The Great Caruso 1951  N/R, 109 min.
Genre: Musical / Drama
Director: Richard Thorpe
Cast: Mario Lanza, Ann Blyth, Dorothy Kirsten, Jarmila Novotna, Richard Hageman, Carl Benton Reid, Eduard Franz, Ludwig Donath, Alan Napier, Nestor Paiva, Pal Javor, Carl Milletaire, Shepard Menken
Although this is a romanticized version of opera star Enrico Caruso's (Mario Lanza) life, the music of Mario Lanza and Ann Blyth makes this film very enjoyable. The story follows Caruso from his birth in Naples through his youth as a choir singer, then cabaret singer, and finally as an opera star at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. Caruso falls in love with Dorothy (Ann Blyth), and, despite her father's (Carl Benton Reid) objections, they marry and live happily until Caruso dies when he is just 47 years old.
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Hi Diddle Diddle 1943 N/R, 72 min.
Genre: Comedy
aka: Try and Find It
Diamonds and Crime
Director: Andrew L. Stone
Cast: Adolphe Menjou, Martha Scott, Pola Negri, Dennis O'Keefe, Billie Burke, Walter Kingsford, Barton Hepburn, Georges Metaxa, Eddie Marr, Paul Porcasi, Bert Roach, June Havoc, Chick Chandler, Richard Hageman, Ellen Lowe
The honeymoon of newlyweds Janie (Martha Scott) and Sonny (Dennis O'Keefe) is interrupted when the bride's mother (Billie Burke) learns that she has been swindled by a suitor (Barton Hepburn) she has turned down. To the rescue comes the groom's father (Adolphe Menjou) who steps in to save the day.
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New Orleans 1947  N/R, 89 min.
Genre: Musical
Director: Arthur Lubin
Cast: Dorothy Patrick, Irene Rich, John Alexander, Arturo de Cordova, Billie Holliday, Richard Hageman, Marjorie Lord, Shelley Winters, Louis Armstrong
Music reigns supreme in this story of a fictional account of the birth and the following 40 years of jazz. Louis Armstrong and others provide the music, including a Billie Holliday/Armstrong duet.
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Rhapsody 1954 N/R, 115 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Charles Vidor
Cast: Elizabeth Taylor, Vittorio Gassman, John Ericson, Louis Calhern, Barbara Bates, Stuart Whitman, Michael Chekhov, Celia Lovsky, Richard Hageman, Madge Blake
Beautiful Louise Durant (Elizabeth Taylor) leaves her violinist lover for a young pianist but still cannot find happiness.
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The Toast of New Orleans 1950 N/R, 96 min.
Genre: Musical
Director: Norman Taurog
Cast: Kathryn Grayson, Mario Lanza, David Niven, J. Carrol Naish, Rita Moreno, James Mitchell, Richard Hageman, Clinton Sundberg, Sig Arno, Romo Vincent
Pepe Abellard Duvalle (Mario Lanza) is a bayou fisherman who is groomed for an operatic career by Jacques Riboudeaux (David Niven). Lanza sings "Be My Love" to Kathryn Grayson; the song was nominated for an Academy Award.
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| 1. The Great Caruso (1951)
2. Hi Diddle Diddle (1943)
aka: Try and Find It
aka: Diamonds and Crime
3. New Orleans (1947)
4. Rhapsody (1954)
5. The Toast of New Orleans (1950)
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