Vic Damone Movies
A boyishly handsome, sleepy-eyed baritone of the Perry Como/Dean Martin school, Vic Damone was a discovery of Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts radio program. Tapped for potential film stardom by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1951, Damone was featured in such splashy MGM musicals as Rich, Young and Pretty (1951), Athena (1953), Deep in My Heart (1954) and, best of all, Kismet (1955). While he remained a popular recording artist (his rendition of "An Affair to Remember" was one of the major top-ten hits of the late 1950s), Damone never came across as a saleable screen personality. On television, Damone was a perennial summer-replacement host, starring in no fewer than five TV variety series between 1956 and 1971. In the latter year, he managed to stage a comeback as a Las Vegas headliner. Vic Damone was married to actress Pier Angeli and later to singer Diahann Carroll. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Judy Garland: Duets collects several television appearances by the singer in which she performs with fellow celebrities. The release includes collaborations with Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Bobby Darin, and Lena Horne. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Judy Garland
- 1967
This documentary serves as a low-budget travelogue of Las Vegas. Performances by singer Vic Damone, dancer Juliet Prowse, and sex goddess Jane Mansfield are the highlights of the film that was obviously filmed a few years before the premiere at the Hollywood Theatre on June 23rd, 1967. An ironic footnote; Mansfield died in an auto accident June 29th, 1967, the day after Variety reviewed the feature. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jayne Mansfield, Vic Damone, (more)
- 1965
Originally aired on the ABC Television Network on November 28, 1975, this leisurely musical comedy stars stage great Liza Minnelli in a modernized re-imagining of the Little Red Riding Hood fable. Everyone knows the tale of the little girl who was on her way to grandma's house when she encountered a vicious wolf, but what would the wolf have to say about the gruesome events that took place that fateful day in the forest? Scripted by Robert Emmett and featuring original music by Julie Stein and Bob Merrill, this playful take on the familiar story co-stars Cyril Ritchard as Lone T. Wolf, and Vic Damone as the heroic woodsman. Lead through the forest by prowling front man Eric Burdon, The Animals provide fitting musical accompaniment as the hard rocking Wolf Pack. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Liza Minnelli, Cyril Ritchard, (more)
- 1962
Singer Vic Damone guests in this episode as Rick Vallone, an upcoming musical guest on "The Alan Brady Show." Assigned to handle the details of Rick's appearance is writer Sally Rogers (Rose Marie), the team's resident bachelor gal. It doesn't take long for Sally to fall in love with the handsome Rick; the trouble is that although Rick is very fond of Sally, he doesn't feel the same way she does. And there's even more trouble: Rick must figure out a way to let Sally down gently -- after Rob (who has tried every other strategy to spare Sally's feelings) has warned him that she tends to "bleed like old Russian royalty." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vic Damone, Richard Deacon, (more)
This standard wartime drama is divided into three chronological segments and is based on the experiences of the real Guy Gabaldon (played as an adult by Jeffrey Hunter, and as a boy by Richard Eyer). In the first segment, Guy is a homeless waif without many prospects when he is adopted by a Japanese-American family. He grows up just in time to be drafted into battle in World War II -- the bombing of Pearl Harbor has a particularly devastating effect on his family and their friends. After a wild last fling with two buddies (David Janssen and Vic Damone) and some women, Guy heads off to war where he distinguishes himself because of his fluency in Japanese. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeffrey Hunter, David Janssen, (more)
This fourth film version of the warhorse Edward Knoblock theatrical piece Kismet was based on the Broadway musical version of the same property. Howard Keel stars as Hadji, the poet of old Baghdad, who goes from beggar to millionaire in a single day. Hadji's daughter Marsinah (Ann Blyth) falls in love with the young Caliph (Vic Damone), while Lalume (Dolores Gray), the sexy wife of the despotic Wazir (Sebastian Cabot), sets her sights on Hadji. Meanwhile, the Wazir plots and plans to topple the Caliph from the throne and to add Marsinah to his own harem. Making periodic appearances is Omar Khayyam, played as a doddering old meddler by Monty Woolley. The Robert Wright-George Forrest musical score, based on themes by Borodin, includes such standards as "Baubles, Bangles and Beads", "This is My Beloved", "Stranger in Paradise" and "Not Since Ninevah". Though the dancing girls in the film are more modestly dressed than their stage counterparts, they are put through some fairly sensuous paces by choreographer Jack Cole. Kismet was good for another go-round in 1967, when it was adapted for television with Jose Ferrer, Barbara Eden, Anna Maria Alberghetti, George Chakiris and Hans Conried in the cast. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Howard Keel, Ann Blyth, (more)
Hit the Deck is the second film version of the same-named 1927 hit Broadway musical. Though updated for the 1950s, the basic plot remains the same. Sailors Tony Martin, Vic Damone and Russ Tamblyn spend their entire shore leave in pursuit of three beautiful gals. Martin is "that way" about Ann Miller, Damone is stuck on Jane Powell, and Russ Tamblyn only has eyes for Debbie Reynolds. Some fun is extracted from the fact that Tamblyn is the son of by-the-book admiral Walter Pidgeon. Additional comedy relief is provided by Alan King (the same!) and Henry Slate as a pair of dumb-dumb shore patrolmen. The Vincent Youmans-Leo Robin-Clifford Grey-Irving Caesar score includes such standards as "Sometimes I'm Happy", "I Know that You Know", and the showstopping "Hallelujah". The 1930 version of Hit the Deck, starring Jack Oakie, was filmed by RKO; that version was purchased by MGM and hasn't been seen publicly in nearly 70 years. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jane Powell, Tony Martin, (more)
- 1954
Health faddist Mulvain (Louis Calhern) and his astrology-minded wife Salome (Norma Varden) hold court over their seven musical-prodigy daughters. Each girl is named after a mythical Greek: Athena (Jane Powell), Minerva (Debbie Reynolds), Niobe (Virginia Gibson), Aphrodite (Nancy Kligas), Medea (Jane Fischer), Calliope (Dolores Starr) and Ceres (Cecile Rogers). They also run around dressed in skimpy miniskirts, for those of you not interested in mythology. Athena falls in love with lawyer Adam Shaw (Edmund Purdom) and Minerva is ga-ga over crooner Johnny Nyle (Vic Damone), neither of whom come up to Mulvain's notions of mental and physical perfection. A lesser product from the Joe Pasternak musical mill, Athena is unremarkable save for an early appearance by future Hercules star Steve Reeves and a nicely bitchy performance by the usually resistable Linda Christian. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jane Powell, Debbie Reynolds, (more)
Deep in My Heart is the MGM-ified biography of composer Sigmund Romberg, here played by José Ferrer. Evidently the scripters didn't feel that the life of Romberg (as set down by author Elliott Arnold, whose book was used as the film's basis) had enough drama to fill out two hours and ten minutes. As a result, the film is overstocked with guest stars, performing such Romberg standards as "One Alone," "Lover Come Back to Me," "When I Grow Too Old to Dream," "Will You Remember," and "Stout-Hearted Men." Among these celebrities are Ann Miller, Vic Damone, Jane Powell, Tony Martin, Cyd Charisse, Rosemary Clooney, and Gene Kelly, the latter performing a dance duet with his seldom-seen brother, Fred. For all the heady competition, it is José Ferrer who renders the most memorable production number: a one-man presentation of the Romberg musical comedy Jazzboat, in which Ferrer assumes all the roles, from star Al Jolson's to the entire female chorus! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- José Ferrer, Helen Traubel, (more)
- 1951
Rich, Young and Pretty succinctly describes Jane Powell, the heroine of this frothy MGM musical. Vacationing in Paris with her father, Jim Stauton Rogers (Wendell Corey) -- a cattle baron-turned-politician, Elizabeth Rogers (Powell) falls in love with handsome Andre Milan (Vic Damone, in his film debut). She also learns to her surprise that her Gallic mother, Marie (Danielle Darrieux), is not dead as she's been led to believe, but very much alive and very much involved with suave South American Paul Sarnac (Fernando Lamas). The plot is merely there to provide breathing space for the film's ten -- count 'em, ten -- musical numbers. If Rich, Young and Pretty resembles a Deanna Durbin picture at times, it may because it was produced by Durbin's discoverer, Joseph Pasternak. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jane Powell, Danielle Darrieux, (more)
- 1951
Mickey Rooney returned to his "home" studio MGM, after a three-year absence, in the location-filmed melodrama The Strip. Rooney is cast as Stanley Maxton, an aspiring drummer who has the misfortune to fall within the orbit of bookie Sunny Johnson (James Craig). Out of the goodness of his heart, Stanley introduces aspiring actress June Tafford (Sally Forrest) to Johnson, hoping that the latter's Hollywood connections will help the girl find success. Stanley also quits the rackets to play drums at a nightclub owned by his pal Fluff (William Demarest). Things take a sorry turn when Johnson decides to make a play for June; Stanley interferes and gets beaten up by the bookie's goons. June's response to this outrage results in tragedy for everyone. The Strip is a surprisingly downbeat effort for producer Joe Pasternak, a man usually associated with happy, wholesome Technicolor musicals. The film is highlighted by jazz performances from Louis Armstrong, Jack Teagarden, Earl "Fatha" Hines and Barney Bigard. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mickey Rooney, Sally Forrest, (more)
