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. STELLAR FILMSClassic Film Library
This is a library comprised
of true Hollywood Classics and not so classic works from the so called
Poverty Row Studios. Sometimes, the later with smaller budgets became
audience favorites many years after their origional release. Sprinkled
in are more recent releases because there are either players from an
earlier era or because elements of the production destine it for
eventual inclusion in the classis's category. You might call these
Star Power selections. 52
Pickup Roy Scheider,
Ann Margaret A secret fling with between a man and his mistress leads to
blackmail and murder.1986 Color 111 Minutes. A Dangerous Summer Tom
Skerrit, James Mason. A Murderer... A Captive Woman ...and a Deranged
Arsonist ...in a Deadly Inferno! 1981 COLOR 100 Minutes. A Doll's House Jane
Fonda, Trevor Howard. Ibsen's lead character, Nora Helmer has
years earlier committed a forgery in order to save the life of her
authoritarian husband. Now she is being blackmailed lives in fear of her
husband's finding out and of the shame such a revelation would bring to
his career. But when the truth comes out, Nora is shocked to learn where
she really stands in her husband's esteem. 1973 Color 106 Minutes. A Gunfight Johnny
Cash, Kirk Douglas, Karen Black. In Bajo Rio, they pay to see a man kill
a bull. Today, they'll pay to see a man kill another man, was the tag
line used to advertise this film. Kirk Douglas ( a retired gunman sick
enough of his life ) and Johnny Cash ( a weary gunslinger who knows that
even if he wins, he will eventually lose) are two famous, veteran
gunfighters who provide their talent as 'the quick & the fast'. The
place chosen for the shoot out is a bullfight ring. 1971 Color 89
Minutes. A
Killing Affair Peter Weller, Kathy Baker. A wife helps protect her abusive husband's
killer. Color 1986. PG A Tattered Web
Lloyd Bridges, Broderick Crawford, Ellen Corby, Frank Converse, Murray
Hamilton. A detective discovers his son-in-law is cheating on his wife.
He confronts the other woman and accidentally kills her, then tries to
pin the crime on a local derelict. Made for TV Movie on CBS. 1971 Color
90 Minutes A Time To Kill with
Nicholas Cage. From "The Short Cut" a young soldier life takes
a terrible turn when he gets lost in Africa and has sex with a native
girl.. Color 1991 A
WALK IN THE SUN Dana Andrews, Lloyd Bridges, John Ireland, Richard Tyne, Richard Conte,
Sterling Holloway. In the 1943 invasion of Italy, one American platoon
lands, digs in, then makes its way inland to attempt to take a fortified
farmhouse, as tension and casualties mount. Unusually realistic picture
of war as long quiet stretches of talk, punctuated by sharp, random
bursts of violent action whose relevance to the big picture is often
unknown to the soldiers. The narration is by Burgess Meredith and there
is a folk ballad score sung by Earl Robinson. One of the best war films
ever produced. It is the proud achievement of Lewis Milestone a veteran
of films since the twenties, his credits included "All Quiet On The
Western Front", "The Front Page", and "Of Mice and
Men". 1947 B&W 117 minutes (From our stunning 35mm print) Abaraxas Guardian of the Universe
Guardian of the Universe Jim Belushi, Jesse Ventura, Jerry Levitan. In a
distant galaxy, a legion of supermen known as finders are developed to
police the universe. It is their vow to defend all life. What happens
when one goes wrong is the basis for this science fiction action film.
1991 color 90 Minutes. ABILENE TOWN
(1946) Starring: Randolph
Scott, Ann Dvorak, Edgar Buchanan, Rhonda
Fleming, Lloyd Bridges. A tolerant sheriff in a remote,
post-Civil war Kansas town tries
to straighten out a deadly conflict between cattlemen and homesteaders.
Written by Ernest Hay B&W. Running
Time: 90 mins. Absolution
Richard Burton. A boyhood
prank goes horribly wrong.
A student confesses to a grizzly murder. There is a killing ... but
was there one at the time of the confession? And who actually is
responsible? Very suspenseful film. Color Adventures of Heidi
Burl Ives, Kathy Kurtzman.. Warm hearted retelling of the family
favorite. In this film Heidi leaves the Alps and goes to New York. 1978
COLOR 82 Minutes. After The Fall of New York
George Eastman, Michael Sopkiw, Valentine Monnier. After a nuclear war,
society breaks down into two groups, the evil Euraks and the rebel
Federation. A mercenary named Parsifal is hired by the Federation to
infiltrate New York City, which is controlled by the Euraks, to rescue
the only fertile woman left on Earth. 1983 Color 81 Minutes. AMAZING ADVENTURE Cary
Grant . Ernest Bliss is a rich young man with too little to do. Not
realizing the depression he's in is due to boredom, Ernest consults a
doctor. Sir James Aldroyd gives Ernest a prescription that he doesn't
think Ernest can fill: Ernest must earn his own living for one year
using none of his current wealth. Ernest bets him 50,000 English pounds
that he can. AKA The Amazing Quest. 1936 B&W 61 minutes
AMAZING MR. X, THE (1948,
BW, 78 MIN) Turhan Bey, Lynn Bari, Cathy O'Donnel, Richard Carlson,
directed by Bernard Vorhaus. A fraudulent spiritualist involves an
unsuspecting widow in blackmail, and then a murder. AMERICAN EMPIRE
(1942) Director: William C.
McGann Richard Dix, Preston Foster, Leo Carrillo, Frances Gifford,
Guinn "Big Boy" Williams. Three Civil War veterans
strive to build a cattle empire, but one becomes greedy and tries to
take over. B&W. Running
Time: 82 mins. ANGEL AND THE BADMAN
John Wayne, Gail Russell, Bruce Cabot, Harry Carey, Irene Rich, directed
by James E. Grant. The Duke plays a notorious gunman, who after being
seriously wounded, is nursed back to health by a Quaker woman. He then
must choose between love and gun fighting. 1947 B&W 100
Minutes ANGEL ON MY SHOULDER Paul
Muni, Claude Rains. Directed by Archie Moore. Murdered gangster comes
back to earth after making a deal with the devil. Morality play. 1946
B&W 101 minutes. Assassin Robert
Conrad, Karen Austin, Jonathan Banks. A retired agent from an
Intelligence Agency is contacted by the Agency in order to stop an
ultra-secret robot who is killing some government officials. That will
be not an easy task, because the robot looks human and it was
specifically built to be an efficient killer, not to mention that it is
almost invulnerable. The retired operative, played by Robert Conrad,
trails the cyborg and tries to destroy it. Directed by Sandor Stern.
Made for TV 1986 Color 74 Minutes. Assassination with Charles Bronson and Jill Ireland. Bronson is assigned to protect
the President's wife from killers. Cross country pursuit provides plenty
of suspense and action in this first rate film. PG Bailout
David Hasselhoff, Linda Blair, Tony Brubaker,Thomas Rosales Jr.
Bail bondsman tries to keep witness in drug trial alive to testify. 1989
Color 90 Minutes. Battle
Force Stacey Keach, Henry Fonda, Helmet Burger, Samantha Eggar, Orson Welles. A
story of how World War II affected the lives of a German family and an
American family, both of whom had sons and fathers fighting in the war.
1977 Color 90 Minutes Battle
of Commandos Jack Palance, Thomas Hunter. Irish Colonel Charlie McPhearson has just
had his platoon of twenty-eight slaughtered by German troops. Angered at
his superiors for this suicide mission, he takes convicts on his next,
along with fornicating American explosives technician Major Burke, to
defuse underwater mines so that a commando squado can prepare for a June
10 invasion to destroy a tank gun. 1969 Color 94 Minutes. BEACHCOMBER, THE
(1938, BW, 87 MIN) Charles Laughton, Elsa Lanchester, directed by Erich
Pommer. Disheveled bum, Laughton, living on an island paradise, is
reformed by missionary Lanchester. The two stars (married in real life)
are delightful in this film version of a Somerset Maugham story. GB BEAT
THE DEVIL Humphrey Bogart,
Gina Lolabrigida, Jennifer Jones and Robert Morley. John Huston and
Truman Capote created this off beat satire of the fabled Bogart films
like the "Maltese Falcon" Huston Directed this low key comedy
which was shot in Italy. The New Yorker Magazine hailed this film as
hugely entertaining. 1954 B&W 92 Minutes. Behave
Yourself Shelly Winters, Lon Chaney Jr., Elisha Cook, Jr. Farley Granger. a
cute Welsh terrier follows Bill Denny home, little does he know that all
gangland has its eye on that dog. Who will be bumbling Bill's undoing -
the gangsters, the cops, or his suspicious mother-in-law? 1951 Color 81
Minutes BELA LUGOSI MEETS A BROOKLYN
GORILLA Beneath
12 Mile Reef
Robert Wagner, Terry Moore,
Richard Boone and Peter Graves. It's "Romeo and Juliet" among
the risk taking sponge divers of the Florida coast. Wagner and Moore are
young lovers who come from rival diving families. Excellent under water
scenes including a battle with an octopus highlight the drama. 1953
Color 101 minutes
BEYOND
TOMORROW Richard Carlson,
Jean Parker, C. Aubry Smith, Charles Winninger, Harry Carey Maria
Ouspensakaya. An RKO Film. Directed by Eric Southrland. Three elderly
wealthy men introduce a couple on Christmas eve (Carlson and Parker)
which spawns a romance. The three men are later killed in a plane crash
but guide the lovers from beyond. This film is known for very
effective scenes with the men superimposed in the stars. When the couple
has a difficult time one of the ghosts risks his chance at heaven to
help in this touching yuletide story. 1940 B&W 84 MIN BIG
LIFT, THE Montgomery Clift,
Paul Douglas, Cornell Borchers, O.E. Hasse, directed by George Seaton.
Clift portrays an air crewman and Douglas is an air traffic controller
during the Berlin airlift. They each become involved with German women,
but in a different manner and with different results. This was filmed on
location in 1950 Berlin, and the utter destruction of the city is
evident. Seaton uses real soldiers and Berlin citizens in the film
adding to the realism. Charles Clarke’s cinematography sets the mood
of the film much as it did in Suddenly (1954 with Frank Sinatra and
Guadalcanal Diary in 1943. BIG
TOWN AFTER DARK Phillip Reed,
Hillary Brooke, Based on the radio show with Steve Wilson the crusading
news paper editor of a paper known as The Illustrated Press. When
Lorelei Kilbourne (Hillary Brooke) leaves her job as the police reporter
for the Illustrated Press, Managing Editor Steve Wilson (Philip Reed)
employs the publisher's niece, Susan Peabody (Ann Gillis), to replace
her. Susan becomes involved with gangsters in plotting a $50,000 swindle
against her uncle, which Steve and the returned Lorelei uncover. 1947
B&W 69 minutes
BIG
TREES, THE,
Kirk Douglas, Edgar Buchanan, Alan Hale Jr., Ellen Cory.
In the early 1900's an unscrupulous timber baron plans to make
millions off California redwood. Much
of the land he hopes to grab has been homesteaded by a Quaker colony,
who try to get him to spare the giant sequoias.
Digital Master. 1952
Color 79 Minutes. BIG WHEEL, THE
(1949, BW, 92 MIN) Mickey Rooney, Thomas Mitchell, Michael O'Shea,
Spring Byington, directed by Edward Ludwig. Rooney, a daredevil race car
driver, with a none too good reputation, races at Indy and comes in
third. But character is built. BLACK BOOK, THE
Robert Cummings, Richard Basehart, Arlene Dahl, Beulah Bondi. True film
noir, that densely urban, disillusioned body of work characterized by
the deep shadows that separate the characters from each other and
isolate them from society, was almost always set in contemporary
cities... in France before WWII and in America after it. Anthony Mann's
The Black Book (aka Reign of Terror) is one of its finest examples, a
costume thriller set in the French Revolution, and somehow managing to
create the visual style and emotional mood of true film noir in a
completely atypical setting. This is a film to watch for its cinematic,
visual brilliance. Anthony Mann's taut and claustrophobic work (rather
at odds with the usual French Revolution epic, and with Mann's later
work in other genuinely epic-scale costume dramas) draws a compelling
parallel between the atmosphere of fear in post-revolutionary France and
in mid-20th century McCarthyite America. 1949 B&W BLACKMAIL,
Director Alfred Hitchcock, Army Ondra, John Longdon. Hitchcock's
first sound production was this taut murder. B&W GB BLONDE
IN BONDAGE Mark Miller, Anita Thallaug American reporter doing a story on Swedish nightlife gets involved with a
drug-addicted nightclub singer. Swedish 1957 BW 87 Minutes BLONDE
SAVAGE Leif Erickson,
Gale Borg, Frank Jenks, Douglass Dumbrille. Diamond mine owner Mark
Harper (Dumbrille) hires pilot Steve Blake (Erickson) and his pal Hoppy
Owens (Jenks) to search for a hidden jungle village from which the
natives have made trouble for his mine operations. They crash near the
village and discover that Meelah (Gale Sherwood), a white girl brought
up by the natives after her parents had been killed for their property
by Harper, is the head of the village. Returning to the mine, Harper,
already suspicious of what they may have learned and jealous of the
attention his wife, Connie Harper (Veda Ann Borg), is paying to Steve,
has them jailed, while he leads an expedition against the village and
Meelah. 1947 B&W 62 minutes. Blood
Tide James Earl Jones, Jose
Ferrer, Mary Louise Weller. An American treasure hunter (James Earl
Jones) awakens an ancient sea creature who has been resting for
centuries near the shores of a Greek island. It's up to the island's
lifelong residence to stop the creature from executing it's wrath on
humanity. One man in particular (Jose Ferrer) has been studying the
history of the monster, and now his knowledge is nothing less than
imperative to the villager's survival. 1982 Color 82 Minutes Blunt,
The Fourth Man Anthony
Hopkins, Ian Richardson. Based on true saga of four British Spies
at Cambridge (Blunt, Burgess, Maclean, Philby and Cairncross) and their
impact on world history. 1985 Color BONNIE
PRINCE CHARLIE David Niven,
Jack Hawking, Margaret Leighton. Story of Prince Charles of 16th Century
Scotland. Well staged battle scenes. Color Digital Remaster 1948 Color
136 minutes. GB BORDERLINE
(1950, BW, 90 MIN) Fred MacMurray, Claire Trevor, Raymond Burr, Roy
Roberts, Jose Torvay, Morris Ankrum, directed by William A. Seiter. A
determined policewoman goes undercover to investigate a narcotics ring
operating between Mexico and Los Angeles. Boy In The Plastic Bubble John
Travolta. Glyniss O'Conner, Robert Reed, Ralph Bellamy, Dianna Hyland,
Karren Morrow. Based on a true story, Tod Lubitch is born with a
deficient immune system (not unlike being born with AIDS). As such, he
must spend the rest of his life in a completely sterile environment. His
room is completely hermetically sealed against bacteria and virii, his
food is specially prepared, and his only human contact comes in the form
of gloved hands. The movie follows his life into a teenager. Produced by
Arron Spelling ABC Television. 1976 Color 100 Minutes BOY WITH GREEN HAIR
Pat O'brien, Dean Stockwell. A lesson in
tolerance in this classic MGM film. Peter Frye, typical American
boy, is orphaned when his parents are caught in the London Blitz. He is
not told of their fate, but shuttled from one selfish relative to the
next, ending with "Gramp," a kindly ex-vaudevillean. Peter and
Gramp, both fond of "Irish bulls," get along fine; but the
morning after Peter finally learns he's an orphan, his hair
spontaneously turns green! The absurd over-reactions of stupid people
overturn his life as the story becomes a parable and a powerful anti war
and anti hate film. Brilliant color print from 35 mm. 1948 82 minutes Broken
Harvest
Colan Lane, Joe Jefers, Marian Quinn, Darren
McHugh,Joy Florish. A moving and dramatic story set in Ireland and
New York; This film traces an old feud between two neighbors through
seventy years of Irish history. Aurthur O'Leary and his neighbor, fought
each other in the Irish Civil War and fought for the love of Catherine.
In the 1950s the old wounds are reopened unwittingly by Arthur's son..
The eruption that follows threatens the stability of the whole community
with clear echoes of the Northern Ireland conflict. 1994 Color 98 Minutes
Rated PG BULLDOG DRUMMOND COMES BACK John
Howard, John Barrymore, J. Carrol Naish, Heather Angel. The girlfriend
of Captain Drummond is being kidnapped by an enemy of Drummond who seeks
revenge. But Drummond and his friend Colonel Nielsen at once follow his
trail. 1937 B&W 74 minutes BULLDOG DRUMMOND ESCAPES
Ray Milland, Reginald Denny, E.E. Clive,Guy Standing, Heather Angle.
Captain Drummond becomes a prisoner when he intends to protect a
beautiful heiress of an espionage organization. The first of a series of
Bulldog Drummond films released by Paramount Pictures, starring first
Ray Milland, then John Howard as Captain Hugh C. Drummond. The
series captures the spirit of the classic mystery/adventure novels by H.
C. "Sapper" McNeiles. Ray Milland is Drummond, and is
excellent in the role, but Miland was too big a star to remain tied to
one character for more than one movie, so John Howard (later to play
Sherlock Holmes) took over for the subsequent seven films. E.E. Clive is
Drummond's indispensable and imperturbable valet Tenny (inexplicably
changed from Denny in the books). Clive also kept his role throughout
the entire series. So, anyone who is a fan of the Drummond books,
should, if they want to see the best screen treatment of their hero
should see this installment.. 1937 B&W 67 minutes BULLDOG DRUMMOND IN AFRICA John
Howard, Heather Angel, Anthony Quinn, H. B. Warner, J. Carrol Naish.
As his wedding to Phyllis Clavering approaches, 'Bulldog' Drummond has
taken extreme precautions to avoid getting caught up in another
adventure that would delay the wedding. But even as they make their
final preparations, their friend Colonel Neilson is being kidnapped by a
gang headed by the traitorous Richard Lane. Phyllis witnesses the
abduction, and quickly finds Drummond to tell him. They track the gang
to Morocco, where they will face many obstacles to their goal of
rescuing Neilson. John Howard plays "Bulldog," which is
something of a misnomer as played here because he's rather quiet,
handsome & shy, not what one would expect from a
"bulldog." Heather Angel matches well with Howard as his Fiancée
in Perpetuity. The movies have charm, wit, a bit of mystery, & solid
acting. 1938 B&W 60 minutes
BULLDOG DRUMMONDS BRIDE Callie
& Son with Lindsey Wagner, Dabney Coleman and Michelle Pfeiffer. An unwed
mother forced to give up her child and is cheated by a phony private
investigator. Later she marries a wealthy publisher and continues her
search for her child. 1981 Color 142 Minutes PG CATHERINE THE GREAT Douglas
Fairbanks, Flora Robson. Shy young girl is treated poorly by the Royal
family but goes on the be the greatest Russian Tsarinas. In 1745 a
German princess, renamed Catherine, arrives to marry Grand Duke Peter of
Russia, whom she initially likes. But his suspicious, unstable nature
gradually estranges them, and Peter finds solace with pretty courtiers.
Catherine invents her own (fictitious) lovers, temporarily improving
matters. Alas, accession to the throne brings out the worst in Peter,
and loyal Catherine is urged to assume power. Remaster 1932
B&W 92 minutes GB CHECK AND DOUBLE CHECK
(1931, BW, 77 MIN) Freedman Gosden, Charles Correll (as Amos and Andy),
Sue Carol, Irene Rich, Charles Norton, Ralf Harolde, Duke Ellington and
his Orchestra, directed by Melville Brown. The well meaning pair get
concerned over a deed to some property, and the love affair that begins
because of it.
CITY WITHOUT MEN Linda
Darnell, Margaret Hamilton, Edgar Buchanan. A young woman's husband has
been imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit. In order to be near him to
try to help him get his sentence overturned, she moves into a
boardinghouse near the prison whose residents are the wives of inmates.
1943 B&W 75 min. D.O.A.
(1949, BW, 88 MIN) Edmund O'Brien, Pamela Britton, Luther Adler, Neville
Brand, Henry Hart, Virginia Lee, directed by Rudolp DARK HOUR, THE
Hedda Hopper, Ray Walker, Irene Ware, Berton Churchill. A pair of
detectives investigates the murder of an elderly millionaire who was the
target of blackmail and death threats and find that there is no shortage
of suspects, many of them in the victim's own family. Chesterfield
Studio does it again--a tidy whodunit that, surprisingly, holds up
pretty well despite its age. The race between the two detectives is
quite droll and interesting; it shows, once again, that the fundamental
lesson of integration between the old and the new still
applies--regardless of decade and/or century. 1936 B&W 63 minutes DARK JOURNEY
(1937, BW, 75 MIN) Vivien Leigh, Joan Gardner, Conrad Veidt, Anthony
Bushell, Ursla Jeans, directed by Victor Saville. A sophisticated drama
of espionage and romance. Leigh plays the role of a double agent whose
front is an upscale shop in Stockholm. The head of the German SS
suspects her loyalties but falls in love with her. Clever plot. GB DEADLY
COMPANIONS, THE, Maureen
O'Hara, Brian Keith. Sam Peckinpah made his directing debut in this
excellent western adventure concerning an ex‑soldier/gunslinger
who makes amends to a family of a man he killed. 1961 Color USA DEATH
FROM A DISTANCE Russell Lane,
Lola Lane. While a distinguished astronomer is giving a lecture in a
planetarium, a shot rings out and one of the audience members is found
dead. A tough detective and a brassy female reporter lock horns as they
both try to break the case. Every stereotype from that era is present:
smart detective and dumb as dishwater detective, hardboiled city room
editor and ambitious female reporter, gentle Viennese scientist and the
"Hindu," a man with a past. And there's more. Good effort from
a small studio. This film used props which were also used in "The
Invisible Ray". 1935 B&W 68 minutes DETOUR
(1945, BW, 69 MIN) Tom Neal, Ann Savage, Claudia Drake, Edmund
MacDonald, Tim Ryan, Ester Howard, directed by Edgar G. Ulmer. Tag line
for this film was ... He went searching for love... but Fate
forced a DETOUR to Revelry... Violence... Mystery! A down and out
Greenwich Village piano player becomes involved with a seductive mystery
woman and two murders as he hitchhikes to the west coast. DIVORCE
OF LADY X, Merle Oberon, Laurence Olivier A sophisticated romantic
comedy which concerns a young divorce lawyer defending himself. We own
the best copy of this film known to exist. Laurence Olivier plays Logan,
a barrister who falls in love with Leslie (played by Merle Oberon), the
woman he thinks his client will soon be divorcing. Fogbound in a hotel,
Leslie Steele tricks handsome, cynical divorce lawyer Everard Logan into
sharing his suite. She lets him think she's married; next day Lord Mere,
whose thrice- divorced wife spent the night with a man in the same
hotel, comes to Logan for a divorce! Leslie delightedly teases Logan
with her imaginary scandalous past, while fascinating him irresistibly.
Then she joins forces with the real Lady Mere...1938 Color 92 minutes GB DR.
KILDARE'S STRANGE CASE Lionel
Barrymore, Lew Ayers, :LAurane Day. Young Dr. Kildare is still being
trained at General Hospital by old, crusty Dr. Gillespie. This time, he
tries to rehabilitate Gregory Lane, a brain surgeon depressed over
losing too many patients (and incidentally Kildare's romantic rival for
nurse Mary Lamont). Lane's losing streak takes a new turn when one of
his patients survives...but seems to be insane. Or is the man's strange
obsession with Friday the clue to a mystery? To find out, Kildare must
take a terrible risk. Perhaps one of the finest cast series ever
produced. 1940 B&W 77 minutes DRUMS IN THE DEEP SOUTH
Barbara Payton, James Craig, Guy Madison, Craig Stevens, directed by
William Cameron Menzies. The deep friendship of three West Point
graduates is torn apart by the Civil War. They come together during
Sherman's drive through Georgia when the northern officer, Madison, must
blow up a mountain killing his former buddies, Stevens and Craig.
DRUMS OF AFRICA Buster Crabbe
and Charles Middleton meet again. 1941 B&W DRUMS
OF JEOPARDY Warner Oland,
June Collier, Mischa Auer. Oland stars as Dr. Boris Karloff, a man out
to avenge his daughter's suicide by killing off a Russian noble family
that he holds responsible for her death. Warner Oland soon after this
movie became famous in his portrayal of Charlie Chan in a series of
movies about a famous Chinese detective and the mysteries he solves.
Clara Blandick, the future Auntie Em in the Wizard of Oz plays a great
character in a supporting role and is excellent in bringing comic relief
to this little known drama from Tiffany Studios. AKA The Mark of Terror.
1931 B&W 71 minutes.
ELLIS ISLAND ENTERTAINER, THE
(1960, BW, 97 MIN) Laurence Olivier, Joan Plowright, Alan Bates, Albert
Finney, Shirley Anne Field, directed by Tony Richardson. Olivier plays
the role of Archie Rice, a has-been that never was, a third rate
vaudevillian who plays the music halls when they were in their decline.
His character has no redeeming qualities; he's rotten to everyone ...
his children, his alcoholic wife, his dying father, and the parents of a
beauty contestant he's dallying with. Olivier is brilliant. The shabby
surroundings of the music hall, the seedy sea side resort town, the
dismal house the family lives in, all work well in telling the story. GB ETERNALLY YOURS
(1939, BW, 91 MIN) David Niven, Loretta Young, Hugh Herbert, Billie
Burke, Broderick Crawford, Zasu Pitts, directed by Tay Garnett. A
magician can't make lipstick stains vanish before they break up his
marriage...but intends winning his wife back at any cost, before she
carries out plans for a second husband. Zany characters, hair raising
escape acts, romantic mix‑ups, and stinging dialogue delivered by
a great cast. EVIL MIND
(1934, BW, 68 MIN) Claude Rains, Fay Wray, directed by Maurice Elvey. A
phony psychic develops frightening powers to make predictions which get
him into a great deal of trouble. Bizarre courtroom scenes with odd
legal maneuvers being employed to set him free. AKA "The
Clairvoyant" FABULOUS DORSEYS
Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey, Paul Whitman, Charlie Barnet, Ray Eberly, Helen
O'Connell and a score of jazz greats play themselves. Also in the cast
Janet Blair, William Lundigan , Arthur Shields. This is story of the
rise of the Fabulous Dorsey brothers is charted in this whimsical step
down memory lane, Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey play themselves in this vehicle
for their excellent music. From being raised by their father who insists
on them learning music, to the split that just saw their careers rise
even further. 1947 B&W 88 minutes FATHER'S LITTLE DIVIDEND
Spencer Tracy, Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Bennett, Don Taylor, Billie Burke,
directed by Vincente Minnelli. A sequel to "Father of the
Bride" and one of the rare times the sequel stands up to the
original. Father Spencer Tracy has finally achieved peace and quiet,
having married off Elizabeth Taylor. But the madhouse resumes when a
grandchild is expected and Tracy becomes a devoted grandfather, much to
his own surprise. 1951, BW, 81minutes FIGHTING CARAVANS (1930)
Gary Cooper, Lili Damita, Ernest Torrence, Tully Marshall, Fred Kohler,
Frank Campeau. Young frontiersman joins a wagon train to California to
keep from going to jail,
talking a French lass into posing as his wife. Eventually he
must take responsibility as the sole scout when the natives
attack. From the novel by Zane Grey. B&W.
Running Time: 80 minutes. FLAME OVER INDIA
(1960, COLOR, 130 MIN) Lauren Bacall, Kenneth More, Herbert Lom, Wilfrid
Hyde-White, directed by J. Lee Thompson. During a Moslem uprising in
India, a professional soldier spirits a Hindu prince and his American
governess to safety aboard a rusty old train. Loaded with action and
suspense. (AKA Northwest Frontier). GB FRECKLES COMES HOME GAMBLING WITH SOULS Martha
Chapman, Wheeler Oaklman, Edward Keene. The highly-publicized
success in 1936 of Thomas E. Dewey in disassembling the vice-focused
operations of "Lucky" Luciano spawned a raft of exploitative
films such as this one (also titled VICE RACKET), an advertisement for
which states "Soiled souls in the marts of a great
city......sensational events as recently seen in the nation's
headlines", a popular item for many years in those side street
theatres that presented movies showcasing flesh and decadence while
ostensibly offering an "educational" service to alert
audiences of the wages of sin and lust. Although in love with her
financially straitened surgeon husband, Mae Miller (Martha Chapin)
becomes frustrated because with only a budding practice, he cannot
provide for her those luxuries that her friends enjoy, and she is easily
lured by an acquaintance to an illegal gambling establishment where she
soon becomes addicted to the feckless thrill of wagering, that leads to
more dire events after she falls into a state of substantial
indebtedness to the club's crafty owner. This is Lucky Wilder (Wheeler
Oakman) who places extreme pressure through a threat of blackmail upon
Mrs. Miller since her debt to him has exceeded $10000, an enormous
amount during the Great Depression, and Mae is compelled to become a
call girl for Wilder in order to pay the vice master what she owes him,
but events still worsen for the doctor's wife when her younger sister
Carolyn (Gay Sheridan) is entrapped in the same manner. The scenario is
related in flashbacks, with a District Attorney's office as setting of
the present where Mae is being grilled as an accused murder suspect,
characterized by the D.A. as "You who thrive on the slime of
life", and yet the case has not been decided for Mae Miller in this
quite sleazily-toned but competently constructed low-budget potboiler
that is well-edited and ably directed by Elmer Clifton, who in his palmy
days had been a favoured director for the Gish sisters, with perky
Sheridan and well-practiced villain Oakman both convincing in their
roles. 1935 B&W 70 minutes.
GHOST AND THE GUEST James
Dunn, Mable Todd. This comedy was written by Morey Ansterdam who played
a comedy writer on the Dick Van Dyke TV series decades later. A
newlywed couple winds up spending their honeymoon night in an old, dark,
spooky mansion. This movie does manage to keep your interest though and
the comedy still comes through. The acting wasn't bad at all, and the
strange assortment of characters was interesting. The plot is not
believable but this is forgiven in the interest of comedy. It's a short,
fast moving comedy that should be taken lightly and enjoyed for what it
is. (Funny) 1943 B&W 61 minutes GREEN EYES Shirley
Grey, Charles Starrett. British mystery thriller. The owner of a large
mansion in the country throws a costume party for some of his friends.
However, the party turns sour when he is found stabbed to death in a
closet. The police and a guest try to discover who committed the murder.
1934 B&W 68 minutes. GREEN GLOVE, THE
(Glenn Ford, Geraldine Brooks, Cedric Hardwicke. In World
War II France, American soldier Michael Blake captures, then loses
Nazi-collaborator art thief Paul Rona, who leaves behind a gem studded
gauntlet (a stolen religious relic). Years later, financial reverses
lead Mike to return in search of the object. In Paris, he must dodge
mysterious followers and a corpse that's hard to explain; so he and
attractive tour guide Christine decamp on a cross-country pursuit that
becomes love on the run...then takes yet another turn. 1952 B&W 88
Minutes GUNG HO Robert
Mitchem, Randolph Scott, J. Carol Nash, Rod Cameron, Noah Berry, Jr,
Alan Curtis, Grace McDonald, Sam Levene. Seven weeks after Pearl Harbor,
volunteers form the new 2nd Marine Raider Battalion whose purpose is to
raid Japanese-held islands. The men selected come from different walks
of life but have toughness in common. Under command of Colonel 'Thorwald',
they're trained in all imaginable forms of combat. Then, after a
perilous submarine journey, they face a daunting first mission: to
annihilate the much larger Japanese garrison on Makin Island, in a
lengthy battle sequence. 1943 B&W 88 mins Guns
Of Diablo with Charges Bronson. He was the fastest gun alive. PG HAND,
THE, Derek Bond, During
World War II, a group of British soldiers are captured by the Japanese,
tortured and their hands are cut off. Years later, a mad killer
terrorizes London by cutting off the hands of his victims. 1960 B&W
61 minutes HE WALKED BY NIGHT Richard
Basehart, Jack Webb, Scott Brady. When a police officer is
gunned down by a man whom he had stopped to question, a city-wide
dragnet fails to catch the shooter, leaving the police with only minor
clues to go on. Later they discover that the same man has been selling
stolen equipment through an electronics dealer, and they set a trap for
him. But he shoots his way out of the trap and escapes. The police must
piece together a description of the man's appearance and habits from
witnesses and a few small clues, as they search untiringly for a
dangerous and very resourceful criminal. The realistic technique of this
movie was so innovative, that Jack Webb (who has his first good-sized
role in this movie) used this technique in making his 1940s radio show
"Dragnet." When he brought "Dragnet" to television
in 1951, the style of the show influenced countless other shows,
launching realistic police drama in television. This realistic style is
very noticeable in TV shows today, such as "Law and Order,"
and "NYPD Blue." 1948 B&W 79 minutes HEARTS IN BONDAGE
James Dunn, David Manners, Fritz Leiber, Mae Clark. First-time director
Lew Ayres performs miracles on a minuscule budget in this
romanticized version of the events leading up to the battle between the
"ironclads" Monitor and Merrimac. Northern naval officer
Kenneth (James Dunn), the nephew of Monitor designer John Ericsson is
dishonorably discharged when he sinks the Merrimac instead of burning
it, as ordered. He is restored to duty as a crew member on the Monitor,
and in the ensuing sea battle with the again commissioned Merrimac he
kills Confederate officer Raymond (David Manners), the brother of
Kenneth's fiancée Constance (Mae Clarke). The estranged sweethearts are
ultimately reunited with the direct intervention of Abe Lincoln himself!
The special effects of scale models in the climactic Monitor-Merrimac
confrontation is both exciting and convincing. 1936 BW 72 Minutes.
HIS
GIRL FRIDAY Cary Grant,
Rosalind Russell, Ralph Bellamy. A remake of Front Page. Fast paced
screwball comedy. Grant as conniving editor, Russell as star reporter
(and his ex-wife), Bellamy as mama's boy she's trying to marry with a
murder story to be covered going on. Great character actors make this a
must see film, scripted by Ben Hecht. HITCH-HIKER,
THE, (1953 b/w) Edmond O'Brien, Frank Lovejoy and William Tallman
star in this directed by Ida Lupino film noir classic concerning two men
on a fishing trip who make the deadly mistake of picking up a psychotic
killer. 1953 B&W
Approx. 71 minutes HITLER
DEAD OR ALIVE Ward
Bond, Paul Fix, and Warren Hymer. A team of ex-con bounty hunters go to
Germany in search of Hitler. If they can find him, a million dollar
reward is to be paid to them. Ward Bond has the distinction of being in
seven of the hundred greatest films voted on by the American Film
Institute, most of any thespian. This film was not among his finest
accomplishments, but was a popular bit of war propaganda. 1942 B&W
70 minutes HOLD
THAT WOMAN James Dunn,
Frances Gilford. A skip tracer--someone who collects late payments from
people who've purchased appliances, etc., or takes them back them when
they don't pay--repossesses a small radio from a deadbeat who's skipped
payments. What he doesn't know is that a gang that has stolen diamonds
from a Hollywood movie star has stashed them inside the radio, and they
start hunting for him. 1940 B&W 67 minutes
HOLLOW
TRIUMPH, THE,
Paul Henreid, Joan Bennett, Edward Franz. Killer assumes identity
of a doctor. Tense melodrama. Paul Henreid is in every single scene of
this movie, and it's hard not to think of him in his most famous role,
and to impose that image onto this picture. Henreid's thick accent is a
distraction that really robs this movie of some of its charm. But, the
plot twists make up for everything. One takes place in a photo shop, and
its significance is immediately apparent. The other is the ending which
catches viewers by surprise. Joan Bennett is terrific here, as a
cynical, vulnerable, rather sarcastic secretary who shows herself to be
an astute judge of character, though not as hard-hearted as she'd have
us believe. The moments when Henreid and Bennett are together on screen
are magical. The ending is one of the best ever crafted see. 1948
B&W 83 minutes. USA HOME
TOWN STORY,
Marilyn Monroe, Jeffrey Lynn, Marjorie Reynolds. Directed
by Arthur Pierson. A politician has to change his mind about the evils
of big business when his sister is caught in a cave-in. Blake Washburn
blames manufacturer MacFarland for his defeat in the race for
re-election to the state legislature. He takes over his uncle's
newspaper to take on big business as an enemy of the people. Miss Martin
(Marilyn Monroe) works in the "Herald" newspaper office. When
tragedy strikes, Blake must re-examine his views.1951 B&W 61 minutes HOUSE
OF MYSTERY Ed Lowrey,
George Hayes, Verna Hilie. Out of the Mystic Temples of Old India crept
this terrible Monster ... to wreak vengeance of the Hindu Gods ... One
by one its victims fell with not a trace of the bloody assassin. The
movie begins in Asia (India) in 1913, where the main character (a Mr.
Prendergast) kills a monkey, & then moves ahead to 1932-33 in the
US, where the Curse of Kahli follows him. This is a solid old dark house
kind of movie that has comic elements & a séance. It's a treat for
fans of the Hopalong Cassidy B western series to see a 47 year young
beardless George Hayes in a small role. There are lots of murders,
several surprises, & the mandatory man in the gorilla suit. Chanda
(played by Laya Joy, AKA Joyzelle Joyner), after an early stint in the
movie as an exotic dancer (she's does a good job at that) walks around
the rest of the movie zombie-like, almost speechless. Fans of the old
dark house genre will certainly enjoy this one. 1934 B&W 62 minutes. IDENTITY
UNKNOWN Richard Arlen, Bobby
Driscoll, Cheryl Walker, Roger Pryor. A soldier survives a bombing in
which his three fellow soldiers were killed. When he recovers he
discovers he has amnesia, and since his companions' bodies were burned
beyond recognition, the army doesn't know which one of the four he is.
He goes AWOL and searches out the families of the three dead soldiers,
hoping to find out his own identity. 1947 B&W 71 minutes. IMPACT (1949,
BW, 111 MIN) Brian Donlevy, Charles Coburn, Ella Raines, Helen Walker,
Anna May Wong, Mae Marsh, directed by Arthur Lubin. Donlevy's wife and
her lover try to bump him off but the lover gets it instead while
Donlevy is injured in a car crash and suffers from amnesia. While
recovering he falls in love with nice lady Raines. Then Donlevy regains
his memory as his wife finds him, and life really becomes complex. Many
twists and turns and some real surprises in this above average drama. In
This House of Breede Dianna
Rigg. A well-to-do London businesswoman gives up her comfortable life,
including the man who loves her, to become a cloistered Benedictine nun.
1975 color 105 min. In Search of America
Jeff Bridges, Carl Betz, Vera Miles and Sal Mineo. Directed by Paul
Bogart. The late 60's was a different and frightening time and place.
Adolescents and adults alike were questioning who they were, why they
existed, and whether these gosh-darned flower children kids might just
have something. This groovy time capsule movie shows all that as
suburban Dad, Carl Betz, flower child Jeff Bridges, loose-as-a-goose
grandma Ruth McDevitt take off for the road in search of America.1971
Color INNER SANCTUM
Charles Russell, Mary Beth Hughes, Billy House, Roscoe Yates, Fritz
Leiber. A man fleeing the police after having committed a murder hides
out in a boarding house in a small town. That sums up a tidy
little mystery from the late 40's with a good cast, directed by Lew
Landers. A Seer (fortune-teller) brilliantly played by Fritz Leiber
predicts that a young girl (Mary Beth Hughes) will encounter tragedy on
a train. It all comes together when a man (Charles Russell) fleeing from
the law for a murder hides out in a boarding house. Other than the
gorgeous Miss Hughes and handsome Mr. Russell the boarders include the
delightful Nana Bryant, feisty Lee Patrick, freckled faced kid Dale
Belding and Billy House. Above-par B film fare especially for Noir fans.
1948 B&W 62 minutes INVISIBLE AVENGER JAMAICA INN
Charles Laughton, Maureen O'Hara, Leslie Banks, Mervyn Johns, directed
by Alfred Hitchcock. Based on the novel by Daphne du Maurier. Laughton
is a Victorian nobleman who heads a cutthroat band. O'Hara is beautiful
and spirited, as usual. GB JANE EYRE 1934) . .
. Virginia Bruce and Colin Clive Joe Panther
Brian Keith, Ricardo Montoblan, Cliff Osmond, Ray Tracy. A young
Seminole Indian boy comes of age outside the Florida Everglades by
trying to enter the establishment ( white man's world ). He gets work as
crew member on ( Brian Keith's ) fishing boat, hunts for alligators and
has cathartic encounters with bad guys trying to bring illegal aliens
into Florida on fishing boats. 1976 Color 120 Minutes Joe
(An American Original) Peter
Boyle, Susan Sarandon.Bill, A wealthy businessman, confronts his
junkie daughter's drug-dealing boyfriend; in the ensuing argument, Bill
kills him. Panic-stricken, he wanders the streets and eventually stops
at a bar. There he runs into a drunken factory worker named Joe, who
hates hippies, blacks, and anyone who is "different", and
would like to kill one himself. The two start talking, and Bill reveals
his secret to Joe. Tragic and bloody complications ensue. 1970
Color (rated R) JORY
Robby Bensen, John Marley,
Anne Lockhart and B.J. Thomas (Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head)
A teen is forced to become a man, when he is left orphaned in the old
west. Songster, B.J. Thomas, was effective as the expert gun handler who
was unable to fire at another human even to protect himself. This is
regarded Bensen's finest screen appearance. Directed by Jon Fons. 1972
Color 96 minutes JUNGLE MAN Buster
Crabbe, Charles Middleton, Harry L. Fraser. An expedition sets out to
darkest Africa to find the fabled City of the Dead, and must battle
thick jungle, hostile natives, wild animals and a deadly epidemic. From
PRC one of the Poverty Row Studios. 1941 B&W 63 minutes. KATHERINE
Sissy Spacek, Art Carney,
Henry Winkler, Jane Wyatt. A harrowing look at the 60s and early
70s through the eyes of Katherine Alman, a wealthy debutante who slowly,
but inexorably spirals down into a fight for the causes that shook a
nation, leading a path to the underground life. 1975 Color 125
Minutes. KENTUCKY
RIFLE (1956) Chill Wills,
Lance Fuller, Cathy Downs, Jeanne Cagney, Sterling Holloway, Jess
Barker. Stranded pioneers become the targets of a hostile Indian group,
who will let them through their territory only if they give them their
wagonload of Kentucky Rifles. Color.
Running Time: 82 mins. Kill Cruise
Elizabeth Hurley, Jurgen Pronchnow, Paty Kenset.
A washed-out German sailor, in a drunken state, agrees to take
two British women from Gibraltar to the West Indies in his sail boat.
Early into the voyage, they realize that it's not going to be plain
sailing. 1990 COLOR 98 MIN KING
MURDER CASE, THE Richard
Thorpe, Conway Tearle, Natalie Moorhead. The murder weapon is a poison
phonograph needles. (OK class ... how many remember when phonographs has
needles?) A beautiful blonde makes a career out of seducing and then
blackmailing wealthy married men. She is found murdered after demanding
a $5000 payoff from her latest victim, and the detective investigating
the case finds out that she was involved in a lot more than just
blackmail. 1932 B&W 67 minutes
LADY
AND THE HIGHWAYMAN Hugh
Grant, Oliver Reed, Michael York, John Mills, Emma Sands, Gordon
Jackson, Claire Bloom. Based on Barbara Cartland's romance novel. The
young lady Panthea Vyne falls in love with the handsome highwayman who
saves her from her brutal husband. He kills him in a fair duel. Later on
when Charles the 2nd is reinstated as King of England she attends the
royal court. But here she becomes the enemy of the kings former mistress
and the plot against her thickens. Gainsborough Pictures. Directed by
John Hough/ 1989 Color 100 Minutes LADY
IN SCARLETT, THE
Reginald Denny, Patricia Farr.
When a wealthy art dealer is murdered, the private investigator
hired for the case discovers a web of blackmail, corruption and stolen
bonds. 1935 B&W 65 minutes. LADY
SAYS NO! LADY
VANISHES, THE,
Director Alfred Hitchcock, Michael Redgrave. One of Hitchcock's
finest British productions involving an unsolved murder mystery. GB LAST TIME I SAW PARIS,
Directed by Richard Brooks. Elizabeth Taylor, Van Johnson, Walter
Pigeon, Eva Gabor, Roger Moore. World War II G.I. relives his romantic
memories. Charles returns to Paris to reminisce about the life he led in
Paris after it was liberated. He worked on "Stars and Stripes"
when he met Marion and Helen. He would marry and be happy staying in
Paris after his discharge and working for a news organization. He would
try to write his great novel and that would come between Charlie, his
wife and his daughter.1954 Color 116 minutes. LAW
OF THE LASH (1947) Director:
Ray Taylor Lash LaRue, Al St. John, Lee Roberts, Mary Scott, Charles
King, Jack O'Shea. Whip-wielding Cheyenne Kid and pal Fuzzy come to the
aid of a lady shopkeeper with outlaw problems. B&W.
Running Time: 54 mins. LETTER OF INTRODUCTION
Edgar Bergan and Charlie
McCarthy LIANE, JUNGLE GODDESS,
Marion Michaels, Hardy Kruger, Ed Tracy. An expedition discovers blonde
16 year-old Liane venerated by the native tribe in the African jungle
and returns her to Hamburg where she is welcomed by her grandfather,
ship tycoon Von Amelongen. His nephew Schoening, present head of the
firm and prospective heir, tries all to stop his uncle from
acknowledging her, including perjury, destruction of evidence, and
finally resorting to murder. He dies in an accident driving his car into
the river in his flight from the police. There is a subplot around a
love quadrangle centered around Thoren, who is secretly loved by
biologist Jacqueline who is in turn courted by Hungarian Tibor. Thoren
plays paternal protector to Liane before succumbing to her youthful
charm and returning with her to the jungle. German Production. 1956
Color 88 Minutes LIFE WITH FATHER
William Powell, Irene Dunn, Elizabeth Taylor, Edmund Gwenn, Zazu Pitts.
In late nineteenth century New York a Wall Street broker likes to think
his house runs his way, but finds himself constantly bemused at how much
of what happens is down to his wife. His children are also stretching
their wings, discovering girls and making money out of patent medicine
selling. When it comes to light he has never been baptized and everyone
starts insisting he must do so, it all starts to get a bit too much. The
original play, "Life With Father", became the longest-running
non-musical play of its time. It played on Broadway for nearly eight
years, from 1939 to 1947, and the film version was released the year
that the Broadway run ended. 1947 Color 118 minutes LITTLE
LADIES OF THE NIGHT David
Soul, Lou Gossett Jr., Carolyn Jones, Vic Tayback, Linda Purl. The
sister of ex-pimp and current Los Angeles Police detective Kyle York
(David Soul) was murdered working the streets a few years ago. Since his
reform, he has teamed with Officer Russ Garfield (Louis Gossett Jr.) to
clear the streets of under-age girls working in prostitution. Pretty,
young runaway Hailey Atkins (Linda Purl) has been turned out. Down deep
she wants to go straight but has had great difficultly escaping her pimp
and doesn't even have a place to go. York and Garfield go out on a limb
to try and help. Made for TV Arron Spelling Production for ABC. 1977
Color 120 Minutes LITTLE PRINCESS, Shirley
Temple, Cesar Romero. Arthur Treacher, Richard Greene, Anita Louise, Ian
Hunter. In Victorian England little Sara Crewe's widowed father is sent
to the Boer War. When he is reported killed the evil head mistress at
her boarding school turns Sara into a servant. She suffers with dignity
until her shell-shocked father returns. One of Shirley's best
performances with a wonderful cast of supporting players. This is the
only Shirley Temple film made in Technicolor. 1939 91 Minutes. Stunning
35mm master print
LOVE FROM A STRANGER MADE FOR EACH OTHER
(1939, BW, 93 MIN) James Stewart, Carole Lombard, Charles Coburn,
Lucille Watson, Ward Bond, Louise Beavers, directed by John Cromwell.
First rate three hankie special with comic elements to help dry the
tears. Stewart and Lombard are newlyweds with interfering in laws and a
difficult boss (Coburn). Their baby gets deathly ill on New Year's eve
and Stewart must beg Coburn for a loan to buy medicine. Thanks to some
fine performances, this movie works. MAN
WHO KNEW TOO MUCH, THE,
Director Alfred Hitchcock with Leslie Banks, Edna Best, Peter
Lorre. 1932 B&W
76 minutes GB MAN
WITH THE GOLDEN ARM, Frank
Sinatra, Eleanor Parker Darren McGavin. One of Sinatra’s best film
performances as a drummer trying to get off drugs who is implicated in a
murder. One of the most dramatic endings ever on the screen. Music by
Elmer Bernstein. 1955 B&W 119 Digital Remaster USA MEET
JOHN DOE Gary Cooper, Barbara
Stanwyck and Edward Arnold. Directed by Frank Capra Cooper threatens to
jump off the top of City Hall on Christmas eve. This film offers a
standing rebuke to critics who use the term "Capracorn". None
of Capra's films are as blindly optimistic as is often argued, but this
one is a pitch-black jeremiad against manipulation by the media. The mob
scene at the "John Doe" convention is one of the powerful
scenes ever filmed. Stanwyck is incredible as reporter Anne Mitchell.
She is one of the great actresses of the century, and she always did her
best work Capra, whose female characters are generally more compelling
to the women we get in the movies of our "liberated" era.
Cooper is fantastic as a truly "average" guy who is
"awakened" by his experience with the John Doe movement, and
Edward Arnold is absolutely terrifying in the role of Fascist D.B.
Norton. This film is even more relevant today than when it was made, and
I would argue that it should be viewed in high schools across the
continent. Capra is asking his viewers to think critically of EVERYTHING
they hear on the radio or see in papers or hear from elites. 1941
B&W 135 minutes MIDNIGHT
PHANTOM, THE Reginald Denny
An Unseen Hand Spreading Terror. A newly hired police chief vows to
clean up a notoriously corrupt police department. When he is murdered,
investigators find that there is no shortage of suspects, most of them
being fellow cops. 1935 B&W 63 minutes MILKY WAY, THE
(1936, BW, 87 MIN) Harold Lloyd, Adolphe Menjou, Helen Mack, Verree
Teasdale, Lionel Stander, directed by Leo McCarey. A timid milkman
accidently knocks out a champion fighter, and is "discovered"
by a fast talking promoter. Before he knows what hit him, the poor thing
is in the ring fighting to stay alive.
MOON AND SIXPENCE, THE George
Saunders, Herbert Marshall, Boris Dudley Loosely inspired from Gauguin's
life, the story of Charles Strickland, a middle-aged stock brocker who
abandons his middle-classed life, his family, his duties to start
painting, what he has always wanted to do. He is from now on a awful
human being, wholly devoted to his ideal: beauty. "The Moon and
Sixpence" is George Sanders first starring movie and it hits a home
run. Some scenes in color and some in black and white. The films music
was nominated for an Academy Award. 1943 B&W and Color 89 minutes. MR. ROBINSON CRUSOE
(1932, BW, 69 MIN) Douglas Fairbanks, William Farnum, Earle Browne,
Maria Alba directed by Edward Sutherland. Fairbanks plays a wealthy
bored playboy who bets his friends that he can survive on a south seas
island as the fictional Robinson Crusoe did. He builds a tree house
looking like a Park Avenue penthouse, and finds a girl Saturday to look
after some of his needs. Filmed on Tahiti. MURDER AT THE BASKERVILLES
(1941, BW, 66 MIN) Ian Fleming, Arthur Wontner, Lyn Harding, directed by
Ian Fleming. Sherlock Holmes is summoned by his old friend Baskerville
when a prized race horse, Silverblaze, has been stolen and his groom
murdered. Fleming went on to write the James Bond books. aka "Silverblaze"
(GB) MURDER BY INVITATION Wallace
Ford, Marian Marsch. This film is one of those Old Dark House
murder mystery films that Hollywood was so fond on in the 1940s. This B
movie stars Wallace Ford as a popular newspaper columnist and Marian
Marsh as his secretary/girlfriend. The relatives of a rich old
woman unsuccessfully try to have her declared insane, so they can divide
up her money. To show them that there are no hard feelings, she invites
them to her estate for the weekend so she can decide to whom she
actually will leave her money when she dies. Soon, however, family
members begin disappearing. 1941 B&W 67 minutes.Murder in Soho MURDER IN SOHO Jack
La Rue, Googie Withers, Francis Lister, Sandra Storme. The
rapid-fire story of an underworld mobster with a social bee in his
bonnet and a rod on his hip! The Cotton Club in London's Soho district
is operated by American gangster Steve Marco (Jack La Rue) who, when Joe
Lane (Francis Lister) threatens to tell the police of his past, has no
qualms about killing him as he figures if he could outwit America's
G-Men, he has little to fear from Scotland Yard. Joe's body is found in
Greek Street, and Inspector Hammond (Martin Walker) questions everybody
employed at Steve's club where Joe was last seen. The investigation
yields nothing until dance hostess Ruby Lane (Sandra Storme), wife of
the murdered man gives away a vital clue - a priceless string of pearls
he had been teasing her with that Hammond decides is now in possession
of the killer. Ruby, acting on orders and with Steve watching her,
breaks a string of imitation pearls which Steve promptly offers to
replace, much to the chagrin of newspaper reporter Roy Barnes (Bernard
Lee) who is in love with her. Steve takes Ruby to dinner at his flat
where he gives her the promised pearls. Later, at the club, she gives
them to Barnes to give to Inspector Hammond but is seen by two of
Steve's henchmen. They follow Roy, take the pearls away from him and
leave him unconscious in a taxi. Steve refuses to believe that Ruby is
double-crossing him, but agrees to put her to a test. 1939 B&W 70
minutes. MURDER IN THE NIGHT
Jack Larue. Sandra Storme. The Cotton Club in London's Soho
district is operated by American gangster Steve Marco (Jack La Rue) who,
when Joe Lane (Francis Lister) threatens to tell the police of his past,
has no qualms about killing him as he figures if he could outwit
America's G-Men, he has little to fear from Scotland Yard. Joe's body is
found in Greek Street, and Inspector Hammond (Martin Walker) questions
everybody employed at Steve's club where Joe was last seen. The
investigation yields nothing until dance hostess Ruby Lane (Sandra
Storme), wife of the murdered man gives away a vital clue - a priceless
string of pearls he had been teasing her with that Hammond decides is
now in possession of the killer. Ruby, acting on orders and with Steve
watching her, breaks a string of imitation pearls which Steve promptly
offers to replace, much to the chagrin of newspaper reporter Roy Barnes
(Bernard Lee) who is in love with her. Steve takes Ruby to dinner at his
flat where he gives her the promised pearls. Later, at the club, she
gives them to Barnes to give to Inspector Hammond but is seen by two of
Steve's henchmen. They follow Roy, take the pearls away from him and
leave him unconscious in a taxi. Steve refuses to believe that Ruby is
double-crossing him, but agrees to put her to a test. 1939 B&W 70
minutes MUTINY IN THE BIG HOUSE
Charles Bickford, William Nigh, Barton MacLane. A young man forges a
check in order to help his mother, but is caught and sentenced to 14
years in prison. The prison chaplain, seeing that the new arrival is a
good man who's had some bad luck, sets out to help keep him out of
trouble so he can serve his sentence and get out. However, his cellmate,
a hardened con, sees the chaplain's interest in the young convict as
something he can use in his planned jailbreak. 1939 B&W 83 minutes
MY LOVE FOR YOURS
(1939, BW, 99 MIN) Fred MacMurray, Madeline Carroll, Allan Jones,
directed by Edward H. Griffith. Fred is so sure of his prowess as a
suitor that he takes on the challenge of pursuing a cool sophisticated
businesswoman. AKA "Honeymoon in Bali" MY MAN GODFREY
(1936, BW, 93 MIN) William Powell, Carole Lombard, Gail Patrick, Alan
Mowbray, Mischa Auer, Alice Brady, directed by Gregory La Cava. One of
the best of the "screwball" comedies of the 1930's. Powell is
found by Lombard and Patrick in a vacant lot on the lower east side, and
is presumed by them to be one of the depression era's "forgotten
men". He returns with Lombard to a society party and is presented
as such. Lombard then hires him as her families' butler and he proceeds
to teach them all a lesson or two in humility with great style and high
humor. Night
of the Shark Treat Williams. John SteinerJanet Agren. , Under sea
adventure and betrayal. David must fight for his life against the
gangsters who killed his brother for a CD filled with proof of their
illegal activities. When David gets possession of the CD they go down to
Mexico where David lives as a shark hunter. Who will get David first,
the gangsters or the shark? Color 1987 PG NOTHING
SACRED, Carole Lombard, Frederic March, Charles Winninger, Margret Hamilton,
Fay Ray, Maxie Rosenbloom. Screwball comedy great. To redeem himself
after a hoax, reporter Wallace Cook proposes a series of stories on
doomed Hazel Flagg. Hazel discovers she really doesn't have radium
poisoning, but still accepts the big fling in New York that Cook offers
her. At first, she has a great time, but complications arise when she
and Wally fall in love, and a German specialist discovers that Hazel is
faking. (1937 COLOR 75 min) Stunning 35mm print.
OF HUMAN BONDAGE
Leslie Howard, Bette Davis, Frances Dee, Kay Johnson, Reginald Denny,
Alan Hale, directed by John Cromwell. This is far and away the best
screen version of Somerset Maugham's semi‑autobiographical novel
of a club footed doctor's infatuation with a tawdry scheming waitress.
She manipulates him cruelly, humiliates him, and rejects him. Only her
eventual death from syphilis releases him from her bondage. This role
made a star of Bette Davis. 1934, BW, 83 minutes OFFICER 13 Mickey
Rooney, George Melford, Monte Blue, Lila Lee. A motorcycle
policeman's partner is deliberately run off the road and killed by a
member of a syndicate that controls the gambling--and much of the
justice system--in his town. When the killer is freed because of
perjured testimony and the corrupt legal system, the dead officer's
partner quits the force and vows to bring the killer to justice. 1932
B&W 62 minutes OPEN SECRET OUR DAILY BREAD (1934,
BW, 75 MIN) Karen Morly, Tom Keene, Barbara Pepper, directed by King
Vidor. Story of a group of homeless people who form a commune on a farm
owned by Mary and John Sims during the depression. A new face on the
farm tempts John who leaves it all behind but wait, he finds a new
source of water that can save the farm. Will he to back to his family,
will he keep running with Sally? OUR TOWN William
Holden, Martha Scott, Beulah Bondi, Thomas Mitchell. Thornton Wilder's
Pulitzer Prize Winning play put to the screen. Their love was the talk
of the town. A laid back look at the lives, trials and tribulations of
the citizens of a small New England town. Of course, the point is that
each life tells a story. Change comes slowly to a small New Hampshire
town in the early 20th century. People grow up, get married, live, and
die. Milk and the newspaper get delivered every morning, and nobody
locks their front doors.1940 B&W 90 minutes.
OUT OF THE BLUE,
Virginia Mayo, George Brent. George Brent
Brent is in trouble when far from innocent young woman is
discovered unconscious in his apartment. First rate comedy. From our own
stunning 35mm print. 1947 B&W 84 minutes OUTLAW,
THE Jane Russel, Jack Buetel, Thomas Mitchell, Walter Husten.
Newly appointed sheriff Pat Garrett is glad to see his old friend Doc
Holliday arrive on the stage. Doc is trailing his stolen horse, and it
is discovered in the possession of Billy the Kid. In a surprising
turnaround, Billy and Doc become good friends. This causes the
relationship between Doc and Pat to sour. The friendship between Doc and
Billy the Kid grows stranger when Doc hides Billy at his girlfriend's
place after Billy is shot. Rio falls for Billy, although her treats her
poorly. Interaction between these four is played out against an Indian
attack before a final showdown reduces the group's number.
Digtial Master. 1943 B&W Pancho
Villa Telly Savalas. Clint Walker, Chuck Connors. Mexican revolutionary
Pancho Villa is double-crossed in an arms deal planned by his comrade
Scotty. Villa and Scotty plot a raid on a U.S. cavalry fort in
retaliation. Based on the historical character's real story. 1972 Color PASSPORT
TO PIMLICO, Margaret Rutherford,
Stanley Holloway. The citizens of Burgundy withdraw from the British
Isles in this madcap comedy. B&W
81 minutes GB
PENNY SERENADE Cary Grant,
Irene Dunn, Beulah Bonid, Edgar Buchanan A couple adopts after they
lose their own child. Very tender film. As Julie prepares to
leave her husband Roger, she begins to play through a stack of
recordings, each of which reminds her of events in their lives together.
One of them is the song that was playing when she and Roger first met in
a music store. Other songs remind her of their courtship, their
marriage, their desire for a child, and the joys and sorrows that they
have shared. A flood of memories comes back to her as she ponders their
present problems and how they arose. Irene Dunn often said that this was
her favorite film because it reminded her of her own adopted daughter.
1941 B&W 119 minutes. PHANTOM
BROADCAST PORT
OF MISSING GIRLS Harry
Carey, Milburn Stone, Judith Allen. A woman framed for a murder
she didn't commit stows away on a freighter headed for an island in the
South Seas known as a hideout for people on the run from the law. The
ship's radio operator finds her and falls in love with her, promising to
help her get to the island. However, things take a turn for the worse
when another couple recognize the woman, and as she is about to escape
the ship she learns of a plot to rob the freighter and its crew. 1938
B&W 65 minutes
PRISON TRAIN Fred
Keating, Alexander Leftwich, Clarence Muse, Dorothy Comingore. Frankie
Terris (Fred Keating) and Mannie Robbins (Alexander Leftwich) are the
two most powerful gangsters in their city. Frankie has a young sister,
Louise (Dorothy Comingore as Linda Winters), whom he has kept at a
boarding school away from the stench of his racketeering. Mannie's young
son, Joe (James Blakely), is also ignorant of his father's profession.
Louise and Joe meet, and Joe tries to make love to her. Frankie
interrupts and, in a fight that follows, kills Joe. Mannie vows to get
Frankie. The latter, sentenced to Alcatraz, fears for Louise's safety
and makes her promise to take a trip abroad. Louise learns that Mannie
plans to shoot Frankie on the train taking him to prison, and she stows
away in hopes of warning her brother. On the train, she falls into the
protective arms of Federal Agent Bill Adams (Peter Potter as William
Moore.) Before she has a chance to warn Frankie, Mannie's henchmen go to
work and a gangland shootout ensues. Very unusual for a pre-war movie, a
black actor has a serious role, not a Steppin Fetchit-class harmless
display of buffoonery to insure no bigot will be discomfited. Clarence
Muse, a veteran actor eventually inducted into the Black Film-makers
Hall of Fame, is a sinister dining car steward in league with the
vengeful father. His role is important to the murder plot and he's not
subordinated to the other criminals. Muse, who isn't too well known to
most moviegoers, made very many films almost up to his 1979 death and he
was a staunch advocate for equal opportunity for blacks. AKA Public
Enemy. 1938 b&w 64 minutes. PRIVATE
BUCKAROO (1942, BW, 68 MIN)
Joe E. Lewis, The Andrew Sisters, Dick Foran, Donald O'Connor, Peggy
Ryan, Jennifer Holt with the Harry James Band, directed by Edward Cline.
An army camp show is the focus of this fun musical. PRIVATE
LIFE OF DON JUAN, THE,
Douglas Fairbanks, Merle Oberon. A swashbuckling action -
adventure casts Fairbanks as the legendary lover. 1934 B&W 92
minutes. PRIVATE
LIFE OF HENRY THE VIII, THE,
Charles Laughton, Robert Donat, Merle Oberon. Highlight of this
lavish production is Laughton's great performance which captured the
1933 best actor Oscar. 1933 B&W 97 minutes
GB RAW
DEAL Dennis O'Keefe, Raymond
Burr, Claire Trevor, John Ireland. Anthony Mann stylishly directs this
jailbreak, film noir thriller. Dennis O'Keefe is the escapee who is
taking the rap for his crime boss, Raymond Burr. Burr is responsible for
springing him, but only with the hope that he gets killed in the attempt
and is thus silenced. O'Keefe's dame is assuredly played by Claire
Trevor, who helps him through the road blocks and dragnets, but is
severely jealous once another woman enters the picture. John Alton's
cinematography perfectly captures the noir-like atmosphere of San
Francisco as does Trevor's voice-over narration accompanied by the
haunting sound of a theremin playing. Joe Sullivan is itching to get out
of prison. He's taken the rap for Rick, who owes him $50 Grand. Rick
sets up an escape for Joe, knowing that Joe will be caught escaping and
be shot or locked away forever. But with the help of his love-struck
girl Pat and his sympathetic legal caseworker Ann, Joe gets further than
he's supposed to, and we are posed with two very important questions: Is
Joe really the cold and heartless criminal he appears to be, or is there
a heart of gold under that gritty exterior? And does Joe belong with the
tough, street-wise Pat, or with the prim, moralizing Ann?19478, B&W
79 minutes.
ROYAL WEDDING Fred Astaire,
Jane Powell, Peter Lawford, Kennan Wynn, Sarah Churchill. A dance act
goes to London during the time
of Queen Elizabeth. Tom Bowen (Fred Astaire) and Ellen Bowen (Jane
Powell) are singing and dancing siblings whose agent Irving Klinger
(Keenan Wynn) sends them to do their musical act in Great Britain.Keenan
Wynn plays also Irving's British twin brother Edgar.Ellen falls in love
with a man she meets during the ship trip.This man is called Lord John
Brindale (Peter Lawford).Tom finds his sweetheart from Britain. That
lucky gal is Anne Ashmond (Sarah Churchill) who is dancing at Tom's
musical Royal Wedding from 1951 is a delightful romantic musical
comedy.It is great entertainment from the beginning to the end.It has
many memorable scenes. Astaire performs the most famous dance routine
ever filmed dancing on the walls and ceiling in the classic MGM film.
Brilliant Color (Digital Remaster) 1951 Color 93 minutes USA RUPERT
THE GREAT, Jimmy Durante This
is a heartwarming holiday classic about a New York family (led by
Durante) who is down on their luck at Christmas time. Shortly before
Christmas, they move into a ground floor apartment where Rupert the
squirrel lives in the attic rafters. Just when it seems that the holiday
will come and go without so much as a Christmas tree, Rupert acts as the
family's guardian angel, not only saving Christmas, but changing their
lives forever. The film is enlivened with the warmth and sweetness of an
unforgettable love story between Terry Moore (of Mighty Joe Young) and
Tom Drake (of Meet Me in St. Louis). Rupert the Squirrel (created using
George Pal's Academy Award winning animation technique) will charm young
and old alike. Jimmy Durante shines when he sings Jingle Bells and other
well-loved Christmas carols in the evocative voice that made him one of
America's recording legends. 1950 B&W 87 minutes SABOTAGE,
Dir. Alfred Hitchcock, Oscar Horriolka, Sylvia Sidney, John
Lodger. Hitchcock's tale of a saboteur who masquerades as a theatre
manager. Suspense classic. 1936 B&W
76 minutes GB SALT OF THE EARTH (1954,
BW, 94 MIN) Juan Chacon, Will Geer, Rosaura Revualtas, directed by
Herbert Biberman. This is a true story with real-life union leader
Chacon playing himself. When the Mexican-American miners in 1950's New
Mexico go on strike for safe and humane working conditions, the mine
owners get an injunction preventing them from forming picket lines.
Showing great courage, their wives take their places while the men stay
home and do the "women’s work". Long before anyone invented
the word "feminism" these women made a powerful statement
about human rights. The film was made under nearly impossible working
conditions in that the local officials were told by the Hollywood
establishment that it was to be a communist propaganda piece and they
did all they could to stop it. Director Biberman , Star Greer, producer
Paul Jarrico and screenwriter Michael Wilson were all black-listed when
this was made, but the film itself, along with its making, represents
the very finest of the art and the human spirit.
SANTA
FE TRAIL (1940, BW, 110 MIN)
Errol Flynn, Ronald Reagan, Olivia de Haviland, Raymond Massey, Alan
Hale, Ward Bond, Van Heflin, directed by Michael Curtiz. Wonderful
action as Jeb Stuart, Flynn, and cohorts go after John Brown, Massey.
Ronald Reagan plays Flynn's West Point classmate and romantic rival,
George Armstrong Custer, a role Flynn himself later played.
SHERLOCK HOLMES AND TERROR BY NIGHT (1946,
B&W, 51 minutes) Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Alan Mowbray, Mary
Forbes. Holmes and Watson are hired to protect the Star of Rodesia a
gigantic diamond on it’s journey via a high speed train to it’s
vault in Edinburgh. The train becomes the setting for a jewel theft,
poison darts and a murderous killer dwarf. SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE
SECRET WEAPON
(1942, B&W, 90 minutes.) Sherlock Homles and Watson (played
by Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, the actors who performed the role on
radio) solve the crime of a Swiss Scientist captured by the Nazi’s and
their collaborator Professor Moriaty before the Germans can steal
bombsite on which the outcome of World War II hangs. SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE
WOMAN IN GREEN (1945,
B&W, 68 minutes) Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Henry Daniel, Hillary
Brook. Murder victims are found with their index finger’s missing. The
trail leads to Professor Moriarty. SHERLOCK HOLMES DRESSED TO
KILL (1946, B&W, 72
minutes) Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce. Music boxes made in prison by
inmates are where stolen engraving plates from the Bank Of England and
hidden. SHERLOCK HOLMES IN THE HOUSE
OF FEAR (B&W) BasIL
Rathbone, Nigel Bruce. Seven rich men retire to a Scottish castle and
promptly begin to die in violent fashion. This is one of the better
films of the series and is seldom seen. 1945 B&W 69 minutes SHOOT TO KILL SLIGHTLY HONORABLE SON OF MONTE CRISTO, THE (1940,
BW, 102 MIN) Louis Hayward, Joan Bennett, George Sanders, Florence
Bates, Lionel Royce, Montagu Love. The son of Edmond Dantes comes to the
aid of a duchess whose throne is threatened by a scheming general. SOUTHERNER, THE
(1945, BW, 91 MIN) Zachary Scott, Betty Field, J. Carrol Nash, Beulah
Bondi, Bunny Sunshine, Estelle Taylor, Percy Kilbride, directed by Jean
Renoir. An inherited beat up farm is the setting of this wonderful story
of a family's struggle to make the best of their situation against
overwhelming odds. The interaction among the characters and the way they
meet every challenge is a heart warming experience.
STAGE DOOR CANTEEN
Dozens of stars appear as themselves in this fun musical, including
Judith Anderson, Kenny Baker, Tallulah Bankhead, Ralph Bellamy, Edgar
Bergen, Ray Bolger, William Demarest, Gracie Fields, Helen Hayes,
Katherine Hepburn, Jean Hersholt, Sam Jaffe, Allen Jenkins, George
Jessell, Roscoe Karns, Tom Kennedy, Gypsy Rose Lee, Harpo Marx, Ethel
Merman, Paul Muni, Merele Oberon, George Raft, Ethel Waters, Johnny
Weissmuller, Ed Wynn. Plus Xavier Cugat, Peggy Lee, Benny Goodman, Kay
Kyser and Guy Lombardo. "Dakota," a young soldier on a pass in
New York City, visits the famed Stage Door Canteen, where famous stars
of the theatre and films appear and host a recreational center for
servicemen during the war. Dakota meets a pretty young hostess, Eileen,
and they enjoy the many entertainers and a growing romance.1943 B&W
132 minutes. STAR IS BORN, A
(1937, COLOR, 111 MIN) Janet Gaynor, Fredric March, Ursula Kent, Adolphe
Menjou, Andy Devine, May Robson, directed by William Wellman. A matinee
idol turns to the bottle in response to his wife's heightened popularity
in this classic script by Dorothy Parker. This is one of the very early
films made in STATE DEPARTMENT FILE
649 William Lundigan,
Virginia Bruce, Johnathan Hale. Lundigan (later a TV host) plays in this
indie docudrama about a state department attaché in China who gets
mixed up in the Chinese Civil War. Fresh-faced Ken Seeley (Lundigan)
arrives ready to work with Consul-General Reither (skeletal Frank
Ferguson) at a remote American embassy, but finds all is not well when a
Mongolian warlord (a sneering Richard Loo, clearly enjoying himself)
occupies the grounds in an effort to evade the central government.
Seeley attempts to outsmart the warlord, but in a surprisingly
bittersweet and ominous finale, ends up his hostage instead. State
Department File 649 is a fascinating glimpse at American attitudes
toward China circa 1949. Though the Asian characters are depicted by
Asian actors, they are laden with racist baggage. A rare example of the
Cine color process. 1949 Cine Color 87 minutes STRANGE
LOVES OF MARTHA IVERS Barbara
Stanwick, Kirk Douglas. Story of greed and murder. A childhood secret resurfaces 18 years later with chilling
effect. STRANGER,
THE Orson Welles, Loretta
Young, Edward G. Robinson. The
head of the War Crimes Commission is seeking Welles, mastermind of the
Holocaust, who has effectively erased his identity. A former comrade is
released so he can be followed, but is killed berfore he can identify
the Welles. Great suspense film with a first rate cast. Directed by
Welles. 1948 B&W 94 minutes
Street Fighter Sonny Chibua.
Terry is a tough, mercenary, master of martial arts. When an important
business magnate dies, leaving billions to his daughter. 1974 Color
91 Minutes Subway Christopher
Lambert, Isabelle Adjani. Fred is living in the Paris Metro
system. He is blackmailing Helena, whose safe he has robbed. Fred has
various 'friends' all living in this surreal setting. The Roller is a
roller skating bag snatcher and Big Bill is a 'strongman'. The blackmail
and Fred's relationship with Helena and her heavies make up the bulk of
the plot but on the side are Fred's attempts to start a band using
buskers from the Metro. 1985 COLOR 104 Made in France SUDDENLY (1954,
BW, 77 MIN) Frank Sinatra, Sterling Hayden, Nancy Gates, James Gleason,
Kim Charney, Paul Frees, directed by Lewis Allen. Sinatra gives a
chilling performance as a psychopathic killer leading a group of
assassins in a plot to kill the President of the United States. Hayden
is the sheriff of the small town of "Suddenly" where the
assassination is to take place. One of Frank's best performances
dominates this taut fast moving action drama. THAT UNCERTAIN FEELING
(1941, BW, 84 MIN) Merle Oberon, Melvyn Douglas, Burgess Meredith, Alan
Mowbray, Eve Arden, directed by Ernst Leviticus. Douglas is happily
married to Oberon. She is bored to tears and feeling neglected.
Meredith, a flaky piano player, moves into their house, flirts with
Oberon and they all wind up in the office of a divorce attorney. The
Affair with Robert Wagner and
Natalie Wood. It was love at first sight for Marcus Simon an attorney
when he saw Courtney Patterson a 32 year old composer crippled by polio.
Marcus tries to slowly and gently remove the emotion barriers Courtney
built around herself and give them both a chance at love and happiness.
1973 Color 74 Minutes PG The
Agency Robert Mitchem, Lee
Majors, Valerie Prine. Subliminal messages buried in TV commercials rig
elections. Color 1981 The
Ballad of Andy Crockett Lee
Majors, Joey Heatherton, Pat Hingle. A returning Vietnam veteran finds
out that his girlfriend has been forced into marrying someone else, his
small business is in ruins and friends are in short supply. Anti war
demonstrators branded these returning heroes as child murders, rapists
and war criminals. And, how was your war? 1970 Color 80 minutes. The
Black Brigade Billy Dee Williams, Richard Pryor, Robert Hooks, Moses Gunn, Rossevelt
Grier Glynn Turman. A redneck officer is put in charge of a squad of
black troops charged with taking an important bridge from the Nazis.
Made for TV by Arron Spelling who also shared the writing credits with
David Kidd. (ABC Television) The best friend twosome of Pryor and Grier
is formidable.1970 Color 90 Minutes. The
Black Godfather Rod Perry, Damu King, Don Chastain.There's A New Godfather In Town...
...and everybody wants his body - The F.B.I. ... some very foxy
chicks... and the Mafia! 1974 COLOR 80 MIN THE BLACK RAVEN
George Zucco, Charles Middelton, Wanda McKay, Glen Strange. A
menagerie of persons converge at the Black Raven hotel, run by a man who
makes a second living helping criminals escape over the US/Canadian
border. When one of the guests is killed, and $50,000 is stolen from
him, who did it? 1943 B&W 65 minutes
THE BLACK RAVEN George
Zucco, Robert Livingston, Glenn Strange. Zucco is the proprietor of a
creaky little inn (both he and the Inn are called THE BLACK RAVEN) and
during the course of an hour's viewing time he plays host to an assorted
group of unusual guests. It's a stormy night in town with thunder
crashing and rain flooding the roads, and on top of that the bridge is
out. Among the waterlogged patrons seeking shelter are: a formerly
wronged business partner of Zucco's who'd like to kill him, an embezzler
looking to get away with $50,000 stolen loot, a gangster who's also
interested in said loot, a young couple looking to get married behind
the back of the girl's objecting old father, and dad himself - who's
also hot on their trail. 1943 B&W 65 minutes. The
Boy Who Had Everything Jason
Connery, Diane Cilento, Lewis Fitz-Gerald, Ian Gilmour. College boy
deals with hazing in Australian school in 1965 and
alcoholic mother.Australian Playwright Michael
Gow makes a rare screen appearance. 1984 Color 94 Minutes THE BUSHWACKERS
(1952) Director: Rodney
Amateau John Ireland, Dorothy Malone, Wayne Morris, Lon Chaney, Lawrence
Tierney, Jack Elam, Myrna Dell, Frank Marlowe. Civil War veteran turns
his back on his violent past, but is forced to reconsider when he comes
to a small town run by bad guys Tierney, Chaney and Morris.
Written by Rodney Amateau. B&W.
Running Time: 70 minutes The Con Artists Anthony
Quinn, Adriano Celentano. It is not The Sting, it is in a way better,
less elaborated and more amusing. Two con artists (Celentano and Quinn)
bluff each other and anybody who happens to come across out of money and
out of jail. Color 1976 105 minutes. Color 1976 88 minutes. The Firing Line
Shanon Tweed, Reb Brown. Action and politics mix in this fast
moving thriller. Reb Brown plays a military adviser who changes side and
helps out the rebel when the rebel leader was killed without trial. Now
he is on run with an innocent lady (Shannon Tweed) and teams up with the
rebels to fight violent battles in this standard action film.1991 Color
93 Minutes, The
Girl That Came Gift Wrapper
Farrah Faucett, Karen Valentine, Richard Long, Tom Bosley. A small-town
beauty queen is hired, as a joke, as a "birthday present" for
a magazine publisher. Spelling- Goldberg Production. Made for TV (ABC)
1977 Color 74 minutes The Glass House
Alan Alda, Billy Dee Williams, Dean Jagger, Vic Morrow, Clu Gulagher,
A young guard and a college professor convicted of manslaughter both
start their first day in prison. Color 1972 aka "Truman Capote's
the Glass House". THE JACKALS Vincent
Price, David Waye, DIane Avarson. This western type action is actually
set in South Africa. Six robbers gang up on a grizzled old prospector
and his daughter. Directed by Robert Webb 1967 Color 105 Minutes THE NAKED KISS Constance
Towers Filmmaker Sam Fuller's creative writing, directing strength, and
(indie) producing savvy continued to shine in "The Naked Kiss"
1964. It is the ultimate pulp fiction: high drama soap, touch of camp
and tints of film noir. Beautifully shot in Black and White. Terrific
cast with Constance Towers as Kelly, the central power of energy and
charm, and undeterred determination; Anthony Eisley as Griff, the gruff,
tough cop with a tender heart underneath; and the townsfolk of varying
characters, nice and not-so-nice to downright sleazy, crooked ones, male
or female, and a number of child performances for that matter. Yet with
all this, there is a blossoming healthy, full of goodwill story about
handicapped youngsters, being encouraged to stand up and be happy in
spite of their weaknesses. The opening segment (before the title/credits
roll) is in itself an emphatic revelation. Kelly truly wants to turn
over a new leaf, and she readily shares and helps others without guile.
She is no loser. She's our heroine of the story. Tearjerker? Certainly
can be. Thriller suspense, too? Definitely. Will she be innocently
proclaimed? Will the witness precious be found? We would root for her,
our Kelly. She is so 'gung ho' and downright nice to everyone (but she
can also stand up tough against the 'bad' ones). Fuller's script runs
its own natural course with surprises and satisfying plot twists never
lacking. AKA "The Iron Kiss". 1964 B&W 90 minutes The Ratings Game
with Danny Devito, Rhea Perlman, Barry Corbin. Cameo appearances by
Jerry Seinfeld,"Kramer" and Norm from "Cheers".
Huntz Hall of the Dead End Kids plays a faded TV star. Devito, with a
little help from the mob, rigs the ratings to become America's
hottest TV star. (a.k.a. "The Mogul") Directed by Devito.
Color 1984. The Room Upstairs
Strockard Channing, Sam Waterston Linda Hunt, Joan Allen, Clancy Brown,
Sarah Jessica Parker. Stockard Channing shines yet again in The Room
Upstairs, a sweet, heartbreaking little flick about Leah Lazenby, a
landlady and special needs teacher who feels something is missing in her
life. The final piece of the puzzle come in the shape of Travis Coles, a
cello player portrayed by Sam Waterston. The Room Upstairs is notable
for a dazzling performance by Stockard Channing, a strange little role
for Sarah Jessica Parker (she has about four lines maximum) and an early
glimpse of Joan Allen. It's a nice film that deserves a bit of
recognition. 1987 Color 97 minutes. The Seniors
Dennis Quaid, Jeffery Byron, Gary Imhoff. Ben, Larry, Alan, and Steve
are about to graduate from college. They are terrified of the prospect
of actually having to work hard for a living, so they come up with a
plan to support themselves as graduate research students by getting a
foundation grant to study sexuality in college-age women. But despite
their success at getting paid to bed down pretty girls, the work-load
becomes too great, so they open the "study" to businessmen who
pay to participate. 1978 COLOR Jeffery Byron, Gary Imhoff. The
Shooting Jack
Nicholson, Millie Perkins, Warren Oates. Jack Nicholson and Monte
Hellman went into the Utah desert to shoot two westerns, The Shooting
and Ride In The Whirlwind, which have since become cult classics.
Written by Adrien Joyce (Five Easy Pieces,) The Shooting tells the story
of a former bounty-hunter turned gold miner (Warren Oates) whose partner
is killed. He then, along with Will Hutchins, Millie Perkins and
eventually Jack Nicholson, sets out on a manhunt that builds gradually
to an existential, tragic, almost surreal ending. 1966
color 82 minutes.
THE
SNOWS OF KILIMANJARO
Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner and Susan Hayward. As writer Harry Street
(Gregory Peck) lays gravely wounded from an African hunting accident he
feverishly reflects on what he perceives as his failures at love and
writing. Through his delirium he recalls his one true love Cynthia Green
(Ava Gardner) who he lost by his obsession for roaming the world in
search of stories for his novels. Though she is dead Cynthia continues
to haunt Street's thoughts. In spite of one successful novel after
another, Street feels he has compromised his talent to ensure the
success of his books, making him a failure in his eyes. His neglected
wife Helen (Susan Hayward) tends to his wounds, listens to his ranting,
endures his talk of lost loves, and tries to restore in him the will to
fight his illness until help arrives. Her devotion to him makes him
finally realize that he is not a failure. With his realization of a
chance for love and happiness with Helen, he regains his will to live.
One of the most famous films of the era. 1952 Color 117 minutes. USA The
Squeeze, Lee Van Cleef, Karen
Black, Roberta Alda, Lionel Standler, Edward Albert, challenged plays a
retired safeman, who comes back from Mexico to New York to do one job
for a friend's kid. Includes most of the cliches one would expect from a
"last gig"- film, but redeems itself with nice NY locations,
comedy (some intentional) and Lee Van Cleef being in it. 1978 Color 99
Minutes THE
STRANGLER OF BLACKMORE CASTLE, THE The
Swiss Conspiracy David
Jansen, Ray Miland, Santa Berger, Elke Summer, John Ireland, John Saxon.
A story set in the glamorous-but-devious world of Swiss banking. When a
Swiss bank finds that the confidentiality of some of its more vulnerable
customers has been compromised it calls in an American investigator, who
soon uncovers a web of deceit and blackmail. With old debts being paid
off his own health is soon in danger, but at least he starts to gets to
know one of the bank's female customers pretty well. This is a story
laden with intrigues, conspiracies and white-collar crimes that turn
ugly. Color 1976 90 minutes. The Teacher Jay
North, Angel Thompkins. Stars a teenage Jay North who played Dennis The
Menace on TV. This is NOT for kids. Advertising says … Her Best
Lessons Were Taught After Class She Corrupted The Youthful Morality of
an Entire School! 1974 COLOR 98 MIN THE
TERROR Alastair Sim,
Bernard LeeArthur Wontner. From the pen of Edgar Wallace comes a
fantastical little murder mystery that's very witty and breezy and a
great deal of fun. This is the story of a spectacular gold coin robbery
carried off by three men. Once its over, the mastermind, a man named
O'Shea, turns his pals in and they go to prison vowing to get revenge
when they get out. Ten years later they get out and go looking for
O'Shea, and the gold, which has never turned up. At this point the film
shifts gears to the happenings in and around an old monastery, now
turned into a semi-boarding house. Strange people begin showing up,
ghostly happenings begin occurring and finally people begin dying. 1938
B&W 70 minutes. THE WOMAN HUNTER
Barbara Eden, Robert Vaughn, Stuart Whitman, Sidney Chaplin, Larry
Storch. A woman vacationing with her husband (who married her for her
wealth) in Mexico discovers she is the target of an international
killer. Made for TV. 1972 Color 90 Minutes THE WRESTLER
Ed Asner, Elaine Giftos, Dusty Rhodes, Lord James Blears, Superstar
Billy Graham, Verne Gagne and Odd Job from the James Bond Movies.. An
arrow-straight promoter whose once secure stranglehold on the wrestling
world is being muscled in on by the mob and its hired henchmen on the
mat. 1973 Color 95 Minutes They Call It Murder
Jim Hutton, Ed Asner, Leslie Nielson, Jessica Walter, Lloyd
Bouchner. Vic Tayback.. A small-town district attorney is saddled with
several major investigations, including a gambler's murder and a
possible insurance scam. Based on an Earl Stanley Gardner novel that
exercises the grey-matter. Produced by 20th Century Fox and aired on NBC
TV. 1972 Color 120 Minutes THEY MADE ME A CRIMINAL
(1939, BW, 92 MIN) John Garfield, Gloria Dickson, Claude Rains, Ann
Sheridan, Huntz Hall, Billy Halop, directed by Busby Berkeley. A
champion prizefighter takes it on the lam after he's led to believe he
murdered a man in a drunken brawl. This House of Breede Dianna
Rigg, Pamela Brown. A well-to-do London businesswoman gives up her
comfortable life, including the man who loves her, to become a
cloistered Benedictine nun. Color 1975 105 Minutes THIS IS THE ARMY
Ronald Regan, Kate
Smith, George Murphy, Irving Berlin. In WW I dancer Jerry Jones stages an all-soldier show on
Broadway, called Yip Yip Yaphank. Wounded in the War, he becomes a
producer. In WW II his son Johnny Jones, who was before his fathers
assistant, gets the order to stage a knew all-soldier show, called
"This Is The Army". But in his peronal life he has problems,
because he refuses to marry his fiancée until the war is over. Kate
Smith Sings God Bless America in one of the most spectacular productions
of the era. A Patriotic stand out! 1943 COLOR 121 Minutes Thursday's
Game Gene Wilder, Bob Newhart, Rob Reiner, Valerie Harper, Nancy Walker,
Ellen Bursten. Norman Fell. Two friends keep seeing each other long
after the regular Thursday night card game breaks up. Then the wives
find out. Written by James L. Brooks Color 1974 TIGER FANGS Frank
Buck, Duncan Renaldo. Frank Buck stars as himself in this 1943 PRC
classic. Frank is summoned to a remote area of India which is plagued by
tiger attacks. Dozens of men have been killed. Many workers fear the
spirits of dead Japanese soldiers have possessed the tigers and are
continuing to fight. The immediate effect is to inhibit the movement of
Allied war materiel through the region. Frank Buck teams with Peter
Jeremy (Renaldo) to determine the cause of the unusual spate of attacks.
They immediately suspect a human intelligence is responsible. It is soon
evident that Nazi agents have infiltrated the area. They have a means of
aggravating the tigers and then release them into areas they want to
disrupt Entertaining jungle adventure. Viewers who enjoy low budget
1940s films will not be disappointed. 1943 B&W 9 minutes TILL THE CLOUDS ROLL BY Judy
Garland, Frank Sinatra, Lena Horne.
MGM musical on the life of Kern. Elaborate production numbers.
Filling the screen are such stars such as Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra,
Tony Martin, Angela Lansbury, June Allyson, Lena Horne, Katherine
Grayson, Cyd Charisse, Ray McDonald amongst others singing and
performing on stage, there's magic in the air. Robert Walker as Kern
does prove likable enough in the lead role and there's an innocent charm
at work in these proceedings. One of
the finest musicals ever made. (Our Digital Remaster from 35mm
print.) 1974 Color 132 minutes Tim
Mel Gibson, Piper Lori. Based
on the novel by Colleen McCullough of Thornbirds fame. Tim is a young
man with below average intelligence. He works as a builder's labourer,
and is often taken advantage of by his fellow workers and other people.
Mary asks Tim to work around her yard for a day. The day stretches into
a few weekends, and the two soon become good friends. Some people,
however, are suspicious of their friendship which seems to be
continually strengthening, accusing Mary of taking advantage of Tim's
innocence. Will changing circumstances in Tim's family life change his
relationship with Mary? 1979 Color 109 Min T-MEN,
Dennis O'Kieff, United States Treasury agents O'Brien and Genaro
infiltrate a counterfeiting ring which has some dangerously good paper.
This is supposedly based on several actual Treasury cases. Directed by
Anthony Mann Film Noir great. B&W 1947 TO
KILL A MOCKINGBIRD Gregory
Peck, Robert Duvall, Brock Peters, Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning
autobiographical novel was translated to film. Set a small Alabama town
in the 1930s, the story focuses on scrupulously honest lawyer Atticus
Finch, played by Gregory Peck. Finch puts his career on the line when he
agrees to represent a black man accused of rape. This film won Academy
Awards for Best Actor (Peck), Best Adapted Screenplay. and Best Art
Direction. 1962 B&W 129 Minutes.
TO THE LAST MAN Randolf
Scott, Jack La Rue, Ester Ralston, Buster Crabbe, Gail Patrick, Noah
Berry, John Carradine, Shirley Temple. In Kentucky just after the Civil
War, the Hayden-Colby feud leads to Jed Colby being sent to prison for
15 years for murder. The Haydens head for Nevada and when Colby gets out
of prison he heads there also seeking revenge. The head of the Hayden
family tries to avoid more killing but the inevitable showdown has to
occur, complicated by Lynn Hayden and Ellen Colby's plans to marry. 1933
B&W 70 Minutes TOPPER
RETURNS Roland Young, Joan
Blonde. Topper is haunted by beautiful girl who was murdered. He helps
solve the mystery. B&R TRAPPED (1949,
BW, 78 MIN) Lloyd Bridges, John Hoyt, directed by Richard Fleischer. The
Secret Service uses ex-counterfeiter Bridges to infiltrate and break up
a counterfeiting ring. TULSA (1949)
Susan Hayward, Robert Preston, Pedro Armendáriz, Chill Wills, Ed
Begley. Oklahoma Rancher's daughter becomes a ruthless crusader to save
her murdered father's ranchland from encroaching oil fields. She teams
up with a geologist who wants to protect Oklahoma from being devastated
by oil drilling. Color. Running
Time: 96 minutes. TWO DOLLAR BETTOR
Edward Chan, Steve Brodie, Marie Windson. Tragic story, despite it's
very contrived feel-good ending, about a kind and caring man who never
gambled in his life get caught up with the evils of uncontrolled and
compulsive horse betting that lead to him embezzling the bank that he
was employed as the comptroller of some $16,000.00 and later end up
killing two con artists, in a gunfight that ended up with him getting
fatally shot, who took advantage of his desperate situation and ripped
him off, in a betting sting, of another $20,000.00 that he stole from
the comptroller safe. The story of John Hewitt, John Little, is like
that of many sick and degenerate gamblers who end up not only destroying
themselves but their family and friends as well by trying to make a
quick buck at the racetrack casino or with their bookie. Widowed with
two sweet teenage daughters that he would do anything for John worked in
charge of the credit department in the biggest bank in Langsford and was
a very respected man and pillar of the community. One afternoon John was
invited by some of his friends to Langsford's Grandview Racetrack where
for the first time in his life he made a bet at the urging of his
brother-in-law George, Don Shelton, and ended up winning some $200.00
betting an jockey Eddie Osborne. With John winning over $500.00 the next
few days on his bets on horses rode by Osborne his luck changes when the
jockey falls in a bad spill at the track and then, betting other
jockeys, ends up losing all his winnings as well as his life's saving
and $14,000.00 of the banks money that he embezzled. With John later
being promoted to bank comptroller which will triple his salary his
books, in the comptroller office, were about to be audited and him
possibly being indited for grand larceny, for the $14,000.00 he stole
from the comptroller safe, John sees redemption of his criminal deed in
the sports pages in that Eddie Osborne was back at the races and he was
riding on the horse Great Day at the opening day feature, The Boyue
Handicap,at the Bolraguard Racetrack in New Orleans. With his bookie not
taking a $2,000.00 bet on Great Day to win John flies down to New
Orleans to bet the horse himself and Great Day wins the race but is
disqualified for impeding the placing horse, Conservasion, and put
second with John losing all the money,$2,000.00, he bet on him.
Completely financially destroyed and possible facing prison there's
still one more surprise that is awaiting John and it has to do with his
bookies go-between Mary Slate, Marie Windson, and her boyfriend Rick,
Steve Brodie, who got the emotionally unstable John into a betting sting
where he was induced to steal another $20,000.00 from his bank to put on
a "sure thing" at the racetrack. John gets the jump on both
Mary and Rick when he calls the sport phone and finds out that the horse
that he bet, Rickety Racks, was scratched from the race but when he
called Rick's hotel room, to get the $20,000.00 back, he found out that
he checked out and later that Mary also quit her job with John's bookie.
Getting to Mary's apartment before she and Rick take off for Acapulco,
to get his $20,000.00 from the fleeing con artists, there's a shoot-out
with both Mary and Rick shot and killed and John fatally wounded. As
John drives,dying,to the house of his good friend and Langsford Bank
president Charlston P. Adams,Robert Sherwood, and confesses the truth
about what he did Adams promise's him that it would be a secret between
both of them and that he'll tell the police that John was shot by a pair
of crooks who robbed him of the bank money and with that the movie ends.
"Two Dollar Bettor" shows just how far the men, as well as
women, who are hooked on gambling would go to not only win but break
even for what they lost at the racetrack. 1951 B&W UP IN THE AIR
Howard Bretherton, Frankie Darro, Lorna Gray, Mantan Moreland. A
none-too-popular radio singer, Rita Wilson (Lorna Gray) is murdered
while singing on the air in a radio studio. Radio page boy, Frankie Ryan
(Frankie Darro), and his janitor pal, Jeff (Mantan Moreland), solve the
mystery for the none-too-sharp police. Frankie Darro and Mantan Moreland
made several movie together in the 1930's and 40's where they were
pretty much on equal footing with each other despite everything that was
going on around them. They were the stereotypical buddies of the buddy
film. Normally that wouldn't mean much except that Darro was white and
Moreland was black and in every other film of their time no one could be
as they were unless they both were white. Race has absolutely nothing to
do with the plot of Up in the Air, which concerns a series of murders at
a radio station. I mention the fact notion of race simply because the
script for this movie was used two or three more times with out nary a
change for white co-stars. 1940 B&W 62 minutes. VENGEANCE
VALLEY (1951)
Burt Lancaster, Joanne Drum Robert Walker. Walker is cast as a
cattle baron's worthless son.. Despite the presence of an attractive
wife, the young boy favors an illegitimate son (by a local waitress),
then changes the blame upon his stepson. As the ranch foreman who rallies to Walker's aid, Lancaster
made a strongly convincing hero. Joanne Dru played leads in a variety of
films of the 40s & 50s but is best remembered as the feminine touch
in Western Classics as Howard Hawks's "Red River" (1948) &
John Ford's "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" (1949) and "Wagon
Master" (1950). Set in
the range country of the Rockies, Richard Thorpe balances the
'scandalous secret' with fast riding, shooting and cattle round-ups.
Color 83 minutes. WAYNE
MURDER CASE Regis Toomey, Phil Whitman, Ruth Hampton, Jason Robards Sr. Snow Flake
Toons. A murder mystery of the Old Dark House variety. It has many of
the clichés of the genre, but also avoids many of the usual clichés,
& has an interesting storyline. June Clyde is cute & vivacious
as a newspaper reporter. Regis Toomey is adequate as the police
lieutenant. Dwight Frye is a bit nutty in a small roll (still recovering
from his role in "Dracula"?) There are a couple of murders,
but disappointingly, no secret passageways or doors & no
thunderstorm. There is a mysterious figure walking around in oversized
monk's robes, though, & that's pretty neat. Good effort by all. 1932
60 Minutes Who am I Time
with Susan Sarandon and Christopher Walken. As a play within a play
(contains scenes from Streetcar Named Desire) it is a showcase for the
range of these excellent actors -- Susan Sarandon and Christopher Walken.
It is also a sensitive tale of lonely people finding each other and
their hearts. Walken plays a hardware store clerk becomes the character
he plays in a local little theater group. 1981 Color 60 minutes. Who Shot Pat?
Sandra Bulluck, David Knight, Kevin Otto, Arron Ingram. Directed by
Robert Brooks. A 1950s period piece about a working class boy growing up
in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn. Although the film centers
on a classic rich-girl-poor boy love story, it also presents a detailed
portrait of high school life in the fifties through the emergence of
racial tension and gang conflict. 1992 Color 111minutes.
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