While musicals are making a popular comeback in modern cinema, the golden age for Hollywood musicals was arguably the middle of the 20th century. From about the 1930s through the 1960s, Hollywood produced a slew of instant favorites still enjoyed today, from the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers classics of the 30s to the great big-budget epics of the 60s such as Sound of Music and The Music Man. If you look back on each decade, you’ll see award-winning pictures as well as audience cult classics.

The golden age for Hollywood musicals probably reached its gleaming, sparkling peak in the 1950s. The 50s was an important time period for Hollywood. During this ten-year span, color films became increasingly popular, and in the musical realm, it could be said that Rodgers and Hammerstein owned the decade, having composed many successful musical scores within the 1950s such as Show Boat (1951), Carousel (1956), and Cinderella (1957), as well as several others.

Besides the works of Rodgers and Hammerstein, there were tons of magnificent musicals including The Band Wagon, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, An American in Paris, Carmen Jones, There's No Business Like Show Business, and Gigi. Here are some of the best musicals that rocked this decade.

8 South Pacific

The South Pacific movie musical
20th Century Fox

Based on James A. Michener’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 1947 book, Tales of the South Pacific, South Pacific is a musical composed by Rodgers and Hammerstein and follows two different love stories between an American nurse and a French plantation owner, as well as a U.S. Marine lieutenant and a Tonkinese woman. While the musical has light and happy moments, it’s set during a dark and uncertain time in the world, during World War II. In addition, the story sends a strong message of racism, which was progressive for the time.

7 Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

The cast of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
Loew's, Inc.

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers is about, you guessed it, seven brides who eventually marry seven brothers. This 1954 western musical is about a clan of seven brothers, the Pontipees, who are all looking for brides but haven’t a clue as to how to behave properly in front of women.

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After Adam Pontipee meets and marries Milly, she teaches the clan how to behave gentlemanly to attract ladies. This musical has everything you could ever want, singing, dancing, romance times seven, and epic fist fights as are typical in western films. It's simply one of the most colorful films ever made, with some of the most exciting dance choreography of the decade.

6 Brigadoon

Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse in Brigadoon
Loew's, Inc.

“Brigadoon, Brigadoon, blooming under sable skies. Brigadoon, Brigadoon, there my heart forever lies.” Brigadoon is a Scottish town unlike any other. That’s because this enchanted village only appears once every 100 years. When American travelers Tommy Albright (Gene Kelly) and Jeff Douglas (Van Johnson) discover Brigadoon, Tommy soon falls in love with the beautiful Fiona Campbell (Cyd Charisse). Now, Tommy must decide if he is willing to give up everything he knows to stay within the magical realm of the town’s borders and live there forever. Brigadoon features all the charms of traditional Scottish dancing and singing.

5 Guys and Dolls

The cast of Guys and Dolls arm in arm
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Guys and Dolls is about two guys (hence the name), gambler Nathan Detroit (Frank Sinatra) and his friend Sky Masterson (Marlon Brando), and about two women (or 'dolls'), Nathan’s fiancée Adelaide (Vivian Blaine) and the virtuous Sarah Brown (Jean Simmons). Needing $1,000 to host a big craps game, Nathan bets Sky that he cannot get the pious head of the Save-a-Soul Mission, Sarah, to go on a date with him. Sky succeeds in both asking Sarah out and eventually, winning her heart. Meanwhile, Nathan’s longtime fiancée, Adelaide, is getting impatient and wants to marry. Both couples eventually tie the knot, and the rest is musical history. It's a delightfully, vibrantly colorful film based on a classic play.

4 The King and I

The King and I
20th Century-Fox

Composed by Rodgers and Hammerstein, The King and I is loosely based on the real-life story of Anna Leonowens who was a governess to King Mongkut of Siam’s children in the early 1860s. The story follows Anna (Deborah Kerr), a British schoolteacher, hired by the King of Siam (Yul Brynner) to teach his children and help 'modernize' the country according to his wishes.

Anna teaches the children and the King’s many wive, English, as well as proverbs and songs. However, she also teaches the King a few things that she wasn’t expecting to, including the true meaning of love and sacrifice. It may be ideologically dated and contain 'yellowface,' but it's a visually resplendent, touching, and Oscar-winning film with some rousing music.

3 Oklahoma

Gordon Macrae and Shirley Jones in Oklahoma!
RKO Radio Pictures

Get ready for some hoedown action with Oklahoma, the beloved family musical from world-renowned duo Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. In this 1955 musical western, sweet-talking cowboy Curly McLain (Gordon MacRae) tries to woe the girl who has captured his attention, Laurey Williams (Shirley Jones).

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However, Curly is not the only one vying for Laurey’s heart. She has also caught the eyes of the lonely and odd farmhand, Jud Fry (Rod Steiger). A whole lot of shenanigans ensues before the love triangle finally works itself out and the story ends happily ever after, as is befitting a musical romance.

2 The Pajama Game

Doris Day in The Pajama Game
Warner Bros.

All is not well at the Sleep-Tite Pajama Factory in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The workers produce pajamas at a rapid pace and are overworked and underpaid. As a result, they are seeking a pay increase to the tune of seven-and-a-half cents an hour. However, the company president refuses to give the raise and hires Sid Sorokin (John Raitt) as the new superintendent to keep the workers in check.

Sid meets the beautiful and tough Katherine “Babe” Williams (Doris Day), who is heading the plea for the pay increase, and the pair fall in love, despite their opposing views. Do the workers receive their pay increase? Do Babe and Sid overcome their differences? Does the story end happily ever after? These are all questions answered in the surprisingly progressive, delightfully colorful, and wonderfully acted The Pajama Game.

1 Singin’ in the Rain

Gene Kelly in Singin’ in the Rain, one of the best musicals of the 50s
Loew's, Inc.

“I’m singing in the rain. Just singing in the rain. What a glorious feelin’. I’m happy again.” There aren't too many people who wouldn't recognize this classic tune. Singin’ in the Rain is a masterful, cinematically important love story between famous silent film star Don Lockwood (the great Gene Kelly) and young aspiring actress Kathy Selden (Debbie Reynolds). Through their relationship and professional struggles, the film examines the relationship of sound to images in cinema, and the history of the medium itself.

This 1952 musical is full of toe-tapping action (literally) with songs like “Make ‘Em Laugh,” “Good Morning,” and of course, “Singin’ in the Rain.” Full of heart, laughs, and romance, this musical will make anyone as happy as Gene Kelly as he sings in the rain: “Let the stormy clouds chase, everyone from the place. Come on with the rain, I’ve a smile on my face. I walk down the lane, with a happy refrain. Just singin', singin' in the rain.”