Plot: In World War II, the Nazis require a special mineral, Compound X, discovered in Canada. Although intended to cure paralysis, the Nazis have discovered that it can be used in magnetic mines to destroy the British fleet and blockade America to prevent it assisting the Allies. The Mounties discover this plot and work to defeat and capture the Nazi spies sent to obtain the ore. Sgt King’s father is killed in the line of duty, saving his son from death on a circular saw, and leaving him to carry on the fight against the enemy.Read More »
This MGM musical lifts the premise of Pride and Prejudice and plunks it down into the early 1900s. S.Z. Sakall is a restaurateur who has decreed that his seven daughters must marry in order of age — the oldest one first. Kathryn Grayson isn’t the oldest, but she has the sweetest singing voice, and it is she who bags the first husband (Van Heflin). For the record, the remaining six sisters are played by Marsha Hunt, Frances Rafferty, Cecilia Parker, Peggy Moran, Dorothy Morris and Frances Raeburn. Seven Sweethearts was produced by Joe Pasternak, who’d been doing much the same material when in charge of Universal’s Deanna Durbin vehicles. ~ Hal EricksonRead More »
Shortly after WW2, a military transport plane carrying an assortment of passengers crashes into the South China Sea forcing the survivors to await their rescue into a life-raft.Read More »
Cinema meets art critic. In this film commissioned by the Ministry of Education, Paul Haessaerts is responsible for ensuring that the screenplay (which he wrote together with Henri Storck) and the voice-over are intelligently informative. He provides a definition of Baroque, talks about the images’ composition, refers to Rubens’ life and makes a thematic analysis of his work, its evolution and it’s influence. The content is entirely in line with the demanding guidelines that André Bazin praised when explaining the education role of cinema. The form is innovative and inventive. The animation emphasizes the paintings’ key elements and structure and visualizes the composition. The split screen makes it possible to make comparative analyses of paintings and styles. Notwithstanding this textbook virtuosity Storck develops his own method, using the camera’s movements to enter into the drama of the painting. Tracking shots, exploring the painting, stopping at a detail, fragmentation, the closeness of the bodies and the faces. The first part of the film is analytical and biographical, the second part takes us, lyrically, into the paintings and into Rubens’ world “that the film recreates before our eyes” (Paul Davay). Both parts feature a very prominently present orchestral score.Read More »
Kelly Jordan (Robert Lowery) and Andy Melton (Robert Kent) are former AAF fliers operating a cargo service over the South American mountain ranges in order to get enough money to return to Texas and buy a commercial line. Andy is killed when his overloaded plane crashes and explodes. Kelly meets Laurey Roberts (Ann Savage), who gets him to take her to the mining-camp operation as a cook, as she is running away from her ex-husband, Tom Hammond (Douglas Fowley), who has just been released from prison.Read More »
The “white paws” of this noirish melodrama are the gaudy white spats sported by a reclusive French aristocrat in a fishing village on the coast of Normandy. Scripted by French playwright Jean Anouilh, who was originally to have directed it, Pattes blanches was ultimately brought to the screen by Grémillon, who accepted the project after the commercial failure of his Le ciel est à vous. The moody plot concerns the relationship of the aristocrat (Bernard) and his vengeful half-brother (Bouquet) and their rivalry over a promiscuous flirt from the city (Delair) who has married the local innkeeper. Although produced within the framework of the commercial cinema, Grémillon’s film manages to imbue the melodrama with a sharp sense of class divisions and his characteristic visual harmonies. (Harvard Film Archives)Read More »
Maya Grohn wrote: The story is based on the serial novel by Tsunoda Kikuo, which was published in a magazine called “KING”, the most popular magazine of its time. This type of magazine was deemed too popular for serious literature lovers, who regarded it as beneath them. Once a girl, a long time ago, Maya could not understand it all, but through ageing I have begun to enjoy these thing in a quite different manner.Read More »
The greedy nephew of eccentric Matilda Reed seeks to have her judged incompetent so he can administer her wealth; but she will be saved if her three long-lost adopted sons appear for a Christmas Eve reunion. Separate stories reveal Michael as a bankrupt playboy loved by loyal Ann; Mario as a seemingly shady character tangling with a Nazi war criminal in South America; Jonathan as a hard-drinking rodeo rider intent on a flirtatious social worker. Is there hope for Matilda?Read More »
