Best Music Movies of 1948

In the grand tradition of Disney's great musical classics, Melody Time features seven timeless stories, each enhanced with high-spirited music and unforgettable characters. You'll be sure to tap your toes and clap your hands in this witty feast for the eyes and ears.

A girl is engaged to the local richman, but meanwhile she has dreams about the legendary pirate Macoco. A traveling singer falls in love with her and to impress her he poses as the pirate.

Georgia Garrett is sent by jealous wife Elvira Kent on an ocean cruise to masquerade as herself while she secretly stays home to catch her husband cheating. Meanwhile equally suspicious husband Michael Kent has sent a private eye on the same cruise to catch his wife cheating. Love and confusion ensues along with plenty of musical numbers.

The story of seven scholars in search of an expert to teach them about swing music. They seem to have found the perfect candidate in winsome nightclub singer Honey Swanson. But Honey's gangster boyfriend doesn't want to give her up.

Developed from a radio program which began in 1941, hyperactive teenager Judy challenges and is challeged by her overly proper parents, pest of a brother Randolph and boyfriend Oogie.

Former burlesque star May and her daughter Peggy dance in the chorus. When May has a fight with featured dancer Bubbles, Bubbles leaves the show and Peggy takes her place. When Peggy falls in love with wealthy Randy, May fears class differences may lead to misery.

Encomium to Larry Hart (1895-1943), seen through the fictive eyes of his song-writing partner, Richard Rodgers (1902-1979): from their first meeting, through lean years and their breakthrough, to their successes on Broadway, London, and Hollywood. We see the fruits of Hart and Rodgers' collaboration - elaborately staged numbers from their plays, characters' visits to night clubs, and impromptu performances at parties. We also see Larry's scattered approach to life, his failed love with Peggy McNeil, his unhappiness, and Richard's successful wooing of Dorothy Feiner.

At the turn of the 20th century, travelling salesman Virgil Smith journeys to Vienna in the hope he can sell a gramophone to Emperor Franz Joseph, whose purchase of the recent American invention could spur its popularity in Austria.

Tenants of a Harlem boarding house put on a show to save their home.

Two strangers meet when they both miss their trains, and end up spending a penniless day and night together. An English version of 'It Happened One Night'.

Three young girls try to help their divorced mother find the right husband.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a timeless family holiday classic.

A newspaper reporter and the daughter of an immigrant maintenance man help expose political corruption in New York City.

A bandleader falls in love and marries a small town girl.

A bumblebee (to a boogie-woogie version of Flight of the Bumblebee) is being attacked by flowers made of piano keys, flowers made of trumpets, snakes made of piano keys, the piano hammers hitting the "strings" of the sheet music, and so forth.

A married couple who have a song-and-dance act in vaudeville are in trouble. Their struggling act is going nowhere, they're almost broke and they have to do something to get them back on top or they'll really be in trouble. They decide to put their young son in the act in hopes of attracting some new attention. The boy turns out to be a major talent, audiences love him and the act is on its way to the top. That's when an organization whose purpose is to stop children from performing on stage shows up, and they're dead set on breaking up the act.

A Walt Disney short film.

Milton Haskins, a math genius known for his infallibility with numbers, quits his job with an insurance company when he discovers he made a mistake, and hooks up with a traveling carnival. His knowledge of mathematics makes him a natural as an assistant at the wheel of fortune. His fiancée begs him to return to his job but he refuses, so she joins the carnival and becomes a striptease artist. When Milton attempts to drag her off the stage, a brawling mêlée breaks out and the entire troupe is arrested by the local police. The carnival is sold but Milton reveals that the new owner has conspired to defraud the insurance company. The insurance company has to accept the carnival in lieu of the money owed, and they allow Milton and his fiancée, Vivian, to stay with and help run the carnival.

Oliver Pease gets a dose of courage from his wife Martha and tricks the editor of the paper (where he writes lost pet notices) into assigning him the day's roving question. Martha suggests, "Has a little child ever changed your life?" Oliver gets answers from two slow-talking musicians, an actress whose roles usually feature a sarong, and an itinerant cardsharp. In each case the "little child" is hardly innocent: in the first, a local auto mechanic's "baby" turns out to be fully developed as a woman and a musician; in the second, a spoiled child star learns kindness; in the third, the family of a lost brat doesn't want him returned. And Oliver, what becomes of him?

Pepe Le Moko leads a gang of jewel thieves in the Casbah of Algiers, where he has exiled himself to escape imprisonment in his native France.

A young navy lieutenant is brought in as technical adviser on a song-dance-and-swim film being made by screen star Rosalind Reynolds. Having once done a number with her at a Forces show, the young lad somehow believes she should be his girl. Her boyfriend is just one of those disagreeing.

An all-Black comedy and dance revue with stars of stage and screen.

Danville, Connecticut at the turn of the century. Young Richard Miller lives in a middle-class neighborhood with his family. He is in love with the girl next-door, Muriel, but her father isn't too happy with their puppy-love, since Richard always share his revolutionary ideas with her.

When Roy and Trigger arrive at his ranch he finds Cookie has hired his relatives. Caroline, the only relative that doesn't have a strong resemblance to Cookie, is the horse trainer. Bob Tells Roy a gang of men are hunting range horses. Roy puts a stop to hunting on his land. Pop decides there's money in kidnapping Trigger and demands a $100,000 ransom. McFarland's stepson, Ted, and his dog Tramp, run away and is found hiding in Roy's barn. A trap is set to catch the kidnappers ranch.

The historic Toscanini television concerts with the NBC Symphony Orchestra. Broadcast #1 was of a concert on April 3, 1948, at NBC Studio 8H, featuring Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 ("Choral"). (Concerts #1 and #2 were released on "Vol. 1" in the DVD series.)

Ricardo, the milquetoast son of a Mexican bandit, would rather lead a quiet life in Boston. But the family would rather that he follow in his father's footsteps and become "The Kissing Bandit".

The historic Toscanini television concerts with the NBC Symphony Orchestra. Broadcast #3 was of a concert on December 4, 1948, at NBC Studio 8H, featuring Mozart's Symphony No. 40 in G minor K550; Dvorak's Symphonic Variations op78; and Wagner's Overture to Tannhäuser. (Concerts #3 and #4 were released on "Vol. 2" in the DVD series.)

The historic Toscanini television concerts with the NBC Symphony Orchestra. Broadcast #1 was of a concert on March 20, 1948, at NBC Studio 8H, featuring orchestral music from Wagner's operas. (Concerts #1 and #2 were released on "Vol. 1" in the DVD series.)

Virginia O'Brien visits Martin Block as he hosts a radio show devoted to Les Brown and His Band of Renown. A few numbers are heard from the band as Block gives a brief history of how they started. O'Brien also recalls her first movie song.

The world famous Coney Island in New York City, which got it's start in the 1840's is here included in Famous Studios, "Screen Song" series. The featured song is, By the Beautiful Sea, written in 1914, and is of the "follow the bouncing ball" variety. The song follows the slight story of animal characters(among them an elephant and mouse playing catch with a medicine ball)having fun at the beach.

In this short film, four popular songs, "By the Light of the Silvery Moon", "Moonlight Bay", "In the Evening By the Moonlight", and "Shine on Harvest Moon", about moonlight are presented.

Bickering brothers unwittingly wind up working together on the same musical production.

A retrospective of popular music from the 1890s and the turn of the century, with words for the audience to join in.

A photographer is choked to death just outside of where a college dance is being held. The body is discovered by Lee Watson, but promptly disappears, as it is being whisked from one point to another on the campus by a night watchman, who is an ex-convict.

The growth of juvenile crime in a small town starts a movement for the building of a youth center.

A family vaudeville act is threatened when the eldest son is offered a contract to play baseball. Musical.

Radio personality Martin Block interviews Ray Noble and Buddy Clark and introduces a few performances by Clark singing with Ray Noble and His Orchestra.

Disc Jockey Martin Block talks with and plays music by Tex Beneke

Tornado Range is one of five Eddie Dean westerns originally produced by PRC in 1947 but released the following year by Eagle-Lion. Cast as a troubleshooter for the U.S. Land Office, Dean is assigned to settle a deadly range war. Sure enough, the warring homesteaders and cattlemen are being whipped into a frenzy by a third party, who hopes to "divide and conquer," claiming the land for himself. Surprisingly, all-purpose PRC villain George Cheseboro isn't the culprit in this one; instead, he's cast as the father of heroine Jennifer Holt. Roscoe Ates is once more on hand for some questionable comedy relief.

In this musical short, Tex Beneke, Les Brown, and their Orchestras perform multiple numbers.

In this episode of the Musical Merry-Go-Round we get music from Frankie Carle and His Orchestra and Marjorie Hughes.

Country-western favorite Roy Acuff and his Smoky Mountain Boys star in the Columbia musical western Smoky Mountain Melody. Not much happens plotwise: Acuff, playing "himself," is a tenderfoot who somehow manages to come out on top when he heads westward. The villains (who aren't all that villainous) try to promote a phony stock deal, but Roy and his pals foils their plans. The comedy honors go to Guinn "Big Boy" Williams as a blowhard sheriff. Smoky Mountain Melody was scripted by Barry Shipman, the son of pioneering female filmmaker Nell Shipman.

The third film version of James Hagan's play, this time with songs added, starring Dennis Morgan as a dentist who marries patient and loyal Dorothy Malone despite his constant infatuation with sexy flirt Janis Paige. Filmed previously in 1933 ("One Sunday Afternoon") and 1941 ("The Strawberry Blonde").

Jack Parr hosts a variety program of comedic sketches.

This audience sing-along features tunes from four musicals with the lyrics appearing on screen. Numbers include "Am I Blue?" from 1929's On with the Show!.

"The Lone Star State" is an animated short about Texas. Includes a sing-a-long of "Deep in the Heart of Texas."

The portrait of Russian composer Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky focuses on his failed love affair.

Includes the segments, "Bop Boogie", "Sabre Dance" and "Disc Jockey Jump" by Gene and the band with vocalist Dolores Hawkins and introduced by Disc Jockey Fred Robbins.

Airline hostess Ann Parker is fired for being undignified when she sang to calm the passengers during a storm. Mike Connors, publicity man for Frankie Carle's orchestra, invites her to try out as the band's vocalist since the regular singer, Mary Lou, had just quit the band on the eve of an engagement at a swanky New York night club. Encouraged by her boyfriend, Steve Roberts, Ann lands the job and assumes the name of "Mary Lou", a trademark almost for Frankie Carle singers. But the departed Mary Lou shows up and threatens to sue if she is not rehired. Ann returns to her former job. Meanwhile, Steve locates the woman who was the original Mary Lou with the band, and urges Mike to keep the current Mary Lou off the bandstand until he can return with Ann.