I figured we could use a shiny, happy thread to bring people together after the tragic events of the past few days. Not long ago in the comments, I discovered that many of you, like me, enjoy musical movies. What’s your favorite musical scene from a musical movie? I’m using musical movie a bit loosely, so “Fabulous Baker Boys”, that Johnny Cash movie, etc. counts, but you can’t go with a music-backed scene from a movie that isn’t in any sense a musical. That means no Joe Pesci shooting up houses over the Devo cover of “Satisfaction”, no lingering shots of dead bodies in meat lockers while “Layla” plays in the background, no Jack tormenting DiCaprio to “Let It Loose”.
I’m going to start with Michelle Pfeiffer taking the gum out of her mouth to sing “More Than You Know” in the “Fabulous Baker Boys”. Not the greatest movie, but I love Jeff Bridges and Michelle Pfeiffer, and I saw it at a time in my life when brooding and self-absorption were very important to me. I still watch this scene about once a month for no reason.
And then the great “Make ‘Em Laugh” from “Singin’ In The Rain”. One of my favorite movies, the first time I ever saw it on the big screen was at the Red Vic in San Francisco. My friend and I were supposed to see some serious movie about non-English-speaking people killing each other or starving that had come highly recommended by whoever the early ’90s Bay Area equivalent of Manhola Dhargis/A.O. Scott was (Mick LaSalle, if memory serves). We walked by the Red Vic and both stopped when we saw “Singin’ In The Rain”. It took a minute for either of us to admit we’d rather see it than sit through Oscar porn, but we finally did.
What are your favorites? Bonus points for anyone who mentions Les Parapluies de Cherbourg here.
erlking
The Sirens scene in O Brother, Where art Thou?
Gorgeous.
Amanda in the South Bay
Le roi danse.
Geoduck
I’d go with the title tune in Singin’ in the Rain, although Donald O’Connor did good with the above routine.
Big Baby DougJ
@Geoduck:
I would have too except I’ve seen it almost too many times. So good, though.
BGinCHI
Gonna have to go with the Circle Jerks playing as a cheesy lounge act in “Repo Man.”
So damn cool.
Lolis
Hedwig and the Angry Inch is the best musical film. It is hard to beat the performance of “Angry Inch” although all the songs are amazing.
adolphus
I don’t know if this fit your parameters, but the opera scene in Shawshank Redemption makes me tear up every time.
Also, Puttin’ On The Ritz from Young Frankenstein.
john b
i liked once. and then there’s their academy award acceptance speech:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qx8yLvb0gZM
JPK
Grace of My Heart: “God Give Me Strength.” A great moment in a great picture…
http://youtu.be/ese5A8Y-Sdg
lamh32
Oh Lord, DougJ, I officially love you. Doesn’t that make me one of ur follower now too…lol?
I have way to many to even list. I’m gonna just have to post them as they come.
Be forewarned, I’m a video whore, so I’ve got beaucoup youtube videos of my fav musical numbers…LOL.
“Seven Brides For Seven Brothers”-Complete Barn Dance Scene(1954)
superluminar
I think it would have been better for everyone if you had just emailed this post to the other FPers.
Too soon?
Big Baby DougJ
@adolphus:
I love that scene and it’s close enough for government work to my parameters.
lamh32
Cell Block Tango – Chicago
Sad_Dem
In Nashville, Mary has just found out that the man she slept with is cheating on her, and she is called to the stage to sing a song about the pains of love.
trollhattan
@Big Baby DougJ:
+2. One of Brooks’ finest moments.
For completely silly, the “Holy Grail” Camelot number.
JCT
Does “Springtime for Hitler” from the Producers count? The cutaways to the audience during the first night just made the whole scene hilarious.
john b
also ooh la la as the final dance in rushmore
Kyle
El Tango de Roxanne from Moulin Rouge. Along with finale.
Also too, the Origin of Love from Hedwig and the Angry Inch.
BTW, Michelle Pfeiffer was robbed when she didn’t win the Oscar for the Fabulous Baker Boys.
Addie Pray
The recurring theme from umbrellas of cherbourg, and the gorgeous ending
Bonus points to me!
hamletta
I like the pulp ballet in The Band Wagon. Like Singin’, it was written by Comden and Green, and the whole movie is hilarious.
And not really a musical, but the “La Marsellaise” scene in Casablanca chokes me up every time.
lamh32
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
Phylllis
The closing scene of the ‘The Tender Trap’ where the four principals are singing that song. Makes me kinda misty.
john b
pretty heavy, but “wise up” from magnolia is well done.
Big Baby DougJ
@lamh32:
That whole extended underground scene is one of my favorites.
Oh, it’s a jolly oliday with Mary.
Dennis SGMM
“Les Demoiselles de Rochefort” or maybe “On Connaît la Chanson.” No wait, it’s “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” or it might be “Xanadu.”
Truth to tell, after the Busby Berkeley era musicals are dead to me. Some good songs to be sure, “Marion the Librarian” sung by the incomparable Robert Preston (No he’s not a great singer, his exuberant portrayal was killer) in “Music Man” is still an almost daily listen. Otherwise, meh: bad movies peppered with one or two good songs.
Brachiator
The glorious Betty Boop musical cartoon, “Minnie the Moocher,” which references one of the inspirations for one of the coolest scenes in The Triplets of Belleville, which was partly produced in the same country that gave us Les Parapluies de Cherbourg.
And check out Cab Calloway’s opening moves, which have inspired innumerable dancers.
BGinCHI
@john b: Oh, +1 on that.
Anniecat45
The Band Wagon and Silk Stockings, with Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse. Charisse can’t really sing or act but her dancing makes up for it.
And, West Side Story, though of course it’s a heartbreaker.
I agree about the Marseillaise scene in Casablanca; i’ve seen that movie about 20 times and I still cry at that scene.
lamh32
does it have to involve actual dancing? If not I love the Effie’s interlude in Dreamgirls.
Jennifer Hudson’s was great and she did win the Oscar for it, but the original by Jennifer Holiday is STILL the go to for any sista trying to make it in a singing competition…lol. This is from the stage play, but since it was made into a movie, I figured it still counts.
’82 Tonys–Dreamgirls “And I’m Telling You”
I still can’t believe that Jennifer Holliday gave this same performance like 8 times a week in the original production…DAMN!
Rhoda
Gene Kelly on roller skates in It’s Always Fair Weather:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAISjlN_p8E
Dolores Grey in Designing Woman singing to Gregory Peck, she’s was great in It’s Always Fair Weather too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dT9ZH9r6U7I&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PLF4B18795D790E048
And Dan Dailey getting drunk in It’s Always Fair Weather and singing situation-wise.
I really love It’s Always Fair Weather, most under-rated musical Kelly did. I like it a lot better than Singing in the Rain in a lot of ways. (Through nothing can touch the genius of the title sequence.)
ETA: Betty Grable in Meet Me After the Show singing No Talent Joe, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEEoXJRlZHA is a great pick me up on a slow work day.
JGabriel
Sigh, given the rules this is probably cheating, since neither of these films are specifically musicals, but two of my favorite musical moments are Anna Karina dancing the Madison in Godard’s Bande à Part and Hal Hartley’s homage in Simple Men with Elina Löwensohn dancing to Sonic Youth’s Kool Thing.
Since I haven’t seen Les Parapluies de Cherbourg yet, can I get bonus points if I toss in Françoise Dorléac & Catherine Deneuve singing Michel Legrand’s Chanson des Jumelles (A Pair of Twins) from Demy’s Les Demoiselles de Rochefort?
.
Origuy
Somewhere That’s Green, from Little Shop of Horrors
JPL
I posted a song on an earlier thread but I’m going to write something whether it’s coherent or not… My new motto is don’t feed the trolls. IMO..it only kills brain cells and don’t respond with personal attacks. That shows your/my own personal ignorance. Now here is the song I posted on an earlier thread… link
IMO..Yesterdays posts were embarrassing.
gogol's wife
Shirley Temple and Bill Bojangles Robinson, “The Toy Trumpet,” in “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.”
Anything with Astaire and Rogers.
JGabriel
@Addie Pray:
Pshaw! I should get the bonus points for my far more recherche allusion to Demy’s other Deneuve-starring musical, inclusive of tragically doomed sister.
.
Comrade Kevin
The Red Vic closed down a few weeks ago.
lamh32
I have such a crush on Yul Brynner it ain’t even funny. I STILL can’t watch the Ten Commandments with the Pharaoh Brynner running around in those skirts shorter than the woman without actually rooting for the Pharoah to kick Moses ass…lol.
But musical-wise, you can’t beat the King and I:
The King and I /Yul Brynner Deborah Kerr 1956 – Shall We Dance
Big Baby DougJ
@Comrade Kevin:
First the UC Theater, now this. The Castro Theater’s still going strong, right?
Big Baby DougJ
@lamh32:
We’ve just been introduced, I do not know you well.
Dennis SGMM
@Anniecat45:
She sang? I got a huge kick out of seeing her appear in the “I Want to Be Your Property” video by Blue Mercedes.
Comrade Kevin
@Big Baby DougJ: Yes, it’s still open.
master c
Very weird to crush on Yul. Gene-YES! Thanks for the skating link Rhoda. What a hunk.
Origuy
To all the Balloon Juice divas: Diva’s Lament, from Spamalot.
Edit: Ok, it’s not a movie. Yet.
JGabriel
john b:
Damn, forgot that one. I’m a fan of that sequence too.
Well-chosen.
.
lamh32
DougJ I should tell you that I may never leave this thread.
This movie is definitely NOT a musical, but it revolved around tap dancing so every other scene seemed to have a tap routine in it. Plus who can resist a movie with Sammy Davis Jr, Gregory Hines, Sandman Sims, and one of the Williams Brothers has “co-stars”
This clip is only 22 seconds long, but it’s on of my fav tap sequences in the whole movie Tap
Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason
Guilty pleasure … anything from Mama Mia. Although I’m most partial to watching Pierce Brosnan sing because he’s not a natural at it, he admitted that it terrified him more than any other acting job he’d had, and that he soldiered through and did a creditable job.
contessakitty (AKA Karen)
Not sure if these scenes count but they’re musical…
1. Blazing Saddles and the song from Lili Von Schtupp “I’m Tired”
2. All of Bugsy Malone (which was a musical about gangsters but with child actors like Scott Baio)
3. Wayne and Garth and friends banging their heads to “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
xjmueller
Dance of the Hours from Fantasia. Ostriches, Hippos, Elephants, and Crocodiles performong a ballet. Probably one of the most imaginative things I’ve ever seen. I was about 7 or 8 when I first saw it. Blew my widdle mind. If you really need lyrics for it, you have “Hello Mudder, Hello Faddah” from “Camp Granada.”
evap
Judy Garland singing “Over the Rainbow” in The Wizard of Oz. I watch the entire movie at least once a year. Watching and listening to Judy, such a beautiful voice and so young, is just heartbreaking.
MaryRC
Also cheating, also not a musical, but the Sabre Dance scene from One Two Three never fails to crack me up.
I like And Her Tears Flowed Like Wine from The Big Sleep. Supposedly not Lauren Bacall’s voice, though.
Angela Lansbury singing Goodbye Little Yellow Bird from The Portrait of Dorian Gray.
Marilyn Monroe singing Through With Love in Some Like It Hot.
As for real musicals, there is one moment in Roberta where Fred Astaire is walking down a flight of steps and he is so jaunty that you can’t help feeling a little bit better about everything. It’s at the start of this.
M-Pop
The only thing I remember about Les Parapluies de Cherbourg was the extremely loud wallpaper in just about every scene.
evap
Then there’s Time Warp from Rocky Horror Picture Show. Actually, any of the musical numbers from that movie.
Rhoda
@master c: Totally disagree w/you Yul Brynner, man was SEXY.
Just watch Magnificent Seven, even through Steve McQueen nearly stole the show, lol.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0vqQjaXLOU
Glad you like the links.
ETA: Best McQueen movie is w/Natalie Wood in Love With a Proper Stranger. My favorite scene:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJjk9JlKTxo
adolphus
If it were opposite day I would nominate just about anything from Paint Your Wagon. Lee Marvin and Clint Eastwood Singing! It’s hilarious, but not in the way they intended and only in small bits.
Also, “It’s A Brand New Day” (among others) from Dr. Horrible.
“White Boys/Black Boys” from Hair (Dancing Draft Boards!!)
sal
Most all of My Fair Lady. Childhood memories from when it was on once a year (pre cable, three networks).
It’s Always Fair Weather was good too. Just got it off Netflix, had never heard of it before.
Also, Chicago & All That Jazz.
Saw the movie Billy Elliot, not the musical, but the musical soundtrack is killer.
Cat Lady
Does Danke Schoen count? It turns into Twist and Shout, so it’s a two-fer.
becca
Don’t Rain On My Parade tug boat scene in Funny Girl. Streisand as Fanny Brice. The only time in my life I will ever use the word “divine” is to describe this movie.
lamh32
I would be remiss without listing the whole damn “Sound of Music” soundtrack.
I kid you not, I may have actually learned the scales of music from this song, and to this day, it’s STILL how I remember it when I do…lol
The sound of music do re mi fa
John S.
Excellent responses! I will add one of my personal (and as of yet unmentioned) favorites, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.
And with that I give you Howard Keel:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ob2iKO7IHk&sns=em
Ozymandias, King of Ants
“Every Sperm is Sacred” from Meaning of Life
“Shady Dame from Seville” from Victor Victoria as sung by Robert Preston
Pretty much all of Fantasia, but especially the semi-abstract Toccata and Fugue in D Minor and the Night on Bald Mountain sequences. First saw that movie at the Tower Theater in Fresno when I was four. Decided then and there to become a musician.
fleeting expletive
Does no one here dig on Rocky Horror Picture Show? I’m just a sweet transexual, it’s just a step to the right, you better wise up Janet Weiss?
Weird, man…Oh, I see someone up there already did.
J
@hamletta: I love everything in the Band Wagon, but if I had to pick (and I could exclude dancing in the dark) I’d have to choose Fred and Jack (Buchanan–why oh why wasn’t he in more first rate movies!) singing I guess I’ll have to change my plan.
Another absolute favorite (and cf. discussion of Warner brothers musicals on earlier thread) ‘You’e getting to be a habit with me’ from 42nd street as sung by Bebe Daniels.
rkdioxin
40+ comments and no one’s mentioned any of the Astaire/Rogers RKO movies yet? Shocked I am… It’s hard to pick just one number but I’ll got with “Isn’t This a Lovely Day (to Get Caught in the Rain)” from TOP HAT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QN3eyYiuuNw
Big Baby DougJ
@lamh32:
I like it.
Emma
@lamh32: Yay! Love this.
But my favorite musical moment? Ava Gardner singing Speak Low in “A Touch of Venus”. It’s on You Tube, but I’m having trouble linking.
lethargytartare
been a huge Astaire-Rogers fan since the pre-cable days when from christmas through new years you could count on them being on TV almost every night…
Let’s call the Whole thing off, plus the great dance sequence, is a fave
always loved the seduction dance in Isn’t this a lovely day
but in my darker moments, “One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)” really hits the spot…
lamh32
These two clips are why do this day I STILL have a major crush on Christopher Plummer. If I ever met the man, I may just die…lol
Edelweiss : The Sound of Music
Sound of Music – Laendler
Is this even a real dance?
Sebastian Dangerfield
Susan Anspach singing “Give me a little kiss” before a crowd of rowdy, horny Serbian emigres in Dusan Makavejev’s Montenegro.
arguingwithsignposts
@Ozymandias, King of Ants: Cheer up, Brian!
JCT
@Big Baby DougJ: The loss of the UC was terrible — still remember dragging freshmen there to see “Rocky Horror” and watching their heads explode one by one.
MaryRC
Forgot to mention: Jack Black singing Let’s Get It On at the end of High Fidelity, just for the reactions from his friends who expected him to bomb.
patrick II
Roger Ebert:
I’m pretty much with Ebert on this.
Also, just about anything from the Blues Brothers — the music was so joyous — Ray Charles showing there was still plenty of play left in the keyboard with “Baby Shake a Tailfeather”, Aretha telling her man he better “Think” before he takes off with the Blues Brothers, James Brown and “The Old Landmark” with Chaka Kahn, Cab Calloway doing “Minnie the Moocher”, and the Blues Brothers “Sweet Home, Chicago” . My favorite was James Brown bringing his congregation to its feet. I would go back to church if it was that inspiring.
lethargytartare
@rkdioxin:
I couldn’t pick just one, and ya beat me to the punch!
ETA better link for Lovely Day, including the dance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QN3eyYiuuNw
artem1s
@lamh32:
I’ll see your Russ Tamblyn and raise you George Chaikiris and Rita Moreno
Mambo!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDsKxjHQUeA&feature=related
also.too the bottle dance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_B4iljTugo
John S.
@lamh32
Oops, I somehow missed your 7 Brides link in #10. That barn raising scene is absolutely fantastic.
scav
Not a movie, but Blackpool (UK version with Davids Tennant and Morrisey) has some of my favorites. Can’t find Oh La La on the tubz (music only here) and posted the Queen one last night so I’ll go with Boy With a Thorn in his Side here.
Oh, and a +1 for the Sirens in Oh Brother.
lamh32
@Big Baby DougJ: man, I seriously love me some Gregory Hines. The first movie I can remember ever seeing in a theatre was “White Nights” of all movies (it’s a reason why i love Lionel Ritchie & Barishnokov).
Talk about a dancer who is still missed today…Gregory Hines. Modern tap just ain’t the same without him, there is only so much Savion Glover can do…lol.
White Nights – The dance
And even right before his death, he still had it. This scene from Will and Grace is one of my fav ever. Check in at 2:16 mark to see that Hines still had it. Gregory Hines…Will and Grace
Omnes Omnibus
@Lolis: I saw it live in New York the night it closed its run at the Jane Street Theater. Awesome show.
patrick II
@MaryRC:
Thanks for reminding me of that. I hadn’t seen Jack Black before that movie and was as actually surprised as the cast pretended to be.
lamh32
@artem1s: ooh, West Side Story! Haven’t seen that one in a while. Gonna have to add it to my netflix queue.
Hell who am I kiddin’, I now have a hell of a lot of musicals to buy on Amazon.
Cat Lady
Brand New Day. The play was so great on Broadway with Stephanie Mills and Mabel King and the movie fell short, but the score was special. I played this song about 50 times on November 5, 2008.
Omnes Omnibus
@Omnes Omnibus: This is song from Hedwig that does it for me.
lamh32
@Cat Lady: um Nov 5 is my b-day…yeah. But I’m betting u were playing it for another reason…lol
BTW, Stephanie Mills shoulda played Dorothy in the Wiz…period. Diana Ross was way too old, but Berry Gordy love his “side piece” so of course it had to be Diana.
MaryRC
Oops, sorry about the bad link to The Sabre Dance from One Two Three in my earlier post. This is better. Truly priceless.
Chad N Freude
So nobody’s mentioned “Anchors Aweigh”? Gene Kelly dancing with Jerry the Mouse (from Tom and Jerry). Before cgi animation existed. And the homage (it’s certainly not a parody) in the Family Guy episode where the animation was redone with Kelly dancing with Stewie. (Yeah, Family Guy is not a musical comedy, but look at this.
Picking out a favorite scene from a musical is a fool’s errand. There’s always an Oh, yeah, that’s great, too. I give you any Gene Kelly or Fred Astaire movie. And “Chicago”. And “Cabaret”. And … ad infinitum.
Rhoda
@lamh32, thanks for the Gregory Hines reminder. I just spent a nice chunk of change @Amazon from this thread.
So, Cyd Charisse in Meet Me in Las Vegas dancing to Frankie and Johnny (Sammy Davis Jr. singing): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wvzW95wq4c
Kristine
“What’s Up, Doc” with Streisand and O’Neal. Madelyn Kahn’s intro. Directed by Peter Bogdanovich. More a tribute to 30s madcap comedies than musicals, but Streisand does sing a little.
Ozymandias, King of Ants
@arguingwithsignposts: I’ll see your “Always Look on the Bright of Life” and raise you an “Anything Goes” by a different Cole Porter.
Cat Lady
@lamh32:
Even the name Stephanie Mills gives me goosebumps. I loved her on Broadway. What a voice, and Diana Ross as Dorothy was just so wrong, but every song was great. What a b-day present!
Chad N Freude
@Chad N Freude: After I posted the comment above, I found the original Kelly & Jerry. Technically, you should watch this before the Family Guy video, but hey, life isn’t perfect.
Kristine
@evap: I love “Science Fiction.”
rkdioxin
Fred and Ginger on rollerskates
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdi6V6dsTKk
lamh32
@Rhoda: love Cyn Charisse. She was awesome-sauce…
Fav Cyd Charisse dance…um with Gene Kelly of course:
Gene Kelly & Cyd Charisse
slag
@patrick II: Jesus H Tapdancing Christ, I’m glad somebody here has seen the light!
jfxgillis
Incredible. 90-odd suggestions and nobody mentions the last two numbers from “Cabaret” (which actually function as one scene, and one of the best in film history)?
Omnes Omnibus
@jfxgillis: Everyone knew you wanted to mention them, and, pursuant to the blog’s new policy of being nice to people, decided to wait and give you the chance.
Phylllis
@Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason: Same here. I have the movie soundtrack; it’s my road trip music.
One more classic: Judy Garland doing ‘On the Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe’ in The Harvey Girls. Lots of terrific little numbers in that one actually.
techno
Nobody else here likes “‘Til there was You” from the Music Man? Always reminds me of the first time I REALLY fell in love.
Love that musical–Jones in her prime, and a reasonable take on how Midwesterners found that music could crush their boredom. There are reasons why every Big Ten school has a world-class music department and the thousands of Marions in the area was probably the biggest.
With Music Man, Wilson hit a home run that folks still love.
dexwood
Forgive me if already mentioned… Number Two for me is “Springtime for Hitler” from The Producers. Number One is the dinner scene in Beetlejuice, ” The Banana Song”, where all are made to dance. Cracks my shit up every time, and I don’t even like the movie all that much.
coloradoblue
Top Five
Jack Black – ‘Let’s Get It On’ from High Fidelity.
Pheiffer, ‘Makin’ Whoopee’ and ‘More Than You Know’ both from The Fabulous Baker Boys.
The George Benson version of ‘On Broadway’, opening dance sequence from All That Jazz.
Pretty much everything from Cabaret.
The Lunch Room scene from the original Fame, where one person starts a beat, another joins in on piano and then the whole room is playing, singing or dancing. When my (now ex) wife and I saw that when it was released she put it down saying that things like that never happened. But they do. When I was in Navy boot camp (1967) I was in the Bluejacket Choir and my training company consisted of singers and musicians. Things like the lunch room scene happened all the time with us and I still remember those sessions with great fondness.
PurpleGirl
Yours, Yours, Yours from 1776. I couldn’t find a video I liked of the song yet but I wanted to mention it. Although a lot of it is spoken, the refrain is just so beautiful an expression of John and Abigail Adams relationship.
Hob
@Sad_Dem: Not to mention the ending of Nashville, where the confused person who’s been wandering around through the whole movie ends up getting on stage in the worst possible way, and you finally find out what she can do.
Hawes
From the beginning to the end of Walk Hard.
And Oh, Danny Boy playing over Albert Finney shooting up a bunch of gangsters in Miller’s Crossing.
Any score by Carter Burwell.
patrick II
@coloradoblue:
I was also in Navy bootcamp in 1967 — december, january and february in Great Lakes is cold.
I was in the Phillipines and the Phillipino cafeteria crew did a song just for the joy of it. Some were hitting the various trays and bowls for rhythm, and every one of them joined in. It was like a musical flash mob before there were flash mobs. I was amazed by their musicality.
JWL
It’s neither a toe-tapper nor a song you’ll ever sing in the shower, but it is cheerful:
http://www.allmusicals.com/lyrics/1776/molassestorum.htm
Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason
@Rhoda: Love with the Proper Stranger. Haven’t thought of that one in ages. Great flick. I’d have to go with Bullitt or Great Escape for McQueen’s best, though.
arguingwithsignposts
@Ozymandias, King of Ants: Good day, Bruce!
becca
Any song performed with Bob Fosse choreography and the Lollipop Kids in the Wizard of Oz.
Bruce S
This is lovely…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6v31Ai2BtE
I’ll Remember You, from “Masked & Anonymous”
patrick II
@slag: That Jake could turn a phrase
arguingwithsignposts
@patrick II: I wondered when someone would mention Jake and Elwood.
Tehanu
Jack Buchanan in The Band Wagon — not just “I guess I’ll have to change my plan” but also “Triplets” (with Nanette Fabray and Fred Astaire). God, I love Jack Buchanan.
Mel Brooks channeling Sinatra in High Anxiety, as well as Madeline Kahn channeling Dietrich in Blazing Saddles.
Judy Garland singing “Dear Mr. Gable.”
Cat Lady
Do mi do duds This is the funnest, gayest thing on The Internet. It’s gayer than Ted Haggard, Marcus Bachmann, Charlie Crist and Jeff Gannon all put together. Also, too.
ETA: That’s Uncle Tonoose prancing around.
patrick II
@Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason: Bullit. Just one man’s opinion — but the Great Escape’s motorcycle jumping scene was not quite as cool as car jumping down the streets of San Francisco (at actual speeds of 120 m.p.h.). Nor did the Great Escape have Jacqueline Bisset.
contessakitty (AKA Karen)
My favorite musical is “A Chorus Line” but the movie majorly sucked rocks.
Mnemosyne
I brought this up in a pre-kerfuffle thread yesterday, but I’ve been watching a whole lot of pre-Code movies lately and “Remember My Forgotten Man” from Gold Diggers of 1933 is a powerful and extremely political number.
For something a little more light-hearted but still pre-Code, howzabout Dick Powell in the same film singing “Pettin’ in the Park” to Ruby Keeler with a bunch of chorus girls showering nude in the background?
munsell10yr
“When I Look In Your Eyes” from the original Dr. Dolittle. Rex Harrison singing a love song to a seal. Perfect.
charlespierce
1) “La Marseillaise” from Casablanca.
2) “Over The Rainbow” from the Wizard of Oz.
3) “Yankee Doodle Dandy” from the film of the same name.
4) “Molasses To Rum” from 1776.
5) “I Want To Take Your Higher” (Sly) Woodstock.
Big Baby DougJ
@contessakitty (AKA Karen):
Must….keep….God I Hope I Get It out of my head.
Chad N Freude
@jfxgillis: Ahem! I mentioned the whole movie. But I guess that doesn’t count as a scene.
Emma
@lamh32: God that White Nights dance…. holy cow.
Some people mentioned The Marsellaise in Casablanca… but As time Goes By still melts my heart.
Chad N Freude
@Cat Lady: Hans Conreid. The finest comic character actor ever.
Chad N Freude
It’s kind of nice to know that I’m not the only one in the Hollywood Musical Mansion.
Delia
Cabaret: Tomorrow Belongs To Me.
The song starts as a melodic folk song and gradually transforms into a Nazi marching anthem. Brilliantly done.
Emma
John Barrowman and Kevin Kline singing Night and Day while absolutely seducing each other here
Kathy
I was going to mention the entire Blues Brothers Movie but I see that it has already been brought up. However, not one person has mentioned this wonderful scene from History of the World Part I
ErikaF
My tastes are more genre, but the Epiphany/Little Priest numbers from Sweeney Todd are my faves. The Johnny Depp movie is beautiful, but the Angela Lansbury/George Hearn version is electric. The Patti LuPone/George Hearn version is absolutely killer as well. Well, George Hearn singing anything, really… His version of I Am What I Am (La Cage Aux Folles) is powerful.
Nightmare before Christmas – What’s This (where Jack discovers Christmas Town) is spectacular. And any musical number from classic Mel Brooks (Twelve Chairs, Producers, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein) absolutely has me in stitches. And any of Tim Curry’s numbers in Rocky Horror – heck, Tim Curry singing the phone book would be great.
Into the Fire from the Scarlet Pimpernel – absolutely rousing. I saw a version of Jekyll and Hyde the Musical that had the lead actor singing as both Jekyll and Hyde. I can’t remember the song, but it was absolutely riveting the way he sang the two different characters.
Kathy
Marked as spam due to link fail, boo hoo!
I was referring to the “Spanish Inquisition” scene from the History of the World Part I.
jfxgillis
@Chad N Freude:
There’s your problem. That camera pan of the of the patrons as the Finale is sung might be the most goose-pimply scene ever.
Laura
Streisand’s Don”t Rain On My Parade from Funny Girl
Bing Crosby & Louis Armstrong singing Jazz, Jazz, Jazz in High Society. Bing is a such a hep cat.
And, the songs from “White Christmas,” especially the Danny Kaye ones.
zmullls
Great thread. Every single moment of ALL THAT JAZZ. From the opening montage that distills “A Chorus Line” into a few brilliant minutes, to the father/daughter pas de deux, to the over the top grand finale with Ben Vereen.
Special mention to Gene Kelly tap-dancing on roller skates in IT’S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER.
I saw that someone at the top of the thread mentioned “God Give Me Strength” from GRACE OF MY HEART, and said it was a ‘great moment in a great movie.’ Half right — it was a great moment in a tedious and mediocre movie. But it *was* a great moment.
Violet
No one’s mentioned “Blame Canada” from The Simpsons Movie yet? It was nominated for an Oscar! Fantastic song. Even foreshadows the teabaggers. Excellent stuff.
JGabriel
@Violet: I think you mean South Park.
Ann Marie
Anything by Fred Astaire, but especially him singing and then dancing to “Needle in a Haystack” from “The Gay Divorcee”. It’s in YouTube, but I can’t seem to make the link work.
Violet
@JGabriel:
Duh. Yes. Of course. I’m running on no sleep and wrote the wrong thing. It’s South Park. Still a great song.
MoZeu
First of all, I love The Fabulous Baker Boys. I have seen it I don’t know how many times. Agree it isn’t a “great film” per se, but there are so many great scenes in it, like when the Bridges brothers have that fight in the alley; that was actually excellent. Mainly, though, Bridges and Pfeiffer had about the most electric chemistry I have ever seen on screen. I thought I was going to die if I didn’t see them get it on and I couldn’t for the life of me figure out which one I was hotter for, him or her. Still amazes me that the movie never got more traction.
My suggestion is the dance scene from Napoleon Dynamite, to Jamiroquai’s “Canned Heat.” Although I did not love the movie, that dance scene was pure perfection. http://youtu.be/kr7djGY1fhA
My other contribution is the river boat scene from Night of the Hunter when the little girl sings “Pearl’s Dream,” the song about the pretty fly. Creepiest, most haunting melody and gorgeous cinematography. http://youtu.be/aMF0Wc_hm4A
MoZeu
@becca: I almost mentioned that one too. Agree that was divine. I’m not a big Ms. Streisand fan, but that . . . . oh my God.
Evap
Trivia question (related to a comment above): who did the singing for Lauren Bacall in To Have and Have Not? The answer is surprising!!
Bloix
“when you’re mind’s made up” from Once. Or anything from Once, actually,
Omnes Omnibus
@Evap: Lauren Bacall.
Chad N Freude
@Evap: The surprising answer is [drum roll] Lauren Bacall!
From IMDB:
No gloating here. I once thought it was Andy Williams, too.
Chad N Freude
@Omnes Omnibus: Damn you, Scaramouche! Check the time stamps – That was what we in compute biz call a race condition.
Everybody: That is what it’s called — google it — and there is no need to to start another “racist” binge.
ETA: My response was much more dramatic and pedantic, so at least I win that.
Omnes Omnibus
@Chad N Freude: My answer was more aerodynamic.
Yutsano
Aisling’s Song, The Secret of Kells. Haunting, beautiful, and Gaelic.
Chad N Freude
@Omnes Omnibus: I prefer dramatic pedantry over aerodynamicism. Of course, Bacall was both dramatic and aerodynamic.
Omnes Omnibus
@Chad N Freude: You will get no argument from me over that one. Was you ever bit by a dead bee?
TuiMel
@adolphus:
A campfire tradition among my friends when we go camping:
Mimic Lee Marvin singing, “I was born under a wanderin’ star…”
Chad N Freude
@Omnes Omnibus: Please don’t make me laugh out loud. It disturbs the neighbors. And anyway, I don’t have to show you any stinking badges.
ETA: Often misquoted.
Chad N Freude
@Omnes: This is beginning to sound like some secret society whose members are just us. We could call it “Bull and Scones”.
YellowJournalism
Lahm32, you must be my kindred musical spirit, because the first thing that came to mind was the barn raising scene and Howard Keel singing as he hunts for a wife. Love that film.
I love a lot of the suggestions and want to add that Lloyd holding the ghettoblaster over his head may seem cliche, but in the context of the entire film “Say Anything,” it’s epic. I also think that “Animal House” is just not as effective without its soundtrack. Saw a version with different music for the scene where Bluto is gathering food in the cafeteria. Just didn’t have that push to make it a truly hilarious set-up to the mashed potato zit, the “P I G pigL” response, and the wonerous food fight right afterward.
Jamey
Bowie (!) knocking it D-E-D, dead as a cynical ad man performing “That’s Motivation” in Julien Temple’s movie musical adaptation of “Absolute Beginners.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVYHI1T0PGo
Does the Exctasy-fuelled supermarket Macarena scene in “Go” count?
Otherwise, dozens of great picks hereabouts.
adolphus
My SO mentioned the movie Brassed Off, a Thatcher era British movie that was overshadowed by the better Full Monty.
You’ve never seen or heard Danny Boy until you’ve seen or heard it played by a brass band made up of coal miners with a trombone player in a clown suit and noose scars on his neck. Add in a dying Pete Postlethwaite in a hospital bed and, well, they had me at suicidal clown.
dww44
@Dennis SGMM: Great pick. I’m glad you thought of that one. That really is a wonderful rendition and performance by Preston and Shirley Jones as well (Till There was You). Though neither won an Oscar that year (1963), both did win the Golden Globe for Best Actor and Actress and the movie won as Best Movie Musical.
DaddyJ
@Cat Lady: I’ll second the Do-Mi-Do song. I’m also partial to the “Dungeon Elevator” song in 5K Fingers. Last time I saw that in a theater someone shrieked out loud when the elevator operator got his close-up.
It’s been years since I’ve seen it, but I remember being knocked out by Diahnne Abbott singing “Honeysuckle Rose” in New York, New York.
Also too, any given musical interlude from Season 1 of Tremé.
YellowJournalism
I also can’t forget “Running Wild” from Some Like it Hot. “Through with Love” is also very haunting when you think of the context of Monroe’s life.
And who can forget “Tequila” from Pee Wee’s Big Adventure? Cracks me up every time.
DaddyJ
@charlespierce:
Whenever somebody in our house blocks the view of the teevee, we bust into a lively chorus of “Sit Down, John!”
Lymie
How about Guys and Dolls
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_m0yN3j7fLU&feature=related
Horse Right Here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fl6MHgh1vFQ
Yutsano
@Yutsano: Oh yes. Video. Also. Too.
maurinsky
.
Love this one so much!
Also much love to All That Jazz, which was just genius.
I’m a huge Bob Fosse fan, and I will never forget the first time I saw him dance in Kiss Me, Kate!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFMZ65ESC4w
(You’ll know when it’s him, although sadly, this link is edited)
I am also love the battle dance scene from the musical My Sister Eileen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ItaESaGWMk
He’s dancing with Tommy Rall.
I also love Hedwig and the Angry Inch.
And I’m partial to battle dancing, I guess, because I love this one from Psycho Beach Party – the skinny challenger there is future Oscar award nominee Amy Adams:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ldWSkBkX70
You also hear a couple seconds of Lauren Ambrose singing opera in this movie, which is fun.
YellowJournalism
I’m just amazed that someone else has seen Psycho Beach Party. Speaking of Lauren Ambrose, does teevee count? Because Six Feet Under had some great musical moments.
hamletta
Bing and Frank singing “Well, Did You Evah?” in High Society. Sublime.
MaryRC
Just a few more:
Everything the Nicholas brothers ever did, but especially Jumping Jive from Stormy Weather.
Paul Lynde snarling through What’s the Matter With Kids Today in Bye Bye Birdie.
It’s music playing in the background, but this scene from Withnail and I goes perfectly with All Along The Watchtower.
DaddyJ
Not a musical by any stretch, but if we’re going for musical interludes and you’re in a mood for melancholy, the tavern scene at the end of Paths of Glory delivers (2 min. mark if you don’t want to enjoy Kirk Douglas ripping Adolphe Menjou a new one.)
@Lymie: For more of that Frank Loesser goodness, check out “Brotherhood of Man” in How to Succeed in Business (Without Really Trying).
Mnemosyne
@YellowJournalism:
I know it’s because music rights are so effing expensive, but I HATE when they do that. They completely wrecked the big dance scene in Love At First Bite on video by swapping in a completely different song (the original, of course, was “I Love The Nightlife”). And since at least three people on YouTube have posted the “right” version of the scene, I apparently am not alone in this.
Tim in SF
Red Vic! I live two blocks from the Red Vic. Every year on April 20th at 4:20PM they show the Big Lebowski. People light up right in the theater!
TheMightyTrowel
165 comments and NO ONE mentions Newsies??? It’s about labour relations! And striking against media moguls! And better working conditions! Also, Christian Bale!
Seize the day!
canuckistani
Late to the thread, but I want to put forward Fats Waller doing Ain’t Misbehavin’ in Stormy Weather, or maybe Fred and Ginger doing Let’s Face The Music and Dance, for which I can’t find a clip.
evap
@Chad N Freude: After I posted, I looked it up. Should have been the other way around. Yes, I thought it was Andy Williams, now I know better.
Original Lee
Arsenic and Old Lace with Cary Grant.
Original Lee
Oh, crap. Just realized you meant musicals. I have to go with Thoroughly Modern Millie.
Winston Smith
Cannibal, The Musical.
Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony
Steve Martin singing about how awesome it is to be a sadistic dentist in Little Shop of Horrors.
coloradoblue
@adolphus: Loved Brassed Off and that scene is a killer. Trying to buy a DVD but it is just too expensive right now.
coloradoblue
@patrick II: Great Lakes, Oct/Nov/Dec of 1967 so our paths might have passed.
mg_65
Delurking to say: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UvBs6z3xZs from Silk Stockings with Cyd Charisse. Relurking now.
Deb T
Here’s an offbeat choice, just watched it again last night. “Deception” starring Bette Davis, Paul Henried, and the great Claude Raines. There a scene where Paul Henried plays a cello solo by the Hollywood composer, Korngold. He wrote a concerto for the film that was later expanded and played in concerts. His music is still played. Not usually thought of as a musical, but filled with music — all orchestral or solo instruments.
someofparts
the final dance scene in Strictly Ballroom
Summer
One of you would say “tap-dancing Jesus.” And so of course thought of an old favorite from Godspell “All for the Best”. Bad quality but the scene at the end loses none of its power.
Gunga Dean
Judy Garland doing “The Man That Got Away” in “A Star Is Born”. It’s done in one long dark take and for part of it she is nested in a bunch of shining horns.
modulegirl
@Ozymandias, King of Ants: I love Julie Andrews and I enjoy her performance throughout Victor/Victoria, but Robert Preston steals the show. For me, that number is the reason for sitting through the rest of the movie. “There’s nothing worse than an old queen with a head cold!” LOL!
Gunga Dean
@ErikaF: Sweeney Todd the movie disappoints cos they cut out those glorious chorus’s.
ErikaF
@Gunga Dean: I hate that they pulled out the choruses and shortened A Little Priest, but the movie costumes and cinematography is beautiful. Johnny Depp’s voice was good for the movie, although not a patch on George Hearn who could blow Depp away standing still. The visualization of Epiphany in the movie was inspired – something the stage production simply could not get across in that way.