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Movie Musicals Film Festival
Page One

poster of "Broadway Melody of 1938" [1937]

poster of "Broadway Melody of 1940" [1940]

browse movie musicals on DVD at Amazon.com
browse movie musicals on VHS at Amazon.com
Essential Musicals On Film at Amazon

Movie Musicals Genre listing at Internet Movie Database

Musical Films genre entry at Wikipedia
List of Musical Films By Year at Wikipedia

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Selected Movie Musicals
{ in chronological order }

Movie Musicals Genre listing at Internet Movie Database
'Essential Musicals On Film' category at Amazon
Movie Musicals posters category at AllPosters.com

The Taylor Swift 2023 concert film was the trigger to extract musical concert and filmed performance movies from the Musical Film Festivals pages
and create a separate page for them in Fall 2023.

"Lady Be Good" [1928 silent] /tt0019065/
No kidding: A silent film version of Gershwin's hit Broadway musical; made as a sound film in 1941

"The Broadway Melody of 1929"
[M.G.M./Loew's Feb 1929]
Broadway Melody of 1929 poster Two sisters join a pal's Broadway show; he falls in love with one sister, but she is courted by a high society cad. Directed by Harry Beaumont; starring Charles King, Anita Page, Bessie Love, Jed Prouty, Kenneth Thomson, Edward Dillon, Mary Doran & Eddie Kane; won Oscar for Best Picture, nominated for Best Director, Best Actress (BL)
Warner b&w DVD [2/2005] for $14.99
M.G.M./Warner b&w VHS [12/94] out of prodn/many used
full credits from IMDb

"Fox Movietone Follies of 1929"
[Fox May 1929]
newspaper ad for "Fox Movietone Follies of 1929" Early attempt by William Fox to utilize his Movietone sound process; partly filmed in Multicolor; location filming in Havana, Cuba; New York City, and Palm Beach, Florida. A girl from the Midwest gets a small part in a Broadway show; her wealthy boyfriend buys the show expecting to fire her if she won't return with him; but the girl replaces the star and is a hit ... Co-written & directed by David Butler; starring John Breeden, Lola Lane, DeWitt Jennings, Sharon Lynn, Arthur Stone, Stepin Fetchit & Jackie Cooper
VHS/DVD/Blu-ray not available { considered to be a lost film }
full credits from IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia

"The Hollywood Revue of 1929" [M.G.M. June 1929]
The Hollywood Revue of 1929 musical feature from Plotless two-hour sound musical review, partly filmed in Technicolor. Directed by Charles Reisner; starring Conrad Nagel, Jack Benny, John Gilbert, Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Bessie Love, Cliff Edwards (as Ukulele Ike), Laurel & Hardy, Anita Page, Nils Asther, Marion Davies, William Haines, Buster Keaton {dual role} & Marie Dressler; with cameos by Renée Adorée, Lionel Barrymore, the Brox Sisters, Ann Dvorak, the Biltmore Quartet, and the Mawby Sisters; nominated for Best Picture Oscar
M.G.M. b&w/color DVD [2/2006] for $18.99
full credits at IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia

"The Great Gabbo" musical feature
[Sono Art-World Wide Pictures Sept 1929]
The Great Gabbo 1929 musical feature An aging ventriloquist is going mad, taking advice from his dummy; the second plot is an onstage musical romance. (The original mid-film MultiColor sequences seem to be lost.) Co-produced & directed by James Cruze; written by Ben Hecht & Hugh Herbert; starring Erich von Stroheim, Betty Compson, Donald Douglas & Marjorie Kane
Kino Video double feature b&w DVD [6/2003] for $18.99 with 1919 feature "Blind Husbands"
A.F.A. Ent. b&w DVD [11/2011] for $12.95
Gotham Distribution b&w DVD [5/2005] for $7.68
Synergy Ent. b&w DVD [9/2007] for $9.99
Triad Prodns 'Enhanced' b&w DVD-R [5/2009] for $12.95
Keystone Video b&w VHS [7/2001] out of prodn/used
11"x17" black poster {as at left} from Amazon for $9.98
27"x40" green Swedish poster from Amazon for $18.99
credits at IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia

"Glorifying The American Girl" [1929] /tt0019933/

"The Vagabond Lover" [1929] /tt0020542/ starring Rudy Vallee & Sally Blane

"The Love Parade" [1929] /tt0020112/ directed by Ernst Lubitsch,
starring Maurice Chevalier & Jeanette MacDonald

"Applause" [Paramount Jan 1930]
Mamoulian's Applause poster Early backstage musical: A fading burlesque star tries to prevent her daughter from becoming a dancer. Mamoulian's direction is an example of outstanding camera movement. Directed by Rouben Mamoulian; based on a Beth Brown novel; starring Helen Morgan, Joan Peers, Fuller Mellish Jr., Jack Cameron, Henry Wadsworth & Roy Hargrave; listed on National Film Registry (2006)
Kino Video b&w DVD [11/2003] for $26.99
Kino Video b&w VHS [11/2003] for $23.70
full credits from IMDb

"New Movietone Follies of 1930" [Fox May 1930]
red-black half-sheet poster for "New Movietone Follies of 1930" Another early attempt by William Fox to utilize his Movietone sound process; partly filmed in Multicolor. A stage actress dumps her playboy boyfriend; two fellow showgirls are pursued by a songwriter and by the playboy's butler posing as a Swedish lumber millionaire (dialect comedian El Brendel) who is in turn pursued by the maid. The playboy wants his sweetie back and hires the stage company to perform during a benefit for disabled soldiers at his uncle's estate ... Directed by Benjamin Stoloff; written by William K. Wells; starring El Brendel, Miriam Seegar, Marjorie White, Noel Francis, William Collier Jr., Frank Richardson, Paul Nicholson, Huntley Gordon, Yola d'Avril & Betty Grable (bit part)
VHS/DVD/Blu-ray not available { considered to be a lost film }
full credits from IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia

"Monte Carlo" [1930] /tt0021153/ directed by Ernst Lubitsch,
starring Jack Buchanan & Jeanette MacDonald

"The Smiling Lieutenant" [1931] /tt0022074/ directed by Ernst Lubitsch,
starring Maurice Chevalier, Claudette Colbert & Miriam Hopkins

"One Hour With You" [1932] /tt0023303/ directed by Ernst Lubitsch,
starring Maurice Chevalier & Jeanette MacDonald

"The Greeks Had A Word For Them" aka "Three Broadway Girls" [1932] /tt0022961/

"Footlight Parade" [1933] /tt0024028/ starring James Cagney & Ruby Keeler

"Gold Diggers of 1933" [1933] /tt0024069/directed by Mervyn LeRoy,
starring Ruby Keeler & Dick Powell;

"42nd Street" [Warner Bros. March 1933]
Directed by Lloyd Bacon; choreography by Busby Berkeley; starring Warner Baxter, Bebe Daniels,
George Brent, Ruby Keeler, Guy Kibbee, Una Merkel, Ginger Rogers, Ned Sparks & Dick Powell;
Oscar nominated for Best Picture & Best Sound, listed on the National Film Registry (1998)
full credits from IMDb

"Let's Fall In Love" [Columbia Pictures Dec 1933] /tt0025381/

"Flying Down To Rio" [Dec 1933]
Starring Gene Raymond, Dolores Del Rio, Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers

"Roman Scandals" [Samuel Goldwyn/United Artists Nov 1933]
Starring Eddie Cantor, The Goldwyn Girls & Ruth Etting

"Going Hollywood" [Cosmopolitan/M.G.M. Dec 1933]
Going Hollywood 1933 musical feature film A pretty French teacher takes off for Hollywood to save radio singer Bill from the clutches of his costar. Musical feature film directed by Raoul Walsh; script by Donald Ogden Stewart, based on a story by Frances Marion; starring Marion Davies, Bing Crosby, Fifi D'Orsay, Stuart Erwin, Ned Sparks & Patsy Kelly
DVD/Blu-ray not available • b&w VHS [8/00] out of prodn/used
full credits at IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia

"The Gay Divorcee" [1934]
Starring Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Alice Brady & Edward Everett Horton

"Chu Chin Chow" aka "Ali Baba Nights"
[Gainsborough Pictures/Gaumont British May 1934]
British poster for 1934 'Chu Chin Chow' starring Anna May Wong Norwegian poster for 1934 'Chu Chin Chow' starring Anna May Wong Musical retelling of the "Ali Baba and The 40 Thieves" Arabian Nights tale; Ali Baba discovers the secret treasure cave of robber-baron Abu Hasan, and tells his greedy brother Kasim Baba where the cache is hidden. Zahrat, acting as a spy for Hasan, is blamed when the robber is almost caught, and Kasim is killed. Zahrat then decides to join Ali and his son, Nor-al-din. During a party, Zahrat kills the disguised Hasan, and his men are boiled in oil • Produced by Michael Balcon & Phil C. Samuel; directed by Walter Forde; screenplay by L. du Garde Peach, Edward Knoblock, Sidney Gilliat; based on the musical stageplay by Oscar Asche; starring Anna May Wong {as Zahrat}, George Robey {as Ali Baba}, Lawrence Hanray {as Kasim Baba}, Fritz Kortner {as Abu Hasan}, John Garrick, Pearl Argyle, Malcolm 'Mr. Jetsam' McEachern, Dennis Hoey, Sydney Fairbrother, Frank Cochrane, Thelma Tuson, Francis L. Sullivan, Gibb McLaughlin, Kiyoshi Takase; the DVD box set includes restored 102-minute U.K. version, 78-minute American version, and the rare 1935 film "Abdul The Damned" starring Fritz Kortner
full credits at IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia
V.C.I. Video DVD set [6/2005] 3 disks for $13.99

poster for 'Chu Chin Chow' stage production in 1980 sheet music 'Song Hits from Chu Chin Chow On Ice' "Chu Chin Chow: A Musical Tale of The East" musical stageplay [U.K. 1916]
musical stage comedy based on the "Ali Baba and The 40 Thieves" Arabian Nights tale; premièred at His Majesty's Theatre in London in August 1916 and ran for five years and a total of 2,238 performances; written, produced & directed by Oscar Asche [1871-1936], with music by Frederic Norton [1869-1946]; the first American production was at the Manhattan Opera House on 34th Street in New York City, which ran for 208 performances in 1917-1918 and starred Henry Dixey as Ali Baba, Tyrone Power Sr. [1869-1931] as Abu Hassan, and Florence Reed as Zahrat-Al-Huda. The stageplay was adapted in 1923 as a non-musical silent film, in 1934 as a musical sound film starring Anna May Wong, and in 1953 as an ice-skating show starring actor Tyrone Power [1914-58] • stageplay entry at Wikipedia
Complete Book & Lyrics: Theatre Arts Press 9x6 pb [1/2016] for $14.95
Forgotten Books 9x6 hardcover [2/2018] for $22.27

"Chu Chin Chow" [Graham-Wilcox Prodns U.K. Sept 1923, M.G.M. USA Feb 1925]
lobby card for Chu Chin Chow 1923 silent film A girl in ancient Baghdad escapes from a robber sheikh and thwarts a plot to rob a merchant; the UK/Germany co-production was filmed in Berlin and shown in selected venues with the early experimental Tri-Ergon photoelectric sound-on-film system; release in USA was silent
Produced, adapted & directed by Herbert Wilcox; non-musical based on the stageplay by Oscar Asche & Frederick Norton; starring Betty Blythe {as Zahrat}, Herbert Langley {as Abou Hassan}, Randle Ayrton, Judd Green {as Ali Baba}, Olaf Hytten, Jeff Barlow, Eva Moore, Jameson Thomas, Dora Levis, dancer Dacia Deane
VHS/DVD/Blu-ray not available • full credits at IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia

"Dames" [1934] /tt0025028/ starring Dick Powell & Ruby Keeler

"365 Nights In Hollywood" [1934] /tt0024808/

"Gold Diggers of 1935" [1935] /tt0026421/ directed by Busby Berkeley,
starring Dick Powell, Gloria Stuart & Adolphe Menjou

"Porgy and Bess" [1935]

"Roberta" [1935]
Starring Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Irene Dunne & Randolph Scott

"Broadway Melody of 1936" [M.G.M. Sept 1935]
Broadway Melody of 1936 poster Directed by Roy Del Ruth; starring Eleanor Powell & Robert Taylor; won Oscar for Best Dance Direction, nominated for Best Picture & Best Original Script
double feature DVD "Broadway Melody of 1936 / ... of 1938"
Warner Home Video b&w DVD set [undated] 2 disks - out of prodn/used
full credits from IMDb

"Top Hat" [R.K.O. Radio Pictures Sept 1935]
Starring Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers • full credits from IMDb

"Follow The Fleet" [1936]
Starring Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Randolph Scott & Harriet Hilliard {Nelson}

"Swing Time" [1936]
Starring Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers

"Anything Goes" [1936] /tt0027302/
Based on the play by P.G. Wodehouse & Guy Bolton; music by Cole Porter;
starring Bing Crosby, Ethel Merman, Charles Ruggles & Ida Lupino

"Let's Sing Again" [1936] /tt0027882/ starring Bobby Breen

"Show Boat" [MGM 1936]

"Song of Freedom" [1936] with Paul Robeson

"Big Fella" [1937] with Paul Robeson

"Make A Wish" [1937] /tt0029193/ starring Bobbie Breen & Basil Rathbone

"Manhattan Merry-Go-Round" [1937]; /tt0029209/

"Moonlight Sonata" [1937] /tt0030460/ with pianist Ignacy Jan Paderewski

"Something To Sing About" [1937] /tt0030460/ starring James Cagney

"Shall We Dance" [1937]
Starring Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Edward Everett Horton & Eric Blore

"Carefree" [1938]
Starring Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers & Ralph Bellamy

"Broadway Melody of 1938" [M.G.M. Aug 1937]
Broadway Melody of 1938 movie poster directed by Roy Del Ruth, starring Robert Taylor & Eleanor Powell A young aspiring producer finds a backer for his Broadway show, but is forced to hire a known star instead of his girlfriend, who purchaes a horse and wins money at the races to produce the show. Directed by Roy Del Ruth; starring Robert Taylor, Eleanor Powell, George Murphy, Binnie Barnes, Buddy Ebsen, Sophie Tucker, Judy Garland, Raymond Walburn & Robert Benchley • full credits from IMDb
DVD available as part of "Musicals From The Dream Factory Volume 3" box set on page 4
MGM/Warner b&w VHS [4/92] out of prodn/used
double feature DVD "Broadway Melody of 1936 / ... of 1938"
Warner Home Video b&w DVD set [undated] 2 disks - out of prodn/used

"Hollywood Hotel" [Warner Bros./First National Dec 1937]
Hollywood Hotel 1937 musical feature directed by Busby Berkeley A saxophone player gets work at a movie studio; after his first night escorting a stand-in for a cranky star to a premiere, the two are fired; he gets work as a singing waiter, is discovered by a producer, and is hired as the singing voice of a major actor; when the actor is asked to sing on Louella Parsons's radio show, the maneuvering becomes intense . . . Directed by Busby Berkeley; written by Jerry Wald, Maurice Leo & Richard Macaulay; starring Dick Powell, Rosemary Lane, Lola Lane, Hugh Herbert, Ted Healy, Glenda Farrell, Johnnie Davis, Louella Parsons, Alan Mowbray, Mabel Todd, Frances Langford, Jerry Cooper, Ken Niles, Duane Thompson, Allyn Joslyn, Grant Mitchell, Edgar Kennedy, Fritz Feld, Perc Westmore, Eddie Acuff, Clinton Rosemond, William B. Davidson, Georgie Cooper, Libby Taylor, Joseph Romantini & Paul Irving, and featuring Raymond Paige & His Orchestra, Benny Goodman & His Orchestra, Sid Grauman, Lionel Hampton, Susan Hayward, Harry James, Gene Krupa, Carole Landis, Ronald Reagan
full credits at IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia
Warner Home Video b&w DVD [9/2008] for $11.26
DVD extras include theatrical trailer and three shorts: "Double Talk" [1937] with Edgar Bergen & Charlie McCarthy; "The Romance of Robert Burns" [1937]; and "Porky's Five & Ten" [1938]

"College Swing" musical comedy [Paramount April 1938]
Directed by Raoul Walsh; starring George Burns, Gracie Allen, Martha Raye, Bob Hope, Edward Everett Horton,
Florence George, Ben Blue, Betty Grable, Jackie Coogan, John Payne, Cecil Cunningham, Robert Cummings &
Skinnay Ennis • full credits from IMDb

"Cowboy From Brooklyn" musical Western
[Cosmopolitan/Warner Bros. July 1938]
Cowboy From Brooklyn 1938 movie poster 'Wyoming Steve' Gibson has a pleasant tenor and a really neat cowboy outfit, so he's sure to hit it big as Hollywood's next singing cowboy star, as long as nobody figures out that he is really an East Coast city slicker who's scared silly of animals, big or small. He manages to pull off the ruse until he's challenged to ride in a Madison Square Garden rodeo – on a horse! Full of sprightly songs by lyricist Johnny Mercer and melodists Richard Whiting & Harry Warren. Directed by Lloyd Bacon; screenplay by Earl Baldwin, based on the 1937 Broadway stageplay "Howdy Stranger"; starring Dick Powell, Pat O'Brien, Priscilla Lane, Dick Foran, Ann Sheridan, Ronald Reagan, Emma Dunn, Granville Bates & James Stephenson
Warner Archive b&w DVD-R [9/2011] for $18.49
full credits at IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia

"Two Guys From Texas" musical Western Technicolor remake
[Warner Bros. Aug 1948]
Two Guys From Texas 1948 color musical Western Two vaudeville performers are stranded at a Texas dude ranch; largely the same musical comedy plot as "Cowboy From Brooklyn" [1938], but with different songs, from Sammy Cahn & Jule Styne. The cameo by Bugs Bunny is his first appearance in a feature film. Directed by David Butler; script by I.A.L. Diamond & Allen Boretz, based on the 1937 Broadway stageplay "Howdy Stranger"; starring Dennis Morgan, Jack Carson, Dorothy Malone, Penny Edwards, Forrest Tucker, Fred Clark, Gerald Mohr, John Alvin, Andrew Tombes & Monte Blue
VHS/DVD/Blu-ray not available • full credits at IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia

"The Story of Vernon & Irene Castle" [March 1939]
Starring Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, May Oliver & Walter Brennan

Gilbert & Sullivan's "The Mikado"
[G.F.D. U.K. Jan 1939, Universal U.S.A. May 1939]
Gilbert & Sullivan's 'The Mikado' from D'Oyly Carte in 1939 Heavily-altered version of the classic 1885 comic opera: several songs missing, others sung by incorrect characters. The first three-color Technicolor feature released by Universal Pictures; remastered digital transfer. When the son of Japan's Mikado falls in love with Yum-Yum, he must fend off her betrothed, the Lord High Executioner, as well as his own father and another suitor. Performed by key members of the D'Oyly Carte Company, with the D'Oyly Carte Chorus and the London Symphony Orchestra; directed by Victor Schertzinger; extras include video interviews, booklet, and 1926 silent promo short.
Criterion Collection widescreen color Blu-ray [3/2011] for $25.99
Criterion Collection color DVD [3/2011] for $26.99
full credits at IMDb • opera entry at Wikipedia

Magic Lantern's "The Wizard of Oz" 1939 Movie Page

Warner Home Video 70th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition
Blu-ray set [9/2009] 5 disks for $64.98

"Babes In Arms" [1939] /tt0031066/ directed by Busby Berkeley,
starring Mickey Rooney & Judy Garland

"Strike Up The Band" [1940] /tt0033110/ directed by Busby Berkeley,
starring Mickey Rooney & Judy Garland, with Paul Whiteman's Orchestra

"Second Chorus" [1940]
Starring Fred Astaire, Paulette Goddard, Burgess Meredith & bandleader Artie Shaw; full credits from IMDb

"Broadway Melody of 1940" [M.G.M. Feb 1940]
Broadway Melody of 1940 movie poster Two male hoofers trying to make it on Broadway get a big chance when a producer notices them; but the favored dancer thinks he is being hounded by bill collectors, and gives them his pal's name. Directed by Norman Taurog; starring Fred Astaire, Eleanor Powell, George Murphy & Frank Morgan, with Cole Porter
Warner Home Video b&w DVD [4/2003] for $17.99
M.G..M b&w VHS [2/95] out of prodn/used
full credits at IMDb

"One Night In The Tropics" [Universal Oct 1940]
A musical-comedy based on the 1914 novel "Love Insurance" by Earl Derr Biggers [1884-1933]; famed as the movie debut of the Abbott & Costello comedy team. Jim, an insurance salesman, sells Steve a policy that will pay Steve if his fiancée won't marry him; nightclub owner Roscoe backs the policy, Jim starts to fall for the girl, and Roscoe hires two stooges to make sure that Steve and the girl marry. Directed by A. Edward Sutherland; original music by Jerome Kern; starring Allan Jones, Robert Cummings, Nancy Kelly, Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Mary Boland, William Frawley, Peggy Moran & Leo Carrillo
b&w DVD available as part of "Best of Abbott & Costello Volume 1" box set
Universal b&w VHS [1/98] out of prodn/many used
full credits from IMDb

jump to Musical Film Festival Page Two
top of page • films from 1941 on • recent movies, coming soon

Hit Musicals Not Yet Filmed

"The Book of Mormon" [March 2011 thru 2016!]
http://www.ibdb.com/Production/View/488721

"I Only Have Eyes For You" [Los Angeles May 2016]
A show that delivers a veritable banquet of marvelous, toe-tapping tunes; Jared Gertner stars as 1930s lyricist Al Dubin, who was one of the premier songwriters of Hollywood's Golden Age. Directed & choreographed by Broadway veteran Kay Cole; book by Jerry Leichtling & Arlene Sarner; the show features portrayals of such celebrated personalities as Al Jolson, Cab Calloway, Ruby Keeler, Carmen Miranda, and Busby Berkeley. World premiere at the Ricardo Montalban Theatre in Hollywood; not yet listed on Internet Broadway Database.

Movie Musicals Links
Magic Lantern's Movie Music & Composers Page

JJ's 'Class Act' Movie Musicals website
I Dream of Hollywood
Garland & Rooney
Judy Garland Database
Oklahoma Dance Film Festival [Nov 2012 = #5] in Tulsa, Oklahoma
Moonstruck Drama & Musicals {online} Bookstore based in Texas

... and others on the Online Film Festivals Index Page

here on Magic Lantern's Movie Musicals Film Festival Pages
short history • books • video & DVD collections • links •
other media about movie musicals • Broadway/movie music albums

selected movie musical films: films to 1940 • films from 1941 on
1950 • 1960 • 1970 • 1980 • 1990 • 2000 • 2010 • recent movies & coming soon

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Movie Musicals Film Festival
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