David Huxley is waiting to get a bone he needs for his museum collection. Through a series of strange circumstances, he meets Susan Vance, and the duo have a series of misadventures which include a leopard called Baby.
When a rich woman's ex-husband and a tabloid-type reporter turn up just before her planned remarriage, she begins to learn the truth about herself.
At the start of the First World War, in the middle of Africa’s nowhere, a gin soaked riverboat captain is persuaded by a strong-willed missionary to go down river and face-off a German warship.
A couple's attitudes are challenged when their daughter brings home a fiancé who is black.
Rival reporters Sam Craig and Tess Harding fall in love and get married, only to find their relationship strained when Sam comes to resent Tess' hectic lifestyle.
A computer expert tries to prove his electronic brain can replace a television network's research staff.
For Norman and Ethel Thayer, this summer on golden pond is filled with conflict and resolution. When their daughter Chelsea arrives, the family is forced to renew the bonds of love and overcome the generational friction that has existed for years.
Playwright Philip Barry and actor Katharine Hepburn, both experiencing career downturns in the late 1930s, worked closely together to create the iconic character of Tracy Lord, Philadelphia “Main Line” socialite, for Barry’s play “The Philadelphia Story.”
When her father decides to flee to England, young Sylvia Scarlett must become Sylvester Scarlett and protect her father every step of the way, with the questionable help of plenty others.
The annual Tony Award broadcast provides the only filmed record of Broadway's best for audiences to experience as if they were front-row-center on opening night. This second compilation of great musical moments from the Tonys features another dazzling array of stars and performances. Hosts Lauren Bacall, Bebe Neuwirth, Brian Stokes Mitchell and Jerry Orbach introduce these one-of-a-kind performances and share their personal Broadway and Tony memories.
In World War II Washington DC, scientist Pat Jamieson's assistant, Jamie Rowan, enters a loveless marriage with him. Struggles bring them closer together.
Wildly optimistic chatterbox Eva Lovelace is a would-be actress trying to crash the New York stage. She attracts the interest of a paternal actor, a philandering producer, and an earnest playwright. Is she destined for stardom, or will she fade like a morning glory after its brief blooming?
A woman's attempted murder of her uncaring husband results in everyday quarrels in the lives of Adam and Amanda, a pair of happily married lawyers who end up on opposite sides of the case in court.
Famed reporter Stephen O'Malley travels to a small town to investigate the death of a national hero.
Pat Pemberton is a brilliant athlete, except when her domineering fiancé is around. The ladies golf championship is in her reach until she gets flustered by his presence at the final holes. He wants them to get married and forget the whole thing, but she cannot give up on herself that easily. She enlists the help of Mike Conovan, a slightly shady sports promoter. Together they face mobsters, a jealous boxer, and a growing mutual attraction.
An industrialist is urged to run for President, but this requires uncomfortable compromises on both political and marital levels.
There were more women directors before 1920 than at any other time in history. The first director to put a narrative story on celluloid was, Alice Guy Blaché in 1896. Few people know that Lillian Gish became a director in her own right in 1920. Ida Lupino directed over a hundred episodes of "Have Gun, Will Travel," "Thriller," "Gunsmoke," and many independent features.
Captain Vinka Kovalenko defects from Russia, but not for political reasons. She defects because she feels discriminated against as a woman. Captain Chuck Lockwood gets the order to show her the bright side of capitalism, while she tries to convince him of the superiority of communism. Naturally, they fall in love, but there's still the KGB, which doesn't like the idea of having a defected Russian officer running around in London.
The only son of wealthy widow Violet Venable dies while on vacation with his cousin Catherine. What the girl saw was so horrible that she went insane; now Mrs. Venable wants Catherine lobotomized to cover up the truth.
An Irish miser, his morphine addicted wife, their debauched older son, and a gravely ill younger son. A quiet Connecticut vacation home on one foggy day in August 1912 becomes the backdrop for domestic decline.
Lizzie Curry is on the verge of becoming a hopeless old maid. Her wit and intelligence and skills as a homemaker can't make up for the fact that she's just plain plain! Even the town sheriff, File, for whom she harbors a secrect yen, won't take a chance --- until the town suffers a drought and into the lives of Lizzie and her brothers and father comes one Bill Starbuck ... profession: Rainmaker!
The ups and downs in the lives and careers of a group of ambitious young actresses and show girls from disparate backgrounds brought together in a theatrical hostel.
A romance develops between a happily married middle-aged British politician and an adventurous young aviatrix.
The recently widowed Mary Stuart returns to Scotland to reclaim her throne but is opposed by her half-brother and her own Scottish lords.
The stoic, proper Rev. Gavin Dishart, newly assigned to a church in the small Scottish village of Thrums, finds himself unexpectedly falling for one of his parishioners, the hot-blooded Gypsy girl Babbie. A village-wide scandal soon erupts over the minister's relationship with this feisty, passionate young woman, who holds a secret about the village's nobleman, Lord Milford Rintoul, and his role in an increasingly fractious labor dispute.
In the lower-middle-class Adams family, father and son are happy to work in a drugstore, but mother and daughter Alice try every possible social-climbing stratagem despite snubs and embarrassment. When Alice finally meets her dream man Arthur, mother nags father into a risky business venture and plans to impress Alice's beau with an "upscale" family dinner. Will the excruciating results drive Arthur away?
For the first time one of Hollywood's greatest stars tells his own story, in his own words. From a childhood of poverty to global fame, Cary Grant, the ultimate self-made star, explores his own screen image and what it took to create it.
Ex-football star Mike Gambril meets Terry McKay on a flight to Sydney, which is forced to land on a small atoll. They become romantic on board a ship sent to take them to a larger island. They agree to meet in New York three months later to see if the attraction is real. One shows up but the other doesn't. However, a chance meeting brings them together again.
After a rapid engagement, a dowdy daughter of a chemist weds an industrialist, knowing little of his family or past. He transforms her into an elegant society wife, but becomes enraged whenever she asks about Michael, his mysterious long-lost brother.
Johnny Case, a freethinking financier, has finally found the girl of his dreams — Julia Seton, the spoiled daughter of a socially prominent millionaire — and she's agreed to marry him. But when Johnny plans a holiday for the two to enjoy life while they are still young, his fiancée has other plans & that is for Johnny to work in her father's bank!
A young soldier on a pass in New York City visits the famed Stage Door Canteen, where famous stars of theatre and film appear and host a recreational center for servicemen during the war. The soldier meets a pretty young hostess and they enjoy the many entertainers and a growing romance.
In their finely appointed Connecticut home, Agnes and Tobias have grown used to the imperfection and fragility of their marriage. Quietly nursing their grief over the death of their son, they get by well enough together. Agnes' boozy sister wanders in and out, and they allow anxiety-stricken friends to move into an upstairs room. But, when their daughter, Julia, shows up announcing her fourth divorce, long-repressed emotions come to the surface.
Dirt-poor mountain girl Trigger Hicks is a loner. Her faith-healing is mistaken for witchcraft by the community. She falls for an engineer building a dam, who protects her.
After a band of drunken thugs overruns a small Indian Nation town, killing Reverend Goodnight and raping the women folk, Eula Goodnight enlists the aid of US Marshal Cogburn to hunt them down and bring her father's killers to justice.
The life and career of legendary Hollywood glamour portrait photographer George Hurrell is profiled by his contemporaries including other photographers and actors he has shot.
In the aftermath of the Trojan Wars, Queen Hecuba takes stock of the defeated kingdom. Her son has been killed, and his widow, Andromache, is left to raise their son, Astyanax, alone. Hecuba's daughter, Cassandra, fears being enslaved by her Greek masters, while Helen of Troy risks being executed. Astyanax also becomes the focus of the Greeks' attention as the last male heir of the Trojan royal family.
Four sisters come of age during the American Civil War. With their father away fighting, the family, headed by their mother, experiences tribulations, joy, and kindness from their wealthy neighbor and his high-spirited grandson.
Henry II and his estranged queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine, battle over the choice of an heir.
A feature documentary which captures Katharine Hepburn's spirit and determination, exploring her story using her own words, through a combination of hours of previously hidden and intimate audio tapes, video and photographic archive.
Middle-aged Ohio secretary Jane Hudson has never found love and has nearly resigned herself to spending the rest of her life alone. But before she does, she uses her savings to finance a summer in romantic Venice, where she finally meets the man of her dreams, the elegant Renato Di Rossi.
In the 1810s, an old maid poses as her own niece in order to teach her onetime beau a lesson.
A World War I veteran returns home after fifteen years in an asylum and finds that everything has changed — his daughter is grown and about to marry.
Amanda Wingfield dominates her children with her faded gentility and exaggerated tales of her Southern belle past. Her son plans escape; her daughter withdraws into a dream world. When a gentleman caller appears, things move to crisis point.
Grace Quigley is nearing the end of her life, living alone in her New York apartment. On the day she's being evicted, she witnesses a murder being committed by a top hit-man, Seymour Flint. She proposes to blackmail him into killing her, however, she has one or two friends she wants him to get rid of first.
On America's frontier, a St. Louis woman marries a New Mexico cattleman who is seen as a tyrant by the locals.
A documentary about the glorious history of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios and its decline leading to the sale of its back lot and props. By extension this provides a general history of Hollywood's Golden Age and the legendary studio system.
A defiant young woman struggles against the norms and morals established by Victorian society and enforced by her autocratic father.
Life in a small Chinese village is turned upside down when the Japanese invade it. A heroic young Chinese woman leads her fellow villagers in an uprising against the Japanese invaders.
A rich widow shocks her snobbish WASP family when she decides to marry her Jewish, divorced, doctor. His family is equally shocked.
An aging actress and socialite, Jessica Medlicott has ended her engagement with a younger man and is now being sued by her former fiancé. Esteemed barrister Sir Arthur Glanville-Jones is assigned to represent Jessica in the lawsuit, and he also happens to be an old suitor of hers from decades earlier. While Jessica claims not to remember him, and Arthur still smarts from her earlier rejection, the two form a close bond during the case.
A deliciously scandalous portrait of unsung Hollywood legend Scotty Bowers, whose bestselling memoir chronicled his decades spent as sexual procurer to the stars.
Constance, a poor but aspiring composer, meets the great conductor, Franz, through their old music teacher. They fall in love, despite Constance knowing about Franz's weakness for pretty women.
Composer Robert Schumann struggles to compose his symphonies while his loving wife Clara offers her support. Also helping the Schumanns is their lifelong friend, composer Johannes Brahms.
Based on Truman Capote's bittersweet tale of a young boy's adventures with the father he's never known in New Orleans in the 1930s..
An eccentric Parisian woman's optimistic perception of life begins to sound more rational than the traditional beliefs of others. The story is set in a 20th-century society endangered by power and greed and imagines the rebellion of the "little people" against corrupt and soulless authority.
The childhood, adolescence, and incredible adult years of Al Hirschfeld, celebrated creator of thousands of line drawings of famous people - many in the entertainment industry - over a span of more than sixty years. He is still drawing in his nineties. His interesting domestic life, political, and cultural views are highlights. In addition, he talks about himself a bit - seriously and lightly.(At one point he he claims that his only form of exercise has been to live in his Manhattan townhouse: stairs). He drives his car around Manhattan - an adventure in itself. Brief interviews with, and reminiscences of many friends and associates.
A strong-willed teacher, determined to educate the poor and illiterate youth of an impoverished Welsh village, discovers one student whom she believes to have the seeds of genius in him.
Albie and his best friend Chris want to come up with something special to celebrate the birthday of their late-grandfather. Something everyone will remember. When granddad was young he flew through the air in a magnificent balloon using the name "The Great Sandusky". What better way to celebrate his life than to recreate that experience for all the world to see! So Albie and Chris decide to re-inflate the old balloon - but they can't do it alone. It will take all the energy and creativity of their new friend, Miss Pudd, to help the boys with their adventure - and before she knows it, to share in their adventure too!
A history of anti-Asian racism and yellowface in Hollywood after the 1941 Pearl Harbor attack.
Hopkins’ career has spanned several decades, which is why we will also use many interviews that he gave throughout his life, allowing us to put him back into the context of each period and will be helpful in understanding his role in the history of cinema, because he was far from following the trends. He never belonged to any film movement; he is a chameleon that has always preferred natural acting, ‘non-acting’ when method acting was the fashion.
With a glittering cast that includes Katharine Hepburn and Karen Austin in lead roles, Laura Lansing Slept Here is a humorous family movie. Hepburn plays Laura Lansing, a novelist who undergoes an identity crisis as, despite her fame and fortune, she feels something is missing from her life. Entering into a quest to return a degree of normalcy to her life, Lansing's attempts provide many comedic moments, as well as a salient lesson for the famous author.
Hepburn plays an elderly woman whose house becomes a hideaway for an escaped convict (O'Neal), and the pair strike up an unlikely friendship.
Two aging actors, who had a brief but intense marriage in the 1940s, are reunited decades later to find that issues between them are not resolved.
This 53-minute television special retraces Michael Jackson’s rise from child prodigy with the Jackson 5 to global superstar of the 1980s. Combining rare archive footage, music video excerpts, concert clips, and interviews with collaborators, it showcases the milestones of his career up to the Bad era. Narrated in documentary style, the program highlights Jackson’s artistic evolution, humanitarian work, and cultural impact. Originally broadcast on television in 1988 and later released on VHS, it serves as both a career retrospective and a portrait of his enduring influence on pop music and entertainment.
In a rare interview, Katharine Hepburn shares her memories and memorabilia.
Henry Fonda hosts this retrospective on the career and films of iconic filmmaker David O. Selznick, who epitomized the era of the auteur producer in the 30s and 40s.
Documentary that explores the life and career of leading man Cary Grant through film clips and interviews. Produced as S18E03 of the long running series American Masters.
A study of the Group Theatre, a company that changed the face of American drama. The Group was founded in 1931 by Cheryl Crawford, Harold Clurman and Lee Strasberg, who were strongly influenced by the naturalistic acting of Konstantin Stanislavski’s Moscow Art Theatre.
A celebrity benefit for The Actors' Fund of America, featuring music, songs, dance and comedy.
Lauren Bacall tells the story of her late husband Humphrey Bogart, presenting clips from his movies and interview clips with his peers.
Various MGM stars from yesterday present their favorite musical moments from the studio's 50 year history.
A short documentary about the making of the 1956 film, High Society. Hosted by Celeste Holm.
A retrospective of the life and career of actor Cary Grant, including clips from his films and interviews with his friends and co-workers.
Film clips highlight the funniest scenes and brightest comic stars in MGM's history.
In this tribute to her frequent co-star and longtime love, Katharine Hepburn hosts a behind-the-scenes look at Spencer Tracy's personal and professional life that features intimate personal accounts, interviews and clips from his most acclaimed work on the silver screen.
Some of MGM'S musical stars review the studios history of musicals. From The Hollywood Revue of 1929 to Brigadoon, from the first musical talkies to Gene Kelly in Singin' in the Rain.
A documentary about the life and films of director John Ford.
Short documentary extolling the virtues and necessity for women to participate in America's preparation for war, showing women working in scientific, industrial, and voluntary-services activities. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2008.
The epic story of how the film The African Queen (1951), directed by John Huston and starring Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn, was shot on real African locations, barely overcoming all kinds of hardships and disasters.
A TV special on the 100th anniversary of the birth of film.
This 1940 presentation features highlights of earlier (1928 onward) Oscar ceremonies including Shirley Temple and Walt Disney, plus acceptance speeches for films released in 1939 with recipients and presenters including Vivien Leigh, Judy Garland, Hattie McDaniel, Fay Bainter, Mickey Rooney, Thomas Mitchell, Sinclair Lewis, and more, with host Bob Hope.
Period music, film clips and newsreel footage combined into a visual exploration of the American entertainment industry during the Great Depression.
A peep behind the scenes of the golden era of Hollywood to discover exactly how and why Katharine Hepburn became one of the most famous actresses in the glamorous world of cinema.
Looks at the stereotype-breaking films of the period from 1929, when movies entered the sound era, until 1934 when the Hays Code virtually neutered film content. No longer portrayed as virgins or vamps, the liberated female of the pre-code films had dimensions. Good girls had lovers and babies and held down jobs, while the bad girls were cast in a sympathetic light. And they did it all without apology.
Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire present more golden moments from the MGM film library, this time including comedy and drama as well as classic musical numbers.
This short documentary, presented and directed by MGM sound engineer Douglas Shearer, goes behind the scenes to look at how the sound portion of a talking picture is created.
This short celebrates the 20th anniversary of MGM. Segments are shown from several early hits, then from a number of 1944 releases.
Stephen H. Bogart narrates the rise to fame of his father, Humphrey Bogart through the use of film clips, written material and interviews of friends and co-workers.
This documentary revisits the making of Gone with the Wind via archival footage, screen tests, insightful interviews and rare film footage.
Four-time Oscar-winner Katharine Hepburn called herself a "personality" as well as an actress, and rightfully so. This biography chronicles her life as an independent woman and legendary actress, from her childhood to her passionate relationships. Brought to light are thoughts on Howard Hughes, John Ford and longtime companion Spencer Tracy. Her story comes to life through rare home movies, screen tests, movie outtakes and interviews.
A study of Tennessee Williams's life and work as a whole, ranging from his youth in Mississippi and in St. Louis to success and acclaim, followed by the final difficult years. Includes some of the most celebrated scenes from film adaptations of Williams' work, among them extracts of A Streetcar Named Desire (1951),Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), Night of the Iguana, The (1964), and Suddenly, Last Summer (1993) (TV). Contains footage of Williams being interviewed, including conversations with David Frost, 'Edward R. Murrow (I)', and Melvyn Bragg, as well as reminiscences from people who knew and worked with him, among them Edward Albee, Gore Vidal, and his lifelong friend, Lady Maria St. Just. Features readings from Elia Kazan's Notebook by Kim Hunter.
This short focuses on the job of the costume designer in the production of motion pictures. The costume designer must design clothing that is correct for the film historically and geographically, and must be appropriate for the mood of the individual scene. We see famed costume designer Edith Head at work on a production. The Costume Designer was part of The Industry Film Project, a twelve-part series produced by the film studios and the Academy. Each series episode was produced to inform the public on a specific facet of the motion picture industry. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2012.
Biography of the legendary filmmaker directed by his son.
Documentary about James Stewart's long career as an actor and positive personal life.
In 2001 Jack Cardiff (1914-2009) became the first director of photography in the history of the Academy Awards to win an Honorary Oscar. But the first time he clasped the famous statuette in his hand was a half-century earlier when his Technicolor camerawork was awarded for Powell and Pressburger's Black Narcissus. Beyond John Huston's The African Queen and King Vidor's War and Peace, the films of the British-Hungarian creative duo (The Red Shoes and A Matter of Life and Death too) guaranteed immortality for the renowned cameraman whose career spanned seventy years.
Jane Fonda hosts a tribute to her father.
Stamatis cannot get over his breakup with Katerina. He stays locked inside, until one night Katerina visits him with one purpose only: to get him out of the house.
Documentary featuring more than one dozen musical outtakes from classic 20th Century-Fox films.