Acting
Cleo Laine was a British jazz singer and actress known for her scat singing and vocal range.
Critics and the public say Karen Stone is too old -- as she approaches 50 -- for her role in a play she is about to take to Broadway. Her businessman husband, 20 years her senior, has been the angel for the play and gives her a way out: They are off to a holiday in Rome for his health. He suffers a fatal heart attack on the plane. Mrs. Stone stays in Rome. She leases a magnificent apartment with a view of the seven hills from the terrace. Then the contessa comes calling to introduce a young man named Paolo to her. The contessa knows many presentable young men and lonely American widows.
Cleo Laine and Johnny Dankworth perform jazz live on stage, chat about married life together, and recall lengthy musical careers.
A concert performance of Leonard Bernstein's "On the Town" performed at the Barbican Centre in London in 1993, conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas and hosted by Betty Comden and Adolph Green
A spin-off from the BBC television show. At the suggestion of her girlfriend, a young singer decides to try and make her name in London. Catching the overnight '6.5 Special' the two find the train full of 1950's British pop stars only too ready to burst into song. As the presenters of the show are also on board, our heroine is assured of a spot on the following Saturday's 'Six Five Special'.
With an introduction from his widow Dame Cleo Laine, this programme pays tribute to Sir John Dankworth, jazz musician, big band leader and composer for TV and film. Featuring a wide variety of performances from the BBC archive, it includes John playing saxophone in the company of his hero Duke Ellington from Monitor 1958, an appearance with his orchestra at the Royal Variety Performance 1962, classic tracks from the series Jazz 625 including John's band accompanying Cleo Laine, and Cleo and John's 2007 performance on Later with Jools Holland. Information captions give background details about the tunes played and John's illustrious career. John, who died in February 2010, was a pioneer of modern British jazz and an ambassador for all genres of British music.
After Elizabeth's husband dies, she begins to play her tenor saxophone again, and remembers when she was 15 and a member of the Blonde Bombshells, an all-girl (with one exception) swing band. Accompanied by the exception and urged on by her grand-daughter, Elizabeth hunts up all the old members of the band and urges them to perform, and in doing so, learns more than she knew about the band, its members, the roses on the drum set, and herself--the last of the Blonde Bombshells.
When a beautiful young woman suddenly offers inebriated Casey Morrow a lot of money for a quick and easy job, he doesn't ask too many questions. But when the girl's father is found murdered the following day and Morrow's coat is soaked with blood, he must unravel the mystery to clear his name.
When Prince Ahmad is blinded and cast out of Bagdad by the nefarious Jaffar, he joins forces with the scrappy thief Abu to win back his royal place, as well as the heart of a beautiful princess.
One of many tributes following the death of Spike Milligan. Comedians, actors and musicians join forces to present a live tribute featuring a selection of comic highlights from Spike's life. From recreations of his most famous sketches to readings of Milligan's own poems and extracts from his controversial wartime memoirs, these are all interspersed with archive film clips of the great man himself, showcasing his inimitable comic genius.
A composer (Laurence Payne) is stuck in a middle-class marriage and finds that his affair with his wife's half-sister (Jane Griffiths) has resulted in a pregnancy. When his wife refuses to give him a divorce he hatches a murder scheme that is too clever by half.
The story of an ambitious schoolboy, Gary Worrall (played by Christien Anholt), who sets out to make £1M during his half term school break! He is aided and abetted in this adventure by his school mate Brian Thurrock (Paul Reynolds). All goes smoothly until he meets the beautiful Lisa (Jayne Ashbourne) and he realises that life in the 'real' world is much more complicated than the theory in the classroom!