USA

  • Vic Morrow – Deathwatch (1966)

    Drama1961-1970CultQueer Cinema(s)USAVic Morrow

    Quote:
    Based on a play by Jean Genet, a small-time thief battles with his gay cellmate over a third illiterate, muscular convict.

    Leonard Nimoy (Jules LeFranc), Michael Forest (Greeneyes), Paul Mazursky (Maurice), Robert Ellenstein (Guard), Gavin MacLeod (Emil)

    Sharing a dank cell in a French prison are Jules LeFranc, a social outcast serving time for a minor theft, and Greeneyes, a convicted murderer awaiting the guillotine. Embarrassed by the pettiness of his offense against a society he detests, Jules openly worships the infamous Greeneyes and longs to be his friend. Read More »

  • Robert N. Bradbury – Westward Ho (1935)

    1931-1940Robert N. BradburyUSAWestern

    Westward Ho begins as hero John Wyatt (John Wayne) vows to avenge the death of his parents at the hands of cattle rustlers. Years later, Wyatt is put in charge of a band of vigilantes, bent on rounding up a gang of outlaws. He discovers to his chagrin that one of the bandits is his own long-lost brother (Frank McGlynn Jr.) This revelation eventually leads our hero to the men responsible for the slaughter of his family. Gorgeous location photography by Archie J. Stout is the film’s main asset. Though released by Republic, Westward Ho is closer in spirit to John Wayne’s previous “Lone Star” series for Monogram — and small wonder, since it was originally intended to be part of that series.Read More »

  • Mitchell Leisen – Death Takes a Holiday (1934) (HD)

    1931-1940DramaFantasyMitchell LeisenUSA

    The Grim Reaper (Frederic March) takes the form of a Prince in an attempt to relate to humans and, along the way, also learns what it is to love.Read More »

  • Jessica Oreck – Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo (2009)

    2001-2010DocumentaryExperimentalJessica OreckUSA

    from the official website:
    Imagine cramming 128 million people onto an island the size of Montana – you would be pretty close to replicating the density of Japan. Not surprisingly, space is at a premium and ergonomic design is right up there next to godliness.

    Yet even in Tokyo, the pinnacle of this figurative “can of sardines,” people of all ages still make room for a tiny bit of wilderness. It is only fitting that they have become captivated by nature’s most efficient invention in space, design and function – insects.Read More »

  • Jessica Oreck – Aatsinki: The Story of Arctic Cowboys (2013)

    2011-2020DocumentaryJessica OreckUSA

    One year in the life of a family of reindeer herders in Finnish Lapland. Jessica Oreck’s intimate, gorgeously lensed documentary follows brothers Aarne and Lasse Aatsinki. The film is a study of hard work, hard earned leisure, and the intricate bond between man and nature that makes up life above the Arctic Circle.Read More »

  • Roy William Neill – Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943)

    1941-1950HorrorRoy William NeillSci-FiUSA

    Synopsis:
    Larry Talbot finds himself in an asylum, recovering from an operation performed by the kindly Dr. Mannering. Inspector Owen finds him there, too, wanting to question him about a recent spate of murders. Talbot escapes and finds Maleva, the old gypsy woman who knows his secret: when the moon is full, he changes to a werewolf. She travels with him to locate the one man who can help him to die – Dr. Frankenstein. The brilliant doctor proves to be dead himself, but they do find Frankenstein’s daughter. Talbot begs her for her father’s papers containing the secrets of life and death. She doesn’t have them, so he goes to the ruins of the Frankenstein castle to find them himself. There he finds the Monster, whom he chips out of a block of ice. Dr. Mannering catches up with him only to become tempted to monomania while using Frankenstein’s old equipment.Read More »

  • Wilhelm Thiele – The Madonna’s Secret (1946)

    1941-1950CrimeFilm NoirUSAWilhelm Thiele

    Directed by Wilhelm Thiele and written by Thiele and Bradbury Foote with black and white cinematography by film noir giant John Alton

    Quote:
    This drama is an updated version of Ulmer’s 1944 film Bluebeard. It is set in New York and follows the exploits of an eccentric Parisian painter who has come to New York to escape a controversy surrounding his work. The trouble stems when the model he has used in all his work is found floating dead in the Seine.Read More »

  • Douglas Sirk – Battle Hymn (1957) (HD)

    1951-1960Douglas SirkDramaUSAWar

    Battle Hymn was inspired by the true story of American minister Dean Hess, played here with rare sensitivity by Rock Hudson. A bomber pilot during World War II, Hess inadvertently releases a bomb which destroys a German orphanage. Tortured by guilt, Hess relocates in Korea after the war to offer his services as a missionary. Combining the best elements of Christianity and Eastern spiritualism, Hess establishes a large home for orphans. The preacher’s efforts are threatened when the Korean “police action” breaks out in 1950. Battle Hymn was one of several collaborations between Rock Hudson and director Douglas Sirk–though Sirk felt that Robert Stack would have been better suited to the role of Rev. Hess.Read More »

  • André De Toth – None Shall Escape (1944)

    1941-1950André De TothDramaUSAWar

    Synopsis:
    In this drama, a crippled German veteran of WW I attempts to reconcile his recent experiences with his former ideologies in this drama. After the war he goes back to his hometown on the German-Polish border to his old teaching job. Time passes and he becomes increasingly cynical and bitter; he then finds himself increasingly drawn to dark, oppressive ideologies that cause his fiancee to abandon him. He then rapes a female student and finds himself thrown out of his village. It is not long before he joins the Nazi party where he quickly rises in the ranks. By the time he returns to his village, he has become a terrifying Nazi commandant.Read More »

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