The Top H Film Musicals of All Time

I've been holding off on this one, because I didn't have enough material. But I caught a few real classics recently, and now I feel confidently informed enough for the undertaking, such as it is.

First: a point of blinding clarity. I'm not talking about your latter-day "rock musical" musicals, here. I'm talking about the real deal. Your classic, song and dance, beltin' and hoofin' Hollywood-style (or at least, Hollywood-scope) MUSICALS.

For me, the criteria, the dividing line is this: in what context do the majority of the musical numbers occur? Do people just bust out into song right in the middle of an ordinary life moment? In front of other people, who more often than not may join in? Do they start singing because they just have to sing, just to express themselves? Because mere spoken words cannot contain the superabundancy of their feelings?

If so, then we're looking at a musical. It's not a "musical" to me if the majority of "numbers" are excused/explained (from a dramatic standpoint) by the characters being musical performers, just singing a song because that's part of their job.

SO! Without further ado, (drum roll, pleeease) I give you the Top H Film Musicals of All Time!:

H. The Wizard of Oz - although this loses points for being "only a dream." I hate that cliché. I hate it even if this was historically the first film where it happened! Which I doubt. But anyway, they should have found some way to flip the script on that only-a-dream biz. She should have woke up, pan down - HEY! THE SLIPPERS!! "Ohmigosh" moment!

G. My Fair Lady - What a classic story. What delicious performances! Who cares if they dubbed in her singing voice in post-production? I heard that they saved the original vocal tracks and that in actual fact, she done herself proud. It's just that her more heartfelt delivery wasn't up to the spit-and-polish homogenized professional standards and styles of the day. Which I can easily believe! I'm inclined to easily believe that sort of thing. Believing in that sort of thing affirms little details of hope that I live by. I even went out and got that "we're really doing the singing this time" album that Milli and Vanilli did (under their secret identity names, Rab & Fop, I believe). They were definitely singing in their own true voices! You could tell, because they didn't sound a thing like themselves. But it wasn't awful.

F.

Actually, that's it.

Possibly have to throw the Sound of Music in there at some point, after I've ever gotten around to seeing it. Aw, hell though - I guess I can take that one on faith! Here:

F. The Sound of Music. Everybody says. Plus I'm pretty sure it stakes out a bold-for-its-time anti-Hitler stance.

Speaking of Hitler, maybe put The Producers in there...! Except, I'm not sure the original was a musical. I mean, I saw it! But was it? Since they ended up turning it into a musical later, maybe it originally was technically something else. I can't remember now, whether Bialystock and Bloom were singing at each other, or if the music was mostly within the context of the stage musical they were staging to fleece the backers. But I thought there might have been a moment or two in their office, where they resorted to song to get their feelings across.

But maybe not? Let's leave it at that, due to lack of evidence.