Synopsis:
Based on a short story by Alexander Pushkin, this creepy drama tells the tale of Countess Ranevskaya (Edith Evans), an elderly woman who sold her soul to the devil in order to always win at cards. Captain Herman Suvorin (Anton Walbrook), an embittered Russian soldier, becomes obsessed with discovering her secret and also finds himself smitten by her beautiful young companion, Lizaveta Ivanova (Yvonne Mitchell). As Suvorin gets closer to the truth, his quest takes an unforgettably eerie turn.Read More »
1941-1950
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Thorold Dickinson – The Queen of Spades (1949)
Drama1941-1950HorrorThorold DickinsonUnited Kingdom -
Carol Reed – Odd Man Out (1947)
1941-1950Carol ReedFilm NoirThrillerUSA

Plot synopsis:
Johnny McQueen, leader of a clandestine Irish organization, has been hiding in the house of Kathleen and her mother, planning a hold-up that will provide his group with the funds needed to continue its activities. During the hold-up, things go sour…Read More » -
Oskar Fischinger – Motion Painting No. 1 (1947)
1941-1950AnimationExperimentalOskar FischingerUSAQuote:
This experimental film is a study of an abstract painting as it grows out of the mind and soul of the artist and filmmaker. Painstakingly hand-painted in a Impressionist pixel-point style over a period of 9 months (!), and equally laboriously stop-animated, Fischinger captures not only the wonderful decision-making process of the artist at work, but the “life” that the work itself takes on as it changes and grows. Use of color, patterns, and pacing compliment and clash with one another before the viewer’s eyes and lead one into an impossible world that seems none-the-less real, and all the more engaging for seeming to just be made of pure MAGIC!Read More » -
Jean Epstein – Le tempestaire (1947)
1941-1950ArthouseFranceJean EpsteinShort FilmQuote:
Despite her protestations and concerns over ominous signs, a young woman’s lover leaves for the sea to fish for sardines, but while he is out a terrible storm strikes. However, she finds out about Le Tempestaire, or Tempest Master, who has the power to speak to the wind and subdue it.Read More » -
Alf Sjöberg – Iris och löjtnantshjärta AKA Iris And The Lieutenant (1946)
1941-1950Alf SjöbergDramaRomanceSwedenHandsome young cavalry officer Robert Motander is invited to a dinner with his decidedly rich family – makers of the classic Motander brand shoes. Amongst the booze and barbed exchanges with the siblings and in-laws, he can’t help but notice the beautiful and flirty young housemaid, Iris. Not shy of a trifle or two, he decides to go in for the kill.
And so begins a forbidden love story which the world will do anything to stop.Read More »
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Sergei Yutkevich – Novye pokhozhdeniya Shveyka aka The New Adventures of Schweik (1943)
Comedy1941-1950Sergei YutkevichUSSRWarIMDB says:
The brave soldier Schweik helps the Yugoslav partisans and tries to choose the execution for Hitler.Read More » -
Chuck Jones – Rabbit of Seville (1950)
1941-1950AnimationChuck JonesShort FilmUSAQuote:
Behind the Hollywood Bowl stage which is playing the opera, The Barber of Seville, Bugs Bunny flees into the backstage area with Elmer Fudd in close pursuit. Seeing his opportunity to fight on his terms, Bugs raises the curtain on Elmer, trapping him on stage. As the orchestra begins playing, Bugs comes into play as the barber who is going to make sure that Elmer is going to get a grooming he will never forget.Read More » -
William Clemens – The Falcon Out West (1944)
1941-1950CrimeDramaUSAWilliam ClemensThe murder of a wealthy, much-married rancher (Lyle Talbot) in a posh Manhattan nightclub is the catalyst for The Falcon Out West. Amateur sleuth Tom Lawrence (Tom Conway), aka The Falcon, deduces that the victim was killed with rattlesnake venom.Read More »
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Alfred Santell – That Brennan Girl (1946)
Drama1941-1950Alfred SantellRomanceUSA

On Mother’s Day, 1946, in San Francisco, Ziggy Brennan thinks back on the events which have brought her to this day.
Quote:
Raised as a grifter by her single mother, a San Francisco girl (Mona Freeman, in the role that should have made her a star) learns to adjust her priorities when she is left a young war widow, with a child of her own to take care of. Unaccountably overlooked, this resonant, formally inventive film was the final work of the director Alfred Santell as well as the last leading role of Oscar-winner James Dunn.Read More »






