Don Ameche Movies
Though his popularity rose and fell during his long career, American actor Don Ameche, born Dominic Amici in Kenosha, WI, was one of Hollywood's most enduring stars. He began his acting career in college, where he had been studying law. He had a natural gift for acting and got his first professional opportunity when he filled in for a missing lead in the stock theater production of Excess Baggage. After that, he forewent his law career and became a full-time theatrical actor. He also worked briefly in vaudeville beside Texas Guinan. Following that he spent five years as a radio announcer. He made his screen debut in a feature short, Beauty at the World's Fair (1933). Following this, Ameche moved to Hollywood where he screen-tested with MGM; they rejected him. In 1935, he managed to obtain a small role in Clive of India and this resulted in his signing a seven-year contract with 20th Century Fox. Ameche, with his trim figure, pencil-thin mustache, and rich baritone voice was neither a conventionally handsome leading man nor the dashing hero type. Instead he embodied a wholesomeness and bland honesty that made him the ideal co-lead and foil for the more complex heroes. He played supporting roles for many years before he came into his own playing the leads in light romances and musicals such as Alexander's Rag Time Band (1938), where he demonstrated a real flair for romantic comedy. In 1939, Ameche played the title role in the classic biopic The Story of Alexander Graham Bell. The film was a tremendous success and for years afterward, fans quipped that it was he, not Bell who invented the telephone; for a time the telephone was even called an "ameche." He continued working steadily through the mid-'40s and then his film career ground to an abrupt halt. He returned to radio to play opposite Frances Langford in the long-running and popular series The Bickersons. During the 1950s he worked occasionally on television.He began appearing infrequently in low-budget films during the '60s and '70s, but did not make a comeback proper until 1983, when he was cast as a replacement for the ailing Ray Milland in the comedy Trading Places. The success of this film brought Ameche back in demand. In 1985, the aging actor received a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his work as a retirement home Casanova in Cocoon. He followed up that role to even more acclaim in 1988's David Mamet-Shel Silverstein concoction Things Change, in which Ameche played the role of a impish shoemaker chosen to take the fall for a mob hit. Before his death in 1993, Ameche rounded out his career with brief but memorable performances in Oscar (1991) and Corrina, Corrina (1994). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1961
In this routine political drama by Vincent Sherman, a murder trial is converted into one piece in the complex interaction between three candidates for governor. Judge Hoffman (Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.) is a solid, anchoring presence in his courtroom, qualities which should stand him in good stead when election day arrives. Senator Simon (Don Ameche) has all the scruples of a hungry ferret and tries to bribe the judge to take on a position in the federal judicial system in lieu of his candidacy. The District Attorney, Dan Callahan also has an ethics-free approach to politics and is not likely to change. Complicating matters is the fact that the Senator's wife Cathy (Angie Dickinson) was once in love with Judge Hoffman. By the time these protagonists get through dealing with the race for governor and each other's scruples -- or lack of them -- circumstances have drastically changed the picture. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Angie Dickinson, (more)
- 1986
Bob Hope makes his first starring film appearance in 14 years in this made-for-TV movie. Hope stars as a seedy private eye, hoping to get one last good case before calling it quits. Don Ameche, a retired art thief reduced to working as a chauffeur, teams with his old friend Hope to solve the mystery of a missing painting. The unknown criminal has a murderous streak, resulting in a few close calls for the octogenarian heroes. Masterpiece of Murder is murder, all right, but definitely no masterpiece. Bob Hope appears to be sleepwalking, while Don Ameche does his utmost to breathe life in the tiresome proceedings. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Former president Ronald Reagan may have genuinely believed that he was referring to a real-life act of selfless wartime bravery whenever repeating his "We'll bring this one down together" anecdote. In fact, he was merely quoting a scene from the above-average World War 2 drama A Wing and a Prayer. The setting is an American aircraft carrier, overseen by tough, unserving flight officer Don Ameche. When casualties begin piling up, the pilots blame Ameche, accusing him of being an indiscriminate butcher. Only when the tide of battle turns in favor of the Allies do the pilots realize that Ameche has been right all along. Director Henry Hathaway spent several weeks aboard an actual aircraft carrier, filming genuine combat scenes. Many of these authentic sequences appear as background footage in A Wing and a Prayer; sometimes the process work is convincing, sometimes it isn't, but please remember that this film was made long, long before the advent of computer technology. Dana Andrews, William Eythe, Richard Jaeckel, Harry Morgan (billed as 'Henry Morgan' here), Richard Crane, Glenn Langan, Reed Hadley and Bob Bailey are among the ready, willing and able Fox contractees appearing in A Wing and a Prayer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don Ameche, Dana Andrews, (more)
His Aunt Sophie (Helen Westley) and his teacher Professor Heinrich (Jean Hersholt) are sure that Roger Grant (Tyrone Power) will be a famous classical violinist, but Roger's more interested in popular music. He and his friend, pianist Charlie (Don Ameche), audition at a saloon in San Francisco's Barbary Coast, using sheet music left by singer Stella Kirby (Alice Faye), which had been sent to her by a friend in New York, Irving Berlin. The number, "Alexander's Ragtime Band," proves to be a sensation, and Stella goes along with Charlie's plea to sing with the band, which soon becomes famous for its ragtime numbers. Charlie has fallen in love with Stella by the time they open at the Cliff House, but he soon realizes that she and Roger are in love. Stella is invited to New York by a famous producer, but Roger's against this, and angrily fires her, so Charlie quits, too. When Roger returns from World War I, he meets Stella, only to learn she and Charlie have been married for a year. Another year passes, and Charlie and Davey have formed a new band with Jerry Allen (Ethel Merman) as their lead singer. Charlie knows Stella still loves Roger, so he divorces her, but Roger sails for Europe with the new band. Back in New York, Roger is set for a major concert in swing at Carnegie Hall. Charlie tells Roger about the divorce, and that Stella still loves him. Unable to get a ticket, Stella listens to the concert in a cab. Explaining that he is playing it for one particular person, Roger and his band perform "Alexander's Ragtime Band" as their encore, bringing Stella into the theater, where she's reconciled with Roger. He brings her onstage to perform the number with his band. ~ Bill Warren, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tyrone Power, Alice Faye, (more)
- 1935
Ronald Colman plays Robert Clive, a true-life 18th century Britisher who works up the ranks to become leader of Britain's military forces in India. Though produced on a superficially lavish scale, the film inexpensively sidesteps several of Clive's more famous battles with Indian insurrectionists, relegating them to offscreen events described by subtitles. The notorious Sepoy Mutiny "Black Hole of Calcutta" incident, hardly a costly event to recreate, is faithfully presented. In real life, Clive was ruined by a trial in the House of Commons, after which he suffered a nervous breakdown and committed suicide. The film tactfully closes on the trial and Clive's reunion with his faithful wife (Loretta Young). Typically jingoistic in its "White Man's Burden" approach to East Indian affairs, Clive of India is best viewed in context of the time it was filmed (1935), when the sun still hadn't set on the British Empire. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ronald Colman, Loretta Young, (more)
Cocoon is a warm-hearted science-fiction fable that avoids becoming overly corny thanks to the performances of its mostly senior cast. Wilford Brimley, Don Ameche, and Hume Cronyn are three old-timers who sneak out of their retirement home a few days a week to swim in the large pool on an abandoned estate next door. When the threesome begins to feel curiously younger, they discover strange pods on the floor of the pool. These pods are alien cocoons, which are being pulled from the ocean by a team of extra-terrestrials in human form led by Walter (Brian Dennehy), who has hired a local charter operator (Steve Guttenberg) to assist him. Walter explains to the seniors that energy from the cocoons is restoring youth and vigor to the older men every time they go for a dip. The aliens agree to let the men continue to swim in secret, but of course they can't keep their discovery to themselves. Soon the pool is swarming with retirees, with the notable exception of Bernie (Jack Gilford), who has no interest in prolonging life any longer than necessary. The aliens ultimately prepare to return home and offer the retirees eternal life if they leave Earth behind as well. Director Ron Howard treats his old-timers with care and dignity, and they respond with deeply sympathetic performances (Ameche won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar); the film's science-fiction trappings ably sustain the story's all-too-human ruminations on youth, aging, life, and death. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don Ameche, Wilford Brimley, (more)
Cocoon 2: The Return, like most sequels, relies a bit too heavily on one's familiarity with the first film. Without dwelling too long on Cocoon #1, we can observe that it ended with a group of senior citizens heading for the distant planet of Antarea, hoping to find a new, rewarding and elongated life. Cocoon 2 picks up the action five years later: The Antareans return to earth to check on the damage caused to their life-regenerating cocoons by earthquakes. Coming along for the ride are the elderly couples whom we met in the first film. Also carried over from the first Cocoon are young ferryboat captain Steve Guttenberg and gorgeous Antarean Tahnee Welch, who resume their interplanetary romance. Oldster Jack Gilford, whose beloved wife died in Cocoon, likewise finds romance in the form of Elaine Stritch. A secondary plot involves an insidious secret government plan to exploit the Antareans, which is foiled by sympathetic researcher Courteney Cox. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don Ameche, Wilford Brimley, (more)
Coming to America casts comedian Eddie Murphy as pampered African prince Akeem, who rebels against an arranged marriage and heads to America to find a new bride. Murphy's regal father (James Earl Jones) agrees to allow the prince 40 days to roam the U.S., sending the prince's faithful retainer Semmi (Arsenio Hall) along to make sure nothing untoward happens. To avoid fortune hunters, Prince Akeem conceals his true identity and gets a "Joe job" at a fast-food restaurant. Murphy and Hall play multiple roles, and there are innumerable celebrity cameos peppered throughout the proceedings -- including the Duke Brothers (Don Ameche and Ralph Bellamy) from Trading Places. Coming to America made further headlines when humorist Art Buchwald sued the film's producers for plagiarizing one of his works. Buchwald carried the case to trial, where he won a sizeable judgement against the film's producers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, (more)
- 1941
Don Ameche, an American news bureau chief stationed in London, is frustrated by the British government's censorship of his wildly speculative dispatches to the United States. Joan Bennett is the government Teletype operator assigned to make sure that Ameche doesn't send out any story that hasn't been cleared. At first adversarial towards each other, Ameche and Bennet fall in love while huddled in various bomb shelters during the 1940 London blitz. Clearly inspired by Hitchcock's Foreign Correspondent (40), Confirm or Deny was one of many "preparedness" films turned out by Hollywood in the months just prior to Pearl Harbor. Any political proselytizing, however, takes second place to the Don Ameche/Joan Bennett love story. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don Ameche, Joan Bennett, (more)
In this comedy-drama set in the late 1950s, Manny Singer (Ray Liotta) is a songwriter who makes his living penning jingles for radio and television commercials. Manny's wife has recently died, leaving him an emotionally broken man; Manny buries himself in his work rather than deal with his grief. His young daughter Molly (Tina Majorino) is taking it even harder; since her mother's passing, Molly has refused to speak. Manny realizes that he needs help taking care of the house and looking after Molly, so he places an ad looking for a maid who can double as a nanny. After a long series of unsuitable applicants, Manny meets Corrina Washington (Whoopi Goldberg), who isn't much on cooking, cleaning, or domestic chores -- but who strikes an immediate chord with Molly. Corrina gets the job, and her vivacious, unconventional personality brings the joy of living back to the Singer home. A romance also begins to bloom between Manny and Corrina, though Manny quickly discovers that being in an interracial relationship in 1959 is not always easy or pleasant. Joan Cusack and Don Ameche highlight the supporting cast. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Whoopi Goldberg, Ray Liotta, (more)
- 1935
Carnival barker Spencer Tracy befriends elderly concessionaire Henry B. Walthall, who owns a picturesque but stodgy display depicting Dante's Inferno. Walthall is more interested in the spiritual aspects of Man's fascination with Hell, but Tracy uses hoopla and exaggeration to get the suckers into the Inferno. His interest isn't altruistic; Tracy is enamored of Walthall's niece, Claire Trevor. Through his publicity savvy, Tracy builds the Inferno into a major attraction, complete with full orchestra and scantily clad "devil girls". He also buys up the rest of the carnival, using cold-blooded tactics that result in the suicide of a fellow concessionaire. Within five years, Tracy is a millionaire tycoon of the Entertainment industry. While loved by his wife (Trevor) and son (Scotty Beckett), Tracy conducts his business ruthlessly, bribing a city official to look the other way regarding structural defects in his Inferno display. When this duplicity results in a disastrous accident at the exhibit, the bribed official kills himself. Tracy is exonerated thanks to legal chicanery, but his wife is fed up; she walks out on him, taking their son along. Injured in the accident, Inferno creator H. B. Walthall warns Tracy of the pitfalls of success, using an illustrated edition of Dante to make his point. For nearly ten minutes, the movie audience is treated to a lavish depiction of Hell, magnificently photographed by Rudolph Mate. When the plot resumes, Tracy is on hand for his latest venture, a sumptuous gambling ship. Thanks to the drunken negligence of the crew, the ship catches fire, and it is only upon learning that his son has sneaked aboard that Tracy realizes the consequences of his greed. Tracy labors heroically to rescue the passengers--and, incidentally, to atone for his past sins. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Spencer Tracy, Claire Trevor, (more)
Hollywood's handful of Technicolor cameras got a real workout on 20th Century-Fox's Down Argentine Way. Don Ameche stars as Ricardo Quintana, the charming son of a less charming Argentine horse breeder (Henry Stephenson). Betty Grable is vacationing American heiress Glenda Crawford, who "collects" horses as a hobby. Separated by a family feud, Ricard and Glenda must endure all sorts of setbacks and misunderstandings before crossing the romantic finish line. Filmed on location, Down Argentine Way served to introduce Brazilian bombshell Carmen Miranda, performing a variety of sizzling South American numbers with her own band. Also on hand are the Nicholas Brothers, whose show-stopping dance number has been spotlighted innumerable times in various "best of Hollywood musicals" compilations. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don Ameche, Betty Grable, (more)
- 1937
Don Ameche is called upon to testify in his married friends' divorce case. Unwilling to take sides, he skips town and hides out at a country inn. A young girl (Ann Sothern) stumbles into Ameche's rural hideaway; she thinks he's an escaped gangster, while he thinks she's a process server. The local sheriff (John Qualen), who also believes Ameche is a gangster, converges on the inn during a snowstorm. Trapped inside by the snow and by the deputies, Ameche and Sothern fall in love. The real gangster (Douglas Fowley) is captured and there's smiles all around at "The End" time. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don Ameche, Ann Sothern, (more)
In this comedy, stockbroker Jon Aldrich (Tom Selleck) is the man who has it all, until his ill, aging parents (Don Ameche and Anne Jackson) move in with him. As his perfect life begins to disintegrate bit by bit, Jon becomes more and more depressed and disillusioned. Finally, broke and friendless, Jon begins to listen to his addled parents' insistence that he do away with them and use their insurance money to start again. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Selleck, Don Ameche, (more)
- 1940
This remake of John Ford's classic WW1 drama Four Sons has been updated to the Europe of the late 1930s. At the time of the Nazi invasion of Czechoslovakia, four sons of German-Czech parentage go off in separate ideological directions. Chris (Don Ameche) remains loyal to the concept of a free Czechoslovakia; Karl (Alan Curtis) embraces the Nazi cause; Joseph (Robert Lowery) heads to America; and the youngest, Fritz (George Ernest), is drafted in the German army and is killed during the Polish campaign. The impact of the original film is somewhat muted here, since the political ramifications of WW2 were far more complex than those of WW1, and also because Archie Mayo isn't as good a director as John Ford. By far the best performance of the film is delivered by the great Russian stage actress Eugene Leontovich, making a rare screen performance as the long-suffering mother of the Four Sons. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don Ameche, Eugenie Leontovich, (more)
- 1938
En route to America, Irish immigrant Arleen Whelan is the victim of shipboard masher Raymond Walburn. Pushed away by the girl, Walburn is slightly injured, whereupon he brings up charges against Whelan and holds up her entry visa at Ellis Island. War correspondent Don Ameche comes to the rescue, but Whelan's problems are far from over thanks to her involvement with another immigrant, gangster Gilbert Roland. Gateway represents perhaps the best screen opportunity for 20th Century-Fox starlet Arleen Whelan, who faded from prominence in the 1940s. Other than that, the film is an intriguing glimpse of immigration procedures in the prewar years. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don Ameche, Arleen Whelan, (more)
- 1972
Monie Ellis is the latest in a long line of movie and TV "Gidgets" in Gidget Gets Married. The title tells all: Francie "Gidget" Lawrence (Ellis) forsakes bikinis and surfboards for a wedding gown and corsage. Her husband, of course, is her faithful beau "Moondoggie", aka Jeff Stevens (Michael Burns). But the course of true love steadfastly refuses to run smoothly, as Gidget tries to deal with the snobbish social hierarchy within her husband's family and business associates. As he did in 1970's Gidget Grows Up, Paul Lynde steals the show as the waspish Louis B. Lattimer. Based on characters created by Frederick Kohner (whose own daughter was the model for the original Gidget), the made-for-TV Gidget Gets Married premiered January 4, 1972. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1942
In this comedy, set in WW II, a Venezuelan rubber planter's son must travel to New York to try and secure a loan for the expansion of the family business. There he encounters an impoverished American girl whose fortune lies frozen in England until the war ends. To make ends meet, she rents her apartment to the Venezuelan and becomes his personal maid. Mayhem ensues as the two get involved in merry mix-ups, fall in love, fall out of love, and fall in love again. Eventually, she helps him get the loan he needs. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don Ameche, Joan Bennett, (more)
Those willing to accept Carmen Miranda as a "typical" 1920s type will be able to swallow the rest of the lavish but rather silly 20th Century-Fox musical Greenwich Village. Most of the action takes place in a New York speakeasy managed by tough guy Danny O'Mara (William Bendix). Providing entertainment in this rowdy establishment is songwriter Kenneth Harvey (Don Ameche), singing sensation Bonnie Watson (Vivian Blaine) and fortune-teller/dancer Princess Querida (Carmen Miranda). Harvey aspires to become a serious composer, while O'Mara has yearnings to produce a hit Broadway show. Everything works out to everyone's satisfaction by fadeout time, and Harvey (of course) falls in love with Bonnie. Specialty acts included the ballroom dance team of Tony and Sally De Marco, the precision-tap specialists The Four Step Brothers, and an up-and-coming group of nightclub comedians called The Revuers (Judy Holliday, Adolph Green, Betty Comden and Alvin Hammer), whose main routine, alas, ended up on the cutting room floor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carmen Miranda, Don Ameche, (more)
- 1945
This screwball comedy stars Claudette Colbert as Mary, the wife of bumbling but likeable banker Chris (Dick Foran). Foreign correspondent Joe (Don Ameche) Chris' best friend, is in danger of losing his job because he's not married (his boss insists that all his employees be married-and remember, bosses could get away with this in 1945!) Mary magnamimously offers to pose as Joe's wife, leading to all sorts of comic misunderstandings-the silliest of which finds Mary being accused of living in sin with her real husband. As one critic put it, "It's oh-ho time!" Guest Wife might have even been funnier had it not been hampered by the stringest censorship of the era. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claudette Colbert, Don Ameche, (more)
- 1938
Happy Landing was another Sonja Henie moneyspinner from the 20th Century-Fox film factory. The story gets under way when skirt-chasing bandleader Duke Sargent (Cesar Romero) pitches woo to Trudy Ericksen (Sonja Henie) while on a tour of Norway. To Duke, it's just another harmless flirtation, but Trudy takes him seriously and trails him back to the USA, where she finds enormous success as an ice-skating star. When Duke's manager Jimmy Hall (Don Ameche) falls in love with Trudy himself, he cooks up a scheme to marry off Duke to vocalist Flo Kelly (Ethel Merman). As always, the plot takes a back seat to the skating, with Sonja Henie at her professional peak. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sonja Henie, Don Ameche, (more)
While vacationing in the Pacific Northwest, the Henderson clan's dad George (John Lithgow), mom Nancy (Melinda Dillon), daughter Sarah (Margaret Langrick) and son Ernie (Joshua Rudroy) accidently run over a strange animal with their car, and when they get out to see what it is, they find the seemingly dead body of a hairy Bigfoot-type monster (Kevin Peter Hall). Believing that the creature is a grizzly bear, the Hendersons take it home, planning to stuff the beast and put it on display in their living room. Predictably, the hirsute monster revives and is adopted by the family as a pet. Originally conceived as a TV series by comedian Brad Garrett, Harry and the Hendersons ultimately did make it to the small screen as a weekly syndicated sitcom in 1990, with Kevin Peter Hall repeating the title role during the series' first 24 episodes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Lithgow, Melinda Dillon, (more)
On the day of his death in 1943, the spirit of Henry Van Cleave (Don Ameche) obligingly heads for the place where so many people had previously told him to go. The immaculately dressed septuagenarian arrives at the outer offices of Hades, where he is greeted by His Excellency (Laird Cregar), the most courteous and gentlemanly Satan in screen history. His Excellency doubts that Van Cleave has sinned enough to qualify for entrance into Hades, but Henry insists that he's led the most wicked of lives, and proceeds to tell his story. Each milestone of Henry's life, it seems, has occurred on one of his birthdays. Upon reaching 15, Henry (played as a teenager by Dickie Moore) naively permits himself to get drunk with and be seduced by his family's French maid (Signe Hasso). At 21, Henry elopes with lovely Martha Strabel (Gene Tierney) stealing her away from her stuffy fiance Albert Van Cleve (Allyn Joslyn), Henry's cousin. At 31, Henry nearly loses Martha when, weary of his harmless extracurricular flirtations, she goes home to her boorish parents (Eugene Pallette and Marjorie Main). Henry's grandpa (Charles Coburn) orders the errant husband not to let so wonderful a girl as Martha get away from him. Henry once more declares his love to Martha, and she can't help but be touched by his boyish sincerity. Twenty years later, Henry, now a faithful and proper husband and father, attempts to charm a beautiful musical-comedy entertainer (Helen Walker) so that she'll forsake his young and impressionable son. But Henry's gay-90s romantic approach is out of touch with the Roaring 20s, and he ends up paying the entertainer a tidy sum to rescue his son--a fact that amuses Henry's understanding wife Martha, who now knows that her husband is hers and hers alone. Ten more years pass: Henry dances a last waltz with Martha, whose loving smile hides the fact that she knows she hasn't much longer to live. Five years later, it is "foxy grandpa" Henry who must be kept in check by his conservative son Jack (Michael Ames). Finally, it is 1943: as he quietly drinks in the loveliness of his night nurse (Doris Merrick), the bedridden Henry contentedly breathes his last. His story told, Henry once again asks to be permitted to enter Hades. But His Excellency, realizing that the only "sin" Henry has truly committed is attempting to live life to the fullest, quietly replies "If you'll forgive me, Mr. Van Cleave, we just don't want your kind down here." While he allows that Henry may have some trouble getting past the Pearly Gates, the wait will be worth it, since his loving wife Martha will be waiting for him. His Excellency cordially escorts Henry to the elevator, giving the operator a one-word instruction: "Up." A charming delight from first frame to last, Heaven Can Wait is another winner from director Ernst Lubitsch, and his first in Technicolor. Samson Raphaelson's screenplay was based on Birthdays, a play by Laslo Bus-Fekete. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don Ameche, Gene Tierney, (more)
- 1997
- Add Hidden Hollywood: Treasures From The 20th Century Fox Vaults to QueueAdd Hidden Hollywood: Treasures From The 20th Century Fox Vaults to top of Queue
Joan Collins is the host of these outtakes and clips deleted from 20th Century-Fox productions of decades past. Entertaining song selections in the compilation include Betty Grable sequences from Footlight Serenade (1942) and Pin Up Girl (1944), Carmen Miranda wearing a lighthouse on her head while essaying True to the Navy for Doll Face (1945), and Shirley Temple doing a Jimmy Durante impersonation while dueting with him for Little Miss Broadway (1938). Alice Faye's delightful I'm Always Chasing Rainbows, and an Al Jolson medley were both deleted from Rose of Washington Square (1939). Faye and Grable teamed in Tin Pan Alley (1940). The fascinating footage features miscues on pre-recorded tunes and other assorted bloopers in addition to awkward attempts at musical performances by such actors as Don Ameche, Clark Gable, and Victor Mature. Hidden Hollywood first aired November 18, 1997 on American Movie Classics. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Collins
