+1
Seen both of these two, voted for neither...
76. 42nd Street (1933) - Hoping this might have come in at number 42, but not for any other reason than being able to type "42. 42nd Street". When I watched this I was surprised at how similar it was to Gold Diggers of 1933, which I'd seen first. Maybe not quite as funny, but I thought the musical numbers in this were better - ending up with the huge stage production where the title song is sung. I watched it because I wanted to broaden my knowledge as far as musicals go - you can't go much farther back before the lack of sound in films meant they couldn't be musicals.
75. The King and I (1956) - I have to admit to having been blown away by this when I saw it - the whole "Shall We Dance?" number is fantastic and I watched it another half dozen times I was so taken by it. I wrote on Letterboxd : "The King and I, powered as much by an all-out performance of incredible magnitude by Yul Brynner, has the music, sets and costumes to make an impact already - but it's just such a cinematically astute version of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical. It's everything, and everything leads up to that pivotal and very famous moment when the King of Siam dances with Anna (Deborah Kerr) in a golden palatial room to the strains of "Shall We Dance" - a moment often highlighted in "history of cinema" montages. There are moments that had my jaw dropping - such as the adapted Uncle Tom's Cabin (Small House of Uncle Thomas), which becomes a play with unforgettable artistic invention - a must see for anyone who loves to be dazzled and enchanted. Did it have to break my heart as well? It had my heart by that stage, after what felt like an inauspicious start - and I never expected to be as captivated as I was. I don't know if it mattered what songs were sung - the performances (again - Brynner's is outstanding) and sentiment suited me fine. The art direction and set decoration were out of this world.
But then, we have to talk about the fact that the West was "civilised" and that the King of Siam is immediately, consistently and always looked upon as some kind of barbarian and beneath us. Sometimes the Siamese are treated as fools - and much is made of their reluctance to acknowledge the world as not being flat and not being carried around on the back of a giant turtle. A lot is made of polygamy and Western culture. But hell, this was made in the mid-1950s, and is set in the early 1860s. I just thought that the best of this film took me right out of the politics, cultural sensibility and lack of progressive foresight. The King and I had led up to the scenes which were it's crowning glory in it's own timely fashion to catch me off guard - and I loved it." Now - that's a lot, but I really loved The King and I - it was certainly in contention for my list, and was on it and off it at one stage. A shame to have had to leave it off.
Seen : 17/26
__________________
Remember - everything has an ending except hope, and sausages - they have two.