The Best Musicals

Employees of the Sleeptite Pajama Factory are looking for a whopping seven-and-a-half cent an hour increase and they won't take no for an answer. Babe Williams is their feisty employee representative but she may have found her match in shop superintendent Sid Sorokin. When the two get together they wind up discussing a whole lot more than job actions!

Two producers are putting together a Calvacade of Stars for a wartime charity show. Along with a list of well-knowns they promote the work of an unknown singer and songwriter.

Jimmy, the owner of a failed music shop, goes to work with his uncle, the owner of a food factory. Before he gets there, he befriends an Irish family who happens to be his uncle's worst enemy because of their love for music and in-house band who constantly practices. Soon, Jimmy finds himself trying to help the band by getting them gigs and trying to reconcile the family with his uncle, an avid music hater, all while winning the heart of the beautiful Molly.

Pretty Melinda Howard has been abroad singing with a musical troupe. She decides to return home to surprise her mother whom she thinks is a successful Broadway star with a mansion in Manhattan. She doesn't know that her mother is actually a burnt-out cabaret singer with a love for whiskey. When she arrives at the mansion, she is taken in by the two servants who are friends of her mother's The house actually belongs to Adolph Hubbell, a kind-hearted Broadway producer who also gets drawn into the charade. Hubbell takes a shine to Melinda and agrees to star her in his next show. Melinda also finds romance with a handsome hoofer who's also in the show. All is going well for Melinda except that she wants to see her mother who keeps putting off their reunion.

Talented small-town girl Lily Mars hounds producer John Thornway for a part in his new play, but he doesn't want anything to do with stage-struck amateurs. But when Lily follows him to New York, he gets to know her better and his opinion of her changes for the better. Then, when the leading lady of the play walks out, Lily gets her big break on Broadway.

It's the early 1900's. The Wonder Circus is a traveling circus owned and operated by Anthony Wonder - who performs as a clown - and his daughter Kitty Wonder - who performs as an aerialist and trick rider. Although Kitty loves her Pop as she and all the other circus performers call her father, she hates his gambling addiction which is placing the circus deep in debt. They and their employees treat the circus like one big family, especially Lulu the fortune teller who wants to be Mrs. Wonder, but the employees may only be so loyal if they aren't getting paid. As such, many of the performers leave or threaten to leave to join the Wonder Circus' main competitor, the Noble Circus owned by the power and money hungry John Noble. Although Pop and Kitty don't want anyone to leave their employ, the only act that they will never let go is Jumbo, their trained elephant, who Noble had tried to buy in the past. As many performers leave, into their midst comes circus Jack-of-all-trades Sam Rawlins. Kitty is reluctant to hire Sam because she wants loyal people working for them instead of someone like Sam who she sees as a "sunshiner", a career circus employee who moves from gig to gig. Pop has no such reservation and hires him. Despite still being somewhat suspicious of Sam's motivations since she figures he could get more money working for Noble with his vast array of circus skills, Kitty starts to fall in love with Sam, and he with her, despite his attempts to feign disinterest. Indeed, Sam is hiding a secret about himself and his reason for being with the show. That secret may jeopardize his standing with the Wonders if they ever found out - even if Sam begins to have second thoughts about his reasons for joining them - and jeopardize the entire Wonder Circus itself which includes Jumbo's life.

Rusty Parker, a red-headed leggy dancer at Danny McGuire's Night Club in Brooklyn, wants to be a successful Broadway star. She enters a contest to be a 'Cover Girl' as a stepping-stone in her career. She reminds the publisher, John Coudair, of his lost love, showgirl Maribelle Hicks. He was engaged to Maribelle, although his wealthy society mother made fun of her. Maribelle left John at the altar when she saw the piano at her wedding. It reminded her of the piano-player she truly loved. Rusty is Maribelle's granddaughter and there are musical sequences with Maribelle dancing to songs from the beginning of the 20th century. Rusty lands on the cover of her grandmother's former fiancé's magazine (as a bride). She is pursued by Coudair's pal, the wealthy theatrical producer, Noel Wheaton. He produces a lavish musical to star Rusty, surrounded by real cover girls of the mid 1940's. Rusty runs down a huge spiral into the arms of dozens of men who seem clumsy next to her ethereal dancing. But her success threatens Danny McGuire. He expressed his distress that his girlfriend will find success without him in Kelly's famous dance with himself, 'Alter Ego'. He and his sidekick, Genius, leave New York and entertain soldiers fighting in World War II. Rusty agrees to marry Noel, dazzled by success, security, and his power and money. But she drinks and loses weight because her heart belongs to Danny. She receives a symbolic pearl with great power and tells Coudair and Wheaton that she must spend her life with the man she loves.

Socialite Elvira Kent suspects her husband of fooling around with other women. When he announces he can't join her on their scheduled ocean voyage, she hires a nightclub singer, Georgia Garrett, to pose as her on the cruise. Elvira stays at a hotel near home so she can spy on her husband. She's unaware, however, that her husband has hired a detective, Peter Virgil, to keep an eye on her at sea. Of course, Peter doesn't realize that Georgia is not Mrs. Kent...

Deadwood, Dakota Territory, is largely the abode of men, where Indian scout Calamity Jane is as hard-riding, boastful, and handy with a gun as any; quite an overpowering personality. But the army lieutenant she favors doesn't really appreciate her finer qualities. One of Jane's boasts brings her to Chicago to recruit an actress for the Golden Garter stage. Arrived, the lady in question appears (at first) to be a more feminine rival for the favors of Jane's male friends...including her friendly enemy Wild Bill Hickock.

Melvin Hoover, a budding photographer for Look magazine, accidentally bumps into a young actress named Judy LeRoy in the park. They start to talk and Melvin soon offers to do a photo spread of her. His boss, however, has no intention of using the photos. Melvin wants to marry Judy, but her father would rather she marry dull and dependable Harry Black. As a last resort, Melvin promises to get Judy's photo on the cover of the next issue of Look, a task easier said than done.

The star of an upcoming Broadway production, Janet Hallson, walks out during rehersals. The producers of the show, Ted Sturgis, Leo Belney and Bob Dowdy begin to search a replacement. After a quick audition, each favors someone else: Madelyn Corlane, Joanna Moss, Suzie Doolittle. The rest of the movie tells in a series of musical and dance scenes how they finally pick ...

Boisterous, fun-loving, and popular Washington D.C. hostess Sally Adams is appointed U.S. Ambassador to the Grand Duchy of Lichtenburg, Europe's smallest country. In Lichtenburg, the Duke and Duchess are negotiating a political marriage for their niece, Princess Maria in exchange for a substantial dowry. However, the country is desperate for funds, and turns to the inexperienced ambassador for a much needed U.S. loan. Sally refuses to talk money, that is, until she meets the ultra charming Gen. Cosmo Constantine. Meanwhile, Sally's press attaché Kenneth Gibson falls head over heels for Princess Maria.

Sailor Danny Xavier Smith and two other gobs try to save his sister Susan's virtue. She wants to get a role in the show "Hit the Deck". After wrecking the producers hotel suite, they land in the brig. But Danny's father is a Rear Admiral...

Billionaire Jean-Marc Clement learns that he is to be satirized in an off-Broadway revue. He goes to the theatre, where he sees Amanda rehearsing a song, and the director thinks him an actor suited to play himself in the revue. He takes the part in order to see more of Amanda.

Miss Ethel 'Dynamite' Jackson is a chorus girl who mistakenly receives an invitation from the State Department to represent the American theatre at an arts exposition in Paris, France. There's only one problem: the invitation was meant for Miss Ethel Barrymore. Meanwhile, S. Winthrop Putnam, the bureaucrat who made the mistake, tries unsuccessfully to correct his mix-up. It's too late, for Dynamite Jackson is off to Paris, where the two meet and marry, or so they think.

Attorney, Purdom, and singer, Damone, romance two sisters, Reynolds and Powell, who live with and are strongly influenced by eccentric, health oriented and star gazing grandparents.

A musical remake of Ninotchka: After three bumbling Soviet agents fail in their mission to retrieve a straying Soviet composer from Paris, the beautiful, ultra-serious Ninotchka is sent to complete their mission and to retrieve them. She starts out condemning the decadent West, but gradually falls under its spell with the help of Steve Canfield, an American movie producer.

The upper-class Pringles and middle-class Fosters are two Santa Barbara families. Widowed businessman Lucien T. Pringle's (Leon Ames') interests, including a bank and a radio station, keep him absent from his children's lives. Melvin Colner Foster (Wallace Beery) owns and operates a seafood packing plant, an offshoot of his days as a fisherman. Unlike Lucien, Melvin is very present in his family's lives. Judy Foster (Jane Powell) and siblings Ogden "Oogie" Pringle (Scotty Beckett) and Carol Pringle (Dame Elizabeth Taylor) are seniors at the local high school and have known each other all of their lives. Judy, the school's songbird, and Oogie, conductor of the school's orchestra, are musical collaborators and consider themselves more than friends; Judy and Carol are best friends, although Judy and Oogie are oblivious to Carol's actions being in her best interest, often at their expense. Events before, during, and after the senior-class dance have major repercussions: on Carol's advice, Judy's last-minute escort is Stephen I. Andrews (Robert Stack), nephew of local druggist "Pop" Sam Scully (Lloyd Corrigan). Stephen, a war veteran in town for the summer earning college money as Pop's soda jerk, becomes Judy's new love interest, although she's unaware whether it's just to make Oogie jealous or if it's an idolization of an older man. Carol falls for him too and does whatever she can to "steal" him from Judy without Judy even knowing. But Stephen is aware of the rivalry and knows about Carol's entitled nature and the probable reason behind it. Oogie tries to win Judy back by following the advice of people he trusts. What happens amongst this quartet is complicated by a misunderstanding about Melvin's 20th Anniversary surprise for his wife Dora Foster (Selena Royle).