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Ole Olsen (1892-1963) and Chic Johnson (1891-1962) were, along with the Marx Brothers, Abbott and Costello and The Three Stooges, among the most popular comedy teams in vaudeville. Their free-wheeling, improvisational play Hellzapoppin, which was touted as "never the same show twice," became an immediate sensation when it opened on Broadway in 1938 and ran for over 1400 performances. The film version followed in 1941, after which the duo made a few more movies (including Crazy House and Ghost...

When it ran in network TV's prime time in 1954, "Medic" was a television milestone. A pioneering, innovative and often controversial show, known for its realistic and honest portrayal of the medical profession, it featured well documented case histories "dedicated to the profession of medicine and to the men and women who labor in its cause." The four Medic episodes here, each one introduced by the stern yet friendly face of Doctor Konrad Styner (Richard Boone), are representative of the...

Convinced that the glands of the orangutan secrete a substance that will inhibit human aging, Dr. Boris Borodoff travels to Africa to capture a specimen. He enlists famed big-game hunter Bob Ward, who at first refuses, but then succumbs to the charms of the doctor's beautiful assistant, Alma. Eventually the trapper catches one of the elusive creatures. Bob has been promised that the primate will be unharmed, but Borodoff immediately prepares for surgery. A fight ensues in which Bob is carried...

Alias John Law (1935, B&W): John Clark, ridin' the trail in Wyoming, finds a badly wounded marshal shot by a notorious gang of mail robbers. Deputized by the lawman, Clark assumes his identity and takes over the manhunt for the killers. The robbers turn the tables and manage to frame Clark, forcing him to prove his own innocence. Alias John Law is directed by Steele's father, Robert N. Bradbury. Starring Bob Steele, Roberta Gale, Buck Connors, Earl Dwire, Robert McKenzie; Directed by Robert N....

The Stage Hand (1933): The little town of Oskaloosa is presenting a community play to raise money for a new fire engine but, as a title card indicates: "They didn't realize what they were in for..." Despite a series of missteps and escalating calamities both on and off-stage, the show must go on ? but it's a certainty that Oskaloosa's going to need a new fire engine before the final curtain! Legendary screen funnyman Harry Langdon co-wrote, directed and stars in the title role of this...

Socialite Amy Burke lives in spoiled seclusion in the uptown mansion of her millionaire grandfather, Alexander Guthrie. She has a fight with the old man, and goes to live with her father in a tenement on the Bowery. At first Amy is disgusted by her impoverished neighbors,but eventually she assimilates and begins to make new friends. Her grandfather visits to see how the girl is doing and is shocked to find her shooting craps and living like a hoodlum. But when Amy reaches out to save a sick...

From 1952-'56, Hollywood luminaries Charles Boyer, Ida Lupino, David Niven and Dick Powell joined forces in Four Star Playhouse (also known as Star Performance), an anthology series in which each actor took the lead role on a rotating basis. The series, which ran on CBS, earned 14 Emmy nominations during its run, including one in 1954 as Best Dramatic Series.SHADOWED (1952): Burton Stroude is an ambitious politician with his eye on the U.S. Senate and beyond, but when informed that his first...

Narcotics Squad (1957, B&W): A mysterious drug pusher has infested the high school and a rash of students are getting hooked on heroin, among them Ray, star of the basketball team. The boy is found dead, having injected a lethal cocktail into his own veins. This is the dealer's way of making sure that kids, like Ray, who have fallen too far behind in their drug debt, don't turn into squealers. Police Lieutenant Lacey strikes back, bringing the full weight of the Narcotics Unit into his...

The laughs never stop in this rare collection of seven vintage comedy shorts from the heyday of silent screen slapstick, many featuring the era's superstars.MITT THE PRINCE (1927): Street sweeper Snub impersonates visiting royalty at a posh society party. BEAUTY A LA MUD (1926): Lovelorn Jimmie Adams disguises himself as master beautician Monsieur Brilliantine, in order to romance his sweetheart, right under the disapproving eyes of her father.BEN IN SOCIETY (1908): Ben Turpin is a military...

Sunset Carson and Wes Caven, once boyhood friends, are now deadly enemies: Sunset has become a law-abiding rancher, Wes a hired gun doing the dirty work of the crooked Elwood brothers.Carson is an eyewitness when a young rancher, Bruce Lanning, kills the murderous Frank Elwood in self-defense. After Wes tampers with the evidence, Bruce is arrested for murder and faces the hangman's noose. Sunset must prove Lanning's innocence, but to do so he's forced to face Wes Caven with blazing pistols.One...

A One Night Stand (1915, Silent, B&W): The backstage buffoonery of two stagehands nearly ruins the evening's performance. Starring Chester Conklin, Mae Busch.Cursed by His Beauty (1914, Silent, B&W): An artist searching for a perfect model finds one in the man who delivers her ice. Trouble ensues when her spouse mistakes the artistic endeavor for a wild affair. Starring Charlie Murray, Slim Summerville, Charley Chase.Fatty's Tintype Tangle (1914, Silent, B&W): A photographer takes a picture of...

These instructional films spanning three decades were created to warn teens about the pitfalls and dangers their raging hormones can lead them into. Adolescents are warned that a single careless moment that feels so right, can derail and destroy a young life.THE INNOCENT PARTY: Don hits the city streets with his teenage pals and winds up having casual sex with a tramp in a parked car. Soon after, his true love Betty finally goes "all the way" with him. He is horrified when he learns from his...