Film

Thoroughly Modern Millie

A buoyant 1967 musical comedy following a spirited Kansas girl loose in Jazz Age New York, determined to shed her small-town self and embrace modernity. Julie Andrews is radiant, the songs are infectious, and it's fundamentally about the intoxicating freedom of reinvention. Endlessly charming, sometimes uneven, and deeply of its era in the best way.

TMDb rating3.4

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you love big, bright studio musicals where the songs, the flapper costumes and a jaunty romance carry the whole thing, and you don't mind a wink at old-fashioned silliness.

Skip it if you find the 1960s idea of the Twenties too glossy, or you want a film that doesn't sprawl, since at roughly two and a half hours its frothy comedy wanders.

What it asks of you: Settle in for a long, colorful stretch of gags, song breaks and bright sets, with the pace easing rather than racing, and a light touch throughout.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Singin' in the Rain1952

Pure joy distilled into cinema. Gene Kelly and Donald O'Connor capture the same rapturous energy about performance, possibility, and the sheer fun of entertainment that makes Millie sing.

But It's older and in a different style, so the tone and music may feel distant. The pacing is also relentless in a way that can exhaust rather than delight.

Singin' in the Rain poster

Funny Face1957

Audrey Hepburn's fashion model navigates Paris and romance with that same wide-eyed, infectious optimism. The Fred Astaire collaboration feels like a spiritual cousin to what Andrews brings here.

But It pivots sharply toward romance in the third act, abandoning the comedy that drove the first half. Some find the tonal shift deflating.

Funny Face poster

The Music Man1962

Robert Preston and Shirley Jones in an exuberant musical about small-town American life transformed by charisma and performance. Shares Millie's infectious belief that theatre and song can change everything.

But The plot is fairly slight—it's really an excuse to showcase musical numbers. If you want dramatic substance, you'll feel hungry.

The Music Man poster

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Thoroughly Modern Millie

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Breakfast Club1985

Both are about young people rewriting themselves against the expectations of their worlds, but this one suggests the cost is higher than Millie admits.

Completely different era, completely different mood—but at its heart, the same story about a person refusing to stay in the box others have built for them. Molly Ringwald's character gets her version of Millie's transformation, just in neon.

But It's a teen drama, serious and often sad, set in a high school library. If you want more songs and comedy, this will feel like a different genre entirely.

The Breakfast Club poster
More like this (8)

Breakfast at Tiffany's1961

Audrey Hepburn as a woman reinventing herself in a glittering city, stylish and funny and effortlessly modern. The same DNA of a girl writing her own story on her own terms.

But It's considerably quieter and more romantic than Millie, with a wistful sadness underneath the glamour. The tonal shift may feel like a letdown.

Breakfast at Tiffany's poster

The Sound of Music1965

Julie Andrews again, radiating warmth and optimism while disrupting everyone's expectations. Features some of the most infectious melodies ever written and a central performance of genuine magic.

But It's nearly three hours and becomes increasingly sentimental. The WWII backdrop and earnestness won't appeal if you want Millie's lighter touch.

The Sound of Music poster

Mame1974

Lucille Ball as an unconventional woman who refuses convention and charms everyone into her orbit of chaos and reinvention. Same spirit of theatrical abundance and refusal to shrink.

But Broader and campier than Millie, with less charm and more aggression. The film adaptation feels bloated and sometimes tries too hard.

Mame poster

Pennies from Heaven1981

A musical set during the Depression about people escaping into fantasy. The production numbers have a raw, emotional power that reveals what musicals can do beyond entertainment.

But It's much darker than Millie, mixing fantasy with real desperation and sexual disappointment. The tonal whiplash can feel jarring.

Pennies from Heaven poster

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes1953

Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell as women navigating the world with style, humor, and strategic self-invention. That same giddiness about performance, costume, and female agency.

But It's shorter and punchier, so the slower, rambling charm of Millie's storytelling is absent. Some find the humor dated.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes poster

Hello, Dolly!1969

Barbra Streisand in an exuberant musical about a woman orchestrating everyone's lives. Late-period Hollywood spectacle with genuine enthusiasm for the stage and for joyful mischief-making.

But Considerably more saccharine and less funny than Millie. Many find Streisand's dominance of the film exhausting rather than charming.

Hello, Dolly! poster

Kwaidan1965

Both films are immersive visual experiences that trust you to surrender to a heightened, theatrical reality. Both are more interested in mood and style than naturalism.

A Japanese horror film of stunning visual beauty made the same year as Millie. It has nothing to do with the plot, but it shares that era's intoxicated belief in theatrical spectacle and strange, vivid artifice.

But It's slow, meditative, and genuinely eerie. No romance, no comedy, no happy resolutions. If you want another musical, you'll be profoundly disappointed.

Kwaidan poster

Clueless1995

Both films celebrate a resourceful young woman who uses intelligence and style to reshape her life, but Clueless is winking while Millie is genuinely sincere.

Alicia Silverstone's Cher engineering her own world through charm, style, and strategic reinvention. It's Millie updated to the '90s: the same brain, the same refusal to be ordinary, the same delight in costume and performance.

But It's a teen comedy from the '90s with dated slang and fashion references that will distract if you're not in the mood. The satire may overshadow the earnestness.

Clueless poster

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