Movies

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...

Nightclub entertainer Ruby Carter moves from St. Louis to New Orleans to escape Tiger Kid. At Ace Lamont's club, she gains fame but faces drama with...

A group of adventurers refloat a WWII German submarine and prepare to use it to pull a very large heist; The Queen Mary which they plan to rob on the...

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

Kåre has a bank on wheels. He lives for the Bank bus and its customers, but soon it is over. A story of human presence in stark contrast to...

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

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...

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

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...

Betty and Bimbo, as Queen and King of the May, host a giant outdoor party that gets sprayed with rubber. Koko appears briefly.

Parks makes himself the subject, tracing his development as a person and an artist through a non-narrative abstract self-portrait that combines his...

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...

An adaptation of Thomas Wolfe's timeless 1935 short story where a man tries to direct a drunk to his train

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...

In this concert from his great European tour Duke gives a big band concert to be remembered in Brussel’s Marni Theatre. Featuring star soloists...

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

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

Born poor in Baltimore, Chick Webb broke his back as a boy and faced life as a hunchback dwarf afflicted with Spinal Tuberculosis. Someone suggested...

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

Carol Burnett hosts a look back at the storied Ed Sullivan Show, featuring reminiscences and legendary performances by stars from music and comedy.