Evans, Madge

Dinner at Eight

Dinner at Eight a vastly entertaining behind-closed-doors glimpse into the lives of the troubled and troublemaking Who's Who of people invited to a posh Manhattan party is served with ample helpings of humor and melodrama. Buoyed by the success of the studio's multistarred multistoried Grand Hotel the year before producer David O. Selznick aspired for something grander - and found it in this George Cukor-directed adaptation of the George S. Kaufman/Edna Ferber stage hit. Highlights include Jean Harlow and Wallace Beery's bitter battle of the sexes hostess Billie Burke's tizzy fit and Marie Dressler's grande dame worldliness. Of course there's only one way to catch all the great moments. Dinner at Eight. Don't be late.Running Time: 111 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY UPC: 012569507821

MGM originally promoted Dinner at Eight by touting the "all-star cast," but this is no run-of-the-mill omnibus picture. On the contrary, rather than cramming as many big names as possible into a lumbering vehicle, the movie's impeccably crafted script (by Edna Ferber and Herman J. Mankiewicz) and direction (by George Cukor) gave some immortal screen luminaries a chance to shine. For sheer bravery, John Barrymore's achingly poignant performance as Larry Renault, a washed-up matinee idol who has "outlived everything but his vanity," is unmatched. Barrymore's brother, Lionel, is equally touching as shipping magnate Oliver Jordan. Oliver vainly tries to save his family's century-old firm, at the same time hiding his financial and health troubles from his wife, Millicent, played to hysterical perfection by Billie Burke. The Great Depression is presented in microcosm as Millicent frets about throwing the ultimate society dinner, oblivious to the world tumbling down around her. She is forced to invite to her precious party such undesirables as crass financier Dan Packard ("He smells Oklahoma!"). Even worse in Millicent's eyes than Packard (Wallace Beery, doing an impressive steamroller imitation) is his social-climbing wife, Kitty (Jean Harlow, never funnier than she is here, malingering in bed gobbling chocolates, or braying at her husband: "I'm gonna be a lady if it kills me!"). Be sure to watch for Harlow's brief encounter with Marie Dressler, who brings an extraordinary winking wisdom to the role of aging star Carlotta Vance. As the two enter the dining room in the film's final scene, Harlow makes an offhand remark that elicits from Dressler one of the great screen double takes of all time. Like so much of Dinner At Eight, the moment is priceless. --Laura Mirsky

Hallelujah I'm a Bum

Al Jolson says, "You ain't seen nothin' yet," but this isn't The Jazz Singer. Jolson found one of his better movie roles in Hallelujah, I'm a Bum!, a curious 1933 artifact of the early-sound, pre-Code era, a movie replete with music, political comment, and occasionally risqué humor. Jolie plays "the mayor of Central Park," a happy hobo who cleans up after he meets an amnesiac beauty. Alas, the workaday world isn't what it's cracked up to be, as his leisure-minded pals knew all along. Although never quite clicking into classic status, the movie is borne aloft on the Rodgers and Hart score (which includes "You Are Too Beautiful" and much rhyming dialogue) and director Lewis Milestone's fluid tracking shots of hoboes marching and singing through Central Park. That's Harry Langdon, former silent clown, as the Communist tramp warning about the impending revolution as he picks up garbage--a measure of this film's true oddness. --Robert Horton

The legendary Al Jolson is the self-proclaimed "Mayor of Central Park" in this "stylized sophisticated and lyrical" (Pauline Kael) comic operetta - one of the most decidedly different and delightful musicals ever made! A unique attempt to expand the boundaries of the format Hallelujah I'm a Bum! captures Jolson at his charismatic best and "reveals" more than any of his other surviving films just why [he] was so great a star" (The London Times)!Bumper (Jolson) is the happiest hobo in New York. He's just fallen head-over-heels in love with the beautiful young amnesiac (Madge Evans) he's rescued from a park lake. But when he discovers her true identity the "Mayor of Central Park" suddenly finds himself competing for her affections with a rich playboy... the Mayor of New York (Frank Morgan The Wizard of Oz)!System Requirements:Starring: Al Jolson. Directed By: Lewis Milestone. Running Time: 83 Min. This film is presented in "Standard" format. Copyright 2002 MGM Studios.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: NR UPC: 027616873002 Manufacturer No: 1003136

Stand Up and Cheer!

It can't really be called a "Shirley Temple movie," because the original Little Miss Sunshine appears in it for just 10 minutes or so. But you can easily see how Stand Up and Cheer! gave birth to the most dominant star of the mid-1930s: Shirley Temple brings down the house. With just a bit of dialogue and one musical number, "Baby Take a Bow," Ms. Temple sets the cuteness meter to 11 and packs considerable hilarity into her already-definable personality. (Old pro James Dunn, who co-starred with Temple in a few subsequent features, plays her father/dance partner here.) The movie itself is something else again, in every sense. Purportedly based on an idea by Will Rogers, it imagines a new cabinet position--Secretary of Amusement--established by the President himself. Said official (Warner Baxter, fresh off a similar role in 42nd Street) must drum up lotsa socko entertainment to pull America out of its Depression doldrums. The near-surreal results include the acrobatic vaudeville team Mitchell & Durant as loopy senators and a sequence involving Stepin Fechit and a talking penguin dressed up as Jimmy Durante. Yes, you read that right. Meanwhile, corporate fatcats conspire to ruin the plan; they want America to remain scared and passive. But you know they don't stand a chance against Shirley Temple--whose 1930s career fulfilled the movie's idea of cheering up a population staggered by hard times. --Robert Horton

President Franklin Roosevelt appoints a theatrical producer as the new Secretary of Amusement in order to cheer up an American public still suffering through the Depression. The new secretary soon runs afoul of political lobbyists out to destroy his department.System Requirements:Run Time: 68 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: PG UPC: 024543381952 Manufacturer No: 2238195

The Mayor of Hell

Five members of a teen-age gang including leader Jimmy Smith are sent to the State Reformatory presided over by the melodramatically callous Thompson. Soon Patsy Gargan a former gangster appointed Deputy Commissioner as a political favor arrives complete with hip flask and blonde. Gargan falls for activist nurse Dorothy and inspired by her takes over the administration to run the place on radical principles. But Thompson to conceal his years of graft needs a quick way to discredit Gargan.Running Time: 90 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA/CLASSICS UPC: 883929002719 Manufacturer No: 1000035745

Pennies From Heaven

Legendary crooner Bing Crosby sings and dances his way through this charming and delightful story of a wanderer who drifts into the lives and hearts of the residents of the small town of Middletown, New Jersey. Featuring music and lyrics by Johnny Burke and Arthur Johnston, including the classics "So Do I," "Pennies from Heaven" (Academy Award® nominee for Best Music/Song), "Skeleton in the Closet" and "Let's Call a Heart a Heart."

With incredible supporting performances by the amazing Louis Armstrong, the beautiful Madge Evans, and the talented Edith Fellows, PENNIES FROM HEAVEN is one of the crown jewels from the golden age of Hollywood when real stars weren't found only in heaven...and a fistful of pennies still went a long way. Stars: Bing Crosby, Madge Evans, Edith Fellows, Donald Meek, John Gallaudet, Tommy Dugan, Louis Armstrong, Nydia Westman.

Three Broadway Girls (1932)

Sinners in Paradise

On the way to China, a severe storm causes a plane to crash in the ocean, killing all the officers, and leaving the passengers to swim to shore. In the morning, they discover they are stranded on a small island inhabited by the mysterious Jim Taylor (Boles) and his servant, Ping. The desperate group of passengers must learn to overcome their petty disputes and personal problems to work together, and attempt to talk Jim into taking them back to China in his boat. But Jim is hiding the secret that he is a convicted murderer, and if he returns to China, he'll be sent to prison for the rest of his life.

This product is manufactured on demand using DVD-R recordable media. Amazon.com's standard return policy will apply.

Sinners in Paradise (1938)

Sinners in Paradise

Passengers from an airplane crash find themselves on a South Seas Island, and forced to rely on a fugitive criminal for their survival. An intriguing ""late period"" film from director James Whale.