LION KING, WEST SIDE STORY Among 100 Greatest American Films

By: Jul. 27, 2015
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BBC Culture today released a comprehensive new poll of the 100 Greatest American Films of all time. Among the esteemed list is the 1952 film SINGIN' IN THE RAIN, at No. 7, and THE WIZARD OF OZ, coming in at #34. Click here to see the list in its entirety.

The Broadway musical SINGIN' IN THE RAIN, with a book by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, lyrics by Arthur Freed, and music by Nacio Herb Brown, was adapted from the 1952 movie. Set in Hollywood in the waning days of the silent screen era, it focuses on romantic lead Don Lockwood, his sidekick Cosmo Brown, aspiring actress Kathy Selden, and Lockwood's leading lady Lina Lamont, whose less-than-dulcet vocal tones make her an unlikely candidate for stardom in talking pictures.

Singin' in the Rain opened on Broadway at the Gershwin Theatre on July 2, 1985 and closed on May 18, 1986 after 367 performances and 38 previews. Directed and choreographed by Twyla Tharp, the cast included Don Correia as Don, Mary D'Arcy as Kathy, Peter Slutsker as Cosmo, and Faye Grant as Lina.

The 1939 musical fantasy The Wizard of Oz , produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, is the most well-known and commercially successful adaptation based on the 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. The film starred Judy Garland; Terry the dog, billed as Toto; Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, Bert Lahr, Frank Morgan, Billie Burke, Margaret Hamilton.

The movie was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture but lost to GONE with the Wind. It did win in two other categories including Best Original Song for "Over the Rainbow". The story serves as the inspiration behind the Broadway musical's THE WIZ and WICKED.

Other Broadway-related films on the list include:

"The Apartment" (#24)

"Some Like It Hot" (#30)

"Grey Gardens" (#53)

"Sunset Boulevard" (#54)

"The Graduate" (#55)

"Meet Me in St. Louis" (#80)

"The Lion King" (#87)

"West Side Story" (#88)

Watch clips of various incarnations of the Top 100 American films below:

Source: Deadline



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