1941-1950

  • Raj Kapoor – Barsaat aka Rain (1949)

    1941-1950AsianClassicsIndiaRaj Kapoor

    Plot summary:
    Two friends from the city with contrasting beliefs about love take their annual holiday in the country. One is a “love ’em and leave ’em” philanderer, the other is waiting for Miss Right. Whilst Gopal (Premnath) callously uses and then discards Neela (Nimmi), the sensitive Pran (Raj Kapoor) finds the love of his life when he meets Reshma (Nargis). But for neither man will the the consequences of these meetings be without anguish.Read More »

  • Raj Kapoor – Aag aka Fire (1948)

    1941-1950AsianClassicsIndiaRaj Kapoor

    Quote:
    In Raj Kapoor’s own words, Aag is “the story of youth consumed by the desire for a brighter and more intense life.” Kewal and Nimmi are childhood sweethearts who share a passion for theatre. They promise each other that when they grow up, they will together start their own theatre company, an unfulfilled dream as Nimmi and her parents move to another town. Years later, two young men Rajan (Prem Nath) and Kewal (Raj Kapoor) revive an old theatre that closed down. One day, a young destitute girl (Nargis) comes to the theatre and begins to act in Kewal’s plays. Fascinated by her, Kewal names her Nimmi. But when he discovers that Rajan is also in love with her, he steps aside only to realize that Nimmi loves him….Aag was the debut of Raj Kapoor’s astounding career as one of Indian cinema’s most illustrious directors and was the first time Nargis and Raj Kapoor came together as a romantic on-screen couple.Read More »

  • William Berke – High Powered (1945)

    1941-1950ActionDramaUSAWilliam Berke

    A high-rigger loses his nerve after a fall takes the life of a coworker.Read More »

  • Serge de Poligny – La Fiancée des ténèbres AKA Fiancée of Darkness (1945)

    Drama1941-1950FantasyFranceSerge de Poligny

    Synopsis
    The composer Roland Samblaca returns to his home town Carcassonne in the South of France with his family. Whilst visiting an ancient castle, he meets and is enchanted by a young woman, Sylvie, who lives in the castle with her adoptive guardian, Monsieur Toulzac. A retired schoolmaster, Toulzac now occupies his time with his research into the ancient cult of a Christian sect of the Middle Ages who glorified death over life. Syvlie believes that she is cursed, having seen her first two lovers die in tragic circumstances. When Toulzac discovers a secret cathedral beneath the castle, Syvlie is compelled to go there. Roland follows, oblivious to the danger that awaits…Read More »

  • Akira Kurosawa – Tora no o wo fumu otokotachi AKA The Men Who Tread on the Tiger’s Tail (1945)

    1941-1950AdventureAkira KurosawaClassicsJapan

    The Men Who Tread on the Tiger’s Tail, the fourth film from Akira Kurosawa, is based on
    a legendary twelfth-century incident in which the lord Yoshitsune, with the help of a group of samurai, crosses enemy territory disguised as a monk. The story was dramatized for centuries in Noh and Kabuki theater, and here it becomes one of the director’s lightest, most farcical films.Read More »

  • Frank Ryan – So Goes My Love (1946)

    1941-1950ComedyDramaFrank RyanUSA

    Plot:Jane Budden, a country girl goes to the big city, determined to find and marry a wealthy man. Instead, she meets and marries Herman Maxim, a struggling inventor. After their marriage, his inventions become successful. Their happiness is complete when they have two children, and Maxim’s portrait is given a place in the National Hall of Science. Written by Les AdamsRead More »

  • Ted Tetzlaff – The White Tower (1950)

    USA1941-1950AdventureClassicsTed Tetzlaff

    Synopsis:
    The White Tower, a Matterhorn-like mountain in the Swiss Alps, has never been climbed. Carla Alten’s father, a famous mountaineer, died in a long-ago attempt. Now, Carla, determined to fulfill her father’s dream, has assembled an unusual climbing party to tackle the nearly-impossible ascent.Read More »

  • Vincente Minnelli – Undercurrent (1946)

    1941-1950DramaFilm NoirUSAVincente Minnelli

    from 55th New York Film Festival program
    A bit of an anomaly within Minnelli’s often more colorful and ebullient oeuvre, this black-and-white, paranoiac romantic thriller finds the master harnessing his consummate stylishness to spin a haunting, noirish tale. Timid Ann (Katharine Hepburn) marries the highly eligible Alan Garroway (Robert Taylor), whose wealth and good looks conceal an underlying and profound cruelty. Ann grows increasingly obsessed with learning the truth about what happened to Alan’s brother, Michael (Robert Mitchum), who has been missing for some time… This gripping movie casts Hepburn, Taylor, and Mitchum all against type.Read More »

  • Joseph M. Newman – 711 Ocean Drive (1950)

    1941-1950Film NoirJoseph M. NewmanThrillerUSA

    Synopsis:
    A telephone repairman in Los Angeles uses his knowledge of electronics to help a bookie set up a betting operation. When the bookie is murdered, the greedy technician takes over his business. He ruthlessly climbs his way to the top of the local crime syndicate, but then gangsters from a big East Coast mob show up wanting a piece of his action.Read More »

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