Soundtracks to many of the titles listed here (or stage productions of them) are available in the Music Library. The Music Library is located in the Katzen Art Center building. Call 202-885-3264 for their hours.

1776. Orig. 1972. 1 videocassette (ca. 148 min.). 1776 is a musical celebration of the founding of The United States of America. The story centers around the familiar historical characters as they organize a movement for independence from Mother England. All events lead up to that most significant date, July 4, 1776, when the Declaration of Independence was signed. VHS 996 (soundtrack of stage production available on LP in Music Library)

42nd Street. Orig. 1933. 1 videodisc (89 min.). A Broadway musical director has troubles during rehearsal, promotes the understudy and has a successful opening night. Chiefly memorable for the incredible musical numbers. DVD 275 (soundtrack of stage production available on LP in Music Library)

All that jazz. Orig. 1979. 1 videocassette (123 min.). Bob Fosse's spellbinding film and four time Academy Award winner is a powerful story of a man driven compulsively to find perfection in his work. It is a musical which celebrates show business, yet strips it of its glitter. VHS 6726 (soundtrack of stage production available on LP in Music Library)

An American in Paris. Orig. 1951 . 1 videodisc (102 min.) or 1 videocassette (115 min.). Charming love story set to the melodies of Gershwin. Jerry Mulligan, an ex-G.I., has stayed in Paris to paint. He falls in love with a lonely French shop girl who is due to wed a successful entertainer; ultimately, the painter and his French beauty are happily united. The film is known for the seventeen-minute ballet sequence featuring Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron. VDD 182 or VHS1438or DVD 273 (soundtrack of stage production available on LP in Music Library)

Annie. Orig. 1981. 1 videodisc (127 min.). The story of the comic strip character Little Orphan Annie, who is adopted by billionaire "Daddy" Warbucks. Directed by John Huston. DVD 221 (soundtrack of stage production available on LP in Music Library)

Boarding house blues. Black artists of the silver screen. Orig. 1948. 1 videocassette (ca. 90 min.). Tenant troubles in a show-business boarding house form the backdrop for this musical review notable for its guest appearances. An "evil" landlord threatens to evict "Moms" and her tenants because she can't pay the rent. Since the tenants are mostly entertainers they decide to put on a show to raise the money. VHS 7018

Cabaret. Orig. 1972. 1 videocassette (119 min.) or 1 videodisc (124 min.) . An egocentric American girl dreams of becoming a star while working in a third-rate Berlin cabaret. "Cabaret deals with the psychology of a decaying society, 1930's pre-World War II Germany, at a time when the ... collapsing Weimar Republic was being replaced by the rising tide of Nazism. Set in Berlin, a hotbed of vice, depravity, and anti-Semitism, this musical drama revolves around the seedy Kit Kat Klub, which serves as a microcosm of Germany in transition." - Magill's survey of cinema. VHS 574 or DVD 41 (soundtrack of stage production available on CD in Music Library)

Cabin in the sky. Orig. 1943. 1 videodisc or 1 videocassette (99 min.).. Little Joe Jackson (Eddie Anderson) is a good-hearted gambler with a weakness for dice and a shameless hussy named Georgia Brown (Lena Horne). But his wife, Petunia (Ethel Waters), is a good woman with a powerful gift for prayer. She loves him and wants to save him. In this musical fantasy, the soldiers of heaven struggle with the devil's henchmen over Little Joe's soul. VDD 239 or VHS 1839 (soundtrack of stage production available on LP in Music Library)

Les Demoiselles de Rochefort. Orig. 1967. 1 videodisc (125 min.). "In the picturesque seaside village of Rochefort, Delphine teaches dance while her twin Solange composes and gives piano lessons. As the girls dream of success and romance in the far-off big city, they don't realize that true love may be just around the corner!"--Container. DVD 309 (soundtrack of stage production available on LP in Music Library)

Dixiana. Orig. 1930. 1 videocassette (ca. 100 min.). Set in New Orleans in the 1840s. Carl Van Horn (Marshall), the son of a wealthy cotton plantation owner, and Dixiana, a beautiful circus entertainer, fall in love. When Dixiana is fired by the circus, Royal Montague, a gambler, hires her to work in his gambling establishment. Dixiana must spend a good deal of time rescuing Carl from the clutches of Montague. Notable for the first screen appearance of Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson. VHS 5045

Down Argentine way. Orig. 1940. 1 videocassette (89 min.). Bright and breezy musical romance about Glenda, a rich New Yorker (Betty Grable), who collects fine horses and Ricardo, an Argentine rancher (Don Ameche) renowned for his prize jumpers. They meet at a horse show but any possible romance is threatened by Ricardo's father's feud with Glenda's father. VHS 5052

East Side story. 1998. 1 videocassette (78 min.). Film that asks the question: "Who knows how things could have turned out if Socialism had just been more fun?" A documentary look at Soviet and eastern bloc communist musical films, few of which were ever seen in the West. Contains excerpts from such films as: Volga Volga (a favorite of Stalin); Hard Work, Happy Holiday (GRU 1950), Vacation on the Black Sea (Romania, 1963); Tractor Drivers (USSR, 1939), My Wife Wants to Sing (GDR, 1958); Woman on the Rails (Czechoslovakia, 1965) - and many more. Also includes interviews with some of the people who made the films. Context and background material is provided by Maya Turovskaya, a Russian film historian. VHS 4845

Everyone says I love you. 1996. 1 videodisc (101 min.). It's the fun-filled story of one wealthy, eccentric and romantically challenged extended family from New York's Upper West Side. Written and directed by Woody Allen. DVD 142

Evita. 1997? 1 videocassette (ca. 135 min.). True-life story of Eva Perón, who rose above childhood poverty and a scandalous past to achieve fortune and fame. Starring Madonna and based on stage production written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. VHS 5265 (soundtrack of stage production available on CD in Music Library)

Fantasia. 1991. 1 videocassette or 3 videodiscs (120 min.). An extraordinary blend of magnificent music and classic Disney animation, featuring a host of unforgettable images, including Mickey Mouse as The Sorcerer's Apprentice. VHS 4892 or VDD 231

Flying down to Rio. Orig. 1933. 1 videocassette (89 min.). This film, containing the first of many Fred Astaire - Ginger Rogers partnerships, concerns a troupe of entertainers stranded in Rio. Notable for a brilliantly photographed finale with chorus girls on the wings of flying airplanes, the movie was the musical that broke with the rather contrived Busby Berkeley production and moved toward a closer integration of musical and narrative elements. Astaire's dance numbers come not as interruptions but as extensions of the plot. Songs include "The Carioca," "Orchids in the Moonlight," and the title song. VHS 3570

Footlight parade. Orig. 1933. 1 videodisc (108 min.). Chester Kent (James Cagney) is a diligent musical comedy director who is continually warding off snoopers hired by his competitors to steal his ideas. He succeeds and what results is a parade of stars, songs, and lavish production numbers. Film features show-stopping Busby Berkeley productions choreographed with the colossal imagination and scope that became Berkeley's trademark. Includes the classic "Human Waterfall" number that displays countless beautiful chorus girls costumed in little more than ropes of pearls and showered in a colored mist from 300 tiny water sprays. VDD 87

Funny girl. Orig. 1968. 1 videocassette (ca. 165 min.). Follows the early career of stage comedienne Fanny Brice (Barbra Streisand). Only her mother believes Fanny can make it in show business until she is given a chance at Keeney's Music Hall where her hilarious debut as a roller-skating chorus girl gets her hired as a comedienne. Fanny becomes a star with the Ziegfeld Follies, falls in love and marries Nick Arnstein (Omar Sharif), a handsome gambler whose luck doesn't hold up. VHS 2573 (soundtrack of stage production available on LP in Music Library)

A Funny thing happened on the way to the Forum. MGM musicals. Orig. 1966. 1 videocassette (97 min.). Bawdy tale set in early Rome, about Pseudolus, a comically sly and conniving slave, eager to win his freedom. His plan: to hook up his innocent, young master with the virgin courtesan next door! VHS 5477 (soundtrack of stage production available on LP in Music Library)

Gentlemen prefer blondes. Orig. 1953. 1 videodisc (97min.). A musical comedy about the adventures of two beautiful showgirls--an apparently stupid blonde gold-digger (Marilyn Monroe) and her provocative brunette friend (Jane Russell) --during a voyage from New York to Paris. DVD 244 (soundtrack of stage production available on CD in Music Library)

Gigi. Orig. 1958. 1 videocassette (117 min.). The musical story of a French girl groomed to be a courtesan, but who blossoms into a lady. VHS 4058 (soundtrack of stage production available on LP in Music Library)

Gold diggers of 1933. Orig. 1933. 1 videocassette (98 min.). Three out-of-work show girls become involved in a Broadway musical about the Depression. When a Broadway producer is forced to close his show and put his dancers out of work, a wealthy young socialite, boyfriend of one of the dancers and himself struggling to make a career in music, gives the producer enough money to stage a new musical. At the last minute the young musician must replace the lead singer. VHS 477

Grease. Orig. 1978. 1 videocassette (110 min.). Musical homage to rock 'n' roll set in the 1950s. They have a summer romance. Then she turns up as the new girl at school. He's Mr. Tough Guy. She's naive and a little too nice to fit in with the gang. Can love find a way? VHS 5498 (soundtrack of stage production available on LP in Music Library)

Gypsy. Orig. 1962. 1 videocassette (143 min.). The story of burlesque star Gypsy Rose Lee, her rise to stardom from vaudeville and her volatile relationship with her ambitious mother. VHS 2417 (soundtrack of stage production available on CD in Music Library)

Gypsy. Orig. 1993. 1 videocassette (ca. 150 min.). Mama Rose is the ultimate vaudeville stage mother, whose blind ambition for her two daughters forces one to desert her and the other to emerge as the world's most famous striptease artist, Gypsy Rose Lee. Made-for-TV movie starring Bette Midler. VHS 2757

Hair. Orig. 1979. 1 videocassette (122 min.). Young Oklahoman and Vietnam draftee Claude Bukowski walks into a "happening" in New York Central park - an undulating mass of hippies singing, dancing and cavorting to the music of the age of Aquarius. Enter the beautiful debutante Sheila and instantly Claude and Sheila are smitten. VHS 1476 (soundtrack of stage production available on LP in Music Library)

Hallelujah. Orig. 1929. 1 videocassette (90 min.). An all-Black cast film which chronicles the tragedy-laced tale of a cotton farmer named Zeke. After getting a good price for his crop, he is lured by Chick, loses his money in a rigged dice game, and then accidentally kills his brother in a fight to recover the cash. He repents and becomes a powerful preacher, but temptation awaits when Chick becomes a half-hearted convert. VHS 7034

Hedwig and the angry inch. New Line platinum series. 2001. 1 videodisc (91 min.). Based on the smash hit New York show, this is a high-energy rock musical in the tradition of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. This is the story of Hedwig, an ambitious glam-rocker who comes to America determined to find fame, fortune, and his "other half.". DVD 301

Here come the girls. Orig. 1953. 1 videocassette (100 min.). Bob Hope plays Broadway hopeful Stanley Snodgrass in this musical comedy. He's plucked from the chorus & put in a starring role opposite siren Irene Bailey (Arlene Dahl). But a psycho who's been carving up Miss Bailey's leading men is on the loose, and Stanley is the unsuspecting bait intended to trap him. VHS 5055

Hi de ho. Greatest film classics. Orig. 1947. 1 videocassette (64 min). Musical review with an all black cast. Big band sensation Cab Calloway (portraying himself) becomes the interest of two womens' desires: his steady girlfriend Minnie (Jeni Le Gon) and his manager Nettie (Ida James). Jealous of Nettie's maneuvers, Minnie hires a rival clubowner to do away with Cab. Minnie later feels guilty and tries to prevent the killing. Instead she gets dusted by the thugs, leaving the door open for Cab to marry Nettie. Features Calloway performing some of his all time hits such as "Minnie the Moocher," "St. James Infirmary Blues," and "Hi Di Ho.". VHS 5048

Hot summer. Orig. 1968. 1 videodisc (93 min.). Set on the Baltic Sea, is the lovin' and fightin' of 10 teenage boys and 11 teenage girls on vacation. A musical version of coming of age. This bit of fluff lit up the East German box offices in 1968. There is a blend of pop songs, rock and upbeat lyrics. DVD 495

Into the woods. 1990. 1 videocassette (153 min.). The fairy tale characters of Little Red Ridinghood, Cinderella, and Jack (and the Beanstalk) are linked together through the characters of a baker and his wife. Their stories intertwine as they all search for something different in the woods. After they have all found happiness, they must band together to fight a giant. VHS 6572 (soundtrack of stage production available on CD in Music Library)

The jazz singer. Jewish heritage video collection. Orig. 1927. 1 videocassette (89 min.). A young boy's intense desire to sing jazz conflicts with his father's wish that his son follow in his footsteps as a cantor. Features the songs "Blue skies," "Mammy," and "Toot toot tootsie goodbye.". VHS 6724

Jesus Christ Superstar. Orig. 1973. 1 videocassette (108 min.). Depicts in song, images, and music, the story of the last week of Christ's life, his betrayal and crucifixion as seen from the point of view of Judas. VHS 1425 (soundtrack available on CD in Music Library)

Junction 88. Black artists of the silver screen. Orig. 1940. 1 videocassette (ca. 60 min.). A little known but high energy musical with some great dancing. VHS 7037

Killer diller. Black artists of the silver screen. Orig. 1948. 1 videocassette (ca. 70 min.). All-black musical variety show with the story of a magician who does disappearing acts between the stage performances. Includes musical numbers: "Ain't misbehavin," "Breezy and the bass," "Don't sit on my bed," "I believe," "If I didn't care," "Now he tells me" and "Ooh kick a rooney." The Congaroo Dancers dance the Lindy Hop. VHS 5046

Kiss me Kate. Orig. 1953. 1 videodisc or 1 videocassette (110 min.). Lilli Vannessi and Fred Graham, a battling, once-married couple, are reunited to star in a musical version of " The Taming of the Shrew." On stage they fight it out and backstage they continue to clash. But backstage and downstage, viewers get to see lavish numbers and hear wonderful Cole Porter tunes. VHS 1765 or VDD 223 (soundtrack of stage production available on CD in Music Library)

Lady be good. Orig. 1941. 1 videocassette (113 min.). A husband and wife song writing team (Young and Sothern) know how to turn out the hits, but when it comes to marriage, they can't seem to hit anything but sour notes. Features the Busby Berkeley directed "Fascinating Rhythm" with Eleanor Powell and the Berry Brothers. VHS 5050 (soundtrack of stage production available on CD in Music Library)

Lili. Orig. 1953. 1 videocassette (81 min.). A shy, young orphan is befriended by a group of carnival puppets. VHS 4086

Meet me in St. Louis. Orig. 1944. 1 videocassette (102 min.). The entire Smith family is crushed to learn that father has accepted a transfer to New York City. Leaving friends and most of all missing the upcoming St. Louis World's Fair is painful. The ending makes an unforgettable, heartwarming movie. Songs in this musical include "The Trolley Song", "Boy Next Door", "Have Yourself a Merry Christmas". VHS 20 (soundtrack of stage production available on CD in Music Library)

Moon over Harlem. Orig. 1939. 1 videocassette (67 min.). An all-black cast is directed by the German director Edgar G. Ulmer, a visionary poet, whose work was influenced by F.W. Murnau and other German expressionists. The film is an unusual musical melodrama about a Harlem widow who unwittingly marries a double-talking gangster involved in the numbers racket. Delving into some of the complexities of black life in Harlem, the cast features 20 chorus girls, a choir, and a 60-piece symphony orchestra under the direction of Donald Heywood. VHS 3010

Moon over Miami. Orig. 1941. 1 videocassette (92 min.). Two sisters, Kay and Barbara, and their Aunt Susan come into a small inheritance. Kay poses as a wealthy woman with Barbara as her secretary and Susan as her maid. They head for Miami in search of rich husbands. VHS 5053

Moulin Rouge! 2001. 2 videodiscs (ca. 128 min.). Christian, an idealistic and impoverished young writer who, newly arrived in Montmartre, is haphazardly inducted into a circle of young bohemians led by Toulouse-Lautrec. A comedy of mistaken identities ensues, quickly enmeshing the young poet in a love triangle involving the unobtainable and consumptive Satine, queen courtesan of the Moulin Rouge, and the foppish Duke of Roxbury, his villainous rival for her affections. DVD 297

My fair lady. Orig. 1964. 2 videocassettes (170 min). A cockney waif is transformed by Professor Henry Higgins into an elegant lady. VHS 414 (soundtrack of stage production available on CD in Music Library)

New York, New York. Orig. 1977. 2 videocassettes (169 min.). A musical love story set against the backdrop of the twilight of the big-band era. On VJ Day, 1945, in a New York nightclub teeming with celebrants, Jimmy Doyle (Robert De Niro) meets Francine Evans (Liza Minnelli). He is a struggling saxophone player whose music is ahead of its time; she is a golden-voiced singer whose talent is yet to be recognized. They fall in love, marry, and have a child. However, the ambitions that brought them together eventually sweep them tragically apart. VHS 5458 (soundtrack of stage production available on LP in Music Library)

Oklahoma! Rodgers & Hammerstein collection. Orig. 1955. 1 videocassette (146 min.). Curley (Gordon MacRae) is a handsome love-struck cowboy. Laurey Williams (Shirley Jones) is the pretty young lady whom he's courting. Jud (Rod Steiger) is the rock-muscled hired hand who menaces the hero and heroine. VHS 2279 (soundtrack of stage production available on CD in Music Library)

Oliver! Orig. 1968. 1 videocassette (ca. 145 min.). Musical adaptation of Dicken's classic tale. A young orphan, Oliver, is left to fend for himself in London until he is befriended by a band of young thieves who quickly train him in their craft. But Oliver is not content to be a thief for he knows that life holds great joys and true happiness cannot be stolen, but must be earned. VHS 4545 (soundtrack of stage production available on CD in Music Library)

On the town. Orig. 1949. 1 videodisc (98 min.). New York, New York, it's a wonderful town -- especially when sailors Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, and Jules Munshin have a 24-hour shore leave to see the sights. Those sights include Ann Miller, Betty Garrett, and Vera-Ellen. "On the town" changed the landscape of movie musicals, opening filmmakers' eyes to what could be done on location. Brilliant location is blended with studio production numbers to produce an ebullient, up-and-at-'em perfection. No one can be down after going "On the town". DVD 276

Oscar Hammerstein's Carmen Jones. Studio classics: Studio classic. Orig. 1954. 1 videocassette (105 min.). Joe, a military policeman about to make officer, is infatuated with the flirtatious and sexy Carmen Jones. Their ill-fated romance comes to a grisly end by the conclusion of the drama but not before their liaison has wreaked havoc with their lives and all who cross their paths. VHS 6725 (soundtrack of stage production available on LP in Music Library)

Les parapluies de Cherbourg = The umbrellas of Cherbourg. Orig. 1964. 1 videocassette (ca. 91 min.) or 1 videodisc (ca. 88 min.).. Story of two star-crossed lovers. Two lovers, separated by the Algerian war, meet again after she has remarried. A cinematic triumph unique in its presentation -- all of the dialogue is sung. The haunting music and beautiful photography combine to make this an outstanding dramatic romance. VHS 4900 or DVD 302 (soundtrack of stage production available on LP in Music Library)

Pennies from heaven. Orig. 1981. 1 videocassette (108 min.). The story of a young sheet-music salesman during the Depression who is doomed forever to believe in the lyrics of the songs he sells. VHS 6758

Private Buckaroo. Orig. 1942. 1 videocassette (68 min.). High energy musical featuring wartime entertainment (comedy, song, and the trumpet of Harry James) with Army camps as the backdrop. A rebellious young WWII inductee has trouble "toeing the line" until he meets a retired officer's lovely daughter. James and his band are also drafted and decide to perk up their camp by putting on a big show. Musical numbers include: "Don't Sit under the Apple Tree with Anyone Else but Me," "Johnny Get Your Gun Again," "You Made Me Love You," "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen, "We've Got a Job to Do," "Six Jerks in a Jeep," "and "Ma, I Miss Your Apple Pie.". VHS 5049

The Producers. Orig. 1968. 1 videocassette (90 min.). Producer Max Bialystock (Zero Mostel) and his accountant Leo Bloom (Gene Wilder) face catastrophe when their musical, "Springtime for Hitler," unexpectedly becomes a success. This is the film that the blockbuster musical, “The Producers”, is based on however unlike the stage show the film itself is not a musical. VHS 2739 (soundtrack of stage production available on CD in Music Library)

The rocky horror picture show. Orig. 1975. 1 videocassette or 2 videodiscs (100 min.). A mad mix of classic horror/sci-fi/ B-movie/rock music super-charged sensuality and outrageous fantasy. It's the story of an "ordinary" couple and one unforgettable night at the castle of Dr. Frank-N-Furter, a mad-scientist from the planet Transexual. Brad and Janet have arrived on a special night, the night Dr. Furter's beautiful creature, Rocky, the adonis humanoid created for the release of Frank's tension, was to be born. Includes the songs: Time warp, Dammit Janet, and Wild and untamed thing. VHS 6238 or DVD 279

Sarafina! 1993. 1 videocassette (98 min.). In a world where truth is forbidden, an inspiring teacher dares to instill in her students lessons not found in schoolbooks. In doing so, she challenges their freedom and hers. VHS 6566 (soundtrack of stage production available on CD in Music Library)

Sensations. Orig. 1944. 1 videocassette (85 min.). Features vaudeville acts, orchestra productions and dance extravaganzas woven loosely together with a story about a theatrical agency's attempts at sensational publicity that lead to complications. W.C. Fields is seen in his last screen role. VHS 5043

Show boat. Orig. 1951. 1 videocassette (115 min.) or 1 videodisc. Film is a musical extravaganza which celebrates the loves and heartbreaks of a Mississippi riverboat troupe, starting with a young girl whose heart is stolen by a dashing gambler. Magnolia Hawks grew up on the Cotton Blossom, the Mississippi showboat owned by her father, lovable Captain Andy and her stern mother, Parthy. Her heart is broken by a dashing gambler, Gaylord Ravenal. Includes musical numbers: "Old Man River," "Make believe," "Can't help lovin' that man," "Why do I love you?," "Bill," and more. DVD 274 or VHS 1476 (soundtrack of stage production available on CD in Music Library)

Singin' in the rain. Orig. 1952. 1 videocassette or 2 videodiscs (103 min.). This favorite musical comedy is a gentle parody of Hollywood's frantic transition to the "talkies" during the late '20s. The unappealing voice of Lina Lamont, a silent movie queen, nearly forces her producer to scrap their new talking film, until an aspiring young singer, Kathy Selden, is found to dub Lamont's lines. Trouble brews on the set when Lamont's leading man, Don Lockwood, and Kathy fall in love. DVD 674 or DVD 675 or VDD 233 or VHS 144 (soundtrack of stage production available on LP in Music Library)

Small town girl. MGM musicals. Orig. 1953. 1 videocassette (94 min.). Musical highlighted by some of Busby Berkeley's song and dance routines. Country Judge Gordon Kimbell lives with his family in the small town of Duck Creek. The Judge sentences big city boy Rick to 30 days in jail when he tries to buy his way out of a speeding ticket. He convinces Cindy, the judge's daughter, that he wants out of jail to attend his mother's birthday, and she helps him escape back to New York. When they get there she learns he really wanted to get back to show girl fiance. VHS 5054

The Sound of music. Orig. 1965. 1 videocassette (175 min.). Set in Austria at the time of its annexation by Nazi Germany. A young girl named Maria is uncertain about her decision to enter a religious order. While deciding what to do, she becomes the governess of the seven Von Trapp children who live with their widowed father, Baron von Trapp, a former captain in the Austrian navy. Bringing warmth and music to the strict household, Maria soon wins over the children, and finally the Baron as well. She then must help the family escape from the Nazis. VHS 5233 (soundtrack of stage production available on CD in Music Library)

South Pacific. Orig. 1958. 1 videocassette (150 min.). During World War II on a lush tropical island swarming with Seabees, nurses and coconut palms, the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical classic of love and war and racial prejudice unfolds as an American Navy nurse falls in love with a French plantation owner with two Eurasian children, and a Marine lieutenant falls in love with a native woman. VHS 862 (soundtrack of stage production available on CD in Music Library)

Stormy weather. Orig. 1943. 1 videocassette (78 min.). A club singer slowly making her way to the top is involved in an off-again on-again romance. DVD 1786, HOME USE COLLECTION VHS 2830

Sunday sinners. The Black experience collection. Orig. 1940. 1 videocassette (65 min.). Gangsters frame a minister's son for robbery and murder but the congregation of his father's church help prove his innocence. VHS 7014

Swing time. Orig. 1936. 1 videodisc or 1 videocassette (103 min.). Fifth in the series of Astaire-Rogers musicals. John "Lucky" Garnett (Fred Astaire) is a featured troupe dancer and professional gambler intent on raising $25,000 in New York in order to marry his fiance back home. Romantic complications occur when he meets dancing teacher, Penny Carroll (Ginger Rogers). Their efforts to audition as a dance team are hampered by band leader Ricky Romero (Metaxa) who is in love with Penny. VHS 7048 or VDD 174

That's Black entertainment. 1989. 1 videocassette (60 min.). In the 30s and 40s an underground film industry sprang up in the black community. Since Afro Americans were not always welcome in white movie theaters and were badly represented in white movies, they made their own movies. These black cast films were never intended to be viewed by white audiences. Black producers, directors and actors were truer to the realities of life as they experienced and felt them than their white counterparts. This tightly run underground film industry operated efficiently until the mid-fifties. Its demise was basically a result of changing economic tides and (thankfully) the growing hope of integration. This is a tribute to the treasures of black cinema. Rare and historic movie footage from many forgotten films has been compiled in this special videocassette. VHS 2726

That's entertainment. Orig. 1974. 1 videocassette (122 min.). Musical sequences from nearly 100 MGM musicals and the narration of such entertainers as Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Bing Crosby, and others, are used to mark MGM's 50th anniversary of movie-making. VHS 15

The Three caballeros. Orig. 1944. 1 videocassette (71 min.). Donald Duck goes on a musical tour with his friends from South of the border. This is one of the earliest films that combine animation and live action. VHS 3296 (film soundtrack available on LP in Music Library)

Top hat. Orig. 1935. 1 videocassette (99 min.). Considered the best of the Astaire-Rogers musicals. Ginger thinks Fred is a married man so she marries someone else. It takes the entire film to straighten her out. The Irving Berlin score includes: "Cheek to Cheek," "Isn't it a Lovely Day?," and "Top Hat.". VHS 1

TSirk = Circus. Orig. 1936. 1 videocassette (89 min.). Alexandrov's attempt at importing American musical comedy into Soviet film. Marion Dixon, an American vaudeville performer who was driven from the U.S. due to her bearing an illegitimate black child is now performing her act as a human cannonball in a circus in the Soviet Union when she falls in love with a Soviet acrobat. Her German manager von Kneischitz knows of her illegitimate child and seeks to blackmail her. Love wins out and in the finale the cast, now joined by thousands of others, sing and march their way across Red Square. VHS 5209

Veselye rebiata muzykal naia kino-komediia = The world is laughing. 1996. 1 videocassette (93 min.). A musical comedy which pits Kostia a good-hearted young shepherd with a fine voice and a Pan-like effect on all who hear him against the so-called "finer" stratum of society. Aniuta falls in love with him under the impression that he is a famous conductor. Kostia leaves a trail of mirth and mayhem from the seaside to the Moscow theater world until he bluffs his way onto the concert stage and finds harmony and lifelong love. VHS 5208

Victor Victoria. Orig. 1982. 1 videocassette (ca. 134 min.). A starving singer in Depression-era Paris is convinced by an equally hapless performer that she may have more luck on the transvestite circuit as a woman passing herself off as a man imitating a woman. In her deception, she captures the heart of a Chicago nightclub owner whose romantic feelings toward her collide with his macho personality. VHS 2558 (soundtrack of stage production available on CD in Music Library)

Way down South. Orig. 1936. 1 videocassette (ca. 65 min.). VHS 7021

West side story. Orig. 1961. 2 videocassettes or 1 videodisc (152 min.). Retelling of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet set against a backdrop of the rivalry of two street gangs, the Sharks and the Jets, in the Puerto Rican quarter of New York City of the 1950s. A young woman who is sister to the Sharks leader has her first taste of love with the former head of the Jets. VHS 150 or DVD 278 (soundtrack of stage production available on CD in Music Library)

Window shopping. The Chantal Akerman collection. Orig. 1986. 1 videocassette (96 min.). An upbeat Hollywood-style musical set in a Parisian shopping mall that follows the love entanglements of a family who run a boutique in the mall. In the mall, the son of the boutique owner falls in love with the mall flirt, who runs the adjoining hairdressing salon. The wife of the boutique owner, after all these years and quite by chance, meets up with the American solider who liberated her from a concentration camp during World War II and almost runs off with him. VHS 3291

The Wizard of Oz. Orig. 1939. 1 videocassette or 1 videodisc (105 min.). Transported to the land of Oz by a tornado, Dorothy and her dog Toto journey along the Yellow Brick Road with her friends the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman and the Cowardly Lion as they search for the mysterious Emerald City and the great and powerful Wizard of Oz who, they hope, can help with their problems. Along the way they must avoid the Wicked Witch of the West. DVD 9 or VHS 5232 (film soundtrack available on LP in Music Library – also soundtrack to the stage production of The Wiz available on CD in the Music Library))

Wolga, Wolga = Volga, Volga. Orig. 1938. 1 videocassette (102 min.). Love story in which the boy and girl quarrel over whether his classical music performance or her folk music performance will win the Moscow amateur talent show. Volga Volga is infamous as Josef Stalin’s favorite film. VHS 3950

Yankee doodle dandy. Orig. 1942. 1 videocassette (127 min.). A rousing musical depicting the life of George M. Cohan--playwright, entertainer, and composer. VHS 2568 (soundtrack of stage production available on LP in Music Library)

Yiddle with his fiddle. Orig. 1935. 1 videocassette (92 min.). A classic Yiddish language musical-comedy. After they are thrown out of their home, a young girl fiddle player, disguised as a boy for safety, goes off to the Polish countryside with her musician father. They meet up with two other traveling musicians, one of whom is a young man. VHS 5715