Director: Wesley Ruggles. Cast: Sid Field, Petula Clark, Greta Gynt, Sonnie Hale, Kay Kendall, Mary Clare. Description: Has-been comic hopes to make a comeback in a new Vaudeville show, but is only hired as a bit-player. It's up to his conniving daughter--played by future pop recording star Petula Clark--to get her dad back in the spotlight. Produced by Wesley Ruggles. Co-written by Val Guest. Music by Jimmy Van Heusen. Color/B&W: Color. Running Time: 93 mins. Item #3917 $14.99Format: VHS Unit
Director: Graham Cutts and Basil Dean. Cast: Gracie Fields, Richard Dolman, Julian Rose, Wyn Richmond, Betty Shale, Viola Compton. Description: In her first hit film, British music-hall star Gracie Fields plays the partner of a songwriter tries to rise above his lot in life by dumping his manicurist girlfriend for a beautiful actress. Produced and written by Basil Dean. Color/B&W: B&W. Running Time: 81 mins. Item #2884 $14.99Format: VHS Unit
Cast: Jeanette MacDonald, Joe E. Brown, ZaSu Pitts, John Garrick, Carroll Nye. Description: Joe E. Brown and ZaSu Pitts provide comic relief in this charming musical that was Jeanette MacDonald’s only film for United Artists, and the only movie ever produced by Arthur Hammerstein. To bring in extra cash for her dishonest brother, Jenny (MacDonald) becomes a lottery bride in the Yukon and is won by the brother of the man she really loves. Color/B&W: B&W. Running Time: 67 mins. Item #3259 $14.99Format: VHS Format: VHS Unit
Director: Victor Saville. Cast: Jack Hulbert, Edmund Gwenn, Leonora Corbet, Gordon Harker, Roland Culver. Description: Jack Hulbert was an enormously popular star in England--the British equivalent of Bob Hope, and a multi-talented performer. If you've never seen him before, this picture is a perfect place to start. Shop assistant claims he's the manager to impress a girl, but he gets fired instead, and must catch some thieves to get his old job back. Produced by Michael Balcon. Written by director Victor Saville. Color/B&W: B&W. Running Time: 80 mins. Item #4283 $14.99Format: VHS Unit
Director: Kurt Neumann. Cast: Bobby Breen, Basil Rathbone, Henry Armetta, Marion Claire, Leon Errol, Fred Scott. Description: At summer camp, Bobby Breen befriends a famed composer who has writer's block. He finds his muse in Bobby's mom, a popular singer whose fiance refuses to let her return to the stage. Produced by Sol Lessor. Color/B&W: B&W. Running Time: 80 mins. Item #1962 $14.99Format: VHS Unit
Director: Charles Reisner. Cast: Phil Regan, Leo Carrillo, Ann Dvorak, Cab Calloway, Joe DiMaggio, Luis Alberni, James Gleason, Henry Armetta, Max Terhune, Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette. Description: Republic Pictures, best known for their B-westerns, serials, and crime pictures, made some fine A musicals as well; this is the first of them, featuring the studio's resident singing star Phil Regan. Gangsters take over a record company, using strong-arm tactics to acquire contracts with various singing acts. Songs include: "Mamma I Wanna Make Rhythm", "Manhattan Merry-Go-Round", "Heaven?", "I Owe You", & "It's Round-up Time in Reno". Produced by Harry Sauber. Color/B&W: B&W. Running Time: 89 mins. Item #1022 $14.99Format: VHS Unit
Director: Vincente Minnelli. Cast: Ingrid Bergman, Liza Minnelli, Charles Boyer, Isabella Rossellini, Tina Aumont, Fernando Rey. Description: Eccentric countess (played by Bergman!) takes a young chambermaid--an aspiring vocalist--under her wing in turn-of-the-century Rome. Final film for director Vincente Minnelli as well as for Charles Boyer, this also marks one of Bergman's last roles. Bergman's daughter Isabella Rossellini makes her debut as a nun. Produced by Samuel Z. Arkoff and Giulio Sbarigia. Color/B&W: Color. Running Time: 99 mins. Item #2758 $14.99Format: VHS Unit
Director: Wallace Fox. Cast: Mary Beth Hughes, Edward Norris, Ted North, Luis Alberni, Lyle Latell, Claire Rochelle. Description: Minor but enjoyable B musical whose prime asset is the underappreciated Mary Beth Hughes, here playing an ambitious girl who won't let anything get in the way of a musical career--until she falls in love. Produced by Alfred Stern. Color/B&W: B&W. Running Time: 67 mins. Item #3703 $14.99Format: VHS Unit
Director: Walter Forde. Cast: Florence Desmond, Hal Thompson, Ambrose and His Orchestra, Evelyn Dall, Max Bacon, Maureen O'Hara (as Maureen Fitzsimmons), Edward Rigby, Harry Richman. Description: Swing-era reworking of the Cinderella story has an unappreciated cabaret singer trying to get into high society with the help of a millionaire. Maureen O'Hara made her film debut in this bright, sassy British musicomedy. Produced by Herbert Wynne. Color/B&W: B&W. Running Time: 78 mins. Item #4174 $14.99Format: VHS Unit
Director: Joseph H. Lewis. Cast: Benny Fields, Gladys George, Roscoe Karns, Alan Dinehart, Judy Clark, Gloria Petroff, Molly Lamont, William Frawley, Lee "Lasses" White. Description: A big undertaking for little PRC, Hollywood's smallest studio, but a creditable film with much to recommend it, thanks mainly to the inspired direction of Joseph H. Lewis. On the eve of his big break, a veteran vaudevillian's wife dies in childbirth, and he's so upset he forsakes Broadway, leaving a daughter to be raised by his showbiz pals. Produced by Leon Fromkess. Color/B&W: B&W. Running Time: 70 mins. Item #3208 $14.99Format: VHS Unit
Director: Thomas Bentley. Cast: Henry Hall, W. H. Berry, Carol Goodner, Antoinette Cellier, Billy Milton, Arthur Margetson. Description: This daffy British tunefest focuses on BBC bandleader Henry Hall in the studio, while around the world, various music-based sketches illustrate the effects of his orchestra on radio listeners. Produced by Walter C. Mycroft. Color/B&W: B&W. Running Time: 70 mins. Item #3496 $14.99Format: VHS Unit
Director: Harry Horner. Cast: Eartha Kitt, Alice Ghostley, Paul Lynde, Ronny Graham, Robert Clary. Description: Leonard Stillman's Broadway revue, which introduced a plethora of talented newcomers, comes to the screen with somewhat muted effectiveness. But it's still worth having for the glimpses of future stars. Songs include "C'est si Bon," performed by Eartha Kitt. Produced by Leonard Sillman. Written by Ronny Graham, Paul Lynde, and Mel Brooks. Color/B&W: Color. Running Time: 98 mins. Item #1052 $14.99Format: VHS Unit
Director: Buddy Bregman. Cast: Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Joe Williams, Oscar Peterson, Peewee Russell. Description: Classic performances by many jazz greats make this a rare TV film a must-have item for jazz lovers. Produced by Buddy Bregman. Color/B&W: B&W. Running Time: 60 mins. Item #1689 $14.99Format: VHS Unit
Director: Herbert Wynne. Cast: Robert Griffith, Marian Olive, Billy "Uke" Scott, Gordon Ray, Vera Bradley, Dot Delavine. Description: This wartime British musical, specifically designed as escapist fluff, has a wacky but irresistable premise. From his uncle, a British fellow inherits a mummy which comes to life in the guise of an Egyptian princess with 3000 years of partying to catch up on! After tearing up London town, she takes her new friend back to ancient Egypt to show him how to really party! Produced by Burt Hyams. Color/B&W: B&W. Running Time: 56 mins. Item #2647 $14.99Format: VHS Unit
Director: Herbert Wilcox. Cast: Anna Neagle, Richard Carlson, Victor Mature, Roland Young, ZaSu Pitts, Eve Arden, Billy Gilbert, Benny Rubin, Keye Luke, Minerva Urecal. Description: British star Anna Neagle, best known for her dramatic roles, makes a surprising able musical star. Doting niece agrees to accept a sum of money to help her financially troubled uncle. The catch? She has to answer "No" to every question she's asked for 24 hours! Songs include: "I Want to Be Happy", "Tea for Two" and "No, No, Nanette". Produced by Herbert Wilcox (Neagle's husband). Color/B&W: B&W. Running Time: 96 mins. Item #1622 Format: & vbcrlf VHS for $14.99 DVD for $19.99 also on DVD Unit
Director: Graham Cutts. Cast: Claire Luce, Stanley Lupino, John Wood, Max Baer, Sally Gray, Laddie Cliff, Gina Malo. Description: Vaudevillian inherits the title of Lord, but must hire his pals to rescue him from a blackmailing former girlfriend. Produced by Walter C. Mycroft. From the play by Stanley Lupino. Color/B&W: B&W. Running Time: 74 mins. Item #3704 $14.99Format: VHS Unit
Director: Mario Costa. Cast: Tito Gobbi, Gina Lollobrigida, Afro Poli, Filippo Morucci. Description: Gina Lollobrigida, not yet the international sex symbol she would become, is nonetheless effective in this Italian version of the opera by Ruggero Leoncavallo about a clown who falls in love with a beautiful girl and is betrayed by his best friend. English subtitles. Cinematography by Mario Bava, who later became a director of stylish horror films. Color/B&W: B&W. Running Time: 105 mins. Item #3894 $14.99Format: VHS Unit
Director: George Abbott and Stanley Donen. Cast: Doris Day, John Raitt, Carol Haney, Eddie Foy Jr, Reta Shaw, Barbara Nichols. Description: One of Broadway's most popular stage musicals is translated to film with panache and dynamism. Doris Day heads a grievance committee to get a seven-and-a-half cent raise for her factory coworkers, and ends up falling in love with the boss. Songs include: "I'm Not At All In Love", "Small Talk", "Hey There", "I'll Never Be Jealous Again", "Seven and a half Cents." Produced by George Abbott, Frederick Brisson and Stanley Donen. Choreographed by Bob Fosse. Color/B&W: Color. Running Time: 101 mins. Item #1057 $14.99Format: VHS Unit
Director: Bert Glennon. Cast: Kenneth Harlan, Marceline Day, Betty Boyd, Paul Hurst, Gladden James. Description: Pretty girl goes to join her fiance in South Seas, where she learns he now owes a huge gambling debt to a local bar-owner. Color/B&W: B&W. Running Time: 68 mins. Item #2084 $14.99Format: VHS Unit
Director: Edward F. Cline. Cast: Andrews Sisters (Maxene, Patty & Laverne), Dick Foran, Jennifer Holt, Harry James, Donald O'Connor, Shemp Howard, Huntz Hall. Description: Harry James and his orchestra get drafted and put on shows for the soldiers, while a rebellious recruit falls in love with a retired officer's daughter. Songs include: "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree with Anyone Else but Me," performed by the Andrews Sisters (for whom it was a hit record). There are narly a dozen songs in this cheerful escapist frolic from the early days of World War II. Produced by Ken Goldsmith. Color/B&W: B&W. Running Time: 70 mins. Item #2818 $14.99Format: VHS Unit