57 articles
200 Motels
200 Motels (1971) is Frank Zappa's experimental musical film, co-directed with Tony Palmer, a "surrealistic documentary" of life on tour with the Mothers of Invention, starring Ringo Starr, Keith Moon, and Theodore Bikel, and the first feature shot on videotape and transferred to film.
All That Jazz (film)
All That Jazz (1979) is Bob Fosse's semi-autobiographical musical drama about director-choreographer Joe Gideon, played by Roy Scheider; it shared the 1980 Palme d'Or and won four Oscars.
At Long Last Love
At Long Last Love (1975) is Peter Bogdanovich's Cole Porter jukebox musical starring Burt Reynolds, Cybill Shepherd, Madeline Kahn, and Duilio Del Prete, a Radio City Music Hall flop with multiple competing cuts and a later reappraisal.
Beat Street
Beat Street is a 1984 Orion Pictures musical drama directed by Stan Lathan, produced by Harry Belafonte, about South Bronx DJ, breakdancing, and graffiti artists in early hip-hop culture; its gold-certified soundtrack and international influence distinguish it.
Breakin'
Breakin' (1984) is a Cannon Films breakdancing musical directed by Joel Silberg, starring Lucinda Dickey, Adolfo 'Shabba-Doo' Quinones, and Michael 'Boogaloo Shrimp' Chambers; it grossed about $38.7 million and spawned Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo.
Bugsy Malone
Bugsy Malone is Alan Parker's 1976 all-child-cast gangster musical, set in 1929 New York with splurge guns firing cream, songs by Paul Williams, starring Scott Baio and Jodie Foster, five BAFTA wins and an Oscar nomination.
Bye Bye Brazil
Bye Bye Brasil (Bye Bye Brazil), 1979 Carlos Diegues road movie produced by L.C. Barreto about the Caravana Rolidei troupe; competed at Cannes 1980 and was Brazil's 1981 Oscar submission.
Crossroads (1986 film)
Crossroads (1986) is a Walter Hill drama starring Ralph Macchio, Joe Seneca, and Jami Gertz, written by John Fusco with a Ry Cooder soundtrack, about a Juilliard guitarist seeking a lost Robert Johnson song and dueling the devil's guitarist Steve Vai at a Mississippi crossroads.
Donkey Skin
Donkey Skin (Peau d'âne) is Jacques Demy's 1970 French musical fantasy film adapting Perrault's 1694 tale, starring Catherine Deneuve, Jean Marais, Delphine Seyrig, with Michel Legrand songs; Demy's biggest French hit with about 2.2 million admissions.
Eddie and the Cruisers
Eddie and the Cruisers (1983), Martin Davidson film from P. F. Kluge's novel; Michael Paré, Tom Berenger, Ellen Barkin; theatrical flop that became an HBO hit, with John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown soundtrack selling over 1.3 million albums.
Eddie Murphy Raw
Eddie Murphy Raw is a 1987 American stand-up comedy concert film, directed by Robert Townsend and filmed live at the Felt Forum in New York City.
El Amor Brujo
El amor brujo (Love, the Magician) is Manuel de Falla's ballet on Andalusian Gypsy themes, libretto credited to Gregorio Martínez Sierra (written by María Lejárraga), premiered Madrid 1915 for Pastora Imperio, definitive Paris 1925 version with Antonia Mercé, filmed in 1967 and 1986.
Fame (1980 film)
Fame (1980 film) is an Alan Parker MGM musical drama about students at New York's High School of Performing Arts, starring Irene Cara; it won two Oscars, spawned a 1982–87 TV series, and joined the National Film Registry in 2023.
Flashdance
Flashdance (1983) is an American romantic drama directed by Adrian Lyne, starring Jennifer Beals as welder-bar dancer Alex Owens. Paramount release, $7.5M budget, Oscar-winning song "Flashdance… What a Feeling," third-highest-grossing U.S. film of 1983.
Footloose
Footloose (1984) is a Paramount drama-musical directed by Herbert Ross, written by Dean Pitchford, starring Kevin Bacon as a Chicago teen fighting a small town's dancing ban, inspired by Elmore City, Oklahoma; it grossed $80 million and spawned a 2011 remake.
Free to Be... You and Me
Free to Be... You and Me is a 1972 children's album conceived by Marlo Thomas with Ms. Magazine's Gloria Steinem and Letty Cottin Pogrebin, challenging gender stereotypes; it became a gold record, a 1974 ABC special (Emmy, Peabody), and a 2020 National Recording Registry inductee.
Funny Lady
Funny Lady is a 1975 American musical comedy-drama and the sequel to Funny Girl, starring Barbra Streisand as Fanny Brice alongside James Caan and Omar Sharif.
Godspell (1973 film)
Godspell (1973 film), David Greene's Columbia Pictures adaptation of the Tebelak-Schwartz Gospel of Matthew musical, shot on empty New York streets with Victor Garber as Jesus and the song "Beautiful City" written for the film.
Grease (film)
Grease, also known as Grease Movie, is a 1978 American musical film directed by Randal Kleiser and adapted from the 1971 stage musical by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey.
Hair (film)
Hair (1979) is Miloš Forman's film adaptation of the 1968 Broadway hippie musical, starring John Savage, Treat Williams, and Beverly D'Angelo, with Twyla Tharp choreography; it premiered 14 March 1979, played Cannes out of competition, and earned two David di Donatello awards.
Krush Groove
Krush Groove is a 1985 American musical drama directed by Michael Schultz and starring Blair Underwood, loosely based on the founding of Def Jam Records by Russell Simmons.
La Corte de Faraón
La corte de Faraón (also La corte del Faraón) is a 1910 Spanish one-act biblical operetta by Vicente Lleó, libretto by Perrín and Palacios, premiered at Madrid's Teatro Eslava; the emblematic sicalíptico zarzuela, banned under Franco and adapted in García Sánchez's 1985 film.
Lisztomania (1975 film)
Lisztomania (1975) is Ken Russell's British rock-opera fantasy biopic of Franz Liszt, starring Roger Daltrey, with Paul Nicholas as Wagner and Ringo Starr as the Pope; a critical and commercial failure.
Moonwalker
Moonwalker is Michael Jackson's 1988 American anthology film, directed by Jerry Kramer, Colin Chilvers, Jim Blashfield, and Will Vinton, blending Bad-era music videos with a Smooth Criminal fantasy in which Jackson battles drug dealer Mr. Big (Joe Pesci); released on US home video January 10, 1989.
Nashville (film)
Nashville (1975) is Robert Altman's 160-minute ensemble drama, written by Joan Tewkesbury, following 24 characters over five days in Tennessee's music capital; it won one Oscar (Carradine's "I'm Easy") from four nominations.
New York, New York (1977 film)
New York, New York (1977) is Martin Scorsese's musical drama starring Robert De Niro and Liza Minnelli as musicians whose romance begins on V-J Day 1945; its Kander and Ebb title song became a jazz standard.
One from the Heart
One from the Heart: 1982 Francis Ford Coppola musical romance, also known as One from the Heart: Reprise in its 2023 4K recut. Shot entirely at Zoetrope Studios as artificial Las Vegas; Tom Waits score; box-office failure that bankrupted Zoetrope.
One Sings, the Other Doesn't
One Sings, the Other Doesn't (French: L'une chante, l'autre pas) is a 1977 French feminist musical drama written and directed by Agnès Varda, following two women's fourteen-year friendship.
Phantom of the Paradise
Phantom of the Paradise is Brian De Palma's 1974 rock musical horror comedy, also known as Phantom, mixing The Phantom of the Opera, Faust, and Dorian Gray; Paul Williams stars as Swan and scored it, and it became a cult film, notably in Winnipeg.
Pink Floyd – The Wall
Pink Floyd – The Wall is a 1982 British musical drama film directed by Alan Parker, based on Pink Floyd's 1979 album and starring Bob Geldof.