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The musical is responsible for the transition from silent film to sound film in the development of the motion picture. The popularity of movies grew rapidly during the golden days of the silent film era, but the concept of "talking pictures" was considered a risky investment by the major Hollywood studios, until the Warner Bros. studio took the leap and produced The Jazz Singer, starring Al Jolson. Jolson's song "Mammy" in the picture forever changed the medium of film, and it jolted Hollywood into the era of sound. As Hollywood adapted to sound films, musicals were an important part of Hollywood's movie output, ranking alongside action movies ( WesternThe Western movie is one of the classic American film genres. Westerns are art works films, literature, television shows and paintings devoted to telling romanticized tales of the American West. While the Western has been popular throughout the history ofs), dramas, and comedies.

Musical stars such as Fred AstaireFred Astaire ( May 10, 1899 June 22, 1987), born Frederick Austerlitz in Omaha, Nebraska, was an American film and Broadway ballroom dancer and actor. He is particularly associated with Ginger Rogers, with whom he made ten films. Astaire" was a name taken and Ginger RogersVirginia Katherine McMath ( July 16, 1911 April 25, 1995), better known as Ginger Rogers was an American actress and dancer. She is most remembered as Fred Astaire's romantic interest and dancing partner in a series of ten all-singing all-dancing Hollywoo were among the most popular and highly respected personalities in Hollywood. Many dramatic actors gladly participated in musicals as a way to break away from their typical typecast roles. For instance, James CagneyJames Francis Cagney, Jr. July 17, 1899 March 30, 1986) was an American film actor. Born in Yonkers, New York, Cagney graduated from Stuyvesant High School in New York City in 1918. He worked in vaudeville and on Broadway, marrying the dancer Frances Will had originally risen to fame on the stage as a singer and dancer, and he was highly talented; but his repeated casting in "tough guy" roles and gangster movies gave him few chances to display these talents. Cagney's OscarBob Hope received two honorary Oscars for his contributions to cinema. The Academy Awards (often better known as Oscars) are the most prominent film award in the United States. The Awards are granted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, a p-winning role in Yankee Doodle DandyYankee Doodle Dandy is a 1942 biographical film about George M. Cohan, starring James Cagney, Joan Leslie, Walter Huston, Richard Whorf, Irene Manning, George Tobias, Rosemary DeCamp and Jeanne Cagney. The movie was written by Robert Buckner and Edmund Jo allowed him to sing and dance, and he considered it to be one of his finest moments.

Many comedies (and a few dramas) included their own musical numbers. The Marx BrothersThe Marx Brothers were sibling comedians of vaudeville, stage plays, and film. The brothers were Groucho Julius Henry Marx 1890-1977), Chico Leonard Marx 1887-1961), Harpo Adolph Arthur Marx 1888-1964), Zeppo Herbert Marx 1901-1979) and Gummo Milton Marx' movies included a musical number in nearly every film, allowing the Marx Brothers themselves to highlight their own musical talents.

The musical in film was a natural development from the stage musicalMusical theater is a form of theater combining music, songs, dance, and spoken dialogue. It is closely related to opera, frequently being distinguished by the use of popular music of various forms (and thus usually different instrumentation), the use of u. Typically the biggest difference between the movie musical and the musical theater is the use of lavish background scenery which would be impractical in a theater. Many musical films, e.g. Oklahoma! and The Sound of Music, are straightforward adaptations or restagings of successful stage productions. Others, e.g. Moulin Rouge!, were specifically written for the screen, and some, such as Singin' in the Rain, have made a reverse transition from their original screen version to a successful stage format at a much later date.

The trend in modern film-making is not to make a "musical" as such, but to use a lot of background music by popular rock or pop bands in the hopes of selling the soundtrack album to fans. There are exceptions to this rule, and films about actors, dancers or singers have been made as successful modern-style musicals, with the music as an intrinsic part of the storyline. The other exception to the rule is children's animated movies. These almost always include traditional musical numbers, and some of them, such as Beauty and the Beast, have later become full live stage productions.

Famous film musicals include: