Film

Anything Goes

Other titles called Anything Goes: the 1936 film.

A 1956 musical comedy about two Broadway producers sailing to New York with competing romantic interests, each promised the same starring role. It's buoyant mid-century entertainment—tuneful, colorful, and pleasantly frothy, built on romantic misunderstandings and shipboard chaos. For anyone who loves old Hollywood musicals with a light touch and zero pretension.

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Singin' in the Rain1952

The gold standard of Hollywood musicals: effortless charm, genuine dancing that makes you believe in joy, and Gene Kelly doing things that seem to defy physics. It's pure euphoria on screen.

But If you find classic musicals stagey or prefer plot-driven narratives, the looseness might feel thin. Some find the gender dynamics dated.

Singin' in the Rain poster

Royal Wedding1951

Fred Astaire and Jane Powell navigate romantic complications while touring Britain in this breezy, sweet-natured musical. The dancing is extraordinary and the emotional stakes matter just enough to matter.

But It moves fast and doesn't dwell on consequences, which some find emotionally shallow. The plot is genuinely slight.

Royal Wedding poster

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers1954

Energetic, charming, and brilliantly choreographed, with Michael Kidd's barn-raising dance sequence as one of cinema's great achievements. It's funny, tuneful, and genuinely inventive.

But The sexual politics are deeply of their time—the women are won rather than courted, which reads uncomfortably now. Some find that hard to overlook.

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers poster

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The Umbrellas of Cherbourg1964

Both are musicals built on romantic misunderstanding and separation, but where Anything Goes resolves everything with a grin, Cherbourg asks whether happiness is even possible. Same DNA, opposite wisdom.

A French musical where nearly every line is sung, every frame is a Technicolor painting, and a small-town love story becomes transcendent. It's the antidote to cynicism—completely sincere, completely gorgeous, and structurally daring.

But The entire film is sung-through; if hearing dialogue as melody bothers you, this is unbearable. It's also much more melancholic than Anything Goes, trading lightness for genuine heartbreak.

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg poster
More like this (8)

Call Me Madam1953

Ethel Merman steals every scene as an American businesswoman appointed ambassador to a fictional European country. It's broad, loud, wonderfully performed comedy with terrific Irving Berlin songs.

But The humor is very broad and the plot is gossamer-thin. If you want subtlety or character development, this isn't it.

Call Me Madam poster

The Band Wagon1953

Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse in a backstage musical that's clever without being smug, romantic without being saccharine. The dancing is gorgeous and the script has genuine wit.

But It's quite long and the middle section indulges theatrical in-jokes that won't land if you don't care about Broadway. The tone wobbles.

The Band Wagon poster

Pal Joey1957

Rita Hayworth and Frank Sinatra in a darker, more cynical musical than most from the era—it's about ambition and moral compromise, not just romance. Rodgers and Hart's songs are phenomenal.

But The protagonist is a heel and the tone is harder than typical musicals of the period. Some find it less fun and more bleak.

Pal Joey poster

Funny Face1957

Audrey Hepburn, Fred Astaire, and George Gershwin's music in a stylish, romantic musical about fashion and philosophy. It looks like a Vogue editorial and feels like falling in love.

But The plot is virtually nonexistent and the romance between a man decades older and a young woman raises eyebrows now. Some find it empty.

Funny Face poster

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes1953

Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell spark off each other beautifully in this witty, knowing satire of romance and gold-digging. Monroe's comedic timing is sharper than her legend suggests.

But It's sex-comedic in a way that can feel dated. The satire works better if you're sympathetic to the women's schemes.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes poster

High Society1956

Grace Kelly, Frank Sinatra, and Bing Crosby in a Cole Porter musical about a wedding weekend. Sophisticated, tuneful, and genuinely charming, with perfect 1950s Hollywood glamour.

But The plot is thin even by musical standards and the whole thing breezes past without emotional weight. Some find it empty calories.

High Society poster

It Happened One Night1934

Both films are about mismatched characters forced together who slowly realize they're perfect for each other. Anything Goes is the musical, sunnier version; this is the witty, wordier ancestor that proves the form works.

Claudette Colbert and Clark Gable in the template for all romantic comedies: witty, sexy without being explicit, and genuinely moving. The banter is crisp and the chemistry is electric.

But It's a screwball comedy, not a musical—if you came for songs and dancing, you won't find them. It's also in black-and-white and moves at 1930s speed, which feels different from Anything Goes.

It Happened One Night poster

An American in Paris1951

Both are MGM musicals from the mid-1950s that use European settings to justify romance and spectacle. But where Anything Goes keeps things light and fleet, this one reaches for something grander and more poetic—it's what happens when a musical decides to be art instead of entertainment.

Gene Kelly, Leslie Caron, and an 18-minute George Gershwin ballet that redefined what musicals could be. It's romantic, visually stunning, and the dancing is extraordinary. A masterpiece, genuinely.

But The middle section is a pure dance fantasy with almost no plot—some find it self-indulgent. The leading man's romantic pursuit is pushy by modern standards, and the film doesn't seem to notice.

An American in Paris poster

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