At this point, most of the year’s major Oscar contenders have either been released or seen by audiences and critics at film festivals around the world. The one glaring omission is the highly anticipated adaptation of the Broadway musical version of The Color Purple, which has prognosticators wondering if it will be a hit, a flop, or something in-between.

While we continue to speculate, now would be a great time to take a look back at previous big screen adaptations of Broadway musicals, good, mediocre, and downright bad.

There’s no point in rehashing the merits of the four that won Best Picture Oscars – West Side Story, My Fair Lady, The Sound of Music and Oliver! or those of The King and I, The Music Man, and Cabaret that were nominated for Best Picture. Either you love them, or you don’t.

Here are twelve others worth remembering. Three were in a class with the nominees, three were almost as good, three should have been better, and three were so bad that they live in infamy.

Those in a class with the Best Picture nominees:

The 1936 version of Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein’s Show Boat, directed by James Whale, remains the definitive version of that much revived Broadway musical, filmed three times. The cast alone is reason to treasure it. Culled from various stage productions, all the major players had experience in the roles they played including Irene Dunne who understudied the original lead and led the first touring version of the show as Magnolia. Cast opposite her, Allan Jones made a perfect Gaylord Ravenal. Helen Morgan reminded audiences of what a soulful singer she was as Julie. Paul Robeson and Hattie McDaniel were the definitive Joe and Queenie and Charles Winninger shone brighter than ever as Cap’n Andy.

Milos Forman’s 1979 film version of Gerome Ragni and James Rado’s Hair got a bad rap for being ten years out of date, but anyone who said that didn’t know what they were talking about. The Vietnam War which was raging at the time of the show’s creation was over when the film came along, was still relevant as proven by The Deer Hunter which won the previous year’s Oscar, and Apocalypse Now which became a 1979 nominee. The lackadaisical book of the Broadway musical was rewritten as a compelling narrative and the songs which suffered from weak singing on stage were given astonishing clarity on film. The performances, particularly that of Treat Williams, remain with anyone who has seen it.

Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s 1955 film of Frank Loeser’s Guys and Dolls remains true to the 1950 Broadway smash hit that has been successfully revived in subsequent Broadway productions. Non-singer Marlon Brando handles the dramatics with ease in one his most self-assured performances and has a pleasant singing voice as Sky Masterson, while Jean Simmons displays a hitherto unheard soprano as the Salvation Army’s Sister Sarah Brown. Frank Sinatra, who took the second lead as Nathan Detroit after losing the lead to Brando, and Broadway’s original Miss Adelaide, Vivian Blaine, are sheer joy as is Stubby Kaye who leads the chorus as Nicely-Nicely Johnson.

The almost as good:

George Sidney’s 1953 version of Cole Porter’s Kiss Me Kate, another oft revived Broadway musical, is a faithful adaptation with a strong cast headed by Howard Keel and Kathyn Grayson with singer-dances extraordinaire Ann Miller, Tommy Rall, Bobby Van, and Bob Fosse in perfect coordination. An unexpected highlight is the appearance of singing gangsters Keenan Wynn and James Whitmore.

Francis Ford Coppola’s 1968 film of Burton Lane and E.Y. Harburg’s Finian’s Rainbow came twenty years too late to be revelatory but remains great fun with Fred Astaire as Finian in his last musical, Petula Clark at the height of her fame as a singer but not as an actress as his daughter Sharon, and Tommy Steele at the top of his game as Og the Leprechaun.

Joshua Logan’s 1958 version of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific should have, could have, and would have been great if only it had been filmed without those ridiculous color filters that Logan forced cinematographer Leon Shamroy to film in camera rather than as special effects so that they can’t be tampered with. Once you get past that, it’s still a thrilling version of what was on stage, the composers’ greatest show.

Should have been better:

Logan’s 1966 film of Lerner and Loewe’s Camelot suffered from the casting of Richard Harris and Vanessa Redgrave in the shoes of Richard Burton and Julie Andrews who owned the roles of Arthur and Guinevere in the 1960 Broadway classic.

Richard Lester’s 1966 film of Stephen Sondheim’s A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum seems watered down with the clowning taking precedence over the singing but is worth seeing if you would rather laugh yourself silly than sing along with the film.

Robert Morse’s boyish charm was beginning to wear off when David Swift’s 1967 film version of Frank Loesser’s How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying came along but is still watchable.

The really bad:

Arthur Hiller’s 1972 film of Mitch Leigh and Joe Darion’s Man of La Mancha sounded great on paper with Peter O’Toole and Sophia Loren in the leads but O’Toole’s singing voice as Cervantes/Don Quixote is horribly dubbed while Loren is allowed to sing the fiery, full-throated Dulcinea in an incredibly weak voice.

Harold Prince’s 1977 version of Sondheim’s A Little Night Music was such a disaster that the great stage director was never again allowed to direct a film. Elizabeth Taylor was incredibly dubbed by someone with an even weaker singing voice than she herself had!

Gene Saks’ 1974 version of Jerry Herman’s Mame stars a game but too old Lucille Ball in the vibrant tittle role which should have been played by Angela Lansbury who reinvented herself in the 1966 Broadway production.

So, which of these four groups do you think The Color Purple will end up being seen in?

Happy viewing.