Movies by Cab Calloway

The Blues Brothers

The Blues Brothers

Jake Blues, just released from prison, puts his old band back together to save the Catholic home where he and his brother Elwood were raised.

Hi-De-Ho

Hi-De-Ho

Young Cab Calloway's mother is concerned, because Cab spends his days listening to the radio, pretending to lead a miniature orchestra. A deacon passing by the apartment hears him singing and advises him go to his wife's gypsy tea room. As she reads the tea leaves, she sees situations which lead to Cab and his orchestra performing musical numbers.

Minnie the Moocher

Minnie the Moocher

Cab Calloway performing his famous hit "Minnie the Moocher".

Piano Blues

Piano Blues

Director — and piano player — Clint Eastwood explores his life-long passion for piano blues, using a treasure trove of rare historical footage in addition to interviews and performances by such living legends as Pinetop Perkins and Jay McShann, as well as Dave Brubeck and Marcia Ball.

The Littlest Angel

The Littlest Angel

Adapted from the book by Charles Tazewell. Michael, a shepherd boy living in Biblical times, finds himself transported to Heaven on his eighth birthday. Michael doesn't fully understand where he is, or why he's there. A guardian angel named Patience is given the task of showing Michael the joys of Heaven and helping him find his place in the Hereafter.

Snow-White

Snow-White

Trouble starts when the queen's magic mirror says Betty Boop is fairest.

We the Cats Shall Hep Ya

We the Cats Shall Hep Ya

Cab Calloway sings "We the Cats Shall Hep Ya".

Fleischer Cartoons: The Art & Inventions of Max Fleischer

Fleischer Cartoons: The Art & Inventions of Max Fleischer

A celebration of art by legendary animator Max Fleischer. Features: KoKo's Kozy Korner (1928), Somewhere in Dreamland (1936), Any Rags? (1932), Small Fry (1939), Dinah (1933), The Old Man of the Mountain (1933), and Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor (1936).

Cab Calloway's Hi-De-Ho

Cab Calloway's Hi-De-Ho

This jazz musical short has a comedy plot about marital infidelity. Bandleader Cab Calloway plays a ladies man who dates the wife (Fredi Washington) of a train porter who is frequently absent from home. Calloway and his Orchestra perform "Zaz-zuh-zaz" and "The Lady with the Fan" at the Cotton Club in Harlem.

Cab Calloway: Sketches

Cab Calloway: Sketches

A singer, dancer, and bandleader, Cab led one of the most popular African American big bands during the jazz and swing eras of the 1930s-40s, with Harlem’s famous Cotton Club as his home stage. Best known for his “Hi de hi de hi de ho” refrain from signature song “Minnie the Moocher,” portrayal of Sportin’ Life in Porgy and Bess (1952), and role in The Blues Brothers (1980), Cab influenced countless performers, including Michael and Janet Jackson, and many of today’s hip-hop artists.

Sensations of 1945

Sensations of 1945

As dancer Ginny Walker performs on stage, a veiled woman in the audience stands up, accuses Ginny of stealing her husband and then fires a gun at her. After Ginny collapses and is taken to her dressing room, the woman, Julia Westcolt, a friend of Ginny's, dashes backstage, discards her veil, and then congratulates her friend on their successful publicity stunt. When Ginny's press agents, Gus Crane and his son Junior, visit their client backstage, she brags about her feat and chides them for not being more creative in promoting her. Horrified...

The Skunk Song

The Skunk Song

Cab Calloway and The Cabaliers are singing about how The Big Bad Wolf only talks about his Disney money, Felix the Cat is fat and rich, and Mickey the Mouse is riding in his motor car, while the skunk moans about how "nobody loves me" on account of him just being a "dirty old skunk".

Everything's Fine

Everything's Fine

An experimental short film using only free archival footage.

Steve McQueen: Man on the Edge

Steve McQueen: Man on the Edge

Abandoned by his father, he was a reform school kid with nothing going for him and a giant chip on his shoulder. He joined the Marines but never stayed far from trouble. Then he discovered acting — and the woman who would be with him for most of his meteoric career. He was Steve McQueen, one of Hollywood's highest paid stars — and one of its most difficult, most rebellious and, when he wished, most charming.

Betty Boop: Queen of the Cartoons

Betty Boop: Queen of the Cartoons

From the A&E "Biography" series, a review of the birth, development and cinematic history of Betty Boop, the flapper cartoon character who has been a popular icon since the 1930s.