Synopsis:
Set in the last few years of the shogun’s rule, this period/ensemble movie depicts the lives of the young and the restless at a whorehouse. The protagonist is Saheiji, a resourceful, witty free spirit. It’s 1862, 6 years before the Shogun turned his political power over to the Emperor. Penniless Saheiji splashes out at a famous Shinagawa whorehouse. He’s forced to stay on at the whorehouse to repay his debt. At first Saheiji is regarded as an unwelcome guest who never leaves but it turns out he is not just a poor grifter. None of the whorehouse’s guests, hosts, servants and attending ladies are innocent but they are pragmatic schemers. Saheiji soon endears himself to them all and solves many whorehouse disputes with his wit. But it is slowly revealed that the seemingly perfect Saheiji is suffering from tuberculosis and his future is uncertain…Read More »
Classics
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Yûzô Kawashima – Bakumatsu Taiyoden aka Sun in the Last Days of the Shogunate AKA The Sun Legend of the End of the Tokugawa Era (1957)
1951-1960ClassicsDramaJapanYûzô Kawashima -
Charley Chase & Harold Law – Public Ghost # 1 (1935)
1931-1940Charley ChaseClassicsHarold LawShort FilmUSAMore Chase, this time two plotlines are merged, first Charley meets a new girlfriend then finds a job working for a man who just escaped from a mental hospital.Read More »
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Marcel Carné – Les tricheurs AKA The Cheaters AKA Youthful Sinners (1958)
1951-1960ClassicsDramaFranceMarcel Carné

Synopsis:
Middle class student Bob Letellier (Jacques Charrier) enters a new world when he meets Alain (Laurent Terzieff), a free-thinking rebel who, along with his group of young Parisians, has opted for a life of instant gratification instead of work and commitment. At a party, Bob meets a young woman, Mic (Pascale Petit), who appears to be just as carefree and cynical as Alain. Mic’s only dream is to own a luxury car, and with Bob’s help, she manages to find the money to but it. Mic’s friend Clo (Andrea Parisy) discovers she is pregnant and, not knowing who the father is, she asks Bob to marry her. When they next meet at a party, Bob and Mic deny that they have any feelings for one another – a declaration that soon leads to tragedy…Read More » -
Satyajit Ray – Pratidwandi aka The Adversary (1970)
1961-1970ClassicsDramaIndiaSatyajit RaySiddhartha Chowdhury, a brilliant medical student, is forced to leave his studies after his father’s sudden demise. He is forced to navigate the high unemployment rate and the communist socio-political climate of 1960s Calcutta in search of a job.Read More »
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Spencer Gordon Bennet – Captain Video, Master of the Stratosphere (1951)
Spencer Gordon Bennet1951-1960ClassicsSci-FiUSA

This is one of the worst Columbia science fiction serials. That said, it does have a couple of interesting qualities. First, it has some very unusual cliff hangers, but there’s no set up that allows you to guess ‘How do they get out of it?’ Almost every one is a cheat, with Captain Video pulling out a new secret gadget to neutralize the terror, or Gallagher (Don C. Harvey, usually a ‘henchman’ in other serials and movies) in the Control Room twirling dials and flipping switches to save our heroes. When a fire in a well fails to burn them, Captain Video explains that it’s because human bodies from Earth react differently to the atmosphere of Theros. But there’s only one ‘jump out of the car before it explodes / goes over the cliff’ cliff hanger! As usual, it’s the stirring narration by Knox Manning at the end of each episode that teases you into wanting to watch the next chapter.Read More »
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Charley Chase & Harold Law – Life Hesitates at 40 (1935)
1931-1940Charley ChaseClassicsHarold LawShort FilmUSA

IMDB:
Charley finds himself having strange spells during which everything around him seems to stop.Read More » -
Ishmael Bernal – Pagdating sa dulo AKA At The Top (1971)
Ishmael Bernal1971-1980ClassicsDramaPhilippinesFrom Hong Kong International Film Festival:
Bernal’s impressive debut feature confirmed him as a prominent filmmaker who was not only capable of orchestrating a striking narrative, but also one that revealed the hypocrisy permeating the carnivalesque affairs of filmmaking. The story follows Ching, a stripper, who performs to the lustful stares of her patrons. Discovered by an idealistic film director, she rises to stardom and takes her lover Pinggoy, a taxi driver, into show business. Scrambling to the top, they reap fame and forture only to find tragedies awaiting. Bernal has made startlingly accurate observations of the dichotomies facing Philippine cinema and society, winning Best Film of the Decade in the country’s prestigious Gawad Urian Awards.Read More » -
Václav Krska – Stríbrný vítr aka Silvery Wind (1954)
1951-1960ClassicsCzech RepublicDramaVáclav KrskaQuote:
Silvery Wind is a classic Czech film, based on a novel by Fráňa Šrámek first published in 1910.The hero of the story is an enthusiastic and idealistic young student, who reaches maturity amidst small-town brutality, narrow-mindedness and hypocrisy.Read More »
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Elliott Nugent – Never Say Die (1939)
1931-1940ClassicsComedyElliott NugentUSAPlot:
Bob Hope is being stalked by a predatory widow who is a widow of wealthy husbands many times over. Martha Raye is a Texan heiress who wants to marry her boyfriend Andy Devine, but her father is determined that she marry into royalty. To solve both their problems, Martha Raye and Bob Hope decide to marry, but will they ever find love together?Read More »





