Gracie Fields

Documentary telling the story of the ENSA performers who kept up the troops' morale during World War II, with contributions from Dame Vera Lynn, Eric Sykes and Tony Benn.

Wartime sweetheart Vera Lynn presents this documentary which sets archive footage and newsreel film from World War Two to the popular sounds of the day. Artists featured include Flanagan and Allen, Gracie Fields, George Formby, Bing Crosby, the Glenn Miller Orchestra, the Andrews Sisters and the Mills Brothers.

In this feature-length documentary from 1976, Leslie Mitchell and special guests recall the birth of BBC Television forty years before.

Constance Bennett both produced and starred in the espionager Paris Underground. Bennett and Gracie Fields play, respectively, an American and an English citizen trapped in Paris when the Nazis invade. The women team up to help Allied aviators escape from the occupied city into Free French territory. The screenplay was based on the true wartime activities of Etta Shiber, who engineered the escape of nearly 300 Allied pilots. British fans of comedienne Gracie Fields were put off by the scenes in which she is tortured by the Gestapo, while Constance Bennett's following had been rapidly dwindling since the 1930s; as a result, the heartfelt but tiresome Paris Underground failed to make a dent at the box-office. It would be Constance Bennett's last starring film--and Gracie Fields' last film, period.

A vivacious actress needing work becomes a housekeeper for a crusty retired politician, and gives his life the shaking-up that it needs.

An artist returning from years abroad takes the identity of his dead valet and gets married, but then there are complications.

A young soldier on a pass in New York City visits the famed Stage Door Canteen, where famous stars of theatre and film appear and host a recreational center for servicemen during the war. The soldier meets a pretty young hostess and they enjoy the many entertainers and a growing romance.

A lancashire singer buys a pub in Clydebank and hits money troubles when the shipbyards are closed. She takes a petition to London to try to get them reopened.

Entertainer quits a crooked London theater and sets up her troupe on her uncle's farm. A famous musician joins the group and helps them get a legitimate booking.

A perpetual dreamer talks his wife into moving with him from their home in Australia to South Africa, where he hopes to discover gold and finally become wealthy.