20. "Springtime for Hitler" from The Producers

That turning point where movie musicals finally learned that anything goes.

I'd be tempted to dock points from this for being a largely standard filming of a stage performance if the whole scene wasn't so damn influential.  Also catchy (is that bad), maverick, and entertaining.  Entertaining as hell.  A thousand numbers of musical comedy have come and gone and still this remains near the top of the heap, an ode to the offensive like cinema had never seen.

The Producers remains Mel Brooks' finest achievement, and this number is the moment you've all been waiting for.  The remake never really taps into the tawdry greatness of the original, but here's the only version that matters, perhaps the greatest comedy number of the movies.

21. "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" from Fantasia

I'm prone to outside the box choices.  Rarely, though, am I prone to ones you're not doubt familiar with.  Fantasia was a staple of my childhood, and odds are you've at least crossed paths with this one once upon a time.

Ah, but is it a musical number?  Well, it is musical, that's clear enough, but there aren't lyrics, nor is there dancing in any tradition sense.  My justification though is that the story itself seems to serve the music, and actions on the screen transpire in great, glorious time to the cascading sounds.  Everything from the march of the brooms to the sweeping gestures of Mickey and the magician match every rise and fall in the music, and with image and sound in such perfect union, I wouldn't know what else to classify it as. 

My decision becomes easier when considering the context it plays in.  "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" is but one of many threads within Fantasia, and while some have more abstract relationships with their accompanying music, others such as "The Dance of the Hours" and "The Nutcracker Suite" full on embrace their roots in performance art.  My selection in question falls somewhere in between, but in my infinite wisdom, I've deemed it appropriate.  If not a musical number, what else is this?  What fun are musical numbers anyway if you have such a narrow definition of them.

And yet, "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" wouldn't even come close to my favorite segment out of Fantasia (I adore "The Rite of Spring" and I have a soft spot for the "Pastoral Symphony").  It is, however, the most iconic, and in many ways, the most cinematic, especially with early cartoon folk hero Mickey Mouse finally coming into his own here (it's his finest hour).  It also challenges our conception of the musical more than "Dance of the Hours" and I like that about it.  I think it fits, and not even merely as a fringe entry.  Alas, I don't think any of my other choices are from as far left field, though this should set up nicely for some of the other more...symphonic....entries still to come.

Also, not the last animated number.

22. "Rififi" from Rififi

No surprise that one of the great European noir flicks would produce such a slick and sexy nightclub number.  Rififi is a Parisian heist film and damn near the finest of its genre ever made.  And since it was directed by the king of the naked city himself, Jules Dassin, the film itself is neck-deep in noir, and all the better for it.

And so we're treated to this song of shadow play, an ominous moment in the film as the characters gather before the big heist.  It wears a richness that could only exist in black and white, and a sensuality almost foreign to modern audiences.  It feels both sexy and dangerous, and its timely placement serves to romanticize the job ahead, driving our expectations absolutely wild (and oh boy, does Dassin deliver).  The song itself bubbles over with energy, and doesn't seem to mind sticking in your head.  It's the first time in the movie where you realize you literally can't look away, and it only gets better from there.

23. "Wig in a Box" from Hedwig and the Angry Itch

I lied.  Or changed my mind.  A little from column A and a little from column B.  I had went as far as to swear this song hadn't made the cut and yet here it is, well, that would be because after considerable deliberation, I booted one song from the list because it just seemed too much the odd man out.  And I was feeling a bit bad about not squeezing in anything from Hedwig and the Angry Itch and low and behold, it's even from the same year as the film which I kicked to the curb (yes, I'm going to make you guess).

"Wig in a Box" is the obvious choice for me from the movie, and while it may have ranked slightly lower had I pulled the switcheroo earlier on, there's certainly no shame in it crawling all the way up to 23.  It's an indie musical through and through, and I love how inventive the number is with its sense of space.  And clearly the whole thing exists on a shoestring budget, but from within those confines it produces one of the more dynamic musical numbers of the last decade.  There's innovation at work here, and that, along with the ability to sing and dance, is all that separates us from the animals. 

Oh, and another hint for the song I dropped.  It was one of my nightclub act picks, and while undeniably landmark (and one of the coolest scenes ever), it just never quite fit in, even with the others of its ilk.  Ah, well, I will no doubt find plenty of other opportunities to rave about it in the future (and yes, you still have to guess).

24. "Ghar Aaya Mera Pardesi" from Awaara

It has all the makings of a dream.

I admittedly don't know nearly as much about Bollywood as I'd like to.  I've dabbled, you might say, and this won't be the last song and dance from the subcontinent to land a spot on my list, but the Bollywood musical is a largely unexplored frontier for me, and one I'm just beginning to fall in love with.  It may be that I'm just in awe over the sheer surrealist spectacle of this, or even more superficially that I'm an unabashed lover of all things Indian, but this number has an odd kind of hold over me.  Tempted as I was to select the volcanic love song from Awaara directly preceding this, I just couldn't shake the otherworldly imagery here.  Even more impressive is that this is the only entry on the list that I've seen for the first time this year.

It may well be that this has more in common with Busby Berkley than with modern Bollywood spectacles.  It's certainly nothing like the other number still to come, nor does it fall much in line with any other example I can think of.  But I think it's a fascinating specimen from an industry just beginning to cultivate it's own inimitable brand of cinema, and an experience that's proved truly hard to shake from my head.

And regrettably, the link above only contains the second half of the number.  Which at least may leave you something to look forward to.

25. "Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life" from The Life of Brian

The gall these guys had.  I mean really, who would dare try to stage a musical number in which all the participants are literally tied in place.  There's no movement.  Nothing happens.  They just sing.  Way  be weird, Pythons.

If Life of Brian claims the title of my favorite Monty Python outing, then it's got to be because this number so magnificently seals the deal.  They've had a lot of fun with musical numbers over the years - and I was very tempted include the sidesplitting "Every Sperm is Sacred" on this countdown - but here's the one the one that caps their magnum opus, their most cohesive and satirically charged film as a troupe.  Religion is serious stuff, and it's no easy task mining jokes from the rather gruesome idea of crucifixion, but that's all the more justification for this relentlessly infectious ditty.  For films that are inherent lightning rods for controversy, and no way could Life of Brian be excluded from this, it's pivotal to stick the landing, and settling on a tone to go out on isn't easy.  All the more reason why this final scene is so impressive.  While not shying away from the taboos that the Pythons played with throughout the film, it goes out with a song in its heart, but kudos to them for coming up with one so utterly uplifting, not to mention the brilliant juxtaposition.  Because all satire needn't aim to offend, and while you're never going to please anyone, this to me is the perfect example of how to get that recipe just right.  Even the detractors won't be getting that tune out of their heads any time soon.

26. "The Worry Song" from Anchors Aweigh

Ah, the magic of movies.

Gene Kelly departs the world of Anchors Aweigh and heads off into a storybook land, where Jerry the mouse sits on a lonely throne with a case of the blues.  Turns out it's nothing a little song and dance can't cure.  This was huge.  The mingling of live action and animation is pure movie magic, and this number right here heralded the rise of Kelly and the man behind the curtain, Stanley Donen (the number was his brainchild), not to mention setting the bar for what movie musicals could achieve ridiculously high.  Musicals and animation already had a long shared history together, but this effortless merger with live action almost single-handedly ushered in a golden age for the genre that would eventually be overtaken by the rush to adapt every stage musical on Broadway.  Again, this was huge.

Truthfully, Anchors Aweigh isn't all that spectacular.  The plot is tedious and few of the songs really stick in your head.  But there's no denying Kelly's magnetism, and people seem to like that Sinatra guy too.  When it rolls along, "The Worry Song" is a welcome break from the rest of the film, but regardless of everything before it, this pulls you back in.  And in retrospect, it's probably not nearly high enough on this list, but Gene Kelly is already the best represented actor on here (that is, in the most films, not numbers), and I had to fight the temptation to include even more.