1950s

This much-discussed film was Kapoor’s first to feature his trademark Chaplinesque character “Raj/Raju” (“little Raj,” though the homage to Chaplin is less pronounced than in the sunnier SHRI 420), here a hapless “vagabond” (avaaraa) who, as the film opens, is on trial for the attempted murder of a pillar of society, Judge Raghunath (brilliantly played by Prithviraj Kapoor, R. K.’s real-life father). He is defended by a beautiful young lawyer, Rita (Nargis), an orphan who also happens to be the Judge’s ward. Read More »

Synopsis:
This ensemble piece recounts the lives of a family of farmers by interweaving several different storylines. Holding these stories together is the central figure of a young war widow torn between maintaining her independence and the necessity of remarrying. This is a familiar predicament for Naruse’s heroines, but the film represents a change of pace for the director in many other ways. For one thing, it is his first widescreen color film. Also, while the typical Naruse film takes place in the city, even if its characters often journey into the countryside, here the setting is resolutely rural. The result traces change in postwar Japan (another typical Naruse concern) from the point of view of the farming peasantry, as land reform and economic growth exacerbate the generation gap between restless youngsters and their tradition-bound elders.Read More »

IMDB:
In “Rx for Murder” and “Rx Murder” in the USA (and not “RX” in either country), American doctor Jethro Jones comes into a quiet English seaside resort to investigate the activities of its leading medical doctor, Henry Dysert. He learns from Miss Bettyhill, the town-gossip, and others that ‘the good doctor’ might not be all that good, since each of his three wives (only one at a time), Louise, Charlotte and Stella, had mysterious and tragic deaths. The non-gossiping townsmen had regarded the three deaths, each of which left Doctor Dysert in better financial shape, as unfortunate personal tragedies. Jason has only a short time to prove that Dysert was a multiple wife-killer, since Kitty Mortlock appears to be the next designated victim, and Jason has fallen in love with her himself.Read More »

Plot:
In this dark drama, a young American is on his way to take his final vows as a priest when he encounters a troubled nightclub singer with a checkered past. He honestly wants to help her and soon falls for her and finds himself tempted by her seductive ways.Read More »

“Hashimoto Shinobu wrote the script based on Ishimori Nobuo’s original story, which won prizes including the first Mimei Literature Award. Depicts an Ainu girl and her younger brother living in a Hokkaido kotan (Ainu village), as they overcome discrimination and poverty.”Read More »

Quote:
Based on the British TV serial by Nigel Kneale (who reportedly disliked the finished product), the film stars Brian Donlevy, repeating the role of Professor Quatermass. This time, the good professor must contend with a `meteor shower` which turns out to be a secret alien invasion. The extraterrestrials arrive on earth in rocklike vehicles, then take over the minds and nervous systems of earthlings, the better to go about their business undetected. Subliminally a cruel satire of British bureaucracy and obfuscation, Enemy from Space also works on a pure-horror level, building slowly and methodically to a powerhouse finale. For many years a `lost` film due to legal tangles, Enemy from Space has recently become available again on video and cable TV. – All Movie GuideRead More »

When the lead of the musical he’s putting on quits, Ted Sturgis (Gower Champion) searches for a new headliner. Newcomers Joanna Moss (Helen Wood) and Suzy Doolitle (Debbie Reynolds) do well at open auditions, and Madelyn Corlane (Marge Champion), Ted’s ex and a former starlet herself, is also in contention. As two of the women face personal dilemmas that threaten their participation in the musical, a final audition is held, and when each shines, the lead is chosen in an unorthodox way.Read More »

Quote:
In June 1944, twelve Japanese seaman are stranded on an abandoned-and-forgotten island called An-ta-han for seven years. The island’s only inhabitants are the overseer of the abandoned plantation and an attractive young Japanese woman. Discipline is represented by a former warrant officer but ends when he suffers a loss-of-face catastrophe. Soon, discipline and rationality are replaced by a struggle for power and the woman. Power is represented by a pair of pistols found in the wreckage of an American airplane, so important that five men pay for their lives in a bid for supremacy.Read More »

This is a story based on fact that follows a husband and wife who emigrate from Scotland to Wisconsin in the 1850’s. They work very hard and become welcome citizens of their new town, Eureka. They have six children. They prosper in the husband’s boat building business. But when their eldest is 12, tragedy strikes the family, and the 12-year old is burdened with a terrible task which he handles as well as any adult could.Read More »