Nat "King" Cole Movies

Filmmakers Joseph Kohn and Leonard Reed assemble this patchwork collection of kinescopes featuring such legendary musicians as Sarah Vaughn, Count Basie, Cab Calloway, Nipsey Russell, and Lionel Hampton. Master of Ceremonies Willie Bryant offers a stirring rendition of "Bad Bad Whiskey". ~ Jason Buchanan, 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

Master of ceremonies Willie Bryant hosts an eventful evening of music and comedy captured live at the Apollo Theater and featuring such popular artists as Nat King Cole, Duke Ellington, the Clovers, Dinah Washington, Martha Davis, and Mantan Moreland. Rhythm and blues, jazz, tap dancing, and comedy performances make this a treat for audiences of all ages. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

After learning that her boyfriend, a GI in Korea, has found someone else, Norah Larkin (Anne Baxter) impulsively agrees to meet womanizer Harry Prebble (Raymond Burr) for dinner. Norah allows herself to get drunk and accept Prebble's invitation to his apartment. When he tries to force himself on her, she hits him with a poker. Unfortunately, Prebble is found dead the next morning, and Norah, not even remembering how she got home, thinks that she killed him. Meanwhile, newspaperman Casey Mayo (Richard Conte), looking for an angle, invites the "Blue Gardenia Murderess" to turn herself in to him. The high point of the film is the interplay between the vulnerable Baxter and Burr at his smarmiest. ~ Steve Press, All Movie Guide

Breakfast in Hollywood was loosely based on the ABC radio program of the same name. Tom Breneman, the series' host, appears as himself in a contrived story about a radio personality attempting to smooth the path of true love for heroine Dorothy (Bonita Granville) and hero Ken (Edward Ryan); he also helps the wife (Billie Burke) of a philanderer (Raymond Walburn) and assists a charity-minded matron (Beulah Bondi). The plot can be forgotten, and in fact is forgotten as a parade of guest stars-Andy Russell, The King Cole Trio, Spike Jones et. al.-do their specialties. Columnist Hedda Hopper also makes a brief appearance. After years in obscurity, Breakfast in Hollywood resurfaced in the mid-1970s when it was first offered on the 8-millimeter home movie market. In England, where the original radio series was unknown, the film was retitled The Mad Hatter (evidently a reference to Hedda Hopper's bizarre headgear!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This program features 27 performances by singer Nat "King" Cole during his early career in the 1950's in which he performed novelty jazz numbers such as Route 66 and Too Young. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide