Prohibition-era nightclub crooner Joe E. Lewis has his career and nearly his life cut short when his throat is slashed as payback for leaving the employ of Chicago mob boss Georgie Parker. A broken alcoholic, Joe is brought back from the abyss by his faithful piano player, Austin Mack, who helps turn the former singer into a successful stand-up comedian. But Joe’s demons plague his romantic life even as he reaches new heights of success.
Tag: AA
In this American Film Institute-subsidized short subject, Fionnula Flanagan plays a sharp-tongued but compassionate nun, while Peter Lempert is cast as a sullen, emotionally disturbed boy. The title refers to the “thawing” process that occurs when the nun attempts to break through Lempert’s wall of silence.
This film examines the reasons why the United States decided to engage in the Korean War. Scenes describe Russia’s attempt to gain power following World War II (Korea included), and its refusal to allow free elections in the country. Footage shows Soviet-backed North Korean troops’ movement into South Korea on June 25, 1950, the United Nations’ response, and the armed struggle against both North Korean and later Chinese troops led by General Douglas MacArthur.
This short film was made with great loveand skill by Charles Huguenot van der Linden, who was born in 1905. This Tiny World offers us a nostalgic glance at old toys. Toys that cannot always move by themselves are brought into life in the small universe of film. The toys that were used for this film come from private collections and various museums.
A look at artist Mark Hicks of Manhattan Beach, California, a quadriplegic since falling out of a tree at age 14. His work is examined, along with a discussion of his being a student at UCLA, culminating with his first gallery show in San Francisco.
The film focuses on a hound dog named Paco. Paco lives with some Mexican ranchers in Sonora, where he is employed as a hunting dog who hunts mountain lions. Mountain lions are a scourge against ranchers, but Paco has a hard problem focusing on his work. Instead, Paco keeps running off and chasing after harmless deer.
A behind-the-scenes look at the Young Americans, a show choir made up of young singers who project an image of all-American wholesomeness as they tour the country and perform.
Two masters of chess duel each other not only in their game but also in their different ideologies. The veteran Akiva is a Soviet Jew and ferocious Communist, master of his game but also dealing with a declining health while the young and restless genius Pavius has defected to the West to escape from the Communism tentacles. Their differences will be put to test while they’re both competing in the World Chess Championship, with a huge prize at stake just as much as the political ideologies behind those characters.