1940s

Two newsreel reporters doing an outdoor fashion shoot accidentally film a
Nazi criminal. The Nazi is aided by clever Joe the gangster (an ex-actor gone bad!)
who uses a variety of methods to retrieve the film before it is used to identify the Nazi.
Ironically, if left unpursued, the film would have been destroyed. A few predictable but
well-placed plot twists and double-crosses round out the film.
One is left wondering how Joe would know to employ a romantic couple to run
interference for the Nazi as he exited a bank. Joe also surprises by hamming it up
with drunken nostalgia for his acting days, and whipping people with his belt.Read More »

Based on the Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist is about an orphan boy who runs away from a workhouse and meets a pickpocket on the streets of London…Read More »

Synopsis:
Renowned actress/singer Takamine Mieko stars as titular heroine Nobuko, a spirited young teacher working in a conservative school. Based on a novel by Shishi Bunroku, the film follows her experiences as she challenges the school with her liberal thinking and teaching methods.Read More »

A scientist who has perfected a new bio-weapon, is attacked and lies in a coma. A newspaperman tries to unravel the mystery as three murders are committed by poison, all related to a set of bejeweled statues.Read More »

America learns the value of wartime preparedness in de Rochemont’s study of World War I’s effect on average citizens (imdb)Read More »

Richard Clarke (Benny), a small town lawyer, is not making enough money to marry Janie Brown (Lane), his fiancée. To improve himself, Richard moves to New York City. Although he does not have any clients, Richard tells Janie that he is doing well. She expects to move to New York and marry him.

His assistant Shufro (Anderson) suggests that he could make some money if he became hard and ruthless. The ultimate test of his meanness is ‘stealing candy from a baby’. He is photographed as he pulls a sucker away from a small boy. The picture is printed in the paper under the caption, “Meanest Man in the World.” He is hired to evict an old woman, Mrs. Frances H. Leggitt (Margaret Seddon), from her apartment and more pictures appear in the paper.Read More »

Synopsis:
Gangster Dixie Logan is framed by crooked DA Lawrence Dale. His wife secures a job as Dale’s assistant, the better to find the proof of the DA’s dishonesty. She gets help from Reporter Mitchell, who falls in love with her.Read More »

A moment of personal tragedy prompts concert violinist Paul Boray (John Garfield) to re-evaluate his life. He recalls happier times when, as a small boy, his mother gave him a violin for his birthday. After years of dedicated study, Paul becomes an accomplished violinist, but he finds it impossible to work so he can pay his way. One day, his pianist friend Sid Jeffers (Oscar Levant) takes him along to a party hosted by the wealthy socialite Helen Wright (Joan Crawford). The latter is trapped in a loveless marriage with an older man and finds the headstrong young violin player a tempting proposition. She decides to act as Paul’s patron, financing his debut concert and providing him with a manager. Through Helen’s money and contacts, Paul soon becomes an established musician, and he shows his gratitutde in just the way Helen hoped he might. But just when Helen thinks she has won her man, she realizes that she will never be able to compete with his one true love: his music…Read More »

“Haru no mezame” was Naruse’s third full-lenth post-war film — and a delightful surprise. It turns out to be a slice of life film, centered around a couple of years in the life of a rural high school girl — played by 16 year old Yoshiko Kuga (future star in Portrait of Madame Yuki, Banka, Equinox Flower, Good Morning) — still a tiny bit plumpish — and not full grown. Almost no plot to speak of — just normal events of school and home life and hanging around with friends.Read More »