World War II is over but Captain Willoby and his men must “occupy” remote Midi Island. The men are disgusted at not going home…until they meet the friendly island women. Unfortunately, Willoby has been ordered to prohibit his men from “fraternizing.” This task, already frustrating, is made worse by the presence of missionary’s niece Diana and the arrival of gorgeous journalist Angela. Meanwhile, the island king has presented Willoby with equally gorgeous Rozouila as “wife”…
Category: Musical
Parking is director Jacques Demy’s homage to Jean Cocteau’s 1948 masterwork Orpheus. As in the Cocteau film, Demy relates the Orpheus and Euridyce legend in a contemporary setting. Now a rock ‘n’ roll sensation (instead of the poet of the Cocteau film) Orpheus falls in love with Eurydice, who in this version is a sculptress rather than a princess. The rest of the film adheres to the familiar story. Euridyce, who is death personified, beckons Orpheus into Hell, ostensibly to revive his dead lover. A shade brighter and more buoyant than its source material, Parking is the usual Jacques Demy brew of beautiful imagery and hokey dialogue.
A musical adaptation of Charles Dickens’ “The Old Curiosity Shop,” the film tells the story of Little Nell and her feckless grandfather who, in hopes of leaving Nell a sizable inheritance, has run up huge gambling debts to a heartless moneylender named Daniel Quilp. Quilp eventually seizes the old man’s junk shop, forcing Nell and her grandfather to eke out a miserable existence as paupers in the Midlands.
A young songwriter leaves his Kentucky home to try to make it in New Orleans. Eventually he winds up in New York, where he sells his songs to a music publisher, but refuses to sell his most treasured composition: “Dixie.” The film is based on the life of Daniel Decatur Emmett, who wrote the classic song “Dixie.”
A small radio station is saved from going bankrupt by a backer, who agrees to invest money for television equipment if the owner allows his dancing daughter Annabelle to dance and sing on the screen. Due to her voice, her singing needs to be dubbed by the owner’s girlfriend Pat Abbott. Problems arise when the owner starts dating Annabelle.
Electrician Bert Harris boasts that he’s a successful cat burglar, which leads to him getting mixed up with real thieves who need those special skills for a big jewellery heist. However, Bert was only giving them a “song and dance” about being a cat burglar, but now discovers it’s too late to back out.
Liza Elliott is the editor of a successful fashion magazine, but unlucky in love – pursued by three eligible bachelors, none of whom quite fit the bill, she seeks advice from psychiatrist Dr. Brooks, and her explorations of her past act as cues for musical moments.
To land a rich husband, golddigger Marjory Stuart goes to Trinidad posing as a debutante. Beach boy Pete promptly unmasks her, but offers to help her catch his enemy, yachtsman Alfred Monroe. Marjory’s pal Bubbles turns out to be the old flame of Pete’s pal Wally. All the well-planned efforts to land Monroe end in slapstick; then Wally’s voodoo priestess landlady gives him a love potion that works…