Ever since
Al Jolson
shouted, Wait a minute! You ain't heard nothin' yet!
and burst into song in the 1927 film The Jazz Singer, the musical has been a vital commercial—and often artistic—force in the history of cinema. The medium has spawned legendary performers including Judy Garland,
Fred Astaire
, and
Gene Kelly
, and some of the century's finest pop composers have written for screen musicals. These range from Ira and George Gershwin and Irving Berlin to John Lennon...