Ben Vereen

This Lifetime television series finds ten professional dancers partnered with a significantly less skilled partner - one of their parents. The show follows each parent-child team's efforts at learning various pieces of choreography to be performed in front of a studio audience. Each week leaves one of the hopefuls eliminated until only one remains to take home the $100,000 prize. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

OutKast duo André "Andre 3000" Benjamin and Antwan Andre "Big Boi" Patton star as two Prohibition-era performers determined to fend off the vicious gangsters currently attempting to gain a stake in the pair's lucrative club in this musical drama directed by longtime collaborator Bryan Barber and featuring choreography by three-time Tony award winner Hinton Battle. In the 1930s, Idlewild was the hottest speakeasy in the South thanks to the impressive showmanship of flamboyant manager/lead performer Rooster (Patton) and the notable talents of introverted pianist Percival (Benjamin). Everything changes, however, when a powerful gangster and his ruthless henchmen move in on the scene with every intention of landing a healthy portion of the club's considerable profits. Ving Rhames, Terrence Howard, Faizon Love, Patti LaBelle, Macy Gray, Ben Vereen, and Cicely Tyson co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Based on a story by Anne Rice, this made-for-cable miniseries explores the little-known phenomenon of the "Gens de Couleur Libres," or "Free People of Color," who lived in Louisiana at a time when slavery still held a stranglehold on much of the South. In 1822, it was not at all uncommon for attractive women of color to be retained as a "placage," a sort of "kept woman" who served the wishes of wealthy landowners, and after Philippe Ferronnaire (Peter Gallagher) enters into a loveless arranged marriage with Aglae (Jenny Levine) in order to curry the favor of her elderly (and very well-to-do) father Magloire Dazincourt (John Gilbert), he soon finds himself the father of two families -- one raised by Aglae, and another raised by his "placage" Cecile Ste. Marie (Gloria Reuben), a lovely bi-racial woman from Haiti. Philippe's son with Cecile, Marcel Ste. Marie (Robert Richard), is raised with the promise that, even though Philippe cannot officially acknowledge his parenthood, he will receive a first-class education in Europe, and Marcel finds himself travelling between the worlds of wealthy whites and economically disadvantaged Creoles in New Orleans. In time, Marcel falls in love with a girl of similar circumstances, Anna Bella (Bianca Lawson), but as fate would have it, her guardian, Elsie Claviere (Ruby Dee), has already arranged for the girl to enter into a "placage" with Vincent Dazincourt (Alec McClure), who happens to be Philippe's brother-in-law. Directed by Peter Medak, Feast of All Saints also features Ben Vereen and Ossie Davis. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Former Hal Hartley collaborator Adrienne Shelly directs her second feature about a blind date gone horribly horribly awry. Still thoroughly depressed after his girlfriend dumped him three months ago, Bill (Reg Rogers) is coerced by his sister (Shelly) into going on a blind date with Bernice (Ally Sheedy). Bill is immediately underwhelmed by his cheerless date, and as the night grinds on, he bluntly tells her what he thinks. Instead of ending things, Bernice becomes obsessed with the man, telling him at one point that since the date, he has "taken something away." After trying more standard means to worm her way into his life, she takes drastic action; she pulls a gun on Bill and ushers him to her vintage Mercury. Soon Bill finds himself the unwilling accomplice to Bernice's serial gunpoint robberies of boutiques. Meanwhile, she lambastes him for not being adequately respectful. Before long, Bill finds himself in upstate New York and out of his rut. I'll Take You There was screened at the 1999 Telluride Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

This documentary traces the late-19th-century and early-20th-century origins of vaudeville (English music halls, Yiddish theater, minstrel shows) with fast-paced film clips of vaudeville vocalists, acrobats, ethnic comedians, dancers, ukulele players, contortionists, performing animals, and other acts of the period. Interspersed throughout this compilation of clips are contemporary interviews, including Studs Terkel (on the magic of live performances), John Lahr (on his father, Bert Lahr), June Havoc (with numerous personal anecdotes), Fayard Nicholas (on racist attitudes), comedy magician Carl Ballantine, agent Coralee Jr., Morey Amsterdam (comparing performers then and now), Bill Irwin, former child radio vocalist Rose Marie, Thelma White, Morton Gould, Bobby Short, Billy Barty, Eddie Lane, and Jack Spoons.

Abbreviated archival footage mixes the mundane and forgotten with legendary talents -- Eddie Cantor, W.C. Fields, Fanny Brice, George Burns & Gracie Allen, Eleanor Powell, the Duncan Sisters, Walter Winchell, Hildegarde, Ray Bolger, Mae Murray, Eddie Cantor, Blossom Seeley & Benny Field, Weber & Fields, Molly Picon, Chick Sale, Trixie Friganza, Arthur Tracy, female impersonator Julian Eltinge, Ethel Barrymore (who did a one-act by J.M. Barrie), the Pajama Handkerchief Girls, Zeb Carver & His Country Cousins, and the table-dancing Mayo Brothers. A segment on the treatment of black performers features Pigmeat Markham, Stump & Stumpy, Moms Mabley, Ethel Waters (singing Am I Blue?), Leonard Reed & Willie Bryant, Eubie Blake, and a 1916 clip of Bert Williams, who managed to break through the period's racial barricades. Ben Vereen narrates. Vaudeville first aired November 26, 1997 as part of the American Masters series on PBS. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Ben Vereen makes his one and only appearance as Will's irresponsible father Lou Smith, who breezes back into his son's life fourteen years after deserting him. Though Philip (James Avery) and Vivian (Daphne Maxwell Reid) smolder with resentment over how Lou treated Will (Will Smith) in the past, the elder Smith turns his son's head by making all sorts of pie-in-the-sky promises, and by begging Will to join him on the road. Alas, Lou breaks Will's heart for a second time--leading to a touching moment between our disconsolate hero and surprisingly tender Philip. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

While working with an experimental interfacing probe, Geordi investigates the stranded USS Raman. Here he has a vision of his long-estranged mother (Madge Sinclair), who had disappeared during another mission more than 300 light years away. Convinced that the vision is real, Geordi defies Picard's commands and sets out on a desperate and life-threatening effort to rescue his mother. Written by Joe Menosky, "Interface" originally aired October 9, 1993. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Sgt. Chris Lorenzo (Rob Estes) and Sgt. Rita Lee "Sam" Lance (Mitzi Kapture) continue to expose the sordid, sometimes kinky nether world of fashionable Palm Beach, FL, during the second season of Silk Stalkings. Working as undercover cops, Chris and Rita persist in their efforts to solve various crimes of passion amongst the community's rich and powerful, under the baleful eye of their superior officer Captain Hutchinson (Ben Vereen). Or at least, they do so until mid-season, when "Hutch" is transferred to Ft. Lauderdale; his replacement, who remains on the job for the balance of the season, is Lt. Lou Hudson (Robert Gossett). Season two of Silk Stalkings also marks the first appearance of two lovable reprobates. Comedian John Byner is cast as Cotton Dunn, a playboy con artist who preys only on those who can afford to throw away their moolah. Dennis Paladino is seen as Donnie "Dogs" DiBarto, a soft-hearted gangster who clearly has a crush on Rita. Among other plot developments this season, we discover that Chris Lorenzo is the son of famed actress Anna Alexis (Beverly Adams), from whom he has been estranged for years. This, coupled with revelations about Rita's troubled upbringing, serves to add texture to what might have been just another superficial cop drama. Although Silk Stalkings would end its CBS run at the end of season two, first-run episodes would continue to be shown on the USA network for the next six years. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This made-for-TV drama--Sammy Davis, Jr.'s last--stars Trent Cameron as a young orphan who must fight against social workers in order to remain with his adoptive father, a widowed jazzman. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

After he is framed by his senior partner and sent to jail, Herbie Altman Robert Carradine sets up a lucrative investment company "Con Inc." with the assistance of the other convicts, sympathetic guards, and a well-intentioned prison reformer Lise Cutter. Lame, predictable story which wastes a talanted cast . ~ All Movie Guide

This children's collection features a number of episodes of "Zoobilee Zoo," a fantastical place filled with a variety of animals that are played by costumed actors. This video contains the episodes "Laughland," "Attack of the Giant Potatoes," and "Singalong 2." ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide

This children's collection features a number of episodes of "Zoobilee Zoo," a fantastical place filled with a variety of animals that are played by costumed actors. This video contains the episodes "Land of Rhymes," "Bravo's Puppets," and "Singalong 1." ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide