Louis Armstrong
Actor · 1901 – 1971 · New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana. Coming to prominence in the 1920s as an "inventive" cornet and trumpet player, Armstrong was a foundational influence in jazz, shifting the music's focus from collective improvisation to solo performance. With his instantly recognizable deep and distinctive gravelly voice, Armstrong was also an influential singer, demonstrating great dexterity as an improviser, bending the lyrics and melody of a song for expressive purposes. He was also greatly skilled at scat singing, vocalizing using sounds and syllables instead of actual lyrics. Renowned for his charismatic stage presence and voice almost as much as for his trumpet-playing, Armstrong's influence extends well beyond jazz music, and by the end of his career in the 1960s, he was widely regarded as a profound influence on popular music in general. Armstrong was one of the first truly popular African-American entertainers to "cross over," whose skin-color was secondary to his amazing talent in an America that was severely racially divided. It allowed him socially acceptable access to the upper echelons of American society that were highly restricted for a person of color. While he rarely publicly politicized his race, often to the dismay of fellow African-Americans, he was privately a huge supporter of the Civil Rights movement in America.
Movies23
Movie6.7DocumentaryMusicNever-before-heard personal recordings and archival footage tell the story of Louis Armstrong's life from his perspective. From musical phenom to civil rights activist to world-renowned artist, this illuminating film shows sides of Armstrong few have seen.
Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues
2022 · 31 votes
Movie7.0ComedyRomanceDolly Levi is a strong-willed matchmaker who travels to Yonkers, New York in order to see the miserly "well-known unmarried half-a-millionaire" Horace Vandergelder. In doing so, she convinces his niece, his niece's intended, and Horace's two clerks to travel to New York City.
Hello, Dolly!
1969 · 405 votes
Movie6.8MusicComedyWith socialite Tracy Lord about to remarry, her ex-husband - with the help of a sympathetic reporter - has 48 hours to convince her that she really still loves him.
High Society
1956 · 273 votes
Movie7.0DramaMusicA vibrant tribute to one of America's legendary bandleaders, charting Glenn Miller's rise from obscurity and poverty to fame and wealth in the early 1940s.
The Glenn Miller Story
1954 · 169 votes
Movie6.5RomanceDramaDuring the 1960s, two American jazz musicians living in Paris meet and fall in love with two American tourist girls and must decide between music and love.
Paris Blues
1961 · 76 votes
Movie7.7DocumentaryHistoryJazz and decolonization are intertwined in a powerful narrative that recounts one of the tensest episodes of the Cold War.
Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat
2024 · 75 votes
Movie7.3DocumentaryMusicPull back the curtain on the remarkable history of six decades of James Bond music, from Sean Connery’s Dr No through to Daniel Craig’s final outing in No Time to Die.
The Sound of 007
2022 · 56 votes
Movie7.0DocumentaryMusicGene 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.
That's Entertainment, Part II
1976 · 44 votes
Movie6.4ComedyMusicThe story of seven scholars in search of an expert to teach them about swing music. They seem to have found the perfect candidate in winsome nightclub singer Honey Swanson. But Honey's gangster boyfriend doesn't want to give her up.
A Song Is Born
1948 · 47 votes
Movie8.7DocumentaryMusicA star-studded tribute (from the creators of That's Entertainment) to the contributions of Afro-Americans in film over the last century. Vanessa Williams traces the struggles and triumphs of the superstars of music and film. Among the many artists featured are: Whitney Houston, Ella Fitzgerald, Sammy Davis Jr., Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Cab Calloway, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, Ella Fitzgerald, and Little Richard, Also included are today's contemporary superstars: Snoop Dogg, Ice T, Quincy Jones, Spike Lee, Russell Simmons, and many, more! 80 minutes plus DVD bonus features.
It's Black Entertainment
2002 · 3 votes
Movie7.6DocumentaryHistoryThe untold and intimate life story of one of the greatest American photographers of all time, Bert Stern. After working alongside Stanley Kubrick at Look Magazine, Stern became an original Madison Avenue 'mad man', his images helping to create modern advertising. Ground-breaking photos of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, Marilyn Monroe and Twiggy, coupled with his astonishing success in advertising, minted Stern as a celebrity in his own right.
Bert Stern - Original Madman
2011 · 9 votes
Movie6.5MusicDramaA famous jazz trumpeter finds himself unable to cope with the problems of everyday life.
A Man Called Adam
1966 · 17 votes
Movie6.5MusicFantasyWhen compulsive gambler Little Joe Jackson dies in a drunken fight, he awakens in purgatory, where he learns that he will be sent back to Earth for six months to prove that he deserves to be in heaven. He awakens, remembering nothing and struggles to do right by his devout wife, Petunia, while an angel known as the General and the devil's son, Lucifer Jr., fight for his soul.
Cabin in the Sky
1943 · 51 votes
Movie5.4ComedyMusicForeign correspondent Pete Garvey has 5 days to win back his former fiancée, or he'll lose the orphans he adopted.
Here Comes the Groom
1951 · 18 votes
Movie6.9DramaMusicDixieland cornetist Red Nichols runs into opposition to his sound, but breaks through to success. He marries a warm, patient woman and even finds time to raise a family. Then tragedy strikes when their daughter contracts polio.
The Five Pennies
1959 · 29 votes
Movie8.7MusicExperience the stunning spectacle of Coldplay’s record-breaking Music Of The Spheres world tour at your local cinema with this spectacular worldwide live broadcast of the band’s sold out concert at Buenos Aires’ River Plate stadium directly from Argentina in a stadium bursting with lights, lasers, fireworks and LED wristbands - all of which combine to make Coldplay’s concerts such a joyful and life-affirming experience.
Movie10.0ComedyAuf Wiedersehen
1961 · 1 votes
Movie7.0DocumentaryA multi-studio effort to show the newsreel audience the progress of the Hollywood war effort.
Show-Business at War
1943 · 4 votes
Movie5.8ComedyIn turn-of-the-century New York City, con artist Peaches O'Day befriends Captain Jim McCarey, a cop who must turn her in unless she leaves town. The clever Peaches returns transformed as sultry brunette and Parisian sensation Mademoiselle Fifi. After catching her show, a crooked mayoral candidate tries to shut it down when Peaches demurely declines his romantic overtures. McCarey jumps in the race for mayor, and the loyal Peaches fervently campaigns for him.
Every Day's a Holiday
1937 · 13 votes
Movie7.0DocumentaryBing Crosby was, without a doubt, the most popular and influential multi-media star of the first half of the twentieth century, pulling audiences in with his intimate, laid-back voice and innate charm. Narrated by Stanley Tucci and directed by Robert Trachtenberg, this film explores the life and legend of this iconic performer, revealing a personality far more complex than the image the public had only thought they'd known.
Bing Crosby: Rediscovered
2014 · 2 votes
Movie5.9CrimeDramaDrummer Stanley Maxton moves to Los Angeles with dreams of opening his own jazz club, but falls in with a gangster and a nightclub dancer and ends up accused of her murder.
The Strip
1951 · 16 votes
Movie5.1CrimeA group of beatniks unwittingly harbor a serial rapist. A cop goes after him after his wife is attacked.
The Beat Generation
1959 · 13 votes
Movie7.3DocumentaryMusicSet at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival, this documentary mixes images of water and the town with performers and audience. The film progresses from day to night and from improvisational music to Gospel. It's a concert film that suggests peace and leisure, jazz at a particular time and place.
Jazz on a Summer's Day
1960 · 29 votes
Series20
TV7.5Talk ShowThe Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under The Tonight Show franchise from 1962 to 1992. It originally aired during late-night. For its first ten years, Carson's Tonight Show was based in New York City with occasional trips to Burbank, California; in May 1972, the show moved permanently to Burbank, California. In 2002, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson was ranked #12 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962 · 96 votes
TV7.0FamilyComedyFour panelists must determine guests' occupations - and, in the case of famous guests, while blindfolded, their identity - by asking only "yes" or "no" questions.
What's My Line?
1950 · 29 votes
TV6.8Talk ShowThe Dick Cavett Show has been the title of several talk shows hosted by Dick Cavett on various television networks.
The Dick Cavett Show
1968 · 22 votes
TV6.8ComedyTalk ShowThe Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the CBS Sunday Night Movie, which ran only one season and was eventually replaced by other shows. In 2002, The Ed Sullivan Show was ranked #15 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.
The Ed Sullivan Show
1948 · 23 votes
TV7.0An annual American awards ceremony honoring cinematic achievements in the film industry. The various category winners are awarded a copy of a statuette, officially the Academy Award of Merit, that is better known by its nickname Oscar.
The Oscars
1953 · 84 votes
TV6.4RealityThe Dinah Shore Chevy Show is an American variety series hosted by Dinah Shore, and broadcast on NBC from October 1956 to June 1963. The series was sponsored by the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors and its theme song, sung by Shore, was "See the U.S.A. in Your Chevrolet", which continued to be used in Chevrolet advertising for several more years after the cancellation of the show.
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
1956 · 5 votes
TV7.2DocumentaryOmnibus was an arts-based BBC television documentary series, broadcast mainly on BBC1 in the United Kingdom. The programme was the successor to the long-running arts-based series 'Monitor'. It ran from 1967 until 2003, usually being transmitted on Sunday evenings. During its 35-year history, the programme won 12 Bafta awards. Among the series' best remembered documentaries are Cracked Actor, a profile of David Bowie, and Rene Magritte, a graduate film by David Wheatley, 'Madonna: Behind the American dream', a film produced by Nadia Hagger, and a profile of the British film director Ridley Scott. For a season in 1982, the series was in a magazine format presented by Barry Norman. The series was replaced by 'Imagine' hosted by Alan Yentob.
Omnibus
1967 · 9 votes
TV6.9ComedyThe Colgate Comedy Hour is an American comedy-musical variety series that aired live on the NBC network from 1950 to 1955. The show starred many notable comedians and entertainers of the era, including Eddie Cantor, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, Fred Allen, Donald O'Connor, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, Bob Hope, Jimmy Durante, Ray Bolger, Gordon MacRae, Ben Blue, Robert Paige, Tony Curtis, Burt Lancaster, Broadway dancer Wayne Lamb and Spike Jones and His City Slickers.
The Colgate Comedy Hour
1950 · 13 votes
TV6.2ComedyThe Steve Allen Show
1956 · 6 votes
TV8.0Talk ShowDiscorama
1959 · 1 votes
TV7.0ComedyThe Danny Kaye Show is an American variety show hosted by Danny Kaye that aired on CBS from 1963 to 1967 on Wednesday nights. Directed by Robert Scheerer, the show premiered in black-and-white, but later switched to color broadcasts. At the time, Kaye was at the height of his popularity, having starred in a string of successful films in the 1940s and '50's, made successful personal appearances at such venues as the London Palladium, and appeared many times on television. His most recent films had been considered disappointing, but the television specials he starred in were triumphant, leading to this series. Prior to his television and film career, Kaye had made a name for himself with his own radio show, and numerous other guest appearances on other shows.
The Danny Kaye Show
1963 · 4 votes
TV4.8ComedyThe Flip Wilson Show is an hour long variety show that aired in the U.S. on NBC from September 17, 1970 to June 27, 1974. The show starred American comedian Flip Wilson; the program was one of the first American television programs starring a black person in the title role to become highly successful with a white audience. Specifically, it was the first successful network variety series starring an African American. During its first two seasons, its Nielsen ratings made it the nation's second most watched show. The show consisted of many skits over an hour. It also broke new ground in American television by using a 'Theatre-in-the-Round' stage format, with the audience seated on all sides of a circular performance area. Wilson was most famous for creating the role of Geraldine Jones, a sassy, modern woman who had a boyfriend named Killer. Flip also created the role of Reverend Leroy, who was the minister of the Church of What's Happening Now!. New parishioners were wary of coming to the church as it was hinted that Reverend Leroy was a con artist. Wilson popularized such catchphrases as "What you see is what you get", and "The devil made me do it!".
The Flip Wilson Show
1970 · 20 votes
TV5.4Kraft Music Hall is an umbrella title for several television series aired by NBC in the United States from the 1950s to the 1970s in the musical variety genre, sponsored by Kraft Foods, the producers of a well-known line of cheeses and related dairy products. Their commercials were usually announced by "The Voice of Kraft", Ed Herlihy.
Kraft Music Hall
1958 · 7 votes
TV6.4RealityShindig! is an American musical variety series which aired on ABC from September 16, 1964 to January 8, 1966. The show was hosted by Jimmy O'Neill, a disc jockey in Los Angeles at the time who also created the show along with his wife Sharon Sheeley and production executive Art Stolnitz. The original pilot was rejected by ABC and David Sontag, then Executive Producer of ABC, redeveloped and completely redesigned the show. A new pilot with a new cast of artists was shot starring Sam Cooke. That pilot aired as the premiere episode.
Shindig!
1964 · 5 votes
TV5.0ComedyThe Hollywood Palace is an hour-long American television variety show that was broadcast weekly on ABC from January 4, 1964 to February 7, 1970. Originally titled The Saturday Night Hollywood Palace, it began as a mid-season replacement for The Jerry Lewis Show, another variety show which had lasted only three months. It was staged in Hollywood at the former Hollywood Playhouse on Vine Street, which was renamed The Hollywood Palace during the show's duration and is today known as Avalon Hollywood. A little-known starlet named Raquel Welch was cast during the first season as the "Billboard Girl", who placed the names of the acts on a placard.
The Hollywood Palace
1964 · 5 votes
TV7.4DramaComedyDuPont Show of the Month is an acclaimed 90-minute television anthology series that aired monthly on CBS from 1957 to 1961. The DuPont Company also sponsored a weekly half-hour anthology drama series hosted by June Allyson, The DuPont Show with June Allyson. During the Golden Age of Television, DuPont Show of the Month was one of numerous anthology series telecast between 1949 and 1962. Superficially, it resembled Playhouse 90 and other anthologies, but DuPont Show of the Month focused less on contemporary dramas and more on adaptations of literary classics, including Oliver Twist, The Prince and the Pauper, Billy Budd, The Prisoner of Zenda, A Tale of Two Cities and The Count of Monte Cristo.
DuPont Show of the Month
1957 · 5 votes
TV8.0“The Bell Telephone Hour” was a musical variety show that aired on “NBC” TV from 12 January 1959 to 14 June 1968 that showcased the best in Broadway, Classical, Concert, Jazz and Popular music each week. The series had its’ own house band appropriately named the “Bell Telephone Orchestra”. The show also had its’ own theme song being the “Bell Waltz” composed by “Donald Voorhees” who was also the show's Orchestra conductor. Some of the greatest violinists of the 1960’s performed on this show that aired in the old “Black & White” format. Some of these great violinists included “Erica Mornin”, “Isaac Stern", "Michael Rabin", "Ruggiero Ricci", "Yehudi Menuhin" and "Zino Francesacatti". From time to time some of the great singers and bandleaders of the 1960’s would perform on the show as well. Some of these were “Bing Crosby”, “Gordon MacRae”, “John Gary”, “Leslie Uggams”, “Mary Martin”, “Nelson Eddy”, “Patti Page” and “Roy Rogers”. The TV show followed on the heels of its’ predecessor with the same name on “NBC” radio that aired from 29 April 1940 to 1958 on Monday nights at 8 PM. The name of the show was derived from its’ Major sponsor “Bell Telephone Laboratories”. The TV version began airing on Friday nights at 8:30 PM once a month. It later was given it’s same time slot now airing every other week alternating with another show on the other weeks such as News shows and specials. The show time slot changed quite often over the years. In September 1960 it aired at 9 PM and in September 1961 it moved to 9:30 PM. In October 1963 it moved to Tuesday nights at 10 PM, September 1965 it moved to Sunday night at 6:30 PM and in September 1967 it made its' final move back to Friday night at 10 PM.
The Bell Telephone Hour
1959 · 4 votes
TV6.5Talk ShowThe Johnny Cash Show was an American television music variety show hosted by Johnny Cash. The Screen Gems 58-episode series ran from June 7, 1969 to March 31, 1971 on ABC; it was taped at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. The show reached No. 17 in the Nielsen ratings in 1970. Cash opened each show, and its regulars included members of his touring troupe, June Carter Cash and the Carter Family, The Statler Brothers, Carl Perkins, and The Tennessee Three, with Australian-born musical director-arranger-conductor Bill Walker. The Statler Brothers performed brief comic interludes. It featured many folk-country musicians, such as Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Linda Ronstadt, Kris Kristofferson, Mickey Newbury, Neil Young, Gordon Lightfoot, Merle Haggard, James Taylor and Tammy Wynette. It also featured other musicians such as jazz great Louis Armstrong, who died eight months after appearing on the show.
The Johnny Cash Show
1969 · 4 votes
TV7.4DocumentaryJazz is a ten part series that explores the evolution – and the genius – of America’s greatest original art form, focusing on the extraordinary men and women who could do something remarkable – create art on the spot. Jazz celebrates their profoundly enduring, endlessly varied, and infinitely alluring music in the context of the complicated country that gave birth to and influenced it, and was in turn transformed by it.
Jazz
2001 · 33 votes
- TV8.0FamilyComedy
The Pearl Bailey Show
1971 · 1 votes