All titles in the ‘Musical’ genre
29 titles - sorted alphabetically or by year
A
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert feature film – 1994
The most unforgettable scenes in Priscilla feature excessive costumes on incongruous characters in vast, humbling spaces.
Amy feature film – 1998
Amy has an amazing voice, once she discovers it, making this an unusual combination of sentiment, social commentary and singing.
Athol Tier as Napoleon historical – c1931
Athol Tier’s performance as Napoleon was one of the many routines filmed for the Efftee Entertainers series of variety shorts.
B
Blackbuster short film – 2012
In this comic love story a pirate-movie dealer’s daydreams seep into reality.
Bran Nue Dae feature film – 2009
An uplifting musical about an Indigenous boy’s journey back home, Bran Nue Dae encourages the audience to relax, get on board and enjoy the ride.
Bran Nue Dae documentary – 1991
There’s nothing I would rather be than to be an Aborigine’ is probably the most famous line from the successful stage musical.
The Broken Melody feature film – 1938
A film with music rather than a musical, The Broken Melody is one of the few films of the 1930s that tries to depict the Depression’s effect on real people.
C
Cosi feature film – 1996
Does it matter that Cosi, about psychiatric patients staging the opera Così Fan Tutte, never quite loses its theatrical origins?
D
Dingo feature film – 1991
Dingo is a French-Australian co-production starring an American jazz legend. According to director Rolf de Heer, Miles Davis turned out to be a wonderfully instinctive actor.
Dogs in Space feature film – 1986
Inner-city Melbourne, 1978. Aspiring rock singer Sam and his girlfriend Anna live in a crowded share house. The party atmosphere is shattered by tragedy.
G
Grendel Grendel Grendel feature film – 1980
A lonely, philosophical monster ruminates on the stupidity of men, whose heads he occasionally devours.
J
Jack O’Hagan: Vocalist Composer historical – 1931
Multi-talented artist Jack O’Hagan performs five songs for Frank Thring’s series of variety shorts, Efftee Entertainers, including 'The Road to Gundagai’.
L
Love Song short film – 1998
In this animated short film, a singing punk rat tries his luck in the game of love.
M
Mao’s Last Dancer feature film – 2009
A Chinese peasant boy grows up to become a bright star of the United States ballet world.
Melbourne Chinese Orchestra Selections historical – 1931
Melbourne’s Chinese Orchestra perform at His Majesty’s Theatre as part of Frank Thring’s Efftee Entertainers.
Miss Minnie Love in Impressions: Maurice Chevalier historical – c1931
Australian performer Minnie Love mimics the popular French comedian and singer Maurice Chevalier for Frank Thring’s Efftee Entertainers series.
Moulin Rouge! feature film – 2001
Moulin Rouge! was a risky venture for director Baz Luhrmann but is a tour de force of imagination and appropriation.
O
One Night the Moon feature film – 2001
One Night the Moon, from director Rachel Perkins, reintroduces song into the Australian landscape. For Indigenous peoples, song has been one of the central means of land management.
P
The Pearl Fishers television program – 1963
This black-and-white television production of the opera was one of the earliest performances ever broadcast on the ABC and one of the most elaborate.
Pianoforte short film – 1984
A young woman who yearns to become a concert pianist is rescued from a sleazy cabaret by a mysterious cat burglar with whom she falls in love.
R
Romeo + Juliet feature film – 1996
Baz Luhrmann’s radical update of Romeo + Juliet boldly shattered conventional wisdom that said Shakespeare as he wrote it would never appeal to a mass audience.
S
The Sailors spoken word – 1927
A theatrical comedy routine by vaudeville performers Stiffy (Nat Phillips) and Mo (Roy Rene) recorded in 1927.
Sammy Butcher, Out of the Shadows documentary – 2004
Musician Sammy Butcher played with the Warumpi Band and now invests his energy in young musicians in his community of Papunya.
Shine feature film – 1996
This film catapulted both director Scott Hicks and actor Geoffrey Rush onto the international stage.
Shirley Thompson versus the Aliens feature film – 1972
Maverick filmmaker Jim Sharman’s first film is unique – an engaging potpourri of sci-fi, rock’n'roll, anarchic comedy and psychological drama.
Stan Ray and George Moon Jnr: Specialty Dancers historical – 1931
Entertainers Stan Ray and George Moon Jnr perform a tap dancing routine on one of the stages inside His Majesty’s Theatre in Melbourne.
Starstruck feature film – 1982
Gillian Armstrong’s Starstruck is an energetic rock musical comedy, with a kitsch aesthetic very much influenced by the style of early ’80s video clips.
Strictly Ballroom feature film – 1992
Strictly Ballroom is one of the most popular Australian films ever made. The story may be nothing new but the execution is so colourful and eccentric it hardly matters.
W
Warren H Williams, the stories, the songs documentary – 2004
Inspired by his musical family, Arrernte musician Warren H Williams became a singer-songwriter himself.
