// BEGIN editorial data var i = 0; var Ent_FiveTop_061211 = new Array(); Ent_FiveTop_061211.ID = "Ent_FiveTop_061211"; Ent_FiveTop_061211.ID_WB = 16156927; Ent_FiveTop_061211.sPubDate = "12/11/2006 9:32:56 PM GMT"; Ent_FiveTop_061211.navsectionID = "3032083" Ent_FiveTop_061211.appFmt = 2; Ent_FiveTop_061211.itemsPerPage = 5; Ent_FiveTop_061211.nTeaseW = 198; Ent_FiveTop_061211.nTeaseH = 198; Ent_FiveTop_061211.appWidth = 624; Ent_FiveTop_061211.appHeader = ""; Ent_FiveTop_061211.appFooter = "   By John Hartl"; Ent_FiveTop_061211.rowSpacer = "20"; Ent_FiveTop_061211.rowAlt = "F7F7F7"; Ent_FiveTop_061211.appNavStyle = 3; Ent_FiveTop_061211.appLayout = 1; Ent_FiveTop_061211.copyMargin = 9; Ent_FiveTop_061211.copyBorder = 0; Ent_FiveTop_061211.sBodyFont = "font-size:12px;"; Ent_FiveTop_061211[i++] = new Array("","","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/061211/5top_wizardofoz_warner.standard.jpg","","\"The Wizard of Oz\"", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "Warner Bros.", "136", "198", "1", "", "", "", ""); Ent_FiveTop_061211[i-1].body = "“The Wizard of Oz” (1939)
Years before “Oklahoma!” revolutionized Broadway musicals, MGM seamlessly blended story and song in this beloved fantasy about a Kansas girl who visits a Technicolor wonderland. Beginning with Judy Garland’s timeless rendition of “Over the Rainbow,” director Victor Fleming (apparently with the uncredited help of King Vidor) brings a sense of emotional maturity to musicals that was simply not imagined in the glittery Depression-era entertainments that preceded it. The latest attempt to revive movie musicals, “Dreamgirls,” will have to be a knockout to be mentioned in the same breath."; Ent_FiveTop_061211[i++] = new Array("","","","http://msnbcmedia3.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/061211/5top_singin.standard.jpg","","\"Singin' in the Rain\"", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "MGM", "146", "198", "1", "", "", "", ""); Ent_FiveTop_061211[i-1].body = "“Singin’ in the Rain” (1952)
In Hollywood’s most joyous musical, Gene Kelly and squeaky-voiced Jean Hagen play silent-film stars who are forced to reinvent their careers when talkies arrive. Hagen is exposed as a fraud but Kelly succeeds, thanks to the help of Debbie Reynolds and Donald O’Connor — who delivers the show’s most astonishingly athletic number, “Make ‘Em Laugh.” Screenwriters Adolph Green and Betty Comden, who later wrote the equally smart sendup of stage musicals, “The Band Wagon,” deftly skewer Hollywood pretensions while co-directors Kelly and Stanley Donen pay tribute to the dance classics of the past. "; Ent_FiveTop_061211[i++] = new Array("","","","http://msnbcmedia4.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/061211/5top_westsidestory.standard.jpg","","\"West Side Story\"", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "Getty Images", "198", "145", "1", "", "", "", ""); Ent_FiveTop_061211[i-1].body = "“West Side Story” (1961)
Jerome Robbins’ daring choreography dominates this 20th Century variation on “Romeo and Juliet,” which he co-directed with Robert Wise. It boldly begins with gangs performing a ballet number on the streets of New York and continues with the wild “Dance at the Gym,” the exuberant rooftop number, “America,” and the intense, threatening “Cool.” Leonard Bernstein’s music and Stephen Sondheim’s lyrics blend most memorably (and hilariously) in the “Gee, Officer Krupke” number, in which gang members mercilessly lampoon various explanations/solutions for the \"problem\" of juvenile delinquency."; Ent_FiveTop_061211[i++] = new Array("","","","http://msnbcmedia2.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/061211/5top_harddaysnight_miramax.standard.jpg","","\"A Hard Day's Night\"", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "Miramax", "141", "198", "1", "", "", "", ""); Ent_FiveTop_061211[i-1].body = "“A Hard Day’s Night” (1964)
As fresh now as the day it opened, Richard Lester’s first Beatles movie mixes silent-film slapstick, Liverpool rock music and a documentary style to capture a singular moment in the history of pop-culture hysteria. Especially effective are Lester’s handling of the title tune, which is used to establish the pre-MTV visual style of the picture, and his rapturous treatment of “And I Love Her,” with its restless camera and splashy lighting effects. Holding it all together is Alun Owen’s delightfully literate script, which gently mocks the backstage shenanigans of trend-spotters, celebrity worshippers, neurotic technicians and presumptuous hangers-on. Too bad Elvis never worked with this crew."; Ent_FiveTop_061211[i++] = new Array("","","","http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/061211/5top_cabaret.standard.jpg","","\"Cabaret\"", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "Allied Artists", "198", "160", "1", "", "", "", ""); Ent_FiveTop_061211[i-1].body = "“Cabaret” (1972)
Myopic hedonism is no match for the rise of the Third Reich in Bob Fosse’s dazzling musical set in 1930s Germany. At the seedy Kit Kat Klub, Liza Minnelli and Joel Grey sing, dance and invite the audience to forget their prejudices and to “live and let live.” Out in the countryside, nature itself seems polluted by the rousing/terrifying Nazi anthem, “Tomorrow Belongs to Me.” Michael York, as a bisexual visiting Brit, registers his sense of helplessness and leaves. Back at the club, Minnelli sings a celebratory song about “the happiest corpse I’ve ever seen,” while Grey impersonates a grinning skull. It’s a lot for a musical to have on its plate, but Fosse never stumbles."; // END editorial data