Based on the Rodgers and Hammerstein Broadway musical, "The King and I" won the Golden Globe for best motion picture. A widowed English teacher, Anna Leonowens, leaves her native England in the 1860s to teach the King of Siam’s children. A clash of East meets West finds King Mongkut and Anna at conflict with customs and traditions. According to The New York Times review, the film has "the ardor and abundance of Mr. Rodgers' magnificent musical score, which rings out as lyrically and clearly as those clusters of Siamese bells." The 1956 musical features songs such as “Whistle a Happy Tune,” “Getting to Know You” and “I Have Dreamed.”
"Oliver!," the freely adapted musical inspired by Charles Dickens' "Oliver Twist," won six Academy Awards, including Best Picture. According to Variety, “This $10 million pic is a bright, shiny, heartwarming musical, packed with songs and lively production high spots." An orphan named Oliver runs away from an orphanage workhouse in 19th-century London. A gang of street urchins recruit Oliver into their group. He ultimately finds a new life after being exonerated for thievery. Popular songs featured in this 1968 musical include “Food, Glorious Food,” “Consider Yourself” and “I’d Do Anything.”
The 1984 movie "Purple Rain" won an Oscar for best music and original song score in addition to a Golden Globe for best original song and motion picture. "Purple Rain," according to The New York Times movie review, "is a narrative film with music, shot and edited in the jazzily manic, staccato style favored by every rock documentary since ''Woodstock.''' A musically talented Kid faces the private and public anguish of a musician on the rise to fame. "Purple Rain" features music chart toppers such as “When Doves Cry,” “Let’s Go Crazy” and “Darling Nikki.”
The 2005 movie "Walk the Line" won a Golden Globe for best motion picture in a musical or comedy, among other accolades. Film critic Roger Ebert wrote, "Knowing Cash's albums more or less by heart, I closed my eyes to focus on the soundtrack and decided that, yes, that was the voice of Johnny Cash I was listening to." "Walk the Line" depicts the life of country music legend Johnny Cash, from his childhood days during the Great Depression to his rise to fame in country music with the infamous Sun Records. The movie also touches on the growing love between Cash and June Carter during this time, his decline with drug addiction and his eventual triumph. Songs include “I Walk the Line,” “Ring of Fire” and “It Ain’t Me Babe.”