Deborah Kerr

  • Vincente Minnelli – Tea and Sympathy (1956)

    1951-1960ClassicsDramaQueer Cinema(s)USAVincente Minnelli

    Homosexuality was a taboo subject in 1956 Hollywood. So it was a challenge for screenwriter Robert Anderson to adapt his hit Broadway play about a sensitive prepschooler called “sister boy” by his peers, and the lovely housemaster’s wife who realizes she must offer more than tea and sympathy to help the boy prove his manhood. The frankness may be muted but the power remains in this stellar film. Under Vincente Minnelli’s direction, Deborah Kerr and John Kerr reprise their Broadway roles as older woman and younger man in poignant performances that reveal the compassion and the torment of being human. Their stage costar Leif Erickson joins them in counterpoint as the emotionally clenched housemaster.Read More »

  • Fred Zinnemann – The Sundowners (1960)

    1951-1960AdventureDramaFred ZinnemannUnited Kingdom

    imdb:
    In Australia’s Outback during the early twentieth century, the impoverished Carmody family lives a nomadic life out of their wagon, but the mom and son want to settle, while the dad is against it.Read More »

  • Harold French – The Day Will Dawn (1942)

    1941-1950DramaHarold FrenchUnited KingdomWar

    Gripping wartime thriller with Hugh Williams starring as a British journalist working in Norway who finds himself hunted by the Germans when he uncovers a secret U-boat base. Deborah Kerr co-stars as the daughter of a Norwegian sea captain helping the Brit combat the Nazi menace.Read More »

  • John Frankenheimer – The Gypsy Moths (1969)

    1961-1970ActionDramaJohn FrankenheimerUSA

    On a 4th of July weekend, three barnstorming skydivers arrive to perform in a small Kansas town. They are hosted by the youngest member Webson’s (Wilson) aunt, the unhappily married Elizabeth (Kerr). While Browdy (Hackman) one-nights with a topless dancer, a doomed romance flares up between Elizabeth and Rettig (Lancaster). Tension builds, and explodes with a spectacular skydiving show.Read More »

  • Charles Vidor – Thunder in the East (1952)

    Charles Vidor1951-1960DramaUSAWar

    In a remote region of post-independence India, the love of a blind British woman pricks the conscience of an arms dealer.Read More »

  • Michael Anderson – The Naked Edge (1961)

    Michael Anderson1961-1970ClassicsThrillerUnited Kingdom
    The Naked Edge (1961)
    The Naked Edge (1961)

    Synopsis:
    After a man is murdered and a large sum of money disappears from an office, Donald Heath (Ray McAnally) is convicted of the crime based on the testimony of his colleague, George Radcliffe (Gary Cooper). George’s wife, Martha (Deborah Kerr), starts to become suspicious of her husband when, after the crime, he invests money in a business venture and begins to act strangely. When a blackmailing letter arrives from Jeremy Gray (Eric Portman), Martha risks her life to find out the truth.Read More »

  • Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger – Black Narcissus (1947)

    Michael Powell1941-1950ArthouseDramaEmeric PressburgerUnited Kingdom
    Black Narcissus (1947)
    Black Narcissus (1947)

    After opening a convent in the Himalayas, five nuns encounter conflict and tension – both with the natives and also within their own group – as they attempt to adapt to their remote, exotic surroundings.Read More »

  • Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger – The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)

    Michael Powell1941-1950DramaEmeric PressburgerRomanceUnited KingdomWorld War One
    The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)
    The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)

    Quote:
    Considered by many to be the finest British film ever made, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, is a stirring masterpiece like no other. Roger Livesey dynamically embodies outmoded English militarism as the indelible General Clive Candy, who barely survives four decades of tumultuous British history, 1902 to 1942, only to see the world change irrevocably before his eyes. Anton Walbrook and Deborah Kerr provide unforgettable support, he as a German enemy turned lifelong friend of Candy’s and she as young women of three consecutive generations—a socially committed governess, a sweet-souled war nurse, and a modern-thinking army driver—who inspire him. Colonel Blimp is both moving and slyly satirical, an incomparable film about war, love, aging, and obsolescence, shot in gorgeous Technicolor.Read More »

  • Henry King – Beloved Infidel (1959)

    1951-1960DramaHenry KingUSA

    Quote:
    Most actors, especially established stars, yearn for roles that allow them to stretch their performance muscles and play against type. Most big stars who attained their status in the heyday of the studio system often found themselves stifled by typecasting, especially if they enjoyed overwhelming success in any given role. Studio executives weren’t about to risk placing an established property in something unexpected, and if the paying public had shown their approval by lining up at the box office for, say, Tyrone Power as a swashbuckling hero, then Tyrone Power as a swashbuckling hero is exactly what the public would be offered. Read More »

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