"All Harriet Szász has ever known is life onstage with her twin sister, Josie. As "The Sisters Sweet," they pose as conjoined twins in a vaudeville act conceived of by their ambitious father and managed by their practical mother, who were once theatrical stars in their own rights. Then, in an explosive act, Josie exposes the fraud in a spectacular fashion and runs away to Hollywood. The family retreats to Chicago, where Harriet must figure out how...

When Jules comes to see her after his return from the war, Ella finds it difficult to have some time alone with him.

The tale of Rupert, a lovable trained squirrel who unknowingly helps a family of vaudeville performers who are down on their luck.

Two feuding vaudeville comedians who toured the country for 43 years as The Sunshine Boys are reunited after years apart to make a television commercial.

Vaudeville: mad, mercenary, dreamy, and absurd, a world of clashing cultures and ferocious showmanship and wickedly delightful deceptions. But sixteen-year-old pianist George Carole has joined vaudeville for one reason only: to find the man he suspects to be his father, the great Heironomo Silenus. Yet as he chases down his father's troupe, he begins to understand that their performances are strange even for vaudeville: for wherever they happen to...

"Jokes change from generation to generation, but the experience of the stand-up comedian transcends the ages: the striving and struggles, the tragedy and triumph. From the Marx Brothers to Milton Berle, George Carlin to Eddie Murphy, Conan O'Brien to Louis C. K.--comedy historian Kliph Nesteroff presents a century of fascinating rebels, forgotten stars, and characters on the precipice of fame in this essnetial history of American comedy."--Book jacket....

A pre-Code melodrama about a mother's twisted love, based on a book by backstage tell-all master Bradford Ropes of 42nd Street fame. Vaudeville star Kitty Lorraine is forced to give up her infant daughter to her in-laws after her husband's death. Years later, when she has outgrown the boards, she sends for her innocent daughter, Shirley, and grooms her, Pygmalion-style, to be the stage sensation Kitty never was.