Duke Ellington Movies

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...

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

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

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...

When compulsive gambler Little Joe Jackson dies in a drunken fight, he awakens in purgatory, where he learns that he will be sent back to Earth for...

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

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...

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...

A jazzy exercise in pure movement.

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

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

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...

Amos and Andy trying to make a go of their "open-air" taxi business while they get caught up in a society hassle, involving driving musicians to a...

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...

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...

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

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...

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

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.