Any of These 10 Movies Could Be the Best Musical Film

Nothing says Hollywood quite like the movie musical. The arrival of sound in film sparked an explosion of musicals, with the genre peaking in the 1930s and 1940s; among hundreds of entries, a handful endure for their catchy numbers, originality, emotional weight, and place in cinema history.

Miloš Forman’s 1979 Hair adapts the 1968 Broadway hit, expanding Claude Bukowski’s backstory, adding characters, and changing the ending to paint a broader picture of 1960s life. West Side Story began on Broadway in 1957 and became a landmark 1961 film that won 10 Academy Awards; its portrait of mid-century New York’s racial tensions remains powerful even as its casting choices—most notably Natalie Wood in a Puerto Rican role—have provoked debate, while Rita Moreno’s Oscar-winning turn as Anita cemented her place in history as an EGOT winner and U.S.

Medal of Freedom recipient.

United States, New York

movie musical, hollywood, miloš forman, hair, west side, broadway, natalie wood, rita moreno, academy awards, anita