Alfred Drake

This is for the original VHS Release.

This bizarre, pagan take on the Santa Claus legend, which is based on a story by L. Frank Baum (The Wizard of Oz), was produced and directed by Rankin and Bass, the reigning kings of the Christmas special (Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer), using their brand of puppet animation. In the forest of Burzee, the immortals gather to discuss the fate of Santa Claus. Found when he was an abandoned baby by the Great Ak (a wizard with big wooden horns on his head), the boy was named Claus because that means "little one" in the language of the forest. Raised by immortals and knowing nothing but peace and harmony, the adolescent Claus is taken on a tour of the mortal world by the Great Ak, and he discovers the world is rife with misery and injustice. This is when he decides he will dedicate his life to making kids happy, and he learns the best way to do this is to give them toys. After years of service, the immortals must decide whether or not to give him eternal life. Indeed, this is a very strange Christmas tale. --Andy Spletzer

Meet the man who makes a piano master sound great in this fascinating documentary about Steinway & Sons Master Tuner Stephan Knupfer. In this intimate profile of Knupfer and the intensely demanding work he completes in advance of artists like Lang Lang, Alfred Brendel, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, and others taking to the keys, the film reveals how the line between perfectionism and madness can sometimes feel blurred. 93 min. Soundtrack: English and German; Subtitles: English. In English and German with English subtitles.

One of the most engaging features from 20th Century Fox's Holmes series, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is also of historical interest as it based on a hugely popular, early 20th century stage play written by and starring William Gillette. Basil Rathbone cuts a fine figure as the lean, hawkish Great Detective, drawn into a complicated conspiracy by fiendish Dr. Moriarty (George Zucco) to distract Holmes while quietly preparing to steal the Crown Jewels. Nigel Bruce is on board as a buffoonish Dr. Watson, and British-born Ida Lupino is very good, and quite gorgeous, as a young woman who may be the target of a family curse. True-blue Sherlockians know that very little of Gillette's tale, and next to nothing about Zucco's or Bruce's performances, have anything to do with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's sacred canon. Still, this is a handsome production to enjoy on its own terms. --Tom Keogh

The second Rathbone-Bruce film (and the last one to be set in Victorian London) pits the great detective against arch-enemy Professor Moriarty (George Zucco), whose latest scheme leads to a death duel atop the Tower of London. Ida Lupino, Alan Marshal, and E.E. Clive co-star in this loose adaptation of William Gillette's 1899 play "Sherlock Holmes." 82 min. Standard; Soundtrack: English; audio commentary; photo gallery; theatrical trailers.

This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

A collection of poems by writers ranging from William Blake and Henry W. Longfellow to Emily Dickinson and Robert L. Stevenson, arranged by topics such as "The Seasons," "Nursery Rhymes," and "Lullabies and Cradle Songs."

A. E. van Vogt: Science Fantasy's Icon presents a study of select works by van Vogt and some limited biographical data.The main thrust of this book is to explain how, and why, van Vogt's various real life interests were often included in his fiction and nonfiction. Van Vogt went to work immediately after finishing high school in Canada, but he devoted the rest of his life to self-education. Van Vogt believed that his eye sight could be improved by using the William Bates training methods; van Vogt devised a dream/sleep system whereby he was awakened during the night to continue working on stories and increase his writing output; he interviewed males who were deemed to be violent-types; he studied the accumulation of wealth and wrote a book about it; and, van Vogt applied semantics theories to his everyday life and gave public lectures about how words can affect personal mental health as well as communication with others.Much of A. E. van Vogt: Science Fantasy's Icon is centered around van Vogt's personal interest in, and use of, Alfred Korzybski's general semantics, which is a theory about how to communicate in more sane and healthy ways with one's self and others. Before he moved from Canada to Hollywood, California in the 1940's, van Vogt had read Korzybski's basic work on general semantics. Subsequently, van Vogt incorporated some of his understandings about general semantics into a story titled "The World Of A"(with a bar over the A) which was originally published as a serialized novel. "The World Of A," and it's sequel, "The Players Of A"(with a bar over the A) have gone through many reprints over the decades; reprints use "Null-A" in the titles instead of the General Semantics Institute's copyrighted bar over the A symbol. Near the end of his writing career van Vogt produced a third general semantics novel, "Null-A3." Beginning in the mid-1970's, H. L. Drake interviewed van Vogt in Hollywood; general semantics was the point of departure, although, discussions included various socio-political-religious-economic thoughts about people, places and situations whether or not they were directly related to science fantasy/science fiction. Some of what was said during those discussions is interwoven throughout A. E. van Vogt: Science Fantasy's Icon and offers behind the scenes insights into how and why van Vogt wrote some of his books.Over the years, H. L. Drake has interviewed science fiction authors about van Vogt. John Brunner, Hal Clement, James Gunn and Jack Williamson provided views that are reflected in this book. In addition, Forrest Ackerman--van Vogt's long time agent and friend--shared his thoughts about the man who had discovered the "sevagram" which may be found among the stars of universe(s).

A. E. van Vogt: Science Fantasy's Icon presents a study of select works by van Vogt and some limited biographical data.The main thrust of this book is to explain how, and why, van Vogt's various real life interests were often included in his fiction and nonfiction. Van Vogt went to work immediately after finishing high school in Canada, but he devoted the rest of his life to self-education. Van Vogt believed that his eye sight could be improved by using the William Bates training methods; van Vogt devised a dream/sleep system whereby he was awakened during the night to continue working on stories and increase his writing output; he interviewed males who were deemed to be violent-types; he studied the accumulation of wealth and wrote a book about it; and, van Vogt applied semantics theories to his everyday life and gave public lectures about how words can affect personal mental health as well as communication with others.Much of A. E. van Vogt: Science Fantasy's Icon is centered around van Vogt's personal interest in, and use of, Alfred Korzybski's general semantics, which is a theory about how to communicate in more sane and healthy ways with one's self and others. Before he moved from Canada to Hollywood, California in the 1940's, van Vogt had read Korzybski's basic work on general semantics. Subsequently, van Vogt incorporated some of his understandings about general semantics into a story titled "The World Of A"(with a bar over the A) which was originally published as a serialized novel. "The World Of A," and it's sequel, "The Players Of A"(with a bar over the A) have gone through many reprints over the decades; reprints use "Null-A" in the titles instead of the General Semantics Institute's copyrighted bar over the A symbol. Near the end of his writing career van Vogt produced a third general semantics novel, "Null-A3." Beginning in the mid-1970's, H. L. Drake interviewed van Vogt in Hollywood; general semantics was the point of departure, although, discussions included various socio-political-religious-economic thoughts about people, places and situations whether or not they were directly related to science fantasy/science fiction. Some of what was said during those discussions is interwoven throughout A. E. van Vogt: Science Fantasy's Icon and offers behind the scenes insights into how and why van Vogt wrote some of his books.Over the years, H. L. Drake has interviewed science fiction authors about van Vogt. John Brunner, Hal Clement, James Gunn and Jack Williamson provided views that are reflected in this book. In addition, Forrest Ackerman--van Vogt's long time agent and friend--shared his thoughts about the man who had discovered the "sevagram" which may be found among the stars of universe(s).

TARS AND SPARS stars Janet Blair, Alfred Drake, Marc Platt, Jeff Donnell and Sid Caesar. This is Caesar's first motion picture. Howard Young (Alfred Drake) is a coast guardsman who has been on shore duty for three years despite his efforts to be sent into action. This DVD is packaged in a professional vinyl case (see photo). It is REGION FREE - NTSC

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A companion to the fabulous PBS series, the 21-song, 77-minute The Best of "Broadway: The American Musical" provides about as good a single-disc compilation as anyone could hope for. (There's also a five-CD version.) What sets it apart from so many other "best of Broadway" collections is its breadth--because it had access to a variety of record-label vaults it doesn't have to try to disguise gaps by using revivals or solo recordings. Here you get all the authentic stuff, including: Paul Robeson singing "Ol' Man River" from the first modern American musical, Show Boat; Ethel Merman singing "You're the Top"; the title song from Oklahoma!; Julie Andrews singing "I Could Have Danced All Night" from My Fair Lady; West Side Story's "America"; Betty Buckley singing "Memory" from Cats; Hairspray's "Good Morning Baltimore"; and "Defying Gravity" from Wicked, the newest show discussed in the PBS series. And it's hard to argue with the songwriters represented: Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Cole Porter, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Frank Loesser, Lerner and Loewe, Leonard Bernstein, Bock and Harnick, Kander and Ebb, Stephen Sondheim, and Andrew Lloyd Webber, among others. Obviously, no single-disc compilation could ever please everyone (did we really need two ALW songs?), but as a sampler intended for people who watched the series and want to hear more of the Great White Way, The Best of "Broadway: The American Musical" can't be topped. --David Horiuchi

Opening at the tail end of 1948, Kiss Me, Kate became an instant classic--and amazingly didn't receive a full-scale revival until 1999. All the more reason to revel in its original version. With its cunning play-within-a-play premise (a musical update of The Taming of the Shrew reverberates in backstage feuds), brilliant mix of high and low comedy, and of course some of Cole Porter's better-known songs--"So in Love," "I Hate Men," Too Darn Hot," "Always True to You (In My Fashion)"--Kiss Me, Kate remains a funny, zesty hall of mirrors. Hard as you may try to find a fly in the ointment, there's no fault with the cast either--Patricia Morison, for instance, is a perfectly petulant Lilli Vanessi. --Elisabeth Vincentelli

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