I Used to Be Famous

Never one for understatement, the aptly named singer known as Meat Loaf (aka Marvin Lee Aday) teamed with operatically-minded pianist-composer Jim Steinman to produce a bombastic slab of 1970s classic rock that has become one of the biggest selling albums of all time. Fueled by Steinman's epic compositions, Todd Rundgren's grandiose production, and Meat Loaf's own soaring vocals, the singer's 1977 debut BAT OUT OF HELL elevated the rock-opera genre to appropriately theatrical heights with its extravagant orchestration and a melodramatic narrative celebrating teenage rebellion. This episode of the CLASSIC ALBUMS series recounts the making of this monumental work through interviews, archival footage, and live performances of album tracks such as "You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth," "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad," and, of course, the adolescent opus "Paradise by the Dashboard Light."

The two-man Laurel and Hardy Zoot Suit Band find themselves fronting a scam for "gasolene pills" in wartime oil-short America. They are however soon on the side of the angels helping recover $10,000 for an attractive young lady whose family have themselves been swindled.

The Tragedy of an Artist, is an experimental short shot over the course of a week. This film is meant to illustrate who Hero Foltz is as a person and his struggles with self identity

From the mean streets of the Belleville district of Paris to the dazzling limelight of New York's most famous concert halls, Edith Piaf's life was a constant battle to sing and survive, to live and love. Raised in her grandmother's brothel, Piaf was discovered in 1935 by nightclub owner Louis Leplee, who persuaded her to sing despite her extreme nervousness. Piaf became one of France's immortal icons, her voice one of the indelible signatures of the 20th century.

A drama focused on the friendship between a high-functioning autistic woman and a man who is traumatized after a fatal car accident.

The film tells the love story of Reyhan, who works as a sales assistant at a record company, and Mehmet, a driver. Mehmet is going to Germany to buy a car. His fiancée Reyhan does not want him to go. Ekrem, the King of Nightclubs, hears Reyhan sing by chance. He decides to make her a singing star. Reyhan initially rejects the offer but later accepts it, thinking she can buy a car and prevent Mehmet from going to Germany. Mehmet, believing Reyhan has chosen fame over him, leaves her. As Mehmet is about to leave for Germany, he falls into a trap set by Ekrem and ends up in prison. The gambling tricks he learns in prison open the door to wealth for him. Mehmet is determined to take revenge on Ekrem and Reyhan. However, there is one thing Mehmet does not know.

Based on the true story of a young girl who communicates only in numbers. The movie explores the reason behind why she communicated this way and what the numbers meant to her, and eventually the way for her to come out of her shell and express hidden talents she possessed.

Agnès Varda eloquently captures Paris in the sixties with this real-time portrait of a singer set adrift in the city as she awaits test results of a biopsy. A chronicle of the minutes of one woman’s life, Cléo from 5 to 7 is a spirited mix of vivid vérité and melodrama, featuring a score by Michel Legrand and cameos by Jean-Luc Godard and Anna Karina.

When car dealer Charlie Babbitt learns that his estranged father has died, he returns home to Cincinnati, where he discovers that he has a savant older brother named Raymond and that his father's $3 million fortune is being left to the mental institution in which Raymond lives. Motivated by his father's money, Charlie checks Raymond out of the facility in order to return with him to Los Angeles. The brothers' cross-country trip ends up changing both their lives.

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A man with a low IQ has accomplished great things in his life and been present during significant historic events—in each case, far exceeding what anyone imagined he could do. But despite all he has achieved, his one true love eludes him.

A successful songwriter, dazzled by high society, falls for a society girl who is just playing around.

A former Secret Service agent grudgingly takes an assignment to protect a pop idol who's threatened by a crazed fan. At first, the safety-obsessed bodyguard and the self-indulgent diva totally clash. But before long, all that tension sparks fireworks of another sort, and the love-averse tough guy is torn between duty and romance.

New York comedian Alvy Singer falls in love with the ditsy Annie Hall.

Luis Fuentes, a singer of Mexican music, comes to know a journalist by the name of Maria Luisa Cortéz and fall madly in love with each other. In time, the couple gets married and come to have a son, Rafael. However, they soon divorce because of Luis's many commitments as a singer. This strains the relationship between Luis and Maria, so much so that Maria, stung by bitterness, teaches her son to despise his father and manages to move from Mexico to the United States to keep Luis from contacting his son. Luis wants nothing more than to regain his lost relationship and affection with his beloved son. Therefore, time after time he visits Maria in hope of winning over his son's affection with little success. Over time, Rafael, now a young man, comes to have a passion for music just like his father despite having a hatred for him.

The attractive Oberleutnant Paul Wendlandt is stationed in North Africa as a fighter pilot. While in Berlin to deliver a report he is given a day's leave, and on the stage of the cabaret theatre "Skala" sees the popular Danish singer Hanna Holberg. For Paul it is love at first sight. When Hanna visits friends after the end of the performance, he follows her, and speaks to her in the U-Bahn. After the party in her friends' flat, he accompanies her home and chance throws them further together when an air raid warning forces them to take cover in the air raid shelter. Hanna reciprocates Paul's feelings, but after a night spent together Paul has to return immediately to the front. There now follows a whole series of misunderstandings, and one missed opportunity after another. While Hanna waits in vain for some sign of life from Paul, he is flying on missions in North Africa. When he tries to visit her in her Berlin flat, she is giving a Christmas concert in Paris.

A newly-wed man discovers that his wife is in love with another man and decides to unite them. Ignoring the ridicule he might have to face for this, he takes his wife to Italy in search of her love.

Joni Mitchell has been called the queen of folk music and one of the biggest pop stars of the 60s and 70s. Even today, her lyrics and unique guitar style continue to inspire new generations of singers and songwriters.

Lucky Jackson arrives in Las Vegas with his car literally in tow ready for the first Grand Prix — once he has the money for an engine. He gets the cash easily enough but mislays it when the pretty pool manageress takes his mind off things. It seems he'll lose both race and girl, problems complicated by rivalry from womanizing fellow racer Elmo Mancini.

A film of the life of the renowned musical composer, playwright, actor, dancer and singer George M. Cohan.