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If the MGM musical has any cultural cachet today, it is usually attached to a handful of Hollywood stars–Judy Garland, Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly–or a similarly small number of iconic films: Singin’ in the Rain (1952) and An American in Paris (1951), perhaps Meet Me in St Louis (1944).

But ‘the MGM musical’ actually encompasses 215 individual pictures, mostly produced at MGM’s Culver City studio between 1929 and 1972. Many of these films are now forgotten, even by committed film buffs. 

Montana Moon (1930) is no Meet Me in St Louis and Malcolm St Clair was certainly no Vincente Minnelli, yet it is an important film for at least two reasons. Its location footage challenges the misconception that On the Town (1949) was the first musical to include footage shot outside the studio. And, like all the other films discussed here, it contributed to the evolution of MGM’s unique style of musical; Singin’ in the Rain did not spring unheralded from Gene Kelly’s muscular loins.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer entered the world of feature-length musicals first and to great effect: The Broadway Melody (1929) pushed across the edges of what was believed achievable with the new talking pictures and won the Oscar for best picture for its trouble.