The Ultimate Guide to Movie Musicals Set in NYC

Although Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In The Heights hasn’t ended up the summer blockbuster it hoped to be, it is still indicative of the steady rejuvenation of something near and dear to my heart — the movie musical.

Last week, the legendary stage and film performer Rita Moreno’s documentary Just a Girl Who Decided to Go For It came out to rave reviews, allowing us new insights into the storied life and career of the Puerto Rican trailblazer. Most famous for her role in the West Side Story film, her documentary renders added interest in the world and people of movie musicals, both past and present.

Evidently, Hollywood has no plans of slowing down their musical output in 2021, with Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Dear Evan Hansen and Tick, Tick… Boom! (another Lin-Manuel Miranda production) set to be released in the fall. To round out 2021, Steven Spielberg will bestow upon us a reboot of West Side Story.

Now when looking at the history of movie musicals, their roots are in the backstage Broadway musical. And as most good things do, the genre has consistently returned to its roots, therefore making The Big Apple the most popular locale in all of the genre’s filmography. So if you watch In The Heights, West Side Story, or anything in between and want to continue singing and dancing through New York, here is a comprehensive list of every musical film to take place in this glorious, godforsaken city.

About Broadway:

42nd Street (1933)
A Chorus Line (1985)
All That Jazz (1979)
Applause (1929)
Applause (1973)
Born to Dance (1936)
Broadway (1942)
Broadway Babies (1929)
Broadway Melody of 1936 (1935)
Broadway Melody of 1938 (1937)
Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940)
Broadway Rhythm (1944)
Broadway Serenade (1939)
Broadway Thru a Keyhole (1933)
Broadway to Hollywood (1933)
Dames (1934)
Dance,Girl, Dance (1933)
Dancing Lady (1933)
Dimples (1936)
Footlight Parade (1933)
Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933)
Gold Diggers of Broadway (1929)
I’ll Be Yours (1947)
Lullaby of Broadway (1951)
Main Street to Broadway (1951)
Merrily We Roll Along (TBD)
Rainbow Over Broadway (1933)
Ready, Willing, and Able (1937)
Rose of Washington Square (1939)
Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure (2011)
Small Town Girl (1953)
Star! (1968)
The Band Wagon (1953)
The Barkleys of Broadway (1949)
The Broadway Melody (1929)
The Great Ziegfeld (1936)
The Producers (1967)
The Producers (2005)
You’re a Sweetheart (1937)

Pre-Code:

Delicious (1931)
Madam Satan (1930)
Manhattan Parade (1931)
Peacock Alley (1930)
Street Girl (1929)
Sunny Side Up (1929)
Sweet Adeline (1934)
Syncopation (1929)
The Big Pond (1930)
The Life of the Party (1930)
The Melody Man (1930)
Young Man of Manhattan (1930)

Period Pieces:

Annie (1982)
Annie (1999)
Auntie Mame (1958)
Easter Parade (1948)
Funny Girl (1968)
Funny Lady (1975)
Hello Again (2017)
Hello, Dolly! (1969)
Mame (1974)
Newsies (1992)
The Belle of New York (1952)
The Daughter of Rosie O’Grady (1950)
The Greatest Showman (2017)
The Mambo Kings (1992)
There’s a Girl in My Heart (1949)
Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967)
Up in Central Park (1948)

Jazz:

A Man Called Adam (1966)
A Song Is Born (1948)
Naughty but Nice (1939)
New York, New York (1977)
Swing High, Swing Low (1937)
Swing Out, Sister (1945)
Syncopation (1942)
The Cotton Club (1984)
The Five Pennies (1959)
The Jazz Singer (1927)

Pop/Rock:

Across The Universe (2007)
Blank Generation (1980)
Can’t Stop The Music (1980)
CBGB (2013)
Everyone Says I Love You (1996)
Hair (1979)
Joe’s Apartment (1996)
Joey (1985)
Ode to Passion (2020)
Rent (2005)
Velvet Goldmine (1998)

R&B/Hip-Hop:

Beat Street (1984)
Glitter (2001)
Krush Groove (1985)
Love Beats Rhymes (2017)
Save The Last Dance 2 (2006)
Step Up 3D (2010)
The Fighting Temptations (2003)
Wild Style (1982)

About Dancers:

Center Stage (2000)
Dance,Girl, Dance (1940)
Honey (2003)
Make Your Move (2013)
Million Dollar Mermaid (1952)
One Last Dance (2003)
Saturday Night Fever (1977)
Swing Time (1936)

About Singers:

Begin Again (2013)
Cowboy from Brooklyn (1938)
I Am Woman (2019)
My Dream Is Yours (1949)
Radio City Revels (1938)
Step Lively (1944)
The Duke Is Tops (1938)
The Stars Are Singing (1953)
Two Sisters from Boston (1946)

WWII:

It Happened in Brooklyn (1947)
It’s Always Fair Weather (1955)
On the Town (1949)
The Bamboo Blonde (1946)
The Sky’s the Limit (1943)
This Is the Life (1944)
Thousands Cheer (1943)
Stage Door Canteen (1943)
You’ll Never Get Rich (1941)

Religious Element:

Change of Habitat (1969)
Godspell (1973)
Going My Way (1944)
Guys and Dolls (1955)
The Night They Raided Minsky’s (1968)

Teens:

Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (2004)
Fame (1980)
Josie and the Pussycats (2001)
Rags (2012)
Sing (1989)
The Cheetah Girls (2003)

Holiday:

Black Nativity (2013)
Mrs. Santa Claus (1996)
White Christmas (1954)

Other:

Annie (2014)
Bells Are Ringing (1960)
Bundle of Joy (1956)
Carnegie Hall (1947)
Cover Girl (1944)
Cuban Pete (1946)
Don’t Get Personal (1942)
Enchanted (2007)
First Love (1939)
Funny Face (1957)
Here’s to Romance (1935)
How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying (1967)
I Love Melvin (1953)
Irene (1940)
Lady of Burlesque (1943)
Little Nellie Kelly (1940)
Living It Up (1954)
My Sister Eileen (1955)
On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1970)
Romance & Cigarettes (2005)
Stuck (2017)
The Ice Follies of 1939 (1939)
The Last Five Years (2014)
The Little Shop of Horrors (1986)
The Powers Girl (1943)
Three Smart Girls (1936)
The Wiz (1978)
West Side Story (1961)
West Side Story (2021)