It may have simply been a question of the right timing when this film emerged; legions of young people in and out of New York were longing for careers as entertainers or to attend performing arts high schools, and this film completely showed the highs and lows of a showbiz pursuit. And aside from the dynamite score by Michael Gore, who could possibly ever forget the image of Paul McCrane, sitting in the window frame of his apartment high above the Panasonic sign in Times Square, accompanying himself on guitar as he sings "Is It OK If I Call You Mine?"
19. Sweet Charity (1969)
The Italian film Nights of Cabiria was perhaps the least likely candidate of all time to be transformed into a musical, even with the world-shattering performance of Giulietta Masina in 1957, but when the show took to Broadway in 1966 starring Gwen Verdon it was a total natural. And Shirley MacLaine brough a great deal of heat upon herself for endeavoring to emulate Verdon in the role of Charity Hope Valentine, the dance hall hostess fervently looking for love and only receiving heartbreak at every turn. But the film was an unequivocal winner, aided not only by Sammy Davis Jr's performance as Big Baddy on "Rhythm of Life," but by Bob Fosse's timeless and breathtaking choreography of "The Aloof," "The Heavyweight" and "The Big Finish," set against Cy Coleman's genius score.