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Steve Allen
Stephen Valentine Patrick William Allen was an American television personality, radio personality, musician, composer, actor, comedian, writer, and advocate of scientific skepticism. In 1954, he achieved national fame as the co-creator and first host of The Tonight Show, which was the first late night television talk show.
Though he got his start in radio, Allen is best known for his extensive network television career. He gained national attention as a guest host on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts. After he hosted The Tonight Show, he went on to host numerous game and variety shows, including his own The Steve Allen Show, I've Got a Secret, and The New Steve Allen Show. He was a regular panel member on CBS's What's My Line?, and from 1977 until 1981 wrote, produced, and hosted the award-winning public broadcasting show Meeting of Minds, a series of historical dramas presented in a talk format.
Allen was a pianist and a prolific composer. By his own estimate, he wrote more than 8,500 songs, some of which were recorded by numerous leading singers. Working as a lyricist, Allen won the 1964 Grammy Award for Best Original Jazz Composition. He also wrote more than 50 books, including novels, children's books, and books of opinions, including his final book, Vulgarians at the Gate: Trash TV and Raunch Radio.
In 1996 Allen was presented with the Martin Gardner Lifetime Achievement Award from the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSICOP). He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and a Hollywood theater named in his honor.
Known For | Acting |
---|---|
Most Rating | 1.47 |
Birthday | 1921-12-26 |
Place of Birth | New York City, New York, USA |
Also Known As | Stephen Valentine Patrick William Allen, Steven Allen, Steve Allen Jr., |
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1975
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Mitzi & 100 Guys
0/0
Mitzi Gaynor in a song and dance hour with an all-male, star-studded ensemble featuring her main guests Michael Landon (Little House on the Prairie) a...
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Mitzi & 100 Guys
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1968
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The Movie Orgy
6.4/10
Clips from assorted television programs, B-movies, commercials, music performances, newsreels, bloopers, satirical short films and promotional and gov...
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The Movie Orgy
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1992
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The Player
7.194/835
A Hollywood studio executive is being sent death threats by a writer whose script he rejected - but which one?
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The Player
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1955
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Allen in Movieland
5/1
TV goes Hollywood when Steve Allen visits Universal-International to prepare for his upcoming title role in "The Benny Goodman Story."
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Allen in Movieland
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1968
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Where Were You When the Lights Went Out?
5.2/11
When the Great Northeast Blackout of 1965 hit, millions of people were left in the dark, including Waldo Zane, a New York executive in the process of...
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Where Were You When the Lights Went Out?

1956
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The Benny Goodman Story
6.3/14
Young Benny Goodman is taught clarinet by a music professor. He is advised to play whichever kind of music he likes best, but to make a living, Benny...
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The Benny Goodman Story
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1992
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Laurel and Hardy: A Tribute to the Boys
6.5/2
Modern comedians share their thoughts about Laurel and Hardy. Also includes archival footage of contemporary comedians. Hosted by Dom DeLuise.
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Laurel and Hardy: A Tribute to the Boys
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1966
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Don't Worry, We'll Think of a Title
3.5/2
A man is mistaken by foreign agents for a defecting cosmonaut and must prove his identity while evading capture.
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Don't Worry, We'll Think of a Title
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1991
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Rodney Dangerfield's The Really Big Show
7/1
Rodney Dangerfield wants the hottest up-and-coming comedians for his new HBO special, but as always, he gets no respect.
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Rodney Dangerfield's The Really Big Show
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1972
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Lenny Bruce: Without Tears
3.3/3
The outrageous, groundbreaking comic Lenny Bruce, whose iconoclastic material in a conservative era got him into tragic trouble, is profiled by a clos...
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Lenny Bruce: Without Tears

1960
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College Confidential
5.8/2
Sociology professor Steve MacInter is conducting a survey at Collins College about the mores and lifestyles of the young people. Some of the good citi...
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College Confidential
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1967
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Warning Shot
6.5/22
Hounded by the press for shooting a doctor, an ousted Los Angeles policeman works his own case.
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Warning Shot

1998
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Lenny Bruce: Swear to Tell the Truth
7.7/11
In 1948, Lenny Bruce was just another comic who couldn't get arrested. By 1961, all that would change.
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Lenny Bruce: Swear to Tell the Truth
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2005
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The Adventures of Errol Flynn
7.8/5
A documentary about the life of Errol Flynn, with recollections from friends and family.
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The Adventures of Errol Flynn

1988
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Happy Birthday, Bob: 50 Stars Salute Your 50 Years with NBC
6/2
Stars celebrate Bob Hope's 50 years with NBC.
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Happy Birthday, Bob: 50 Stars Salute Your 50 Years with NBC
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1959
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The Big Circus
6.5/14
A circus owner tries to keep his financially troubled circus on the road, despite the efforts of a murderous saboteur who has decided that the show mu...
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The Big Circus
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1995
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Casino
8.001/5936
In early-1970s Las Vegas, Sam "Ace" Rothstein gets tapped by his bosses to head the Tangiers Casino. At first, he's a great success in the job, but ov...
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Casino
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1997
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No More to Say & Nothing to Weep For: An Elegy for Allen Ginsberg
1/1
Witness the last days of the Beat poet whose works would capture the very essence of the 1960 counter-cultural movement in an informative documentary...
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No More to Say & Nothing to Weep For: An Elegy for Allen Ginsberg

1950
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I'll Get By
5.5/5
I'll Get By is an updated remake of the 1940 20th Century-Fox musical Tin Pan Alley. William Lundigan and Dennis Day play William Spencer and Freddie...
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I'll Get By
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1990
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The Power of the Market
0/0
Dr. Friedman states, "There is not a single person in the world who can make this pencil." He explains that the creation of even a simple object - lik...
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The Power of the Market
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1975
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The Sunshine Boys
6.8/104
Lewis and Clark, aka The Sunshine Boys, were famous comedians during the vaudeville era, but off-stage they couldn't stand each other and haven't spok...
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The Sunshine Boys
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2002
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The Definitive Elvis: The Television Years
5.2/6
"The Television Years" examines the events that took place in the years between 1956 and 1960, in which Elvis Presley excited a whole nation as the "K...
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The Definitive Elvis: The Television Years
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1979
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Stone
0/0
Dennis Weaver is a Joseph Wambaugh-type novelist cop and Pat Hingle is his hard-nosed superior who wants him to stick to police work or get off the fo...
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Stone

1997
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Rodney Dangerfield's 75th Birthday Toast
0/0
Roast of Rodney Dangerfield recorded in Aspen on his 75th birthday.
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Rodney Dangerfield's 75th Birthday Toast
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1976
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On Location: Myron Cohen
0/0
With an uncanny ability to mimic just about any dialect he heard and accompany it with a hilariously appropriate facial expression, classic nightclub...
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On Location: Myron Cohen

1999
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Let Me In, I Hear Laughter: A Salute to the Friars Club
0/0
Nostalgic history of the Friars Club. Aired on Cinemax Reel Life
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Let Me In, I Hear Laughter: A Salute to the Friars Club

2007
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Elvis: #1 Hit Performances
5.5/2
Elvis fans, thank your lucky stars. This jam-packed collection of pulse-raising performances from TV, movies, concerts and special events showcases th...
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Elvis: #1 Hit Performances
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1984
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The Making of the Stooges
0/0
A documentary recounting the personal and professional lives of the Three Stooges, including rare footage and interviews with family members.
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The Making of the Stooges
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1977
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Lucy Calls the President
5/1
Homemaker Lucy Whittaker calls up President Carter to complain about a local political issue—and to her astonishment, he agrees to come dine at her ho...
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Lucy Calls the President
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1989
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Great Balls of Fire!
6.3/316
The story of Jerry Lee Lewis, arguably the greatest and certainly one of the wildest musicians of the 1950s. His arrogance, remarkable talent, and unc...
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Great Balls of Fire!
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1984
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Don't Ask Me, Ask God
0/0
Don't Ask Me, Ask God is a TV Special starring Michael J. Fox.
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Don't Ask Me, Ask God

2022
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Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues
6.7/23
An intimate and revealing look at the world-changing musician, presented through a lens of archival footage and never-before-heard home recordings and...
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Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues

1986
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TV's Funniest Comedians - 14 Stars Do Classic Routines
0/0
A compilation film of stand up performances and comedy routines featuring some of the biggest stars in the early years of television. This film was di...
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TV's Funniest Comedians - 14 Stars Do Classic Routines

1969
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The Comic
5.9/10
An account of the rise and fall of a silent film comic, Billy Bright. The movie begins with his funeral, as he speaks from beyond the grave in a bitte...
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The Comic

1975
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The Sunshine Boys
6.8/104
Lewis and Clark, aka The Sunshine Boys, were famous comedians during the vaudeville era, but off-stage they couldn't stand each other and haven't spok...
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The Sunshine Boys

1996

Abbott & Costello Meet Biography
0/0
A biography of comedian duo Bud Abbott & Lou Costello
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Abbott & Costello Meet Biography

2010

2Everything2Terrible2: Tokyo Drift
6.6/16
The team of smart-talkin' toddlers known as Everything Is Terrible! have once again emerged from their VHS cocoons to conjure a jam on culture so cult...
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2Everything2Terrible2: Tokyo Drift

2016
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Eat That Question: Frank Zappa in His Own Words
7.3/25
Utilizing potent TV interviews and many forgotten performances from his 30-year career, we are immersed into Frank Zappa’s world while experiencing tw...
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Eat That Question: Frank Zappa in His Own Words

2020
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Jay Sebring… Cutting to the Truth
7.5/2
An illuminating portrait of Jay Sebring — the long-forgotten artist, designer, and entrepreneur who created a billion-dollar hair & beauty industry an...
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Jay Sebring… Cutting to the Truth
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1966
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The Universal Mind of Bill Evans
0/0
Jazz Pianist on the Creative Process & Self-Teaching. Here is the late, brilliantly original jazz pianist in intense conversation with his compose...
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The Universal Mind of Bill Evans
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1980
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Heart Beat
5.6/16
An exploration of the relationship between Beat Generation writers Jack Kerouac and Neal Cassady, and Cassady's wife, Carolyn.
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Heart Beat

1995
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James Dean and Me
8.7/3
A documentary about James Dean. People who knew him or had worked with him reminisce.
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James Dean and Me

1976
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Joys
4/0
Over fifty of the greatest living comedians are called to a party at Bob Hope's house, where each of them is systematically killed (and their bodies t...
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Joys

1980
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The Gossip Columnist
7.5/2
New Tinseltown gossip columnist Dina Moran helps faded movie star Georgia O'Hanlon dig up dirt on amoral characters.
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The Gossip Columnist

2007
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Tasmanian Devil: The Fast and Furious Life of Errol Flynn
9/1
The story of Tasmanian-born actor Errol Flynn whose short & flamboyant life, full of scandals, adventures, loves and excess was largely played out in...
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Tasmanian Devil: The Fast and Furious Life of Errol Flynn

1984
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The Ratings Game
5.7/22
A New Jersey trucker creates a hit TV show with help from his girlfriend in the ratings business.
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The Ratings Game

2007
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Elvis: The King of Rock 'n' Roll
10/1
Elvis fans, thank your lucky stars. This jam-packed collection of pulse-raising performances from TV, movies, concerts and special events showcases th...
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Elvis: The King of Rock 'n' Roll
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1974
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James Dean Remembered
0/0
Peter Lawford hosts this documentary taking a look at the life and films of James Dean.
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James Dean Remembered
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1983
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The Funny Farm
3/1
The laughs are nonstop as a gang of ambitious young comics strives to make it in the exciting world of stand-up comedy at the famous comedy club in L....
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The Funny Farm

2013
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Erroll Garner: No One Can Hear You Read
7/2
In a triumphant career that lasted forty years Erroll Garner pushed the playability of the piano to its limits, developed an international reputation,...
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Erroll Garner: No One Can Hear You Read

2001
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Nobody's Perfect - The Making of Some Like It Hot
6/1
Documentary discussing the casting and making of "Some Like It Hot", the film voted as the Best Comedy ever made by the American Film Institute.
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Nobody's Perfect - The Making of Some Like It Hot

1984
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Computability: How to Make the Most of Your Home Computer
0/0
Steve Allen and Jayne Meadows teach viewers computer terminology, basic functionality and the many common uses of home computers.
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Computability: How to Make the Most of Your Home Computer
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1968
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Now You See It, Now You Don't
0/0
A bumbling art expert, hired by an insurance company to protect a Rembrandt on loan from the Louvre, schemes to steal it.
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Now You See It, Now You Don't
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1977
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Have I Got a Christmas for You
0/0
Members of a town's Jewish community decide to substitute for their Christian friends and neighbors so they can enjoy Christmas. The good folk humorou...
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Have I Got a Christmas for You

1979
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The Muppets Go Hollywood
6.3/19
Kermit the Frog throws a glamorous party at the Cocoanut Grove nightclub to celebrate the premiere of the Muppets' first feature film, The Muppet Movi...
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The Muppets Go Hollywood

1988
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Richard Lewis: I'm Exhausted
8/1
The sun's too bright, the traffic's going to be bad, there's too many people out there... It's just easier to sit back on the couch and laugh with Ric...
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Richard Lewis: I'm Exhausted
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1990
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WWE WrestleMania VI
8.4/21
More than 65,000 fans pack the Toronto SkyDome to witness The Ultimate Challenge as The Ultimate Warrior faces Hulk Hogan with both the WWE Championsh...
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WWE WrestleMania VI
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2018
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Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind
7.9/230
A funny, intimate and heartbreaking portrait of one of the world’s most beloved and inventive comedians, Robin Williams, told largely through his own...
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Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind

1996
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Nichols and May: Take Two
6.5/2
A documentary made for the PBS program American Masters about the comedy team Nichols and May.
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Nichols and May: Take Two
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2021
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Boulevard! A Hollywood Story
5.3/3
Dickson Hughes and Richard Stapley, two young composers and romantic partners, are caught in the web of silent film star Gloria Swanson when she hires...
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Boulevard! A Hollywood Story
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1949
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Down Memory Lane
0/0
This film is a compilation, with narration by Steve Allen, of comedies from the old Mack Sennett silent studio. Sennett, himself, appears in a cameo a...
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Down Memory Lane

1982
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Night of 100 Stars
6.5/2
The most glittering, expensive, and exhausting videotaping session in television history took place Friday February 19, 1982 at New York's Radio City...
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Night of 100 Stars
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1962
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Something's Got to Give
8.5/2
Remake of "My Favorite Wife," unfinished because of star Marilyn Monroe's firing, rehiring, and sudden August 1962 death.
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Something's Got to Give
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1987
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Amazon Women on the Moon
5.951/162
Centered around a television station which features a 1950s-style sci-fi movie interspersed with a series of wild commercials, wacky shorts and weird...
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Amazon Women on the Moon
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2003
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Elvis: Rare Moments with the King
6/1
Featuring a host of archival appearances, interviews and performances, this comprehensive documentary celebrates the never-ending love affair America...
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Elvis: Rare Moments with the King
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1997
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On the Road to Desolation
0/0
Andrew O'Hagan looks at a critical point in the life of Beat Generation writer Jack Kerouac. In 1956 he spent spent 63 soul-searching days as a fire-w...
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