With the 2016 Tony Awards being presented this coming Sunday June 12th, now is a great time to reflect on the Movie musicals adapted from Broadway shows since the dawn of the Tony era in 1947.

It wasn’t until 1953 that the hit musicals of the era began to show up on screen. That first year brought us 1948’s Kiss Me Kate with Howard Keel and Kathryn Grayson replacing Alfred Drake and Patricia Morison; 1949’s Gentlemen Prefer Blondes with Marilyn Monroe replacing Carol Channing; and 1950’s Call Me Madam with Ethel Merman reprising her role as “the hostess with the mostest on the ball.” All three were well-received and hold up quite well today. The same can’t be said of 1947’s Brigadoon which hit theatres in 1954. The tacky studio sets gave it an artificiality that even Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse couldn’t overcome

Kismet was only two years old when it hit theaters in 1955, but the Howard Keel-Ann Blyth starrer already seemed too old-fashioned to draw large audiences. Much more successful was the same year’s film version of 1950’s Guys and Dolls with Marlon Brando singing reasonably well in the lead and Jean Simmons doing even better as the female lead. Frank Sinatra and Vivian Blaine were terrific as expected as the second leads.

1951’s The King and I was one of 1956’s biggest box-office hits with Yul Brynner reprising his King of Siam to an Oscar and Deborah Kerr taking over for the late Gertrude Lawrence as Mrs. Anna. It remains one of the best loved film musicals of all time.

1954’s The Pajama Game made it to the screen in 1957 with Doris Day replacing original star Janis Paige opposite John Raitt, with Paige herself impressing audiences in the same year’s Silk Stockings from the 1955 musical version of Ninotchka along with Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse. 1958 brought 1955’s Damn Yankees with Tab Hunter replacing Stephen Douglass opposite Gwen Verdon and Ray Walston, and 1949’s South Pacific with Mitzi Gaynor, Rossano Brazzi, and John Kerr taking over for Mary Martin, Ezio Pinza, and William Tabbert in one of the year’s biggest hits which remains extremely popular to this day. 1956’s Li’l Abner, which hit the screen in 1959 was less successful.

1957’s West Side Story lived up to all expectations to win the 1961 Oscar for Best Picture and nine other Oscars. Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, and Rita Moreno were there in place of Carol Lawrence, Larry Kert, and Chita Rivera. That screen year also brought 1958’s Flower Drum Song with Miyoshi Umeki reprising her original role and Nancy Kwan stepping in for Pat Suzuki. The 1954 musical Fanny also reached the screen in 1961 albeit with its score reduced to background music while chunks of its lyrics were incorporated into the dialogue. Charles Boyer replaced the late Ezio Pinza while Maurice Chevalier, Leslie Caron, and Horst Buchholz stood in for Walter Slezak, Florence Henderson, and William Tabbert. 1962 brought Robert Preston reprising his Professor Harold Hill from 1957’s The Music Man, and Rosalind Russell replacing Ethel Merman in 1959’s Gypsy. 1963 brought 1960’s Bye Bye Birdie with Janet Leigh replacing Chita Rivera opposite Dick Van Dyke, and 1964 brought 1960’s The Unsinkable Molly Brown with Debbie Reynolds replacing Tammy Grimes opposite Harve Presnell.

Three other Broadway-to-Hollywood transplants won Oscars in the 1960s. 1956’s My Fair Lady took home eight 1964 Oscars including one for Rex Harrison reprising his legendary Henry Higgins opposite Audrey Hepburn who replaced Julie Andrews as Eliza Doolittle. 1959’s The Sound of Music, the screen’s number one box-office hit between Gone With the Wind and Star Wars, with Julie Andrews instead of Mary Martin, took home five 1965 Oscars. 1963’s Oliver! with Ron Moody as Fagin, Jack Wild as the Artful Dodger and Mark Lester as Oliver Twist took home six 1968 Oscars. 1964’s Funny Girl, also on screen in 1968, earned Barbra Streisand an Oscar for reprising her role as Fanny Brice.

Less successful films made from Broadway musicals in the 1960s included 1953’s Can-Can and 1956’s Bells Are Ringing in 1960; 1963’s A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum in 1966; the triumvirate of 1960’s Camelot, 1961’s How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and 1965’s Half a Sixpence in 1967; 1947’s Finian’s Rainbowin 1968, and 1951’s Paint Your Wagon; 1964’s Hello, Dolly! and Oh! What a Lovely War, and 1966’s Sweet Charity, all in 1969.

The 1970s started off poorly with a lackluster film version of 1965’s On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, but rebounded nicely with two 1971 hits: 1954’s The Boy Friend with Twiggy in for Julie Andrews, and 1964’s Fiddler on the Roof with Topol replacing Zero Mostel. 1972 saw two more with 1969’s 1776, and 1966’s Cabaret, which took home eight Oscars including one each for stars Liza Minnelli in for Jill Haworth, and Joel Grey reprising his stage role. Then disaster struck with unbelievably bad versions of 1965’s Man of La Mancha in 1972, 1966’s Mame in 1974, 1973’s A Little Night Music in 1977, and 1975’s The Wiz in 1978. Audiences loved 1972’s Grease, which also hit screens in 1978, even if critics didn’t. 1967’s Hair was beloved by the few who saw it in 1979, but by then a pall had set in against the genre.

In the years since, only 1975’s Chicago which won the Oscar for Best Picture of 2002, 1987’s Les Misérables which was nominated for Best Picture of 2012, and 1987‘s Into the Woods which received three 2014 Oscar nominations, lived up to expectations. The same might be said of 2002’s Hairspray which reached the screen in 2007, and 2001’s Mamma Mia! which made it into theatres in 2008, except that the bar for those two was set a bit lower.

1979’s Evita enjoyed some success in 1996, but 1975’s A Chorus Line in 1985; 1987’s The Phantom of the Opera in 2004; 1995’s Rent and 2001’s The Producers in 2005; 1979’s Sweeney Todd in 2007; and 1982’s Nine in 2009 were unmitigated flops.

If you love Broadway musicals, you’ll probably find something to like in most of the hits I mentioned and you may even like some of the flops. I personally have a lot of affection for Francis Ford Coppola’s much maligned film version of Finian’s Rainbow which even he acknowledges wasn’t done right. He beats himself up for extending scenes too long. I’ll agree with that, but there wasn’t anything wrong with the musical numbers, all of which soar, as well they should.

This week’s new releases include Hail, Casear! and the Blu-ray debut of 99 Homes.