Gift of Gab(1934)

Danger on the Air(en)

Trouble begins when a hated cad of a sponsor is found murdered during the climax of a live radio show. A radio engineer then tries to solve the murder.

Easy Come, Easy Go(en)

Dix plays radio announcer Robert Parker, working at a station run by his girlfriend's father. Becoming a bit overexcited on the air, our hero lets slip a few (fortuitously unheard) profanities. Fired from his job, Parker enters into an amusing series of misadventures with veteran bank robber Jim Bailey (Charles Sellon).

Behind the Mike(en)

Complications ensue after a radio producer insults a sponsor.

A Wife's Life(en)

In this comedic Pete Smith Specialty short, average housewife Mrs. George T. Hardnose's day is recalled.

Meet Mr. Mischief(en)

Harry, who is known as a practical joker, finds himself being chased by a headhunter, and doesn't know if it's a joke or not.

Young Fugitives(en)

A young man befriends the last surviving Civil War veteran, intending to rob him of $50,000.

Are You Listening?(en)

WBLA is on the air, presenting the live music, the sudsy dramas and the sell-sell-sell of commercial interludes that keep consumers buying and sponsors smiling. But one sponsor, a producer of plumbing supplies, isn’t happy. So WBLA scriptwriter Bill Grimes is bounced from his job, setting in motion this movie’s turn from comedic to darkly tragic. William Haines, two years removed from being Tinseltown’s top male star, plays Grimes in a melodrama noted for its glimpses of live radio production and for a Depression-era ethos that includes peroxide cuties eager to land a job, a sugar daddy or both.

Night Intruder(en)

Angels(es)

A group of college students gradually disappear, with no explanation.

Don Quichotte(en)

This May 2010 production of Massenet's 1910 opera "Don Quichotte" marked the opera's centenary and also Jose Van Dam's operatic farewell at the Theatre de la Monnaie, Brussels. It is beautiful in every way--vocally, scenically, sonically, and visually--and a worthy record of Van Dam's farewell. Van Dam is just shy of 70 in this production, but you would never guess it from his singing or stage movements--a consummate artist. His is a noble portrayal and deeply moving. The Act V death scene is a model of beautiful singing and acting.

Mahler - Symphonies Nos. 7 & 8(en)

Leonard Bernstein made these recordings during his wonderfully productive collaboration with the Wiener Philharmoniker in the mid-1970s when he was at the peak of his career. Humphrey Burton's direction is, as always, very fine, giving the viewer/listener both the larger picture and highlighting individual soloists, players or groups of musicians and, of course, the maestro. The video and audio tracks show their age, but are quite acceptable even for today's standards. Bernstein's Seventh is everything one could desire: dark and spooky, highly sensual, but also structurally strong and assertive where needed. Bernstein's reading does not gloss over breakdowns in tonality and the foreshadowing of later musical developments.

Ouf!(xx)

Slapstick - a tribute to 100 years of cinema: authorities, in their efforts to create order, often create disorder, not noticing this.

Ladies House of Pleasure(fr)

A lovely summer day in Paris. Roger and Martine are on their way to work. "Work" is a euphemism because Martine is a prostitute in Pigalle. She is saving money to buy the house of her dreams in the country. Her husband Roger "works" for the same goal, but in a brothel for women. There, duchesses rub elbows with businesswomen, militant members of women's lib and other female pleasure-seekers.

Verdi La Traviata(en)

This set has Edita Gruberova singing in top form, all her scooping cast aside, which one finds in abundance in her Lucia under Richard Bonynge. Here, however, she makes ravishing use of those bits of tone that only she can produce: those instances of coloratura and dramatic legato with little asides and small florishes of style that suggest her intelligent approach and her high degree of musical involvement in this role. She does this in her I Puritani and her Anna Bolena, less so in Roberto Deveraux and Maria Stuarda(both sets). Listen to Addio del passato and the Sempre Libra...ravishing, yes, but there are again those nuances learned from Callas that she makes her own. A very singualr perform,ance, and extremely moving with its detail and cry for pity throughout..from the start even. Neil Schicoff is excellent, not an unworthy Alfredo at all! His is a great lyric tenor voice that should have been in the top line.

Idina Menzel: Which Way to the Stage?(en)

Feature documentary on the life and career of Tony winner Idina Menzel, culminating in her headlining a concert at Madison Square Garden in her hometown of New York City after a nationwide tour.

Neetho(te)

Varun, an insurance agent, meets Meghna, the daughter of a wealthy businessman, over a marriage policy. Their interaction leads to sharing some details about their respective relationships. Circumstances that follow and their failed relationships make them meet more often, and it opens a door for the Cupid to strike. But can love happen more than once, or is it just a rebound?