Duke Ellington Movies

Semi-retired Michigan lawyer Paul Biegler takes the case of Army Lt. Manion, who murdered a local innkeeper after his wife claimed that he raped her....

Genre: Crime

Cast: James Stewart

Shortly before the curtain goes up the first time at the latest performance of Earl Carroll's Vanities, someone is attempting to injure the leading...

Genre: Music

Cast: Carl Brisson

Cabaret entertainer Ruby Carter shifts her operations to New Orleans and becomes exceedingly popular with the local men.

Genre: Comedy

Cast: Mae West

Jeff grows up near Basin Street in New Orleans, playing his clarinet with the dock workers. He puts together a band, the Basin Street Hot-Shots,...

Genre: Music

Cast: Bing Crosby

Duke Ellington & His Orchestra plus Sarah Vaughan & Her Trio live in Berlin. Featuring: Duke Ellington (piano), Sarah Vaughan (vocals), Harold Ashby...

Genre: Music

Cast: Duke Ellington

Jazz Icons: Duke Ellington features the earliest-known filmed full-length concert by one of the 20th Century's greatest songwriters and bandleaders....

Genre: Music

Cast: Johnny Hodges

Duke Ellington plays hot jazz in a fictional story that finds him down on his luck; he tries in vain to dissuade his friend, dancer Fredi Washington,...

Genre: Music

Cast: Duke Ellington

This short documentary by writer and archivist Ehsan Khoshbakht tells the story of Duke Ellington's concert tour of the Middle East in 1963 and the...

Genre: Documentary

Cast: Duke Ellington

Documentary portrait of the legendary jazz bandleader. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with The Film Foundation in 2000.

Genre: Documentary

Cast: Duke Ellington

Duke Ellington and his orchestra play two jazz compositions plus 'Stormy Weather' (sung by Ivy Anderson).

Genre: Music

Cast: Duke Ellington

A rising nineteen-year-old singer by the name of Billie Holiday made her screen debut in this musical landmark, which features Duke Ellington and his...

Genre: Music

Cast: Duke Ellington

Agent Pete Garland is fired by society singer Monica Barrett after he got her a new radio contract, because she thinks her lawyer friend Teddy Leeds...

Genre: Music

Cast: Frances Langford

Duke Ellington at the piano conducts a group of puppet perfume bottles playing his "Perfume Suite."

Genre: Animation

Cast: Duke Ellington

With a unique style that encompassed soul, jazz and pop, Lou Rawls established himself as one of the premier voices of the modern musical age. This...

Genre: Music

Cast: Lou Rawls

Duke Ellington and Orchestra perform 'C Jam Blues'.

Genre: Music

Cast: Duke Ellington

Beverly Ross, the switchboard operator at a local radio station, jumps at the chance to be the DJ for an early morning show before the soldiers at a...

Genre: Comedy

Cast: Ann Miller

Duke Ellington and His Orchestra perform "Bli-Blip" with Marie Bryant and Paul White

Genre: Music

Cast: Marie Bryant

Duke Ellington Orchestra performs "Mood Indigo" for Snader Telescriptions.

Genre: Music

Cast: Duke Ellington

Duke Ellington Orchestra performing "Sophisticated Lady" for Snader Telescriptions film.

Genre: Music

Cast: Duke Ellington

This remarkable DVD includes rare TV and film performances, an especially rare radio interview with Mike Wallace, an audio-only rehearsal session...

Genre: Music

Cast: Billie Holiday

The story of The Blues traces the four main traditions of blues music: Form Blues, Blues, Urban Blues and Blues Electric. The blues has evolved and...

Genre: Music

Cast: Lee Conley Bradley

In 1999, on the occasion of the centenary of Ellington's birth, Franco Maresco commissioned Steve Lacy to perform ten songs by the Duke, which were...

Genre: Documentary

Cast: Franco Maresco

This documentary film features plenty of archival material, also showing Alice Babs from her private side: as a vivacious lady who has held on to her...

Genre: Documentary

Cast: Alice Babs

Chronicling the Harlem Renaissance era, this retrospective documentary tracks the origins of the soulful music of the period, along with the...

Genre: Documentary

Cast: Cab Calloway

Genre: Music

Cast: Duke Ellington

1942 Short restored in true form

Genre:

Cast: Ivie Anderson

Restored film directed by Josef Berne, released in 1942

Genre:

Cast: Duke Ellington

Restored Film released in 1943, directed by Jay Bonafield

Genre:

Cast: Duke Ellington

Restored film directed by Will Cowan in 1943

Genre:

Cast: Duke Ellington

Short directed by Will Cowan as tribute to Duke Ellington

Genre:

Cast: Duke Ellington

Improvisational jazz performance filmed in 1950 by Gjon Mili plus Duke Ellington Trio filmed in July 1966, Count Basie at the Montreux Jazz Festival...

Genre: Music

Cast: Count Basie

Whitey's Lindy Hoppers at their best along with Duke Ellington and his Orchestra performing for this "Hot Chocolate" musical short.

Genre: Music

Cast: Duke Ellington

Harry Belafonte and Sidney Poitier travel down memory lane to see what life was like back in the 1920s. Harry Belafonte introduces this musical,...

Genre: Music

Cast: Harry Belafonte

Joined by the likes of saxophonist Ben Webster and trumpeter Cootie Williams, jazz giant Duke Ellington demonstrates in this collection of...

Genre: Music

Cast: Duke Ellington

The Cold War and Civil Rights collide in this remarkable story of music, diplomacy and race. Beginning in 1955, when America asked its greatest jazz...

Genre: Documentary

Cast: Leslie Odom Jr.

Genre: Music

Cast: Duke Ellington

A made-for-TV musical revue, compiled from soundies and film and TV performances by jazz greats from the 1930s to the 1950s.

Genre: Music

Cast: Cab Calloway

When compulsive gambler Little Joe Jackson dies in a drunken fight, he awakens in purgatory, where he learns that he will be sent back to Earth for...

Genre: Music

Cast: Ethel Waters

Call him the Duke of Denmark, as this is the second superb Ellington performance recorded in that country to be released in 2003 alone. It's also an...

Genre: Music

Cast: Duke Ellington

Director — and piano player — Clint Eastwood explores his life-long passion for piano blues, using a treasure trove of rare historical...

Genre: Music

Cast: Ray Charles

Duke Ellington's fifty year career was full of accomplishments as a highly original pianist, arranger, prolific composer and leader of a timeless...

Genre: Music

Cast: Duke Ellington

A star-studded tribute (from the creators of That's Entertainment) to the contributions of Afro-Americans in film over the last century. Vanessa...

Genre: Documentary

Cast: Vanessa Williams

Ossie Davis narrates a history of "race films," films made before 1950 which catered to a primarily black audience.

Genre: Documentary

Cast: Ossie Davis

The history of New York City's Apollo Theater in Harlem is given the full treatment.

Genre: Documentary

Cast: Pharrell Williams

Amos and Andy trying to make a go of their "open-air" taxi business while they get caught up in a society hassle, involving driving musicians to a...

Genre: Comedy

Cast: Freeman F. Gosden

This 1952 recording includes 2 performances of Duke and his Orchestra, one on Jan. 7, 1952 and one on Aug. 12, 1952. 12 of his signature pieces are...

Genre: Music

Cast: Duke Ellington

Gracie Allen assumes the "management" of the shop owned by her papa Horatio Allen, turning it into a radio station and then an aviary---with the...

Genre: Comedy

Cast: Gracie Allen

In 1936, Victor H. Green (1892-1960) published The Negro Motorist Green Book, a book that was both a travel guide and a survival manual, to help...

Genre: Documentary

Cast: Yoruba Richen

In 1955, on his report, a medical examiner wrote in the box: age, “about 53 years”. Charlie Parker nicknamed Bird just died, at 34. His...

Genre: Documentary

Cast: Pierre Tissot

In 1960, United Nations: the Global South ignites a political earthquake, musicians Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach crash the Security Council, Nikita...

Genre: Documentary

Cast: Patrice Lumumba

Profile of Duke Ellington featuring performances and interviews with the legendary bandleader. The performance footage was recorded in a number of...

Genre: Music

Cast: Cat Anderson

A journey into the BBC archives unearthing glorious performances and candid interviews from the golden age of jazz. Featuring some of the greatest...

Genre: Documentary

Cast: Rebecca Front

An aspiring singer is tasked with promoting the music catalogue of his great-grandfather, the famous songwriter Jimmy McHugh, recorded by everyone...

Genre: Documentary

Cast: Jimmy McHugh