
The song "Summertime" was written by George Gershwin for the 1935 opera Porgy and Bess. The lyrics are by DuBose Heyward and although not thought to be directly involved, Ira Gershwin gets an official credit. The song soon developed a life of it's own beyond the original opera and has been recorded and adapted into many different styles of music from jazz to opera, rock to reggae, soul to samba. It has been recorded and performed in many different languages around the world and remains one of the most famous and best loved songs ever written. This documentary looks at its history, how it came to be created, and its subsequent history as it traveled through time and around the world. "Summertime" is the most covered song on the planet. At least 25,000 versions of it exist.
Narrator

The song "Summertime" was written by George Gershwin for the 1935 opera Porgy and Bess. The lyrics are by DuBose Heyward and although not thought to be directly involved, Ira Gershwin gets an official credit. The song soon developed a life of it's own beyond the original opera and has been recorded and adapted into many different styles of music from jazz to opera, rock to reggae, soul to samba. It has been recorded and performed in many different languages around the world and remains one of the most famous and best loved songs ever written. This documentary looks at its history, how it came to be created, and its subsequent history as it traveled through time and around the world. "Summertime" is the most covered song on the planet. At least 25,000 versions of it exist.
2011-11-23
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7.5Roy Orbison sings some of his greatest hits, including Only the Lonely, Crying, Penny Arcade, Blue Bayou, Running Scared, Candy Man, In Dreams, Mean Woman Blues, It's Over and Oh, Pretty Woman.
A variety film consisting of 13 solo songs and two musical sketches, one comedic, the other serious, all in the Italian language but made entirely in the USA by members of the Italian-American community in New York. Missed by the American Film Institute and IMDb, information was found in the New York State Archives' files from that state's old censors' office.
4.8Larry the Cucumber's vision of the future includes automated robotic hosts telling jokes with random punch lines and musical numbers in which the performers and themes are chosen entirely by chance. As Bob the Tomato quickly points out, the jokes of the future aren't very funny because they don't make sense. Worse, technical malfunctions in the Ventrilomatic hosts actually promote emotional instability. Nonetheless, Bob admits that Larry's vision of the future contains some very cool adaptations of classic songs like Gilbert and Sullivan's fast-talking "Modern Major General" and Binky the Aardvark's solo performance of Mozart's The Barber of Seville. Larry's vision of the future also includes an amusing animated short about greed called "Lunch." Junior Asparagus calls Bob and Larry back to the present with a final song celebrating God's unconditional love.
6.5In 1812, during the French period, large parts of Germany are occupied by the troops of Napoleon. Several paramilitary Freikorps units battle the French forces, among them the Black Brunswickers led by the 'Black Duke' Frederick William of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. After the War of the Fifth Coalition, the Black Hussars are pursued by Napoleon throughout the country, but frequently take refuge with the noble-minded German people.
0.0YOU ARE NOT ALONE, the Musical was performed in Paris (in English) by Jermaine Jackson. During this evening of music and stories, Jermaine Jackson told the whole Jackson story from their native house in Gary, Indiana, to Motown where they became the Jackson Five and from Michael's Thriller to his tragic death. You'll learn everything you need to know about the greatest family in the entertainment industry.
10.0A schoolboy starts to wonder, “Who am I?” He notices that everyone around him—his classmates, teachers, and even his parents—are wearing strange masks. He feels different and confused. As he searches for answers and tries to understand who he really is, the world around him becomes more and more strange. This Kaber Vasuki Mugamoodi music video explores themes of identity, pressure, and how society sometimes forces us to hide who we truly are.
7.9A film about the first benefit rock concert when major musicians performed to raise relief funds for the poor of Bangladesh. The Concert for Bangladesh was a pair of benefit concerts organised by former Beatles guitarist George Harrison and Indian sitar player Ravi Shankar. The shows were held at 2:30 and 8:00 pm on Sunday, 1 August 1971, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, to raise international awareness of, and fund relief for refugees from East Pakistan, following the Bangladesh Liberation War-related genocide.
6.0"Marynarka..." is a story of a painter who went on a cruise on a navy ship, framed by a musical film. It features Anna German, Piotr Szczepanik and the Szczecin band Filipinki.
7.0When they suddenly lose their parents, rival siblings lan and Uta must set aside their dreams to help each other navigate their grief.
7.0In the Caucasus foothills, battles rage against the German fascist invaders who have broken through. Reinforcements, including Russians, Ukrainians, and Kazakhs, are moving to defend the region. Along the way, the soldiers stop at a half-ruined ancient castle. There, a grey-haired old man recounts the legend of Dzhurga, a valiant warrior who once lived there. The legend comes to life on the screen, depicting a wedding feast in the castle where Dzhurgai celebrates his union with a shepherdess. However, the festivities are interrupted by a foreign enemy attacking Georgia. Led by Dzhurgai, Georgian warriors fight bravely and emerge victorious against the Mongol hordes.
5.5At the Katnip Kollege, we see a roomful of cats taking a course in Swingology. Everyone swings except Johnny, who can't cut it and has to sit in the dunce chair. Miss Kitty Bright tells him to look her up when he learns how to swing. Finally, listening to the pendulum clock at night, Johnny gets the beat. He rushes out to where everyone is playing and sings "Easy As Rollin' Off a Log" to Kitty Bright. She joins in; he grabs a trumpet for an instrumental break, with the complete band. They both fall off a log; she covers him with kisses.
6.7After a deadly incident involving her producer, rising pop star Naya flees with her sister and ailing father to a remote village. There, she’s forced to hide her identity and perform as a dangdut singer—while struggling to escape her past and the law closing in.
7.0Is there a connection between animal sounds and the music that humans create? Using a surprising and wide variety of evidence from the animal kingdom -- including the humpback whale, the lyre bird, the siamang gibbon and the great reed warbler -- Sir David Attenborough seeks to prove that the origions of music lie in territory, emotion and sex.
9.0Ukrainian musicians of all genres, from metal to opera, transform their passion for music into devotion to their country in this moving documentary. Beginning on the very first day of the Russian invasion, Soldiers of Song documents how the lives of its cast of Ukrainian musicians have irrevocably changed and how they use their musical talents to support themselves and their communities. Using shocking footage from the frontlines, this film reminds us not only of the ongoing tragedies that continue to happen during this war, but also of the resilience of Ukraine and its cultural forces. Here music functions not only to lift the spirits of the soldiers, but also as a cultural export to raise awareness of the war, a tool for raising humanitarian and military funds, and a valuable cultural artifact for everyday Ukrainians to rally around and protect. The musician’s commitment to their craft reminds us of the real power art has and the impact of beauty under catastrophic circumstances.