Janet Blair – MRQE

One Touch of Venus (TV)

Thu, 28 Aug 2025 04:00:00 +0000

While touring a museum, Rodney Hatch, an unremarkable barber, places an engagement ring intended for his girlfriend on the hand of a statue of Venus, the goddess of love and beauty. From Mount Olympus, Venus witnesses the event and decides to visit Rodney on Earth by magically inhabiting the statue. Hilarity ensues when she starts to fall in love with Rodney and competes with his girlfriend for his attentions. This television version of Kurt Weill’s successful Broadway musical is much more faithful to the stage version than the 1948 Ava Gardner film, which changed the story considerably and cut most of the songs.

Once Upon a Time

Mon, 25 Aug 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Broadway producer Jerry Flynn is anxious to recapture the magic and reclaim the crowds after a set of costly flops. Outside his theater one night, Flynn meets a young boy who just might save the day. Inside a small box the boy shows Flynn his pride and joy: a caterpillar named Curly that dances to Yes Sir, That’s My Baby. Word quickly spreads about the amazingly talented hoofer, and the caterpillar becomes a symbol of hope for wartime America. Soon, offers are pouring in to capitalize on this sensational insect.

The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band

Sun, 24 Aug 2025 04:00:00 +0000

The Bower Family Band petitions the Democratic National Committee to sing a Grover Cleveland rally song at the 1888 convention, but decide instead to move to the Dakota territory on the urging of a suitor to their eldest daughter. There, Grampa Bower causes trouble with his pro-Cleveland ideas, as Dakota residents are overwhelmingly Republican, and hope to get the territory admitted as two states (North and South Dakota) rather than one in order to send four Republican senators to Washington. Cleveland opposed this plan, refusing to refer to Congress the plan to organize the Dakotas this way. When Cleveland wins the popular vote, but Harrison the presidency due to the electoral college votes, the Dakotans (particularly the feuding young couple) resolve to live together in peace, and Cleveland grants statehood to the two Dakotas before he leaves office (along with two Democrat-voting states, evening the gains for both parties).

Boys’ Night Out

Sun, 24 Aug 2025 04:00:00 +0000

After seeing their boss with his mistress, four work friends (James Garner, Tony Randall, Howard Duff, Howard Morris) decide they should get a gentleman’s pad in the city. When Fred (Garner), the only bachelor in the group, rents an apartment for their dalliances, he meets gorgeous Cathy (Kim Novak), whom he hires to be their “housekeeper.” Cathy lets them all make plays for her, but has no intention of sleeping with them — she is merely doing research for her sociology thesis.

Night of the Eagle

Thu, 21 Aug 2025 04:00:00 +0000

A skeptical college professor discovers that his wife has been practicing magic for years. Like the learned, rational fellow he is, he forces her to destroy all her magical charms and protective devices, and stop that foolishness. He isn’t put off by her insistence that his professional rivals are working magic against him, and her protections are necessary to his career and life.

My Sister Eileen

Fri, 05 Sep 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Sisters Ruth and Eileen Sherwood move from Ohio to New York in the hopes of building their careers. Ruth wants to get a job as a writer, while Eileen hopes to succeed on the stage. The two end up living in a dismal basement apartment in Greenwich Village, where a parade of odd characters are constantly breezing in and out. The women also meet up with magazine editor Bob Baker, who takes a personal interest in helping both with their career plans.

Broadway

Thu, 18 Sep 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Gangsters, nightclubs and the Roaring ’20s.

The Fuller Brush Man

Tue, 26 Aug 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Poor Red Jones gets fired from every job he tries. His fiancée gives him one last chance to make good when he becomes a Fuller Brush man. His awkward attempts at sales are further complicated when one of his customers is murdered and he becomes the prime suspect.

The Black Arrow

Tue, 26 Aug 2025 04:00:00 +0000

A young British nobleman comes back from fighting in the War of the Roses to discover that his father has been murdered by an old family friend who is now an outlaw. However, he becomes suspicious about the exact circumstances of his father’s death and determines to find out exactly what happened.

The Fabulous Dorseys

Fri, 22 Aug 2025 04:00:00 +0000

The story of Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey from their boyhood in Pennsylvania through their rise, their breakup, and their personal reunion.