INDIVIDUAL MOVIE TITLES

I - N

I Aim at the Stars (1960) - 107 mins

Starring Curt Jurgens, Victoria Shaw, Herbert Lom, Gia Scala, James Daly & Adrian Hoven

Directed by J. Lee Thompson

Depicts the life story of the famed rocket scientist Dr. Werner von Braun (Curt Jurgens), one of the most brilliant and controversial figures of the space age. Dr. von Braun literally pioneered man's adventure into space through his rocket experiments: his was the brains behind the V-2 rockets which blasted London in World War II and when taken out of Germany at the end of WWII, found himself in the US and working on the development space satellites, rockets and the legendary Saturn V rocket which ultimately delivered the power to allow men to walk on the Moon

I Am a Thief (1934) - 64 mins

Starring Mary Astor, Ricardo Cortez, Robert Barrat, Oscar Apfel & Irving Pichel

Directed by Robert Florey

The Istanbul Express provides the setting for this crime drama that centers around a courier carrying the priceless Karenina diamonds to Paris. While aboard the speeding train, the courier finds himself beleagured by different jewel thieves attempting to steal his gems. A murder occurs and one of the thieves gets arrested.

An arresting film with a lot to offer.

Ice Cold in Alex (1958) - 129 mins

Starring John Mills, Sylvia Syms, Anthony Quayle, Harry Andrews, Diane Clare & Liam Redmond

Directed by J. Lee Thompson

A group of army personnel and nurses attempt a dangerous and arduous trek across the deserts of North Africa during the WW2. The leader of the team is Captain Anson (John Mills), a grumbling alcoholic who dreams of his ice cold beer when he reaches Alexandria. Along the way, Anson becomes acquainted with his fellow passengers, nurses Sister Diane Murdoch (Sylvia Syms) and Sister Denise Norton (Mary Clare) and South African officer Captain Van Der Poel (Anthony Quayle). One of these is a German spy-and only two of the passengers will survive.

BAFTA Nominations for Best Film & Best Actor (Anthony Quayle)

A most interesting WWII story - well told as always by the Brits!

Originally released in the US as Desert Attack.

I Confess (1953) - 95 mins

Starring Montgomery Clift, Anne Baxter, Karl Malden, Brian Aherne & Roger Dann

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

In Quebec City, Father Michael Logan (Montgomery Clift) is accused of killing a well-known lawyer. The priest knows the murderer, but he can't reveal his identity because the man confessed the crime to him in the confessional. The guilty person is Otto Keller (O.E. Hasse), the church sexton, who wore a priest's cassock to commit a robbery that led to the murder. Police inspector Larrue (Karl Malden) narrows his investigation to Logan, who had a motive for committing the crime. The lawyer was blackmailing Ruth Grandfort (Anne Baxter), wife of a prominent politician. He had threatened to make public a suspected liaison she had with Logan after he became a priest. Logan is arrested and tried for murder.

If I Were King (1938) - 93 mins

Starring Ronald Colman, Basil Rathbone, Frances Dee & Ellen Drew

Directed by Frank Lloyd

In 1463, Paris is besieged by the Duke of Burgundy, arch-rival of the king, who is content to sit tight while the poor starve. But there are traitors in Paris, and King Louis goes undercover to find one, thereby meeting Francois Villon, poet, philosopher and rogue. By chance Villon kills the king's traitor and is ordered to replace him as Grand Constable of France! But there's a catch.

"Ronald Colman and Basil Rathbone, two wonderful actors having the time of their careers playing wittily written opposites who are also spiritual soulmates -- Francois Villon, the poetic rebel, born into poverty with a noble soul, and Louis XI, King of France, born into privilege but with a rebel's iconoclasm. Add a witty script by that poetic comedic rebel Preston Sturges, who hits all the crowd-pleasing buttons without condescension and no-nonsense direction by Frank Lloyd, and you have a top Hollywood product -- a crowd pleaser with intelligence.

Rathbone is a particular delight. Pre-Holmes, he revels in playing an unprepossessing cynic to whom everyone must bow because he happens to be the king. Colman is doing what he does best, playing an intelligent, superior man, without losing the common touch. A delight all the way around".

I Live on Danger (1942) - 73 mins

Starring Chester Morris, Jean Parker, Elisabeth Risdon, Edward Norris & Dick Purcell

Directed by Sam White

A fast-moving thriller with strong performances and top-notch direction by former screenwriter Sam White. Jeff Morrell (Chester Morris) is a newscaster who gets involved in saving wrongly accused Eddie Nelson (Edward Norris) from a murder charge. Nelson's sister, Susan Richards (Jean Parker) and Jeff make for a fine romantic pair as they fight to save the innocent man

Illegal (1955) - 88 mins

Starring Edward G. Robinson, Nina Foch, Hugh Marlowe, Robert Ellenstein & DeForest Kelley

Directed by Lewis Allen

This is the story of a district attorney with a conscience. When he discovers that a man he's sent to the electric chair was innocent, he takes to the bottle. His assistants encourage him to get off the booze, stop prosecuting and, instead, become a defense attorney. He agrees but his first client is a notorious gangster who has been in business for so long because of leaks from Robinson's own office when he was the district attorney. Push comes to shove and soon, through multiple machinations and mishaps, Robinson becomes the defender of his former assistant on charges of murder.

Interesting and with Edward G. one can't go wrong

Illegal Entry (1949) - 84 mins

Starring Howard Duff, Märta Torén, George Brent, Gar Moore, Tom Tully & Paul Stewart

Directed by Frederick De Cordova

Howard Duff stars as Bert Powers, an undercover agent for the U.S. Department of Immigration. While attempting to bring a vicious gang of alien smugglers to justice, Powers falls in love with Anna Duvak (Märta Torén), a gang member who may or may not be in league with the crims.

Another excellent Howard Duff film in which the laconic style of his then current radio persona Sam Spade shows through. This film twists and turns in a noirish way but also has strong adventure elements - a nice combination of genres.

Duff & Torén combined again in the following year for Spy Hunt (which is also available from this website).

Other Howard Duff films of which Trev is a huge fan and which are available from this website are Shakedown (1950) & Spaceways (1953).

Illegal Traffic (1938) - 68 mins

Starring J. Carrol Naish, Robert Preston, Mary Carlisle, Judith Barrett, Pierre Watkin & Buster Crabbe

Directed by Louis King

J. Carroll Naish positively oozes immigrant gangster charm in this entertaining thriller from Paramount. He plays Louis Zonta, an immigrant gangster running a racket that transports wanted criminals. At their wits end, the authorities send in undercover agent Bent Martin (Robert Preston) to infiltrate the gang and the young G-Man concocts a plan to trap Zonta by using the gangster's mistress, Marie Arden (Judith Barrett).

A nice support role for Larry "Buster" Crabbe

Ill Met by Moonlight (1957) - 104 mins

Starring Dirk Bogart, Marius Goring, David Oxley, Dimitri Andreas & Cyril Cusack

Directed by Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger

Set during World War II on the island of Crete. Dirk Bogarde and David Oxley play Major Paddy Leigh Fermer and Captain Billy Stanley Moss, two British officers whose job it is to kidnap Nazi general Karl Kreipe (Marius Goring) and spirit him off to Cairo. The motive of this mission is to weaken German morale on Crete and to provide hope to the enslaved locals. With the help of a group of resistance fighters, Fermer and Moss manage to trap the general; now they must transport their captive back to their own lines, avoiding German patrols every inch of the way.

Originally titled Night Ambush in the US.

I'll Never Forget You (1951) (aka The House in the Square) - 90 mins

Starring Tyrone Power, Ann Blyth, Michael Rennie, Dennis Price & Beatrice Campbell

Directed by Roy Ward Baker

Tyrone Power stars as an American atomic scientist working in London. He lives in an ancestral home which dates back to the 18th century. Late one rainy evening, Power is struck down by lightning just as he enters his home. When he awakens, he finds himself transported back to the 1700s, in the person of his own ancestor. As he falls in love with his beautiful cousin Ann Blyth, Power tries to bring some 20th century technology to his "backward" forebears. Branded as a lunatic for his "hallucinations" of the future, Power is about to be carted off to Bedlam when he lapses again into unconsciousness. He awakens in his own time, but to what??

In an interesting approach, I'll Never Forget You opens in black and white, then switches to color when Power is sent back in time.

I'll Never Forget You is an updated remake of 1933's Berkeley Square, with both films being adapted from John L. Balderston's stage play.

I Love Trouble (1948) - 93 mins

Starring Franchot Tone, Janet Blair, Janis Carter, Adele Jergens & Glenda Farrell

Directed by S. Sylvan Simon

A wealthy man hires a detective to investigate his wife's past. The detective (Franchot Tone) discovers that the wife had been a dancer and left her home town with an actor. The latter is killed before he can talk, but, with the help of a showgirl, the detective learns that the wife had used stolen papers from a girl friend to enter college after she had stolen $40,000 from the night club where she worked. The detective eventually learns that the husband had killed his wife when he discovered her past in order to avoid a scandal, and had hired the detective to try and frame him for the killing.

Don't be put off by the "light-weight" title: I Love Trouble isn't one of those crime/comedy hybrids - it's a pretty hard-boiled private-eye yarn, very much in the Raymond Chandler tradition, an obscure film noir that packs a punch

A quite nice print!

Impact (1949) - 111 mins

Starring Brian Donlevy, Ella Raines, Charles Coburn, Helen Walker & Anna May Wong.

Directed by Arthur Lubin

No-nonsense San Francisco industrial whiz Walter Williams's two-timing wife and her lover plot to do her husband in, but Williams survives the attack and the lover is burned beyond recognition while driving Williams's car. Half-dazed, Williams stumbles into a moving van that takes him to idyllic Larkspur, Idaho, where newspaper stories of his "death" jog his memory. While recuperating and plotting his eventual return and revenge, Williams falls in love with Marsha, an auto mechanic. Disaster looms when detective Quincy comes sniffing around.

In a Lonely Place (1950) - 94 mins

Starring Humphrey Bogart, Gloria Grahame, Frank Lovejoy, Carl Benton Reid & Art Smith.

Directed by Nicholas Ray

Screenwriter Dixon Steele, faced with the odious task of scripting a trashy bestseller, has hat-check girl Mildred Atkinson tell him the story in her own words. Later that night, Mildred is murdered and Steele is a prime suspect; his record of belligerence when angry and his macabre sense of humor tell against him. Fortunately, lovely neighbor Laurel Gray gives him an alibi. Laurel proves to be just what Steele needed, and their friendship ripens into love. Will suspicion, doubt, and Steele's inner demons come between them?

Powerful Bogie noir - often described as one of his best (now that’s saying something!)

The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957) - 81 mins

Starring Grant Williams, Randy Stuart, April Kent, Paul Langton & Raymond Bailey

Directed by Jack Arnold

Scott Carey who, while catching some sunshine on his brother's yacht, is enveloped by a mysterious dark cloud. Soon after, he discovers that he's getting thinner and smaller. Despite the assuring attitude of his family doctor Carey is losing an inch's worth of height with each passing day. By the time he's reached the size of a small boy, Williams has become world-famous. But the phenomenon has adversely affected his personality, turning him into a tyrant, lashing out at the world in general and his faithful wife in particular. When Carey is attacked and by his pet cat, his wife assumes that he's been killed: in fact, Carey, by now so minuscule that even a garden-variety spider poses a deadly threat to him, is hiding in his cellar. Uncertain of what is in store for him, he steps out into the mists, summing up his new-found philosophy: "Smaller than smallest, I meant something too. To God there is no zero. I still exist!"

Adapted by Richard Matheson from his own novel.

Inferno (1953) - 83 mins

Starring Robert Ryan, Rhonda Fleming, William Lundigan, Larry Keating & Henry Hull

Directed by Roy Ward Baker

Inferno is a grim, fascinating tale of survival. Breaking his leg on a vacation trip, millionaire Carson (Robert Ryan) is left in the middle of the desert by his wife Geraldine (Rhonda Fleming) and his business partner Joseph Duncan (William Lundigan). Ostensibly, they have driven off to seek medical aid for Carson; in fact, they intend to leave him in the desert to die of thirst and exposure. When the truth of his dilemma is made clear, Carson vows to live long enough to exact revenge against his wife and partner. Virtually a one-man show for the most part, Inferno maintains its level of taut suspense from start to finish and what a finish.

Fabulous color print!

The Inheritance (1947) (aka Uncle Silas) - 98 mins

Starring Jean Simmons, Katrina Paxinou, Derrick De Marney, Derek Bond & Sophie Stewart.

Directed by Charles Frank

A young heiress of a vast fortune finds herself under the guardianship of her Uncle Silas, who has evil plans for obtaining her fortune.

Well appointed thriller with a breakout performance from Jean Simmons

Innocents in Paris (1953) - 87 mins

Starring Alastair Sim, Margaret Rutherford, Claire Bloom, Ronald Shiner, Jimmy Edwards & Claude Dauphin

Directed by Gordon Parry

In this a series of anecdotes bundled together by geography, a very diverse group of passengers catch the plane from London for a weekend in Paris. The Scotsman in his kilt, the elderly lady painter, the international negotiator and the pretty young girl - all find "the city of lights" welcomes them and changes their lives in some way.

An engaging comedy which utilizes the consummate skills of a great British cast

In Our Time (1944) - 110 mins

Starring Ida Lupino, Paul Henreid, Nancy Coleman, Victor Francen & Mary Boland

Directed by Vincent Sherman

Jennifer Whittredge is a young antique buyer marrying a Polish count, Stephan Orvid, after a whirlwind romance in a Warsaw at the brink of World War II. The count's old-fashioned family in general and his aristocratic uncle in particular resist the union, but Jennifer brings a breath of fresh air into the stagnant rooms of the Orvid estate and soon the farm is prosperous once again. When the German military might finally enters Poland, Jennifer and Stephan join the country's scorched earth defense by burning both their property and are soon among the refugees waiting for the day when Poland is once again free from Fascism.

An Inspector Calls (1954) - 80 mins

Starring Alastair Sim, Jane Wenham, Brian Worth, Eileen Moore, Olga Lindo & Arthur Young

Directed by Guy Hamilton

The comfortable complacency of the Birling family is upset when Inspector Poole (Alastair Sim) comes calling. An impoverished young working girl named Eva Smith (Jane Wenham) has committed suicide, and Poole hopes that the Birlings will help him find out why. As the evening progresses, a series of flashbacks reveal that each member of the Birling family has in some small way been responsible for Eva's demise. A twist ending adds a mystical, thought-provoking touch to the proceedings.

An Inspector Calls was based on a play by J.B. Priestley and is the film has gained much status over the years with various retrospectives embracing the performance of Alastair Sim in a role that is not a lot removed from his performance as Inspector Cockrill in Green for Danger (1946) - which is also available from this section of the website (above)

International Squadron (1941) - 85 mins

Starring Ronald Reagan, Olympe Bradna, James Stephenson, William Lundigan & Reginald Denny

Directed by Lewis Seiler

Jimmy Grant (Ronald Reagan) is a hotshot US flyer who joins the Royal Air Force in England before the US entry into WWII. Grant refuses to mend his barnstorming ways, and because of his recklessness two pilots are killed. The headstrong young flyer seeks to redeem himself by going on a suicide bombing mission.

Excellent Reagan film - his wise-cracking persona and effervescent performance makes for a exciting movie - lots of Warner Bros polish as well!

This is film is actually a remake (albeit with a WWII setting) of the James Cagney film Ceiling Zero (1936) - which is also available from this website

The Interrupted Journey (1949) - 80 mins

Starring Richard Todd, Valerie Hobson, Christine Norden, Tom Walls & Ralph Truman

Directed by Daniel Birt

Intending to run off with the wife (Christine Norden) of his publisher (Alexander Gauge), novelist John North (Richard Todd) thinks the better of it as he sits in the compartment of a speeding train. North's journey is interrupted by a train crash, in which his lover is killed. Sifting through the wreckage, railroad inspector Clayton (Tom Walls) discovers that the dead woman didn't perish in the crash: someone shot her in the back!

Excellent suspenser.

Intrigue (1947) - 90 mins

Starring George Raft, June Havoc, Helena Carter, Tom Tully, Marvin Miller & Philip Ahn

Directed by Edwin L. Martin.

Dishonorably discharged from the Army Air Corps, Brad Dunham (Raft) disconsolately decides to try his luck with Shanghai's postwar black market. Teaming with the treacherous Tamara Baranoff (June Havoc), Dunham prospers in his newly-found illicit profession, much to the dismay of his best friend, reporter Mark Andrews (Tom Tully). When Tamara has the troublesome Andrews murdered, Dunham realizes the folly of his behavior and works overtime to squash the black market for good and all. Meanwhile, social worker Linda Parker (Helena Carter), who realizes that Dunham's a good guy underneath and hopes against hope that he'll eventually realize it. Nice Raft vehicle and a great adventure story.

Invisible Agent (1942) - 81 mins

Starring Jon Hall, Ilona Massey, Peter Lorre, Cedric Hardwicke & J. Edward Bromberg

Directed by Edwin L. Marin

Frank Raymond, grandson of the original Invisible Man, still has the old formula but considers it too dangerous to use, even when Axis agents try to get it. But Pearl Harbor brings him to volunteer his own services as an invisible agent in Germany.

With a screenplay that's witty yet adventurous and packed with hair's-breadth escapes, this sequel to The Invisible Man also provides great opportunities for a delightful trio of treacherous heavies: Peter Lorre, J. Edward Bromberg and Sir Cedric Hardwicke.

The Invisible Boy (1957) - 90 mins

Starring Richard Eyer, Dianne Brewster, Phillip Abbot & Harold J. Stone

Directed by Herman Hoffman

Based on a short story by Edmund Cooper, the film finds electronics genius Dr. Merrinoe (Phillip Abbott) developing a huge talking computer. While Merrinoe is the master of his laboratory, he has trouble controlling his rambunctious son Timmie (Richard Eyer). When the doctor takes Timmie to the lab with him, hoping to impress his son with the importance of his work, Timmie is interested only in reassembling a robot left behind by Merrinoe's predecessor. Though the robot has been programmed not to bring harm to human beings, the poor clunking creature falls under the spell of Merrinoe's "super computer," which has developed a demonic mind of its own. The computer arranges to launch a rocket, with the robot at the controls, that will enable it to control the earth's orbit.

Impressive on a technical level, The Invisible Boy was one of the first films to look at the idea that computers could one day take control of us!

Though Richard Eyer and Philip Abbott get top billing, the real star of The Invisible Boy is Robby the Robot of Forbidden Planet (1956) fame, which is also available from this website

The Invisible Man (1933) - 71 mins

Starring Claude Rains, Gloria Stuart, William Hartigan, Henry Travers & Una O'Connor

Directed by James Whale

A scientist turns himself invisible. However, the formula slowly drives him insane, causing him to terrorize the countryside as an invisible killer.

Claude Rains, making his first American film appearance was so forceful with his verbal performance as "The Invisible One" that he became an overnight movie star (after nearly twenty years on stage). Wittily scripted by R.C. Sherriff and an uncredited Philip Wylie, and brilliantly directed by James Whale, The Invisible Man is a near perfect combination of horror and humor. Also deserving of unqualified praise are the thoroughly convincing special effects by John P. Fulton and John Mescall.

An out and out classic!

Invisible Stripes (1939) - 81 mins

Starring George Raft, Jane Bryan, William Holden, Humphrey Bogart, Paul Kelly & Flora Robson

Directed by Lloyd Bacon

Cliff and Chuck leave prison together. Cliff tries the straight life but falls back into crime with Chuck and his gang. When he makes enough to enable his brother Tim to buy a garage and marry his sweetheart, Cliff quits crime again. But when he tries to help Chuck later on, he's implicated again

Check out the cast for this exciting story!

In Which We Serve (1942) - 110 mins

Starring Noel Coward, Derek Elphinstone, Michael Wilding, Robert Sansom, Philip Friend & Ballard Berkeley

Directed by Noel Coward & David Lean

Torpedoed in battle, the British destroyer Torrin miraculously survives, and is brought back to English shores to be repaired. The paint is barely dry and the nuts and bolts barely in place before the Torrin is pressed into duty during the Dunkirk evacuation. The noble vessel is finally sunk after being dive-bombed in Crete, but many of the crew members survive. As they cling to the wreckage awaiting rescue, the captain and his men flash back to their homes and loved ones, and, in so doing, recall anew just why they're fighting and for whom they're fighting.

Often considered one of the best war films ever made.

Oscar nominated for Best Picture & Original Screenplay

I Promise to Pay (1937) - 68 mins

Starring Chester Morris, Leo Carrillo, Helen Mack, Thomas Mitchell & Thurston Hall

Directed by D. Ross Lederman

Eddie Lang (Chester Morris) is a working who is unable to provide for his family on his meager salary. He arranges a loan with the seemingly benign Richard Farra (Leo Carrillo), but soon learns that he can't keep up with the usurious interest payments. Farra's loan company is actually a racket in league with the local crime organization; Eddie gets in so deep that he can't get out, and before long his wife and daughter are in dire jeopardy.

Chester Morris at his very best - a few years before his signature role: Boston Blackie (available from the Movie Series section of this website)

The Iron Curtain (1948) - 87 mins

Starring Dana Andrews, Gene Tierney, Stefan Schnabel, Barry Kroeger & Eduard Franz

Directed by William A. Wellman

Another of 20th Century-Fox's "drawn from today's headlines" dramas of the late 1940s, Behind the Iron Curtain (a.k.a. The Iron Curtain) is based on the true-life defection of Soviet Embassy code specialist Igor Gouzenko. Portrayed by Dana Andrews, Gouzenko is brought to Canada under a cloud of secrecy by Russian "special agents", the better to help them in their espionage efforts. Despite the fact that he is far from Russia, Gouzenko is hounded by his suspicious superiors and denied the simplest basic rights. When Gouzenko realizes that his government will soon call him back to Russia to engage in the "class struggle," the code clerk decides to defect, stealing secret information and turning it over to the Canadian Ministry of Justice. At first, Gouzenko is ignored, but when his information is digested by the Canadian government, the authorities round up the Communist spy ring. Gouzenko and his family are put in protective custody by the Canadian government, while several of Gouzenko's Russian superiors are punished by the Communist higher-ups for allowing the clerk to slip through their hands. Filmed in a semi-documentary style, Behind the Iron Curtain is more matter-of-fact and less paranoic than other "Red scare" films of the period and recall The House on 92nd Street in many ways (also available from this website - see above)

The story of Igor Gouzenko was also dramatized on a smaller scale in Operation Manhunt (1954) which is also available from this website

The Iron Mistress (1952) - 110 mins

Starring Alan Ladd, Virginia Mayo, Joseph Calleia, Phyllis Kirk & Alf Kjellin

Directed by Gordon Douglas

Alan Ladd stars as the fearless, knife-wielding Bowie, who is first seen arriving in New Orleans to sell a supply of lumber. Bowie falls in love with duplicitous Creole lass Judalon de Bornay (Virginia Mayo), who inspires him to increase his riches and political power. When Bowie doesn't move up the ladder of success fast enough to suit her, the fickle Judalon weds another. Bowie eventually finds happiness in the arms of Ursula de Veremendi (Phyllis Kirk), the daughter of Texas' vice-governor. The film tactfully ends long before Bowie's rendezvous with destiny at the Alamo.

The Iron Mistress is based on the novel by Paul I. Wellman recounting the life of American frontiersman Jim Bowie - the highlight of the novel, a fierce knife-and-rapier duel, is faithfully recreated here

I See a Dark Stranger (aka The Adventuress) (1946) - 112 mins

Starring Deborah Kerr, Trevor Howard, Raymond Huntley, Michael Howard, Norman Shelley & Liam Redmond

Directed by Frank Launder

I See a Dark Stranger manages to be both an absorbing espionage yarn and a slyly amusing send-up of the entire genre. Deborah Kerr is terrific as Irish colleen Bridie Quilty, raised from childhood to despise the British and everything they stand for. Bridie's anglophobia proves useful to Nazi spy Miller (Raymond Huntley), who hopes to use the girl to help him steal the plans for the D-day invasion. Playing her "Mata Hari" role to the hilt, Bridie wholeheartedly throws herself into a world of clandestine meetings and coded messages, certain that by helping the Germans she is also helping Mother Ireland. Eventually she realizes the error of her ways, enabling her to turn the tables on Miller and his co-conspirators. Trevor Howard co-stars as David Baynes, with whom the impulsive Bridie falls in love despite his English forebears.

I See a Dark Stranger was released in the U.S. as The Adventuress.

Island in the Sky (1953) - 109 mins

Starring John Wayne, Lloyd Nolan, Walter Abel, James Arness & Andy Devine

Directed by William A. Wellman

During World War II, a Military Air Transport Command DC-3 piloted by a civilian crew is forced down in the arctic wastes. The five men, led by Dooley (John Wayne), have barely any food and almost no way to keep warm, and their power supply is fading fast, but they have to find a way of staying alive until search planes find them. At first, even Dooley is overwhelmed by the responsibility for his crew's safety, and he is too lax in handling them - but after one man dies, frozen to death just steps from help, he takes over and pushes his men and himself to the limits of their endurance. Meanwhile, the men who fly with Dooley push themselves and their machines past their endurance limits searching the arctic wastes for the downed plane.

Based on the book by Ernest K. Gann (who also wrote Fate is the Hunter which is also available from this website), Island in the Sky is actually a true incident that happened during the war.

Fabulous adventure with Wayne & Nolan in top form!

It Came From Beneath the Sea (1955) - 79 mins

Starring Kenneth Tobey, Faith Domergue, Donald Curtis, Ian Keith & Harry Lauter

Directed by Robert Gordon

After an encounter at sea with an unknown underwater creature, a naval commander works with two scientists to identify it. The creature they are dealing with is a giant, radioactive octopus that has left its normal feeding grounds deep in the sea and has risen towards the surface in search of new sources of replenishment. As the creature attacks San Francisco, the Navy tries to trap it at the Golden Gate Bridge but it manages to enter the Bar area leading to a final confrontation with a submarine.

It Came From Beneath the Sea was the first of several fruitful collaborations between producer Charles H. Schneer and special-effects wizard Ray Harryhausen. "It" is a giant, six-tentacled octopus, and the stop-motion animation utilized by Harryhausen is convincingly frightening.

It Came From Outer Space (1953) - 81 mins

Starring Richard Carlson, Barbara Rush, Charles Drake, Joe Sawyer & Russell Johnson

Directed by Jack Arnold

Based on a story by Ray Bradbury, It Came From Outer Space tells of writer John Putnam, a new arrival to the town and an amateur astronomer. One night he is looking at the skies with his fiancée, schoolteacher Ellen Fields, when they see what looks like a huge meteor crash into the desert. Putnam and Ellen go to the site of the crash and find a huge crater. When he goes down inside, Putnam sees what is very obviously some kind of vehicle or device embedded in the ground, but before he can show it to anyone, a rock slide buries what he saw. He reports that a spacecraft of some kind is buried there and is duly ridiculed by the local press and some of his own colleagues in the astronomical community, and even Ellen has her doubts. Putnam is at a loss as to what to do when various townspeople start to disappear, including Ellen, to be replaced by alien "duplicates."

A Classic!

Part of the Jack Arnold's Sci-Fi Combination 3 DVD set which can be found in the Classic Movie Combinations section of this website

It Happened One Night (1934) - 105 mins

Starring Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, Walter Connolly, Roscoe Karns & Alan Hale

Directed by Frank Capra

Ellie Andrews, a spoiled heiress is about to marry fortune-hunting aviator King Westley, despite her father's objections. To keep Ellie from marrying this lothario, her father has been holding her prisoner aboard his yacht. But Ellie bolts from the yacht, swims ashore in her clothes, and eventually slips onto a Greyhound bus bound for New York. Aboard the bus is newspaper reporter Peter Warne, who has recently been fired for drinking on the job. Peter gets the last seat on the bus - but when he gets up to argue with the bus driver, Ellie takes his seat. Since it is the last seat on the bus, they have to share it. When Ellie has her purse stolen and she refuses to report it, Peter begins to suspect something. The next morning, they both miss the bus after a leisurely breakfast, and Peter reveals that he knows her identity. She makes a deal with him: if he helps her get to New York, he can write a scoop about her for his paper. But as they travel northward and engage in a series of misadventures, the gruff newspaperman and the spoiled rich girl, thrown together by circumstances, fall in love with each other.

This film has often been opined as the "perfect" movie - it was to be the template for so many films: the witty and romantic clash of temperaments between a man and a woman mismatched in both personality and social position The winner of all five major Academy Awards (Picture, Actor, Actress, Director & Screenplay), it remains as breezy and beguiling today as it was in the mid 30s.

It Happens Every Spring (1949) - 87 mins

Starring Ray Milland, Jean Peters, Paul Douglas, Ed Begley, Ted de Corsia & Ray Collins

Directed by Lloyd Bacon

A college professor is working on a long term experiment when a baseball comes through the window destroying all his glassware. The resultant fluid causes the baseball to be repelled by wood. Suddenly he realizes the possibilities and takes a leave of absence to go to St. Louis to pitch in the big leagues where he becomes a star and propels his team to the world series.

Yes, it’s a comedy but one of Trev's favourite, so its included here - a lot of fun!

Oscar Nominated for Best Screenplay

It! The Terror From Beyond Space (1958) - 69 mins

Starring Marshall Thompson, Shirley Patterson, Kim Spalding, Ann Doran, Dabbs Greer & Paul Langton

Directed by Edward L. Cahn

A rescue ship travels out to Mars to retrieve the only survivor of a space probe that has experienced some sort of cataclysm. That survivor, Col Ed Carruthers (Marshall Thompson) is accused of murdering his fellow crewmen. But Ed claims that the killer was a Martian monster, and hopes to prove his assertions when he gets back to Earth. On the long voyage back home, mysterious sounds precede a violent confrontation between the crew members and an unknown assailant - they are being systematically killed off, and it looks as though Ed is up to his old tricks. As it turns out, however, there is a monster on board, the savage descendant of the once-mighty Martian civilization, who came secretly aboard ship just before blast-off. The monster stays alive by absorbing the vital body fluids of its victims and there seems to be no way to stop this parasitic creature!

A truly frightening sci-fi talewhich is full excitement and action all-the-way. Fans of Dabbs Greer will love his contribution here.

One of the best of the medium-budgeted science fiction flicks of the 1950s, It! The Terror from Beyond Space is set in the future: 1973! If the plot of It! The Terror from Beyond Space seems vaguely familiar, it is because it was one of the primary inspirations for the 1979 sci-fi classic Alien.

I Wake Up Screaming (1941) - 82 mins

Starring Betty Grable, Victor Mature, Carole Landis, Laird Cregar, William Gargan & Alan Mowbray

Directed by H. Bruce Humberstone

Well-known New York sports promoter Frankie Christopher (Victor Mature) is the prime suspect in the murder of Vicky Lynn (Carole Landis), a successful model and would-be actress. Questioned relentlessly by the police, and particularly by hulking detective squad commander Ed Cornell (Laird Cregar), he maintains his innocence. Meanwhile, Vicky's sister Jill (Betty Grable) is also being questioned. Their answers, given in adjoining interrogation rooms, become the basis for brief, neatly constructed interlocking flashbacks at the opening of the movie that explain the plot in very little time. Both are released after admitting nothing, and the police begin working on other suspects, including journalist Larry Evans (Allyn Joslyn), aging actor Robin Ray (Alan Mowbray), and hotel clerk William Harrison (Elisha Cook Jr.) Jill had little use for Frankie, the man who had been promoting her sister's career, but the two are drawn together in the course of trying to sort out their lives and the murder of her sister, and her realization that Frankie is capable of truly loving a woman, and not just exploiting her. Meanwhile, Cornell makes it his business to pressure and torment Frankie, illegally entering his apartment and promising him an arrest and a death sentence. Eventually, the noose seems to tighten around Frankie as the circumstantial evidence piles up, until Frankie, trying to clear himself, uncovers a clue leading back to the real killer who was known to Cornell all along!

Great stuff!

I Walk Alone (1948) - 97 mins

Starring Burt Lancaster, Lizabeth Scottt, Kirk Douglas, Wendell Corey & Kristine Miller

Directed by Byron Haskin

On the run from the cops, bootleggers Frankie Madison (Burt Lancaster) and Noll Turner (Kirk Douglas), find themselves racing up to an enormous roadblock. The two split up, agreeing that if one was caught, the other would operate their nightclub and save half the profits for his partner. The unlucky Madison is caught and when released from prison 14 years later, he returns to claim his money. Turner, never intending to split the money, tries to distract Madison by offering him the affections of his girlfriend Kay (Lizabeth Scott). Madison's brother Dave (Wendell Corey), Turner's accountant, help's Turner by doctoring the books to hide the lucrative profits of the club. Madison is enraged that he has been swindled by his friend and his brother.

This film has undergone considerable digital restoration here and is of quite nice quality - its a great matching off (again) between Lancaster & Douglas!

Burt Lancaster also made a number of other powerful dramas & gritty noirs: The Killers (1946), Brute Force (1947), Desert Fury (1947), Criss Cross (1949), Jim Thorpe -- All-American (1951), From Here to Eternity (1953), Sweet Smell of Success (1957), Run Silent Run Deep (1958), Birdman of Alcatraz (1962), Seven Days in May (1964) & The Train (1964).

Then, of course there were his fabulous adventure films: The Flame and the Arrow (1950), Ten Tall Men (1951), The Crimson Pirate (1952), South Sea Woman (1953) & His Majesty O'Keefe (1954).

All of the above are available from this website

And how about a Lancaster film that includes elements of the above, namely a gritty & powerful action/adventure outing? - check out Rope of Sand (1949) - which is also available from this website

I Was a Spy (1933) - 80 mins

Starring Madeleine Carroll, Conrad Veidt, Herbert Marshall, Nigel Bruce & Edmund Gwenn

Directed by Victor Saville

This is a briskly paced, highly suspenseful cinematic rendering of the war-time exploits of Martha Cnockhaert, a Belgian girl who reluctantly engaged in espionage work for the Allies during the Great War. The beautiful Madeleine Carroll gives a convincing, at times deeply moving, portrait of the reluctant Belgian spy whose work as a volunteer nurse in a hospital for wounded Germans complicates her efforts to aid in their ultimate destruction. Indeed, ironically it is her dedicated work in relieving the suffering of war (not to mention her exquisite beauty and charm) that endears her to the German commandant (played by the great Conrad Veidt) enabling her to carry out more effectively her clandestine activities.

Jack London (1943) - 94 mins

Starring Michael O'Shea, Susan Hayward, Oas Massen, Harry Davenport, Frank Craven & Virginia Mayo

Directed by Alfred Santell

An ambitious filmed biography of writer-adventurer Jack London sees Michael O'Shea well cast as London, whose rugged adventures range from the high seas to the Klondike. London's insatiable wanderlust causes friction in his marriage to the lovely Charmian (Susan Hayward), but she stands nobly by his side in good times and bad (the script is based on Mrs. London's memoirs). In the interests of topicality, the film contrives to have London endeavor to warn America of Japanese military expansion some four decades before Pearl Harbor.

Strong performances of O'Shea, Hayward and a superb supporting cast.

Worth checking out is two films which came from the pen of Jack London: Call of the Wild (1935) and The Sea Wolf (1941) - both films are available from this section of this website

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Jane and the Lost City (1987) - 93 mins

Starring Sam Jones, Maud Adams, Jasper Carrott, Kristen Hughes, Graham Stark & Robin Bailey

Directed by Terry Marcel

Jane (Kirsten Hughes) and her companion Jungle Jack Buck (Sam Jones) travel with a team of British adventurers to Africa and the mythical Lost City. Their mission is to find the fortune in diamonds before they fall into the hands of the Nazis, led by Lola Pagnola (Maud Adams).

This adventure is taken from the popular (and a bit risqué) British comic strip by Norman Pett that ran between 1932 until 1963

Beware: it’s a bit risqué! - but it does answer the question: "Whatever happened to Sam 'Flash Gordon' Jones?"

UK TV comedian Jasper Carrot has a nice role here!

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Jason and the Argonauts (1963) - 104 mins

Starring Todd Armstrong, Nancy Kovak, Gary Raymond, Laurence Naismith, Niall MacGinnis & Nigel Green

Directed by Don Chaffey

Jason (Todd Armstrong), rightful heir to the throne of Thessaly, is spared from death through the intervention of the goddess Hera (Honor Blackman). The other celestial inhabitants of Mount Olympus watch in amusement as Hera surreptitiously aids Jason in his search for the Golden Fleece. Obstacles to this goal include a giant come-to-life statue named Talos, the screeching harpies plaguing blind prophet Phineas (Patrick Troughton), a set of huge clashing rocks, the seven-headed hydra, and an army of skeletons - this bravura climactic sequence assured special-effects guru Ray Harryhausen place in the hearts of 13-year-old boys of all ages. Bernard Herrmann's surging musical score was icing on the cake for this greatest of all Ray Harryhausen creations

Jassy (1947) - 100 mins

Starring Margaret Lockwood, Patricia Roc, Dennis Price, Basil Sydney & Dermot Walsh

Directed by Bernard Knowles

A brooding British melodrama, Jassy stars Margaret Lockwood as a tempestuous gypsy girl who is hired as a servant in an aristocratic 19th century household. Dennis Price is her handsome master, with whom she falls in love. They marry, and it comes to pass that the master comes to a violent end. The girl is accused of murder, but appearances are deceiving. Boasting lush Technicolor photography, the film was based on a popular novel by Norah Lofts

Jesse James (1939) - 106 mins

Starring Tyrone, Power, Henry Fonda, Randolph Scott, Nancy Kelly, Henry Hull & Brian Donlevy

Directed by Henry King

Irresistibly entertaining story of Jesse (Tyrone Power) and Frank James (Henry Fonda) becoming train and bank robbers to avenge the death of their mother killed at the behest of greedy railroad interests.

Director Henry King stages the action sequences in glorious outsized fashion, notably the famous bank-robbery scene in which Jesse rides his horse through a plate glass window. The scenes involving both James brothers are stolen hands-down by Henry Fonda, not so much because he was a better actor than Tyrone Power but because his character had all the best lines. Jesse James was filmed largely on location in Missouri.

Yes, Randolph Scott is not the star here but he has a pivotal (& "A" list star-making role) as Marshall Will Wright

Then came the sequel! The equally powerful The Return of Frank James (1940) - Henry Fonda back as Frank James in another Technicolor extravaganza (directed by Fritz Lang) - also available from this INDIVIDUAL MOVIE TITLES section of the website

Jet Pilot (1957) - 112 mins

Starring John Wayne, Janet Leigh, Jay C. Flippen, Paul Fix, Richard Rober & Roland Winters

Directed by Josef von Sternberg

John Wayne stars as air force Colonel Jim Shannon who is stationed in an Alaskan outpost only 40 miles or so from the Soviet Union. Wayne is put in charge of Russian jet pilot Lt. Anna Marladovna Shannon (Janet Leigh), who claims that she wants to defect. Actually, Shannon is the Communist spy Olga Orlief, but thanks to Shannon's affectionate attentions she is won over to the side of Democracy. It transpires that Orlief must decide if she should rescue Shannon when he is kidnapped and nearly brainwashed by her Soviet comrades.

The enthralling aerial scenes were staged by legendary test pilot Chuck Yeager in this $4 million color production.

Jewel Robbery (1932) - 70 mins

Starring William Powell, Kay Francis, Alan Mowbray, Spencer Charters & Lee Kohlmar

Directed by William Dieterle

William Powell as an elegant jewel thief plying his trade in Vienna. His latest victim is bored baroness Kay Francis, who is much taken by the gentleman crook's handsomeness and poise. Since Francis is casting about for a new lover and newer thrills, Powell meets her qualifications, criminal or no. But the lady's husband is not so easily charmed, and he sets about to bring Powell to justice.

Another fabulous William Powell vehicle (and Kay Francis is a treat!)

Jigsaw (1949) - 70 mins

Starring Franchot Tone, Jean Wallace, Marc Lawrence & Myron McCormick.

Directed by Fletcher Markle

When the owner of a printing shop is found dead, the District Attorney assumes that it was a suicide. But the Assistant D.A., Howard Malloy, suspects that there is a connection with an extremist political group called the 'Crusaders'. When a journalist whose articles had attacked the Crusaders is also killed, Malloy is convinced. With help from the widow of a prominent judge, he conducts an investigation. As he does so, he meets a peculiar political boss and also an attractive night club singer, each of whom could become either a source of help or a source of danger.

Jim Thorpe -- All-American (1951) - 107 mins

Starring Burt Lancaster, Charles Bickford, Steve Cochran, Phyllis Thaxter & Dick Wesson

Directed Michael Curtiz

Jim Thorpe was the Native American athlete whom many consider the greatest athlete of the 20th century. We first see Thorpe as a child on the reservation, highly resistant to the notion of going to school. He proves to be an excellent student, eventually attending the all-Indian college in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Still, Thorpe doesn't feel like mixing much with the other students until coach Charles Bickford encourages the lad to go out for the track team. Thorpe finds that he can be more "articulate" as an athlete than as a scholar, and soon excels at all school sports. He also marries his college sweetheart. After graduation, Thorpe tries to get a coaching job, but is frozen out by the white establishment. Determined to make a name for himself, he enters the 1912 Olympics at Stockholm, where he earns more gold medals than anyone else and is praised as the world's greatest athlete by the King of Sweden. Unfortunately, the fact that Thorpe briefly played semi-professional baseball while attending Carlisle costs him his amateur status and every one of his medals. Things go from bad to worse for Thorpe after this but he then is reunited with his old coach Bickford, who offers Jim a ticket to the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles. It is the first small step on the road to regeneration for Jim Thorpe

A great biopic about an incredible athlete played to the hilt by Lancaster - himself an excellent sportsman

Burt Lancaster also made a number of other powerful dramas & gritty noirs: The Killers (1946), Brute Force (1947), Desert Fury (1947), I Walk Alone (1948), Criss Cross (1949), From Here to Eternity (1953), Sweet Smell of Success (1957), Run Silent Run Deep (1958), Birdman of Alcatraz (1962), Seven Days in May (1964) & The Train (1964).

Then, of course there were his fabulous adventure films: The Flame and the Arrow (1950), Ten Tall Men (1951), The Crimson Pirate (1952), South Sea Woman (1953) & His Majesty O'Keefe (1954).

All of the above are available from this website

And how about a Lancaster film that includes elements of the above, namely a gritty & powerful action/adventure outing? - check out Rope of Sand (1949) - which is also available from this website

Joan of Paris (1942) - 91 mins

Starring Paul Henreid, Michelle Morgan, Thomas Mitchell, Laird Cregar & Alan Ladd

Directed by Robert Stevenson

Joan of Paris is best known for the joint debut of both Michelle Morgan and Paul Henreid on the American cinema. Henreid is a member of the Free French flying with the RAF and he and the crew are shot down over occupied France. Henreid and the group including a wounded Alan Ladd (in his last minor role before achieving stardom later in the year with the release of This Gun For Hire, The Glass Key & Lucky Jordan - all of which are available from this website) make their way to Paris where he tries to contact either the French underground or any British intelligence operatives. Laird Cregar is great as the relentless pursuer of the downed fliers.

Johnny Allegro (1949) - 81 mins

Starring George Raft, Nina Foch, George Macready & Will Geer

Directed by Ted Tetzlaff

A reformed gangster, accustomed to a life of danger, finds himself dealing with a new and different threat in this adventure thriller. Johnny Allegro (George Raft) is a former mobster who has gone over to the other side and now works for the U.S. Treasury Department as an undercover agent. Allegro is asked to help get the goods on Morgan Vallin (George MacReady), a polished counterfeiter who is involved in a right-wing plot to bring down the American government by flooding the U.S. economy with bogus currency. Allegro makes his way to the island that's Vallin's base of operations, with Glenda Chapman (Nina Foch) in tow, and he convinces Vallin that he's a fugitive from American justice. Vallin takes Allegro and Glenda in, but he soon discovers Johnny's true identity, and Allegro learns that Vallin has a bizarre hobby he likes to hunt, but he feels that humans are a more interesting quarry than animals.

A fabulous Raft film!

Johnny Angel (1945) - 79 mins

Starring George Raft, Claire Trevor, Signe Hasso, Lowell Gilmore & Hoagy Carmichael

Directed by Edwin L. Martin

This is a twisty plotted film noir involving smugglers and a double-cross that is set on the dimly lit docks and in the swinging French Quarters of New Orleans. George Raft plays his trademark tough guy role to perfection, as the sea captain Johnny Angel who works for the Gustafson Steamship Line, where his father also works as a captain. Johnny discovers in the sea fog a ghost ship and is alarmed to find no crew and a ship that shows signs of a battle taking place, as it's riddled with bullet holes and broken furniture is strewn across the deck while its cargo of African mahogany is still suspiciously on board. It's an intriguing film noir tale about avenging a murder of a loved one, a femme fatale getting her man to do her foul deeds, and of the two men struggling to hold their own against the gigantic shadows of their fathers.

Johnny Apollo (1940) - 93 mins

Starring Tyrone Power, Dorothy Lamour, Edward Arnold, Lloyd Nolan & Lionel Atwill

Directed by Henry Hathaway

Wall Street broker Robert Cain, Sr., is jailed for embezzling. His college graduate son Bob then turns to crime to raise money for his father's release. As assistant to mobster Mickey Dwyer, then falls for Dwyer's girl Lucky. He winds up in the same prison as his father.

Tyrone Power: that fabulous adventurer … other great Tyrone Power movies available from this website are: The Mark of Zorro (1940), Blood and Sand (1941), The Black Swan (1942), Son of Fury (1942), The Razor's Edge (1946), Captain From Castile (1947), Nightmare Alley (1947), Prince of Foxes (1949), The Black Rose (1950), American Guerrilla in the Philippines (1950), Diplomatic Courier (1952) & King of the Khyber Rifles (1953).

Johnny Eager (1941) - 107 mins

Starring Robert Taylor, Lana Turner, Edward Arnold, Van Heflin, Robert Sterling & Barry Nelson

Directed by Mervyn LeRoy

Ruthless hood Johnny Eager is pretending to his parole officer that he has chucked the rackets and is now a full-time taxi driver. In fact he's as deep in as he ever was, and desperately needs official permission to open his new dog track. When he meets up with Lisbeth Bard he finds he not only has a stunning new girlfriend but a possible way to get his permit.

Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor (Van Heflin).

Johnny Guitar (1954) - 110 mins

Starring Joan Crawford, Sterling Hayden, Mercedes McCambridge, Scott Brady, Ward Bond & Ernest Borgnine

Directed by Nicholas Ray

The title character, played by Sterling Hayden, is a guitar-strumming drifter who was once the lover of Arizona saloon-owner Vienna (Joan Crawford). Though her establishment doesn't make a dime, Vienna doesn't care because the railroad is going to come in soon, bringing a whole slew of thirsty new customers. This puts her at odds with rancher Emma Small (Mercedes McCambridge), who doesn't want any new settlers on her land. Hating Vienna with a passion, Emma will do anything to drive her out of the territory and Emma's got the law and the other ranchers on her side. Hoping to keep Emma at bay, Vienna hires Johnny Guitar, who unbeknownst to everyone else in town is a notorious gunslinger. But Johnny prefers to bide his time, waiting for Emma to strike before he makes his move.

According to most sources, the animosity between Joan Crawford and Mercedes McCambridge was quite real, added several extra dimensions to their scenes together.

Yes it’s a color Republic western - but this film is loaded both actual and symbolic noirish elements

Sterling Hayden: ever the maverick, ever the individual - he preferred to sail his yacht around the world rather than act in movies. Yet despite his lack of interest in film, he was lauded and chased by the very finest directors: John Huston, Robert Altman, Francis Ford Coppola & Stanley Kubrick. In each of his roles, Hayden's individuality showed forth whatever the genre of film: noir, adventure, western & swashbuckler. He remains a huge favourite of my Dad (who introduced me to his films) and my son (to whom I, too introduced this powerful actor).

Sterling Hayden films which are available from this website are:

Manhandled (1949), Asphalt Jungle (1950), Denver & Rio Grande (1952), The Golden Hawk (1952), Fighter Attack (1953), Crime Wave (1954), Prince Valiant (1954), Johnny Guitar (1954), Naked Alibi (1954), Suddenly (1954), Battle Taxi (1955), Timberjack (1955), The Killing (1956), Crime of Passion (1954), 5 Steps to Danger (1957), Terror in a Texas Town (1958), Ten Days to Tulara (1958) & The Long Goodbye (1973)

Johnny O'Clock (1947) - 96 mins (yes, 96 mins!)

Starring Dick Powell, Evelyn Keyes, Lee J. Cobb, Ellen Drew, Nina Foch & Jim Bannon

Directed by Robert Rossen

Three years after song-and-dance man Dick Powell reshaped his nice-guy image by playing hard-boiled gumshoe Phillip Marlowe in Murder My Sweet, he returned to film noir with this crime-based thriller. Johnny O'Clock (Dick Powell) and his partner Pete Marchettis (Thomas Gomez) operate a gambling casino that has seen better days. Chuck Blayden (Jim Bannon), a cop on the take, wants in on the casino, and he makes friends with Pete while trying to convince him that Johnny, the smarter of the two, should go. When Chuck's girlfriend Harriet (Nina Foch) is found dead, a supposed suicide, his sister Nancy (Evelyn Keyes) smells a rat, especially after Chuck skips town. Nancy is convinced that her sister was murdered, and she asks Johnny to help her prove it. Johnny, who already has a number of women in his life including Nelle (Ellen Drew), Pete's wife figures that one more can't hurt and agrees to help her. But Police Inspector Koch (Lee J. Cobb), convinced that Johnny and Pete were behind Harriet's death, is making it hard for Johnny to do much investigating, and matters get worse when Chuck's body is found floating in the river. Screenwriter Robert Rossen made his directorial debut with this film, 14 years later, he would return to this film's tough, gritty style for his best picture, The Hustler.

Note that this film is part of the Dick Powell "Drama" Combination which can be found in the Classic Movie Combinations section of this website

Journey into Fear (1942) - 69 mins

Starring Joseph Cotton, Orson Welles, Dolores del Rio, Ruth Warrick, Agnes Moorehead & Everett Sloane

Directed by Norman Foster

"Orson Welles had planned to produce, direct and star in RKO's Journey Into Fear, but prior commitments compelled him to vacate the director's chair in favor of Norman Foster. Joseph Cotten, who adapted the screenplay from the novel by Eric Ambler, plays an American gunnery engineer up to his armpits in international intrigue. Targeted for extermination by the Gestapo, Cotten secretly books passage on a steamer bound from Turkey to Batumi. His fellow passengers include dancer Dolores Del Rio and her gigolo partner Jack Durant; talkative Frenchwoman Agnes Moorehead and her browbeaten husband Frank Readick; German archaeologist Eustace Wyatt; and a secretive, obese, thick-spectacled gent, played by Orson Welles' business partner Jack Moss. From the outset, it is no secret that Moss is a Nazi assassin. The question: who are his contacts, and how long will it be before Cotten is forced into a showdown? The very complex storyline was made even more so by RKO's decision to pare the film down to 69 minutes; several resultant plot gaps had to be bridged by an ongoing offscreen narration, presented in the form of a letter written by Cotten to his worried wife Ruth Warrick. As one can see, virtually the entire roster of Welles' Mercury Theatre troupe is involved in Journey into Fear. Welles himself plays colorful Turkish police officer Colonel Haki, while Everett Sloane, Hans Conried and Edgar Barrier essay significant smaller roles. Director Norman Foster so slavishly imitates the patented Wellesian visual style (following Welles' pre-production "storyboards" dictating choice of camera angle, lighting etc.) that many historians have assumed that Welles himself directed the picture"

Journey to the Far Side of the Sun (1969) - 101 mins

Starring Roy Thinnes, Ian Hendry, Patrick Wymark, Lyn Loring, George Sewell, Ed Bishop & Herbert Lom

Directed by Robert Parrish

A previously unknown planet is discovered within our solar system, orbiting on the far side of the sun exactly opposite the position of the Earth, and at precisely the same speed. The European space agency Eurosec, headed by Jason Webb (Patrick Wymark), whose solar probe made the discovery, decides to send a manned mission to investigate, teaming America's top astronaut Glenn Ross (Roy Thinnes) and British astro-physicist John Kane (Ian Hendry). Their voyage aboard the space vehicle Phoenix is supposed to take six weeks, but when the ship returns to orbit in only three weeks - ending in a crash of their landing vehicle that kills Kane - Eurosec can only conclude that Ross has engaged in some sort of sabotage. The astronaut is at a loss as to how they could have done a round-trip in just three weeks, until he makes a startling discovery - that everything that he sees, from the layout of rooms and buildings to all of the writing around him, is reversed, left to right and right to left.

Absorbing well made sci-fi employing the skills of Gerry & Sylvia Anderson of The Thunderbirds fame - they also wrote the story

Journey to the Seventh Planet (1962) - 80 mins

Starring John Agar, Greta Thyssen Carl Ottosen, Peter Monch, Ove Sprogøe & Louis Miehe-Renard

Directed by Sidney W. Pink

Travelling by spaceship to the planet Uranus in year 2010, a group of astronauts discovers a bizarre world right out of their own heads, featuring places and people the crew-members recall from childhood. and a gargantuan one-eyed monster. It's all part of a fantasy created by the planet's master, a giant, pulsating brain that can also turn their worst thoughts into reality!

Filmed in Denmark with a largely Danish cast except for Hollywood actor John Agar and Greta Thyssen (a former Miss Denmark who had doubled for Marilyn Monroe and appeared opposite The Three Stooges) added a bit of box-office value to the otherwise mundane proceedings. Apparently filmed in English, the Danish actors speak their lines with utmost care and deliberation, presumably to make it easier for dubbing purposes.

Note: this is a very nice print - much better than commercial offerings!

Jubilee Trail (1954) - 90 mins

Starring Forrest Tucker, Vera Ralston, Joan Leslie, John Russell, Ray Middleton & Pat O'Brien

Directed by Joseph Kane

Ambitious California landowner Charles Hale (Ray Middleton) hopes to add to his riches by marrying off his brother Oliver (John Russell) to a wealthy Spanish family. But when Oliver weds a gal named Garnet (Joan Leslie) instead, Charles vows revenge against the new bride. Later, Oliver is killed, leaving Garnet to raise their baby alone. Charles intends to claim the baby for himself, but Garnet, who has subsequently fallen in love with John Ives (Forrest Tucker), isn't about to let that happen.

The film is somewhat stolen by veteran Pat O'Brien as a drunken doctor who serves as last-minute problem-solver.

Based on a novel by Gwen Bristow, Jubilee Trail is a sprawling, all-star western from Republic Studios - it followed two equally well financed (& regarded) "A" westerns from Republic: Rock Island Trail (1950) & Californa Passage (1950) - both of which are available from this website

Jungle Goddess (1948) - 62 mins

Starring George Reeves, Wanda McKay, Ralph Byrd, Armida & Smoki Whitfield

Directed by Lewis D. Collins

When pilots Mike Patton (Reeves) and Bob Simpson (Byrd) learn that the father of long-missing Greta Vanderhorn (Wanda McKay) is offering a huge reward for his daughter's return, they fly off to the African jungle where Greta's plane crashed many years ago. Mike and Bob trace Greta to a superstitious native tribe, where she reigns as queen. Bob has the misfortune to kill one of the natives, whereupon Greta condemns him to death.

Of interest here: The actors who played Superman and Dick Tracy, George Reeves and Ralph Byrd star in this nice "jungle" actioner. They appeared together again a few months later in Thunder in the Pines (1948) which is also available from this website

Kansas City Confidential (1952) - 98 mins

Starring John Payne, Coleen Gray, Preston Foster, Neville Brand, Jack Elam & Lee Van Cleef

Directed by Phil Karlson

A hard-hitting film noir about a bitter ex-cop who arranges an armored car robbery with a phony florist's delivery truck. Framed for the robbery, the driver of the real florist's truck, a hero in the war, hunts down the men who set him up to get his share of the loot, revenge or, if possible, a combination of the two. It is generally agreed that Quentin Tarantino must have seen this movie before scripting Reservoir Dogs

Another powerhouse performance from John Payne, and excellent direction coming from Phil Karlson who also helmed another good noir with Payne: 99 River Street (1953) which is also available from this website

Kansas Raiders (1950) - 80 mins

Starring Audie Murphy, Brian Donlevy, Marguerite Chapman, Scott Brady, Tony Curtis, Richard Arlen, Richard Long, James Best, Dewey Martin & Richard Egan

Directed by Ray Enright

A young Jesse James (Audie Murphy) falls under the Svengali-like spell of the outlaw William Quantrill (Brian Donlevy). Jesse and his youthful gang join the rebels to avenge the death of his parents only to become disillusioned with the senseless violence and looting of innocent civilians. Goaded by Quantrill's girl to leave, Jesse vacillates until the Yankess close in.

Check out that cast - fabulous!

The Kennel Murder Case (1933) - 73 mins

Starring William Powell, Mary Astor, Eugene Pallette, Ralph Morgan, Robert McWade & Robert Barrat

Directed by Michael Curtiz

Often (and accurately) described as a model of the whodunit genre, The Kennel Murder Case stars William Powell, making his fourth screen appearance as S. S. Van Dine's dilettante detective Philo Vance. This time the story involves intrigue at the Long Island kennel club. The murder victim is Robert H. Barrat, who works overtime making himself a much-hated target in the first ten minutes. With the aid of a Doberman, Vance solves not only Barrat's murder but a follow-up killing designed to deflect attention from the killer. The suspects include Mary Astor, Ralph Morgan, Jack LaRue, Helen Vinson, Paul Cavanaugh and Arthur Hohl, all of whom have "done it" from time to time in other murder mysteries (movie buffs, however, will have little trouble spotting the killer; the person in question has probably been the hidden murderer in more films than any other member of the Screen Actor's Guild). Kennel Murder Case was William Powell's last "Philo Vance" film; it would be remade in 1940 as Calling Philo Vance, with James Stephenson as Vance and a new World War II angle added to the plot.

Note that both The Kennel Murder Case (1933) & Calling Philo Vance (1940) are part of the Philo Vance Movie Series which is can be found in the Movie Series section of this website

Note: This is a much better quality print than commercial offerings

The Key (1958) - 134 mins

Starring William Holden, Sophia Loren, Trevor Howard, Oskar Homolka, Kieron Moore & Bernard Lee

Directed by Carol Reed

Plymouth, England during WWII and Canadian tug captain Tennant (William Holden) and his British counterpart Chris Ford (Trevor Howard) pay a visit to Ford's lady friend Stella (Sophia Loren). Before the men leave, Ford is handed Stella's apartment key. It turns out that this key is harbinger of death; it has previously been held by Stella's former lovers, all tug captains, all dead. When Ford is killed in combat, Tennant comes into possession of the key, returning to Stella to commence a torrid love affair. However, she is unable to fall in love with Tennant, sensing that his demise is imminent. Eventually, she does fall for him, vowing that if he survives the war, she will never pass her key along to any other man. As a result, Tennant begins exhibiting hesitance in battle, as if determined to break the "jinx" at the expense of his fellow seamen.

Excellent film utilizing the wonderful directorial skills of Carol Reed - his others include Night Train to Munich (1940), Odd Man Out (1947), The Man Between (19353) & The Third Man (1949) - all of which are available from this website

A Best Actor BAFTA for Trevor Howard!

The Key was adapted by Carl Foreman from Stella, a novel by Jan De Hartog.

Trev's Note: My interest in tracking down this film came from a chance meeting with Des Jackson - he runs one of those now very rare Telegraph Stations in the beautiful town of Beechworth (a stamping ground for Australia's most famous outlaw 19^th century: Ned Kelly). Des informed me that the Morse Code, which is extensively used in this film, is real Morse Code (which he understands and performs regularly) and not just a smattering of keystrokes (used in other movies). So Trev got Des to send a telegram on his behalf (yes, it did get to its destination - my son - albeit by mail for the final stage of delivery) and then Trev set about sourcing this wonderful film. Anyone else out there who can "read" Morse Code?

Key Largo (1948) - 100 mins

Starring Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robertson, Lauren Bacall, Lionel Barrymore & Claire Trevor

Directed by John Huston

A group of gangsters have taken over a hotel located on Key Largo. Along comes Bogey, who has come to visit the father of a war time pal who was killed, and gets drawn into the drama.

Bogart as Frank McCloud is suitably laid back and brave as he confronts the gangsters headed by Edward G. Robinson as Johnny Rocco. Lauren Bacall plays the widow of Bogey's war time friend and Lionel Barrymore is outstanding as Temple, the hotel proprietor. Claire Trevor plays Rocco's moll Gaye Dawn, an alcoholic former singer for which she deservedly won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Bogart and Robinson appeared together many times during the 30s with Robinson usually playing the hero and Bogey the heavy. This time their roles are reversed.

This was the second collaboration between Humphrey Bogart and John Houston during 1948 (the other being "The Treasure of Sierra Madre). Both films represent both artists at the peak of their respective careers.

The Kid From Texas (1950) - 78 mins

Starring Audie Murphy, Gail Storm, Albert Dekker, Shepperd Strudwick, Will Geer & William Talman

Directed by Kurt Neumann

Billy the Kid becomes embroiled in Lincoln County, NM, land wars. When a rancher who gave him a break is killed by rival henchman, Billy vows revenge. Billy's new employer takes advantage of his naivety to kill rivals and lets The Kid take blame. Billy takes to the hills with friends but when caught, he escapes hanging but remains in area to be near employer's young wife with whom he's infatuated.

Audie's first western!

Kid Glove Killer (1942) - 74 mins

Starring Van Heflin, Marsha Hunt, Lee Bowman, Cliff Clark & Eddie Quillan

Directed by Fred Zinnemann

First feature film from director Fred Zinneman is a snappy little "B" feature that features Van Heflin, in his first leading role immediately after winning a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Johnny Eager, playing a forensic scientist. He and his wisecracking assistant Hunt are on the trail of the murderer of the mayor who had promised to clean up the town. The taut plot is well served by the style of documentary fiction Zinnemann applied to a few of his earlier films. Watch for a 20-year-old Ava Gardner, who has two lines as a waitress.

The Killer is Loose (1956) - 73 mins

Starring Joseph Cotton, Rhondaa Fleming, Wendell Corey, Alan Hale Jr., Michael Pate & John Larch

Directed by Budd Boetticher

In this thriller, "Foggy" (Wendell Corey) is a bank teller who got his nickname for the thick spectacles he must wear. Foggy is also an inside man for a gang of thieves planning to rob his bank. Unfortunately, their plan goes awry and he is arrested. During the ensuing scuffle, his wife is accidentally killed and the crook blames the arresting officer (Joseph Cotten). While he stands trial, Foggy lets on that he plans on getting revenge by killing the officer's wife. Later he is transferred to a prison farm. The fearsome former clerk busts out of prison and kills a few people on his way to the policeman's home. The panicked policeman attempts to secure protection for his wife, but the cops decide to use the woman as a decoy to draw the criminal to them.

Yep, its director Budd Boetticher in his final film before commencing his long association with Randolph Scott in that incredible set of western masterpieces (all of which are available from this website - in the Randolph Scott Western section)

Killer McCoy (1947) - 104 mins

Starring Mickey Rooney, Brian Donlevy, Ann Blyth, James Dunn, Tom Tully, Mickey Knox & Sam Levene

Directed by Roy Rowland

In one of his first "adult" roles (he made his last Andy Hardy vehicle only a year earlier - the complete Andy Hardy is available from the Movie Series section of this website), Mickey Rooney plays Tommy McCoy, a dancer who performs in a going-nowhere nightclub act with his alcoholic father, Brian (James Dunn). Johnny Martin (Mickey Knox), a lightweight boxing champ who is headlining the show that Tommy and his Dad are currently working, admires Tommy's footwork and tells him that he might have a future in the ring. Tommy gives the fight game a try, and he soon proves he's got the goods as a slugger. Before long, Tommy is fighting Johnny for the lightweight title, and after a hard-fought match, Tommy wins and Johnny dies. Now dubbed "Killer" McCoy by the press and boxing fans, a distraught Tommy allows his career to be taken over by Jim Caighn (Brian Donlevy), an unscrupulous manager with a gambling problem. Jim drags Tommy through the dirtiest and most dishonest levels of the fight game, but Jim's daughter Sheila (Ann Blyth) sees Tommy's decent side and tries to rescue him.

Is this Mickey's best non-AH film?

The Killers (1946) - 105 mins

Starring Burt Lancaster, Ava Gardner, Edmond O'Brien, Albert Dekker & Charles McGraw

Directed by Robert Siodmak

A compelling crime drama based on the Earnest Hemingway story telling of two professional killers who invade a small town and kill a gas station attendant, "the Swede," who's expecting them. Insurance investigator Reardon pursues the case against the orders of his boss, who considers it trivial. Weaving together threads of the Swede's life, Reardon uncovers a complex tale of treachery and crime, all linked with gorgeous, mysterious Kitty Collins. Noteworthy for the film debut of Lancaster and Miklos Rozsa's dynamic score featuring the familiar dum-da-dum-dum theme later utilized in TV's Dragnet.

Academy Award nominations for Director, Screenplay, Film Editing, Film Score.

Burt Lancaster also made a number of other powerful dramas & gritty noirs: Brute Force (1947), Desert Fury (1947), I Walk Alone (1948), Criss Cross (1949), Jim Thorpe -- All-American (1951), From Here to Eternity (1953), Sweet Smell of Success (1957), Run Silent Run Deep (1958), Birdman of Alcatraz (1962), Seven Days in May (1964) & The Train (1964).

Then, of course there were his fabulous adventure films: The Flame and the Arrow (1950), Ten Tall Men (1951), The Crimson Pirate (1952), South Sea Woman (1953) & His Majesty O'Keefe (1954).

All of the above are available from this website

And how about a Lancaster film that includes elements of the above, namely a gritty & powerful action/adventure outing? - check out Rope of Sand (1949) - which is also available from this website

The Killers (1964) - 93 mins

Starring Lee Marvin, Angie Dickinson, John Cassavetes, Clu Gulager, Claude Akins, Norman Fell & Ronald Reagan

Directed by Don Siegel

Don Siegel directed this re-make of Robert Siodmak's 1946 film noir masterpiece The Killers, based upon a story by Ernest Hemingway (see above. As the story opens two professional looking men in business suits, Charlie (Lee Marvin) and Lee (Clu Gulager) push their way into a school for the blind and terrorize a secretary until she reveals the whereabouts of Johnny North (John Cassavetes). When Charlie and Lee trace Johnny to an automobile repair class, Johnny just stands there as the two men gun him down. Afterwards, Charlie wonders why Johnny just stood there, accepting his death. He also starts to wonder about his hefty paycheck for the murder and rumors that Johnny was involved in a million-dollar heist. He decides to pay Johnny's old friend Earl Sylvester (Claude Akins) a visit at his auto shop in Florida. Earl recalls the summer day long ago when former race car driver Johnny caught the eye of the rich and beautiful Sheila Farr (Angie Dickinson). Johnny has been preparing for a race, but Sheila's attentions sidetrack him. The day of the big race, Earl notices that Sheila is visited by a group of rich gangsters, headed by Browning (Ronald Reagan, in a very surprising performance). During the race, Johnny is involved in a terrible crash, effectively ending his racing career. However, it seems Browning is arranging a mail heist and hires Johnny to drive the getaway car.

Reagan's last screen appearance before moving on to a career in politics

The Killing (1956) - 83 mins

Starring Sterling Hayden, Coleen Gray, Vince Edwards, Marie Windsor, Jay C. Flippen, Joe Sawyer & Ted de Corsia

Directed by Stanley Kubrick

When ex-con Johnny Clay (Sterling Hayden) says he has a plan to make a killing, everybody wants to be in on the action. Especially when the plan is to steal $2 million in a racetrack robbery scheme in which "no one will get hurt." But despite all their careful plotting, Clay and his men have overlooked one thing: Sherry Peatty (Marie Windsor), a money-hungry, double-crossing dame who’s planning to make a financial killing of her own…even if she has to wipe out Clay’s entire gang to do it!

Directed in a revolutionary story-telling technique by the legendary Stanley Kubrick, The Killing is tough, taut, tense, and one of the greatest crime thrillers ever made!

Sterling Hayden: ever the maverick, ever the individual - he preferred to sail his yacht around the world rather than act in movies. Yet despite his lack of interest in film, he was lauded and chased by the very finest directors: John Huston, Robert Altman, Francis Ford Coppola & Stanley Kubrick. In each of his roles, Hayden's individuality showed forth whatever the genre of film: noir, adventure, western & swashbuckler. He remains a huge favourite of my Dad (who introduced me to his films) and my son (to whom I, too introduced this powerful actor).

Sterling Hayden films which are available from this website are:

Manhandled (1949), Asphalt Jungle (1950), Denver & Rio Grande (1952), The Golden Hawk (1952), Fighter Attack (1953), Crime Wave (1954), Prince Valiant (1954), Johnny Guitar (1954), Naked Alibi (1954), Suddenly (1954), Battle Taxi (1955), Timberjack (1955), The Killing (1956), Crime of Passion (1954), 5 Steps to Danger (1957), Terror in a Texas Town (1958), Ten Days to Tulara (1958) & The Long Goodbye (1973)

Kill or Be Killed (1950) - 100 mins

Starring Lawrence Tierney, Marissa O'Brien, Rudolph Anders & George Coulouris

Directed by Max Nosseck

A crime caper, largely filmed in Mexico with Lawrence Tierney as Robert Warren, a tough but honest lug who is framed on a murder charge. Hiding out at a jungle plantation, Warren falls in love with Maria (Marissa O'Brien), the wife of plantation owner Marek (Rudolph Anders). Luck of luck, Marek and his partner Sloma (George Coulouris) are inextricably linked with the murder for which Warren is being pursued.

Quality Note: Not the greatest of prints but still worth a look - an excellent adventure with Lawrence Tierney in a sympathetic role for a change

Fans of Lawrence Tierney should also check out his lead roles in noir thrillers:

Dillinger (1945), San Quentin (1946), The Devil Thumbs a Ride (1947), Born To Kill (1947), Bodyguard (1948) & Kill or Be Killed (1950) - all of which are available from this website

Kim (1950) - 113 mins

Starring Errol Flynn, Dean Stockwell, Paul Lukas, Robert Douglas, Thomas Gomez & Cecil Kellaway

Directed by Victor Saville

Kim, a young boy living on his own on the streets of India, is actually the son of a British officer. He meets a lama, a holy man, and devotes himself to his tending. But when British administrators discover his birthright, he is placed in a British school. His nature, however, is opposed to the regimentation expected for the son of a British soldier, and he rebels. His familiarity with Indian life and his ability to pass as an Indian child allows him to function as a spy for the British as they attempt to thwart revolution and invasion of India. Rejoining his holy man, Kim with the help of daring adventurer Mahbub Ali (Flynn) takes on a dangerous mission.

While a great deal of Kim was filmed on location in India, some of the more complicated exterior sequences were lensed in Lone Pine, California.

King & Country (1964) - 86 mins

Starring Dirk Bogarde, Tom Courtney, Leo McKern, Barry Foster & Peter Copley

Directed by Joseph Losey

Misfit World War I British soldier Pvt. Arthur Hamp (Tom Courtenay) who is on trial for desertion, is defended by martinet officer Capt. Hargreaves (Dirk Bogarde). Disgusted by the assignment, Hargreaves wearily asks the dullwitted Hamp the reasons for his actions. Hamp replies that, after being the sole survivor of a battle and discovering that his wife had been cheating on him while he was serving his country, he didn't see any purpose in going on; thus, he "went for a little walk". Hargreaves' dislike of his client melts into sympathy, which in turn leads to temporary indignation over the manner in which the average enlisted man is treated by his aristocratic superiors. Despite his pleas for leniency, Hargreaves' client is sentenced to be shot. But all is not done …

Adapted by Evan Jones from John Wilson's play Hamp.

King Kong (1933) - 100 mins

Starring FayWray, Robert Armstrong, Bruce Cabot & Frank Reicher

Directed by Merian C. Cooper & Ernest B. Schoedsack

Master showman Carl Denham has fallen on hard times due to the depression, and mounts an expedition to the mysterious Skull Island to find another showpiece. He takes along adventurer Jack Driscoll and the down-on-her-luck gorgeous blonde Ann Darrow with him to spice up the show. Arriving on the island, they discover it is home to gigantic beasts like dinosaurs, and ruling over all is Kong, a 30 foot tall gorilla. The natives kidnap Ann as a sacrifice for Kong, and the other crew members head into the dangerous island interior to rescue her.

THE great adventure yarn- copied many times but never equalled!

King of the Khyber Rifles (1953) - 100 mins

Starring Tyrone Power, Terry Moore, Michael Rennie, John Justin & Guy Rolfe

Directed by Henry King

This remake of John Ford's The Black Watch (1929) stars Tyrone Power as British army captain stationed in India in 1857. Shunned by his fellow officers because he is a half caste, Power defies the social structure of the era by falling in love with the daughter (Terry Moore) of his superior officer. Power proves his loyalty to the Crown by quelling an uprising, led by his Indian boyhood friend (Guy Rolfe).

A great action / adventure yarn

Now a very nice color print!

Tyrone Power: that fabulous adventurer … other great Tyrone Power movies available from this website are: The Mark of Zorro (1940), Johnny Apollo (1940), Blood and Sand (1941), The Black Swan (1942), Son of Fury (1942), The Razor's Edge (1946), Captain From Castile (1947), Nightmare Alley (1947), Prince of Foxes (1949), The Black Rose (1950), American Guerrilla in the Philippines (1950) & Diplomatic Courier (1952)

King Solomon's Mines (1937) - 80 mins

Starring Cedric Hardwicke, Paul Robeson, Roland Young, Anna Lee & John Loder

Directed by Robert Stevenson

The first of three talkie versions of H. Rider Haggard's adventure novel King Solomon's Mine was produced by British Gaumont. Cedric Hardwicke plays the legendary explorer Alan Quartermaine, while African-American singing star Paul Robeson, plays dauntless native- guide Umbopa. The plot gets under way when Anna Lee organizes an expedition to locate her father, who has disappeared in the wilds of Africa while searching for King Solomon's Mines, a legendary diamond repository. Umbopa's motivation for guiding the expedition is to reclaim the tribal throne wrested from him by treacherous witch-doctor Gagool. At first treated as white gods by the natives, the explorers soon find their lives imperiled. Thanks to Umbopa's know-how, the whites are saved from a horrible death and the evil tribesmen are overthrown. Quartermaine and his party finally locate the fabled diamond cache and then fate deals an ironic hand, as fate has a habit of doing.

A very fine adventure film, with much to recommend it. Plenty of excitement, a little romance, and a few well-sung songs help push the plot along. Footage shot in Africa enhance the atmosphere of this Gaumont-British film.

Sir Cedric Hardwicke is a sturdy, stoic Quartermain, just the sort of no-nonsense fellow you would want guiding your expedition. American opera star Paul Robeson has marvelous presence as a mysterious native who seems to know a bit too much about the lands they are seeking. Arthur Sinclair & Anna Lee are the two Irish treasure seekers who spark much of the action. John Loder & Roland Young (very droll) nicely play the two English chaps who finance the trek.

King Solomon's Mines (1950) - 103 mins

Starring Stewart Granger, Deborah Kerr, Richard Carlson, Hugo Haas & Lowell Gilmore

Directed by Compton Bennett & Andrew Marton

MGM's expansive (shot on location) adaptation of H. Rider Haggard's famous novel, stars Stewart Granger as fearless-explorer Alan Quartermaine, and Deborah Kerr as the spunky Irish lass who hires him on to locate her husband. Kerr's spouse has disappeared somewhere in Africa while attempting to unearth the long-lost diamond mines of King Solomon.

Fabulous color print of a fabulous adventure!

Academy Awards for Best Color Cinematography & Film Editing. Also nominated for Best Picture

Why not check out the sequel Watusi (1959) which is available elsewhere in this section

King's Rhapsody (1955) - 93 mins

Starring Errol Flynn, Anna Neagle, Patrice Wymore, Martita Hunt, Finlay Currie & Francis De Wolff

Directed by Herbert Wilcox

Based on a musical play by Ivor Novello, about a European prince Richard, King of Laurentia (Erol Flynn) who falls in love with a commoner Marta Karillos (Anna Neagle). The prince abdicates his duties (as Prince) and goes into exile so he may set up house with the woman he loves. When the King dies, Flynn is obliged to return to his throne and marry the hand-picked Princess Cristiane (Patrice Wymore). Years later, Richard finally free to marry whm he chooses, seeks out Marta.

Patrice Wymore was Mrs. Flynn at the time.

Quality Note: This is a wide-screen color print - however its not the greatest of prints - a little smeary at times - but its still a good chance to see another side of Flynn

The King's Thief (1955) - 78 mins

Starring Edmund Purdom, David Niven, Ann Blyth, George Sanders, Roger Moore & John Dehner

Directed by Robert Z. Leonard

Director Robert Z. Leonard brought his 31-year association with MGM to a rousing close with The King's Thief. Set in England during the reign of Charles II (drolly portrayed by George Sanders), the film stars Edmund Purdom as Michael Dermott, who sets about to steal the crown jewels on behalf of his king. The current possessor of the gems is the wicked duke of Brampton, played with relish by a cast-against-type David Niven. Ann Blyth is a decorative heroine, while one of Michael Dermott's cohorts is played by a young, muscular Roger Moore. The plot of The King's Thief, purportedly based on fact, is merely an excuse for the nonstop swashbuckling of star Edmund Purdom.

Fabulous color print!

Kiss Me Deadly (1955) - 106 mins

Starring Ralph Meeker, Albert Dekker, Paul Stewart, Juano Hernandez, Wesley Addy & Marian Carr

Directed by Robert Aldrich

"Regarded by many critics as the ultimate film noir, and by many more as the finest movie adaptation of a book by Mickey Spillane, Kiss Me Deadly stars Ralph Meeker as Spillane's anti-social private eye Mike Hammer. While driving down a lonely road late one evening, Hammer picks up a beautiful blonde hitchhiker (Cloris Leachman), dressed in nothing but a raincoat. At first, Hammer assumes that the incoherent girl is an escaped lunatic; his mind is changed for him when he and the girl are abducted by two thugs. The men torture the girl to death as the semiconscious Hammer watches helplessly. He himself escapes extermination when the murderers' car topples off a cliff and he is thrown clear. Seeking vengeance, Hammer tries to discover the secret behind the girl's murder. Among those who cross his path in the film's tense, tingling 105 minutes are a slimy gangster (Paul Stewart), a turncoat scientist (Albert Dekker), and the dead woman's sexy roommate (Gaby Rodgers). All clues lead to a mysterious box -- the "Great Whatsit," as Hammer's secretary Velda (Maxine Cooper) describes it. Both the box and Velda are stolen by the villains, at which point Hammer discovers that the "Whatsit" contains radioactive material of awesome powers. The apocalyptic climax is doubly devastating because we're never quite certain if Hammer survives (he doesn't narrate the story, as was the case in most Mike Hammer films and TV shows). Director Robert Aldrich and scriptwriter Jack Moffit transcend Kiss Me Deadly's basic genre trappings to produce a one-of-a-kind melodrama for the nuclear age"

Yes its that Hammer guy!

Kiss of Death (1947) - 98 mins

Starring Victor Mature, Brian Donlevy, Collen Gray, Richard Widmark & Karl Malden

Directed by Henry Hathaway

A gritty tale of deceit and manipulation filmed with an almost documentary-style realism, this hard-edged noir thriller stars Victor Mature as a gangster who takes the rap for a jewellery-store heist to protect his wife and children. But when his friends on the outside fail to honour their promise, he turns the tables on the mob and works with the FBI to incriminate the men who helped put him away. Richard Widmark debuts as the evil mobster with the manic laugh.

Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor (Widmark) & Best Original Story.

Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye (1950) - 102 mins

Starring James Cagney, Barbara Payton, Helena Carter, Ward Bond, Luther Adler & Barton MacLaine

Directed by Gordon Douglas

From the trial of the survivors, we flash back to amoral crook Ralph Cotter's violent prison break, assisted by Holiday Carleton, sister of another prisoner, who doesn't make it. Soon Ralph manipulates the grieving Holiday into his arms, and two crooked cops follow her into his pocket. Ralph's total lack of scruple brings him great success in a series of robberies. But his easy conquest of gullible heiress Margaret Dobson proves more dangerous to him than any crime

Cagney's follow-up to White Heat is a tour-de-force with a fabulous finale!

Knight Without Armor (1937) - 107 mins

Starring Marlene Dietrich, Robert Donat, Irene Vanbrugh, Herbert Lomas, Austin Trevor & Basil Gill

Directed by Jacques Feyder

Marlene Dietrich and Robert Donat star in this gripping melodrama about the Russian revolution, based on the novel by James Hilton. Donat plays A.J. Fothergill, a British interpreter in St. Petersburg who is ordered to leave Russia after writing an article that criticized the czar. Fothergill meets a British secret agent who can arrange for him to stay in Russia if he will agree to spy for England and monitor revolutionary groups trying to depose the czar. Fothergill infiltrates a group planning to kill Russian nobleman Vladinoff (Herbert Lomas); the radicals bomb Vladinoff's coach, but he and his daughter, Alexandra (Marlene Dietrich) escape unharmed. Fothergill is arrested and sent to Siberia. When the monarchy is deposed during the Russian Revolution in 1917, Alexandra is arrested by Communist forces and put on trial. Fothergill is freed from prison with his friend Axelstein (Basil Gill), and they are now revolutionary heroes. Alexandra must go to Petrograd to face trial and Fothergill is chosen to escort her. When they reach the train station, Fothergill discovers the White Army (fighting to restore the czar) is coming.

Absolute fabulous story - with star-power to match!

The fascinating and alluring Marlene Dietrich! - movies starring this amazing woman and which are available from this website are: Morocco (1930), Dishonored (1931), Shanghai Express (1932), The Scarlet Empress (1934), The Devil Is a Woman (1935), Knight Without Armour (1937), Destry Rides Again (1939), Seven Sinners (1940), Manpower (1941), The Spoilers (1942), Pittsburgh (1942) & Golden Earrings (1947)

Ladies of the Jury (1932) - 63 mins

Starring Edna May Oliver, Jill Esmond, Ken Murray, Roscoe Ates & Kitty Kelly

Directed by Lowell Sherman

Edna May Oliver portrays a society dowager called for jury duty on a murder trial wherein a pretty young woman is accused of killing her older husband. She takes her job quite seriously, and soon is playing both prosecutor and defense attorney with judge and witnesses alike. In this unorthodox but highly entertaining fashion, will she get to the truth and exposes the genuine murderer?

Edna May all the way!

The Lady and the Bandit (1951) - 79 mins

Starring Louis Hayward, Patricia Medina, Suzanne Dalbert, Tom Tully & John Williams

Directed by Ralph Murphy

The "bandit" of the title is notorious 18th-century British highwayman Dick Turpin, herein portrayed by Louis Hayward. The lady is the high-born Joyce Greene (Patricia Medina), who becomes Turpin's bride. Motivated by Irish patriotism and revenge against the man who hanged his father, Turpin cuts quite a swath through the British countryside, relieving wealthy passengers of their riches. For his wife's sake, Turpin briefly gives up his life of crime, but not for long. Upon learning that his wife is slated to be hanged as his accomplice, Turpin embarks upon a 200-mile ride from St.Alban's to York, knowing full well that by rescuing his bride, he will forfeit his own life. Well produced Columbian costumer which is based on the Alfred Noyes poem Dick Turpin's Ride.

Quality Note: Not the greatest of prints - although the images are sharp and the sound is good.

Note that the late 1970s Dick Turpin TV series (starring Richard O'Sullivan) is available from the TV Series section of this website

Louis Hayward made a number of "swashbucklers" during his career - there was The Man in the Iron Mask (1939) and The Son of Monte Cristo (1940) followed by The Black Arrow in 1948. Then he filmed The Pirates of Capri (1949) in Italy for legendary director Edgar G. Ulmer, before combining again with The Black Arrow's director Gordon Douglas and co-star George Macready for Fortunes of Captain Blood (1950). Louis Hayward next played Dick Turpin in The Lady and the Bandit (1951) before Captain Pirate (1952) marked his last swordplay movie. He then moved to TV for The Lone Wolf TV series - each of the above films are available from this website, whilst the TV series is available in the TV Series section of this website.

The Lady from Shanghai (1947) - 87 mins

Starring Rita Hayworth, Orson Welles, Everett Sloane, Glenn Anders & Ted de Corsia

Directed by Orson Welles

A complex, involving puzzle-within-a-puzzle mystery story, is a showcase for Orson Welles, showing his singular talents and sensibilities as few other films have. The story is superficially simple: a seaman Michael O'Hara (Welles) is hired as a crew member on the yacht of the wealthy Banister (Everett Sloane). His beautiful but mysterious wife Elsa (Rita Hayworth) has met O'Hara earlier, when he saved her from a mugging. What ensues is a complicated and bizarre pattern of deception, fraud and murder, with O'Hara finding himself implicated in a murder, despite his innocence. The film is best remembered for its final sequence when the plot comes to a literally smashing climax in the famous "hall of mirrors" sequence, with Elsa and Banister shooting it out amidst shards of shattering glass. Orson Welles, who produced, directed, wrote and starred in the film, is sometimes self-indulgent in his use of visual tricks and techniques, which at times sacrifice plot for visual brilliance, but he pulls it together in the end to produce a stunning, difficult film. Rita Hayworth gives one of her best performances as the deceptive, seductive temptress, hard-edged and cynical. The film confounds, unsettles and disorients the viewer, very much as Welles intended to do. While not an easy film, it is well worth the attention required to follow it, and Welles offers no easy solutions or any false happy endings to his tour-de-force mystery.

Lady in the Lake (1947) - 105 mins

Starring Robert Montgomery, Audrey Totter, Lloyd Nolan, Tom Tully, Leon Ames & Jayne Meadows

Directed by Robert Montgomery

Robert Montgomery is the director and star of the film noir mystery Lady in the Lake, adapted for the screen by source novelist Raymond Chandler. Montgomery plays detective Philip Marlowe, a private eye who has decided to publish his own crime stories. Kingsby Publications editor Adrienne Fromsett (Audrey Totter) meets with Marlowe, but offers him a job as a detective instead of a writer. She wants him to find the missing wife of her boss, Mr. Kingsby (Leon Ames). (Adrienne wants them to proceed with their divorce so she can marry Kingsby herself.) Marlowe accepts the job and goes looking for clues at the home of the wife's sometime lover, Chris Lavery (Dick Simmons). When Marlowe gets knocked out and picked up for drunk driving, he decides to drop the case. He is drawn back in, however, when Adrienne suggests that Kingsby's wife is responsible for the murder of a mysterious lady in the lake. Lloyd Nolan and Tom Tully play two police detectives also on the case. Lady in the Lake is remembered as being filmed with a subjective camera almost entirely from Marlowe's point of view and subsequently hyped by an MGM ad campaign.

When its all said and done - all gimmicks aside - this is a great noir with Montgomery playing Marlowe - what more could one want!

Note that this film is part of the Philip Marlowe "at the Movies" Combination which can be found in the Classic Movie Combinations section of this website

Lady on a Train (1945) - 93 mins

Starring Deanna Durbin, Ralph Bellamy, Edward Everett Horton, George Coulouris, Dan Duryea & Allen Jenkins

Directed by Charles David

While waiting at a train station, Nikki Collins witnesses a murder from a nearby building. When she brings the police to the scene of the crime, they think she's crazy since there's no body. She then enlists a popular mystery writer to help with her sleuthing.

Talents as diverse as Deanna Durbin's charm and singing ability, Edward Everett Horton's flair for screwball comedy, and Dan Duryea's knack for portraying impish, enigmatic characters, are brought together here in a pretty good comic mystery. Neither the mystery story nor the comedy would have been enough to sustain a movie by itself, but they fit together well, with the help of an assortment of interesting characters and some well-chosen settings.

Adds up to an enjoyable movie - and you'll never pick the murderer!

The Lady Vanishes (1938) - 97 mins

Starring Margaret Lockwood, Michael Redgrave, Paul Lukas, Dame May Whitty, Googie Withers & Cecil Parker

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

On a train through Europe, Iris Henderson meets the kindly old woman Miss Froy, and they meet several other passengers over the course of their conversation. Iris later wakes up from a nap to discover that Miss Froy is nowhere to be found, and none of the people they met seem to have any recollection of her. A psychiatrist on the train suggests that Miss Froy never existed: Iris was bumped on the head before boarding, and the conversation may have only taken place in her head. However, Iris is certain that something more sinister is going on, and teams up with another acquaintance, the musician Gilbert, to find her before the train reaches its destination. The redoubtable Basil Radford & Naunton Wayne as Charters & Caldicott make there first of several film appearances here

Note: An excellent print - much better than those commercially available

Check out the 1979 remake below.

This film is also part of the Basil Radford & Naunton Wayne "Charters & Caldicott" Combination which can be found in the Classic Movie Combinations section of this website

The Lady Vanishes (1979) - 99 mins

Starring Elliott Gould, Cybill Shepherd, Angela Lansbury, Herbert Lom, Arthur Lowe & Ian Carmichael

Directed by Anthony Page

On an express train travelling through pre-World War II Germany, American heiress Amanda Kelly (Cybill Shepherd) befriends a cute old nanny, Miss Froy (Angela Lansbury). But when Miss Froy disappears, everyone Amanda questions denies having ever seen her. Eventually Amanda persuades American photographer Robert Condon (Elliot Gould) to help her search the train, during which they discover that Miss Froy wasn't quite what she seemed. A pleasing remake of the Hitchcock classic (which is also available - see above)

Perfect Wide-screen Technicolor print!

Note that this film along with Rogue Male (1976), The Thirty Nine Steps (1978) & The Riddle of the Sands (1979) are available in a 4 DVD set titled British Espionage from within the Classic Movie Combinations section of the website

Land of the Pharaohs (1955) - 106 mins

Starring Jack Hawkins, Joan Collins, Dewey Martin, Alex Minotis & James Roberston Justice

Directed by Howard Hawks

Extravagantly produced with a cast of seeming millions (actually there were some 10,000 extras), the film speculates on the circumstances surrounding the construction of the Great Pyramids of Egypt. Jack Hawkins plays the Pharaoh, who orders enslaved architect Vashtar (James Robertson Justice) to build a magnificent, thief-proof tomb for him. At first, the people of Egypt willingly pitch in to construct the huge pyramid. But as the years roll by and the work shows no signs of abating, the Pharaoh begins relying upon forced labor from lands he has conquered. He also plunders the coffers of his neighboring countries. Cyprus can't pay the required gold tax, so the country sends luscious Princess Nellifer (Joan Collins) as a "present" for the Pharaoh. Fascinated by the spitfire Nellifer, the Pharaoh makes her his second wife. Hoping to gain all of the Pharaoh's kingdom and the riches therein, she plots her husband’s death.

The Land That Time Forgot (1975) - 90 mins

Starring Doug McClure, John McEnery, Susan Penhaligon, Keith Barron, Anthony Ainley & Godfrey James

Directed by Kevin Connor

Its 1916 and the US Montrose is fired on and sunken by a German U-boat. However the survivors manage to sneak aboard and capture the U-boat. In between subsequent coups, the British and Germans agree to an uneasy truce until they can reach a neutral port. But they become lost and instead arrive on the mythical continent of Caprona where dinosaurs and cavemen still roam. Amid this savage, primitive environment they attempt to survive and repair the submarine

The Land That Time Forgot (1975) was the first of three Edgar Rice Burroughs tales that were adapted for film by British production house Amicus under the direction of Kevin Connor and starring American actor Doug McClure (remember Trampas from the 60's TV series The Virginian ?). The second was At The Earth's Core (1976), which also starred Peter Cushing and the lovely Caroline Munro, and the last was The People That Time Forgot (1977), a sequel to the first film in which Patrick Wayne goes in search for Doug. The Land That Time Forgot is also significant because well known Fantasy writer Michael Moorcock worked on the screenplay. A fourth Connor / McClure film in this series of period lost world films was also produced : Warlords Of Atlantis (1978). Although not based on the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs, it followed fairly much the formula set by the other films in the series - a journey by stalwart period English scientists into a lost world filled with monsters, a voyage that takes places in a marvellous vehicle of period technology.

(Kevin Connor sandwiched these 4 films between equally enjoyable sci-fi / fantasy romps: From Beyond the Grave (1973) & Arabian Adventure (1979) - both of which are available from this website)

McClure then returned to US TV but within two years was back on the big screen in the outrageous Humanoids from the Deep (1980). From the Roger Corman (low-budget shocker) stable this film achieved dubious notoriety for its gratuitous and uncompromising approach to the genre

The films all also feature charismatic acting from lantern-jawed lead man Doug McClure and talented support players.

All of these films are available from within this section of the website - they are also available in a 5 DVD set from within the Classic Movie Combination section of this website

The Land Unknown (1957) - 78 mins

Starring Jock Mahoney, Shirley Patterson, William Reynolds, Henry Brandon, Phil Harvey & Douglas Kennedy

Directed by Virgil W. Vogel

Cmndr. Harold 'Hal' Roberts (Jock Mahoney) and Lt. Jack Carmen (William Reynolds) are leaders of an expedition to the South Pole. Along for the ride is girl reporter Maggie Hathaway (Shirley Patterson), over whose affections Hal and Jack constantly battle. Making a forced landing in the Antarctic, the intrepid explorers find that they've descended well below sea level. Before long, they are attacked by prehistoric beasts which have been preserved in this heretofore uncharted region. When not fending off Tyrannosauri and Pterodactyls, Hal, Jack, Maggie and copter pilot Steve Miller (Phil Harvey) try to steer clear of an unwieldly carnivorous plant. Further complicating things is the presence of a long-lost and demented scientist (Henry Brandon) who craves after Maggie!

Quite convincing special effects

Fans of "Jocko" won't be disappointed!

-NEW TITLE-

The Last Bandit (1949) - 80 mins

Starring Wild Bill Elliott, Lorna Gray, Forrest Tucker, Andy Devine, Jack Holt & Grant Withers

Directed by Joseph Kane

Brothers Frank & Jim Plummer (Wild Bill Elliott & Forrest Tucker) are a couple of James-like bandits until Frank deciding to go straight, adopts a new name and takes a job as an express guard. Jim assumes that Frank is merely playing possum, intending to return to banditry when the time is ripe. But Frank is serious about reforming, setting the stage for an extreme and violent form of sibling rivalry at the climax.

Casey Brown (Andy Devine eschewing his usual comedy relief) is the railroad detective who decides to risk hiring Frank, while Kate Foley (Linda Gray aka Adrian Booth) is the intelligent love interest.

The Last Bandit was one of two Wild Bill Elliott westerns that was lensed in Republic's Trucolor process. The other being Hellfire (1949) - which is also available from this INDIVIDUAL MOVIE TITLES section of the website.

Both of these “adult-oriented” westerns were definitely A list films, benefiting from longer running times and Republic's strength in providing all action thrills.

Very nice Trucolor print!

The Last Man on Earth (1964) - 86 mins

Starring Vincent Price, Franca Bettoia, Emma Danieli, Giacomo Rossi-Stuart & Umberto Raho

Directed by Sidney Salkow

Dr. Robert Morgan (Vincent Price) is the only survivor of a devastating world-wide plague due to a mysterious immunity he acquired to the bacterium while working in Central America years ago. In this post-epidemic nightmare world, the entire population of the Earth have become vampire-like creatures and Morgan is the monster slayer that the vampire-society fears. Curing one of them, Ruth (Franca Bettoja), with a transfusion of his blood gives Morgan hope for the future. But the vampires will never give up in their quest to kill him.

This dark tale, based on Richard Matheson's even darker novel "I Am Legend" was later remade as The Omega Man (1971) with Charlton Heston in the Dr. Robert Morgan role.

The Omega Man (1971) is also available from this website.

The Last of Mrs. Cheyney (1937) - 98 mins

Starring William Powell, Joan Crawford, Robert Montgomery, Frank Morgan, Benita Hume & Nigel Bruce

Directed by Richard Boleslawski

Joan Crawford is a jewel thief who poses as an aristocrat. It is her intention to pilfer a valuable pearl necklace while attending a society party in the company of partner-in-crime William Powell. Here she attracts the attention of Robert Montgomery, a young nobleman who is amused by Crawford's wittiness in the face of the haughty bitchery of Benita Hume. Will the necklace be stolen?

Based on a popular drawing-room drama by Frederick Lonsdale

The Last of the Mohicans (1936) - 91 mins

Starring Randolph Scott, Binnie Bbarnes, Henry Wilcoxon, Bruce Cabot, Heather Angel & Robert Barrat

Directed by George B. Seitz

Randolph Scott has one of his best roles as Hawkeye in this exciting film adaptation of James Fenimore Cooper's often filmed novel. During the brutal French and Indian War, Hawkeye is prevailed upon to escort Major Duncan Heyward and the two daughters of Fort William Henry commander Colonel Munro, Alice and Cora to safety through enemy lines. Hawkeye is assisted by his Indian friend Chingachgook and Uncas, Chingachgook's son; the two are the last survivors of the Mohican tribe. During their travels to the fort, Alice falls in love with Hawkeye, while Cora falls in love with Uncas. But along the way, the band is continually harassed by the demonic Huron Indian Magua.

Oscar Nominated for Best Assistant Director!

The Las Vegas Story (1952) - 88 mins

Starring Jane Russell, Victor Mature, Vincent Price, Hoagy Carmichael, Brad Dexter & Jay C. Flippen

Directed by Robert Stevenson

Investment broker Lloyd Rollins, insisting to his wife Linda that they stop at Las Vegas on their trip from Boston, begins to gamble heavily. Linda visits the Last Chance, a casino where she used to sing, and where she meets police lieutenant Dave Andrews, with whom she had a brief affair some years earlier. Insurance investigator Tom Hubler soon arrives to keep an eye on Linda's valuable necklace for his company, unaware that Rollins hocked the necklace with Clayton, owner of the Last Chance.

Great stuff - a well packaged noir.

Laura (1944) - 88 mins

Starring Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, Clifton Webb, Vincent Price, Judith Anderson & Grant Mitchell

Directed by Otto Preminger

Detective Mark McPherson investigates the killing of Laura, found dead on her apartment floor before the movie starts. McPherson builds a mental picture of the dead girl from the suspects whom he interviews. He is helped by the striking painting of the late lamented Laura hanging on her apartment wall. But who would have wanted to kill a girl with whom every man she met seemed to fall in love? To make matters worse, McPherson finds himself falling under her spell too. Then one night, halfway through his investigations, something seriously bizarre happens to make him re-think the whole case.

The sleekest of noirs, the chicest of murders and deliciously twisted - a truly haunting study of obsession.

Academy Award for Cinematography

Academy Award Nominations for Director, Supporting Actor, Screenplay, Interior Decoration.

The first in Otto Preminger's trio of noir trillers starring Dana Andrews - followed by Fallen Angel (1945) & Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950). All 3 films are available from this website.

Law and Order (1953) - 80 mins

Starring Ronald Reagan, Dorothy Malone, Preston Foster, Alex Nicol & Russell Johnson

Directed by Nathan Juran

Having cleaned up Tombstone, Marshal Frame Johnson (Ronald Reagan) quits after an attempted lynching, and hopes to settle down on a ranch near Cottonwood with his sweetheart Jeannie (Dorothy Malone). Having previously sworn to give up his guns for the love of his lady, Frame soon realizes that before he can do so he may have to clean up Cottonwood too.

Excellent RR western

A Lawless Street (1955) - 78 mins

Starring Randolph Scott, Angela Lansbury, Warner Anderson, Jean Parker & Wallace Ford

Directed by Joseph H. Lewis

Famed Marshal Calem Ware, whose strenous activities on behalf of law and order have exacted a toll on his personal life is keeping the peace in the town of Medicine Bend. Ware hopes to someday be reconciled with his ex-wife Tally Dickinson now a touring musical comedy star. Just as Tally arrives in Medicine Bend, Ware is forced to deal with big-time criminals Thorne and Clark, not to mention their hired gun Baskam. Will he do his duty and rid the town of his outlaw element, or will he hang up his guns as Tally wants him to?

One of the highlights is a lively saloon-hall number performed by Angela Lansbury.

The League of Gentlemen (1960) - 116 mins

Starring Jack Hawkins, Nigel Patrick, Roger Livesey, Richard Attenborough, Bryan Forbes & Kieron Moore

Directed by Basil Dearden

An engrossing suspenser with dashes of comedy, League of Gentlemen is about a daring group of highly trained army men, turned bank robbers. When Hyde (Jack Hawkins) is drummed out of the army after years of devoted service, he decides to get back at society in general. One by one, he finds seven other army officers who are now broke and who walk on the shady side of the law. All eight men go into hiding as they plan the robbery with the care and attention of a behind-the-lines reconnaissance mission. As they undertake tasks like raiding a military depot for explosives and similar stunts, suspense and incidental humor increase, leading up to bank day when the really big show has to be pulled off without a hitch

BAFTA Award nominee for Best Screenplay (by cast member Bryan Forbes)

Leave Her To Heaven (1945) - 110 mins

Starring Cornel Wilde, Gene Tierney, Jeanne Crain, Vincent Price & Ray Collins

Directed by John M. Stahl

Gene Tierney proved how wicked a woman consumed by jealousy can be long before films like Fatal Attraction came on the scene. While there's nothing particularly deep or complicated about this tale of marital devotion gone awry, Tierney makes it a rollercoaster ride of emotional devastation you can't stop watching. Cornel Wilde plays the writer of her dreams, a man she loves way too much. Her seductive, mysterious beauty draws him into her web of lies and deception from which there is no way out. He initially finds her desperate need to have him all to herself adorable, but when this exclusion includes members of their immediate family, he begins to feel the noose tighten. On the surface her actions appear to be loving and decent, but they conceal a cold, bitter heart and a mind constantly working any angle to keep them together. Those that don't go along with her plans are taken out of the game for good. When she realizes her husband is in love with her adopted sister (Crain), she sets her final plan in motion. She'd rather die than lose him and she'll be damned if they're going to live happily ever after. Once you've committed several murders, a little perjury isn't going to weigh too heavily on your soul.

The Leech Woman (1960) - 77 mins

Starring Grant Williams, Coleen Gray, Phillip Terry, Gloria Talbot & John Van Dreelen

Directed by Edward Dein

June Talbot (Colleen Gray) goes on a trip to Africa with her husband Dr. Paul Talbot (Phillip Terry), only to discover that she is to be the trial balloon in one of his experiments on an anti-aging compound. Not willing to jump off into the unknown, the already unbalanced June kills her husband after she learns of a tribal ritual that will keep her youthful if she can obtain a hormone from the pineal gland of a human male. The problem is that she will revert back to a wrinkled woman unless she keeps replenishing her stock of the hormone. That, of course, leads to gruesome killings and ultimately, one disastrous mistake.

The Left Handed Gun (1958) - 102 mins

Starring Paul Newman, Lita Milan, John Dehner, Hurt Hatfield, James Congdon & James Best

Directed by Arthur Penn

William Bonney aka Billy the Kid (Paul Newman) gets a job with a cattleman known as 'The Englishman,' and is befriended by the peaceful, religious man. But when a crooked sheriff and his men murder the Englishman because he plans to supply the local Army fort with his beef, Billy decides to avenge the death by killing the four men responsible. This has huge repercussions for those around him: the two hands he worked with, Tom Follard (James Best) and Charlie Boudre (James Congdon); Pat Garrett, who is about to be married; and the kindly Mexican couple who take him in when he's in trouble. His actions also endanger the General Amnesty set up by Governor Wallace to bring peace to the New Mexico Territory.

Adapted by Gore Vidal from his own TV play, The Death of Billy the Kid.

The Left Hand of God (1955) - 87 mins

Starring Humphrey Bogart, Gene Tierney, Lee J. Cobb, Agnes Moorehead, E. G. Marshall, Jean Porter & Carl Benton Reid

Directed by Edward Dmytryk

Bogart plays Jim Carmody, an American soldier of fortune who, after crashing his plane in China, takes up with the Chinese warlord General Yang (Lee J. Cobb). Jim becomes Yang's advisor, but after watching one of the General's flunkies brutally kill a priest, Jim decides to leave. Unfortunately, Yang has declared that any deserter will be shot. Disguising himself as the slain priest, Jim sneaks out of the General's headquarters and makes his way to a mountain village where missionaries Beryl (Agnes Moorehead) and David (E.G. Marshall) take him in. Jim still is posing as the priest but his vows of celibacy are challenged when he falls in love with the attractive mission nurse Anne Scott (Gene Tierney).

Bogie in wide-screen Technicolor!

Letter From an Unknown Woman (1948) - 86 mins

Starring Joan Fontaine, Louis Jourdan, Mady Christians, Marcel Journet, Art Smith & Carol Yorke

Directed by Max Ophüls

Perhaps the finest American film from the famed European director Max Ophüls, the film stars Joan Fontaine as a young woman who falls in love with a concert pianist. Set in Vienna in 1900, the story is told in a complex flashback structure as the pianist, Stefan Brand (Louis Jourdan), comes upon a letter written to him by Lisa Berndl (Fontaine), a girl who has been in love with him for years. Stefan is in the process of fleeing Vienna on the eve of fighting a duel. As he prepares himself for the nocturnal journey, the letter arrives. It begins, "By the time you read this letter, I may be dead." As Stefan sits back in his study to read this letter, it turns out to be a confession of unrequited love from Lisa. The story flashes backs to when Lisa was 14 years old and Stefan was her neighbor. After following Stefan with a girlish obsession, the romance gets much more serious, and they have a brief encounter. Stefan promises to come back to her after a concert tour, but he never does. Meanwhile, Lisa marries another man when she discovers that she is pregnant with Stefan's child. When she runs into Stefan years later, he doesn't remember her and tries to seduce her. After Stefan reads the letter, he wants to rush to her side, but now poor Lisa is dying from typhus

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943) - 163 mins

Starring James McKecknie, Neville Mapp, Vincent Holman, Anton Walbrook, Roger Livesey & Deborah Kerr

Directed by Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger

This much-lauded two and a half hour plus epic which satirizes British traditionalism, stirred up impassioned hostilities and indignations among the Brits when released in 1943. The sweeping story covers several decades. It begins at the tail end of the Boer War, when handsome young British officer Clive Candy, recently back from the battlefront, is infuriated by his discovery that Deutschland papers have played up the British atrocities in South Africa. He grows so irate, in fact, that he travels to Germany to address the problem. Once there, he meets an attractive British educator, Edith Hunter (Deborah Kerr) who spends her days teaching English as a second language to German students. They grow close, but Candy so aggravates the local indigenes that he winds up in a duel with a German officer, Theo Kretschmar-Schuldorff (Anton Walbrook). The men wound each other and are sent to the same hospital, where they become friends. Candy - who doesn't yet realize he's fallen in love with Edith senses that Theo and Edith are attracted to one another, and encourages the couple's marital union. Candy subsequently returns to England, then falls for and marries Barbara (again played by Kerr), a nurse who bears a strong resemblance to Edith. She later dies, but Candy meets a third woman during WWII, Johnny (Kerr a third time), assigned to drive him from one locale to another during his campaigns. Meanwhile, Theo - disgusted by Nazi atrocities - absconds to England, where he reencounters his old friend, now a prattering old shuffler rapidly approaching the end of his career and raving continuously about Nazi conduct (or lack thereof) in battle.

A "big" movie in every way.

Powell and Pressburger had previously combined to great effect in 1939's The Spy in Black (aka U-Boat 29), 1940's Contraband (aka Blackout), 1941's 49th Parallel (aka The Invaders) and One of Our Aircraft is Missing (1942) - all of which are available from this website.

Note that The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943) is part of the Powell & Pressburger … their War Films … Combination which can be found in the Classic Movie Combinations section of this website

The Light Touch (1952) - 93 mins

Starring Stewart Granger, Pier Angeli, George Sanders, Kurt Kasznar, Joseph Calleia & Larry Keating

Directed by Richard Brooks

The title refers to the nimble-fingered technique utilized by art thief Sam Conride (Stewart Granger). Sam is a cog in the wheel of the operation controlled by illegal art peddler Felix Guignol (George Sanders). Anna Vasarri (Pier Angeli) is a young painter who'd like to reform Sam but who is unavoidably sucked into the illicit activities orchestrated by Guignol. Sam endangers Anna's life as well as his own when he masterminds a solo theft, intending to leave Guignol in the lurch.

Filmed on location in Italy.

The Limping Man (1953) - 74 mins

Starring Lloyd Bridges, Moira Lister, Alan Wheatley, Leslie Phillips, Hélène Cordet & Tom Gill

Directed by Cy Endfield

Ex G.I Frank Pryor (Lloyd Bridges) arrives in London to take up an interrupted romance with wartime amour Pauline French (Moria Lister), whom he hasn't seen in six years. At the airport a man standing alongside Pryor is slain by an unseen sniper, and he is detained by Scotland Yard for questioning. Released, he goes to Pauline's apartment, and learns that she had an intimate association with the slain man and is not interested in talking about it. Scotland Yard also knows this and Pryor and Pauline are kept under surveillance. The victim was killed by a mysterious "limping man," who is also an expert sharpshooter and has he targeted Pauline and now Frank.

Excellent UK made mystery thriller with Lloyd Bridges again acquitting himself well in a tricky role

The Liquidator (1965) - 105 mins

Starring Rod Taylor, Trevor Howard, Jill St. John, Wilfred Hyde-White, David Tomlinson & Akim Tamiroff

Directed by Jack Cardiff

Col. Mostyn (Trevor Howard) is the head of a special branch of British intelligence who is appalled to discover that a number of his best agents are either leaving the force or have turned out to be traitors. It is decided that Mostyn and his men need a special agent to ferret out those who leave his employ while knowing too much and silence them permanently. Mostyn decides the right man for the job is his old army buddy Boysie Oakes (Rod Taylor), but there's a bit of a problem: while the job requires a globe-trotting assassin who can stare calmly into the face of death, Oakes is a mild-mannered fun seeker who is terrified of airplanes and faints at the sight of blood. None of this dissuades Mostyn, who still gives Oakes the assignment, but when he finds out that flying and guns are a big part of his new job, he hires someone else to do the dirty work for him. Oakes eventually develops a taste for the cars, women, gadgets, and danger of his new career, but the real acid test comes when he actually has to go on an assignment himself.

Fans of aussie actor Rod Taylor are well catered for on this website with the following titles available: The Time Machine (1960), Seven Seas to Calais (1962), The Birds (1963), Fate Is the Hunter (1964), 36 Hours (1965), Young Cassidy (1965), The Liquidator (1965), Chuka (1967), Dark of the Sun (aka The Mercenaries) (1968), The High Commissioner aka Nobody Runs Forever (1968), The Hell With Heroes (1968), Powderkeg (1971) & Cry of the Innocent (1980) - all of which are available from the INDIVIDUAL MOVIE TITLES section of this website.

The TV Series section of this website also contains DVD sets of Rod's two TV series: Hong Kong (1960-61) and Bearcats! (1971)

Lisbon (1956) - 90 mins

Starring Ray Milland, Maureen O'Hara, Claude Rains, Yvonne Furneaux & Francis Lederer

Directed by Ray Milland

Filmed on location, Lisbon was the second directorial endeavor of actor Ray Milland. The story revolves around a Portugal-based American smuggler, Capt. Robert John Evans (Milland). Hired by attractive Sylvia Merrill (Maureen O'Hara), Evans agrees to sneak behind the Iron Curtain to locate Sylvia's husband Lloyd Merrill (Percy Marmont). It is understood that Evans is to bring Merrill back dead so that Sylvia can collect her husband's vast fortune, but the tables are turned on Sylvia and her wily co-conspirator, Aristide Mavros (Claude Rains).

Good adventure film (combining elements of both Casablanca and To Have and Have Not) with exotic locales (no sets), nice Naturama (Republic's best Trucolor) photography and competent direction of a stellar cast

The List of Adrian Messenger (1963) - 98 mins

Starring Kirk Douglas, George C. Scott, Dana Wynter, Clive Brook, John Merivale & Gladys Cooper

Directed by John Huston

Adrian Messenger asks his friend, British colonel Anthony Gethryn (George C. Scott), to check on the whereabouts of the eleven men named on a written list. Not long afterward, the plane on which Messenger is travelling is deliberately blown up. The mystery killer slipped the bomb on the plane while disguised as a priest, and we soon learn that the killer adopts a different guise for each of his subsequent murders. As Gethryn tracks down the men on Messenger's list, he discovers that all had been POWs in the same Burmese stockade during World War II, and he deduces that the murderer, who is methodically decimating those on the list, had been a traitor and informer. Gethryn traces the killer to the British estate of The Marquis of Gleneyre (Clive Brook), where his visit coincides with the return of "prodigal" American relative George Brougham (Kirk Douglas). Gethryn is convinced that Brougham is the killer, and that he plans to murder the only heir who stands in the way of the family fortune, but he has no tangible proof.

Filmed primarily in Ireland, The List of Adrian Messenger received good theatrical bookings by virtue of its gimmick: several of the bit characters are played by famous stars in heavy makeup, and each of these stars: Kirk Douglas, Burt Lancaster, Robert Mitchum, Frank Sinatra, and Tony Curtis "unmasks" in the epilogue.

George C. Scott doing a Sherlock Holmes under the deft direction of the legendary John Huston

Little Caesar (1930) - 80 mins

Starring Edward G. Robinson, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Glenda Farrell & Stanley Fields

Directed by Mervyn LeRoy

Rico joins Sam Ventori's gang. He replaces Sam as leader, pushes rival gang leader Arnie Lorch out of town, then goes after the job of next-higher-up Pete Montana. He accepts when "Big Boy" offers him that prize but his sights are set higher still and also on his best friend Joe's girl Olga.

Classic gangster story with Edward G. in top form.

The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935) - 109 mins

Starring Gary Cooper, Franchot Tone, Richard Cromwell, Guy Standing, C. Aubrey Smith & Kathleen Burke

Directed by Henry Hathaway

A rousing adventure saga of three British officers of the 41st Regiment of Bengal Lancers of India. The story begins as Lt. McGregor (Gary Cooper) accepts two new officers to his company: the brash Lt. Fortesque (Franchot Tone) and Lt. Stone (Richard Cromwell), the son of the garrison's commander, Col. Stone (Guy Standing). McGregor is ordered to search for a British spy, who has infiltrated the army of crazed chieftain Mohammed Khan. The three officers find Barrett, who tells them Khan is planning an uprising against the British, utilizing the mountain tribes for a massive assault.

Oscar wins for Assistant Direction as well as nominations for Best Picture, Director, Art Direction, Editing, Sound Recording & Screenplay.

Gary Cooper: forever the great adventurer - these Gary Cooper titles are available from this website are:

Morocco (1930), A Farewell to Arms (1932), The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935), The General Died at Dawn (1936), The Plainsman (1936), Souls at Sea (1937), The Adventures of Marco Polo (1938), Beau Geste (1939), The Real Glory (1939), The Westerner (1940), North West Mounted Police (1940), For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943), Cloak and Dagger (1946), Unconquered (1947), Task Force (1949), Distant Drums (1951) & High Noon (1952)

Loan Shark (1952) - 79 mins

Starring George Raft, Dorothy Hart, Paul Stewart, John Hoyt & Helen Westcott

Directed by Seymour Friedman

When several workers at a tire factory suffer violence at the hands of a vicious loan shark, a union leader and the factory owner try to recruit ex-con Joe Gargan (George Raft) to infiltrate to the gang. At first Joe does not want to get involved, but changes his mind when his brother-in-law dies at the hands of a savage hood. Joe works his way into the mob, but in order to keep his cover, Joe can't tell anyone what he is up to. This results in him being disowned by his sister and girl friend.

George Raft is great in this compelling actioner which sports a no-frills cinematography from Joseph Biroc, who went on to such loftier pursuits with The Towering Inferno.

The Locket (1946) - 86 mins

Starring Robert Mitchum, Laraine Day, Brian Aherne, Gene Raymond & Ricardo Cortez

Directed by John Brahm

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?

The Lodger (1927) - 75 mins

Starring Marie Ault, Arthur Chesney, June, Malcolm Keen & Ivor Novello

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

A serial killer known as "the avenger" is murdering blonde women in London. A new lodger, Jonathan Drew, arrives at Mr. and Mrs. Bounting's home in Bloomsbury and rents a room. The man has some strange habits, he goes out during foggy nights and keeps a picture of a blonde girl in his bedroom. The Bounting's daughter, Daisy, is a blonde model and she is engaged to Joe, a detective. When Joe finds out that Bounting suspects Jonathan, he is jealous of the lodger flirting with Daisy and arrests the man accusing him of being the avenger.

Alfred Hitchcock became a director of note with this silent film, his first thriller and only his third directorial effort, which shows the young Master's talents being developed in embryo. The film is well plotted and moody, told in an almost expressionistic style, relying mainly on visuals and a somewhat frugal use of title cards. The staging in the narrow, multi-level home is especially well managed, with characters on different storeys interacting in the plot simultaneously. Although a silent film, this movie does boast the first use of Vitaphone's Music & Sound Effects system.

The Lodger (1944) - 84 mins

Starring Laird Cregar, George Sanders, Merle Oberon & Cedric Hardwicke

Directed by John Brahm

In late Victorian London, Jack the Ripper has been killing and maiming actresses in the night. The Burtons are forced to take in a lodger due to financial hardship. He seems like a nice young man, but Mrs. Burton suspects him of being the ripper because of some mysterious and suspicious habits, and fears for her beautiful actress niece who lives with them.

A tour-de-force for Laird Cregar in his signature role. His second to last role before a heart attack took his life at age 30! Cregar's last role was Hangover Square (1945) which saw him re-teamed with George Sanders & director Brahm -its also available from this website - see above

The Lone Ranger (1956) - 86 mins

Starring Clayton Moore, Jay Silverheels, Lyle Bettger, Bonita Granville, Perry Lopez & Frank DeKova

Directed by Stuart Heisler

The Lone Ranger was the first of two Technicolor theatrical features based on the popular TV series of the same name. The Lone Ranger & and his faithful companion, Tonto (Clayton Moore & Jay Silverheels), take on evil rancher Reece Kilgore (Lyle Bettger), who hopes to become an all-powerful land baron by fomenting an Indian war. It is up to the Lone Ranger to keep the peace and to find out why Kilgore is going to such violent lengths.

A record 221 episodes comprised the TV series which ran between 1949 and 1955 (the first Season of which is available from the TV Series section of this website).

The Lone Ranger (1956) became the first of two theatrical Lone Ranger features - its was followed by The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold (1958) which is also available - see below

The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold (1958) - 81 mins

Starring Clayton Moore, Jay Silverheels, Douglas Kennedy, Charles Watts, Noreen Nash & Dean Fredericks

Directed by Lesley Selander

This second theatrical-feature spin-off of TV's Lone Ranger series stars Clayton Moore as the Masked Rider of the Plains and Jay Silverheels as his faithful Indian companion Tonto who are this time on the trail of five silver medallions. When placed together, these tiny pieces of silver reveal the location of a fabulous Lost City of Gold. The owners of three of the medallions have already been killed mysteriously and it's up to the Lone Ranger and Tonto to save the other two owners, Ross Brady (Douglas Kennedy) and little Fran Henderson (Noreen Nash), from harm.

Of note in this film is that we learn of the origin of The Lone Ranger - his party being ambushed, his being rescued by Tonto and his donning of the mask (and why) - this all happens in the first 3 minutes: before the opening credits roll!

A record 221 episodes comprised the TV series which ran between 1949 and 1955 (the first Season of which is available from the TV Series section of this website).

The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold (1958) was the second of two theatrical Lone Ranger features - its was preceded by The Lone Ranger (1956) which is also available - see above

The Long and the Short and the Tall (1961) - 110 mins

Starring Richard Todd, Laurence Harvey, Richard Harris, David McCallum, Ronald Frazer & John Meillon

Directed by Leslie Norman

A powerfull WWII picture, set in Malaya in which British troops encamped therein believe they've gotten a break when they capture a Japanese scout (Kenji Takaki) - but it's all part of an enemy trap. The rest of the film concentrates on a battle of wills rather than bullets, though a few spurts of action keep the war-film aficionados happy. Played against the larger tapestry of the world conflict are the fluctuating tensions among the British soldiers themselves. Adapted from a play by Willis Hall, The Long and the Short and the Tall gets its title from the lyrics of a popular wartime ballad Bless 'Em All.

BAFTA nominated for Best British film

The Long Duel (1967) - 115 mins

Starring Yul Brynner, Trevor Howard, Harry Andrews, Charlotte Rampling, Andrew Keir & Laurence Naismith

Directed by Ken Annakin

In the 1920s, the British Raj still rule India, and Freddy Young (Trevor Howard) is a English police officer whose duty is to keep order among the native Bhantas. While Young believes in his heart that the people of India should be free to determine their own political destiny, he is forced by his occupation to uphold British law. However, not all the Bhantas willingly follow the commands of the British, and Sultan (Yul Brynner) is an Indian determined to lead his people to freedom from colonial tyranny. Young is instructed to find and capture Sultan, but while his superiors indicate that they would not be upset if Sultan were to meet with an accident, Young is impressed by the courage and intelligence of his adversary, and he is determined to bring him back alive.

Top flight big budget technicolor actioner from the Brits

The Long Goodbye (1973) - 112 mins

Starring Elliott Gould, Nina Van Pallandt, Sterling Hayden, Mark Rydell, Henry Gibson, Jim Bouton & David Arkin

Directed by Robert Altman

Applying his deconstructive eye to the "film noir" tradition, Robert Altman updated Raymond Chandler in his 1973 version of Chandler's novel, The Long Goodbye. Smart-aleck, cat-loving private eye Philip Marlowe (Elliott Gould) is certain that his friend Terry Lennox (Jim Bouton) isn't a wife-killer, even after the cops throw Marlowe in jail for not cooperating with their investigation into Lennox's subsequent disappearance. Once he gets out of jail, Marlowe starts to conduct his own search when he discovers that mysterious blonde Eileen Wade (Nina Van Pallandt), who hired him to find her alcoholic novelist husband Roger (Sterling Hayden), lives on the same Malibu street as the absent Lennox and his deceased spouse. As numerous variations on the title song play in unexpected places, Marlowe encounters a shady doctor (Henry Gibson), a bottle-wielding gangster (director Mark Rydell), and a guard aping Barbara Stanwyck (among other stars), before heading to Mexico to stumble onto the truth once and for all.

Note that this film is part of the Philip Marlowe "at the Movies" Combination which can be found in the Classic Movie Combinations section of this website

Sterling Hayden: ever the maverick, ever the individual - he preferred to sail his yacht around the world rather than act in movies. Yet despite his lack of interest in film, he was lauded and chased by the very finest directors: John Huston, Robert Altman, Francis Ford Coppola & Stanley Kubrick. In each of his roles, Hayden's individuality showed forth whatever the genre of film: noir, adventure, western & swashbuckler. He remains a huge favourite of my Dad (who introduced me to his films) and my son (to whom I, too introduced this powerful actor).

Sterling Hayden films which are available from this website are:

Manhandled (1949), Asphalt Jungle (1950), Denver & Rio Grande (1952), The Golden Hawk (1952), Fighter Attack (1953), Crime Wave (1954), Prince Valiant (1954), Johnny Guitar (1954), Naked Alibi (1954), Suddenly (1954), Battle Taxi (1955), Timberjack (1955), The Killing (1956), Crime of Passion (1954), 5 Steps to Danger (1957), Terror in a Texas Town (1958), Ten Days to Tulara (1958) & The Long Goodbye (1973)

The Long, Hot Summer (1958) - 115 mins

Starring Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Anthony Franciosa, Orson Welles, Lee Remick & Angela Lansbury

Directed by Martin Ritt

Ben Quick (Paul Newman), a sullen but self-confident drifter, arrives in a small Mississippi town where his father had a bad reputation as a firebug. Will Varner (Orson Welles), the town's patriarch, still holds a grudge against Quick's dad, and when the young man decides to stay in town and sharecrop on Varner's land, Will goes out of his way to make his life difficult.

The first film that Newman and Woodward made together - they got married the same year.

Lost Horizon (1937) - 128 mins

Starring Ronald Colman, Jane Wyatt, Edward Everett Horton, John Howard & Thomas Mitchell

Directed by Frank Capra

British diplomat Robert Conway and a small group of civilians crash land in the Himalayas, and are rescued by the people of the mysterious, Eden-like valley of Shangri-la. Protected by the mountains from the world outside, where the clouds of World War II are gathering, Shangri-la provides a seductive escape for the world-weary Conway.

A truly great adventure with Colman at his best in the role of Conway

Academy Awards for Art Direction & Film Editing.

Note the length of this print (128 mins) - its the restored version!

The Lost Weekend (1945) - 101 mins

Starring Ray Milland, Jane Wyman, Phillip Terry, Howard da Silva & Doris Dowling

Directed by Billy Wilder

Don Birnam, long-time alcoholic, has been "on the wagon" for ten days and seems to be over the worst; but his craving has just become more insidious. Evading a country weekend planned by his brother Wick and girlfriend Helen, he begins a four-day bender. In flashbacks we see past events, all gone wrong because of the bottle. But this bout looks like being his last...one way or the other.

An unrelenting drama of alcoholism - and a landmark of adult filmmaking in Hollywood. Academy Awards for Picture, Actor, Director, Screenplay.

Academy Award Nominations for Cinematography Film Editing and Musical Score.

-NEW TITLE-

The Lost World (1960) - 97 mins

Starring Michael Rennie, Jill St. John, David Hedison, Claude Rains, Fernando Lamas & Richard Haydn

Directed by Irwin Allen

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic story of an expedition to a remote plateau rumoured to be the home of prehistoric beasts is again brought to the screen in this fabulous production by Irwin “Poseidon Adventure” Allen. Professor Challenger (Claude Rains) leads a team of fellow scientists and adventurers deep into the Amazon jungle. The team must battle unforgiving jungle conditions before arriving at the isolated plateau where they discover a strange group of prehistoric beasts and unexpectedly find themselves in a fight for survival.

Memorable Sci-Fi Classic

Love Is On the Air (1937) - 60 mins

Starring Ronald Reagan, June Travis, Eddie Acuff, Ben Welden, Robert Barrat & Addision Richards

Directed by Nick Grinde

Andy McCaine is the ace crime reporter for a radio station. However, his exposés of corruption in high places gets him in trouble with the sponsor of his show, E.E. Nichols, who is in league with gangster Nicey Ferguson. Nichols pressures Andy's boss to demote him to a children's show, but Andy finds a way to use the kid show to bust open a murder case.

Curiously named but a great little film, Love is on the Air is historically important as the screen debut of Ronald Reagan - and he's pretty good

The Love War (1970) - 74 mins

Starring Lloyd Bridges, Angie Dickinson, Harry Basch, Daniel J. Travanti & Allen Jaffe

Directed by George McCowan

The ongoing war between the planets Argon and Zinan is slated to be resolved in a winner-take-all battle, to be held on the "neutral" planet Earth. Among the six representatives of the two planets is Argon warrior Kyle (Lloyd Bridges), who upon assuming human form arrives in a sleepy California town. Kyle's militaristic resolve is challenged by the curious emotions stirred up via his relationship with local resident Sandy (Angie Dickinson). The Love War was originally telecast on March 10, 1970 as an "ABC Movie of the Week" presentation.

The "cultist of cult" sci-fi films (actually an Aaron Spelling TV movie), this is an intelligent and excellently written piece.

Quality Note: Not the greatest of prints but sure to please in terms of content

Lucky Jordan (1942) - 84 mins

Starring Alan Ladd, Helen Walker, Marie McDonald, Sheldon Leonard & Lloyd Corrigan

Directed by Frank Tuttle

Lucky Jordan, cynical gambler and racketeer, finds one thing his luck and connections can't fix: the draft board. In the army, he fits like the proverbial square peg, and deserts to find his former henchman selling the mob's services to enemy spies and saboteurs. Meanwhile, Jill, the attractive WAC he's taken hostage, hopes to reform him (by any means at her disposal). But it takes an unexpected plot twist to make Jordan change his ways.

Alan Ladd had a style as a gangster that counterpointed well with the wonderful Sheldon Leonard. Helen Walker presented an unusually perky, sexy look that was never really exploited in the movies.

This picture is fun to watch and for a light comedy, spy thriller it was away ahead of most of it's time.

Macao (1952) - 80 mins

Starring Robert Mitchum, Jane Russell, William Bendix, Gloria Grahame & Thomas Gomez

Directed by Josef von Sternberg

A sultry night club singer, a man who has also travelled to many exotic ports and a salesman meet aboard ship on the 45-mile trip from Hong Kong to Macao. The singer is quickly hired by an American expatriate who runs the biggest casino in Macao and has a thriving business in converting hot jewels into cash. Her new boss thinks one of her travelling companions is a cop.

Machine-Gun Kelly (1958) - 80 mins

Starring Charles Bronson, Susan Cabot, Barboura Morris, Morey Amsterdam, Wally Campo & Jack Lambert.

Directed by Roger Corman

A unique crime story. A small-time thief is turned into a legend by his tough-as-nails moll. "Machine Gun" robs a chain of banks and finally turns his ambitions to kidnapping - hounded all the way by a compulsive fear of death. The photography is elegant, the acting of the lead pair and the supporting cast are all pretty much dead-on. A tight, efficient telling of a memorable tale, peopled with all sorts of interesting characters. Interestingly, this film takes the gangster genre beyond film noir by making his characters not only self-loathing but worthy of self-loathing!

One of Corman's very best films as a director.

Madame Curie (1943) - 124 mins

Starring Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, Henry Travers, Albert Bassermann & Robert Walker

Directed by Mervyn LeRoy

In turn-of- the-century Paris, poor Polish student Marie (Greer Garson) gets a chance to study magnetism with kindly professor Jean Perot (Albert Basserman). Perot also arranges for the shy scientist Pierre Curie (Walter Pidgeon) to share the lab with Marie. As they work together, Pierre and Marie fall in love. Pierre eventually musters up the courage to ask her to marry him, and she accepts. After their honeymoon, Marie becomes obsessed with a piece of pitchblende that has been displaying some peculiar properties. After five years of work, Marie discovers radium. But as the years go on, Marie and Pierre struggle to raise money to continue their research, hoping to one day be able to isolate radium from the pitchblende.

Oscar Nominations for Best Picture, Best Actor, Actress, Art Direction, Cinematography, Music, & Sound

Based on Eve Curie's book about her mother, this is the story of the discovery of X-Rays.

Madonna of the Seven Moons (1945) - 110 mins

Starring Phyllis Calvert, Stewart Granger, Patricia Roc, Peter Glenville & John Stuart

Directed by Arthur Crabtree

Though she doesn't know it at first, young convent-bred Rosalinda (Phyllis Calvert) has been born under a curse: before her life comes to a close, she will be wife, mother and mistress all in one. As a child, Rosalinda is raped by a gypsy, an experience that renders her a schizophrenic. Years later, she is the seemingly contented wife of prosperous Italian businessman Giuseppe (John Stuart) and the mother of attractive teenager Angela (Patricia Roc). From time to time, however, Rosalinda disappears from her home and retreats to the slums of Florence, where she assumes the identity of lustful gypsy girl Maddelina, the mistress of criminal leader Nino (Stewart Granger). Then she returns to her husband and daughter, completely unaware of her "other" self or even that she's been absent. Understandably curious about her mother's long absences, Angela follows Rosalinda during one of her sojourns into the Florentine underworld. Far from home and hearth, poor Angela is targetted for seduction by Sandro (Peter Glenville) - the very gypsy who'd assaulted the younger Rosalinda! And just when it seems that things can't get any more unbelievable? - well, this one is definitely better seen than described.

A classic in gothic-romantic excess, Madonna of Seven Moons was one of the most successful British films of its genre.

The Mad Miss Manton (1938) - 80 mins

Starring Barbara Stanwyck, Henry Fonda, Sam Levene, Francis Mercer & Stanley Ridges

Directed by Leigh Jason

Wealthy socialite Melsa Manton is taking her pooches for a walk in the dead of the night when she stumbles upon a dead body and a car fleeing the scene of the crime. She alerts the police but the corpse has disappeared by the time they arrive, and the lieutenant, knowing of her madcap reputation, believes she was playing a practical joke. After newspaper editor Peter Ames takes her to task in print, she sues him for libel and enlists the aid of her society friends in tracking down the body and finding the killer. Eventually, Ames comes around to believing Melsa's story and aids her in her search.

(Fonda and Stanwyck would team up again in You Belong to Me and The Lady Eve)

The Magic Box (1951) - 118 mins

Starring Robert Donat, Margaret Johnston, Maria Schell, Renee Asherson & Richard Attenborough.

Directed by John Boulting

Now old, ill, poor, and largely forgotten, William Freise-Greene was once very different. As young and handsome William Green he changed his name to include his first wife's so that it sounded more impressive for the photographic portrait work he was so good at. But he was also an inventor and his search for a way to project moving pictures became an obsession that ultimately changed the life of all those he loved.

"The Magic Box was the English film industry's contribution to the 1951 Festival of Britain. Its all-star cast generously forsook their usual salaries for the privilege of paying tribute to that unsung pioneer of cinema, William Friese-Greene, here played by Robert Donat. Adapted by Eric Ambler from the controversial biography by Ray Allister, The Magic Box contends that Friese-Greene was the true father of motion pictures, and not such upstarts as W. K. L. Dickson and Thomas Edison. Told in flashback, the film details Friese-Greene's tireless experiments with the "moving image," leading inexorably to a series of failures and disappoints, as others hog the credit for the protagonist's discoveries. The huge cast includes such British film luminaries as Joyce Grenfell, Miles Malleson, Michael Redgrave, Eric Portman, Emlyn Williams, Richard Attenborough, Peter Ustinov, Cecil Parker, Kay Walsh, and, best of all, Laurence Olivier as the confused bobby who witnesses Friese-Greene's first motion picture demonstration"

Lovers of the art (of motion pictures) should check this gem out!

The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) - 90 mins

Starring Joseph Cotton, Dolores Costello, Anne Baxter, Tim Holt & Agnes Moorehead

Directed by Orson Welles

The young & handsome Eugene Morgan wants to marry Isabel Amberson, daughter of a rich upper-class family, but she instead marries Wilbur Minafer.Years later, Eugene comes back, now a mature widower and a successful automobile maker. After Wilbur dies, Eugene again asks Isabel to marry him, and she is receptive. But Isabel & Wilbur's only child, George resents the attentions paid to his mother, and he and aunt Fanny set about sabotaging the romance.

A Tour de Force from Orson Welles - Academy Award nominations for Picture, Best Supporting Actress (Agnes Moorehead), Cinematography & Art Direction

The Magnificent Matador (1955) - 94 mins

Starring Maureen O'Hara, Anthony Quinn, Manuel Rojas, Richard Denning, Thomas Gomez & Lola Albright

Directed by Budd Boetticher

The exciting, metaphorical world of bull-fighting provides the setting for this dramatic tale of an aging toreador faced with a difficult decision after his illustrious reputation is nearly destroyed when he introduces his young rival and protege and suddenly runs from the ring. The distraught old matador finds comfort in the tender arms of an American fan. Unfortunately, her old boyfriend gets jealous and proclaims the fighter a coward. In time, the matador and his student enter the ring together for a final battle - it is here in the unforgiving arena that the true nature of their relationship is revealed.

The film's director Budd Boetticher, gives the film added realism as he, a former matador, also worked as the technical advisor. Originally, the bull-fighting scenes were more graphic, but squeamish censors intervened and the scenes were heavily edited.

Boetticher actually began his career as a technical adviser on Tyrone Power's Blood and Sand (1940) - also available from this website. He went on to much acclaim as the director of an exceptional series of Randolph Scott westerns - also available from this website.

Maigret (1988) - 94 mins

Starring Richard Harris, Patrick O'Neal, Victoria Tennant, Ian Ogilvy, Barbara Shelley & Eric Deacon

Directed by Paul Lynch

Richard Harris is not who we've always envisioned as George Simenon's workaday French police Inspector Jules Maigret but one tends to overlook this odd bit of casting as the story rolls on amidst some interesting twists & turns. The usually businesslike Maigret has trouble maintaining his objectivity when a close friend is murdered. The suspect is American business mogul Kevin Portman (Patrick O'Neal), as cagey a customer as Maigret. Their guarded Columbo-style byplay is the heart of this British TV movie.

Maigret was the latest attempt to launch an internationally produced TV series based on the Simenon character - and it was successful: Maigret, the 1992 UK TV series starred Michael Gambon in the title role after Harris declared his unavailability (Gambon also replaced Harris in the Harry Potter movie series).

Also worth a look is Charles Laughton's rendition of Maigret in The Man on the Eiffel Tower (1949) which is also available from this section of the website (see below)

Malaya (1949) - 96 mins

Starring James Stewart, Spencer Tracy, Valentina Cortese, Sydney Greenstreet, John Hodiak & Lionel Barrymore

Directed by Richard Thorpe

Spencer Tracy and James Stewart team up for this World War II adventure, based on an supposedly true incident from World War II. Stewart plays John Royer, an ex-newspaper reporter with a backhand knowledge of Malaya, and Tracy plays a criminal named Carnaghan, doing time in Alcatraz for smuggling. They are brought together for an undercover assignment - to smuggle a large shipment of rubber out of Japanese-held territory in Malaya and deliver the tonnage to awaiting U.S. ships. Carnaghan and Royer trek through the jungles and have to deal with several unscrupulous contacts including a man calling himself The Dutchman (Sydney Greenstreet) and a helpful FBI agent named Kellar (John Hodiak).

High adventure with a great cast!

Malta Story (1953) - 100 mins

Starring Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins, Anthony Steel Muriel Pavlov & Renee Asherson

Directed by Brian Desmond Hurst

WW II camera reconnaissance pilot Peter Ross (Alec Guinness) crash lands in Malta. He presents his photographs to the resident air officer (Jack Hawkins) revealing that the Italians are planning a major invasion of the island. Low on fuel and men, the officer is all but helpless as the Italians mount their attack. Only the last-minute arrival reinforcements and supplies prevent Malta from falling into the hands of the enemies but the story doesn't end there. Filmed on location, The Malta Story boasts some exceptional aerial photography, not to mention excellent performances from Guiness, Hawkins, Anthony Steele, Muriel Pavlow, Flora Robson and the rest of the stellar cast.

The Maltese Falcon (1941) - 100 mins

Starring Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Peter Lore, Sydney Greenstreet, Barton MacLane & & Peter Lorre

Directed by John Huston

Outstanding detective drama with Bogey as Dashiell Hammett's creation Sam Spade finding himself surrounded by shadey characters all greedily fighting for possession of a statue of a falcon containing priceless jewels. John Huston's first directorial effort (which he also scripted) moves at lightning pace.

Academy Award nominations for Picture, Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor

Notable for being also the initial combination of Greenstreet & Lorre on film (they appeared 8 times together).

Other films to feature the Greenstreet / Lorre combination were Casablanca (1942), Background to Danger (1943), Passage to Marseille (1944), The Mask of Dimitrios (1944), The Conspirators (1944), Three Strangers (1946 & The Verdict (1946) - all of which are available from this website.

Note : This film is part of a 2 DVD set which contains all three film versions of The Maltese Falcon - its available from the Classic Movie Combinations section of this website (under "Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon").

The Man Behind the Gun (1953) - 82 mins

Starring Randolph Scott, Patrice Wymore, Dick Wesson, Philip Carey & Roy Roberts

Directed by Felix E. Feist

Posing as a schoolteacher, undercover government agent Ransome Callicut arrives in 1850's California to gather intelligence about an insurrectionist plot to have the southern part of the state secede to the Confederate states. When he discovers a hidden cache of weapons, he reveals his true identity and assumes command of the local army post. Aided by sidekicks Monk Walker and Olaf Swenson he battles political assassination and other intrigues to unmask the ringleader of the plot and keep California in the Union.

The Man Between (1953) - 100 mins

Starring James Mason, Claire Bloom, Hildegard Knef, Geoffrey Toone, Aribert Wäscher & Ernst Schröder

Directed by Carol Reed

East Berliner Ivo Kern (Mason) is a hardened black market dealer who rescues and then falls in love with Susanne Mallison (Claire Bloom), a British woman trapped in the Soviet Zone. Despite great danger to himself, Kern takes it upon himself to escort Mallison back to her family in West Berlin. After a daring dash through the countryside, the seeming impossible is achieved but only through a conspicuous act of self sacrifice.

Incredibly suspenseful, it shares obvious parallels with director Carol Reed's earlier masterpiece The Third Man (1949) - see below

Mason & Reed had previously combined in Odd Man Out (1947) - see below.

Another fine offering from director Carol Reed - his others include Night Train to Munich (1940), Odd Man Out (1947), The Third Man (1949) & The Key (1958) - all of which are available from this website

The Manchurian Candidate (1962) - 126 mins

Starring Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Angela Lansbury, Jannet Leigh & Henry Silva

Directed by John Frankenheimer

While on patrol, Sgt. Raymond Shaw (Laurence Harvey) and his platoon are ambushed by Korean troops. Months later, Shaw is receiving a hero's welcome as he returns to the United States to accept the Congressional Medal of Honor, and several of the soldiers who served under Shaw repeatedly refer to him as "the bravest, finest, most lovable man I ever met." It soon becomes evident that after their capture by the Koreans, Shaw and his men were subjected to an intense program of brainwashing prior to their release. While several are troubled by bad dreams and inexplicable behavior, it's Capt. Bennett Marco (Frank Sinatra) who seems the most haunted by the experience. In time, Marco is able to piece together what happened; it seems Raymond Shaw was programmed by a shadowy cadre of Russian and Chinese agents into a killing machine who will assassinate anyone, even a close friend, when given the proper commands.

The Manchurian Candidate features a host of remarkable performances: Frank Sinatra's edgy, aggressive turn as Marco is the finest dramatic work of his career and Laurence Harvey's chilly onscreen demeanor perfectly suits the Raymond Shaw role. George Axelrod's screenplay (based on Richard Condon's novel) is by turns compelling, witty, and horrifying in its implications, and John Frankenheimer's direction milks it for all the tension it can muster.

A tense and intelligent political thriller, The Manchurian Candidate was a film far ahead of its time. Its themes of thought control, political assassination, and multinational conspiracy informed by Cold War paranoia make for a powerfully original mix

Oscar Nominations for Best Supporting Actress (Angela Lansbury) & Film Editing

The Man From Cairo (1953) - 81 mins

Starring George Raft, Gianna Maria Canale, Massimo Serato & Irene Papas

Directed by Ray Enright

Mike Canelli (George Raft), the man from Cairo, nosing around Algiers with mystery surrounding the people he meets and the things he does and has done to him, all deriving from the war-time theft of $100,000,000 in gold which lies somewhere in the adjacent desert. People representing many nationalities and reasons are also seeking the gold. It boils down to a battle between Canelli and the badie aboard a speeding train. Raft again to the fore.

The Man From Laramie (1955) - 104 mins

Starring James Stewart, Arthur Kennedy, Donald Crisp, Cathy O'Donnell & Alex Nicol

Directed by Anthony Mann

Will Lockhart (James Stewart) is obsessed with finding the man who sold automatic rifles to the Apaches, resulting in the death of his brother. Will enters the town of Coronado, NM, ruled by the blind and aging patriarch Alec Waggoman (Donald Crisp). Unaware that he is trespassing on Waggoman's land, he finds himself accosted by Alec's sociopathic son, Dave (Alex Nicol), who brutally beats Will and is ready to kill him. But Will is rescued at the last minute by Waggoman's adopted son, Vic Hansbro (Arthur Kennedy). Will finds that Waggoman has become increasingly concerned over who will inherit his vast empire.

A brilliant psychological Western reminiscent of Shakespeare's King Lear.

Perfect Technicolor Wide-Screen Print! - Fabulous

James Stewart & Anthony Mann: their 5 westerns together from 1950 to 1955, rewrote the cowboy story for the big screen - their's were tough, psychological though lyric masterpieces of western cinema - beautifully photographed and expertly written stories with intriguing characters and realistic action - a blueprint for westerns of the 50s (and embraced by Budd Boetticher & Randolph Scott in their excellent collaborations in the late 1950s - see the Randolph Scott section of this website)

This, The Man From Laramie (1955) was the fifth and last of this quintet of Stewart / Mann westerns - preceded by Winchester '73 (1950), Bend of the River (1952), The Naked Spur (1954) & The Far Country (1954) - each is available from this (the INDIVIDUAL MOVIE TITLES) section of the website.

All 5 westerns in the series can also be obtained in an nice boxed set from within the Classic Movie Combinations section of this website

The Man From Planet X (1951) - 70 mins

Starring Robert Clarke, Margaret Field, Raymond Bond, William Schallert, Roy Engel & David Ormont

Directed by Edgar G. Ulmer

A New York City newspaper reporter, John Lawrence (Robert Clarke) flies to a remote island off Scotland, on the invitation from scientist and long-time friend, Professor Elliot (Raymond Bond) to cover the news of the approach of a previously-unknown planet (called Planet X) which has entered the solar system and is travelling close to Earth. A spaceship from Planet X soon lands and reveals a strange little man who has come to make contact with friendly Earthlings. But evil scientist Dr. Mears (William Schallert) wants to exploit the spaceman's highly developed intellect for his own selfish ends and his nastiness turns the alien against the other Earthlings, enslaving their minds and transforming them into zombies.

This atmospheric sci-fi film is an early collaboration between legendary sci-fi director Edgar G. Ulmer and star Robert Clarke. They were to combine again almost a decade later for Beyond the Time Barrier (1960) - which is also available from this website

The Man From The Alamo (1953) - 77 mins

Starring Glenn Ford, Julie Adams, Chill Wills, Hugh O'Brian, Victor Jory & Neville Brand

Directed by Budd Boetticher

During the siege at the Alamo, John Stroud (Glenn Ford) is chosen by lot to leave the fort and warn the families of the mission's defenders of the impending arrival of General Santa Ana. But when everyone around him is wiped out by the Mexicans, Stroud has no proof that he was ordered to leave his post, and is therefore branded a coward. He spends the rest of the film performing acts of conspicuous bravery in order to clear his name - and also tracks down the real villain, Jess Wade (Victor Jory), who robbed the Alamo victims of their possessions after the smoke had cleared.

A few years before Budd Boetticher & Randolph Scott combined for their incredible series of "adult" westerns, Boetticher directed the compelling cowboy yarn, The Man From The Alamo (1953), in what is now seen to be a template for his later and more widely appreciated outings. Note that all 7 Budd Boetticher & Randolph Scott westerns are available from the Randolph Scott section of this website.

Manhandled (1949) - 97 mins

Starring Sterling Hayden, Dorothy Lamour, Dan Duryea, Irene Hervey, Phillip Reed & Alan Napier

Directed by Lewis R. Foster

Small-time hoodlum Karl Benson (Dan Duryea) uses and abuses several innocent people in his efforts to get ahead. Among Benson's victims is Merl Kramer (Dorothy Lamour), who doesn't find out about her boyfriend's perfidy until it's almost too late. Sterling Hayden co-stars as insurance investigator Joe Cooper, who likewise exploits poor Merl, albeit for a good cause: Cooper is on the trail of some missing jewels.

Produced by Paramount's Pine-Thomas unit, Manhandled is a no-nonsense film noir with a well-chosen cast whose level of tension never lets up, not even in its final scenes.

Sterling Hayden: ever the maverick, ever the individual - he preferred to sail his yacht around the world rather than act in movies. Yet despite his lack of interest in film, he was lauded and chased by the very finest directors: John Huston, Robert Altman, Francis Ford Coppola & Stanley Kubrick. In each of his roles, Hayden's individuality showed forth whatever the genre of film: noir, adventure, western & swashbuckler. He remains a huge favourite of my Dad (who introduced me to his films) and my son (to whom I, too introduced this powerful actor).

Sterling Hayden films which are available from this website are:

Manhandled (1949), Asphalt Jungle (1950), Denver & Rio Grande (1952), The Golden Hawk (1952), Fighter Attack (1953), Crime Wave (1954), Prince Valiant (1954), Johnny Guitar (1954), Naked Alibi (1954), Suddenly (1954), Battle Taxi (1955), Timberjack (1955), The Killing (1956), Crime of Passion (1954), 5 Steps to Danger (1957), Terror in a Texas Town (1958), Ten Days to Tulara (1958) & The Long Goodbye (1973)

Manhattan Melodrama (1934) - 93 mins

Starring Clark Gable, William Powell, Myrna Loy, Leo Carrillo, Nat Pendleton & George Sidney

Directed by W.S. Van Dyke

The story begins in 1904, when the excursion steamer "General Slocum" blows up and burns in the East River. Two young boys are orphaned by the disaster. They are adopted by a kindly Jewish businessman who has lost his own children. Years later, when he is killed during a anarchist rally, the boys are separated once more. They grow up to be straight-arrow attorney Jim Wade (William Powell) and big-time gambler Blackie Gallagher (Clark Gable). Though the two men still like and respect one another, they are now on opposite sides of the legal fence. The professional rivalry becomes personal when Jim marries Blackie's ex-mistress Eleanor (Myrna Loy).

Fabulous - Oscar Winner for Best Screenplay.

Yes, this is the film for which John Dillinger found his final curtain: he was a big fan of Myrna Loy, so he snuck into a cinema to watch this film - the police were waiting for him when he came out!

The story of John Dillinger as told on film (and including the above final scene) can be found in two movies which available from this website: Dillinger (1945) & Dillinger (1973)

Man Hunt (1941) - 105 mins

Starring Walter Pigeon, Joan Bennett, George Sanders, John Carradine & Roddy McDowell

Directed by Fritz Lang

A hunter finds himself in a world of danger when he pursues a new and dangerous quarry,Adolph Hitler, in this WWII thriller. Capt. Thorndike (Walter Pidgeon) is an expert big-game hunter from England who, while vacationing in Bavaria, happens upon Hitler's Berchtesgaden estate; he has his rifle in tow, and he quickly realizes that it would be surprisingly easy to assassinate the fascist leader. After catching Hitler in the crosshairs of his rifle, Thorndike is about to load and fire when he is ambushed by Maj. Quive-Smith (George Sanders), a Gestapo leader assigned to guard the Führer. By the time Thorndike returns to London, the hunter has become the hunted, with Gestapo agents combing the streets of London looking for the would-be assassin. Thorndike finds an unlikely ally in Jerry (Joan Bennett), a seamstress and sometimes streetwalker who takes him in and helps him hide from the German forces closing in around him.

Man Hunt was directed by Fritz Lang, the great German director who fled to Paris in 1933 rather than accept a commission from Joseph Goebbels to make Nazi propaganda films.

A taut thriller adapted from Geoffrey Household's equally tense novel "Rogue Male."

Man Hunt (1941) was remade as Rogue Male (1976) starring Peter O'Toole - also available from this website.

Both films are available in interesting combinations from within the Classic Movie Combinations section of this website: British Espionage Combination & Man Hunt / Rogue Male Combination.

Geoffrey Household also wrote the excellent Rough Shoot - filmed as Rough Shoot (1953) aka Shoot First (1953) - which is available from this website (under the former title).

The Man in Grey (1943) - 116 mins

Starring James Mason, Margaret Lockwood, Phyllis Calvert & Stewart Granger

Directed by Leslie Arliss

At an estate auction in WWII England, two strangers meet and muse about their families' history and possible connections. Flashbacks reveal the story of the sweet, rich, and beautiful Clarissa Richmond and her friendship with bitter, impoverished Hesther Snow. Their fates are intertwined even as their paths diverge. Clarissa marries the handsome but cruel Marquis of Rohan while Hesther becomes an actress. Eventually, the two women meet again and Clarissa brings the scheming Hester into her household. As Clarissa searches for true love, Hesther plots to take away everything that belongs to her.

First in a great trilogy of James Mason noirs - followed by The Seventh Veil (1945) & Odd Man Out (1947)

All 3 films are available from this website

Man in the Attic (1953) - 82 mins

Starring Jack Palance, Constance Smith, Byron Palmer, Frances Bavier & Rhys Williams

Directed by Hugo Fregonese

Jack Palance plays a mild, secretive pathologist who rents an attic apartment in the heart of London. Palance falls in love with dancer Constance Smith, daughter of the landlady, but she doesn't seem interested. Meanwhile, several unsolved murders of women have been committed on the fogbound London streets and all of the victims are showgirls.

A remake of Mary Belloc Lowndes suspense story The Lodger which is also available from this website

The Man in the Iron Mask (1939) - 112 mins

Starring Louis Hayward, Joan Bennett, Warren William, Joseph Schildkraut, Alan Hale, Miles Mander & Bert Roach

Directed by James Whale

The title character (Philippe of Gascony) is the rightful King of France, who has been imprisoned by his pretender-to-the-throne twin brother (both roles are played by Louis Hayward). Warren William plays musketeer D'Artagnan, who rallies his now aged swashbuckling companions Porthos (Alan Hale), Athos (Bert Roach) and Aramis (Miles Mander), to rescue the real King, whom they have raised from infancy.

Fabulous adventure!

Directed by the legendary James Whale of Frankenstein / The Invisible Man fame

The Man in the Iron Mask is independent producer Edward Small's 1939 edition of the Alexandre Dumas classic.

Small had previously produced The Count of Monte Cristo (another Dumas tale) in 1934, as well as its 1940 sequel The Son of Monte Cristo and followed up with 1941's The Corsican Brothers from another Dumas work - all four are available from this website.

Louis Hayward made a number of "swashbucklers" during his career - there was The Man in the Iron Mask (1939) and The Son of Monte Cristo (1940) followed by The Black Arrow in 1948. Then he filmed The Pirates of Capri (1949) in Italy for legendary director Edgar G. Ulmer, before combining again with The Black Arrow's director Gordon Douglas and co-star George Macready for Fortunes of Captain Blood (1950). Louis Hayward next played Dick Turpin in The Lady and the Bandit (1951) before Captain Pirate (1952) marked his last swordplay movie. He then moved to TV for The Lone Wolf TV series - each of the above films are available from this website, whilst the TV series is available in the TV Series section of this website.

The Man in the Net (1959) - 94 mins

Starring Alan Ladd, Carolyn Jones, Diane Brewster, John Lipton & Charles McGraw

Directed by Michael Curtiz

John Hamilton has retreated to the New England countryside to pursue a potential career as an artist, but his wife Linda wants to go back to New York. She is observed as being both drunk and a little strange, while John is clearly the anchor in the relationship. When Linda disappears, John is immediately suspected of doing away with his troublesome wife, and so a net of suspicion and circumstantial evidence closes in ever-tightening circles around him.

An intriguing story with a strong performance from Alan Ladd in one of his last film roles

Man in the Saddle (1951) - 87 mins

Starring Randolph Scott, Joan Leslie, Ellen Drew, Alexander Knox & John Russell

Directed by André De Toth

A rancher is forced to stand by as his girl friend is lured away by a wealthy neighboring rancher. When the neighbor is killed, Scott is accused of the murder, and must clear himself. After a blood-spattered fistfight with a gunslinger and several gun battles, Scott consoles himself with schoolteacher Ellen Drew. Based on a novel by Ernest Haycox, Man in the Saddle was the first of the lucrative collaborations between star Randolph Scott and producer Harry Joe Brown.

Man in the Vault (1956) - 73 mins

Starring William Campbell, Karen Sharpe, Anita Ekberg, Berry Kroeger & Paul Fix

Directed by Andrew V. McLaglen

Frank Gruber's novel The Lock and the Key was adapted for the big screen by Burt Kennedy as The Man in the Vault. William Campbell stars as a locksmith who is forced to work for a gang of thieves. The bad guys want Campbell to make duplicates of the keys to a safety deposit box containing nearly a quarter of a million dollars. Complicating matters is his involvement with mercenary sweetheart Karen Sharpe and gang moll Anita Ekberg. The film benefits from its on-location photography in and around Beverly Hills. Man in the Vault was produced by John Wayne's Batjac company, and directed by one of the Duke's favorite coworkers, Andrew V. McLaglen (son of frequent Wayne costar Victor McLaglen).

Burt Kennedy became quite famous as the screenplay writer of a number of Randolph Scott / Budd Boetticher westerns - all of which are available from this website.

Man on a String (1960) - 92 mins

Starring Ernest Borgnine, Kerwin Mathews, Colleen Dewhurst, Alexander Scourby & Glenn Corbett

Directed by André De Toth

An exciting spy drama by Andre De Toth, Man on a String is based on an autobiography by counterspy Boris Morros, here given the name of Boris Mitrov and played by Ernest Borgnine. Mitrov was born in Russia but had been a citizen of the U.S. for some time when he joins up with a Russian spy network. He is caught out by the CIA, and they offer him a deal: go to the USSR and spy for our side, or else.

The scenes shot in Moscow and Berlin add convincing realism to the action.

The Man on the Eiffel Tower (1949) - 95 mins

Starring Charles Laughton, Franchot Tone, Burgess Meredith, Robert Hutton, Jean Wallace & Patricia Roc

Directed by Burgess Meredith

In this excellent film version of Georges Simenon's A Battle of Nerves, the analytical Inspector Maigret (Charles Laughton) faces off against the wily murderer, Radek (Franchot Tone), a psychotic with delusions of grandeur who has been seduced into killing the wealthy aunt of slatternly Edna Wallace (Jean Wallace). Maigret suspects Radek, but without solid proof he must suffer the taunting and baiting of the beyond-the-law killer.

Guess where the final scene plays out?

Laughton and Tone "squaring-up" against one another - marvellous!

Also worth a look is Richard Harris' rendition of Maigret in Maigret (1988) which is also available from this section of the website (see above)

Quality Note: Originally filmed with the Anscocolor process - a film stock that does deteriorate over time. However I've had some success with restoration of this print - the results are still variable (because the original also varies through the tones) but I think improved

Manpower (1941) - 102 mins

Starring Edward G. Robinson, Marlene Dietrich, George Raft, Alan Hale, Eve Arden & Frank McHugh.

Directed by Raoul Walsh

What a cast! - A stormy atmosphere sets the mood for this story of competition, lust and love. Edward G. Robinson and George Raft work on a road crew for the power company. When they aren't trying to repair downed lines, they are vying for the attention of Marlene Dietrich. Robinson and Raft at their best with a strong supporting cast.

The fascinating and alluring Marlene Dietrich! - movies starring this amazing woman and which are available from this website are: Morocco (1930), Dishonored (1931), Shanghai Express (1932), The Scarlet Empress (1934), The Devil Is a Woman (1935), Knight Without Armour (1937), Destry Rides Again (1939), Seven Sinners (1940), Manpower (1941), The Spoilers (1942), Pittsburgh (1942) & Golden Earrings (1947)

The Man They Could Not Hang (1939) - 64 mins

Starring Boris Karlof, Lorna Gray, Robert Wilcox, Roger Pryor, Don Beddoe & Ann Doran

Directed by Nick Grinde

Dr. Henryk Savaard is a brilliant heart expert who has created a pump that will allow him to place a patient in a state of death so that vital organs can be replaced with few problems. His first experiment on a human quickly goes awry when his nurse Betty sends for the police. The experiment is interrupted leaving the young man dead and Savaard in jail. He is sentenced to hang, but unleashes a bitter diatribe against his executioners promising to avenge his death. After his hanging, Savaard's assistant, Stoddard hooks up the corpse to the heart pump and resurrects his boss. Several months pass and a local reporter discovers that six of the jurors in the case have mysteriously committed suicide - all by hanging.

Karloff in another "mad doctor" role for Columbia

The Man Who Haunted Himself (1970) - 89 mins

Starring Roger Moore, Hildegarde Neil, Alastair Mackenzie, Kevork Malikyan, Anton Rogers & Freddie Jones

Directed by Basil Dearden

Roger Moore stars as wealthy business executive Harold Pelham, who becomes involved in a terrible car accident. While recovering from his injuries, his alter ego is unleashed and begins to live Pelham's life where he left off. When Pelham returns to his home and his job, he discovers his alter ego has not only undermined his business, but began an affair with a minor acquaintance and revitalized his previously unexciting sex life with his wife.

A neat and perplexing psychological thriller, adapted from the episode of the Alfred Hitchcock Presents TV series: The Case of Mr. Pelham starring Tom Ewell (in the Roger Moore role) and which was directed by Alfred Hitchcock - its from Season One of the TV series and is available from the TV Series section of this website.

Roger Moore made only two films after finishing The Saint TV series and before his first Bond feature Live and Let Die (1973): Crossplot (1969) & The Man Who Haunted Himself (1970) - both of which are available from this website.

Roger Moore made some interesting films in and around his James Bond tour of duty: Sherlock Holmes in New York (1976), Shout at the Devil (1976), ffolkes (1979) & The Naked Face (1984) - all of which are available from this website

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934) - 75 mins

Starring Leslie Banks, Edna Best, Peter Lorre, Frank Vosper & Hugh Wakefield

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

While vacationing in Switzerland, Britons Leslie Banks and Edna Best befriend jovial Frenchman Pierre Fresnay. Not long afterward, Fresnay is murdered. He whispers a secret in Banks' ear before expiring. This is witnessed by several sinister foreign agents, who kidnap Banks' daughter Nova Pilbeam to keep him from revealing what he knows: That a diplomat will be assassinated during a concert at London's Albert Hall. Unable to turn to the police, Banks desperately attempts to rescue his child himself, still hoping to prevent the assassination.

The first film version of The Man Who Knew too Much proved to be the international "breakthrough" film for British director Alfred Hitchcock, transforming him from merely a talented domestic filmmaker to a worldwide household name. The film's now-famous set-pieces include the "Siege of Sidney Street" re-creation and the climactic clash of cymbals at Albert Hall, followed by the crucial scream of Edna Best. German film star Peter Lorre made his English-speaking debut in The Man Who Knew Too Much, though he was still monolingual in 1934 and had to learn his lines phonetically. Written by A. R. Rawlinson, Charles Bennett, D.B. Wyndham Lewis, Emlyn Williams and Edwin Greenwood (an impressive lineup for a 75-minute film!), Man Who Knew Too Much was remade by Hitchcock himself in 1956.

The Man Who Watched Trains Go By (1952) - 82 mins

Starring Claude Rains, Marius Goring, Märta Torén, Ferdy Mayne, Herbert Lom & Anouk Aimée

Directed by Harold French

Claude Rains stars as Kees Popinga, chief clerk for a Dutch trading company. Scrupulously honest, Popinga goes off the deep end when he discovers that his employer has been cooking the books to support a mistress. Upon learning that his boss intends to abscond from Brussels to Paris with company funds, Popinga prevents this from happening by stealing the money himself. Ultimately, he becomes entangled with the very woman (Märta Torén) who'd caused his boss' downfall. Claude Rains again to the fore in a wonderfully controlled performance.

A Georges Simenon novel was the source for this Anglo-American film which was released in the USA as The Paris Express.

Fabulous Color Print!

The Man With The Golden Arm (1955) - 119 mins

Starring Frank Sinatra, Eleanor Parker, Kim Novak, Darren McGavin & Arnold Stang.

Directed by Otto Preminger

This powerful drama, which broached the subject of drug addiction in a stark and realistic manner, may be mild by today's standards, but was a groundbreaking and edgy film in its day. The legendary Frank Sinatra plays addict, Frankie Machine, with Eleanor Parker playing his disabled wife. Based on the novel by Nelson Algren.

Academy Award nominations for Best Actor, Best Score, Best Art Direction - Set Decoration

Mara Maru (1952) - 98 mins

Starring Errol Flynn, Ruth Roman, Raymond Burr, Paul Picerni & Richard Webb

Directed by Gordon Douglas

Flynn plays deep-sea diver Gregory Mason, who is hired to locate a sunken PT boat bearing a diamond-encrusted religious icon. Mason's employer on this mission is the disreputable Brock Benedict (Raymond Burr), a firm believer in the old buccaneer credo that "dead men tell no tales." Aware that he's expendable once he finds the treasure, Mason stalls as long as he can, hoping that Benedict and his crooked flunkies will end up wiping out one another. He also intends to claim the treasure for himself, rather than turn it over to the proper authorities. Ruth Roman co-stars as Stella Callahan, the widow of Mason's former partner, who wants nothing more than for Mason to return the gem-studded cross to its rightful owners (well, maybe she wants Mason, too).

Excellent Errol Flynn adventure from Warner Bros with a good score from Max Steiner.

Now an excellent quality print - free upgrades to previous customers (with one small condition)

Margin for Error (1943) - 74 mins

Starring Joan Bennett, Milton Berle, Otto Preminger. Carl Esmond & Howard Freeman

Directed by Otto Preminger

Clare Booth Luce's stage play Margin for Error was transferred to the screen in 1943 with Milton Berle starring as Moe Finkelstein, a Jewish Brooklyn policeman assigned to guard Nazi consul Karl Baumer (Otto Preminger) in pre-WW II New York. Baumer is not only an anti-Semitic brute, but he's also a crook, siphoning off German consulate funds for his own use. His perfidy is well known by his wife Sophie (Joan Bennett), who married Baumer only to save her family from a concentration camp, and by Baumer's assistant Baron von Alvenstor (Carl Esmond). Thus, when Baumer is found dead of poison, stabbing and gunshot wounds, Sophie and the Baron are immediately suspected of murder. But Finkelstein comes to the rescue by piecing together the clues and coming up with a bizarre, but credible, solution to the crime.

Having previously directed himself as Karl Baumer in the Broadway version of Margin for Error, Otto Preminger felt qualified to do the same in the film version.

Check out Milton Berle's other two comedies from the same era in the Classic Movie Combinations section of this website

Marine Raiders (1944) - 90 mins

Starring Pat O'Brien, Robert Ryan, Ruth Hussey, Frank McHugh & Barton MacLane

Directed by Harold D. Schuster

Two Marine officers and their company go on leave when the Army takes over during the Guadalcanal invasion. Their leave is spent in Australia where one of the officers falls in love with a woman. His pal, afraid that there will be no turning back for his buddy, receives orders that send them both back to the US to train recruits. Naturally, his friend is quite upset by this sudden turn and refuses to talk to his pal until a subsequent mission gives them the chance to stop briefly in Australia.

"The jungle battle scenes in the opening of this film incorporate an atmosphere one usually finds in film noir. The portrayal of Guadalcanal and the related background music tend in this direction, which was not found in many of the war movies of 1944. Special credit should be given to the director of lighting, especially relative to the deep three-dimensional effect created with the interplay of light and dark"

Quite a good role for Robert Ryan (notably his first "lead" role although the dependable Pat O'Brien is rated at the top of the credits)

The Mark of Zorro (1940) - 93 mins

Starring Tyrone Power, Linda Darnell, Basil Rathbone, Gale Sondergaard & Eugene Pallette

Directed by Rouben Mamoulian

Around 1820 the son of a California nobleman comes home from Spain to find his native land under a villainous dictatorship. On the one hand he plays the useless fop, while on the other he is the masked avenger Zorro.

A most famous story with Tyrone Power, the best Zorro, duelling Basil Rathbone - fabulous!

Tyrone Power: that fabulous adventurer … other great Tyrone Power movies available from this website are: Johnny Apollo (1940), Blood and Sand (1941), The Black Swan (1942), Son of Fury (1942), The Razor's Edge (1946), Captain From Castile (1947), Nightmare Alley (1947), Prince of Foxes (1949), The Black Rose (1950), American Guerrilla in the Philippines (1950), Diplomatic Courier (1952) & King of the Khyber Rifles (1953).

Marlowe (1969) - 96 mins

Starring James Garner, Gayle Hunnicutt, Carroll O'Connor, Rita Moreno, Sharon Farrell & William Daniles

Directed by Paul Bogart

Based on Chandler's The Little Sister, Marlowe involves the detective's efforts to locate the missing brother of Orfamay Quest. He follows the clues to two men who deny any knowledge of the brother's existence. Since both men soon find themselves on the wrong end of an ice pick, Marlowe deduces that there's more to this caper than a mere missing-person case. The plot thickens as more characters are added (in true Chandler fashion) to the intrigues, including Gayle Hunnicutt, Hunnicutt's gangster boyfriend H.M. Wynant and stripper Rita Moreno. A pre-stardom Bruce Lee shows up as a karate-happy thug who lays waste to Marlowe's office shortly before suffering a spectacular demise.

Vintage Garner in a solid sleuth story with sophisticated plot twists!

Note that this film is part of the Philip Marlowe "at the Movies" Combination which can be found in the Classic Movie Combinations section of this website

The Mask of Dimitrios (1944) - 95 mins

Starring Sydney Greenstreet, Zachary Scott, Faye Emerson & Peter Lorre

Directed by Jean Negulesco

A mystery writer named Leyden is intrigued by the tale of notorious criminal Dimitrios Makropolous, whose body was found washed up on the shore in Istanbul. He decides to follow the career of Dimitrios around Europe, to learn more about the man. The more he learns about this man, the more fascinated he becomes, and he smells a great story. Dimitrios is a con man, a thief, a blackmailer, and a spy for hire, and his victims tell their stories in a series of flashbacks. One of these is a nightclub owner, who owns a nightclub in Sofia; another is a police detective; another a spy. Finally, Cornelius meets Mr. Peters who has some startling information and a plan!

Great and intriguing story with Greenstreet and Lorre to the fore.

Other films to feature the Greenstreet / Lorre combination were The Maltese Falcon (1941), Casablanca (1942), Background to Danger (1943), Passage to Marseille (1944), The Conspirators (1944), Three Strangers (1946 & The Verdict (1946) - all of which are available from this website.

The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932) - 68 mins

Starring Boris Karloff, Lewis Stone, Karen Morley, Charles Starrett & Myrna Loy

Directed by Charles Brabin

Boris Karloff stars as the villainous Dr. Fu Manchu in this adventure yarn, based on Sax Rohmer's fictional villain. Sir Nayland Smith of the British Secret Service recruits Sir Lionel Barton to lead an expedition with Prof. Von Berg and McLeod to the Gobi Desert, to find the tomb of Genghis Khan and retrieve the scimitar and golden mask held within. To Barton, these are mere archeological trophies, but Smith has learned that Dr. Fu Manchu also has his designs on them; and if he gets hold of these artifacts, he will use them to cause a rising in the East, and foment a war for the destruction. The action is fast and furious, as Barton is kidnapped and brought to Fu Manchu, who proceeds to torture him to find the location of the tomb. Barton's daughter, Sheila replaces her father to guide the expedition, accompanied by her fiancé, Terry Granville (a pre-cowboy, Charles Starrett). They find the tomb and retrieve the sword and mask, and find themselves in the company of Nayland Smith as they try to return to England, and surrounded by enemies on all sides.

Fabulous adventure - this film is also available as part of the Fu Manchu Movie Series Collection which can be found in the Movie Series section of this website.

Mask of the Avenger (1951) - 83 mins

Starring John Derek, Anthony Quinn, Jody Lawrence, Arnold Moss & Eugene Iglesias

Directed by Phil Karlson

John Derek stars as Capt. Renatu Dimorna, the son of an Italian aristocrat, who vows revenge after his father is murdered during the European political upheaval of 1848. To this end, Dimorna becomes a dashing Robin Hood type, swashbuckling his way throughout Italy. His principal rival is a traitorous military leader (Anthony Quinn), who is also Dimorna's rival for the affections of a beautiful woman (Jody Lawrance).

Fabulous escapism - John Derek bouncing off a similar role in the previous years Rogues of Sherwood Forest (1950) - which is available from the INDIVIDUAL MOVIE TITLES section

Mask of the Dragon (1951) - 56 mins

Starring Richard Travis, Sheila Ryan, Sid Melton, Michael Whalen & Lyle Talbot

Directed by Sam Newfield

Lt. Dan Oliver, an American soldier in Korea, agrees to deliver a jade dragon statuette to a curio shop in Los Angeles. Soon after his arrival, he is murdered. Phil Ramsey (Richard Travis) and Ginny O'Donnell (Sheila Ryan) trace the murder to the shop of Professor Kim Ho. Ramsey receives a package mailed to him by Oliver from Honolulu that contains the jade dragon, and takes it to the curio shop to force a showdown with Kim Ho.

Nice nourish adventure!

The Master of Ballantrae (1953) - 90 mins

Starring Errol Flynn, Roger Livesey, Anthony Steel, Beatrice Campbell, Yvonne Furneaux & Felix Aylmer

Directed by William Keighley

Errol Flynn buckled his last swash in The Master of Ballantrae, playing out the final film of his Warner Brothers contract in this high seas adventure, liberally adapted from the Robert Louis Stevenson yarn. Flynn plays Jamie Durrisdeer, a Scottish heir, who fights for freedom against the British. When the rebels are defeated, Jamie must flee to the West Indies with Col. Francis Burke (Roger Livesey), an Irish soldier of fortune, in order to escape capture. After battling pirates, Jamie puts together a small fortune and returns to Scotland to marry his true love, Lady Alison (Beatrice Campbell). But Jamie's hopes are dashed when he finds that Lady Alison, thinking that Jamie was dead, is now engaged to his brother Henry (Anthony Steel), who may have betrayed Jamie to the English.

Fabulous color production with Errol still going strong!

The McConnell Story (1955) - 106 mins

Starring Alan Ladd, June Allyson, James Whitmore, Frank Faylen, Robert Ellis & Willis Bouchey

Directed by Gordon Douglas

Alan Ladd plays real-life air force hero Captain Joseph McConnell Jr. in this inspirational biopic, with June Allyson as McConnell's anxious, waiting-nervously-at-home wife. Assigned to the medical corps during WWII, McConnell takes private flying lessons so that he'll qualify for pilot duty. After serving with distinction in the war, McConnell becomes a pioneer in the testing of jet aircraft.

The real Captain Joseph McConnell died only a few weeks before filming started on The McConnell Story

Meet Nero Wolfe (1936) - 73 mins

Starring Edward Arnold, Lionel Stander, Dennie Moore, Victor Jory, Nan Bryant & Joan Perry

Directed by Herbert J. Biberman

Rex Stout's overweight, under-exercised detective Nero Wolfe was first brought to the screen in 1936 in the portly person of Edward Arnold. As brusque and short-tempered as ever, Wolfe tackles the case of a college professor who met his doom while playing golf, a tragedy followed by the seemingly unrelated death of a young mechanic. Dispatched to do Wolfe's leg work is his acerbic aide Archie Goodwin (Lionel Stander), who manages to discover that both deaths were tied in with a new weapon which silently shoots poisoned needles.

Well directed by Broadway veteran Herbert Biberman - a must for the fans

Note: Trev has restored the Nero Wolfe radio shows - check out the Old Time Radio section of this website

Men in War (1957) - 102 mins

Starring Robert Ryan, Aldo ray, Robert Keith, Phillip Pine, Nehemiah Persoff & Vic Morrow

Directed by Anthony Mann

Anthony Mann, best known for hard-boiled crime films, directed this unflinching look at the realities of war set against the backdrop of the Korean conflict. Lt. Mark Benson (Robert Ryan) is the leader of a platoon that has just been given orders to advance to Hill 465, where they are to join awaiting troops and advance on the territory. While Benson and his men are weary, they have little choice but to comply. Needing a transport for their weapons, Benson and his men commandeer a truck, only to discover that it's not empty - Sgt. "Montana" Williamette (Aldo Ray) has been ordered to escort a colonel (Robert Keith) suffering from extreme battle fatigue to a field hospital for examination and treatment. While Benson's loyalty is to his troops and his mission, Montana refuses to turn over the truck; the colonel is one of the only men he's been able to rely on during his stretch in the Army, and he is determined to stand by him in his time of need. Either way, the men find themselves frequently confronted by danger, and their numbers are decimated when they're ambushed by enemy troops. The supporting cast includes Vic Morrow, who five years later would confront the dark side of war on a weekly basis as star of the TV series Combat.

Merrill's Marauders (1962) - 98 mins

Starring Jeff Chandler, Ty Hardin, Peter Brown, Andrew Duggan, Will Hutchins & Claude Akins

Directed by Samuel Fuller

Jeff Chandler stars as Brig. Gen. Frank D. Merrill, commanding a regiment in Burma during World War II. Surrounded on all sides by the Japanese, Merrill's Marauders nonetheless accomplish their objective - only to be ordered into another mission with barely a chance to breathe. Again and again this happens, and again and again the Marauders remain fiercely loyal to the dauntless Merrill.

A jaw-dropping cast of Warner Brothers TV stars fills the acting roster here: Ty "Bronco" Lane, Peter "Lawman" Brown, Will "Sugarfoot" Hutchins & Andrew "Bourbon Street Beat" Duggan

Adapted by director Samuel Fuller and producer Milton Sperling from a novel by Charlton Ogburn Jr.,

Merrill's Marauders is Jeff Chandler's last film before his untimely death in The Philippines from blood poisoning after an operation for a slipped disc.

Merrily We Live (1938) - 95 mins

Starring Constance Bennett, Brian Aherne, Alan Mowbray, Billie Burke & Patsy Kelly

Directed by Norman Z. McLeod

Dizzy society matron Emily Kilbourne has a habit of hiring ex-cons and hobos as servants. Her latest find is a handsome "tramp" who shows up at her doorstep and soon ends up in a chauffeur's uniform. E. Wade Rawlins is this gentleman vagabond and whilst his down-to-earth attitude jars against the high-toned phoniness of Burke's wealthy household, he soon manages to "humanized" everyone around him. He also falls in love with Burke's daughter Constance Bennett, the snootiest member of the family.

A Fabulous comedy with Alan Mowbray a stand-out!

Oscar Nominated for Best Supporting Actress (Billie Burke), Art Direction, Cinematography, Music & Sound Recording

Midnight Taxi (1937) - 73 mins

Starring Brian Donlevy, Francis Drake, Alan Dinehart, Sig Ruman, Gilbert Roland & Harold Huber

Directed by Eugene Forde

Chick Gardner is a federal agent who poses as a New York cab driver. His plan is to use his cover to expose a gang of counterfeiters, who've been using taxis as their means of distribution. Befriending a cabbie who's in the employ of the crooks, Chick is able to join the gang, though several gang-members remain suspicious of his motives. Before Gardner is able to break the back of the operation, he is forced to extricate his sweetheart Gilda Lee (Frances Drake) from a very perilous predicament.

Brain Donlevy is great in this exciting film.

Millions Like Us (1943) - 103 mins

Starring Patricia Roc, Gordon Jackson, Anne Crawford, Basil Radford, Naunton Wayne & Eric portman

Directed by Sidney Gilliat & Frank Launder

An honest dramatization of the British "home front" during World War II. Patricia Roc plays a worker in a defense plant who lives in an all-female rooming house. Shy and sheltered, Roc loses some of her inhibitions when she falls in love with an airman (Gordon Jackson). After they marry, he is killed in battle. Roc's coworkers and friends rally round her, giving her the strength to persevere. Millions Like Us attempts to show the temporary breakdown of the British class structure during the war, with everyone- highborn to low-pitching in, working together, and bolstering one another's morale. That the old social system would inevitably resume after the war wasn't important to British movie fans, who lined up in droves to see Millions Like Us.

Yes that’s Basil Radford & Naunton Wayne in the cast and yes they do recreate their Charters & Caldicott roles (from a series of films incl The Lady Vanishes, Night Train to Munich & Crook's Tour)

There is a special Charters & Caldicott DVD set (which includes all 4 of these films) in the Classic Movie Combination section of this website

Ministry of Fear (1944) - 85 mins

Starring Ray Milland, Marjorie, Reynolds, Carl Esmond, Dan Duryea, Hillary Brooke & Alan Napier

Directed by Fritz Lang

Stephen Neale is released into WWII England after two years in an asylum, but it doesn't seem so sane outside either. On his way back to London to rejoin civilization, he stumbles across a murderous spy ring and doesn't quite know who to turn to for help. An atmospheric thriller with a fine cast and classic touches from director Lang.

Mirage (1965) - 108 mins

Starring Gregory Peck, Diane Baker, Walter Matthau, Kevin McCarthy, Jack Weston & Leif Erickson

Directed by Edward Dmytryk

A dazed man, David Stillwell (Gregory Peck), wanders down the stairs of a New York skyscraper during a power blackout, only vaguely aware of who he is, where he's been, and why he has this nagging feeling that danger lurks all about him. Stillwell does know that many of the people in the building are acquainted with him - and that he is somehow linked with the death of wealthy philanthropist Charles Calvin (Walter Abel), who has fallen 27 floors to his death (a special effect that was remarkable for its time). From this point onward, everyone Stillwell meets is connected with Calvin's death, or is in some way threatening Stillwell's well-being. When he seeks the help of Dr. Pepper-imbibing private eye Ted Caselle (Walter Matthau), he is told that "you don't want to remember" - shortly before Caselle is murdered by persons unknown. Only the enigmatic Sheila (Diane Baker) evinces any real sympathy, and she too is part of the conspiracy aimed at silencing and/or neutralizing the dumbfounded Stillwell.

Mirage has far too many twists of plot to go into here, but everything is satisfactorily explained.

A great amnesia picture, Trev well remembers his first viewing of this marvellous Hitchcockian thriller

The Misfits (1961) - 124 mins

Starring Clark Gable, Montgomery Clift, Marilyn Munroe, Eli Wallach, Kevin McCarthy & Thelma Ritter

Directed by John Huston

The final film of stars Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe is an elegy for the death of the Old West from writer Arthur Miller and director John Huston. Gable stars as Gay Langland, an aging hand traveling the byways and working at rodeos with his two comrades, Guido (Eli Wallach) and young Perce Howland (Montgomery Clift). The three men come up with a plan to corral some misfit mustangs and sell them for dog food, but Gay's new girlfriend Roslyn Taber (Marilyn Monroe), a high-minded ex-stripper who has just divorced her husband Ray (Kevin McCarthy) in Reno, is appalled by the plan. Although both Guido and Perce are also in love with Roslyn, she stands by Gay, sure that in the end he will do the right thing, even as he and his pals begin their planned roundup.

Great action / adventure with Gable in super form - the final scene of the film are filled with such poignancy (given what was to happen to Gable & Munroe) that one can appreciate why Huston elected to not use a "The End" card … the black sky gives way to blackness and the film stops!

Mission to Moscow (1943) - 123 mins

Starring Walter Huston, Ann Harding, Oskar Homolka, George Tobias, Gene Lockhart & Eleanor Parker

Directed by Michael Curtiz

Requested by President Roosevelt to make a film supportive of America's Russian allies, Warner Bros. turned to the memoirs of Ambassador Joseph H. Davies, who spent several years prior to WWII in the Soviet Union.

Sent to Moscow by FDR as a means of finding out if Russia is a potentially trustworthy ally in case of war, Davies and his family are given the royal treatment by the Commissars, who display the social, technological, agricultural and artistic advances made under the Stalin regime.

The film is preceded by a 6-minute prologue delivered by the real Joseph Davies.

Top-rank entertainment, superbly and excitingly assembled in the manner typical of Warners and director Michael Curtiz and a tour-de-force for Walter Huston (who is fabulous)!

Oscar Nomination for Best B&W Art Direction

Like The North Star (1943) and Days of Glory (1944) - both of which are available from this website - Mission to Moscow presents the courage and resourcefulness of the Soviet Union during WW2 - long before the Russians became the stock villains in Hollywood films!

Mister Buddwing (1966) - 100 mins

Starring James Garner, Jean Simmons, Suzanne Pleshette, Katherine Ross, Angela Lansbury & George Voskovec

Directed by Delbert Mann

A well-dressed man wakes up on a bench in New York's Central Park, with no idea of who he is, or how he got there. All he can find in his pockets are a train schedule, a couple of drug capsules, and a piece of paper with a phone number on it. On his right hand: a ring with a cracked stone; engraved on the inside of the band is the inscription, "From G.V." Armed with these meager clues, the man, adopting the name "Buddwing" (inspired by a passing Budweiser beer truck and a plane flying overhead), sets out to learn his true identity. Along the way, he encounters a variety of people, including three different women who each reminds him in some way of someone named "Grace".

Another intriguing "amnesia" film with parallels to Mirage (1965) which is also available from this website (above)

Nominated for Oscars in Art Direction & Costume Design

The Mob (1951) - 87 mins

Starring Broderick Crawford, Betty Buehler, Richard Kiley, Otto Hulett, Matt Crowley, Neville Brand & Ernest Borgnine

Directed by Robert Parrish

Broderick Crawford plays Johnny Damico, a detective who suddenly finds himself up to his neck in trouble and his career on the line. Going home in the rain one night, he finds himself just a few feet from a shooting on a dark street, where the gunman claims to be a detective from another precinct, flashing a real badge and then slipping away. Damico discovers that the victim of the shooting was a witness who was to have appeared before a grand jury investigating waterfront crime, and that the same man who shot him also murdered the chief investigator on the case just a few hours earlier (which is where the badge came from). Damico could lose his job, but instead he's given the chance to redeem himself - he's sent undercover and given a new identity as New Orleans tough-guy Tim Flynn, who insinuates himself onto the New York waterfront when he arrives on ship. He manages to hook up with union thug Joe Castro (Ernest Borgnine) and his strong-arm man Gunner (Neville Brand), who try to frame him for a murder that also gets a potential stoolie out of the way and that hooks Damico up with crooked police sergeant Bennion. After following one blind alley involving a federal agent (Richard Kiley) working as a longshoreman, Damico manages to get an intro to Blackie Clegg (Matt Crowley), the man working behind Castro, Gunner who's as cool and slippery as they come and as sadistic as he is vengeful.

Excellent B&W print of a classic 50s noir!

Fans of Broderick Crawford might like to check out his other starring roles in nourish dramas: All the King's Men (1949), Scandal Sheet (1952) & New York Confidential (1955) which are also available from this website.

Mogambo (1953) - 115 mins

Starring Clark Gable, Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly Donald Sinden & Laurence Naismith

Directed by John Ford

This 1953 Clark Gable film Mogambo is a remake of Gable's 1932 seriocomic adventure Red Dust. Where the earlier film was lensed on the MGM backlot, Mogambo was shot on location in Africa by director John Ford. Gable is safari leader Victor Marswell, who plays "host" to stranded Eloise Y. Kelly (Ava Gardner, in her Academy Award nominated role). Anthropologist Donald Nordley (Donald Sinden) hires Victor to lead him into the deepest, darkest jungle. Along for the ride is Donald's wife, Linda (Grace Kelly), outwardly cool as a cucumber but secretly harboring a lust for Victor. Scorned, Kelly tries to kill Victor, but true-blue Eloise takes the blame for the shooting. Reportedly, Grace Kelly carried on an off-camera romance with Clark Gable, which ended when the differences in their ages proved insurmountable. Even so, it is the easy rapport between Gable and Ava Gardner which steals the show in Mogambo.

Grace Kelly was also Oscar nominated for Best Supporting Actress in this fabulous big budget color adventure.

Originally made more two decades earlier as Red Dust (1932), with again Clark Gable in the lead, but with Jean Harlow and Mary Astor in the Ava Gardner and Grace Kelly roles, respectively. Red Dust (1932) is also available from this website

The Monolith Monsters (1957) - 77 mins

Starring Grant Williams, Lola Albright, Les Tremayne, Trevor Bardette & Phil Harvey

Directed by John Sherwood

A strange black meteor crashes near the town of San Angelo and litters the countryside with fragments. When a storm exposes these fragments to water, they grow into skyscraper-sized monoliths which then topple and shatter into thousands of pieces that grow into monoliths themselves and repeat the process. Any humans in the way are crushed or turned into human statues. The citizens of San Angelo desperately try to save themselves and the world from the spreading doom

Screenplay by Norman Jolley who wrote the legendary sci-fi TV series “Space Patrol” (which is available from the TV Series section of this website)

The Monster That Challenged the World (1957) - 83 mins

Starring Tim Holt, Audrey Dalton, Hans Conried, Harlan Warde, Max Showalter & Mimi Gibson

Directed by Arnold Laven

An underwater earthquake in the Salton Sea releases prehistoric and radioactive giant molluscs. They then start to kill people by feeding on their bones. Navy officers and scientists from the nearby remote naval base investigate and try and stop them, but the molluscs escape into the nearby canal and start to threaten the world. Meanwhile, an unhatched egg is brought to the naval base for examination - however it hatches after a little girl raises the temperature of the water tank in which it has been kept releasing another monster!

The Monster That Challenged the World is the misleadingly title for one of the more well-regarded second-echelon horror films of the 1950s. And it stars Tim Holt the renown cowboy who appeared in so many of those exciting RKO westerns (which are available from within the "B" westerns section of this website)

Montana (1950) - 76 mins

Starring Errol Flynn, Alexis Smith, S. Z. Sakali, Douglas Kennedy & James Brown

Directed by Ray Enright

Australian sheep-man Morgan Lane comes to Montana looking for government-owned grazing land, and encamps his sheep at the boundary line set up by the cattle barons to keep the sheep from eating the good grass. He goes to town, posing as a merchant, explains his Australian accent, and learns that Maria Singleton, owner of a large ranch, and Rodney Ackroyd, another ranch owner and Miss Singleton's fiancée, are the leaders of the cattlemen against the sheep-men. Romance tugs at Morgan and Miss Singleton but the cattle vs sheep feud keeps them apart.

Montana scores best during the scenes between stars Errol Flynn and Alexis Smith; they were good friends in real life, so much so that Flynn served as best man at Smith's wedding to actor Craig Stevens.

Moonrise (1948) - 90 mins

Starring Dane Clark, Gail Russell, Ethel Barrymore, Allyn Joslyn & Harry Morgan

Directed by Frank Borzage

Danny Hawkins has been tortured his entire life because he is the son of a killer who was hung. In a state of insanity Danny kills Jerry Sykes. When the body is discovered Danny flees from his true love Gilly Johnson and the law but is able to reach salvation by coming to grips with his identity and by turning himself in to the police.

Morocco (1930) - 92 mins

Starring Marlene Dietrich, Gary Cooper, Adolphe Menjou, Ullrich Haupt & Eve Southern

Directed by Josef von Sternberg

Gary Cooper joins the Foreign Legion to "forget what went before."

At a smoky cabaret in Morocco, Légionnaire Tom Brown meets café entertainer Mademoiselle Amy Jolly, a woman with a very checkered past. Initially she toys with Brown, as both have been bruised by their past lives, but the two edge cautiously into a no-strings relationship while being pursued by others. Eventually she falls hopelessly in love with him, much to the behest of wealthy Monsieur La Bessiere. But Tom must leave on a perilous mission.

Marlene Dietrich making her American film debut in a story often referred to as The Légionnaire and the Lady.

Oscar Nominations for Best Actress, Director, Cinematography & Art Direction

The fascinating and alluring Marlene Dietrich! - movies starring this amazing woman and which are available from this website are: Morocco (1930), Dishonored (1931), Shanghai Express (1932), The Scarlet Empress (1934), The Devil Is a Woman (1935), Knight Without Armour (1937), Destry Rides Again (1939), Seven Sinners (1940), Manpower (1941), The Spoilers (1942), Pittsburgh (1942) & Golden Earrings (1947)

Gary Cooper: forever the great adventurer - these Gary Cooper titles are available from this website are:

Morocco (1930), A Farewell to Arms (1932), The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935), The General Died at Dawn (1936), The Plainsman (1936), Souls at Sea (1937), The Adventures of Marco Polo (1938), Beau Geste (1939), The Real Glory (1939), The Westerner (1940), North West Mounted Police (1940), For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943), Cloak and Dagger (1946), Unconquered (1947), Task Force (1949), Distant Drums (1951) & High Noon (1952)

The Mortal Storm (1940) - 100 mins

Starring Margaret Sullavan, James Stewart, Robert Young, Frank Morgan, Robert Stack & Bonita Granville

Directed by Frank Borzage

The Nazi Party's rise to power has disastrous consequences for a German family: Victor Roth is a college professor teaching in Germany in 1933 who leads a peaceful and contented life with his wife Emelie, son Rudi, Freya and stepsons Otto and Erich. However, Adolph Hitler's emergence as Germany's ruler has an unexpected impact on their lives. Fritz and his friend Martin both vie for Freya's hand in marriage, but anti-Nazi activist Martin is forced to flee to Austria, while Freya is disturbed by Fritz's membership in a pro-fascist group. Victor repudiates Hitler's theories about Aryan superiority in class, and he not only loses his teaching position, but he is sentenced to a concentration camp. And while Emelie and Rudi join Freya as she tries to escape to Martin's new home in Austria, they find themselves hunted by Otto and Erich, now members of the Hitler Youth.

The Mortal Storm was perhaps the most explicitly anti-Nazi film made in Hollywood prior to America's entry into WWII, and it resulted in all of MGM's product being banned in Germany.

The Most Dangerous Game (1932) - 63 mins

Starring Joel McCrea, Fay Wray, Leslie Banks, Robert Armstrong & Noble Johnson

Directed by Irving Pichel & Ernest B. Schoedsack

The first of many official and unofficial screen versions of Richard Connell's The Most Dangerous Game cast Leslie Banks as the loony Russian count Zaroff, a renowned big-game hunter who tires of stalking animals and begins hunting down the human beings: "most dangerous game". Luring unwary victims to his remote island, Zaroff wines and dines them, gives them a few hours' head start to run into the jungle, then hunts them down with rifle and bow and arrow. As his grisly trophy room demonstrates, Zaroff hasn't missed yet. Shipwreck survivors Joel McCrea and Fay Wray are Zaroff's latest quarry.

From the same production team as King Kong, this a fabulous (and very well made) adventure story - remade in color as Run For the Sun (1956) which is also available from this website

Both films are excellent prints - much superior than those commercially available

Motor Patrol (1950) - 67 mins

Starring Don Castle, Jane Nigh, Bill Henry, Gwen O'Connor, Onslow Stevens, Reed Hadley, Richard Travis & Sid Melton

Directed by Sam Newfield

A story of the motorcycle cops of the traffic division of the Los Angeles Police Department. Ken Foster, a trainee, is engaged to the sister, Jean Collins, of motorcycle policeman Larry Collins, who is taking part in the investigation of a hit-and-run killing the police believe was a deliberate murder. Sighting a stolen car used in the killing, Larry pursues it and is killed by the driver. Ken is taken from the training academy and given the assignment of impersonating a known auto-thief, now in police custody, in the hopes he will be accepted by the hot-car ring working the city.

Nice tight action story.

The Mountain (1956) - 105 mins

Starring Spencer Tracy, Robert Wagner, Claire Trevor, William Demarest, Richard Arlen & E. G. Marshall

Directed by Edward Dmytryk

Spencer Tracy plays veteran mountain guide Zachary Wheeler, who is coaxed out of retirement when a passenger plane crashes on high mountain. He decides it isn't worth risking his life to recover the bodies of the passengers, but hot-headed younger brother Chris (Robert Wagner), hoping to claim the victims' valuables, talks Zachary into accompanying him to the mountaintop. After their treacherous upward journey, the brothers discover that one of the passengers, a Hindu girl (Anna Kashfi), is still alive. Zachary wants to bring her back to safety, but the greedy Chris would rather abandon her and make off with the valuables.

An excellent character study enhanced by superb location photography and chilling aerial "fear of falling" scenes - Spencer Tracy (nominated here for a BAFTA) is fabulous as the weary climber pressed into service to help out his reprehensible brother (Robert Wagner who has never been better).

Perfect color print!

Trev well remembers his first viewing of this superb mountaineering film … the snow bridges, the fear of falling … an excellent adventure!

Mr. Arkadin (1955) - 105 mins

Starring Orson Welles, Akim Tamiroff, Gregoire Aslan, Patricia Medina, Michael Redgrave & Peter Van Eyck

Directed by Orson Welles

Guy Van Stratten, American smuggler, leaves an Italian prison term with one asset, a dying man's words about wealthy, mysterious Gregory Arkadin. Guy finds it most pleasant to investigate Arkadin though his lovely daughter Raina, her father's idol. To get rid of Guy, Arkadin claims amnesia about his own life prior to 1927, sending Guy off to investigate Arkadin's unknown past. Guy's quest spans many countries and eccentric characters who contribute clues. But the real purpose of Guy's mission proves deadly; can Guy himself survive it?

This is considered to be Welles' combining Citizen Kane with The Third Man - but does it come off?

Note the length of this print (105 mins) - it’s the "comprehensive" version which has been assembled by Welles' scholars and which supposedly most typifies the "cut" of the film which Welles would have performed at the time, had he been permitted.

Mr. District Attorney (1941) - 69 mins

Starring Dennis O'Keefe, Florence Rice, Peter Lorre, Stanley Ridges & Charles Arnt

Directed by William Morgan

Republic's Mr. District Attorney sees Dennis O'Keefe stars as P. Cadwallader Jones, an assistant DA straight out of Harvard who has made a mess of his first case. He sets out to redeem himself by trying to reveal that one of his boss' aides is in league with master criminal Mr. Hyde (Peter Lorre).

There were two separate 1940s film series inspired by Philips H. Lord's radio weekly Mr. District Attorney; the second by Paramount's Pine-Thomas unit, is below.

Mr. District Attorney (1947) - 82 mins

Starring Dennis O'Keefe, Adolphe Menjou, Marguerite Chapman, Michael O'Shea & George Coulouris

Directed by Robert B. Sinclair

Adolphe Menjou plays the title role, DA Craig Warren, though top billing is bestowed upon Dennis O'Keefe as Warren's assistant Steve Bennett. Resenting his boss' constructive criticism and presumed interference, Bennett goes astray, ultimately getting mixed up with trouble-prone Marcia Manning (Marguerite Chapman). Warren quickly realizes that Marcia is a no-good, but Bennett refuses to listen. Eventually, two men meet their deaths at Marcia's manicured hands, and it looks as though Bennett will be third on her list.

Nicely turned noir

Mr. Lucky (1943) - 100 mins

Starring Cary Grant, Laraine Day, Charles Bickford, Gladys Cooper & Alan Carney

Directed by H.C. Potter

Mr. Lucky finds Cary Grant atypically cast as a shifty, out-for-number-one gambler. Having dodged the draft by adopting the identity of a dead man, Grant sets his sights on purchasing a fancy gambling ship. To raise the necessary funds, he pretends to be working hand in glove with the American War Relief society. Once he meets Laraine Day, however, Grant begins to change his tune - or does he?

An excellent script that switches and turns - keeping the viewer off-balance throughout

A big box office success!

Mrs. Mike (1949) - 100 mins

Starring Dick Powell, Evelyn Keyes, J. M. Kerrigan, Angela Clarke & Will Wright

Directed by Louis King

When Boston-bred Kathy O'Fallon marries Canadian Mountie Sgt. Mike Flannagan, she is immediately nicknamed "Mrs. Mike" by her new friends and neighbors. Unprepared for the hardships of life in the Great White North, Mrs. Mike nonetheless perseveres through minor inconveniences and major tragedies.

A great "outdoors" picture!

Based on a true story, Mrs. Mike was adapted from the best-selling novel by Benedict & Nancy Freedman.

Note that this film is part of the Dick Powell "Drama" Combination which can be found in the Classic Movie Combinations section of this website

The Mummy (1932) - 73 mins

Starring Boris Karloff, Zita Johann, David Manners, Arthur Byron & Edward Van Sloan

Directed by Karl Freund

In 1921 a team of British archaeologists led by Sir Joseph Whemple (Arthur Byron) uncovers the 3700 year old mummy of Im-ho-tep. When one young archaeologist opens the scroll of Thoth, he goes delirious and the Mummy comes to life. 10 years later Sir Joseph returns with his son Frank (David Manners). Unknown to them, the Mummy now exists as the mysterious Egyptian, Ardath Bay (Boris Karloff), who helps the expedition uncover the tomb of his ancient love, Princess Anck-es-en-Amon. He then uses his mystic powers mesmerize the reincarnation of his lost love in the form of Helen Grosvenor (Zita Johann). When Sir Joseph interferes he mysteriously dies. Frank, with the help of Dr. Muller (Edward Van Sloan), then attempts to discover the key to Ardath Bay's powers and get Helen back.

The Mummy represented Boris Karloff's second horror starring role after his "overnight" success in Frankenstein (1931). Its essentially a love story, poetically related by ace cinematographer and first-time director Karl Freund. Jack Pierce's justly celebrated makeup skills offers us two Karloffs: the wizened Egyptologist and the flaking, rotting mummy, who though only seen for a few seconds remains in the memory long after the film's final image has faded.

The Mummy (1932) was followed by four sequels, though not commencing until almost decade later with The Mummy's Hand (1940). Then followed The Mummy's Tomb (1942), The Mummy's Ghost (1944) & The Mummy's Curse (1942). All 5 films were produced by Universal films with each containing the requisite thrills, well wrapped in their trademark "atmosphere". Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (1955) saw Universal yet again return to the popular story, still brimming with scary bits, and helped along by the uproarious comedy of Bud Abbott & Lou Costello.

England's legendary "Horror House" Hammer productions turned their great skills to the story in 1959 (see below)

Also worth a look: The Mummy Movie Series consisting of all 6 Universal "The Mummy" productions along with the Hammer production of 1959. It can be found in the Movie Series section of this website.

The Mummy (1959) - 88 mins

Starring Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Yvonne Furneaux, Raymond Huntley, George Pastell & Felix Aylmer

Directed by Terence Fisher

In 1895, a team of archaeologists uncover the tomb of Princess Ananka, an Egyptian high priestess. They are warned not to disturb the tomb but in doing so, inadvertently bring to life the mummy of Kharis (Christopher Lee), the high priest who loved the Princess. While in the tomb alone, something happens to frighten the leader of the expedition, Stephen Banning (Felix Aylmer). Three years later an Egyptian, Mehemet Bey, transports the mummy to England to seek revenge against those who desecrated the Princess' tomb. It is left to Stephen Banning's son John (Peter Cushing) to unravel the mystery and to protect his wife Isobel, who bears a striking resemblance to the Princess.

This British "Hammer Horror" production of The Mummy is often cited as being as good as the Karloff original. Peter Cushing gives a terrific performance and Christopher Lee makes a menacing Mummy, even more powerful and threatening than Universal's all those years before (see above).

Fans of "Hammer Horror with Peter Cushing & Christopher Lee" might like to check out The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) & Horror of Dracula (1958) elsewhere in this INDIVIDUAL MOVIE TITLES section of this website.

Also worth a look: The Mummy Movie Series consisting of all 6 Universal "The Mummy" productions along with this Hammer production of 1959. It can be found in the Movie Series section of this website.

Murder By Decree (1979) - 124 mins

Starring Christopher Plummer, James Mason, David Hemmings, Susan Clark, Anthony Quayle, John Gielgud, Frank Findlay & Donald Sutherland

Directed by Bob Clark

The murders by the infamous British criminal, Jack the Ripper, catch the attention of Sherlock Holmes (Christopher Plummer), but he does not receive the expected call from Scotland Yard because he is being purposefully excluded from the investigation. Instead, Robert Lees (Donald Sutherland), a psychic who volunteered information to the police about the murders, provides the Great Detective with the necessary incitement to action. As the murders proceed, it becomes clear to all concerned that it is more important to stop them than to announce their solution, and Holmes enters the fray with the help of his trusty aide, Dr. Watson (James Mason).

Yep -its Sherlock Holmes vs. Jack the Ripper! - with Inspector Lestrade being played by Frank Findlay - a role he had previously played in 1965's A Study in Terror which is another Holmes vs. Ripper story

Other Sherlock Holmes films available elsewhere within this (INDIVIDUAL MOVIE TITLES) section are A Study in Terror (1965), The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (1976) & Sherlock Holmes in New York (1976).

Fans of Sherlock Holmes should be aware of the Rathbone / Bruce Movie Series available in the Movie Series section of this website as well as the Peter Cushing (color) TV Series in the TV Series section of this website.

Murder, He Says (1945) - 91 mins

Starring Fred MacMurray, Helen Walker, Marjorie Main, Jean Heather, Porter Hall & Peter Whitney

Directed by George Marshall

Though it comes on much too strong at times, Murder, He Says fully justifies its present "cult" status. Professional pollster Pete Marshall (Fred MacMurray) gets more than he bargained for when he heads to hillbilly country to investigate the disappearances of several of his colleagues. Poor Pete stumbles across the Fleagle family, who have a quaint habit of murdering anyone they consider to be a nuisance. Whip-wielding Mamie (Marjorie Main), her deceptively meek husband Mr. Johnson (Porter Hall) and her hulking, lamebrained twin sons (both played by Peter Whitney) are searching for $70,000 hidden by Bonnie Parker-like desperado Bonnie Fleagle, and they don't intend to be disturbed by any outsiders like Pete. Having previously poisoned their troublesome grandma (Mabel Paige) with a curious substance that causes its victims to glow in the dark, Mamie and her brood try to dispatch Pete in the same manner, leading to an uproarious slapstick setpiece involving an elaborate "Lazy Susan" table. Complicating matters is the arrival of two different women (Helen Walker, Barbara Pepper) claiming to be the long-lost Bonnie Fleagle. Jean Heather costars as Elany Fleegle, the only sympathetic (but no less crack-brained) member of the killer brood.

Its comedy content aside, Murder, He Says would be memorable for its eye-popping split-screen photography, thoroughly convincing the audience that Peter Whitney is indeed two different people.

Fabulous comedy mystery! - Fred was to meet up again with "hayseed" Marjorie Main a few years later

in The Egg & I

Murder, My Sweet (1944) - 95 mins

Starring Dick Powell, Claire Trevor, Anne Shirley, Otto Kruger & Mike Mazurki

Directed by Edward Dmytryk

This adaptation of the Raymond Chandler novel 'Farewell, My Lovely', renamed for the American market to prevent filmgoers mistaking it for a musical (for which Powell was already famous) has private eye Philip Marlowe hired by Moose Malloy, a petty crook just out of prison after a seven year stretch, to look for his former girlfriend, Velma, who has not been seen for the last six years. The case is tougher than Marlowe expected as his initially promising enquiries lead to a complex web of deceit involving bribery, perjury and theft, and where no one's motivation is obvious, least of all Marlowes.

Film Noir buffs believe that not even Humphrey Bogart's portrayal of Marlowe in The Big Sleep could match Powells' portrayal of the down-and-out gumshoe.

Note that this film is part of both the Dick Powell "Drama" Combination and the Philip Marlowe "at the Movies" Combination. These combinations can be found in the Classic Movie Combinations section of this website

Murphy's War (1971) - 100 mins

Starring Peter O'Toole, Sian Phillips, Philippe Noiret, Horst Jansen & John Hallam

Directed by Peter Yates

In this World War II war drama stars Peter O'Toole as Murphy, an Irishman who survives the torpedoing of a merchantman ship off the jungle coast of Venezuela by a German U-boat. Murphy is rescued by French oil engineer, Louis Brezon (Philippe Noiret), who reluctantly takes Murphy to a nearby Quaker mission hospital. Nursed back to health by a missionary nurse (Sian Phillips), Murphy himself nurses a grudge against the German U-boat that blew up the British merchant ship. Meanwhile, a pilot is brought to the mission whose plane had been shot down by the Germans. He begs Murphy to find his airplane to keep it out of enemy hands. But after the pilot dies, Murphy has another idea: to find the plane, locate the hated U-boat, and blow it to smithereens

Screenplay by Stirling Silliphant from Max Catto's novel (of the same name)

Fabulous wide-screen color print!

Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) - 132 mins

Starring Charles Laughton, Clark Gable, Franchot Tone, Herbert Mundin, Eddie Quillan & Donald Crisp

Directed by Frank Lloyd

Clark Gable stars as Fletcher Christian, first mate of the infamous HMS Bounty, skippered by Captain William Bligh (Charles Laughton), the cruellest taskmaster on the Seven Seas. Bligh's villainy knows no bounds: he is even willing to flog a dead man if it will strengthen his hold over the crew. Christian despises Bligh and is sailing on the Bounty under protest. During the journey back to England, Bligh's cruelties become more than Christian can bear; and after the captain indirectly causes the death of the ship's doctor, the crew stages a mutiny, with Christian in charge. Bligh and a handful of officers loyal to him are set adrift in an open boat. Through sheer force of will, he guides the tiny vessel on a 49-day, 4000-mile journey to the Dutch East Indies without losing a man.

The movie struck gold at the box office - a true great adventure - well told & filmed!

Oscar winner for Best Picture also Oscar Nominations for Best Actor (Laughton, Gable & Tone - the first and only time 3 from the same film have been nominated in this category), Director, Editing, Score, Screenplay.

My Darling Clementine (1948) - 95 mins

Starring Henry Fonda, Linda Darnell, Victor Mature, Cathy Downs, Walter Brennan, Tim Holt & Ward Bond

Directed by John Ford

Henry Fonda stars as former lawman Wyatt Earp, who, after cleaning up Dodge City, arrives in the outskirts of Tombstone with his brothers Morgan (Ward Bond), Virgil (Tim Holt), and James, planning to sell their cattle and settle down as gentlemen farmers. Yet Wyatt, disgusted by crime and cattle rustling, eventually agrees to take the marshalling job until he can gather enough evidence to bring to justice the scurrilous Clanton clan, headed by smooth-talking but shifty-eyed Old Man Clanton (Walter Brennan). Almost immediately, Wyatt runs afoul of consumptive, self-hating gambling boss Doc Holliday (Victor Mature). The tensions between Earp, Doc and the Clantons lead to the legendary gunfight at the OK Corral, with Wyatt and Doc fighting side-by-side against the despicable Clantons

My Forbidden Past (1951) - 81 mins

Starring Robert Mitchum, Ava Gardner, Melvyn Douglas & Janis Carter

Directed by Robert Stevenson

Barbara Beaurevel lives with her aunt and cousin in New Orleans in the late 1800's. In love with Mark Lucas, a research doctor at Tulane University, her plans to marry him are thwarted. Barbara's family is of the high society stratum, but her late grandmother was not in fact the connection with her is something Barbara's aunt is most anxious to conceal. When Barbara inherits a fortune from her grandmother's side of the family, she uses it to try and win back Mark.

The Mysterious Doctor (1943) - 57 mins

Starring John Loder, Eleanor Parker, Bruce Lester, Lester Matthews, Forrester Harvey & Matt Willis

Directed by Benjamin Stoloff

A Warner Bros attempt to ape the success of the Universal horror films, The Mysterious Doctor is a moody little piece centering around a series of decapitations. These outrages are being committed in a cloistered English village, and the perpetrator is supposedly a legendary headless ghost. For a while, suspicion falls upon the village idiot (Matt Willis), but the true culprit is mad doctor John Loder, who is using the "ghost" legend to cover up his Nazi activities. Short, sweet and oh, so atmospheric!

Mystery in Mexico (1948) - 66 mins

Starring William Lundigan, Jacqueline White, Ricardo Cortez & Tony Barrett

Directed by Robert Wise

Insurance detective Steve Hastings is sent by his company to investigate the disappearance of a fellow agent. His first lead is the agent's fetching sister, Victoria, whom he trails to Mexico City. After charming his way into her confidence, Steve helps Vicki unravel the mystery. Yes, that’s Robert Wise directing - his follow up to the previous year's Born to Kill (listed in the INDIVIDUAL MOVIE TITLES section)

Mystery Street (1950) - 93 mins

Starring Ricardo Montalban, Sally Forrest, Bruce Bennett, Elsa Lancaster, Marshall Thompson & Jan Sterling

Directed by John Sturges

Vivian, working at "The Grass Skirt," is being brushed off by her rich, married boyfriend. To confront him, she hijacks drunken customer Henry Shanway and his car from Boston to Cape Cod, where she strands Henry and is never seen again. Months later, a skeleton is found on a lonely Cape Cod beach. Using the macabre expertise of Harvard forensic specialist Dr. McAdoo, Lt. Pete Morales must work back from bones to the victim's identity, history, and killer. Will he succeed in time to save an innocent suspect?

An intelligent & realistic mystery which portrays an early movie depiction of forensic science - a precursor to CSI?

Naked Alibi (1954) - 86 mins

Starring Sterling Hayden, Gloria Grahame, Gene Barry, Marcia Henderson, Max Showalter & Chuck Connors

Directed by Jerry Hopper

Chief of detectives Joseph E. Conroy (Sterling Hayden) is busted after failing to prove that "solid citizen" Al Willis (Gene Barry) is a maniacal cop-killer. Despite his lack of authority, Conroy puts so much heat on Willis that the latter skips town with his floozy lady friend Marianna (Gloria Grahame). Conroy follows the two fugitives to a wide-open border town, then slowly and methodically maps out the villain's doom. Essentially a cat-and-mouse game for most of its running time, Naked Alibi slowly but surely builds up to a nailbiting rooftop-chase climax.

Absolutely fabulous noir with Hayden doin' what he does best …

Sterling Hayden: ever the maverick, ever the individual - he preferred to sail his yacht around the world rather than act in movies. Yet despite his lack of interest in film, he was lauded and chased by the very finest directors: John Huston, Robert Altman, Francis Ford Coppola & Stanley Kubrick. In each of his roles, Hayden's individuality showed forth whatever the genre of film: noir, adventure, western & swashbuckler. He remains a huge favourite of my Dad (who introduced me to his films) and my son (to whom I, too introduced this powerful actor).

Sterling Hayden films which are available from this website are:

Manhandled (1949), Asphalt Jungle (1950), Denver & Rio Grande (1952), The Golden Hawk (1952), Fighter Attack (1953), Crime Wave (1954), Prince Valiant (1954), Johnny Guitar (1954), Naked Alibi (1954), Suddenly (1954), Battle Taxi (1955), Timberjack (1955), The Killing (1956), Crime of Passion (1954), 5 Steps to Danger (1957), Terror in a Texas Town (1958), Ten Days to Tulara (1958) & The Long Goodbye (1973)

The Naked and the Dead (1958) - 131 mins

Starring Aldo Ray, Cliff Robertson, Raymond Massey, Lili St. Cyr, William Campbell & Richard Jaeckel

Directed by Raoul Walsh

Aldo Ray heads the cast as sadistic Sergeant Sam Croft, who'd as soon kill one of his own men as he would the Japanese. Sensitive, moralistic Lieutenant Robert Hearn (Cliff Robertson) tries to put a leash on Croft, but he's ordered to keep out of the situation by psychotic General Cummings (Raymond Massey), who is convinced that soldiers will fight harder the more they hate their superiors.

Note that this long-delayed film version of Norman Mailer's bestselling WW2 novel of the same name is now quite rare - whilst not a perfect color print, it is still of quite nice quality.

The Naked City (1948) - 96 mins

Starring Barry Fitzgerald, Howard Duff, Don Taylor, Dorothy Hart & Ted de Corsia

Directed by Jules Dassin

An attractive blonde model is murdered in her apartment and homicide detectives Dan Muldoon and Jimmy Halloran investigate. Suspicion falls on various shifty characters who all prove to have some connection with a string of apartment burglaries. Then a burglar is found dead who once had an elusive partner named Willie. The climax is a great manhunt sequence. Far from a routine detective story, this was filmed on the streets of New York City with the actors playing their roles along with the people and the locations of the big apple.

The legendary movie that inspired the TV series of the same name.

The Naked Face (1984) - 103 mins

Starring Roger Moore, Rod Steiger, Elliott Gould, Art Carney, Anne Archer & David Hedison

Directed by Bryan Forbes

Roger Moore is Dr. Judd Stevens, a rather meek Chicago psychiatrist whose patient is killed while wearing a jacket borrowed from Stevens. After Stevens' secretary is brutally slain, Lieutenant McGreavy (Rod Steiger) is certain that Stevens is guilty and is ready to prove it, but when his vendetta gets too obvious, he is taken off the case. That leaves his much more sympathetic partner Angeli (Elliott Gould), to continue on with the investigation. Even then, the killings continue, so Stevens gives up on the police and goes for help to a wacky Private Investigator (Art Carney). As Stevens continues in his pursuit of the killers, life is complicated by a Mafia bride who seeks his professional help and clues that lead increasingly to the Mafia and Police on the take.

In this fast-paced, often complex murder mystery that maintains interest throughout.

Roger Moore made some interesting films in and around his James Bond tour of duty: Crossplot (1969), The Man Who Haunted Himself (1970), Sherlock Holmes in New York (1976), Shout at the Devil (1976), ffolkes (1979) & The Naked Face (1984) - all of which are available from this website

The Naked Prey (1966) - 96 mins

Starring Cornel Wilde, Gert Van den Bergh, Ken Gampu, Patrick Mynhardt & Bella Randles

Directed by Cornel Wilde

In the bush country of South Africa in the late 19th century, chauvinistic hunter Gert vanDen Bergh calculatedly offends a local tribal chief. Given several opportunities, he refuses to apologize. As consequence, vanDen Bergh and the rest of his hunting party are captured by the tribesmen and grotesquely tortured to death. The only white man spared is safari-guide Cornel Wilde, whom the natives respect and vice versa. The tribesmen offer Wilde a chance to survive; stripping him naked and giving him a knife to defend himself, they set Wilde free in the jungle, in preparation of hunting him down like a lion. Given a head start equal to the distance one of the tribesman can fire an arrow, Wilde is pursued by the tribe's six most accomplished warriors. The rest of this thrill-a-minute film follows Wilde into the underbrush in his desperate, resourceful flight for life.

Cornel Wilde's The Naked Prey was filmed entirely on location under circumstances and is incredibly realistic both in substance and in execution - Wilde's best work!

Oscar Nominated for Best Screenplay

The Naked Spur (1953) - 91 mins

Starring James Stewart, Janet Leigh, Robert Ryan, Ralph Meeker & Millard Mitchell

Directed by Anthony Mann

Howard Kemp (James Stewart) is a taciturn frontiersman who loses his home while he's off fighting the Civil War. To raise enough money for a new grubstake, Stewart becomes a bounty hunter in Colorado territory. His first quarry is fugitive, killer Ben Vandergroat (Robert Ryan). Kemp's efforts to bring in Vandergroat and collect the reward are compromised by the presence of Vandergroat's loyal girl friend Lina Patch (Janet Leigh) and Kemps's two disreputable sidekicks, wily prospector Jesse Tate (Millard Mitchell) and disgraced Union-officer Roy Anderson (Ralph Meeker).

There's plenty of "cat and mouse" byplay between Kemp and Vandergroat before the brutal climax; the drama is intensified by the fact that both men are on the outer rim of total insanity.

The powerhouse combination of star James Stewart and director Anthony Mann scoring another cinematic bullseye!

The Oscar-nominated screenplay for The Naked Spur was cowritten by Sam Rolfe, who was later one of the creative forces responsible for the similarly no-nonsense TV western series Have Gun, Will Travel.

Perfect Technicolor Print! - Fabulous

James Stewart & Anthony Mann: their 5 westerns together from 1950 to 1955, rewrote the cowboy story for the big screen - their's were tough, psychological though lyric masterpieces of western cinema - beautifully photographed and expertly written stories with intriguing characters and realistic action - a blueprint for westerns of the 50s (and embraced by Budd Boetticher & Randolph Scott in their excellent collaborations in the late 1950s - see the Randolph Scott section of this website)

This, The Naked Spur (1954) was the third of this quintet of Stewart / Mann westerns - preceded by Winchester '73 (1950) & Bend of the River (1952) and followed by The Far Country (1954) & The Man from Laramie (1955) - each is available from this (the INDIVIDUAL MOVIE TITLES) section of the website.

All 5 westerns in the series can also be obtained in an nice boxed set from within the Classic Movie Combinations section of this website

The Narrow Corner (1933) - 69 mins

Starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Patricia Ellis, Ralph Bellamy, Dudley Digges, Arthur Hohl & Reginald Owen

Directed by Alfred E. Green

Fred Blake (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.) is a fugitive from Australian justice, wanted for accidentally killing a man. He escapes to the East Indies in a ship rented by his father. Among the people Fairbanks meets and befriends are a scholar (Reginald Owen) and his daughter (Patricia Ellis). The fugitive falls in love with the girl, which prompts her fiance (Ralph Bellamy) to drastic action.

From a Somerset Maugham story telling of Man's inability to escape his destiny.

Complex but engaging action / adventure yarn with a twist!

The Narrow Margin (1952) - 70 mins

Starring Charles McGraw, Marie Windsor, Jacqueline White & Queenie Leonard

Directed by Richard Fleischer

When a mobsters wife decides to testify against his evil deeds she goes undercover to avoid being killed. Now that he's coming to trial she has to be escourted across country via train in order to testify. Cop Walter Brown and his partner are assigned the task, but the mob are on their trail.

This film has the distinction of being considered the best "B" movie of all time - fast paced, well acted and impressively shot in claustrophobic settings.

Academy Award Nomination for Best Motion Picture Story.

Director Fleischer and star McGraw had combined two years earlier with great noir classic: Armoured Car Robbery (1950) - which also available from this website

Richard Fleischer directed a string of impressive nourish "B" dramas in Bodyguard (1948), The Clay Pigeon (1949), Follow Me Quietly (1949), Trapped (1949), Armored Car Robbery (1950) & The Narrow Margin (1952) - before moving up to the majors with Violent Saturday (1955) - all of which are available from this website

Nazi Agent (1942) - 83 mins

Starring Conrad Veidt, Anne Ayars, Frank Reicher, Dorothy Tree & Ivan F. Simpson

Directed by Jules Dassin

This Irving Asher production was that rarity, a genuine B-movie from posh MGM. Set in a pre-Pearl Harbor United States, Nazi Agent starred real-life Hitler refugee Conrad Veidt as identical twins, one a timid stamp collector and rare book store owner, the other the Nazi consul. The evil Veidt is killed during an argument between the two and the good Veidt shaves his beard in order to take his brother's place as head of a Nazi spy ring.

Fast-paced and engrossing, Nazi Agent was the feature-film debut of director Jules Dassin, formerly of MGM's short subject department. Dassin went on to direct several groundbreaking crime dramas for Universal (Including The Naked City - see above) before finding himself blacklisted during the Hollywood "witch hunts."

A lyric soprano, Ann Ayars spent the mostly unrewarding years between 1941 and 1943 in MGM potboilers before leaving films in favor of the New York City Opera.

The Nevadan (1950) - 81 mins

Starring Randolph Scott, Dorothy Malone, Forrest Tucker, Frank Faylen & George Macready

Directed by Gordon Douglas

U.S. Marshal Andrew Barkeley, goes undercover in a federal penitentiary to get information on $250,000 in stolen money. Barkeley arranges for the chief suspect, Tom Tanner to escape from jail, so that he can trail him to the hiding place for the loot. Complicating matters is avaricious rancher Edward Galt, who also covets the stolen cash.

Another fine production from the team of star Randolph Scott and producer Harry Joe Brown.

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Never Say Goodbye (1946) - 95 mins

Starring Errol Flynn, Eleanor Parker, Lucile Watson, S. Z. Sakall & Forrest Tucker

Directed by James V. Kern

Phil Gayley (Errol Flynn) is a magazine illustrator whose close proximity with gorgeous female models ruins his marriage to the lovely Ellen (Eleanor Parker). When the Gayleys divorce, their precocious 7-year-old daughter Flip (Patti Brady) contrives to bring them back together.

The film's biggest laughs are garnered whenever Errol Flynn lampoons his established "swashbuckler" image, which he does with apparent relish. At one point, Flynn even imitates Humphrey Bogart-an effect accomplished by dubbing in the voice of the real Bogart!

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New York Confidential (1955) - 87 mins

Starring Broderick Crawford, Richard Conte, Marilyn Maxwell, Anne Bancroft & J. Carrol Naish

Directed by Russell Rouse

Nick Magellan (Richard Conte) becomes a "bodyguard" for Manhattan crime boss Charlie Lupo (Broderick Crawford) after making an impression as a hit man from outa town. Pleased with Magellan's work, Charlie promotes him to the topmost rungs of the Syndicate. Eventually Nick is told by Charlie’s bosses to “eliminate Lupo”.

Searing noir with Crawford in fine form and Conte (coming off an excellent role in The Big Combo) scoring as the cool and precise hit-man. An excellent early role for future Oscar winner Anne Bancroft who does well in several “heavyweight” scenes, portraying Lupo’s rebellious daughter and facing off against her disapproving father

Based on the Jack Lait-Lee Mortimer bestseller of the same name.

Fans of Broderick Crawford might like to check out his other starring roles in nourish dramas: All the King's Men (1949), The Mob (1951) & Scandal Sheet (1952) which are also available from this website.

Night and the City (1950) - 95 mins

Starring Richard Widmark, Gene Tierney, Googie Withers, Hugh Marlowe & Herbert Lom

Directed by Jules Dassin

Harry Fabian (Richard Widmark) is a London hustler with ambitious plans that never work out. One day, when he encounters the most famous Greco-Roman wrestler in the world, Gregorius, at a London wrestling arena run by his son Kristo, he dreams up a scheme that he thinks will finally be his ticket to financial independence. As Fabian attempts to con everyone around him to get his scheme to work, he of course only ends up conning himself.

This is an interesting tale of blind ambition, self-deception, broken dreams, and how a man who always thinks he's ahead of the game ends up tripping himself very badly - dark brooding noir.

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Night Boat to Dublin (1949) - 100 mins

Starring Robert Newton, Raymond Lovell, Guy Middleton, Muriel Pavlow & Herbert Lom

Directed by Lawrence Huntington

Captain David Grant (Robert Newton) heads a team who seek to spirit a Swedish atomic scientist from under the noses of the Nazis during WWII. The Nazi ring-leader Keitel (Herbert Lom) and his minions are determined to grab the scientist for themselves and learn his secrets.

The authentic Dublin dialects heard throughout the film add charm and authenticity to the proceedings in this always interesting spy-caper from the Brits.

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The Night Caller (1965) - 85 mins

Starring John Saxon, Maurice Denham. Patricia Haines, Alfred Barlow & Warren Mitchell

Directed by John Gilling

A spacecraft from Ganymede, the moon of Jupiter, lands in a small community, and the alien visitors set out to find women. It seems that their population has become dangerously low and they need human females for breeding purposes. Dr. Jack Costain (John Saxon), an American scientist investigating the UFO reports, joins forces with Police Detective Hartley (Alfred Burke) in this top flight Sci-Fi thriller from the Brits

Released in the US as Blood Beast from Outer Space

Nightfall (1957) - 78 mins

Starring Aldo Ray, Brian Keith, Anne Bancroft, Jocelyn & James Gregory

Directed by Jacques Tourneur

Commercial artist James Vanning and his friend, Dr. Edward Gurston, are on a hunting and fishing trip in Wyoming when they stop to help two men whose car has crashed. The pair turn out to be escaped bank robbers, on the run with 350,000 dollars in stolen cash and after a clean getaway, they don't plan on leaving any witnesses. Gurston is shot dead by Red, using Vanning's hunting rifle, but Vanning survives by accident, knocked cold but alive. He awakens to discover the stolen money, accidentally left behind, and runs with it from the returning killers, he gets away but loses the bag in the blizzard that hits. He manages to make it to the nearest town, but not before the doctor's body is found, with a bullet in it from Vanning's rifle. Now Vanning is the prime suspect in the murder.

Excellent outdoor film with interesting locales

The Night Holds Terror (1955) - 86 mins

Starring Jack Kelly, Hildy Parks, Vince Edwards, John Cassavetes, David Cross & Eddie Mar

Directed by Andrew L. Stone

Though based on a true story, the principal inspiration for The Night Holds Terror was the success of Paramount's The Desperate Hours. Jack Kelly plays well-to-do businessman Gene Courtier, who makes the mistake of his life when he picks up hitchhiker Victor Gosset (Vincent Edwards). Soon afterward, Gosset and his criminal confederates (John Cassavetes, David Cross) are holding Courtier and his family hostage. Upon learning that Courtier has a lot of money in the bank, the trio kidnap the businessman and hold him for ransom. Working in concert with Courtier's wife Doris (Hildy Parks), the FBI manages to keep apace with the criminals via the telephone system.

An effective suspenser!

Night Key (1937) - 68 mins

Starring Boris Karloff, Jean Rogers, Warren Hull, Samuel S. Hinds & Hobart Cavanaugh

Directed by Lloyd Corrigan

An old, ailing scientist has been robbed of the burglar alarm he invented by his partner, who owns a security company. The scientist invents a superior alarm to provide for his daughter and sells it to the company for royalties, but his partner refuses to sell it. The scientist then invents a device that nullifies his partner's alarms and breaks into stores to prove that it works. He is kidnapped by a gang, who force him to give them the device by kidnapping his daughter. They then go on a crime spree.

Karloff again to the fore!

Nightmare (1956) - 89 mins

Starring Edward G. Robinson, Kevin McCarthy, Connie Russell & Virginia Christine

Directed by Maxwell Shane

A man wakes up from a nightmare in which he kills another man, and then finds evidence that leads him to believe that it wasn't just a nightmare.

Excellent Edward G. starrer!

Nightmare Alley (1947) - 111 mins

Starring Tyrone Power, Joan Blondell, Coleen Gray, Helen Walker & Mike Mazurki

Directed by Edmund Goulding

Stanton Carlisle is an ambitious carnie (ie guy who works at a Carnival) who plays scams alongside phony mentalist Zeena and her alcoholic husband Pete, working the crowd as Zeena pretends to read their minds. But Stan has no intention of staying with the carnival; he has his heart set on an upscale night club act. Morbid but compelling with Tyrone Power cast against type but coming to the fore with fine performance.

Tyrone Power: that fabulous adventurer … other great Tyrone Power movies available from this website are: The Mark of Zorro (1940), Johnny Apollo (1940), Blood and Sand (1941), The Black Swan (1942), Son of Fury (1942), The Razor's Edge (1946), Captain From Castile (1947), Prince of Foxes (1949), The Black Rose (1950), American Guerrilla in the Philippines (1950), Diplomatic Courier (1952) & King of the Khyber Rifles (1953).

A Night of Adventure (1944) - 65 mins

Starring Tom Conway, Audrey Long, Edward Brophy, Louis Borel & Jean Brooks

Directed by Gordon Douglas

Tom Conway plays Mark Latham, a slick, prosperous attorney married to a long-suffering wife, Erica (Audrey Long). His inattention to his wife has resulted in her taking a lover - an up and coming artist, Tony Claire (Louis Borel). But Claire himself has another girl, Julie Arden (Jean Brooks) and when Arden is seemingly murdered, Claire is the prime suspect and Erica asks her estranged husband to defend him - despite not realizing that Latham himself was present at the scene of the crime!

RKO Pictures filmed this intriguing mystery with Tom "The Falcon" Conway between The Falcon Out West (1944) & The Falcon in Mexico (1944). Its an interesting set-up with Conway doing well with a witty and intriguing screenplay which is full of subtle quips, fast-talking and (delightful) cat-fighting women. Edward Brophy who plays Steve Latham's Chauffeur was also a regular in The Falcon Movie Series playing Tom Lawrence’s assistant Goldie Locke in The Falcon in San Francisco (1945) & The Falcon's Adventure (1946)

(The Falcon Movie Series is available from the Movie Series section of this website)

Night of the Demon (1957) - 96 mins

Starring Dana Andrews, Peggy Cummins, Niall MacGinnis, Maurice Denham & Liam Redmond

Directed by Jacques Tourneur

Dr. John Holden (Dana Andrews) ventures to London to attend a paranormal psychology symposium with the intention to expose devil cult leader, Julian Karswell (Niall MacGinnis). Holden is a skeptic and does not believe in Karswell's power. Nonetheless, he accepts an invitation to stay at Karswell's estate, along with Joanna Harrington (Peggy Cummins), niece of Holden's confidant who was electrocuted in a bizarre automobile accident. Karswell secretly slips a parchment into Holden's papers that might possibly be a death curse. Recurring strange events finally strike fear into Holden, who believes that his only hope is to pass the parchment back to Karswell to break the demonic curse.

Based on Montague R. James' classic tale Casting the Runes.

This is the uncut UK release - and it’s a genuine chiller!

Released in the US (cut to 80 minutes} as Curse of the Demon

The Night of the Hunter (1955) - 93 mins

Starring Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Lillian Gish, Evelyn Varden & James Gleeson

Directed by Charles Laughton

Actor Charles Laughton's only directorial effort is a brilliantly eerie tale of religious madness, greed, innocence, and murder set in the rural Ohio River Basin during the Great Depression. Harry Powell (Mitchum), a psychopathic preacher with the word "Love" tattooed on the fingers of his right hand and "Hate" tattooed on the left, is driven by repressed sexual desires to murder women. While in jail for driving a stolen car, Powell meets young Ben Harper (Graves), a bank robber condemned to death for killing a man during a heist. Powell is certain Harper has stashed the loot ($10,000) from the robbery somewhere, but is unable to get Harper to reveal where. Powell is released shortly after Harper is executed, and the mad preacher tracks down his cellmate's widow, Willa (Winters). Powell soon persuades the idiotic Willa to marry him--much to the dismay of her son, John (Chapin), who senses what the preacher is really after and knows that the money is hidden inside one of the dolls of his sister, Pearl (Bruce). Powell soon becomes frustrated with the ignorant Willa and murders her, turning his attention to the children. John and Pearl take the doll and flee into the countryside with the murderous Powell always one step behind them.

Working from a script by James Agee (The African Queen), Laughton created what he called "a nightmarish sort of Mother Goose tale," employing an eclectic mix of visual styles (German expressionism, D.W. Griffith) to convey both the horror of Powell's quest and the idyllic flight of the children to the safety of the farm of an old spinster (Gish). In addition to Stanley Cortez's stunning cinematography, the film boasts Robert Mitchum's greatest performance--a chilling essay that would unfortunately typecast him for much of his career. Beautiful, haunting, poetic, and intensely personal, The Night of the Hunter is a unique, terrifying masterpiece. The adaptation of the Davis Grubb novel was the last film work by James Agee. Audiences didn't know what to make of this one; it bombed, and the great Laughton never directed again.

Night Plane From Chungking (1943) - 69 mins

Starring Robert Preston, Ellen Drew, Otto Kruger, Steven Geray, Tamara Geva & Victor Sen Yung

Directed by Ralph Murphy

Robert Preston (before be became a big star) is the captain of the DC3 aircraft, en route from Chungking to India. The plane crashes, leaving captain and passengers stranded in a jungle surrounded by Japanese troops. It has been learned that one of the passengers is a Nazi spy.

Fabulous high adventure - a true "cult" film from the war years - and now quite rare!

Quality Note: Night Plane From Chungking (1943) is not the best of prints but its still quite OK and as such will not interfere with the enjoyment of this great adventure film

A Night to Remember (1943) - 91 mins

Starring Loretta Young, Brian Aherne, Jeff Donnell, William Wright & Sidney Toler

Directed by Richard Wallace

The wife of a successful murder-mystery novelist wishes he would switch to writing love stories. She sweet-talks him into vacating their apartment and moving into a Greenwich village basement, thereby hoping that he'll be inspired to pen words of romance. Unfortunately for the wife, their new flat is a hotbed of murderous intrigue, sparked by the discovery of a corpse. The police are completely baffled, so the novelist sets about solving the mystery himself with the help of wifey.

A great teaming (Young & Aherne) and a great film!

Note: This is NOT the Kenneth More film about the Titanic!

Night Train to Munich (1940) - 93 mins

Starring Rex Harrison, Margaret Lockwood, Paul Henreid, Basil Radford & Naunton Wayne

Directed by Carol Reed

The daughter of a Czech scientist pursued by the Nazis. She escapes their clutches once, but is again captured, and a British spy has to go undercover to try to save her and her father.

A rather conscious attempt by director Carol Reed to imitate the style of Alfred Hitchcock, and it succeeds much better than do most such movies. It is an entertaining blend of suspense and humor, with a good cast and some enjoyable scenes. There are a lot of action sequences and a couple of good twists, with the crucial action taking place on a train. It's all done nicely, with an exciting finale as well.

Lockwood and Harrison are joined by Paul Henreid, and also by Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne, who had appeared with Lockwood in Hitchcock's "The Lady Vanishes" and appear here playing the same humorous pair of English travelers. Indeed the writers (Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder) also wrote The Lady Vanishes

This film is also part of the Basil Radford & Naunton Wayne "Charters & Caldicott" Combination which can be found in the Classic Movie Combinations section of this website

Another fine offering from director Carol Reed - his others include Odd Man Out (1947), The Third Man (1949), The Man Between (1953) & The Key (1958) - all of which are available from this website

Night Unto Night (1949) - 84 mins

Starring Ronald Reagan, Viveca Lindfors, Broderick Crawford, Rosemary DeCamp, Osa Massen & Art Baker

Directed by Don Siegel

Based on a novel by Philip Wylie, the film stars Ronald Reagan as John, a young scientist suffering from epilepsy. Viveca Lindfors co-stars as Ann, who is recovering from the loss of her husband. Both John and Ann head to the coast of Florida for rest and relaxation, and it is here that they fall in love. John and Ann must contend with both their individual afflictions and mounting private demons.

Reagan and especially Lindfors are convincing in their difficult roles.

Night Without Stars (1951) - 75 mins

Starring David Farrar, Nadia Gray, Maurice Teynac, Gilles Queant & Gerard Landry

Directed by Anthony Pelissier

Adapted by Winston Graham from his own novel, Night Without Stars has David Farrar starring as Giles Gordon, a blind, disillusioned Briton who whiles away his time on the French Riviera. Gordon falls in love with Alix Delaisse (Nadia Gray), the widow of a legendary French resistance leader. The romance encounters turbulence when it appears that Alix is involved with criminal activities. Regaining his sight in an operation, Gordon pretends that he's still blind, the better to find out whether or not Alix has been lying to him.

Nine Lives Are Not Enough (1941) - 63 mins

Starring Ronald Reagan, Joan Perry, James Gleason, Howard Da Silva, Faye Emerson & Peter Whitney

Directed by A. Edward Sutherland

Boy crusader Matt works for the Daily News and always breaks the big story. The only trouble is that he usually has the wrong information and the paper must print a retraction. But this time he thinks that he is on the right track. On patrol with his cop friends, they find the body of millionaire Edward Abbott in a cheap boarding house. It could be suicide or murder and Matt goes with murder, but the inquest goes with suicide. So Matt is out of a job but goes with his hunches - which put him in the middle of more killings.

This is a great Ronnie Reagan vehicle - his exuberance and wit play excellently against tough cop James Gleason. Pete Whitney is a standout as a none-to-bright assistant

1984 (1956) - 90 mins

Starring Edmond O'Brien, Michael Redgrave, Jan Sterling, David Kossof & Donald Pleasance

Directed by Michael Anderson

From the George Orwell novel, 1984 is set in a futuristic totalitarian society where individuality is forbidden. The ruler is the never-seen "Big Brother," whose minions have monitored and bugged the activities of the populace so that no one can harbor any "subversive" thoughts. Edmond O'Brien plays Winston Smith, a government functionary satisfied with his lot, until he commits the illegal act of falling in love with Julia (Jan Sterling), a member of the anti-sex league. The lovers try to escape the all-powerful influence of Big Brother, but their every move is recorded by listening and viewing devices.

Edmond O'Brien was famous for his tough noir roles on the big screen, notably his starring roles in The Web (1947), Fighter Squadron (1948), Backfire (1950), D.O.A. (1950), 711 Ocean Drive (1950), Between Midnight and Dawn (1950), Two of a Kind (1951), The Turning Point (1952), Denver & Rio Grande (1952), The Hitch-Hiker (1953), China Venture (1953), The Shanghai Story (1954), Shield for Murder (1954), 1984 (1956) & A Cry in the Night (1956) - all of which are available from the INDIVIDUAL MOVIE TITLES section of this website. In the late 1950's Edmond O'Brien also made an interesting noir-style detective TV series called Johnny Midnight - a nice set of episodes from this series can be found in the TV Series I-Z section of this website

Then there are his earlier "breakout" roles in Parachute Battalion (1941), Obliging Young Lady (1942), Powder Town (1942) & The Amazing Mrs. Holliday (1943) - all of which are available from this website.

99 River Street (1953) - 83 mins

Starring John Payne, Evelyn Keyes, Brad Dexter, Frank Faylen, Peggie Castle & Jay Adler

Directed by Phil Karlson

Ernie Driscoll (John Payne) is an ex-fighter who came within seconds of winning the world championship. He's now forced to eke out a living driving a cab. A basically decent guy, he has lots of people who care about him, including a slightly ditsy actress friend Linda James (Evelyn Keyes). But Ernie also has a short fuse, especially where his wife Pauline (Peggie Castle) is concerned. His rage boils over when he spots her kissing another man, but her unfaithfulness turns out to be the least of his worries. The man she's seeing, Vic Rawlins (Brad Dexter), is a career criminal with both the police and his former partners after him, and he sees Ernie as the perfect fall-guy. The law and Rawlins' criminal associates are soon closing in on Ernie, while he tries desperately with Linda's help to buy the time he needs to unravel this nightmare

Excellent noir, with a muscular performance from John Payne, and tight direction coming from Phil Karlson who also helmed another good noir with Payne: Kansas City Confidential (1952) which is also available from this website

Nocturne (1946) - 87 mins

Starring George Raft, Lynn Bari, Virginia Huston, Joseph Pevney & Myrna Dell

Directed by Edwin L. Marin

"The moody mystery melodrama Nocturne was produced by longtime Alfred Hitchcock associate Joan Harrison. The film wastes no time getting started, with a caddish Hollywood composer (Edward Ashley) dropping dead right after the opening credits. The police think it's a suicide, but maverick lieutenent Joe Warne (George Raft) suspects foul play. Checking around, Warne discovers that the dead man had broken at least ten female hearts in the past few years, providing a motive for murder for all ten. The principal suspect is Frances Ransom (Lynn Bari), who may or may not have been avenging her sister, nightclub thrush Carol Page (Virginia Huston). Pursuing the case with such dogged diligence that he's eventually tossed off the police force, Warne nonetheless refuses to give up, and by film's end he has collared the murderer. It wouldn't be fair to reveal the killer's identity, except to note that the actor in question went on to quite a different career at Universal Pictures. Like the previous RKO George Raft vehicle Johnny Angel, Nocturne was a box-office bonanza, posting a then-impressive profit of $568,000"

What more can be said - can't get enough of that Raft!

No Man is an Island (1962) - 114 mins

Starring Jeffrey Hunter, Marshall Thompson, Barbara Perez, Ronald Remy, Paul Edwards Jr. & Rolf Bayer

Directed by Richard Goldstone

Tweed (Jeffrey Hunter) is trapped on Guam from the day when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and began their Pacific campaign. Tweed manages to survive detection throughout the long war years, and when the time comes for the Allies to invade the island, he is instrumental in signalling information to them from his hidden base on a hilltop.

A true story based on the exploits of George R. Tweed, a World War II hero.

Fabulous wide-screen color print!

No Name on the Bullet (1959) - 77 mins

Starring Audie Murphy, Charles Drake, Joan Evans, Virginia Grey, Warren Stevens & R. G. Armstrong

Directed by Jack Arnold

John Gant (Audie Murphy) rides into the town of Lordsburg and quietly checks into the hotel. He doesn't say much, nor does he need to - his mere presence does the talking. Gant is a killer, a hired assassin, a gunman with 23 dead men to his credit, but he is not a murderer or a criminal; all of his killings have been legal, a result of self-defense when the men he was after drew on him. When he comes to a town, someone dies as surely as if he were the angel of death - he even tells the town doctor in Lordsburg (Charles Drake) that he's in "a similar line of work," and ends up playing chess with him. Who has he come to "see" in Lordsburg? No one is sure, but as Sheriff Buck Hastings tells his deputy, it will be mighty interesting watching the leading citizens over the next few days. Sure enough, the town banker locks himself in his office with a gun, his business partner starts wearing a gun for the first time in his life, the man they cheated in their dealings is also armed; and one guilty cuckold (Warren Stevens) is positive his ex-rival has paid Gant. Less than 12 hours after that, there's no law left in Lordsburg, every dirty little secret in every man's past starts bubbling to the surface, and gunplay has broken out in the streets between the men who think their respective rivals have brought Gant to town.

Yes! - that’s legendary sci-fi director Jack Arnold at the helm in this always interesting western

None Shall Escape (1944) - 85 mins

Starring Marsha Hunt, Alexander Knox, Henry Travers, Erik Rolf & Richard Crane

Directed by André De Toth

After the war crippled German veteran of WWI goes back to his hometown on the German-Polish border to his old teaching job. Time passes and he becomes increasingly cynical and bitter; he then finds himself increasingly drawn to dark, oppressive ideologies that cause his fiancee to abandon him. He then rapes a female student and finds himself thrown out of his village. It is not long before he joins the Nazi party where he quickly rises in the ranks. By the time he returns to his village, he has become a terrifying Nazi commandant.

Oscar Nominated for Best Original Story

-NEW TITLE-

Non-Stop New York (1937) - 69 mins

Starring John Loder, Anna Lee, Francis X. Sullivan, Frank Cellier & Desmond Tester

Directed by Robert Stevenson

Jennie Carr (Anna Lee) is a chorus girl whose has been targeted for extermination by the London underworld because she can provide an alibi for a murder suspect. The police won't believe her, but that doesn't dissuade the syndicated hit men. Seeking escape, Lee stows away on a plane bound for New York; the gangsters follow, overpower the pilots, and parachute from the plane, leaving Lee and the passengers helplessly hurtling through the clouds. The day is saved by detective Inspector Jim Grant (John Loder), who'd also boarded the plane in search of Lee. The climax involves an aerial fistfight on the wing of the speeding plane.

The film's set-piece is a streamlined luxury plane designed for transatlantic passenger flight (something that would not become a common occurrence until 1940).

The sharp (& smart) script by Curt Siodmak & Roland Pertwee, was based on Sky Steward, a novel by Ken Attiwill.

Excellent!

North by Northwest (1959) - 136 mins

Starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason, Jessie Royce Landis & Leo G. Carroll

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

While having lunch at the Plaza Hotel in New York, advertising executive Roger Thornhill has the bad luck to call for a messenger just as a page goes out for a "George Kaplan." From that moment, Thornhill finds that he has stepped into a nightmare. He is then chased cross the country by spies led by Philip Vandamm, who think he's a double agent and by the police who think he's an assassin. One memorable scene after another, with James Mason being smoothly venomous as a Vandamm.

Quinessential Hitchcock and often considered director Alfred Hitchcock finest achievement

Nominated for 3 Oscars including Screenplay

Northern Pursuit (1943) - 93 mins

Starring Errol Flynn, Julie Bishop, Helmut Dantine, John Ridgely, Gene Lockhard & Tom Tully

Directed by Raoul Walsh

Flynn is cast as Canadian Mountie Steve Wagner, assigned to track down and capture downed Nazi pilot Hugo von Keller (Helmut Dantine) in the snowier Hudson Bay regions. Once Wagner and fellow Mountie Jim Austin (John Ridgely) catch up with Von Keller, they pretend to be on his side, hoping that he'll reveal his espionage plans. Taken in, Von Keller leads the Mounties towards a secret Nazi hideaway, where the Germans have hidden a huge bombing plane, to be used against North America.

The fact that star Errol Flynn had been recently embroiled in a real-life rape trial only served to increase the box-office appeal of this fine Warner Bros actioner. In the light of Flynn's legal problems, one line in Northern Pursuit invariably brought down the house in 1943: After assuring his girl that she's the only woman he's ever loved, Flynn turns to the camera and quips "What am I saying?"

North Sea Hijack (1979) - see ffolkes (1979) elsewhere on this website

The North Star (1943) - 108 mins

Starring Dana Andrews, Anne Baxter, Walter Huston, Walter Brennan, Farley Granger & Erich Von Stroheim

Directed by Lewis Milestone

Kolya (Dana Andrews), Kurin (Walter Huston), Damian (Farley Granger), and Marina (Anne Baxter) are members of a farming collective in the Ukraine known as the North Star. The hard-working but happy members of the North Star find their way of life shattered when Germany, in defiance of previous treaties, storms the nation and begins a brutal occupation. Dr. Otto Von Harden (Erich Von Stroheim) begins gathering children who are to be used for blood transfusions and medical experiments. Many of the outraged farmers take to the hills to fight with the anti-Nazi resistance, while those who stay behind bravely destroy precious crops and materiel rather than turn them over to the Nazi war machine.

Producer Samuel Goldwyn made The North Star at the request of President Franklin D. Roosevelt (whose son James was an executive at Goldwyn's studio) designing it to boost support of America's alliance with Russia against Germany. Ironically, several members of the film's creative team (including screenwriter Lilian Hellman) later found their motivations for making the film questioned by the House Un-American Activities Committee, who declared it Communist propaganda. Later releases saw the film edited to 82 minutes to de-emphasise the good Russians and retitled as Armored Attack.

This is the original complete print (of 108 mins).

Oscar Nominations for Best Art Direction, Cinematography, Special Effects, Music, Sound Recording and Screenplay

Note: A very nice quality print - much better than commercial offerings

Like Mission to Moscow (1943) and Days of Glory (1944) - both of which are available from this website - The North Star presents the courage and resourcefulness of the Soviet Union during WW2 - long before the Russians became the stock villains in Hollywood films!

North West Frontier (1959) (aka Flame Over India) - 129 mins

Starring Kenneth More, Lauren Bacall, Herbert Lom, Wilfred Hyde-White, I.S. Johar & Ursula Jeans

Directed by J. Lee Thompson

When the Moslems attack a British fortress in colonial India, it is imperative that the local Maharaja's son be taken to safety. The man for the job is commander Kenneth More, who uses a rusty old train for that purpose. Among the other fugitives is the boy's British governess Lauren Bacall and the untrustworthy Herbert Lom. A cat-and-mouse session between good and bad guys segues into a heart-pounding chase through the frontier. Welcome comedy relief is in the hands of I.S. Johar as a grizzled old engineer.

A ripping yarn and a great adventure film which benefits greatly from a sizeable budget and nice location photography.

Nominated for 3 BAFTA Awards

North West Mounted Police (1940) - 126 mins

Starring Gary Cooper, Madeleine Carroll, Paulette Goddard, Preston Foster, Robert Preston & George Bancroft

Directed by Cecil B. DeMille

Cecil B. De Mille directed this lavish all-star spectacular paying tribute to America's neighbors to the North. In 1885, as Louis Riel tries to organize Indians and French settlers into a fighting force that will battle against the ruling British, Texas Ranger Dusty Rivers (Gary Cooper) arrives in Canada to arrest Jacques Corbeau (George Bancroft), one of Riel's associates who is wanted for murder in the U.S. Rivers promptly falls for nurse April Logan (Madeleine Carroll), which triggers jealously in the straightlaced Mountie sergeant Jim Brett (Preston Foster), who is also in love with April. Meanwhile, April's brother, Ronnie Logan (Robert Preston), also a member of the North West Mounted Police, is in love with Louvette (Paulette Goddard), Corbeau's sister and a fiery "half-breed" who lives among the Indians. When Dusty arrives in Canada, he joins forces with the mounties, who are looking for Corbeau on another murder charge, and soon joins the fight against Riel's rebel factions.

Oscar Winnner for Best Film Editing. Oscar Nominations for Art Direction, Cinematography, Music & Sound Recording

Note that this is a superb color print!

Gary Cooper: forever the great adventurer - these Gary Cooper titles are available from this website are:

Morocco (1930), A Farewell to Arms (1932), The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935), The General Died at Dawn (1936), The Plainsman (1936), Souls at Sea (1937), The Adventures of Marco Polo (1938), Beau Geste (1939), The Real Glory (1939), The Westerner (1940), North West Mounted Police (1940), For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943), Cloak and Dagger (1946), Unconquered (1947), Task Force (1949), Distant Drums (1951) & High Noon (1952)

Northwest Passage (1940) - 126 mins

Starring Spencer Tracy, Robert Young, Walter Brennan, Ruth Hussey, Nat Pendleton & Louis Hector

Directed by King Vidor

Its 1759 and the headstrong and gifted young artist Langdon Towne (Robert Young) is expelled from Harvard much to the chagrin of his parents and his fiancee, Elizabeth Browne (Ruth Hussey). Towne and his tough-as-nails sidekick, Hunk Marriner (Walter Brennan) get drunk one night in a pub and while intoxicated viciously insult Elizabeth's father, Rev. Browne (Louis Hector). The two men are nearly arraigned for the incident, but escape just in time and ultimately wind up at the camp of famed Indian hunter Major Robert Rogers (Spencer Tracy). Rogers then invites Towne to join his troupe as a cartographer, and suggests that Marriner tag along. Together, the hundreds of Indian fighters under Rogers's aegis team up and chart their way through the wilderness, headed straight for St. Francis, the base of the French-supported Abenaki tribe, notorious for bloodily wiping out British-controlled colonies, after which they will forge the titular 'northwest passage' to the Pacific.

Absolutely fabulous adventure from Kenneth Roberts' fact-based novel of the same name

Oscar Nominated for Best Cinematography (Color)

Also known by its longer title: Northwest Passage: Book I Rogers' Rangers

Notorious (1946) - 101 mins

Starring Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, Claude Rains, Louis Calhern & Leopoldine Konstantin

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

Alicia Huberman is a frivolous girl who loves drinks and men; her father was a German spy in USA and he has committed suicide in prison. Government agent Devlin asks the girl to spy on a group of her father's Nazi friends in Rio de Janeiro; this could be her chance to clean her guilty name. The girl falls in love with the agent, but he seems not to be attracted by the life she is living. Alicia accepts the duty and she goes to Brazil with Devlin. The agent suggests Alicia should marry the spy and gain free access into his house, so she does. During a party, Alicia and Devlin find some uranium dust hidden in Sebastian's canteen, but has he discovered Alicia is a spy?

Oscar Nominations for Claude Rains & Ben Hecht (original screenplay)

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock - say no more!

Notorious Gentleman (1945) - See The Rake's Progress elsewhere on this website

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