tape was in such bad nick I couldn't watch the whole thing. Ava Gardner truly is the most beautiful woman to have walked the earth.
70. Gigi (1958). Didn't bother watching all of it.
69. The Producers (1968)
68. Kiss Me Kate (1953) I've italicised it cos I'm sure I saw it when I was young.
67. Doctor Dolittle (1967)
66. Gypsy (1962)
65. The Jazz Singer (1927) Had to sit through the whole fucking thing. Terrible movie that, without breaking the sound barrier, would have been forgotten.
64. Easter Parade (1948)
63. Jailhouse Rock (1957). Ah, a childhood spent believing my daddy when he said Elvis was the king.
62. Sweet Charity (1969)
61. Scrooge (1970)
60. Top Hat (1935)
59. Funny Girl (1968)
58. An American In Paris (1951). A truly great piece of film which is only this low down because a lot of people (myself included really) don't appreciate fully Gene's great art.
57. Paint Your Wagon (1969)
56. Meet me in St Louis (1944) Saw it in California. Judy singing 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas' did bring real tears to my eyes.
55. Hair (1979)
54. On The Town (1949). WHY isn't this higher up? It's an excellent movie, groundbreaking in its use of actual locations and a rollicking good ride.
53. Cinderella (1950). A little piece of my heart right there. I'd put it higher up but at the same time I don't immediately think of it as a musical.
52. Carmen Jones
51. Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967)
50. Hello Dolly (1969)
49. Muppets Take Manhattan (1984). I'm sure I've seen all of this as a kid- I did love the Muppets, so I musta done.
48. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)
47. Summer Holiday (1963). A favourite of mine as a child before I realised that the star was meant to be Cliff Richard and not the double-decker bus. Also before I realised how shite Cliff is.
46. A Chorus Line (1985)
45. A Star Is Born (Judy Garland) (1954)
44. Tommy (1975). How I love thee, my Pinball Wizard. How I love Keith Moon. How I think the only bad thing is Paul bloody Nicholas as Cousin Kevin. Still, at least he's actually meant to be evil!
43. Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs (1937). Never my favourite.
42. Starlight Express. I saw it twice, once before and once after it was all revamped. The second time (in the summer of 94 with my whole year group as our end of year trip) rocked my world.
41. Carousel (1956)
40. 8 Mile (2002)
39. South Pacific (1958). I've seen bits of the film and bits of the recent Glenn Close/Harry Connick Jr/Maximilian Schell TV movie. But I don't like Rodgers & Hammerstein much at all. Preferred Rodgers when he was with Hart.
38. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993). Got bored.
37. White Christmas (1954) Most of it. Came in late when it was on telly the other day.
36. Guys and Dolls (1955) I was a silly tart and taped over some of it before I had a chance to see it all. Hearing Brando sing a sweet song fills my heart with joy and also snickering.
35. Oklahoma (1955) See South Pacific for R&H opinion.
34. High Society (1956) It's not the Philadelphia Story but it's pretty good. I wish Grace Kelly weren't in it, but 'Now You Has Jazz' is a lot of fun.
33. Fiddler on the Roof (1971)
32. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)
31. Blood Brothers.
30. Cats (1981-2002). Saw it when I was a kid. Really liked it at the time, but my Lloyd-Webber hate dimmed it through time.
29. Fame (1980). I saw it when it came to the West End and I caught a preview with my family. My brother idolised the dancer who played the Leroy character and was rather devastated when the young dancer, a guy called Scott Sherrin turned up dead in the Thames a few years later.
28. Jesus Christ Superstar (1973). I only know the 'riding round the corner on a Yahama' lyrics, and I'm told it's not the right words.
27. Jungle Book (1967). I haven't seen it many times cos we had a pirate copy of the video and it was shite..
26. Annie (1982). OK, this is the bane of my life, the nadir of musicals, a horrible piece of shite that haunts me even though I've managed to avoid it. The worst of stage school brattery IMO.
25. Calamity Jane (1953). Doris Day narks me.
24. The Blues Brothers (1980) Didn't like it much, but wasn't paying much attention at the time- we were driving through Eastern Europe on a coach.
23. The King And I (1956). Have it, but much prefer Anna and the King. R/H again, innit?
22. Evita (1996). I did like this a lot at one point and at least the singing lessons improved Madge's voice.
21. Little Shop Of Horrors (1986)
20. Phantom Of The Opera. Never seen it all the way through although me and Marianne at school used to sing it at lunchtimes in the music room. I was the Phantom, she was the chick.
19. Bugsy Malone (1976) Loved it as a kid, just loved it.
18. Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat Twice, both times at the Palladium with my former love, Jason Donovan in the lead (the second time he returned for a while after Philip 'Kids TV' Schofield and Darren 'Dirty Rat' Day had a go). How I loved it once, how I wanted (still want) a coat like that. Donny Osmond cannot possibly compare to Jase, man. I was glad this was in the list, if only to get Jason Donovan back on British telly for a minute!!
17. Cabaret (1972) A truly wonderful movie that makes me so sad to see where Liza's at now. She was easily the equal to her mother, easily. Although I'd love to know what Judy would've made of the title song. And I sang 'Mein Herr' at the UCI talent thing *snickers at memory*.
16. Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory (1971) I liked it at the time, but it's awfully dated. Can't wait for the Deppified version.
15. Les Miserables. You know, of all the time I spent as a kid going to musicals, I never saw this one or Miss Saigon, despite the fact they've been running in the West End since Time Began.
14. The Lion King (1994). I think the only time I've actually cried in the cinema is when Simba's dad bought it. However, I don't like Elton John or Tim Rice much, so I can't love it.
13. Buffy The Vampire Slayer - Once More With Feeling. I saw this as it aired in California. SMG can't sing. It was awful, frankly. Xander & Anya's 30s pastiche was pretty good, but other than that I was deeply unimpressed.
12. My Fair Lady (1964). I think I've seen it all, but I borrowed it from my granddad and was so ill the day I watched it, I don't remember anything but the first song.
11. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968). I have seen it all, but I was a kid and hardly remember it. Jason Donovan's gonna be in the stage show in January....
10. Moulin Rouge (2001) I hated it the first time I saw it and I still don't think Nicole's voice is as good as everyone says, but it has some really redeeming points. I liked the Roxanne scene hugely. Doesn't suck, but it's no Kelly/Sinatra film.
9. Oliver! (1968) I know I've seen it all, but I hardly remember it. Not one I particularly liked.
8. Chicago (2002). Renee and Richard NOT GOOD. CZJ was better than I expected although I don't like her so expected very little.
7. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) Loved it. Just loved it. The first time we see Frank's tapping platform boot as he makes his Grand Entrance I was like 'woah'.
6. Singin' In The Rain (1952) HOW I LOVE THIS MOVIE. Seriously, this is the pinnacle of musical movies, moreso even than An American In Paris which I've always felt was too arty. There is nothing wrong with this film, not even Debbie Reynolds. This should be Number One without a doubt.
5. Mary Poppins (1964) Again, I think I borrowed the video from my grandad. Didn't mind it but Dick Van Dyke's BLOODY ACCENT will haunt me to the end of time. Apparently he's never been to London before.
4. West Side Story (1961) Bits of it. Can't stand Natalie No Talent Wood, so I never bothered with it.
3. The Wizard Of Oz (1939) How I love thee Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly LIon. How I love thee Dorothy and Toto. How I want to know why this is only at three!
2. The Sound Of Music (1965) I borrowed this from my grandad when I was a kid and didn't think it was too bad, but I don't like Julie Andrews much, so I could never really appreciate it. R&H again, too.
1. Grease (1978). You know I loved this movie. In fact the first time I saw it properly as a kid was on Crimbo one year. I taped it and watched it another three times. I loved it so much I even liked Grease 2 a lot. But the greatest musical ever? Not by a long old shot.
Bold means I've seen the film, underlined means I've seen the stage show or am familiar with the music, italics means I've seen parts of it either on telly or in That's Entertainment!.
100. Let's Make Love (1960). Bad film really. La Monroe's opening 'My Heart Belongs to Daddy' is OK but rather exploitative IMO. Yves Montand is shite, truly shite.
99. Miss Saigon
98. Bright Eyes (1934)
97. The Cotton Club (1984). Bad film by a great director. This really should've been Richard Gere's last musical.
96. Lullaby Of Broadway (1951)
95. Breaking Glass (1980)
94. Sholay (1975)
93. How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1967)
92. The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg (1964)
91. Everyone Says I Love You (1996)
90. Cry Baby (1990) I really loved this movie although the first time I saw it I'd never even heard of John Waters!
89. A Little Night Music (1977)
88. For Me And My Gal (1942). How I love dear Gene.
87. Million Dollar Mermaid (1952). Esther Williams can swim, apparently.
86. There's No Business Like Show Business (1954) . I wouldn't want to watch the whole thing, methinks!
85. Funny Face (1957)
84. Ziegfeld Follies (1946)
83. A Star Is Born (Barbara Streisand) (1976)
82. Anything Goes
81. Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
80. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
79. All that Jazz (1979)
78. Hedwig And The Angry Inch (2001)
77. Porgy And Bess (1959) Saw a clip in class in California. Hardly ever gets shown on telly or put on video because the Gershwin estate isn't sure where they stand on it.
76. Dancer in the Dark (2000)
75. Dil Se (1998)
74. Shall We Dance? (1937)
73. Half A Sixpence (1967). Hurrah Tommy Steele, we salute you!
72. Godspell (1973). David Essex sucks.
71. Show Boat (1951). My grandad's tape was in such bad nick I couldn't watch the whole thing. Ava Gardner truly is the most beautiful woman to have walked the earth.
70. Gigi (1958). Didn't bother watching all of it.
69. The Producers (1968)
68. Kiss Me Kate (1953) I've italicised it cos I'm sure I saw it when I was young.
67. Doctor Dolittle (1967)
66. Gypsy (1962)
65. The Jazz Singer (1927) Had to sit through the whole fucking thing. Terrible movie that, without breaking the sound barrier, would have been forgotten.
64. Easter Parade (1948)
63. Jailhouse Rock (1957). Ah, a childhood spent believing my daddy when he said Elvis was the king.
62. Sweet Charity (1969)
61. Scrooge (1970)
60. Top Hat (1935)
59. Funny Girl (1968)
58. An American In Paris (1951). A truly great piece of film which is only this low down because a lot of people (myself included really) don't appreciate fully Gene's great art.
57. Paint Your Wagon (1969)
56. Meet me in St Louis (1944) Saw it in California. Judy singing 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas' did bring real tears to my eyes.
55. Hair (1979)
54. On The Town (1949). WHY isn't this higher up? It's an excellent movie, groundbreaking in its use of actual locations and a rollicking good ride.
53. Cinderella (1950). A little piece of my heart right there. I'd put it higher up but at the same time I don't immediately think of it as a musical.
52. Carmen Jones
51. Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967)
50. Hello Dolly (1969)
49. Muppets Take Manhattan (1984). I'm sure I've seen all of this as a kid- I did love the Muppets, so I musta done.
48. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)
47. Summer Holiday (1963). A favourite of mine as a child before I realised that the star was meant to be Cliff Richard and not the double-decker bus. Also before I realised how shite Cliff is.
46. A Chorus Line (1985)
45. A Star Is Born (Judy Garland) (1954)
44. Tommy (1975). How I love thee, my Pinball Wizard. How I love Keith Moon. How I think the only bad thing is Paul bloody Nicholas as Cousin Kevin. Still, at least he's actually meant to be evil!
43. Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs (1937). Never my favourite.
42. Starlight Express. I saw it twice, once before and once after it was all revamped. The second time (in the summer of 94 with my whole year group as our end of year trip) rocked my world.
41. Carousel (1956)
40. 8 Mile (2002)
39. South Pacific (1958). I've seen bits of the film and bits of the recent Glenn Close/Harry Connick Jr/Maximilian Schell TV movie. But I don't like Rodgers & Hammerstein much at all. Preferred Rodgers when he was with Hart.
38. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993). Got bored.
37. White Christmas (1954) Most of it. Came in late when it was on telly the other day.
36. Guys and Dolls (1955) I was a silly tart and taped over some of it before I had a chance to see it all. Hearing Brando sing a sweet song fills my heart with joy and also snickering.
35. Oklahoma (1955) See South Pacific for R&H opinion.
34. High Society (1956) It's not the Philadelphia Story but it's pretty good. I wish Grace Kelly weren't in it, but 'Now You Has Jazz' is a lot of fun.
33. Fiddler on the Roof (1971)
32. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)
31. Blood Brothers.
30. Cats (1981-2002). Saw it when I was a kid. Really liked it at the time, but my Lloyd-Webber hate dimmed it through time.
29. Fame (1980). I saw it when it came to the West End and I caught a preview with my family. My brother idolised the dancer who played the Leroy character and was rather devastated when the young dancer, a guy called Scott Sherrin turned up dead in the Thames a few years later.
28. Jesus Christ Superstar (1973). I only know the 'riding round the corner on a Yahama' lyrics, and I'm told it's not the right words.
27. Jungle Book (1967). I haven't seen it many times cos we had a pirate copy of the video and it was shite..
26. Annie (1982). OK, this is the bane of my life, the nadir of musicals, a horrible piece of shite that haunts me even though I've managed to avoid it. The worst of stage school brattery IMO.
25. Calamity Jane (1953). Doris Day narks me.
24. The Blues Brothers (1980) Didn't like it much, but wasn't paying much attention at the time- we were driving through Eastern Europe on a coach.
23. The King And I (1956). Have it, but much prefer Anna and the King. R/H again, innit?
22. Evita (1996). I did like this a lot at one point and at least the singing lessons improved Madge's voice.
21. Little Shop Of Horrors (1986)
20. Phantom Of The Opera. Never seen it all the way through although me and Marianne at school used to sing it at lunchtimes in the music room. I was the Phantom, she was the chick.
19. Bugsy Malone (1976) Loved it as a kid, just loved it.
18. Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat Twice, both times at the Palladium with my former love, Jason Donovan in the lead (the second time he returned for a while after Philip 'Kids TV' Schofield and Darren 'Dirty Rat' Day had a go). How I loved it once, how I wanted (still want) a coat like that. Donny Osmond cannot possibly compare to Jase, man. I was glad this was in the list, if only to get Jason Donovan back on British telly for a minute!!
17. Cabaret (1972) A truly wonderful movie that makes me so sad to see where Liza's at now. She was easily the equal to her mother, easily. Although I'd love to know what Judy would've made of the title song. And I sang 'Mein Herr' at the UCI talent thing *snickers at memory*.
16. Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory (1971) I liked it at the time, but it's awfully dated. Can't wait for the Deppified version.
15. Les Miserables. You know, of all the time I spent as a kid going to musicals, I never saw this one or Miss Saigon, despite the fact they've been running in the West End since Time Began.
14. The Lion King (1994). I think the only time I've actually cried in the cinema is when Simba's dad bought it. However, I don't like Elton John or Tim Rice much, so I can't love it.
13. Buffy The Vampire Slayer - Once More With Feeling. I saw this as it aired in California. SMG can't sing. It was awful, frankly. Xander & Anya's 30s pastiche was pretty good, but other than that I was deeply unimpressed.
12. My Fair Lady (1964). I think I've seen it all, but I borrowed it from my granddad and was so ill the day I watched it, I don't remember anything but the first song.
11. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968). I have seen it all, but I was a kid and hardly remember it. Jason Donovan's gonna be in the stage show in January....
10. Moulin Rouge (2001) I hated it the first time I saw it and I still don't think Nicole's voice is as good as everyone says, but it has some really redeeming points. I liked the Roxanne scene hugely. Doesn't suck, but it's no Kelly/Sinatra film.
9. Oliver! (1968) I know I've seen it all, but I hardly remember it. Not one I particularly liked.
8. Chicago (2002). Renee and Richard NOT GOOD. CZJ was better than I expected although I don't like her so expected very little.
7. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) Loved it. Just loved it. The first time we see Frank's tapping platform boot as he makes his Grand Entrance I was like 'woah'.
6. Singin' In The Rain (1952) HOW I LOVE THIS MOVIE. Seriously, this is the pinnacle of musical movies, moreso even than An American In Paris which I've always felt was too arty. There is nothing wrong with this film, not even Debbie Reynolds. This should be Number One without a doubt.
5. Mary Poppins (1964) Again, I think I borrowed the video from my grandad. Didn't mind it but Dick Van Dyke's BLOODY ACCENT will haunt me to the end of time. Apparently he's never been to London before.
4. West Side Story (1961) Bits of it. Can't stand Natalie No Talent Wood, so I never bothered with it.
3. The Wizard Of Oz (1939) How I love thee Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly LIon. How I love thee Dorothy and Toto. How I want to know why this is only at three!
2. The Sound Of Music (1965) I borrowed this from my grandad when I was a kid and didn't think it was too bad, but I don't like Julie Andrews much, so I could never really appreciate it. R&H again, too.
1. Grease (1978). You know I loved this movie. In fact the first time I saw it properly as a kid was on Crimbo one year. I taped it and watched it another three times. I loved it so much I even liked Grease 2 a lot. But the greatest musical ever? Not by a long old shot.