Ava Gardner

After WW2, an American skipper returns to Singapore to retrieve his hidden stash of pearls and finds his lost fiancee who now has amnesia.Read More »

Plot Synopsis by Hal Erickson
Adapted by F. Hugh Herbert from Andre Roussin’s risque stage farce that has become a staple of community theatres, The Little Hut is totally reliant upon the charms of stars Ava Gardner, Stewart Granger and David Niven. Granger is a businessman who is too busy to pay attention to wife Gardner (is he blind?) David Niven is the couple’s best friend, who harbors a secret longing for Gardner. All three are stranded on a desert island; you take it from there. Despite the much-touted scenes of Ava Gardner in a skimpy negligee, the film version of The Little Hut is about as racy as Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.Read More »

Earthquake is a 1974 American ensemble disaster film that achieved outstanding box office returns, continuing the disaster film genre of the 1970s where recognizable all-star casts attempt to survive life or death situations. The plot concerns the struggle for survival after a catastrophic earthquake destroys most of the city of Los Angeles, California.

Directed by Mark Robson and with a screenplay by George Fox and Mario Puzo, the film starred a large cast of well-known actors, including Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner, George Kennedy, Lorne Greene, Geneviève Bujold, Richard Roundtree, Marjoe Gortner, Barry Sullivan, Lloyd Nolan, Victoria Principal, and (under an alias) Walter Matthau. It is notable for the use of an innovative sound effect called Sensurround which created the sense of actually experiencing an earthquake in theatres.Read More »

Synopsis:
This historical epic dramatizes the Battle of Peking, a turning point of the Boxer Rebellion in China in 1900. When Dowager Empress Tzu-Hsi (Flora Robson) orders the Boxers, a group of Chinese secret societies, to massacre foreigners within China, a group of ambassadors, their families and staff hole up in a diplomatic compound. Major Matt Lewis of the United States Marine Corps (Charlton Heston) leads the defense while romancing Russian baroness Natalie Ivanoff (Ava Gardner).Read More »

ArtsEmerson writes:
Hemingway’s crestfallen tale of American expatriates in Europe is faithfully refashioned for the screen in Henry King’s 1957 drama. The Lost Generation’s carousing lifestyles and misguided behavior are depicted much like in the original text, with performances rich in contradiction and nostalgic sentimentality. Leo Tover’s Cinemascope cinematography, elegantly reserved and yet aptly illustrative, imbues a lively atmosphere into the film’s famous Pamplona bullfighting scene, and the screenplay retains much of the distinct syntax and rhythm of Hemingway’s printed dialogue.Read More »

Synopsis:
At Maria Vargas’ funeral, several people recall who she was and the impact she had on them. Harry Dawes was a not very successful writer/director when he and movie producer Kirk Edwards scouted her at a shabby nightclub where she worked as a flamenco dancer. He convinces her to take a chance on acting and her first film is a huge hit. PR man Oscar Muldoon remembers when Maria was in court supporting her father who was accused of murdering her mother. It was Maria’s testimony that got him off and she was a bigger star than ever. Alberto Bravano, one of the richest men in South America, sets his sights on Maria and she goes off with him – as much to make Edwards angry as anything – but he treats her badly. When she meets Count Vincenzo Torlato-Favrini they fall deeply in love. They are married but theirs is not to be a happy life.Read More »

In 1964, nuclear war wipes out humanity in the northern hemisphere; one American submarine finds temporary safe haven in Australia, where life-as-usual covers growing despair. In denial about the loss of his wife and children in the holocaust, American Captain Towers meets careworn but gorgeous Moira Davidson, who begins to fall for him. The sub returns after reconnaissance a month (or less) before the end; will Towers and Moira find comfort with each other?Read More »

Synopsis:
The year is 1947, the British are on the verge of finally leaving India. Amongst the few who are sorry to see the British leave are the Anglo-Indians, half British and half Indian, for they are going to miss the patronage of their white cousins, the job reservations, and the important status and positions they currently hold. The British, quite frankly, do not think well of Anglo-Indians, nor do the Indians. Victoria Jones is one such Anglo-Indian, a WAC in the British Army, her father a railway engine driver, and her mom a housewife. She is close to another Anglo-Indian, Patrick Taylor, but changes her mind about him as he harbors deep hatred for the Indians. She witnesses Col. Rodney Savage instruct his soldiers to pour filthy water and garbage at the hands of untouchables on high-caste men and women who are protesting by laying down on the railway tracks to prevent trains from moving. Repulsed and shocked at this, she turns to Ranjit Singh Kassi, a Sikh, and longs to be Indian […]Read More »