1940s

Commando Daffy Duck goes behind enemy lines and causes havoc for a Nazi German officer and his troops.Read More »

A cameraman is given a week to photograph the aerial highlights of Holland for a travelogue.
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The Misused Love Letters was one of the most popular Swiss films in the 40s.

It tells the story of a merchant from the town of Seldwyla, called Viktor Störteler. He has a passion for literature and rather fancies himself as a poet, although his poetry is mediocre at best. While away on business, he asks his wife to send him a daily love letter. His wife Gritli however is not to keen on this idea and ask the young teacher Wilhelm to write her love letters instead. Wilhelm does so, but believes himself to be the addressee of the letters. Viktor comes to know of their little scheme when he returns and gets offended. As a result he takes a momentous decision, that will have consequences for all parties involved…Read More »

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Nasreddin, the Robin Hood of the East! Those who read the Leonid Solovyov’s brilliant book “Povest’ of Hodzhe Nasreddine” (The Tale of Nasreddin the Hajji) will surely value this treasure of Jakob Protazanov for it is the only faithful screen version that has approached the mischievous spirit of the book that close. Also it’s hard to imagine a better Nasreddin than Leo Sverdlin with his ever-glittering cunning eyes and radiant smile.Read More »

First released on 28 June 1945.
The war was about to end in two months. Every major city in Japan would have been burnt to the ground.
At such a time, or perhaps precisely at such a time, a romantic melodrama was produced.

What people want, what filmmakers want to make, what the Shochiku production team, wanted to make, in every era and at every time, is a romantic melodrama!Read More »

Synopsis:
A compulsive liar admits to a killing she didn’t commit so her husband, a lawyer, can clear her and build a reputation for himself.Read More »

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In his controversial masterpiece The Great Dictator, Charlie Chaplin offers both a cutting caricature of Adolf Hitler and a sly tweaking of his own comic persona. Chaplin, in his first pure talkie, brings his sublime physicality to two roles: the cruel yet clownish “Tomainian” dictator and the kindly Jewish barber who is mistaken for him. Featuring Jack Oakie and Paulette Goddard in stellar supporting turns, The Great Dictator, boldly going after the fascist leader before the U.S.’s official entry into World War II, is an audacious amalgam of politics and slapstick that culminates in Chaplin’s famously impassioned speech.Read More »

One blast of an exploitation-noir (to coin a phrase) Wild Weed (aka She Shoulda Said No) was marketed by the legendary huckster Kroger Babb, and directed by the always reliable Sam Newfield (who could handle anything from noir to horror to all-midget musicals). Babb, who was legendary for his marketing and publicity techniques (he had some of the most incredible return-on-investment ratios of his time, among film producers), wasn’t averse to starting letter writing campaigns against his own pictures to drum up controversy and thus sell tickets.Read More »

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David Bek (died: 1728) was one of the most prominent figures of the Armenian liberation movement against the Safavid and Ottoman occupying forces. In 1722-25 with direct support from Mkhitar Sparapet, he headed the armed struggle of Syunik (particularly from Kapan) and Artsakh Armenians against Safavids, which led to the slaughter and expulsion of Muslims from the Turkic villages of the Kapan and Meghri districts of Eastern Armenia, that were destroyed by him. In 1726-28 Armenians under the leadership of David Bek fought with Ottoman forces, that were attempting to conquer Transcaucasia.Read More »