Crime

  • Leonid Gaidai – Kavkazskaya plennitsa AKA Kidnapping, Caucasian Style (1966)

    1961-1970ComedyCrimeLeonid GaidaiUSSR

    Leonid Gaidai’s irreverent comedy updates a Leo Tolstoy story for modern Soviet times, in the Caucasus region. Shurik, a naive Russian student mired in his own clumsy Soviet culture, sets off to the Caucasus to write down the folk culture of this region: its traditions, legends, sayings, and toasts.Read More »

  • Richard Quine – Drive a Crooked Road (1954)

    1951-1960CrimeFilm NoirRichard QuineUSA

    Music Box Theatre writes:
    Before becoming famous for creating PETER GUNN and the PINK PANTHER movies, Blake Edwards scripted this extraordinary, if virtually unknown, ’50s film noir, which casts a fully-grown Mickey Rooney against type as a lovelorn mechanic whose craving for fast cars and a faster woman (the alluring Dianne Foster) drives him to sign on as wheelman in a bank robbery. In what may be his finest performance, Rooney delivers a compelling characterization of the “Little Freak,” whose desire for a duplicitous woman leads to an unforgettable conclusion. One of finest noir films of the fifties.Read More »

  • Arthur Penn – The Chase (1966)

    1961-1970Arthur PennCrimeDramaUSA

    Quote:
    Preceding Bonnie and Clyde by a year, Arthur Penn’s (Mickey One) acclaimed film boasts enviable pedigree – produced by the legendary Sam Spiegel, with a screenplay by Lillian Hellman from the novel by Horton Foote, a rousing score by John Barry, and a stellar cast of the hottest stars of the day (including Marlon Brando, Jane Fonda, Robert Redford, Angie Dickinson and James Fox). The story of an escaped con making his way back to the corrupt Texas town and the people who sent him to prison, The Chase is a telling indictment of violence in American society. A seminal work which is ripe for rediscovery.Read More »

  • Francis Girod – Le Trio Infernal AKA The Infernal Trio (1974)

    1971-1980ComedyCrimeFranceFrancis Girod

    Marseilles, 1919. Georges Sarret is a distinguished and respected lawyer, recently honoured for his services in the First World War. He takes as his lover Philomène Schmidt, a young German woman, who has just lost her job and home. To enable Philomène to remain in France, Georges finds her a husband – who dies conveniently of natural causes a month after the wedding. Georges repeats the trick with Philomène’s sister, Catherine – marrying her off to an old man who dies suddenly so that the scheming trio can profit from his life insurance. When an accomplice in the scheme, Marcel Chambon, threatens to blackmail them, Georges and his two lovers have no option but to kill him and his mistress…Read More »

  • Emil E. Reinert – Quai de Grenelle AKA The Strollers (1950)

    1941-1950CrimeDramaEmil E. ReinertFrance

    Synopsis:
    ‘Jean-Louis catches vipers he sells to the laboratories. A trivial incident causes his descent into hell: he forgets to use the pedestrian crossing and the policeman is cross. Who could have believed then where it would lead the unfortunate Jean-Louis to? Two unscrupulous journalists depict him as a monster, who releases vipers in town. Because of a hold up, the city is looking for a scapegoat, and this poor lad looks the part too much. Although the superintendent insists there’s really nothing against him, Jean-Louis becomes paranoiac and hides in shady places. He leaves his girlfriend, meets a hooker and a shifty aging man…’
    – dbdumonteilRead More »

  • Jindrich Polák – Hra bez pravidel AKA A Game Without Rules (1967)

    1961-1970ActionCrimeCzech RepublicJindrich Polák

    The rules are merciless: when a police detective kills a jewelry robber in self-defense, he doesn’t get any awards, but gets fired instead. He then keeps on surviving as a taxi-driver, and yet keeps on investigating in his case, which has not been closed even after many years… The film is an unique attempt at an action film in the Czech context.Read More »

  • John Trent – Vengeance is Mine AKA Sunday in the Country (1974) (HD)

    1971-1980CrimeJohn TrentThrillerUSA

    Three vicious thugs are on the run in rural America after robbing a local bank. They seek refuge at the home of a reclusive farmer, but he is prepared for their arrival and holds them at gunpoint. Unable to let them simply wait for the law, he decides to take them into into his cellar and torture them a little before the police arrive.Read More »

  • Yi’nan Diao – Nan Fang Che Zhan De Ju Hui AKA The Wild Goose Lake (2019)

    2011-2020ChinaCrimeThrillerYi'nan Diao

    A gangster on the run sacrifices everything for his family and a woman he meets while on the lam.Read More »

  • Erricos Andreou – Anazitisis… AKA The Jet Set (1972)

    1971-1980CrimeDramaErricos AndreouGreece

    A beautiful, rich and bored lady, Elena Chrysou, decides to have an adventure with a busy but lonely millionaire, Thanos Vergis. He mistakes her for a call girl, one of those whom Mrs. Natasa, manager of a well-known fashion house, usually sends him. Nevertheless, a strange murder that occurs in their environment disrupts their relationship, and she disappears from his life, although their feelings are mutual. In the end, the police discover that the crime was commited by…Read More »

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