USA

  • Joseph Pevney – The Strange Door (1951)

    1951-1960DramaHorrorJoseph PevneyUSA

    Noble-born cad Denis (Stapley) has been tricked into a forced stay at the eerie manor of the Sire de Maletroit (Laughton), an evil madman who can’t get over the death of his beloved, twenty years after she married his brother (Cavanagh) instead and subsequently passed away during childbirth. Maletroit is determined to have his revenge: the brother has been stowed away in the dungeon for two decades, while he’s convinced his disreputable house guest will make a suitably hellish husband for his niece. As luck would have it, the young couple manage to fall in love, and with the help of manservant Voltan (Karloff), they try to make their escape, but not before a final confrontation with Maletroit in the dungeon’s crushing deathtrap.Read More »

  • Fritz Lang – Man Hunt (1941)

    1941-1950Fritz LangThrillerUSAWar

    Synopsis:
    British hunter Thorndike vacationing in Bavaria has Hitler in his gun sight. He is captured, beaten, left for dead, and escapes back to London where he is hounded by German agents and aided by a young woman.Read More »

  • Joseph Losey – The Big Night (1951)

    Drama1951-1960Film NoirJoseph LoseyUSA

    A film noir treatise about the coming of age of a young man is beautifully realized by the great Joseph Losey. John Drew Barrymore zigzags through the sordid vortex of downtown Los Angeles while seeking vengeance on the man who beat his Father. This superbly crafted “trial by fire” tale with memorable dialogue and shaded photography co-stars Preston Foster, Joan Lorring, Harold St. John and Dorothy ComingoreRead More »

  • Karl Freund – Moonlight and Pretzels (1933)

    1931-1940ClassicsKarl FreundMusicalUSA

    IMDB:
    A song plugger is stranded in a small town. There he meets a girl who later helps him to put on a show on Broadway.Read More »

  • Raoul Walsh – Pursued (1947)

    1941-1950Raoul WalshThrillerUSAWestern

    Synopsis:
    After his family is murdered in the 1880s, orphan Jeb Rand is raised by the Callum family on their nearby horse ranch. He remains haunted by this childhood trauma in a recurring nightmare of flashing spurs and confinement inside a trap door as his family is slaughtered. Widow Callum does her best to make Jeb feel loved as he is growing up, but the young man stubbornly maintains a sense of his own identity. While he has great affection for his foster-sister Thor, his relationship with her brother Adam is tenuous at best, especially when Jeb blames him for shooting a colt that he was riding.Read More »

  • Douglas Sirk – Lured (1947)

    1941-1950CrimeDouglas SirkFilm NoirUSA

    A serial killer in London is murdering young women whom he meets through the personal columns of newspapers; he announces each of his murders to the police by sending them a cryptic poem. After a dancer disappears, the police enlist an American friend of hers, Sandra Carpenter, to answer advertisements in the personal columns and so lure the killer.Read More »

  • Fritz Lang – Hangmen Also Die! (1943)

    1941-1950Film NoirFritz LangUSAWar

    Synopsis:
    Set in Czechoslovakia during the Nazi occupation, Hangmen Also Die depicts an Eastern Europe populated by spies, traitors and revolutionaries…a deadly funhouse of political intrigue in which every personal encounter brings with it the threat of betrayal.
    Pursued by the Germans after the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, Dr. Svobonda (Brian Donlevy) enlists the aid of a young woman (Anna Lee) who is oblivious to the lethal crosscurrents that surround her. As she learns more about the mysterious doctor, she grows aware of the involvement of her father (Walter Brennan) and fiance (Dennis O’Keefe) in the resistance, and soon finds herself entangled in the revolution’s secret operations.Read More »

  • Edward Killy – Wanted! Jane Turner (1936)

    1931-1940CrimeDramaEdward KillyUSA

    After gangster Phil Crowley robs a mail truck and murders its driver, postal secretary Doris Martin and postal inspector Tom Mallory are called on to track down the elusive fugitive. They follow the trail of stolen loot, sent to ‘general delivery’ in care of Jane Turner, to post offices across the United States ranging from the east coast to Arizona to Los Angeles. Complications arise when a real ‘Jane Turner’ picks up one of the letters intended to be picked up by gang moll Marge Sanders, using Jane Turner as her name.Read More »

  • Frank Tuttle – Hell on Frisco Bay (1955)

    1951-1960CrimeFrank TuttleThrillerUSA

    Synopsis:
    When ex-cop Steve Rollins is released from San Quentin after five years, his only thoughts are of revenge on the men who framed him for manslaughter. Back in San Francisco, his quest for the truth brings him up against ruthless waterfront gang boss Victor Amato.Read More »

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