Let's Make Music

Laugh It Off

March 1940 •English

As WWII begins, vaudeville entertainer Tommy Towers is called up to serve. He arranges a job for his girlfriend at the local pub. To keep moral up, his commanding officer orders him to perform for the troops.

You Were Meant for Me

January 1948 •English

A bandleader falls in love and marries a small town girl.

Indochine, une révolution musicale

April 2024 •French

Mallrats

October 1995 •English

Both dumped by their girlfriends, two best friends seek refuge in the local mall. Eventually, they decide to try and win back their significant others and take care of their respective nemeses.

Playmates

December 1941 •English

Lulu Monahan, the press agent for John Barrymore, is attempting to get a sponsor for a radio program. To that end, she and the agent for bandleader Kay Kyser, plant a story that the great Shakespearean actor, over his heartfelt objections, will teach Kyser how to play Shakespeare, which isn't the same as playing Paducah, which soon becomes evident.

Eat That Question: Frank Zappa in His Own Words

May 2016 •English

Utilizing potent TV interviews and many forgotten performances from his 30-year career, we are immersed into Frank Zappa’s world while experiencing two distinct facets of his complex character. At once Zappa was both a charismatic composer who reveled in the joy of performing and, in the next moment, a fiercely intelligent and brutally honest interviewee whose convictions only got stronger as his career ascended.

Frank Zappa: Peefeeyatko

January 1991 •English

For the past ten years Zappa in composing has turned away from Rock and Roll music - for which he first became famous - and has been working on new, contemporary, orchestral electronic music; in solitude and beyond any commercial conventions or commitments. It is the first time that Zappa has allowed a film crew to study him during compositional work, actually filming the first moments of a new compositional process. By contrast, in a staged interview Zappa gives comments on music. This film seeks to reveal the sensetivities of Zappa's personality and character also beyond narrative content.

Flying Down to Rio

December 1933 •English

A dance band leader finds love and success in Brazil.

Paramount Headliner: Bob Crosby and His Orchestra

May 1938 •English

In a nightclub setting, Bob Crosby and His Orchestra play five numbers, as young couples dance in front of the bandstand, in contrasting styles ranging from Dixieland to Blues to Ragtime Pop to Swing: "How'dja Like to Love Me?", "Pagan Love Song", "Moments Like This", "Romance in the Dark" and one of the group's best-known recordings, "The South Rampart Street Blues." The featured vocalist if Kay Weber and the drummer is Ray Bauduc.

Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra

October 1938 •English

In a nightclub setting, Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra, with two of his vocalists, perform four of the group's best known songs. For the complete list of songs, check the soundtrack listing.

Off the Record

February 1936 •English

This musical short salutes bandleader B.A. Rolfe on his 40th anniversary in show business.

Stan Kenton and His Orchestra

February 1947 •English

A brief history of Stan Kenton's musical career from taxi-dance gigs to his successful big band orchestra.

Frank Zappa

February 1971 •English

The Documentary centers around Zappa at home, and on Tour. The amazing thing is that Zappa allowed a guy with a camera to film the band at the Fillmore West w/ Flo and Eddie. There are times when the camera man seems to be on the stage. The performance is recorded from only one camera angle. There are only 4-5 songs presented here.....and Zappa referring to the Fillmore West as the ‘Psychedelic Dungeon’ is priceless………..It is a great piece of history.

Pacific Paradise

August 1937 •English

In this MGM Miniature Musical, Harry Owens and his orchestra perform several song numbers.

The Eddy Duchin Story

May 1956 •English

The life story of the famous pianist and band-leader of the 1930s and 1940s.

Orchestra Wives

September 1942 •English

Connie Ward is in seventh heaven when Gene Morrison's band rolls into town. She is swept off her feet by trumpeter Bill Abbot. After marrying him, she joins the band's tour and learns about life as an orchestra wife, weathering the catty attacks of the other band wives.

Deconstructing Dad: The Music, Machines and Mystery of Raymond Scott

September 2010 •English

His filmmaker son probes the professional and private lives of his remote but fascinating father: bandleader, composer, inventor, and electronic music pioneer Raymond Scott.

Something to Sing About

September 1937 •English

James Cagney has a rare chance to show his song-and-dance-man roots in this low-budget tale of a New York bandleader struggling with a Hollywood studio boss.

You'll Find Out

November 1940 •English

The manager of Kay Kyser’s band books them for a birthday party bash for an heiress at a spooky mansion, where sinister forces try to kill her.

Freddie Rich and His Orchestra

May 1938 •English

A musical short subject in which band leader Freddie Rich conducts three musical numbers with his orchestra, with solos by Nan Wynn with the Three Symphonettes. In the midst of the radio broadcast on which the band is performing, a gangly guitarist named Joe Sodja interrupts and asks to perform.