Jack Buchanan

Get Aboard! 'The Band Wagon'

Documentary on the 1953 musical "The Band Wagon."

That's Entertainment! III

Some of MGM'S musical stars review the studios history of musicals. From The Hollywood Revue of 1929 to Brigadoon, from the first musical talkies to Gene Kelly in Singin' in the Rain.

That's Entertainment, Part II

Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire present more golden moments from the MGM film library, this time including comedy and drama as well as classic musical numbers.

That's Entertainment!

Various MGM stars from yesterday present their favorite musical moments from the studio's 50 year history.

The French, They Are a Funny Race

An Englishman tries to adapt to life in France

Josephine and Men

The trouble with Josephine is that her ever-loving and over-sympathetic nature leads her to switch from needful men to even more needful men...

As Long as They're Happy

The suburban peace of the Bentley household is shattered when John Bentley is informed by his wife Stella that their two married daughters, Pat and Corrine are in trouble and need funds to come home and bring their husbands, Peter, a penniless Parisian artist and Barnaby, a Texas cowboy, with them. And the youngest daughter, Gwen, has tricked an American singer, Bobby Denver, into visiting them on the pretext that it is the home of a noted British film magnate. When all the women in the household --- including the maid --- fall for the singer's charms, Bentley consults a crackpot psychiatrist, Dr. Schneider, who almost succeeds in ousting, not the singer, but Bentley's wife, with his advice to Bentley to make her jealous by living it up with Pearl, a showgirl recruited for the purpose.

The Band Wagon

A Broadway artiste turns a faded film star's comeback vehicle into an artsy flop.

Elstree Story

Starting in 1927 when the first film, The White Sheik, was made there, Elstree Story features excerpts from over forty productions – including Hitchcock’s Blackmail, the first feature-length British talkie ever shown – with early appearances by some of cinema’s greatest stars; it is a most memorable and evocative journey through the years.

The Middle Watch

Through a series of unforeseen events, two glamorous young ladies find that they are obliged to spend the night on board the battleship HMS Falcon, where they have been attending a 'bon voyage' reception. At first it seems that Captain Randall will be able to keep them concealed, but then the Admiral unexpectedly arrives on board and orders the ship to sea.

The Gang's All Here

John Forrest is anticipating a quiet retirement spent penning detective fiction when he learns that a priceless collection of jewels belonging to a foreign potentate, Prince Homouska, has just vanished from the safekeeping of the Stamford Assurance Company. Aided by his butler, his Cockney assistant and his (initially) unwilling wife, Forrest sets out on the trail of the thieves.

Break the News

Two small-time song-and-dance men come up with what they believe is a surefire publicity stunt, guaranteed to keep their names in the public eye--one of them will "disappear" in what looks like a murder, and the other will be convicted of the crime. Then the "dead man" will suddenly show up at his partner's murder trial. Unfortunately, things don't quite go as planned. For one thing, no one seems to much care that the "dead man" is missing, and for another thing he's mistaken for the leader of a Balkan revolutionary group and is kidnapped by the other side.

Smash and Grab

John Forrest, an insurance investigator with a weakness for model railways, is on the trail of a gang of smash-and-grab thieves targeting Europe's most prestigious jewellers. As the chase leads him to Ireland, Forrest finds he needs help and who better to call upon than his impossibly elegant, highly capable wife, Alice?

The Sky’s the Limit

Romance of an absent minded designer of planes and a famous singer to whom he tries to sell his friends' songs.

This'll Make You Whistle

A filmed version of the stage musical from London's West End, Jack stars in a frothy tale of a bachelor who finds himself engaged to two girls simultaneously. Elsie Randolph, Jack's long standing stage partner co-stars with him, along with Jean Gillie who was rapidly establishing her career in films as a bubbly comic player. Songs include the title song & "There isn't any limit to my love", both quite popular hits in the UK at the time.

Limelight

A chorus girl (Anna Neagle) discovers a singer (Arthur Tracy) in the streets and asks her producer to give him a shot at stardom.

When Knights Were Bold

Happy-go-lucky soldier Guy De Vere must leave India and return to the family seat at Little Twittering, for he has inherited the family title. Sir Guy finds all his relatives to be frozen stuffed shirts... except lovely cousin Rowena, who is mad about knighthood and chivalry. Struck in the head by a falling suit of armor, Guy dreams he and Rowena are back in 1400, as the unabashed farce continues...

Come Out of the Pantry

A Duke's son plays the part of a footman and shows himself amusing in the pantry.

Brewster's Millions

Jack Brewster is a pennyless English lad who learns that he has inherited 6 million pounds sterling from a recently deceased relative. But soon learns that he must spend 500,000 pounds in 60 days to inherit the rest of the money, or forfeit the entire inheritance.

That's a Good Girl

That's a Good Girl is a 1933 British comedy film directed by Jack Buchanan and starring Buchanan, Elsie Randolph and Dorothy Hyson. The film was based on a musical show of the same title that opened at the Lewisham Hippodrome on 19 March 1928, in which Jack Buchanan also starred. The music was written by Joseph Meyer and Phil Charig, with lyrics by Douglas Furber. The film omitted much of music of the original show, but popularised one song in particular, Fancy our Meeting. The song remained a Jack Buchanan favourite and a version of it was also recorded by Al Bowlly shortly after the film's release.

Yes, Mr. Brown

The manager of a foreign branch of an American toy company attempts to entertain his visiting American boss to obtain a partnership.

Good Night, Vienna

Max is an Austrian officer in the army and son of a highly placed general. His father wants him to marry a Countess but he has fallen in love with Vicki. Attending a party given in his honour, they are informed that war has broken out. Max writes a note to Vicki and goes off to war. Unfortunately the note is lost. Some time after the war, Max is just a shoe shop assistant while Vicki is now a famous singer. They meet and at first she snubs him but then falls in love with him again

Man of Mayfair

'Lord poses as workman to win dancer who works as waitress in her mother's tea garden.' (British Film Catalogue)

Monte Carlo

A countess fleeing her husband mistakes a count for her hairdresser at a Monte Carlo casino.

Jack Buchanan with the Glee Quartet

Early Vitaphone-Warner Bros. short film introduced as part of the Vitaphone Varieties series featuring Jack Buchanan who announces to the audience that he will be replacing a member of the Glee Quartet though he has had little time to rehearse. He doesn't know the lyrics, any of the coordinated movements and is generally out of sync with the others to the point of losing his shoes.

Show of Shows

Now hear this. The studio that gave the cinema its voice offered 1929 audiences a chance to see and hear multiple silent-screen favorites for the first time in a gaudy, grandiose music-comedy-novelty revue that also included Talkie stars, Broadway luminaries and of course, Rin-Tin-Tin. Frank Fay hosts a jamboree that, among its 70+ stars, features bicyclers, boxing champ Georges Carpentier, chorines in terpsichore kickery, sister acts, Myrna Loy in two-strip Technicolor as an exotic Far East beauty, John Barrymore in a Shakespearean soliloquy (adding an on-screen voice to his legendary profile for the first time) and Winnie Lightner famously warbling the joys of Singing in the Bathtub. Watch, rinse, repeat!

Paris

Irène Bordoni is cast as Vivienne Rolland, a Parisian chorus girl in love with Massachusetts boy Andrew Sabbot (Jason Robards Sr.) Andrew's snobbish mother Cora (Louise Closser Hale) tries to break up the romance. Jack Buchanan likewise makes his talking-picture debut as Guy Pennell, the leading man in Vivienne's revue. No film elements of Paris are known to exist, although the complete soundtrack survives on Vitaphone disks. The sound tape reels for this film survives at UCLA Film and Television Archive.

Toni

Depressive Toni is diagnosed with idlesness by his doctor who recommends more excitement and danger. Another patient, a celebrated detective who bears a striking resemblance to Toni, is diagnosed with exhaustion and told to rest. The two swap places but Toni's first client turns out to be an exiled princess whose jewels are about to be stolen by a ruthless gang and the amateur detective finds more thrills than he bargained for.

Bulldog Drummond's Third Round

Merchants hire a foreign criminal to kidnap a scientist for the secret of manufacturing diamonds.

Settled Out of Court

A husband's attempts to escape from a loveless marriage ends in tragedy.

The Happy Ending

A wastrel returns to blackmail his wife who has told her children that he died a hero.