1941-1950

Synopsis
Thérèse de Marsanne (Odette Joyeux) kills her lover Pierre as he is an obstacle to her marriage with the wealthy Count of Vetheuil (Jacques Castelot). To get rid of the corpse, she obtains the assistance of Julien (Roger Blin) a poor young boy madly in love with her by promising him ” une nuit d’amour ” (a night of love, title of the film). After his sinister job done, Julien learns from Thérèse herself that he was part of a sordid crime and runs away terrorized, hence becoming the obvious culprit. Hunted down, he will eventually show at at Thérèse’s wedding to get arrested and accept his fate.Read More »

Plot Synopsis by Hal Erickson
Only faintly related to the old stage play The Argyle Case, The Argyle Secrets is based on a half-hour radio program originally heard on CBS’ Suspense. In the immediate postwar years, several above-suspicion Americans attempt to hide their past collaborations with the Nazis. Reporter William Gargan refuses to let sleeping dogs lie, however, and tracks down some of these fifth columnists. The film’s “Macguffin” is a set of incriminating papers, which are stolen early in the proceedings. The supporting cast of this Film Classics programmer includes future Danny Thomas Show co-star Marjorie Lord and former “Dick Tracy” portrayer Ralph Byrd. The Argyle Secrets was written and directed by one-time MGM film editor Cyril Endfield, later the man behind the megaphone on Zulu (1964).Read More »

The official U.S. government film about the 1st Nuremberg trial (The Trial of the Major Nazi War Criminals) which lasted from November 20, 1945 to October 1, 1946.Read More »

A man falls in love with a beautiful young woman and begins to suspect that he may have also loved her in a previous life.Read More »

Synopsis:
Gérard Favier is a famous composer who has been married to the charming Sylvia for almost 20 years. Still deeply in love, they walk the streets of Paris and, one day, they hear a sonata that Gérard once wrote, played on a piano in a house. Gérard is surprised to find that the piano player is a 20 year-old girl named Monelle. Impressed by her talent, Gérard decides to adopt Monelle as his protégé, but very soon his interest in her takes a less paternalistic turn. It is through a gossip magazine that Sylvia learns about her husband’s infidelity but she is uncertain how to react. After all, he did write a new song for her, “Lovers are alone in the world…Read More »

Quote:
Paul Robeson narrates a mix of dramatizations and archival footage about the bill of rights being under attack during the 1930s by union busting corporations, their spies and contractors. In dramatizations, we see a Michigan farmer beaten for speaking up at a meeting, a union man murdered in an apartment in Cleveland, two sharecroppers near Fort Smith Arkansas shot by men deputized by the local sheriff, a spy stealing the names of union members, and a dead Chicago union man eulogized. In archival footage we witness police and goons beating lawfully assembled union organizers, and we see men at work and union families at play. The narration celebrates patriotism and democracy.Read More »

Plot Synopsis:
This powerful, World War II drama frequently cited as one of the most important films in German history tells the heated tale of a family divided over supporting the Nazis or fighting for the equality of all races and creeds. Originally censored by the Soviets for its unwavering message of pacifism, Rotation finds father turning against son as the troubled family patriarch agrees to print up Nazi fliers in hopes of improving the family finances before
being betrayed by his Hitler Youth son. When the bombs stop dropping and the bullets stop flying, father and son are forced to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives despite their troubled past.Read More »

Plot & Review:
A former auctioneer, Carlo Mezzetti (Eduardo De Filippo), homeless with his daughter Annuccia (Vanna Vanni), clings to favorable situations and legal technicalities in order to find temporary housing and to illegally occupy vacant houses.
The two are accompanied by the spouses Squeglia, Pasqualino (Peppino De Filippo), self-styled pharmacist, and his wife Olimpia (Titina De Filippo).
Through a fraudulent trick, he manages to convince the owner of one of the vacant houses illegally occupied by him, to sign a contract, all for the benefit of Carlo and his companions in misfortune.
The cheated owner, however, falls in love with Annuccia. Carlo accepts, thus, to give the hand of his daughter to the landlord, preventing further legal action by the latter.Read More »

Quote:
Featuring a legendary ensemble from the classic age of Egyptian Cinema, starring Naguib El-Rihani, who’s probably had the most influence on theatre and comedy in the Middle East even close to a century from his death, with only eight films in production before an untimely death during filming Ghazl al-banat. The beautiful Jewish singer, Layla Murad, Youssef Wahby, and the musical prodigy of Mohamed Abdel-Wahab, the most celebrated composer of the time. A heartwarming comedy from a bygone era.Read More »