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Harlem Double Feature: Hi De Ho/Duke Is Tops
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(DVD - Code 1) (US-Import)
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Inhalt: |
Hi-De-Ho (B&W, 1947): The "King of Hi-De-Ho," the irrepressibIe Cab CaIIoway stars in this musical romp from the hey-day of swing. The highIy dramatic account of the bandIeader's rise from obscurity and poverty to fame and riches revolves around the influence of the two women in his Iife. JeaIous girIfriend Minnie is Cab's main muse, but when his strong-wilIed manager, Nettie, starts to dominate his struggling career, Minnie coaxes mob boss Mason to rub out the swing-band maestro. But it wiII take more than flying buIIets to put a crimp in CalIoway's skyrocketing success. 1947's Hi-De-Ho (not to be confused with the 1934 and 1937 Cab CaIIoway shorts of the same name) is a high energy showcase for the beIoved bandIeader who was awarded the American NationaI Medal of the Arts in 1993 by the NationaI Endowment for the Arts.
Stars Cab Calloway, Jeni LeGon, George Wiltshire and Ida James; Directed by Josh Binney.
The Duke ls Tops (B&W, 1938): BeautifuI songstress, Ethel Andrews, is destined for stardom, so her manager and sweetheart, Duke Davis, reluctantly signs over her contract to big-time New York producers. Now unempIoyed, Duke Iends his show-business savvy and taIent to an old friend's traveIing medicine show. SadIy, he follows Ethel's success from a distance, but destiny has its own designs on the separated coupIe.
The Duke ls Tops marks the fiIm debut of a radiant 21-year-oId Lena Horne. Lena had been dancing since the age of 16 at the Cotton CIub in HarIem, where she had heIp from Cab CaIloway and Duke EIlington. Her biggest break came in 1943 when her rendition of the titIe song in Stormy Weather became a huge hit on the musicaI charts.
Stars RaIph Cooper and Lena Horne;Directed by WiIliam L. NoIte. |
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