Nat "King" Cole Movies

This video offers a feast of legendary musical acts from 1940's. Shot in the Apollo Theatre in Harlem, this film features Sarah Vaughan, Lionel Hampton, Nat "King" Cole, and Count Basie. ~ All Movie Guide

This musical spoof of Westerns featured Lee Marvin in dual roles that won him a Best Actor Oscar. Jane Fonda stars as the title character, a prim schoolmarm returning to her hometown of Wolf City, Wyoming, after receiving an Eastern education. On the train ride, Cat meets up with a pair of friendly, charming crooks, Clay Boone (Michael Callan) and his uncle, Jed (Dwayne Hickman), the former becoming hopelessly smitten with the naive but tough Cat. Upon arriving home, Cat discovers that her eccentric father, Frankie (John Marley), is being threatened with bodily harm by a development company that desperately wants his land. When Frankie is murdered by ruthless, noseless killer Tim Strawn (Marvin), Cat straps on a pair of six-shooters and persuades Clay, Jed, and her father's loyal Native American hand Jackson Two-Bears (Tom Nardini) to sign on as her posse. In her quest for revenge, Cat also recruits Kid Shelleen (also played by Marvin), a one-time fearsome gunslinger who's now a hopeless alcoholic. Cat Ballou (1965) is interspersed throughout the narrative with appearances by Stubby Kaye and Nat King Cole as a pair of balladeers who comment on the action musically in Greek chorus style. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Host Spike Jones welcomes the Wayne Marlin Trio and Helen Grayco in this episode of the golden era television comedy show that had the entire country doubled over in laughter. With vaudeville skits featuring muscle men, cave men, and even a few hula dancers, as well as musical performances of "Pass the Biscuits Mirandy", "Hotcha Cornya", and "Mad About the Boy" viewers of all ages will be cracking up for an entire hour. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

From Kultur comes this documentary that looks at the Harlem Renaissance through the music that defined the era. Harlem Renaissance: The Music & Rhythms That Started a Cultural Revolution includes performances of such songs as Cab Calloway's "Minnie the Moocher," Fats Waller's "This Joint Is Jumpin'," Bill "Bojangles" Robinson's "Let's Scuffle," Lena Horne's "Friday Night," and many others. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

In this adventure, a remake of Singapore (1947), a hero finds a bracelet containing 13 precious gems while visiting Istanbul. He soon finds himself pursued by covetous crooks who want those jewels. He is then deported by the Turkish authorities, but not before he has time to hide the bracelet in a hotel. Five years later, the man returns to seek out the stones. Again he is pursued by both authorities and criminals. He must also contend with the reappearance of his wife whom he thought had burned to death on their wedding night. She lived but suffered amnesia. She then remarried. Nat "King" Cole sings "When I Fall in Love". ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Regarded by many critics as the ultimate film noir, and by many more as the finest movie adaptation of a book by Mickey Spillane, Kiss Me Deadly stars Ralph Meeker as Spillane's anti-social private eye Mike Hammer. While driving down a lonely road late one evening, Hammer picks up a beautiful blonde hitchhiker (Cloris Leachman), dressed in nothing but a raincoat. At first, Hammer assumes that the incoherent girl is an escaped lunatic; his mind is changed for him when he and the girl are abducted by two thugs. The men torture the girl to death as the semiconscious Hammer watches helplessly. He himself escapes extermination when the murderers' car topples off a cliff and he is thrown clear. Seeking vengeance, Hammer tries to discover the secret behind the girl's murder. Among those who cross his path in the film's tense, tingling 105 minutes are a slimy gangster (Paul Stewart), a turncoat scientist (Albert Dekker), and the dead woman's sexy roommate (Gaby Rodgers). All clues lead to a mysterious box -- the "Great Whatsit," as Hammer's secretary Velda (Maxine Cooper) describes it. Both the box and Velda are stolen by the villains, at which point Hammer discovers that the "Whatsit" contains radioactive material of awesome powers. The apocalyptic climax is doubly devastating because we're never quite certain if Hammer survives (he doesn't narrate the story, as was the case in most Mike Hammer films and TV shows). Director Robert Aldrich and scriptwriter Jack Moffit transcend Kiss Me Deadly's basic genre trappings to produce a one-of-a-kind melodrama for the nuclear age. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The 1940s was a monumental decade for the United States. Amid World War II, economic recovery, and the start of the Cold War, American music provided a soundtrack to a generation. The Music Classics line from MPI Home Video attempts to offer the chance to relieve the era with a ten-volume series of restored film footage featuring performances by many of the 40's most revered artists. Among the musicians who appear in this seventh entry in the series are Monica Lewis, Count Basie, Johnny Downs, Carol Stevens, and Nat King Cole. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

Review the history of black show-business. Music, dance and comic routines are featured in this six volume set. ~ All Movie Guide

Jeff Chandler narrates this informative profile of the life of Nat "King" Cole starring the artist himself, from his days as saloon pianist to recording artist with titles such as "Sweet Lorraine" and "Straighten Up and Fly Right." ~ All Movie Guide