Plot:
It’s the New York Department of Weights and Measures vs. a systematic effort to cheat the public by giving them less product than they pay for…organized by crooked city alderman Marty Cavanaugh, who put the last chief deputy inspector in the hospital. The new man, pugnacious Johnny Cave, steps on the toes of influential merchants and gets increasing pressure, both political and strong-arm, to desist. Will the luck (if not the pluck) of the Irish pull him through?Read More »
Synopsis:
Filmmaker/critic Pare Lorentz was the creative force behind the landmark documentary The Plow That Broke the Plains. The project was underwritten by the United States Resettlement Administration, a New Deal organization. Lorentz’ film accomplished visually what President Roosevelt’s radio speeches had been doing orally: serving as a wake-up call to those Americans unaware of the deprivations of the “Dust Bowl.” The film details the ecological causes for the natural disasters befalling farmers in Oklahoma and Texas. It then illustrates in up-close-and-personal fashion the devastating effect those disasters had on the farmers and their families, who were already reeling from the Depression. Lorentz concludes his film on an upbeat note, showing the efforts made by the Resettlement Administration to improve conditions for the unfortunate farmers, and to make certain that environmental reforms are put into effect to prevent another Dust Bowl. The Plow That Broke the Plains was followed by the Tennessee Valley Authority-sanctioned The River, likewise assembled by Lorentz.Read More »
Synopsis:
Although they are successful fishmongers, Stan convinces Ollie that they should become fishermen too – but making a boat seaworthy is not an easy task.Read More »
quote:
Stage play directed by Berthold Brecht, filmed by Carl Koch, about a civilian who is press-ganged into a machine-gunner’s squadron and transformed into the perfect soldier.
Man is Man, a tragi-comedy written in 1927, a work of Brecht’s youth that marks his entry into epic theatre. How can Man manage to adapt to all the different roles that the industrial society of the 20th Century demands, in an apparently intransigent call for change ? Galy Gay is this unorthodox hero who starts out as a messenger and becomes an active soldier under nauseating pressure from dubious soldiers. French critic Bernard Dort noted that the construction and dismantling of Widow Begbick’s refreshments carriage in this play take place at the same time as the transformation of Galy Gay into Jeramiah Jip. The mobility of the location, theatrically points to the instability of the characters in the epic form. Thomas Ostermeier seized upon the theme of deconstruction, and has his actors play furiously with the different states of reality.Read More »
Harold Teen a recent high school graduate, writes a column for the local newspaper. He is in love with Lillums Lovewell, a high school senior. Harold is continually making mistakes to the despair of his editor. After he spends all his money buying a bottle of perfume as a graduation present for Lillums, Harold’s car is repossessed and he is so distracted that he walks by a newsworthy accident without noticing. Then at the prom, Lillums and Harold quarrel about his bad dancing. Harold sends away for correspondence dancing lessons and partially redeems himself with his boss by interviewing Mr. Snatcher, the new head of the bank. Harold takes Lillums canoeing, but makes her angry again, and they upset the canoe. Read More »
Jie (Michiko Kuwano) attended a women’s university with the financial support of her geisha sister Oha (Hiroko Kawasaki) and became a lawyer. The aim. Michiko (Kuniko Miyake), one of the seven best friends from the same women’s college, is getting married. The man she’s marrying is her sister’s lover.
This is a women’s film featuring three Shochiku actresses from the pre-war era. Kuwano = intellectual and modern, Kawasaki = old-fashioned and unhappy, Miyake = high society and maternity. The cast has been imagined in a way that is very much like Shochiku. And then, in true Shochiku fashion, at the end of a series of misfortunes, we see the film as if nothing had ever happened before. A happy ending that let it all go by the wayside. It’s a very Shochiku film.Read More »
Synopsis:
The story of a once-respectable woman who re-encounters her first love, now a successful doctor. Reduced to nude-dancing in a sleazy dive, with a son to support, Evelyne (Edwige Feuillère) borrows money at an outrageous interest rate in order to create a facade of respectability–and, it goes without saying, Georges falls in love with her all over again. But how can Evelyne maintain her bourgeois value and save son and “father” from the consequences of her fall?Read More »
Synopsis
Alors qu’il est dans le métro, Pierre Garnaux pense être témoin du meurtre d’une femme. Celui-ci alerte alors la police. Il s’agissait en réalité de l’illusioniste Zolti qui répétait une scène avec Viviane, son assistante et fiancée. L’intrusion de Pierre va alors bouleverser l’équilibre du couple.Read More »
Plot: A depression-era tramp named Jubilo goes looking for the wife that left him. While on his journey, he meets an assortment of characters.Read More »