Alvino Rey Movies
- 2009
The King Family became celebrated for their regular holiday television specials that offered the most wholesome style of yuletide cheer possible. This documentary features the family members looking back on their careers and features clips of them performing such perennial favorites as "I'll Be Home for Christmas," "White Christmas," and "The Christmas Song." ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
- 2004
- Add The Big Bands, Vol. 1: The Soundies to QueueAdd The Big Bands, Vol. 1: The Soundies to top of Queue
From Storyville Films comes this collection of 1940s movie clips featuring musical performances by some of the biggest musicians of the swing era. Big Bands, Vol. 1: The Soundies includes such songs as "It's Been a Long, Long Time" by Stan Kenton, "Oh Marie" by Tony Pastor, "The Dipsy Doodle" by Larry Clinton, and more. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi
- Starring:
- Stan Kenton, Les Brown, (more)
- 2001
The 1940s was a monumental decade for the United States. Amid World War II, economic recovery, and the start of the Cold War, American music provided a soundtrack to a generation. The Music Classics line from MPI Home Video attempts to offer the chance to relieve the era with a ten-volume series of restored film footage featuring performances by many of the 40's most revered artists. Music Classics, Vol. 4 features the likes of The King Sisters, Artie Shaw, Tex Beneke, and Duke Ellington. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi
This fourth film version of the Mary Roberts Rinehart-Avery Hopwood stage chestnut The Bat is so old-fashioned in its execution that one might suspect it was intended as "camp" (though that phrase wasn't in common usage in 1959). Agnes Moorehead plays mystery novelist Cornelia Van Gorder, whose remote mansion is the scene for all sorts of diabolical goings-on. The "maguffin" is a million dollars' worth of securities, hidden away somewhere in the huge and foreboding estate. Vincent Price is seen committing a murder early on-but he's not the film's principal villain. Others in the cast include Gavin Gordon as an overly diligent detective, and former Our Gang star Darla Hood as a murder victim. The Bat was adapted for the screen by its director Crane Wilbur, himself a prolific "old dark house" scenarist and playright. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Vincent Price, Agnes Moorehead, (more)
- 1944
Within its brisk 78 minutes, Jam Session manages to accommodate the singing, dancing and acting talents of Ann Miller, a romantic main plot, a comic subplot-and no fewer than six big-name orchestras. The story is the old saw about a small-town girl named Terry Baxter (Miller), who wins a trip to Hollywood. Unable to impress any of the tinseltown bigwigs, Terry is about to pack it in and head home until she meets go-getting screenwriter George Carter Haven (Jess Barker). Several mishaps and setbacks later, Terry not only lands a studio contract, but Haven as well. In addition to the terpsichorean talents of Ann Miller, the film spotlights such major big-band names as Charlie Barnet (playing "Cherokee," of course!), Louis Armstrong, Alvino Ray, Jan Garber, Glen Gray and Teddy Powell, along with vocalists Nan Wynn and the Pied Pipers. A tantalizingly brief clip of Jam Session was featured (wildly out of context!) in the 1968 Monkees film vehicle Head. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ann Miller, Jess Barker, (more)
- 1943
In this musical drama, a Vermont farm lad goes to the Big Apple to become a member of the National Dairy Association. He happens to bring with him his beloved trombone. Soon, with the help of bandleader Skinnay Ennis, the boy gets a job in a nightclub and subsequently becomes a popular radio star. His girlfriend back home is not amused. Eventually she slides on back into his life. Songs include: "My Melancholy Baby," "My Devotion," "Ain't Misbehavin," "Swingin' the Blues," "Spellbound," "Hilo Hattie," "The Army Air Corps," "Rosie the Riveter," and "Don't Tread on the Tail of Me Coat." ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Eddie Quillan, Mary Beth Hughes, (more)
- 1942
This musical chronicles the history of jazz music and features many of the most popular musical acts from the early 1940s, including Gene Krupa and Benny Goodman. The story centers on a trumpet player who falls for a young woman with an equal passion for music. Unfortunately, the girl is still grieving for her true-love whom she lost during the war. The trumpeter begins working to get the girl to trust her. He simultaneously tries to start a band. Songs include: "Goin' Up the River" (Dave Torbett, Leith Stevens), "You Made Me Love You" (Joseph McCarthy, James V. Monaco), "Only Worry for a Pillow," "Chicago Ragtime" (Stevens), "Under a Falling Star" (Rich Hall, Stevens, sung by Connie Boswell), and "Slave Market" (Hall Johnson). ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Adolphe Menjou, Jackie Cooper, (more)
- 1942
How could anyone resist a 1940s film starring Bert Lahr, June Havoc, Buddy Ebsen and Patsy Kelly-even a film as relentlessly silly as RKO Radio's Sing Your Worries Away? Lahr is cast as zany songwriter Chow Brewster, the sweetheart of cigarette girl Carol (Dorothy Lovett). Unbeknownst to eveyone but gangster Smiley Clark (Sam Levene), Carol has fallen heir to three million dollars. Clark intends to worry Brewster into committing suicide, then claim Carol as his bride. Things get hairy when feckless Tommy Jones (Buddy Ebsen) is accused of Brewster's death-this despite the fact that Brewster is alive and (sort of) well. The film moves bumpily but hilariously to a wild climax in which Brewster and Jones desperately try to escape being ground up in an ice-making machine! Patsy Kelly does her usual loud overacting, while June Havoc is amusingly cast as a stripteaser (the real-life profession of Havoc's celebrated sister Gypsy Rose Lee). Sing Your Worries Away is a partial remake of the 1935 RKO Radio comedy To Beat the Band, which made even less sense than the 1942 film. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bert Lahr, June Havoc, (more)
