The Ultimate Movie Musicals Bracket - Round Two, Day Five

Little town...it's a quiet village.

How many times is enough for Gene Kelly and Judy Garland to appear in the final rounds of the Ultimate Movie Musicals Bracket? You can ponder that question or you can start voting to answer that question. Let’s go!

(1) The Wizard of Oz vs. (32) Sweeney Todd: I believe I noted as much initially, but I do like the Tim Burton adaptation of Sweeney Todd, with the caveat that I have not revisited the film in years. Maybe I’d like it less now! But either way, it’s not The Wizard of Oz, a film that I admire and respect a bit more than I love, but…again. It’s one of the most iconic films of all time. Of course it should win here.

The Wizard of Oz

Sweeney Todd

(16) The Rocky Horror Picture Show vs. (17) Beauty and the Beast (1991): Listen, I know that Rocky Horror has many fans. Its cult spreads far and wide. It’s a memorable musical! But it’s not Beauty and the Beast. Yes, these are two drastically different films, but Beauty and the Beast is an all-timer for me. But I wonder if this will be closer for all of you than it is for me.

What do you think?

The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Beauty and the Beast (1991)

(8) My Fair Lady vs. (25) Summer Stock: On one hand, Summer Stock has two truly great numbers. “Get Happy”, which is glimpsed in the photo above, is wonderful, as is the big dance scene you can watch below in which Gene Kelly proves his skills at tap-dancing in any way possible. But My Fair Lady, as slightly ungainly as it may be, has some of the greatest musical numbers in history. It’s not that the staging of those numbers is amazing (though George Cukor is one of the great American filmmakers), but the songs themselves cannot be beaten. (Fun Disney-related fact: though Jeremy Brett is on screen in the number below, the voice of Prince Philip from Sleeping Beauty, Bill Shirley, dubbed his performance.)

I gotta go with Eliza instead of Judy, Judy, Judy. What do you think?

My Fair Lady

Summer Stock

(9) School of Rock vs. (41) Gentlemen Prefer Blondes: I realize this one might be slightly controversial, in that some of you feel passionately that School of Rock should not be on this bracket. And yet, I will place my vote with Dewey Finn, as I feel that School of Rock is an all-around more successful film, even though I freely acknowledge that Gentlemen Prefer Blondes has the vastly more iconic number in “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend.”

How do you vote?

School of Rock

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes