Dinah Shore Movies

Mahalia Jackson was arguably the finest and most important performer in the history of gospel music; her rich and expressive vocal style proved massively influential, and she was the first African-American gospel artist to sell over a million copies of a record (with the superb "Move on up a Little Higher"), bringing sacred music to a wider audience than it had ever known before. Mahalia Jackson: The Power and the Glory is a documentary that examines the life and music of this watershed artist; author Studs Terkel and activist the Reverend Jesse Jackson share their memories of Jackson as a musician and a friend, and a number of rare film clips of Jackson performing are included, including TV appearances with Louis Armstrong and Dinah Shore. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

The secret word is "Happy New Year" as Pee-Wee Herman (Paul Reubens) and the Playhouse gang hold a Christmas party. Things threaten to get out of hand fairly early as the increasingly disappointed Pee-Wee receives one fruitcake after another. When he complains that he didn't get anything he really wanted, our hero learns an important lesson about sharing from none other than Santa Claus. Among Pee-wee's special guests are singers k.d. lang, Grace Jones, Dinah Shore, and the Del Rubio Triplets, "Beach Party" perennials Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon (who'd recently costarred with Pee-wee in the theatrical film Back at the Beach), the outrageous Little Richard (on ice-skates!) and such pop-culture giants as Oprah Winfrey, Charo, Cher, Joan Rivers, Magic Johnson, and even Zsa Zsa Gabor. Pee-wee Herman's Christmas Special first aired December 21, 1988 on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This nostalgic video uses five short films to look back at Hollywood's efforts to bolster both overseas G.I.s and the folks back home during WW II. Each of the five shorts features an all-star cast doing things to cheer people up during a difficult time. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Robert Altman, the director responsible for M*A*S*H, came up with another acronymic title for his 1979 comedy H.E.A.L.T.H The letter stand for Happiness, Energy And Longevity Through Health--the name given a health-food convention at a Florida luxury hotel. In the tradition of his earlier Nashville and A Wedding, Altman utilizes the hotel as a gathering place for numerous interrelated, interconnecting plot threads. The unifying theme is a satire of corrupt politics, a la Watergate. Playing the unflappable hotel manager, Alfre Woodard stands out in a stellar cast including Carol Burnett, Glenda Jackson, James Garner, Lauren Bacall, Henry Gibson, Dick Cavett, and Paul Dooley (who cowrote the screenplay with Altman and Frank Barhydt). By rights, H.E.A.L.T.H should have been a real crowd pleaser, but the film's preview went so poorly that its release was held up for nearly a year. Virtually thrown away by 20th Century-Fox, H.E.A.L.T.H has appeared recently on The Fox Movie Channel, but never received a commercial video release, which hasn't helped it it attain a following. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Adapted by Larry Gelbart from the novel by Avery Corman, the film stars John Denver as Jerry Landers, the assistant manager of a grocery store who is chosen by God (George Burns) to spread the Word to the rest of the world. Not surprisingly, Jerry is soon labelled a basket case: even his loving wife Bobbie (Teri Garr) doubts her husband's sanity. But there's enough evidence on Jerry's side for a panel of prominent clerics to demand that the hapless fellow prove in court that he's the agent of God. Donald Pleasence was supposed to have an extended supporting role in the film, but the first cut ran too long, and Pleasence's dialogue was eliminated -- but not Pleasence himself, who retains his prominent billing and is seen doing precisely nothing in several scenes. Netting $30 million on its first run, Oh God was followed by two lesser sequels, both featuring Burns. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This video contains a star-studded broadcast of the 1959 Emmy Awards Ceremony. It also contains a lively comedy short from 1931. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

This song-filled Disney animated short was originally part of Fun and Fancy Free, a feature length film that combined live-action with animation. It tells the story of Bongo, a circus bear who leaves his home to explore the nearby forests. Look out for the prototypes of later Disney characters Chip & Dale. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

MGM's Till the Clouds Roll By is the musicalized, and highly fictionalized, life story of beloved composer Jerome Kern, who gave his blessing to the production shortly before his death in 1946. As played by a gray-templed Robert Walker, Kern is a likeable but none too exciting sort who expresses his emotions through his music. Constructed in the form of an extended flashback, the story proper begins at the turn of the century, as Kern tries to peddle his ditties to disinterested Broadway producers. His efforts to interest impresario Charles Frohman (Harry Hayden) go nowhere because Frohman is convinced that the only good music comes from Europe. Obligingly, Kern moves to London, where he meets and falls in love with his future wife Eva (Dorothy Patrick). On the verge of securing work with Frohman, Kern's hopes are dashed when the producer goes down with the Lusitania in 1915. Fortunately, Kern has developed such powerful U.S. contacts as Victor Herbert (Paul Maxey) and Oscar Hammerstein (Paul Langton), enabling him to find success as the composer of several "intimate" musicals for New York's Princess Theater. The film ends where it begins, with Kern's triumph as composer of the Broadway blockbuster Show Boat. Van Heflin weaves in and out of the proceedings as the obligatory best friend/severest critic, a musical arranger named Jim Hessler (purportedly based on longtime Kern associate Paul Sadler). No one in 1946 really cared about the dramatic passages of Till the Clouds Roll By; the film's biggest drawing card was its lineup of all-star MGM talent, performing Kern's most famous numbers. Judy Garland (as Marilyn Miller) sings "Look for the Silver Lining"; Dinah Shore performs "The Last Time I Saw Paris" before a back-projected "Gay Paree"; Kathryn Grayson does a Rita Hayworth imitation with "Long Ago and Far Away"; Virginia O'Brien deadpans "A Fine Romance"; Tony Martin warbles "All the Things You Are"; June Allyson and Ray McDonald team up for the title number; and Frank Sinatra, incongruously dressed in white tuxedo, runs through "Ol' Man River." In addition, other musical contributions are made by Van Johnson, Angela Lansbury, Cyd Charisse, Gower Champion, and Lucille Bremer (cast as Van Heflin's daughter). The film's high point comes at the very beginning with a Reader's Digest edition of Show Boat, featuring Lena Horne, as Julie (the role she was born to play, but never did again on screen), delivering a powerhouse rendition of "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man." Since lapsing into public domain in 1974, Till the Clouds Roll By has, along with Royal Wedding, become the most readily accessible of all MGM musicals. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Paramount Pictures did their patriotic duty with this World War II era musical, with a number of the studio's biggest stars making cameo appearances. Tony West (George Raft), his sister Kitty (Grace McDonald), and their father Nick (Charles Grapewin) tour together as The Three Wests, a failing act just scraping by in the latter days of vaudeville. With job opportunities drying up on the East Coast, Tony persuades the family to take their chances in California, and for once luck is with him. Not long after arriving in Hollywood, Tony is hired as a chorus boy on a musical starring Latin bombshell Vera Zorina (Gloria Vance). Cocky Tony offers Vera some much-needed advice on her dancing. She's intrigued by his confidence, and a romance blooms; soon, the two marry. Tony becomes a major star as Vera's on and off screen dancing partner, but when World War II breaks out, Tony's conscience gets the better of him. Tony is 4-F because of a bad knee, but he's ashamed to admit this, even to Vera, who thinks he's avoiding the service out of cowardice. Vera eventually gives Tony his walking papers, and desperate to show his support of our troops, Tony organizes an all-star U.S.O. revue bringing much needed entertainment to America's fighting men overseas. Follow the Boys also features guest shots by Marlene Dietrich, W.C. Fields (demonstrating trick billiard shots), Orson Welles (doing his magic act), Dinah Shore, The Andrews Sisters, Jeanette MacDonald, Sophie Tucker, Randolph Scott, Lon Chaney Jr., and Maria Montez, among many others. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Practically everybody on the Warner Bros. lot shows up in the wartime morale-boosting musical extravaganza Thank Your Lucky Stars. Believe it or not, this one has a wisp of a plot. A pair of enterprising producers, played by S.Z. Sakall and Edward Everett Horton, want to hire singer Dinah Shore for their upcoming Cavalcade of Stars. Unfortunately, this means they must deal with Shore's boss, radio comedian Eddie Cantor. The egotistical Cantor insists upon joining the show himself, driving everyone crazy with his take-charge attitude. Meanwhile, singer Dennis Morgan, hoodwinked by a crooked agent into thinking he's signed a contract with Cantor, shows up backstage at Sakall and Horton's rehearsal, only to be given the boot. While all this is going on, aspiring actress Joan Leslie has befriended a bus driver named Joe Simpson--who happens to be a dead ringer for Eddie Cantor (and why not? Ol' "Banjo Eyes" plays both parts). Turns out that Joe is another showbiz wannabe, but he has been denied a break because he looks too much like Cantor. You see what's comin' now, right, folks? Morgan and Leslie will get their big breaks when Joe Simpson impersonates Eddie Cantor, who's been kidnapped by Indians (bet you didn't see that one coming!) All of this expository nonsense is merely an excuse to show off Warners' talent roster in a series of engaging specialty numbers: John Garfield talk-sings Blues in the Night, Jack Carson and Alan Hale do a buck-and-wing, a jitterbug number is performed by Ida Lupino, Olivia de Havilland and George Tobias, Hattie McDaniel and Willie Best strut their stuff in Ice Cold Katie, and so on. Highlights include Errol Flynn's That's What You Jolly Well Get, an English music hall-style sendup of Flynn's movie heroics, and Bette Davis' peerless (and endearingly off-key) rendition of They're Either too Young or Too Old. As a bonus, Humphrey Bogart shows up long enough to be browbeaten and intimidated by S.Z. Sakall ("Gee, I hope none of my movie fans see this!" moans Bogart as the soundtrack plays a mocking rendition of Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?) Subtle and sophisticated it isn't, but Thank Your Lucky Stars is so entertaining that you'll forget all about its multitude of flaws. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi