1940s

Quote:
Two men attempt to prove they committed the perfect crime by hosting a dinner party after strangling their former classmate to death.Read More »

Quote:
After having served 5 years in prison, for killing a man while defending her disreputable lover, Harry (John Baragrey), Jenny Marsh (Patricia Knight) is set for parole. Her parole officer, Griff Marat Cornel Wilde is determined to make Jenny go straight. For lack of other prospects Griff finds Jenny a job in his own home, something totally against regulations. At first, Jenny still has feelings for Harry, but as Griff shows her more compassion and care, she falls in love with him – which Harry seems to encourage, because he has plans to crush Griff and his dreams of political office, and the situation soon becomes even more dangerous…Read More »

Two barge skippers fall in love with the same woman.

“Under the Bridges”, made in the last year of the Third Reich, proves that artistic genius can flourish even under the most difficult circumstances. The film completely transcends its time and presents a simple love story, the themes of which are universal. Through both his settings and his actors, Kautner achieves a naturalism which has seldom been equaled. That he managed to do this in 1944-45 Germany is almost unbelievable. A fortunate and unexpected treasure from a most unfortunate time.Read More »

John Farrow’s true-to-life propaganda history of the resistible rise of A Hitler. Der Fuhrer is played by lookalike Bobby Watson, and his “gang” are an unbeatable group of WWII era refugee German actors, all inhabiting their roles rather convincingly. Martin Kosleck is a superb Goebbels.Read More »

Clement Mathieu has written a book, La cage aux rossignols, which recounts his recent experiences as a teacher in a typical French boys’ school. Having tried, in vain, to get the book published Mathieu succeeds in persuading a friend to print it in the newspaper he works for. The story he tells moves the thousands of people who read it, but it has most impact on the woman who is shortly to be his wife. In the 1930s, Clement Mathieu took up a teaching post at a school run with an iron fist by the authoritarian headmaster Monsieur Rachin. Read More »

G.I. Nick Blake, a never charged con man in his pre-military life, has just received an honorable discharge from the army on medical reasons. Rather than return to his old life, he plans to settle down in New York, his hometown, with his girlfriend Toni Blackburn and the small cache of money he amassed prior to the war: $50,000. When that plan does not pan out, he decides to head to Los Angeles with his con man friend Al Doyle and live it up until he decides on a more permanent course for his life. He is informed by Pop Gruber, an aging mentor doing solely penny-ante street cons now in L.A., of a potential big mark. Doc Ganson, a former con associate, found the mark, lonely widow Gladys Halvorsen worth $2 million, but does not have either the bankroll or the charms to carry out the con on Gladys himself.Read More »

Synopsis:
Lovely Nancy seems like the ideal bride to fiancée John Willis… until, just before the ceremony, Willis is approached by Harry Blair, claiming to be Nancy’s former husband. The tale Blair unfolds (in a flashback within a flashback within a flashback!) paints Nancy as a kleptomaniac, habitual liar, and perhaps worse. But is Blair telling the truth? And does fate have another surprise in store?Read More »

The Heiress is set in the late 1840s, largely in the opulent New York townhouse of Dr Austin Sloper (Ralph Richardson in his first Hollywood performance). Sloper idolises his dead wife and cruelly dismisses his doting daughter Catherine (Olivia de Havilland) as inferior in every respect: she’s awkward, plain and shy in company. In consequence, he encourages his widowed sister Lavinia Penniman (Miriam Hopkins), who has recently joined the household, to coach Catherine in the social graces.Read More »

Synopsis:
When Joan Boothe accompanies husband-reporter David to Las Vegas, she begins gambling to pass the time while he is doing a story. Encouraged by the casino manager, she gets hooked on gambling, to the point where she “borrows” David’s expense money to pursue her addiction. This finally breaks up their marriage, but David continues trying to help her.Read More »