Film
Studies Genres: Musicals
updated (1/03)
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
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