Movie musicals: 21 essential films
Weekly collection in the app for the week of September 4, 2026.
A movie musical stops the story so its characters can sing what they cannot say. This collection spans the form: MGM's Technicolor classics (Singin' in the Rain, Meet Me in St. Louis, An American in Paris), Broadway adaptations from My Fair Lady to Chicago, the rock operas and cult favorites of the 1970s, a Hindi epic, and Damien Chazelle's La La Land.
These 21 films ran as the weekly theme in the I Like Movies Discover tab for the week of September 4, 2026, featuring Singin' in the Rain. The list runs from The Wizard of Oz in 1939 to Bradley Cooper's A Star Is Born in 2018, with Disney's The Lion King along the way.
The collection
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Singin' in the Rain 1952 Donen & Kelly As Hollywood switches to talking pictures in 1927, a silent star, his wisecracking pal and a young chorus girl try to rescue a disastrous first talkie; the title number, danced in a downpour, is Gene Kelly's signature. Cast: Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, Debbie Reynolds -
The Wizard of Oz 1939 Fleming A Kansas farm girl is carried by a tornado to the land of Oz and follows the yellow brick road with a scarecrow, a tin man and a cowardly lion to find her way home; Judy Garland sings 'Over the Rainbow'. Cast: Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley -
An American in Paris 1951 Minnelli An American ex-soldier painting in postwar Paris falls for a young French woman already promised to someone else; it ends with a long ballet set to Gershwin, and it won the Oscar for Best Picture. Cast: Gene Kelly, Leslie Caron, Oscar Levant -
Meet Me in St. Louis 1944 Minnelli Over one year in 1903 St. Louis, a family's four daughters fall in and out of love as the city prepares for the World's Fair, and a move to New York threatens it all; Judy Garland introduced 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas'. Cast: Judy Garland, Margaret O'Brien, Mary Astor -
A Star Is Born 2018 Cooper A hard-drinking country-rock star discovers a singer-songwriter in a drag bar and helps launch her career as his own falls apart; Bradley Cooper's directing debut, with Lady Gaga, and the fourth film of the story. Cast: Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper, Sam Elliott -
My Fair Lady 1964 Cukor A phonetics professor bets he can pass off a Cockney flower seller as a duchess by teaching her to speak 'properly'; Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison in Lerner and Loewe's musical of Shaw's Pygmalion, winner of Best Picture. Cast: Audrey Hepburn, Rex Harrison, Stanley Holloway -
West Side Story 1961 Wise & Robbins Romeo and Juliet moved to the rival street gangs of New York's Upper West Side, where a former Jet falls for the sister of the Sharks' leader; Leonard Bernstein's score, Jerome Robbins's choreography, and ten Oscars. Cast: Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn -
The Sound of Music 1965 Wise A postulant who does not fit in at her Salzburg abbey becomes governess to a widowed naval captain's seven children as the Nazis annex Austria; Julie Andrews in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, shot on location. Cast: Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Eleanor Parker -
Cabaret 1972 Fosse In 1931 Berlin, an American singer at the seedy Kit Kat Club and a British writer begin an affair as the Nazis rise outside; Liza Minnelli and Joel Grey, with almost every song performed on the club's stage. Cast: Liza Minnelli, Michael York, Helmut Griem -
School of Rock 2003 Linklater A broke rock guitarist poses as a substitute teacher at a prep school and secretly turns his fifth-grade class into a rock band; Jack Black, with a cast of kids who play their own instruments. Cast: Jack Black, Joan Cusack, Mike White -
Mughal-e-Azam 1960 K. Asif A Mughal prince falls for a court dancer, and his father, the emperor Akbar, will go to war with his own son to stop the marriage; K. Asif's lavish Hindi epic, more than a decade in the making. Cast: Dilip Kumar, Prithviraj Kapoor, Madhubala -
La La Land 2016 Chazelle A jazz pianist and an aspiring actress fall in love in Los Angeles while chasing careers that start pulling them in different directions; Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone in Damien Chazelle's tribute to old Hollywood musicals. Cast: Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, John Legend -
Moulin Rouge! 2001 Luhrmann A penniless English poet falls for the star courtesan of the Moulin Rouge in 1899 Paris while a jealous duke funds the club's new show; Baz Luhrmann sets the story to pop songs from Elton John to Nirvana. Cast: Ewan McGregor, Nicole Kidman, John Leguizamo -
The Rocky Horror Picture Show 1975 Sharman A newly engaged couple with a flat tire seek help at a castle where a mad scientist from another planet is about to unveil his creation; the cult musical whose fans still dress up and talk back at midnight screenings. Cast: Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick -
The Blues Brothers 1980 Landis Two brothers fresh out of prison set out to raise $5,000 for the Catholic orphanage that raised them by getting their old band back together, wrecking half of Chicago on the way; with James Brown, Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles. Cast: John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, James Brown -
Jesus Christ Superstar 1973 Jewison The last week of Jesus's life, seen largely through the eyes of Judas, staged as a rock opera by a troupe of young performers who arrive by bus in the desert; Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's songs. Cast: Ted Neeley, Carl Anderson, Yvonne Elliman -
Chicago 2002 Marshall In 1920s Chicago, a would-be singer who shot her lover and a vaudeville star accused of double murder compete for headlines and a slick lawyer's attention; the numbers play out in the heroine's imagination, and it won Best Picture. Cast: Renée Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Richard Gere -
Once 2007 Carney A Dublin street musician and a Czech immigrant who sells flowers spend a week writing and recording songs together; made on a tiny budget, it won the Oscar for Best Original Song with 'Falling Slowly'. Cast: Glen Hansard, Markéta Irglová, Hugh Walsh -
Hedwig and the Angry Inch 2001 Mitchell An East German rock singer left with a botched gender-reassignment surgery tours chain restaurants with her band, telling her life story and shadowing the former lover who stole her songs; John Cameron Mitchell, from his own stage show. Cast: John Cameron Mitchell, Miriam Shor, Stephen Trask -
The Lion King 1994 Allers & Minkoff A lion cub flees his kingdom after his uncle murders his father and lets the cub believe he was to blame, then must return as an adult to reclaim his place; Disney's animated musical, with songs by Elton John and Tim Rice. Cast: Matthew Broderick, Moira Kelly, Jeremy Irons -
Grease 1978 Kleiser A greaser and a wholesome Australian transfer student who fell for each other over the summer try again at Rydell High, where their cliques get in the way; John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. Cast: Olivia Newton-John, John Travolta, Stockard Channing
Keep your place
Musicals are easy to start and hard to stop. Save the collection to your watchlist in I Like Movies, tick each film off as you go, and rate it so the app learns whether you lean toward golden-age MGM or rock opera. Every Friday the Discover tab gets a new themed collection.
Questions people ask
What are the best movie musicals of all time?
There is no single list, but a few appear on nearly all of them: Singin' in the Rain, The Wizard of Oz, West Side Story and The Sound of Music. Five films here won the Oscar for Best Picture: An American in Paris, West Side Story, My Fair Lady, The Sound of Music and Chicago.
Where should I start with musicals if I usually don't like them?
Pick one where the songs have a reason to happen: Cabaret keeps almost every number on its nightclub stage, Once is about two musicians writing songs, and School of Rock and The Blues Brothers are comedies first. They ease you in before the classics.
The week before: Mafia cinema: 21 essential films. The week after: TIFF audience favorites: 21 films. See every weekly theme, or browse every guide, watch order and comparison.