The best Barbara Heller’s movies

An account of the rise and fall of a silent film comic, Billy Bright. The movie begins with his funeral, as he speaks from beyond the grave in a bitter tone about his fate, and takes us through his fame, as he ruins it with womanizing and drink, and his fall, as a lonely, bitter old man unable to reconcile his life's disappointments. The movie is based loosely on the life of Buster Keaton.

After the Civil War, a Texan who served in the Union army comes back home to find himself ostracized by his neighbors for having fought against the Confederacy. On top of that, he finds that his younger brother is now the sheriff, and is ruling the town with an iron hand.

Meant primarily as TV fare, this standard, song-filled romantic drama stars Louis Prima as himself, and his real-life wife Keely Smith as Dorothy Spencer, a devout woman with a good singing voice. Dorothy is active in her local parish which like all parishes, is constantly thinking of ways to raise funds. One of the needy projects is a boys' camp, so when Dorothy is approached by Louis Prima to sing with his band she agrees only on one condition -- that he perform a concert benefit for the parish church and boys' camp. The interactions between Dorothy and Prima lead toward romance and a happy ending, as well as a popular album with the same title song featured in this film. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi (NY Times Review).