
Production
Joe Pasternak
Born 1901-09-19 · Szilágysomlyó, Austria-Hungary
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Joseph Herman "Joe" Pasternak (September 19, 1901 – September 13, 1991) was an Hungarian-born American film producer in Hollywood. He was born to a Jewish family in Szilágysomlyó, Austria-Hungary (now Șimleu Silvaniei, Romania). His father was a town clerk and Pasternak was one of eleven children. In 1920 he emigrated to the US as a teenager and went to stay with an uncle in Philadelphia. He worked in a factory, punching holes in leather belts, and did a variety of other jobs. He also studied acting in New York. Pasternak became an assistant director at Paramount on The Phantom of the Opera (1925). Several years later he was directing at Universal. In 1928 Universal sent him as an associate producer to Germany. Upon return from Europe he produced a number of hits with new talent such as Deanna Durbin and Gloria Jean, reputedly saving Universal from Bankruptcy. Pasternak also had careers at MGM, Fox and Euterpe. He made mostly musicals. In 1968 he was stricken with Parkinson's Disease. He recovered slightly two years later but made no more films. He said at the time "I am proud that I have produced 105 pictures and not one of them is adults only." In 1980 he estimated his films had earned $400 million. "If I had a percentage I'd be the richest man in town," he said. His career as a film producer spanned 40 years and earned him two Oscar nominations and three Golden Globe Award nominations. He retired in 1968, having produced more than ninety feature-length films as well as three Academy Award shows.
Acting credits
NRThe documentary shows the exclusion of Jewish film makers after Hitler took power in Germany and how this led to an independent filmproduction in Vienna and Budapest from 1934 till 1937. With previously unpublished archive material are portrayed: Hermann Kosterlitz (Henry Koster), Felix Joachimson (Jackson), Joe Pasternak, Otto Wallburg, Hans Jaray, Franziska Gaal, Rosy Barsony, Hortense Raky, Oskar Pilzer, Zoltan Vidor, Ernst Verebes.
Unwanted Cinema
2005
NRPlácido Domingo hosts this tribute to American tenor Mario Lanza. Interviews, rare footage and vintage recordings chronicle Lanza's life from his Philadelphia childhood to his meteoric rise as an opera singer and film actor and his tragic death. Credited with bringing opera and classical music into the home of everyday Americans, Lanza starred in That Midnight Kiss and The Toast of New Orleans and portrayed Enrico Caruso in The Great Caruso.
Mario Lanza: The American Caruso
1983
Behind the camera
6.8Two sailors on shore leave head out for four days of partying – only to become involved in the affairs of an aspiring singer and her precocious nephew.
Anchors Aweigh
1945
5.6Band singer/race driver Mike McCoy must choose between marrying a beautiful girl and driving her father's car in a prestigious race.
Spinout
1966
6.4Acrobat Eddie Marsh is in the army now. His first act is to become friendly with Kathryn Jones, the colonel's pretty daughter. Their romance hits a few snags, including disapproval from her father. Eddie's also plagued by fear of having an accident during his family's trapeze act in the army variety show, which also features a gallery of MGM stars.
Thousands Cheer
1943
This Hungarian musical comedy (English title: Spring Parade) was produced by Joseph Pasternak, who later remade the picture in Hollywood as a Deanna Durbin vehicle. The original 1934 version stars Franciska Gaal as a Hungarian serving girl who heads to Vienna to visit a relative. Stopping over at an outdoor carnival, Gaal is told by a fortune teller that she will enjoy a happy marriage with a handsome and wealthy stranger. Later on, she finds herself at a fancy dress ball, where a good-looking aristocrat, assuming that our heroine is a countess masquerading as a peasant, falls in love with her. Delighted that the fortune-teller's prophecy seems to be coming true, Gaal finds herself in a dilemma when she falls in love with poverty-stricken soldier Wolf Albach Retty. But things turn out OK when Retty, the regimental drummer, composes a hit song which brings him fame and fortune, thereby neatly fulfilling that prophecy.
Frühjahrsparade
1934
6.5Chicago mobster Big Frank hires rock & roll singer Rusty Wells and his band to keep an eye on his daughter during Spring Break in Fort Lauderdale.
Girl Happy
1965
5.9A young navy lieutenant is brought in as technical adviser on a song-dance-and-swim film being made by screen star Rosalind Reynolds. Having once done a number with her at a Forces show, the young lad somehow believes she should be his girl. Her boyfriend is just one of those disagreeing.
On an Island with You
1948
6.8Slick lawyer Thomas Farrell has made a career of defending mobsters in trials. It's not until he meets a lovely showgirl at a mob party that he realizes that there's more to life than winning trials. Farrell tries to quit the racket, but mob boss Rico Angelo threatens to hurt the showgirl if Farrell leaves him.
Party Girl
1958
6.7To Jane Falbury's New England farm comes a troup of actors to put up a show, invited by Jane's sister. At first reluctant she has them do farm chores in exchange for food. Her reluctance becomes attraction when she falls in love with the director, Joe, who happens to be her sister's fiance.
Summer Stock
1950
6.6In old New Orleans, a beautiful adventuress juggles the attentions of a rich banker and a dashing sea captain.
The Flame of New Orleans
1941
6.0Banished from various U.S. protectorates in the Pacific, a saloon entertainer uses her femme-fatale charms to woo politicians, navy personnel, gangsters, riff-raff, judges and a ship's doctor in order to achieve her aims.
Seven Sinners
1940
6.3Marshovia, a small European kingdom, is on the brink of bankruptcy but the country may be saved if the wealthy American Crystal Radek, widow of a Marshovian, can be convinced to part with her money and marry the king's nephew count Danilo. Arriving to Marshovia on a visit, Crystal Radek change places with her secretary Kitty. Following them to Paris, Danilo has a hard time wooing the widow after meeting an attractive young woman at a nightclub, the same Crystal Radek who presents herself as Fifi the chorus girl. Plot by Mattias Thuresson.
The Merry Widow
1952
In the year 1914: The assistants of cobbler Lehmann compete for the affections of his daughter Frieda. Actually she’s in love with her ambitious cousin Fritz, but the cunning Franz knows how to string her along. When Fritz gets drafted, Frieda gives in and marries Franz. Soon Fritz is declared missing and the old cobbler dies of grief. Along the way Franz, who dodged the military service, earns his money with large-scale racketeering. Frieda is miserable. But then Fritz returns from Soviet captivity, prompting Frieda to divorce Franz. Finally Frieda accepts an inheritance from the USA and marries Fritz. With the money they open up a shoe store.
The Brandenburg Arch
1929
5.9Although he's only seven, Eddie's got it all figured out. He wants his father, a widower, to get remarried — to the girl next door. Unfortunately, she's not one of the women that his dad's been dating.
The Courtship of Eddie's Father
1963
6.2Drama critic Larry Mackay, his wife Kate and their four sons move from their crowded Manhattan apartment to an old house in the country. While housewife Kate settles into suburban life, Larry continues to enjoy the theater and party scene of New York.
Please Don't Eat the Daisies
1960
5.9Three young girls try to help their divorced mother find the right husband.
Three Daring Daughters
1948
5.9A young widow Amy Martin with three young boys is investigated by the Navy after one of her children inadvertently sends out a distress signal in Morse code by the blinds on his upstairs bedroom window. Commander Weedon and crew observe the signal from their ship and investigates. He falls for the young mother and proposes marriage. However, she is reluctant to have her family live out of a suitcase and initially declines. Gramps tries to bring her on board to sail the sea of love with the commander.
A Ticklish Affair
1963
7.2Three sisters who believe life is going to be easy, now that their parents are back together, until one sister falls in love with another's fiancé, and the youngest sister plays matchmaker.
Three Smart Girls Grow Up
1939
6.1Best friends Judy and Carol compete for the affection of an older man during their high school dance. As Carol tries to rekindle Judy's relationship with Carol's bumbling brother, Oogie, Judy suspects that her father is having an affair with a beautiful dance instructor. The two girls team up to expose Judy's father -- who is only taking innocent dance lessons.
A Date with Judy
1948
5.9Drummer Stanley Maxton moves to Los Angeles with dreams of opening his own jazz club, but falls in with a gangster and a nightclub dancer and ends up accused of her murder.
The Strip
1951
5.8An aspiring young singer unexpectedly gets her big break by inventing a specialized clothes rack.
Looking for Love
1964
6.8Two co-workers in a music shop dislike one another during business hours but unwittingly carry on an anonymous romance through the mail.
In the Good Old Summertime
1949
6.9A fictionalized account of the career of jazz singer Ruth Etting and her tempestuous marriage to gangster Marty Snyder, who helped propel her to stardom.
Love Me or Leave Me
1955
6.6A soldier falls in love with a newly-married woman after her husband abandons her for a business meeting on their honeymoon.
Thrill of a Romance
1945
4.9Ellen Hallit is in love with her playboy boss, Douglas Morrison, but is too timid to do anything about it. To help her, her roommate Chris decides to step in, and devises a plan. Chris follows Morrison on his trip to Sun Valley, Idaho and plays the overattentive female, hoping that he will send for Ellen (who often played his "fiancée" when he had a female he couldn't discourage otherwise.) Complications arise when Chris catches the eye of band leader Dick Layne, and finds herself caught in a triangle between the two men.
Duchess of Idaho
1950
