The Movie Musical Will Never Die. These Are the Best of All Time.

Every decade or so, some grouch declares that the movie musical is dead. And every time they do, they turn out to be wrong. Sure, Hollywood doesn’t crank out quite as many razzle-dazzle singing spectacles as it did back in the ‘30s, ‘40s, and ‘50s, but when inspiration strikes, it can still make ‘em like it used to. In fact, you could argue that we’re in the midst of another Tinseltown musical renaissance right at this very moment thanks to In the Heights, tick, tick…Boom!, and the new West Side Story. So, yes, the films are there. But the big question is: Is there an audience for them? I hear a lot of people grouse that they can’t get past the artificiality of musicals—that all of the hyper-emotional singing and dancing (in other words, the very things that make musicals great) pulls them out of the experience of losing themselves to the story on screen. Of course, if someone truly feels that way, then they can’t be wrong. But…well, they’re wrong. Musicals fucking rule! Maybe these disgruntled folks just haven’t seen the right ones, the truly great ones. Which is where we come in.

This list of 15 Essential Hollywood Musicals—from Astaire & Rogers to Cartman & Kenny—will make even the crankiest song-and-dance skeptic want to twirl around a street lamp, tap dance in a puddle, and go singin’ in the rain.