Strike Me Pink

Norman Taurog

Ethel Merman reunites with her Kid Millions costar Eddie Cantor in this frothy bit of film fable from celebrated director Norman Taurog and legendary producer Samuel Goldwyn. Ol’ Banjo Eyes stars as meek Eddie Pink, who, thanks to a mail-order assertiveness course, ends up managing an amusement park beset by the mob. While doing his best to transform from milquetoast to manly, Eddie stymies the slot-machine gangsters while falling head over high-kicking heels for lovely chanteuse Joyce Lennox (Merman). In addition to Eddie’s antics- climaxing in a spectacular chase across the amusement park rides – viewers are treated to rousing renditions of toe-tapping favorites like “The Lady Dances,” “First You Have Me High,” “Calabash Pipe’ and “Shake It Off With Rhythm .” And that’s not to mention appearances by Parkyakarkus, William Frawley, Brian Donlevy and the always lovely Goldwyn Girls.


The Caddy

Norman Taurog

In this zany farce, Harvey (Jerry Lewis) is a shy but talented pro golfer who, because he can't face the crowds, coaxes his buddy Joe (Dean Martin) into a big time tournament. As Joe's caddy, Harvey is a disaster, and the two have a hilarious quarrel on the fairway which results in their being banned from golf. Their antics, however, have led to a new career in comedy. Dean Martin sings a number of lovely ballads to his girl (Donna Reed), and Jerry Lewis makes his kind of puppy love to his girl (Barbara Bates). The great comedy team makes this one of their funniest films.


Visit to a Small Planet

Norman Taurog

Curious about humans, Kreton (Jerry Lewis) goes AWOL from his habitat in outer space to make a flying visit to a small planet – Earth. He parks his spaceship in the backyard of the skeptic Roger Putnam Spelding, one of the least informed of the nation’s television commentators. Both get a glimpse of a world they'll never forget! Based on the play by Gore Vidal.


Pardners

Norman Taurog

The west has never been wilder - or wackier - as the greatest comedy duo of all-time slap on the chaps and hit the dusty trail for some rip-roarin’ fun on the range. Whether they’re corralling cattle, serenading the lovely ladies or dukin’ it out with the local bad guys, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis are at their rootin’-tootin’ best. The sons of former ranch partners, Slim Mosely (Martin) and Wade Kingsley (Lewis) have grown up in very different worlds. Needing help rescuing his ranch from greedy landowners, Slim heads to Manhattan and ropes millionaire Wade into coming west. Once there, the goofy city-slicker learns to become a real cowpoke as he and his new partner clean up the town in this sagebrush comedy classic.


Living It Up

Norman Taurog

The 1954 Martin-and-Lewis romp Living It Up is an amusing remake of the 1937 comedy classic Nothing Sacred. The heroine of the original undergoes a sex change to become feckless Homer Flagg (Jerry Lewis), who is led to believe that he's dying of radiation poisoning. Manhattan newspaperwoman Wally Cook (Janet Leigh), hoping to improve circulation of her paper, convinces her boss, Oliver Stone (Fred Clark), to fete Homer as a hero with an all-expenses-paid trip to the Big Apple. Meanwhile, Homer learns from local doctor Steve (Dean Martin) that he isn't dying at all. But Steve talks Homer into taking advantage of the celebrity treatment bestowed on him by Wally, and a good time is had by all — until medical specialist Dr. Egelhofer (Sig Rumann) insists upon examining Homer. Highlights include a hilarious bit at Yankee Stadium, and an energetic jitterbug number featuring Jerry Lewis and Sheree North.


Jumping Jacks

Norman Taurog

Gags and guffaws abound when song-and-dance man Hap Smith (Jerry Lewis) is induced to pose as a GI in paratroop training and liven up the camp show.


You're Never Too Young

Norman Taurog

Wilbur Hoolick (Jerry Lewis) is a bumbling barber's apprentice and he poses as a 12-year-old child to travel half fare. What Wilbur doesn't know is that a valuable stolen jewel has been put in his pocket and that Noonan, the killer-thief, is on his trail to recover it.


Rich, Young and Pretty

Norman Taurog

Jane Powell stars in this frothy romantic musical along with Vic Damone and Fernando Lamas. While vacationing in Paris with her father, rich Texan Jim Stauton Rogers (Wendell Corey), a cattle baron turned politician, 20-year-old Elizabeth Rogers (Powell) falls in love with handsome Andre Milan (Damone, in his film debut). She also learns to her surprise that her Gallic mother, Marie (Danielle Darrieux), is not dead, as she had been led to believe, but alive and involved with suave South American Paul Sarnac (Lamas). Among the ten musical numbers are "Wonder Why," "We Never Talk Much," and "I Can See You." The Four Freshman perform. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song.


Men of Boys Town

Norman Taurog

Spencer Tracy reprises his Oscar-winning performance as Father Flanagan opposite a young Mickey Rooney as Whitey Marsh in Men of Boys Town the sequel to the enduring classic Boys Town. Still believing that "no boy is back, if given a chance," Father Flanagan struggles to keep his sanctuary for wayward and homeless boys open despite mounting debts. Even as he proves his ability to build character among his young charges, whom society has already deemed hopeless delinquents, he must rescue a boy from a wrongfully imposed sentence to a corrupt reform school.


Onionhead

Norman Taurog

Andy Griffith stars as Al Woods, a college student more interested in girls and parties than with his falling grades and strained relationship with girlfriend Jo Hill. And as World War II begins, Al expects to sit it out as an assistant cook for the coast guard. His rebellious ways, however, mean that he falls afoul of mess officer Red Wildoe (Walter Matthau), but his individualistic nature attracts Wildoe's fiancée Stella (Felicia Farr).


Presenting Lily Mars

Norman Taurog

Judy Garland stars as a small-town girl with big-city dreams who heads to Broadway and--despite many disappointments and much hard work--stardom in Presenting Lily Mars. After years of struggling in New York, Lily Mars (Garland) finally lands and job as understudy to the star of a Broadway show produced by the man she has come to love, John Thornway (Academy Award winner Van Heflin). Yet, when the star can't go on and Lily triumphs on stage, Thornway refuses to give her the leading role, afraid that he will be accused of favoring his girlfriend. But nothing is going to stop Lily Mars from reaching the stardom she seeks in this delightful musical.


Young Tom Edison

Norman Taurog

Mickey Rooney stars as the boy who would become one of the greatest inventors of the modern era--a Young Tom Edison. Edison (Rooney) received only three months of formal education: the precocious boy's curiosity was too disruptive for the one-room schoolhouse in his hometown. But his parents encouraged the voracious reader, who'd read Newton's Principia by the time he was twelve. At an early age, Edison also lost most of his ability to hear, which only helped him to better focus his concentration. Finding work as a "brass pounder," an operator in the new, cutting-edge telegraph industry during the United States Civil War, Edison moonlights on his own inventions--an automatic telegraph repeater, the light bulb, the phonograph--that will change the world.


The Bride Goes Wild

Norman Taurog

June Allyson and Van Johnson star in this romantic comedy of a prim school teacher who falls in love when she achieves her lifelong dream to illustrate the latest book by her favorite children's author. But, discovering her heart has been hoodwinked by an elaborate hoax, the Bride Goes Wild! Proper Martha Terryton eagerly looks forward to meeting the author, Uncle Bumps. But Uncle Bumps is the pen name of cynical, drinking, womanizing writer Greg Rawlings. Shocked, Terryton threatens to reveal the truth to the children who buy his books. To save its investment, Rawlings' publisher concocts an elaborate cover story claiming the writer is a widower left alone to care for his son. The company even goes so far as to hire a streetwise boy from a local orphanage to live with Rawlings. The ruse works--at first. Everything is going exactly according to plan. But no one considered the boy's ability to add an unforeseen twist.


Words and Music (1948)

Norman Taurog

Bio-pic of songwriters Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart.


The Stooge

Norman Taurog

Money isn't everything and Bill Miller is the guy who keeps proving it. He's carved out a modest niche as a singer in the off-off-vaudeville circuit. But suddenly his act is big news. Well not just his act. He's now teamed with a manic comic. Yet Bill can't admit that the reason for his success is The Stooge. One sings, one clowns...sounds like anyone you know? Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis bring their straightman-funnyman act to this show biz story set in the 1930s. Songs include "Who's Your Little Whozis?" and comedy moments include just about any time Lewis is on screen. Don't miss the fun when he turns Dino's "Just One More Chance" into a zany production number of rising curtains, falling sandbags and a flying comic-on-a-rope. You'll be glad to give it more than one chance!


Don't Give Up the Ship

Norman Taurog

Newly wedded Lt. John Stekler (Jerry Lewis) finds himself up to his neck in hot water and his honeymoon sunk when the Navy discovers – years after the fact – that Stekler was last responsible for the missing $5 million USS Komblatt. Pressure is mounting on all sides. With the help of Miss Benson, a sexy, blond ensign, Stekler casts off on his search, leaving in his wake his frustrated, lovely bride and his sputtering, suspicious, foot-stomping mother-in-law. Can Lt. John Stekler find the ship and give it up before he loses his mind, his spouse and his freedom?


Bundle of Joy

Norman Taurog

When Bundle of Joy premiered in 1956, Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher were the cutest young marrieds in Hollywood, the obvious choice to headline the musical remake of one of the great comedies of the '30s, Bachelor Mother. As the Prince Charming of the piece, Fisher proves that as an actor, he is a pretty good crooner. But Reynolds is warmly appealing in the role originated by Ginger Rogers, playing a salesgirl who picks up a foundling, is mistaken for its unwed mother and must keep up the charade – baby and all – to keep her job. Coincidentally, Reynolds discovered she was pregnant before filming began. In true trouper fashion, she was still hoofing up a storm on the soundstage when she was seven months along.


A Yank at Eton

Norman Taurog

High school football star Tim Dennis has big plans for his future: the University of Notre Dame and gridiron glory! Instead, his
mother marries an Englishman, and Tim and his sister are summoned to live with their new family across the Atlantic. There, Tim
becomes a student at the distinguished British boys' school Eton, and his free-spirited ways run headlong into time-honored
tradition. Mickey Rooney portrays Tim in this fish-out-of-water tale co-scripted by and based on a story by A Yank at Oxford
screenwriter George Oppenheimer. Freddie Bartholomew plays Tim's new stepbrother; any chance to see Rooney and Bartholomew together
remains one of the great joys of Golden Era movies (it's the last of five features pairing them). The acting constellation, ably
directed by Norman Taurog of Boys Town, includes Edmund Gwenn as an avuncular housemaster and Peter Lawford as an arrogant
upperclassman.


Big City (1948)

Norman Taurog

Margaret O'Brien sings, dances and keeps the faith in this heartwarming musical drama co-starring Robert Preston, Danny Thomas and George Murphy. Midge (O'Brien) is the luckiest girl in New York. Found abandoned as an infant, she's adopted by a cantor (Thomas), a reverend (Preston) and a Catholic cop (Murphy), who raise her together as only three loving fathers can. But when the police officer marries a saloon singer (Betty Garrett) and insists on sole custody, the trio winds up in court, where Midge, with the help of a kind-hearted judge (Edward Arnold), must decide what's best for her fathers as well as herself. Highlighted by opera legend Lotte Lehmann in her only American film appearance and featuring Broadway star Betty Garrett in her big-screen debut, Big City is MGM at its musical best.


Room for One More

Norman Taurog

Screen legend Cary Grant and Betsy Drake (who were in real life husband and wife) star in a heartwarming comedy about a couple with three children who decide that three is definitely not enough. The comic complications of adopting a few new family members enliven this vastly enjoyable family film.


Tickle Me

Norman Taurog

Elvis Presley stars as a guitar-playing rodeo rider, working at a dude ranch for girls. He attracts all of them except the physical instructor, until he helps her to find buried gold in a ghost town.


Palm Springs Weekend

Norman Taurog

Classic "beach" movie about college kids looking for a good time on vacation, shot on-location in the one and only Palm Springs. '60s teen heartthrobs Troy Donahue and Connie Stevens star with Stefanie Powers ("Hart to Hart") and Robert Conrad ("Baa Baa Black Sheep").


It Happened At the World's Fair

Norman Taurog

Elvis Presley, the undisputed King of rock 'n' roll, stars in this fun-filled musical romance as a crop-dusting pilot who is escorted through the Seattle World's Fair by a cute Chinese girl and falls in love with a beautiful woman. Look for the screen debut of Kurt Russell ("Executive Decision," "Stargate"). Co-starring Gary Lockwood ("2001: A Space Odyssey").


Spinout

Norman Taurog

Elvis Presley, the rock'n'roll king, stars as a singing race-car driver who must choose among three beautiful and appealing females in this high-speed musical romp. Co-starring Emmy-nominee Shelley Fabares ("Coach").


Speedway (1968)

Norman Taurog

Elvis "The King" Presley takes the wheel as a stock car racer with generous impulses and a wayward manager who finds himself owing the IRS $145,000 in back taxes. Co-starring Bill Bixby ("The Incredible Hulk") and pop star Nancy "These Boots Are Made for Walking" Sinatra. Featuring great Elvis songs.


Live a Little, Love a Little

Norman Taurog

Elvis Presley stars as a photographer working two very different jobs and trying to juggle his responsibilities while being pursued by a beautiful, idiosyncratic woman. When the salary from Greg's (Presley) job as a photographer for a conservative magazine is not enough to pay his rent, he moonlights by shooting pin-up photos for a men's magazine. Now, while hoping that his straitlaced boss does not learn about his outside work, the singing, dancing, sexy Greg is pursued by a fashion model who may--or may not--be married.


Girl Crazy (1943)

Norman Taurog

The eighth pairing of Oscar-winners Judy Garland ("The Wizard of Oz," "Meet Me in St. Louis") and Mickey Rooney ("Babes in Toyland," "National Velvet") follows the exploits of a womanizing playboy who finds true love when he is sent to a remote college. Fun-filled musical featuring songs by George and Ira Gershwin.


Broadway Melody of 1940

Norman Taurog

Oscar-honoree and Golden Globe-winner Fred Astaire ("Top Hat," "The Towering Inferno") stars in this enjoyable musical about the friendship and rivalry between two dance partners. Problems arise when both men fall for the same gorgeous woman. Co-starring Oscar-honoree George Murphy ("Battleground") and Eleanor Powell ("That's Dancing"). An outstanding Cole Porter score, including "Begin the Beguine."


Boys Town

Norman Taurog

Spencer Tracy ("Mutiny on the Bounty", "Adam's Rib," "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde") stars with child-star Mickey Rooney ("Babes in Arms ," "The Black Stallion") in this Oscar-nominated moving story of a priest who develops a school for juvenile delinquents. Winner of Best Original Story. Tracy won his second Oscar as the compassionate but tough Father Flannigan. Norman Taurog ("Spinout," "Girls! Girls! Girls!") was nominated for Best Director. Selected by the prestigious American Film Institute as one of the 400 best American films of all time.


Double Trouble

Norman Taurog

Superstar Elvis Presley ("Jailhouse Rock") stars as an American rock singer who becomes involved with a European teen heiress. Featuring a collection of the King's classics, including "Long Legged Girl." With John Williams (TV's "Family Affair").


Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine

Norman Taurog

Vincent Price is a mad doctor who plans on taking over the world by having beautiful female robots seduce rich, powerful men. Frankie Avalon plays a secret agent who tries to stop the plot but ends up in Price's torture chamber. Picture includes bit parts by Annette Funicello and Harvey Lembeck. Title song sung by the Supremes.