Drama Drama

Smoky Mountain Melody

December 1948 •English

Country-western favorite Roy Acuff and his Smoky Mountain Boys star in the Columbia musical western Smoky Mountain Melody. Not much happens plotwise: Acuff, playing "himself," is a tenderfoot who somehow manages to come out on top when he heads westward. The villains (who aren't all that villainous) try to promote a phony stock deal, but Roy and his pals foils their plans. The comedy honors go to Guinn "Big Boy" Williams as a blowhard sheriff. Smoky Mountain Melody was scripted by Barry Shipman, the son of pioneering female filmmaker Nell Shipman.

A Song for Miss Julie

February 1945 •English

Two playwrights and a former burlesque queen travel to Louisiana to research a musical they're planning on a local Southern hero.

Grease

June 1978 •English

Australian good girl Sandy and greaser Danny fell in love over the summer. But when they unexpectedly discover they're now in the same high school, will they be able to rekindle their romance despite their eccentric friends?

Dig!

May 2004 •English

A documentary on the once promising American rock bands The Brian Jonestown Massacre and The Dandy Warhols. The friendship between respective founders, Anton Newcombe and Courtney Taylor, escalated into bitter rivalry as the Dandy Warhols garnered major international success while the Brian Jonestown Massacre imploded in a haze of drugs.

Porgy and Bess

June 1959 •English

In the early 1900s, the fictional Catfish Row section of Charleston, South Carolina serves as home to a black fishing community. Crippled beggar Porgy, who travels about in a goat-drawn cart, loves the drug-addicted Bess, who lives with stevedore Crown, the local bully.

A Chorus Line

December 1985 •English

A group of dancers congregate on the stage of a Broadway theatre to audition for a new musical production directed by Zach. After the initial eliminations, seventeen hopefuls remain, among them Cassie, who once had a tempestuous romantic relationship with Zach. She is desperate enough for work to humble herself and audition for him; whether he's willing to let professionalism overcome his personal feelings about their past remains to be seen.

It Comes Up Love

April 1943 •English

This modest bit of comedy and romance in the adolescent vein is about a couple of spirited juveniles, Donald O'Connor and Gloria Jean, who carry on a flirtation parallel with that of their elders, Louise Allbritton and Ian Hunter.

La magia de los Parchís

August 1982 •Spanish

Fontána pre Zuzanu 2

May 1993 •Slovak

Zuzana grew up and took her first blows from life. She got caught up in bad company, ended up in prison and after her release she tries to start again. She meets Juraj, a sympathetic driver, but when he seems to have found what she was looking for in him, he leaves her to try his luck in pop music. On top of that, Zuzana has to fight off attacks from her former partner Rony, now a rich gangster, who tries to seduce her. There is something for every teenager in this attractive musical. From a series of action scenes, shootouts, fights, love, the male friendship of the tough guys and their flashy trucks, to smuggled guns, mobsters holding the corrupt police and judiciary in their grip, plenty of songs and humour, and a glimpse into the corrupt backstage of show business.

The Story of Gilbert and Sullivan

February 1953 •English

The career of W. S. Gilbert, a barrister turned comic librettist, and Arthur Sullivan, a composer turned against his will to light music, who together wrote fifteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, to great public acclaim.

Dearest Enemy

November 1955 •English

This live TV adaptation of the Broadway musical "Dearest Enemy" from 1925 is based on an American Revolutionary War incident in September 1776 when Mary Lindley Murray, under orders from General George Washington, detained General William Howe and his British troops by serving them cake, wine and conversation in her Kips Bay, Manhattan home long enough for some 4,000 American soldiers, fleeing their loss in the Battle of Brooklyn, to reassemble in Washington Heights and join reinforcements to make a successful counterattack.

The Three from the Filling Station

September 1930 •German

Die Drei von der Tankstelle, meaning The Three from the Gas Station, was advertised as a German operetta when release and with it’s star studded cast would become the forerunner of Musical films. Even today the soundtrack of the comic harmonists is popular in Germany.

Meet Me in St. Louis

November 1944 •English

Young love and childish fears highlight a year in the life of a turn-of-the-century family up to the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair.

Hot Summer

June 1968 •German

In this East German teen musical, a group of girls are planning to take their summer vacation together on the Baltic coast. When a loud and obnoxious group of boys intrudes on their holiday, the girls are horrified to learn that the boys have the same vacations plans as them. The two groups quarrel with each other and compete over a number of things, but gradually an attraction starts to form.

Moulin Rouge!

May 2001 •English

A celebration of love and creative inspiration takes place in the infamous, gaudy and glamorous Parisian nightclub, at the cusp of the 20th century. A young poet, who is plunged into the heady world of Moulin Rouge, begins a passionate affair with the club's most notorious and beautiful star.

Toy Story

November 1995 •English

Led by Woody, Andy's toys live happily in his room until Andy's birthday brings Buzz Lightyear onto the scene. Afraid of losing his place in Andy's heart, Woody plots against Buzz. But when circumstances separate Buzz and Woody from their owner, the duo eventually learns to put aside their differences.

Singin' in the Rain

April 1952 •English

In 1927 Hollywood, a silent film production company and cast make a difficult transition to sound.

Dreamgirls

December 2006 •English

A trio of female soul singers cross over to the pop charts in the early 1960s, facing their own personal struggles along the way.

Lucky Legs

October 1942 •English

Chorus girl Gloria Carroll inherits one million dollars from Broadway playboy Herbert Dinwiddle. Producer Ned McLane persuades her to advance him the money on a production called "Lucky Legs" that will star her. Unfortunately, the money has "made the rounds" prior to reaching Gloria and several less-than-scrupulous characters set out to separate Gloria from her inheritance.

We Make Music

October 1942 •German

Caught at the window just before an air-raid warning (WWII) composer Paul tells how he met his wive Anni, a revue star and song writer, how he handled the courtship and the early years of his marriage, inspite of some professional conflicts - his operas were flops, while his wive had one success after the other - they finally found out how they could help each other.