Babes on Broadway is a 1941 American musical film starring Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland and directed by Busby Berkeley, with Vincente Minnelli directing Garland's big solo numbers. The film, which features Fay Bainter and Virginia Weidler, was the third in the "Backyard Musical" series about kids who put on their own show, following Babes in Arms (1939) and Strike Up the Band (1940). Songs in the film include "Babes on Broadway" by Burton Lane (music) and E.Y. "Yip" Harburg (lyrics), and "How About You?" by Lane with lyrics by Ralph Freed, the brother of producer Arthur Freed. The movie ends with a minstrel show performed by the main cast in blackface.
Norman Rae Taurog was an American film director and screenwriter. From 1920 to 1968, Taurog directed 180 films. At the age of 32, he received the Academy Award for Best Director for Skippy (1931), becoming the youngest person ever to win the award for eight and a half decades present until Damien Chazelle, who won for La La Land in 2017. He was later nominated for Best Director for the film Boys Town (1938). He directed some of the best-known actors of the twentieth century, including his nephew Jackie Cooper, Spencer Tracy, Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, Deanna Durbin, Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Deborah Kerr, Peter Lawford, Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, and Elvis Presley. Taurog directed six Martin and Lewis films, and nine Elvis Presley films, more than any other director.
Easy Come, Easy Go is a 1967 American musical comedy film starring Elvis Presley. Hal Wallis produced the film for Paramount Pictures, and it was Wallis' final production with Presley. The film co-starred Dodie Marshall, Pat Harrington, Jr., Pat Priest, Elsa Lanchester, and Frank McHugh. The movie reached #50 on the Variety magazine national box office list in 1967.
The Last Man on Earth is a 1924 American silent comedy film directed by John G. Blystone, starring Earle Foxe and produced by Fox Film Corporation and based on the short story of the same name by John D. Swain that appeared in the November 1923 issue of Munsey's Magazine. The film was remade as the semi-musical comedy It's Great to Be Alive (1933) and in Spanish as El último varon sobre la Tierra (1933), and influenced the sci-fi novel Mr. Adam (1946).
Words and Music is a 1948 American biographical musical film loosely based on the creative partnership of the composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist Lorenz Hart. The film stars Mickey Rooney as Hart and Tom Drake as Rodgers, along with Janet Leigh, Betty Garrett, Ann Sothern and numerous musical stars. It was the second in a series of MGM biopics about Broadway composers; it was preceded by Till the Clouds Roll By and followed by Three Little Words and Deep in My Heart.
James Cornelius Kirkwood Sr. was an American actor and director.
The Beast of the City is a 1932 American pre-Code gangster film featuring cops as vigilantes and known for its singularly vicious ending. Written by W.R. Burnett, Ben Hecht (uncredited), and John Lee Mahin, and directed by Charles Brabin, the film stars Walter Huston, Jean Harlow, Wallace Ford, Jean Hersholt, and Tully Marshall.
Young Tom Edison is a 1940 biographical film about the early life of inventor Thomas Edison directed by Norman Taurog and starring Mickey Rooney. The film was the first of a complementary pair of Edison biopics that Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer released in 1940. Edison, the Man, starring Spencer Tracy, followed two months later, completing the two-part story of Edison's life.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a 1939 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film adaptation of Mark Twain's 1884 novel of the same name, starring Mickey Rooney in the title role. The supporting cast features Walter Connolly, William Frawley and Rex Ingram. It was remade by MGM in 1960. A musical version was released in 1974.
The Human Comedy is a 1943 American comedy-drama film directed by Clarence Brown. It began as a screenplay by William Saroyan, who was expected to direct. After Saroyan was removed from the project, he wrote the novel of the same name and published it just before the film was released. Howard Estabrook was brought in to reduce the run time to two hours. The picture stars Mickey Rooney with Frank Morgan; also appearing in the film are James Craig, Marsha Hunt, Fay Bainter, Ray Collins, Van Johnson, Donna Reed and Jackie "Butch" Jenkins. Barry Nelson, Robert Mitchum and Don DeFore appear together as boisterous soldiers in uncredited supporting roles.
Girl Crazy is a 1943 American musical film starring Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney. Produced by the Freed Unit of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, it is based on the stage musical Girl Crazy – which was written by Guy Bolton and Jack McGowan, with music and lyrics by George and Ira Gershwin. It was the last of Garland and Rooney's nine movies as co-stars, the pair appearing only once more together on film, as guest stars in 1948's Words and Music.
Jane Eyre is a 1934 American romantic drama film directed by Christy Cabanne, starring Virginia Bruce and Colin Clive. It is based on the 1847 novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, and is the first adaptation to use sound.
Strike Up the Band is a 1940 American musical film produced by the Arthur Freed unit at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The film was directed by Busby Berkeley and stars Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland, in the second of a series of musicals they co-starred in, after Babes in Arms, all directed by Berkeley. The story written for the 1927 stage musical Strike Up the Band, and its successful 1930 Broadway revision, bear no resemblance to this film, aside from the title song.
Off Limits is a 1953 American comedy film directed by George Marshall and starring Bob Hope, Mickey Rooney and Marilyn Maxwell. Hope plays a manager who enlists in the army to keep an eye on his boxer, who has been drafted. The picture was written by Hal Kanter and Jack Sher, and was released in the UK as Military Policemen, as the characters played by Hope and Rooney join the military police.
The Lucky Horseshoe is a 1925 American silent Western film directed by John G. Blystone and starring Tom Mix, Billie Dove, and Malcolm Waite. Based on a story by Robert Lord, the film is about a ranch foreman who assumes responsibility for the ranch following the owner's death. He also cares for the owner's daughter who is taken to Europe by an aunt. Two year later the woman returns from Europe with her new wealthy fiancée and plans to hold their wedding at the ranch, which the foreman has turned into a successful tourist destination. The foreman's feelings for the woman have not been diminished by the years, and after learning some damaging information about the fiancée, the foreman must find a way to stop the wedding.
Men of Boys Town is a 1941 American drama film directed by Norman Taurog and written by James Kevin McGuinness. It is a sequel to the 1938 film Boys Town. The film stars Spencer Tracy, Mickey Rooney, Bobs Watson, Larry Nunn, Darryl Hickman and Henry O'Neill. The film was released on April 11, 1941, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Huckleberry Finn is a 1931 American pre-Code adventure comedy film directed by Norman Taurog, and written by Grover Jones and William Slavens McNutt, based on Mark Twain's 1884 novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. It stars Jackie Coogan as Tom Sawyer, Mitzi Green as Becky Thatcher, Junior Durkin as Huckleberry Finn, and Jackie Searl as Sid Sawyer.
Call It a Day is a 1937 American comedy film directed by Archie Mayo and starring Olivia de Havilland, Ian Hunter, Anita Louise, Alice Brady, Roland Young, and Frieda Inescort. Based on the 1935 play Call It a Day by Dodie Smith, the film is about a day in the life of a middle-class London family whose lives are complicated by the first romantic signs of spring.
Noel Francis was an American actress of the stage and screen during the 1920s and 1930s. Born in Texas, she began her acting career on the Broadway stage in the mid-1920s, before moving to Hollywood at the beginning of the sound film era.
Scandal Proof is a lost 1925 American silent drama film directed by Edmund Mortimer and written by Charles Kenyon. The film stars Shirley Mason, John Roche, Freeman Wood, Hazel Howell, Frances Raymond, and Ruth King. The film was released on May 31, 1925, by Fox Film Corporation.
