Sort by Popularity - Most Popular Movies and TV Shows tagged with keyword "bandleader"
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1. I Love Lucy (1951–1957)
TV-Y | 30 min | Comedy, Family
The wife of a band leader constantly tries to become a star - in spite of her having no talent, and gets herself (along with her best friend) into the funniest predicaments.
Stars: Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, William Frawley
Votes: 28,902
2. Mallrats (1995)
R | 94 min | Comedy, Romance
Both dumped by their girlfriends, two best friends seek refuge in the local mall.
Director: Kevin Smith | Stars: Shannen Doherty, Jeremy London, Jason Lee, Claire Forlani
Votes: 128,835 | Gross: $2.12M
3. Judy (II) (2019)
PG-13 | 118 min | Biography, Drama, Music
Legendary performer Judy Garland arrives in London in the winter of 1968 to perform a series of sold-out concerts.
Director: Rupert Goold | Stars: Renée Zellweger, Jessie Buckley, Finn Wittrock, Rufus Sewell
Votes: 54,827
4. The Hobbit (1977 TV Movie)
TV-PG | 90 min | Animation, Adventure, Family
A homebody hobbit in Middle Earth gets talked into joining a quest with a group of dwarves to recover their treasure from a dragon.
Directors: Jules Bass, Arthur Rankin Jr. | Stars: Orson Bean, John Huston, Theodore Gottlieb, Cyril Ritchard
Votes: 16,340
5. Brassed Off (1996)
R | 108 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
The coal mine in a northern English village may be closing, which would also mean the end of the miners' brass band.
Director: Mark Herman | Stars: Pete Postlethwaite, Tara Fitzgerald, Ewan McGregor, Stephen Tompkinson
Votes: 20,934 | Gross: $2.56M
6. Doctor Detroit (1983)
R | 89 min | Comedy
A pimp on the run trusts his sex workers to a meek professor of literature, who accepts the challenge.
Director: Michael Pressman | Stars: Dan Aykroyd, Howard Hesseman, Donna Dixon, Lydia Lei
Votes: 6,139 | Gross: $10.38M
7. The Glenn Miller Story (1954)
Approved | 115 min | Biography, Drama, Music
Biography of bandleader Glenn Miller from his beginnings to his death over the English Channel in December 1944.
Director: Anthony Mann | Stars: James Stewart, June Allyson, Harry Morgan, Charles Drake
Votes: 9,705
8. Swing Time (1936)
Passed | 103 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
Roguish gambler/dancer "Lucky" Garnett is challenged by his fiance's father to come up with $25,000 to prove he's worthy of her hand. But after he falls in love with a dance instructor, Lucky'll do anything to keep from earning the bucks.
Director: George Stevens | Stars: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Victor Moore, Helen Broderick
Votes: 14,582
9. Young Man with a Horn (1950)
Passed | 112 min | Biography, Drama, Music
A young trumpet player is torn between an honest singer and a manipulative heiress.
Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: Kirk Douglas, Lauren Bacall, Doris Day, Hoagy Carmichael
Votes: 3,886
10. Lady Sings the Blues (1972)
R | 144 min | Biography, Drama, Music
The story of the troubled life and career of the legendary Jazz singer, Billie Holiday.
Director: Sidney J. Furie | Stars: Diana Ross, Billy Dee Williams, Richard Pryor, James T. Callahan
Votes: 4,843 | Gross: $6.03M
11. New Orleans (1947)
Approved | 90 min | Drama, Music, Romance
A gambling hall owner relocates from New Orleans to Chicago and entertains his patrons with hot jazz by Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Woody Herman, and others.
Director: Arthur Lubin | Stars: Arturo de Córdova, Dorothy Patrick, Marjorie Lord, Irene Rich
Votes: 672
12. My One and Only (2009)
PG-13 | 108 min | Adventure, Biography, Comedy
After leaving her philandering husband, an elegant socialite takes her two sons on a road trip across America in search of a better life.
Director: Richard Loncraine | Stars: Renée Zellweger, Logan Lerman, Mark Rendall, Kevin Bacon
Votes: 9,420 | Gross: $2.48M
13. Song of the Thin Man (1947)
Not Rated | 86 min | Comedy, Crime, Musical
Nick and Nora Charles are on a gambling boat when someone is murdered. The two main suspects are at large and come to Nick for help. Nick turns them in to the police but then sets out to figure out the mystery.
Director: Edward Buzzell | Stars: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Keenan Wynn, Dean Stockwell
Votes: 5,733 | Gross: $3.06M
14. Wild in the Streets (1968)
R | 97 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
A young man gains significant political influence as the leader of a counterculture rock band with his rallying cry of voting rights for teenagers.
Director: Barry Shear | Stars: Christopher Jones, Shelley Winters, Diane Varsi, Hal Holbrook
Votes: 2,208
15. Moonrise (1948)
Passed | 90 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Danny is despised by his schoolmates because his father was accused of killing another man and sentenced to death.
Director: Frank Borzage | Stars: Dane Clark, Gail Russell, Ethel Barrymore, Allyn Joslyn
Votes: 2,967
16. The Band's Visit (2007)
PG-13 | 87 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
A band comprised of members of the Egyptian police force head to Israel to play at the inaugural ceremony of an Arab arts center, only to find themselves lost in the wrong town.
Director: Eran Kolirin | Stars: Sasson Gabay, Ronit Elkabetz, Saleh Bakri, Khalifa Natour
Votes: 14,148 | Gross: $3.05M
17. Flying Down to Rio (1933)
Passed | 89 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
A bandleader woos a Latin flame who is already engaged to his employer.
Director: Thornton Freeland | Stars: Dolores Del Río, Gene Raymond, Raul Roulien, Ginger Rogers
Votes: 4,024 | Gross: $2.01M
18. Johnny Staccato (1959–1960)
24 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Johnny Staccato is a jazz pianist and private detective.
Stars: John Cassavetes, Eduardo Ciannelli, Dennis Sallas, Frank London
Votes: 274
19. Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge (1994–1995)
TV-14 | 45 min | Comedy
Alan Partridge hosts his own chat show on the BBC. He insults and belittles almost all of his guests and is humiliated by the rest.
Stars: Steve Coogan, Rebecca Front, Patrick Marber, Steve Brown
Votes: 6,847
20. Alice Adams (1935)
Passed | 99 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A working-class girl is thwarted and embarrassed in her attempts to move up socially by her gauche family and unstable father.
Director: George Stevens | Stars: Katharine Hepburn, Fred MacMurray, Fred Stone, Evelyn Venable
Votes: 4,562
21. Primetime Glick (2001–2003)
TV-14 | 22 min | Comedy, Music, Talk-Show
Talk-show parody featuring obese host Jiminy Glick, who usually knows nothing about his guests and hurls veiled insults at them during his interviews.
Stars: Martin Short, Michael McKean, Brett Gilbert, Jackie Stevens
Votes: 921
22. The Eddy Duchin Story (1956)
Approved | 123 min | Biography, Drama, Music
The life story of the famous pianist and band-leader of the 1930s and 1940s.
Director: George Sidney | Stars: Tyrone Power, Kim Novak, Victoria Shaw, James Whitmore
Votes: 2,154
23. Depeche Mode: 101 (1989)
R | 120 min | Documentary, Music
Depeche Mode prepares for the 101st and final concert of its massive world tour at the Rose Bowl Stadium, Pasadena, California, while a group of fans who won a contest travel to the concert through the United States on a bus.
Directors: David Dawkins, Chris Hegedus, D.A. Pennebaker | Stars: Andrew Fletcher, Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Alan Wilder
Votes: 2,088
24. The Star Maker (1995)
R | 113 min | Drama, Romance
A photographer and the types of people he encounters.
Director: Giuseppe Tornatore | Stars: Sergio Castellitto, Tiziana Lodato, Franco Scaldati, Leopoldo Trieste
Votes: 5,478 | Gross: $0.12M
25. Second Chorus (1940)
Passed | 84 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
When perennial college students Danny O'Neill and Hank Taylor are forced to make it on their own, the competitive pair get jobs with Artie Shaw's band and reunite with ex-manager Ellen Miller.
Director: H.C. Potter | Stars: Fred Astaire, Paulette Goddard, Artie Shaw, Charles Butterworth
Votes: 1,760
26. On Our Merry Way (1948)
Approved | 107 min | Comedy, Music, Romance
Three short stories revolving around the topic of the daily question posed by the roving reporter to the readers of a daily newspaper.
Directors: Leslie Fenton, King Vidor, John Huston, George Stevens | Stars: Paulette Goddard, Burgess Meredith, James Stewart, Henry Fonda
Votes: 846
27. Alexander's Ragtime Band (1938)
Approved | 106 min | Drama, Music, Musical
This send-up of ragtime song and dance begins in 1915 San Francisco when society boy Roger Grant decides to pursue popular rather than serious music.
Director: Henry King | Stars: Tyrone Power, Alice Faye, Don Ameche, Ethel Merman
Votes: 2,320
28. The Hard Way (1943)
Passed | 109 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
Embittered, ambitious Helen Chernen sees an opportunity to escape her drab small-town life by becoming a 'stage mother' to her musically-talented younger sister.
Director: Vincent Sherman | Stars: Ida Lupino, Joan Leslie, Dennis Morgan, Jack Carson
Votes: 1,493
29. International House (1933)
Passed | 68 min | Comedy
Assorted wacky characters converge on a Chinese hotel to bid on a new invention: television.
Director: A. Edward Sutherland | Stars: W.C. Fields, Peggy Hopkins Joyce, Rudy Vallee, Stuart Erwin
Votes: 1,468
30. The Benny Goodman Story (1956)
Approved | 116 min | Biography, Drama, Music
The young Benny Goodman is taught clarinet by a Chicago music professor. He is advised by bandleader Kid Ory to play whichever kind of music he likes best, but to make a living, Benny begins by joining the Ben Pollack traveling band.
Director: Valentine Davies | Stars: Steve Allen, Donna Reed, Berta Gersten, Barry Truex
Votes: 1,296
31. You'll Find Out (1940)
Approved | 97 min | Comedy, Crime, Horror
The manager of Kay Kyser's band books them for a birthday party bash for an heiress at a spooky mansion, where sinister forces try to kill her.
Director: David Butler | Stars: Kay Kyser, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi
Votes: 1,451
32. The First Olympics: Athens 1896 (1984)
237 min | Drama, History, Sport
This movie describes the founding of the modern Olympics and concentrates on the creation of the American team and their trials in getting to the Olympics in Athens.
Stars: David Ogden Stiers, Hunt Block, David Caruso, Alex Hyde-White
Votes: 433
33. Lucy & Desi: Before the Laughter (1991 TV Movie)
PG | 95 min | Biography, Drama, History
This made for TV movie tells the story of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. It begins in the 1930's when they met as actors under contract at RKO and ends with their divorce in 1960. In between ... See full summary »
Director: Charles Jarrott | Stars: Frances Fisher, Maurice Benard, Robin Pearson Rose, John Wheeler
Votes: 255
34. The Bride Came C.O.D. (1941)
Approved | 92 min | Comedy, Romance
A financially-strapped charter pilot hires himself to an oil tycoon to kidnap his madcap daughter and prevent her from marrying a vapid band leader.
Director: William Keighley | Stars: James Cagney, Bette Davis, Stuart Erwin, Eugene Pallette
Votes: 3,732
35. Stars and Stripes Forever (1952)
Approved | 90 min | Biography, Comedy, Music
A film biography of the composer John Philip Sousa, from his early days in the Marine Corps Band through the Spanish-American War in 1898.
Director: Henry Koster | Stars: Clifton Webb, Robert Wagner, Debra Paget, Ruth Hussey
Votes: 962
36. Maisie Goes to Reno (1944)
Passed | 90 min | Comedy, Romance
Exhausted from wartime riveting, a chorus girl (Ann Sothern) goes to Nevada and falls for a card dealer (John Hodiak).
Director: Harry Beaumont | Stars: Ann Sothern, John Hodiak, Tom Drake, Marta Linden
Votes: 535
37. Pennies from Heaven (1936)
Passed | 81 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
Larry Poole, in prison on a false charge, promise an inmate that when he gets out he will look up and help out a family. The family turns out to be a young girl, Patsy Smith, and her elderly grandfather who need lots of help.
Director: Norman Z. McLeod | Stars: Bing Crosby, Madge Evans, Edith Fellows, Louis Armstrong
Votes: 794
38. Do You Love Me (1946)
Approved | 91 min | Musical, Romance
The woman dean of a music school undergoes a glamorous transformation after she meets a swing bandleader.
Director: Gregory Ratoff | Stars: Maureen O'Hara, Dick Haymes, Harry James, Reginald Gardiner
Votes: 297
39. Playmates (1941)
Passed | 96 min | Comedy, Music
For the sake of a lucrative radio contract, John Barrymore agrees to turn bandleader Kay Kyser into a Shakespearian actor.
Director: David Butler | Stars: Kay Kyser, John Barrymore, Lupe Velez, Ginny Simms
Votes: 349
40. A Muppet Family Christmas (1987 TV Movie)
TV-PG | 47 min | Comedy, Family, Musical
Fozzie Bear surprises his mother on Christmas Eve by bringing the entire Muppet gang to her farm to celebrate the holidays.
Directors: Peter Harris, Eric Till | Stars: Frank Oz, Dave Goelz, Richard Hunt, Kathryn Mullen
Votes: 4,676
41. Night Song (1947)
Approved | 102 min | Drama, Romance, Music
When a beautiful socialite falls in love with an embittered composer who is blind, she feigns blindness herself in order to get closer to him.
Director: John Cromwell | Stars: Dana Andrews, Merle Oberon, Ethel Barrymore, Hoagy Carmichael
Votes: 677
42. Ship Ahoy (1942)
Passed | 95 min | Comedy, Musical, Mystery
Miss Winters is a dancer with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra and is asked to secretly transport a prototype magnetic mine to Puerto Rico. She thinks that she is working for the US Government, but fails to see why she would be involved.
Director: Edward Buzzell | Stars: Eleanor Powell, Red Skelton, Bert Lahr, Virginia O'Brien
Votes: 716
43. Something to Sing About (1937)
Approved | 93 min | Comedy, Musical
A New York bandleader journeys to Hollywood when he is offered a contract with a studio, but he is determined to do things his way and not theirs.
Director: Victor Schertzinger | Stars: James Cagney, Evelyn Daw, William Frawley, Mona Barrie
Votes: 1,022
44. Holiday in Mexico (1946)
128 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
The U.S. Ambassador's (Walter Pidgeon) daughter falls for a Mexican pianist (Jose Iturbi) old enough to be her grandfather.
Director: George Sidney | Stars: Walter Pidgeon, Ilona Massey, José Iturbi, Roddy McDowall
Votes: 524
45. The Stork Club (1945)
Passed | 98 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
A hat-check girl at the Stork Club (Hutton) saves the life of a drowning man (Fitzgerald). A rich man, he decides to repay her by anonymously giving her a bank account, a luxury apartment ... See full summary »
Director: Hal Walker | Stars: Betty Hutton, Barry Fitzgerald, Don DeFore, Robert Benchley
Votes: 744
46. Duchess of Idaho (1950)
Approved | 98 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
Ellen Hallet is in love with her playboy boss, Douglas Morrison, but too timid to do anything about it. Her roommate Chris devises a plan to help her: she follows Morrison on his trip to ... See full summary »
Director: Robert Z. Leonard | Stars: Esther Williams, Van Johnson, John Lund, Paula Raymond
Votes: 640
47. Cuban Pete (1946)
Passed | 60 min | Comedy, Music
Unable to complete the deal by telephone, advertising executive Roberts sends his assistant Ann to Cuba to lure a Cuban band, led by Desi Arnaz, on to an American radio program. Attracted ... See full summary »
Director: Jean Yarbrough | Stars: Desi Arnaz, Ethel Smith, Joan Shawlee, Beverly Simmons
Votes: 50
48. Syncopation (1942)
Approved | 88 min | Comedy, History, Music
Covering a quarter-century of American 'syncopated" music (Ragtime, Jazz, Swing, Blues, Boogie Woogie) from prior to WWI through prohibition, the stock market crash, the depression and the ... See full summary »
Director: William Dieterle | Stars: Adolphe Menjou, George Bancroft, Todd Duncan, Connee Boswell
Votes: 331
49. Some Like It Hot (1939)
Approved | 65 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
Nicky Nelson is a fast-talking sideshow barker with a wax-and-alive concession on Atlantic City's boardwalk. Even with the band of his friend, struggling musician Gene Krupa, playing on the... See full summary »
Director: George Archainbaud | Stars: Bob Hope, Shirley Ross, Una Merkel, Gene Krupa
Votes: 314
50. The Princess Comes Across (1936)
Passed | 76 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
A woman pretends to be royalty in order to get aboard a cruise ship.
Director: William K. Howard | Stars: Carole Lombard, Fred MacMurray, Douglass Dumbrille, Alison Skipworth
Votes: 1,237