As some of you will be all too horribly aware, the Editors of The Metropolitan are somewhat slightly unhinged about Christmas. This means that we have watched all the Christmas movies. Several times. The good ones, at least. The bad ones we have only watched once, because we weren’t sure they were bad and were so desperate for Christmas content we were willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. In an effort to avoid making that mistake anymore we have re-invented another seasonal tradition for ourselves: the BBC 2 Christmas movie season.
The BBC’s movie seasons in the Christmas holidays were our film school, introducing us to classic films we might never have seen otherwise. So now, each Advent,
charges to curate a movie season based on a theme of her choosing.This year:
Musicals!
There is one featured movie per day on the run-up to Christmas, plus a little extra if we have time. They’re roughly in chronological order until we get to Christmas and everything goes jingly. I’ll try and include a link to Just Watch for each film, where possible.
December 1st
The Jazz Singer (1927)
The first sound film and, therefore, the first movie musical, so we ought to start with it really. Although it does contain technology, sentiment and opinions of its time, most noticeably a lot of black-face.
https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/the-jazz-singer
The Sound of Movie Musicals (2018)
The estimable Neil Brand’s history of the genre is the perfect introduction to the season and, more importantly, does not contain offensive minstrelsy.
December 2nd
42nd Street (1933)
You can’t do the movie musical without some Busby Berkeley choreography and this is the original ‘the star has fallen sick and can’t go on, this is the understudy’s big break’.
https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/42nd-street
20 Feet from Stardom (2013)
A documentary about backing singers. The musicians whose sound you know, whose work is vital to making the stars and who are so often simply not seen.
https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/20-feet-from-stardom
December 3rd
Top Hat (1935)
Fred and Ginger, inevitably. Astaire is an incredible dancer, obviously, and Rogers does it all ‘backwards and in heels’, but his gentle, tentative voice is charming and she was a terrific comic actor.
https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/top-hat
Band Wagon (1953)
A musical about musicals (because what else would those involved in musical theatre be interested in) and a later Astaire, paired with Cyd Charisse here and, most importantly, directed by Vincent Minnelli.
https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/the-band-wagon
December 4th
Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
The story of George M. Cohan, the songwriter, performer and ‘The Man Who Owned Broadway’, giving James Cagney a little break from playing psychotic gangsters.
https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/yankee-doodle-dandy
Broadway: the American Musical (2004)
A PBS documentary on the history of the Broadway musical over the twentieth century, telling the evolution of a quintessentially American art form.
December 5th
Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
The holotype of the Hollywood musical: a musical about Hollywood musicals, featuring great songs, great performances, romance, comedy, and inspiring a classical Morecambe and Wise sketch. Perfection.
https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/singin-in-the-rain
Brigadoon (1954)
More Gene Kelly, this time directed by Vincent Minnelli. Two hunters discover a hidden village in the Scottish Highlands that only appears once every century.
https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/brigadoon
December 6th
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)
One of the more remarkable things about Broadway is how songwriters could take something like the Roman myth of the Rape of the Sabine Women and make a musical out of it.
https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/seven-brides-for-seven-brothers
Fiddler on the Roof (1971)
Another possibly unlikely subject for a musical: Jewish life in an early 20th century Ukrainian shtetl, but perhaps not so unlikely, given that that was the origin story of so many Broadway songwriters.
https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/fiddler-on-the-roof
December 7th
A Star is Born (1954)
Starring Judy Garland and James Mason, this was the second of four different adaptations of A Star is Born, which just emphasises how much Hollywood loves stories about Hollywood.
https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/a-star-is-born
A Star is Born (2018)
The one starring Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper just to show that we should be expecting another version some time around 2060.
https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/a-star-is-born-2018
December 8th
Funny Face (1957)
Come for ‘Think Pink!’ and the title song, stay for the slightly squeamish May/December pairing of Hepburn and Astaire and the absolutely excruciating Existential party scene (pair with Tony Hancock’s The Rebel for maximum effect).
https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/funny-face
High Society (1956)
A slightly less yawning generation gap between Bing and Sinatra, but a massive one between both of them and 26 year old Grace Kelly, in this musical remake of The Philadelphia Story (1940).
https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/high-society
December 9th
West Side Story (1961)
Bernstein and Sondheim together, adapting Shakespeare for contemporary Broadway and directed by Robert Wise in one of the great late Hollywood musicals.
https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/west-side-story
Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened (2016)
A documentary following the making of the original Broadway production of Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along.
https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/best-worst-thing-that-ever-could-have-happened
December 10th
The Music Man (1962)
You’ve got Trouble, my friends, right here in River City, with a capital ‘T’, that rhymes with ‘P, which stands for ‘pool’! How many trombones is it in the big parade, Professor Hill?
https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/the-music-man
The Producers (1967)
More musical con men, and a film very much for our times, when a musical about Hitler would almost certainly do unnervingly well.
https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/the-producers-1967
December 11th
My Fair Lady (1964)
The reason why, when the dog steals my shoes, I put on my best Rex Harrison voice to ask him “Eliza, where are my slippers?”
https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/my-fair-lady
Les Parapluies de Cherbourg (1964)
Absolutely stunningly beautiful film from Jacques Demy, which is entirely sung throughout, with no spoken dialogue.
https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/the-umbrellas-of-cherbourg
December 12th
Jailhouse Rock (1957)
The young Elvis at his most electric, capturing him at the height of his early, pre-Army fame, transforming popular culture forever.
https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/jailhouse-rock
Help! (1965)
Basically, much as I’d love to pair Hard Day’s Night (1964) with Jailhouse Rock, I’m not convinced it’s strictly a musical, but I reckon we can get away with Help!
https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/help
December 13th
Oliver! (1968)
A little break from Broadway, with Lionel Bart adapting Dickens, directed by Carol Reed for a thoroughly British musical.
https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/oliver
Bugsy Malone (1976)
A weird offshoot of the Disco Deco, ‘20s revival of the ‘70s - a musical set during prohibition performed solely by child actors.
https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/bugsy-malone
December 14th
Cabaret (1972)
Wilkommen, bienvenue, welcome. A film about, as Peter Cook put it, “those wonderful Berlin cabarets which did so much to stop the rise of Hitler and prevent the outbreak of the Second World War”.
https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/cabaret-1972
All That Jazz (1979)
Completing our Bob Fosse double bill with a Bob Fosse film about Bob Fosse.
https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/all-that-jazz
December 15th
Funny Girl (1968)
A musical biopic of comedienne Fanny Brice, that brought Barbra Streisand’s Broadway performance to film, giving her her debut and making her a star.
https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/funny-girl
Rocketman (2019)
Another biopic, this time of a musician: Elton John, with professional chameleon Taron Egerton in the lead and directed by Bugsy Malone star Dexter Fletcher.
https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/rocketman-2019
December 16th
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
The original cult movie musical, possibly the ultimate cult movie, come to that, favourite of theatre kids and suburban weirdoes everywhere. Viewers must provide their own props and costumes.
https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/the-rocky-horror-picture-show
Little Shop of Horrors (1986)
A film adaptation of a musical adaptation of a film. More to the point, a cult film adaptation of a cult musical of a cult film. What a load of cults.
https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/little-shop-of-horrors
December 17th
Grease (1978)
A ‘70s reimagining of ‘50s high school making for an unlikely hit musical in an age of punk and disco.
https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/grease
Fame (1980)
Fame costs. And here’s where you start paying. In sweat. For bonus points you can add some episodes of the TV show that we all obsessively watched as teenagers.
https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/fame
December 18th
Pennies From Heaven (1981)
The Hollywood version of Dennis Potter’s TV series, with Steve Martin in the Bob Hoskins role. Just be glad that I didn’t include the adaptation of The Singing Detective with Robert Downey Jr.
https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/pennies-from-heaven-1981
Everyone Says I Love You (1996)
Woody Allen’s tribute to the golden age of Hollywood musicals, guaranteed to upset everyone who doesn’t like amateurish singing and dancing.
https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/everyone-says-i-love-you
December 19th
Topsy-Turvy (1999)
A biopic of W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan from Mike Leigh. There’s also the 1983 film of Pirates of Penzance, although without Tim Curry as the Pirate King, who was spectacular, of course.
https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/topsy-turvy
Original Cast Album: Company (1970)
A D. A. Pennebaker documentary about the production and recording of the cast album of the Sondheim musical Company.
https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/topsy-turvy
December 20th
8 Femmes (2002)
Eight women come together to celebrate Christmas, only to discover that the family patriarch has been murdered and any one of them could have done it.
https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/8-women
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)
Two showgirls set out to find husbands. Talk to me, Harry Winston, tell me all about it.
https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/gentlemen-prefer-blondes
December 21st
La La Land (2016)
Damien Chazelle’s loving ode to the Hollywood musical, predictably enough a Hollywood musical about Hollywood which you might be beginning to notice is something of a trend.
https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/la-la-land
Hamilton’s America (2016)
A documentary about the hit musical, its production and the history behind it.
https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/la-la-land
December 22nd
Meet Me In St Louis (1944)
The film that brought Vincent Minnelli and Judy Garland together, thus uniting several films in this list, including Cabaret, of course. Have yourself a merry little Christmas, Judy insists on it.
https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/meet-me-in-st-louis
Road to Utopia (1946)
It could have been any of the Hope/Crosby ‘Road’ movies, but this one has lots of snow and a cameo from Santa Claus, so here we are.
https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/road-to-utopia
December 23rd
Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
What’s this!? Why, its a stop motion musical about the Halloween King trying to take over Christmas, of course.
https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/the-nightmare-before-christmas
Spirited (2002)
Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds in a modern comedy musical retelling of A Christmas Carol.
https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/spirited
Christmas Eve
White Christmas (1954)
You can’t have Christmas without Bing. The song actually first appears on screen in a different musical: Holiday Inn (1942), but it was such a hit they gave it its own film.
https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/white-christmas
The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
Possibly the best adaptation of A Christmas Carol, probably the best Muppets film, almost certainly the best Michael Caine performance. You absolutely cannot have Christmas without The Muppet Christmas Carol.
https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/the-muppet-christmas-carol
If you’re still feeling festive, we’ve now gathered all our seasonal material into one place:
I don’t think it is possible to convey how excited I am by this list! Musicals are such an integral part of Christmas, it’s put me right in the season!