Harold ArlenFilmography

Stormy Weather: The Music Of Harold Arlen

Crew: Featured Music

Actors: Paul Soles, Kim Bubbs, Ranee Lee, Deborah Harry, Little Jimmy Scott

Synopsis: Larry Weinstein's Stormy Weather: The Music of Harold Arlen is about the final years of the great songwriter. As a heavily medicated, elderly Arlen (Paul Soles) goes about his days with his nurse, he remembers his life's accomplishments and imagines performances of some of his most well known Read More

Sophisticated Lady

Crew: Featured Music

Actors: Adelaide Hall

Synopsis: As is not uncommonly the case, American jazz performers find a welcoming home and are honored in Europe long after they have been forgotten in the U.S. This 1989 British documentary looks at the life and music of the celebrated black jazz singer Adelaide Hall, who debuted on Broadway in 1921 Read More

Hot to Trot!

Crew: Featured Music

Actors: Bobcat Goldthwait, Dabney Coleman, John Candy, Virginia Madsen, Jim Metzler

Synopsis: After his mother's death, Fred P. Cheney (Bob Goldthwaith) must share the family financial business with his scheming stepfather Walter Sawyer (Dabney Coleman) in this misfired comedy. Fred also inherits Don, a talking horse who provides him with hot tips on the stock market. Don's voice is Read More

Shoot to Kill

Crew: Featured Music

Actors: Sidney Poitier, Tom Berenger, Kirstie Alley, Clancy Brown, Richard Masur

Synopsis: Sidney Poitier makes his long-overdue return to films in the 1988 thriller Shoot to Kill. Poitier plays an FBI agent, on the trail of an elusive killer. Reluctantly teamed with tracker Tom Berenger, the citified Poitier braves the wilds of the Pacific Northwest in search of his quarry. For Berenger Read More

Ishtar

Crew: Featured Music

Actors: Warren Beatty, Dustin Hoffman, Isabelle Adjani, Charles Grodin, Jack Weston

Synopsis: Considered one of the great box-office turkeys of its decade, Ishtar was an attempt by writer/director Elaine May and stars Dustin Hoffman and Warren Beatty to do a modern-day road picture in the style of the much-loved Bob Hope and Bing Crosby comedy classics. Beatty is Lyle Rogers, a Read More

'Round Midnight

Crew: Featured Music

Actors: Dexter Gordon, François Cluzet, Gabrielle Haker, Christine Pascal, Sandra Reaves-Phillips, John Berry, Lonette McKee

Synopsis: A French music lover befriends a once-great American jazz artist and attempts to save him from self-destruction in this moody drama. Saxophonist Dexter Gordon portrays Dale Turner, a fictional musician inspired by a number of famed jazz figures, including Bud Powell and Lester Young. Largely Read More

City Heat

Crew: Featured Music

Actors: Clint Eastwood, Burt Reynolds, Jane Alexander, Madeline Kahn, Rip Torn

Synopsis: This standard, tongue-in-cheek, gangsters and good guys saga is carried on the star power and screen presence of Clint Eastwood as Lt. Speer, a taciturn, tough, play-it-by-the-book cop, and on Burt Reynolds as Mike Murphy, Speer's old friend in the force, now turned private eye but still a Read More

Downhill Racer

Crew: Songwriter

Actors: Robert Redford, Gene Hackman, Camilla Sparv, Karl Michael Vogler, Jim McMullan

Synopsis: Director Michael Ritchie's ongoing satirical spin on the American Dream is dressed up in quasi-documentary fashion in Downhill Racer. Robert Redford stars as an Olympic-grade skier, whose talent is matched only by his aloof self-involvement. As the cocksure Redford rises to the top of his class Read More

The Swinger

Crew: Songwriter

Actors: Ann-Margret, Anthony Franciosa, Robert Coote, Yvonne Romain, Horace McMahon

Synopsis: The most interesting aspect of The Swinger is the name of the character played by Ann-Margret: the former Ann Margaret Olsson essays the role of Kelly Olsson. A naive small-town girl, Kelly aspires to become a writer in the Big City. When her stories are rejected because they aren't exciting and Read More

Harold Arlen: An All-Star Tribute

Synopsis: A who's who of acclaimed musicians and vocalists including Dinah Shore, Gretchen Wyler, Duke Ellington, and Gordon MacRae gather to pay tribute to the man who penned such classic tunes as "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and "Stormy Weather in a musical extravaganza that originally aired on the Bell Read More

Sylvia

Crew: Songwriter

Actors: Carroll Baker, George Maharis, Joanne Dru, Peter Lawford, Viveca Lindfors

Synopsis: Carroll Baker, the Sharon Stone of the sixties, plays another classy-looking blonde with a sordid background in Sylvia. Millionaire Peter Lawford is about to marry the glamorous but secretive Sylvia (Baker). Before taking the plunge, he hires private eye George Maharis to do a background check on Read More

The Judy Garland Show, Episode 15: The Christmas Show

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Synopsis: In this 1963 holiday episode of The Judy Garland Show, a large crop of guest stars, including Judy Garland's three children, joins the singer for a bevy of classic and contemporary songs, most of them Christmas-themed. Opening with one of her signature tunes, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Read More

Judy Garland: Judy Garland & Friends

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Synopsis: In this collection of clips from The Judy Garland Show, which ran for 26 episodes on CBS television in 1963 and 1964, the legendary singer and actress performs a number of songs, several of them collaborations with up-and-comer Barbra Streisand, grand dame Ethel Merman, and Garland's own daughter Read More

Bloomer Girl

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Synopsis: Irregularly scheduled on NBC from 1954 through 1957, Producers' Showcase was a series of lavish, full-color 90 minute specials, bringing the best of Broadway to the 21 inch screen. The series' May 28, 1956 presentation was an adaptation of the hit Broadway musical Bloomer Girl, which originally Read More

The Country Girl

Crew: Songwriter

Actors: Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, William Holden, Anthony Ross, Gene Reynolds

Synopsis: Bing Crosby does the Academy Award-bid bit in the atypical role of a self-pitying alcoholic, but it was his co-star, a deglamorized Grace Kelly, who won the Oscar for her performance in The Country Girl. This adaptation of Clifford Odets' play stars Crosby as Frank Elgin, a once-famous Broadway Read More

It Should Happen to You

Crew: Songwriter

Actors: Judy Holliday, Peter Lawford, Jack Lemmon, Michael O'Shea, Vaughan Taylor

Synopsis: Gladys Glover (Judy Holliday) is an unsuccessful model and actress who believes that a jolt of publicity will do her career a world of good. She gets that publicity by renting a billboard in the middle of Manhattan, emblazoned with her name and photograph. As a result, Gladys is showered with Read More

A Star is Born

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Judy Garland, James Mason, Jack Carson, Charles Bickford, Tommy Noonan

Synopsis: The 1954 musical remake of A Star is Born could have been titled A Star is Reborn, in that it represented the triumphal return to the screen of Judy Garland after a four-year absence. The remake adheres closely to the plotline of the 1937 original: An alcoholic film star, on his last Read More

Down Among the Sheltering Palms

Crew: Composer (Music Score), Songwriter

Actors: William Lundigan, Jane Greer, Mitzi Gaynor, David Wayne, Gloria de Haven

Synopsis: This colorful musical comedy was obviously inspired by the success of Broadway's South Pacific. Army Captain Bill Willoby (William Lundigan) is ordered to make sure that his men do not fraternize with the girls at a South Sea island base. His mission is forgotten when he himself falls in love with Read More

The Farmer Takes a Wife

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Betty Grable, Dale Robertson, Thelma Ritter, John Carroll, Eddie Foy, Jr.

Synopsis: The Farmer Takes a Wife is a musicalized remake of the 1935 film of the same name. Betty Grable and Dale Robertson star in the roles originally essayed by Janet Gaynor and Henry Fonda. Set in the early 19th century, the plot details the trials and tribulations of those hardy souls who settled Read More

Colgate Comedy Hour: November 29, 1953

Actors: Eddie Cantor

Synopsis: Eddie Cantor does a sketch alone, then teams up with Brian Donlevy in another before Eddie Fisher and Frank Sinatra make several musical contributions. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide Read More

Mr. Imperium

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Lana Turner, Ezio Pinza, Marjorie Main, Barry Sullivan, Cedric Hardwicke

Synopsis: Ezio Pinza stars as the title character, a prince who falls for nightclub singer Fredda Barlo (Lana Turner) when the two meet on vacation in Italy. After more than a decade, they reunite, only now Barlo is a Hollywood superstar and Imperium has ascended to the throne of king. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Read More

Summer Stock

Crew: Songwriter

Actors: Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Eddie Bracken, Gloria de Haven, Marjorie Main

Synopsis: Summer Stock represented Judy Garland's swan song at MGM. Garland plays the owner of a New England farm which entrepreneur Gene Kelly hopes to convert into a summer theatre. Gloria DeHaven, a member of Kelly's troupe, also happens to be Garland's sister. Aware that the farm is having financial Read More

My Blue Heaven

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Betty Grable, Dan Dailey, David Wayne, Jane Wyatt, Mitzi Gaynor

Synopsis: In this musical comedy with dramatic touches, Jack and Molly Moran (Dan Dailey and Betty Grable) are a show business couple who, after hosting their own radio show, have just been given a deal to star in a TV series. They're also thrilled to discover that Molly is expecting a baby, but their joy Read More

Casbah

Crew: Composer (Music Score), Songwriter

Actors: Yvonne De Carlo, Tony Martin, Peter Lorre, Märta Torén, Hugo Haas

Synopsis: Casbah is a musical remake of the 1938 film Algiers, which was itself a remake of the French film Pepe Le Moko. Tony Martin stars in the old Jean Gabin/Charles Boyer role as Pepe Le Moko, a master thief who lives in the Casbah section of Algiers. A French police inspector (Peter Lorre) would love Read More

Earl Carroll Sketchbook

Crew: Songwriter

Actors: Constance Moore, William Marshall, Bill Goodwin, Johnny Coy, Vera Vague

Synopsis: Though Republic had decided to forego plans for an annual film edition of Earl Carroll's Vanities, their reciprocal deal with the Broadway impresario was still very much in effect in 1946: Hence the creation of the musical extravaganza Earl Carroll Sketchbook. The highly forgettable plot involves Read More

Up in Arms

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Danny Kaye, Dinah Shore, Dana Andrews, Constance Dowling, Louis Calhern

Synopsis: It is said that producer Sam Goldwyn had a habit of addressing his new star of the 1940s, Danny Kaye, as "Eddie", confusing Kaye with Eddie Cantor. If true, it may be because Kaye's first starring film for Goldwyn, Up in Arms, was a remake of Cantor's Whoopee--which in turn was a musical version Read More

Here Come the Waves

Crew: Composer (Music Score), Songwriter

Actors: Bing Crosby, Betty Hutton, Sonny Tufts, Ann Doran, Gwen Crawford

Synopsis: This peppy wartime musical stars Bing Crosby as radio crooner Johnny Cabot, the heartthrob of millions. To escape his frenzied fans, Johnny joins the Navy, where is he ordering to aid a WAVE recruiting drive. He is helped(?) in this endeavor by Betty Hutton, amusingly cast in a dual role as twin Read More

Kismet

Crew: Songwriter

Actors: Ronald Colman, Marlene Dietrich, James Craig, Edward Arnold, Florence Bates, Hugh Herbert

Synopsis: Oriental Dream is the TV title for the 1944 Technicolor version of Kismet. Ronald Colman plays Hadji, "king of beggars" in the days of the Arabian Nights. Posing as a prince, Colman woos Marlene Dietrich, the favorite wife of the evil Wazir (Edward Arnold). Meanwhile, Colman's daughter Joy Ann Page Read More

Cabin in the Sky

Crew: Composer (Music Score), Songwriter

Actors: Ethel Waters, Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, Lena Horne, Louis Armstrong, Rex Ingram

Synopsis: MGM knew it would take a bath on its all-black musical Cabin in the Sky (few Southern theaters of 1943 would touch the film), but the studio still provided its standard A-plus production values to the film; besides, it served as a training ground for up-and-coming director Vincente Minnelli. Based Read More

The Sky's the Limit

Crew: Composer (Music Score), Songwriter

Actors: Fred Astaire, Joan Leslie, Robert Benchley, Robert Ryan, Elizabeth Patterson

Synopsis: After a four-year absence, Fred Astaire returns to RKO Radio for the Ginger Rogers-less The Sky's the Limit. Astaire plays a war hero who wants to spend a quiet furlough in New York. Since the city is poised to give Astaire a ticker-tape welcome, he sneaks into town incognito. He meets Read More

They Got Me Covered

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour, Lenore Aubert, Otto Preminger, Eduardo Ciannelli

Synopsis: Bob Hope's first starring vehicle for producer Sam Goldwyn borrows the title of Bob's 1942 autobiography They Got Me Covered and very little else. Co-scripted by Leonard Q. Ross (aka Leo Rosten), Leonard Spigelgass and Harry Kurnitz (among many others!), the film casts Hope as Robert Kittredge Read More

Star Spangled Rhythm

Crew: Composer (Music Score), Songwriter

Actors: Victor Moore, Betty Hutton, Eddie Bracken, Anne Revere, Walter Abel

Synopsis: Star-Spangled Rhythm is a typical wartime all-star musical-comedy melange, this time from Paramount Pictures. The slender plot involves the efforts by humble studio doorman Pop Webster (Victor Moore) to pass himself off as a big-shot Paramount executive for the benefit of his sailor son Jimmy (Eddie Bracken Read More

Cairo

Crew: Songwriter

Actors: Jeanette MacDonald, Robert Young, Reginald Owen, Grant Mitchell

Synopsis: Written by real-life intelligence agent Ladislas Fodor, Cairo is both a spoof of espionage thrillers and a good-natured refutation of Jeanette MacDonald's established screen image (it was her last film on her MGM contract). MacDonald plays wisecracking movie star Marcia Warren, who while "between Read More

Blues in the Night

Crew: Composer (Music Score), Songwriter

Actors: Priscilla Lane, Betty Field, Richard Whorf, Lloyd Nolan, Jack Carson, Elia Kazan

Synopsis: The big-band mystique of the 1940s was explored by Blues in the Night. Future directors Richard Whorf and Elia Kazan star as, respectively, a neurotic band-leader and a carefree clarinettist. Their jazz band travels from one small-time gig to another, always hoping for their big break but always Read More

At the Circus

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx, Margaret Dumont, Florence Rice, Kenny Baker

Synopsis: A distinct letdown from their previous MGM films, the Marx Bros.' At the Circus nonetheless contains intermittent moments of high hilarity. When Jeff Wilson (Kenny Baker) is in danger of losing his circus to crooked creditor Carter (James Burke), Jeff's faithful roustabout Antonio (Chico Marx) Read More

Babes in Arms

Crew: Songwriter

Actors: Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, Charles Winninger, Guy Kibbee, June Preisser

Synopsis: This fun-filled spin-off of the Rodgers & Hart Broadway musical by the same name, features Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney as two young children of vaudevillian parents who aren't included in their parents travels, so they set out to produce a show of their own. Rooney's the driver here and he's up Read More

Love Affair

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Irene Dunne, Charles Boyer, Maria Ouspenskaya, Lee Bowman, Astrid Allwyn

Synopsis: Leo McCarey's classic tale of romance stars Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer as two strangers who fall in love on an ocean voyage. Charles Boyer is Michel Marnet, engaged to be married to Lois Clarke (Astrid Allwyn). Irene Dunne is Terry McKay, also engaged to be married, in this case to Kenneth Read More

Strike Me Pink

Crew: Composer (Music Score), Songwriter

Actors: Eddie Cantor, Ethel Merman, Sally Eilers, William Frawley, Brian Donlevy

Synopsis: Musical comedy star Eddie Cantor stars in this story, well suited to his talents, as Eddie Pink, a meek gentleman who works as a tailor and has a terrible crush on Joyce (Ethel Merman), a nightclub singer. Eddie buys a book (through the mail, of course) called Man or Mouse: What Are You?. Taking Read More