The 10 greatest proper musicals

Only proper musicals need apply. Much as we enjoy those variations on the form in which performances - either on stage or before the camera - allow the characters to express their feelings, the Campaign for Real Musicals has decided to take a hard-line stance.

Only those films in which song takes the place of everyday dialogue have been considered. So, there is no place for Once, Walk the Line, Slade in Flameor (most regrettably) George Cukor's peerless A Star Is Born. The law's the law.

1 Singin' in the Rain(1952)

A seamless amalgam of comedy and inspirational dance that, like all the best Stanley Donen pictures, never for a second forgets that it is a film and must behave like a film.

2 The Wizard of Oz(1939)

Some maniacs might describe it as a comedy with songs, rather than a fully fledged musical. Whatever. It remains an endlessly amusing (and occasionally troubling) classic.

3 West Side Story(1961)

Yes, the original conception - watered down by co-director Robert Wise - was grittier and more experimental. This is still the best version of Romeo and Juliet on film.

4 The Umbrellas of Cherbourg/ Les Parapluies de Cherbourg(1964)

Catherine Deneuve stars in an intoxicating, candy-coloured meditation on the American musical that holds up better than many of the films it honours.

5 Love Me Tonight(1932)

Not as famous as it should be, Rouben Mamoulian's Ruritanian romance manages to invent conventions even as it was parodying them.

6 Mary Poppins(1964)

Julie Andrews's voice - as clean as the noise of a glass being struck - is a perfect match for the perfectly polished songs.

7 An American in Paris(1951)

Vincente Minnelli allows Gene Kelly to indulge himself with an epic ballet and, against the odds, the film manages to avoid pomposity.

8 Top Hat(1935)

Why this rather than any of the other musicals featuring Astaire and Rogers? Because this one features Cheek to Cheek, stupid.

9 Meet Me in Saint Louis(1944)

Garland again? Minnelli again? Well, this is a panel about musicals.

10 Tommy(1975)

No, really. Give it a chance. Ken Russell's bewildering adaptation of The Who's rock opera makes a virtue of pomposity and excess.