The Pied Pipers Movies
- 1955
In the first episode of a lengthy story arc, Ricky's band is booked on a European tour. Unfortunately, Ricky (Desi Arnaz) has only enough money for his musicians, and can't take Lucy (Lucille Ball) along. Unwilling to pass up her opportunity to visit Europe, Lucy sets about to raise the necessary funds by staging a raffle for what she calls "The Women's Overseas Aid." Trouble is, there's already a genuine "Women's Overseas Aid" -- and Lucy could go to prison for fraud. This episode includes a performance of the title song from the 1956 Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz theatrical feature Forever Darling. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Harry Antrim, Barney Phillips, (more)
- 1950
As an actor, Eddy Arnold was a good country-western singer. In Hoedown, Eddy plays himself, while the acting burden was carried by Miss Jeff Donnell, Jock O'Mahoney (aka Jock Mahoney), and Guinn "Big Boy" Williams. O'Mahoney plays Stoney Rhodes, a cowboy star who is fired from his studio because he can't sing. Accompanied by Vera Wright (Donnell), Rhodes heads southward, where he attends a hoedown staged by Arnold and his C&W confreres. When bank robbers invade the party, Rhodes finds that he's not much help without his stuntmen to back him up. Eventually, however, he proves that he's a genuine hero, thereby assuring himself a renewed movie contract, not to mention the undying adoration of Wright. Among the musical guest stars featured in Hoedown are Carolina Cotton, The Pied Pipers and the Oklahoma Rangers. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Eddy Arnold, Jeff Donnell, (more)
In his first postwar animated feature, Walt Disney attempted to repeat the Fantasia formula, substituting "pop" music for the Classics. Make Mine Music consists of ten unrelated cartoon vignettes, each one featuring a popular recording artist. "A Rustic Ballad" is the story of the Martin-Coy hillbilly feud, narrated musically by the King's Men. "A Tone Poem" is an impressionistic interpretation of the song "Blue Bayou", sung by the Ken Darby chorus and rendered artistically by Disney's ace animators. "A Jazz Interlude", done in "sketchbook" style, is performed by Benny Goodman and His Orchestra, and features the jitterbug specialty "All the Cats Join In". Jerry Colonna is next on the program in "A Musical Recitation", offering his own inimitable version of "Casey at the Bat". "Ballad Ballet" features Ballet Russe stars Tatiana Riabouchinska and David Lichine, dancing to Dinah Shore's vocalization of "Two Silhouettes". "A Fairy Tale with Music" turns out to be Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf", narrated by Sterling Holloway. Next, Benny Goodman and company return with a surreal visualization of "After You've Gone", followed by "A Love Story", which features the Andrews Sisters' rendition of the ballad "Johnny Fedora and Alice Blue Bonnet." The hilarious "Opera Pathetique" finale finds Nelson Eddy narrating the story of Willy, "The Whale Who Wanted to Sing at the Met". Better in its individual components than its sum total, Make Mine Music was drubbed by critics, who felt that Disney had abandoned his "artistic" aspirations in favor of crass commercialism, but performed reasonably well at the box office, inspiring several more "omnibus" animated features. In later years, the ten individual segments would be released as separate short subjects, both theatrically and as episodes of Disney's various TV series (where the original narration was often supplanted by the unfunny interpolations of Professor Ludwig Von Drake). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Benny Goodman, Sterling Holloway, (more)
- 1944
In this musical, a youthful trombonist is thrilled when he is allowed to play with Benny Goodman's Orchestra. Afterward he becomes insufferably egotistical and tries to start his own swing band. It's his girl friend's idea, and unfortunately he fails. He then returns to his old mill job. Fortunately, he is given another chance to play with Benny and the boys. Musical numbers include: "I'm Making Believe," (Mack Gordon, James V. Monaco), as well as "Chug-Chug-Choo-Choo-Chug," "Hey Bub, Let's Have a Ball," "Ten Days with a Baby" (Gordon, Monaco), "I Found a New Baby" (Jack Palmer, Spencer Williams), "Jersey Bounce" (Robert B. Wright, Bobby Plater, Tiny Bradshaw, Edward Johnson), "Let's Dance" (Fanny Baldridge, Gregory Stone, Joseph Bonine), "The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise" (Gene Lockhart, Ernest Seitz), "Mozart's Clarinet Quintet" (performed by Goodman and strings), "No Love, No Nothing" (Leo Robin, Harry Warren), "Rachel's Dream" (Benny Goodman), and "I Yi Yi Yi Yi, I Like You Very Much" (Gordon, Warren) ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Benny Goodman Orchestra, Linda Darnell, (more)
- 1944
A sleepy hay-seed filled Arkansas town gets spotlight fever when a local sow bears an unprecedented 10 piglets. Suddenly poor Pitchfork is inundated with greedy interlopers anxiously rooting around trying to make silk purses out of the unusual situation. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 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
A group of opportunistic gold diggers con an aging millionaire playboy into investing in a night club in this musical comedy. The trouble begins when the millionaire's daughter shows up to stop them from stealing all his assets. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Leon Errol, Grace McDonald, (more)
- 1942
This musical -- a concoction of comedy, songs, dancing, and war-time patriotism mixed together with a spy spoof plot -- opens with Tommy Dorsey and his band swinging through "Hawaiian War Chant" while Eleanor Powell taps away. Powell, it turns out, is Tallulah Winters, the band's official tap dancer, and she and the orchestra are taking an ocean liner to Puerto Rico for their next gig. Also on board are some enemy agents, anxious to secretly and safely transport their stolen plans, which include a prototype magnetic mine that can make play a big role in the war. Utilizing a plot device from a novel by Merton K. Kibble (played by Red Skelton), the enemy agents pretend to be working for the U.S. government and enlist Winters to help them with their plans. A series of misunderstandings and confusions ensue, including a baggage mix-up that leaves Kibble unwittingly in possession of the mine. Eventually Winters discovers that she has been duped and works to set all things right. Ship Ahoy takes advantage of the talents of its musical stars -- including Frank Sinatra and Jo Stafford -- to offer a nice spread of musical numbers, including "Last Call for Love," "I'll Take Tallulah," "Poor You," and "On Moonlight Bay." ~ Craig Butler, Rovi
- Starring:
- Eleanor Powell, Red Skelton, (more)
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