| Title | Director | Storyline | Starring | Trivia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET CAPTAIN KIDD | Charles Lamont 1952. Color (Supercinecolor) - USA - English - 70 min | Argentina: 75 min. Rank: 647 | Rocky and Puddin' Head are waiting tables at an inn on Tortuga when a letter given them by Lady Jane for delivery to Martingale gets switched with a treasure map. Kidd and Bonney kidnap them to Skull Island to find said treasure. | Charles Laughton,Hillary Brooke, Fran Warren, Leif Erickson, Sid Saylor, Rex Lease, Frank Yaconelli prob.inc (-10m). Written By: Howard Dimsdale, John Grant. Rating: 6.1 | In the opening scene of It Started with Eve, an assistant newspaper editor comments that if Jonathan Reynolds Sr. had lived two centuries earlier, he would have made a great pirate - "Captain Kidd himself." Three years later, Charles Laughton, who played Jonathan Reynolds Sr., played the title role in Captain Kidd and again in Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd. |
| ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET THE INVISIBLE MAN | Charles Lamont 1951. Black and White - USA - English - 82 min | Argentina: 86 min. Rank: 506 | Boxer Tommy Nelson is accused of killing his manager. While detectives Bud and Lou investigate they come across an invisibility formula with which Tommy injects himself rather than face the police. This sparks an idea for trapping gangster Morgan by having Lou fight champ Rocky Hanlon, with Tommy's invisible help. | Nancy Guild, Adele Jurgens, She;ldon Leonard, William Frawley, Gavin Muir, Arthur Franz, Sam Balter, Sid Saylor, Ed Gargan, Ralph Dunn, Harold Goodwin. Written By: Hugh Wedlock Jr. (story), Howard Snyder (story), and 4 more credits. Rating: 6.6 | The picture in Dr. Gray's laboratory of Griffin, the inventor of the invisibility serum, is a photo of Claude Rains, who played the title role in The Invisible Man. |
| ABE LINCOLN IN ILLINOIS | John Cromwell 1940. Black and White - USA - English - 110 min. Rank: 206 | Covers the period from Lincoln's early years as a Kentucky woodsman until his election to the Presidency in 1860. Included are his first love, his marriage, the Illinois law practice and his debates with Stephen Douglas. | Raymond Massey,Gene Lockhart, Ruth Gordon, Mary Howard, Dorothy Tree, Minor Watson, Alan Baxter, Howard DaSilva, Clem Bevans, Trevor Bardene, Elisab eth Risdom, Louis Jean Heydt, Harlan Biggs, Andy Clyde, Sid Saylor, Charles Middleton Based on R.Sherwood . Written By: Robert E. Sherwood (by), Robert E. Sherwood (screen play), and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.4 | Nominated for 2 Oscars. "Lux Radio Theater" broadcast a 60 minute radio adaptation of the movie on April 22, 1940 with Raymond Massey reprising his film role. |
| ACROSS THE BRIDGE | Ken Annakin 1957. Black and White - UK - English | Spanish - 103 min. Rank: 259 | Corporate executive Carl Schaffner is a German-born British industrialist in New York on business. After he gets word that Scotland Yard is investigating a $3,000,000 embezzlement he has committed, the imperious, mean-spirited Schaffner thinks he has sufficient time to take an inconspicuous train to Mexico where he can escape extradition. He miscalculates, and his crime has become headline news before he can cross the border. He drugs and switches identities with fellow train passenger Paul Scarff, who looks like him and has a Mexican passport. He throws him off the train but later discovers that Scarff is wanted in Mexico as a political assassin. Schaffner must double back and track down Scarff to get his original passport back. He allows himself to be taken to Mexico as Scarff, where he declares his true identity to local police because as Schaffner he is not wanted there. The local police.. | Rod Steiger, David Knight,m Bernard Lee, Eric Pohlmann,. Graeme Green story of expatriate in Mexican border lown. Written By: Graham Greene (story), Guy Elmes , and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.2 | The dog was credited in the main titles as "Dolores", the name of the character. It was found in a dogs' home in Liverpool. Its trainer gained enough publicity from the film that he was able to set up the Dolores Dog Home. |
| ACT ONE | Dore Schary 1963. Black and White - USA - English - 110 min. Rank: 647 | Moss Hart's best-selling autobiography provided the basis for this colorful backstage story. The film depicts Hart as a struggling young playwright in 1929, searching for a sympathetic impresario. Although his manuscript is rejected by a Broadway tycoon, a less prominent manager finally agrees to produce it - on the condition that Hart will get George S. Kaufman, a leading comedy writer, to collaborate on the final script. Hart sets out to convince Kaufman of his play's value, and so begins one of the most famous partnerships in the American theatre. | G.Hamilton, J.Robards, Eli Wallich , Sam Levene, G.Hamilton, R.Ford, J .Klugman Fictionalization of Moss Han autobiog. Written By: Moss Hart (book), Dore Schary. Rating: 6.1 | "Warren Stone" is undoubtedly Jed Harris, the "Napoleon of Broadway", one of the most disliked men on Broadway. |
| ADVENTURE OF SHERLOCK HOLMES' SMARTER BROTHER | Gene Wilder 1975. Color - USA | UK - English - 91 min. Rank: 692 | Sherlock Holmes' younger brother is annoyed that he has had to live in Sherlock's shadow for so long. When Sherlock goes to the continent, he sends a case to his brother who constantly tries with varying success, to imitate Sherlock's deductive and observational tricks. | Wilder, M.Kahn, DeLuise, M.Feldman, Leo McKern, Roy Kinnear, J. LeMesuier. Rating: 5.9 | Gene Wilder performed a number of duties on this movie. Wilder was the lead actor in the central role, co-writer of the script, performer of songs and the film's director. |
| ADVENTURES OF MARTIN EDEN | Sidney Salkow 1942. Black and White - USA - English - 87 min. Rank: 238 | Author writes about his experiences sailing at sea, struggles to get his work published. | Glenn Ford, Claire Trevor, Evelyn Keyes,Stuan Erwin, Dickie Moore, Ian MacDonald, Frank Conroy, Rafaella Ottiano, Pierre Watkin, Regina Wallace,Roben J. McDonald Prod B.P.Shulberg from Jack London story. Written By: Jack London (novel), W.L. River. Rating: 7.3 | |
| AFRICAN QUEEN | John Huston 1951. Color (Technicolor) - UK - English | German | Swahili - 105 min. Rank: 70 | September 1914, news reaches the colony German Eastern Africa that its motherland is at war, so Reverend Samuel Sayer became a hostile foreigner; German imperial troops burn down his mission, driving him mad- shortly after his well-educated, snooty sister Rose Sayer buries him and leaves by the only available transport, the crummy river steamboat 'African Queen' of grumpy boorish compatriot Charlie Allnut. As if a long difficult journey without any comfort weren't bad enough for such odd companions, she is determined to find a way to do their bit for the British war effort (and revenge her brother) and aims high as God is obviously on their side: construct their own equipment, a torpedo and the converted steamboat, to take out a huge German warship, the Louisa, which is hard to find on the giant lake and first of all to reach, in fact as daunting an expedition as nobody attempted since the late adventurous explorer John Speakes.. | Humphrey Bogart, Katherine Hepburn, Roben Morley, Peter Bull, Theodore Bikel, Walter Gosell (las.Agee script from C.M.Forester novel). Written By: C.S. Forester (novel), James Agee (adapted for the screen by), and 3 more credits. Rating: 8 | Won Oscar. Another 1 win and6 nominations. Shortly after filming was completed, Belgian fan magazine Cine-Revue published an article allegedly written by Lauren Bacall, who had accompanied her husband, Humphrey Bogart, on location, which included behind-the-scenes photographs. According to a Mar 1952 Daily Variety story, Romulus Films protested the publication of the photos, which they said "dispelled the film's illusion" by exposing private shooting information. Lauren Bacall denied having written the story. |
| AFTER THE FOX | Vittorio De Sica 1966. Color (Technicolor) - Italy | UK - English | Italian - 103 min. Scope. Rank: 613 | Peter Sellers plays Aldo Vanucci (aka the Fox), one of the greatest criminals of the world, and master of disguise. After Aldo escapes from the Italian prison he was held in, he meets again with his friends, and plans to retrieve the "gold of Cairo" a large shipment of gold, that waits to be unloaded somewhere in Italy. Aldo devices the perfect plan. Posing as a famous director, he finds the ideal coastal village to unload the shipment, and persuades the entire population that he has chosen their village as the set for his new movie. Everybody, including the idiot chief of the local police is so excited, that they can't even imagine that in fact they are helping the Fox to get the "gold of Cairo".. | Peter Sellers, Victor Mature, Britt Ekland, Manin Balsam, Akim Tamiroff, Tino Buazzeli, Maurice Denham. Scpl.by Neil Simon andCesare Zavatini. Written By: Neil Simon (play), Neil Simon (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.3 | The actor portraying Moses (in the Biblical epic being filmed by De Sica in the desert) has a hairstyle modeled on Michaelangelo's renowned sculpture, "Moses"; horns are sculpted into the actor's hair, mimicking the horns in Michaelangelo's statue (placed there due to a mistranslation of the Bible, in which the Hebrew word for "rays" was misread as 'horns'). |
| AIRPLANE | 1980. Color (Metrocolor) - USA - English - 88 min. Rank: 109 | Still craving for the love of his life, Ted Striker follows Elaine onto the flight that she is working on as a member of the cabin crew. Elaine doesn't want to be with Ted anymore, but when the crew and passengers fall ill from food poisoning, all eyes are on Ted. | Lloyd Bridges, Peter Graves, Leslie Nielsen, Roben Hays, Julie Haggerty,Robert Stack,KareemAbdul Jabbar,Lorna Pallerson(Randy),Stephen Stucker( John),Barbara Billingsly (Jive Lady),Joyce Bulifant (Mrs.Davis),James Hong,Maureen McGovern,Ethel Merman, Kenne. Written By: Jim Abrahams (written for the screen by), David Zucker (written for the screen by), and 5 more credits. Rating: 7.8 | Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 2 wins and5 nominations. The film was specially geared to spoof the "Airport" series, but chiefly spoofs Airport 1975, where Karen Black is a stewardess forced to pilot a plane after both pilots are incapacitated, Linda Blair is a girl needing a kidney transplant, and Helen Reddy plays a singing nun. |
| AIRPORT '77 | Jerry Jameson 1977. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English | Hungarian - 114 min. Rank: 759 | A luxury 747 carrying valuable art work is hijacked and lands in the ocean, submerged in shallow water. Will the crew and passengers make it off before the plane floods with water? | Jack Lemmon, Lee Grant, Brenda Vaccaro, Joseph Cotten, Olivia de Havilland, Darren McGavin, Christopher Lee, Roben Foxwonh, George Kennedy, James Stewart, Monte Markham (banker), Kathleen Quinlan, Gil Gerard,James Booth, Monica Lewis, Maidie Norman, M.Emm. Written By: Arthur Hailey (novel), Michael Scheff (screenplay), and 3 more credits. Rating: 5.4 | Nominated for 2 Oscars. Joan Crawford was approached to play the role of Emily Livingston but declined, later saying, "I wanted Joel McCrea to play opposite me, and anyway, they actually asked me to fly out there with only one week's notice! Why, that is hardly enough time for makeup tests or rehearsals.. and when I asked about costume fittings, they said they wanted me to wear my own clothes!" |
| ALL ABOUT EVE | Joseph L. Mankiewicz 1950. Black and White - USA - English | French (a few words) - 138 min. Rank: 15 | Aspiring actress Eve Harrington maneuvers her way into the lives of Broadway star Margo Channing, playwright Lloyd Richards and director Bill Sampson. This classic story of ambition and betrayal has become part of American folklore. Bette Davis claims to have based her character on the persona of film actress Talullah Bankhead. Davis' line "Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night" is legendary, but, in fact, all of the film's dialog sparkles with equal brilliance. | Bette Davis, Ann Baxter, Marilyn Monroe, George Sanders, Celeste Holm, Gary Merrill, Thelma Riller, Hugh Marlowe, Gregory Raloff, Barbara Bates, Walter Hampden, Steven Geray. Rating: 8.4 | In the theatre scene, Bette Davis mentions playwright Arthur Miller. Marilyn Monroe, who had one of her first roles in this film, later married Miller. |
| ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT | Lewis Milestone 1930. Black and White - USA - English | French | German (song lyrics) | Latin - UK: 145 min (cut) | UK: 147 min (BBFC submission before censorship) | Germany: 136 min | USA: 133 min (restored version: Library of Congress) | 138 min (copyright length) | Spain: 128 min (DVD edition) | USA: 101 min (TV version). Rank: 50 | This is an English language film (made in America) adapted from a novel by German author Erich Maria Remarque. The film follows a group of German schoolboys, talked into enlisting at the beginning of World War 1 by their jingoistic teacher. The story is told entirely through the experiences of the young German recruits and highlights the tragedy of war through the eyes of individuals. As the boys witness death and mutilation all around them, any preconceptions about "the enemy" and the "rights and wrongs" of the conflict disappear, leaving them angry and bewildered. This is highlighted in the scene where Paul mortally wounds a French soldier and then weeps bitterly as he fights to save his life while trapped in a shell crater with the body. The film is not about heroism but about drudgery and futility and the gulf between the concept of war and the actuality. | Lew Ayres, Louis Wollheim, John Wray (Himmelstoss), Slim Summerville, Ben Alexander, Beryl Mercer, Russell Gleason, Russell Gleason, Scott Kolk(Leer), Walter Browne Rogers(Behm), Heinnie Conklin(Hammacher), Fred Zinneman (Man) Scpt:Maxwell Anderson, Georg. Written By: Erich Maria Remarque (by), Maxwell Anderson (adaptation), and 5 more credits. Rating: 8.1 | [June 2008] Ranked #7 on the American Film Institute's list of the 10 greatest films in the genre "Epic". |
| ALL THE RIGHT MOVES | Michael Chapman 1983. Color - USA - English - 91 min. Rank: 728 | Sensitive study of a headstrong high school football star who dreams of getting out of his small Western Pennsylvania steel town with a football scholarship. His equally ambitious coach aims at a college position, resulting in a clash which could crush the player's dreams. | Tom Cruise, Craig T Nelson, Lea Thompson, Charles Cioffi , Paul Carafotes, Christopher Penn. Basketball in Johnston, Pa. ???. Written By: Pat Jordan (article), Michael Kane. Rating: 5.7 | Tom Cruise and Lea Thompson performed a majority of their own nudity in their love scene. However body doubles were used for insert shots. The same body doubles were also used earlier in the film for insert shots in the make-out scene in the car. |
| ANATOMY OF A MURDER | Otto Preminger 1959. Black and White - USA - English - 160 min. Rank: 50 | Frederick Manion (Ben Gazzara), a lieutenant in the army, is arrested for the murder of a bartender, Barney Quill. He claims, in his defense, that the victim had raped and beaten up his wife Laura (Lee Remick). Although Laura supports her husband's story, the police surgeon can find no evidence that she has been raped. Manion is defended by Paul Biegler (James Stewart), a rather humble small-town lawyer. During the course of interviews, Biegler discovers that Manion is violently possessive and jealous, and also that his wife has a reputation for giving her favors to other men. Biegler realizes that the prosecution will try to make the court believe that Laura was the lover of the bartender and than Manion killed him and beat her up when he discovered them together. Manion pleads "not guilty" and Biegler, who knows that his case is weak, sets his assistants to try to find a witness who will save Manion. | Jimmy Stewart, Lee Remick, Ben Gazzara, Arthur O'Connell. Written By: Wendell Mayes (screenplay), John D. Voelker (novel). Rating: 8.1 | Nominated for 7 Oscars. Another 7 wins and11 nominations. The part of the judge was offered to both Spencer Tracy and Burl Ives, but instead went to Joseph N. Welch who was a lawyer in real life who had represented the U.S. Army in the televised Army-McCarthy hearings in 1954. |
| ANGEL ON MY SHOULDER | Archie Mayo 1946. Black and White - USA - English - 100 min | Canada: 101 min (Ontario) | USA: 120 min (TCM Print). Rank: 329 | Gangster Eddie Kagel is killed by a trusted lieutenant and finds himself in Harry Redmond Jr's special-effects Hell, where Nick/The Devil sees that he is an-exact double for a judge who Nick doesn't approve of. Eddie is agreeable to having his soul transferred to the judge's body, as it will give him a chance to avenge himself on his killer. But every action taken by Eddie (as the judge) results in good rather than evil and, to Nick's dismay, the reputation and influence of the judge is enhanced, rather than impaired by Eddie. And Eddie also falls in love with the judge's fiancée, Barbara. Even Eddie's planned revenge fails and Nick is forced to concede defeat. He returns to Hell, taking Eddie with him, after Eddie has extracted his promise that Nick will not molest the judge or Barbara in the future. | Paul Muni,Anne Baxter,Claude Rains, Geo.Cleveland water damage ---needs a great deal of work but projectible w. flashes. Written By: Harry Segall (original story), Harry Segall (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.0 | The film's international remake rights are owned by producer Todd Baker. |
| ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES | Michael Curtiz 1938. Black and White - USA - English - 97 min. Rank: 93 | Rocky Sullivan and Jerry Connolly were tough kids who grew up together in the toughest part of New York --- Hell's Kitchen. Early on, Rocky gets sent to reform school, where he learns how to be a first class criminal. Jerry, who had escaped from the law, goes straight and becomes a priest. As adults, they reunite in the old neighborhood: Jerry works with the kids who, like he and Rocky, could end up on either side of the law. Rocky has returned looking for a safe place to stay till he can get back into his old racketeering organization -- something that his old partner isn't anxious to have happen. Lots of rapid fire wisecracks, roughhousing and gunfire ensues. | James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, Humphrey Bogart, Dead End Kids (Gorcey,Punsley, Dell, Halop, Hall), George Bancroft, William Tracy, John Hamilton, Jack Perrin, Mary Gordon, Vera Gordon, Charles Wilson. Written By: John Wexley (screenplay), Warren Duff (screenplay), and 3 more credits. Rating: 7.9 | Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 1 win. For years, viewers have wonder whether or not "Rocky" Sullivan (James Cagney) really turned yellow as he was being strapped into the electric chair. Some have wondered if he was faking it in order to keep his promise to Father Jerry. When asked about the scene years later, Cagney says he chose to play it in such a way so that the audience could make their own decisions as to whether or not he was faking. |
| ANIMAL CRACKERS | Victor Heerman 1930. Black and White - USA - English - 97 min | Argentina: 98 min. Rank: 157 | Captain Spaulding, the noted explorer, returns from Africa and attends a gala party held by Mrs. Rittenhouse. A painting displayed at that party is stolen, and the Marxes help recover it. Well, maybe 'help' isn't quite the word I was looking for--this is the Marx Brothers, after all.. | Marx Brothers, Lilian Roth, Margaret Dumont, Louis Sorin, Hal Thompson (John Parker), Margaret Irving(Mrs.Whitehead), Edward Metcalfe, Richard Grieg. Written By: George S. Kaufman (play), Morrie Ryskind (play), and 3 more credits. Rating: 7.6 | Chico Marx plays his trademark song "I'm Daffy Over You" for the first time in this film. |
| ANNIE HALL | Woody Allen 1977. Color - USA - English | German (archive footage) - 93 min. Rank: 35 | Romantic adventures of neurotic New York comedian Alvy Singer and his equally neurotic girlfriend Annie Hall. The film traces the course of their relationship from their first meeting, and serves as an interesting historical document about love in the 1970s. | Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Tony Roberts, Carol Kane, Paul Simon, Colleen Dewhurst, Janet Margolin, Shelley Duvall, Christopher Walken, Marshall MacLuhan, Dick Cavelt, Jeff Goldblum, Harvey, Shelley Hack, Beverly D'Angelo, Sigourney Weaver. Written By: Woody Allen, Marshall Brickman. Rating: 8.2 | [June 2008] Ranked #2 on the American Film Institute's list of the 10 greatest films in the genre "Romantic Comedy". |
| ARIZONA | Wesley Ruggles 1940. Black and White - USA - English | Spanish - 125 min. Rank: 373 | Phoebe Titus is a tough, swaggering pioneer woman, but her ways become decidedly more feminine when she falls for California bound Peter Muncie. But Peter won't be distracted from his journey and Phoebe is left alone and plenty busy with villains Jefferson Carteret and Lazarus Ward plotting at every turn to destroy her freighting company. She has not seen the last of Peter, however. | Jean Arthur, William Holden, Warren William, Porter Hall, Paul Harvey. Written By: Clarence Budington Kelland (story), Claude Binyon (screenplay). Rating: 6.9 | Nominated for 2 Oscars. The set still stands outside Tucson Arizona and is an active studio and Old West theme park called Old Tucson. Since it was built in 1939, Old Tucson has served as the set for many famous Westerns such as Rio Bravo and Tombstone. Little House on the Prairie also used the studios. |
| ARSENIC AND OLD LACE | Frank Capra 1944. Black and White - USA - English | German - 118 min. Rank: 50 | Mortimer Brewster is a newspaperman and author known for his diatribes against marriage. We watch him being married at city hall in the opening scene. Now all that is required is a quick trip home to tell Mortimer's two maiden aunts. While trying to break the news, he finds out his aunts' hobby; killing lonely old men and burying them in the cellar. It gets worse. | Cary Grant, Priscilla Lane, Rayond Massey, Peter Lorree, Josephine Hull, Jean Adair, James Gleason, Jack Carson, Grant Mitchell, John Alexander, Edward Everett Honan, Grant Mitchell, Edward McNamara (Brophy), Chester Clute (Dr.), Charles Lane (reporter), . Written By: Julius J. Epstein (screen play), Philip G. Epstein (screen play), and 1 more credit. Rating: 8.1 | Alberta Gary, Joan Leslie, Juanita Stark and Vera Lewis are in studio records/casting call lists for this movie, but they did not appear or were not identifiable. |
| AT THE CIRCUS | Edward Buzzell 1939. Black and White - USA - English - 87 min. Rank: 467 | Jeff Wilson, the owner of a small circus, owes his partner Carter $10000. Before Jeff can pay, Carter lets his accomplices steal the money, so he can take over the circus. Antonio Pirelli and Punchy, who work at the circus, together with lawyer Loophole try to find the thief and get the money back. | Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx, Margaret Dumont, Eve Arden, Nat Pendleton, Kenny Baker, Fritz Feld, Florence Rice. Rating: 6.7 | Originally entitled "A Day at the Circus" it was to be the third in the Brothers' "Day/Night" series after A Night at the Opera and A Day at the Races |
| ATTIC | George Edwards, and 1 more credit. 1979. Color - USA - English - 101 min | UK: 91 min. Rank: 788 | Woman librarian devotes life to caring for wheelchair-bound tyrannical father after being stood up at altar. She fantasizes his death and finds joy only with her pet monkey. Monkey disappears and a shocking past is revealed. | Carrie Snodgrass, Ray Milland, Rosemary Murphy, Ruth Cox, Francis Bay, Marjorie Eaton. Psychological thriller, sheltered spinster revolts against tyrannical father. Written By: Tony Crechales (screenplay), George Edwards (screenplay). Rating: 5 | Getting director George Edwards to Wichita, Kansas for filming proved to be a difficult and costly process. Edwards feared flying so he started out to Kansas on a train. However, Edwards fell ill on board and ended up taking a cab from Arkansas to Kansas afterward. It cost $1,500 dollars. |
| AUTHOR! AUTHOR! | Arthur Hiller 1982. Color - USA - English - 110 min. Rank: 692 | Playwright Travalian feels pulled limb from limb these days. He has a Broadway play in rehearsal and they want rewrites. His tramp wife is leaving him, leaving him as well with four children from her previous marriages plus his own son. And his lead actress wants to move in with him but isn't used to kids. | AI Pacino, DyAn Cannon, Tuesday Weld, Eric Gurry, Alan King, Bob Dishy, Bob andRay, Andre Gregory, Ari Meyers. Israel Horowitz play.. Rating: 5.9 | Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 1 nomination. |
| AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MISS JANE PITTMAN | John Korty 1975. Color - USA - English - 120 min | USA: 112 min. Rank: 70 | In February, 1962, as the civil rights movement reaches Bayonne, Louisiana, a New York journalist arrives to interview Jane Pittman, who has just turned 110. She tells him her story dating back to her earliest memories before slavery ended, a long walk toward freedom, marriage to Joe Pittman, her adopted son Ned's work as an educator, helping to raise Jimmy, who returns as a civil rights worker, and her own decision to become involved in contemporary issues. In between the chapters of her life, the present-day struggles of Blacks in Bayonne, urged on by Jimmy, are dramatized. | C.Tyson, Barbara Chaney, Richard Dysart, Katherine Helmond, Michael Murph y, Odetta, Thalmus Rasuala. 9 Emmy's. Written By: Tracy Keenan Wynn (screenplay), Ernest J. Gaines (novel). Rating: 8 | Won 8 Primetime Emmys. Another 1 win and4 nominations. Originally shown on US TV with only one commercial break. |
| BABES IN TOYLAND | 1934. Black and White - USA - English - 77 min | USA: 73 min (re-release). Rank: 259 | Ollie Dee and Stanley Dum try to borrow money from their employer, the toymaker, to pay off the mortgage on Mother Peep's shoe and keep it and Little Bo Peep from the clutches of the evil Barnaby. When that fails, they trick Barnaby into marrying Stanley Dum instead of Bo Peep. Enraged, Barnaby unleashes the bogeymen from their caverns to destroy Toyland. | Laurel and Hardy, Charlotte Henry, Henry Brandon, Felix Knight, Jean Darling, Johnny Downs, Marie Wilson. Written By: Frank Butler (screen play), Nick Grinde (screen play), and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.2 | Hal Roach and Walt Disney were good friends, and it paid off for Roach in this picture. Roach asked to borrow the tune "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?" from a Disney cartoon of the previous year, and Disney obliged. |
| BABY THE RAIN MUST FALL | Robert Mulligan 1965. Black and White - USA - English - 100 min. Rank: 632 | Henry Thomas is out on parole in a small Texan town and, in the evenings, he is the lead singer in a band. He is being pressured by his foster mother to give up his singing and go back to school. His wife, Georgette, and young daughter unexpectedly come to town to live with him. However Henry's hot temper leads him into knife fights, and jeopardizes his parole. | Steve McQueen, Lee Remick, Don Murray, Paul Fix, Josephine Hutchinson, Ruth White. Scplay: Horton Foote (loan from PK). Written By: Horton Foote (play), Horton Foote (screenplay). Rating: 6.2 | Horton Foote was a native of Wharton, Texas, where portions of this movie were filmed. The Texas premier of "Baby the Rain Must Fall" was held in Wharton on February 4, 1965 at the now-demolished Rio Theatre. |
| BACK STREET | Robert Stevenson 1941. Black and White - USA - English - 89 min. Rank: 259 | Five years after meeting and falling in love with a banker, a willful shop girl decides to become his mistress upon learning he has since gotten married and had a son. | Charles Boyer, Margaret Sullavan, Richard Carlson. Written By: Fannie Hurst (novel), Bruce Manning, Felix Jackson. Rating: 6.8 | Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic Picture (Frank Skinner). |
| BAD COMPANY | Robert Benton 1972. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 93 min. Rank: 295 | A group of naive boys find that life as desperadoes in the west is more serious that they understood when they embark on abortive careers in bushwhacking. Violence, betrayal, sombre colours and a Beckettsian whimsy mark this ironic western. | Jeff Bridges, Barry Brown, Jim Davis, David Huddleston, John Savage, Jerry Houser. Civil War drifters rob their way west. DP: Gordon Willis. Written By: David Newman, Robert Benton. Rating: 7.1 | According to Jeff Bridges the gunfight in the forest had to be completely re shot after the film was ruined in the lab. |
| BALCONY | Joseph Strick 1963. Black and White - USA - English - 84 min. Rank: 647 | Shelley Winters is the madame of a house where customers play out their erotic fantasies, oblivious to a revolution which is sweeping the country. When her old friend, the chief of police (Peter Falk), asks her to impersonate the missing queen in order to reassure the people and halt the revolution, she offers instead three of her customers to play the general, bishop and chief justice, all of whom have died in the revolution. | Peter Falk, Shelly Winters, Lee Grant, Ruby Dee, Peter Broca, Kent Smith, Jeff Corey, Leonard Nimoy Jean Genet play Vinegar, in garage. Written By: Jean Genet (play), Ben Maddow. Rating: 6.1 | Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 nomination. Although initially refused a UK cinema certificate by censor John Trevelyan the film was passed uncut after successful showings by local council authorities. |
| BALLAD OF A SOLDIER | Grigori Chukhrai 1960. Black and White - Soviet Union - Russian - 88 min. Rank: 35 | During World War II, 19 year old soldier Alyosha gets a medal as a reward for a heroic act at the front. Instead of this medal he asks for a few days leave to visit his mother and repair the roof of their home. On the train eastwards he meets Shura who is on her way to her aunt. In those few days traveling together they fall in love. | Vladimir Ivashov, Shanna Prokhorenka 35mm '. Written By: Grigori Chukhrai, Valentin Ezhov. Rating: 8.2 | Nominated for Oscar. Another 5 wins and3 nominations. |
| BAND OF ANGELS | Raoul Walsh 1957. Color (Warnercolor) - USA - English - 125 min. Rank: 574 | Living in Kentucky prior to the Civil War, Amantha Starr is a privileged young woman. Her widower father, a wealthy plantation owner, dotes on her and he sends her to the best schools. When he dies suddenly however, Amantha's world is turned upside down. She learns that her father had been living on borrowed money and that her mother was actually a slave and her father's mistress. The plantation is to be sold to pay off her father's debts and as the daughter of slave, Amantha is also to be sold as property. She is bought by a Louisiana plantation owner, Hamish Bond and over time she grows to love him until she learns he was a slave-trader. She tries again to become part of white society but realizes that her future lies elsewhere. | Clark Gable, Yvonne deCarlo, Sidney Poitier, Ephram Zimbalist jr, Patrcik Knowles. Vinegar, in garage. Written By: Robert Penn Warren (novel), John Twist (screenplay), and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.4 | The film proved to be a complete failure on release, both critically and commercially. Clark Gable was annoyed by the comparisons with Gone with the Wind and instructed his agent, "If it doesn't suit an old geezer with false teeth, forget about it." He also decided to part company with Raoul Walsh, previously one of his favorite directors. |
| BANK DICK | Edward F. Cline 1940. Black and White - USA - English - 72 min. Rank: 206 | Egbert Souse, "accent grave over the e", henpecked by his whole family, is recruited to replace a drunken film director, then seems to have captured a bank robber and is hired as guard in the Lompoc Bank, where Og Oggilby, his daughter's fiancée, is teller. Souse persuades Og to embezzle $500 to buy phony stock; then the bank examiner shows up. Can Souse keep him occupied for four days? The climax is an extended chase sequence. | W.C.Fields, Cora Witherspoon, Una Merkel, Evelyn DelRio (daughter), Jessie Ralph (sr.in law), Franklin Pangborn, Shemp Howard, Richard Purcell (Green), Grady Sutton, Russell Hicks, Pierre Watkin, George Moran (McNasty), Bill Wolfe, Jack Norton, Heather Wi. Rating: 7.4 | At one point, W.C. Fields's character falsely brags, "In the old Sennett days, I used to direct Charles Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and the rest of 'em." This movie's director Edward F. Cline' did co-direct several of Buster Keaton's early short subjects. |
| BATTLE OF CASINO-Docu | . - - - - - . Rank: n/a | Documentary not inv'd 10-06 prob. upstairs. Rating: | ||
| BATTLE OF THE BULGE-D | . - - - - - . Rank: n/a | Documentary not inv'd 10/6, prob upstairs. Rating: | ||
| BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN | Sergei M. Eisenstein 1925. Black and White - Soviet Union - Russian (intertitles) - 75 min | Spain: 70 min | Spain: 77 min | USA: 66 min | Argentina: 80 min | Spain: 68 min (DVD edition) | 72 min (17 fps) (Blu-ray). Rank: 50 | Based on the historical events the movie tells the story of a riot at the battleship Potemkin. What started as a protest strike when the crew was given rotten meat for dinner ended in a riot. The sailors raised the red flag and tried to ignite the revolution in their home port Odessa. | . Rating: 8.1 | Battleship "Dvenadtsat Apostolov", that played a part of "Potemkin", was in fact removed from active service in 1911 and served as a mine hulk until mid-1920s, when the film was made. Despite the fact that she was from a similar period (1892) and of similar size, she had to be heavily modified externally, first of all by addition of dummy gun turrets. |
| BEACHCOMBER | Muriel Box 1955. Color (Technicolor) - UK - English - USA: 82 min. Rank: 632 | Mr. Gray is the new Resident in Charge of the Welcome Islands in the Indian Ocean. The Islands are full of life, but the only other Europeans are the "sanctimonious, psalm-singing" brother-sister missionary team of Martha and Owen Jordans, and the Honourable Ted - a hard-drinking, womanizing social outcast whose English family pays him to stay away. Martha and Ted become an unlikely team when cholera threatens the islands and they must do their best to stop its spread. | Robert Newton, Glynis Johns, Horden, Donald Sinden, Donald Pleasance) def ST,ret(not cat UK). Written By: Sydney Box, W. Somerset Maugham (story). Rating: 6.2 | |
| BEAT THE DEVIL | John Huston 1953. Black and White - UK | USA | Italy - English | Italian - 89 min. Rank: 506 | A quartet of international crooks -- Peterson, O'Hara, Ross and Ravello -- is stranded in Italy while their steamer is being repaired. With them are the Dannreuthers. The six are headed for Africa, presumably to sell vacuum cleaners but actually to buy land supposedly loaded with uranium. They are joined by others who apparently have similar designs. | Humphrey Bogart, Gina Lollabrigida, Jennifer Jones, Robert Morley, Peter Lorre, Edward Underdown, Ivor Barnard, Marco Tulli (Capt), Marion Perroni (purser). Written By: James Helvick (novel), Truman Capote (screenplay), and 3 more credits. Rating: 6.6 | William Styron's second novel, "Set This House on Fire", describes a film crew on location - obviously based on director John Huston and gang during the shooting of this film. The town in the novel is Ravello on Italy's Amalfi Drive, where most of the film was shot. |
| BEAU HUNKS | James W. Horne 1931. Black and White - USA - English - 37 min. Rank: 206 | Jilted by his girlfriend, "Jeanie-Weenie," Oliver joins the Foreign Legion to forget, bringing Stanley along with him. They wilt under the scorching desert sun and under the harsh discipline of the Commandant. On a long march to reinforce remote Fort Arid, the boys get lost in the sands, finally reaching the Fort only to find it besieged by the fearsome Riffs. | Laurel and Hardy, Charles Middleton and Hall, Tiny Sandford, Harry Schultz, Gordon Douglas, Sam Lufkin, Marvin Hatley (recruit), James Horne (Chief of riff-raff).. Rating: 7.4 | According to producer Hal Roach, this film was to have been only a two-reeler, but the comedy was expanded so well that he financed the movie at twice its proposed length. |
| BED SITTING ROOM | Richard Lester 1969. Color - UK - English - 90 min. Rank: 613 | Set in post-nuclear-holocaust England, where a handful of bizarre characters struggle on with their lives in the ruins, amongst endless heaps of ash, piles of broken crockery and brick, muddy plains, and heaps of dentures and old boots. Patriotically singing "God Save Mrs. Etheyl Shroake, Long Live Mrs. Etheyl Shroake", they wander through this surrealistic landscape, forever being warned by the police to "keep moving", and prone to the occasional mutation into a parrot, cupboard, or even, yes, a bed sitting room with "No Wogs" scrawled in the grime on it's windows. In particular, this story revolves around the odd "love story" of a girl who lives with her parents in one compartment of a London Underground train, the commuter in the next compartment, and the doctor they meet after returning above ground in search of a nurse for the heavily pregnant girl. | Rita Tushingham, Ralph Richardson, Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Spike Mulligan, Michael Hordern, Roy Kinnear, Richard Warwick (Allan), Arthur Lowe (Father), Mona Washburn, Ron Fraser, Ron Brody (dwarf), Marty Feldman (debut bit). Written By: John Antrobus (screenplay), Charles Wood (adaptation), and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.3 | The revised National Anthem lyrics are.. 'God save Mrs Ethel Shroake, Long live Mrs Ethel Shroake, God save Mrs Ethel Shroake of 393A High Street, Leytonstone' |
| BEDTIME STORY | Ralph Levy 1964. Color (Eastmancolor) - USA - English - 99 min. Rank: 506 | Benson, is a Casanova who despises women and invents all sorts of tricks to bed them and leave them. His favorite one is going through Germany posing as an American GI of Teunonic extraction. Whenever he spots a girl he likes, he takes a Polarod picture of her house, knocks on the door waving the photo and pretending to be on a pilgrimage to this very cottage his grandmother so vividly described. It is an infallible system for a hit-and-run seduction. Benson seems content with his game until he meets Jamison, a real operator who has learned to combine sex with money. Jamison poses as an exiled prince and not only gets women to share his bed but also to bestow their jewels on him for the sake of the counterrevolution. Benson decides to corner Jamison's market on sex plus finance. A contest develops, and whoever wins will dominate a small Riviera resort as "King of the Mountain," the film's original title. Remade in 1988 as "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels." | Marlon Branda, David Niven, Shirley Jones, Marie Windsor, Dody Goodman. Orig. of "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" (1988). Written By: Stanley Shapiro , Paul Henning. Rating: 6.6 | Almost 25 years after the film was released, it was remade as Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. |
| BEFORE WINTER COMES | J. Lee Thompson 1969. Color (Technicolor) - UK - English - 107 min | USA: 103 min. Rank: 741 | Comedy set in a refugee camp in occupied Austria after World War II. A shrewd multi-lingual interpreter who mediates between Russian and British military brass enters into a friendly rivalry with British Major Giles Burnside, who is in charge of assigning the displaced persons into either the American or Russian zones. | David Niven, Topol, Anna Karanina, John Hurt, Anthony Quayle, Ori Levy, John Collin, Karel Stepanek, Guy Deghy, Mark Malicz. Written By: Andrew Sinclair (screenplay), Frederick L. Keefe (based on "The Interpreter" by). Rating: 5.6 | |
| BELL, BOOK AND CANDLE | Richard Quine 1958. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English | French - 106 min. Rank: 467 | Gillian Holroyd is just your average, modern-day, witch, living in a New York apartment with her Siamese familiar, Pyewacket. But one day a handsome publisher, Shep Henderson walks into her building and Gillian decides she wants him--especially as it turns out he's marrying Merle Kittridge, an old poison penpal from Gillian's college days. So, Gillian casts a spell over Shep. But her powers are in danger of being exorcised by something stronger than the bell-book-and-candle routine: Love. | James Stewart, Kim Novak, Jack Lemmon, Janice Rul e, Ernie Kovacs, Hermoine Gingold, Elsa Lanchester, Howard McNear, Condoli Bros. w. Taradash. Written By: John Van Druten (play), Daniel Taradash (screenplay). Rating: 6.7 | Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 2 nominations. This was James Stewart's final appearance as a romantic lead. This was because many of the leading ladies that were playing his romantic interest were becoming younger and a few were half his age. The critics in 1958 felt that Stewart was miscast as a suave New York businessman, and he apparently agreed. After this film he would concentrate more on roles that portrayed him as an everyman or as a father figure. |
| Anthony Mann 1952. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 91 min. Rank: 206 | Two men with questionable pasts, Glyn McLyntock and his friend Cole, lead a wagon-train load of homesteaders from Missouri to the Oregon territory. They establish a settlement outside of Portland and as winter nears, it is necessary for McLyntock and Cole to rescue and deliver food and supplies being held in Portland by corrupt officials. On the trip back to the settlement, up river and over a mountain, Cole engineers a mutiny to divert the supplies to a gold mining camp for a handsome profit. | James Stewart, Arthur Kennedy, Julia Adams, Rock Hudson, Lori Nelson, Jay C.Flippen, Stepin Fetchit, Harry Morgamn, Chubby Johnson, Howard Petrie, Frances Bavier, Royal Dana, Frank Ferguson w. Borden Chase. Written By: Borden Chase (screenplay), William Gulick (novel). Rating: 7.4 | In Finland this film is called "Maa vuorten takana", meaning "The Land Behind the Mountains" in English. | |
| BENJI | Joe Camp 1974. Color - USA - English - 86 min. Rank: 373 | The first movie about the famous golden mutt. Benji is a stray who has nonetheless worked his way into the hearts of a number of the townspeople, who give him food and attention whenever he stops by. His particular favorites are a pair of children who feed and play with him against the wishes of their parents. When the children are kidnapped, however, the parents and the police are at a loss to find them. Only Benji can track them down, but will he be in time? If he can save the day, he may just find the permanent home he's been longing for. | Patsy Garrett, Allen Fiuzat, Cynthia Smith, Peter Breck, Frances Bavier, Terry Carter, Edgar Buchanan. Written By: Joe Camp. Rating: 6.2 | A guilty pleasure of Alfred Hitchcock. Higgins played the "dog" for the seven year run of the TV series Petticoat Junction (1963) (which also starred Edgar Buchanan). "Benji" was his last acting role. His urn is inside the casket of his trainer, Frank Inn. In the sequel films, Benji was played by Benji, the original Benji's daughter. Final film of Edgar Buchanan. Final film of Frances Bavier. |
| BENNY GOODMAN STORY | Valentine Davies 1956. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 116 min. Rank: 574 | Bio of swing band leader 'Benny Goodman' from age 10 (1919) to his landmark Carnegie Hall band concert in 1938. Not exactly historically accurate, but great music. Also, guest appearances by many great musicians of the time. | Steve Allen, Donna Reed, Bena Gersten (mom), Herbert Anderson (J .Hammond), Robert F. Simon (Pop), Sammy Davis jr, Dick Winslow (Gil), Barry Truex (BG 6), David Kasaday (BG 10), Wilton Graff (Hammond), Shep Menlken (HG), Kid Ory, Ben Pollack, Gene Krupa, . Rating: 6.4 | Already an accomplished piano player, Steve Allen learned how to play the clarinet for this film. |
| BEST MAN | Franklin J. Schaffner 1964. Black and White - USA - English - 102 min. Rank: 126 | The other party is in disarray. Five men vie for the party nomination for president. No one has a majority as the first ballot closes and the front-runners begin to decide how badly they want the job. | Henry Fonda, Cliff Robertson, Eadie Adams, Margaret Leighton, Shelly Berman,Lee Tracy,Ann Sothern, Gene Raymond,Richard Arlen,Mahalia Jackson. W.Gore V. Rating: 7.7 | Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win and 3 nominations. Adapted from a stage production that opened on Mar. 31, 1960 at the Morosco Theatre in New York and ran for 520 performances. Lee Tracy repeated the role that he created on Broadway and was nominated for the 1960 Tony Award for Best Actor for his performance. Melvyn Douglas originally played William Russell in the play, the Henry Fonda role in the film. The play also won the 1960 Tony Award for Best Play, written by Gore Vidal who also penned the screenplay for the movie version. |
| BEST OF ENEMIES | Guy Hamilton 1962. Color (Technicolor) - Italy - English - 104 min. Rank: 373 | Meet the craziest pair of soldiers ever to play at war! - they're both prisoners - but who captured whom? | David Niven, Harry Andrews, Alberto Sordi, Michael Wilding, Noel Harrison, Ronald Fraser, Bernard Cribbins, Duncan MacRae, Robert Desmond, Kenneth. Fortescu, Michael Trubshawe, David Opatoshu. Written By: Suso Cecchi d'Amico (screenplay), Agenore Incrocci (screenplay), and 3 more credits. Rating: 6.9 | Nominated for 3 Golden Globes. Another 3 nominations. Italian censorship visa #34965 delivered on 11-10-1961. |
| BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES | William Wyler 1946. Black and White - USA - English - 172 min. Rank: 27 | The story concentrates on the social re-adjustment of three World War II servicemen, each from a different station of society. Al Stephenson returns to an influential banking position, but finds it hard to reconcile his loyalties to ex-servicemen with new commercial realities. Fred Derry is an ordinary working man who finds it difficult to hold down a job or pick up the threads of his marriage. Having had both hands burnt off during the war, Homer Parrish is unsure that his fiancée's feelings are still those of love and not those of pity. Each of the veterans faces a crisis upon his arrival, and each crisis is a microcosm of the experiences of many American warriors who found an alien world awaiting them when they came marching home. | Fredric March, Myrna Loy, Theresa Wright, Dana Andrews, Virginia Mayo, Haro ld Russell, Hoagy Carmichael, Gladys George, Roman Bohnen, Steve Cochran, Cathy O'Donnell, Ray Collins, Minna Gambell (Mrs.Parrish), Walter Baldwin, Dorothy Adams (Mrs. Cameron), . Written By: Robert E. Sherwood (screen play), MacKinlay Kantor (from a novel by). Rating: 8.3 | According to his biographer A. Scott Berg, Samuel Goldwyn re-released The Best Years of Our Lives in a modified format to play on wide screens. It opened with all the hoopla of a new picture, including a gala premiere in Washington D.C. on February 3, 1954, with Sherman Adams, five Supreme Court justices, two cabinet members, and twenty-four senators in attendance. There was a quarter-million-dollar campaign advertising it as "The Most Honored Picture of All Time". The film grossed another $1 million. |
| BEWARE | Bud Pollard 1946. Black and White - USA - English - 54 min. Rank: 780 | Ware College is a small Black college in Ware, Ohio. Once prominent, it is now low in attendance, low in enrollment and low on money; and at a meeting with instructors Drury and Annabelle Brown, Dean Hargreaves reveals that CEO Benjamin Ware III, grandson of the college's founder, claims the estate of his late grandfather is now also destitute, which they believe is untrue and a result of Annabelle's having spurned his affections. They decide to appeal to their famous alumni for financial help thru a reunion, and invitations are sent. Many could help; but surely not Lucius Jordan, a timid lad who loved Annabelle too but dropped out under pressure from Ware. What they don't know is, he's now Louis Jordan, king of swing and leader of the Tympani Band. By accident, Jordan and his band's train is sidelined in Ware for repairs and when he learns of the college's plight. | Louis Jordan and the Tympany 5, Frank Wilson, Emory Richardson, Valerie Black, Milton Woods, Grace Ford, June Clayworth, Edward Norris, Anthony Nace, Hugh Marlo. Rating: 5.2 | |
| BICYCLE THIEF | Vittorio De Sica 1947. Black and White - Italy - Italian - 93 min | Spain: 80 min (DVD edition) | West Germany: 88 min. Rank: 10 | A man and his son search for a stolen bicycle vital for his job. | Larnberto Maggiorani, Lianella Carrell, Enzo Staiola. Written By: Luigi Bartolini (novel), Cesare Zavattini, and 5 more credits. Rating: 8.5 | Top 250 #86 | Nominated for Oscar. Another 16 wins. There's a scene later in the movie where Bruno is nearly run over twice while crossing the street. This was absolutely unrehearsed - it was filmed on location and the two cars happened to pass by at that time. |
| BIG BROADCAST OF 1938 | Mitchell Leisen 1938. Black and White - USA - English - 94 min. Rank: 506 | New ocean liner S.S. Gigantic is about to race its rival, the Colossal. Gigantic owner T.F. Bellows sends his brother S.B. on the Colossal, hoping he will cause trouble; delayed by a golf game, S.B. lands on Gigantic instead, and so does his unlucky daughter Martha. Meanwhile, radio emcee Buzz Fielding announces a series of musical acts and tries to juggle fiancée Dorothy and three ex-wives who've come for the ride. Can the Gigantic win against all handicaps? Will true love triumph? | W.C.Fields, Bob Hope, Martha Raye, Dorothy Lamour, Burns and Allen, Shirley Ross, Russell Hicks, Lionel Pape, Rufe Davis, Lynne Overman, Ben Blue, Leif Erickson, Shep Fields Orch. Animation: Leon Schlesinger. Written By: Walter DeLeon (screen play), Francis Martin (screen play), and 5 more credits. Rating: 6.6 | Won Oscar. Another 1 win. First full length movie for Bob Hope, where he first sings his future theme song "Thanks for the Memories" with Shirley Ross. |
| BIG BUS | James Frawley 1976. Color - USA - English - 88 min. Scope. Rank: 769 | The ultimate disaster film parody. A nuclear powered bus is going Non-stop from New York to Denver and is plagued by disasters due to the machinations of a mysterious group allied with the Oil lobby. When the driver is injured a washed up, down on his luck, but used to be great type, who as it happens, used to be engaged to the inventor's daughter is brought in to drive the giant bus which includes a one lane swimming pool and a one lane bowling alley. | Joseph Bologna, Stockard Channing, John Beck, Lynn Redgrave, Jose Ferrer, Ruth Gordon, Bob Dishy, Richard B.Shull, Sally Kellerman, Richard Mulligan, Ned Beatty, Bob Dishy, Stuart Margolin, Larry Hagman, Howard Hesseman, Harold Gould, Murphy Dunne. Written By: Fred Freeman, Lawrence J. Cohen. Rating: 5.3 | On the news van that appears near the beginning of the film, the call letters are WZAZ. These call letters also appear in many comedies from what's known as the "ZAZ" team - Jerry Zucker, Jim Abrahams, David Zucker - though they had nothing to do with this film. See Airplane!. |
| BIG CLOCK | John Farrow 1948. Black and White - USA - English - 95 min. Rank: 126 | When powerful publishing tycoon Earl Janouth commits an act of murder at the height of passion, he cleverly begins to cover his tracks and frame an innocent man, whose identity he doesn't know, but who just happen to have contact with the murder victim. That man is a close associate on his magazine whom he enlists to trap this "killer" George Stroud. It's up to George to continue to "help" Janouth, to elude the police and to find proof of his innocence and Janouth's guilt. | Ray Milland, Charles Laughton, Maureen O'Hara, George Macready, Rita Johnson, Dan Tobin, Harry Morgan, Elsa Lanchester,Harold Vermilyea,Dan Tobin,Henry Morgan, Luis Van Rooten, Lloyd Corrigan, Phillip Van Zandt, Frank Orth (Brtndr), Bobby Watson, James Bu. Written By: Jonathan Latimer (screenplay), Kenneth Fearing (novel). Rating: 7.7 | When producer Richard Maibaum first came on the set, director John Farrow who liked to intimidate people who worked with him, kept him at a distance by using a walking stick. Maibaum turned around, went to the props department and returned with a baseball bat. As if a spell were broken, the situation immediately improved and Maibaum and Farrow would go on to have an excellent working relationship. |
| BIG DEAL ON MADONNA ST | Mario Monicelli 1958. Black and White - Italy - Italian - 106 min. Rank: 70 | Peppe, formerly a boxer, organizes the break-in of a pawnshop. Tiberio, an unemployed photographer, Mario, a receiver, the Sicilian Michele and Capannelle, an ex-jockey, are the other members of the gang. Though they are advised by Dante, a retired burglar, the task is not so easy.. | Marcello Mastroianni, Vittorio Gassman, Renata Salvatori, Rossana Rory, Toto, Carlo Gravino Jazz score. Written By: Agenore Incrocci (story), Furio Scarpelli (story), and 5 more credits. Rating: 8 | Nominated for Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. At the beginning of the project, Producer Grimaldi didn't want Vittorio Gassman to play his role because he was considered too beautiful and elegant to act like a loser boxer. Gassman acted with very strong make up, included a fake nose, to fill Grimaldi's requests. |
| BIG HAND FOR THE LITTLE LADY | Fielder Cook 1966. Color - USA - English - 95 min - English. Rank: 259 | A naive couple and a child arrive to the town on the way to San Antonio, Texas to buy a farm there. There is a poker game between the richest men in the region. The man cannot resist it and though he is a very bad poker player, enters the game betting all the money of his family. In the climax of the game he suffers a heart-attack. His wife then takes his place in the table. That's the only way of recovering their savings. But there is a little problem. Can anybody explain her how to play poker? | Henry Fonda, Joan Woodward, Jason Robards, Charles Bickford, Burgess Meredith, John Qualen, Paul Ford, Robert Middleton, Kevin McCarthy, Jim Boles, Virginia Gregg, Chester Conklin, Mae Clark, Ned Glass, James Green, Milton Seltzer. Rating: 7.2 | Final film of Charles Bickford. |
| BIG JAKE | George Sherman, and 1 more credit. 1971. Black and White (photographs in opening credits) | Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 110 min. Rank: 373 | The McCandles ranch is run over by a gang of cutthroats led by the evil John Fain. They kidnap little Jacob McCandles and hold him for a million dollar ransom. There is only one man who is brave enough and smart enough to bring him back and that man is Big Jake. | John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Richard Boone, Pat Wayne, Chris Mitchum, Bobby Vinton, Bruce Cabot, Glenn Corbett, Harry Carey jr, John Doucette, Jim Davis, John Agar, Gregg Palmer, William Walker (Moses), Jerry Gatlin (Stubby), Hank Worden. Written By: Harry Julian Fink, Rita M. Fink. Rating: 6.9 | 70mm blow-up version released in Spain under the title "El Gran Jack". |
| BIG SLEEP | Howard Hawks 1946. Black and White - USA - English - 114 min | 116 min (pre-release version). Rank: 35 | Summoned by the dying General Sternwood, Philip Marlowe is asked to deal with several problems that are troubling his family. Marlowe finds that each problem centers about the disappearance of Sternwood's favoured employee who has left with a mobster's wife. Each of the problems becomes a cover for something else as Marlowe probes. | Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, John Ridgley(Mars), Martha Vickers,L.J.Heydt, Elisha Cook jr,Regis Toomey,Peggy Knudsen,Dorothy Malone,Bob Steele,Trevor Bardette, James Flavin, Peggy Knudsen, Theodore Von Eltz. Raymond Chandler scptd Faulkner, Furthman. Written By: William Faulkner (screenplay), Leigh Brackett (screenplay), and 2 more credits. Rating: 8.2 | William Faulkner came out to Hollywood to work on this film, but found that being around the set didn't agree with him, so he asked Howard Hawks if he could work "from home." Hawks agreed, assuming that Faulkner meant from his Hollywood apartment. Instead, Faulkner returned to his home in Oxford, Mississippi, leaving Hawks rather unhappy. |
| BIG SLEEP | Michael Winner 1978. Color (Technicolor) - UK - English - 99 min. Rank: 759 | Set in England, rather than California, the story follows Raymond Chandler's book fairly closely otherwise. Philip Marlowe is asked by the elderly (and near death) General Sternwood to investigate an attempt at blackmail on one of his daughters. He soon finds that the attempt is half hearted at best and seems to be more connected with the disappearance of the other daughter's husband, Rusty Regan. Rusty's wife, seems unconcerned with his disappearance, further complicating the mystery. Only General Sternwood seems concerned as mobsters and hired killers continue to appear in the path of the investigation. | Robert Mitchum,Sarah Miles, Richard Boone, John Mills, James Stewart, Joan Collins, Candy Clark, Edw.Fox, Oliver Reed, Harry Andrews, Colin Blakely, Richard Todd. Written By: Raymond Chandler (novel), Michael Winner. Rating: 5.4 | With this film, Robert Mitchum became, as of 2008, the only person to play Philip Marlowe in a theatrically released sequel. |
| BIG STORE | Charles Reisner 1941. Black and White - USA - - 83 min. Rank: 574 | A detective is hired to protect the life of a singer, who has recently inherited a department store, from the store's crooked manager. The Phelps Department Store is about to be sold by its new part owner, Tommy Rogers with the permission of Martha Phelps, the dowager co-owner. The current manager doesn't want this as the irregularities in the books will show up. When an attempt is made on Tommy's life, Martha enlists the worst private eye in the world to protect him, Wolf J. Flywheel. | Marx Bros, Tony Martin, Virginia Grey, Margaret Dumont, Douglass Dumbrille, Wiulliam Tannen, Marion Martin, Pierre Watkin, Virginia O'Brien. Written By: Sid Kuller (screenplay), Hal Fimberg (screenplay), Ray Golden (screenplay), Nat Perrin (original story). Rating: 6.4 | The Marx Brothers announced that this would be their last film, but they actually went on to make two more. The final teaming of The Marx Brothers with Margaret Dumont. This is the only film of The Marx Brothers where Harpo Marx is initially teamed with Groucho Marx instead of Chico Marx. Final film of former silent screen star Enid Bennett, who has an unbilled bit part as a store clerk. Tony Martin's "Tenement Symphony" was later razzed by Groucho Marx as "the most godawful thing I'd ever heard." |
| BILL OF DIVORCEMENT | George Cukor 1932. Black and White - USA - English - 70 min. Rank: 546 | After spending fifteen years in an asylum, Hilary Fairfield escapes from the institution after regaining his sanity. He finds that things at home are different than when he left them. His wife has divorced him and is already planning her next marriage, and his daughter has grown up throughout the years and is planning to marry as well. | John Barrymore, Katherine Hepburn (dbeut), Billie Burke, David Manners, Henry Stephenson, Paul Kavanaugh (Gray), Elizabeth Patterson (Hester). Written By: Clemence Dane (play), Howard Estabrook (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.5 | The original play opened in London on 14 March 1921. |
| BILLY LIAR | John Schlesinger 1963. Black and White - UK - English - 98 min. Rank: 373 | A lazy, irresponsible young clerk (Sir Tom Courtenay) in provincial Northern England lives in his own fantasy world and makes emotionally immature decisions as he alienates friends and family. | Tom Courtenay, Wilfred Pickles, Mona Washbourne, Ethel Griffies, Finlay Currie, Julie Christie, Leonard Rossiter, Rodney Bewes, George Innes, Patrick Barr. Written By: Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall. Rating: 7.4 | This movie made a star of Julie Christie, even though she's only in it for a total of twelve minutes. Albert Finney originated the title role of "Billy Liar" before it was taken over by Sir Tom Courtenay. Sir Tom Courtenay, Ethel Griffies, and Mona Washbourne re-created their original stage roles. |
| BINGO LONG TRAVELING ALL-STARS 7 MOTORCYCLE KINGS | John Badham 1976. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English. Rank: 546 | Tired of the slave-like treatment of his team's owner, charismatic star Negro League pitcher Bingo Long takes to the road with his band of barnstormers through the small towns of the Midwest in the 1930's. | Billy Dee Willaimson, James Earl Jones, Richard Pryor, Ted Ross, DeWayne Jessie, Stan Shaw. Written By: Hal Barwood, William Brashler (novel), and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.5 | Steven Spielberg was initially very interesting in directing, but the massive success of Jaws meant that he was able to get any project of his own off the ground, and decided to make Close Encounters of the Third Kindinstead. |
| BIRCH INTERVAL | Delbert Mann 1977. Color - USA - English - 104 min. Rank: 467 | Thought-provoking community and family studies film. Among the issues addressed are forcing a local Amish population to send their children to public school. | Eddie Albert, Rip Torn, Ann Wentworth, Susan McClung, Brian Part (Samuel), Jann Stanley (Esther)Bill Lucking (Charlie), Anne Revere (Mrs Tanner). Written By: Joanna Crawford (novel), Joanna Crawford. Rating: 6.7 | Final film of Anne Revere. |
| BLACKMAIL | Alfred Hitchcock 1929. Black and White - UK - English - 84 min. Rank: 329 | Alice White is the daughter of a shopkeeper in 1920's London. Her boyfriend, Frank Webber is a Scotland Yard detective who seems more interested in police work than in her. Frank takes Alice out one night, but she has secretly arranged to meet another man. Later that night Alice agrees to go back to his flat to see his studio. The man has other ideas and as he tries to rape Alice, she defends herself and kills him with a bread knife. When the body is discovered, Frank is assigned to the case, he quickly determines that Alice is the killer, but so has someone else and blackmail is threatened. | Anny Ondura, John Longden, Donald Calthrop, Cyril Ritchard, Sara Allgood, Charles Paton (Mr.White), Harvey Braban (Inspctr), Phyllis Monkman (Gossip) . Written By: Charles Bennett (play), Alfred Hitchcock (adaptation), and 2 more credits. Rating: 7.0 | Generally acknowledged as the first British talkie, and definitely the first sound-on-film British talkie. The Clue of the New Pin, was released in March 1929 in the British Phototone system, a sound-on-disc system using 12-inch phonograph records synchronized with the film. |
| BLINDFOLD | Philip Dunne 1966. Color (Technicolor) - UK | USA - English - 102 min. Scope. Rank: 157 | Dr. Bartholomew Snow, a psychiatrist, is treating a man with emotional problems who, it turns out, is a brilliant scientist being pursued by different international powers and their operatives. Snow soon finds himself caught in the middle and out of desperation, he falls in with a mysterious and beautiful woman named Vicky Vincenti. But is she helping him, or is she yet another sinister figure out to manipulate him? | Rock Hudson, Claudia Cardinale, Jack Warden. Written By: Philip Dunne (screenplay), W.H. Menger (screenplay) | 1 more credit. Missing first six minutes. Rating: 6.2 | After being kidnapped and blindfolded, Rock Hudson (I) is driven past a lake with a gaggle of geese nearby. He later thinks this was the sound of the guests at a cocktail party--until he retraces his route and discovers the actual source of the sounds. This idea was borrowed by the producers of Sneakers (1992) when Robert Redford (I) is kidnapped, blindfolded and also thinks the sound of the geese he passed while blindfolded were people at a cocktail party. |
| BLOCKHEADS | John G. Blystone 1938. Black and White - USA - English - 57 min. Rank: 185 | It's 1938, but Stan doesn't know the war is over; he's still patrolling the trenches in France, and shoots down a French aviator. Oliver sees his old chum's picture in the paper and goes to visit Stan at the Soldier's Home. Thinking Stan is disabled (it's just that he's sitting on his leg), Oliver takes pity on him and takes him home for a nice home-cooked meal. But Oliver's wife has other ideas and leaves him to fend for himself. After blowing up the kitchen, Oliver is helped by his next-door neighbor, Mrs. Gilbert.. until the big-game hunting Mr. Gilbert comes home unexpectedly, carrying a shotgun. | Laurel and Hardy, Patricia Ellis, Minna Gambell, Billy Gilbert, Jimmy Finlayson. w.Chas.Rogers, Felix Adler, Jas.Parrott, Harry Langdon, Arnold Belgard. Written By: Charley Rogers (original story and screen play), Felix Adler (original story and screen play), and 3 more credits. Rating: 7.5 | Nominated for Oscar. The role of Mrs. Hardy was originally intended for actress Mae Busch. |
| BLUE ANGEL | Josef von Sternberg 1930. Black and White - Germany - German | English (alternate version) - 124 min | USA: 107 min (TCM print) | UK: 106 min | 108 min (cut) | USA: 94 min (English version). Rank: 93 | Immanuel Rath, an old bachelor, is a professor at the town's university. When he discovers that some of his pupils often go into a speakeasy, The Blue Angel, to visit a dancer, Lola Lola, he comes there to confront them. But he is attracted to Lola. The next night he comes again--and does not sleep at home. This causes trouble at work and his life takes a downward spiral. | Marlene Dietrich, Emil Jannings, Kurt Gerron, Rosa Valette, Hans Albers, Eduard von Winterstein, Reinhold Bernt, Hans Roth, Rolf Muller, Ilse Fürstenberg. Written By: Heinrich Mann (novel), Carl Zuckmayer , and 3 more credits. Rating: 7.9 | This was Emil Jannings' final English-language film (it was released in both German and English versions - see Alternate Versions). |
| BLUE LAGOON | Frank Launder 1949. Color (Technicolor) - UK - English - 101 min | West Germany: 93 min. Rank: 373 | Two children are shipwrecked on a desert-island and fall in love while growing up together. | Jean Simmons, Donald Houston, Noel Purcell, Cyril Cusack, Maurice Denham, Jas.Hayter, Nora Nicholson, Maurice Denham,Russell Waters Vinegar,garage. Written By: Henry De Vere Stacpoole (novel), John Baines, and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.9 | Roger Moore and Laurence Harvey auditioned for the main role. |
| BLUES FOR LOVERS | . - - - - - . Rank: n/a | Ray Charles, Tom Bell, Mary Peach, Dawn Adams, Piers Bishop, Betty McDowell, Rayettes and Orch.w. Hank Crawford, Fathead Newman -jazz collection. Rating: | ||
| BOOMERANG | Elia Kazan 1947. Black and White - USA - English - 88 min. Rank: 238 | This dramatization of a factual incident opens in a quiet Connecticut town where a kindly priest is murdered while waiting at a street corner. The citizens are horrified and demand action from the police. All of the witnesses identify John Waldron, a nervous out-of-towner, as the killer. Although Waldron vehemently denies the crime, no one will believe him. District Attorney Henry Harvey is then put on the case and faces political opposition in his attempt to prove Waldron's innocence. | Dana Andrews, Jane Wyatt, Lee J.Cobb, Arthur Kennedy, Sam Levene, Robert Keith, Taylor Holmes, Ed Begley, Karl Malden, Cara Williams, Barry Kelley, Ed Begley, Richard Garrick, Karl Malden, Joe Kazan (Mr. Lucas), Bert Freed, Arthur Miller (bit). Written By: Richard Murphy (screenplay), Fulton Oursler (article). Rating: 7.3 | Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 wins. First film of Barry Kelley |
| BORN FREE | James Hill, and 1 more credit. 1966. Color (Technicolor) - UK | USA - English - 95 min. Rank: 295 | Joy Adamson and her husband, Kenya game warden George Adamson, raise Elsa, a lion cub. When Elsa approaches maturity, Joy determines she must re-educate Elsa to living in the wild so that the lioness can return to a free life. | Virginia McKenna, Bill Travers, Geoffrey Keen, Peter Lukoye. Written By: Joy Adamson (book), Lester Cole (screenplay) (originally as Gerald L.C. Copley). Rating: 7.1 | Won 2 Oscars. Another 3 wins and 6 nominations. The theme song was not heard on the original British release of the film, although it later won Best Song Oscar. |
| BORN YESTERDAY | George Cukor 1950. Black and White - USA - English - 103 min. Rank: 157 | Uncouth, loud-mouth junkyard tycoon Harry Brock descends upon Washington D.C. to buy himself a congressman or two, bringing with him his mistress, ex-showgirl Billie Dawn. Brock hires newspaperman Paul Verrall to see if he can soften her rough edges and make her more presentable in capital society. But Harry gets more than he bargained for as Billie absorbs Verall's lessons in U.S. history and not only comes to the realization that Harry is nothing but a two-bit, corrupt crook, but in the process also falls in love with her handsome tutor. | Judy Holiday, William Holden, Brodrick Crawford, Howard St.John,Frank Otto,Larry Oliver,Barbara Brown,Grandon Rhodes,Smoki Whitfield. Written By: Garson Kanin (play), Albert Mannheimer (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.6 | Won Oscar. Another 2 wins and 9 nominations. After Rita Hayworth put her career on hold due to her recent marriage to Prince Aly Khan, Harry Cohn was forced to recast the part of Billie Dawn. He considered a host of candidates rumored to have included Celeste Holm, Marie McDonald, Evelyn Keyes, Paulette Goddard, and Ida Lupino. He finally found the perfect Billie Dawn with the actress who had created the part 4 years before on Broadway. |
| BOTTOM OF THE BOTTLE | Henry Hathaway 1956. Color - USA - English - 88 min. Rank: 613 | Patrick Martin (Joseph Cotten), known as P.M., is a wealthy attorney and rancher big-man-in-town in the border town of Nogales, Arizona. He returns home to find his brother Donald (Van Johnson)hiding in his garage. A former drunkard, Donald had been sent to the penitentiary five years previously for killing a man in a barroom brawl. It was in self-defense but P.M. hadn't defended his brother and he was convicted. Donald has escaped and wants his brother to help him across the Santa Cruz River into the Mexico-side Nogales, where his wife (Shirley Patterson as Shawn Smith)and children (Kim Charney and Sandy Deschler) are in dire straits. The straits get even dier when P.M. tells him the river is flooded and it will be days before anyone can cross. And P.M. is all a'twitter because his wife Nora (Ruth Roman), whom he married after Donald had gone to prison, doesn't know about his jail-bird brother. | Van Johnson, Joseph Cotton, Ruth Roman, Jack Carson, Harry Morgan, Margaret Hayes, Bruce Bennett, Brad Dexter, Peggy Knudsen, Jim Davis. Written By: Sydney Boehm, Georges Simenon (novel). Rating: 6.3 | The chimes on the doorbell to Joseph Cotten (Pat Martin)'s house play "How Dry I Am". Quite fitting considering Van Johnson (Donald)'s drinking problem and the "lushy" household guests that tempt him. |
| BOY TEN FEET TALL | Alexander Mackendrick 1963. Color (Eastmancolor) - UK - English - USA: 118 min | UK: 128 min. Rank: 373 | A young boy living in Port Said, Egypt, narrowly escapes a bomb blast that destroys the apartment block where he lives. After discovering that both his parents were killed in the explosion, he decides to travel (on foot) to Durban, South Africa, to be with his only living relative, an aunt. During his 4500 mile journey across africa he has many adventures including a first hand experience with the slave trade and living for a time with a band of poachers and criminals. After several months of travel he finally arrives at his destination. | Edward G.Robinson, Constance Cummings, inc. Written By: W.H. Canaway (novel), Denis Cannan. Rating: 6.9 | Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 nomination. When the movie was released in the United States in 1965 (two years after its British release) its American distributors, Paramount, cut so much out of the film to enable it to fit on a double-bill, that the original score by Tristram Cary had to be removed and replaced with a new one by Les Baxter. Paramount also changed the title to "A Boy Ten Feet Tall". |
| BOYS OF PAUL STREET | Zoltán Fábri 1970. Color (Eastmancolor) - Hungary | USA - Hungarian - 110 min | Denmark: 105 min. Rank: 93 | An extraordinary war film. | Anthony Kemp Ferenc Molnar novel. Written By: Endre Bohem, Zoltán Fábri, and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.9 | Nominated for Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. |
| BRAINSTORM | William Conrad 1965. Black and White - USA - English - 105 min. Scope. Rank: 506 | A young scientist saves an attractive married woman from a suicide attempt, becomes romantically involved with her, plots to kill her husband, and then fakes insanity to escape the murder charge. | Jeff Hunter,Anne Francis,Dana Andrews,Viveca Lindfors, Stacy Harris, Kathie Brown, Phillip Pine, Michael Pate, Robert McQueeney, Strother Martin, Joan Swift. Written By: Lawrence B. Marcus (story), Mann Rubin. Rating: 6.6 | |
| BRAVE BULLS | Robert Rossen 1951. Black and White - USA - English - 106 min. Rank: 329 | Matador suddenly feels a fear that previously he had not felt in the invincibility that comes with healthy-macho-youth. | Mel Ferrer, Miroslava, Anthony Quinn, Eugene Iglesias, Jose Torvay Gomez), Charlita, Jose Luis Vasquez (Luis), Alfonso Alvarez (loco), Alfredo Aguilar (Pancho). Written By: John Bright, Tom Lea (novel). Rating: 7.0 | Filmed in the spring of 1950, but not released until the following year because producer-director Robert Rossen was under investigation by the House Un-American Activities Committee. |
| BREAKER MORANT | Bruce Beresford 1979. Color (Eastmancolor) - Australia - English | Dutch - 107 min. Rank: 70 | During the Boer War, three Australian lieutenants are on trial for shooting Boer prisoners. Though they acted under orders, they are being used as scapegoats by the General Staff, who hopes to distance themselves from the irregular practices of the war. The trial does not progress as smoothly as expected by the General Staff, as the defence puts up a strong fight in the courtroom. | Edward Woodward, Jack Thompson, John Waters, Bryan Brown, Rod Mullinar, Lewis Fitzgerald, Charles Tingwell, Vincent Ball, Frank Wilson. Written By: Kenneth G. Ross (play), Jonathan Hardy (screenplay), and 3 more credits. Rating: 8 | Nominated for Oscar. Another 12 wins and 5 nominations. Director Bruce Beresford's first war movie. Paradise Road, made and released about seventeen years later, would be his second. |
| BREAKING AWAY | Peter Yates 1979. Color - USA - English | Italian | French - 101 min. Rank: 126 | Best friends Dave, Mike, Cyril and Moocher have just graduated from high school. Living in the college town of Bloomington, Indiana, they are considered "cutters": the working class of the town so named since most of the middle aged generation, such as their parents, worked at the local limestone quarry, which is now a swimming hole. There is great animosity between the cutters and the generally wealthy Indiana University students, each group who have their own turf in town. The dichotomy is that the limestone was used to build the university, which is now seen as being too good for the locals who built it. Although each of the four is a totally different personality from the other three, they also have in common the fact of being unfocused and unmotivated in life. The one slight exception is Dave. Although he has no job and doesn't know what to do with his life, he is a champion bicycle racer.. | Dennis Christopher, Dennis Quaid, Daniel Stern, Jackie Earl Haley, Paul Dooley, Hart Bochner. Amy Wright, Peter Maloney, John Ashton. Steve Tesich scpt. Rating: 7.7 | Won Oscar. Another 9 wins and 9 nominations. Daniel Stern's film debut. |
| BRIAN'S SONG | Buzz Kulik 1971. Color - USA - English - 73 min. Rank: 126 | Gale Sayers joins the Chicago Bears and is befriended by Brian Piccolo, an over-achieving running back. Although they compete for the same spot on the team, and despite the fact that Sayers is black and Piccolo white, they become roommates on the road and very close friends, especially when Sayers is injured and Piccolo helps his recovery. Later, they and their wives must both deal with the harsh reality of Piccolo's cancer. | Billy Dee Wms, James Caan, Jack Warden, Judy Pace, Shelly Fabares. Written By: Gale Sayers (book), Al Silverman (book), and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.7 | Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 7 wins and 5 nominations. In real life, 'James Caan' (who had been a football player in high school) was a much better athlete than Billy Dee Williams; but in the movie Williams' character, Gale Sayers, was supposed to surpass Cann's character, Brian Piccolo, in playing ability. So when they were racing on film, Caan was forced to slow down considerably so that Williams could beat him. |
| BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI | David Lean 1957. Color (Technicolor) - UK | USA - English | Japanese | Thai - 161 min. Rank: 15 | The film deals with the situation of British prisoners of war during World War II who are ordered to build a bridge to accommodate the Burma-Siam railway. Their instinct is to sabotage the bridge but, under the leadership of Colonel Nicholson, they are persuaded that the bridge should be constructed as a symbol of British morale, spirit and dignity in adverse circumstances. At first, the prisoners admire Nicholson when he bravely endures torture rather than compromise his principles for the benefit of the Japanese commandant Saito. He is an honorable but arrogant man, who is slowly revealed to be a deluded obsessive. He convinces himself that the bridge is a monument to British character, but actually is a monument to himself, and his insistence on its construction becomes a subtle form of collaboration with the enemy. Unknown to him, the Allies have sent a mission into the jungle, led by Warden and an American, Shears, to blow up the bridge. | William Holden, Alec Guiness, Sessue Hayakawa, Jack Hawkins, Geoffrey Home, James Donald, Andre Morell, Peter Williams, John Boxer,Percy Herbert . Rating: 8.4 | In the scene where Colonel Nicholson ruminates on the completed bridge to Saito, actor and director argued over how the scene should be shot. Guinness wanted a close-up of his face, while Lean insisted on shooting him from behind. Nevertheless, Guinness loved his dialog and deliberately timed his delivery to coincide with the setting of the sun. |
| BRIGHTY OF GRAND CANYON | Norman Foster 1967. Color - USA - English - 89 min. Rank: 784 | The adventures and misadventures of a shaggy little burro and a boy. | Joseph Cotton, Pat Conway, Karl Swenson, Dick Foran, Dandy Curran, Jiggs (Brighty, a burro). Written By: Norman Foster, Marguerite Henry (novel). Rating: 5.1 | |
| BROADWAY | William A. Seiter 1942. Black and White - USA - English - 91 min. Rank: 647 | George Raft, playing himself, recalls his days on Broadway, where he acquired a reputation as a great dancer--and also one as a brawler, a ladies man and an associate of some of the city's most notorious gangsters. | George Raft, Pat O'Brien, Janet Blair,Brodrick Crawford,O.Z.Sakall, Marjorie Rambeau, Anne Gwynne, Ed Brophy, Marie Wilson, Gus Shilling, Ralf Harolde, Arthur Shields, Iris Adrian, Elaine Morey, Dorothy Moore (Ann), Nester Pavia, Abner Biberman, Damian O'. Written By: George Abbott (play), John Bright, and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.1 | "Lux Radio Theater" broadcast a 60 minute radio adaptation of the movie on November 30, 1942 with George Raft reprising his film role. |
| BROADWAY DANNY ROSE | Woody Allen 1984. Black and White - USA - English | Italian | Yiddish - 84 min. Rank: 206 | Danny Rose is a manager of artists, and although he's not very successful, he nevertheless goes out of his way to help his acts. So when Lou Canova, a singer who has a chance of making a come-back, asks Danny to help him with a problem, Danny helps him. This problem is Lou's mistress Tina. Lou wants Tina to be at his concerts, otherwise he can't perform, but he's married, so Danny has to take her along as if she was his girlfriend. Danny however gets more than he has bargained for when two mobsters come looking for the guy who has hurt their brother by stealing the heart of Tina, the girl he loves. | Woody Allen, Mia Farrow, Nick Apollo Forte, Sandy Brown, Corbett Monica, Jackie Gayle, Morty Gunty, Will Jordan, Howard Storm, Jack Rollins, Joe Franklin, Howard Cosell, Milton Berle. Rating: 7.4 | Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 3 wins and 1 nomination. Woody Allen initially offered the Nick Apollo Forte role to Sylvester Stallone. |
| BUDDENBROOKS | Alfred Weidenmann 1959. Black and White - West Germany - German - Germany: 99 min. Rank: 467 | The sweeping tale of the rise and fall of a wealthy German merchant family. | Lilo Pulver, Lily Dagover, Nadia Tiller, Robert Graf Thomas Mann novel. English track. Written By: Thomas Mann (novel), Harald Braun, and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.7 | |
| BUDDY SYSTEM | Glenn Jordan 1984. Color - USA - English - 110 min | Germany: 102 min (TV). Rank: 751 | A quiet school truant officer, Joe, uncovers a young boy's attempt to fake a residential address, and subsequently gets involved romantically with the boy's mother. The truant officer waffles between a sadistic relationship with his on-again, off-again girlfriend and the mother. When one of the officer's inventions takes off, he chooses the girl and shatters the friendship with the boy and his mother. Only at the last possible moment does he figure out what he's sacrificed, and attempts to get it back. | Richard Dreyfus, Susan Sarandon, Nancy Allen, Jean Stapleton, Wil Wheaton, Edwatd Winter, Keene Curtis. Rating: 5.5 | |
| BULLITT | Peter Yates 1968. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 114 min. Rank: 206 | High profile San Francisco Police Lieutenant Frank Bullitt is asked personally by ambitious Walter Chalmers, who is in town to hold a US Senate subcommittee hearing on organized crime, to guard Johnny Ross, a Chicago based mobster who is about to turn evidence against the organization at the hearing. Chalmers wants Ross' safety at all cost, or else Bullitt will pay the consequences. Bullitt and his team of Sergeant Delgetti and Detective Carl Stanton have Ross in protective custody for 48 hours over the weekend until Ross provides his testimony that upcoming Monday. Bullitt's immediate superior, Captain Bennet, gives Bullitt full authority to lead the case, no questions asked for any move Bullitt makes. When an incident occurs early during their watch, Bullitt is certain that Ross and/or Chalmers are not telling them the full story to protect Ross properly. Without telling Bennet or an incensed Chalmers.. | Steve McQueen, Robert Vaughn, Jacqueline Bisset, Don Gordon, Robert Duvall, Simon Oakland, Norman Fell, Vic Tayback Oscar for editor Frank Keller. Written By: Alan Trustman (screenplay), Harry Kleiner (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.4 | Won Oscar. Another 9 wins and 6 nominations. The director called for speeds of about 75-80 mph, but the cars (including the ones containing the cameras) reached speeds of over 110 mph. Filming of the chase scene took three weeks, resulting in 9 minutes and 42 seconds of footage. They were denied permission to film on the Golden Gate Bridge. |
| BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID- | George Roy Hill 1969. Color | Black and White (Sepiatone) - USA - English | Spanish - 110 min. Rank: 35 | Butch and Sundance are the two leaders of the Hole-in-the-Wall Gang. Butch is all ideas, Sundance is all action and skill. The west is becoming civilized and when Butch and Sundance rob a train once too often, a special posse begins trailing them no matter where they run. Over rock, through towns, across rivers, the group is always just behind them. When they finally escape through sheer luck, Butch has another idea, "Let's go to Bolivia". Based on the exploits of the historical characters. | Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Katherine Ross, Strother Marin, Henry Jones, Jeff Corey, Geo.Furth, Cloris Leachman, Ted Cassidy, Kenneth Mars, Christopher Lloyd, Sam Elliott (bit,card layer). Oscars for Conrad Hall,DP; Bacharack score, Hal David and William G. Rating: 8.2 | Ranked #7 on the American Film Institute's list of the 10 greatest films in the genre "Western" in June 2008. |
| BYE BYE BRAVERMAN | Sidney Lumet 1968. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - USA: 94 min. Rank: 692 | Friends gather for the funeral of a friend. Sub-plots unfold as the group attempts to link-up to attend the funeral of their friend, Braverman. | George Segal, Jack Warden, Joseph Wiseman, Sorrell Brooke, Godfrey Cambridge, Alan King, Zhora Lamperet, Jessica Walter,Phyllis Newman , Anthony Holland. Written By: Wallace Markfield (novel), Herbert Sargent (screenplay). Rating: 5.9 | At the funeral home where Alan King, as the Rabbi, is delivering a eulogy he references living one's life as "007." The next shot is of Joseph Wiseman who played "Dr No" in the James Bond movie of the same name; Wiseman's character. |
| CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI | Robert Wiene 1921. Black and White (tinted) - Germany - - 71 min | France: 78 min | Spain: 50 min | USA: 67 min | USA: 51 min (video version). Rank: 70 | Francis, a young man, recalls in his memory the horrible experiences he and his fiancée Jane recently went through. It is the annual fair in Holstenwall. Francis and his friend Alan visit The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, an exhibit where the mysterious doctor shows the somnambulist Cesare, and awakens him for some moments from his death-like sleep. When Alan asks Cesare about his future, Cesare answers that he will die before dawn. The next morning Alan is found dead. Francis suspects Cesare of being the murderer, and starts spying on him and Dr. Caligari. The following night Cesare is going to stab Jane in her bed, but softens when he sees the beautiful woman, and instead of committing another murder, he abducts her. Jane's father awakens because of the noise, and he and some servants follow the fleeing Cesare. When Cesare cannot outrun his pursuers anymore, he gently places Jane down on the ground.. | Werner Krauss, Conrad Veidt, Frederich Feher Francis), Lili Dagover. Good musical score. Art dir.Hermann Warm, Walter Reimann, Walter Rohrig. Written By: Hans Janowitz, Carl Mayer. Rating: 8 | French visa # 31203. |
| CACTUS FLOWER | Gene Saks 1969. Color (Eastmancolor) - USA - English - 103 min. Rank: 373 | Toni Simmons believes that the only reason her married lover won't leave his wife is because of the children. In truth, her lover, dentist Julian Winston, doesn't have any children. In fact, Julian doesn't even have a wife - he just tells women he does to avoid getting involved. When Julian does decide to take the plunge with Toni she insists on meeting the first wife and Julian enlists the aid of his long-time nurse/receptionist Stephanie Dickinson to play the part. | Ingrid Bergman, Walter Matthau, Goldie Hawn, Jack Weston, Rick Lenz, Irene Hervey, Vito Scotti, Eve Bruce, Irwin Charone, Matthew Saks. Written By: Abe Burrows (stage play), Pierre Barillet (play), Jean-Pierre Grédy (play), I.A.L. Diamond (screenplay). Rating: 7.2 | Won Oscar. Another 2 wins and 6 nominations. Making this movie was the first time Ingrid Bergman had been on a Hollywood sound stage since the 1940s - all her subsequent films up to that point had been made in Europe, even those for American studios. |
| CAINE MUTINY | Edward Dmytryk 1954. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 124 min | Spain: 125 min. Rank: 70 | During the Second World War, onboard a small insignificant ship in the U.S. Pacific Fleet, an event occurs unlike any that the United States Navy has ever experianced. A Ship's Captain is removed from his command by his Executive Officer in an apparent outright act of mutiny. As the trial of the mutineers unfold, it is then learned that the Captain of the ship was mentally unstable, perhaps even insane. The Navy must then decide: was the Caine Mutiny a criminal act? Or an act of courage to save a ship from destruction at the hands of her Captain. | Humphrey Bogart, Jose.Ferrer, Van Johnson, Fred MacMurray, Robert Francis, May Wynn, Tom Tully, E.G.Marshall, Arthur Franz, Lee Marvin, Warner Anderson, Claude Akins, Jerry Paris, Steve Brodie, Whit Bissell, James Best, James Edwards. Written By: Stanley Roberts (screenplay), Michael Blankfort (additional dialogue), and 1 more credit. Rating: 8 | Nominated for 7 Oscars. Another 3 nominations. The fact that the right hand of José Ferrer's character, attorney Barney Greenwald, is bandaged throughout his appearance in the film, is neither noted nor explained. In the novel, it's because he injured it flying as a Navy pilot. |
| CAMILLE | George Cukor 1937. Black and White - USA - English - 109 min. Rank: 185 | Marguerite is a courtesan in Paris. She falls deeply in love with a young man of promise, Armand Duval. When Armand's father begs her not to ruin his hope of a career and position by marrying Armand, she acquiesces and leaves her lover. However, when poverty and terminal illness overwhelm her, Marguerite discovers that Armand has not lost his love for her. | Greta Garbo, Robert Taylor, Lionel Barrymore, Elizabeth Allen (Nichette), Jessie Ralph (Nanine,Henry Daniel,Lenore Ulric (Olympe),Laura Hope Crews,Rex O'Malley,Russell Hardie, E.E.Clive, Douglas Walton, Marion Ballou, Joan Brodel, June Wilkins, Fritz Lieb. Written By: Alexandre Dumas fils (novel), Zoe Akins (screenplay), and 2 more credits. Rating: 7.5 | Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win. Greta Garbo's personal favorite of all her films. |
| CANDIDATE | Michael Ritchie 1972. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 110 min. Rank: 295 | Californian lawyer Bill McKay fights for the little man. His charisma and integrity get him noticed by the Democratic Party machine and he is persuaded to run for the Senate against an apparently unassailable incumbent. It's agreed he can handle it his own way, on his own terms. But once he's in the race and his prospects begin to improve, the deal starts to change. | Robert Redford, Peter Boyle, Don Porter, Alan Garfield, Mevin Douglas, Quinn Redeker, Michael Lerner,Karen Carlson, Morgan Upton, Kenneth Tobey, Chris Prey, Natalie Wood, George McGovern, Hubert Humphrey, John Tunney, Sam Yorty, Howard K. Smith, Alan Cran. Rating: 7.1 | Won Oscar. Another 1 win and 1 nomination. Robert Redford originated the project and personally hired Michael Ritchie to direct it as he had worked as a technical adviser on various political campaigns. |
| CANDLESHOE | Norman Tokar 1978. Color (Technicolor) - UK | USA - English - 101 min. Rank: 574 | Small time crook Harry Bundage discovers that the old manor house where Lady St. Edmund resides, with three orphans and her butler Priory is the resting place for a hoard of treasure. Unfortunately, he doesn't know where it is. Bundage recruits urchin Casey Brown to dupe Lady St. Edmund into thinking that she is her long-lost granddaughter, so she can search for clues to the location of the treasure. Unbeknownst to Bundage AND her ladyship, Lady St. Edmund is flat broke, and Priory and the children help her ladyship try to keep her home and pride. Joined by Casey, they do all the chores and Priory acts as the butler, gardener, chauffeur and an old major all at the same time! | David Niven, Jodie Foster, Helen Hayes, Leo McKern, Veronica Quilligan, Ina Shammrock, Vivian Pickles,. Written By: David Swift (screenplay), Rosemary Anne Sisson (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.4 | Screenwriter David Swift, who in the early 1960s directed "Pollyanna" and "The Parent Trap" for Walt Disney, developed this project for the company and was set to direct it. However, he felt Jodie Foster (then one of the most popular teenage actresses in the country) was all wrong for the part of Casey and stepped down. |
| CANNONBALL RUN | Hal Needham 1981. Color (Technicolor) - USA | Hong Kong - English | Cantonese | Japanese | Arabic - 95 min. Rank: 728 | A wild, illegal, and popular cross-country car race is organized, and the eccentric entrants will do anything to win, including low-down, dirty tricks. | Burt Reynolds, Roger Moore, Farrah-Fawcett, Dom deLuise, Dean Martin, Sammy Davisjr, Terry Bradshaw, Jackie Chan, Bert Convy, Jamie Farr, Peter Fonda, Molly Picon,.Bianca Jagger, Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder, Mel Tillis, Warren Berlinger, Rick Aviles, John Fi. Rating: 5.7 | Ron Rice, owner of Hawaiian Tropic, loaned his black Lamborghini to his buddies Burt Reynolds and Hal Needham. The same Lamborghini can be briefly seen in the background at the party of Big and Little Enos Burdette near the end of Smokey and the Bandit Part 3. |
| CAPE FEAR | J. Lee Thompson 1962. Black and White - USA - English - 105 min. Rank: 109 | Small-town lawyer Sam Bowden's life becomes torturous when Max Cady re-enters his life. Cady went to jail for 8 years after Bowden testified that Cady attacked a young woman. Now that Cady has been released, he begins to terrorize Bowden and his family, particularly targeting Bowden's daughter, Nancy. Initially, Cady uses his newfound knowledge of the law (learned in prison) to annoy the Bowdens, then poisons the family dog.. Who's next ? | Robert Mitchum, Gregory Peck, Polly Bergen, Martin Balsam, Jack Kruschen, Telly Savalas, Barrie Chase, Edward Platt, John McKee, Ward Ramsay, Will Wright. Written By: John D. MacDonald (novel), James R. Webb (screenplay). Rating: 7.8 | Max Cady was first offered to Ernest Borgnine. |
| CAPRICORN ONE | Peter Hyams 1978. Color - USA | UK - English - 123 min. Scope. Rank: 467 | Charles Brubaker is the astronaut leading NASA's first manned mission to Mars. Seconds before the launch, the entire team is pulled from the capsule and the rocket leaves earth unmanned much to Brubaker's anger. The head of the programme explains that the life support system was faulty and that NASA can't afford the publicity of a scratched mission. The plan is to fake the Mars landing and keep the astronauts at a remote base until the mission is over, but then investigative journalist Robert Caulfield starts to suspect something. | Elliott Gould, James Brolin, Hal Holbrook, Sam Waterston, O.J. Simpson, Brenda Vaccaro, Karen Black, Telly Savalas, David Huddleston (Hollis), Robert Walden. Rating: 6.7 | Telly Savalas plays a pilot, but in real life he was afraid to fly. |
| CAPTAINS OF THE CLOUDS | Michael Curtiz 1942. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 114 min | USA: 113 min (Turner library print) | Argentina: 113 min. Rank: 574 | Brian McLean is a ruthless bush-pilot in Canada. He offers some other pilots an opportunity of earning a lot of money, but he marries the girl-friend of one of them. After listening to Churchill's famous "Blood, Sweat and tears" radio address he and some other pilots decide to join the RCAF - and his superior is always the pilot who's girlfriend he has married. Due to this and the fact, that McLean doesn't like to obey he gets troubles. | James Cagney, Dennis Morgan, Alan Hale, Brenda Marshall, George Tobias, Reginalds Gardiner and Denny, Russell Arms, Paul Cavanaugh, Clem Bevins, J.M.Kerrigan, J.Farrell McDonald, Benny Baker (popcorn), Hardy Walker, Hardie Albright, Ray Walker, Charles Halt. Written By: Arthur T. Horman (story), Roland Gillett (story), and 3 more credits. Rating: 6.4 | Nominated for 2 Oscars. The German fighter shown attacking the bomber group is a Hawker Hurricane in Luftwaffe markings. |
| CARBINE WILLIAMS | Richard Thorpe 1952. Black and White - USA - English - 92 min. Rank: 373 | This is the story of David Marshall 'Marsh' Williams, the real life inventor of the world famous M-1 Carbine automatic riffle used in WWII. It all started when Marsh, who was one to do things his way, was caught distilling moonshine, and was accused and convicted of shooting a federal officer in the process. This at first placed him in the chain gang which labeled him as a hard case. Later, to make room for those more deserving, he was moved to a prison farm, where he came under the direction of Captain H.T. Peoples. The Captain was a mild mannered warden, who did not shy from discipline when necessary, but also believed that given the opportunity, most men will respond to good. Believing that Marsh was just such a person, the Captain gave him every opportunity to reform, so much so, that he eventually allowed Marsh to work in the tool shop on his spare time to develop and build by hand, a working riffle, inside the prison farm itself. | James Stewart, Jean Hagen, Wendell Corey, Carl Benton Reid, Paul Stewart, Otto Hulett, Rhys Williams, James Arness, Porter Hall, Ralph Dumke, Leif Erickson, Howard Petrie, Stuart Randall, Willie Bouchey, Emile Meyer, Robert Foulk. Written By: Art Cohn (screenplay), Art Cohn (story). Rating: 6.9 | James Stewart actively sought the lead role, despite being too old for it, because the film reflected his right-wing views. |
| CARETAKERS | Hall Bartlett 1963. Black and White - USA - English - 97 min. Rank: 759 | This movie chronicles the trials of the mentally ill and their care-givers in an over-crowded ward of a hospital. Dr. MacLeod (Robert Stack) is a new, optimistic doctor who attempts to start an out-patient program for the women in the ward. His method of treating mentally ill patients without violence or punishment is met with resistance by the head nurse, Lucretia Terry (Joan Crawford). During Dr. MacLeod's treatment, the phobias and illnesses of the various women in the test group are explored. | Robert Stack, Joan Crawford, Polly Bergen, Susan Oliver Janis Paige, Constance Ford, Barbara Barrie, Herbert Marshall. Written By: Henry F. Greenberg (screenplay), Hall Bartlett (screen story), and 2 more credits. Rating: 5.4 | Nominated for Oscar. Another 4 nominations. This was the only film that featured Virginia Munshin as she died at the age of 30 on July 8, 1962 from a cerebral hemorrhage. |
| CAREY TREATMENT | Blake Edwards 1972. Color (Metrocolor) - USA - English - 101 min. Rank: 647 | Dr. Peter Carey is a pathologist at a Boston hospital. The daughter of the hospital's Chief of Staff dies after an illegal abortion goes wrong, and Carey's friend and colleague Dr. David Tao is accused of performing the abortion. Carey doesn't buy it, and so he digs deeper, angering the girl's father in the process. Questions abound: Who performed the abortion? Was the girl really pregnant? And what does it have to do with stolen morphine, blackmail attempts, and a mysterious and dangerous masseur? | James Coburn, Jennifer O'Neill, Pat Hingle, Skye Aubrey, Elizabeth Allen, John Fink, Dan O'Herlihy, Alex Dreier, James Hong, Regis Toomey. Written By: Michael Crichton (novel), John D.F. Black (screenplay), and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.1 | Working title: "A Case of Need". |
| CASABLANCA | Michael Curtiz 1942. Black and White - USA - English | French | German | Italian - 102 min | West Germany: 82 min (cut version). Rank: 1 | In World War II Casablanca, Rick Blaine, exiled American and former freedom fighter, runs the most popular nightspot in town. The cynical lone wolf Blaine comes into the possession of two valuable letters of transit. When Nazi Major Strasser arrives in Casablanca, the sycophantic police Captain Renault does what he can to please him, including detaining Czech underground leader Victor Laszlo. Much to Rick's surprise, Lazslo arrives with Ilsa, Rick's one time love. Rick is very bitter towards Ilsa, who ran out on him in Paris, but when he learns she had good reason to, they plan to run off together again using the letters of transit. Well, that was their original plan.. | Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Peter Lorree, Sidney Greenstreet, Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, S.Z.Sakall, Madeline LeBeau (Yvonne), Dooley Wilson, John Qualen, Leonid Kinsky, Helmut Dantine(Jan Brandel), Curt Bois, Marcel Dalio, Corrina Mura (vocalist), . Written By: Julius J. Epstein (screenplay), Philip G. Epstein (screenplay), and 4 more credits. Rating: 8.8 | To prepare for working with Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman watched The Maltese Falcon many times. |
| CASSANDRA CROSSING | George P. Cosmatos 1977. Color (Technicolor) - West Germany | Italy | UK - English | French | Swedish | German - 129 min. Rank: 647 | "Outbreak" meets "The Runaway Train" as a motley group of passengers are quarantined on a train destined to prevent the spread of the disease at the cost of their lives. Government intrigue, international smuggling, and the legend of the Cassandra Crossing add to the suspense. | Richard Harris, Loren Bacall, Burt Lancaster, Ava Gardner, Martin Sheen, Ingrid Thulin, O.J. Siumpson, Lee Strasberg, John Phillip Law, Alida ValIi, Lionel Stander. Written By: Robert Katz (story), George P. Cosmatos (story), and 3 more credits. Rating: 6.1 | James Coburn turned down the role of Haley. |
| CAT BALLOU | Elliot Silverstein 1965. Color (Eastmancolor) - USA - English - 97 min. Rank: 435 | Cat(herine) Balou's family farm is being threatened by the Rail Road. She sends for Kid Shelleen, finding him to be the drunkest gunfighter in the west. When her father is killed by the rail road magnate's gunman, she vowes to fight on. Shelleen manages to ride sideways in several scenes, while minstrels sing the ballad of Cat Ballou in between scenes. | Jane Fonda, Lee Marvin, Michael Callan, Darrell Hickman, Tom Nardini, John Marley, Reginald Denny, J.C.Flippen, Arthur Hunnicutt, Bruce Cabot, Nat Cole, Stubby Kaye, Burt Mustin (accuser), Paul Gilbert (train messenger), Nick Cravat (adlib). Written By: Walter Newman (screenplay), Frank Pierson (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.8 | Won Oscar. Another 10 wins and 12 nominations. Roy Chanslor's original novel was a serious western. The comedy elements were added for the film. |
| CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF | Richard Brooks 1958. Color (Metrocolor) - USA - English - 108 min. Rank: 70 | The fifth Tennessee Williams play to reach the screen, wealthy Mississippi plantation owner Big Daddy Pollitt, unaware that he's dying of cancer and disturbed by the strained and childless marriage of his favored alcoholic son Brick and his other son, Gooper, whose wife is about to bring forth another in the endless line of little "no-neck monsters," celebrates his sixty-fifth birthday with his family. Brick's wife, Maggie, beautiful and desirable, tries unsuccessfully to coax her husband away from the bottle, while alternately enticing him and taunting him about his obsession with his deceased best friend and the guilt about their relationship. The seamy tensions reach a climax when the truth of Big Daddy's health is revealed, and he and Brick manage to resolve their differences. | Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, Burl Ives, Jack Carson, Judith Anderson, Larry Gates, Madeline Sherwood (Mae Politt), Vaughn Taylor (Deacon Davis). Written By: Richard Brooks (screenplay), James Poe (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 8 | 35 Best Male Performances Nominated for an Oscar for Leading Role. This film was originally to be filmed in black and white, as was the standard practice with "artistic" films in the 1950s. (Virtually all film adaptations of the plays of Tennessee Williams had been in B&W up to that time.) However, once Paul Newman and Elizabeth Taylor were cast in the leads, director Richard Brooks insisted on shooting in color, in deference to the public's well known enthusiasm for Taylor's violet and Newman's strikingly blue eyes. |
| CATCH 22 | Mike Nichols 1970. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English | Italian - 122 min. Rank: 295 | A bombardier in World War II tries desperately to escape the insanity of the war. However, sometimes insanity is the only sane way cope with a crazy situation. Catch-22 is a parody of a "military mentality" and of a bureaucratic society in general. | Alan Arkin, Martin Balsam, Richard Benjamin, Art Garfunkel, Anthony Perkins, Jack Gilford, Buck Henry, Martin Sheen, Jon Voight, Paula Prentiss, Orson Welles, Bob Balaban, Marcel Dalio, Norman Fell, Charles Grodin, Bob Newhart, Peter Bonerz (McWatt), Buck. Written By: Joseph Heller (novel), Buck Henry (screenplay). Rating: 7.1 | Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 3 nominations. Richard Lester was first choice to direct this film, but turned it down to direct How I Won the War. |
| Mark Robson 1949. Black and White - USA - English - 99 min. Rank: 185 | Midge Kelly, hitchhiking west with lame brother Connie, is hustled unprepared into a pro boxing match. Though he's severely beaten, manager Tommy Haley finds him promising. Arrived in California, Midge and Connie find nothing but a menial job from which Midge gets relief by seducing Emma, a lovely young waitress. One shotgun marriage later, ambitious Midge falls back on the only option he knows: boxing. Seduced by cheering crowds, money, and a succession of blondes, Midge becomes more and more of a hero in public..and a heel in private. | Kirk Douglas, Marilyn Maxwell, Arthur Kennedy, Paul Stewart, Ruth Roman, Lola Albright, Luis Van Rooten, Harry Shannon. Scply:Carl Foreman from Lardner. Written By: Carl Foreman (screenplay), Ring Lardner (story). Rating: 7.5 | Won Oscar. Another 1 win and 9 nominations. Hal March, a popular 50s stage, film and TV personality, is seen here, as a mob enforcer meeting out punishment against Midge Kelly (Kirk Douglas) for Kelly's failure to "throw" a fight. March would later be implicated in a real life "fix", as he was host of the popular but ill fated TV quiz show "The $64,000 Questiion"(1955-57). This quiz show was cited in the 50s "Quiz Show Scandal", where some former contestants testified under oath that they were given information pertaining to the questions that they may be asked, in adva | |
| CHARIOTS OF FIRE | Hugh Hudson 1982. Color - UK - English - 125 min Rank: 238 | Two British track athletes, one a determined Jew and the other a devout Christian, compete in the 1924 Olympics. | Nicholas Farrell, Nigel Havers, Ian Charleson, Ben Cross, Daniel Gerroll, Ian Holm. Written By: Colin Welland (screenplay). Rating: 7.3 | Stephen Fry is in the film, singing in the chorus of the Cambridge 'H.M.S. Pinafore' production. He is the third face to the right of Harold Abrahams, singing "He Is An Englishman". He's on screen for about 35 seconds, starting at around 32:00. Kenneth Branagh is a Cambridge student in the "Society Day" crowds, wearing a grey knit vest with dark trim, a white shirt, and a dark tie. He's on screen for 20 seconds, starting at about 11:00. |
| CHARLIE CHAN AT THE OPERA | H. Bruce Humberstone 1937. Black and White - USA - English - 68 min Rank: 206 | Regarded by many as the best of the Charlie Chan series. The opera star Gravelle suffers amnesia. He is a recent escapee from an insane asylum, accused of murdering fellow performers (his wife and her lover). Included in the movie is the opera "Carnival", composed for the picture by Oscar Levant. | Warner Oland, Boris Karloff, Keye Luke, Charlotte Henry, Thos.Beck, Margaret Irving, Gregory Gaye, Frank Conroy, William Demarest OH?. Written By: Scott Darling (screenplay), Charles Belden (screenplay), and 2 more credits. Rating: 7.4 | Stage manager Maurice Cass vows that the opera will go on "even if Frankenstein walks in!" Audiences were well aware that this in-joke referred to star Boris Karloff, who was in the theater at the time. |
| CHASE | Arthur Penn 1966. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English | Spanish - 135 min. Rank: 295 | Most everyone in town thinks that Sheriff Calder is merely a puppet of rich oil-man Val Rogers. When it is learned that local baddie Bubber Reeves has escaped prison, Rogers' son is concerned because he is having an affair with Reeves' wife. It seems many others in town feel they may have reasons to fear Reeves. Calder's aim is to bring Reeves in alive, unharmed. Calder will have to oppose the powerful Rogers on one hand and mob violence on the other, in his quest for justice. | Marlon Brando, Jane Fonda, Robert Redford, Angie Dickinson,Janice Rule, James Fox, Robert Duvall, E.G.Marshall, Miriam Hopkins, Martha Hyer, Henry Hull, Jocelyn Brando, Clifton James (Lem), Malcolm Attebury, Bruca Cabot, Eduardo Cianelli, Grady Sutton, Ra. Written By: Horton Foote (play), Lillian Hellman. Rating: 7.1 | Steve McQueen was the producer's early choice for the role played by Robert Redford. |
| CHATO'S LAND | Michael Winner 1972. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 110 min. Rank: 613 | After Pardon Chato, a mestizo, killed a US marshal in self-defense, a posse pursues him, but as the white volunteers advance deep in Indian territory they become more hunted then prey, leading to internal strife. They rape Chato's woman, and are hunted down to the last man by the unrelenting warrior. | Charles Bronson, Jack Palance, Richard Basehart, John Ireland, Victor French hot in Spain Disposal. Rating: 6.3 | The Hooker ranch house and barn are the same as the McBain house and barn in Once Upon a Time in the West. |
| CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN | Walter Lang 1950. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 86 min. Rank: 373 | "Cheaper By the Dozen", based on the real-life story of the Gilbreth family, follows them from Providence, Rhode Island, to Montclair, New Jersey, and details the amusing anecdotes found in large families. Frank Gilbreth, Sr., was a pioneer in the field of motion study, and often used his family as guinea pigs (with amusing and sometimes embarrassing results). He resisted popular culture,railing against his daughters' desires for bobbed hair and comsmetics. | Clifton Webb, Myrna Loy, Jeanne Crain, Mildred Natwick, Edgar Buchanan. Written By: Lamar Trotti (screenplay), Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. (novel), and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.9 | Based on the real-life Gilbreth family. Daughter Mary died from a childhood illness; the movie includes a Mary but keeps her somewhat in the background with no lines. |
| CHECK and DOUBLE CHECK | Melville W. Brown 1930. Black and White - USA - English - 77 min. Rank: 769 | Typical Amos 'n Andy storyline has the boys trying to make a go of their "open-air" taxi business while they get caught up in a society hassle, involving driving musicians to a fancy party. All the regular characters are here (or mentioned), including the famous Mystic Knights of the Sea. The only film appearance of radio's long-running characters. | Amos and Andy (Gosden and Correll), Sue Carol, Charles Morton, Ralf Harold (Ralph Crawford), Edward Martindel, Irene Rich,Rita La Roy,Duke Ellington. Written By: Bert Kalmar (story), Harry Ruby (story), and 3 more credits. Rating: 5.3 | Credited with introducing Duke Ellington to white audiences. |
| CHEYENNE AUTUMN | John Ford 1964. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 154 min. Rank: 373 | When the government agency fails to deliver even the meager supplies due by treaty to the proud Cheyenne tribe in their barren desert reserve, the starving Indians have taken more abuse than it's worth and break it too by embarking on a 1,500 miles journey back to their ancestral hunting grounds. US Cavalry Capt. Thomas Archer is charged with their retrieval, but during the hunt grows to respect their noble courage, and decides to help them. | Richard Widmark, Carroll Baker,Karl Malden, Dolores Del Rio, Sal Mineo, Edward G.Robinson, James Stewart, Ricardop Montalban, Gilbert Roland, Arthur Kennedy, Patrick Wayne, Elizabeth Allen, Victor Jory, John Carradine, Mike Mazurki, John Qualen, George O'. Written By: Mari Sandoz (suggested by "Cheyenne Autumn"), James R. Webb (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.9 | Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 wins and 1 nomination. Finnish certificate #71202 delivered on 12-2-1965. |
| CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT (FALSTAFF) | Orson Welles 1967. Black and White - France | Spain | Switzerland - English - Spain: 113 min | Switzerland: 119 min | USA: 115 min | Argentina: 117 min. Rank: 70 | Sir John Falstaff is the hero in this compilation of extracts from Shakespeare's 'Henry IV' and other plays, made into a connected story of Falstaff's career as young Prince Hal's drinking companion. The massive knight roisters with and without the prince, philosophizes comically, goes to war (in his own fashion), and meets his final disappointment, set in a real-looking late-medieval England. | Orson Welles, Jeanne Moreau, Margaret Rutherford, John Gielgud, Keith Baxter (Prince Hal), Marina Vlady, Norman Rodway (Henry Percy), Alan Webb (Justice), Walter Chiari (Silence), Michael Aldridge (Pistol), Tony Beckley (Poins), Fermn. Written By: William Shakespeare (plays), Raphael Holinshed (book), and 1 more credit. Rating: 8 | Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 3 wins and 1 nomination. Orson Welles's favorite film of his own. |
| CHRISTMAS CAROL | Edwin L. Marin 1938. Black and White - USA - English - 69 min. Rank: 206 | On Christmas Eve, an old miser named Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by the spirit of his former partner, Jacob Marley. The deceased partner was in his lifetime as mean and miserly as Scrooge is now and he warns him to change his ways or face the consequences in the afterlife. Scrooge dismisses the apparition but the first of the three ghosts, the Ghost of Christmas Past, visits as promised. Scrooge sees those events in his past life, both happy and sad, that forged his character. The second spirit, the Ghost of Christmas Present, shows him how many currently celebrate Christmas. The Ghost of Christmas yet to Come shows him how he will be remembered once he is gone. To his delight, the spirits complete their visits in one night giving him the opportunity to mend his ways. | Reginald Owen, Gene Lockhart, Kathleen Lockhart, Terry Kilburn (Tim), Barry Mackay (Fred), Lynne Carver (Bess), Leo G.Carroll, Lionel Brahm (Xmas present), Ann Rutherford, (ast), D'Arcy Corrigan (future), Ronald Sinclair (yng Scrg), Charles Coleman (chari. Written By: Charles Dickens (short story), Hugo Butler (screenplay). Rating: 7.4 | This was the only film in which Gene Lockhart appeared with his wife Kathleen Lockhart and their daughter June Lockhart, |
| CHUMPS AT OXFORD | Alfred J. Goulding 1940. Black and White - USA - English - USA: 63 min (copyright length). Rank: 238 | With Stan in drag, the boys get jobs as a butler and maid for a dinner party at the Vandevere's. After that ends in disaster, they're reduced to sweeping streets, and accidentally capture a bank robber. The grateful bank president sends them to Oxford for a proper education. There they become victims of student pranks, getting lost in the Maze and taking over the Dean's quarters as their own. But then a knock on the head gets Stan to believing he's the famed Lord Paddington, scholar and athlete extraordinaire. Suddenly erudite and supercilious, he retains Oliver as his valet, "Fatty." | Laurel and Hardy, Forrester Harvey, Wilfred Lucas, Forbes Murray (banker), Frannk Baker, Charles Hall, Peter Cushing, Rex Lease, Stanl6Y Blystone *CIRCLE ('Canadian) Docudrama about drugs poss filed shorts. Written By: Charley Rogers (original story and screen play), Felix Adler (original story and screen play), and 2 more credits. Rating: 7.3 | Anita Garvin's final film with Laurel and Hardy. She came out of retirement as a favor to Stan Laurel, playing basically the same role she had played in Laurel and Hardy's silent film From Soup to Nuts, whose title is a line of Ollie's dialogue in this movie. |
| CITIZEN KANE | Orson Welles 1941. Black and White - USA - English - 119 min. Rank: 5 | A group of reporters who are trying to decipher the last word ever spoke by Charles Foster Kane, the millionaire newspaper tycoon: "Rosebud." The film begins with a news reel detailing Kane's life for the masses, and then from there, we are shown flashbacks from Kane's life. As the reporters investigate further, the viewers see a display of a fascinating man's rise to fame, and how he eventually fell off the "top of the world." | Orson Welles, Dorothy Comingore, Paul Stewart, Ray Collins, Joseph Cotton, Evertt Sloane, George Colouris, Agnes Moorehead, Ruth Warrick, Erskine Sanford, William Alland, Forunio Georgia Backus, Harry Shannon, Sonny Bupp, Buddy Swan, Alan Ladd, Arthur O'C. Written By: Herman J. Mankiewicz (original screenplay), Orson Welles (original screenplay), and 3 more credits. Rating: 8.6 | The movie's line "Old age.. it's the only disease, Mr. Thompson, that you don't look forward to being cured of." was voted as the #90 of "The 100 Greatest Movie Lines" by Premiere in 2007. |
| CITY LIGHTS | Charles Chaplin 1931. Black and White - USA - English - 87 min. Rank: 5 | A tramp falls in love with a beautiful blind girl. Her family is in financial trouble. The tramp's on-and-off friendship with a wealthy man allows him to be the girl's benefactor and suitor. | Charlie Chaplin, Virginia Cherrill, Harry Myers (millionaire), Hank Mann (Boxer), Henry Bergman (mayor/janitor), Robert Parrtish (newsboy), Jean Harlow. Rating: 8.6 | One of Charles Chaplin's friends, the famous illustrator Ralph Barton, was on set one day during the filming of the scene where Charlie and the blind girl meet. These home movies, which appear in Unknown Chaplin, and is the only known behind the scenes footage of Chaplin at work in costume as the tramp. |
| CITY THAT NEVER SLEEPS | John H. Auer 1953. Black and White - USA - English - 90 min. Rank: 467 | Chicago cop Johnny Kelly, dissatisfied with his job and marriage, would like to run away with his stripper girlfriend Angel Face, but keeps getting cold feet. During one crowded night, Angel Face decides she's had enough vacillation, and crooked lawyer Biddel has an illegal mission for Johnny that could put him in a financial position to act. But other, conflicting schemes are also in progress… | Gig Young, Mala Powers, Edward Arnold, William Talman, Chill Wills, Marie Windsor, Paula Raymond, Otto Hulett (Sgt.Kelly sr), Wally Cassell (Greg), Tom Poston (Det.), Walter Wolfe King (Hotel mgr.). Filmed KinzielWabash, Mdse.Mart. Rating: 6.7 | |
| CLASH BY NIGHT | Fritz Lang 1952. Black and White - USA - English - 105 min. Rank: 329 | Mae Doyle comes back to her hometown a cynical woman. Her brother Joe fears that his love, fish cannery worker Peggy, may wind up like Mae. Mae marries Jerry and has a baby; she is happy but restless, drawn to Jerry's friend Earl. | Paul Douglas,Robert Ryan,Marilyn Monroe, Keith Anes, J.Caroll Naish Clifford Odets story. Written By: Clifford Odets (play), Alfred Hayes. Rating: 7.0 | When Mae and Jerry are in the movies, Mae tells him "this is where we came in" and they walk out. It was common in the 1950s for viewers to walk in during a picture, watch it till the end and then wait for the picture to play again and leave when it gets to the part they came into the theater. |
| CLOAK AND DAGGER | Richard Franklin 1946. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 101 min. Rank: 632 | 11-year-old Davey, whose mother is dead and whose father doesn't spend nearly enough time with him. So the boy loses himself in video games--and even has an imaginary friend, a super-resourceful secret agent. When he accidentally comes into possession of a spy group's secret plans, and winds up on the run from them, he must learn to rely on himself and his imaginary pal to save his skin. But, in the end, Dad proves to be his real hero. | Gary Cooper, Lili Palmer, Robert AIda, Vladimir Sokolov, Ludwig Stossel, J.Edward Bromberg, Helene Thimig, Dan Seymour, Marc Lawrence, James Flavin, Pat O'Moore (Englishman), Robert Coote, Douglas Walton, Holmes Herbert,Eddie Dunn. Written By: Tom Holland (screen story and screenplay), Cornell Woolrich (from a story by), and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.2 | The Cloak and Dagger game screens are mostly from the arcade version, and not the Atari 5200 game console as it would appear in the film. Although an 5200 version of the game was planned, it never was released due to the video game crash of 1983 and eventual sale of Atari. The arcade version of Cloak and Dagger appeared in 1983 prior to the release of the film. Next to the Cloak and Dagger games are boxes for the 5200 version of Tempest. Like the 5200 version of Cloak and Dagger, this game was never released. |
| COCKLESHEEL HEROES | José Ferrer 1955. Color (Technicolor) - UK - English | French (some dialogue) | German (only a few words) - USA: 97 min. Rank: 467 | A British Army Reserve Major must work with a veteran Captain and a group of incorrigible recruits to attempt what is generally regarded as a suicide mission: the covert destruction of an entire German shipyard in occupied France. | Jose Ferrer, Trevor Howard, Anthoney Newley, Christopher Lee, Victor Maddem, David Lodge, Peter Arne, Percy Herbert, Graham Stewart, John Fabian, John Van Eyssen, Robert Desmond, William Fitzgerald, Karel Stepanek, Dora Bryan,Sidney Tafler. Written By: Bryan Forbes (screenplay), George Kent (story), and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.7 | According to 'Daily Variety', during April and May of 1955, there was four weeks of location filming for this movie in Portugal, situated in the environs of the Tagus River. |
| COCOANUTS | 1929. Black and White - USA - English - 96 min | USA: 140 min (preview) | Spain: 89 min (DVD edition). Rank: 329 | Mr. Hammer runs a bankrupt Florida hotel. He'll try anything to make money, even make love to rich Mrs. Potter. But his main scheme, selling real estate, is in danger of sabotage from zanies Chico and Harpo, who also reduce the schemes of a pair of jewel thieves to chaos. A subplot involves the star-crossed love of Polly Potter and architect Bob Adams. | Marx Brothers, Mary Eaton (Polly), Oscar Shaw (Bob), Katherine Francis (Penelope), Margaret Dumont,Cyril Ring (Yates), Basil Rysdale,Barton Maclane. Written By: George S. Kaufman (play), Morrie Ryskind (adaptation). Rating: 7.0 | The Cocoanuts opened at the Lyric Theater in New York City on December 8, 1925 and ran for 276 performances starring the four Marx Brothers, Margaret Dumont and Billy De Wolfe with songs by Irving Berlin. |
| COLLECTOR | William Wyler 1965. Black and White (flashback sequence)| Color (Technicolor) - UK | USA - English - 119 min. Rank: 157 | A man kidnaps a woman and holds her hostage just for the pleasure of having her there. | Terence Stamp, Samantha Eggar, Mona Washbourne, Maurice Dallimore. Written By: John Fowles (novel), John Kohn (screenplay) | 1 more credit. Rating: 7.6 | The story makes constant reference to Shakespeare's play "The Tempest". In "The Tempest" Miranda is Prospero's daughter. Fred Clegg also refers to himself as "Ferdinand", or "Ferdie" to disguise his identity. Ferdinand is the name of Alonso's son in the play. Miranda, however, calls Fred "Caliban", who is an ugly misshapen dwarf in the play. In 1984, the Smiths used an image of Terence Stamp in The Collector as the cover of their "What Difference Does it Make" single. |
| COLLEGE | James W. Horne, and 1 more credit. 1927. Black and White - USA - English - USA: 66 min. Rank: 259 | Ronald's high school valedictory address praises books and condemns sports. His girlfriend Mary condemns his attitude. He fears losing her to rival Jeff, decides to go to college and pay more attention to sports. | Buster Keaton, Ann Cornwall, Flora Bramley, Harold Goodwin (Jeff), Grant Withers and Buddy Mason (Jeffs friends), Snitz Edwards (Dean), Carl Harbaugh (coach). Written By: Carl Harbaugh (story), Bryan Foy (story). Rating: 7.2 | The boat for which Buster Keaton is coxswain is called Damfino, the same name as the eponymous boat in his short movie The Boat. |
| COLOR PURPLE | Steven Spielberg 1985. Color - USA - English - 154 min. Rank: 157 | This film follows the life of Celie, a young black girl growing up in the early 1900's. The first time we see Celie, she is 14 - and pregnant - by her father. We stay with her for the next 30 years of her tough life.. | Oprah Winfrey, Danny Glover, Whoopi Goldberg, Margaret Avery (Shug), Williard Pugh (Harpo), Akosa Busia (Nettie), Adolph Casear (old Mr.), Rae Dawn Chong, Desereta Jackson (Yng CellieO, Dana Ivey (millie), Leonard Jackson (pa), Lawrenbce Fishburne (Swain. Written By: Alice Walker (novel), Menno Meyjes (screenplay). Rating: 7.6 | Nominated for 11 Oscars. Another 13 wins and 8 nominations. Sheryl Lee Ralph tested for the role of Shug Avery. |
| COME BACK AFRICA | Lionel Rogosin 1960. Black and White - USA - English | Afrikaans - 95 min. Rank: 373 | Come Back, Africa chronicles the life of Zachariah, a black South African living under the rule of the harsh apartheid government in 1959. | Zachariah Mgabi, Miriam Makeba. Written By: Bloke Modisane, Lewis Nkosi, and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.9 | |
| COME BLOW YOUR HORN | Bud Yorkin 1963. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 112 min. Scope. Rank: 676 | Story of a young man's decision to leave the home of his parents for the bachelor pad of his older brother who leads a swinging '60s lifestyle | Frank Sinatra, Lee J.Cobb, Molly Picon, Barbara Rush,Jill St.John,Tony Bill, Dan Blocker, Phyllis McGuire, Herbie Fay, Romo Vincent,Dean Martin (bum). Written By: Neil Simon (play), Norman Lear (screenplay). Rating: 6.1 | Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win and 4 nominations. Neil Simon based the character of the womanizing bum on his older brother, Danny Simon. |
| COMEDIANS | Peter Glenville 1967. Color (Metrocolor) - USA | France - English - UK: 150 min | USA: 152 min (TCM print). Rank: 546 | Set in the Haiti of "Papa Doc" Duvalier, The Comedians tells the story of a sardonic white hotel owner and his encroaching fatalism as he watches Haiti sink into barbarism. Complications include a friendship with a rebel leader, politically "charged" hotel guests, an affair with the wife of a European ambassador, and the manipulations of a conniving British arms dealer. | Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Alec Guiness, Peter Ustinov, Paul Ford, Lillian Gish, Rayond Stjacques, Zakes Mokae, Roscoe Lee Brown, Gloria Foster, George Stanford Brown, James Earl Jones, Cicely Tyson. Written By: Graham Greene (novel), Graham Greene (screenplay). Rating: 6.5 | Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 2 wins. To get Elizabeth Taylor to do the film at a "bargain" salary, producer/director Peter Glenville told her that he had offered it to Sophia Loren. She promptly cut her customary $1 million salary in half and signed on. |
| COMIN' ROUND THE MOUNTAIN | Charles Lamont 1951. Black and White - USA - English - 77 min. Rank: 574 | Bud and Lou get mixed up with hillbillies, witches and love potions. | Abbott and Costello, Dorothy Shay, Kirby Grant,Joe Sawyer,Glenn Strange,Margaret Hamilton,Russell Simpson,O.Z.Whitehead,Jack Kruschen (gangster at club) -1st :30. Written By: John Grant (additional dialogue), Robert Lees, and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.4 | |
| COMPUTER WORE TENNIS SHOES | Robert Butler 1969. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 91 min. Rank: 373 | Some college students manage to persuade the town's big businessman, A. J. Arno, to donate a computer to their college. When the problem- student, Dexter Riley, tries to fix the computer, he gets an electric shock and his brain turns to a computer; now he remembers everything he reads. Unfortunately, he also remembers information which was in the computer's memory, like the illegal business Arno is involved in. | Kurt Russell, Cesar Romero, Joe Flynn, William Schallert, Alan Hewitt, Richard Bakalyan, Debbie Paine, Frank Webb, Michael McGreevey, Pat Harrington Jr. Written By: Joe Camp. Rating: 6.2 | Uncredited debut cinema movie of actor Ed Begley Jr. The name of the educational institution was "Medfield College". The campus setting also featured in other Disney films such as this movie's sequels Now You See Him, Now You Don't (1972) and The Strongest Man in the World (1975) as well as the earlier The Absent Minded Professor (1961) and its sequel Son of Flubber (1963). The exterior college shots (excluding the opening still frame of a specific building) are of the Disney Studio campus. |
| CONRACK | Martin Ritt 1974. Color - USA - English - 106 min. Rank: 329 | White Pat Conroy was born and raised in Beaufort, South Carolina. In March, 1969 under the Beaufort School District, he starts a job teaching at a small poor school located on Daufuskie Island, an island in a South Carolina river delta, the island accessible only by boat. The island is inhabited exclusively by blacks. He quickly learns that his students, who have never left the island, lack not only a basic understanding of academic items such as the alphabet and simple arithmetic, but also of other basic necessities of life such as personal hygiene. They can't even pronounce his name, they who call him Conrack. The teachers before him, including the school principal Mrs. Scott, have always treated the students as being slow and basically unteachable of academics. Conrack, a free thinking man, decides to expose his students not only to the academic subjects, but also to the gamut of life skills from brushing one's teeth to human anatomy. | Jon Voight, Paul Winfield, Hume Cronyn, Antonio Fargas, Madge Sinclair not inventoried 10-06 but know it's somewhere. Vinegar, in garage. Written By: Pat Conroy (novel), Irving Ravetch , and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.0 | In a 2007 interview on the Dennis Miller Radio Show, Voight recalled a reunion that was held 20 years after the release of the movie, with all of the available actors. Of the 21 actors who portrayed students, at the time of the reunion, 3 of them were teachers. |
| COOGAN'S BLUFF | Don Siegel 1968. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 93 min. Rank: 546 | Coogan, an Arizona cop, is sent to New York to collect a prisoner. Everyone in New York assumes Coogan is from Texas, much to his annoyance. To add to Coogan's problems the prisoner isn't ready, so he decides to cut a few corners. In the process the prisoner escapes, and Coogan is ordered home. Too proud to return home empty handed, Coogan sets out into the big city to recapture his prisoner. | Clint Eastwood, Lee J.Cobb, Susan Clark, Tisha Sterling, Don Stroud, Betty Field, Tom Tully unofficial pilot for "McCloud". Written By: Herman Miller (screenplay), Dean Riesner (screenplay), and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.5 | When Coogan is searching the New York nightclub, the large screen plays a scene from Tarantula, a "B" sci-fi film that Clint Eastwood made early in his career in which he had an uncredited role. |
| COOL HAND LUKE | Stuart Rosenberg 1967. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 126 min. Rank: 27 | Luke Jackson is a cool, gutsy prisoner in a Southern chain gang, who, while refusing to buckle under to authority, keeps escaping and being recaptured. The prisoners admire Luke because, as Dragline explains it, "You're an original, that's what you are!" Nevertheless, the camp staff actively works to crush Luke until he finally breaks. | Paul Newman, George Kennedy, J.D.Cannon, ou Antonio, Robert Drivas, Strother Martin, Jo Van Fleet, Wayne Rogers, Anthony Zerbe, Ralph Waite, Harry Dean Stanton, Dennis Hopper, Richard Davalos, Warrne Finnerty, Morgan Wodward, Clifton James, Joe Don Baker. Written By: Donn Pearce (screenplay), Frank Pierson (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 8.3 | Bette Davis was first offered the role of Luke's mother, but refused the bit part. |
| COUNTER-ATTACK | Zoltan Korda 1945. Black and White - USA - English - 90 min. Rank: 373 | Two Russians trapped in a collapsed building with seven enemy German soldiers during World War II. | Paul Muni, Larry Parks, Margarite Chapman, Phillip Van Zandt, George Macready, Roman Bohnen, Ian Wolfe, Ivan Trioesault, Ludwig Donath, Trevor Bardette. Written By: John Howard Lawson, Mikhail Ruderman (play), and 3 more credits. Rating: 6.9 | It was adapted from the play Counterattack. |
| COURT MARTIAL OF BILLIE MITCHELL | Otto Preminger 1955. Color (WarnerColor) - USA - English - 100 min. Rank: 373 | The true story of General Billy Mitchell, a pioneering crusader for the Army's fledgling air corp. In spite of an impressive performance during the First World War, the commanders of America's armed forces still think of the airplane as little more then a carnival attraction. Even after sinking an "unsinkable" captured German battleship from the air, Mitchell sees funds dry up and friends die due to poor equipment. He is court-martialed after questioning the loyalty of his superiors for allowing the air corp to deteriorate. | Gary Cooper, Charles Bickford, Ralph Bellamy, Rod Steiger, Elizabeth Montgomery, Fred Clark, James Daly, Jack Lord, Peter Graves, Darren McGavin, Darren McGavin, (Robert Simon (Adm), Charles Dingle, Dayton Lummis, Ian Wolfe, Will Wright, Carleton Young, G. Written By: Milton Sperling (story), Emmet Lavery (story), and 3 more credits. Rating: 6.9 | Nominated for Oscar. Film debut of Jack Lord. |
| COVER GIRL | Charles Vidor 1944. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 107 min. Rank: 373 | Rusty Parker, a red-headed leggy dancer at Danny McGuire's Night Club in Brooklyn, wants to be a successful Broadway star. She enters a contest to be a 'Cover Girl' as a stepping-stone in her career. She reminds the publisher, John Coudair, of his lost love, showgirl Maribelle Hicks. He was engaged to Maribelle, although his wealthy society mother made fun of her. Maribelle left John at the altar when she saw the piano at her wedding. It reminded her of the piano-player she truly loved. Rusty is Maribelle's granddaughter and there are musical sequences with Maribelle dancing to songs from the beginning of the 20th century. Rusty lands on the cover of her grandmother's former fiancé's magazine (as a bride). She is pursued by Coudair's pal, the wealthy theatrical producer, Noel Wheaton. He produces a lavish musical to star Rusty, surrounded by real cover girls of the mid 1940's… | Rita Hayworth, Gene Kelly, Lee Bowman, Phil Silvers, Jinx Falkenburg, Eve Arden, Otto Kruger, Anita Colby music: Jerome Kern I Ira Gershwin. Written By: Erwin S. Gelsey (story), Marion Parsonnet (adaptation), and 3 more credits. Rating: 6.9 | Won Oscar. Another 4 nominations. Several Conover Cover Girl models appear in this film. |
| CRY OF THE CITY | Robert Siodmak 1948. Black and White - USA - English | Italian - 95 min. Rank: 259 | Petty crook and cop-killer Martin Rome, in bad shape from wounds in the hospital prison ward, still refuses to help slimy lawyer Niles clear his client by confessing to another crime. Police Lt. Candella must check Niles' allegation; a friend of the Rome family, he walks a tightrope between sentiment and cynicism. When Martin fears Candella will implicate his girlfriend Teena, he'll do anything to protect her. How many others will he drag down to disaster with him? | Victor Mature,Richard Conte,Fred Clark,Shelly Winters,Betty Garde,Barry Kroeger,Tommy Cook,Debra Paget,Hope Emerson,Roland Winters, Walter Baldwin, June Storey, Vito Scotti Gulio), Konstantine Shayne, Howard Freeman, Ruth Clifrford.inc -midlO. Written By: Richard Murphy (screenplay), Henry Edward Helseth (novel), and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.2 | Vito Scotti's first film. |
| CRY, THE BELOVED COUNTRY | Zoltan Korda 1952. Black and White - UK - English - 103 min | Canada: 96 min. Rank: 373 | In the back country of South Africa, black minister Stephen Kumalo (Canada Lee) journeys to the city to search for his missing son, only to find his people living in squalor and his son a criminal. Reverend Misimangu (Sidney Poitier) is a young South African clergyman who helps find his missing son-turned-thief and sister-turned-prostitute in the slums of Johannesburg. | Canada Lee, Charles Carson (Jas.Jones), Sidney Poittier, Edric Connor «John Kumalo), Geoffrey Keene (Fr.), . Written By: Alan Paton (novel), Alan Paton (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.9 | Nominated for 2 BAFTA Film Awards. Another 2 wins and 1 nomination. The film was shot in South Africa. Since the country was ruled by strict apartheid (enforced racial separation) laws, stars Sidney Poitier and Canada Lee and producer/director Zoltan Korda cooked up a scheme where they told the South African immigration authorities that Poitier and Lee were not actors but were Korda's indentured servants; otherwise, the two black actors and the white director would not have been allowed to associate with each other while they were in the country. |
| CYRANNO deBERGERAC | Michael Gordon 1950. Black and White - USA - English - 112 min | West Germany: 102 min. Rank: 206 | France, 1640: Cyrano, the charismatic swordsman-poet with the absurd nose, hopelessly loves the beauteous Roxane; she, in turn, confesses to Cyrano her love for the handsome but tongue-tied Christian. The chivalrous Cyrano sets up with Christian an innocent deception, with tragic results. Much cut from the play, but dialogue not rewritten. | Jose Ferrer, Mala Powers, William Prince, Morris Carnovsky, Elena Verdugo, Ralph Clanton (Guiche), Lloyd Corrigan (Ragueneau), Don Beddoe ( Meddler), Percy Helton, Phillip Van Zandt, Jerry Paris (cadet) Oscor for Ferrer. Written By: Edmond Rostand (play), Brian Hooker (play), and 2 more credits. Rating: 7.4 | Won Oscar. Another 2 wins and 3 nominations. Stanley Kramer put the film into production as a substitute for the script he had been developing, High Noon, which became bogged down with copyright issues. |
| D.O.A. | Rudolph Maté 1950. Black and White - USA - English - 83 min | West Germany: 77 min. Rank: 206 | Small-town accountant Frank Bigelow goes to San Francisco for a week's fun prior to settling down with fiancée Paula. After a night on the town, he wakes up with more than just a hangover; doctors tell him he's been given a "luminous toxin" with no antidote and has, at most, a week to live! Not knowing who did it or why, Bigelow embarks on a frantic odyssey to find his own murderer. | Edmund O'Brien, Pamella Britton, Lther Adler, Beverly Campbell (Garland), (Miss Foster), Lynne Baggart (Mrs.Phillips),William Ching, Henry Hart (Stanley Phillips), Neville Brand, Laurette Luez (Maria Rakubian), Jess Birkpatrick (Sam) Vinegar-garage. Written By: Russell Rouse (story), Clarence Greene (story). Rating: 7.4 | "Screen Director's Playhouse" broadcast a 60 minute radio adaptation of the movie on June 21, 1951 with Edmond O'Brien reprising his film role. |
| DALLAS | Stuart Heisler 1950. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 94 min. Rank: 647 | After Confederate officer Blayde Hollister's home and family are destroyed by the Marlowe brothers during the Civil War, he swears revenge, refusing to surrender and becoming a wanted man. In order to pursue the three brothers into Texas, Hollister fakes his own death in a staged gunfight with his friend Wild Bill Hickock. He then befriends Martin Weatherby, the newly appointed U.S. Marshal to Dallas, an affable, but not very experienced lawman, who agrees to let Hollister assume his identity. The eldest of the Marlow brothers, Will, masquerades as a law-abiding real estate dealer while feigning righteous indignation over the brutal acts of lawlessness and violence visited on the honest citizens of Dallas by his sociopathic brothers, Cullen and Bryant. (Their parents were evidently fond of the renowned poet William Cullen Bryant). When Hollister becomes a rival for the affections of Weatherby's aristocratic fiancee Tonia Robles.. | Gary Cooper, Raymond Massey, Ruth Roman, Steve Cochran, Antonio Moreno B&W ofC DAMN THE DEFIANT (Lewis Gilbert'62 UK) Alec Guiness, Dirk Bogarde, Maurice Denham, Nigel Stock, Richard Carpenter, Anthony Quayle. Rating: 6.1 | |
| DAMN THE DEFIANT (aka H.M.S. Defiant) | Lewis Gilbert 1962. Color (Technicolor) - UK - English | French (only a few words) - 101 min. Rank: 329 | Defiant's crew is part of a fleet-wide movement to present a petition of grievances to the Admiralty. Violence must be no part of it. The continual sadism of Defiant's first officer makes this difficult, and when the captain is disabled, the chance for violence increases. | Alec Guiness, Dirk Bogarde, Maurice Denham, Nigel Stock, Richard Carpenter, Anthony Quayle. Written By: Nigel Kneale (screenplay), Edmund H. North (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.0 | Alec Guinness made this movie during the two month break in the shooting of Lawrence of Arabia, when the production moved from Jordan to Spain. Upon finishing "Damn the Defiant!" Guinness resumed his role of Prince Faisal. |
| Ken Russell 1967. Black and White - UK - English - 90 min. Rank: 157 | A movie about jealousy, and the complex and painful relationship between Rossetti and his sickly wife, Elizabeth. They are members of the upper-crust layer of society, bourgeois painters, poets and philosophers. Rossetti struggles with his own emotions for his wife, as she refuses his sexual advances before they marry, and, once they do marry, she is unable to bear him any children. She believes he has impregnated another woman (a model), commits suicide, and, as he chooses to bury his best poems with her coffin, he is driven insane when confronted with the idea of exhuming her coffin and retrieving the book to sell to his fans. | Not much info, made for UK TV. Written By: Austin Frazer (commentary and dialogue), Austin Frazer (scenario), and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.6 | Director Trademark: [Ken Russell] [snake] Snake crawling on Dante's face after he crashes into the bird cages. | |
| DARK CITY | William Dieterle 1950. Black and White - USA - English - 98 min. Rank: 435 | Danny Haley's bookie operation is shut down, so he and his pals need money; when Danny meets Arthur Winant, a sucker from out of town, he decoys him into a series of poker games where eventually Winant loses $5000 that isn't his..then hangs himself. But it seems Winant had a shadowy, protective elder brother who believes in personal revenge. And each of the card players in turn feels a faceless doom inexorably closing in. Dark streets and sexy torch-singer Fran lend ambience. | Charleton Heston (dbeut), Lizabeth Scott, Viveca Lindfors, Dean Jagger, Jack Webb, Don DeFore, Ed Begley, Harry Morgan, Walter Sande (Swede), Mark Keuning (Billy Winant), Mike Mazurki, Stanley Prager (Sammy),Byron Foulger,Dewey Robinson -10-20 (middle). Written By: John Meredyth Lucas (screenplay), Larry Marcus (screenplay), and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.8 | |
| DARK COMMAND | Raoul Walsh 1940. Black and White - USA - English - 94 min | UK: 90 min. Rank: 435 | When transplanted Texan Bob Seton arrives in Lawrence, Kansas he finds much to like about the place, especially Mary McCloud, daughter of the local banker. Politics is in the air however. It's just prior to the civil war and there is already a sharp division in the Territory as to whether it will remain slave-free. When he gets the opportunity to run for marshal, Seton finds himself running against the respected local schoolteacher, William Cantrell. Not is what it seems however. While acting as the upstanding citizen in public, Cantrell is dangerously ambitious and is prepared to do anything to make his mark, and his fortune, on the Territory. When he loses the race for marshal, he forms a group of raiders who run guns into the territory and rob and terrorize settlers throughout the territory. Eventually donning Confederate uniforms, it is left to Seton and the good citizens of Lawrence to face Cantrell and his raiders in one final clash. | John Wayne, Claire Trevor, Walter Pigeon, Roy Rogers, Gabby Hayes, Porter Hall, Walter Pigeon, Mrajorie Main, Raymond Walburn, Joe Sawyer,Helen McKellar (Mrs.Hale),J.FarreU McDonald,Trevor Bardette,Alan Bridge (bandit Idr),Ferris Taylor (banker), Glenn S. Written By: Grover Jones (screenplay), Lionel Houser (screenplay), and 3 more credits. Rating: 6.8 | Nominated for 2 Oscars. The character of Will Cantrell is loosely based on the real life Confederate guerrilla leader William Quantrill. Like Cantrell, Quantrill was born in Ohio, taught school in Lawrence, Kansas, became a guerrilla fighter on the Confederate side and burnt Lawrence to the ground. However, the Confederacy eventually distanced itself from, and eventually disowned, him because of his band's propensity for executing prisoners, massacring civilians, looting and raping. The real Quantrill was killed in an ambush, beheaded by a Union cava |
| DARK PAST | Rudolph Maté 1948. Black and White - USA - English - 75 min. Rank: 574 | When a detective scoffs at his suggestion that an 18 year-old criminal be referred for psychiatric examination Dr. Andrew Collins, the police psychiatrist, tells him the story of his encounter with Al Walker. Walker had a history of violence and killed the prison warden during an escape. He and his gang took the Collins family and their friends hostage but when Dr. Collins learns that Walker has a violent recurring dream, he offers to help him decipher the dream and determine exactly what has driven him to a life of crime and violence. | William Holden, Nina Foch, Lee J.Cob, Adele Jergens, Stephen Dunne (Talbot), Lois Maxwell (Ruth), Barry Kroeger, Stephen Geray, Ellen Corby (Agnes). Written By: Malvin Wald (adaptation), Oscar Saul (adaptation), and 4 more credits. Rating: 6.4 | |
| DAVID AND LISA | Frank Perry 1962. Black and White - USA - English - 95 min. Rank: 238 | The emotional story of a young man in a mental institution for teens who begins to understand his psychosis in the environment of others with mental and emotional problems. He finds intimacy with Lisa, a young woman suffering from schizophrenia. | Keir Dullea, Howard daSilva, Janet Margolin, Neva Patterson, Clifton James, Richard McMurray (Clemens), Nancy Nutter (Maureen), Matthew Anden (Simon). Written By: Eleanor Perry, Theodore Isaac Rubin (novel). Rating: 7.3 | Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 4 wins and 5 nominations. First feature film of Janet Margolin. |
| DAVID COPPERFIELD | George Cukor 1935. Black and White - USA - English - 130 min | Germany: 124 min | UK: 145 min. Rank: 157 | When David's father dies, his mother remarries. His new stepfather Murdstone has a mean and cruel view on how to raise a child. When David's mother dies from grief, Murdstone sends David to London to work for a living. When David escapes to his aunt Betsey his life starts to get better. | W.C.Fields, Lionel Barrymore, Maureen O'Sullivan, Madge Evans, Edna Mae Oliver, Lewis Stone Frank Lawton (David,man), Freddie Bartholomew, Elizabeth Allen (Mrs. Cprfld), Roland Young, Basil Rathbone, Elsa Lanchester, Jean Cadell, Jessie Ralph (Nurse Pgty. Written By: Charles Dickens (by), Hugh Walpole (adaptation), and 2 more credits. Rating: 7.6 | Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 1 nomination. Re-released in the USA in 1962. |
| DAY AND THE HOUR | René Clément 1963. Black and White - France | Italy - French - 110 min. Rank: 506 | It's the spring of 1944 and Therese is in a hurry to get back to Paris. The trains aren't running from the village where she has gone to visit her father's grave and to fill two suitcases with food. Some British and American planes have been shot down and the Germans want to know where the pilots are hiding. An acquaintance has clearance to drive to Paris with a truckload of goats. After she is in the truck Therese discovers that two British pilots and an American pilot are back there with the goats. She must get the men on a train to Paris and to a safe house there, where there is no room for the American. Can she leave him at the Metro station trying to figure out the map? | Simone Signoret, Stuart Whitman, Genevieve Page, Michel Piccoli inc (-I st RI) VINEGAR. Rating: 6.6 | |
| DAY AT THE RACES | Sam Wood 1937. Black and White | Black and White (Sepiatone) | Black and White (blue tinted) - USA - English | Italian - 111 min | Germany: 105 min. Rank: 157 | Doctor Hugo Hackenbush, Tony, and Stuffy try and save Judy's farm by winning a big race with her horse. There are a few problems. Hackenbush runs a high priced clinic for the wealthy who don't know he has his degree in Veterinary Medicine. | Marx Brothers, Allan Jones, Maureen O'Sullivan, Margaret Dumont, Douglas Dumbrille, Sig Ruhmann, Robert Middlemass, Charles Trowbridge, Frankie Darro, Pat Flaherty, Si jenks, Jack Norton, Ivy Anderson. Written By: Robert Pirosh (screen play), George Seaton (screen play), and 8 more credits. Rating: 7.6 | Nominated for Oscar. Groucho Marx's character was initially to have been named Dr. Quackenbush, which he and everyone else thought was too silly a name to offend anyone. However, MGM's legal department discovered at least a dozen legitimate U.S. doctors named Quackenbush, so for legal reasons and to Groucho's dismay, the name was changed to Hackenbush. |
| DAY OF THE DOLPHIN | Mike Nichols 1973. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 104 min. Scope. Rank: 714 | Dr Jake Terrell, who has been training a pair of dolphins for many years, has had a breakthrough. He has taught his dolphins to speak and understand English, although they do have a limited vocabulary. When the dolphins are stolen, he discovers they're to be used in an assassination attempt. Now he is in a race to discover who is the target, and where the dolphins are, before the attempt is carried out. | George C.Scott, Trish van Devere, Paul Sorvino, Fritz Weaver, Jon Korkes, Ed Hermann, John Dehner, Severn Darden, Buck Henry spt and voice of dolphin. Written By: Buck Henry (screenplay), Robert Merle (novel). Rating: 5.8 | Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 2 nominations. Screenwriter Buck Henry provides the voices of the dolphins when they speak human words. |
| DAYS OF THRILLS and LAUGHTER | Robert Youngson 1961. Black and White - USA - English - USA: 93 min | Finland: 88 min (cut) (1961). Rank: 238 | An appreciative, uncritical look at silent film comedies and thrillers from early in the century through the 1920s. It starts with a 1905 look at French comedy, goes through the 1910s with Sennett, Chaplin, and Fairbanks, and into the 1920s with Max Roach, Snub Pollard, Harry Langdon, Al St. John, Charlie Chase, and the teaming of Laurel and Hardy. Thrillers feature Houdini and serials, with special attention to Pearl White, Ruth Roland, and Monty Banks. The film often lets the silent pictures speak for themselves, running entire one-reelers or significant chunks of an old movie. | Charlie Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, Fatty Arbuckle, etc.. Rating: 7.3 | |
| DEAD RECKONING | John Cromwell 1947. Black and White - USA - English. Rank: 295 | Rip Murdock and Johnny Darke are en route to Washington when Johnny disappears and then turns up dead. Rip learns that Johnny had been accused of murder and sets out to find out what he can. He falls in love with Coral whose husband Johnny is supposed to have killed. | Humphrey Bogart, Lizabeth Scott, Morris Camovsky, William Princec, Wallace Ford. Written By: Oliver H.P. Garrett (screenplay), Steve Fisher (screenplay), and 3 more credits. Rating: 7.1 | In the train scene, after they discover that Drake is to receive the Medal of Honor, Murdock quips that maybe the president will let Drake "sit on top of his piano". This is a reference to a then-scandalous photo of Harry Truman playing piano with a leggy blonde on top that was taken at the National Press Club in 1945. The blonde was Lauren Bacall. |
| DEADLINE U.S.A. | Richard Brooks 1952. Black and White - USA - English - 87 min. Rank: 295 | Ed Hutcheson, tough editor of the New York 'Day', finds that the late owner's heirs are selling the crusading paper to a strictly commercial rival. At first he sees impending unemployment as an opportunity to win back his estranged wife Nora. But when a reporter, pursuing a lead on racketeer Rienzi, is badly beaten, Hutcheson is stung into a full fledged crusade against the gangster, hoping Rienzi can be tied to a woman's murder..in the 3 issues before the end of 'The Day.' | Humphrey Bogart, Ethel Barrymore, Kim Hunter, Ed Begley, Warren Steves, Paul Stewart, Martin Gabe, Joseh DeSantis, Jim Baccus, Carleton Young, John Doucette, Selmer Jackson (Wms),Joe Sawyer,Edward Keane (Blake),Joseph Crehan,Willis Bouchey. Rating: 7.1 | James Dean appears in a tiny non-speaking role in the film as a press boy. |
| DEADLY AFFAIR | Sidney Lumet 1967. Color (Technicolor) - UK - English - 115 min | USA: 107 min. Rank: 435 | After Charles Dobbs, a security officer, has a friendly chat with Samuel Fennan from the Foreign Office, the man commits suicide. An anonymous typed letter had been received accusing Fennan of being a Communist during his days at Oxford and their chat while walking in the park was quite amiable. Senior officials want the whole thing swept under the rug and are pleased to leave it as a suicide. Dobbs isn't at all sure as there are a number of anomalies that simply can't be explained away. Dobbs is also having trouble at home with his errant wife, whom he very much loves, having frequent affairs. He's also pleased to see an old friend, Dieter Frey, who he recruited after the war. With the assistance of a colleague and a retired policeman, Dobbs tries to piece together just who is the spy and who in fact assassinated Fennan. | James Mason, Simone Signoret, Maxmillian Schell, Harriet Andersson, Harry Andrews, Kenneth Haigh, Lynn Redgrave, Roy Kinnear, Max Adrian (adviser), Robert Flemyng, David Warner (King Edw.), William Dysart. Based on JohnLeCarre novel. Written By: John le Carré (novel), Paul Dehn (screenplay), and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.8 | Nominated for 5 BAFTA Film Awards. This is the only film in which siblings Corin Redgrave and Lynn Redgrave both appear. |
| DEATH TAKES A HOLIDAY | Mitchell Leisen 1934. Black and White - USA - English | French - 79 min. Rank: 329 | Death decides to take a holiday from his usual business to see what it is like to be a mortal. Posing as Prince Sirki, he spends 3 days with Duke Lambert and his guests at his dukal estate. Several of the women are attracted to the mysterious prince, but shy away from him when they sense his true nature. But Grazia, the beautiful young woman whom the Duke thought was to marry his son, loves him even when she knows who he is. | Fredric March, Evelyn Venable, Katherine Alexander (AIda), Gail Patrick, Helen Westley, Kathleen Howard, Kent Taylor, H.Travers.lst:l0&last :40. Written By: Maxwell Anderson (screenplay), Gladys Lehman (screenplay), and 2 more credits. Rating: 7.0 | One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since. |
| DEEP SIX | Rudolph Maté 1958. Color (archive footage) | Color (Warnercolor) - USA - English - 105 min. Rank: 647 | The conflict between duty and conscience is explored in the WWII drama The Deep Six. Alan Ladd stars as Naval gunnery officer Alec Austin.. | Alan Ladd, Diane Foster, William Bendix, Keenan Wynn, James Whitmore, Efrem Zimbalist jr, Joey Bishop. Written By: Martin Dibner (novel), Harry Brown, and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.1 | The 'Los Angeles Examiner' reported on 7 July 1957 that US Navy Commander Eldon Edwards commanded the USS 'Stephen Potter' for use in this movie. |
| DELICATE BALANCE | Tony Richardson 1973. Color (Eastmancolor) - USA | Canada | UK - English - 133 min. Rank: 373 | In Connecticut, Agnes and Tobias are an upper-class married couple whose relationship has been uneasy for many years, since at least the time their son died; but they've managed to find a certain comfortable pattern of uneasiness. Agnes's sister, Claire, lives with them and insists that her perpetual drinking is not alcoholism but willfulness. Their daughter, Julia, poised to have her fourth divorce, has come back home. Unexpectedly, her room has been taken over by Harry and Edna, best friends of Tobias and Agnes. Seized by a nameless terror that propelled them out of their own house, Harry and Edna have decided to stay. | Katherine Hepburn PAul Scofield, Lee Remick Kate Reid, Joseph Cotton, Betsy Blair, Amer.Film Thtr prodn of Edwatd Albee play Incomplete. Rating: 6.9 | Nominated for Golden Globe. Hume Cronyn was nominated for the 1967 Tony Award (New York City) for Actor in a Drama for "A Delicate Balance" as the character Tobias. |
| DESERT LEGION | Joseph Pevney 1953. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 86 min. Rank: 759 | Paul Lartal leads a troop of legionnaires into ambush at the hands of Omar Ben Calif. Returning later at the request of Princess Morjana he is led to the hidden city of Madara, currently harrassed by the evil Crito. Lartal must do in the bad guys (which includes participating in a bare chested spear-throwing contest), save the city and comfort the Princess. | Alan Ladd, Richard Conte, Arlene Dahl, Akim Tamiroff, Oscar Beregi, Anthony Caruso, Leon Letondal, George J. Lewis, Sujata and Asokam Henri Letondal, Pete Coe, Ivan Triesault, Don BlackmAn, Dave Sharpe, Ted Hecht, Pat Lane, Elsa Erdman. Written By: Georges Arthur Surdez (novel), Irving Wallace, and 1 more credit. Rating: 5.4 | Based on a 1927 novel by Georges Arthur Surdez titled 'The Demon Caravan'. Surdez (1900-1949) contributed many "adventure" stories to such publications as 'Collier's', the 'Saturday Evening Post,' and 'Argosy.' He was especially noted for his French Foreign Legion tales. |
| DESK SET | Walter Lang 1957. Color - USA - English - 103 min. Rank: 259 | The mysterious man hanging about at the research department of a big TV network proves to be engineer Richard Sumner, who's been ordered to keep his real purpose secret: computerizing the office. Department head Bunny Watson, who knows everything, needs no computer to unmask Richard. The resulting battle of wits and witty dialogue pits Bunny's fear of losing her job against her dawning attraction to Richard. | Spencer Tracy, Katherine Hepburn, Gig Young, Joan Blondell, Dina Merrill, Neva Patters om, Diane Jergens, Merry Anders, Ida Moore (old lady),Rachel Stephens (receptionist). Written By: Phoebe Ephron (screenplay), Henry Ephron (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.2 | The acronym for "electronic brain" EMARAC is the Electromagnetic Memory and Research Arithmetical Calculator. |
| DESPERATE HOURS | William Wyler 1955. Black and White - USA - English - 112 min. Rank: 157 | After escaping from prison, Glenn Griffin, his brother Hal and a third inmate Sam Kobish randomly select a house in a well-to-do suburb of Indianapolis in which to hide out. The home belongs to the Hilliard family, Dan and Ellie who live there with their 19-year old daughter Cindy and their young son Ralph. They plan on staying only until midnight as Griffin is awaiting his girlfriend who will meet them with some money he had stashed away. When she doesn't arrive, their stay stretches out to several days. Dan Hilliard plays their game knowing that if he makes any attempt to contact the police, his family could be caught in the crossfire. | Humphrey Bogart, Fredric March, Arthur Kennedy, Martha Scott, Dewey Martin, Gig Young, Mary Murphy, Richard Eyer (Ralphie), Robert Middleton, Alan Reed, Bert Freed, Ray Collins, Whit Bissell, Ray Teal, Michael Moore, Don Haggerty, Ric Roman (Sal), Beverl. Written By: Joseph Hayes (novel), Joseph Hayes (play), and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.6 | Hugh O'Brian played the Fredric March role on the stage of the Arlington Park Theater in Arlington Heights, IL, in the early 1970s. |
| DESTRUCTORS | Robert Parrish 1974. Color - UK | France - English - USA: 89 min. Rank: 728 | When a US intelligence agent (Anthony Quinn) is unable to bring a ruthless drug baron (James Mason) to justice, he resorts to hiring a contract killer. But the man he is put in contact with (Michael Caine) turns out to be an old friend. | Antony Quinn, Michael Caine, James Mason, Maureen Kerwin (Lucianne), Marcel Bozzuffi (Calmet), Catherine Rouvel (mistress), Maurice Ronet. Rating: 5.7 | This film was released as "The Destructors" and is listed as such in "The Films of Anthony Quinn" written by Alvin Marill. |
| DEVIL AND MISS JONES | Sam Wood 1941. Black and White - USA - English - 92 min. Rank: 126 | Department store owner J.P. Merrick finds that several of his employees are unionizing to get more money and better working conditions. In order to find out who the organizers are, he gets a job at the store as a shoe salesman. Not realizing his true identity, he's befriended by Mary Jones and Joe O'Brien, the two ringleaders, and Elizabeth Ellis, a charming older woman with whom he develops a romance. | Jean Arthur, Charles Colburn, Spring Bytington, Edmund Gwenn, S.Z.Sakall, William Demarest Norman Krasna scpt.. Rating: 7.7 | Nominated for 2 Oscars. This film is being preserved by the UCLA Film and Television Archive with funding from the AFI/NEA Preservation Grants. |
| DIARY OF ANNE FRANK | George Stevens 1959. Black and White - USA - English | German - 180 min | Argentina: 158 min | USA: 171 min (FMC Library Print) | West Germany: 152 min. Rank: 157 | Based on Anne Frank's diary, and the stage play that was adapted from it: In Nazi-occupied Holland, Otto Frank and his family have decided to go into hiding, because of the increasing persecutions against Jews. The businessman Kraler and his assistant Miep prepare a hiding place in the rooms above their place of business, and arrange for the Franks and another family, the Van Daans, to stay there. Later on, they are joined by the dentist Dussel. Together, they try to avoid detection while hoping for Holland to be liberated by the Allies, but even meeting basic needs can become a challenge, and even minor incidents could present a grave risk. | Millie Perkins, Joseph Schildkraut, Shelly Winmters, Richard Beymer, Gusti Huber, Lou Jacobi, Diane Baker, Douglas Spencer, Dody Heath, Ed Wynn, Charles Waggenheim, Frank Tweddell, Delmr Erickson, Richard Boon, Gretchen Goertz, William Kirschner. Written By: Frances Goodrich (screenplay), Albert Hackett (screenplay), and 3 more credits. Rating: 7.6 | Won 3 Oscars. Another 5 wins and 11 nominations. The original Broadway production of "The Diary of Anne Frank" by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett opened at the Cort Theater on October 5, 1955, ran for 717 performances and won the 1956 Tony Award for the Best Play. Joseph Schildkraut, Gusti Huber and Lou Jacobi recreated their stage roles in the movie version for which Goodrich and Hackett also wrote the screenplay. |
| DIARY OF ANNE FRANK | Boris Sagal 1980. Color - USA - English - 109 min. Rank: 435 | The story of a 13-year-old Jewish girl and her family who are forced into hiding by the Nazis during World War II. | made for TV Screen and get credits,not in blks. (NB: three prints olb. this title, mylar so possibly three versions). Written By: Anne Frank (diary), Frances Goodrich (play), and 3 more credits. Rating: 6.8 | Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 3 nominations. The original Broadway production of "The Diary of Anne Frank" by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett opened at the Cort Theater on October 5, 1955, ran for 717 performances, won the 1956 Tony Award for the Best Play and the Pulitzer Prize in Drama in 1956. |
| DISHONORABLE DISCHARGE | Bernard Borderie 1958. Black and White - France | Italy - French - 116 min | Spain: 130 min. Rank: 759 | Captain Burt Brickford is a deserter from the U.S. Navy. Perez, a drug dealer, calls on him to captain the yacht Henry, which features a group of so-called treasure hunters. | Eddie Constantine, Pascal Roberts, Lino Ventura, Lise Bourdin. Variantion of Hemingway's To Have and Have Not. Written By: Bernard Borderie (screenplay), Bernard Borderie (story), and 1 more credit. Rating: 5.4 | |
| DOCTOR STRANGELOVE | Stanley Kubrick 1964. Black and White - UK - English | Russian - 95 min. Rank: 5 | Paranoid Brigadier General Jack D. Ripper of Burpelson Air Force Base, he believing that fluoridation of the American water supply is a Soviet plot to poison the U.S. populace, is able to deploy through a back door mechanism a nuclear attack on the Soviet Union without the knowledge of his superiors, including the Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Buck Turgidson, and President Merkin Muffley. Only Ripper knows the code to recall the B-52 bombers and he has shut down communication in and out of Burpelson as a measure to protect this attack. Ripper's executive officer, RAF Group Captain Lionel Mandrake (on exchange from Britain), who is being held at Burpelson by Ripper, believes he knows the recall codes if he can only get a message to the outside world. Meanwhile at the Pentagon War Room, key persons including Muffley, Turgidson and nuclear scientist and adviser, a former Nazi named Dr.. | Peter Sellers x3, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, Keenan Wynn, Slim Pickenbs, Peter Bull, Tracy Reed, James Earl Jones, Jack Creley, Frank Berry. Written By: Stanley Kubrick (screenplay), Terry Southern (screenplay), and 2 more credits. Rating: 8.6 | Top 250 #34 | Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 10 wins and 4 nominations. Produced and filmed during the spring and summer of 1963, the first test screening of the film was scheduled for November 22, 1963, the day that John F. Kennedy was assassinated. The producers felt that the public would not be in a mood for a black comedy so soon after such a traumatic event, so the premiere was moved back to late January 1964. |
| DON'T BOTHER TO KNOCK | Roy Ward Baker 1952. Black and White - USA - English - 76 min. Rank: 467 | Airline pilot Jed stays at the New York hotel where girlfriend Lyn is a singer. He sees Nell in a window opposite his and they get chummy. When the girl she's baby-sitting, Bunny, enters Nell goes crazy and sends her to her room. She fantasizes that Jed is her long lost fiance. Jed comes to realize that Nell is more than a little whacko. | Marilyn Monroe, Richard Widmark, Anne Bancroft, Jeanne Cagney, Elisha CookJr, Gloria Blondell, Donna Cocheran (Bunny), Laurene Tuttle, Jim Backus, Verna Felton, Willis Bouchey, Don Beddoe, Robert Foulke, Olan Soule (desk clerk). Written By: Daniel Taradash (screenplay), Charlotte Armstrong (novel). Rating: 6.7 | The title credits music is re-used from Panic in the Streets. |
| DOORWAY TO HELL | Archie Mayo 1930. Black and White - USA - English - 78 min. Rank: 632 | Lou Ricarno is a smart guy. His plan is to organize the various gangs in Chicago so that the mugs will not liquidate each other. WIth the success of his leadership, Louie prospers, marries Doris and retires to Florida to write his autobiography and play golf. In his absence the gang warfare flares, but he does not return as he wants to give a respectable image of life to his wife, younger brother and his Florida neighbors. While letters and telegrams from Mileaway will not influence his decision, events will. | Lew Ayres, Charles.Judels, Dorothy Mathews, Leon Janney, Robert Elliott (Capt.O'Grady), James Cagney, Noel Madison (Rocco), Dwight Frye. Written By: Rowland Brown (story), George Rosener (screenplay). Rating: 6.2 | Nominated for Oscar. The first credited film project of Dwight Frye. |
| DOUBLE DYNAMITE | Irving Cummings 1948. Black and White - USA - English - 80 min. Rank: 759 | Bank teller Johnny Dalton, too poor to marry his sweetheart 'Mibs' Goodhug, saves a big-time bookie from a beating and receives a munificent reward..which just happens to match a mysterious shortage at the bank! Will Johnny's pal, eccentric waiter Emile, get him out of trouble..or in so deep he'll never get out? | Jane Russell, Groucho Marx, Frank Sinatra, Don McGiuire (Bob Pulsifer jr), Howard Freeman, Harry Hayden (J.L.), Nestor Pavia, Lou Nova, Joe Devlin (Frankie Boy), Frank Orth (Mr.Kofer), Ida Moore (little old lady), George Chandler. Written By: Harry Crane (additional dialogue), Mannie Manheim (characters), and 2 more credits. Rating: 5.4 | Assisted by The Modernaires (who did not appear in the movie), Frank Sinatra and Jane Russell recorded a Columbia single of their cozy film duet, "Kisses and Tears" (music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Sammy Cahn). An earlier Sinatra-Page Cavanaugh Trio waxing of the ditty hadn't been issued by Columbia. |
| DR. ERLICH'S MAGIC BULLET | William Dieterle 1940. Black and White - USA - English - 103 min. Rank: 238 | Dr. Paul Ehrlich was the German physician who developed the first synthetic antimicrobial drug, 606 or Salvarsan. The film describes how Ehrlich first became interested in the properties of the then-new synthetic dyes and had an intuition that they could be useful in the diagnosis of bacterial diseases. After this work met with success, Ehrlich proposed that synthetic compounds could be made to selectively target and destroy disease causing microorganisms. He called such a drug a "magic bullet". The film describes how in 1908, after 606 attempts, he succeeded. | Edward G.Robinson, Ruth Gordon, Otto Kruger, Donald Crisp, Maria Ouspenskaya, Montague Love, Sig Rumann, Donald Meek, Henry O'Neill, Albert Bassrman, Edward Norris, Harry Davenport, Louis Calhern, Louis Jean Heydt, Charles Halton, Irving Bacon, Douglas Wo. Written By: John Huston (original screenplay), Heinz Herald (original screenplay), and 2 more credits. Rating: 7.3 | Nominated for Oscar. Dr. Ehrlich's family was so happy with Edward G. Robinson's portrayal of him that they gave Robinson a letter written by Dr. Ehrlich. |
| DR. JEKYLL and MR. HYDE | Rouben Mamoulian 1932. Black and White - USA - English - 98 min. Rank: 109 | Based on the story by Robert Louis Stevenson, Dr. Henry Jekyll believes that there are two distinct sides to men - a good and an evil side. He believes that by separating the two man can become liberated. He succeeds in his experiments with chemicals to accomplish this and transforms into Hyde to commit horrendous crimes. When he discontinues use of the drug it is already too late.. | Frederic March, Miriam Hopkins, Rose Hobart, Holmes Hernbert, Halliwell Hobbes 82m or 97m? PM got Oscar. Written By: Samuel Hoffenstein (screenplay) a Percy Heath (screenRobert Louis Stevenson. Rating: 7.8 | The remarkable Jekyll-to-Hyde transition scenes in this film were accomplished by manipulating a series of variously colored filters in front of the camera lens. Fredric March's Hyde makeup was in various colors, and the way his appearance registered on the film depended on which color filter was being shot through. During the first transformation scene, the accompanying noises on the soundtrack included portions of Bach, a gong being played backwards, and, reportedly, a recording of director Rouben Mamoulian's own heart. Only |
| DREAM OF KINGS | Daniel Mann 1969. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - USA: 107 min. Rank: 435 | A high-spirited Greek-American man in Chicago's Greek community connives ways to find money in order to fly his terminally-ill young son to Greece and Mt. Olympus in the hope that it will cure him. | Anthony Quinn, Sam Levene, Irene Papas, Inger Stevens, Radames Pera (Stavros), Tamara Daykarhanova (mr.in-Iaw), Val Avery, Peter Mamakos (Falconis), Alan Reed Sr (Fig king), H.B.Haggerty (Turk) George Savalas (Apollo), Tol Avery (Herman). Written By: Ian McLellan Hunter, Harry Mark Petrakis (novel). Rating: 6.8 | Inger Stevens' last film before her suicide in 1970. |
| DRUMS ALONG THE MORAWK | John Ford 1939. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 104 min. Rank: 295 | In Revolutionary America, Gil Martin takes his new wife Lana back to his farm in upstate New York. The area is remote and a distance from the fort but they are happy living in their one room cabin. With the declaration independence, the settlers soon find themselves at war with the British and their Indian allies. Their farm is burned out and the Martins take work with Sarah McKlennar. The war continues however as the Martins try to make a new life. | Henry Fonda, Claudette Colbert, Edna Mae Oliver, Eddie Collins, John Carradine, Dorris Bowdon, Jessie Ralph(Mrs Weaver), Arthur Shields, Robert Lowery(J.Weaver), Roger Imhof (Gen.), Francis Ford (joe), Ward Bond, Kay Linnaker, Russell Simpson, Spencer Cha. Written By: Lamar Trotti (screenplay), Sonya Levien (screenplay), Walter D. Edmonds (novel). Rating: 7.1 | Nominated for 2 Oscars. Clarence Wilson in the role as "Paymaster" and Lionel Pape in the role of "General" are in studio records/casting call lists as cast members, but they did not appear or were not identifiable in the movie. |
| DUCK SOUP | Leo McCarey 1933. Black and White - USA - English - 68 min. Rank: 50 | The small state of Freedonia is in a financial mess, borrowing a huge sum of cash from wealthy widow Mrs. Teasdale. She insists on replacing the current president with crazy Rufus T. Firefly and mayhem erupts. To make matters worse, the neighboring state sends inept spies Chicolini and Pinky to obtain top secret information, creating even more chaos! | Marx Brothers, Raquel Torres, Margaret Dumont, Louis Calhem, Vema Hillie (see'y), Leonid Kinsley, Edmund Breese (Zander),Edwin Maxwell (Seey.War), Edgar Keneedy. Written By: Bert Kalmar (story), Harry Ruby (story), and 2 more credits. Rating: 8.1 | The movie's line "You know, you haven't stopped talking since I came here? You must have been vaccinated with a phonograph needle." was voted as the #43 of "The 100 Greatest Movie Lines" by Premiere in 2007. |
| DUEL IN THE SUN | King Vidor Otto Brower (uncredited) William Dieterle (uncredited) Sidney Franklin (uncredited) William Cameron Menzies (uncredited) David O. Selznick (uncredited) Josef von Sternberg (uncredited) 1946. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 144 min. Rank: 50 |
Beautiful half-breed Pearl Chavez becomes the ward of her dead father's first love and finds herself torn between her sons, one good and the other bad. | Joseph Cotton, Jennifer Jones, Gregory Peck, Lionel Barrymore, Lillian Gish, Herbrt Marshall, Walter Huston, Butterfly McQueen, Charles Bickford, Tilly Losch, Harry Carey. Sc:Niven Busch, m.Tiomkin. Written By: David O. Selznick (screenplay by the producer) Niven Busch (suggested by a novel by) Oliver H.P. Garrett (adaptation) Ben Hecht uncredited. Rating: 8.1 |
Nominated for 2 Oscars. This film's musical score was the subject of a famous soundstage exchange between producer David O. Selznick and composer Dimitri Tiomkin. When Selznick first heard Tiomkin's "love theme", he was visibly disappointed and admonished the composer, "You don't understand. I want real f**king music!" To which Tiomkin angrily replied, "You f**k your way, I f**k my way. F**k you - I quit!" Their differences were eventually patched up, and Tiomkin's music was used in the final film |
| EARTH | Aleksandr Dovzhenko 1929. Black and White - Soviet Union - Silent - 75 min. Rank: 329 | In the peaceful countryside, Vassily opposes the rich kulaks over the coming of collective farming. | Music track by Shostakovitch. Written By: Aleksandr Dovzhenko. Rating: 7.0 | Soviet censors made Aleksandr Dovzhenko eliminate a number of scenes from the film, including a shot of peasants urinating in a tractor radiator and a scene where a dead man's fiancée mourns him in the nude. |
| EAST OF EDEN | Elia Kazan 1955. Color (Warnercolor) - USA - English - 115 min. Rank: 50 | In the Salinas Valley, in and around World War I, Cal Trask feels he must compete against overwhelming odds with his brother Aron for the love of their father Adam. Cal is frustrated at every turn, from his reaction to the war, to how to get ahead in business and in life, to how to relate to estranged mother. | James Dean, Julie Harris, Raymond Massey, Jo Van Fleet, Burl Ives, Richard Davalos, Albert Dekker, Lois Smith (Ann), Harold Gorden Timothy Carey, Nick Dennis. Written By: John Steinbeck (novel), Paul Osborn (screenplay). Rating: 8.1 | Won Oscar. Another 7 wins and 9 nominations. Jack L. Warner was opposed to the casting of Julie Harris, since she was a decade older than her character. |
| EIGHT IRON MEN | Edward Dmytryk 1952. Black and White - USA - English - 80 min. Rank: 506 | Stanley Kramer's WW-II character study has Lee Marvin as the Sergeant of a small squad laid over during fighting in Italy. During the otherwise boring time between battles, tensions arise as they are ordered not to rescue a squad mate pinned down by the enemy, for fear of risking more lives. Based on the stage play "A Sound of Hunting", by Harry Brown. | Bonar Colleano, Lee Marvin, Richard Kiley, Nick Dennis, Arthur Franz, J~.Griffith, Dick Moore, Geo.Cooper, Barney Phillips, Robert Nichols, Mary Castle,. Written By: Harry Brown (play), Harry Brown (screenplay). Rating: 6.6 | The German machine gun used to keep the soldier pinned in the shell hole kept malfunctioning. The prop men could not correct the problem. Tired of the delays, Lee Marvin, a WWII vet, stepped in and fixed the gun. |
| ELENI | Peter Yates 1985. Color - USA - English - 114 min. Rank: 546 | Nick is a writer in New York when he gets posted to a bureau in Greece. He has waited 30 years for this. He wants to know why his mother was killed in the civil war years earlier. In a parallel plot line we see Nick as a young boy and his family as they struggle to survive in the occupied Greek hillside. The plot lines converge as Nick's investigations bring him closer to the answers. | Kate Nelligan, John Malkovich, Linda Hunt, Oliver Cotton, Ronald Pickup, Rosalie Crutchley, Dimitri Arliss, Glenne Headley Steve Tesich script from Nicholas Gage book . Written By: Nicholas Gage (book), Steve Tesich. Rating: 6.5 | Based on a true story, over 28,000 Greek children were forcibly taken from their parents and sent to various Communist countries, before the end of the Greek Civil War in 1949. The Greek Civil War was the first battle of the war against Communism and it was an important victory for the Allied Forces. |
| EMMIGRANTS: THE NEW LAND | Jan Troell 1972. Color (Technicolor) - Sweden - Swedish | English - 191 min | Germany: 182 min | USA: 151 min. Rank: 70 | In the middle of the 19th century, Kristina and Karl-Oskar live in a small rural village in Smaaland (southern Sweden). They get married and try to make a living on a small spot of land. However, the small size of their land, the infertile soil, and some bad harvests makes it tough. One of their children even starve to death. Thus, they decide to emigrate to the U.S. They meet a group of farmers with their families planing the emigration under the leadership of a banned priest. They sell everything and embark for the U.S. The journey on the sailing ship is long and tedious. Some of the emigrants will never reach the New World. | Max Von Sydow, Liv Ullman, Eddie Axberg, Hans Alfredson, Halvar Bjork, Allan Edwall, Per Oscarsosn (PastorO, Monica Zetterlund (Ulrika) not inventoried 10-06 but sure we have it somewhere, poss. Vinegar . Written By: Bengt Forslund, Vilhelm Moberg (novels), and 1 more credit. Rating: 8 | Nominated for Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Jan Troell and Wilhelm Moberg had a disagreement whether the actors should use dialects. Troell wanted all actors to speak Småländska (the dialect spoken in county Småland where the story takes place) while Moberg wanted no dialects. As a compromise Karl-Oskar and Kristina speak with a dialect while many of the others such as Robert and Arvid only speak with a very light accent. |
| ENTER LAUGHING | Carl Reiner 1967. Color (Pathécolor) - USA - English - 112 min. Rank: 613 | David Kolowitz, a nice young man living with his parents in New York City in 1938, works at a machine repair shop. His parents want David to study to become a pharmacist. But what he really wants is to be an actor like his idol, Ronald Colman. One day, at his friend Marvin's suggestion, David tries out for a part in a play, and gets it, despite his obvious lack of acting experience (not to mention ability). True, it's a rather small part in a low-rent production. Leading the troupe is a washed-up, alcoholic actor who hires David at the urging of his actress-daughter, who finds David "cute." To play his part, David must come up with his own costume - a tuxedo - and pay the house five dollars a week, ostensibly for tuition. But it is David's first acting job, one which calls for him to "enter laughing." And if it doesn't work out - well, there's always pharmacy school. | Reni Santoni, Jose Ferrer, Shelly Winters, Elaine May, Jack Gilford, Janet Margolin, David Opatoshu, Michael J.Pollard, Don Rickles,Nancy Kovack, Rob Reiner EARLY STAGES OF VINEGAR -Let's screen it!. Written By: Joseph Stein (play), Carl Reiner (adaptation), and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.3 | The Broadway production of "Enter Laughing" written by Joseph Stein, based on the novel by Carl Reiner, opened at the Henry Miller's Theater in New York on March 13, 1963 and ran for 419 performances. Michael J. Pollard recreated his stage role in the movie version. |
| EYE OF THE CAT | David Lowell Rich 1969. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 102 min. Rank: 676 | A man and his girlfriend plan to rob the mansion of the man's eccentric but wealthy aunt. However, the aunt keeps dozens of cats in her home, and the man is deathly afraid of cats. | Michael Sarrazin, Gayle Hunnicutt, Eleanor Parker, Tim Henry, Laurence Naismith (Dr), Jennifer Leak (Poor Dear), Linden Chiles, Mark Herron, Anabelle Garth. Rating: 6 | |
| EYEWITNESS | Peter Yates 1981. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 103 min. Rank: 676 | Manhattan janitor Daryll Deever is fixated on hard-charging TV commentator, Tony Sokolow; he tapes her commentary daily to watch after work. When a wealthy Vietnamese man, with many shady connections, is murdered in the office building where Daryll works, Tony shows up to cover the story and Daryll introduce himself. She thinks he may know something, so she pursues him; he pretends he might to keep her interested. This romantic cat and mouse game goes on under the watchful eyes of the killers, who think that Daryll and Tony do know something. The killers start their own game of cat and mouse. | William Hurt, Sigorney Weaver, Christopher Plummer, JamesWoods, Irene Worth,Kenneth McMillan, Pamela Reed, Steve Hill, Morgan Freeman (Steven Tesich scpt). Rating: 6.0 | According to director Peter Yates, the script for the film was a hybrid of two screenplays that Steve Tesich had written and had gotten nowhere with either one. It was Yates who suggested that he combine the two scripts, Tesich originally balked at the idea, but finally gave in and this script was formed. Yates also said Tesich had trouble coming up with unusual plot twists because he cares more about character than plot when he writes. |
| F.B.I. STORY | Mervyn LeRoy 1959. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 149 min. Rank: 546 | The story of the FBI unfolds through the eyes of one of its agents. During his career he investigates gangsters, swindlers, the klu klux klan, Nazi agents and cold war spies. | James Stewart, Vera Miles, Murray Hamilton, Larry Pennell, Nick Adams, Diane Jurgens, Ann Doran (Mrs. Ballard), William Phipps (Baby Face Nelson). Written By: Richard L. Breen (screenplay), John Twist (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.5 | Cameo: [J. Edgar Hoover] |
| FAIL SAFE | Sidney Lumet 1964. Black and White - USA - English - 112 min. Rank: 70 | A series of human and computer errors sends a squadron of American 'Vindicator' bombers to nuke Moscow. The President, in order to convince the Soviets that this is a mistake, orders the Strategic Air Command to help the Soviets stop them. | Henry Fonda, Dan O'Herlihy, Walter Matthau, Frank Overton, Edward Binns, Fritz Weaver, Larry Hagman, William Hansen, Russell Hardie, Russell Collins, Sorrell Brooke, Nancy Berg, John Connell, Frank Simpson, Hildy Parks, Janet Ward, Dom DeLuise. Written By: Walter Bernstein (screenplay), Eugene Burdick (from the novel by), and 2 more credits. Rating: 8 | Some reference works (eg Colonna Sonora) credit Hal Schaefer as composer of the music score. In fact, the Columbia record division did issue his five minute Fail Safe suite on a 7-inch disc in 1964 (Colpix Records CP 751) with the film promoted on the actual label: FAIL SAFE - A Columbia Pictures Release. Schaefer's music, performed by the Hal Schaefer Quintet, was a somewhat nervous and dissonant jazz work, fairly appropriate to the film's content. However, director Lumet decided to release the film with no background score, |
| FALCON AND THE SNOWMAN | John Schlesinger 1985. Color - UK | USA - English - 131 min. Rank: 467 | The true story of Christopher Boyce, a young All-American man whose job as a guard for sensitive documents shatters his faith in his country and leads him to a sometimes comic, sometimes chilling sideline as a spy for the Soviets, aided by his scruffy buddy, Daulton; it can't last, though, and the consequences are tremendous for Boyce and his family. | Sean Penn, Timothy Hutton, David Suchet, Lori Singer, Pat Hingle, Dorian Harewood, Mady Kaplan, Richard Dysart, Chris Makepeace, Michael Ironside, Priscilla Pointer, Nicholas Pryor, Joyce Van Patten, Bob Arbogast. Written By: Robert Lindsey (book), Steven Zaillian. Rating: 6.7 | In 1986, this movie became associated with one of the most famous hacking incidents in television history. On the night of April 27, 1986 at about 12:30am, a Florida satellite TV dealer named John MacDougall was working late at Central Florida Teleport which up-links pay cable services to satellites. At the time, he was up-linking "Pee Wee's Big Adventure" but before he left, he pointed the dish directly upwards toward the location of HBO's Galaxy 1 satellite and for four and a half minutes, East Coast subscribers who has been |
| FALLEN IDOL | Carol Reed 1949. Black and White - UK - English | French (a few words) - 95 min | West Germany: 90 min. Rank: 93 | Philippe, a diplomat's son and good friend of Baines the butler, is confused by the complexities and evasions of adult life. He tries to keep secrets but ends up telling them. He lies to protect his friends, even though he knows he should tell the truth. He resolves not to listen to adults' stories any more when Baines is suspected of murdering his wife and no-one will listen to Philippe's vital information. | Ralph Richardson,Michele Morgan, Bobby Henrey, Sonia Dresdel, Dennis O'Dea, Walter Fitzgerald (Dr.Fenton), Karel Stepanek, Joan Young (mrs.Barrow), Dandy Nichols Mrs.Patterson), Bernard Lee, Jack Hawkins, James Hayter, Dora Bryan, Torin Thatcher. Written By: Graham Greene (story), Graham Greene (screenplay), and 2 more credits. Rating: 7.9 | Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 6 wins and 3 nominations. Madeleine Gal Henrey, mother of Bobby Henrey, appears briefly at the very end of the film as Phillipe's mother. |
| FAME | Alan Parker 1980. Color (Metrocolor) - USA - English | Spanish | French - 134 min. Rank: 574 | At the New York City High School for the Performing Arts, students get specialized training that often leads to success as actors, singers, etc. This movie follows four students from the time when they audition to get into the school, through graduation. They are the brazen Coco Hernandez, shy Doris Finsecker, sensitive gay Montgomery MacNeil, and brash, abrasive Raul Garcia. | Irene Cara, Lee Curreri, Eddie Barth, Laura Dean, Paul McCRane, Barry Miller, Gene Anthony Ray, Maureen Teefy, Anthony Franceschesi, Ann Mearam, Albert Haig. Rating: 6.4 | Won 2 Oscars. Another 3 wins and 16 nominations. The school is based on the real-life Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music and Art and Performing Arts in Manhattan. It is a public school, and therefore available to any New York City high school student who successfully auditions. |
| FAR COUNTRY | Anthony Mann 1954. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 97 min. Rank: 259 | In 1896, Jeff Webster sees the start of the Klondike gold rush as a golden opportunity to make a fortune in beef..and woe betide anyone standing in his way! He drives a cattle herd from Wyoming to Seattle, by ship to Skagway, and (after a delay caused by larcenous town boss Gannon) through the mountains to Dawson. There, he and his partner Ben Tatum get into the gold business themselves. Two lovely women fall for misanthropic Jeff, but he believes in every-man-for-himself, turning his back on growing lawlessness..until it finally strikes home. | James Stewart, Ruth Roman, Corrine Calvet, Walter Brennan, John McIntyre, J.C.Flippen, Harry Morgan, Steve Brodie, Royal Dano, Gregg Barton (Rounds), Chubby Johnson, Eddy C.Walker (Yukon Sam), Robert Foulk (Kingman), Connie Gilchrist, Jack Elam, Kathleen . Rating: 7.2 | One of James Stewart's favorite stories of his film career concerned his horse, Pie, a sorrel stallion whom Stewart called, "One of the best co-stars I ever had." Pie appeared as Stewart's horse in 17 Westerns, and the actor developed a strong personal bond with the horse. Pie was very intelligent, Stewart recalled, and would often "act for the cameras when they were rolling. He was a ham of a horse." When shooting the climax of "The Far Country," the script called for Stewart's horse to walk down a dark street alone, with no |
| FAREWELL MY LOVELY | Dick Richards 1975. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 95 min. Rank: 329 | This, the second adaptation of Raymond Chandler's novel, is much closer to the source text than the original - Murder, My Sweet, which tended to avoid some of the sleazier parts of the plot - but still concerns private eye Philip Marlowe's attempts to locate Velma, a former dancer at a seedy nightclub and the girlfriend of Moose Malloy, a petty criminal just out of prison. Marlowe finds that once he has taken the case, events conspire to put him in dangerous situations, and he is forced to follow a confusing trail of untruths and double-crosses before he is able to locate Velma. | Robert Mitchum, Charlotte Rampling, John Irleand, Sarah Miles, Jack O;Halloran (Moose), Anthony Zerbe «Laird Burnette), Harry Dean Stanton, Jim Thompson «Judge Grayle), Kate Murtaugh (Frances Amthour), Sylvester Stallone. Bradbury novel. Written By: David Zelag Goodman (screenplay), Raymond Chandler (novel). Rating: 7.0 | Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 nomination. When asked why Philip Marlowe (Robert Mitchum) cares about Moose Malloy (Jack O'Halloran), he says, "I don't know. Ever since I saw that movie, King Kong, I've been a sucker for any gorilla that falls in love with a girl." O'Halloran would appear in the King Kong remake, the following year. |
| FAREWELL TO ARMS | Frank Borzage 1932. Black and White - USA - English - 80 min | Spain: 83 min | USA: 89 min (original version) | UK: 79 min (DVD version). Rank: 506 | A tale of the love between ambulance driver Lt. Henry and Nurse Catherine Barkley during World War I. The action takes place in Italy and the two fall in love during the war and will stop at nothing to be together. The film also analyses Lt. Henry's feelings on war and the purpose of fighting. | Gary Cooper, Helen Hayes, Adolph Menjou, Mary Phillips, Jack LaRue, Blanche Federici (head Nurse), Henry Armetta, George Humbert (Paini), Fred Malatesta (Manero), Mary Forbes (Miss Van Campen), Paul Porcasi. Oscar for DP Chas.Lang. Written By: Benjamin Glazer (screenplay), Oliver H.P. Garrett (screenplay), and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.6 | Won 2 Oscars. Another 2 nominations. Tom Ricketts (as Count Greffi) is supposed to be in this film but was not seen. |
| FARREBIQUE OU LES QUATRE SAISONS | Georges Rouquier 1947. Black and White - France - Occitan - 90 min. Rank: 435 | Farrebique is a barely fictionalized account of the life of French peasants before major changes came to rural areas. The grandparents speak in Occitan, and the younger generations in French. The Sequel to this film BIQUEFARRE was filmed 38 years later in 1983! | Not in Maltin, DVD or Ency!. A year in the life of a French family. Rating: 6.8 | Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 win. Farrebique ou Les quatre saisons was the opening film at the First Edinburgh International Festival of Documentary Films (now the Edinburgh Film Festival) in 1947, alongside Roberto Rossellini Paisan. |
| FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH | Amy Heckerling 1982. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 90 min. Rank: 259 | Follows a group of high school students growing up in southern California, based on the real-life adventures chronicled by Cameron Crowe. Stacy Hamilton and Mark Ratner are looking for a love interest, and are helped along by their older classmates, Linda Barrett and Mike Damone, respectively. The center of the film is held by Jeff Spicoli, a perpetually stoned surfer dude who faces off with the resolute Mr. Hand, who is convinced that everyone is on dope. | Jennifer Jason Leigh, Sean Penn, Jiudge Reinhold, Robert Romanus (Mike Damone), Phoebe Cates. scrapped print, needs a lot of work, not in service. Written By: Cameron Crowe (screenplay), Cameron Crowe (book). Rating: 7.2 | Sean Penn was asked to read for the part of Brad Hamilton as well as that of Jeff Spicoli. |
| FAT CITY | John Huston 1972. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English | Spanish (some dialogue) - 100 min. Rank: 238 | The film tells the story of two boxers and their problems. One of them is on the decline of his career while the other one just begins his ascent in this sport. | Stacy Keach, Jeff Bridges, Susan Tyrell, Candy Clark, Nicholas Colasanto Ruben), Art Aragon (Babe), Curtis Cokes (Earl), Billy Walker (Wes). -25 middle, works as-is. Rating: 7.3 | Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 wins. Under the then-extant rules, Stacy Keach should have been awarded Best Actor honors from the New York Film Critics Circle for his portrayal of Tully, as it required only a plurality of the vote. Keach was the top vote-getter for Best Actor. At the time, the NYCC was second in prestige only to the Academy Awards (and some actors and filmmakers considered it a superior honor) and was a major influence on subsequent Oscar nominations. A vocal faction of the NYFCC, dismayed by the rather low percentage of votes that would have giv |
| FATHER CHRISTOPHER'S PRAYER (aka The Spirit and the Flesh) | Mario Camerini 1941. Black and White - Italy - Italian - Italy: 112 min | USA: 105 min. Rank: 506 | Lumbardy, Italy, seventeenth century. Renzo and Lucia's love story is jeopardized by Don Rodrigo, a wicked nobleman, who is interested in Lucia. When she refuses his attentions he has her kidnapped and brought to a convent whose prioress is a nun as wicked as he is. The two youths will have to go through a lot of misfortunes before being reunited and being able to marry. | 1828 Alessandro Manzoni novel. Written By: Alessandro Manzoni (novel), Mario Camerini (screenplay), and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.6 | |
| FATSO | Anne Bancroft 1980. Color - USA - English - 93 min. Rank: 728 | Dominick has always been a big kid who loved eating. It was his favourite thing. Then his cousin dies from health complications due to a lack of exercise and improper diet. Antoinette, Dominick's sister, makes him promise to see a diet doctor and lose some weight. This is very hard for Dominick, but he tries. He also finds motivation when he meets Lydia, and he discovers a love that is more intense than his love of food. He spends so much time kissing and walking around with Lydia that he no longer eats as many unhealthy things, and he loses weight without even trying. | Dom DeLuise, Ann Bancroft, Ron Carey, Candice Azzara, Michael Lombard, Sal Viscuso, Della Salvi, Robert Costanzo, Estelle Riener (Mrs.Gdman), Richard Karon (Sonny). Rating: 5.7 | The priest at the church bazaar was actually a priest, Father Curtis. |
| FIFTY-FIVE DAYS AT PEKING | Nicholas Ray, and 2 more credits. 1963. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 154 min. (Missing about 50 min). Scope. Rank: 435 | Diplomats, soldiers and other representatives of a dozen nations fend off the siege of the International Compound in Peking during the 1900 Boxer Rebellion. The disparate interests unite for survival despite competing factions, overwhelming odds, delayed relief and tacit support of the Boxers by the Empress of China and her generals. | Charleton Heston, Ava Gardner, David Niven,Flora Robson, John Ireland, Paul Lukas, Jacque Sernas inc? . Written By: Robert Hamer (additional dialogue), Philip Yordan (screenplay), and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.8 | Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 2 wins and 1 nomination. Charlton Heston's character, Major Matt Lewis, was loosely based on the real-life officer in charge of the marine guard at the US Legation, then Captain, later Lieutenant General, John Twiggs Myers USMC (1871-1952). Myers was in the forefront of some of the toughest fighting in the besieged legations. |
| FIRE OVER ENGLAND | William K. Howard 1937. Black and White - UK - English - 92 min. Rank: 506 | Queen Elizabeth is running this show. The men in her court should be thinking about how to add to the glory of the Elizabethan Age and how to foil those pesky Spanish who got far too much influence in England when her older sister Mary was on the throne after their father Henry VIII was succeeded by their sickly half brother. Elizabeth thinks Michael Ingolby can do great things. Michael is mostly thinking about one of Elizabeth's ladies in waiting, Cynthia. Soon his mind is on survival when Elizabeth sends him on a voyage to Spain. | Laurence Olivier, Flora Robson, Leslie Banks, Raymond Massey, Vivien Leigh, Tamara Desni, Morton Selten, Robert Newton, Donald Calthrop. Written By: A.E.W. Mason (novel), Clemence Dane (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.6 | First of three movies that paired Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh. |
| FIVE EASY PIECES | Bob Rafelson 1970. Color - USA - English - 98 min. Rank: 185 | Robert Dupea has given up his promising career as a concert pianist and is now working in oil fields. He lives together with Rayette, who's a waitress in a diner. When Robert hears from his sister that his father isn't well, he drives up to Washington to see him, taking Rayette with him. There he gets confronted with his rich, cultured family that he had left behind. | I.Nicholson, K.Black, Billy Green Bush, Fannie Flagg, Susan Anspach, Sally Struthers, Ralph Waite, Lois Smith -sandwick scene. Written By: Carole Eastman (screenplay), Carole Eastman (story), and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.5 | Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 16 wins and 6 nominations. Jack Nicholson wanted Janis Joplin to have the part of Palm Apodaca, but it was never offered to her. |
| FLAMINGO KID | Garry Marshall 1984. Color - USA - English - 100 min. Rank: 647 | Jeffrey Willis has just finished high school and isn't quite sure what the future holds. His parents expect him to go to college but he is starting to find his close-knit family stifling. He gets a summer job at the Flamingo club where he meets Phil Brody, a successful car dealer who fills Jeffrey's head with ideas about how to make his fortune. Phil is everything Jeffrey would like to be - popular, rich and the best gin rummy player the club has ever seen. Jeffrey's coming of age includes a romance with the very pretty Carla Samson, but the shine on Phil Brody's philosophy of life wears off when he uncovers a significant flaw in his character. | Matt Dillon, R.Crenna, Hector Elizando, Jessica Walter, Fisher Stevens, Janet Jones, Bronson Pinchot, MArtha Gehman, Brian McNamara, Steven Weber, Eric Douglas, Marisa Tomei, Tracy Reiner, John Turturo. Written By: Neal Marshall (story), Garry Marshall, and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.1 | Nominated for Golden Globe. After a character leaves, we see a shot of a jet airplane. Originally, the airplane shot was not in the movie. After a Midwestern preview, an audience member asked director Garry Marshall what happened to the character that left. When he heard the question, he had the shot inserted. |
| FLAP | Carol Reed 1970. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 106 min. Rank: 751 | A hard-drinking, reckless-living Indian named Flapping Eagle decides that his people have been pushed around by the white man long enough. Mounting his horse H-Bomb, Flap proceeds to hijack a railroad, lasso a helicopter, and begin the Last Great Indian Uprising. His assaults on the Establishment provide an earnest indictment of Indian neglect by the U.S. government. | Anthony Quinn, Claude Akins, Tony Bill, Victor Jory, Shelly Winters. Written By: Clair Huffaker (novel), Clair Huffaker (screenplay). Rating: 5.5 | Richard Harris was originally cast as Flap but was replaced shortly after filming began by Anthony Quinn because of "creative differences". |
| FLASH GORDEN CONQUERS THE UNIVERSE Buster Crabbe Feat.version of serial | . Black and White - USA - English - Brazil: 220 min | UK: 195 min. Rank: 467 | A mysterious plague, the Purple Death, ravages the earth. Dr. Zarkov, investigating in his spaceship, finds a ship from planet Mongo seeding the atmosphere with dust. Sure enough, Ming the Merciless is up to his old tricks. So it's back to Mongo for Flash, Dale, and Zarkov, this time with ready-made allies waiting: Prince Barin of Arboria and Queen Fria of the frozen northern land of Frigia; where, it so happens, is found polarite, antidote to the plague. But Ming will use all his forces to keep our heroes from thwarting his plans of conquest.. | qv. Purple Death From Outer Space. Written By: George H. Plympton (screenplay), Basil Dickey (screenplay), and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.7 | This serial was based on a Flash Gordon comic strip continuity involving Prince Barin and his Tree People, of "Frigia". |
| FLIM FLAM MAN | Irvin Kershner 1967. Color - USA - English - 104 min. Rank: 435 | Mordrcai Jones (George C. Scott) is a rural con artist (a 'flim flam man') who takes on a young army deserter Curley (Michael Sarrazin) as his protégé and teaches him the tricks of the trade. Sheriff Slade (Harry Morgan) is in hot pursuit of the pair and rich girl Bonnie Lee Packard (Sue Lyon) becomes romantically involved with Curley and helps the fleeing duo stay one step ahead of the sheriff. The film features a great automobile chase scene for those who appreciate this kind of cinema hijinks. Screenplay by William Rose ("It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World"). | G.C. Scott, Sue Lyon, Michael Sarrazin, Harry Morgan, Jack Albertson, Alice Ghostley, Albert Salmi, Slim Pickens. Written By: William Rose (screenplay), Guy Owen (novel). Rating: 6.8 | The Vaughn Tobacco Warehouses in Lexington, Kentucky were converted to soundstages for interior shooting of this film. |
| FLYING DEUCES | A. Edward Sutherland 1939. Black and White - USA - English - 69 min | USA: 65 min (TCM print). Rank: 467 | Oliver is heartbroken when he finds that Georgette, the inkeeper's daughter he's fallen in love with, is already married to dashing Foreign Legion officer Francois. To forget her, he joins the Legion, taking Stanley with him. Their bumbling eventually gets them charged with desertion and sentenced to a firing squad. They manage to escape in a stolen airplane, but crash after a wild ride. | Laurel and Hardy, Jean Parker, Jimmy Finlayson, Reginald Gardiner, Charles Middleton, Jean Del Val (Sgt), Richard Cramer, Sam Lufkin (ko'd), B.Engle. Written By: Ralph Spence (original story and screen play), Charley Rogers (original story and screen play), and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.7 | On the set of this film, Oliver Hardy met his future wife, script supervisor Virginia Lucille Jones. |
| FOOLS | Tom Gries 1970. Color (Eastmancolor) - USA - English - 93 min. Rank: 798 | An aging actor finds himself falling for the beautiful, and much younger, wife of an attorney. | Jason Richards, Katharine Ross, Scott Hylands,Roy C.Jensen, Mark Bramhall, . Storyline similar to Petulia. Porb not a keeper.. Rating: 4.5 | |
| FOOTLIGHT PARADE | Lloyd Bacon 1933. Black and White - USA - English | French - 104 min. Rank: 126 | Chester Kent produces Musical Comedies on the stage. With the beginning of the talkies aera he changes to producing short musical proluges for movies. But this is stressing him, because he always needs new units and his rival is always stealing his ideas. So he can get an contract with a producer, if he is able to stage in three days three new proluges. In spite of great problems he does it. | James Cagney, Dick Powell, Ruby Keeler, Joan Blondell, Guy Kibbee, Ruth Donnelly, Claire Dodd, Hugh Herbert, Frank McHugh, Arthur Hohl,AI Frazier),Gordon Westcott(Harry Thompson),Hennan Bing,Paul Porcasi (Geo.Apls). Written By: Manuel Seff (screenplay), James Seymour (screenplay), and 2 more credits. Rating: 7.7 | John Garfield is often credited as being an extra in this film, five years before signing a Hollywood contract with Warner Brothers, but researchers are in dispute over whether it is actually Garfield in the shot, which lasts 5/6 of one second onscreen. |
| FOOTLIGHT VARIETIES | . Black and White - USA - English - 61 min. Rank: 784 | A compilation of scenes and acts from various comedy and musical shorts over the years. | Compilation film from RKO shorts and features w. Leon EroIl. Written By: D.W. Griffith (segment), Felix Adler (segment), and 1 more credit. Rating: 5.1 | |
| FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT | Alfred Hitchcock 1940. Black and White - USA - English | Dutch | Latvian - 120 min | Spain: 115 min | West Germany: 98 min (cut version) (uncut version: 120'). Rank: 126 | Johnny Jones is an action reporter on a New York newspaper. The editor appoints him European correspondent because he is fed up with the dry, reports he currently gets. Jones' first assignment is to get the inside story on a secret treaty agreed between two European countries by the famous diplomat, Mr. Van Meer. However things don't go to plan and Jones enlists the help of a young woman to help track down a group of spies. | Joel McRea, Larraine Day, Herbert Marshall, George Sanders, Albert Bassennan, Robert Benchley, Edmund Gwenn, Eduardo Cianelli, Martin Kosleck, Harry Davenport, Barbara Pepper (Doreen), Eddy Conrad (Latvian), Charles Waggenheim (assassin), Holmes Herbert (. Written By: Charles Bennett (screenplay), Joan Harrison (screenplay), and 3 more credits. Rating: 7.7 | Nominated for 6 Oscars. When this movie was made, America was not part of World War II. At this time, a number of Hollywood studios were pro-American involvement in the war. This movie is one of a number of films made during the late 1930s and early 1940s that represented pro-American intervention in the war. These films include: A Yank in the R.A.F., Man Hunt, Foreign Correspondent, The Mortal Storm, Confessions of a Nazi Spy and Sergeant York. |
| FORMULA | John G. Avildsen 1980. Color (Metrocolor) - USA | West Germany - English | Spanish | German - 117 min. Rank: 751 | A detective uncovers a formula that was devised by the Nazis in WW II to make gasoline from synthetic products, thereby eliminating the necessity for oil--and oil companies. A major oil company finds out about it and tries to destroy the formula and anyone who knows about it. | George C.Scott, Marlon Brando, Marthe Keller, John Gielgud, G.D. Spradlin, Beatrice Straight, Richard Lynch, John Van Dreelen Written By: Steve Shagan (novel), Steve Shagan (screenplay). Rating: 5.5 | Nominated for Oscar. Another 4 nominations. Marthe Keller replaced Dominique Sanda on this picture. George C. Scott allegedly stated during rehearsal readings that that Sanda's French accent was too thick for him to understand. Sanda was reportedly paid out her contract which amounted to approximately US $ 350, 000. |
| FORTUNE | Mike Nichols 1975. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English. Rank: 728 | Two bumbling hustlers in the 1920s attempt to gain the fortune of an heiress. Nothing will stop them . not even murder. | J.Nicholson, W.Beatty, Stockard Channing, Scatman Crothers, Florence Stanley, Richard B. Shull. Written By: Carole Eastman. Rating: 5.7 | Nominated for one Golden Globe. This film was one of the two movies that Jack Nicholson made while waiting for production on One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) to start. Stockard Channing replaced Bette Midler who was passed over for the role after asking Mike Nichols "What other movies have you done?" Cher also met Nichols to discuss the role but she, too, was not cast. |
| FORTY CARATS | Milton Katselas 1973. Color (Metrocolor) - USA - English - 110 min. Rank: 632 | A forty year old woman who was vacationing in Greece meets a twenty-two year old, who was also on vacation. They spend the night together and she leaves him while he was sleeping. She then returns to New York and she is stunned to learn that her daughter's boyfriend is him. He then pursues her, and she is uncertain of what to do. | Liv Ullman, Gene Kelly, Edw.Albert, Binnie Barnes, Deborah Raffin, Bill Green Rush, Nancy Walker, Don Porter, Roisemary Murphy, Natalie Schafer, Claudia Jennings, Brooke Palance. Written By: Leonard Gershe (screenplay), Jay Presson Allen (stage adaptation), and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.2 | Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 1 nomination. The original Broadway production of "40 Carats", written by Pierre Barillet and Jean-Pierre Grédy and adapted by Jay Presson Allen, opened at the Morosco Theater in New York on December 26, 1968, ran for 780 performances and received a 1969 Tony Award for Best Actress (Julie Harris). Allen's adaptation was used for this production. |
| FORTY-SECOND STREET | Lloyd Bacon 1933. Black and White - USA - English - 89 min. Rank: 126 | Julian Marsh, an sucessful Broadway director, produces a new show, inspite of his poor health. The money comes from a rich old man, who is in love with the star of the show, Dorothy Brock. But she doesn't reply his love, because she is still in love with her old partner. At the night before the prmiere, Dorothy Brock breaks her ankle, and one of the chorus girls, Peggey Sawyer tries to take over her part. | Warner Baxter, Ruby Keeler, Bebe Daniels, George Brent, Guy Kibbee, Ned Sparks, Dick Powell, Ginger Rogers, Allen Jenkins, H.B.Walthall, Edw.J.Nugent, Harry Aklst, Clarence Nordstrom, Al Dubin, Harry Warren. Written By: Rian James (screenplay), James Seymour (screenplay), and 2 more credits. Rating: 7.7 | Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 1 win. The original Broadway production based on the movie "42nd Street" opened at the Winter Garden Theater on August 25, 1980, ran for 3486 performances, won the 1981 Tony Award for the Best Musical and was nominated for Best Book for a Musical. |
| FOUL PLAY | Colin Higgins 1978. Color - USA - English - 116 min. Rank: 506 | When, unbeknownst to Gloria, a microfilm cassette is left with her by a dying agent, she becomes entangled in a complicated series of events. She's pursued by a dwarf and an albino, and becomes convinced that they are out to kill her. Finally, with the help of San Francisco detective Tony Carlson, she begins to turn the tables on her pursuers. It becomes clear that the nerfarious crew after her are plotting a dastardly deed indeed - to assassinate the Pope as he visits the city to see _The Mikado_. Gloria and Tony must race against time to prevent this terrible crime. | G.Hawn, Chevy Chase, Burgess Meredith, Dudley Moore, Rachel Robts, Eugene Roche, Marilyn Sokol, Billy Barty, Marc Lawrence, Brian Dennehy Scala,Sydney Chaplin,Rock Hudson,Grant Williams,John Gavin,Herbert Anderwson DISPOSAL. Rating: 6.6 | Nominated for Oscar. Another 8 nominations. Steve Martin read for the part of Tony but did not get it. |
| FOUR POSTER | Irving Reis 1952. Black and White - USA - English - 103 min. Rank: 435 | Adapted from the prize-winning Broadway play that featured two people and a four-poster bed, in which the couple enacts their marriage, from its day in 1897, until he dies, some time after she has died from cancer. It is a "love" that endured wars, an "other" woman, and the death of their favorite son. The episodes are bridged and linked by cartoon sequences done by UPA (United Productions of America.) | Rex Harrison, Lilli Palmer (Interlude animation,UPA). Written By: Jan de Hartog (play), Jan de Hartog (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.8 | Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win and 2 nominations. Connections |
| FRANCES | Graeme Clifford 1982. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 140 min. Rank: 259 | The true story of Frances Farmer's meteoric rise to fame in Hollywood and the tragic turn her life took when she was blacklisted. | Jessica Lange, Kim Stanley, Sam Shepard, Bart Bums, Jeffrey DeMunn, . Jordan Charney, Lane Smith, Anjelica Huston, Kevin Costner (bit) (Frances Farmer bio). Written By: Eric Bergren, Christopher De Vore, and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.2 | Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 1 win and 3 nominations. Graeme Clifford stated that he had put all the out-takes in storage and that they got thrown out without his knowledge, so all the deleted scenes are lost forever. |
| FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT-Documentary. I.The New Deal, II TheWar Years | . - - - - - . Rank: n/a | *FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT-Documentary. I.The New Deal, II TheWar Years (qv. Shorter doc 10-06, probably with histrical films oramon mis.c shorts in proj.booth. Rating: | ||
| FRENCH THEY ARE A FUNNY RACE | Preston Sturges 1956. Black and White - France - English - 105 min | West Germany: 96 min. Rank: 647 | A retired English officer living in Paris combats his beautiful, frivilous wife over the best way to raise their child. | Jack Buchannan, Martine Carol, Noel Noel (Taupin), Lost, Strayed or Stolen??. Written By: Preston Sturges, Pierre Daninos (book). Rating: 6.1 | The final film directed by Preston Sturges. |
| FREUD | John Huston 1962. Black and White - USA - English - 120 min (theatrical version) | 140 min (original version). Rank: 373 | This pseudo-biographical movie depicts 5 years from 1885 on in the life of the Viennan psychologist Freud (1856-1939). At this time, most of his colleagues refuse to cure hysteric patients, because they believe they're just simulating to gain attention. But Freud learns to use hypnosis to find out the reasons for the psychosis. His main patient is a young woman who refuses to drink water and is plagued by always the same nightmare. | Montgomery Clift, Susannah York, Larry Parks, Susan Kohner, Eric Portman (Meynart), Eileen HerIie (Ida), David McCallum, Alan Cuthbertson (Wilkie), Stefan Schnabel -113. Written By: Charles Kaufman (screenplay), Charles Kaufman (story), and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.9 | Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 7 nominations. Stella Bonheur was thought suitable for the role of Frau Bernays. |
| FROM HERE TO ETERNITY | Fred Zinnemann 1953. Black and White (archive footage) | Black and White - USA - English - 118 min. Rank: 93 | It's 1941. Robert E. Lee Prewitt has requested Army transfer and has ended up at Schofield in Hawaii. His new captain, Dana Holmes, has heard of his boxing prowess and is keen to get him to represent the company. However, 'Prew' is adamant that he doesn't box anymore, so Captain Holmes gets his subordinates to make his life a living hell. Meanwhile Sergeant Warden starts seeing the captain's wife, who has a history of seeking external relief from a troubled marriage. Prew's friend Maggio has a few altercations with the sadistic stockade Sergeant 'Fatso' Judson, and Prew begins falling in love with social club employee Lorene. Unbeknownst to anyone, the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor looms in the distance. | Lancaster, Clift, Sinatra, Philip Ober, Borgnine, Donna Reed, Mickey Shaughnessy, JakC Warden, Claude Akins, Geo.Reeves, Tim Ryan, Joan Shawnlee, Don Dubbina, Merle Travis, Harry Bellaver, John Dennis, Barbara Morrison .Scpt.Daniel Taradash. Written By: Daniel Taradash (screenplay), James Jones (novel). Rating: 7.9 | Won 8 Oscars. Another 12 wins and 7 nominations. Future screenwriter Alvin Sargent has a bit part in the film. He was paid $400 for a week's work in Hawaii. Sargent would later go on to win an Oscar for Julia, also directed by Fred Zinnemann. |
| FROM THE MIXED-UP FILES OF BASIL FRANKENWEILER | Fielder Cook 1973. Color - USA - English - 105 min. Rank: 714 | Precocious Claudia and her brother run away from home and hide in the Metropolitan Museum in New York. | Ingrid, Sally Prager, Johnny Doran, Geo.Rose, Georgeann Johnson, Richard Mulligan, Madeline Kahn. Written By: Blanche Hanalis, E.L. Konigsburg (novel). Rating: 5.8 | |
| FULL OF LIFE | Richard Quine 1956. Black and White - USA - English | Italian - 91 min. Rank: 574 | Writer Nick and his wife Emily are expecting their first child. When a necessary home repair proves too costly to afford, Nick must swallow his pride and visit his father, a proud immigrant stonemason with whom he has a difficult relationship, and ask him to do the work. Confronting the issues of religious and family tradition which have separated father and son causes Nick and Emily to reevaluate their lives and the things they value most. | Judy Holliday, Richard Conte, Salvatore Baccalone, Esther Minicotti. Written By: John Fante (novel), John Fante (screenplay). Rating: 6.4 | Salvatore Baccaloni's American film debut. |
| FUNNY GIRL | William Wyler 1968. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 151 min | USA: 155 min (roadshow version). Rank: 238 | The life of comedienne Fannie Brice, from her early days in the Jewish slums of the Lower East Side, to the height of her career with the Ziegfeld Follies, including her marriage to and eventual divorce from her first husband, Nick Arnstein. | Streisand, Sharif, Kay Medford, Anne Francis, W.Pidgeon, Lee Allen, Gerald Mohr (Fanny Brice bio w. Bob Merrill-Jule Styne score). Written By: Isobel Lennart (play), Isobel Lennart (screenplay). Rating: 7.3 | Won Oscar. Another 5 wins and 16 nominations. The movie's line "Hello, gorgeous" was voted as the #81 movie quote by the American Film Institute (out of 100). |
| FUNNY LADY | Herbert Ross 1975. Color (Eastmancolor) - USA - English - 136 min. Rank: 647 | 1930s in New York. The famous singer Fanny Brice has divorced her first husband Nicky Arnstein. During the depression she has trouble finding work as an artist but meets Billy Rose, a newcomer who writes lyrics and owns his own nightclub. | Barbra Streisand, Omar Sharif, Roddy McDowall, James Caan, Ben Vereen, Carole Wells, Colleen Camp (more Brice bio) filed as Funny Girl II. Written By: Arnold Schulman (story), Jay Presson Allen (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.1 | Nominated for 5 Oscars. Another 6 nominations. Cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond was originally hired as director of photography, but after executives watched the dailies of the musical number "Great Day", they agreed Zsigmond's lighting style (modeled after musical theatre in the 1930s) was too dark and he was fired. Director Herbert Ross objected, and star Barbra Streisand was surprised by Zsigmond's dismissal. James Wong Howe was coaxed out of his retirement to shoot the film, but midway through he fell ill and was absent for 10 days. In the interim, cinematographer Ernes |
| GAILY GAILY | Norman Jewison 1969. Color - USA - English - 107 min. Rank: 759 | To escape sinful impulses, Ben Harvey, a callow youth, leaves his small town for Chicago in 1910. A pickpocket promptly relieves him of his money, and he nearly starves before Queen Lil takes him under her wing, gives him a room in her high-class bordello, and gets him a job at a newspaper. He's so sweet and dumb, he thinks Lil's is a boarding house. He's soon caught up in an electoral struggle between a secretly corrupt reformer and an openly corrupt councilman. Can Ben expose corruption or will he be caught up in allure of power? An alcoholic investigative reporter and the bordello's ingénue try to help him grow up. | Beau Bridges, Melina Merecouri, Brian Keith, George Kennedy, Hume Cronym, Margot Kidder, Wilfrid Hyde-Whyte, Melodie Johnson, (Ben Hecht story filmed in Chicago/Milwaukee). Written By: Abram S. Ginnes (screenplay), Ben Hecht (novel). Rating: 5.4 | Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 1 nomination. |
| GALLANT HOURS | Robert Montgomery 1960. Black and White - USA - English - 115 min. Rank: 329 | A semi-documentary dramatization of five weeks in the life of Vice Admiral William F. "Bull" Halsey, Jr., from his assignment to command the U.S. naval operations in the South Pacific to the Allied victory at Guadalcanal. | Cagney, Dennis Weaver, Ward Costello, R.,Jaeckel (Adm. Halsey bio). Written By: Beirne Lay Jr., Frank D. Gilroy. Rating: 7.0 | |
| GALLIPOLI | Peter Weir 1981. Color (Eastmancolor) - Australia - English - 110 min. Rank: 157 | The story of a group of young Australian men who leave their various backgrounds behind and sign up to join the ANZACs in World War I. They are sent to Gallipoli, where they encounter the might of the Turkish army. | Nark Lee, Bill Kerr, Mel Gibson, Ron Graham, Harold Hopkins GAMBIT (Ronald Neame'66) Michael Caine, Shirley MacLaine, Herbert Lorn, Roger C.Carmel, John Abbott. Written By: Peter Weir (story), David Williamson (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.6 | Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 9 wins and 4 nominations. For a great deal of the cast and crew, ANZAC Day - the day in Australia that commemorates the war dead - meant little more than a vacation from school. Working on the film made them realize its true significance. |
| GAMBIT | Ronald Neame 1966. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English | French | Arabic - 109 min. Adapted Scope. Rank: 329 | Cockney cat burglar Harry Dean needs Hong Kong dancer Nicole Chang's help to pull off the perfect heist. With a simple makeover and a new wardrobe; Nicole's resemblance to wealthy recluse Mr. Shahbandar's late wife is uncanny. While Shahbandar is distracted by the mesmerizing Nicole, Harry takes steps to swipe a priceless artifact from under the tycoon's nose. But even the most foolproof schemes have a way of backfiring.. | Michael Caine, Shirley MacLaine, Herbert Lorn, Roger C.Carmel, John Abbott. Written By: Jack Davies (screenplay), Alvin Sargent (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.0 | Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 1 win and 3 nominations. A "gambit" is a chess tactic where a player sacrifices a piece to get a more advantageous position in the game. |
| GATE OF HELL (Jigokumon) | Teinosuke Kinugasa 1953. Color (Eastmancolor) - Japan - Japanese - 86 min. Rank: 259 | In 1159, during an attempted coup, one of the court's ladies in waiting disguises herself as the lord's wife, and a loyal samurai conveys her from the city. This diversion allows the royal family to escape. After the coup fails, the samurai asks his lord to let him marry the woman as his reward. The lord grants the request and then discovers she is already married to one of the ruling family's lieges. The samurai clings to his desire, importuning her to leave her husband, then challenging the husband to release her. Although the husband stays calm and she stays faithful, the samurai remains intemperate and stubborn, with tragic consequences. | Machiko Kyo, Kazoo Hasegawa, Isao Yamagata Koreya Senda Oscars for costume design and best foreign film. Written By: Kan Kikuchi (play), Teinosuke Kinugasa, and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.2 | Won Oscar. Another 5 wins and 1 nomination. Visa de contrôle cinématographique France : #15760(subtitled version) or #15760/D (dubbed version). |
| GENERAL | 1927. Black and White (Sepiatone) - USA - - Australia: 107 min | Spain: 80 min (1982 version) | Spain: 83 min (1962 version) | USA: 75 min (2003 alternate version). Rank: 15 | Johnnie loves his train ("The General") and Annabelle Lee. When the Civil War begins he is turned down for service because he's more valuable as an engineer. Annabelle thinks it's because he's a coward. Union spies capture The General with Annabelle on board. Johnny must rescue both his loves. | Buster Keaton, Marion Mack Condensed, w v-over not inventoried 10-06, probably w.shorts. Written By: Buster Keaton, Clyde Bruckman, and 5 more credits. Rating: 8.4 | Premiere voted this movie as one of "The 50 Greatest Comedies Of All Time" in 2006. |
| GENTLEMAN JIM | Raoul Walsh 1942. Black and White - USA - English - 104 min. Rank: 126 | Because boxing is a considered an illegal and disreputable enterprise in 1880's San Francisco, wealthy and influential members of the prestigious Olympic Club vow to make the sport a "gentlemanly" one. They sponsor a brash, extroverted young bank clerk named Jim Corbett, who quickly becomes an accomplished fighter under the new Marquis of Queensbury Rules. Despite his success, the young Irish-American's social pretensions and boastful manner soon estrange him from his benefactors, who plot to give their conceited former protege a well-deserved comeuppance. Despite this, his dazzlingly innovative footwork helps him to beat a succession of bigger and stronger men, and he finally finds himself fighting for the world's championship against his childhood idol, John L. Sullivan. | Errol Flynn, Alexis Smith, Jack Carson, Alan Hale, John Loder, William Frawley, EWard Bond, Minor Watson, Madeline LeBeau (Held), Rhys Wms, Arthur Shidlds, Dorohty Vaughan (MaC)_, Jas.Flavin, Pat Flaherty, Wallis Clark (Geary), M. Maxurki. Written By: Vincent Lawrence (screenplay), Horace McCoy (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.7 | Soon after completing "Gentleman Jim," Flynn became embroiled in an infamous rape trial. During screenings of "Gentleman Jim," his closing line of "I'm no gentleman" was met with laughter and derision. The line was cut from the conclusion of the 1944 radio broadcast. |
| GEORGY GIRL | Silvio Narizzano 1966. Black and White - UK - English | Italian - 99 min. Rank: 373 | A homely but vivacious young woman dodges the amorous attentions of her father's middle-aged employer while striving to capture some of the glamorous life of her swinging London roommate. | Lynn Redgrave, James Mason, Alan Bates. Written By: Margaret Forster (novel), Margaret Forster (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.9 | Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 4 wins and 13 nominations. Adapted as a Broadway musical ("Georgy"), opening at the Winter Garden Theater in New York on February 26, 1970 and running for 4 performances. Dilys Watling as the title character was nominated for the 1970 Tony Award (New York City) for Actress in a Musical. |
| GETAWAY | Sam Peckinpah 1972. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English | Spanish - 122 min. Rank: 185 | Doc McCoy has been granted parole. The catch is that Sheriff Beynon expects a small favor from McCoy for his generosity: robbing another bank! Beynon does not really intend to let McCoy walk away after the heist and neither does co-robber Rudy Butler, but stopping Doc proves a trifle difficult. | Steve McQueen, Ali MacGraw and Ben Johnson. Written By: Walter Hill (screenplay), Jim Thompson (novel). Rating: 7.5 | Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 1 win. When Carol McCoy lists the exits to the First Bank of Beacon City, "One on Hopkins, one at Guadalupe Street, and one is the alley," she is listing the real-life exits of the actual shooting location in San Marcos, Texas. |
| GIDEON OF SCOTLAND YARD | John Ford 1959. Black and White (USA, theatrical prints) | Color (Technicolor) (UK prints) - UK - English - 91 min | UK: 118 min. Rank: 546 | Scotland Yard Inspector George Gideon starts his day off on the wrong foot when he gets a traffic-violation ticket from a young police officer. From there, his 'typical day" consists in learning that one of his most-trusted detectives has accepted bribes; hunts an escaped maniac who has murdered a girl; tracks a young girl suspected of a payroll robbery and, then, helps break up a bank robbery. His long day ends when he arrives at home and finds that his daughter has a date with the policeman who gave him a ticket that morning. | Jack Hawkins, Diane Foster, Anna Lee, Anna Massey,Andrew Ray, Cyril Cusack (Birdie), James Hayter, Ronald Howard, Howard MarionCrawford, Laurence Naismith, Derek Bond, John Loder (ponsford), Michael Trubshaw (Sgt.Golightly), Jack Watling (Rev.Small), Mil. Written By: John Creasey (novel), T.E.B. Clarke (screenplay). Rating: 6.5 | |
| GIGI | Vincente Minnelli 1958. Color (Metrocolor) - USA - English | French - 115 min (Turner library print) (copyright length). Rank: 373 | Weary of the conventions of Parisian society, a rich playboy and a youthful courtesan-in-training enjoy a platonic friendship, but it may not stay platonic for long. Gaston, the scion of a wealthy Parisian family finds emotional refuge from the superficial lifestyle of upper class Parisian 1900s society with the former mistress of his uncle and her outgoing, tomboy granddaughter, Gigi. When Gaston becomes aware that Gigi has matured into a woman, her grandmother and aunt, who have educated Gigi to be a wealthy man's mistress, urge the pair to act out their roles but love adds a surprise twist to this delightful turn-of-the 20th century Cinderella story. | Leslie Caron, Maurice Chevalier, Louis Jourdan, Hermione Gingold, Jacques Bergerac, Eva Gabor Lerner and Lowe score, 9 Acadamy Awards red -15-20 mins. Written By: Alan Jay Lerner (screenplay), Colette (novel). Rating: 6.9 | Won 9 Oscars. Another 15 wins and 5 nominations. The song "Say A Prayer for Me Tonight" was meant to be sung by the British Eliza Doolittle in "My Fair Lady." This can be seen in the verse: "Onto your Waterloo, whispers my heart / Pray I'll be Wellington, not Bonaparte." Being sung by a French girl, this is considered an arguably strange sentiment to express. However, the French lost at Waterloo, and Gigi is hoping to win this "epic battle," so to speak. |
| GILDERSLEEVE ON BROADWAY | Gordon Douglas 1943. Black and White - USA - English - 65 min. Rank: 714 | A drug supply company plans to go out of business, which could force Peavey the druggist to close up shop. Throckmorton Gildersleeve heads to New York City to help, and gets a warm reception from the company's president, a lonely widow. Based on "The Great Gildersleeve" radio series. | Billie Burke, Claire Carleton, Richard LeGrand(peavy) Freddie Mercer(LeRoy), Hobart Cavenaugh, Leonid Kinsky, Ann Doran, Lillian Randolph, Walter Tetley (bellhop). Rating: 5.8 | His bit part as the tough looking cab driver was the first screen role for Lawrence Tierney, beginning a film career that would last almost 60 years. |
| GILDERSLEEVE'S BAD DAY | Gordon Douglas 1943. Black and White - USA - English - 62 min. Rank: 574 | Assorted citizens of Summerfield, including Gildersleeve of radio fame, sit on a jury in the trial of bank robber Louie Barton. Through coincidence, Gildersleeve is wrongly suspected of bribe-taking. His efforts to get out of trouble only get him deeper into slapstick.. | Harold Peary, Jane Darwell, Nancy Gates, Charles Arnt, Freddie Mercer (Leroy), Russell Wade, Lillian Randolph, Frank Jenks, Douglas Fowley, Alan Carney, Grant Withers, Russell LeGrand (Peavy), Fern Emmett, Lee Phelps (Ryan). Rating: 6.4 | 'Barbara Hale''s first movie role. |
| GIRL SHY | 1924. Black and White - USA - English (intertitles) - USA: 80 min (Turner library print) | USA: 87 min (1992 version). Rank: 93 | Harold Meadows (Lloyd) is a shy, stuttering bachelor working in a tailor shop, who is writing a guide book for other bashful young men, "The Secret of Making Love," chapters from which are portrayed as fantasy sequences. Fate has him meet rich girl, Mary (Ralston), and they fall in love. But she is about to wed an already married man, so our hero embarks upon a hair-raising daredevil ride to prevent the wedding. | Harold Lloyd, Jobyna Ralston, Richard Danields, Carleton Griffin, Joe Cobb, Mickey Daniels. Written By: Sam Taylor (story), Ted Wilde (story), and 4 more credits. Rating: 7.9 | Many of the exterior shots were filmed on Harold Lloyd's massive estate, GreenAcres, in Beverly Hills. |
| GIVE 'EM HELL, HARRY | Steve Binder 1975. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 104 min. Rank: 185 | One man show about the presidency of Harry S Truman. | Marshall Thompson as Harry S.Truman. Rating: 7.5 | Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 nomination. In addition to Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and Sleuth, only one of three films in which entire on-screen billed cast received acting Oscar nominations. (Although Sleuth's credits did include several nonexistent actors to mislead audience into thinking it was not just a two-character thriller and Virginia Woolf did feature two unbilled bit players as roadhouse employees, neither of whom was obviously nominated.) |
| GLENN MILLER STORY | Anthony Mann 1954. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 115 min. Rank: 295 | The biography of the Bandleader Glenn Miller from his beginnings to his death over the English Channel in December 1944, with a lot of his arangements, partly in an authentic cast. | James Stewart, June Allyson, Charles Drake, George Tobias, Harry Morgan, Frances Langford, Louis Armstrong, Kid Ory, Ben Pollack, Gnee Krupa, Sig Rhuman. Written By: Valentine Davies , Oscar Brodney. Rating: 7.1 | Won Oscar. Another 5 nominations. Harry Morgan, who plays Chummy MacGregor, co-starred with the real Glenn Miller in Orchestra Wives. |
| GO TELL THE SPARTANS | Ted Post 1978. Color - USA - English | Vietnamese - 114 min. Rank: 467 | A unit of American military advisors in Vietnam prior to the major U.S. involvement find similarities between their helpless struggle against the Viet Cong and the doomed actions of a French unit at the same site a decade before in this bitter look at the beginnings of the Vietnam war. | Burt Lancaster,Craig Wasson,Jonathan Goldsmith (Sgt.),Marc Singer (Capt), Joe Unger (It), Dennis Howard (Cpl A.Lincoln), Dolph Sweet (Gen), James Hong. Written By: Daniel Ford (novel), Wendell Mayes. Rating: 6.7 | 'Amapola' is the Spanish word for poppy, and used in the film as slang for opium. |
| GO WEST | Edward Buzzell 1940. Black and White - USA - English - 80 min. Rank: 467 | Embezzler, shill, all around confidence man S. Quentin Quale is heading west to find his fortune; he meets the crafty but simple brothers Joseph and Rusty Panello in a train station, where they steal all his money. They're heading west, too, because they've heard you can just pick the gold off the ground. Once there, they befriend an old miner named Dan Wilson whose property, Dead Man's Gulch, has no gold. They loan him their last ten dollars so he can go start life anew, and for collateral, he gives them the deed to the Gulch. Unbeknownst to Wilson, the son of his longtime rival, Terry Turner (who's also in love with his daughter, Eva), has contacted the railroad to arrange for them to build through the land, making the old man rich and hopefully resolving the feud. But the evil Red Baxter, owner of a saloon, tricks the boys out of the deed, and it's up to them - as well as Quale, who naturally finds his way out west anyway - to save the day. | Marx Brothers, John Carroll, Diana Lewis, Walter Woolf King, Robert Barrat (Red), Tully Marshall, Clem Bevins, Joe Yule, Arthur Houseman. Rating: 6.7 | The name of Groucho Marx's character, "S. Quentin Quayle", caused a stir when the film was first released due to the subtle but clear joke: the use of the term "San Quentin quail", which means "jail bait". |
| GO-BETWEEN | Joseph Losey 1970. Color (Technicolor) - UK - English - 118 min. Rank: 185 | Summer 1900: Queen Victoria's last and the summer Leo turns 13. He's the guest of Marcus, a wealthy classmate, at a grand home in rural Norfolk. Leo is befriended by Marian, Marcus's twenty-something sister, a beauty about to be engaged to Hugh, a viscount and good fellow. Marian buys Leo a forest-green suit, takes him on walks, and asks him to carry messages to and from their neighbor, Ted Burgess, a bit of a rake. Leo is soon dissembling, realizes he's betraying Hugh, but continues as the go-between nonetheless, asking adults naive questions about the attractions of men and women. Can an affair between neighbors stay secret for long? And how does innocence end? | Julie Christie, Alan Bates, Dominic Guard, Margaret Leighton, Michael Gough, Michael Redgrave, Edward Fox. Written By: Harold Pinter (screenplay), L.P. Hartley (based on a novel "The Go-Between" by), and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.5 | Nominated for Oscar. Another 8 wins and 9 nominations. Gary Warren was interviewed for the role of Marcus. |
| GOLD DIGGERS OF 1935 | Busby Berkeley 1935. Black and White - USA - English - 98 min. Rank: 238 | In a luxury hotel stage director Nicoleff stages a show to get the money to pay his bills. Mrs. Prentiss, who is backing the show wants her daughter Ann to marry the millionaire T. Mosely Thorpe, but Ann falls in love with Dick Curtis, while Dick's girl friend marries Ann's brother Humbolt. But the hotel secretary Betty knows a way to avoid dificulties with old Mrs. Prentiss. | Dick Powell, Menjou, Gloria Stuart, Alice Brady, Glenda Farrell, Frank McHugh, Winifred Shaw (inel: Words R In My Heart, Lullaby of B'way). Written By: Manuel Seff (screenplay), Peter Milne (screenplay), and 2 more credits. Rating: 7.3 | Won Oscar. Another 1 nomination. Wini Shaw's recording of "Lullaby Of Broadway" was an unlikely hit in Britain in 1976. |
| GOLD RUSH | Charles Chaplin 1925. Black and White - USA - English (on-screen text) (no dialogue) - 95 min (24 fps) (original version: Los Angeles, California, 1925) | USA: 72 min (1942 re-release) | USA: 81 min (24 fps) (edited version: New York release, 1925). Rank: 27 | A lone prospector ventures into Alaska looking for gold. He gets mixed up with some burly characters and falls in love with the beautiful Georgia. He tries to win her heart with his singular charm. | Charlie Chaplin, Georgia Hale, MackSwain, Henry Bergman (Hank Curtis), Heinie Conlin, not inventoried 10/6 w. music, etc. -first c.:20. Rating: 8.3 | Top 250 #151 | Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 2 wins and 1 nomination. This film was selected to the National Film Registry, Library of Congress, in 1992. |
| GOLDEN AGE OF COMEDY | Robert Youngson 1957. Black and White - USA - English - 79 min. Rank: 259 | A compilation of scenes featuring some of the best-known comics from the silent era in their best films. | Laurel and Hardy (Battle of Century pie fight) Carole Lombard, Ben Turpin, Will Rogers, Harry Langdon. Written By: René Clair (French commentary), Robert Youngson. Rating: 7.2 | |
| Nathan Juran 1953. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 81 min. Rank: 741 | Harum (Rock Hudson) is a fearless man of the people who comes to Bagdad to avenge the murder of his father and meets Krairuzan (Piper Laurie), a princess disguised as a commoner, working against a plot by a band of evil schemers trying to do away with her father, the Caliph. She gives Harum a golden sword which, in his hands, makes him invincible. Harum uses the sword in the name of justice and is doing quite well until a duplicate sword is placed in his scabbard during one of his off-guard moments, and he winds up in chains. | Rock Hudson, Piper Laurie, Gene Evans, George Macready, Kathleen Hughes, Steven Geray disp?. Written By: John Rich (story), John Rich (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 5.6 | Tony Curtis turned down the lead role. | |
| GORKY PARK | Michael Apted 1983. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 128 min. Rank: 506 | An investigator on the Moscow police force relentlessly pursues the solution to a triple homicide which occurred in Moscow's Gorky Park. He finds that no one really wants him to solve the crime because it is just the tip of a complex conspiracy which involves the highest levels of the Moscow city government. | William Hurt, Lee Marvin, Brian Dennehy, Ian Bannen, Joanna Pacula, Ian Bannen (iamskov), Michael Elphic (Pasha), Riochsartd Griffiths (Anton), Rikki Fulton (Pribluda), Alexander Knox, Alexei Sayle (Glodkin), Ian McDiarmid (prof.Andreev), Niall O'Brien. Written By: Martin Cruz Smith (novel), Dennis Potter (screenplay). Rating: 6.6 | Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 1 win and 1 nomination. This movie was made prior to 'glasnost'. |
| Pier Paolo Pasolini 1966. Black and White - Italy | France - Italian - 137 min | USA: 136 min | USA: 91 min (edited version). Rank: 109 | Along a rocky, barren coastline, Jesus begins teaching, primarily using parables. He attracts disciples; he's stern, brusque, and demanding. He comes to bring a sword, not peace, he says. He's in a hurry, moving from place to place near the Sea of Galilee, sometimes attracting a multitude, sometimes being driven away. His parables often take on the powers that be, so he and his teachings come to the attention of the Pharisees, the chief priests, and elders. They conspire to have him arrested, beaten, tried, and crucified, just as he prophesied to his followers. After he dies, he appears to his disciples and gives them final instructions. | Enrique Irazoqui, Marghereta Caruso, Susanna Passolini, MArcello Morante, Mario Socrate Italian-French (File:It). Rating: 7.8 | Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 7 wins and 3 nominations. In keeping with his idea of Jesus Christ as the greatest revolutionary of all time, Pier Paolo Pasolini considered casting Jack Kerouac or Allen Ginsberg in the role. He changed his mind when he met Enrique Irazoqui, a Spanish student of literature, who has written a thesis about Pasolini's novel "Ragazzi di vita" and was very curious to meet him. | |
| GRADUATE | Mike Nichols 1967. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 106 min. Rank: 35 | Ben has recently graduated college, with his parents now expecting great things from him. At his "Homecoming" party, Mrs. Robinson, the wife of his father's business partner, has Ben drive her home, which leads to an affair between the two. The affair eventually ends, but comes back to haunt him when he finds himself falling for Elaine, Mrs. Robinson's daughter. | Duston Hoffman, Ann Bancroft, Katherine Ross, Murray Hamilton, Wm Daniels, Elizabeth Wilson, Brian Avery, N.FeU,Marian Lorne,Alice Ghostley,Buck Henry (+scpt). Written By: Calder Willingham (screenplay), Buck Henry (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 8.2 | Within a year of the movie's release, plastic manufacturing companies became enormously successful. Many people attribute this to Walter Brooke's quote about "plastics". Brooke himself once told his nephew that he would have invested in plastics, if he had known that the remark would lead to such success. |
| GRAND ILLUSION | Jean Renoir 1937. Black and White - France - French | German | English | Russian - 114 min | 94 min (1937 release) | Germany: 107 min. Rank: 35 | During 1st WW, two French officers are captured. Captain De Boeldieu is an aristocrat while Lieutenant Marechal was a mechanic in civilian life. They meet other prisoners from various backgrounds, as Rosenthal, son of wealthy Jewish bankers. They are separated from Rosenthal before managing to escape. A few months later, they meet again in a fortress commanded by the aristocrat Van Rauffenstein. De Boeldieu strikes up a friendship with him but Marechal and Rosenthal still want to escape.. | Jena Gabin, P{ierre Fresnay, Erich von Stroheim, Marcel Dalio, Dita Parlo, Julien Carette, Gaston Modot, Jean Daste (Complete version). Written By: Charles Spaak (scenario and dialogue), Jean Renoir (scenario and dialogue). Rating: 8.2 | Nominated for Oscar. Another 3 wins and 1 nomination. The battles in which Elsa's brothers died - Charleroi, Tannenberg and Liege - were all battles from 1914, the first year of the war. The Battle of Liège was the opening battle of the German invasion into Belgium, and the first battle of World War I. The Battle of Charleroi was fought on 21 August 1914 between the French and the Germans. The Battle of Tannenberg was in August 1914 and was fought between the Russians and the Germans. |
| GRAPES OF WRATH | John Ford 1940. Black and White - USA - English - 129 min (copyright length) | West Germany: 108 min (cut version). Rank: 27 | Oklahoma in the Thirties is a dustbowl and dispossessed farmers migrate westward to California. After terrible trials en route they become little more than slave labor. Among the throng are the Joads who refuse to knuckle under. | Henry Fonda, Jane Darwell, John Carradine, Charley Grapewin, Dorris Bowden (Rosaham), Russell Simpson, O.Z.Whitehead, John Qualen, Eddie Quillan, Zelffie Tilbury (Gramma), Frank Sully (Noah), Frank Darien (Uncle JohnO, Darryl Hickman (Winfield), Shirley M. Written By: Nunnally Johnson (screen play), John Steinbeck (based on the novel by). Rating: 8.3 | The truck used in the movie is a 1926 Hudson "Super Six" - the same model as in the book. |
| GRASS IS GREENER | Stanley Donen 1960. Color (Technicolor) - UK - English - 104 min | UK: 80 min (VHS version). Rank: 506 | Victor and Hillary are down on their luck to the point that they allow tourists to take guided tours of their castle. But Charles Delacro, a millionaire oil tycoon, visits, and takes a liking to more than the house. Soon, Hattie Durant gets involved and they have a good old fashioned love triangle. | Cary Grant, Deborah Kerr, Robert Mitchum, Jean Simmons, Moray Watson. Music:Noel Coward; Christian Dior,cos. Written By: Hugh Williams (screenplay), Margaret Vyner (screenplay), and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.6 | Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 2 nominations. Cary Grant refused to wear a smoking jacket for one scene, believing that if the audience saw him dressed that way they would immediately lose sympathy with his character. The director later said that a type of old-fashioned comedy died that day. |
| GREAT DICTATOR | Charles Chaplin 1940. Black and White - USA - English | Esperanto - 125 min. Rank: 15 | Twenty years after the end of WWI in which the nation of Tomainia was on the losing side, Adenoid Hynkel has risen to power as the ruthless dictator of the country. He believes in a pure Aryan state, and the decimation of the Jews. This situation is unknown to a simple Jewish-Tomainian barber who has since been hospitalized the result of a WWI battle. Upon his release, the barber, who had been suffering from memory loss about the war, is shown the new persecuted life of the Jews by many living in the Jewish ghetto, including a washerwoman named Hannah, with whom he begins a relationship. The barber is ultimately spared such persecution by Commander Schultz, who he saved in that WWI battle. The lives of all Jews in Tomainia are eventually spared with a policy shift by Hynkel himself, who is doing so for ulterior motives. But those motives include a want for world domination, starting with the invasion of neighboring Osterlich.. | Charles Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Jack Oakie, Reginald Gardiner, Maurice Moskovich, Billy Gilbert, Henry Daniell.. Rating: 8.4 | Top 250 #79 | Nominated for 5 Oscars. Another 4 wins and 1 nomination. The scene where Charles Chaplin dances with a globe had its origins in a 1928 home movie in which Chaplin also toyed with a globe in similar fashion. |
| GREAT EXPECTATIONS | David Lean 1946. Black and White - UK - English - 118 min. Rank: 50 | Pip, a good-natured, gullible young orphan, lives with kind blacksmith Joe Gargery and his bossy, abusive wife 'Mrs. Joe'. When the boy finds two hidden escaped galley convicts, he obeys under -probably unnecessary- threat of a horrible death to bring the criminals food he must steal at peril of more caning from the battle-ax. Just when Pip fears to get it really good while they have guests, a soldier comes for Joe who takes Pip along as assistant to work on the chains of escaped galley-convicts, who are soon caught. The better-natured one takes the blame for the stolen food. Later Pip is invited to became the playmate of Estelle, the equally arrogant adoptive daughter of gloomy, filthy rich Miss Havisham at her estate, who actually has 'permission' to break the kind kid's heart; being the only pretty girl he ever saw, she wins his heart forever, even after a mysterious benefactor pays trough a lawyer for his education and a rich allowance.. | John Mills,Valerie Hobson, Jean Simmons, Alec Guiness, Bernard Miles, Ivor Barnard, Framnces L. Sullivan, Martita Hunt (Haversham), Finlay Currie, Freda Jackson (Gargery), Torin Thatcher OBentley), Hay Petrie (Pumpleshook). Written By: Charles Dickens (novel), David Lean (adaptation), and 4 more credits. Rating: 8.1 | Won 2 Oscars. Another 3 nominations. David Lean wanted his film to have a feeling of heightened realism. Working closely in conjunction with art director John Bryan and cinematographer Guy Green, he employed several tricks, such as forced perspective, to achieve this effect. The famous opening shot in the graveyard, for instance, features a brooding church in the background which in reality was only 3 meters high. |
| GREAT EXPECTATIONS | Joseph Hardy 1974. Color (Eastmancolor) - USA | UK - English - Netherlands: 103 min | Peru: 124 min | UK: 124 min | USA: 100 min | USA: 123 min (Showtime version). Rank: 647 | Charles Dickens' classic tale of Pip, a poor orphan who befriends an escaped convict and who grows up in the company of a bitter old woman, Miss Havisham, and her haughty young ward, Estella. Pip learns the rewards of both vindictiveness and gratitude as a result of these events. | Michael York, Sarah Miles, James Mason, Margaret Leighton, Robert Morley, Anthony Quayle, Joss Ackland, Rahcel Robts.,Heather Sears, Peter Bull, Andrew Ray, James' Faulkner, Rachel Roberts, Simon Gipps-Kent, Maria Charles. Written By: Charles Dickens (novel), Sherman Yellen. Rating: 6.1 | Last film of Heather Sears. |
| GREAT GUY | John G. Blystone 1937. Black and White - USA - English - 75 min | Canada: 66 min (Ontario). Rank: 647 | It's the New York Department of Weights and Measures vs. a systematic effort to cheat the public by giving them less product than they pay for..organized by crooked city alderman Marty Cavanaugh, who put the last chief deputy inspector in the hospital. The new man, pugnacious Johnny Cave, steps on the toes of influential merchants and gets increasing pressure, both political and strong-arm, to desist. Will the luck (if not the pluck) of the Irish pull him through? | James Cagney, Mae Clarke, James Burke, Ed Brophy, Henry Kolker, Henry Kolker, Bernadette Hayes, Edw.J.McNamara, RobtGleckIer, Joe Sawyer, Ed Gargan, Matty Fain, Mary Gorden, Kate P5rice (Woman @ accident), Frank O'Copnnor (Det), Arthur Hoyt (Fruniture sal. Written By: James Edward Grant (story), Henry McCarty (screenplay), and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.1 | This was James Cagney's first film in more than 11 months because of litigation following the termination of his contract at Warner Bros. |
| GREAT MAN | José Ferrer 1956. Black and White - USA - English - 98 min. Rank: 373 | On the death of popular national radio commentator Herb Fuller, underling Joe Harris undertakes to prepare an hour long, eulogistic program featuring interviews with Fuller's friends. But, though Fuller was beloved by 150 million of what all the pros term the "great unwashed," all Harris can find is victims, cynical users, and outright enemies of Fuller. Is this where the magic of editing comes in? | Jose Ferrer, Dean Jagger, Keenan Wynn, Julie London, Russ Morgan, Jim and Hennie Backus, Edward C.Platt, Robert Foulk (Mike), Lyle Talbot (Harry), Vicki Dugan. Written By: Al Morgan (novel), Al Morgan , and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.9 | Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 2 nominations. |
| GREAT MAN VOTES | Garson Kanin 1939. Black and White - USA - English - 72 min. Rank: 467 | In 1923, Gregory Vance, a widower with two children, is a former scholar who has turned from book-to-bottle. He works, slightly, as a night-watchman and his children, who know him for what he is and what he isn't, are his only admirers. Then, it is discovered that he is the only registered voter in a key precinct and the politicians, from both parties, arrive in droves bearing inducements. What he does about this situation, and the relatives who want to take his children away from him make up the story. | John Barrymore, Peter Holden, Virginia Weidler, Donald MacBride, William Demarest not inventoried 10-06, prob vinegar in garage. Written By: Gordon Malherbe Hillman (story), John Twist (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.7 | "The Screen Guild Theater" broadcast a 30 minute radio adaptation of the movie on November 3, 1940 with John Barrymore and Virginia Weidler reprising their film roles. |
| GREAT McGINTY | Preston Sturges 1940. Black and White - USA - English | Russian (only a few words) - 82 min. Rank: 185 | Told in flashback, Depression-era bum Dan McGinty is recruited by the city's political machine to help with vote fraud. His great aptitude for this brings rapid promotion from "the boss," who finally decides he'd be ideal as a new, nominally "reform" mayor; but this candidacy requires marriage. His in-name-only marriage to honest Catherine proves the beginning of the end for dishonest Dan.. | Brian Donlevy, Akim Tamiroff, Muriel Angelus, Allyn Joslin, William Demarest,Louis Jean Heydt, Arthur Hoyt. Rating: 7.5 | Won Oscar. Other titles for this project were "Biography of a Bum" and "Down Went McGinty". |
| GREAT SANTINI | Lewis John Carlino 1949. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 115 min. Rank: 259 | In 1962, the Marine Corps family, the Meechums - parents Lieutenant Colonel Wilbur "Bull" Meechum and Lillian Meechum, and their four children Ben Meechum, Mary Anne Meechum, Karen Meechum and Matthew Meechum - are moving like they do most years, this time to Beaufort, South Carolina. Bull - nicknamed "the Great Santini" - is known as a great pilot, but has gotten into much trouble in the past for his sophomoric behavior. He runs his family much as a military commander, where they are all to obey his orders without question. Everything he does within the family context he reasons is to build character, but in reality everything ends up being about him. The oldest Ben, approaching manhood, is the one of his offspring who has the greatest issue with his father. Ben wants his respect, but isn't sure if he really loves him. As Ben goes through his senior year in high school.. | Duvall, Blythe Danner, Michael O'Keefe, Lisa Jane Persky, Stan Shaw, Theresa Merritt, David Keith (from Pat Conroy play). Written By: Pat Conroy (novel), Lewis John Carlino (written for the screen by), and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.2 | Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 2 wins and 2 nominations. David Keith's film debut. |
| GREAT WALDO PEPPER | George Roy Hill 1975. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 107 min. Rank: 546 | A biplane pilot who had missed flying in WWI takes up barnstorming and later a movie career in his quest for the glory he had missed, eventually getting a chance to prove himself in a film depicting the dogfights in the Great War. | Robert Redford, Bo Svenson, Bo Brundin, Susan Sarandon, Geoffrey Lewis, Edward Herrmann, Margot ide,r Scott Newman. Written By: George Roy Hill (story), William Goldman (screenplay). Rating: 6.5 | When Ezra Stiles (Edward Herrmann) tries to do an "outside loop" in a homebuilt aeroplane, the aircraft actually is a modified De Havilland "Chipmunk". The prototype first flew in 1946. |
| GREAT WHITE HOPE | Martin Ritt 1970. Color - USA - English | Hungarian | German | Spanish - 103 min. Rank: 329 | Jack Jefferson (James Earl Jones) as a boxer, dealing with the racism and hatred of early-20th century white America. He is not only the first black heavyweight contender; he is also in love with a white woman. Jefferson must not only deal with the hatred of whites, he must also deal with the ostracism of some members of the black community who feel he has sold out. | James Earl Jones, Jane Alexander, Lou Gilbert, Joel Fluellen, Chester Morris, Robt.Webber, R.G.Armstrong, H.Holbrook, Beah Richards, Moses Gunn. Written By: Howard Sackler (play), Howard Sackler (screenplay). Rating: 7.0 | Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 1 win and 5 nominations. The original Broadway production of "The Great White Hope" by Howard Sackler opened at the Alvin Theater in New York on October 3, 1968, ran for 546 performances and won the 1969 Tony Award for the Best Play. James Earl Jones won the 1969 Tony Award for Best Actor in Play and recreated his stage role in the movie version. Jane Alexander won the 1969 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play and recreated her stage role in the movie version. The play author also wrote the screenplay for the movie version. |
| GREEN GROW THE RUSHES | Derek N. Twist 1951. Black and White - UK - English - USA: 77 min. Rank: 741 | A group of enterprising smugglers make use of an ancient charter to smuggle brandy into the southern coast of England. When their ship is seized it looks like they are in trouble until the Customs Officers try and find out where the brandy went. | Roger Livesey, Richard Burton, Honor Blackman, Geoffrey Keene (Prudhoe), Bryan Forbes. Written By: Howard Clewes (novel), Derek N. Twist. Rating: 5.6 | |
| GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER | Stanley Kramer 1967. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 108 min. Rank: 126 | Joey Drayton brings her fiancé, Dr. John Prentice, home to sunny San Francisco to meet her affluent parents. Their liberal persuasions are now put to the test, for although the young man is an ideal choice (he's highly and internationally respected in the medical field, and he's impeccably mannered, handsome, well dressed and of a respectable California family), he's black. The film, which covers one busy day in the Drayton home, is essentially a drawing-room comedy, a series of cross-conversations between the young doctor and the girl's parents, and finally between all sets of parents and offspring. A simple dinner is extended to include the doctor's parents, who fly up from Los Angeles for the evening, and the crusty but benevolent old Irish priest, a friend of the family. Thus, the title of the film . . . | Sidney Poitier, Spencer Tracy, Kathryn Hepburn, Katherine Houghton,Cecil Kellaway,Beah Richards,Roy E.Glenn, Virginia Christine,lsabel Sanford. Rating: 7.7 | Won 2 Oscars. Another 8 wins and 20 nominations. Spencer Tracy received a posthumous Best Actor Academy Award nomination for his film Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. His widow Louise attended the ceremony in the event that he would win. However, the award went instead to Rod Steiger for In the Heat of the Night. |
| GULLIVER'S TRAVELS | Peter R. Hunt 1977. Color (Eastmancolor) - UK | Belgium - English - 81 min. Rank: 788 | Part live-action and part-animated version of Gulliver's travels, especially his meeting with the tiny Lilliputians. | Richard Harris, Catherine Schell, voices of Murray Melvin, Bessie Love, Julian Glover. Live and animation. Did I really move a Harris film to disposal?. Written By: Don Black (screenplay), Jonathan Swift (novel). Rating: 5 | A mixture of live-action and animation. |
| GUNFIGHT | Lamont Johnson 1971. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 89 min. Rank: 613 | In Bajo Rio, they pay to see a man kill a bull. Today, they'll pay to see a man kill another man. | Kirk Douglas, Johnny Cash (lst), Jane Alexander, Raf Vallone, Karen Black, Keith Carradine (1st). Rating: 6.4 | A clip from this film featuring Johnny Cash as Abe Cross saying "You stay the hell away from me, ya hear?" Featured in Cash's final music video before his death. The video was the widely acclaimed "Hurt" directed by Mark Romanek |
| GUNGA DIN | George Stevens 1939. Black and White - USA - English - 117 min | 96 min (reissue). Rank: 157 | Based loosely on the poem by Rudyard Kipling, this takes place in British India during the Thuggee uprising. Three fun loving sergeants are doing fine until one of them wants to get married and leave the service. The other two trick him into a final mission where they end up confronting the entire cult by themselves as the British Army is entering a trap. This is of the "War is fun" school of movie making. It has the flavour of watching Notre Dame play an inferior high school team. | Cary Grant, Victor McLaglin, Douglas Fairbanks Jr, Sam Jaffe, Eduardo Cianelli (guru), Joan Fontaine, Montague Love (col.Weed), Robert Coote (Higgy), Abner Biberman(Chota), Lumsden Hare (Maj.Mitchell). Ann Evers, Olin Francis. Written By: Joel Sayre (screenplay), Fred Guiol (screenplay), and 9 more credits. Rating: 7.6 | Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win. Joan Fontaine fell in love with director George Stevens during filming. |
| GUNS OF DARKNESS | Anthony Asquith 1962. Black and White - UK - English - 102 min. Rank: 728 | Businessman (Niven) and his wife (Caron) are caught in the turmoil of a South American revolution, find themselves helping the overthrown president escape to the border. | David Niven, Leslie Caron, David Opatashu, James Robertson Justice, Eleanor Summerfield, Ian Hunter Not inv'd 10-06, poss vinegar in garage. Written By: Francis Clifford (novel), John Mortimer. Rating: 5.7 | Derek Godfrey is dubbed by Roger Delgado. |
| GUNS OF NAVARONE | J. Lee Thompson, and 1 more credit. 1961. Black and White (archive footage) | Color (Eastmancolor) - UK | USA - English | Greek | German - 158 min | Sweden: 156 min. Rank: 157 | Two powerful German guns control the seas past the Greek island of Navarone making the evacuation of endangered British troops on a neighboring island impossible. Air attack is useless so a team of six Allied and Greek soldiers is put ashore to meet up with partisans to try and dynamite the guns. The mission is perilous enough anyway but are the Germans on the island getting further help too?. | Gregory Peck, David Niven, Anthony Quinn, Stanley Baker, Anthony Quayle, Irene Papas, Gia Scala,James Darren, James Robertson Justice, Richard Harris, Bryan Forbes (Cohn), Allan Cuthbertson (Baker), Michael Trubshaw (Weaver), Percy Herbert (Grogan),. Written By: Alistair MacLean (novel), Carl Foreman (written for the screen by). Rating: 7.6 | Won Oscar. Another 4 wins and 10 nominations. One of the Rhodian locations used in the film has been renamed "Anthony Quinn Bay" after the actor was reported to have bought property nearby. |
| HAIRY APE | Alfred Santell. 1944. Black and White | USA - English - 92 min | During the 1940s, social class conflict is depicted when a spoiled socialite, traveling on a freighter, calls the ship's head stoker a hairy ape, provoking him into stalking the rich woman once ashore in New York. | William Bendix, Susan Hayward, Dorothy Comingore, John Loder, Alan Napier, Eddie Kane (Eugene O'Neil play). Written By: Eugene O'Neil (play), Robert Hardy Andrews (screenplay), Decla Dunning (screenplay). Rating: 6.2 | Nominated for Academy Award for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture, Michel Michelet and Edward Paul. |
| HALLELUJAH | King Vidor 1929. Black and White - USA - English - 109 min | USA: 100 min (Turner library print) (re-edited version) (re-release) | Argentina: 106 min. Rank: 329 | In a juke joint, sharecropper Zeke falls for a beautiful dancer, Chick, but she's only setting him up for a rigged craps game. He loses $100, the money he got for the sale of his family's entire cotton crop. His brother Spunk is mortally wounded in the shoot-out which follows. Zeke goes away but returns as Brother Zekiel the preacher. His forceful preaching draws the faithful in large numbers. Even Chick wants to be saved. Zekiel has asked the pretty Missy Rose to marry him, but Chick can still cast a spell over the preacher.. | Daniel L Haynes, Nina Mae McKinney, William Fontaine, Everett McGarrity, Victoria Spivey. Written By: King Vidor (story), Wanda Tuchock (scenario), and 3 more credits. Rating: 7.0 | Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win. This was King Vidor's first sound film. |
| HAMLET | Laurence Olivier 1948. Black and White - UK - English - 155 min - English - 155 min. Rank: 93 | William Shakespeare's tale of tragedy of murder and revenge in the royal halls of medieval Denmark. Claudius, brother to the King, conniving with the Queen, poisons the monarch and seizes the throne, taking the widowed Gertrude for his bride. Hamlet, son of the murdered King, mournful of his father's death and mother's hasty marriage, is confronted by the ghost of the late King who reveals the manner of his murder. Seeking revenge, Hamlet recreates the monstrous deed in a play with the help of some traveling actors to torment the conscience of the evil Claudius. In a visit with his mother, Hamlet expresses his anger and disappointment concerning her swiftly untimed marriage. Thinking a concealed spy in his mother's chamber to be the lurking Claudius, he mistakenly kills the meddling counselor, Polonius, father of Ophelia and Laertes. Claudius, on the pretext that Hamlet will be endangered by his subjects for the murder of Polonius, sends the prince to England. | Olivier, Eileen Herlie, Basil Sydney, Felix Alymer, Jean Simmons, Stanley Holloway, Peter Cushing. Written By: William Shakespeare, Laurence Olivier (uncredited) Rating: 7.9 | Won 4 Oscars. Another 10 wins and 4 nominations. Because they wanted to aim at a wider public in Hamlet than they had in Henry V, Sir Laurence Olivier and text adaptor Alan Dent modernized and/or clarified several obscure phrases in the play: "The cock, that is the trumpet to the morn" became "The cock, that is the herald to the morn", "recks not his own rede" became "minds not his own creed", "In the same figure, like the King that's dead" became "in the same figure, like the dead King Hamlet", and "It may be, very like" became "It may be, very likely", among others. |
| HAMLET | Tony Richardson 1969. Color (Technicolor) - UK - English - 117 min. Rank: 373 | The Hamlet of our time, for our time. | Nicole Wiullamson, Goden Jackson, Anbthony Hopkins, Judy Parfit, Mark Dignam, Marianne Faithful inc -pt. 2. Written By: William Shakespeare (play), Tony Richardson. Rating: 6.9 | Extra lines, made to sound like Elizabethan English, were actually added to this version because the order of two crucial scenes was reversed and this could not have been done with the play as written. Director Tony Richardson places Hamlet's taunting of Polonius after the "get thee to a nunnery" scene with Ophelia rather than several scenes before. |
| HAPPINESS C.O.D. | Charles Lamont 1935. Black and White - USA - English - 69 min. Rank: n/a | A young man, hard-pressed to pay off his mortgage and support his family, decides that he'll get money any way he can--honestly or otherwise. | Maude Eburne, Donald Meek, Irene Ware, William Bakewell, Polly Ann Young, Lona Andre, Jr.Coghlan Interesting B from Chesterfield Studio. Written By: Robert Ellis (story), Helen Logan (story). Rating: 5.9 | |
| HAPPY THIEVES | George Marshall 1962. Black and White - USA - English - 88 minin. Rank: 784 | Rita and Rex Steal The Picture! | Rex Harrison, Rita Hayworth, Joseph Wiseman,Gregoire AsIan, Alida Valli not inv'd 10-06, poss vinegar in garage. Written By: Richard Condon (novel), John Gay. Rating: 5.1 | The painting, known as the "Rokeby Venus" is by Velazquez and is his only known nude. It moved to England in 1813 to hang in Rokeby Park, Yorkshire. The painting was purchased by National Art Collections Fund in 1906 for the National Gallery, London. The suffragette Mary Richardson attacked and badly damaged the painting in 1914 but it was restored and returned to display. |
| HARD DAY'S NIGHT | Richard Lester 1964. Black and White - UK - English | German - 87 min. Rank: 157 | The Beatles--the world's most famous rock and roll band--travel from their home town of Liverpool to London to perform in a television broadcast. Along the way they must rescue Paul's unconventional grandfather from various misadventures and drummer Ringo goes missing just before the crucial concert. | The Beattles, Wilfred Brambell, Victor Spinetti (TV dir), Norman Rossington (Norm), Kenneth Haigh (Simon), Lionel Blair (TV choreogrpbr), Michael Trubshaw (casino mgr) 35mm. Rating: 7.6 | Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 2 wins and 4 nominations. Mal Evans, one of the Beatles assistants along with Neil Aspinall, makes a cameo in the film. He is the person carrying the upright bass/cello in between John Lennon and Anna Quayle (Millie) as they are talking in the hallway backstage at the television theater. |
| HARD DRIVER (aka LAST AMERICAN HERO) | Lamont Johnson 1973. Color - USA - English - 95 min | 91 min (FMC Library Print). Rank: 647 | Junior Jackson grew up in North Carolina where he used his driving skills to outrun the law while helping his father in the moonshine business. But when his father is jailed for selling the illegal whiskey, Junior decides to use his talent to become a pro. | Jeff Brdges, ValeriePerrine, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Art Lund, Gary Busey, Ed Lauter, Ned Beatty. Written By: Tom Wolfe (articles), William Roberts. Rating: 6.1 | Fictionalized version of Junior Johnson's career as a driver and moonshiner. |
| HARDER THEY FALL | Mark Robson 1956. Black and White - USA - Spanish | English - 109 min. Rank: 185 | After 17 years as a recognized and respected sports journalist in New York City, Eddie Willis finds himself out of a job when his newspaper folds. He's approached by a major fight promoter, Nick Benko, to act as a public relations man for his new heavyweight fighter Toro Moreno. Eddie knows the how the fight game works and after watching Toro in the ring, realizes Toro is nothing but a stiff who has no hope of succeeding. Benko offers him a sizable salary and an unlimited expense account and given his financial situation, he agrees. Benko's strategy to make money is one that has been used time again. Starting in California and moving east, they arrange a series of fights for Toro with stiffs and has-beens. All of the fights are rigged to build up his record and get him a fight with the heavyweight champion, Buddy Brannen, where they will make a sizable profit at the gate. Along the way.. | Humphrey Bogart, Rod Steiger, Jan Sterling,Mike Lane (Toro), Max Baer, Jersey Joe Wolcott, Edward Andrews, Harold J.Stone,Carlos Montalban, Nehemiah Persoff, Jack Albertson, Val Avery, Joe Greb (punchdrunk fighter, in unrehersed interview). Written By: Budd Schulberg (novel), Philip Yordan (screenplay). Rating: 7.5 | Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 nomination. Toro Moreno's manager, Luis Agrandi, is said to be from Argentina, but his accent in speaking Spanish to his fighter is obviously Mexican, not Argentine. |
| HARLOWE | Gordon Douglas 1965. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 125 min. Rank: 780 | In this story, Harlow starts in the movies as set dressing, the pretty girl who is used for the glamour shots. Refusing to descend to the casting couch for work, she finds that she is soon blacklisted from the industry. But an agent named Arthur sees something in Jean and begins representing her. For a long time, the jobs are scarce and consist mostly of receiving the pie in the face in low budget comedies. But Arthur's belief in Jean never wavers and when she finally graduates to featured roles, the critics say that she cannot act, but she is unforgettable. Polishing the image as the girl next door, but with some fire, she begins her climb to the top and becomes the girl every woman wants to look like and every man wants to have. But her own life is a disaster - unlike her screen life. | Carol Bakr, Peter Lawfod, Red Buttons, Michael Connors, RafValone, Angela Lansbury, Martin Balsam, Leslie Nielsen m: Carol Lynley, E.zimbalistjr" Barry Sullivan, Hurd Hatfield, Ginger Rogers, Hermoine Baddeley, Lloyd Bochner, Audrey Totter, John Williams,. Rating: 5.2 | Nominated for Golden Globe. Burt Bacharach and Hal David wrote two songs for the picture, "Harlow" and "Say Goodbye," but they weren't used. |
| HARRY AND SON | Paul Newman 1984. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 120 min. Rank: 728 | Only a hard-nose writes off his kid-- Only a hero has the courage to change. | P.N.,Robby Benson, Joanne Woodward, Elen Barkin, Wilford Brimley, Judith Ivey, Ossie Davios, Morgan Freeman. Written By: Ronald Buck (screen story and screenplay), Paul Newman (screen story and screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 5.7 | Tom Cruise auditioned for the role of 'Howard Keach'. |
| HARRY AND TONTO | Paul Mazursky 1974. Color - USA - English - Canada: 115 min | USA: 115 min | Argentina: 115 min. Rank: 238 | Harry is a retired teacher in his 70s living in the Upper West Side of New York City where his late wife and he raised his children--where he's lived all his life. When the building he lives in is torn down to make way for a parking garage, Harry and his beloved cat Tonto begin a journey across the United States, visiting his children, seeing a world he never seemed to have the time to see before, making new friends, and saying goodbye to old friends. | Art Carney. Ellen Burstyn, Chief Dan George, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Larry Hagman, Arthur Hunicutt, Josh Mostel, Melanie Mayron, Herbert Berghof. Written By: Paul Mazursky, Josh Greenfeld. Rating: 7.3 | Won Oscar. Another 2 wins and 3 nominations. Pieces of liver were placed around Art Carney in order to attract the cats that played Tonto into cuddling with Carney in pivotal scenes. |
| HARVEY | Henry Koster 1950. Black and White - USA - English - 104 min. Rank: 50 | The classic stage hit gets the Hollywood treatment in the story of Elwood P. Dowd who makes friends with a spirit taking the form of a human-sized rabbit named Harvey that only he sees (and a few privileged others on occasion also.) After his sister tries to commit him to a mental institution, a comedy of errors ensues. Elwood and Harvey become the catalysts for a family mending its wounds and for romance blossoming in unexpected places. | James Stewart, Josephine Hull, Cecil Kellaway, Peggy Dow, Charles Drake, Jesse White, Wallace Ford, Clem Bevens, Ida Moore (Mrs.McGiff), Pat Flaherty (cop), MAudie Prickett (Elvira), Minerva Urecal, Almira Sessions, Gino Corrado, Don Brodie. Written By: Mary Chase (play), Mary Chase (screenplay), and 2 more credits. Rating: 8.1 | Won Oscar. Another 1 win and 4 nominations. At the suggestion of James Stewart, the director changed many shots to make them wider so that "Harvey" would be in the frame. |
| HATFUL OF RAIN | Fred Zinnemann 1957. Black and White - USA - English - USA: 109 min | 104 min (FMC Library Print). Rank: 295 | A Korean War veteran's morphine addiction wreaks havoc upon his family. | Eva Marie Saint, Don Murray, Anthony Franciosa, Lloyd Nolan, Henry Silva, Gerald O'Loughlan, William Hickey (ScptMichael Gazzo and Alfred Hayes). Written By: Michael V. Gazzo (play), Michael V. Gazzo (screenplay), and 2 more credits. Rating: 7.1 | Nominated for Oscar. Another 4 wins and 6 nominations. Adapted from a Broadway play by Michael V. Gazzo. The original stage production opened on Nov. 9, 1955 at the Lyceum Theatre in New York and ran for 389 performances. Ben Gazzara and Shelley Winters played the two leads in the original stage play. |
| HEART LIKE A WHEEL | Jonathan Kaplan 1983. Black and White | Color - USA - English - 113 min. Rank: 506 | Shirley Muldowney is determined to be a top-fuel drag racer, although no woman has ever raced them before. Despite the high risks of this kind of racing and the burden it places on her family life, she perseveres in her dream. | Bonnie Bedelia,B.Bridges,Leo Rossi,Hoyt Axton,BilI McKinney,Anthony Edwards,Dean Paul Martin,Paul Bartel,Dick Miller,Terrance Knox (bio of race driver Shirley Muldowny). Rating: 6.6 | Nominated for Oscar. Another 3 nominations. Candy Clark, Kathryn Harrold, Susan Lucci and Jaime Lee Curtis were all considered for the role of Shirley Muldowney. Curtis was Shirley Muldowney's personal choice to play her, but the part eventually went to Bonnie Bedelia. |
| HEAVEN CAN WAIT | Warren Beatty and Buck Henry 1978. Color - USA - English - 101 min. Rank: 435 | A Los Angeles Rams quarterback, accidentally taken away from his body by an over-anxious angel before he was supposed to die, comes back to life in the body of a recently-murdered millionaire. | Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, James Mason, Jack Warden, Charles Grodin, Dyan Cannon, Buck Henry, Vincent Gardenia, Jospeh Maher, Bryant Gumbel, Dick Engberg, Deacon Jones, Dolph Sweet. Rating: 6.8 | Won Oscar. Another 8 wins & 14 nominations. The role of Joe Pendleton was originally a boxer in Here Comes Mr. Jordan. Warren Beatty originally wanted to have Muhammad Ali play the boxer. When Ali's boxing schedule prevented him from doing the movie, Beatty - who could not box but could play football - recast the lead role as a football player. Paul McCartney wrote a song for the film called "Did We Meet Somewhere Before?". Warren Beatty wasn't satisfied with it so the song was discarded. It was eventually used in Rock 'n' Roll High School. Premiere voted this movie as one of "The 50 Greatest Comedies Of All Time" in 2006. |
| HEAVEN KNOWS, MR. ALLISON | John Huston 1957. Color - USA - English | Japanese - 108 min. Rank: 206 | In 1944, in South Pacific, the castaway Marine Corporal Allison drifts in a raft to the Tuasiva Island, where he meets Sister Angela. She tells him that she is the only person in the island and was left behind by the runaway boat to Fiji Island while seeking the local priest. Stranded in the island, but with water, fish and fruits, their paradisiacal life ends when the Japanese arrive to build a base, forcing Allison and the nun to hide in a cave. The crude marine provides the necessary supply for their survival and falls in love for the nun. | Robert Mitchum, Deborah Kerr. Written By: John Lee Mahin (screenplay), John Huston (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.4 | Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 1 win and 5 nominations. Supposedly Robert Mitchum's favorite film role he played. |
| HELEN MORGAN STORY | Michael Curtiz 1957. Black and White - USA - English - 118 min. Rank: 632 | The 1920's and 30's career of singer Helen Morgan is followed from her early days singing outdoors in a carnival, through her speak-easy and chorus-girl days, to her stardom on Broadway in Ziegfeld's "Show Boat". Her involvement with Larry Maddux, a gin-runner and con-man, and Russell Wade, a prominent, married New York lawyer, and her decline thanks to these failed romances and alcohol are punctuated by performances of many of the songs she made famous. | Ann Blyth, Paul Neman, Richard Carlson, Gene Evans, Alan King, Cara Williams. Vocals dubbed by Gogi Grant. Written By: Nelson Gidding, Stephen Longstreet, and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.2 | LeRoy Prinz, who choreographed the musical numbers in this film, also choreographed the dances in the 1936 film version of "Show Boat", which featured the real 'Helen Morgan (I)' along with Irene Dunne, Allan Jones, Charles Winninger, and Paul Robeson. |
| HELL IN THE PACIFIC | John Boorman 1968. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English | Japanese - 103 min. Rank: 206 | During World War II, a shot-down American pilot and a marooned Japanese navy captain find themselves stranded on the same small uninhabited island in the Pacific Ocean. Following war logic, each time the crafty Japanese devises something useful, he guards it to deny its use to the Yank, who then steals it, its proceeds or the idea and/or ruins it. Yet each gets his chance to kill and/or capture the other, but neither pushes this to the end. After a while of this pointless pestering, they end up joining forces to build and man a raft.. | Lee Marvin, Toshiro Mifune. Written By: Alexander Jacobs (screenplay), Eric Bercovici (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.4 | The studio didn't like the original ending, so they used a scene of an explosion from the Peter Sellers film The Party. |
| HELL ON FRISCO BAY | Frank Tuttle 1955. Color (Warnercolor) - USA - English - 98 min. Rank: 647 | When ex-cop Steve Rollins is released from San Quentin after five years, his only thoughts are of revenge on the men who framed him for manslaughter. Back in San Francisco, his quest for the truth brings him up against ruthless waterfront gang boss Victor Amato. | Alan Ladd, Edward G.Robinson, Joanne Dru, William. Written By: Sydney Boehm (screenplay), Martin Rackin (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.1 | |
| HELLO, DOLLY | Gene Kelly 1969. Color - USA - English - 146 min. Rank: 373 | A matchmaker named Dolly Levi takes a trip to Yonkers, New York to see the "well-known unmarried half-a-millionaire," Horace Vandergelder. While there, she convinces him, his two stock clerks and his niece and her beau to go to New York City. In New York, she fixes Vandergelder's clerks up with the woman Vandergelder had been courting, and her shop assistant (Dolly has designs of her own on Mr. Vandergelder, you see). | Barbara Sterisand, Gene Kelly, Walter Matthau, Miochael Crawford, EJ.peaker, Marianne McAndrew, Tommy Tune, Louis Annstrong, Danny Locklin. Written By: Michael Stewart (book), Thornton Wilder (based on "The Matchmaker" by), and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.9 | Won 3 Oscars. Another 1 win and 13 nominations. In the Harmonia Gardens, the back wall behind the hat check girl, is the wall from the ballroom of the Von Trapps Villa in The Sound of Music. |
| John H. Auer 1954. Black and White - USA - English - 90 min | Germany: 88 min. Rank: 506 | A woman who believes her missing husband is in prison in Hawaii on a murder charge travels there to see if it actually is him. However, he escapes before she sees him, when he hears that his current girlfriend has been murdered. The wife searches the slum area of Honolulu known as Hell's Half Acre for him, he searches for his girlfriend's killer, and his gangland associates are looking for the two of them. | Wendell Corey, Elsa Lanchester, Nancy Gates, Phillip Ahn, Keye Luke, Marie Windsor, Jesse White,. Rating: 6.6 | ||
| HELLZAPOPPIN' | H.C. Potter 1941. Black and White - USA - English - 84 min. Rank: 157 | Ole and Chick are making a movie, but the director is not satisfied. So he brings them to a young writer, who outlines them an absurd story. They have to support Jeff and Kitty in setting up a musical revue in their garden and want to bring it up on Broadway. If Jeff is successful he can marry Kitty. But there is his rich friend Woody, who also loves Kitty, Chick's sister Betty, who's in love with a false Russian count, and detective Quimby. They all make the thing very complicated for Ole and Chick. After some mistakes they think that Kitty isn't the right girl for Jeff and they start sabotaging the show, but the Broadway producer is impressed and signs the contract. That's the story the writer tells them. For this he's sued by the director. | Olsen and Johnson, Martha Raye, Mischa Auer, Slim Gailard, Rex and possible Slam Stewart, Shemp Howard, Elisha Cook jr. Written By: Nat Perrin (play), Nat Perrin (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.6 | Nominated for Oscar. The woman who walks through the movie set shouting "Oscar!" is Catherine Johnson, Chic Johnson's wife. |
| HENRY V | Laurence Olivier 1945. Color (Technicolor) - UK - English | French (one scene only) - 137 min. Rank: 206 | In the inspired Olivier concept, Shakespeare's play begins as a performance in the Globe Theatre, shifting in broad cinematic terms to an epic narrative of Henry V, who had developed from a dissolute youth to a purposeful monarch. Proving his ability as a soldier and skillful leader, he unites the dissident factions in the English army and goes on to crush the French, against enormous odds, at Agincourt. Arranging a treaty with the French court, he woos Princess Katharine to whom he is formally betrothed as part of the peace agreement. | Laurence Olivier, Robert Newton, Leslie Banks (chorus), Renee Asherson Princess Katherine, Esmond Knight (Fluellen), Leo Genn, Felix Aylmer, Ralph Truman (Mountjoy), Harcourt Wms.(Charles VI), Ivy StHelier (Alice), Ernest Thesinger (Duke of Bari), Max Adr. Rating: 7.4 | Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 6 wins. The opening model shot of London was huge - 50 x 70 feet in size and made of plaster. It took 4 months to construct. |
| HER PRIMITIVE MAN | Charles Lamont 1944. Black and White - USA - English - 79 min. Rank: 791 | A woman sets out to prove that a writer's ideas about "savages" are wrong. She goes to the jungle and finds a "primitive" man to bring back, unaware that it is actually the writer himself disguised as a "savage." | Louise Albritton, Robert Paige, Robert Benchley, Edward Everett Horton, Helen Broderick, Ernest Truex, Walter Catlett, Louis Jean heydt, Ian Wolfe, Irving Bacon (Smith), Nydia Westman (At.Penelope) rough Pt 2. Written By: Michael Fessier, Dick Irving Hyland (story), and 1 more credit. Rating: 4.9 | |
| HERE COMES MR. JORDAN | Alexander Hall 1941. Black and White - USA - English - 94 min. Rank: 109 | Boxer Joe Pendleton, flying to his next fight, crashes..because a Heavenly Messenger, new on the job, snatched Joe's spirit prematurely from his body. Before the matter can be rectified, Joe's body is cremated; so the celestial Mr. Jordan grants him the use of the body of wealthy Bruce Farnsworth, who's just been murdered by his wife. Joe tries to remake Farnsworth's unworthy life in his own clean-cut image, but then falls in love; and what about that murderous wife? | Robt.Montgomery, Evelyn keyes, Claude Rains, Rita Johnson, Edward Everett Horton,Jas.Gleason,Iohn Emery,Donald MacBride,Don Costello, Halliwell Hobbes,Benny Rubin,Joseph Crehan (Dr),Tom Hanlon,SelmerJackson,ChesterConklin,Lloyd Bridges (bit). scpt:Sidney. Written By: Sidney Buchman (screenplay), Seton I. Miller (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.8 | Won 2 Oscars. Another 5 nominations. Claude Rains plays an agent of Heaven who finds a new body for the soul of Robert Montgomery. In Angel on My Shoulder Rains plays the Devil, who finds a new body for the soul of Paul Muni. Harry Segall, who wrote the story for the latter film, also wrote the play "Heaven Can Wait", upon which Here Comes Mr. Jordan is based. |
| HIDE IN PLAIN SIGHT | James Caan 1980. Color (Metrocolor) - USA - English - 92 min. Rank: 647 | This was based on a true story. About a man (Caan) who discovers that his ex-wife has disappeared along with their children. It seems that her new boyfriend works for some criminals. After being arrested, the government offers to let him enter, the newly developed Witness Protection Program in exchange for testifying against his employers. His bosses instructs him to marry his girlfriend so that she can't testify against him, they promise that they will take care of her. When he learns that they have done nothing, he accepts the governments offer. So, he and his wife and her children enter the program. Now her ex-husband goes to a lawyer cause he wants to sue the government for keeping him away from his children. | James Caan, Jill Eckenberry, Robert Viharo, Joe Grifasi, Barbara Rae, Kenneth McMillan, Josef Sommer, Danny Aiello. Written By: Leslie Waller (book), Spencer Eastman (screenplay). Rating: 6.1 | |
| HIGH ANXIETY | Mel Brooks 1977. Color - USA - English - 94 min. Rank: 546 | Dr. Richard Thorndyke arrives as new administrator of the Psychoneurotic Institute for the Very, VERY Nervous to discover some suspicious goings-on. When he's framed for murder, Dr. Thorndyke must confront his own psychiatric condition, "high anxiety," in order to clear his name. An homage to the films of Alfred Hitchcock; contains many parodies of famous Hitchcock scenes from THE BIRDS, PSYCHO, and VERTIGO. | Mel Brooks, Madeline Kahn, Cloris Leachman, Harvey Konnan, Ron Carey, Howard Morris (Prof.LiIIoman), Dick Van Patten (Dr.Wentwoprth), Barry Levenson (Bellboy), Murphy Dunne. Written By: Mel Brooks, Ron Clark, and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.5 | Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Richard H. Thorndike is hesitant to reveal his middle name (Harpo) to Madeline Kahn. In Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest, Cary Grant's Roger O. Thornhill never reveals his middle name. |
| HILLS HAVE EYES | Wes Craven 1977. Color - USA - English - 89 min | UK: 86 min (cut version). Rank: 574 | A family going to California accidentally goes through an Air Testing range closed to the public. They crash and are stranded in a desert. They are being stalked by a group of people, which have not emerged into modern times. | Susan Lanier, Robert Houston, Virginia Vincent, Russ Grieve. Rating: 6.4 | The desert locations for the film were extremely rough on the crew. Not only was the rocky terrain difficult to walk, let alone run through, but the temperature would reach up to 120 degrees during the day. After sunset though it would drop to a cold 30 degrees in a matter of minutes. |
| HIRELING | Alan Bridges 1973. Color (Eastmancolor) - UK - English - 108 min | USA: 95 min. Rank: 329 | The story of a chauffeur who falls in love with an aristocratic woman. | Robert Shaw, Sraah Miles, Peter Egan, Elizabeth Sellers, Caroline Mortimer, Patricia Lawrence (scpt. Wolf Mankowitz). Written By: L.P. Hartley (novel), Wolf Mankowitz. Rating: 7.0 | Won 3 BAFTA Film Awards. Another 1 win. |
| HIS DOUBLE LIFE | Arthur Hopkins 1933. Black and White - USA - English - 68 min (DVD). Rank: 546 | Priam Farrel is a celebrated artist but a social recluse. When his valet dies of a sudden illness, a mix-up leads to the body being identified as Farrel's. The timid artist then assumes the identity of his former servant, but finds himself faced with constant dilemmas as a result. | Lillian Gish, Roland Young, Montague Love, Lucy Beaumont, Lumsden Hare (from Arnold Bennett play. Shy artist, thought dead, escapes the world). Written By: Arnold Bennett (play), Clara Beranger (adaptation), and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.5 | |
| HIS GIRL FRIDAY | Howard Hawks 1940. Black and White - USA - English | French (only a few words) - 92 min. Rank: 50 | Hildy Johnson has divorced Walter Burns and visits his office to tell him that she is engaged to another man and that they are going to get married the day after. Walter Burns can't let that happen and frames the other man, Bruce Baldwin, for a lot of stuff getting him into trouble all the time, while he tries to steer Hildy back into her old job as his employee (editor of his newspaper). | Cary Grant, Rosiland Russell, Ralph Bellamy, Gene Lockhart, Helen Mack, Ernest Truex, Clarence Kolb, Porter Hall, Frank Jenks, Roscoe Keams, Abner Bibennan, Cliff Edwards, John Qualen, Billy Gilbert, Regis Toomey, Frank Ortb, Alma Kruger, Pat West (Warden. Written By: Charles Lederer (screenplay), Ben Hecht (play), and 1 more credit. Rating: 8.1 | Rosalind Russell was borrowed from MGM for this film. |
| HISTORY OF THE WORLD-PART I | Mel Brooks 1981. Color - USA - English | Latin | French - 92 min | Argentina: 97 min. Rank: 506 | From the dawn of man to the distant future, mankind's evolution (or lack thereof) is traced. Often ridiculous but never serious, we learn the truth behind the Roman Emperor, we learn what REALLY happened at the Last Supper, the circumstances that surrounded the French Revolution, how to test eunuchs, and what kind of shoes the Spanish Inquisitor wore. | Mel Brooks, Gregory Hines, Dom DeLuise, Madeline Kahn, Harvey Konnan, Cloris Leachman, Ron Carey, Sid Caesar, Pamela Ste[phenson, Mary-Margaret Humes, Howard Morris. Spike Mulligan. Orson Welles,narratoion.. Rating: 6.6 | Just like in Blazing Saddles, Richard Pryor was originally cast but had to pull out of the picture. His part eventually was taken by Gregory Hines (in his screen debut). Just before filming was to begin, Pryor had his infamous drug-related accident, catching fire and getting severely burnt. |
| 1978. Color - USA - English - 77 min | USA: 90 min. Rank: 574 | Bilbo Baggins the Hobbit was just minding his own business, when his occasional visitor Gandalf the Wizard drops in one night. One by one, a whole group of dwarves drop in, and before he knows it, Bilbo has joined their quest to reclaim their kingdom, taken from them by an evil dragon named Smaug. The only problem is that Gandalf has told the dwarves that Bilbo is an expert burglar, but he isn't.. | Animated -J.R.R.Tiolkien story w. Orson Bean voice. Written By: J.R.R. Tolkien (novel), Romeo Muller. Rating: 6.4 | John Stephenson, who voiced Bard (and others), was the original voice for Dr. Benton Quest in the original "Jonny Quest" cartoon series. After it was determined his voice was too similar to Mike Road's Race Bannon voice, he was replaced by Don Messick, who provides the voice for Balin (and others). | |
| HOME AT SEVEN (aka Murder on Monday) | Ralph Richardson 1952. Black and White - UK - English - 85 min. Rank: 435 | David Preston, a bank official goes missing for 24 hours and has no memory of the lost time, but when he learns that the steward of his local club has implicated him in a robbery, and has been found murdered. Preston finds he has no alibi, and the police want him to account for the lost hours. | Ralph Richardson, Margaret Leighton, Jack Hawkins, Campbell Singer. Written By: Anatole de Grunwald, R.C. Sherriff (play). Rating: 6.8 | |
| HONEY POT | Joseph L. Mankiewicz 1967. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - Italy: 125 min | UK: 150 min | 132 min (TCM print). Rank: 295 | Inspired by a performance of his favorite play, "Volpone," 20th-century millionaire Cecil Fox devises an intricate plan to trick three of his former mistresses into believing he is dying. Although the women are wealthy in their own right, all have good reason to covet his fortune. To assist him in his scheme, Fox hires William McFly, a gigolo and sometime actor, to act as his secretary/servant. Fox is soon visited at his "deathbed" by the three former mistresses: Merle McGill, a fading Hollywood sex symbol; Princess Dominique, who once took a cruise on Fox's yacht; and Lone Star Crockett, a Texas hypochondriac who travels with an enigmatic nurse/companion. As Fox and McFly act out the charade, things take an unexpected turn from comical farce to full-blown murder mystery. | Rex Harrison, Susan Hayward, Cliff Robertson, Capucine, Edie Adams, Maggie Smith, Adolfo Celi Udating of Volpone. Written By: Frederick Knott (play), Thomas Sterling (novel), and 2 more credits. Rating: 7.1 | Three dream sequences were filmed (though ultimately scrapped) of the women fantasizing Cecil's death and their inheritance. |
| HONEYMOON MACHINE | Richard Thorpe 1961. Color (Metrocolor) - USA - English - 87 min. Rank: 692 | The crew aboard the USS Elmira are working on a project, code named Operation Honeymoon. At the operation's core is the testing of the Magnetic Analyzer Computing Synchrotron, or MACS for short, which is a smart computer designed to do among other things determine where missiles are going to land. Civilian Jason Eldridge is the scientific mastermind aboard in charge of MACS' operation. His friend aboard, Lieutenant Ferguson Howard, sees other possible uses for MACS. He wants to know if MACS, if given the proper data, can accurately predict games of chance, such as those found in casinos. After discussing the situation, Fergie and Jason decide the game which MACS can predict the most accurately is roulette. They decide to test MACS' abilities, and possibly get rich, at their next port of call where there is a casino, namely Venice. They plan on using a system of Morse Code light signals from the ship to shore to transmit the information.. | Steve McQueen, Jim Hutton, Paula Prentis, Brigid Bazlen, Jack Weston. Written By: Lorenzo Semple Jr. (play), George Wells. Rating: 5.9 | When the Russian Consul, berating his code-breakers and underlings, begins hitting the desk with his shoe, this is a humorous reference to Russian leader Nikita Kruschev's actions at the United Nations in October of the previous year (1960), when Kruschev banged the rostrum with his shoe in anger at statements made by the Filipino delegation. |
| HOPSCOTCH | Ronald Neame 1980. Color - USA - English | German | French - 106 min. Rank: 329 | CIA agent Miles Kendig decides to get out of 'the game' and to ensure he's left alone he threatens to send his memoirs to the world's intelligence agencies. When the CIA doesn't believe him, he calls their bluff and starts writing and sending out chapters one by one. Realizing that their operations would be compromised, the CIA (led by Myerson and Cutter) set out to put an end to Kendig's plan by whatever means necessary. The heart of the movie follows a game of cat and mouse between a fumbling CIA and an artful Kendig. | Walter Matthau, Glenda Jackson, Sam Waterston, Ned Beatty, H.Lom. Written By: Brian Garfield (novel), Brian Garfield (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.0 | Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 2 nominations. The photograph of Ned Beatty on the desk where Matthau is typing his book is first seen with a smiling face. As the writing continues throughout the film, the expression gradually changes to anger and is finally shot off the desk, the bullet hitting the middle of his forehead. |
| HORSE FEATHERS | Norman Z. McLeod 1932. Black and White - USA - English - 68 min. Rank: 126 | Professor Quincy Adams Wagstaff has just been installed as the new president of Huxley College. His cavalier attitude toward education is not reserved for his son Frank, who is seeing the college widow, Connie Bailey. Frank influences Wagstaff to recruit two football players who hang out in a speakeasy, in order to beat rival school Darwin. Unfortunately, Wagstaff mistakenly hires the misfits Baravelli and Pinky. Finding out that Darwin has beaten him to the "real" players, Wagstaff enlists Baravelli and Pinky to kidnap them, which leads to an anarchic football finale. | Marx Bros,Thelma Todd, David Landau, Robert Greig, Nat Pendleton,. Written By: Bert Kalmar (screenplay), Harry Ruby (screenplay), and 3 more credits. Rating: 7.7 | Zeppo played Groucho's son, but in real life, Zeppo Marx was only 11 years younger than Groucho Marx. Groucho was born in 1890, and Zeppo in 1901. |
| HORSE'S MOUTH | Ronald Neame 1958. Color (Technicolor) - UK - English - 97 min. Rank: 185 | Gulley Jimson is broke, difficult, conniving, uncouth, and a welcher - but an artist. The visions in his head may not really satisfy him when realized, but the quest continues, for the perfect wall. The Beeders leave for six weeks of vacation and return to find a 7000 pound committment and the wall of their living room a national treasure, even though living with a wall mural of feet is not their cup of tea. Then - in a bombed out church scheduled for demolition - THE wall that can become his vision. | Alec Guiness, Kay Walsh, Renee Houston, Mike Morgan, Michael Gough, Ernest Thesiger Joyce Cary story -3 min @ end works. Written By: Joyce Cary (novel), Alec Guinness (screenplay). Rating: 7.5 | Nominated for Oscar. Another 4 wins and 3 nominations. When Nosey offers Bisson a bowl of stew, Michael Gough's voice on the soundtrack says "Buzz off!" but his lips form the words "Drop dead!" Presumably the line was changed when Mike Morgan died suddenly before the film was released. |
| HOSPITAL | Arthur Hiller 1971. Color - USA - English - 103 min. Rank: 295 | Herbert Bock is chief of medicine in a major teaching hospital. His wife has left him, he is impotent and his children have both disowned him. He is toying with the idea of suicide when patients begin dying, not from complications, but from the erroneous treatments the Hospital is giving them. People in the wrong beds are given wrong medicines, sent to operating theaters for incorrect surgery, and found in waiting rooms dead of natural causes. Barbara Drummond has come to take her comatose father back to the Sioux reservation where he operates a clinic and they each reach out to each other for emotional support, as a shadowy figure stalks the patients and staff of the hospital. | George C. Scott, Dianna Rigg, Barnard Hughes, Nancy Marchand, Richard A.Dysart, Stephen Elliott, Jordan Charney, Roberts Blossom, Robert Walden, Lenny Baker, Frances Sternhagen, Stockard Channing, Katherine Helmond Paddy Chayefsky plays. Rating: 7.1 | Won Oscar. Another 6 wins and 5 nominations. Barnard Hughes appears in a dual role in this movie. In addition to his role as Drummond, he also plays (under make-up and hairpiece) hysterectomy surgeon Dr. Mallory. |
| HOT MILLIONS | Eric Till 1968. Color (Metrocolor) - UK | USA - English - 106 min. Rank: 435 | A Cockney con-artist just out of prison replaces an insurance company's computer programmer and sends claim checks to himself in various guises at addresses all over Europe. Meanwhile, he falls in love with inept secretary and frustrated flutist, Maggie Smith. | Peter Ustinov, Maggie Smith, Karl Malden,Bob Newhart, Robert Morley, Caesar Romero HOTEL (Richar Quine'67) Rod Taylor, Catherine Spaak, Melvin Douglas, Karl Malden, Richard Conte, Michael Rennie, Merle Oberon, Kevin McCarthy, Carmen McRae Artthur Hailey n. Written By: Ira Wallach, Peter Ustinov. Rating: 6.8 | Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 nomination. In the film Maggie Smith takes Bob Newhart shopping where she is seen trying on clothes and buying an outfit for £20 at the Apple Boutique on Baker Street, London, a boutique owned and operated by The Beatles. The boutique, which was the first venture of their Apple Corps Ltd company, and featured a large psychedelic mural on the external wall, was only operated for several months in 1968 before being closed down and the contents given away to the public for free. Hot Millions provides one of the few rare filmed glimpses of th |
| HOTEL | Richard Quine 1967. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 124 min. Rank: 574 | This is the story of the clock-like movements of a giant, big city New Orleans hotel. The ambitious yet loyal manager, wrestles with the round-the-clock drama of its guests. A brazen sneak thief, who nightly relieves the guests of their property, is chased though the underground passages of the hotel. The big business power play for control and the thrilling crash of an elevator add to the excitement. | Rod Taylor, Catherine Spaak, Melvin Douglas, Karl Malden, Richard Conte, Michael Rennie, Merle Oberon, Kevin McCarthy, Carmen McRae Artthur Hailey novel. Written By: Arthur Hailey (novel), Wendell Mayes. Rating: 6.4 | Some early UK Pan film tie-in novels wrongly credited the boxer 'Archie Moore' as appearing in this film. |
| HOUSE ACROSS THE BAY | Archie Mayo 1940. Black and White - USA - English - 88 min. Rank: 613 | An aircraft designer falls for the wife of an imprisoned gangster. All goes well until the gangster gets out of prison.. | George Raft, Joan Bennett, Lloyd Nolan, Gladys George, Walter Pidgeon. Written By: Myles Connolly, Kathryn Scola. Rating: 6.3 | Hitchcock shot some scenes involving actors Pidgeon and Bennett in a plane. They state he did this as a favor to this film's producer Walter Wanger, with whom Hitchcock had worked on Foreign Correspondent. |
| HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY | John Ford 1941. Black and White - USA - English | Welsh - 118 min. Rank: 93 | Life is hard in a Welsh mining town and no less so for the Morgan family. Seen through the eyes of the family's youngest, Huw, we learn of the family's trials and tribulations. Family patriarch Gwyllim and his older sons work in the mines, dangerous and unhealthy as it is. Gwyllim has greater hopes for younger son how to honor his hard working parents. Huw who has his own ideas on how to honor his father. Daughter Angharad is the most beautiful girl in the valley and is very much in love with Mr. Gruffydd who isn't sure he can provide her the life she deserves. Times are hard and good men find themselves out of work and exploited by unseen mine owners. | Donald Crisp, Walter Pidgeon, Roddy McDowell, Maureen O'Hara, Anna Lee, John Loder, Sara Allgppd, Barry Fitzgerald, Patric Knowles (Ivor), Arthur Shields, Ann Todd, Rhys Williams, Lionel Pape (Mr.Evans),. Irving Pichel (narr), Mary Gordon inc. :50 m, midd. Written By: Philip Dunne (screenplay), Richard Llewellyn (novel). Rating: 7.9 | Won 5 Oscars. Another 4 wins and 5 nominations. The film was shot in black and white because the color of flowers in Southern California did not match those found in Wales. |
| HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE | Jean Negulesco 1953. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English | French | Latin | Arabic - 95 min. Rank: 373 | Three New York models, Shatze, Pola and Loco set-up in an exclusive appartment with a plan: tired of cheap men and a lack of money they intend to use all their talents to trap and marry three millionaires. The trouble is that's it's not so easy to tell the rich men from the huxters and even when they can, is the money really worth it? | Marilyn Monroe,Betty Grabel, LAuren Bacall, William Powell,Rory Calhoun,David Wayne,Alex D'Arcy,Fred Clark,Cameron Mitchell (B&W print). Written By: Nunnally Johnson (screenplay), Zoe Akins (plays), and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.9 | Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 nominations. This film was the final box-office bonanza in Betty Grable's 26-year movie career. According to a 1995 biography of Miss Grable, "The Girl With the Million Dollar Legs," written by Tom McGee, business would be fairly strong for Betty's next picture, Three for the Show, but her last feature, How to Be Very, Very Popular, was tagged, in Betty's own words, "a turkey." |
| HUCKLEBERRY FINN | Richard Thorpe 1939. Black and White - USA - English - 91 min. Rank: 373 | Huckleberry Finn, a rambunctious boy adventurer chafing under the bonds of civilization, escapes his humdrum world and his selfish, plotting father by sailing a raft down the Mississippi River. Accompanying him is Jim, a slave running away from being sold. Together the two strike a bond of friendship that takes them through harrowing events and thrilling adventures. | Mickey Rooney, Walter Connolly, William Frawley, Rex Ingram, Rex Ingram, Lynn Carver. Professionally condensed 45 m TFC version. Written By: Hugo Butler, Mark Twain (novel), and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.9 | MGM bought the rights to Mark Twain's novel specifically for Mickey Rooney. |
| Wallace Worsley 1923. Black and White | Color (tinted) - USA - - Canada: 95 min (Ontario) | USA: 98 min (TCM Print) | USA: 117 min (2006 alternate version) | 133 min (24 fps). Rank: 238 | Clopin bought Esmeralda from the gypsies when she was young. Dancing in the square at the festival, Esmeralda is spotted by Jehan, the evil brother of the good archdeacon Claude Frollo. When he sets Quasimodo out to kidnap Esmeralda, Phoebus, Captain of the Guards, rescues her and captures Quasimodo. The courts sentence Quasimodo to be flogged, and the only one who will give him water while he is tied in the square is Esmeralda. After Clopin forces Esmeralda to leave Phoebus at the ball, she sends a note to Phoebus to meet her at Notre-Dame. In the garden, Phoebus is stabbed in the back by Jehan. Esmeralda is accused of stabbing Phoebus, convicted by the courts and sentenced to hang. When Esmeralda again rejects Jehan, he tells her that Phoebus is dead, even though it is not true. Clopin, Phoebus and Quasimodo all try different ways to save Esmeralda. | Lon Chaney, Patsy Ruth Mille,r Ernest Torrence, Tully Marshgall, Norman Kerry music?. Written By: Victor Hugo (novel), Perley Poore Sheehan (adaptation), and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.3 | Wallace Worsley Jr., son of the film's director, said that many of the extras for the massive crowd scenes were recruited in downtown Los Angeles for $1.00 a night and meals. Among them, he said, were a good number of prostitutes, who did a "considerable sideline business" on the sets. Universal also hired 50 Pinkerton detectives and put them among the crowd, and their job was to catch pickpockets and various other thieves among the extras. | |
| HUNTER | Buzz Kulik 1980. Color (Metrocolor) - USA - English - 117 min. Rank: 647 | In order to track down bail jumpers, Ralph 'Papa' Thorson goes on a series of routine and not-so-routine searches. Sometimes he takes down his quarry easily. At other times, he's forced to extreme measures which result in the injury or death of a lawbreaker. And then again, there are other moments when his own life is on the line. It's all enough to make Thorson question what he has done with his life. | Steve McQueen, Eli Wallich, Kathryn Harrold, LaVar Burton, Ben Johnson McQueen's last film, some in this neighborhood HUSTLER (Robert Rosson"61) Paul Newman, Jackie Gleason, George C. Scott, Myron McCormick, Murray Hamilton, Michael Constantine, Jake LaMo. Written By: Christopher Keane (book), Ralph Thorson (novel), and 3 more credits. Rating: 6.1 | When Steve McQueen arrived at one of locations used for the film, he was checked into a really nice hotel with all the amenities available at the time. When he found out that the crew was staying in a cheaper motel nearby, he checked out of the hotel and stayed in the motel with the crew. |
| HUSTLER | Robert Rossen 1961. Black and White - USA - English - 134 min. Rank: 35 | "Fast" Eddie Felson is a small-time pool hustler with a lot of talent but a self-destructive attitude. His bravado causes him to challenge the legendary "Minnesota Fats" to a high-stakes match, but he loses in a heartbreaking marathon. Now broke and without his long-time manager, Felson faces an uphill battle to regain his confidence and his game. It isn't until he hits rock bottom that he agrees to join up with ruthless and cutthroat manager Bert Gordon. Gordon agrees to take him on the road to learn the ropes. But Felson soon realizes that making it to the top could cost him his soul, and perhaps his girlfriend. Will he decide that this is too steep a price to pay in time to save himself? | Paul Newman, Jackie Gleason, George C. Scott, Myron McCormick, Murray Hamilton, Michael Constantine, Jake LaMotta, Vincent Gardenia. DP:E.Shuftan,oscar. Written By: Sidney Carroll (screenplay), Robert Rossen (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 8.2 | Ranked #6 on the American Film Institute's list of the 10 greatest films in the genre "Sports" in June 2008. |
| I AM THE LAW | Alexander Hall 1938. Black and White - USA - English - 83 min. Rank: 546 | Law professor John Lindsay volunteers to clean up the corruption and graft in his town when the authorities seem unable to do so. When the gangsters infiltrate his staff, he recruits his law students to form an army of law enforcers. | Edw. G.Robinson, Otto Kruger, Wendy Barrie, John Beal, Louis Jean heydt, Fay Helm, Barbara O'Neil. Written By: Fred Allhoff (story), Jo Swerling (screenplay). Rating: 6.5 | Re-released in 1955, as a double-feature with Dead Reckoning. |
| I CONFESS | Alfred Hitchcock 1953. Black and White - USA - English | French | Italian (only a few words) | German (only a few words) - 95 min. Rank: 259 | Otto Kellar and his wife Alma work as caretaker and housekeeper at a Catholic church in Quebec. Whilst robbing a house where he sometimes works as a gardener, Otto is caught and kills the owner. Racked with guilt he heads back to the church where Father Michael Logan is working late. Otto confesses his crime, but when the police begin to suspect Father Logan he cannot reveal what he has been told in the confession. | Montgomery Clift, Anne Baxter, Karl Malden, Brian Aherne, Dolly Hass, O.E.Hasse Shot in Quebec (Montreal?) IF .. (Lindsay Anderson'68 UK) Malcolm MacDowell, Dabid Wood, Richard Warwick, Robert Swann, Christine Noonan, Arthur Lowe, Mona Washburne, Grahsa. Written By: George Tabori (screen play), William Archibald (screen play), and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.2 | Walking through the town, Fr. Logan passes in front of a cinema showing The Enforcer. |
| I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BIRD SINGS | Fielder Cook 1979. Color - USA - English - 96 min. Rank: 373 | A true story based on the early life of actress, professor and author Maya Angelou. The story traces her life from when she and her brother move in with her mother to the trauma of being raped as a little girl by one of her mother's boyfriends and the several years of silence that came after the attack. | Diahann Carroll, Ruby Dee, Esther Rolle Roger E.Mosley Maya Angelou play. Written By: Maya Angelou (book), Maya Angelou , and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.9 | |
| I MET MY LOVE AGAIN | 1938. Black and White - USA - English - 77 min. Rank: 780 | College sweethearts Julie and Ives have planned to marry as soon as school is over. Their plans go amiss when Julie meets a weak writer and runs off to marry him. After her husband dies, she's left in Paris, penniless and with a daughter to support. She decides to return to her home town with the intent to renew her romance with Ives. His family and a scheming co-ed vow to avert a reunion of the two.. | Henry Fonda, Dae Mae Whittey, Alan Marshal, Louise Platt, Alan Baxter, Tim Holt. Written By: Allene Corliss (novel), David Hertz. Rating: 5.2 | Cameo: [Hal Mohr] the cinematographer appears as a college boy at the beginning of the movie. |
| I NEVER SANG FOR MY FATHER | Gilbert Cates 1970. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 92 min. Rank: 238 | Hackman plays a New York professor who wants a change in his life, and plans to get married to his girlfriend and move to California. His mother understands his need to get away, but warns him that moving so far away could be hard on his father. Just before the wedding, the mother dies. Hackman's sister (who has been disowned by their father for marrying a Jewish man) advises him to live his own life, and not let himself be controlled by their father. | Melvin Douglas, Gene Hackman, Dorothy Stickney, Estelle Parsons, Elizabeth Hubbard, Lovelady Powell Robert Anbderson play. Written By: Robert Anderson (play), Robert Anderson (screenplay). Rating: 7.3 | Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 1 win and 3 nominations. |
| I OUGHT TO BE IN PICTURES | Herbert Ross 1982. Color - USA - English | Spanish - 108 min. Rank: 692 | Grandmother has nothing to say when Libby tells her that she is off to LA to look up Dad, a Hollywood screenwriter. Grandmother has been in a New York cemetery for six years and Dad has been out of Libby's life for 16 of her 19 years. Libby arrives in LA on a Tuesday and phones Dad the one night that Stephanie, who does Jane Fonda's hair, stays over. Stephanie is there the next morning when Libby decides she needs to tell her story face-to-face. | Walter Matthau, Ann-Margret, Dinah Manhoff; Lance Guest, Lewis Smith, Martin Ferrero, David Faustino, Michael Dudicoff Neil Simon play. Written By: Neil Simon (play), Neil Simon (screenplay). Rating: 5.9 | Herbert Ross, who directed this movie, also directed the play of it on the stage on Broadway. |
| I'LL BE SEEING YOU | William Dieterle, and 1 more credit. 1944. Black and White - USA - English - 85 min. Rank: 329 | Ginger Rogers is a convict released from state penitentiary for a Christmas leave. On the train, she meets Sergeant Joseph Cotton who has been released from a mental hospital and she invites him home for dinner. | Ginger Rogers, Joseph, Cotton, Shirley Temple, Spring Byington, Tom Tully, John Derek mute print,not invd 10-06. pss vinegar. Written By: Charles Martin (play), Marion Parsonnet. Rating: 7.0 | Director George Cukor was replaced by William Dieterle. |
| ILLUSTRATED MAN | Jack Smight 1969. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 103 min. Rank: 714 | A man, whose body is almost completely covered in tattoos, is looking for the woman who drew all the intricate designs on him. Each tattoo hides a futuristic story, which you experience when you stare at it. | Rod Steiger, Claire Bloom, Robt. Drivas, Don Dubbins, Jason Evers, Tim Weldon, Christie Matchett Ray Bradbury story. Written By: Ray Bradbury (book), Howard B. Kreitsek (screenplay). Rating: 5.8 | According to the Guinness Book of World Records, this film has the record for longest time applying make-up each day, at 20 hours. |
| IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT | Norman Jewison 1967. Color - USA - English - 109 min. Rank: 70 | Detective Virgil Tibbs is caught up in the racial tension of the US South when he is arrested after the murder of a prominent businessman. Tibbs was simply waiting for his next train at the station in Sparta, Mississippi and the confusion is soon resolved but when local police chief Gillespie learns that Tibbs is the Philadelphia PD's number one homicide expert, he reluctantly asks for his assistance. The murdered man, Mr. Colbert, had come to Sparta from the North to build a new factory and his wife and business associates immediately point the finger at Endicott, the most powerful man in the county and the one who had the most to lose if a major new employer comes to the area. Tibbs' life is clearly in danger but he perseveres in a highly charged and racially explosive environment until the killer is found. | Rod Streiger, Sidney Poitier, Warren Oates, Lee Grant, Scott Wilson, Larry Gates, Quentin Dean, James Patterson, Anthony James, Willaim Schallert 35mm. Written By: Stirling Silliphant (screenplay), John Ball (novel). Rating: 8 | Won 5 Oscars. Another 17 wins and 12 nominations. Mississippi was eventually ruled out as a location due to the existing political conditions. Sparta, Illinois, was selected as the location, and the town's name in the story was changed to Sparta so that local signs would not need to be changed. The greenhouse was added to an existing home and filled with $15,000 worth of orchids. |
| INCIDENT | Larry Peerce 1967. Black and White - USA - English - 107 min. Rank: 126 | Stark melodrama about two thrill seeking tough guys who terrorize late-night passengers on a New York City train. The random victims are more concerned with their own problems than helping each other and pray that they won't be next. But it's going to take a lot more than prayer to end this nightmare of fear and violence. Film debut of both Martin Sheen and Tony Musante as the hoodlums. | Tony Musante, Martin Sheen(debut), Beau Bridges, Jack Gilford, Thelma Ritter, Brock Peters, Ruby Dee, Ed McMahon, Diana Van Der ViIs, Mike Kellin, Jan Sterling, Gary Merrill, Donna Mills (dbeut). Rating: 7.7 | Ed McMahon's movie acting debut. |
| INCREDIBLE SHRINKING WOMAN | Joel Schumacher 1981. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 88 min. Rank: 788 | After being exposed to a bizarre mixture of household chemicals, Pat Kramer begins to shrink. This baffles scientists, makes parenting difficult, warms the hearts of Americans, and captures the attention of a group of people who want to take over the world. This evil group plots to kidnap Pat and perform experiments on her so that they can eventually shrink everyone. | Lily Tomlin, Chas. Grodin, Ned Beatty, Henry Gibson, Elizabeth Wilson, Mark Blankfield, Pamela Bellwood,John Glove,Mike Douglas. Written By: Richard Matheson (novel), Jane Wagner. Rating: 5 | John Landis was the original director of the project. In his version, the film would have ended with the heroine giving a speech in Washington D.C. when she was less than a foot tall. |
| INNOCENT YEARS | . - - - - - . Rank: n/a | Documentary, 20th century US history. Rating: | ||
| INTERNATIONAL HOUSE | A. Edward Sutherland 1933. Black and White - USA - English - 68 min (copyright length). Rank: 373 | Professor Wong has invented a television machine and invites everyone to see it at China's International House Hotel. Every time Tommy Nash attempts to wed his fiancée Carol Fortescue he comes down with an illness, and when he breaks out in a rash the hotel is quarantined. Into this hotel flies Professor Quail in his auto-gyro. | W.C.Fields, Peggy Hopkins Joyce, Stuart Erwin"Burns and Allen, Bela Lugosi, Franklin Pangborn, Sterling Holloway, Cab Calloway (reefer Man), Rudy Valluee, Rose Marie, Col. Stoopnagel and Bud. Written By: Francis Martin (screenplay), Walter DeLeon (screenplay), and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.9 | One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since. |
| INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS | Don Siegel 1956. Black and White - USA - English - 80 min. Rank: 70 | Dr Miles Bennell returns his small town practice to find several of his patients suffering the paranoid delusion that their friends or relatives are impostors. He is initially skeptical, especially when the alleged dopplegängers are able to answer detailed questions about their victim's lives, but he is eventually persuaded that something odd has happened and determines to find out what is causing this phenomenon. This film can be seen as a paranoid 1950s warning against those Damn Commies or, conversely, as a metaphor for the tyranny of McCarthyism (or the totalitarian system of Your Choice) and has a pro- and epilogue that was forced upon Siegel by the studio to lighten the tone. | Kevin McCarthy, Dana Wynter, Larry Gates, King Donovan, Carolyn Jones,Jean WilIes(Sally),Ralph Dumke,Virginia Christine(WiIma),Tom Fadden (unle Ira), Kenneth Pattrerson (Mr.Discoll), Guy Way (Sam Jensen), Bobby Clark(Jim Grimaldi),Dabbs Greer(Mac), Pat O. Written By: Daniel Mainwaring (screenplay), Jack Finney (Collier's magazine serial), and 1 more credit. Rating: 8 | The tunnel scene where the hero hides briefly from the townspeople was filmed at Bronson Cave in Griffith Park, famous with locals as the Bat Cave. |
| INVITATION TO HAPPINESS | Wesley Ruggles 1939. Black and White - USA - English - 97 min. Rank: 329 | Trainer Pop Hardy thinks his heavyweight boxer 'King' Cole could be champ..some day; he wants to sell a half interest in Cole to his rich friend Wayne. Wayne's daughter Eleanor is disdainful, but brash Cole manages to get under her skin. Can a society dame and a mug find happiness together? And can she wait for his slow rise to fame? | Irene Dunne, Fred MacMurray, Chares Ruggles, William Collier,sr, Eddie Hogan boxing. Written By: Claude Binyon (screenplay), Mark Jerome (story). Rating: 7.0 | One of over 700 Paramount productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since. |
| IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT | Frank Capra 1934. Black and White - USA - English - 105 min | West Germany: 65 min (cut TV version). Rank: 27 | Ellie Andrews has just tied the knot with society aviator King Westley when she is whisked away to her father's yacht and out of King's clutches. Ellie jumps ship and eventually winds up on a bus headed back to her husband. Reluctantly she must accept the help of out-of- work reporter Peter Warne. Actually, Warne doesn't give her any choice: either she sticks with him until he gets her back to her husband, or he'll blow the whistle on Ellie to her father. Either way, Peter gets what (he thinks!) he wants .. a really juicy newspaper story. | Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, Walter Connolly, Roscoe Karns, Alan Hale, Ward Bond 5 major oscars Robert Riskin scnply. Written By: Robert Riskin (screenplay), Samuel Hopkins Adams (short story). Rating: 8.3 | "Lux Radio Theater" broadcast a 60 minute radio adaptation of the movie on March 20, 1939 with Claudette Colbert and Clark Gable reprising their film roles. |
| IT SHOULD HAPPEN TO YOU | George Cukor 1954. Black and White - USA - English - 86 min. Rank: 295 | Gladys Glover has just lost her modelling job when she meets filmmaker Pete Sheppard shooting a documentary in Central Park. For Pete it's love at first sight, but Gladys has her mind on other things -- like making a name for herself. Through a fluke of advertising she winds up with her name plastered over 10 billboards throughout city. Suddenly all of New York is clamoring for Gladys Glover without knowing why and playboy Evan Adams III is making a play for Gladys that even Pete knows will be hard to beat. | Judy Holiday, Peter Lawford, Jack Lemmon, Michael O'Shea, Vaughn Taylor Garson Kanin script. Rating: 7.1 | Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 nomination. This story was conceived when Garson Kanin, trying to cheer up his wife Ruth Gordon, was driving by Columbus Circle. He told her he was going to put her name on "that billboard there" in the biggest letters. He didn't. He wrote a screenplay instead. Gordon suggested that the lead should be Judy Holliday. Kanin had originally considered a male lead, Danny Kaye. When he finished the screenplay, the lead had been written for Holliday. |
| ITS A GIFT | Norman Z. McLeod 1934. Black and White - USA - English - 68 min (TCM print). Rank: 157 | The owner of a general store (Harold Bisonette) is hounded by his status-anxious wife ("That's 'Bee-soh-nay'" and "I have no maid you know"). To get some sleep he goes out on the porch where he is tormented by a little boy from the floor above (Baby Dunk) and an insurance salesman down below ("LaFong. Capital L, small a.."). He uses an inheritance to buy an orange ranch through the mail, then drives off with his family for California. The orange grove consists of a withered tree, the ranch house is but a shack, and the car falls to pieces. But a racetrack operator wants the land, so all ends happily. | W.C. Fields, Baby LeRoy, Kathleen Howard, Tommy Bupp, Morgan Wallace. Written By: Jack Cunningham (screenplay), J.P. McEvoy (from "The Comic Supplement"), and 9 more credits. Rating: 7.6 | One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since. |
| ITS A WONDERFUL LIFE | Frank Capra 1946. Black and White - USA - English - 130 min | Spain: 118 min (25 fps) (DVD edition). Rank: 3 | George Bailey has spent his entire life giving of himself to the people of Bedford Falls. He has always longed to travel but never had the opportunity in order to prevent rich skinflint Mr. Potter from taking over the entire town. All that prevents him from doing so is George's modest building and loan company, which was founded by his generous father. But on Christmas Eve, George's Uncle Billy loses the business's $8,000 while intending to deposit it in the bank. Potter finds the misplaced money and hides it from Billy. When the bank examiner discovers the shortage later that night, George realizes that he will be held responsible and sent to jail and the company will collapse, finally allowing Potter to take over the town. Thinking of his wife, their young children, and others he loves will be better off with him dead, he contemplates suicide. But the prayers of his loved ones result in a gentle angel named Clarence coming to earth to help George.. | James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Thos. Mitchell, Henry Travers, Beulah Bondi, Frank Faylen, Ward Bond, Gloria Graham, Frank Albertson, H.B.Warner, Todd Karns, Smuel S.Hines, Frank Faylen, Mary Treen, Sheldon Leonar, Ellen Corby, H.B.Warner. Written By: Frances Goodrich (screenplay), Albert Hackett (screenplay), and 4 more credits. Rating: 8.7 | Top 250 #29 | Nominated for 5 Oscars. Another 4 wins. While filming the scene where George prays in the bar, James Stewart has said that he was so overcome that he began to sob right then and there. Later, Frank Capra reframed the shot so it looked like a much closer shot than was actually filmed because he wanted to catch that expression on Stewart's face. |
| JACKIE ROBINSON STORY | Alfred E. Green 1950. Black and White (black and white version) | Color (color version) - USA - English - 76 min. Rank: 574 | Biography of Jackie Robinson, the first black major league baseball player in the 20th century. Traces his career in the negro leagues and the major leagues. | Jackie Robinson, Ruby Dee, Minor Watson, Louise Beavers, Richard Lane, Harry Shannon, Ben Lessy, Richard Fluellen. Written By: Arthur Mann, Louis Pollock, and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.4 | Final film of Laurence Criner. |
| JANE EYRE | Delbert Mann 1971. Color (Eastmancolor) - UK | USA - English - 110 min. Rank: 435 | Jane Eyre is an orphan, sent to Lowood school, and eventually becomes a governess at Thornfield hall to a girl named Adele. While she is there, many strange things happen and eventually she and Edward Rochester, owner of Thornfeild and Adele's guardian, fall in love. Suddenly, when Jane is about to win the happiness she deserves, a dark secret comes to light, and it will take all of her courage, love and understanding to triumph. | George C. Scott, Susannah York, Ian Bannen, Jake Hawkins, Rahcel Kempson, Jean Marsh, Nyree Dawn Porter. Written By: Charlotte Brontë (novel), Jack Pulman. Rating: 6.8 | Won Primetime Emmy. Another 3 nominations. As with most made-for-TV films of that era, this film premiered theatrically in Europe, but was only shown on television in the United States. |
| JANE EYRE | . - - - - - . Rank: n/a | I thought we had the classic version but can'tlocate it so guess not.. Rating: | ||
| JAZZ BOAT | Ken Hughes 1960. Black and White - UK - English - 96 min. Rank: 15 | British musical comedy | Anthony Newley, Annne Aubrey, Lionel Jeffrioes, David Lodge, Bernie Winters, James Booth Music:Ted Heath. Written By: John Antrobus, Ken Hughes, and 1 more credit. Rating: 8.4 | In the cabin scene, Anne Aubrey climbs on top of Anthony Newley. During the first take, she jumped up and rushed off the set complaining to Albert R. Broccoli that Anthony was being disgusting. It turns out that, as a joke, he had a Coca Cola bottle in his pants pocket and she had leant on it. |
| JEANNE EAGLES | George Sidney 1957. Black and White - USA - English - 108 min. Rank: 632 | A poor but beautiful girl named Jeanne takes part in a beauty contest but fails to be crowned its queen. Nevertheless both her determination and her shapely figure impress Sal Satori, the organizer, so much that he gives her a job as a carnival dancer. He becomes her friend and, before long, her great love. However, being a hootchie-kootchie dancer is not Jeanne's dream: she wants to be an actress. That is why Jeanne takes advantage of the Satori company being in New York to consult a renowned drama teacher, Mrs. Neilson. The latter thinks she CAN act and she is proved right since the audience of the first play Jeanne is in responds favorably. But Jeanne will only feel wholly satisfied when she acquires star status. She soon obtains the part which will lead her to stardom by stealing it from Elsie Desmond, an aging actress who planned a comeback through it. In desperation, Elsie commits suicide.. | Jeff Chandler, Kim Hunter, Agnes Moorehead, Charles Drake, Larry Gates, Virginia Grey, Gene Lockhart, Joe DeSantis, Murray Hamilton, Will Wright, , Snub Pollard (Bates), Joseph Turkel (Eddie), Frank Borzge (Dir),. Written By: Daniel Fuchs (screenplay), Sonya Levien (screenplay), and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.2 | As with most film biographies, this film is more screenwriter's fancy than fact. Among other things, Jeanne Eagels was never a carnival dancer and was never known to have been the cause of another performer's suicide. Further, the character of Sal Satori was a fictional compilation character based upon several men in Ms. Eagels's life. |
| JERK | Carl Reiner 1979. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 104 min. Rank: 329 | Navin is an idiot. He grew up in Mississippi as adopted son of a black family but on his 18th birthday he feels he wants to discover the rest of the world and sets out to St. Louis. There everyone exploits his naivety, but then a simple invention brings him a fortune. | Steve Martin(lst), Bernadette Peters, Catlin Adams, Mabel King, Richard Ward, Dick Anthony Williams, Bill Macey, Jackie Mason, Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry (MutPrt). Written By: Steve Martin (story), Carl Gottlieb (story), and 3 more credits. Rating: 7.0 | Hartunian's gas station is actually located on the corner of Halstead and Rosemead Blvd in Pasadena, Ca. The gas station has since been torn down and a Carl's Jr. Restaurant has been constructed. In addition, the hill that the shooter is climbing to fire upon the gas station is "Green Hill", which has been developed into a professional office center. |
| JIVIN' IN BEBOP | 1946. - USA - English. Rank: 574 | Diz and his men enthusiastically attack bop classics such as Salt Peanuts, Shaw 'Nuff or Things To Come. | Dizzy Gillespie, Helen Humes, Milt Jackson, Ray Brown, Kenny Carke? in clips. Rating: 6.4 | |
| JOHN OF THE FAIR | 1970. - - - - - . Rank: n/a | 14 yr old fights for his inheritance 62m. Rating: | ||
| JUAREZ | William Dieterle 1939. Black and White - USA - English | Spanish - 125 min | USA: 121 min (Turner library print) | 132 min (original release). Rank: 373 | The newly named emperor Maximilian and his wife Carolotta arrive in Mexico to face popular sentiment favoring Benito Juraez and democracy. He tries to appease the Mexicans but fails. Abraham Lincoln is supporting Juarez and asks the French to withdraw support for Maximilian. Carlotta goes to France to plead with Napoleon, to no avail. | Paul Muni, Bette Davis,Brian Aherne, Claude Rains, John Garfield, Gale Sondegaard, Donald Crisp, Giulbert Roland, Louis Calhern, Grant Mitchell :30 prof.abridgement. Written By: Franz Werfel (play), Bertita Harding (novel), and 3 more credits. Rating: 6.9 | Nominated for 2 Oscars. An English version of Franz Werfel's play titled "Juarez and Maximilian" opened on Broadway at the Guild Theatre on October 11, 1926 and ran for 48 performances. This stage version's cast included Alfred Lunt and Edward G. Robinson. The film is an extremely loose adaptation of Werfel's play. Juarez never appears in the stage version. The only one of Werfel's works to be quite faithfully adapted into a Hollywood film was "The Song of Bernadette", in 1943. (Werfel's play "Jacobowsky and the Colonel" was filmed by Hollywood as a |
| JULIET OF THE SPIRITS | Federico Fellini 1965. Color (Technicolor) - Italy | France - Italian | French (a few lines) - 137 min. Adapted Scope. Rank: 185 | Juliet lives in a beautiful house by the ocean. Her sisters, and especially her Mother overshadow her with their beauty. She is a spiritual, superstitious and naive woman. She visits a psychic seer who tells her she must follow the sex trade in order to be happy. Not long after she meets her eccentric and sexy neighbour, Suzy, who, by all counts appears to be a high class prostitute and encourages Juilet into sexual acts which make her guilty and nervous. A rare night when her husband is at home she wakes up to catch him talking to another woman on the phone. He calls out the name "Gabriella" while sleeping, but when she questions him he lies his way out of it. She finds out who Gabriella is and fears her husband will leave her. Juliet begins having visions who accuse and terrorize her. The pinnacle of the visions comes at the end where it is implied she realizes she would be better off without her husband and is ultimately emotionally emancipated. | Giulietta Masina, Mario Pisu, Sandra Milo, Caterina Boratto, Luisa Della Noce,Sylva Koscina,Lou Gilbert,Valentina Cortese,Sylvano Jachino. Written By: Federico Fellini (story), Tullio Pinelli (story), and 4 more credits. Rating: 7.5 | Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 9 wins. Federico Fellini's first full-color feature. |
| JUNIOR BONNER | Sam Peckinpah 1972. Color - USA - English - 100 min. Rank: 467 | A week with Junior Bonner, a rodeo pro on the wrong side of 40, broke, bruised, and headed into Prescott, his home town, for the annual 4th of July Frontier Days. His dad, Ace, is a dissolute dreamer fixed on finding gold in Australia; his mom is resigned to Ace's roving; his brother Curly is tearing up the countryside to make a million in real estate. Junior just wants to stay on a bucking Brahma for eight seconds, hang out with Ace, find a way to spend time with a beautiful woman whose eyes catch his, and earn enough to get to next week's rodeo. As the old West and its code give way to progress, Junior is lonesome, laconic, and on the road - just where he wants to be. | Steve McQueen, Robt. Preston, Ida Lupino, Ben Johnson, Joe Don Baker, Barbara Leigh, Mary Murphy. Scope. Rating: 6.7 | Director Cameo: [Sam Peckinpah] for one fleeting shot, passing through the Palace Bar in the film. He appears immediately after Barbara Leigh's friend asks for "Three double bourbons" just before Steve McQueen asks her to dance. |
| JUSTINE | George Cukor, and 1 more credit. 1969. Color - USA - English | French - 116 min. Rank: 741 | In Alexandria, in 1938, Darley, a young British schoolmaster and poet, makes friends through Pursewarden, the British consular officer, with Justine, the beautiful and mysterious wife of a Coptic banker. He observes the affairs of her heart and incidentally discovers that she is involved in a plot against the British, meant to arm the Jewish underground in Palestine. The plot finally fails, Justine is sent to jail and Darley decides to return to England. | Anouk Aimee, Dirk Bogarde, Robert Forster, Anna Karina, Phillipe Noiret, Michael York, John Vernon, Jack Albertson, Cliff Gorman, Michael Constantine, Marcel Dallo, Michael Dunn, Abraham Sofaer. From Laurence Durrell's Alexandria Quartet. Written By: Lawrence Durrell (novel), Lawrence B. Marcus (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 5.6 | Joseph Strick was originally hired to direct but was fired after refusing to cast anyone but Glenda Jackson in the lead role. He was replaced by George Cukor. |
| KANSAN | George Archainbaud 1943. Black and White - USA - English - 79 min. Rank: 692 | Wounded while stopping the James gang from robbing the local bank, a cowboy wakes up in the hospital to find that he's been elected town marshal. He soon comes into conflict with the town banker, who controls everything in town and is squeezing the townspeople for every penny he can get out of them. | Richard Dix, Jane Wyatt, Victor Jory, Albert Dekker, Eugene Paulette, Robert Armstrong "condensed" -c.:l0. Written By: Harold Shumate (screenplay), Frank Gruber (from the story "Peace Marshal"). Rating: 5.9 | Nominated for Oscar. |
| KEEP 'EM FLYING | Arthur Lubin 1941. Black and White - USA - English - 86 min. Rank: 467 | When a barnstorming stunt pilot decides to join the air corps, his two goofball assistants decide to go with him. Since the two are Abbott and Costello, the air corps doesn't know what it's in for. | Abbott and Costello, Carol Bruce, Martha Raye (playing twins), William Gargan, Dick Foran, Freddie Slack Orch. w. Ella Mae Morse. Written By: Edmund L. Hartmann (story), True Boardman (screenplay), and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.7 | For the torpedo chase, Lou Costello did his shots in front a a rear projection screen. For the long shots it's Pat Costello, Lou's brother, doubling him. |
| KEY LARGO | John Huston 1948. Black and White - USA - English - 100 min. Rank: 93 | Frank McCloud travels to a run-down hotel on Key Largo to honor the memory of a friend who died bravely in his unit during WW II. His friend's widow, Nora Temple, and wheelchair bound father, James Temple manage the hotel and receive him warmly, but the three of them soon find themselves virtual prisoners when the hotel is taken over by a mob of gangsters led by Johnny Rocco who hole up there to await the passing of a hurricane. Mr. Temple strongly reviles Rocco but due to his infirmities can only confront him verbally. Having become disillusioned by the violence of war, Frank is reluctant to act, but Rocco's demeaning treatment of his alcoholic moll, Gaye Dawn, and his complicity in the deaths of some innocent Seminole Indians and a deputy sheriff start to motivate McCloud to overcome his Hamlet-like inaction. | Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson, Lauren Bacall, Lionel Barrymore, Claire Trevor, Thomas Gomez, Jay Silvrheels, Marc Lawrence, Dan Seymour, Harry Lewis from Maxwel Anderson play. Written By: Maxwell Anderson (play), Richard Brooks, and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.9 | Won Oscar. Another 1 nomination. The character of Johnny Rocco was modeled on 'Al Capone (I)', who retired to Florida and died there of complications due to advanced syphilis a year before this film was produced. Screenwriter Richard Brooks later revealed he had also incorporated biographical details about another famous gangster, Lucky Luciano, into Rocco's character as well. |
| KIDNAPPED | Delbert Mann 1971. Color - UK - English - USA: 100 min | UK: 107 min. Rank: 676 | When young David Balfour arrives at his uncle's bleak Scottish house to claim his inheritance his relative first tries to murder him then has him shipped off to be sold as a slave in the colonies. Fortunately for the lad he strikes up a friendship with Alan Breck escaping from Bonnie Prince Charlie's defeat at Culludon. When the ship's captain tries to kill Breck for his money the two manage to get to land and set out for Edinburgh dodging the ruthless Redcoats. | Michael Caine, Trevor Howard,Jack Hawkins, Donald Pleasance, Gorden Jackson, Vivian Heilbron. Written By: Robert Louis Stevenson (based on "Kidnapped" and "David Balfour"), Jack Pulman (screenplay). Rating: 6.2 | Jack Hawkins is dubbed by Charles Gray. |
| KILLER IN THE FAMILY | Richard T. Heffron 1983. Color - USA - English - 90 min. Rank: 329 | A father serving time for murder convinces his three teenage sons that his life is being threatened by fellow inmates and that they should break him out of jail. However, when his sons succeed in the jailbreak attempt, the father brings along his cell-mate, a former two time killer, and soon the sons find themselves involved in the pair's murderous crime spree. | Robert Mitchum, Eric Stoltz, James Spader, Salome Jens, Stuart Margolin, Lynn Carlyn TV film. Written By: Sue Grafton (teleplay), Steve Humphrey (teleplay), and 2 more credits. Rating: 7.0 | Based on a true story. |
| KING AND COUNTRY | Joseph Losey 1964. Black and White - UK - English - Canada: 88 min | USA: 86 min | Argentina: 89 min . Rank: 157 | During World War I, an army private is accused of desertion during battle. The officer assigned to defend him at his court-martial finds out there is more to the case than meets the eye. | Dirk Bogarde, Tom Courtenay, Leo McKern, Barry Foster, James Villiers, Peter Copley. Written By: J.L. Hodson (story), Evan Jones (screenplay), and 3 more credits. Rating: 7.6 | Nominated for 4 BAFTA Film Awards. Another 2 wins and 1 nomination. The poem - "There's a porpoise close behind me and he's treading on my tail" - that Dirk Bogarde quotes and his CO finished, is from 'The Lobster Quadrille' by Lewis Carroll. |
| KING OF GAMBLERS | Robert Florey 1937. Black and White - USA - English - 78 min. Rank: 546 | A fast moving and low budget crime drama seasoned with mystery and comedy. SPOILERS: Akim Tamiroff, Paramount's resident crime lord.. | Claire Trevor, Lloyd Nolan and Akim Tamiroff. Written By: Doris Anderson, Tiffany Thayer (story), and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.5 | One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since. |
| KISS ME GOODBYE | Robert Mulligan 1982. Color - USA - English - 101 min. Rank: 692 | Not until three years after the death of her husband Jolly, Kay dares to move back into their former home, persuaded by her new fiancée Rupert. But soon her worst expectations come true, when not only her old memories haunt her, but also Jolly's ghost, who doesn't approve of her new mate. Invisible to anyone but Kay, he tries to prevent the wedding. | Sally Field, James Caan, Jeff Bridges, Paul Dooley, Claire Trevor, Mildred Natwick, Dorothy Fielding, William Prince (remake:Dona FIor and 2 Husbands). Written By: Bruno Barreto (suggested by material from), Jorge Amado (suggested by material from), and 1 more credit. Rating: 5.9 | Nominated for Golden Globe. Claire Trevor's last theatrical film. |
| KISS OF DEATH | Henry Hathaway 1947. Black and White - USA - English - 98 min. Rank: 157 | Small-time crook Nick Bianco gets caught in a jewel heist and despite urgings from well-meaning district attorney D'Angelo, refuses to rat on his partners and goes to jail, assured that his wife and children will be taken care of. Learning that his depressed wife has killed herself, Nick informs on his ex-pals and is paroled. Nick remarries, gets a job and begins leading a happy life when he learns one of the men he informed on, psychopathic killer Tommy Udo, has been released from custody and is out for revenge against Nick and his family. | Victor Mature, Richard Widmark, Brian Donlevy, Coleen Gray, Karl Malden, Taylor Holmes, Mildred Duccock (Ben Hecht, Chas.Lederer script). Written By: Ben Hecht (screenplay), Charles Lederer (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.6 | Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 2 wins. The background musical theme at the start and finish of the film is Alfred Newman's "Street Scene," which 20th Century-Fox frequently used for dramas set in New York (Newman was one of their house composers). |
| KLUTE | Alan J. Pakula 1971. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 114 min. Rank: 259 | John Klute's friend has totally disappeared. The only clue a connection with a call girl, Bree Daniels. Klute taps her phone in order to gain evidence against her to blackmail her into helping him find his friend. While Klute searches, someone is stalking Bree. | Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland, Charles Ciofi,Romy Schneider, Rita Gam, Jean Stapleton. Written By: Andy Lewis, David P. Lewis. Rating: 7.2 | Won Oscar. Another 5 wins and 5 nominations. In the original script Bree's psychiatrist was male but Fonda felt in rehearsals, that the character would never open up to a man so she requested that the part be changed to a women. Fonda requested to shoot the scenes with the shrink at the end of shooting so she would have already fully internalized the character of Bree. |
| KNOCK ON ANY DOOR | Nicholas Ray 1949. Black and White - USA - English | Italian - 100 min. Rank: 435 | Andrew Morton is an attorney who made it out of the slums. Nick Romano is his client, a young man with a long string of crimes behind him. After he lost his paycheck gambling, hoping to buy his wife some jewelry, she announced she was pregnant, Later he finds her dead from suicide. When he turns again to robbery he's caught by a cop and Nick pumps all his bullets into him in frustration. Morton's appeal to the court emphasizes the evils of the slums. | Humphrey Bogart, John Derek, George Macready, Allene Roberts, Susan Perry,. Written By: John Monks Jr., Willard Motley (novel), and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.8 | Producer Mark Hellinger had owned the rights to the novel and was planning to film it when he opened his own production company in late 1947. Humphrey Bogart was to be a partner in Mark Hellinger Productions. However, Hellinger died in December 1947. It is probable that Bogart purchased the rights from Hellinger's estate some time in 1948, and this film was the first production of Bogart's independent company, Santana. |
| KNUTE ROCKNE, AMERICAN | Lloyd Bacon, and 1 more credit. 1940. Black and White - USA - English - 98 min. Rank: 467 | Lars Rockne and his family, including his four year old son Knute, emigrate to Chicago in 1892 from their native Norway. By his his mid-twenties Knute saves enough to attend obscure Notre Dame University, where he excels in football and chemistry. He and a teammate develop the forward pass as an offensive weapon while working as life guards on summer break and use it to upset heavily favored Army in a historic game. After graduation Rockne becomes a teacher while coaching part time but ultimately abandons academics to devote all his energies to football. During his tenure as head coach at the school, he develops such outstanding players as George Gipp, who dies prematurely from a strep infection, and the Four Horseman while introducing many innovative tactics including the backfield shift. Rockne, known for his staccato motivational speeches, devotes his life to maintaining the integrity.. | Pat O'Brien, Gale Page, Donald Crisp, Ronald Reagen, Albert Basserman, John Qualen, As w.most prints,no Gipper deathscene. Written By: Robert Buckner (screenplay), Mrs. Knute Rockne (private papers). Rating: 6.7 | Pat O'Brien, Ronald Reagan and Donald Crisp recreated their roles for a 12/2/40 episode of Lux Theater, but Gale Page's part was enacted by Fay Wray. |
| L SHAPED ROOM | Bryan Forbes 1962. Black and White - UK - English - 126 min Rank: 185 | Jane, a young French woman, pregnant and unmarried, takes a room in a seedy London boarding house, which is inhabited by an assortment of misfits. She considers getting an abortion, but is unhappy with this solution. She falls into a relationship with Toby, a struggling young writer who lives on the first floor. Eventually she comes to like her odd room, and makes friends with all the strange people in the house. But she still faces two problems: what to do with her baby, and what to do with Toby. | Leslie Caron,Jane Fosset, Anthony Booth, Avis Bunnage, Patricia Phoenix, Verity Edmett, Tom Bell, Cicely Courtneidge. Written By: Lynne Reid Banks (novel), Bryan Forbes (written for the screen by). Rating: 7.5 | The Smiths open their album 'The Queen Is Dead' with the scene of the character Mavis leading a chorus of "Take Me Back To Dear Old Blighty." The rent of 42 shillings per week is the equivalent of £40 (or $52.50) in 2016. |
| KOTCH | Jack Lemmon 1971. Color (Metrocolor) - USA - English - 113 min. Rank: 467 | Joseph Kotcher, a retired traveling salesman, lives with his son Gerald and daughter-in-law Wilma in Los Angeles. He dotes upon his young grandson Duncan irritating high-strung Wilma to the point that she hires Erica, a high school student, as a regular babysitter to replace his efforts. However, Grandpa Kotcher still gets on her nerves, and she convinces Gerald to move him out. To humor his son he agrees to take an apartment at a retirement facility, but after being subjected to some psychological tests he opts instead to take an extended vacation, traveling up the coast by bus. Erica leaves town at the same time, for upon discovering she is pregnant, Wilma fires her and she is sent away to work in San Bernadino by her uptight older brother Peter, who is also her guardian. Grandpa Kotcher returns weeks later to find a Halloween party underway and his room full of Wilma's sewing stuff.. | Walter Mattbau, Deborah Winters, Felicia Farr, Charles Aidman, Darrell Larson, Larry Linville. Written By: John Paxton (screenplay), Katharine Topkins (novel). Rating: 6.7 | Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 3 wins and 4 nominations. Directorial debut for Jack Lemmon. Lemmon found direction duties both emotionally and physically draining and felt very uncomfortable behind the camera. This was his one and only film as a director. |
| LA STRADA | Federico Fellini 1954. Black and White - Italy - Italian - 108 min. Rank: 35 | Gelsomina is sold by her very poor mother to Zampanò, an itinerant strongman. She follows him on the road ("la strada") and helps him during his shows. Zampanò ill-treats her. She meets "The Fool", a funambulist. She feels like going with him, but he puts confusion in her mind by pointing out that perhaps Zampanò is in fact in love with her .. | Giulietta Masine, Anthony Quinn,. Written By: Federico Fellini (story), Tullio Pinelli (story), and 2 more credits. Rating: 8.2 | Anthony Quinn said in an interview a few years before his death that he originally accepted a deal that would have paid him a percentage of the profits this film generated instead of an upfront salary. When his agent found out about it, the agent changed the deal and insisted an upfront salary and no percentage. Quinn said that decision cost him several million dollars. |
| LADIES WHO DO | C.M. Pennington-Richards 1963. Black and White - UK - English - 85 min. Rank: 467 | The "Ladies Who Do" are office cleaners. One of them discovers some hot stock tips and they make a fortune. They then make good use of it to save their old neighbourhoods from the wicked developer. | Robert Morley, Peggy Mount, Harry H. Corbett, Nigel Davenport, Carol White, Miriam Karlin. Rating: 6.7 | |
| LADY ICE | Tom Gries 1973. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 93 min. Rank: 797 | An insurance investigator romances a wealthy young beauty when he suspects she may be involved in fencing stolen jewels. | Donald Sutherland, Jennifer O'Neil, Robert Duvall, Patriuck Macgee, Eric Braeden, Jon Cypher. Written By: Harold Clements, Alan Trustman. Rating: 4.7 | According to one of his biographies, one of the directors who was offered this project but turned it down was a young George Lucas. |
| LADY IN ERMINE | 1927 or 1948. - - - - - . Rank: n/a | Not sure of which version. 1927 Version: Director James Flood, Starring Corinne Griffith http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0018074/. 1948 Version: Director Ernst Lubitsch. Starring: Bety Grable, Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Cesar Romero. Http://www.imdb.com/title. Rating: |
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| LADY L | Peter Ustinov 1965. Color (Eastmancolor) - France | Italy | UK - English - 117 min | 109 min (TCM print). Rank: 769 | Today Lady Louise Lendale is 80 years old and she tells her long time admirer, British poet Sir Percy, all about her eventful life. In the beginning, she was a young laundress working in "Le Mouton Bleu", a renowned Paris whorehouse. There, she met Armand, both a charming man and a bomb-throwing anarchist, and it wasn't long before she became his mistress. One day while Armand was away in Switzeland, working for a revolutionary movement aiming to murder a Russian prince, Louise met the second man in her life,, a British Lord she soon called Dicky. The latter offered to marry her. In exchange, he would save Armand from the police's grip. She accepted on the condition she could still see Armand.. | David Niven, Sophia Loren, Paul Newman, Claude Dauphin, Phillippe Noirot, Pteer Ustinov (cameo) script by Ustinov . Written By: Romain Gary (novel), Peter Ustinov. Rating: 5.3 | Director Cameo: [Peter Ustinov] |
| LADY VANISHES | Alfred Hitchcock 1938. Black and White - UK - English | German | French (only a few words) | Italian (only a few words) - 96 min. Rank: 50 | Travellers on a trans-European train are delayed for a night due to bad weather in a small fictional country called Mandrika. The passengers cram into the small village hotel where socialite Iris Henderson meets an old governess called Miss Froy. Shortly after the journey restarts, Miss Froy disappears. | Margaret Lockwood, Michael Redgrave, Paul Lukas, Dame May Whittey,Googie Withers,Cecil Parker, Linden Travers,Catherine Lacey (Scpt:F.Lauder,S.Gilliat). Written By: Ethel Lina White (story), Sidney Gilliat (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 8.1 | Charters and Caldicott (played by Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne) proved to be such popular characters that they were teamed up in other films. They reappeared in Night Train to Munich (also starring Margaret Lockwood) and Millions Like Us, two films also written by Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder. They also starred in the BBC Radio serials " Crook's Tour" (which was also made into a film), and "Secret Mission 609." In 1985, they reappeared in the BBC Television mystery mini-series, Charters and Caldicott, played by Robin Bail |
| LAFAYETTE | Jean Dréville 1961. Color (Technicolor) - France | Italy - French - 158 min | UK: 112 min. Rank: 728 | At 13 years old, Marie-Joseph Paul Roch Yves Gilbert Motier inherited from his parents a long name, a fortune bigger then that, and the title of Marquis de La Fayette. Barely past majority, he was a brilliant lieutenant and a King Musketeer, and married Adrienne, second daughter of the Duke of Ayen. Educated in the new ideas about religion, science, and humankind, supported by his lovely wife but against his conservative family, he became involved in politics, favouring the faction of Queen Marie Antoinette against that of the King Louis XVI. Therefore, in 1776, he was ready to offer much needed help when Silas Dean, a secret agent from the thirteen Rebel states, contacted him in Paris. In 1784, after years of political and logistical preparation, La Fayette freighted a ship to America, with a handful of men and much needed weapons and money. He became Washington's best friend, taught some military discipline and tactics to the voluntary Rebels.. | Jack Hawkins, Orson Welles, Howard St.John, Edmund Purdom, Vittorio deSicca, Michel LeRoyer, Orson Welles. Written By: Jean Dréville, Jean Bernard-Luc (screenplay), and 3 more credits. Rating: 5.7 | Involving 300 actors, 50,000 extras, and 5,000 horsemen, including a number of battle scenes and naval action, it was the most expensive film made until then. |
| LASSITER | Roger Young 1984. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 100 min. Rank: 728 | Lassiter is a handsome jewel thief operating in London in the late 1930s. One day he is arrested and told that if he wishes to avoid prison, he must break into the heavily guarded German Embassy in London and steal millions in Gems. | Tom Selleck, Jane Seymour, Lauren Hutton, Bob Hoskins, Joe Regalbuto, Ed Lauter, Warren Clark two prints as of May '02,at least one mylar,both good color. Rating: 5.7 | Brian Coburn was dubbed by David de Keyser. |
| LAST ANGRY MAN | Daniel Mann 1959. Black and White - USA - English - 100 min. Rank: 435 | As the fiercely dedicated general practitioner who tries to help the sick, the poor and the unfortunate in his decrepit neighborhood, Paul Muni is the testy old man who faces life without compromise and David Wayne is the troubled television executive fighting to preserve his career. | Paul Muni (last role), David Wayne, Betsy Palmer, Luther Adler, Joey Bakewr, Joanna Moore, Godffey Cambridge, Billy Dee Williams. Written By: Gerald Green (novel), Richard Murphy (adaptation). Rating: 6.8 | Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 1 win and 1 nomination. Paul Muni's final film. |
| LAST HURRAH | John Ford 1958. Black and White - USA - English - 121 min. Rank: 206 | An aging politician tries to get re-elected one last time in the changing world of the 1950s when TV started to play a bigger part in politics. Based loosely on the career of multi-term Boston Mayor James Michael Curley, this film examines the good and evil inherent in politics and all the things that go into an election. Tracy's uphill battle to stay in office is set against the political machinery that preyed on ethnic hatred and old-time money. | Spencer Tracy, JHeffrey Hunter, Diane Foster, Basil Rathbone, Pat O'Brien, Donald Crisp, Ed Brophy (last,best role), John Carradine, Ricardo Cortez,Frank McHugh, Jane Darwell, Anita Lee, Charles FitzSimmons, Ken Curtis, O.Z.Whitehead, Jack Pennick, Dan Bo. Written By: Frank S. Nugent (screen play), Edwin O'Connor (based upon the novel by). Rating: 7.4 | Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 2 wins. Edwin O'Connor's 1956 novel "The Last Hurrah", on which the movie is based, is a fictionalized version of former Boston Mayor James Michael Curley, a celebrated rogue who raised municipal corruption to an art form. |
| LAST OF THE MOHICANS | George B. Seitz 1936. Black and White - USA - English - 91 min. Rank: 373 | In the year 1756, Fort William Henry on Lake George is under siege by the French and Hurons under General Montcalm. Alice and Cora Munro, young daughters of the British Commander, Colonel Muro, set out from Albany to join their father at the fort. They are accompanied by Major Duncan Heyward, who has loved Alice for a long time, and by a renegade Huron named Magua. He leads them astray with the view of betraying them into the hands of a wandering party of Hurons, but his plans are foiled by Hawkeye, a Colonial scout, when he and his comrades, Chingachgook and his son Uncas, rescue the party and conduct them safely to the fort. Shortly after wards, Munro surrenders on honorable terms to Montcalm and is permitted to march out of the fort under arms and colors. He is then mortally wounded by Magua during a massacre by the Indians as the fort is being evacuated. Cora and Alice are carried off by Magua and Heyward, aided by Hawkeye, Chingachgook and Uncas, sets out in search of them. | Randolph Scott, Binnie Barnes, Heather Angel, Hugh Buckler, Henry Wilcoxin, Bruce Cabot, Phillip Reed, Robert Barrat (phillip Dunne,scply). Written By: James Fenimore Cooper (novel), Philip Dunne (screen play), and 3 more credits. Rating: 6.9 | Nominated for Oscar. May 1, 1936, the Triplicate reported that a camera crew showed up in Crescent City and Smith River to undertake the preparations for filming an adaption of "The Last of the Mohicans" using Yurok, Hoopa and Tolowa extras. Tolowas and mixed-Tolowas hired on as extras included Clifford Winton, Harry Bob, Fred Moorehead, William White, Andrew Whipple, Chester Scott, Johnny Frank, Chester James, Robert Spott, Lawrence Spott, Edward Spott, and Jack James. They were paid $5.00 a day. The federal government arranged the pay scale for th |
| LAST OF THE RED HOT LOVERS | Gene Saks 1972. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 98 min. Rank: 741 | A middle aged restaurateur begins to feel the desire to roam and realizes that one day each week, his mother's apartment will be empty all afternoon. He makes several attempts at seduction, only to learn that it is much more complicated and difficult than he could have imagined. | Akan Arkin, Sally Kellerman, Paula Prentiss, Renee Taylor (Neil Simon). Written By: Neil Simon (play), Neil Simon (screenplay). Rating: 5.6 | James Coco was nominated for the 1970 Tony Award (New York City) for Actor in a Drama for "Last of the Red Hot Lovers". James Coco was nominated for the 1970 Tony Award (New York City) for Actor in a Drama for "Last of the Red Hot Lovers". |
| LAST REMAKE OF BEAU GESTE | Marty Feldman 1977. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 85 min. Rank: 714 | The priceless Blue Water sapphire is coveted by the heirs of Sir Hector Geste - his new wife, Flavia; his daughter, Isabel; and his adopted twin sons, heroic Beau and pathetic Digby. When Sir Hector takes to his deathbed (where he remains for the duration of the film), Beau absconds with the stone, to keep it from his stepmother. Flavia pursues him to North Africa, dispensing sexual favors to promote her schemes. | Mcihael York, Marty Feldman, Sussanah York, Gene Wilder, James Earl Jones, Trevor Howard, Henry Gibson, Terry-Thomas, Spike Mulligan, Roy Kinnear (Feldman script). Written By: Marty Feldman (screenplay), Chris Allen (screenplay), and 3 more credits. Rating: 5.8 | |
| LAST SUNSET | Robert Aldrich 1961. Color (Eastmancolor) - USA - Spanish | English - 112 min. Rank: 467 | Brendan O'Malley arrives at the Mexican home of old flame Belle Breckenridge to find her married to a drunkard getting ready for a cattle drive to Texas. Hot on O'Malley's heels is lawman Dana Stribling who has a personal reason for getting him back into his jurisdiction. Both men join Breckenridge and his wife on the drive. As they near Texas tensions mount, not least because Stribling is starting to court Belle and O'Malley is increasingly drawn by her daughter Missy. | Rock Hudson, Kirk Douglas, Dorothy Malone, Jos.Cotton, Carol Lynley, Neville Brand, Regis Toomey, Jack Elam. Dalton Trumbo scpt. Written By: Howard Rigsby (novel), Dalton Trumbo. Rating: 6.7 | |
| Alain Resnais 1961. Black and White - France | Italy - French - 94 min. Rank: 109 | In a huge, old-fashioned luxury hotel a stranger tries to persuade a married woman to run away with him, but it seems she hardly remembers the affair they may have had (or not?) last year at Marienbad. | Delphine Seyrig, Georgio Albertazzi, Sascha Piteoff (scpt by Alain-Robbe Grillet). Rating: 7.8 | Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 wins and 3 nominations. One of the films included in "The Fifty Worst Films of All Time (and how they got that way)" by Harry Medved and Randy Lowell. | |
| LAUREL and HARDY'S LAUGHIN TWENTIES | Robert Youngson 1965. Black and White - USA - English - 90 min. Rank: 126 | A compilation of primarly Laurel and Hardy shorts---From Soup to Nuts, Wrong Again, Putting the Pants on Philip, The Finishing Touch, Sugar Daddies and short clips from others---plus Max Davidson's Call of the Cuckoo and Dumb Daddies, with some cross-over Charley Chase footage, which, along with Robert Youngson's previous "The Golden Age of Comedy", "When Comedy Was King", "Days of Thrills and Laughter", led to a renewed interest in and a revival of television showings of Laurel and Hardy shorts. The cast was billed in order of their appearance: Oliver Hardy, Stan Laurel, Vivien Oakland (with a Vivian typo), Glen Tyron, Edna Murphy, Anita Garvin, Tiny Sanford, Jimmy Finlayson, Charlie Chase, Viola Richard, Max Davidson, Del Henderson, Josephine Crowell, Anders Randolf (as Anders Randolph), Edgar Kennedy, Dorothy Coburn, Lillian Elliott and "Spec" O'Donnell. | Robert Youngson '65 compilation film ofL&H with Charley Chase, Edgar Kennedy, Jimmy Finlayson, Anita Garvin. Rating: 7.7 | |
| LE JOUR SE LEVE (DAYBREAK) | Marcel Carné 1939. Black and White - France - French - 93 min | Germany: 86 min | USA: 88 min (Janus print) | Argentina: 87 min. Rank: 109 | Francois, a sympathetic factory worker, kills Valentin with a gun. He locked himself in his furnished room and starts remembering how he was led to murder. He met once Francoise, a young fleurist, and they fell in love. But Francoise was gotten round by Valentin, a dog trainer, a machiavellian guy.. | (Marcel Carne'39) Jean Gabin, Jacqueline Laurent, Jules Berry, Arletty, Madie Berry Screenplay: Jacques Prevert. Written By: Jacques Viot (original scenario), Jacques Prévert (dialogue). Rating: 7.8 | While not the first film to use dissolves to represent flashbacks, it was considered too new a method in the language of cinema that the films producers' insisted on pretitle cards to avoid any confusion. |
| LE PLAISIR | Max Ophüls 1951. Black and White - France - French - 97 min. Rank: 109 | Three stories about the pleasure. The first one is about a man hiding his age behind a mask to keep going to balls and fancying women - pleasure and youth. Then comes the long tale of Mme Tellier taking her girls (whores) to the country for attending her niece's communion - pleasure and purity. And lastly, Jean the painter falling in love with his model - pleasure and death. | Peter Ustinov(narrator), Jean Gabin, Danielle Darrieux, Claude Dauphin, Gaby Moriay, Pierre Brasseur, Pauline Dubost, Madeline Renaud, Daniel Gelin (three deMaupaussant stories) 35mm. Written By: Guy de Maupassant (stories), Jacques Natanson (adaptation), and 2 more credits. Rating: 7.8 | Nominated for Oscar. The last segment initially considered was "La Femme de Paul". |
| LEFT HAND OF GOD | Edward Dmytryk 1955. Color - USA - English - 87 min. Rank: 613 | A man in priestly robes, seemingly the long-awaited Father O'Shea, arrives at a little-frequented Catholic mission in 1947 China. Though the man seems curiously uncomfortable with his priestly duties, his tough tactics prove very successful in the Seven Villages, as around them China disintegrates in civil war and revolution. But he has a secret, and his friendship with mission nurse Anne (an attractive war widow) seems to be taking on an unpriestly tone.. | Humphrey Bogart, Gene Tierney, Lee J.Cobb, Agnes Moorehead, E,G,MarshalI, Benson Fong. Written By: Alfred Hayes (screenplay), William E. Barrett (novel). Rating: 6.3 | |
| LIAR'S MOON | David Fisher 1981. Color (Metrocolor) - USA - English - USA: 106 min. Rank: 751 | In East Texas, the summer after high school, Jack falls in love with Ginny, the daughter of the town's banker (Jack's mom's high school sweetheart). Ginny's been at boarding school; she's headed for Vassar. Over her father's strenuous objections, she spends time with Jack. At summer's end, Jack and Ginny elope to Louisiana (where 17-year-olds can marry without their parents' permission), and he gets a job in the oil fields. Her dad hires a menacing private eye to find them, Ginny's pregnant, her town doctor gives her horrible news, and Jack's mom has her own agenda. It seems that Jack and Ginny have grown up under a liar's moon. What will these sweethearts do? | Matt Dillon, Cindy Fisher, Christopher Connelly,Hoyt Axton, Maggie Bly e,Susan Tyrell,Y.deCarlo,Brod,Crawford,Mark Atkins,Molly McCarthy. (which ending). Written By: Janice Thompson (story), Billy Hanna (story), and 1 more credit. Rating: 5.5 | Final film of Broderick Crawford, in a career spanning 45 years. |
| LIFE AND TIMES OF JUDGE ROY BEAN | John Huston 1972. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 120 min | West Germany: 105 min (cut version). Rank: 373 | A no account outlaw establishes his own particular brand of law and order and builds a town on the edges of civilization in this farcical western. With the aid of an old law text and unpredictable notions Roy Bean distinguishes between lawbreakers and lawgivers by way of his pistols. | Paula Newman, Avca Gardner, Vic toria Principal, Jacqueline Bisset, Anthony Perkins, Tab Hunter, John Huston, Stacy Keach, Roddy McDowell, Ned Beatty (John Millius script). Written By: John Milius (original screenplay), C.L. Sonnichsen (book). Rating: 6.9 | Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 nominations. Steve Kanaly's film debut. |
| LIFE AT THE TOP | Ted Kotcheff 1965. Black and White - UK - English - USA: 117 min. Rank: 506 | Joe Lampton thought he had really made it by marrying the boss's daughter in his northern mill town. But he finds he is being sidelined at work and his private life manipulated by his father-in-law. Even so, he ignores an offer of a job in London and keeps away from attractive TV presenter Norah. When he finds his wife is having an affair, he reconsiders on both counts. But can he make it on his own ability down south? | Lawrence Harvey, Jean Simmons, Honor Blackman, Donald Craig, Donald Wiolfit, Robert Morley, Margaret Johnston, Nigel Davenport (Room @ Top II). Written By: John Braine (novel), Mordecai Richler. Rating: 6.6 | Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Jean Simmons replaced Heather Sears who had played the role of Susan Brown in the previous film Room at the Top. |
| LIFE IN THE THIRTIES | . - - - - - . Rank: n/a | Documentary. Rating: | ||
| LIFE WITH FATHER | Michael Curtiz 1947. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 118 min. Rank: 295 | In late nineteenth century New York a Wall Street broker likes to think his house runs his way, but finds himself constantly bemused at how much of what happens is down to his wife. His children are also stretching their wings, discovering girls and making money out of patent medicine selling. When it comes to light he has never been baptized and everyone starts insisting he must do so, it all starts to get a bit too much. | William Powell, Irene Dunne, Edmund Gwenn, ElizAbeth Taylor, Zasu Pitts, Jimmy Lydon, Martin Milner (Donald Ogen Stewart, scply). Written By: Clarence Day (memoir), Howard Lindsay (play), and 2 more credits. Rating: 7.1 | Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 2 wins. Other than the color scenes in Leathernecking, Irene Dunne's only film in color. |
| LIFEBOAT | Alfred Hitchcock 1944. Black and White - USA - English | German | French - 97 min. Rank: 93 | In the Atlantic during WWII, a ship and a German U-boat are involved in a battle and both are sunk. The survivors from the ship gather in one of the boats. They are from a variety of backgrounds: an international journalist, a rich businessman, the radio operator, a nurse, a steward, a sailor and an engineer with communist tendencies. Trouble starts when they pull a man out of the water who turns out to be from the U-boat. | Tallulah Bankhead, William Bendix, Walter Slezak, Mary Anderson, John Hodiak, Henry Hull, Heather Angel, Hume Cronym, Canada Lee, William Yetter jr. Written By: John Steinbeck (by), Jo Swerling (screenplay), and 2 more credits. Rating: 7.9 | Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 1 win. Arthur C. Miller was the initial director of photography but was replaced by Glen MacWilliams after the first two weeks of filming, when Miller became ill. |
| Anthony Harvey 1968. Color (Eastmancolor) (uncredited) - UK - English - 134 min | UK: 137 min (70 mm version) - English - 134 min | UK: 137 min (70 mm version). Rank: 50 | Christmas 1183--an aging and conniving King Henry II plans a reunion where he hopes to name his successor. He summons the following people for the holiday: his scheming but imprisoned wife, Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine; his mistress, Princess Alais, whom he wishes to marry; his three sons (Richard, Geoffrey, and John), all of whom desire the throne; and the young but crafty King Philip of France (who is also Alais' brother). With the fate of Henry's empire at stake, everybody engages in their own brand of deception and treachery to stake their claim. | Katherine Hepburn, Peter O'Toole, Jane Merrow, Anthony Hopkins, Timothy Dalton, Nigel Terry, Nigel Stock, John Castle,multi-oscor-winner VINEGAR. Written By: James Goldman (screenplay), James Goldman (play). Rating: 8.1 | Won 3 Oscars. Another 11 wins and 16 nominations. Eleanor greets King Philip by telling him that she could have been his mother. This is in fact, true. Eleanor's first husband, Louis VII, later fathered Alais by his second wife and Philip by his third. Eleanor's marriage to Louis was annulled by the Pope when she was unable to bear him sons. She gave Henry five boys, two of whom died before the action of the movie takes place. | |
| LIQUIDATORS | Jack Cardiff 1966. Color (Metrocolor) - UK - English - USA: 105 min | Argentina: 105 min. Rank: 769 | Colonel Mostyn is the chief of a section of the British Security Services when they are embarrassed by the number of spies and defections. The Chief tells him to do something about it so he hires Boys Oaks as Agent L - The Liquidator, to assassinate people about to cause trouble. Although Boys likes the cars and the girls that his new position attracts he's not any good at it. He's also got a phobia about flying that makes jetting off to exotic places a bit of an embarrassment. | Rod Taylor, Trevor Howard, Jill St.John, Wilfred Hyde-White. Written By: John Gardner (novel), Peter Yeldham. Rating: 5.3 | MGM originally planned a series of Boysie Oakes spy pictures but this fell through. |
| LIST OF ADRIAN MESSENGER | John Huston 1963. Black and White - USA - English - 98 min. Rank: 329 | Messenger asks a friend to check into a list of names before leaving on a trip. When his plane is blown out of the sky, the matter becomes more serious. As his friend checks into the list, each seems to have died in mysterious circumstances. As he goes down the list, the deaths become more recent and a race to find the remaining survivors and what put each of them on this list ensues. | George C, Scott, Clive Brook, Dana Wynter, Herbert Marshall, Tony Curtis, Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Frank Sinatra, Robert Mitchum, John Huston, Bernard Fox, Tony Huston. Written By: Anthony Veiller (screenplay), Philip MacDonald (based upon a story by). Rating: 7.0 | Actor Jan Merlin reportedly played several of the alleged star cameos in the movie (including Kirk Douglas and Robert Mitchum); according to Merlin, the big-name actors never appeared in the film proper and only shot close-ups for an epilogue peeling off their heavy make-up. Merlin used his experiences as the basis of a thinly-veiled novel about the filming of the movie titled 'Shooting Montezuma'. |
| LITTLE FOXES | William Wyler 1941. Black and White - USA - English - 115 min. Rank: 50 | The ruthless, moneyed Hubbard clan lives in, and poisons, their part of the deep South at the turn of the 20th century. Regina Giddons née Hubbard has her daughter under her thumb. Mrs. Giddons is estranged from her husband, who is convalescing in Baltimore and suffers from a terminal illness. But she needs him home, and will manipulate her daughter to help bring him back. She has a sneaky business deal that she's cooking up with her two elder brothers, Oscar and Ben. Oscar has a flighty, unhappy wife and a dishonest worm of a son. Will the daughter have to marry this contemptible cousin? Who will she grow up to be - her mother or her aunt? Or can she escape the fate of both? | Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall, Theresa Wright, Richard Carlson, Dan Duryea. Written By: Lillian Hellman (play), Lillian Hellman (screenplay), and 3 more credits. Rating: 8.1 | Nominated for 9 Oscars. According to Samuel Goldwyn Jr., the reason Jack L. Warner loaned Bette Davis to RKO for this movie was to settle a $300,000 gambling debt Warner had with Samuel Goldwyn. It has been said that all of the studio moguls (Jack L. Warner, Samuel Goldwyn, Harry Cohn, Louis B. Mayer, Darryl F. Zanuck and Carl Laemmle) would gather and play cards after work, after having "stabbed each other in the back" during the day. |
| LIVE A LITTLE - STEAL A LOT (aka Murph the Surf) | Marvin J. Chomsky 1975. Color - USA - English - 101 min. Rank: 613 | The True Story of Two Miami Playboys Who Liked the Girls and the Good Life Enough to Turn Con Men and Pull Off the Biggest Job in History! And the Cops Knew It, But Couldn't Do a Thing About It! | Robert Conrad, Don Stroud, Donna Mills, Roibert Milan, Luther Adler, Burt Young, Paul Stewart. Written By: E. Arthur Kean (screenplay), Allan Dale Kuhn (story). Rating: 6.3 | |
| LIVING FREE | Jack Couffer 1972. Color (Eastmancolor) (uncredited) - UK - English - 90 min. Rank: 741 | When Elsa's three mischievious cubs begin wreaking havok on the nearby villages, Joy and her husband are forced to move them hundreds of miles to a game preserve. | Susan Hampshire, Nigel Davenport, Geffrey Keene (Born Free II). Written By: Joy Adamson (book), Millard Kaufman (screenplay). Rating: 5.6 | Nominated for Golden Globe. Bill Travers and 'Virginia Mckenna' were asked to play the Adamsons again but declined. |
| LOLLY MADONNA WAR (aka Lolly-Madonna XXX) | Richard C. Sarafian 1973. Color (Metrocolor) - USA - English - USA: 103 min. Rank: 751 | Two rustic families, headed by patriarchs Laban Feather and Pap Gutshall, are feuding. At first, it is comical, with just the sons of the two families playing tricks on each other. But soon the Feather boys decide to kidnap a girl. She turns out to be innocent bystander Roonie Gill, not the made-up girlfriend "Lolly Madonna." As events escalate, Zack Feather and Roonie fall in love and try to bring the others to their senses. Will Roonie discover Zack's dark secret, the reason for the painful feud between the two families which once were close friends? | Rod Steiger, Robert Ryan, Jeff Bridges, Scott Bridges, Season Hubley, Katherine Squire, Ed Lauter, Gary Busey, Randy Quaid. Written By: Rodney Carr-Smith, Sue Grafton (novel), and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.4 | |
| LONELY ARE THE BRAVE | David Miller 1962. Black and White - USA - English | Spanish (only a few words) - 107 min. Rank: 126 | In order to free his best friend Bondi, Jack Burns lets himself be imprisoned only to find out that Bondi does not want to escape. Thus Burns breaks out on his own and is afterwards being chased by sheriff Johnson with helicopters and jeeps. | Kirk Douglas, Gena Rowlands, Walter Matthau, Michael Kane, George Kennedy, Carroll O'Connor, William Schalleet, Bill Bixby Dalton Trumbo script. Written By: Edward Abbey (novel), Dalton Trumbo (screenplay). Rating: 7.7 | Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 2 wins. Twentieth Century Fox composer Alfred Newman had admired Jerry Goldsmith's work on the TV series Thriller and recommended that the young composer be hired. It proved the first major credit in what would become a long and productive career as a film composer. |
| LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT | Sidney Lumet 1962. Black and White - USA - English - 174 min | 170 min (TCM print) | 134 min (edited version). Rank: 109 | Author Eugene O'Neill gives an autobiographical account of his explosive homelife, fused by a drug-addicted mother, a father who wallows in drink after realizing he is no longer a famous actor and an older brother who is emotionally unstable and a misfit. The family is reflected by the youngest son, who is a sensitive and aspiring writer. | Ralph Richardson, Katharine Hepburn, Jason Robards, Dean Stockwell, Jeanne Barr Eugene O'Neil play. Rating: 7.8 | 35 Best Female Performances Nominated for an Oscar for Leading Role. At one point during rehearsals, Sidney Lumet felt that Ralph Richardson wasn't really getting the proper measure of his character, James Tyrone. Lumet took the actor aside and launched into a 45 minute lecture about his character's motivations. Richardson finally stopped him by saying "I see what you mean, dear boy, a little more cello, a little less flute". Lumet confessed to being enormously impressed with this way of expressing it. |
| LONG GOODBYE | Robert Altman 1973. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 112 min. Rank: 157 | Chain-smoking, wisecracking private eye Philip Marlowe drives a buddy from LA to the Tijuana border and returns home to an apartment full of cops who arrest him for abetting the murder of his friend's wife. After Marlowe's release, following the reported suicide in Mexico of his friend, a beautiful woman hires him to locate her alcoholic and mercurial husband. Then, a hoodlum and his muscle visit to tell Marlowe that he owes $350,000, mob money the dead friend took to Mexico. Marlowe tails the hood, who goes to the house of the woman with the temperamental husband. As Marlowe pulls these threads together, his values emerge from beneath the cavalier wisecracking. | Elliot Gould, Nina Van Pallandt, Sterling Hayden, Henry Gibson, Mark Rydell, Jim Bouton, David Arkin, Warren Berringer. (Leigh Brackett scptIRChandler). Written By: Leigh Brackett (screenplay), Raymond Chandler (novel). Rating: 7.6 | Elliott Gould improvised the scene in police custody in which he smears fingerprint ink all over his face. |
| LONG JOHN SILVER | Byron Haskin 1954. Color - Australia - English - 106 min. Rank: 741 | After the Treasure Island adventure, Long John Silver turns up on a British Caribbean island, where he hears that rival pirate Mendoza has taken the ship carrying the governor's daughter..and his young friend Jim Hawkins. Naturally, there's more to his rescue plan than meets the eye; he hopes to get a new ship and go back for more treasure.. | Robert Newton, Connie Gilchrist, Kit Taylor, Grant Taylor, Rod Taylor (bit) 35mm r. Written By: Martin Rackin, Robert Louis Stevenson (characters). Rating: 5.6 | |
| LONG VOYAGE HOME | John Ford 1940. Black and White - USA - English | Spanish (a few words) - 105 min | Soviet Union: 72 min | West Germany: 93 min. Rank: 295 | Aboard the freighter Glencairn, the lives of the crew are lived out in fear, loneliness, suspicion and cameraderie. The men smuggle drink and women aboard, fight with each other, spy on each other, comfort each other as death approaches, and rescue each other from danger. | Thomas Mitchell, John Wayne, Ian Hunter, Ward Bond, Joe Sawyer, John Qualen, Wilfred Lawson, Barry Fitzgerald, Mildred Dunnock, J. Warren Kerrigan. Written By: Eugene O'Neill (plays), Dudley Nichols (adaptation). Rating: 7.1 | Nominated for 6 Oscars. Another 1 win. This film's opening prologue states: "With their hates and desires men are changing the face of the earth - but they cannot change the Sea. Men who live on the Sea never change - for they live in a lonely world apart as they drift from one rusty tramp steamer to the next, forging the life of Nations." |
| LOOKING GLASS WAR | Frank Pierson 1970. Color (Eastmancolor) - UK - English | German - USA: 108 min. Rank: 714 | At the height of the Cold War, British Intellegence discovers evidence that suggests Soviet missiles are being positioned close to the German border. With no active agents available to investigate, Fred Leiser must be called back to the colors and sent East. Once behind the Iron Curtain, Leiser meets a sympathetic German girl who tries to help him to evade the East German secret police and to complete his assignment. | Christopher Jones, Pia Degermark, Ralph Richardson, Anthony Hopkins, Paul Rogers, Susan George, Anna Massey, Ray McAnally, Vivien Pickles (LeCarre). Written By: John le Carré (novel), Frank Pierson (written for the screen by). Rating: 5.8 | Robert Hoffman was a possible for Leiser. |
| Albert Brooks 1985. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 91 min. Rank: 373 | David and Linda Howard are successful yuppies from LA. When he gets a job disappointment, David convinces Linda that they should quit their jobs, liquidate their assets, and emulate the movie Easy Rider, spending the rest of their lives travelling around America..in a Winnebago! (This is a kind of large, luxurious mobile home which suits a 1980's yuppie more than the counterculture dropout approach of Easy Rider.) His idealized, unrealistic plans soon begin to go spectacularly wrong. | Albert Brooks, Julie Haggerty, Garry Marshall, Art Frankel, Michael Greene,. Written By: Albert Brooks, Monica Mcgowan Johnson. Rating: 6.9 | In his autobiography, Garry Marshall (who played the casino manager) wrote that he was initially exasperated by Albert Brooks demanding take after take of their scene. But once he saw the rushes and realized that his frustration made his character funnier, he deferred to Brooks's comic judgment. | |
| LOVE AT FIRST BITE | Stan Dragoti 1979. Color - USA - English - 94 min. Rank: 692 | This vampire spoof has Count Dracula moving to New York to find his Bride, after being forced to move out of his Transylvanian castle. There with the aid of assistant Renfield, he stumbles through typical New York city life situations while pursuing Cindy Soundheim. But her boyfriend, Doctor Jeff Rosenberg, realizes she is under the influence of a vampire, and tries his bumbling best to convince police Lt Ferguson of what is going on, and to help him stop Dracula. | George Hamilton, Susan St. James, R. Benjamin, Dick Shawn, Arte Johnson, Sherman Hensley, Isabel Sanford, Barry Gorden, Ronnie Schell, Eric Laneuville. Written By: Robert Kaufman (screenplay), Robert Kaufman (story), and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.1 | Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 3 wins and 3 nominations. This movie had the same make-up artist as Dracula. |
| LOVE IS A BALL | David Swift 1963. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English | Italian | French - 111 min. Rank: 728 | Etienne makes a good living out of marrying off poor but titled young men to rich but untitled young ladies. Millicent is now in his sights on the Riviera, and Grand Duke Gaspar is the bait. But what if Millicent starts to fancy planted chauffeur John instead, and Gaspar takes a shine to Etienne's secretary Janine? | Glenn Ford, Hope Lange, C.Boyer, Ricardo Montalban, Telly Savalas *LOVESICK (Marshgall Brickrnan'83) Dudley Moore, Elizabeth McGovern, Alec Guiness, John Huston, Wallace Shawn, Alan King, Renee Taylor, Ron Silver, Gene Saks, David Strathairn. Written By: Lindsay Hardy (book), David Swift (screenplay), and 2 more credits. Rating: 5.7 | |
| LOVE THY NEIGHBOR | Mark Sandrich 1940. Black and White - USA - English - 82 min. Rank: 206 | Jack Benny is preparing his New Year's Eve radio broadcast but takes time out to take his valet Rochester to meet his girlfriend Josephine arriving on a steamer. Fred Allen and his sister Barbara are also en route to the dock to meet Barbara's daughter Mary, returning from a personal appearance tour in South America. Josephine is her maid. Their cars get involved in an accident and, in a bumping contest, Fred reduces Jack's old Maxwell to junk, and is taken to jail. Mary loses her dress in an accident and Jack offers to get her another one, but winds up being arrested for stealing. Barbara tells Mary that Fred is a nervous wreck because of Jack's continual slander of him on Jack's radio program. Jack hires the Merry Macs away from Fred and Fred decides to go to Miami for a rest. Jack decides to open his radio program from Miami. They meet, have another brawl, and end up in jail again.. | Jack Benny, Fred Allen, Mary Martin, Verree Teasdale, Rochester, Virginia Dale, Theresa Harris. Written By: Edmund Beloin, William Morrow, and 2 more credits. Rating: 7.4 | One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since. |
| LOVESICK | Marshall Brickman 1983. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 95 min. Rank: 795 | A psychiatrist who falls in love with a patient is visited by the spirit of Sigmund Freud, who gives him advice on how to handle it. | Dudley Moore, Elizabeth McGovern, Alec Guiness, John Huston, Wallace Shawn, Alan King, Renee Taylor, Ron Silver, Gene Saks, David Strathairn. Rating: 4.8 | This was originally intended as a project for Peter Sellers before his death in 1980. |
| M | Fritz Lang 1931. Black and White - Germany - German - 117 min | 110 min (2004 Criterion DVD edition) | France: 118 min | Germany: 105 min (2000 restored version) | Germany: 108 min (re-release) | USA: 99 min. Rank: 5 | Someone is murdering children in a German city. The Police search is so intense, it is disturbing the 'normal' criminals, and the local hoods decide to help find the murderer as quickly as possible. | Peter Lorre, Ellen Widmann, Inge Landgut, Gustav Grundgens. Written By: Thea von Harbou (script), Fritz Lang (script), and 1 more credit. Rating: 8.6 | The use of voiceover narration was a groundbreaking new technique at the time. |
| MACBETH | Orson Welles 1948. Black and White - USA - English - 89 min (cut version) | Germany: 92 min | USA: 107 min (premiere version) | USA: 107 min (restored video version). Rank: 185 | In fog-dripping, barren and sometimes macabre settings, 11th-century Scottish nobleman Macbeth is led by an evil prophecy and his ruthless yet desirable wife to the treasonous act that makes him king. But he does not enjoy his newfound, dearly-won kingship.. Restructured, but all the dialogue is Shakespeare's. | Orson Welles, Jeanette Nolan, Dan O'Hewrlihy, Edgar Barrier (Banquo), Alan Napier, Erskine Sanford, John Dierkes, Laurene Tuttle, William Alland, Gus Schilling. Rating: 7.5 | Orson Welles assigned some of the lines spoken by characters in the play to different characters in the film. He invented the character "A Holy Father" for the film to emphasize what he believed was the struggle between religion and witchcraft in the play, and many of Ross' lines in the play are spoken by the Holy Father. The very minor character of the Old Man was omitted from the film, and his lines were also given to the Holy Father. Welles also gave Lady Macduff an extra speech which William Shakespeare had assigned to ano |
| MacINTOSH MAN | John Huston 1973. Color (Technicolor) - UK | USA - English - 98 min. Rank: 613 | Joseph Rearden takes the fall for a robbery and winds up in the Scrubs. From there he escapes in the company of a convicted spy and is taken to a remote manor at an unknown location where he is kept isolated. He overpowers his guard and flies, but nothing is quite what it seems in this drama of intrigue as Rearden pursues his quarry from Ireland to Malta. | Paul Newman, Dominique Sanda, James Mason, Harry Andrews, Ian Bannen, Nigel Patrick, Michael Hordern. Written By: Walter Hill (screenplay), Desmond Bagley (novel), and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.3 | The movie has exactly the same plot as the "Escape Route" episode of The Saint (episode 85, 30 December 1966), which had Roger Moore in Newman's role, and Donald Sutherland in Bannen's role. Actor Eric Mason has small parts in both the film and the TV episode. Desmond Bagley is not credited on "The Saint" episode, and his novel "The Freedom Trap" did not appear until 1971. |
| MADAME SIN | David Greene 1972. Color - UK - English - 75 min | UK: 90 min. Rank: 647 | Bette Davis is Madame Sin, a sinister-looking, totally evil, half-Chinese woman who indulges in endless machinations. Ensocnced in a Scottish castle that is packed with an array of spy gadgetry, she runs afoul with counter spy, American CIA agent Anthony Lawrence (Robert Wagner), who is out to counter her plots for control of a Polaris submarine. | Bette Davis, Robert Wagner, Catherine Schell, Paul Maxwell, Denholm Elliot, Gorden Jackson. Written By: David Greene, Barry Oringer. Rating: 6.1 | |
| MADAME ZENOBIA | Eduardo Cemano 1973. Color - USA - English - USA: 80 min. Rank: 613 | Beautiful, but sad and dejected young widow Marcia is unable to find sexual gratification with her fiancé Eric because of her continuous love affair with her deceased husband John. Eric insists that Marcia stop with this peculiar spectral fling or else it will destroy their relationship. Marcia's wacky swinger friends take her to see powerful spiritual medium Madame Zenobia in order to rectify this problem. | hippie porn: Tina Russell, Jamie Gillis and Elizabeth Donovan. Rating: 6.3 | The shots of the moon are actually the sun shot through a blue haze filter. |
| MADE FOR EACH OTHER | John Cromwell 1939. Black and White - USA - English - 92 min. Rank: 574 | Young lawyer meets and marries girl after knowing her one day. Takes bride home to meet his mother who disapproves of the marriage. Lawyer thinks everything will be fine as he moves up the ladder of the law firm. He doesn't and things get tough. A baby makes things even tougher. | James Stewart, Carole Lombard, Charles Coburn, Lucile Watson, Alma Kruger, Esther Dalke, Ward Bond. Written By: Jo Swerling (screenplay), Rose Franken (suggested by a story by), and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.4 | David O. Selznick's experience of trying to have life-saving serum flown in for his critically ill brother was the basis for the flying sequences ending the movie. |
| MADE FOR EACH OTHER | Robert B. Bean 1971. Black and White | Color - USA - English - 100 min. Rank: 574 | The pair who created "Lovers and Other Strangers" take on marriage and other impossibilities. | Renee Taylor, Joseph Bologna, Paul Sorvino, Olympia Dukakis (script by two leads said to be autobiographical» not inv'd 10-06,pos confusion. Written By: Renée Taylor, Joseph Bologna. Rating: 6.4 | Joseph Bologna's film debut. |
| MADIGAN | Don Siegel 1968. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 101 min. Rank: 467 | Policemen Bonaro and Madigan lose their guns to fugitive Barney Benesch. As compensation, the two NYC detectives are given a weekend to bring Benesch to justice. While Bonaro and Madigan follow up on various leads, Police Commissioner Russell goes about his duties, including attending functions, meeting with aggrieved relatives, and counseling the spouses of fallen officers. | Henry Fonda, Richard Widmark, Harry Guardino, Inger Stevens, James Whitmore,Susan Clark, Michael Dunn, Sheree North. Written By: Howard Rodman (screenplay), Abraham Polonsky (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.7 | Conrad Bain's movie debut. |
| MAGIC TOWN | William A. Wellman 1947. Black and White - USA - English - 103 min. Rank: 506 | Rip Smith's opinion-poll business is a failure..until he discovers that the small town of Grandview is statistically identical to the entire country. He and his assistants go there to run polls cheaply and easily, in total secrecy (it would be fatal to let the townsfolk get self-conscious). And of course, civic crusader Mary Peterman must be kept from changing things too much. But romantic involvement with Mary complicates life for Rip; then suddenly everything changes.. | James Stewart, Jane Wyman, Ned Sparks, Kent Smith, Regis Toomey, Donald Meek (scpt; Robert Riskin a la Capra) inc.-last 15:. Written By: Robert Riskin (story), Joseph Krumgold (story), and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.6 | "Screen Director's Playhouse" broadcast a 30 minute radio adaptation of the movie on January 6, 1950 with James Stewart reprising his film role. |
| MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS | Orson Welles, and 2 more credits. 1942. Black and White - USA - English - 88 min | 148 min (original cut) | 131 min (preview). Rank: 70 | The young, handsome, but somewhat wild Eugene Morgan wants to marry Isabel Amberson, daughter of a rich upper-class family, but she instead marries dull and steady Wilbur Minafer. Their only child, George, grows up a spoiled brat. 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 George resents the attentions paid to his mother, and he and his whacko aunt Fanny manage to sabotage the romance. A series of disasters befall the Ambersons and George, and he gets his come-uppance in the end. | Tim Holt, Joseph Cotten, Delores Costello, Anne Baxter, Agnes Moorehead, Ray Collins, Richard Bennettt, Erskine Sanfor. Written By: Booth Tarkington (novel), Orson Welles (script writer), and 2 more credits. Rating: 8 | Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 2 wins. Orson Welles suspected that author Booth Tarkington based the lead character George on Welles himself for a variety of reasons: Tarkington was a friend of the Welles family, Welles had a reputation for being a spoiled, difficult child and Welles's full name was George Orson Welles, so he was called George or Georgie while growing up. |
| MAKE MINE MINK | Robert Asher 1960. Black and White - UK - English - Australia: 97 min | Germany: 99 min | USA: 100 min | UK: 80 min (1964) (re-release) | UK: 101 min - English. Rank: 329 | Zany collection of misfits led by aging military man (Terry-Thomas) go on a spree of robbing mink coats. An unlikely trio of women (Athene Seyler, Hattie Jacques, and Elspeth Duxbury) find new reasons to live .. until their housekeeper (Billie Whitelaw), an ex-con is suspected of the robberies. | Terry-Thomas, Athene Seyler, Hattie Jacques, Billie Whitelaw,Elspeth Duxberry,R.Huntley,Ron Moody,Jack Hedlkey,Kenneth Williams,S.Tafler. Written By: Peter Blackmore (additional dialogue), Peter Coke (play), and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.0 | Film was the basis for the 1971 musical "70, Girls, 70", which ran for 35 performances on Broadway and starred Mildred Natwick. Music and lyrics were by John Kander and Fred Ebb. |
| MAKING LOVE | Arthur Hiller 1982. Color - USA - English - 113 min. Rank: 546 | A successful young L.A. doctor and his equally successful television-producer wife find their happily-ever-after life torn assunder when he suddenly confronts his long-repressed attraction for other men. Zach and Claire live a comfortable life secure in their love for one another when Bart, a swinging L.A. novelist, walks into Zach's office and awakens unfamiliar feelings in him. In a move which leaves him wracked with guilt, Zach cancels dinner with his wife in order to go out with Bart. He is inexplicably drawn to this man who seems intent on keeping him at arms distance. Why can't Bart allow their relationship to grow? he wonders. Exasperated, he asks Bart, "Do you snore? Does anybody ever get a chance to find out?" As Zach's absences become more and more frequent, Claire's concern manifests itself in the suspicion that he is having an affair with another woman.. | Michael Ontkean, Kate Jackson, Harry Hamlin, EWendy Hiller, Arthur Hiller, Nancy Olsen, Terry Kiser. Written By: Barry Sandler, A. Scott Berg (story). Rating: 6.5 | Nominated for Golden Globe. Harrison Ford, Michael Douglas, and Richard Gere all turned down the male lead, expressing reservations about the subject matter. |
| MAKING OF ROOTS Feature-length production doc. | . - - - - - . Rank: n/a | . Rating: | ||
| MALE ANIMAL | Elliott Nugent 1942. Black and White - USA - English - 101 min. Rank: 373 | The trustees of Midwestern University have forced three teachers out of their jobs for being suspected communists. Trustee Ed Keller has also threatened mild mannered English Professor Tommy Turner, because he plans to read a controversial piece of prose in class. Tommy is upset that his wife Ellen also suggested he not read the passage. Meanwhile, Ellen's old boyfriend, the football player Joe Ferguson, comes to visit for the homecoming weekend. He takes Ellen out dancing after the football rally, causing Tommy to worry that he will lose her to Joe. | Henry Fonda, Olivia deHaviland, Joan Leslie, Jack Carson, Herbert Anderson, Don DeFore, Hattie McDaniel, Eugene Paulette (James Thurber-Elliott Nugent scply) MALTA STORY (Brian Desmond Hurst'53 UK) Alec Guiness, Jack Hawkins, Anthony Steel, Muriel Pavlov . Written By: Julius J. Epstein (screenplay), Philip G. Epstein (screenplay), and 3 more credits. Rating: 6.9 | The play by James Thurber and Elliott Nugent opened at the Cort Theatre in New York on 9 January 1940 and closed on 3 August 1940 after 243 performances. Don DeFore, Ivan F. Simpson, Minna Phillips and Regina Wallace originated their movie roles in the play. The opening night cast also included Leon Ames as Joe Ferguson, author/director Elliott Nugent as Tommy Turner, and Gene Tierney as Patricia Stanley. |
| MALTA STORY | Brian Desmond Hurst . Black and White - UK - English - UK: 103 min | USA: 97 min. Rank: 574 | In 1942 Britain was clinging to the island of Malta since it was critical to keeping Allied supply lines open. The Axis also wanted it for their own supply lines. Plenty of realistic reenactments and archival combat footage as the British are beseiged and try to fight off the Luftwaffe. Against this background, a RAF reconnaissance photographer's romance with a local girl is endangered as he tries to plot enemy movements. | Alec Guiness, Jack Hawkins, Anthony Steel, Muriel Pavlov. Written By: Thorold Dickinson (idea), Peter De Sarigny (idea), and 4 more credits. Rating: 6.4 | First feature of Lee Patterson. |
| MALTESE FALCON | John Huston 1941. Black and White - USA - English - 100 min (Turner library print) (copyright length). Rank: 27 | Spade and Archer is the name of a San Francisco detective agency. That's for Sam Spade and Miles Archer. The two men are partners, but Sam doesn't like Miles much. A knockout, who goes by the name of Miss Wanderly, walks into their office; and by that night everything's changed. Miles is dead. And so is a man named Floyd Thursby. It seems Miss Wanderly is surrounded by dangerous men. There's Joel Cairo, who uses gardenia-scented calling cards. There's Kasper Gutman, with his enormous girth and feigned civility. Her only hope of protection comes from Sam, who is suspected by the police of one or the other murder. More murders are yet to come, and it will all be because of these dangerous men -- and their lust for a statuette of a bird: the Maltese Falcon. | Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Peter Lorre, Sidney Greenstreet, Ward Bond, Gladys George, Barton McLane, Elisha CookJr, Lee Patrick, Jerome Cowan. Written By: John Huston (screenplay), Dashiell Hammett (based upon the novel by). Rating: 8.3 | Top 250 #105 | Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 1 win. There's only one scene in the film - the pistol that kills Miles Archer - that doesn't involve the presence of Sam Spade. It was put in at the studio's insistence. |
| MAN ABOUT TOWN | Mark Sandrich 1939. Black and White - USA - English - 85 min. Rank: 373 | Producer Bob Temple, who's brought an American show to London, loves his star Diana, but she won't take him seriously as a lover. To show her, he picks up stranger Lady Arlington, whose financier husband neglects her. On a weekend at the Arlington country house, Bob is used by both Lady A. and her friend to make their husbands jealous; this works all too well, and Bob is in danger from both husbands. | Jack Benny, Rochester, Dorothy Lamour, Binnie Barnes, Edw. Arnold, Phil Harris, Bet~y Grable, Monte Wooley. Written By: Zion Myers (story), Morrie Ryskind (screenplay), and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.9 | Originally, this film was to feature Betty Grable opposite Jack Benny in the role of Diana Wilson, but because of appendicitis, she had to be replaced by Dorothy Lamour. Betty recovered in time, however, to contribute a song with Phil Harris (to which Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson danced), "Fidgety Joe" (music by Matty Malneck, lyrics by Frank Loesser). |
| MAN BETWEEN | Carol Reed 1953. Black and White - UK - English | German | Russian - 100 min. Rank: 373 | A British woman on a visit to post-war Berlin is caught up in an espionage ring smuggling secrets into and out of the Eastern Bloc. | James Mason, Claire Bloom, Hildagarde Neff, Geoffrey Toone Ifyou liked The Third Man .. Written By: Walter Ebert (story), Harry Kurnitz (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.9 | |
| MAN CALLED ADAM | Leo Penn 1966. Black and White - USA - English - 99 min. Rank: 714 | A famous jazz trumpeter finds himself unable to cope with the problems of everyday life. | Sammy DavisJr" Ossie Davis, Ciceyl Tyson, Louis Arsmtrong, Frank SinatraJr, Peter Lawford, Mel Torme, Lola Falana, Gerald O'Loughlin (clipped?). Written By: Lester Pine, Tina Pine. Rating: 5.8 | Adam's trumpet playing was actually done by Nat Adderley. |
| MAN FROM LARAMIE | Anthony Mann 1955. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 104 min. Rank: 206 | Mysterious Will Lockhart delivers supplies to storekeeper Barbara Waggoman at Coronado, an isolated town in Apache country. Before long, he's tangled with Dave Waggoman, vicious son of autocratic rancher Alec and cousin of sweet Barbara. But he sticks around town, his presence a catalyst for changes in people's lives, searching for someone he doesn't know..who's been selling rifles to the Apaches. | James Stewart, ARthur Kennedy, Donald Crisp, Cathy O'Donnell, Alex Nicol, Aline McMahon, Wallace Ford. Written By: Philip Yordan (screenplay), Frank Burt (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.4 | The last of James Stewart's Western collaborations with Anthony Mann. |
| MAN IN THE GREY FLANNEL SUIT | Nunnally Johnson 1966. Color - USA - English | Italian (a few words) | German (a few words) - 153 min | West Germany: 122 min. Rank: 295 | Tom Rath lives in Connecticut and commutes to work every day in Manhattan. He's happily married and has a loving wife and three children. Money is a bit tight and when the opportunity arises, he applies for a public relations job with a major television network. During his long commute to work everyday, Tom reminisces about the war. Although 10 years have gone by, he is still haunted by the violence and the men he killed. He also thinks of Maria, an Italian girl with whom he had an affair while stationed in Rome. At his new job, the head of the network Ralph Hopkins takes an immediate liking to him. Tom soon realizes that he will have to choose between becoming a wholly dedicated company man or maintaining a healthy work-life balance. When he learns that Maria gave birth to his son after he left Italy, he decides to let his wife know and ensure that the boy is cared for. | Gregory Peck, Jennifer Jones, Fredric March, Marisa Pavan, Lee J.Cobb, Keenan Wynn, Gene Lockhart,Gigi Pereau,Arthur O'Connell. Written By: Nunnally Johnson (screenplay), Sloan Wilson (novel). Rating: 7.1 | Average Shot Length (ASL) = 16 seconds |
| MAN IN THE MIDDLE (aka The Winston Affair) | Guy Hamilton 1963. Black and White - UK | USA - English - 94 min. Rank: 506 | Set in 1944 India, Mitchum plays a lieutenant colonel assigned to defend American soldier Keenan Wynn after he murders a British civilian. | Robert Mitchum, France Nuyen, Barry DSullivan, Kennan Wynn, Alexander Knox, Trevor Howard. Howard Fast novel. Written By: Keith Waterhouse (screenplay), Willis Hall (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.6 | |
| MAN IN THE SHADOW | Jack Arnold 1957. Black and White - USA - English - 80 min. Rank: 467 | In effect, modern cow town Spurline is run by Virgil Renchler, owner of the Golden Empire Ranch. One night, two of Virgil's henchmen go a little too far and beat a "bracero" ranch hand to death. Faced with an obvious cover-up and opposition on every hand, sheriff Ben Sadler is goaded into investigating. His unlikely ally: Renchler's lovely, self-willed and overprotected daughter. Will Ben survive Renchler's wrath? | Jeff Chandler, Orson Welles, Colleen Miller, Ben Alexander, Barbara Lawrence, John Larch (Ed Yates), James Gleason, Royal Dano, Paul Fix(Herb Parker), Leo Gorden (Chet Huneker), Martin Garralaga (Jesus Cesneros), William Schallert. Rating: 6.7 | French dubbed version by Universal Films France, directed by F.Violet, edited by L. Zwoboda, interpreted by René Arrieu(Ben Sadler), Jean Davy(Virgil Renchler), Sophie Leclerc(Skippy Renchler), Roibert Dalban(Ab Begley), Jean Violette(Chet Hunaker), Jean-Henri Chambois(Tony Santoro). |
| MAN IS NOT A BIRD | Dusan Makavejev 1965. Black and White - Yugoslavia - Serbian - 81 min. Rank: 295 | A love romance between older, respectable engineer that came in the industrial town to do some expert job and young hairdresser in whose house he stayed in and the consequences of that relationship, especially after young driver gets involved. | Milena Dravic, Janez Vrhovec and Eva Ras. Rating: 7.1 | |
| MAN ON A STRING | André De Toth 1960. Black and White - USA - English - 92 min. Rank: 574 | a Russian-born movie producer (inspired by composer Boris Morros) whose background makes him an ideal counterspy for the "CBI." He agrees to the deception, and, aided by agent Avery (Kerwin Mathews), he pretends to defect. | Ernest Borgnine, Kerwin Matthews, Colleen Dewhurst, Alexander Scourby, Glenn Corbett Boris Morros bio. Written By: Boris Morros (book), Charles Samuels (book), and 4 more credits. Rating: 6.4 | Ted Knight's movie debut. Actually filmed in East Berlin and Moscow during the Cold War. |
| MAN ON THE FLYING TRAPEZE | Clyde Bruckman, and 1 more credit. 1935. Black and White - USA - English - 66 min. Rank: 126 | Ambrose Wolfinger wants the afternoon off (his first in twenty-five years) to go to a wrestling match. He tells his boss that he must attend his mother-in-law's funeral. The afternoon is no joy. He tries to please a policeman, assist a chauffeur, chase a tire, and ends up getting hit by the body of a wrestler thrown from the ring. A series of mishaps leads his boss to send floral tributes to the house and notify the papers of the death (due to poisoned liquor). His shrewish wife, judgmental mother-in-law, and good-for-nothing brother-in-law add to his burdens. In the end he enjoys their fawning loyalty, a raise in pay, and his first vacation. | W.C.Fields, Mary Brian, Kethleen Howard, Grady Sutton, Vera Lewis, Walter Brennan (bit). Written By: Ray Harris (screenplay), Sam Hardy (screenplay), and 6 more credits. Rating: 7.7 | One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since. |
| MAN ON THE RUN | Lawrence Huntington 1949. Black and White - UK - English - 80 min. Rank: 295 | An Army deserter, still a fugitive in Post-War Britain, wanders into a pawn-shop robbery and finds himself wanted for murder. He meets a war widow who helps him elude the police while he looks for the real criminals. | Derek Farr, Joan Hopkins, Edward Chapman, Laurence Harvey, Howard Marion Crawford, Alfie Bass, John Bailey, John Stuart, Edward Underdown, Leslie Perrins, Kenneth Moore, Martin Miller, Eleanor Summerfield,Anthony Nichols not inventoried 10-06 possibly dis. Rating: 7.1 | Kenneth More is credited as "Moore" in the opening credits, but as "More" in the end credits. |
| MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH | Alfred Hitchcock 1934. Black and White - UK - English | German | Italian - 75 min. Rank: 373 | While holidaying in Switzerland, Lawrence and his wife Jill are asked by a dying friend, Louis Bernard, to get information hidden in his room to the British Consulate. They get the information, but when they deny having it, their daughter Betty is kidnapped. It turns out that Louis was a Foreign Office spy and the information has to do with the assassination of a foreign dignitary. Having managed to trace his daughter's kidnappers back to London, Lawrence learns that the assassination will take place during a concert at the Albert Hall. It is left to Jill, however, to stop the assassination. | Leslie Banks, Edna Best, Peter Lorrre, Nova Pilbeam Frank Vosper, Pierre Fresnay. Written By: Charles Bennett (by), D.B. Wyndham-Lewis (by), and 3 more credits. Rating: 6.9 | The logo for Gaumont British Pictures is located on a scarf worn by Leslie Banks during the opening scene. |
| MAN WHO LOVED CAT DANCING | Richard C. Sarafian 1973. Color (Metrocolor) - USA - English - 114 min | USA: 123 min (Turner library print). Scope. Rank: 741 | The story of Jay, a man of the West, and his offbeat relationship with Catherine, a woman from the East who is fleeing an unhappy marriage. Jay kidnaps Catherine on his way to rob a train and together they travel through the Wyoming Territory. | Burt reynolds, Sarah Miles, Geo. Hamilton, Lee J.Cobb, Jack Warden, Bo Hopkins, Robert Donner, Jay Silverheels. Written By: Marilyn Durham (novel), Eleanor Perry (screenplay). Rating: 5.6 | Sarah Miles' business manager-boyfriend David Whiting was found by her dead in her Gila Bend, Arizona motel room during production of this movie. The fatality made news headlines around the world. Time magazine on 26 March 1973 reported: "Pills and bottles were scattered around his body, and bruises and a bloody cut were found on his head." The night prior to the discovery of his body, Whiting had allegedly assaulted Miles after she had come back late at night from a birthday party for Burt Reynolds. Reynolds let Miles stay in |
| MAN WHO NEVER WAS | Ronald Neame 1956. Color - UK - English | German (a few lines) | Spanish (a few lines) | Latin (only a few words) - 103 min. Rank: 206 | British Intelligence during World War II is trying to get the German High Command to shift it's forces away from Italy prior to the invasion. To create the illusion of a plan for England to invade Greece a dead body is to be procured, allowed to be found with secret papers on him by Spanish authorities who will send the papers on to the Germans, or that's the plan. First they have to find a body that will look drowned, and create an identity for him that will pass the examination of the German agent who is sure to check him out. Based on a true story. | Clifton Webb, Gloria Grahame, Robert Flemyng, Josephine Griffin, Stephen Boyd. Written By: Ewen Montagu (book), Nigel Balchin (screenplay). Rating: 7.4 | Won BAFTA Film Award. Another 4 nominations. Ewen Montagu, the officer who was in charge of Operation Mincemeat, has a small cameo role as an air marshal. |
| MAN WITH A CLOAK | Fletcher Markle 1951. Black and White - USA - English - 84 min | USA: 81 min (Turner library print). Rank: 506 | In 1848, a young Frenchwoman, Madeline Minot, goes to New York City to see Thevenet, the grandfather of her fiance. Thevenet had been with Napoleon and may be sympathetic to the political aims of his grandson. She finds the old man in very bad spirits, living in a large house with a housekeeper and a butler who are just waiting for him to die (and perhaps helping him along a bit) so they can inherit his fortune. They see Madeline as a threat to their plans. She is aided in her dealings with these strange people by a mysterious man in a cloak. | Joseph Cotton, Louis Calhern, Leslie Caron, Jim Backus, Margaret Wycherly, Joe deSantis. Written By: Frank Fenton (written for the screen by), John Dickson Carr (story). Rating: 6.6 | |
| MAN WITH BOGART'S FACE (aka Sam Marlow, Private Eye) | Robert Day 1980. Color - USA - English - 106 min. Rank: 714 | A man with a fixation on Humphrey Bogart gets plastic surgery to make him look exactly like Bogart. Then he changes his name to Sam Marlowe (after Sam Spade and Phillip Marlowe, two of Bogart's most famous characters), hires a ditzy blonde secretary, and opens up a detective agency. His first case is one that would do Bogie proud.. | Robert Sacchi, Michelle Phillips, Olivia Hussey, Franco Nero, Misty Rowe, Victor Bueno, Herbert Lorn, Sybil Danning,m. Written By: Andrew J. Fenady (novel), Andrew J. Fenady (screenplay). Rating: 5.8 | Reportedly, Robert Sacchi's height and weight was once said to be the same as that of Humphrey Bogart. |
| MARATHON MAN | John Schlesinger 1976. Color (Metrocolor) - USA - English | French | German | Spanish | Yiddish - 125 min. Rank: 157 | In New York City, the brother of an infamous Nazi war criminal is killed in a head on collision car accident. Shortly thereafter, members of a covert US government group called "The Division" begin to be murdered one by one. When the brother to one Division member sees his brother knifed to death, it is revealed that former SS dentist Szell, "the White Angel" of Auschwitz, is wrapping up loose ends to smuggle priceless diamonds from the United States. | Dustion Hoffman, Laurence Oliver, Roy Scheide, William De Vane,Marthe Keller,Fritz Weaver,Marc Lawrence,Richard Bright (Book,script, William Goldman). Written By: William Goldman (screenplay), William Goldman (novel). Rating: 7.6 | Nominated for Oscar. Another 3 wins and 9 nominations. Although not particularly a fan of William Goldman's original novel, Dustin Hoffman took the part so that he could work with John Schlesinger again (the two had previously collaborated on Midnight Cowboy). He had also heard that Al Pacino was interested in the part and wanted to beat him to it. |
| MARK OF ZORRO | Fred Niblo 1920. Black and White (color toned) - USA - - 90 min (1970 alternate version) | 107 min (DVD). Rank: 238 | In old Spanish California, the oppressive colonial government is opposed by Zorro, masked champion of the people, who appears out of nowhere with flashing sword and an athletic sense of humor, scarring the faces of evildoers with his Mark. Meanwhile, beautiful Lolita is courted by villainous Captain Ramon, rich but effete Don Diego.. and dashing Zorro, who is never seen at the same time as Don Diego. As Zorro continues to evade pursuit, Ramon puts the damsel in distress.. | Douglas Fairbanks, Marguarite de la Motte, Noah Berry, Michael McKim, Charles Mailes (Blackhawk version w. soundtrack). Rating: 7.3 | Film debut of Noah Beery Jr. |
| MARLOWE | Paul Bogart 1969. Color (Metrocolor) - USA - English - 96 min. Rank: 613 | Quiet young Orfamay Quest from Kansas has hired private detective Philip Marlowe to find her brother. After two leads turn up with ice picks stuck in them, he discovers blackmail photos concerning TV star Mavis Wald. She rejects Marlowe's help, and this is forcibly underlined by her gangster boyfriend. So, wonders Marlowe, is there a link between Orfamay and Mavis? | James Garner, Gayle Hunnicut, Carol O'Connor, Rita Moreno, Sharon farrell, William Daniels, Jackie Coogan, Bruce Lee (Raymond Chandler'S Little Sister). Written By: Raymond Chandler (novel), Stirling Silliphant. Rating: 6.3 | In the nightclub scene, Marlowe (James Garner) takes a sip of wine and smirking, judges it "impertinent. . .even baroque." These were the exact words that a character in Gore Vidal's Myra Breckinridge (published a year earlier) had used to describe Garner's butt in an excerpt from an obtuse film journal that appeared in the novel. Obviously, an inside joke and from Garner's smarmy delivery of what was otherwise a pointless remark, he was very much in on the gag. |
| MARRlAGE ITALIAN STYLE | Vittorio De Sica 1964. Color (Eastmancolor) - Italy | France - Italian - 102 min. Rank: 238 | Domenico, a successfull businessman, with an eye for the girls, begins an affair with Filumena when she is 17 years old. She becomes a prostitute, but also becomes the mistress of Domenico. He eventually sets her up in an apartment, and she works for him in his various businesses. She secretly bears three children, who are raised by nannys. Domenico starts planning to marry a young employee. Filumena tricks him into marriage by pretending to be dying. Domenico annuls the marriage. Filumena then tells him of the three children. She says that one of the children belongs to Domenico, but will not say which one is his. You start to believe that all of the children could be his, and Domenico then marries Filumena again, this time willingly. | Marcello Mastroianni, Sophia Loren, Aldo Puglisi, Pia Lindstrom, Vioto Moriiconi, Marilu Tko dubbed. Written By: Eduardo De Filippo (play), Renato Castellani (screenplay), and 3 more credits. Rating: 7.3 | Nominated for Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. |
| MARRYING KIND | George Cukor 1952. Black and White - USA - English - 92 min. Rank: 373 | Florence and Chet Keefer have had a troublesome marriage. Whilst in the middle of a divorce hearing the judge encourages them to remember the good times they have had hoping that the marriage can be saved. | Judy Holiday,AldoRay, Madge Kennedy, Shelia Bond, John Alex~ ander, Rex Williams, Phyllis Povah, Peggy Cass, Mickey Shaughnessy, Griff Barnet. Written By: Ruth Gordon, Garson Kanin. Rating: 6.9 | Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 nomination. For the memorable 4th of July picnic flashback, George Cukor relied for inspiration on a production of Anton Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard". |
| MARS ATTACKS THE WORLD Buster Crabbe Feature from first Flash Gorden serial | Ford Beebe 1932. Black and White - USA - English - 92 min. Rank: 373 | As a deadly ray from space hits the Earth, Flash Gordon travels to its source, the planet Mars, only to find his old enemy emperor Ming of Mongo. With the help of the clay people and other fantastic creatures, he fights for the freedom of two planets. | Buster Crabbe, Jean Rogers, Charles Middleton. Written By: Ray Trampe (original screenplay) (archive footage), Norman S. Hall (original screenplay) (archive footage), and 3 more credits. Rating: 7.2 | Rushed into theaters to cash in on the hype created by Orson Wells' Halloween radio broadcast of War of the Worlds. |
| MARTIN LUTHER | Irving Pichel 1953. Black and White - USA | West Germany - English - 105 min. Rank: 467 | The time frame of the film is 1505-1530: Luther's entrance into the Augustinian monastery in Erfurt to the presentation of the Augsburg Confession. It recounts Martin Luther's struggle to find God's mercy: his discovery of the gospel in Romans 1:17. | Niall MacGinnis, John Ruddock. Written By: Allan Sloane (researched and prepared for the screen by), Lothar Wolff (researched and prepared for the screen by), and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.7 | Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 1 nomination. |
| MASK OF FU MANCHU | Charles Brabin, and 1 more credit. 1932. Black and White - USA - English - 68 min. Rank: 546 | Englishmen race to find the tomb of Ghengis Khan. They have to get there fast, as the evil genius Dr. Fu Manchu is also searching, and if he gets the mysteriously powerful relics, he and his diabolical daughter will enslave the world! | Boris Karloff, Lewis Stone, Karen Morley, Myrra Loy, Charles Starrett, Jean Hersholt, (Sax Rohmer story). Written By: Irene Kuhn (screenplay), Edgar Allan Woolf (screenplay), and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.5 | As originally scripted, during the torture sequence, it was planned to have Von Berg (Jean Hersholt) suspended over the crocodile pit and Neyland Smith (Lewis Stone) about to be impaled by the walls of spikes. This was reversed when, for reasons unknown, it was thought that a fat captive would make more sense being impaled than a thin one. |
| MATTER OF TIME | Vincente Minnelli 1976. Color (Technicolor) - Italy | USA - English - 97 min. Rank: 795 | Based loosely on the real life exploits of the infamous Italian eccentric, the Marchesa Casati, whom Druon knew during her declining years in London while he was stationed there during World War II. | Ingrid Bergman, Liza Menelli, Charle Boyer, Spiros Andros, Tina Aumont, Anna Proclemer, Isabella Rosellini,Fernando Rey. Written By: Maurice Druon (novel), John Gay (screenplay). Rating: 5.1 | Isabella Rossellini plays Sister Pia and happens to have a half-sister named Pia - Pia Lindström the daughter of her mother Ingrid Bergman and Dr. Petter Aron Lindström. |
| McHALE'S NAVY JOINS THE AIR FORCE | Edward Montagne 1965. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 90 min. Rank: 769 | The crew of PT-73 are in trouble again when Ensign Parker is mistaken for a pilot and gets shanghied into the Air Force. | Tim Conway, Joe Flynn, Bob Hastings, Ted Bessell, Susan Silo, Billy Sandsm Gavin McLeod, Tom Tully, Jacques Aubechon. Written By: William J. Lederer (story), John Fenton Murray. Rating: 5.3 | Joe Flynn actually served in the Army during World War II. |
| MEDAL FOR BENNY | Irving Pichel 1945. Black and White - USA - English | Spanish - 77 min. Rank: 373 | J. Carol Nash, Mikhail Rasumny, Fernando Alverado, Charles Dingle, Frank McHugh (John Steinbeck story). Written By: Frank Butler, John Steinbeck (story), and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.9 | Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 1 win. One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since. | |
| MEET JOHN DOE | Frank Capra 1941. Black and White - USA - English - USA: 122 min. Rank: 126 | As a parting shot, fired reporter Ann Mitchell prints a fake letter from unemployed "John Doe," who threatens suicide in protest of social ills. The paper is forced to rehire Ann and hires John Willoughby to impersonate "Doe." Ann and her bosses cynically milk the story for all it's worth, until the made-up "John Doe" philosophy starts a whole political movement. At last everyone, even Ann, takes her creation seriously..but publisher D.B. Norton has a secret plan. | Gary Cooper, Walter Brennan, Jean Arthur, Edward Arnold, Spring Byington, James Gleason, Gene Lockhart. Written By: Richard Connell (story), Robert Presnell Sr. (story), and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.7 | Nominated for Oscar. "The Screen Guild Theater" broadcast a 30 minute radio adaptation of the movie on September 28, 1941 with Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck and Edward Arnold reprising their film roles. |
| MELODY | Waris Hussein 1971. Color (Eastmancolor) - UK - English - 103 min. Rank: 185 | Two youngsters declare to their parents that they want to get married. Not sometime in the future but as soon as possible. The story is told from the children's point of view. | Jack Wild, Mark Lester, Roy Kinnear, Tracy Hyde. Shelia Steafel, Kate Williams. Rating: 7.5 | Jack Wild was playing an 11-year-old, despite being 17 at the time of filming. |
| MICROMANCY | . - - - - - . Rank: n/a | Not in Mahin or Video book SCREEN IT! . Rating: | ||
| MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT | Delbert Mann 1959. Black and White - USA - English - 118 min. Rank: 329 | Betty Preisser (Kim Novak), an attractive 24 year old divorcee, works as a secretary in the hard-boiled atmosphere of Manhattan's garment district.. | Fredric March, Glenda Farrell, Jan Morris, Lee Grant, Effie Afton, Martin Balsam Paddy Chayefsk play. Written By: Paddy Chayefsky (play), Paddy Chayefsky (screenplay). Rating: 7.0 | Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 1 nomination. David Ford's feature film debut. |
| MIDNIGHT LACE | David Miller 1960. Color (Eastmancolor) - USA - English - 110 min | 108 min (TCM print). Rank: 435 | Kit and Anthony Preston never had a real honeymoon, and the midnight lace pajamas are for when they can finally get out of London. Anthony's business is very pressing these days. Then Kit is frightened one day in a London fog by a voice behind a statue. Next the telephone calls start. Then there is a new man on the block, the architect of a building going up next to the Prestons' vintage apartment. That vintage building has the kind of curving stairwell and cage-type elevator that Hitchcock and other suspense masters have loved. Could Kit merely have an overactive imagination? | Doris Day, Rex Harrison, John Gavin, Myrna Loy, Roddy McDowell, Herbert Marshall, Natasha Parry, Anthony Dawson. Written By: Ivan Goff (screenplay), Ben Roberts (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.8 | Nominated for Oscar. Another 3 nominations. Dictating his memoirs near the end of his life, 'Rex Harrison' barely mentioned "Midnight Lace" except to say that he wasn't fond of the script. He also (falsely) reported that 'Doris Day' was under so much pressure to make the picture work that she collapsed. Day was indeed under strain, though it was due to her personal form of method-acting that caused her breakdown, not from the script or the production. |
| MILLION DOLLAR LEGS | Edward F. Cline 1932. Black and White - USA - English - 64 min. Rank: 259 | A small country on the verge of bankruptcy is persuaded to enter the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics as a means of raising money. Either a masterpiece of absurdity or a triumph of satire, depending on your mood, but it's quite possibly the funniest movie ever made, and becomes even funnier with subsequent viewings. | W.C.Fields, Jack Oakie, Ben Turpin, Andy Clyde, Billy Gilbert, Susan Fleing, Lyda Roberti, Dickie Moore, Hugh Herbert Jos.Mankiewicz a scrptr. Written By: Joseph L. Mankiewicz (by), Henry Myers (by), and 2 more credits. Rating: 7.2 | Hank Mann is in studio records/casting call lists for the role of 'Customs Inspector' in this movie, but he did not appear or was not identifiable. |
| MILLIONAlRENESS | Anthony Asquith 1960. Color (Eastmancolor) - UK - English - 90 min. Rank: 769 | London-based Millionairess Epifania (Sophia Loren) is attracted to Dr. Kabir (MD from Delhi and PhD from Calcutta), who is more intent on treating patients. When she persists, he confides in her that he had made a commitment to his late widowed seamstress mother that he will wed any woman who will manage to survive on just Rs.500/-, for 90 days. She finds out that this sum is equivalent to just 35 shillings but readily accepts this challenge. She also informs him that her late father had also imposed a condition that she must wed a male who will turn £500 into £15000 within the same period. Epifania then finds employment with an Italian firm, ends up re-organizing, and turning up the firm's profits. At the end of 90 days, she goes to meet Kabir and discovers that he has not only given all the money away but also has no interest whatsoever in marrying her. | Sophia Loren, Peter DSellers, Alaster Sim, Vittorio DeSica, Dennis Price George Bernard Shaw play. Written By: George Bernard Shaw (play), Riccardo Aragno (adaptation), and 1 more credit. Rating: 5.3 | Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Peter Sallis was booked to appear in this film but his role was not filmed. |
| MIND OF MR. SOAMES | Alan Cooke 1970. Color (Eastmancolor) - UK - English - Germany: 92 min. Rank: 632 | Since his birth, 30 years ago, John Soames is in a coma. Now he's operated and brought to life in a neurologic clinic. A tense plan shall make him develop from a 30 years old baby to a man, but there's no time for the love and care a normal baby would receive. He manages to flee.. | Terence Stamp, Robert Vaughn, Nigel Davenport, Christian Roberts (sci-fi). Written By: John Hale (screenplay), Edward Simpson (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.2 | |
| MINISTRY OF FEAR | Fritz Lang 1944. Black and White - USA - English - 86 min (copyright length). Rank: 259 | 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. | Ray Milland, Marjorie Reynolds, Carl Esmond, Dan Duryea, Hillary Brooke, Alan Napier, Percy Waram (insp.Prentice), Erskine Sanford, Graeme Green. Written By: Seton I. Miller (screenplay), Graham Greene (novel). Rating: 7.2 | One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since. |
| MIRACLE OF THE BELLS | Irving Pichel 1948. Black and White - USA - English - 120 min. Rank: 546 | Granting her final request, a Hollywood press agent brings the dead body of an actress, who died after making her first and only film, back to her hometown for burial. To arouse public interest, and to get the reluctant studio head to release the film, he asks all the local churches to ring their bells for three days. | Fred MacMurray, Valli, Franbk Sinatra, Lee J.Cobb, Charles Meredith (screenplay by Ben Hecht, Quentin Reynolds. Written By: Russell Janney (novel), Ben Hecht, and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.5 | "Lux Radio Theater" broadcast a 60 minute radio adaptation of the movie on May 31, 1948 with Fred MacMurray, Frank Sinatra and Alida Valli reprising their film roles. |
| MIRAGE | Edward Dmytryk 1965. Black and White - USA - English - 108 min. Rank: 206 | An accountant's memory suddenly becomes mixed up starting from the moment the building he is in has a power blackout. He is bewildered that he can't recall even simple particulars of his job and places he does remember don't exist. Believing he has some type of amnesia, he tries to backtrack what happened before the blackout. Aided by a rookie detective and confused by an old girl friend, he tries to make sense of inconsistent facts while people around him are being murdered. | Gregory Peck, Diane Baker, Waltrer Matthau, Kevin McCarthy, Jack Weston, Leif Erickson, Walter Abel, George Kennedy. Written By: Peter Stone (screenplay), Howard Fast (novel). Rating: 7.4 | |
| MISFITS | John Huston 1961. Black and White - USA - English - 124 min | France: 120 min (DVD). Rank: 206 | Roslyn divorces Ray in Reno and then meets widower Guido. He likes her but introduces her to cowboy Gay, and those two fall in love. When she learns that Gay, Guido and Perce are going to turn wild horses ("misfits") into dog food, she protests. | Clark Gabel (last), MM (last), Eli Wallach, Thelma Todd, Montgomery Clift, James Barton, Estelle Winwood Arthur Miller screenplay inc.-IO-mid. Rating: 7.4 | John Huston pocketed $250 by casting himself as an extra in the blackjack scene. |
| MISS GRANT TAKES RICHMOND | Lloyd Bacon 1949. Black and White - USA - English - 87 min. Rank: 506 | A bookie uses a phony real estate business as a front for his betting parlor. To further keep up the sham, he hires dim-witted Ellen Grant as his secretary figuring she won't suspect any criminal goings-on. When Ellen learns of some friends who are about to lose their homes, she unwittingly drafts her boss into developing a new low-cost housing development. | Lucille Ball, William Holden, Janis Carter, James Gleason, Frank McHugh v.rough 2nd half,B&H only,if. Written By: Nat Perrin (screenplay), Devery Freeman (screenplay), and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.6 | "The Screen Guild Theater" broadcast a 60 minute radio adaptation of the movie on February 22, 1951 with William Holden reprising his film role. |
| MISS POLLY | Fred Guiol 1941. Black and White - USA - English - 45 min. Rank: 714 | Mrs. Minerva Snodgrass heads up the town's Purity League and is so good at imposing restrictions of keeping the girls and boys apart that there hasn't been a marriage in the town in over two years. Her next-door neighbor, Miss Panadora Polly, aptly named based on what she lets out of the box later in the film, is doing her best to promote the romance between town-nerd Eddie and Minerva's daughter Barbara. Miss Polly also does a lot of reflecting on what-might-have been regarding her own life reference romance, or the lack thereof. She and her handyman Slim Wilkins and (described in the dialogue) "housekeeper and companion" Patsy try sampling some of the spirits in the cellar, as Miss Polly is looking for the one that makes one nervy and romantic, that she is sure is there according to family legend. She finds it and it works as advertised and even better, and it is no pretty sight when the horny Zasu Pitts puts a hit on grocery-boy Mickey Daniels.. | Zasu Pitts, Slim Summerville, Kathleen Howard, Brenda Forbes, Elisse Knox, Dick Clayton Hal Roach Streamliner (45m). Written By: Eugene Conrad (screenplay), Edward E. Seabrook (screenplay). Rating: 5.8 | |
| Anthony Page 1974. Color - USA - English - 150 min. Rank: 35 | Based in part on Robert F. Kennedy's book, "Thirteen Days," this film profiles the Kennedy Administration's actions during the Cuban Missile Crisis. | William Devane, Ralph Bellamy, Martin Sheen, Howard daSilva -Cuban missile crisis. 155m. Written By: Stanley R. Greenberg, Robert F. Kennedy (book). Rating: 8.2 | Won Primetime Emmy. Another 1 win and 8 nominations. This was originally shot on videotape, and first shown in this format, but when it was sold to local stations, it was transferred to film. | |
| MISSISSIPPI | A. Edward Sutherland, and 1 more credit. 1935. Black and White - USA - English - 73 min. Rank: 373 | A young pacifist after refusing on principle to defend her sweetheart's honor and being banished in disgrace, joins a riverboat troupe as a singer, acquires a reputation as a crackshot after a saloon brawl in which the villain of the piece accidentally kills himself with his own gun, falls in love with his former fianceé's sister and finally bullies an apprehensive family into accepting him. | W.C.Fields, Bing Crosby, Joan bennett, Queenie Smith, Gail Patrick Claude Gillingwater, Stepin Fechit Roche, Thalmus Rasulala (Frankie), Denise Nichols (Irene), Frank Puglia Music:Chico Hamilton. Written By: Francis Martin (screenplay), Jack Cunningham (screenplay), and 5 more credits. Rating: 6.9 | Since Jan Duggan is credited in the opening set of credits, but not in the more comprehensive end set, the opening credits are listed first, followed by those in the end credits not yet in, as required by IMDb policy on cast ordering. |
| MISTER RICCO | Paul Bogart 1975. Color (Metrocolor) - USA - English - 98 min. Scope. Rank: 769 | A San Francisco attorney (Dean Martin) is hired to defend a black militant accused of murder. | Dean Martin, Eugene Roche, Thalmus Rasulala (Frankie), Denise Nichols (Irene), Frank Puglia Music:Chico Hamilton. Written By: Robert Hoban (screenplay), Ed Harvey (story), and 1 more credit. Rating: 5.3 | |
| MISTER WALKIE TALKIE | Fred Guiol 1952. Black and White - USA - English - USA: 65 min. Rank: 769 | Korean War Comedy | William Travey, Joe Sawyer, Margia Dean, Frank Jenks, Russell Hicks, Alan Hale Jr., Wong Artame Produced by Hal Roach,Jr. Written By: George Carleton Brown, Edward E. Seabrook. Rating: 5.3 | Wong Artarne. |
| MODEL AND THE MARRIAGE BROKER | George Cukor 1951. Black and White - USA - English - 103 min . Rank: 373 | Marriage broker Mae Swasey, who somewhat cynically arranges her loser clients' affairs, meets model Kitty Bennett and can't resist meddling in her life, by disentangling her from a married man and fixing her up with a nice radiologist. Of course things go wrong.. | Thelma Ritter, Jeanne Crain, Scott Brady, Zero Mostel, Michael O'Shea, Frank Fontaine, Nancy Kulp Not on 10-06 inv. Vinegar? Misplaced?. Written By: Charles Brackett, Richard L. Breen, and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.9 | Nominated for Oscar. "Lux Radio Theater" broadcast a 60 minute radio adaptation of the movie on October 6, 1952 with Jeanne Crain and Thelma Ritter reprising their film roles. |
| MODERN TIMES | Charles Chaplin 1936. Black and White - USA - English - 87 min. Rank: 10 | Chaplins last 'silent' film, filled with sound effects, was made when everyone else was making talkies. Charlie turns against modern society, the machine age, (The use of sound in films ?) and progress. Firstly we see him frantically trying to keep up with a production line, tightening bolts. He is selected for an experiment with an automatic feeding machine, but various mishaps leads his boss to believe he has gone mad, and Charlie is sent to a mental hospital.. When he gets out, he is mistaken for a communist while waving a red flag, sent to jail, foils a jailbreak, and is let out again. We follow Charlie through many more escapades before the film is out. | Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Hnery Bergman, Chester Conklin, Tiny Sandford, Gloria deHaven (bit) inc.:song at end song over end of film. Rating: 8.5 | Discounting later parodies and novelty films, this was the last major American film to make use of silent film conventions such as title cards for dialogue. The very last dialogue title card of this film (and thus, it can be said, the entire silent era) belongs to The Tramp, who says "Buck up - never say die! We'll get along." |
| MOLLY McGUIRES | Martin Ritt 1970. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 124 min. Rank: 435 | Life is rough in the coal mines of 1876 Pennsylvania. A secret group of Irish emigrant miners, known as the Molly Maguires, fights against the cruelty of the mining company with sabotage and murder. A detective, also an Irish emigrant, is hired to infiltrate the group and report on its members. But on which side do his sympathies lie? | Sean Connery, Richard Harris, Samantha Eggar, Frank Finlay (Davies), Art Lund (Frazier), Anthopny Copste;llo (Frank McAndrew), Anthony Zerbe (Dan Daugherty), Phillip Borneuf (Fr.O'Connor), Francis Heflin, Brendon Dillon (old man),. Written By: Walter Bernstein, Arthur H. Lewis (book). Rating: 6.8 | Nominated for Oscar. Most of this film was shot in Eckley, Pennsylvania. Paramount Pictures saved the town from being destroyed--it was slated to be demolished for strip mining--but after the movie was filmed, the town's land was donated to the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. The town is now a museum. Several structures built for the movie still survive. |
| MONKEY BUSINESS | Norman Z. McLeod 1931. Black and White - USA - English - 77 min. Rank: 157 | While stowing away on a ship to America, the boys get involuntarily pressed into service as toughs for a pair of feuding gangsters while trying desparately to evade the ship's crew. After arriving stateside, one of the gangsters kidnaps the other's daughter - and it's up to our unlikely heroes to save the day. | Marx Bros, Thelma Todd, Ruth Hall, Harry Woods (co-scpt: S.J.Perelman). Written By: S.J. Perelman (screenplay), Will B. Johnstone (screenplay), and 3 more credits. Rating: 7.6 | The first Marx Brothers film written especially for the screen. |
| MONKEY BUSINESS | Howard Hawks 1952. Black and White - USA - English - 97 min. Rank: 295 | Barnaby Fulton is a research chemist working on a fountain of youth pill for a chemical company. While trying a sample dose on himself, he accidentally gets a dose of a mixture added to the water cooler and believes his potion is what is working. The mixture temporarily causes him to feel and act like a teenager, including correcting his vision. When his wife gets a dose that is even larger, she regresses even further into her childhood. When an old boyfriend meets her in this state, he believes that her never wanting to see him again means a divorce and a chance for him. | Cary Grant, Ginger Rogers, MM, Charles Coburn, Hugh Marlowe (Ben Hecht, Charles Lederer,I.A.L.Diamoind; main title voiceover by director). Written By: Ben Hecht (screenplay), Charles Lederer (screenplay), and 3 more credits. Rating: 7.1 | Nominated for Golden Globe. The official premiere was on September 2, 1952 at the Stanley Theater in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Marilyn Monroe was on hand as she was already in town to be the Grand Marshal for the Labor Day parade festivities. |
| MOUNTAIN FAMILY ROBINSON | Jack Couffer 1979. Color - USA - English - 100 min. Rank: 574 | A family goes "back to nature" by homesteading in the Colorado Rockies. | Robert F.Logan,Susan Damante Shaw, William Bryant, Heather Rattray, Ham Larsen, George (Buck) Flower a la Swiss Family Robinson. Rating: 6.4 | |
| MOUSE ON THE MOON | Richard Lester 1963. Color (Eastmancolor) - UK - Russian | English - 82 min. Rank: 574 | Sequel to The Mouse that Roared; The Tiny Country of Grand Fenwick has a hot water problem in the castle. To get the money necessary to put in a new set of plumbing, they request foreign aid from the U.S. for Space Research. The Russians then send aid as well to show that they too are for the internationalization of space. While the grand Duke is dreaming of hot baths, their one scientist is slapping together a rocket. The U.S. and Soviets get wind of the impending launch and try and beat them to the moon. | Peter Sellers, Bernard Cribbens, Terry-Thomas, Ron Moody, Margaret Rutherford (Mouse That Roared-II). Written By: Leonard Wibberley (novel), Michael Pertwee (screenplay). Rating: 6.4 | Nominated for Golden Globe. First feature film of Tom Aldredge. |
| MOUSE THAT ROARED | Jack Arnold 1959. Color (Eastman Color by Pathé) - UK - English | French - 83 min. Rank: 329 | The Duchy of Grand Fenwick decides that the only way to get out of their economic woes is to declare war on the United States, lose and accept foreign aid. They send an invasion force to New York (armed with longbows) which arrives during a nuclear drill that has cleared the streets. Wandering about to find someone to surrender to, they discover a scientist with a special ultimate weapon that can destroy the Earth. When they capture him and his bomb they are faced with a new possibility: What do you do when you win a war? | Peter Sellers, Margaret Rutherford, Jean Seberg, David Kossoff, William Hartnell, Monty Landis, Leo McKern,. Written By: Roger MacDougall (screenplay), Stanley Mann (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.0 | Peter Sellers made this film in part as a means of emulating his hero, Alec Guinness, by playing multiple roles in one movie. |
| MOVIE CRAZY | Clyde Bruckman, and 1 more credit. 1932. Black and White - USA - English - USA: 81 min (re-release) | USA: 84 min | USA: 98 min (restored version). Rank: 259 | Harold Hall, an accident prone young man with little or no acting ability, desperately wants to be in pictures. After a mix-up with his application photograph, he gets an offer to have a screen-test, and goes off to Hollywood. At the studio, he does everything wrong and causes all sorts of trouble. But he catches the fancy of a beautiful actress, and eventually the studio owner recognizes him as a comic genius. | Harold Lloyd, Constance Cummings, Kenneth Thompson, Sydney Jarvis, Eddie Featherstone. Written By: Agnes Christine Johnston (story), John Grey (story), and 7 more credits. Rating: 7.2 | Clyde Bruckman is the credited director, but most of the film was actually directed by Harold Lloyd due to Bruckman's often being incapacitated due to his alcoholism. |
| MOVIE MOVIE | Stanley Donen 1978. Black and White | Color - USA - English - 105 min | Argentina: 106 min. Rank: 546 | Three movie genres of the 1930s are satirized in this spoof of the traditional double feature. In "Dynamite Hands" a delivery boy turns prizefighter in order to raise enough money for his kid sister's eye operation. Later, however, he turns his back on his father-figure manager and librarian girlfriend when he is distracted by a flashy gangster and sexy night club diva. Intermission has a coming-attractions trailer for "Zero Hour," a World War I aviation drama. In the second feature, "Baxter's Beauties of 1933" a Broadway impresario hears he has only a month to live and is determined to mount one more hit on the boards. When his drunken diva of a star cannot go on opening night, he finds that the ingénue he chooses to replace her is his long-estranged daughter, whom he has not seen since she was a girl. All three stories feature the same cast. | Doubl Feature. Geo.CScott, Trish Vandervere, Eli Wallich, Barry Bostwick, Harry Hamlin, Art Carney, Rebecca York, Ann Reinking, Kathleen Beller, Michael Kidd, Geo.Burns (offscreen) Satire of 30's Boxing films, musicals (VinegarGarage) *. Written By: Larry Gelbart, Sheldon Keller. Rating: 6.5 | Nominated for 3 Golden Globes. Another 2 wins and 1 nomination. In the original release "Dynamite Hands" was in black-and-white, but it was colorized for its VHS release. |
| MR. HOBBS TAKES A VACATION | Henry Koster 1962. Color - USA - English - 116 min. Rank: 435 | Roger Hobbs is a harried city dweller who longs to take his family to the seashore for a vacation. He and his wife Peggy do get the family to the sand, but new problems develop there, and the vacation turns out to be a mixed blessing. | James Stewart, Maureen O'Hara, Fabian, John Saxon, Marie Wilson, Reginald Gardiner, Laurie Peters, John McGiver novel by Edward Streeter. Written By: Nunnally Johnson (screenplay), Edward Streeter (novel). Rating: 6.8 | Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 3 wins and 3 nominations. This is the first of two movies Maureen O'Hara made with Jimmy Stewart; in 1966 she also made The Rare Breed with Stewart. |
| MR.SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON | Frank Capra 1939. Black and White - USA - English - 129 min | West Germany: 120 min (TV). Rank: 15 | Naive and idealistic Jefferson Smith, leader of the Boy Rangers, is appointed on a lark by the spineless governor of his state. He is reunited with the state's senior senator--presidential hopeful and childhood hero, Senator Joseph Paine. In Washington, however, Smith discovers many of the shortcomings of the political process as his earnest goal of a national boys' camp leads to a conflict with the state political boss, Jim Taylor. Taylor first tries to corrupt Smith and then later attempts to destroy Smith through a scandal. | James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Claude Reins, Edward Arnold, Guy Kibbee, Thomas Mitchell, Eugene Paulette, Beaulah Bondi, Harry Carey, H.B.Warner, Charles Lane, Porter Hall, Jack Carson. Sidney Buchman scpt. from Sidney Buckman story 2 inc's -intercut yet?. Written By: Sidney Buchman (screenplay), Lewis R. Foster (story), and 1 more credit. Rating: 8.4 | Bitterly denounced by Washington insiders angry at its allegations of corruption, yet banned by fascist states in Europe who were afraid it showed that democracy works. |
| MRS. WIGGS OF THE CABBAGE PATCH | Norman Taurog 1934. Black and White - USA - English - 80 min. Rank: 647 | The Wiggs family plan to celebrate Thanksgiving in their rundown shack with leftover stew, without Mr. Wiggs who wandered off long ago an has never been heard from. Do-gooder Miss Lucy brings them a real feast. Her boyfriend Bob arranges to take Wiggs' sick boy to a hospital. Their other boy makes some money peddling kindling and takes the family to a show. Mrs. Wiggs is called to the hopsital just in time to see her boy die. Her neighbor Miss Mazy wants to marry Mr. Stubbins who insists on tasting her cooking. Mrs. Wiggs sneaks her dishes past Stubbins who agrees to marriage. Mr. Wiggs appears suddenly, in tatters, with just the amount of money (twenty dollars) needed to save the family from foreclosure. Miss Lucy and Bob get married. | W.C.Fields, Zasu Pitts, Pauline Lord, Evelyn Venable, Kent Taylor, Donald Meek, Virginia Weidler. Written By: William Slavens McNutt (screenplay), Jane Storm (screenplay), and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.1 | The story originally took place in Louisville, Kentucky. |
| MURDER AT THE VANETIES | Mitchell Leisen 1934. Black and White - USA - English - 89 min. Rank: 574 | Shortly before the curtain goes up the first time at the latest performance of Earl Carroll's Vanities, someone is attempting to injure the leading lady Ann Ware, who wants to marry leading man Eric Lander. Stage manager in charge Jack Ellery calls in his friend, policeman Bill Murdock, to help him investigate. Bill thinks Jack if offering to let him see the show from an unusual view point, after he forgot to get him tickets for the performance, but then they find the corpse of a murdered women. Bill suspects Eric of the crime, especially, after the second female lead Rita Ross told him she saw the women leaving from Eric's room. Then Rita is shot onstage with Eric's gun. Jack and Bill decide not to stop the show, but Bill preparing to arrest Eric. Is he on the right track ? | Jack Oakie, Kitty Carlisle, Carl Brisson, Victor M cLaglan, Donald Meek, Gail Patrick, Toby Wing, Gertrude Michael, Jessie Ralph, Dorothy Stickney Duke Ellington. Written By: Earl Carroll (play), Joseph Gollomb (screenplay), and 4 more credits. Rating: 6.4 | This is the film that contains the "Sweet Marijuana" song and dance number. It got past the censors because at the time the film was made, the drug was not illegal. Today, most prints omit this production number all together. |
| MURDER MY SWEET | Edward Dmytryk 1944. Black and White - USA - English - 95 min | Germany: 90 min. Rank: 126 | 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 Marlowe's. | Dick Powell, Claire Trevor,Anne Shirley, Otto Kruger, Mike Mazurki, Miles Mander (Raymond Candler's Farewell My Lovely scpt,John Paxton). Written By: John Paxton (screenplay), Raymond Chandler (novel). Rating: 7.7 | RKO was on the verge of bankruptcy when it signed up aging matinée idol Dick Powell to make a series of musicals. Powell only signed under the proviso that he could play a straight dramatic role first, so he was cast as Philip Marlowe. Attached director Edward Dmytryk was initially horrified at this casting decision. |
| MURDER, INC | 1960. Black and White - USA - English - 103 min | USA: 99 min (FMC Library Print). Scope. Rank: 574 | Based on the true-life book of lawman Burton Turkus, this movie chronicles the rise and fall of the organized crime syndicate known as Murder, Incorporated. Focusing on powerful boss Lepke and violent hitman Reles. | Stuart Whitman, May Britt, Henry Morgan, Peter Falk, David J.Stewart, Simon Oakland, Morey Amsterdam, Sarah Vaughan, Joseph Campanella, Vincent Gardenia, Sylvia Miles, Seymour Cassel scope. Written By: Irve Tunick (screenplay), Mel Barr (screenplay), and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.4 | Nominated for Oscar. Diane Ladd's film debut. |
| MY BODYGUARD | Tony Bill 1980. Color - USA - English - 96 min | USA: 102 min. Rank: 435 | Clifford Peache is the new kid in Lake View High School. Faced with all the stress that role entails he makes his situation worse by insulting Moody, the leader of a group of toughs who extort lunch money from kids. These punks pretend to be bodyguards for the kids to protect them from Linderman who, it is rumored, killed his brother in cold blood. Clifford befriends the sullen Linderman and hires him as his bodyguard. When Moody ups the ante, Linderman must decide whether fighting for what he believes in, with his haunted past and image, is justified. | Chris Makepeace, Adam Baldwin, Martin Mull, Ruth Gorden, Matt Dillon, JohnHouseman, Joan Cusack, Craig Richard Nelson, Tim Kazurinski (bit), George Wendt (bit), Jennifer Beals (bit) *. Rating: 6.8 | Adam Baldwin's film debut. |
| MY BOY | 1921. Black and White - USA - English - 55 min. Rank: 692 | Jackie Blair's father was killed in France. His mother died traveling in steerage. This leaves little Jackie Blair alone when he appears at Ellis Island, and the immigration officials want to send him right back. Captain Bill appears on the scene asking for a job - but he's too old and no one wants him. He sees lonely little Jackie, pities him and asks the eight Pinkosuwitz children to include him in their games. Thus, the Captain unwittingly engineers Jackie's escape. The orphan is mixed in with the Pinkosuwitzes when they leave the immigration building. When they find they've gained a ninth child, they send him on his way. This leaves Jackie to follow Captain Bill back to his very modest home - for which the old salt is unable to pay the rent. Jackie tries to make himself useful. He even sings and dances with an organ grinder to make money for the Captain's medicine.. | Jackie Coogan Smm silent possibly disp'd-of. Written By: Max Abramson (titles), Victor Heerman, and 1 more credit. Rating: 5.9 | This film is on the second disc in the 2-Disc Chaplin Collection DVD for The Kid, released in 2004 by Warner Brothers. |
| MY FAVORITE BRUNETTE | Elliott Nugent 1947. Black and White - USA - English - 87 min | West Germany: 78 min. Rank: 435 | Baby photographer Ronnie Jackson, on death row in San Quentin, tells reporters how he got there: taking care of his private-eye neighbor's office, Ronnie is asked by the irresistible Baroness Montay to find the missing Baron. There follow confusing but sinister doings in a gloomy mansion and a private sanatorium, with every plot twist a parody of thriller cliches. What are the villains really after? Can Ronnie beat a framed murder rap? | Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour, Reginald Denny, Peter LOITe, Lon Chaney jr, John Hoyt, watch for cameos at head and tail. Written By: Edmund Beloin (original screenplay), Jack Rose (original screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.8 | On a Capitol Records 78, Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour waxed two Jay Livingston-Ray Evans tunes: the romantic "Beside You," a Lamour solo in the film, and a comic-banter ditty named after the movie, although this number was not performed in the picture. |
| Richard Benjamin 1982. Color (Metrocolor) - USA - English - 92 min. Rank: 259 | Benjy Stone is the junior writer on the top rated variety/comedy show, in the mid 50s (the early years). Its a new medium and the rules were not fully established. Alan Swann, an Erol Flynn type actor with a drinking problem is to be that weeks guest star. When King Kaiser, the headliner wants to throw Swann off the show, Benjy makes a pitch to save his childhood hero, and is made Swann's babysitter. On top of this, a union boss doesn't care for Kaiser's parody of him and has plans to stop the show. | Peter O'Toole, Mark Linn-Baker, Jessica Harper, Joseph Bologno, Bill Macy, Lannie Kazan, Anne deSalvo, Lou Jacobi, Adolph Green, George Wyner, Selma Diamond, Cameron Mitchell, Gloria Stuart (bit),. Written By: Norman Steinberg (screenplay), Dennis Palumbo (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.2 | Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 wins and 4 nominations. Joseph Bologna's character, "King Kaiser," was based on Your Show of Shows' Sid Caesar. | |
| MY LIFE TO LIVE | Jean-Luc Godard 1963. Black and White - France - French - 80 min | Germany: 83 min (restored integral version) | Portugal: 83 min | UK: 83 min | USA: 85 min | West Germany: 79 min. Rank: 70 | This film explores a Parisian woman's descent into prostitution. The movie is comprised of a series of 12 "tableaux"-- scenes which are basically unconnected episodes, each presented with a worded introduction. | Anna Karina, Saddy Rebbot, Andre S.Labarthe, Guyaine Schlumberger (French). Written By: Marcel Sacotte (book), Jean-Luc Godard (story), and 2 more credits. Rating: 8 | Eddie Constantine was an American-born singer and actor in international films from the 1950s. Nana mentions appearing in a film with him, "No Pity". |
| MY LITTLE CHICKADEE | Edward F. Cline 1940. Black and White - USA - English - 83 min. Rank: 329 | Rightly suspected of illicit relations with the Masked Bandit, Flower Belle Lee is run out of Little Bend. On the train she meets con man Cuthbert J. Twillie and pretends to marry him for "respectability." Arrived in Greasewood City with his unkissed bride, Twillie is named sheriff by town boss Jeff Badger..with an ulterior motive. Meanwhile, both stars inimitably display their specialties, as Twillie tends bar and plays cards, and Flower Belle tames the town's rowdy schoolboys.. | W.C.Fields, Mae West, Jos. Calleia, Dick Foran, Ruth Donnelly, Margaret Hamilton, Donald Meek. Written By: Mae West (original screen play), W.C. Fields (original screen play). Rating: 7.0 | Dick Foran, who was being paid by the week, would go to Mae West and tell her that W.C. Fields was rewriting his lines to give himself more screen time and to try to steal the film from her. Then he would go to Fields and tell him the same thing about West. In this manner he was able to extend his employment from a few weeks to several months, as both Fields and West - who didn't like each other - would hold up production while they would rewrite their scenes. |
| MY MAN GODFREY | Gregory La Cava 1936. Black and White - USA - English | Russian - 94 min | USA: 90 min (2005 DVD release). Rank: 50 | In the depths of the Depression, a party game brings dizzy socialite Irene Bullock to the city dump where she meets Godfrey, a derelict, and ends by hiring him as family butler. He finds the Bullocks to be the epitome of idle rich, and nutty as the proverbial fruitcake. Soon, the dramatizing Irene is in love with her 'protege'..who feels strongly that a romance between servant and employer is out of place, regardless of that servant's mysterious past.. | William Powell, Carole Lombard, Gail Patrick, Alice Brady, Eugene Paulette, Alan Mowbray, Mischa Auer,Franklin Pangborn. Written By: Eric Hatch (novel), Morrie Ryskind , and 3 more credits. Rating: 8.1 | Nominated for 6 Oscars. Another 1 win. William Powell suggested his ex-wife Carole Lombard for the leading role with the explanation that his real life romance with Lombard had been much the same as it was for the characters of Godfrey and Irene. |
| MY SISTER EILEEN | Alexander Hall 1942. Black and White - USA - English - 96 min. Rank: 329 | Sisters Ruth and Eileen Sherwood move from Ohio to New York in the hopes of building their careers. Ruth wants to get a job as a writer, while Eileen hopes to succeed on the stage. The two end up living in a dismal basement apartment in Greenwich Village, where a parade of odd characters are constantly breezing in and out. The women also meet up with magazine editor Bob Baker, who takes a personal interest in helping both with their career plans. | Rosiland Russell, Brian Aherne, Janet Blair, George Tobias, Allyn Joslyn,Elizabeth Patterson,June Havoc (Ruth McKinney,Jos.Fields,Jerome Chodorov play). Written By: Joseph Fields (screenplay), Jerome Chodorov (screenplay), and 3 more credits. Rating: 7.0 | Nominated for Oscar. Rosalind Russell reprised her role as Ruth Sherwood in the Broadway musical 'Wonderful Town', which was based on the same novel and play as this movie. For her Broadway role, Russell won the 1953 Tony Award for Best Supporting or Featured Actress in a Musical. |
| MYSTERIOUS ISLAND | Cy Endfield 1961. Color (Eastmancolor) - UK | USA - English - 101 min. Rank: 435 | During the US Civil War, Union POWs escape in a balloon and end up stranded on a South Pacific island, inhabited by giant plants and animals. They must use their ingenuity to survive the dangers, and to devise a way to return home. Sequel to '20,000 Leagues Under the Sea' . | Michael Craig, Joan Greenwood, Michael Callan, Gary Merrill, Herbert Lorn (from Jules Verne, Ray Harryhausen FX, Bernard Hennan score). Written By: John Prebble (screenplay), Daniel B. Ullman (screenplay), and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.8 | Originally, there was going to be a scene featuring a man-eating plant, but it was never shot. |
| NAKED RUNNER | Sidney J. Furie 1967. Color (Technicolor) - UK - English - 101 min. Rank: 728 | Sam Laker is an American industrialist, working in Britain, who has just been awarded an international award for industrial design. He is planning to travel to East Germany to attend a trade show and show off his invention, taking his 10 year old son with him for a holiday. Meanwhile a British Intelligence officer who served with Laker in the Second World War decides to use the opportunity of Laker's trip and his lack of an intelligence profile to coerce him into carrying out an assassination. | Frank Sinatra, Peter Vaughn, Darren Nesbitt, Nadia Grey, Toby Robins, Edward Fox,. Written By: Francis Clifford (novel), Stanley Mann (screenplay). Rating: 5.7 | |
| NANOOK OF THE NORTH | Robert J. Flaherty 1922. Black and White - USA | France - 79 min | 65 min (TCM print). Rank: 93 | Documents one year in the life of Nanook, an Eskimo (Inuit) and his family. Describes the trading, hunting, fishing and migrations of a group barely touched by industrial technology. Nanook of the North was widely shown and praised as the first full-length, anthropological documentary in cinematographic history. | w. music, Allakariallak, Nyla and Cunayou. Written By: Frances H. Flaherty (idea), Robert J. Flaherty. Rating: 7.9 | The film was sponsored by French fur company Revillon Freres which provided $50,000 for Flaherty's 16-month expedition halfway to the North Pole. Despite being rejected by five distributors, the film opened in New York City in 1922, after its success in Paris and Berlin, and grossed well over $40,000 in its first week. |
| NAVIGATOR | 1924. Black and White - USA - 59 min | Sweden: 75 min. Rank: 70 | Rollo decides to marry his sweetheart Betsy and sail to Honolulu. When she rejects him he decides to go alone but boards the wrong ship, the "Navigator" owned by Betsy's father. Unaware of this, Betsy boards the ship to look for her father. whom spies capture before cutting the ship loose. It drifts out to sea with the two socialites each unaware of there being anyone else on board. | Buster Keaton, Kathryn McGuire, Frederick Vroom. Written By: Clyde Bruckman (story), Joseph A. Mitchell (story), and 1 more credit. Rating: 8 | The underwater scenes of Buster Keaton trying to repair the ship in full diving gear were originally intended to be filmed in the local municipal swimming pool. However, the pool was not deep enough, so higher retaining walls were built around the edges, to hold more water. Unfortunately, the weight of the additional water broke the bottom of the pool, and Keaton had to pay for the repair. The production was moved to Lake Tahoe, where the water was very clear, but so cold that Keaton could only stay under for ten minutes at a |
| NEVER GIVE A SUCKER AN EVEN BREAK | Edward F. Cline 1941. Black and White - USA - English - 71 min. Rank: 206 | Fields wants to sell a film story to Esoteric Studios. On the way he gets insulted by little boys, beat up for ogling a woman, and abused by a waitress. He becomes his niece's guardian when her mother is killed in a trapeze fall during the making of a circus movie. He and his niece, who he finds at a shooting gallery, fly to Mexico to sell wooden nutmegs in a Russian colony. Trying to catch his bottle as it falls from the plane, he lands on a mountain peak where lives the man- eating Mrs. Hemogloben. When he gets to the Russian colony he finds Leon Errol (father of the insulting boys and owner of the shooting gallery) already selling wooden nutmegs. He decides to woo the wealthy Mrs. Hemogloben but when he gets there Errol has preceded him. The Mexican adventure is the story that Esoteric Studios would not buy. | W.C.Fields, Gloria Jean, Leon Errol, Susan Mille,r Franklin PAngborn, Margaret Dumont. Written By: John T. Neville (screenplay), Prescott Chaplin (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.4 | The frantic race down the Hyperion Street bridge on Glendale Avenue when Field's car is hooked onto the firetruck: Look to the upper far right of the scene in the distance and you will see the Great Mausoleum of Forest Lawn where Fields would eventually be interred in the Columbarium of Nativity. |
| NEW LAND (EMMIGRANTS II) | Jan Troell 1972. Color (Eastmancolor) - Sweden - English | Swedish - Mexico: 157 min | USA: 102 min | Sweden: 204 min. Rank: 93 | This film continues from where Utvandrarna (1971) left off. Starting a new life in the New World from almost nothing is not easy. The winters and summers are more extreme than in the Old World. But the immigrants are rewarded for their hard work. They now live a better life than they did in Sweden. Bad times also come, however. The civil war starts and the Sioux Indians make a bloody uprising against the white settlers. Karl-Oskar's family survives all these. His brother, Robert, decides to seek his fortune in the gold fields of California. He never reaches California but acquires some fortune from his boss who dies of yellow fever on the way to the gold fields. An immigrant Swede dupes him of this fortune. Robert returns to his brother where he dies from a disease contracted on the trip. Kristina, whose thoughts never leave Sweden, has several more births and gets pregnant again against the advice of her doctor.. | Max von Sydow, Liv Ullmann, Edie Axberg, Hans Alfredson, Monica Zetterlund, Per Oscarsson. Written By: Bengt Forslund, Vilhelm Moberg (novel), and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.9 | Nominated for Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. |
| NEW ORLEANS | Arthur Lubin 1947?. Black and White - USA - English - 90 min. Rank: 373 | Musical drama featuring Billie Holiday as a singing maid and Louis Armstrong as a bandleader; supporting players Holiday and Armstrong perform together and portray a couple becoming romantically involved. | two prints, one cut to music. Written By: Elliot Paul (story), Herbert J. Biberman (story), and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.9 | |
| NIAGARA FALLS | Gordon Douglas 1941. Black and White - USA - English - USA: 43 min (original version) | 86 min (TCM print). Rank: 676 | Margie Blake, who wants to get married young and have two dozen kids, has a flat tire and traveling salesman Tom Wilson, who believes in "loving 'em and leaving 'em" stops to help. They soon discover they are polar opposites and dislike each other very much. Oklahoma oilman Sam Sawyer and his new bride Emmy, on their way to honeymoon in Niagara Falls, come along and offer help and Sam gets the idea that Margie and Tom are married and having a lover's spat. Later when all are checking into the hotel, the befuddled manager, thanks to Sam who is still trying to get them to kiss and make up, gives them a room together which Marge and Tom don't realize, since Sam has given up his and Emmy's Honeymoon Suite in order to get them over their spat. Sam takes over and locks them in the suite together for the night and stands guard outside the room until they solve their marital problems.. | Slim Sommerville, Zasu Pitts, Tom Brown, Marjorie Woodowrth (Hal Roach streamliner c.45m). Written By: Paul Girard Smith (original screenplay), Hal Yates (original screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.2 | |
| NICHOLAS AND ALEXANDRA | Franklin J. Schaffner 1971. Color (Eastmancolor) - USA - English | French (only a few words) | German (only a few words) | Russian (song lyrics) - 183 min | UK: 189 min. Rank: 295 | The tragic story of Nicholas II, the last Czar of Russia, set against the backdrop of the Russian Revolution. It is an inside look into the private lives of Nicholas and his wife Alexandra, their daughters, and the painful secret which bound the Imperial Couple to the mystical Rasputin, and the eventual execution of the entire family. | Michael Jayston, Janet Suzman, Tom Baker, Harry Andrews, Jack Hawkins, Lawrence Olivier, Mchael Redgrave, Alexander Knox, Curt Jurgens, Irene Worth, John Wood, Brian Cox, IAN Holm (three half-hour excerpt films issued for schools: Prelude To Revoloution-1. Written By: Edward Bond (additional dialogue), James Goldman (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.1 | Won 2 Oscars. Another 11 nominations. Lindsay Anderson was asked to direct. |
| NICHOLAS NICKELBY | Alberto Cavalcanti 1947. Black and White - UK - English - 108 min. Rank: 329 | Nineteenth century England. When Nicholas Nickleby's father dies and leaves his family destitute, his uncle, the greedy moneylender, Ralph Nickleby, finds Nicholas a job teaching in a repulsive school in Yorkshire. Nicholas flees the school taking with him one of the persecuted boys, Smike, and they join a troop of actors. Nicholas then has to protect Smike, while trying to stop his Uncle Ralph taking advantage of his sister Kate, and later his sweetheart, Madeline Bray, whose father is in debtors prison. | Derek Bond, Cedric Hardwicke, Alfred Drayton, Bernard Miles,Sally Anbn Hiowes,Mary Merrall,Sybil Thorndike,Cathleen Nesbitt. inc-1st 20m. Written By: Charles Dickens (novel), John Dighton. Rating: 7.0 | Despite his prominent billing, Cyril Fletcher only appears in one scene, and is on screen for only three minutes. |
| NICKELODEON | Peter Bogdanovich 1976. Color - UK | USA - English - 121 min. Rank: 613 | This homage to the childhood days of the motion pictures starts in 1910, when the young attorney Leo Harrigan by chance meets a motion picture producer. Immediately he's invited to become a writer for him - the start of a sensational career. Soon he's promoted to a director and shoots one silent movie after the other in the tiny desert village Cacamonga with a small crew of actors. But the competition is hard: the patent agency sends out Buck Greenway to sabotage them. When they visit L.A., his crew is surprised by a new species: fans! | Ryan and Tatum O'Neal, Burt Reynolds, Brian Keith, Stella Stevens,John Ritter,Iane Hitchcock,Harry Carey,jr. (based on Alan Dwan,Raoul Walsh mems) red. Written By: Peter Bogdanovich, W.D. Richter. Rating: 6.3 | The projectors showing "Birth of a Nation" toward the end of the film are Powers model 6B. The projectors are correct for the period but the arc lamps being used are not. They are Strong Electric low intensity reflector lamps and would not be manufactured for another decade. The correct lamp would have been an older rectangular shaped condenser arc. |
| NIGHT OF THE IGUANA | John Huston 1964. Black and White - USA - English | Spanish - 125 min | Germany: 112 min. Rank: 157 | When American minister Reverend T. Lawrence Shannon is expelled from his Virginia church, he travels to Mexico in search of his destiny and sanity. There he becomes a tour guide for a bus load of spinsters and a teenage nymphet named Charlotte Goodall, who is being chaperoned by the group's leader, the inflexible Judith Fellowes. Miss Fellowes, who is quite jealous of Charlotte's attentions to Shannon, discovers the young woman in his room and vows to have him fired. To thwart her plot, Shannon takes control of the bus from Hank, the bus driver, and speeds the tour group on a wild ride through the Mexican jungle to the crumbling, secluded hotel of an old friend, the recently widowed Maxine Falk. Eventually Shannon becomes enamored with another guest at the hotel, the rather genteel Hanna Jelkes, an itinerant quick sketch artist and her poet grandfather Nonno. As the wise Hanna partially restores Shannon's fractured world.. | Richard Burton, Deborah Kerr, Ava Gardner, Sue Lyon, SJcip Ward, Grayson Hall, Cyril Delevanti (Tennessee Williams). Written By: Tennessee Williams (play), Anthony Veiller (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.6 | Won Oscar. Another 2 wins and 12 nominations. The characters of the Rev. T. Lawrence Shannon (Richard Burton), Maxine Faulk (Ava Gardner), and Hannah Jelkes (Deborah Kerr) were played in the original 1961 Broadway production by Patrick O'Neal, Bette Davis, and Margaret Leighton. The play, its producer and Leighton all were nominated for 1962 Tony Awards, but did not win. |
| NIGHT PASSAGE | James Neilson 1957. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 90 min. Rank: 506 | The workers on the railroad haven't been paid in months --- that's because Whitey and his gang, including fast-shooting, dangerous, but likeable Utica Kid, keep holding up the train for its payroll. Grant McLaine, a former railroad employee who was fired in disgrace, is recruited to take the payroll through under cover. A young boy and a shoebox figure into the plot when Whitey's gang tries to hold up the train and Grant and the Kid meet again to settle an old score. | James Stewart, Audie Murphy, Dan Dryea, Dianne Foster, Elaine Stewart, Brandon deWilde, Jay C.Flippen, Herbert Anderson (Will Renner), Robert J.Wilke, Hgh Beaumont (Jeff Kurth), Jack Elam, Tommy Cook (Howdy Sladen), Paul Fix (Fenney), Olive Carey (ms.Vitt. Written By: Borden Chase (screenplay), Norman A. Fox (novel). Rating: 6.6 | James Neilson replaced Anthony Mann as director when Mann walked off the picture after a falling out with James Stewart. |
| NIGHTCOMERS | Michael Winner 1971. Color (Technicolor) - UK - English - 96 min. Rank: 692 | Prequel to the Henry James classic "Turn of the Screw" about the events leading up to the deaths of Peter Quint and Ms. Jessel, and the the slow corruption of the children in their care. | Marlon Brando, Stephanie Beacham, Thora Hurd, Harry Andrews, Vema Harvey, Christopher Ellis, Anna Palko Prequel to "Tum Of The Screw". Written By: Henry James (characters), Michael Hastings. Rating: 5.9 | Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. In her autobiography Britt Ekland claims that Michael Winner promised her the lead role if she could assist him with raising the finance for the movie. |
| Colin Higgins 1980. Color - USA - English | French - 110 min. Rank: 574 | Frank Hart is a pig. He takes advantage in the grossest manner of the women who work with him. When his three assistants manage to trap him in his own house they assume control of his department and productivity leaps, but just how long can they keep Hart tied up? | Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Dolly Parton, Dabney Coleman, Sterling Hayden, Elizabeth Wilson, Henry Jones, Lawrence Pressman, Marian Mercer. Written By: Patricia Resnick (story), Colin Higgins (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.4 | Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win and 5 nominations. In the middle of the film, Dolly Parton and her colleagues send a nosy secretary to the Aspen Language Center in Colorado to learn French. The particular TWA 747 shown in the film later was used in reality on the ill-fated flight of TWA 800, which exploded off of Long Island, NY. | |
| NO DOWN PAYMENT | Martin Ritt 1957. Black and White - Soundtracks - English - USA: 105 min. Rank: 329 | The marital difficulties of four couples living in a southern California housing development become intertwined. Among the unhappy couples are ne'er-do-well Jerry Flagg and his long-suffering wife Isabelle, flirtatious Leola Boone and her sadistic husband Troy, hard working Herman Kreitzer and his understanding wife Betty, and newlyweds Jean and David Martin. | Joanne Woodward, Jeffrey Hunter, Sheree North, Tony Randall, Cameron Mitchell, Patricia Owens, Barbara Rush, Pat Hingle,. Written By: Ben Maddow (front Philip Yordan), John McPartland (novel), and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.0 | Nominated for 2 BAFTA Film Awards. Another 1 win. Inspiration for the long-running prime time TV soap opera Knots Landing. |
| NO HIGHWAY IN THE SKY | Henry Koster 1951. Black and White - UK - English - USA: 98 min | West Germany: 89 min. Rank: 259 | Theodore Honey is an aeronautical engineer being sent to Labrador from London to examine the wreckage of a new passenger plane designed by his company. His theory is that the planes are susceptible to metal fatigue after a specific amount of time in the air. The absent minded Honey boards the Reindeer class plane and only realizes that this plane is due to fail in the next few hours after the plane is airborne. He decides to warn the crew and creates an incident regardless of whether he is right or wrong. | James Stewart, Marlene Dietrich, Glynnis Johns, Jack Hawkins, Jeanette Scott, Elizabeth Allen, Ronald Squire, Niall MacGinnis,Kenneth Moore, Maurice Denham, Wilfred Hyde-White (Nevil Schute novel). Written By: Nevil Shute (novel), R.C. Sherriff , and 2 more credits. Rating: 7.2 | "Lux Radio Theater" broadcast a 60 minute radio adaptation of the movie on April 28, 1952 with James Stewart and Marlene Dietrich reprising their film roles. |
| NORTH WEST MOUNTED POLICE | Cecil B. DeMille 1940. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 126 min. Rank: 546 | Texas Ranger Dusty Rivers ("Isn't that a contradiction in terms?", another character asks him) travels to Canada in the 1880s in search of Jacques Corbeau, who is wanted for murder. He wanders into the midst of the Riel Rebellion, in which Métis (people of French and Native heritage) and Natives want a separate nation. Dusty falls for nurse April Logan, who is also loved by Mountie Jim Brett. April's brother is involved with Courbeau's daughter Louvette, which leads to trouble during the battles between the rebels and the Mounties. Through it all Dusty is determined to bring Corbeau back to Texas (and April, too, if he can manage it.) | Gary Cooper, Madeline Carroll, Preston Foster, Paulette Goddard, Robert Preston, George Bankroft, Akim Tamiroff, Lon Chane,jr, Robert Ryan,. Written By: Alan Le May (screenplay), Jesse Lasky Jr. (screenplay), and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.5 | Won Oscar. Another 4 nominations. Gatling Guns really were used at Fish Creek, Cutknife Hill and Batoche during the rebellion on which this story is very loosely based. But the federal government were trying them out "on approval". One gun's operator was a Gatling company agent, and also a captain of the Connecticut National Guard. |
| NORWOOD | Jack Haley Jr. 1970. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 96 min. Rank: 769 | Norwood Pratt (Campbell) has just finished his enlistment in the United States Marine Corps and is on his way home from Vietnam. A musician, his one great ambition is to appear on the radio program Louisiana Hayride. | Glen Campbell, Kim Darby, Joe Namath, Carol Lynley, Pat Hingle Tisha Sterling, Dom deLuise, Cass Daley (bitO, Jack Haley,sr(bit). Written By: Charles Portis (novel), Marguerite Roberts. Rating: 5.3 | Nominated for Golden Globe. This film was 'Hal Wallis''s last production for Paramount. |
| NOTHING SACRED | William A. Wellman 1937. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 77 min. Rank: 185 | Hazel Flagg of Warsaw, Vermont receives the news that her terminal case of radium poisoning from a workplace incident was a complete misdiagnosis with mixed emotions. She is happy not to be dying, but she, who has never traveled the world, was going to use the money paid to her by her factory to go to New York in style. She believes her dreams can still be realized when Wally Cook arrives in town. He is a New York reporter with the Morning Star newspaper. He believes that Hazel's valiant struggle concerning her impending death is just the type of story he needs to resurrect his name within reporting circles after a recent story he wrote led to scandal and a major demotion at the newspaper. He proposes to take Hazel to New York both to report on her story but also to provide her with a grand farewell to life. She accepts. Wally's story results in Hazel becoming the toast of New York.. | Fredric March, Carole Lombard,Walter Connolly, Charles Winninger, Sig Rumann, Frank Fay. Ben Hecht script, Oscar Levant score. Written By: Ben Hecht (screen play), James H. Street (suggested by a story by), and 9 more credits. Rating: 7.5 | This was Carole Lombard's only Technicolor film. |
| NOTORIOUS | Alfred Hitchcock 1946. Black and White - USA - English | French | Portuguese - 101 min. Rank: 35 | Following the conviction of her German father for treason against the U.S., Alicia Huberman takes to drink and men. She is approached by a government agent (T.R. Devlin) who asks her to spy on a group of her father's Nazi friends operating out of Rio de Janeiro. A romance develops between Alicia and Devlin, but she starts to get too involved in her work. | Ingrid Berg,man, Cary Grant, Claude Rains, Louis Calhem, Leopoldine Konstantin, Reinhold Schutnzel, Moroni Olsen. Rating: 8.2 | Top 250 #157 | Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 1 win and 1 nomination. Both Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman found the famous kissing scene quite problematic, according to Alfred Hitchcock, because of the complicated blocking that needed to be remembered in the several long takes that it took to shoot it. |
| OCEANS 11 | Lewis Milestone 1960. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 127 min. Rank: 574 | Eleven friends who know each other from World War II service plan to rob five of the biggest casinos in Las Vegas in one night. They develop a master plan but after the whole thing is over, something goes wrong.. | Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davisjr, Peter Lawford, Angie Dickinson, Richard Conte, Cesar Romero, Patrice Wymore, Joey Bishop, Akim Tamiroff, Henry Silva, llka Chase, Norman Fen + surprise guests. Written By: Harry Brown (screenplay), Charles Lederer (screenplay), and 3 more credits. Rating: 6.4 | Right after the heist when Sheriff Wimmer is interrogating a possible witness over the phone, the uncredited voice on the other end of the line is that of George Fenneman, better known as the announcer on such TV game shows as You Bet Your Life and Tell It to Groucho. |
| ODE TO BILLY JOE | Max Baer Jr. 1976. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 105 min. Rank: 692 | Billy Joe confesses his love to the lovely Bobbi Lee only to cover his growing fear that he may, in fact, be homosexual. One night, at a barn dance, he gets a little drunk and rather than going with the hired whores, gives into his desires and sexual relations with an unnamed man. The guilt causes him to run away, hide in the woods and eventually confess everything to Bobbi Lee who doesn't want to believe him only because she was enjoying the forbidden nature of their love. In the end, he cannot accept his sexuality nor can he hide behind Bobbi Lee and that's why he throws himself off the Tallahachee bridge. | Robby Benson, Glynnis O'Connor, Joan Hotchkis, Sandy McPeak, James Best, Terreance Goodman. (from Bobbie Gentry song. Rating: 5.9 | |
| OF MICE AND MEN | Lewis Milestone 1939. Black and White - USA - English - 106 min. Rank: 109 | George Milton and Lennie Small are migrant workers in the 1930s Depression. Lennie is mentally retarded and George looks after him. While working as hands on a Western ranch, they dream of owning their own ranch and the opportunity may be available. Their current ranch is owned by a sadistic man who has a flirtatious wife. | Lon Chaney jr, Burgess Meredith, Betety Field, Charles Bickford, Bob Steele, Noah Berryjr, Roman Bohnen, Granville Bates, Leigh Whipper, Barbara Pepper. Steinbeck story, Aaron Copeland score, sept Eugene Solow. Written By: John Steinbeck (by), Eugene Solow (screen play). Rating: 7.8 | Nominated for 4 Oscars. The movie was released by the production company of Hal Roach, producer of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy and "Our Gang" comedies. During one of Roach's last interviews, television talk-show host Tom Snyder complimented him on the film. Roach responded, "It could've used more laughs." |
| OH HEAVENLY DOG | Joe Camp 1980. Color - USA - English - 103 min. Rank: 780 | Browning is a PI with a bad cold, who's sent to investigate a case by a mysterious client.He stumbles across the body of a young woman and is stabbed to death, and when he wakes up in heaven, they tell him he's "marginal material," and they can only decide on his final destination through one last assignment: to go back and solve his own murder. As a dog. A cute fluffy little dog (Benji). Undaunted, Browning begins to investigate the case as best he can around his canine disabilities (dialing the phone presents a special challenge) to solve the murders, save the girl, and see justice done. | Chevy Chase, Benji, Jane Seymour, Omar Sharif, Donnelly Rhodes, Robert Morley, Alan Sues. Remake of You Never Can Tell. Rating: 5.2 | Reference to Star Wars: Higgins has a light-saber and says "we've had these before Star Wars.." |
| O'HENRY'S FULL HOUSE | 1952. Black and White - USA - English - 117 min | West Germany: 95 min (cut version). Rank: 259 | Five O' Henry stories, each separate. The primary one from the critic's acclaim was "The Cop and the Anthem". Soapy tells fellow bum Horace that he is going to get arrested so he can spend the winter in a nice jail cell. He fails. He can't even accost a woman; she turns out to be a streetwalker. The other stories are "The Clarion Call", "The Last Leaf", "The Ransom of Red Chief", and "The Gift of the Magi". | Charles Laughton, David Wayne, MM (Anthem); Fred Allen, Jose Iturbi, Kathleen Freeman (Ransom); Gregory Ratoff, Jean Peters, Anne Baxter (Leaf); Richard Widmark, Dae Robertson (Clarion) ; Farley Granger, Jeanne Crain, Rumann, Feld (Magi). Intro'd by John . Written By: Richard L. Breen (segment), Walter Bullock (segment), and 7 more credits. Rating: 7.2 | Marilyn Monroe was billed as the star of the film despite the fact that she's only on camera for about one minute. |
| OKLAHOMA CRUDE | Stanley Kramer 1973. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 108 min. Rank: 632 | It's oil boom time in Oklahoma and Lena Doyle, a hard-bitten, cyncial feminist has a fight on her hands: the big oil companies don't like the fact that she's working a potentially profitable wildcat rig. Reluctantly, Lena must accept the aid of her estranged father Cleon, and Mason, the man he hires to help. The three form an unlikely team: Lena hates men, Mason is out for himself, and Lena's father is trying to make up for a lifetime of neglecting his daughter. But together they take on the big guys and put up a terrific fight. | George C. Scott, Faye Dunnaway, John Mills, Jack Palance, Harvey Jason, Woodrow Palfrey.. Rating: 6.2 | Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 1 win. |
| OLD FASHIONED WAY (GREAT McGONNIGAL) | William Beaudine 1934. Black and White - USA - English - 71 min. Rank: 185 | The Great McGonigle's traveling theatrical troupe are staying at a boarding house. They are preparing to put on a production of "The Drunkard" (and do so during this movie). Cleopatra Pepperday puts up money for the show provided she can have a part ("Here comes the prince!"). Little Albert Wendelschaffer torments McGonigle all through lunch ("How can you hurt a watch by dipping it in molasses?"). In spite of being pursued by several sheriffs, McGonigle is able to keep going and see his daughter Betty happily married. | W.C.Fields, Joe Morrison, Judith Allen, Baby LeRoy, Jack Mulhall, Oscar Apfel. Written By: Garnett Weston (screenplay), Jack Cunningham (screenplay), and 11 more credits. Rating: 7.5 | At the end of the opening cast credits, there is "Also Cast of the original "DRUNKARD" Company." However, since the earliest production of "The Drunkard" premiered in New York City in 1843, the production referred to was undoubtedly the one in Los Angeles which premiered on 6 July 1933 at the Little Theatre Mart and ran for several years. The Cast list for the Los Angeles production is not available. |
| OLIVER TWIST | Clive Donner 1982. Color - UK | USA - English - 103 min. Rank: 295 | The classic Dickens tale of an orphan boy who escapes the horrors of the orphanage only to be taken in by a band of thieves and pickpockets. | George C. Scott, Tim Curry, Michael Horden, Timothy West, Eileen Atkins, Cheri Lunghi, Richard Charles, Lysette Anthony. James Goldman script. Written By: Charles Dickens (novel), James Goldman. Rating: 7.1 | Nominated for Primetime Emmy. This film was made for and premiered on US television, but it was released theatrically in some overseas territories. |
| OLIVER! | Carol Reed 1968. Color (Technicolor) - UK - English - 153 min. Rank: 185 | Musical adaptation of 'Charles Dickens' 's classic tale of an orphan who runs away from the orphanage and hooks up with a group of boys trained to be pickpockets by an elderly mentor. | Ron Moody, Shani Wallis, Oliver Reed, Harr Secombe, MArk Lester. Jack Wild, Hugh Griffith, Jos.O'Connor, Peggy Mount, Leonard Rossiter, Hylda Baker, James Hayter. Written By: Charles Dickens (freely adapted from "Oliver Twist"), Lionel Bart (book), and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.5 | Won 5 Oscars. Another 6 wins and 23 nominations. Final live action cinema film of Peggy Mount |
| ON OUR MERRY WAY | 1948. Black and White - USA - English - 107 min | USA: 98 min (re-edited version). Rank: 692 | Oliver Pease gets a dose of courage from his wife Martha and tricks the editor of the paper (where he writes lost pet notices) into assigning him the day's roving question. Martha suggests, "Has a little child ever changed your life?" Oliver gets answers from two slow-talking musicians, an actress whose roles usually feature a sarong, and an itinerant cardsharp. In each case the "little child" is hardly innocent: in the first, a local auto mechanic's "baby" turns out to be fully developed as a woman and a musician; in the second, a spoiled child star learns kindness; in the third, the family of a lost brat doesn't want him returned. And Oliver, what becomes of him? | James Stewart, Henry Fonda. Burgess Meredith. Paulette Goddard, Fred MacMurray, William Demarest, Dorothy Lamour, Victor Moore, Harry James, Eduardo Cianelli, Dorothy Ford, Hugh Herbert. John O'Hara scripted Jimmy-Fonda pt. Written By: Laurence Stallings (screenplay), Lou Breslow (screenplay) and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.0 | Charles Laughton portrayed a minister in one sequence which, because of its dramatic tone in an otherwise frothy comedy, wound up on the cutting room floor. Mr. Laughton's segment was replaced with a parody of Dorothy Lamour's South Seas movie epics. Independent producer David O. Selznick offered to buy the film in order to issue the Laughton sequence as a short, scrapping the rest of the picture. Selznick's plan was rejected by producer Benedict Bogeaus and producer-star Burgess Meredith. |
| ON THE WATERFRONT | Elia Kazan 1954. Black and White - USA - English - 108 min. Rank: 15 | Terry Malloy dreams about being a prize fighter, while tending his pigeons and running errands at the docks for Johnny Friendly, the corrupt boss of the dockers union. Terry witnesses a murder by two of Johnny's thugs, and later meets the dead man's sister and feels responsible for his death. She introduces him to Father Barry, who tries to force him to provide information for the courts that will smash the dock racketeers. | Marlon Brando, Eve Marie Saint (debut), Lee J.Cobb, Rod Steiger, Pat Henden. Leif Erickson, Tony Galento. John Hamilton~ Nehemiah Persof, Martin Balsam(debut), Fred Gwynn (debut), Pat Hingle (debut), James Westerfield. Bud Schullberg scrippt; Leonard Bern. Written By: Budd Schulberg (screenplay), Budd Schulberg (based upon an original story by), and 1 more credit. Rating: 8.4 | Goofs |
| ONCE MORE MY DARLING | Robert Montgomery, and 1 more credit. 1949. Black and White - USA - English - 92 min. Rank: 506 | Movie star Collier Laing is recalled to active duty with the Army Criminal Investigation Division. His mission: to sweep debutante Marita Connell off her feet and flush out her former boyfriend, who's sent her jewels stolen in occupied Germany. Soon it's a question of who's sweeping whom; Miss Connell's nickname is "Killer." But when she wants to elope, Laing begins to have qualms. | Lillian Randolph, Robert Montgomery, Jane Cowl, Steven Geray, John Ridgley, Roland Winters, Maurice Cass, Ann Blythe, Taylor Holmes, Chas McGraw,Don Beddoe, Louise Lorimer, Ray Teal, Geo.Chandler, Del Henderson, Betty Roche above film not in alha file and. Written By: Robert Carson (screenplay), Robert Carson (story), and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.6 | Nominated for Oscar. "Lux Radio Theater" broadcast a 60 minute radio adaptation of the movie on January 8, 1951 with Ann Blyth reprising her film role. |
| ONE ON ONE | Lamont Johnson 1977. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 98 min. Rank: 632 | Henry Steele is a basketball phenom at his small town high school, but when he matriculates to a big city university on a scholarship, soon realizes that he has few skills outside the sport. Expected by his coach to contribute significantly to the team, Henry is overwhelmed by the demands on his time, the "big business" aspect of college sports, and the fact that he never fully learned to read. Things look bleak for Henry when Janet Hays, a pretty graduate student, is assigned as Henry's tutor. Her intellect and strength lift Henry out of his doldrums just in time to battle the coach, who attempts to rescind Henry's scholarship. | Robby Benson, Anbnette O'Toole, G.D.Spradlin, Gail Strickland, Melanie Griffith, Lamont Johnson (Benson's alumnae big bro.). Written By: Robby Benson , Jerry Segal. Rating: 6.2 | |
| ONE TRICK PONY | Robert M. Young 1980. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 98 min. Rank: 751 | Jonah (Paul Simon) is an aging rock star trying to put together a new album in the face of an indifferent record label and a talentless producer. At the same time, he's struggling to save his failing marriage. | Paul Simon, Blair Brown, Rip Torn, Joan Hackett, Mare Winingham, Allen Garfield, Lou Reed, B-52's, Harry Shearer, Lovin'Spoonfield, Sam and Dave, Tiny Tim Daniel Stermn (hare krishna). Rating: 5.5 | During the film's credits, Paul Simon and co. (The Jonah Levin Band) are shown driving through what is ostensibly a highway between Cleveland's airport and The City. The footage is actually Route 22, in Union, New Jersey. |
| ONION FIELD | Harold Becker 1979. Color - USA - English - 122 min. Rank: 329 | Greg Powell is a disturbed ex-con who recruits Jimmy Smith (aka Jimmy Youngblood), a petty thief, as his partner in crime. Powell panics one night when the two of them are pulled over by a pair of cops for broken brake-lights. Powell decides to kidnap the cops and Smith, as always, reluctantly goes along with Powell's crazy scheme. The group drives out to a deserted onion field in Bakersfield, California and one officer is shot while the other escapes. The remainder of the film explores the nature of the American justice system, as well as the devastating psychological effects of this event and the trial on the surviving officer. | John Savage, James Woods, Franklin Seales, Ted Danson, Ronny Cox, David Huffman and Michael Pataki (DAis who did tech.asst.), Christopher Lloyd, Diane HuH, Priscilla Pointer, Pat Corley, Sandy McPeake (Powell), Lilian Randolph (Nana). Written By: Joseph Wambaugh (book), Joseph Wambaugh (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.0 | Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 1 win. Franklyn Seales' screaming during the murder was unscripted and improvised. |
| ONLY GAME IN TOWN | George Stevens 1970. Color - USA - English - 113 min. Rank: 728 | While waiting in vain for her married lover to get a divorce, Fran Walker, a lonely chorus girl approaching middle age, falls for Joe Grady, a frustrated musician and compulsive gambler who dreams of escaping Las Vegas for fame and fortune in New York City. | Elizabeth Taylor, Warren Beatty, Charles Braswell, Hank Henry, Olga Valery -:20. Written By: Frank D. Gilroy (play), Frank D. Gilroy (screenplay). Rating: 5.7 | The last film of George Stevens. |
| ONLY ANGELS HAVE WINGS | Howard Hawks 1939. Black and White - USA - English | Spanish - 121 min. Rank: 126 | While waiting for her boat, Bonnie Lee stops at a small airport in South America. The pilots there deliver mail over a dangerous and usually foggy mountain pass. Geoff Carter, the lead flyer, seems distant and cold as Bonnie tries to get closer to him. Things heat up as Judy MacPherson, Geoff's old flame, shows up with her husband who is an infamous pilot. | Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, Richard Barthelmess, Rita Hayworth, Thomas MitcheII, Sig Rumann, John Carroll, Allyn Joslyn, Noah Berry jr. Jules Furthman scpt.. Rating: 7.7 | Nominated for 2 Oscars. Near the end of the film, Bonnie (Jean Arthur) says to Geoff (Cary Grant), "I'm hard to get, Geoff, all you have to do is ask me." This line would, of course, be more famously re-utilized by director Howard Hawks and screenwriter Jules Furthman in their later film, To Have and Have Not, spoken this time by Slim (Lauren Bacall) to Steve (Humphrey Bogart). |
| OPEN CITY (aka. ROMA-CITTA APERTA) | Roberto Rossellini 1945. Black and White - Italy - Italian | German - 100 min. Rank: 35 | Rome, 1944. Giorgio Manfredi, one of the leaders of the Resistance, is tracked down by the Nazis. He goes to his friend Francesco's, and asks Pina, Francesco's fiancée, for help. Pina must warn a priest, Don Pietro Pellegrini, that Giorgio needs to leave the town as soon as possible .. | Vito Annichiarico OMarcello), Nando Bruno (sexton), Aldo Fabrizi (Don Pietro), Harry Feist (Bergmann), F.Grand-Jacquet (Francesco), Anna Magnani Maria Michi (Marina), Marcello Pagliero (Manfredi), Ed.Passenelli. Written By: Sergio Amidei , Federico Fellini, and 3 more credits. Rating: 8.2 | Nominated for Oscar. Another 6 wins. Clara Calamai, the lead in Luchino Visconti's Ossessione, was Roberto Rossellini's first choice for the part later taken by Anna Magnani. |
| OPERATION CROSSBOW | Michael Anderson 1965. Black and White (archive footage) | Color (Metrocolor) - UK - English | German - 115 min. Rank: 506 | This is the story of the methods used to defeat Hitler's V1 (doodlebug) and V2 (rocket) "revenge weapons" towards the end of the second world war. Even though the Nazis were in retreat these weapons could have turned their defeat into victory. The film includes references to Hannah Reich, who in real life was a test pilot and really did fly some of the first 'flying bombs'. | Sophia Loren, George Peppard, Trevor Howard, John Mills, Richard Johnson (Sandys), Tom Courtenay, Jeremy Kemp (Bradley), Anthony Quayle, LiIIi Palmer, Paul Henried, Helmut Dantine, Barbara Reutting (Hanna), Richard Todd, Sylvia Syms, John Fraser (Kenny), . Written By: Duilio Coletti (original story), Vittoriano Petrilli (original story), and 3 more credits. Rating: 6.6 | Average Shot Length = ~6.7 seconds. Median Shot Length = ~6.3 seconds. |
| ORPHEUS | Jean Cocteau 1950. Black and White - France - French - 95 min | France: 112 min. Rank: 70 | Orphee is a poet who becomes obsessed with Death (the Princess). They fall in love. Orphee's wife, Eurydice, is killed by the Princess' henchmen and Orphee goes after her into the Underworld. Although they have become dangerously entangled, the Princess sends Orphee back out of the Underworld, to carry on his life with Eurydice. | Jean Marais, Francois Perier, Maria Casares, marie Dea, Juliette Greco, Roger Blin. Rating: 8 | Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Jean-Pierre Aumont and Gerard Philippe were considered for the part of Orphee. |
| OTLEY | Dick Clement 1968. Color (Technicolor) - UK - English - 91 min. Rank: 692 | Gerald Otley, a petty thief and garbage rummager, wakes up one morning, after a drunken night on the town, and finds that he is wanted by the police for murder. And that is only the beginning. While being pursued for a crime he did not commit, he is kidnapped by a group of criminals who suspect him of being involved with double agents. Otley manages to escape, but cannot avoid getting into one near-fatal crisis after another, as police and foreign agents chase after him. It is a wild week of misadventures which Otley will never forget! | Tom Courtenay, Romy Schneider, Alan Badel (Sir Alex), James Villiers (Hendrickson), Leonard Rossiter (Leonard Rossiter (Johnston), Freddy Jones (Phillip Proudfoot), Fiona Lewis (Lin), James Bolam (Albert), James Cousins (Jeffcock), James Maxwell (Rollo). Written By: Dick Clement (screenplay), Ian La Frenais (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.2 | |
| OUR RELATIONS | Harry Lachman 1936. Black and White - USA - English | Arabic - 73 min. Rank: 238 | Unbeknownst to Stanley and Oliver, their long-lost twin brothers, sailors Alfie and Bert are in town on shore leave carrying a valuable pearl ring entrusted to them by their ship's captain. All four get involved in multiple cases of mistaken identity as a gang of hoodlums try to steal the ring Stanley and Oliver wind up with their feet in cement, about to be dumped into the harbor. | Laurel and Hardy, Sidney Toler, Alan Hale, Daphne Pollard, Betty Healy (Mr.L), Iris Adrian, Lona Andre, James Finlayson, Arthur Houseman, Jim Kilgalon (other drunk), Charlie Hall, Tiny Sandford and Billy Engle (toughs), Bobby Dunn (messngr), Ralf Harolde, Noe. Written By: Betty Healy. Rating: 7.3 | One of two Laurel and Hardy features to be credited as 'A Stan Laurel Production' (the other was Way Out West), even though Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp., not Stan Laurel Productions, had the only copyright claim on both films. |
| OUR TOWN | Sam Wood 1940. Black and White - USA - English - 90 min | 89 min (Hypercube restored version). Rank: 329 | Change comes slowly to a small New Hampshire town in the early 20th century. People grow up, get married, live, and die. Milk and the newspaper get delivered every morning, and nobody locks their front doors. | William Holden, Martha Scott, Frank Craven, Fay Bainter, Beulah Bondi, Thomas Mitchell, Guy Kibbee, Stuart Erwin, Doro Merande, Spencer Charters, (constable), Charles Trowbridge (reverend) Thornton Wilder play. Written By: Thornton Wilder (play), Thornton Wilder (screenplay), and 2 more credits. Rating: 7.0 | Nominated for 6 Oscars. Goofs |
| OVERLANDERS | Harry Watt 1946. Black and White - Australia | UK - English - 91 min. Rank: 435 | It's the start of WWII in Northern Australia. The Japanese are getting close. People are evacuating and burning everything in a "scorched earth" policy. Rather than kill all their cattle, a disparate group decides to drive them overland half way across the continent. | Chips Rafferty, John Nugent Hayward, Daphne Campbell, John Fernside, Jean Blue, Peter Pagan, Helen Grieve. Rating: 6.8 | |
| OWL AND THE PUSSYCAT | Herbert Ross 1970. Color (Eastmancolor) - USA - English - 95 min. Rank: 506 | Can a bickering odd couple in Manhattan become friends and maybe more? Owlish Felix is an unpublished writer who vents his frustration by reporting to the super that the woman in a neighboring flat takes the occasional payment for sex. She's Doris, more wildcat than pussycat, and when Felix's peeping-tom-tattle-tale routine gets her bounced from her apartment, she knocks at his door at 3 AM, aggressive and ticked off. They yell, lose another apartment, and pick up where they left off in a friend's flat and beyond. Dancing by the light of the moon seems unlikely for this owl and pussycat. | Barbara Streisand, George Segal, Robert Klein, Allen Garfield, Roz Kelly. Buck Henry scpt from Bill Man off play. Written By: Bill Manhoff (play), Buck Henry (screenplay). Rating: 6.6 | Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 1 win and 1 nomination. Producer Ray Stark was hoping to cast Elizabeth Taylor for the part of Doris. |
| PACK UP YOUR TROUBLES | 1932. Black and White - USA - English - 68 min. Rank: 295 | The boys' Army buddy, Eddie Smith, is killed in the trenches in France, leaving his baby girl an orphan. Back home after Armistice, they try to find Eddie's father and turn the child over to him. Unfortunately, they keep coming up with the wrong Smiths, and in the process disrupt a wedding by proclaiming the baby to be the groom's child. To evade the Welfare Association, they try to skip town, raising money for their escape by hocking their lunch wagon. But they accidentally knock the bank president unconscious and wind up being hunted down for bank robbery. | Laurel and Hardy, Tom Kennedy (recruiting Sgt), . Grady Sutton, Donald Dillaway (Eddie Smith), Billy Gilbert, C.Montague Shaw (Groom's Fr), Muriel Evans (bride), James Finlayson, Mary Gordon, Geo.Marshall (Pierre), Charley Rogers (butler), Charles Middleton. Rating: 7.1 | The WWI vintage tank used in the filming was on loan from the 160th Tank Corps of Salinas, California. |
| PANIC | John Gilling 1963. Black and White - UK - English - 69 min. Rank: 632 | A young Swiss woman becomes mixed up with a gang planning a diamond heist. | Janine Gray, Glyn Houston, Dyson Lovell, Duncan Lamont, Stanley Meadows (Tom) disp.?. Written By: Guido Coen (story), John Gilling. Rating: 6.2 | |
| PANIC IN NEEDLE PARK | Jerry Schatzberg 1971. Color - USA - English - 110 min. Rank: 329 | This movie is a stark portrayal of life among a group of heroin addicts who hang out in "Needle Park" in New York City. Played against this setting is a low-key love story between Bobby, a young addict and small-time hustler, and Helen, a homeless girl who finds in her relationship with Bobby the stability she craves. She becomes addicted too, and life goes downhill for them both as their addiction deepens, eventually leading to a series of betrayals. But, in spite of it all, the relationship between Bobby and Helen endures. | AI Pacino, Kitty Winn, Alan Vint, Richard Bright,. Kiel Martin, Mochael McClanathan, Warren Finnerty, Marcia Jean Kurtz, Raul Julia, Joe Santos, Paul Sorvino. Joan Didion/John Gregory Dunne scpt from James Bi.Jls book. Written By: James Mills (book), Joan Didion (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.0 | Jerry Schatzberg turned down the script when he was offered it by the production company. He was then re-approached when Al Pacino took an interest in the project. He agreed then to direct on the condition that Pacino could star, however ironically it then became difficult to find a studio that would back the project with a newcomer like Pacino. |
| PANIC IN THE STREETS | Elia Kazan 1950. Black and White - USA - English | Mandarin | Greek - 96 min. Rank: 238 | One night in the New Orleans slums, vicious hoodlum Blackie and his friends kill an illegal immigrant who won too much in a card game. Next morning, Dr. Clint Reed of the Public Health Service confirms the dead man had pneumonic plague. To prevent a catastrophic epidemic, Clint must find and inoculate the killers and their associates, with the reluctant aid of police captain Tom Warren, despite official skepticism, and in total secrecy, lest panic empty the city. Can a doctor turn detective? He has 48 hours to try.. | Jack PaIance, Paul Douglas, Barbara Bel Geddes, Jack Palance, Zero Mostel, Tommy Rettig, Emile Meyer Music: Meade Lux Lewis, Helen Humes. Written By: Richard Murphy (screenplay), Daniel Fuchs (adaptation), and 2 more credits. Rating: 7.3 | Won Oscar. Another 1 win and 3 nominations. According to Richard Widmark, Jack Palance did his own stunt of climbing the boat rope after two stuntmen failed. |
| PANIQUE aka PANIC | Julien Duvivier 1947. Black and White - France - French - 91 min. Rank: 126 | In the suburbs of Paris, an old maid has just been murdered. Every body talks about that, except the misanthrope Mr Hire. The same evening, Alice, just getting out of jail, arrives and meets up with her lover Alfred again. They act as they do not know each other, for Alice went to jail to spare Alfred. But Mr Hire falls in love with Alice, and he knows Alfred is the murderer.. | Vivianne Romance, Michael Simon, Paul Bennnard (Alfred), Charles Dorat (Michelet). Written By: Georges Simenon (novel), Julien Duvivier (dialogue), and 3 more credits. Rating: 7.7 | |
| PAPER CHASE | James Bridges 1973. Color - USA - English - 113 min. Rank: 259 | Hart is a confused first year law student at Harvard. He is trying to survive the year under his strictest professer, the legendary Kingsfield. With the help of some of his classmates in his study group, Hart becomes one of the smartest students in his class. His reputation with Kingsfield is diminished, however, when he finds out the girl he has been seeing is Kingfields daughter. Will Hart perform to the best of his ability with Kingsfield watching his every move? | Timothy Bottoms, Lindsay Wagner, John Houseman, Graham Beckel, Edward Herrman, Craig Richard Nelson, Jas.Naughton, Bob Lydiard, David Clement, Lenny Baker. Written By: James Bridges, John Jay Osborn Jr. (novel). Rating: 7.2 | Won Oscar. Another 2 wins and 3 nominations. John Houseman was cast as Professor Kingsfield only after director James Bridges tried and failed to interest James Mason, Edward G. Robinson, Melvyn Douglas, Sir John Gielgud, and Paul Scofield. Although Houseman had appeared in a small but important role in Seven Days in May, he had previously been known primarily as a radio (The Mercury Theatre of the Air; 1938's 'The War of the Worlds'), stage (Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre) and film ( Julius Caesar) producer, and this was his first major film role. It won him the 1973 Aca |
| PAPER MOON | Peter Bogdanovich 1973. Black and White - USA - English - 102 min. Rank: 50 | Adapted from the novel, "Addie Pray" (1971) by Joe David Brown, PAPER MOON is the story of Moses Pray and Addie Loggins. With scenery reminiscent of "The Grapes of Wrath," the film is set in the depression-era Midwestern region of the United States. As the movie opens, we see a small group of mourners clustered at a graveside. Among the mourners is Addie, the dead woman's small daughter. Moses Pray -- ostensibly of the "Kansas Bible Company" -- approaches the group, as the service concludes, and two of the elderly women remark that the child bears some resemblance to him and asks if he might be related. "If ever a child needed kin, it's now," one lady says. With no knowledge of who her father is, Addie's only haven is her Aunt's home in St. Joseph, Missouri. Having identified himself as a "traveling man spreading the Lord's.. | Ryan O'Neal, Tatum O'Neal, Madeline Kahn, John Hillerman, P. J. Johnson, Burt Gilliam, Randy Quaid. Alvin Sargent scpt. from Joe David Brown's "Addie". Written By: Joe David Brown (based on the novel by), Alvin Sargent (screenplay). Rating: 8.1 | Won Oscar. Another 6 wins and 8 nominations. Tatum O'Neal's best supporting actress Oscar win at age 10, broke the category's record previously held by Patty Duke for The Miracle Worker. |
| PAPER TIGER | Ken Annakin 1975. Color (Eastmancolor) - UK - English - Germany: 99 min | USA: 99 min. Rank: 741 | A somewhat prim and proper Englishman is hired as the tutor to the son of the Japanese ambassador. His life changes when he and the boy are kidnapped by terrorists for political purposes. | David Niven, Toshiro Mifune, Hardy Kruger, Ando, Ivan Desny (Foreign Minister),Irene Tsu,Ronald Fraser,Miko Taka,Jeff Corey (Mr.K),Patricia Donahue (Mr.K). Rating: 5.6 | Nominated for Golden Globe. Kurt Christian and a number of others are re-voiced by Robert Rietty |
| PARADISE IN HARLEM | Joseph Seiden 1939. Black and White - USA - English - 85 min. Rank: 800 | Between swing and blues musical numbers, the story of comedian Lem Anderson, whose long-awaited chance to act dramatically vanishes when he witnesses a mob killing and is forced to leave town. Lem becomes a wanderer, then an alcoholic. Finally a chance to play Othello draws him back to Harlem. Is it too late for Ned? Or too soon to suit Rough Jackson's mobsters? Melodramatic events lead to an unusual conclusion. | Mamie Smith, Lucky Millender and Orch., Perry Bradford. Written By: Frank L. Wilson (story), Vincent Valentini. Rating: 4.2 | |
| PARDON US | James Parrott 1931. Black and White - USA - English - 56 min | USA: 65 min (extended version). Rank: 329 | It's Prohibition, and the boys wind up behind bars after Stan sells some of their home-brew beer to a policeman. In prison, Stan's loose tooth keeps getting him in trouble, because it sounds like he's giving everybody a rasp- berry. But it earns him the respect of The Tiger, a rough prisoner, and the boys manage to slip away during The Tiger's escape attempt. They disguise themselves in blackface and hide on a cotton plantation, but are recaptured when the warden happens by. Back in the big house, they find themselves in a hail of bullets, caught between the state militia and gun-toting prisoners, when The Tiger tries another escape. | Laurel and Hardy, Walter Long, Jimmy Finlayson, June Marlowe (warden's daughter), Charlie Hall, Sam Lufkin, (guard), Wiolfred Lucas (warden), Harry Bernard (desk sgt), Tiny Sandford, Bobby Burns (dnetal patient), Bobby and Eddie Dunn (Dick Gilbert, Will Stant. Rating: 7.0 | Stan and Ollie spent a lot of time in jail. In addition to this film, they were jailbirds in "The Second Hundred Years", "Hoosegow", and "Flying Deuces". |
| PARIS BLUES | Martin Ritt 1961. Black and White - USA - English | French - 98 min. Rank: 506 | Ram Bowen and Eddie Cook are two expatriate jazz musicians living in Paris where, unlike America at the time, Jazz musicians are celebrated and racism is a non-issue. When they meet and fall in love with two young American girls, Lillian and Connie, who are vacationing in France, Ram and Eddie must decide whether they should move back to America with them, or stay in Paris for the freedom it allows them. Ram, who wants to be a serious composer, finds Paris more exciting than America and is reluctant to give up his music for a relationship, and Eddie wants to stay for the city's more tolerant racial atmosphere. | Paul Newman, Sidney Poittier, Joanne Woodward, Diahann Carroll, Serge Reggioni, Moustache Music: Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington. Written By: Walter Bernstein, Harold Flender (novel), and 3 more credits. Rating: 6.6 | Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 nomination. Although Duke Ellington received an Academy Award nomination for Best Music, Scoring a Musical Picture, this film is not a musical, but rather a romantic drama in a jazz-music setting. |
| PASSPORT TO HEAVEN (aka I Was a Criminal) | Richard Oswald 1942. Black and White - USA - English - 71 min. Rank: 692 | Based on an incident that happened in the Second German Reich of Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1906. Bassermann plays Wilhelm Voight, a small time ex-con, who wants to return to his old home (in his German state). | Albert Basserman, Herman Bing, Eric Blore, Russel Hicks, Joe Yule, George Chandler. Remake (by same director) of classic early 30's German film, Capt. From Kopeneck. Pacifist film prob. suppressed during WW2. Written By: Ivan Goff (screenplay), Albrecht Joseph (screen version Der Hauptmann von Köpenick), and 2 more credits. Rating: 7.8 | Completed as 'Passport to Heaven' in 1941, but unable to find a distributor due to the outbreak of World War II, which made its German settings and characterizations unpalatable to the American public; eventually picked up by Film Classics in 1945, but received few bookings, probably for the same reason; the only review it ever received was in Exhibitor Magazine in July 1946, who also commented on this same problem; eventually picked up for television release by NTA in the 1950's, but only infrequently shown. |
| PAT AND MIKE | George Cukor 1952. Black and White - USA - English - 95 min. Rank: 329 | Pat's a brilliant athlete, except when her domineering fiance is around. The lady's golf championship is in her reach until she gets flustered by his presence at the final holes. He wants them to get married and forget the whole thing, but she can't give up on herself that easily. She enlists the help of Mike, a slightly shady sports promoter. Together they face mobsters, a jealous boxer, and a growing mutual attraction. | Spencer Tracy, Kathryn Hepburn, Aldo Ray, William Ching, Jim Backus, Carl Switzer, Charles Bronson, William Self, Chuck Connors. Ruth Gorden,Garson Kanin scpt. Written By: Ruth Gordon, Garson Kanin. Rating: 7.0 | Nominated for Oscar. Another 5 nominations. Katharine Hepburn was already an avid golfer. |
| PEDESTRIAN (aka Fußgänger) | Maximilian Schell 1973. Color (Eastmancolor) - Switzerland | West Germany | Israel - English | French | German - 98 min. Rank: 295 | The trial of an elderly war criminal. | Gustav Rudolph Sellner, Peter Hall, Maxmillian Schell, Gilda von Weiterschausen, Lil Dagover, Fransois Rosay, Elizabeth Bergner, Peggy Ashcroft. Written By: Maximilian Schell, Dagmar Hirtz, and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.1 | Nominated for Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. |
| PERFECT COUPLE | Robert Altman 1979. Color - USA - English - 110 min. Rank: 676 | An older man (Dooley), tries romancing a younger woman (Heflin). She is part of a travelling band of bohemian musicians who perform gigs in outdoor arenas around the country. | Paul Dooley, Henry Gibson, Titos Vandis, Marta Heflin. Written By: Robert Altman, Allan F. Nicholls. Rating: 6.0 | The role of Sheila Shea was originally written for Sandy Dennis. Paul Dooley was seriously allergic to cats though, and when cat-lover Dennis would come to the script readings with up to five cats at a time, he was briefly hospitalized. The role was then offered to Shelley Duvall, who turned it down. As a result, 'Allan Nichols' re-wrote the role of Sheila Shea from an Earth Mother type to the young singer/groupie played by Marta Heflin. |
| PERFECT FURLOUGH | Blake Edwards 1958. Color (Eastmancolor) - USA - English | French - 93 min. Rank: 647 | To pacify 104 sex-starved male soldiers building an Arctic radar base, Army psychologist Vicki Loren suggests choosing one by lot to have a "perfect furlough" as selected by the men: three weeks in Paris with their favorite pin-up queen, Sandra Roca. Since "winner" Paul Hodges is a tireless Don Juan, and this is a fifties comedy, Vicki is ordered to keep Paul and Sandra out of bed. But who will guard the guardian? | Tony Curtis, Janet Leigh, Keenan Wynn, Linda Cristal,Elaine Stritch, King Donovan, Troy Donahue . Rating: 6.1 | Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 1 win. |
| PERSONA | Ingmar Bergman 1966. Black and White - Sweden - Swedish - 85 min | Argentina: 80 min | USA: 83 min. Rank: 35 | A young nurse, Alma, is put in charge of Elisabeth Vogler: an actress who is seemingly healthy in all respects, but will not talk. As they spend time together, Alma speaks to Elisabeth constantly, never receiving any answer. Alma eventually confesses her secrets to a seemingly sympathetic Elisabeth and finds that her own personality is being submerged into Elisabeth's persona. | Bibi Andersson (nurse), Liv Ullman, Gunnar Bjomstrand (mr Vogler), Margareta Krook (Dr), Jorgen Lindstrom (boy). Rating: 8.2 | Top 250 #201 | Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 5 wins and 1 nomination. According to himself, Ingmar Bergman fell in love with Liv Ullmann during the making of the movie. |
| PHANTOM OF THE OPERA | Rupert Julian, and 3 more credits. 1925. Black and White | Color (2-strip Technicolor) - USA - - 93 min | UK: 101 min (original release) | USA: 92 min (1995 version) | USA: 107 min (DVD version) | Canada: 106 min (Ontario) | 95 min (1929 re-release). Rank: 126 | At the Opera of Paris, a mysterious phantom threatens a famous lyric singer, Carlotta and thus forces her to give up her role (Marguerite in Faust) for unknown Christine Daae. Christine meets this phantom (a masked man) in the catacombs, where he lives. What's his goal ? What's his secret ? | Lon Chaney, Mary Philbin, Norman Kerry, Snitz Edwards, Gibson Gowland (muiscal accompaniment). Rating: 7.7 | A Jewel Production. Unlike most of its peers, Universal never owned a theater chain (ultimately, a wise decision given the 1949 Supreme Court anti-trust decision that would threaten the livelihood of many of its competitors). As a result, in 1916, Carl Laemmle devised a 3-tiered branding system to market its features to independent theater owners: Red Feather (low-budget programmers), Bluebird (mainstream releases) and Jewel (costly prestige productions). The studio would abandon branding altogether by the end of 1929. |
| PHFFFT! | Mark Robson 1954. Black and White - USA - English - 88 min (TCM Print). Rank: 574 | After eight years of marriage, Robert and Nina divorce. He takes up with his womanising Navy buddy Charlie Nelson while she looks to her interfering mother for guidance. Both start dating other people, but although they try and ignore each other whenever they accidentally meet, it is obvious the past is not dead. Then one night they find themselves in a nightclub doing the mambo together. | Judy Holiday, Jack Lemmon, Kim Novak (dbeut), Jack Carson,Donald Curtis George Axelrod play. Rating: 6.4 | Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 nomination. The title "Phffft" comes from Walter Winchell's column which was widely read during the 50s. When a celebrity couple's marriage broke up, Winchell would describe the break-up as "phffft". |
| PHONE CALL FROM A STRANGER | Jean Negulesco 1952. Black and White - USA - English - 105 min | West Germany: 95 min. Rank: 295 | A lawyer, told that his wife is having an affair, sets out on a journey and becomes involved in the lives of fellow plane passengers. | Bette Davis, Shelly Winters, Gary Merrill, Michael Rennie, Michael Rennie, Keenan Wynn, Evelyn V arden, Warren Stevens, Beatrice Straight, Craig Stevens. Written By: Nunnally Johnson (screenplay), I.A.R. Wylie (story). Rating: 7.1 | "Lux Radio Theater" broadcast a 60 minute radio adaptation of the movie on Janaury 5, 1953 with Shelley Winters and Gary Merrill reprising their film roles. |
| PIANO | Jane Campion 1993. Color (Eastmancolor) - Australia | New Zealand | France - English | British Sign Language | Maori - 121 min | Australia: 114 min. Rank: 185 | It is the mid-nineteenth century. Ada is a mute who has a young daughter, Flora. In an arranged marriage she leaves her native Scotland accompanied by her daughter and her beloved piano. Life in the rugged forests of New Zealand's South Island is not all she may have imagined and nor is her relationship with her new husband Stewart. She suffers torment and loss when Stewart sells her piano to a neighbour, George. Ada learns from George that she may earn back her piano by giving him piano lessons, but only with certain other conditions attached. At first Ada despises George but slowly their relationship is transformed and this propels them into a dire situation. | Holly Hunter, Sam Neill, Harvey Keitel, Anna Paquin, Kerry Walker, Genevieve Lemon, Tungia Baker, Ian Mune, 35mm. Rating: 7.5 | Won 3 Oscars. Another 57 wins and 27 nominations. Holly Hunter played most of the piano sequences herself. |
| PICNIC | Joshua Logan 1955. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 115 min | USA: 113 min (DVD version). Rank: 238 | The morning of a small town Labor Day picnic, a drifter (Hal Carter) blows into town to visit an old fraternity buddy (Alan Benson) who also happens to be the son of the richest man in town. Hal is an egocentric braggart - all potential and no accomplishment. He meets up with Madge Owens, the town beauty queen and girlfriend of Alan Benson. | William Holden, Rosiland Russell, Kim Novak, Betty Field, Cliff Robertson, Arthur O'Connell, Verna Felton, Susan Strassburg, Nick Adams, Phyllis Newman, Elizabeth W.Wilson. Daniel Taradash scpt. from William Inge play. Written By: Daniel Taradash (screenplay), William Inge (play). Rating: 7.3 | Won 2 Oscars. Another 1 win and 10 nominations. The original Broadway production of "The Picnic" by William Inge opened on February 19, 1953 at the Music Box Theater, ran for 477 performances and won the Pulitzer Prize in Drama in 1953. |
| PIECE OF THE ACTION | Sidney Poitier 1977. Color (Metrocolor) - USA - English - 135 min. Rank: 692 | Dave Anderson and Manny Durrell are two high-class sneak thieves who have never been caught. Joshua Burke is a retired detective who has enough evidence on the both of them to put them behind bars. Instead, he offers to maintain his silence if the crooks will go straight and do work at a youth center for delinquents. At first, the crooks are reluctant and unwilling (and so are the kids). As time goes by they gain the trust and admiration of the kids and they start to enjoy the job. All goes well until someone out of the past tells them they have to do one last heist..or else.. | Sidney Piotier, James Earl Jones, Denise Nicholas, Hope Clark, Tracy Reed, Titos Vandis, Ja'net DuBois. Written By: Charles Blackwell, Timothy March (story). Rating: 5.9 | |
| PIED PIPER | Irving Pichel 1942. Black and White - USA - English - 87 min. Rank: 373 | Englishman Mr Howard is on a fishing holiday in eastern France when the Germans invade in 1940. Setting off to try and get back home he is persuaded to take along the two Cavanaugh children, and as his journey progresses his family keeps growing in size. Once in German-occupied northern France a new problem arises - the risk of being heard speaking English. | Monte Wooley, Roddy McDowall, Anne Baxter, Peggy Ann Gamer, Otto Preminger NunnallyJohnson scpt from Nevil Schute novel. Written By: Nunnally Johnson, Nevil Shute (novel). Rating: 6.9 | Nominated for 3 Oscars. "The Screen Guild Theater" broadcast a 30 minute radio adaptation of the movie on August 16, 1943 with Monty Woolley and Roddy McDowall reprising their film roles. |
| PIED PIPER | Jacques Demy 1972. Color (Eastmancolor) - UK | USA - English - 90 min. Rank: 467 | Greed, corruption, ignorance, and disease. Midsummer, 1349: the Black Death reaches northern Germany. Minstrels go to Hamelin for the Mayor's daughter's wedding to the Baron's son. He wants her dowry to pay his army while his father taxes the people to build a cathedral he thinks will save his soul. A local apothecary who's a Jew seeks a treatment for the plague; the priests charge him with witchcraft. One of the minstrels, who has soothed the Mayor's daughter with his music, promises to rid the town of rats for the fee. The Mayor agrees, then renigs. In the morning, the plague, the Jew's trial, and the Piper's revenge come at once. | Donovan, Donald Pleasance, Michael Horden, Jack Wild, Diana Dors, John Hurt. Written By: Jacques Demy (screenplay), Andrew Birkin (screenplay), and 4 more credits. Rating: 6.7 | Was released after the death of Hamilton Dyce. |
| PLAY IT AGAIN SAM | Herbert Ross 1972. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English | Spanish - 85 min. Rank: 157 | A mild mannered film critic is dumped by his wife and his ego is crushed. His hero persona is the tough guy played by Humphrey Bogart in many of his movies and the apparition of Bogart begins showing up to give him advice. With the encouragement of his two married friends, he actually tries dating again, with less than satisfactory results, until he relaxes. | Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Tony Roberts, Jerry Lacy, Susan Anspach, Jennifer Salt, Joy Bang, Viva. Written By: Woody Allen (play), Woody Allen (screenplay). Rating: 7.6 | The original Broadway production of "Play It Again, Sam" opened at the Broadhurst Theater on February 12, 1969 and ran for 453 performances. Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Tony Roberts and Jerry Lacy reprise their roles in the movie. |
| PLAYBOY OF THE WESTERN WORLD | Brian Desmond Hurst 1963. Color (Eastmancolor) - Ireland - English - 100 min. Rank: 506 | A quiet little village, and especially a pretty young woman, falls under the spell of a charming, somewhat roguish stranger who suddenly appears one day. | Siobhan McKenna, Gary Raymond (Christy), Elsbeth March (widow Quiinn), Liam Redmond (Michael James), Niall McGinnis (old Mahon), Finuala O'Shannon (Sara) inc., -10 from beginning, works. Written By: Brian Desmond Hurst, John Millington Synge (play). Rating: 6.6 | |
| PLAYTIME | Jacques Tati 1967. Color (Eastmancolor) - France | Italy - French | English | German - France: 155 min (with intermission and exit music) | 124 min (2002 restored version) | Sweden: 115 min - French | English | German. Rank: 93 | Monsieur Hulot has to contact an American official in Paris, but he gets lost in the maze of modern architecture which is filled with the latest technical gadgets. Caught in the tourist invasion, Hulot roams around Paris with a group of American tourists, causing chaos in his usual manner. | Tati, Barbara Dennek, Jacqueline Lecomte. Art Buchwald dialogue. Written By: Jacques Tati, Art Buchwald (additional English dialogue), and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.9 | The film's failure at the box office kept Jacques Tati in debt for 10 years. |
| POCKET MONEY | Stuart Rosenberg 1972. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 102 min. Rank: 759 | Broke and in debt, an otherwise honest cowboy gets mixed up in some shady dealings with a crooked rancher. | Paul Newman, Lee Marvcin, Strother Martin, Christine 'Belford, Kelly Jean Peters, Fred Gragham, Wayne Rogers, Hector Elizando.Terrance Malick scpt. Written By: Terrence Malick (screenplay), J.P.S. Brown (novel), and 1 more credit. Rating: 5.4 | The movie's publicity still with Newman and Marvin (IMDb's main page display) was photographed by British photographer Terry O'Neill. (The photograph also appears on the jacket of O'Neill's 2003 compilation coffee-table book "Celebrity"). In the book, O'Neill recounts how when he arrived on the Pocket Money set to shoot his publicity stills, Lee Marvin was hungover and in a foul mood. Most of the production personnel were steering clear of him. When O'Neill gingerly approached Marvin and introduced himself, Marvin asked, "Are |
| POCKETFUL OF MIRACLES | Frank Capra 1961. Color (Eastmancolor) - USA - English | American Sign Language | Spanish - 136 min. Rank: 259 | Boozy, brassy Apple Annie, a beggar with a basket of apples, is as much as part of downtown New York as old Broadway itself. Bootlegger Dave the Dude is a sucker for her apples --- he thinks they bring him luck. But Dave and girlfriend Queenie Martin need a lot more than luck when it turns out that Annie is in a jam and only they can help: Annie's daughter Louise, who has lived all her life in a Spanish convent, is coming to America with a Count and his son. The count wants to marry Louise, who thinks her mother is part of New York society. It's up to Dave and Queenie and their Runyonesque cronies to turn Annie into a lady and convince the Count and his son that they are hobnobbing with New York's elite. | Bette Davis, Glenn Ford, Hope Lange, Arthur O'Connell, Thomas Mitchell, Peter Falk, Edw.E.Horton, Ann Margaret, Miocxkey Shaughnessy, David Brian, Sjheldon Leonard, Barton McLane, John Litel, Jerome Cowan, Fritz Feld, Jack Elam, Ellen Corby Capra's last, . Written By: Hal Kanter (screenplay), Harry Tugend (screenplay), and 3 more credits. Rating: 7.2 | Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 2 wins and 4 nominations. The role of Apple Annie was offered to Helen Hayes who accepted it but finally couldn't do it when shooting was postponed, and she had a commitment to a State Department tour. |
| POPI | Arthur Hiller 1969. Color - USA - English - 113 min. Rank: 574 | Abraham is a Puerto Rican single parent with two boys. He is becoming very worried about them living in their run down neighborhood when one day he notices that Cubans who escape are lionized and given exceptional benefits. He thinks up a plot to have his sons washed ashore as cuban immigrants who will be adopted by rich anglos. | Alan Arkin, Rita Moreno, Miguel Alejandro, Reuben Figuerroa. Written By: Tina Pine, Lester Pine. Rating: 6.4 | Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 1 win and 2 nominations. |
| POPPY | A. Edward Sutherland 1936. Black and White - USA - English | French - 73 min. Rank: 329 | Poppy, daughter of carnival medicine salesman Professor McGargle, falls in love with the Mayor's son. Countess Maggie Tubbs DePuizzi is claimant to the Putnam estates, but McGargle and lawyer Wiffen plot to make Poppy claim the fortune. Wiffen and the Countess double-cross the Professor, but kindly Sarah Tucker notices a resemble between Poppy and the deceased Mrs. Putnam. It turns out that McGargle adopted the girl, she is the rightful heir, the purported Countess is only a showgirl, and every one has a happy ending. | W.C. Fields, Rochelle Hudson, Richard Cromwell, Granville Bates,. Written By: Waldemar Young (screenplay), Virginia Van Upp (screenplay), and 3 more credits. Rating: 7.0 | One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since. |
| PRINCE OF PLAYERS | Philip Dunne 1955. Color - USA - English - 102 min. Rank: 373 | A tragic and sentimental story that depicts the early career of the 19th century American actor, Edwin Booth with some mention of the events leading to the assassination of President Lincoln by Edwin's brother, John Wilkes Booth. In the film, Edwin's days in the spotlight dwindle shortly after his brother is caught and killed for assassinating Lincoln. | Richard Burton, Maggie McNamara, Raymond Massey, Charles Bickford, John Derek, REva LeGalliene, Mae' Marsh, Sarah Padden. Scpt:Moss Hart. Written By: Moss Hart, Eleanor Ruggles (book). Rating: 6.9 | |
| PRINCE OF THE CITY | Sidney Lumet 1981. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 167 min. Rank: 157 | New York City cop Daniel Ciello is involved in some questionable police practices. He is approached by internal affairs and in exchange for him potentially being let off the hook, he is instructed to begin to expose the inner workings of police corruption. Danny agrees as long as he does not have to turn in his partners but he soon learns that he cannot trust anyone and he must decide whose side he is on and who is on his. | Treat Williams, Jerry Orbach, Richard Foronjy, Don Billett, Kenny Marino, Carmine Caridi, Bob Balaban, James Tolkan, Lindsay Crouse, Matthew Lawrence, Lee Richardson, Lane Smith, Peter Michael Getz, Lance Hendirckson. Written By: Robert Daley (book), Jay Presson Allen (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.6 | Nominated for Oscar. Another 7 wins and 5 nominations. Alan King appears briefly in an early scene, chatting with the character played by Jerry Orbach. King had just finished shooting Just Tell Me What You Want (1980) with director Sidney Lumet for the same studio (the then fledgling Orion, originally a subsidiary of Warner). |
| PRISONER OF SECOND AVENUE | Melvin Frank 1975. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 98 min. Rank: 506 | The story of Mel and Edna ('Jack Lemmon (I)' and Anne Bancroft), a middle-class, middle-aged, middle-happy couple living in a Manhattan high rise apartment building. Mel loses his job, the apartment is robbed, Edna gets a job, Mel loses his mind, Edna loses her job . . . to say nothing of the more minor tribulations of nosy neighbors, helpful relatives and exact bus fares. The couple suffers indignity after indignity (some self-inflicted) and when they seem on the verge of surrender, they thumb their noses defiantly and dig the trenches for battle. | Jack Lemmon, Anne Bancroft, Gene Saks. Elizabeth Wilson, Florence Stanley, M. Emmet Waslh, Sylvester Stallone (bit) Neil Simon play. Written By: Neil Simon (play), Neil Simon (screenplay). Rating: 6.6 | Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 win and 1 nomination. The original Broadway production of "The Prisoner of Second Avenue" by Neil Simon opened at the Eugene O'Neill Theater on November 11, 1971, ran for 798 performances and was nominated for the 1972 Tony Award for the Best Play. Florence Stanley reprises her role in the movie. |
| PRIVATE LIFE OF HENRY THE EIGHTH | Alexander Korda 1933. Black and White - UK - English - USA: 97 min. Rank: 206 | This movie tells the story of King Henry VIII and the last five of his six wives. Set almost entirely within the royal castle, it begins just before the death of his second wife (Anne Boleyn) and ends just after his sixth wedding (to Catherine or Katherine Parr). | Charles Laughton, Robert Donat, Lady Tree (nurse), Binnie Barnes (Katherine H), Elsa Lanchester, Merle Oberon (Boleyn), Wendy Barrie (Jane Seymour), Everley Gregg (Catherine Parr), Miles Mander, Claude Allistrer (Cornell). John Loder (Thomas Peynell. Written By: Lajos Biró (story), Arthur Wimperis (story), and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.4 | Won Oscar. Another 1 nomination. Elsa Lanchester, playing Anne of Cleves, refers to Henry VIII, as a "Bluebeard" however the 1st historical mention of Bluebeard dates to 1697, 150 years after the rule of Henry VIII ended. |
| PRODUCERS | Mel Brooks 1967. Color (Pathécolor) - USA - English | German - 88 min. Rank: 126 | Down-on-his-luck theatrical producer Max Bialystock is forced to romance rich old ladies to finance his efforts. When timid accountant Leo Bloom reviews Max's accounting books, the two hit upon a way to make a fortune by producing a sure-fire flop. The play which is to be their gold mine? "Springtime for Hitler." | Mel Brooks, Gene Wilder, Dick Shawn, Kenneth Mars, Estelle Winwood. Christopher Hewitt (Rober), Andreas Voutsinas(Carmen Giya), Renee Taylor,Eva B), Madlyn Cates (woman @ window), Frank Campanella (barkeep), William Hickey. Rating: 7.7 | Won Oscar. Another 2 wins and 5 nominations. Mel Brooks based the character of Max Bialystock on a real Broadway producer he knew who used to seduce little old ladies in exchange for checks that were supposedly to produce his latest play, which would usually be called "Cash." |
| PROFESSOR BEWARE | Elliott Nugent 1938. Black and White - USA - English - 93 min. Rank: 295 | Egyptologist, Dean Lambert (Lloyd), accused of car-theft, skips bail and begins a cross-country trek to join a group in New York headed for Egypt. With the police close on his trail he gets in and out of scrapes along the way. | Harold Lloyd, Phyllis Welch, Raymond Walburn, Lionel Stander, William Frawley, Thurston Hall, Cora Witherspoon, Sterling Hollaway, Montague Love, Etienne Giradot, Christian Rub, Spencer Charteres (Sheriff), Guinn"Big Boy"Williams, Ward Bond, Leonid Kinske. Written By: Delmer Daves (screen play), Jack Cunningham (adaptation), and 4 more credits. Rating: 7.1 | On 3 April 1940 in U. S. Federal Court in Los Angeles, Federal Judge Henry W. Goddard, after trial lasting several weeks, ordered dismissal of the infringement suit of William Jordan Rapp and Lowell Brentano against Harold Lloyd and Harold Lloyd Corp. Plaintiffs had charged plagiarism of their work, "Greek to You," in the film "Professor Beware." Judge Goddard ruled that the film was adapted from a play, "The Road to Jericho," and said, "I think it is plain that defendants have not copied plaintiff's work." Phillips and Nizer |
| PROMISE AT DAWN | Jules Dassin 1970. Color - USA | France - English - 99 min | Greece: 102 min. Rank: 259 | The film follows author Romain Gary as he recalls his growing up with his Russian-born mother. The two leave Russia for France, where they settle in Paris. As twenty years pass, they encounter social change, age, different convictions, poverty and the slow approach of World War II. | Melina Mercouri. Assaf Dayan, Francois Raffoul, Despo, Fernand Gravey, Jules Dassin (Perlo Vita) as silent film star Life of Romain Gary (poss.inc). Written By: Jules Dassin, Romain Gary (novel), and 2 more credits. Rating: 7.2 | Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. |
| PSYCHO | Alfred Hitchcock 1960. Black and White - USA - English - 109 min | Germany: 108 min (cut). Rank: 3 | Phoenix officeworker Marion Crane is fed up with the way life has treated her. She has to meet her lover Sam in lunch breaks and they cannot get married because Sam has to give most of his money away in alimony. One Friday Marion is trusted to bank $40,000 by her employer. Seeing the opportunity to take the money and start a new life, Marion leaves town and heads towards Sam's California store. Tired after the long drive and caught in a storm, she gets off the main highway and pulls into The Bates Motel. The motel is managed by a quiet young man called Norman who seems to be dominated by his mother. | Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, John Gavin, Martin Balsam, . John M~Intire, Lurene Tuttle. Simon Oaklans, John Anderson, Mort Mills, Frank Albertson, Patricia Hitchcock *. Written By: Joseph Stefano (screenplay), Robert Bloch (novel). Rating: 8.7 | Top 250 #26 | Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 5 wins and 3 nominations. The score, composed by Bernard Herrmann, is played entirely by stringed instruments. |
| PURPLE DEATH FROM OUTER SPACE | 1940. Black and White - USA - English - 88 min. Rank: 798 | Earthmen are suddenly stricken with a mysterious disease, which causes instant death and leaves a purple spot on the forehead of each victim. Investigating, Dr. Zarkov discovers a spaceship from Ming's kingdom on Mongo spreading a dust across Earth's atmosphere, which Zarkov correctly deduces is causing the plague. Accompanied by Flash Gordon and Dale Arden, Zarkov drives off the ship and hurries to the friendly Mongo kingdom of Arboria, to enlist the aid of Prince Barin. At Barin's palace, they meet Queen Fria and Count Korro of the ice-kingdom Frigia. Helping them rescue a Frigian general from Ming's palace, they learn the nature of Ming's plague-dust and its antidote, found only in Frigia. With Fria's blessings they fly to Frigia to obtain the antidote, accompanied by Arboria captains Ronal, Roka and Turan. But Ming learns this, sends his own officers Torch and Thong to stop them with raygun fire and an army of humanoid robots.. | Buster Crabbe, Carol Hughes, Chas.Middleton, Frank Shannon, Anne Gwynne. Feature vers.Flash Gorden Conquers Universe. Written By: Basil Dickey (screenplay) (archive footage), George H. Plympton (screenplay) (archive footage), and 1 more credit. Rating: 4.5 | |
| PURPLE HEART | Lewis Milestone 1944. Black and White - USA - English | Japanese - 99 min. Rank: 373 | This is the story of the crew of a downed bomber, captured after a run over Tokyo, early in the war. Relates the hardships the men endure while in captivity, and their final humiliation: being tried and convicted as war criminals. | James Cagney, Farley Granger, Sam Levene, Richard Conte, Tala Birell. Nestor Pavia, Benson Fong, Marshall Thompson, Richard Loo Co=scpt.Darryl Zanuck. Written By: Jerome Cady, Darryl F. Zanuck (story). Rating: 6.9 | The 'Hollywood Reporter' of 14 April 1944 reported that this movie's box-office receipts had in only seven weeks returned all of its advertising, print and production costs. |
| PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO | Woody Allen 1985. Black and White | Color - USA - English - 82 min. Rank: 126 | Cecilia is a waitress in New Jersey during the Depression and is searching for an escape from her dreary life. Tom Baxter is a dashing young archaeologist in the film "The Purple Rose of Cairo." After losing her job Cecilia goes to see the film in hopes of raising her spirits. Much to her surprise Tom Baxter walks off the screen and into her life. There's only one problem.Tom isn't real. Meanwhile Hollywood is up in arms when they dicover that other Tom Baxters are trying to leave the screen in other theatres. Will Tom ever return and finish the film or will he decide to stay in the real world? | Mia Farrow, Jeff Daniels, Danny Aiello, Diane Weist, Van Johnson, Zoie Caldwell, John Wood, Milo O'Shea, Edward Herrmann, Karen Akers, Deborah Rush, Michael Tucker, Glenne Headly. Rating: 7.7 | Nominated for Oscar. Another 14 wins and 11 nominations. For the amusement park scenes, filming was brought to the classic and now closed amusement park Bertrand Island which was located in Mount Arlington at Lake Hopatcong, New Jersey. The park was quite a famous one in its heyday, and had closed shortly before filming commenced on the site. Some rides seen were the originals from the park, but others were props brought in by the film crew. |
| PYGMALION | 1938. Black and White - UK - English - 96 min | USA: 89 min. Rank: 70 | The snobbish and intellectual Professor of languages, Henry Higgins makes a bet with his friend that he can take a London flower seller, Eliza Doolittle, from the gutters and pass her off as a society lady. However he discovers that this involves dealing with a human being with ideas of her own. | Leslie Howard, Wendy Hiller, Wilfred Lawson, Marie Lohr (Mrs. Higgins), Scott Sunderland (Col.P), Jean Cadell (Mrs.Pearce), David Tree (Freddy), Ivor Barnard, Cathleen Nesbitt, Leo Genn, Anthony Quayle. Written By: George Bernard Shaw (play), George Bernard Shaw (scenario and dialogue), and 5 more credits. Rating: 8 | Won Oscar. Another 1 win and 4 nominations. Wilfrid Lawson was only 38 when he played Eliza Doolittle's father. |
| QUEEN OF THE STARDUST BALLROOM | Sam O'Steen 1975?. Color - USA - English - 100 min. Rank: 206 | A middle-aged woman finds herself simply a widow, a grandmother and a person when a friend takes her to the Stardust Ballroom, a dance hall which recreates the music and atmosphere of the 1940s. There she encounters a most unlikely Prince Charming, a middle-aged mailman. With this encounter, life takes on a new meaning for the film's heroine. | Maureen Stapleton, Charles Durning and Michael Brandon?. Rating: 7.4 | Won 2 Primetime Emmys. Another 2 wins and 9 nominations. In 1998, a new stage version was created for the Lincolnshire Theater in Chicago. This version, once again titled "Queen of the Stardust Ballroom," used some elements from the short-lived 1979 Broadway version ("Ballroom"), but it restored several songs from the TV production as well focusing more on the personal narrative than the dance numbers. |
| QUILLER MEMORANDUM | Michael Anderson 1966. Color - UK | USA - English | German (some dialogue) - 104 min | Austria: 95 min. Rank: 546 | Two British agents are murdered by a mysterious Neonazi organization in West Berlin. The British Secret Service sends agent Quiller to investigate. Soon Quiller is confronted with Neonazi chief "Oktober" and involved in a dangerous game where each side tries to find out the enemy's headquarters at any price… | George Segal, Alec Guiness, Max von Sydow, Senta Berger, George Sanders, Robert Helpmann, Robert Fleming. Written By: Trevor Dudley Smith (novel), Harold Pinter (screenplay). Rating: 6.5 | Nominated for 3 BAFTA Film Awards. Another 1 nomination. Average Shot Length = ~7.4 seconds. Median Shot Length = ~7.6. |
| QUlTTER | Richard Thorpe 1934. Black and White - USA - English - 68 min. Rank: 692 | When her husband, who founded the town's crusading local newspaper, doesn't come back from the French battlefields of World War I, a woman struggles to raise her two sons and keep the newspaper going. Matters are complicated by the fact that, several years later, one of the sons wants to turn the paper from its position as a hard-fighting champion of the working-class into an upscale society paper catering to the rich and powerful. Matters are complicated even further by rumors that their father was in fact NOT killed in France during the war but took another man's identity and is still living there. | Charles Grapewin, Emma Dunn. Interesting B by Chesterfield Pictures. Rating: 5.9 | |
| RACERS | Henry Hathaway 1955. Color - USA - English - 88 min. Rank: 791 | Kirk Douglas dusts off his character from Champion and gives it a new home in the European Auto Racing Circuit. | Kirk Douglas, Bela Darvi, Gilbert Rolamnd, Lee J .Cobb, Cesar Romero. Katy Jurado. Written By: Charles Kaufman, Hans Ruesch (novel). Rating: 4.9 | |
| RACHEL RACHEL | Paul Newman 1968. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 101 min. Rank: 259 | Rachel is a 35 year old school teacher who has no man in her life and lives with her mother. When a man from the big city returns and asks her out, she begins to have to make decisions about her life and where she wants it to go. | Newman,Woodward, Jas.Olson,Kate Harrington,Estelle Parsons, Donald Moffat,Terry Kiser. Written By: Stewart Stern (screenplay), Margaret Laurence (novel). Rating: 7.2 | Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 7 wins and 3 nominations. Jim Morrison was asked personally by Paul Newman to write a song for this movie, but it didn't work out. |
| RADIO CITY REVELS | Benjamin Stoloff 1938. Black and White - USA - English - 90 min. Rank: 676 | Washed-up songwriter Harry Miller and his neighbor, dancer Billie Shaw, are insolvent despite efforts to find work in radio. But Harry is visited by his "student," hillbilly Lester Robin, who can only write songs in his dreams. And lo! Lester's first nap yields a song hit for which Harry takes credit. But to fulfill his new contract, he needs to keep Lester sleeping, amidst romantic complications. | Bob Burns, Janre Froman, Jack Oakie, Victor Moore, Milton Berle, Helen broderick. Ann Miller, Buster West, Melissa Mason, Richard Lane, Marilyn Vernon. Don Wilson. Hal Kemp and Orch. Excellent black jitterbugs. (Hermes Pan,choreography). Written By: Matt Brooks (story), Eddie Davis (screenplay), and 3 more credits. Rating: 6.4 | In Feb. 1938, this film was being shown on a double bill with The Jury's Secret. |
| RADIO STARS ON PARADE | Leslie Goodwins 1945. Black and White - USA - English - 69 min. Rank: 676 | A Hollywood talent agency tries to avoid finacial ruin by getting its best clients on the air. | Wally Brown, Alan Carney, Frances Langford. Rufe Davis, Robert Clark,' Sheldon Leonard, Ralph Peters, Don Wilson, Cappy Barra,Ralph Edwards, Skinnay Ennis arch. all or part?. Written By: Monte Brice (screenplay), Robert E. Kent (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 5.8 | |
| RAIN | 1932. Black and White - USA - English - 94 min (Turner library print). Rank: 373 | For residents of the Samoan village of Pago Pago, life is simple until a boat arrives carrying two couples, the Davidsons (who are missionaries), the MacPhails and a prostitute named Sadie Thompson. Davidson is more than just a religious zealot; he's a mad man. When the boat, which was en route to another port, is temporarily stranded on the island due to a possible Cholera outbreak on-board, Sadie spends her time "partying" with the American soldiers stationed on the island. Her behavior, however, is more than the Davidsons can stand and soon Mr. Davidson confronts Sadie about her evil ways and offers salvation. When Sadie rebels and the attempted redemption does not go as planned, Davidson arranges to have her sent back to San Francisco, where she fled some years ago due to mysterious personal issues. Davidson soon becomes unhinged and thus begins a series of surprising events which culminate in disaster. | Joan Crawford. Walter Huston, William Gargan, Guy Kibbee, Walter Catlett. Beulah Bondi Somerset Maugham story. Written By: John Colton (play), Clemence Randolph (play), and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.9 | Although Joan Crawford is listed above the title and Walter Huston in a frame after the title, the comprehensive cast list later is listed in order of appearance, with Huston listed ninth and Crawford last. |
| RAINMAKER | Joseph Anthony 1956. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 121 min. Rank: 329 | Lizzie Curry is on the verge of becoming a hopeless old maid. Her wit and intelligence and skills as a homemaker can't make up for the fact that she's just plain plain! Even the town sheriff, File, for whom she harbors a secrect yen, won't take a chance --- until the town suffers a drought and into the lives of Lizzie and her brothers and father comes one Bill Starbuck .. profession: Rainmaker! | Burt Lancaster, Kathryn Hepburn, Wendell Corey, Lloyd Bridges, Earl Holliman, Cameron Prudhomme, Wallace Ford. Written By: N. Richard Nash (screenplay), N. Richard Nash (play). Rating: 7.0 | Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 1 win and 5 nominations. Bing Crosby wanted the role of Starbuck. |
| RAINS CAME | Clarence Brown 1939. Black and White - USA - English - 103 min | 105 min (copyright length). Rank: 435 | An Indian aristocrat Rama Safti returns from medical training in the U.S. to give his life to the poor folk of Ranchipur. Lady Edwina and her drunken artist ex-lover Ransome get in the way, but everyone shapes up when faced by plague, earthquakes and flooding. | Myrna Loy, Tyrone Power, George Brent, Brenda Joyce, Nigel Bruce, Maria Ouspenskaya, Joseph Schildkraut, Mary Nash, Jane Darwell, Marjorie Rambeau, H.B. Warner, Laura Hope Crews Louis Bromfield novel. Written By: Philip Dunne (screenplay), Julien Josephson (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.8 | Won Oscar. Another 5 nominations. To create the flood effects, a 50,000-gallon tank of water was built on a studio soundstage. |
| RAISIN IN THE SUN | Daniel Petrie 1961. Black and White - USA - English - 128 min. Rank: 70 | Walter Lee Younger is a young man struggling with his station in life. Sharing a tiny apartment with his wife, son, sister and mother, he seems like an imprisoned man. Until, that is, the family gets an unexpected financial windfall.. | Poitier, Claudia McNeil, Ruby Dee, Diana Sands, Ivan Dixon (Asagai), John Fiedler, Louis Gossett,Sr.or Jr. (Geo.Murchison), Steven Perry (Travis). Written By: Lorraine Hansberry (play), Lorraine Hansberry (screenplay). Rating: 8 | Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 3 wins and 5 nominations. Louis Gossett Jr.'s film debut. |
| RALLY 'ROUND THE FLAG, BOYS | Leo McCarey 1958. Color - USA - English - 106 min. Rank: 692 | Harry Bannerman, a Connecticut suburbanite who becomes involved in various shenanigans with his wife Grace Oglethorpe, leads a protest movement against a secret army plan to set up a missile base in their community. | Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, J.Collins, J.Carson, D.Hichman, T. Weld, Gale Gorden. Written By: Claude Binyon (screenplay), Leo McCarey (screenplay), and 2 more credits. Rating: 5.9 | |
| RARE BREED | Andrew V. McLaglen 1966. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 97 min. Rank: 632 | When her husband dies en route to America, Martha Price and her daughter Hilary are left to carry out his dream: the introduction of Hereford cattle into the American West. They enlist Sam "Bulldog" Burnett in their efforts to transport their lone bull, a Hereford named Vindicator, to a breeder in Texas, but the trail is fraught with danger and even Burnett doubts the survival potential of this "rare breed" of cattle. | James Stewart, Maurine O'Hara, Brian Keith, Juliet Mills, Jack Elam, Ben Johnson, Don Galloway. Rating: 6.2 | |
| REAL WEST | . - - - - - . Rank: n/a | Documentary. Movie West vs. reality.. Rating: | ||
| REBECCA | Alfred Hitchcock 1940. Black and White - USA - English | French - 130 min. Rank: 15 | A shy ladies' companion, staying in Monte Carlo with her stuffy employer, meets the wealthy Maxim de Winter. She and Max fall in love, marry and return to Manderley, his large country estate in Cornwall. Max is still troubled by the death of his first wife, Rebecca, in a boating accident the year before. The second Mrs. de Winter clashes with the housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers, and discovers that Rebecca still has a strange hold on everyone at Manderley. | Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine, George Sanders, Judith Anderson, Nigel Bruce, Reginald Denny, .C.Aubrey Smith, Gladys Cooper, Florence Bates, Leo G.Carroll, Melville Cooper (Daphne duMaurier novel. Written By: Daphne Du Maurier (novel), Robert E. Sherwood (screen play), and 3 more credits. Rating: 8.4 | Director Cameo: [Alfred Hitchcock] walking past a phone booth just after Jack Favell (George Sanders) makes a call in the final part of the movie. There are photos showing Hitchcock standing beside the phone booth looking at Mr Sanders. Actually the scene isn't played that way and you have to be quick spotting Hitchcock, quickly passing by in the background while Sanders is discussing a parking matter with a police man. Sanders having only been seen in close up while talking on the phone. |
| REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE | Nicholas Ray 1955. Color (WarnerColor) - USA - English - 111 min. Rank: 93 | Jim Stark is the new kid in town. He has been in trouble elsewhere; that's why his family has had to move before. Here he hopes to find the love he doesn't get from his middle-class family. Though he finds some of this in his relation with Judy, and a form of it in both Plato's adulation and Ray's real concern for him, Jim must still prove himself to his peers in switchblade knife fights and "chickie" games in which cars race toward a seaside cliff. | James Dean, Natalie Wood, Sal Mineo, Jim Backus, Ann Doran, William Hopper, Rochelle Hudson, Corey Allen, Edward Platt, Dennis Hopper, Nick Adams. Written By: Stewart Stern (screenplay), Irving Shulman (adaptation), and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.9 | Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 1 win and 2 nominations. An alternative ending was shot in which Plato falls from the tower of the planetarium. |
| RED PONY | Lewis Milestone 1949. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 89 min. Rank: 546 | In the coast range mountains on the western edge of the Salinas Valley is a ranch where Tom, a lad of about ten, longs for a pony. He lives with his mom, who was born there, her dad, a talkative pioneer who misses the old West, Tom's dad Fred Tiflin, who comes from the city and after years on the ranch doesn't feel at home there, and Billy, their trusted hand, a real cowboy. While Fred has to sort out whether he wants to stay a rancher and come to terms with his son being closer to Billy than to himself, Tom gets a pony and learns directly about responsibility and loss. What lessons can each learn, and are tragedy and hard choices all that life offers? Are laughter and joy anywhere? | MyrnaLoy, Robert Mitchum, Peter Miles, Louis Calhern, Shepperd Strudwick" Margaret Hamiltopn, Beau Bridges. Written By: John Steinbeck (novel), John Steinbeck (screenplay). Rating: 6.5 | In one of the school scenes, the children say the Pledge of Allegiance with their right arms extended, pointed toward the flag. This was the Bellamy Salute suggested by the socialist Francis Bellamy (brother of futurist author Edward) who wrote the original version of the Pledge. Due to its similarity to the Nazi and Fascist salute, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt changed the position to hand-over-the-heart. This was later codified into law in 1942. |
| RED SKY AT MORNING | James Goldstone 1970. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 112 min. Rank: 329 | The film follows Josh Arnold (Thomas), whose family relocates to Corazon Sagrado, New Mexico during World War II. | Richard Thomas, Catherine Bums, Desi Arnez,jr, Richard Crenna,Claire Bloom,John Colicos,Harry Guardino,Strother Martin,Nehemiah Persoff. Written By: Richard Bradford (novel), Marguerite Roberts. Rating: 7.0 | Won Golden Globe. |
| REIVERS | Mark Rydell 1969. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - Germany: 107 min | USA: 107 min. Scope. Rank: 435 | An old man looks back 60 years to a road trip from rural Mississippi to Memphis, a horse race, and his own coming of age. Lucius's grandfather gets the first automobile in the area, a bright yellow Winton Flyer. While he's away, the plantation handyman, Boon Hogganbeck, conspires to borrow the car, taking Lucius with him. Stowed away is Ned, a mulatto and Lucius's putative cousin. The three head for Memphis, where Boon's sweetheart works in a whorehouse, where Ned trades the car for a racehorse, and where Lucius discovers the world of adults - from racism and vice to possibilities for honor and courage. Is there redemption for reivers, rascals, and rapscallions? | Steve McQueen, Sharon Farrell, Will Geer, Michael Constantine, Rupert Crosse, Mitch Vogel, Lonny Chapman, Juano Hernandez, Clifton James, Bruce White, Dub Taylor, Allyn, Ann McLerie, Diane Ladd. Burgess Meredith narm, Irving Ravetch scpt.IFaulkner. Written By: William Faulkner (novel), Harriet Frank Jr., and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.8 | Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 3 nominations. The Winton Flyer was not a real automobile. It was created from scratch for this movie by Kenneth Howard, aka Von Dutch. The car was designed to resemble a typical vehicle from 1904, but built to withstand the rigors of filming. Steve McQueen called the car "the real star of the picture", and took possession of it after filming ended. It remained in his collection until his death in 1980. The actual car can now be seen in the Peterson Automotive Museum In Los Angeles. |
| RENDEZVOUS WITH ANNIE | Allan Dwan 1946. Black and White - USA - English - 89 min | USA: 60 min (1952 re-release). Rank: 676 | A homesick American soldier stationed in England, during WWII, makes an unauthorized (a.w.o.l) trip on an American Air Force plane to the United States to see his wife, and then hops the plane back to England, with only his wife knowing he was home for a few hours. Later, she learns that she is pregnant and, to disclose that her husband had paid her a visit would get him into trouble and she does not, the townspeople are unanimous in their condemnation of her. But, when her husband is discharged, he enlists the aid of a nightclub singer, the only other person who knew he came home, and the gossips are left to find something else to prattle on about. | Eddie Albert, Faye'Marlowe, Gail Patrick, Phillip Reed, C.Aubrey Smith, Raymond Walburn, William Frawley. Written By: Mary Loos (magazine story), Richard Sale (magazine story), and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.4 | "The Hedda Hopper Show - This Is Hollywood" broadcast a 30 minute radio adaptation of the movie on November 2, 1946 with Eddie Albert reprising his film role. |
| REPORT TO THE COMMISSIONER | Milton Katselas 1975. Color - USA - English - 112 min. Rank: 574 | No One Knew She Was An Undercover Policewoman. Including The Detective Who Killed Her. | Richard Gere, Yaphet Kotto, Susan Blakley, Michael Moriarity, Bob Balaban, Vic Tayback, Hector Elizondo. Written By: James Mills (novel), Abby Mann (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.4 | First film of Richard Gere. |
| REQUIUM FOR A HEAVYWEIGHT | Ralph Nelson 1962. Black and White - USA - English - 95 min. Rank: 126 | Mountain Rivera is at the end of his boxing career after a knockout by Cassius Clay in the seventh round. His left eye is one punch from permanent trauma, his ears turned to cauliflower, his speech slurred from "being hit a million times," and he slings punches anytime he hears a bell, but his trainer and 'cutman' Army, and Miss Miller, a manipulative social worker, support his illusion that he could be a movie usher, a camp counselor, or a romantic partner for Miller. But his manager Maish Rennick, knowing the truth, can't admit that he's bet everything he had that Rivera wouldn't go four rounds against Clay. Maish will pay with his life when the goon squad comes to collect if he can't persuade Rivera to abandon his pride ("I fought 111 fights and never took a dive") and agree to a wrestling contract of which he's ashamed. When Maish blurts out his secret.. | Anthony Quinn, Jackie Gleason, Mickey Rooney, Julie Harris, Nancy Cushman, Madame Spivey, Muhammed Ali. by Rod Serling. Written By: Rod Serling (teleplay), Rod Serling. Rating: 7.7 | Opening traveling shot of bar customers watching fight on TV was apparently filmed in mirror behind bar because all beer labels and signs in background read backwards. |
| RIDER ON THE RAIN | René Clément 1962. Color (Eastmancolor) - Italy | France - French - 120 min | USA: 115 min. Rank: 329 | A beautiful young woman in the South of France is stalked by, then raped by, a mysterious masked assailant. She shoots him dead soon afterwards and dumps his corpse in the sea. Later, an American investigator turns up, and to her horror he seems to know everything about what she has done... | Charles Bronson, Marlene Jobert, Jill Ireland, Annie Cordy. Written By: Sébastien Japrisot, Lorenzo Ventavoli. Rating: 7.0 | Won Golden Globe. Another 1 win and 2 nominations. The 1971 song by The Doors "Riders on the Storm" was reputedly influenced by this film. Jim Morrison allegedly was so taken in by the film and in particular its plot that he wrote the song as a result. |
| RIFFIFI (aka Du rififi chez les hommes) | Jules Dassin 1955. Black and White - France - French | Italian | English - 122 min. Rank: 35 | After five years in prison, Tony le Stéphanois meets his dearest friends Jo and the Italian Mario Ferrati and they invite Tony to steal a couple of jewels from the show-window of the famous jewelry Mappin and Webb Ltd, but he declines. Tony finds his former girlfriend Mado, who became the lover of the gangster owner of the night-club L' Âge d' Or Louis Grutter, and he humiliates her, beating on her back and taking her jewels. Then he calls Jo and Mario and proposes a burglary of the safe of the jewelry. They invite the Italian specialist in safes and elegant wolf Cesar to join their team and they plot a perfect heist. They are successful in their plan, but the D. Juan Cesar makes things go wrong when he gives a valuable ring to his mistress. | Jean Servais, Carl Mohner, Robert Manual, Perlo Vita/Jules Dassin (Cesar), Marie Sabouret (Mado), Janine Darcy (Louise), Claude Sylvian (Ida),Marcel Lupovici. Written By: Auguste Le Breton (novel), Jules Dassin (adaptation), and 3 more credits. Rating: 8.2 | Visa de contrôle en France # 16105. |
| RISING OF THE MOON | John Ford 1957. Black and White - Ireland | USA - English - 81 min. Rank: 435 | Three vignettes of old Irish country life, based on a series of short stories. In "The Majesty of the Law," a police officer must arrest a very old-fashioned, traditional fellow for assault. The man's principles have the policeman and the whole village, including the man he slugged, sympathizing with him. "One Minute's Wait" is about an little train station and glimpses into the lives of the passengers, with a series of comic setups. The third piece is called "1921" and is about a condemned Irish nationalist and his daring escape. Tyrone Power introduces each story. | Cyril Cusack, Maureen Connell, Noel Purcell, Frank Lawton, Dennis O'Dea (Abbey players). Intro'd Tyrone Power. Written By: Lady Augusta Gregory (story), Michael J. McHugh (story), and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.8 | First cinema film of Donal Donnelly. |
| ROAD TO HONG KONG | Norman Panama 1962. Black and White - UK - English - USA: 91 min. Rank: 613 | Bob Hope and Bing Crosby return as Con-men Chester Babcock and Harry Turner, in the last of their road movies. When Chester accidentally memorizes and destroys the only copy of a secret Russian formula for a new and improved rocket fuel, they are thrust into international intrigue, trying to stay alive, and keep the formula out of enemy hands. | Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Joan Collins, Robert Morley, Dorothy Lamour, Peter Sellers, Robert Morley, Walter Gotell. Written By: Melvin Frank, Norman Panama. Rating: 6.3 | Bob Hope's character Chester Babcock is named after composer Jimmy Van Heusen who was born Edward Chester Babcock. Van Heusen wrote "Warmer Than A Whisper", which Dorothy Lamour performs in the movie. |
| ROAD TO MORROCO | David Butler 1942. Black and White - USA - English - 82 min (DVD) | 81 min (copyright length). Rank: 259 | Jeff and Turkey, two wild and crazy guys adrift on a raft in the Mediterranean, are cast away on a desert shore and hop a convenient camel to an Arabian Nights city where Turkey soon finds himself sold as a slave..to luscious Princess Shalmar of Karameesh. Naturally, Jeff would like to rescue Turkey from this "dire" fate, even if it means taking his place! But they haven't figured on virile desert chieftain Mullay Kassim, who has designs on the princess himself.. | Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Dorothy Lamour, Anthony Quinn, Dona Drake, Mikhail Resmuny, Vladimir Sokolof (Hyder Khan), George Givot, Andrew Tombes (Oso Bucco), Leon Belasco (Yusef), Monte Blue, Louise LaPlance (aide to Mulley Kasim) Yvonne deCarlo (handmaiden). Written By: Frank Butler (original screenplay), Don Hartman (original screenplay), and 3 more credits. Rating: 7.2 | Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 1 win. One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since. |
| ROBBERY | Peter Yates 1967. Color (Eastmancolor) - UK - English - 110 min. Rank: 506 | A dramatization of the Great Train Robbery. While not a 'how to', it is very detail dependent, showing the care and planning that took place to pull it off. | Stanley Baker, Joanna Pettet, James Booth, Frank Findlay, Barry Foster,. Written By: Edward Boyd, George Markstein, and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.6 | Joanna Pettet replaced a actress who dropped out. |
| ROBINSON CRUSOE ON MARS | Byron Haskin 1964. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 110 min | Sweden: 96 min (cut version). Rank: 506 | Commander Kit Draper and Colonel Dan McReady are orbiting Mars in an exploratory surveyor. A malfunction forces them to eject with only Draper and a monkey named Mona surviving. Draper must learn to survive in this hostile environment fighting thirst, hunger and even hostile aliens if he expects to see home again. | Paul Mantee, Vic Lundin, Adam West. Written By: Daniel Defoe (novel), John C. Higgins, and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.6 | The aliens are seen dressed in the spacesuits from Destination Moon |
| ROMANCE IN THE RAIN | Stuart Walker 1934. Black and White - USA - English - 70 min. Rank: n/a | The publisher of a tabloid-type romance magazine decides to get some publicity by sponsoring a "Cinderella and Prince Charming" contest. | Roger Pryor, Heather Angel, Victor Jory, Guinn"Big Boy" Williams. Written By: Jay Gorney (story), Sig Herzig (story), and 2 more credits. Rating: | |
| ROOM SERVICE | William A. Seiter 1938. Black and White - USA - English | Russian - 78 min. Rank: 506 | The Marx Brothers try and put on a play before their landlord finds out that they have run out of money. To confuse the landlord they pretend that the play's author has contracted some terrible disease and can't be moved. Originally a stage play, the setting shows it's origins, but this is vintage Marx Brothers. | Marx Brothers, Lucille Ball,Ann Miller, Frank Albertson, Donald McBride. Morrie Ryskind script. Written By: Morrie Ryskind (screenplay), John Murray (from the play by), and 3 more credits. Rating: 6.6 | Although she seems much older and mature, Ann Miller is only 15 years old in this film. She had lied about her age and obtained a fake birth certificate when she was about 14 years old stating that she was 18. Ms. Miller was so tall, poised and beautiful that she pulled it off. |
| ROOTS | 1977. Color - USA - English - 60 min (10 episodes). Rank: 5 | A saga of African-American life, based on Alex Haley's family history. Kunta Kinte is abducted from his African village, sold into slavery, and taken to America. He makes several escape attempts until he is finally caught and maimed. He marries Bell, his plantation's cook, and they have a daughter, Kizzy, who is eventually sold away from them. Kizzy has a son by her new master, and the boy grows up to become Chicken George, a legendary cock fighter who leads his family into freedom. Throughout the series, the family observes notable events in U.S. history, such as the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, slave uprisings, and emancipation. | also have THE MAKING OF ROOTS 12 chapters (one missing). Written By: William Blinn (adaptation), William Blinn (screenplay), and 2 more credits. Rating: 8.6 | Won Golden Globe. Another 14 wins and 35 nominations. The people playing Kizzy, George, and Tom Harvey were born within three years of each other. Leslie Uggams and Georg Stanford Brown who played Kizzy and Tom were both born in 1943 and Ben Vereen who played George was born in 1946. This means that "Tom" was actually three years older than his "father" and "Kizzy" was three years older than her "son." |
| ROPE | Alfred Hitchcock 1948. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 80 min. Rank: 50 | Brandon and Philip are two young men who share a New York apartment. They consider themselves intellectually superior to their friend David Kentley and as a consequence decide to murder him. Together they strangle David with a rope and placing the body in an old chest, they proceed to hold a small party. The guests include David's father, his fiancée Janet and their old schoolteacher Rupert from whom they mistakenly took their ideas. As Brandon becomes increasingly more daring, Rupert begins to suspect. | James Stewart, John Dall, Farley Granger, Cedric Hardiwcke, Koan Chandler, Constance Collier, Douglas Dick (Filmed in 8 10 min takes). Written By: Hume Cronyn (adaptation), Patrick Hamilton (play), and 2 more credits. Rating: 8.1 | Story was very loosely based on the real-life murder committed by University of Chicago students Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, which was also the (fictionalized) subject of Compulsion and Swoon. |
| ROSIE! | David Lowell Rich 1967. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 98 min. Rank: 506 | Rosie is a sweet, rich and generous woman, especially when is comes to giving money. Daughters, Mildred and Edith, are worried that she will spend all their inheritance, so they plan to have Rosie put away in a home and have her legally declared insane. When Daphne,(Rosie's devoted and caring grand-daughter), over hears their plan, she vows to help her grandmother win. | Rosalind Russell, Sandra Dee. Brian Aherne, Audrey meadows, James Farantino, Vanessa Brown leslie Nielson, Margaret Hamilton Ruth Gorden play. Written By: Ruth Gordon (play), Philippe Hériat (play), and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.6 | The title song, "Rosie", was composer 'Harry Warren''s final song contribution to a produced movie. The melody is actually a rework of a song, "Me And My Baby," with original lyrics by Sammy Cahn, that was written for, but not used in, the Jerry Lewis film Rock-a-Bye Baby. |
| ROUNDERS | Burt Kennedy 1965. Color (Metrocolor) - USA - English - 85 min. Rank: 676 | Ben and Howdy are a couple of aging cowboys who bust broncos out of Sedona for Jim Ed Love, a slick operator if ever there was one. Sisters, Meg and Agatha, have their eyes on Ben and Howdy, but the boys aren't ready to settle down yet. They spend the winter in the high country corralling more than 100 stray cattle at $7 a head for Jim Ed. Most years, they blow their winter pay in one spring night at a Sedona bar, but this year, Ben and Howdy have a plan: to take an ornery roan that Ben has been unable to break and bet their bankroll that no cowboy at the Sedona rodeo can stay on the horse. What will they do if they win - marry the sisters or head for Tahiti? | Henry Fonda. Glenn Ford, Sue Ann Langdon, Hope Holiday, Chill Wills, Edgar Buchanen, Kathleen Freeman. Written By: Max Evans (novel), Burt Kennedy (screenplay). Rating: 6.3 | |
| ROYAL FLASH | Richard Lester 1975. Color (Technicolor) - UK | USA - English - 102 min. Rank: 613 | Ne'er-do-well Harry Flashman is coerced by Otto von Bismark into impersonating a prince. | Malcolm McDowell, Alan Bates, Florinda Bolkan, Oliver Reed, Britt Eckland, Lionel Jeffries, Tom Bell (deGaudet), Joss Ackland, Christopher Cazenove (Hanson), Roy Kinnear, Alaster Sim, Michael Hordern, Henry Cooper (John Gully). Written By: George MacDonald Fraser (novel), George MacDonald Fraser (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.3 | Arthur Lowe was cast in this film but was replaced. |
| RULES OF THE GAME (aka La règle du jeu) | Jean Renoir 1939. Black and White - France - French - 110 min | USA: 106 min (DVD version). Rank: 50 | Aviator André Jurieux has just completed a record-setting flight, but when he is greeted by an admiring crowd, all he can say to them is how miserable he is that the woman he loves did not come to meet him. He is in love with Christine, the wife of aristocrat Robert de la Cheyniest. Robert himself is involved in an affair with Geneviève de Marras, but he is trying to break it off. Meanwhile, André seeks help from his old friend Octave, who gets André an invitation to the country home where Robert and Christine are hosting a large hunting party. As the guests arrive for the party, their cordial greetings hide their real feelings, along with their secrets - and even some of the servants are involved in tangled relationships. | Marcel Dalio, Nora Gregor, Mila Parey, Jean Renoir, Gaston Modot, Roland Toutain, Paulette Dubost, Julien CArette, Odette Talazac. Written By: Jean Renoir (scenario and dialogue), Carl Koch (collaborator). Rating: 8.1 | When the film opened in 1939, initial reception of it was so bad that one viewer lit a newspaper and tried to burn the theater that it was playing in. There were even threats to other theaters. |
| RUSSIANS ARE COMING, RUSSIANS ARE COMING | Norman Jewison 1966. Color - USA - English | Russian - 126 min. Rank: 373 | When a Soviet submarine captain comes up for a look at America (off the coast of a small island in Massachusetts) he runs aground. He sends his two English speaking crewmen to procure a boat with enough power to pull them off. The 2 English speakers, along with 7 other Russian sailors, don't exactly blend in and the town is convinced that they are being invaded. | Carl Reiner, Eva Marie Saint, Alan Arkin, Brian Keith, Jonathan Winters, Paul Ford, Theodore Bikel, Tessie O'Shea, Ben Blue, John Phillip Law, Andrea Dromm, Dick Shaal, Parker Fennaly, Doro Merande, Johnnie Whittaker, Michael J. Pollard from Nathaniel Ben. Written By: Nathaniel Benchley (novel), William Rose (screenplay). Rating: 6.9 | Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 6 wins and 6 nominations. According to a Los Angeles Times story, the fake submarine had been previously used in the 1965 Marlon Brando movie Morituri. |
| RUTHLESS | Edgar G. Ulmer 1948. Black and White - USA - English - 104 min. Rank: 373 | Horace Vendig shows himself to the world as a rich philanthropist. In fact, the history of his rise from his unhappy broken home shows this to be far from the case. After being taken in by richer neighbours he started to exhibit an obsessive and selfish urge to make more and more money, loving and leaving women at will to further this end. | Zachary Scott, Louis Hayward, Diana Lynn, Sidney Greenstreet, Lucille Bremer, Martha Vickers, Raymond Burr. Written By: Dayton Stoddart (novel), S.K. Lauren (screenplay), and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.9 | Buck Mansfield quotes twice from the Bible. The first occasion is when he is being 'pursued by his creditors' and he reads from Proverbs 31:10 -12 and 21 (..Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies..). The second instance is when he speaks to the bartender at Vendig's function and the quote is from Obadiah 1: 2-4 (..Though you set your nest among the stars, From there I will bring you down ..). |
| SACCO AND VANZETTI | Giuliano Montaldo 1971. Black and White | Color (Technicolor) - Italy | France - Italian | English - 120 min. Rank: 126 | In 1920, the anarchist Italian immigrants Niccola Sacco (Riccardo Cucciolla) and Bartolomeo Vanzetti (Gian Maria Volonté) are sentenced to death, falsely accused of a robbery and murder. Indeed they are condemned due to their political beliefs, in one of the most shameful and hypocrite judgments of the human history. | Gian Maria Volonte, Ricardo Cucciola, Cyril Cusack, Milo O'Shea, Geoffrey Keene, William Prince, Rosanna Fratello, Claude Mann. Written By: Fabrizio Onofri (story), Giuliano Montaldo (story), and 4 more credits. Rating: 7.7 | |
| SAN FRANCISCO DOCKS | Arthur Lubin 1941. Black and White - USA - English - 66 min. Rank: n/a | Longshoreman Johnny Barnes is in love with Kitty Tracy, barmaid at her father's waterfront saloon, and he beats up Cassidy, a crooked politician who has been annoying her. Cassidy is murdered that night and Johnny is jailed for the crime. Kitty, her father Andy Tracy, and waterfront-priest Father Cameron believe Johnny is innocent but all evidence points to his guilt. Johnny's story that he was at pier seven watching a tugboat being repaired is discredited by the police, who prove that pier seven has long been closed, and no tugboat such as the one described by Johnny can be found. Following up a clue found by her father, Kitty finds the boat and uncovers the identity of the real murderer, Alcatraz escapee Monte March. Kitty and Father Cameron locate and confront him, but his loving wife Frances March is ready to defend him. A terrific struggle between Kitty and Frances, and the priest and the murderer will decide theirs.. | Burgess Meredith, Irene Hervey, Yamond Walburn, Robert Annstrong, Lewis Howard, Arthur Shields,Barry Fitzgerald, Ed Gargan, Esther Ralston, Edward Pauley, William B. Davidson, Don Zelaya, Colin Campbell, Ralf Harolde, Esther Howard, Billy Mitchell (blk), G. Written By: Stanley Rubin (screenplay), Edmund L. Hartmann (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: | Final film of Esther Ralston. |
| SAPS AT SEA | Gordon Douglas 1940. Black and White - USA - English - 57 min. Rank: 435 | After working in the noisy horn factory, just the sound of one drives Oliver into a violent fit. Dr. Finlayson prescribes a long, restful sea voyage, so Stan and Oliver rent a boat and set sail, unaware that escaped killer Nick Grainger has stowed away onboard. To disable the crook, the boys prepare him a meal using string for spaghetti, sponges for meatballs and soap for cheese. But Grainger discovers their plan and decides to make them eat the stuff themselves. | Laurel and Hardy, Jimmy Finlayson, Ben Turpin, Dick Cramer, Eddie Conrad, Harry Hayden, Charlie Hall, Patsy Moran, Mary Gorden. Written By: Charley Rogers (original story and screenplay), Felix Adler (original story and screenplay), and 3 more credits. Rating: 6.8 | Fans regard this as the last true Laurel and Hardy film. It was their last film done for Hal Roach. It would also be the last film in which they would have significant input. |
| SAYONARA | Joshua Logan 1957. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English | Japanese - 147 min. Rank: 295 | Major Lloyd Gruver, a Korean War flying ace reassigned to Japan, staunchly supports the military's opposition to marriages between American troops and Japanese women. But that's before Gruver experiences a love that challenges his own deeply set prejudices.. and plunges him into conflict with the U.S. Air Force and Japan's own cultural taboos. | Marlon Brando, Ricardo Montalban, Red Buttons, Patricia Owens,Martha Scott, James Garner, Miiko Taka, Miyoshi Umeki, Kent Smith, Douglas Watson, Reiko Kuba. Written By: James Michener (novel), Paul Osborn (screenplay). Rating: 7.1 | Won 4 Oscars. Another 6 wins and 13 nominations. Dennis Hopper provided dubbed voices for a few of the smaller characters in the movie. |
| SCANDALOUS JOHN | Robert Butler 1971. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 113 min | Germany: 114 min. Rank: 728 | A crotchety old ranch owner fights to be able to live his life the way he wants to, and not the way other people--and the law--tell him he has to. | Brian Keith, Alfonso Aaru, Michele Carey, Rick Lenz, Harry Morgan, Simon Oakland, Bill Williams, Christopher Dark, Fran Ryan, Bruce Glover, Richard Hale, James Lydon, John Ritter, Iris Adrian, Paul Koslo, Jose Nieto, Freddie Hernandez Mariachis. Written By: Bill Walsh (screenplay), Don DaGradi (screenplay), and 2 more credits. Rating: 5.7 | |
| SCARFACE | Brian De Palma 1983. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English | Spanish - 170 min. Rank: 35 | When Fidel Castro opens the harbor at Mariel, Cuba, he sends 125,000 Cuban refugees to reunite with their relatives in the United States. Among all the refugees, there is one who wants it all, his name is Tony Montana. Tony and his friend Manny when they arrive in the United States and start in small time jobs, soon they are hired by Omar Suarez to pay money to a group of Colombians. When the deal goes wrong, Tony and Manny leave with the money and succeed in their job. Soon Tony meets with drug kingpin Frank Lopez and falls for his boss's girl Elvira. Pretty soon Tony will know that those who want it all, do not last forever and that is the price of power. The world will know Montana by one name..SCARFACE. | Al Pacino, Steve Bauer, M.Pfeiffer, Mary Elizabeth Mastroianio, Rob. Loggia, Miriam Colon, F.Murray Abraham, Harris Yulin,Angel Salazar,Richard Belzer.inc.-Ist : 10. Rating: 8.2 | Top 250 #146 | Nominated for 3 Golden Globes. Another 3 nominations. Brian De Palma liked the script so much that he dropped out of directing Flashdance to direct this film. |
| SCARLET PIMPERNEL | Harold Young 1935. Black and White - UK - English | French - 97 min. Rank: 185 | Leslie Howard plays Sir Percy Blakeney, an 18th century English aristocrat who leads a double life. He appears to be merely the effete aristocrat, but in reality is part of an underground effort to free French nobles from Robespierre's Reign of Terror. Based on the novel by Baroness Orczy. | Leslie Howard, Merle Oberon, Raymond Massey, Nigel Bruce, Bramwell Fletcher, Anthoney Bushell, Joan Gardner, Melville Cooper,. Written By: Baroness Emmuska Orczy (by), Lajos Biró (scenario, continuity and dialogue), and 7 more credits. Rating: 7.5 | The original play opened in London on 5 January 1905, three years before it was novelized. |
| SCOTT JOPLIN | Jeremy Kagan 1977. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 96 min. Rank: 574 | Details the life story of Scott Joplin and how he became the greatest ragtime composer of all time. | Billy Dee Williams, Clifton Davis, Godfrey Cambridge, Art Carney, Seymour Cassel, Eubit Blake, Margaret SAvery, Sam Fuller. Rating: 6.4 | Originally a made-for-TV movie but was released to theaters first instead. |
| SCROOGE | Henry Edwards 1935. Black and White - UK - English - 78 min | USA: 63 min (edited version). Rank: 574 | Scrooge, the ultimate Victorian miser, hasn't a good word for Christmas, though his impoverished clerk Cratchit and nephew Fred are full of holiday spirit. But in the night, Scrooge is visited by spirits of another color. Straightforward adaptation of Dickens | Sir Seymour Hicks, Donald Calthrop, Robt.Cochran, Mary Glynne, Garry Marsh, Oscar Asche, Marie Ney, C.V.France, Athene Seyler, Maurice Evans. Written By: Charles Dickens (novel), H. Fowler Mear. Rating: 6.4 | The voice of the Ghost of Christmas Past is not that of Marie Ney, whose physical outline can be seen onscreen as the Ghost. Ney was a woman, and the voice of the Ghost of Christmas Past is that of an uncredited male actor. |
| SEANCE ON A WEST AFTERNOON | Bryan Forbes 1964. Black and White - UK - English - USA: 115 min | UK: 121 min. Rank: 70 | Myra, a self-styled psychic in London, concocts a scheme to gain celebrity. She convinces Billy, her weak-willed husband, to kidnap the young daughter of wealthy parents. She and Billy will demand money, and then she will go to the parents with extra-sensory messages that will help the police find the child and the ransom. The plan unfolds beautifully, except that after her first visit to the parents, the police want to check her out. He's scared. As her delusions worsen, Bill realizes Myra may not want the child found alive. Behind it all is also the death at birth, years before, of their only child, whom they've named Arthur and who is Myra's contact with the beyond. | Ralph Richardson, Kim Stanley, Mark Eden, Nanette Newman, Judith Donner, Patrick Magee, Gerald Simm, Margaret Lacey. Written By: Bryan Forbes (screenplay), Mark McShane (novel). Rating: 8 | Nominated for Oscar. Another 7 wins and 3 nominations. Simone Signoret and Deborah Kerr were initially considered for role played by Kim Stanley. |
| SECOND CHORUS | H.C. Potter 1940. Black and White - USA - English - 84 min. Rank: 714 | Danny and Hank are surprised when Artie Shaw hires competent manager Ellen away from their college band. The two trumpet players scheme to get into Shaw's outfit themselves, each trying to trump the other's plays. | Fred Astaire, Paulette Goddard, Burgess Meredith, Charles Butterworth, Artie Shaw Orch, Frank Melton, Jimmy Conlin,Don Brodie,Billy Benedict,Ben Hall. Written By: Frank Cavett (original story), Elaine Ryan (screenplay), and 3 more credits. Rating: 5.8 | Nominated for 2 Oscars. The trumpet part for Burgess Meredith was dubbed by Billy Butterfield. |
| SECRET AGENT OF JAPAN | Irving Pichel 1942. Black and White - USA - English - 72 min. Rank: 295 | Kay Murdock (Lynn Bari) strolls into the Dixie Bar in Shanghai on November 1, 1941 and asks the bartender for a letter addressed to Captain Larsen, and is referred to Roy Bonnell (Preston Foster), the manager of this combination bar and gambling house. He refuses to turn the letter over to her and she steals it. Bonnell later recovers the letter which contains a coded note. Kay reveals she is an agent of the British Secret Service. Bonnell, a fugitive from American justice, says he will turn over the note to the highest bidder. When he approaches the Japanese, they seize him but he escapes, after learing that the note was part of an alarm for Japanese fifth columnists everywhere after the attack on Pearl Harbor that has just been set in motion. | Preston Foster, Lynn Bari, Noel Madison, Victor Sen Yung, Janis Carter, Steve Geray, Kurt Katch,Addison Richards,lan Wolfe,Frank Puglia,Tim Ryan. Rating: 7.1 | THe movie went into production the night of 8 December 1941, one day after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. 20th-Century/Fox head Darryl Zanuck wanted his studio to be the first to deal with the Japanese sneak attack on film. Within a matter of weeks, the film was in theaters where it became a box office smash, much to the dismay of critics. |
| SECRET OF THE CHATEAU | Richard Thorpe 1935. Black and White - USA - English - 66 min. Rank: 574 | Inspector Marotte, attending an auction of rare collectible books previously ownded by the recently murdered M. Le Duc de Poisse, hopes he can catch his old nemesis Prahec, a murderer and book thief. More murders occur at the deceased's estate when it is learned that a rare first edition of the Gutenberg Bible is hidden on the premises. Among all the friends, relatives, and servants gathering at the estate, Marotte is finally able to reveal the identity of Prahec and apprehend the guilty. | Claire Dodd, Clark Wms., William Faversham, Osgood Perkins,Ferdinand Gottschalk,Jack LaRue,Geo.E.Stone,DeWitt Jennings,Helen Ware,Frank Reicher, Alphonse Ethier,Paul Nicholson,Olaf Hytten,Cecille Elliott,Tony Merlo,Frank Thornton. Written By: Lawrence G. Blochman (story), Albert DeMond (screenplay), and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.4 | Began shooting on Aug. 2, 1934, released Dec. 3. |
| SECRET WAYS | Phil Karlson, and 1 more credit. 1961. Black and White - USA - English - 112 min. Rank: 714 | Vienna, 1956. After Soviet tanks crush the Hungarian uprising, soldier-of-fortune Mike Reynolds is hired to help a threatened Hungarian scientist (Prof. Jansci) escape from Budapest. He and Julia, the professor's daughter, cross the boulder posing as journalists, but they encounter a problem. The staunch freedom fighter doesn't want to go! | Richard Widmark, Sonja Ziemann, Senta Berger, Charles Regnier from Alistair MacLain novel. Written By: Jean Hazlewood, Alistair MacLean (novel). Rating: 5.8 | |
| SEE MY LAWYER | Edward F. Cline 1945. Black and White - USA - English - 67 min. Rank: 647 | Comedy duo's mgr. won't release them from their contract so they can act in a movie. However,they realize that by abusing their audience, they can incur lawsuits which will bring the lawyers some business and convince their mgr. it's cheaper to fire 'em. | Ole Olsen, Chic Johnson, Alan Curtis, Grace McDonald, Noah Beery Jr., Franklin Pangborn, Ed Brophy, Richard Benedict, Lee Patrick, Gus Schilling,William B.Davidson, Stanley Clements, Mary Gordon, Ralph Peters, Nat Cole Trio (prob.clpd to jazz library). Written By: Harry Clork (play), Stanley Davis, and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.1 | 'See My Lawyer' opened at the Biltmore Theater on September 27, 1939 and ran for 224 performances. |
| SEGREANT RUTLEDGE | John Ford 1960. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 111 min. Rank: 206 | Lieutenant Tom Cantrell is sent to defend Sergeant Braxton Rutledge, a black cavalry soldier, on a charge of rape and murder. The story begins in a courtroom and it is told through flashbacks. This is a story of how a black soldier in the face of danger from the Indians can be so easily mistaken as a criminal. | Jeffrey Hunter, Woody Strode, Constance Towers, Billy Burke, Carleton Young, Juano Hernandez, Willis Bouchey, Hank Worden, Mae Marsh, Jack Pennick. Written By: James Warner Bellah, Willis Goldbeck, and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.4 | Originated in 1957 as a project for director André De Toth, about a black soldier accused of raping and murdering a German girl and the lieutenant who defends him and proves his innocence. De Toth wanted Jeffrey Hunter as the defense attorney. Based on the 1955 story "Shadow of the Noose" by John Hawkins and Ward Hawkins in The Saturday Evening Post. |
| SENTINEL | Michael Winner 1977. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 92 min. Rank: 647 | A fashion model moves into a house inhabited (on the top floor) by a blind priest. She begins having strange physical problems, has trouble sleeping at night, and has some nasty flashbacks of her attempted suicide. She complains to the real estate agent of the noise caused by her strange neighbors, but finds out that the house is only occupied by the priest and herself, and ultimately discovers that she has been put in the house for a reason. | Chris Sarandon, Cristina Raines, Martin Balsam, John Carradine, Jose Ferrer, Ava Gardner, Arthur Kennedy, Burgess Meredith, Sylvia Miles, Deborah Raffin, Eli Wallich, Christopher Walken, Jerry Orbach, Beverly D'Angelo, Tom Berenger, William Hickey, Jeff G. Written By: Jeffrey Konvitz (novel), Jeffrey Konvitz (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.1 | Kate Jackson was asked to play Alison Parker, but turned down the part. |
| SEVEN DAYS ASHORE | John H. Auer 1944. Black and White - USA - English - 74 min. Rank: 692 | Dan Arland, a womanizing playboy, is looking forward to a seven day leave in his home town of San Francisco with one of two beautiful violinists playing for an all-girl swing band but can't decide which of the two gorgeous gold-diggers he wants to squire around the City by the Bay. Through a series of unusual circumstances both girls, as well as his former fiancée, show up to meet him when he arrives. As both musicians believe they are engaged to him, Dan fears he may become part of one or more "breach of promise" lawsuits. Faking an old war injury, he enlists the help of bumbling shipmates Monty and 'Handsome,' who pose as millionaires in order to distract the girls with unforeseen results. | Wally Brown, Alan Carney, Virginia Mayo, Dooley Wilson, Aan Dinehart, Margaret Dumont, Emory Parnell (Cap.Harvey), Ian Wolfe, Freddie Slack Orchestra w. Barney Bigard, Freddie Fisher Band, Dorothy Malone, William Haade. Written By: Jacques Deval (story), Edward Verdier (screenplay), and 2 more credits. Rating: 5.9 | |
| SEVEN WOMEN | John Ford 1966. Color (Metrocolor) - USA - English | Mandarin - 87 min. Rank: 467 | In a mission in China in 1935, Agatha Andrews is a rigid missionary beset by Mongolian bandits led by Warlord chief Tunga Khan. With her are her assistant Jane Argent, staff members Emma Clark, Miss Russell and Miss Binns, head of the British mission, Charles Pather, a teacher at the mission and his pregnant wife Florrie. When Dr. D.R. Cartwright arrives, she agrees to sacrifice herself to the Tunga Khan in exchange for his letting the ladies go free. | Anne Bancroft, Sue Lyon, Margaret Leioghton, Flora Robson, Mildred Dunnock, Anna Lee, BettyField, Eddie Albert, Mike Mazurki, Woody Strode Ford's last film. Written By: Norah Lofts (short story "Chinese Finale"), Janet Green , and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.7 | There are actually eight women: Doctor Cartwright, Agatha Andrews, Jane Argent, Emma Clark, Florrie Pether, Miss Binns, Mrs. Russell, and Miss Ling. |
| Ingmar Bergman 1957. Black and White - Sweden - Swedish | Latin - 96 min. Rank: 15 | A Knight and his squire are home from the crusades. Black Death is sweeping their country. As they approach home, Death appears to the knight and tells him it is his time. The knight challenges Death to a chess game for his life. The Knight and Death play as the cultural turmoil envelopes the people around them as they try, in different ways, to deal with the upheaval the plague has caused. | Max Von Sydow, Gunnar Bjornstrand, Nils Poppe, Bibi Andersson, Bengt Ekerot. Written By: Ingmar Bergman (play), Ingmar Bergman (screenplay). Rating: 8.4 | The church which Jöns and Antonius Block arrives at 15 minutes into the film is actually a model hung in the dead tree in the foreground. | |
| SHACK OUT ON 101 | Edward Dein 1955. Black and White - USA - English - 80 min. Rank: 506 | At an isolated, seaside greasy-spoon cafe live George, the sarcastic owner; Slob, the potentially violent cook; and Kotty, the sexy waitress all the men lust after. Plus an occasional customer, including "Professor Sam", Kotty's boyfriend from a nearby research facility. And something's going on under the potentially explosive surface emotions..nuclear secrets being smuggled out of the country. | Terry Moore, Frank Lovejoy, Keenan Wynn, Lee Marvin, Whit Bissel, Jess Barker, Donald Murphy, Frank deKova, Len Lesser, Fred Gabourie. Written By: Edward Dein (story), Mildred Dein (story), and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.6 | Title was supposed to be "Shack Up on 101", but star Terry Moore objected on the grounds that it was too suggestive. |
| SHAKIEST GUN IN THE WEST | Alan Rafkin 1968. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 101 min. Rank: 676 | Jesse W. Haywood graduates from dental school in Philadelphia in 1870 and goes west "to fight oral ignorance." Meanwhile stagecoach robber Penelope "Bad Penny" Cushing is offered a pardon if she will track down a ring of gun smugglers. She tricks the bungling Haywood into a fictitious marriage as a disguise, and he becomes the heroic "Doc the Haywood" after he guns down "Arnold the Kid" and performs other exploits with Penny's help (unbeknown to him or anyone else). | Don Knotts, Barbara Rhoades, Jackie Coogan, Donald "Red" Barry, Ruth McDevitt, Frank McGrath, remake of "Paleface". Written By: Edmund L. Hartmann (screenplay), Frank Tashlin (screenplay), and 2 more credits. Rating: 6 | Herb Voland's first film role. |
| SHE COULDN'T SAY NO | Lloyd Bacon 1954. Black and White - USA - English - 89 min. Rank: 759 | As usual with most of the RKO films from this era "presented" by RKO-owner Howard Hughes, the PCA number is usually 500-1000 digits lower than the one from other studios being released at the time, indicating it was released a year or more after it was completed. This one finds heiress Corby Lane (Jean Simmons) coming to a small Arkansas town to play Santa Claus because, when she was a small child traveling with her impoverished father, the townspeople saved her life by donating money needed for medical treatment. She meets and falls in love with "Doc" Sellers (Robert Mitchum), an easy-going doctor who enjoys fishing and the unhurried pace of the town. Corby's gesture of handing out money and lavish gifts to the citizens backfires when, after it has been publicized, the town becomes the destination of every wayward traveler and fortune seeker. | Robert Mitchum, Jean Simmons, Arthur Hunnicut, Edgar Buchannan, Wallace Ford, Raymond Walburn, Jimmy Hunt, Ralph Dumke, Hope Landin, Gus Schilling, Eleanor Todd, Pinky Tomlin, Burt Mustin,Florence Lake,Jonathan Hale,Clarence Muse,. Written By: D.D. Beauchamp (screenplay), William Bowers (screenplay), and 2 more credits. Rating: 5.4 | |
| SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE SECRET WEAPON | Roy William Neill 1942. Black and White - USA - English | French (only a few words) | Indonesian - UK: 80 min | USA: 68 min. Rank: 467 | Starting in Switzerland, Sherlock Holmes rescues the inventor of a bomb-sight which the allies want to keep from the Nazis. Back in London it sems that the inventor is not all that he seemed. | Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Kaaren Verne, Lionel Atwill, William Postjr, (Dr.Topel) Dennis Hoey, Paul Fix (Mueller), Holmes Herbert(Sir Reg.),Mary Gorden,Henry Victor(Hoffner),Phillip vanZandt?,James Craven,bit. Written By: Edward T. Lowe Jr. (screenplay), Scott Darling (screenplay), and 4 more credits. Rating: 6.7 | Lionel Atwill, who plays Professor Moriarty in the film, earlier played James Mortimer in The Hound of the Baskervilles. |
| SHIP AHOY | Edward Buzzell 1942. Black and White - USA - English - 95 min. Rank: 647 | Miss Winters is a dancer with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra and is asked to secretly transport a prototype magnetic mine to Puerto Rico. She thinks that she is working for the US Government, but fails to see why she would be involved. The enemy agents got the plan from a pulp novel written by Kibble, who is also on the ship and falls for her. But then she overhears his new novel and believes that he is talking about her. So when they leave the boat, she ignores him, but somehow, the bags get switched and he gets the magnetic mine - which she must later retrieve. It is mainly a Tommy Dorsey showcase with Sinatra singing - Powell dancing - and a small plot. | Red Skelton, Eleanor Powell, Virginia O'Brien, Bert Lahr, John Emery, Tommy Dorsey Orchestra w. Frank Sinatra, Joe Stafford . Written By: Matt Brooks (story), Bradford Ropes (story), and 4 more credits. Rating: 6.1 | The title was changed from "I'll Take Manila" to "Ship Ahoy" because the Philippines had already fallen to the Japanese in the war. The ship destination was changed from Manila to Puerto Rico, and the song "I'll Take Manila" was changed to "I'll Take Tallulah". |
| SILKWOOD | Mike Nichols 1983. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 131 min. Rank: 295 | Fairly accurate recounting of the story of Karen Silkwood, the Oklahoma nuclear-plant worker who blew the whistle on dangerous practices at the Kerr-McGee plant and who died under circumstances which are still under debate. | Meryl Streep, Kurt Russell, Cher, Craig T. Nelson, Diuana Scarwid, Fred Ward, Ron Silver, Charles Hallahan, Josef Sommer, M.Emmet Walsh. Written By: Nora Ephron, Alice Arlen. Rating: 7.1 | Nominated for 5 Oscars. Another 2 wins and 7 nominations. Lily Tomlin auditioned for the role of Dolly. |
| SINBAD THE SAILOR (Cartoon? Short?) | Ub Iwerks 1935. Rank: n/a | Sinbad battles a band of pirates at sea and on a tropical isle. A giant bird rescues him, and he ends up back on his ship with the pirates' treasure. | Animated no info.. Rating: 6.3 | |
| SIX OF A KIND | Leo McCarey 1934. Black and White - USA - English - 62 min (TCM print). Rank: 373 | The Whinneys share expenses for their trip to Hollywood with George and Gracie and thier great Dane. A clerk in Whinney's bank has put fifty thousand dollars in a suitcase, hoping to rob Whinney on the road, but instead Whinney takes another road and is himself arrested in Nevada. | W.C.Fields, Burns and Allen, Charlie Ruggles, Mary Boland, Allison. Written By: Keene Thompson (story), Douglas MacLean (story), and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.9 | One of over 700 Paramount productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since. |
| SIXTEEN CANDLES | John Hughes 1984. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 93 min. Rank: 329 | Samantha's life is going downhill fast. The fifteen-year-old has a crush on the most popular boy in school, and the geekiest boy in school has a crush on her. Her sister's getting married, and with all the excitement the rest of her family forgets her birthday! Add all this to a pair of horrendously embarrassing grandparents, a foreign exchange student named Long Duc Dong, and we have the makings of a hilarious journey into young womanhood. | Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall,Michael Schoeffling, Paul Dooley, Justin Henry, Gedde Watanabe, Blanche Baker, Carlin Glynn, Ed Andrews, Billie Bird, Carole Cook, Max Showalter, John Cuasck, Joan Cusack, Jami Gertz, Beth Ringwald, Haviland Morris Eng. Rating: 7.0 | Molly Ringwald almost lost the part of "Samantha" to Ally Sheedy. |
| SKY RIDERS | Douglas Hickox 1976. Color - USA - English - 91 min. Rank: 714 | Robert Culp plays Bracken, whose life seems perfect until his wife Ellen and their children are kidnapped by terrorists one day. After failed attempts to capture them back by the police, Ellen's ex husband enters the fray and plans his own rescue attempt. James Coburn plays McCabe, Ellen's ex-husband who hires a crew of professional hang gliders to help him rescue her and the kids from the terrorist's mountain top lair. | James Coburn, Susannah York, Robert Culp, Charles Azvanor, Werner Pocath, Zou Zou, Kenneth Griffith, Harry Andrews, John Beck, Ernie Orsati. Written By: Jack DeWitt, Greg MacGillivray (screenplay), and 4 more credits. Rating: 5.8 | Penultimate theatrically released movie of director Douglas Hickox. Zulu Dawn was his last. |
| SOLDIER OF FORTUNE | Edward Dmytryk 1955. Color - USA - English - 96 min | 92 min (FMC Library Print). Rank: 676 | Jane Hoyt (Susan Hayward) arrives in Hong Kong, looking for her husband, thrill-seeking photojournalist Louis Hoyt (Gene Barry). She attracts the eye of shady shipping magnate Hank Lee (Clark Gable). With his help, she learns that Louis entered Communist | Clark Gable, Susan Hayward, Michael Rennie, Gene Barry, Tom Tully Alex D'arcy, Anna Sten (Mme Dupree), Russell Collins, Leo Gorden, Richard Loo, Soo Yong, Frank Tang, Jack Kruschen, Mel Wells, Jack Raine. Ernest K.Gann scpt. and story. Written By: Ernest K. Gann (novel), Ernest K. Gann (screenplay). Rating: 6 | The movie was deliberately filmed at the end of 1954 because Clark Gable had also signed to star in The Tall Men and wanted to avoid a huge tax bill in 1955. |
| SOLID GOLD CADILLAC | Richard Quine 1956. Black and White | Color (Technicolor) (finale) - USA - English - 99 min. Rank: 206 | Laura Partridge is a very enthusiastic small stockholder of 10 shares in International Projects, a large corporation based in New York. She attends her first stockholder meeting ready to question the board of directors from their salaries to their operations. These are not the questions which the board expected to be asked of them, especially since they are all crooked, except for Edward McKeever, the current CEO who has resigned in order to take an advisory position at the Pentagon. Following the meeting, he bumps into Laura and offers to drive her home. On the way there, Laura displays her enthusiasm for being a stockholder, as a result, Edward takes a liking to her. With Edward in Washington, John Blessington and Clifford Snell establish their hold on International Projects - They see greater riches now that Edward has influence with the US senate, especially with the awarding of federal contracts.. | Judy Holiday, Paul Douglas, Fred Clark, John Williams, Hiram Sherman, Neva Pattersopn, Ralph Dumke, Ray Collins, Arthur O'Connell, Richard Deacon,Marilyn Harnold,Suzanne Alexander,Bud Osbome,George Bums (narrator)Abe Burrows pI. Written By: Abe Burrows (screen play), George S. Kaufman (from the play by), and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.4 | Won Oscar. Another 4 nominations. The final sequence was filmed in color, to better show off the supposedly "solid gold Cadillac" driven by Laura (Judy Holiday) and McKeever (Paul Douglas). The sequence was shot on location in Rockefeller Center in New York City. When prints of the film were subsequently struck for television broadcast, the color was not reproduced so as to save on expenses, and for decades this sequence was seen on TV only in black and white. The original color print was finally restored for home video in the 1990s and is now also shown on ca |
| SOME LIKE IT HOT | Billy Wilder 1959. Black and White - USA - English - 120 min. Rank: 15 | Two struggling musicians witness the St. Valentine's Day Massacre and try to find a way out of the city before they are found and killed by the mob. The only job that will pay their way is an all girl band so the two dress up as women. In addition to hiding, each has his own problems; One falls for another band member but can't tell her his gender, and the other has a rich suitor who will not take "No," for an answer. | Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis ,MM, Joe E.Brown, George Raft, Pat O'Brien, Nehemiah Persoff, Joan Shawnlee, Billy Gray, George E.Stone, Dave Barry, Mike Mazurki. Harry Wilson, Beverly Wills (Dolores), Barbara Drew (Nellie), Edw.G.Robinson jr.(Paradise), Tom Ken. Written By: Billy Wilder (screenplay), I.A.L. Diamond (screenplay), and 2 more credits. Rating: 8.4 | When Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon first put on the female make-up and costumes, they walked around the Goldwyn Studios lot to see if they could "pass" as women. Then they tried using mirrors in public ladies rooms to fix their makeup, and when none of the women using it complained, they knew they could be convincing as women. There is a scene on the train recreating this moment. |
| SONG IS BORN | Howard Hawks 1948. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 113 min. Rank: 373 | Gangster's moll Honey Swanson goes into hiding when her boyfriend is under investigation by the police. Where better to hide than a musical research institute staffed entirely by lonely bachelors? She gets more than she bargained for when the head of the institute Professor Hobart Frisbee starts to fall for her. | Danny Kaye, Virginia Mayo, BG, Hugh Herbert, Steve Cochran, J. Edward Bromberg, Felix Bressart, Ludwig Stossel, O.Z. Whitehead, Esther Dale, Mary Field, Howland Chamberlain, Paul Langton(Joe), Sidney Blackmer, Ben Weldon (monte) Ben Chasen (Pete), Peter Virgo. Written By: Billy Wilder (story), Thomas Monroe (story), and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.9 | (Inside joke) When asked to play without music, Prof. Magenbruch (Benny Goodman) says, "You can't play without music." The others answer, "Well, Benny Goodman used to." Magenbruch then says he's never heard of Benny Goodman. |
| SONS AND LOVERS | Jack Cardiff 1960. Black and White - UK - English - 103 min. Rank: 109 | In the early twentieth century, an artistically talented young man living in an English coal mining town is inhibited by his domineering and emotionally manipulative mother. | Trevor Howard, Dean Stockwell, Wendy Hiller, Mary Ure, Heather Sears, William Lucas, Conrad Phillips, Ernest Thesiger, Donald Pleasence. Rating: 7.3 | ACADEMY AWARDS 1960: WON: Best Cinematography (B&W) NOMINATED: Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration B&W, Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay. GOLDEN GLOBES 1961: WON: Best Director |
| SONS OF THE DESERT | William A. Seiter 1933. Black and White - USA - English - 68 min | 65 min (TCM print). Rank: 109 | So that he and Stan can sneak away to Chicago and attend the annual "Sons of the Desert" lodge convention, Ollie pretends to be sick, and gets a doctor (who turns out to be a veterinarian) to prescribe a long ocean voyage to Hawaii. Decked out in leis and strumming ukeleles, they return home only to learn that the ship supposedly carrying them has sunk. Their hastily- contrived tale of "ship-hiking" their way back cuts no ice with their wives, who've been at the movies watching a newsreel of the lodge's convention parade, starring.. guess who? | Laurel and Hardy, Charlie Chase, Mae Busch, Dorothy Christie, Lucien Littlefield, John Elliott (Exalted Ruler), Robert Burns, Jimmy Aubrey, Don Brodie, Harry Bernard(2), CharlieHall, Stanley Blystone, Robert Cummings (extra,stesamship), Billy Gilbert (voico. Written By: Frank Craven (story), Byron Morgan (continuity), and 6 more credits. Rating: 7.8 | Stan Laurel reads the January 1930 issue of The American Magazine when at the Hardy residence. |
| SOUND OFF | Richard Quine 1952. Color (Supercinecolor) - USA - English - 83 min. Rank: 759 | An obnoxious nightclub comedian at Ciro's is drafted into the U.S. Army during the Korean War. At his arrival at his basic training he meets a WAC Lieutenant and romantically pursues her. | Mickey Rooney, Anne James, Jophn Archer, Sammy White. Scripted by Quine and Blake Edwards. Print is in rare SuperCinecolor. Rating: 5.4 | |
| SOUTHERNER | Jean Renoir 1945. Black and White - USA - English - 92 min. Rank: 206 | Sam Tucker, a cotton picker, in search of a better future for his family, decides to grow his own cotton crop. In the first year, the Tuckers battle disease, a flood, and a jealous neighbor. Can they make it as farmers? | Zachary Scott, Betty Field, Beulah Bondi, Jean Vanderwilt, Jay Gilpin, Percy Kilbride, Blanche Yurka, Charles Kemper, J. Carrol Naish, Norman Lloyd, Jack Norworth, Nestor Pavia, Estelle Taylor (liz), Dorothy Granger (part girl), Paul Harvey, ErIe Hodgins,. Written By: George Sessions Perry (novel), Hugo Butler (adaptation), and 3 more credits. Rating: 7.4 | Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 1 win. Based on the novel "Hold Autumn in your Hand", by George Sessions Perry, which won the first National Book Award in 1941. |
| SPECIAL DELIVERY | Paul Wendkos 1976. Color - USA - English - 99 min. Rank: 676 | A gang of thieves plan a daring bank robbery, making their escape across the rooftops of Los Angeles. The police are quickly called in, however, and only one of the robbers, Murdock, makes a clean getaway. Unfortunately, in order to do so, he is forced to dump the stolen cash into a mailbox, which he then finds is locked until midnight, forcing him to wait until the mailman makes his late night pickup. As he waits, he discovers that his hiding place has been observed by several other people, all of whom want a share of the loot. | Bo Svenson, Cybill Shepherd, Mochale Gwynn, Tom Atkins, Sorrell Brooke, Jeff Goldblum, Vic TaybAck, Diedre Hall, Gerrit Graham. Written By: John Melson, James Edward Grant, and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.2 | |
| SPELLBOUND | Alfred Hitchcock 1945. Color (Two frames tinted) | Black and White - USA - English - 111 min | Canada: 95 min (Ontario). Rank: 126 | The head of the Green Manors mental asylum Dr. Murchison is retiring to be replaced by Dr. Edwardes, a famous psychiatrist. Edwardes arrives and is immediately attracted to the beautiful but cold Dr. Constance Petersen. However, it soon becomes apparent that Dr. Edwardes is in fact a paranoid amnesiac impostor. He goes on the run with Constance who tries to help his condition and solve the mystery of what happened to the real Dr. Edwardes. | Ingrid Bergman, Gregory Peck, Jean Acker, Donald Curtis, Rhonda Fleming, John Emery, Leo G. Carroll, Norman Lloyd, Michael Chekhov, Steven geray, Paul Harvey, Paul Harvey, Erskine Sanford, Victor Killian, Wallace Ford, Bill Goodwin, Dave Willock, Janet Sc. Written By: Ben Hecht (screen play), Frances Beeding (suggested by novel The House of Dr. Edwardes), and 4 more credits. Rating: 7.7 | Won Oscar. Another 1 win and 5 nominations. The first preview took place on 27 September 1944, after which David O. Selznick deleted an opening montage showing treatment of mental cases. After principal photography was completed, Selznick was involved with sound re-recording of the dialogue and the editing, eliminating about 14 minutes of the film. |
| SPENCER'S MOUNTAIN | Delmer Daves 1963. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 118 min | West Germany: 99 min. Rank: 546 | Clay Spencer is a hard-working man who loves his wife and large family. He is respected by his neighbors and always ready to give them a helping hand. Although not a churchgoer, he even helps a newly arrived local minister regain his flock after he and Clay get into a bit of trouble. If he has one dream in life it's to build his wife Olivia a beautiful house on a piece of land he inherited on Spender's mountain. When his eldest son, Clayboy, graduates at the top of his high school class and has the opportunity to go to college, Clay has only one option left to him. | Henry Fonda, Maureen O'Hara, James MacArthur, Donald Crisp, Mimsy Farmer, Virginia Gregg, Wally Cox, Lillian Bronson, Whit Bissell, Dub Taylor, Barbara MacNair, Buzz Henry, Victor French, Med Flory, Mike Henry, Veronica Cartwright,. Written By: Earl Hamner Jr. (novel), Delmer Daves. Rating: 6.5 | Final film of Donald Crisp. |
| SPITFIRE | John Cromwell 1934. Black and White - USA - English - USA: 87 min. Rank: 769 | Mountain girl Trigger Hicks, a fierce loner equally handy with a rock or a prayer, is in danger of having her faith-healing mistaken for witchcraft by the neighbors. She shows a vulnerable side when John Stafford, a philandering engineer working on a new dam, is attracted to her. Matters come to a head when Trigger "rescues" an abused baby from its parents, and seeks help from the engineers. | Katherine Hepburn, Robert Young, Ralph Bellamy, Martha Sleeper, Sara Haden, Sidney Toler, Hugh Ghere (Bob Burns). Written By: Lula Vollmer (play), Jane Murfin (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 5.3 | The rights to the play "Trigger" were purchased with Dorothy Jordan in mind for the lead. However, Katharine Hepburn agreed to star on the condition that she could leave for New York on November 16, 1933 to appear in the play "The Lake". Shooting of the two final scenes ran about 6 hours late on November 15, 1933, but director John Cromwell was dissatisfied with the results and wanted to reshoot them. Miss Hepburn refused at first, citing the terms of her contract. She then demanded, and received, $10,000 (in addition to her $ |
| STAGE DOOR CANTEEN | Frank Borzage 1943. Black and White - USA - English | Russian | Spanish - 132 min. Rank: 574 | "Dakota," a young soldier on a pass in New York City, visits the famed Stage Door Canteen, where famous stars of the theatre and films appear and host a recreational center for servicemen during the war. Dakota meets a pretty young hostess, Eileen, and they enjoy the many entertainers and a growing romance. | Cheryl Walker, William Terry, Marjorie Riordan, Lon Mc Callister, Margaret Early,Michael Harrison,Sunset Carson + Hepburn,Harpo,Muni,Helen Hayes, BG w.P.Lee,Basie,Bergen &McCarthy,Rutb Roman,Judith Anderson,Henry Armetta,Kenny Baker, Tallulah Bankbead,RalpbB. Rating: 6.4 | Nominated for 2 Oscars. This movie is in the public domain in many regions and as such has been widely available on video-cassette and DVD in copies of varying quality. |
| STAGE STRUCK | Sidney Lumet 1958. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 95 min. Rank: 647 | The movie tells the story of Eva, a girl who comes to New York in order to become a great actress. With hard work she succeeds in working at a theatre and finally gets her chance on stage after a lot of changes and difficulties. | Henry Fonda, Susan Strasberg, Joan Greenwood, Herbert Marshall, Christopher Plummer, Daniel Ocko, Pat Harrington, Frank Campanella, John Fiedler, Patricia Englund, Jack Weston, Leon Bibb, Roger C. Carmel. Remake of Zoe Atkins "Morning Glory". Written By: Zoe Akins (play), Augustus Goetz (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.1 | According to the March 9th, 1957 issue of Boxoffice Magazine, Bernard Herrmann was originally going to compose the music for this film. |
| STAND-IN | Tay Garnett 1937. Black and White - USA - English - 91 min. Rank: 467 | Atterbury Dodd is an efficiency expert who believes everything can be reduced to mathematics. He is sent to Hollywood to see whether Colossal Pictures is a good investment. He soon learns that movie production doesn't fit his formulaic mindset. | Leslie Howard, Joan Blondell, Humphrey Bogart, Alan Mowbray, Marla Shelton, C.Henry Gordon, Jack Carson, Tully Marshall, J.C.Nugent, William V.Mong. From Saturday Evening Post story by Clarence Buddington Kelland. Written By: Clarence Budington Kelland (novel), Gene Towne , and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.7 | |
| STAR CHAMBER | Peter Hyams 1983. Color - USA - English - 109 min. Rank: 632 | Disgusted with criminals escaping the judicial system via technicalities, an idealistic young judge investigates an alternative method for punishing the guilty. | Michael Douglas, Hal Hollbrook, Yaphet Koto, Sharon Gless, James B. Sikking, Joe Regalbutto, DeWayne Jessie, Larry Hankin, Frances Bergen (bit) (mutPrt). Written By: Roderick Taylor (screenplay), Peter Hyams (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.2 | The movie features footage of a baseball game being played between the Atlanta Braves and the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. The footage shows Dusty Baker hitting a home run off of Phil Niekro. Also, a clip can be seen of a scoreboard during the game showing the Braves leading 4-3. This places the date of the game at 7 June 1982. |
| STAR IS BORN | William A. Wellman, and 1 more credit. 1937. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 111 min. Rank: 126 | Esther Blodgett is just another starry-eyed farm kid trying to break into the movies. Waitressing at a Hollywood party, she catches the eye of alcoholic star Norman Maine, is given a test, and is caught up in the Hollywood glamor machine (ruthlessly satirized). She and her idol Norman marry; but his career abruptly dwindles to nothing | Fredric March, Janet Gaynor, Adolph Menjoe, Andy Devine, May Robson, Lionel Strander, Owen Moore, Elizabeth Jenns, J.C.Nugent, Clara Wood, Franklin Pangborn, Edgar Kennedy, Arthur Hoyt, Guinn"Big Boy"Williams, Vince Barnett, Blandick, Peggy Paul Stanton, . Written By: William A. Wellman (story), Robert Carson (story), and 9 more credits. Rating: 7.7 | 35 Best Male Performances Nominated for an Oscar for Leading Role. "Lux Radio Theater" broadcast a 60 minute radio adaptation of the movie on September 13, 1937 with Janet Gaynor, Lionel Stander and May Robson reprising their film roles. |
| STAR SPANGLED RHYTHM | George Marshall, and 1 more credit. 1942. Black and White - USA - English - 99 min. Rank: 467 | Pop, a security guard at Paramount has told his son that he's the head of the studio. When his son arrives in Hollywood on shore leave with his buddies, Pop enlists the aid of the studio's dizzy switchboard operator in pulling off the charade. Things get more complicated when Pop agrees to put together a show for the Navy starring Paramount's top contract players. | Bing Crosby, Ray Milland, Bob Hope, Veronica Lake Dorothy Lamour, Susan Hayward, Dick Powell, Mary Martin, Paulette Goddard, Cecil B.deMille, Eddie Anderson, Ian Ladd, Arthur Treacher, Pretson Sturges, Robert Preston, William Bendix, Victor Moore, Eddie B. Written By: Melvin Frank (sketches), George S. Kaufman (sketches), and 4 more credits. Rating: 6.7 | Nominated for 2 Oscars. One of over 700 Paramount productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since. |
| STARDUST MEMORIES | Woody Allen 1980. Black and White - USA - English - 89 min. Rank: 259 | Sandy Bates, a successful filmmaker, attends a festival conducted to honor his work. During the course of the weekend he reconsiders his cinematic accomplishments as well as his past relationships. | Woody Allen, Charlotte Rampling, Jessica Harper, MarieChristine-Barrault, Tony Roberts, Daniel Stem, Andy Albeck (a UA exec.). D of P:Gordon Willis. NOTE: Just first half, but enjoyable. Rating: 7.2 | The character of Dorrie was modeled on Allen's own ex-wife Louise Lasser, who took an uncredited cameo in the film. |
| START THE REVOLUTION WITHOUT ME | Bud Yorkin 1970. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 90 min | Spain: 98 min (alternate version). Rank: 574 | An account of the adventures of two sets of identical twins, badly scrambled at birth, on the eve of the French Revolution. One set is haughty and aristocratic, the other poor and somewhat dim. They find themselves involved in palace intrigues as history happens around them. Based, very loosely, on Dickens's _A Tale of Two Cities_, Dumas's _The Corsican Brothers_, etc. | Gene Wilder, Donald Sutherland, Hugh Griffith, Jack MacGowran, Billie Whitelaw, Victor Spinetti, Orson Welles, Helen Fraser, Ewa AuIin, Murray Melvin,. Written By: Fred Freeman, Lawrence J. Cohen. Rating: 6.4 | Gene Wilder was already adept with a sword from his days on his college fencing team. |
| STATION WEST | Sidney Lanfield 1948. Black and White - USA - English - USA: 87 min. Rank: 373 | Dick Powell stars as Haven, a government private investigator assigned to investigate the murders of two cavalrymen. Travelling incognito, Haven arrives in a small frontier outpost, where saloon singer Charlie controls all illegal activities. After making short work of Charlie's burly henchman, Haven gets a job at her gambling emporium, biding his time and gathering evidence against the gorgeous crime chieftain Cast as a philosophical bartender, Burl Ives is afforded at least one opportunity to sing. | Dick Powell, Jane Greer, Agnes Moorehead, Bul Ives, Tom Powers, Gordon Oliver, Steve Brodie, GuinnllBig BoyllWilliams, Raymond Burr, Regis Toomey, Olin Howlin, John Doucette, Charles Middleton, Stanley Blystone,William Phipps, Bud Osbourne. Written By: Frank Fenton (screenplay), Winston Miller (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.9 | |
| STATUE | Rod Amateau 1970. Color (Eastmancolor) - UK | USA - English - USA: 84 min. Rank: 784 | Bolt, a British linguist, develops a universal language, so he's a sudden sensation and receives a Nobel prize. An ambitious diplomat, capitalizing on Bolt's celebrity, arranges for the U.S. to commission a statue for a London square to honor Bolt's achievement. Bolt's Italian wife, a renowned artist, sculpts an 18-foot nude of Bolt. In a pique, because he's neglected her for years to do his work, she gives the statue a spectacular phallus, telling Bolt that he wasn't its model. Thinking he's a cuckold, Bolt goes on a jealous search for a man matching the statue. The diplomat, too, wants changes in the statue to protect his conservative image. Can art and love reconcile? | David Niven, Virna Lisi, Robt.Vaughn,John Cleese,David Miles,Ann Bell. Written By: Alec Coppel (play), Denis Norden. Rating: 5.1 | |
| STORMY WEATHER | Andrew L. Stone 1943. Black and White - USA - English - USA: 78 minn. Rank: 259 | Dancing great Bill 'Williamson' sees his face on the cover of Theatre World magazine and reminisces: just back from World War I, he meets lovely singer Selina Rogers at a soldiers' ball and promises to come back to her when he "gets to be somebody." Years go by, and Bill and Selina's rising careers intersect only briefly, since Selina is unwilling to "settle down." Will she ever change her mind? Concludes with a big all-star show hosted by Cab Calloway. | Lena Horne, Bill Robinson, Cab Calloway, Nicholas Brothers, Fats Waller, Katherine Dunham, Dooley Wilson, Babe Wallace, Flournoy Miller, Nicodemus, Ada Brown,Ernest"Bubbles"Whitman,Johnnie Lee(Lyles), Mae EJohnson. Ted Koehler,H.S.Kraft scpt. Written By: Jerry Horwin (story), Frederick J. Jackson (screenplay), and 3 more credits. Rating: 7.2 | Final film of Bill Robinson, who died of heart failure at age 71 on November 25, 1949 in New York City. |
| STRANGE AFFAIR OF UNCLE HARRY | Robert Siodmak 1945. Black and White - USA - English - 80 min. Rank: 435 | Bachelor Harry Quincey, head designer in a small-town cloth factory, lives with his selfish sisters, glamorous hypochondriac Lettie and querulous widow Hester. His developing relationship with new colleague Deborah Brown promises happiness at last..thwarted by passive, then increasingly active opposition from one sister. Will Harry resort to desperate measures? | George Sanders, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Ella Raines, Sara Allgood, Moyna Macgill, Samuel S.Hines, Harry von Zell, Ethel Griffies, Judy Clark, Craig Reynolds, Will Wright. Stephen Longstreet, scpt. Written By: Thomas Job (play), Keith Winter (adaptation), and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.8 | The film was previewed with five different endings and the existing one (a complete departure from the play) was selected for reasons of popular response and censorship, prompting the resignation of producer Joan Harrison from Universal Pictures. |
| STRANGE BREW | 1983. Color (Metrocolor) - Canada | USA - English - 90 min. Rank: 435 | Something is rotten at the Elsinore Brewery. Bob and Doug Mackenzie (as seen on SCTV) help the orphan Pam regain the brewery founded by her recently-deceased father. But to do so, they must confront the suspicious brewmaster and two teams of vicious hockey players. | Rick Moranis, Dave Thomas, Max von Sydow, Paul Dooley, Lynne Griffin, (voice of Mel Blanc). Written By: Rick Moranis, Dave Thomas, and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.8 | At one point, Bob says, "He saw Jedi 17 times, eh!" What isn't obvious two decades later, is that Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi opened in May 1983, while production of "Strange Brew" had wrapped five months earlier, in December 1982. Not only hadn't the McKenzie brothers seen "Jedi" - but they couldn't refer to it by its full title, since the "Revenge"/"Return" issue was still up in the air while they were filming. |
| STRANGE ILLUSION | Edgar G. Ulmer 1945. Black and White - USA - English - 87 min. Rank: 647 | Paul, a young man whose father was once lieutenant Governor of California before his untimely death, has a strange, recurring dream in which his mother falls in love with a dangerous man (Brett Curtis), a dream which also contains the image of his father's death in an automobile accident under mysterious circumstances. Through the help of his friend, a psychiatrist, Paul realizes that his dream is coming true, and that his mother is falling under Curtis's influence. Curtis, in fact, is a homicidal maniac who lives as an out-patient at the sanitarium of the unscrupulous Dr. Muhlbach. When Curtis makes an attempt to marry Paul's mother, Paul intervenes, and after a series of events discovers the truth behind his dreams. | James Lydon, Warren Wms, Sally Eilers, Regis Toomey, Charles Arndt, Pierre Watkin, John Hamilton, Sonia Sorel, Vic Potel. Written By: Adele Comandini (screenplay), Fritz Rotter (original story). Rating: 6.1 | |
| STRANGE ONE | Jack Garfein 1957. Black and White - USA - English - 100 min. Rank: 295 | Jocko De Paris, cadet leader in a Southern military academy, so manipulates events that George Avery, Jr., son of the school's executive officer, is found drunk and expelled. Through various pressures, Jocko silences such involuntary accomplices as his roommate Harold Koble, football star Roger Gatt and freshmen Robert Marquales and Maynard Simmons, a girl-fearing cadet whom Jocko terrorizes into dating Rosebud, a town girl. | Ben Gazzara, Pat Hingle, George Peppard, Mark Richman,Arthur Storch (Simmons), Paul E.Richatrds(McKee), Larry Gates, Clifton James, Geoffrey Horne(Avery), James Olson (Gatt), Julie Wilson Calder Willingham's End As A Man. Written By: Calder Willingham (novel), Calder Willingham (play), and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.1 | Movie debut of Ben Gazzara. |
| STREET SMART | Jerry Schatzberg 1987. Color (TVC) - USA - English - 97 min. Rank: 632 | Magazine reporter Jonathan Fisher, in danger of losing his job, promises to write a factual hard-hitting story of prostitution. But when he tries to get information from the subjects, he is ignored. So he ends up faking a well received story of a pimp, describing his life and crimes. But police think the story is of a real life pimp who is wanted for murder and start pressuring him to reveal the identity of subject in his story, and all he knows. The pimp the police suspect, also thinks the story is about himself, and wants to know what Jonathan knows, and who told him. | Christopher Reeve, Kathy Baker, Mimi Rogers, Morgan Freeman Based on writer Daviud Freeman's experience at New York mag. inc. lIst : 10 missing. Rating: 6.2 | Nominated for Oscar. Another 6 wins and 2 nominations. The Cannon Film Group agreed to finance this film as a pet project of Christopher Reeve on the condition that he appear in at least one more Superman film, which they had recently acquired the rights to. The result was this and _Superman IV: the Quest for Peace (1987)_. |
| STRIKE | Sergei M. Eisenstein 1925. Black and White - Soviet Union - - 82 min | Spain: 81 min | UK: 95 min | Spain: 94 min (DVD special edition). Rank: 109 | In Russia's factory region during Czarist rule, there's restlessness and strike planning among workers; management brings in spies and external agents. When a worker hangs himself after being falsely accused of thievery, the workers strike. At first, there's excitement in workers' households and in public places as they develop their demands communally. Then, as the strike drags on and management rejects demands, hunger mounts, as does domestic and civic distress. Provocateurs recruited from the lumpen and in league with the police and the fire department bring problems to the workers; the spies do their dirty work; and, the military arrives to liquidate strikers. | Grigori Alexandrov, Maxim Strauch, Mikhail Gomerov. Written By: Sergei M. Eisenstein, Grigori Aleksandrov, and 2 more credits. Rating: 7.8 | The earliest Russian-Soviet film included among the '1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die', edited by Steven Jay Schneider. |
| STRIPES | Ivan Reitman 1981. Color (Metrocolor) - USA - English | Russian | Polish - 106 min | 126 min (extended) | 117 min (extended). Rank: 373 | Two friends who are dissatisfied with their jobs decide to join the army for a bit of fun. | Bill Murray, John Candy, Harold Ramis, Warren Oates, P.J. Soles, Sean Young, John Larroquette. Written By: Len Blum, Daniel Goldberg, Harold Ramis. Rating: 6.9 | Near the end of the film, an image of an army newspaper indicates that Capt. Stillman (John Larroquette) was transferred to the Arctic command. This is a reference to an episode of Night Court, in which Dan Fielding (John Larroquette) reveals he is a captain in the US Army Reserve. By the end of the episode, his commanding officer orders him transferred for duty in the Arctic Circle. John Winger's habit of hiding his money when removing it from his pocket is lifted from Dr. Hugo Z. Hackenbush in A Day at the Races (1937). |
| SUBJECT WAS ROSES | Ulu Grosbard 1968. Color (Metrocolor) - USA - English - USA: 107 min. Rank: 329 | When Timmy Cleary (Sheen), comes home from soldiering, he's greeted by the open but strained arms of his two parents, John and Nettie, (Neal and Albertson). Once considered sickly and weak, he has now distinguished himself in the service and is ready to begin a new life. His parents, however, are still trapped in the bygone days of early and unresolved marital strife and begin emotionally deteriorating through several drama packed encounters. Now mature, the young Tim Cleary finally understands the family dynamics that has played all throughout his boyhood. By the simple act of bringing his mother roses on behalf of his father, Tim realizes he may have destroyed his family, but is helpless to obtain resolution which must come from both his parents. | Patricia Neal, jack Albertson, Martin Sheen, Don Saxon, Elaine Williams, Grant Gordon Frank D. Gilroy. Written By: Frank D. Gilroy (play), Frank D. Gilroy (screenplay). Rating: 7.0 | Won Oscar. Another 1 win and 2 nominations. The Subject Was Roses was the first film Patricia Neal made after suffering three massive and near-fatal strokes, early in 1965. Neal was in a coma for two-and-a-half weeks and underwent emergency brain surgery. Paralyzed on her right side and unable to talk, she had to learn how to use her limbs again, how to speak again, and had to relearn the alphabet in order to spell the simplest of words. By early 1967, her recovery was so remarkable that it was difficult to tell that she'd suffered a stroke at all, although Neal admitte |
| SUGARLAND EXPRESS | Steven Spielberg 1974. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 110 min. Rank: 435 | Lou-Jean, a blonde woman, tells her husband, who is imprisoned, to escape. They plan to kidnap their own child, who was placed with foster parents. The escape is partly successful, they take a hostage, who is a policeman and are pursued through to Texas.. | Goldie Hawn,Ben Johnson, Michael Sacks, William Atherton, Gregory Walcott, Steve Kanaly, Louise Latham. Spielberg (theatrical feat debut). Written By: Hal Barwood (screenplay), Matthew Robbins (screenplay), and 3 more credits. Rating: 6.8 | Director Trademark: [Steven Spielberg] [father] Clovis |
| SUMMER OF '42 | Robert Mulligan 1971. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 103 min. Rank: 259 | Silent as a painting, the movie shows us day-dreamer Hermie and his friends Oscy and Benjie spending the summer of '42 on an US island with their parents - rather unaffected by WWII. While Oscy's main worries are the when and how of getting laid, Hermie honestly falls in love with the older Dorothy, who's married to an army pilot. When her husband returns to the front, Hermie shyly approaches her. | Jennifer O'Neill, Gary Grimes, Jerry Houser, Katherine Allentuck, Christopher Norris, Lou Frizzell, Walter Scott, Maureen Stapleton. Mulligan narrates. Rating: 7.2 | Won Oscar. Another 3 wins and 10 nominations. The telegram on Dorothy's coffee table at the end of the movie lists her married name as Walker. It also gives her address as 210 North Corry Street in Bangor, Maine, and reveals that her husband was a member of the U.S. Army Air Corps and was killed in action over France. |
| SUMMER OF MY GERMAN SOLDIER | Michael Tuchner 1978. Color - USA - English - 100 min. Rank: 157 | Patty Bergen is a teenager in a Jewish family living in the American South during World War II. Patty feels like an outcast even in her own family and is unable to understand why her father can't seem to love her. Her town eventually becomes host to a prisoner of war camp. A young german soldier escapes from this camp, and Patty finds him hiding in her secret places in the woods outside of town. After getting to know him she ends up harboring him from his captors, and, in the way of many adolescents, falls in love with him. Patty knows what she is risking to help him, but in his company she feels important, special, and respected as she has never been. In the end, his regard lifts her self-esteem and helps her to face the heartbreaking events to come. | Kristy McNichol, Bruce Davison, Esther Rolle, Michael Constantine. Emmy for McNichol. Written By: Bette Greene (novel), Bette Greene (screenwriter), and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.6 | Won Primetime Emmy. Another 1 win and 2 nominations. Robyn Lively's TV debut. |
| SUNDOWNERS | Fred Zinnemann 1960. Color (Technicolor) - UK - English - 133 min. Rank: 238 | In the Australian Outback, the Carmody family--Paddy, Ida and their teenage son Sean--are sheep drovers, always on the move. Ida and Sean want to settle down and buy a farm. Paddy wants to keep moving. A sheep-shearing contest, the birth of a child, drinking, gambling and a race horse will all have a part in the final decision. | Robert Mitchum, Deborah Kerr, Peter Ustinov, Glynnis Johns ,Dina Merrill,Chips Rafferty, Michael AndersonJr, Lola Brooks, Wylie Watson, Mervyn Johns. Written By: Isobel Lennart (screenplay), Jon Cleary (novel). Rating: 7.3 | Nominated for 5 Oscars. Another 3 wins and 7 nominations. Peter Carver was only cast as Clint the Shearer only after the actor first cast was cast in a different part. |
| SUNFLOWER (aka. I girasoli) | Vittorio De Sica 1970. Color (Technicolor) - Italy | France | Soviet Union - Italian | English | Russian - 101 min | Portugal: 98 min (cut version). Rank: 373 | At the end of World War II, Giovanna, a war bride living near Milan refuses to accept that her husband, Antonio, missing on the Russian front, is dead. There's a flashback to their brief courtship near her hometown of Naples, his 12-day leave to marry her, ruses to keep from deployment, and the ultimate farewell. Some years after the war, still with no word from Antonio, Giovanna goes to Russia to find him, starting in the town near the winter battle when he disappeared. Armed with his photograph, what will she find? | Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni, Lyudmila Savelyeva, Galina Andreyeva, Anna Carena, Carlo Ponti jr (baby) Tonino Guerra, Caesare Zavattini scpt. Written By: Tonino Guerra, Giorgi Mdivani, and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.9 | Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win and 1 nomination. The child of Giovanna (Sophia Loren) child in this film was actually Loren's from her partnership with producer Carlo Ponti. |
| SUNRISE AT CAMPOBELLO | Vincent J. Donehue 1960. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English | French - 144 min. Rank: 295 | The story of Franklin Roosevelt's bout with polio at age 40 in 1921 and how his family (and especially wife Eleanor) cope with his illness. From being stricken while vacationing at Campobello to his triumphant nominating speech for Al Smith's presidency in 1924, the story follows the various influences on his life and his determination to recover - based on the award winning Broadway play of the same name. | Ralph Bellamy, Greer Garson, Hume Cronyn, Jean Hagen, Ann Shoemaker, Alan Bunce, Tim Considine, Lyle Talbot(Brimmer), Frank Ferguson, Walter Sande, Jack Perrin (campaign worker) Producer Dore Schary also wrote. Written By: Dore Schary (screenplay), Dore Schary (story). Rating: 7.1 | Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 2 wins and 3 nominations. Ralph Bellamy and Alan Bunce are the only two actors from the original Broadway stage production to repeat their roles in the film. |
| SUNSHINE BOYS | Herbert Ross 1975. Color (Metrocolor) - USA - English - 111 min. Rank: 329 | Lewis and Clark were famous comedians during the vaudeville era; off-stage, though, they couldn't stand each other and haven't spoken in over 20 years. Ben, Willy Clark's nephew, is the producer of a variety show that wants to feature a reunion of the classic duo. How will Ben convince the crotchety old comedians to put aside their differences before the big show? | George Burns, Walter Matthau, Richard Benjamin, Lee Meredith, Carol Arthur,Rosetta LeNoire,F.Murray Abraham,Howard Hessman,P.DilIer,St.Allen. Neil Simon. Rating: 7.0 | Won Oscar. Another 5 wins and 6 nominations. The original Broadway production of "The Sunshine Boys" by Neil Simon opened at the Broadhurst Theater in New York on December 20, 1972, ran for 538 performances and was nominated for the 1973 Tony Award (New York City) for the Best Play. |
| SUSPICION | Alfred Hitchcock 1941. Black and White - USA - English - 99 min. Rank: 185 | Johnny Aysgarth is a handsome gambler who seems to live by borrowing money from friends. He meets shy Lina McLaidlaw on a train whilst trying to travel in a first class carriage with a third class ticket. He begins to court Lina and before long they are married. It is only after the honeymoon that she discovers his true character and she starts to become suspicious when Johnny's friend and business partner, Beaky is killed mysteriously. | Cary Grant, Joan Fontaine, Nigel Bruce, Cedric Hardwicke, Dame Mae Whitty, Isabel Jeans, Heather Angel, Leo G.Carroll. Written By: Samson Raphaelson (screen play), Joan Harrison (screen play), and 2 more credits. Rating: 7.5 | Won Oscar. Another 2 wins and 2 nominations. Michèle Morgan was tested for the role of Lina and Constance Worth replaced Phyllis Barry as "Mrs. Fitzpatrick." |
| SWEET LOVE BITTER | Herbert Danska 1967. Black and White - USA - English - 92 min. Rank: 259 | A black jazz musician bent on self destruction forms an odd friendship with a white college professor full of feeling sorry for himself. | Dick Gregory, Diane Varsi, Don Murray, Robert Hooks,. Written By: Herbert Danska, Lewis Jacobs, and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.2 | Robert Hooks' film debut. |
| SWING TIME | George Stevens 1936. Black and White - USA - English | French - 103 min. Rank: 126 | Lucky is tricked into missing his wedding to Margaret by the other members of Pop's magic and dance act, and has to make $25000 to be allowed to marry her. He and Pop go to New York where they run into Penny, a dancing instructor. She and Lucky form a successful dance partnership, but romance is blighted (till the end of the film at least!) by his old attachment to Margaret and hers for Ricardo, the band leader who won't play for them to dance together. | Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Victor Moore, Helen Broderick, Eric Blore,Betty Furness,Geo.Metaxa,Landers Stevens,J ohn Harrington,Pierre Watkin , Harry Bernard, Frank Jenks,Ralph Byrd,Fern Emmett,Dale vanSickle,Dennis O'Keefe and Bess Flowers(d.extras). Written By: Howard Lindsay (screenplay), Allan Scott (screenplay), and 5 more credits. Rating: 7.7 | Won Oscar. Another 1 win and 2 nominations. The shadow dance idea for "Bojangles of Harlem" occurred to choreographer Hermes Pan and Fred Astaire during rehearsals, when three different light sources illuminating Astaire produced three shadows. |
| SWING! | Oscar Micheaux 1937. Black and White - USA - English - 69 min. Rank: 769 | When Mandy Jenkins catches her husband Cornell out on a date with Eloise Jackson in a small cabaret in Birmingham, Alabama, she and Jackson have a fight. Months later, Eloise is living in Harlem and about to star in a musical, produced and directed by Ted Gregory, who hopes to be the first black producer to put on a show on Broadway. Mandy, meanwhile, has also moved to Harlem, and is hired by Gregory as wardrobe mistress at the suggestion of his secretary, Lena, with whom Gregory has fallen in love. But Gregory has problems getting backing for the show, and is unhappy that Eloise often comes drunk and late to the rehearsals. And things look hopeless when Eloise breaks her leg falling down a stairway while in a drunken stupor. | Cora Green, Trixie Smith. Supposedly Lost Film. Probably the only surviving copy. Written By: Oscar Micheaux (screenplay), Oscar Micheaux (story). Rating: 5.3 | |
| SWISS MISS | John G. Blystone, and 1 more credit. 1938. Black and White - USA - English - 73 min | USA: 65 min (edited version). Rank: 546 | Stanley and Oliver are mousetrap salesmen hoping to strike it rich in Switzerland, but get swindled out of all their money by a cheesemaker. While working off their hotel debt, Oliver falls in love with a chambermaid, Anna, who in reality is a famous opera singer spying on her composer husband, Victor, while he works on his new opera. The boys are assigned to move Victor's piano to a secluded tree house, but become trapped on a rickety rope bridge high above an Alpine gorge when they're met halfway across by a gorilla. | was in old catalog but I don't think we ever had it, can't find it 10-06,3-07. Written By: Jean Negulesco (original story), Charley Rogers (original story), and 7 more credits. Rating: 6.5 | Film Daily-Friday 11 August 1939: Plagiarism suit for injunctions, accounting and damages was filed in (Los Angeles) Federal Court yesterday by Isabella Knotter against Hal Roach Studios, Inc., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Corp., M-G-M Distributing Corp., Lowes, Inc. and Culver Export Service. Plaintiff claims to have submitted her story, "So Zwei Pechvogel." or "Two Down-and-Outs," to the Hal Roach studios on June 16,1937, which was allegedly infringed in the films "Swiss Miss" and "Au Far West." Her manuscript had been retur |
| T.R. BASKIN | Herbert Ross 1971. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - Netherlands: 90 min | USA: 90 min. Rank: 714 | An idealistic young woman arrives in Chicago with hopes of finding romance, adventure and a fulfilling career. | Candice Bergen, Peter Boyle, James Caan, Marcia Rodd, Erin O'Reilly, Howard Platt. Rating: 5.8 | Peter Boyle's character in T.R. Baskin works for a fictional company called Con-Amalgamate. Con-Amalgamate would re-appear in later films penned by Peter Hyams. In Capricorn One (1978), Con-Amalgamate is the company whose "made-in-America screw-up" is allegedly responsible for the astronauts being grounded under false pretenses. In Outland (1981), Con-Amalgamate is the corporation that is mining the Jupiter moon Io. Ironically, Peter Boyle also stars in Outland as the corporate head of Io's branch of the corrupt Con-Amalgamate |
| TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN | Woody Allen 1969. Black and White | Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 85 min. Rank: 259 | This film is presented as a documentary on the life of an incompetent, petty criminal called Virgil Starkwell. It describes the early childhood and youth of Virgil, his failure at a musical career, and his obsession with bank robberies. The film uses a voice over narrative and interviews with his family, friends and acquaintances. | Woody Allen, Janet Margolin, Marcel Hillaire. Written By: Woody Allen (original screenplay), Mickey Rose (original screenplay). Rating: 7.2 | The film Virgil shows his gang ("Trout Fishing in Quebec") is listed as being a Rollings and Joffe production, the real-life producers of Woody Allen. |
| Milos Forman 1971. Color - USA - English - 93 min. Rank: 206 | Unable to deal with her parents, Jeannie Tyne runs away from home. Larry and Lyne Tyne search for her, and in the process meet other people whose children ran away. With their children gone, the parents are now free to rediscover/enjoy life. | Lynn Carlin, Buck Henry, Linnea Hancock, Georgia Engel, Tony Harvey, Audra Linley, Paul Benedict, Vincent Schiavelli, Allen Garfield, Ike and Tina, Carly Simon. Written By: Milos Forman, John Guare, and 2 more credits. Rating: 7.4 | Nominated for 6 BAFTA Film Awards. Another 2 wins and 2 nominations. Kathy Bates' film debut. She is credited as Bobo Bates. | |
| TALE OF TWO CITIES | Ralph Thomas 1958. Black and White - UK - English - 117 min. Rank: 295 | During the French Revolution, French national Lucie Manette meets and falls in love with Englishman Charles Darnay. He is however hiding his true identity as a member of the French aristocratic Evrémonde family, who he has denounced in private. The Marquis St. Evrémonde in particular was a cruel man, those he wronged who have vowed to see the end of the family line at any cost. Lucie's father Dr. Alexandre Manette, in fact, was imprisoned in the Bastille for eighteen years because of actions of the Marquis. Into their lives comes English barrister Sydney Carton, who enjoys his alcohol to excess. Carton earlier defended Darnay in a trial on trumped up charges of treason. Carton doesn't really like Darnay in part because Carton also loves Lucie, he realizing that that love is unrequited. But Carton does eventually learn of Darnay's true heritage at a critical time.. | Dirk Bogarde, Dorothy Tutin, Cecil Parker, Stephen Murray, Athene Seyler, Ian Bannen, Alfie Bass, Duncan Lamont, ChrSistopher Lee, Leo McKern, Donald Pleasance, Eric Pohlman. Written By: Charles Dickens (novel), T.E.B. Clarke (screenplay). Rating: 7.1 | Paul Guers is dubbed. |
| TALL BLONDE MAN WITH ONE BLACK SHOE (aka. Le grand blond avec une chaussure noire) | Yves Robert 1972. Color (Eastmancolor) - France - French | English - USA: 90 min | Argentina: 90 min | France: 90 min. Rank: 259 | Hapless orchestra player becomes an unwitting pawn of rival factions within the French secret service after he is chosen as a decoy by being identified as a super secret agent. | Pierre Richard, Bernard Blier, Jean Rochefort,Mirielle Darc,Jean Carmet,Colette Casel,Paul Le Person, Jean Obe,Y.R,d(orch.ldr.). Written By: Yves Robert, Francis Veber. Rating: 7.2 | Francis Veber used to call most of his characters with names based on famous cities (Toulouse, Milan, Perrache etc.) in order to avoid any confusion with real life persons. |
| TAMING OF THE SHREW | Franco Zeffirelli 1967. Color (Technicolor) - Italy | USA - English - 122 min. Rank: 329 | Baptista, a rich Paduan merchant, announces that his fair young daughter, Bianca, will remain unwed until her older sister, Katharina, a hellish shrew, has wed. Lucentio, a student and the son of a wealthy Pisan merchant, has fallen in love with Bianca. He poses as a tutor of music and poetry to gain entrance to the Baptista household and to be near Bianca. Meanwhile, Petruchio, a fortune-hunting scoundrel from Verona, arrives in Padua, hoping to capture a wealthy wife. Hortensio, another suitor of Bianca, directs Petruchio's attention to Katharina. When Hortensio warns him about Katharina's scolding tongue and fiery temper, Petruchio is challenged and resolves to capture her love. Hortensio and another suitor of Bianca, Gremio, agree to cover Petruchio's costs as he pursues Katharina. | Elizabeth taylor, Burton, Cyril Cusack, Michael Hordern, Alfred Lynch, Alan Webb, Victor Spinetti, Roy Holder, Mark Dignam, Michael York. Written By: William Shakespeare (play), Paul Dehn (screenplay), and 2 more credits. Rating: 7.0 | Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 5 wins and 4 nominations. Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton co-produced the film, putting $1 million of their own money into the production and waiving their combined $2 million+ salaries taking a percentage of the film's profits instead. |
| TARNISHED ANGELS | Douglas Sirk 1958. Black and White - USA - English - 91 min. Rank: 238 | In the 1930's, a First World War flying ace named Roger Schumann is reduced to making appearances on the crash-and-burn circuit of stunt aerobatics. His family are forced to live like dogs while Shumann pursues his only true love, the airplane. When Burke Devlin, a reporter, shows up on the scene to do a "whatever happened to" story on Shumann, he is repulsed by the war hero's diminished circumstances and, conversely, drawn to his stunning wife, LaVerne. | Rock Hudson, Dorothy Malone, Roberet Stack, Jack Carson, Robert Middleton, Troy Donahue, William Shallert Faulkner's Pylon, set in 30's. Written By: William Faulkner (novel), George Zuckerman (screenplay). Rating: 7.3 | Douglas Sirk reportedly stated in an interview this was the best film he directed. |
| TASTE OF HONEY | Tony Richardson 1962. Black and White - UK - English - 100 min. Rank: 157 | Black and white, gay and straight, mothers and daughters, class, and coming of age. Jo is working class, in her teens, living with her drunk and libidinous mother in northern England. When mom marries impulsively, Jo is out on the streets; she and Geoffrey, a gay co worker who's adrift himself, find a room together. Then Jo finds herself pregnant after a one night stand with Jimmy, a Black sailor. Geoffrey takes over the preparations for the baby's birth, and becomes, in effect, the child's father. The three of them seem to have things sorted out when Jo's mother reappears on the scene, assertive and domineering. Which "family" will emerge? | Dora Bryan, Rita Tushingham, Robert Stephens, Murray Melvin, Paul Danquah, David Butler, Moira Kaye, Herbert Smith, Valerie Scarden. Written By: Shelagh Delaney (play), Shelagh Delaney , and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.6 | Won 4 BAFTA Film Awards. Another 3 wins and 4 nominations. Despite winning Best Actor (Murray Melvin) and Best Actress (Rita Tushingham) prizes at Cannes, Dora Bryan and Tushingham went unrecognized and were barred from the film's celebration party until film critic Alexander Walker spotted them outside and was able to get them in. |
| TELEFON | Don Siegel 1977. Color (Metrocolor) - USA - English - 102 min. Rank: 546 | The KGB is looking for one of their people, a man named Dalchimsky because he has stolen something important but, unfortunately, he manages to get through the border. Later in the U.S. some seemingly ordinary people after receiving a phone call go out and destroy key American military installations. Back in the U.S.S.R. General Strelsky and Colonel Malchenko send for Grigori Borzov, a KGB agent who has been to the U.S. on missions before. They inform him that after the U-2 incident in fear of the possibility that a war with the U.S. will occur; they were part of an operation called TELEFON that involved recruiting young agents and then brainwashing them into believing that they are Americans. They would assume the identity of an American who died a long time ago and who would be their age now. They would be situated in a city that is near or where a key U.S. military installation is located.. | Charles Bronson, Lee Remick, Donald Pleasance, Tyne Daly, Patick Magee, Alan Badel, Sheree North. Sterling Silliphant espionage store. Orig. director, Peter Hyams. Written By: Peter Hyams (screenplay), Stirling Silliphant (screenplay), and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.5 | The interior of the Hyatt Regency is located at 5 Embarcadero Center in San Francisco, California. This is the same location where The Towering Inferno was filmed. |
| TELL THEM WILLIE BOY IS HERE | Abraham Polonsky 1969. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 98 min. Rank: 574 | Based on true events, Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here, tells the story of one of the last Western manhunts, in 1909. Willie Boy, a Native American, kills his girlfriend's father in self defense, and the two go on the run, pursued by a search posse led by Sheriff Christopher Cooper. | Robert Reford, Katherine Ross, Robert Blake, Susan Clark, Barry Sullivan, Charles McGraw,John Vernon. (Conrad Hall,DP). Written By: Harry Lawton (book), Abraham Polonsky. Rating: 6.4 | Won 2 BAFTA Film Awards. Another 1 win. |
| TEN **Reel 3 Misplaced** | Blake Edwards 1979. Color (Metrocolor) - USA - English - 122 min. Rank: 692 | On the night of his 42nd birthday, George Webber, a popular songwriter, begins showing symptoms of "middle-age crisis." Over the succeeding weeks, he finds himself continually staring at young girls on the street, and he begins envying his high-living neighbor, whose life is one endless orgy. George's behavior causes great concern to his lover, singing star Samantha Taylor, and to his partner Hugh, who has seemingly avoided George's dilemma by being gay. While driving home one afternoon, George spots Jenny, a stunning young beauty en route to her marriage ceremony. Regarding her as "the most beautiful girl I've ever seen" (on a scale from one to 10), George follows her to the church. He later learns her name, and discovers that she and her husband are honeymooning in Mexico. Driven by the impulse to see her again, George flies to Mexico and checks into the hotel where Jenny is staying.. | Julie Andrews, Robert Webber, Bo Derek, Dudley Moore, Dee Wallace, Sam Jones, Max Showalter, Rad Daly, Nedra Voltz, James Noble . Rating: 5.9 | Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 6 nominations. Denise Crosby's film debut. |
| TEN DAYS THAT SHOOK THE WORLD (OCTOBER) | 1928. Black and White - Soviet Union - - Finland: 103 min | Sweden: 104 min | USA: 95 min | Finland: 142 min (2007 restored version) | 127 min (20 fps) | Spain: 115 min (DVD special edition). 127 min (20 fps) | Spain: 115 min (DVD special edition). Rank: 126 | In documentary style, events in Petrograd are re-enacted from the end of the monarchy in February of 1917 to the end of the provisional government and the decrees of peace and of land in November of that year. Lenin returns in April. In July, counter-revolutionaries put down a spontaneous revolt, and Lenin's arrest is ordered. By late October, the Bolsheviks are ready to strike: ten days will shake the world. While the Mensheviks vacillate, an advance guard infiltrates the palace. Anatov-Oveyenko leads the attack and signs the proclamation dissolving the provisional government. | Boris Livanov, Vladimir Popov and Vasili Nikandrov. Written By: Sergei M. Eisenstein, Grigori Aleksandrov, and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.7 | More people were injured reproducing the storming of the Winter Palace than were hurt in the Bolsheviks' actual takeover of the building. '(Source: Young Stalin by Simon Sebag Montefiore)' |
| TEN NORTH FREDERICK | Philip Dunne 1958. Black and White - USA - English - 102 min. Rank: 373 | At her father's funeral, Ann Chapin thinks back over the last five years of his life, years of apparent political and personal failure dominated by a selfish and dissatisfied wife and eased only by alcohol. But it starts to emerge that there was in fact one brief and unsuspected period of happiness and love. | Gary Cooper, Diane Varsi, Suzy Parker, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Tom Tully, Ray Strickland, Stuart Whitman, Barbara Nichols (John O'Hara novel). Written By: Philip Dunne (screenplay), John O'Hara (novel). Rating: 6.9 | Spencer Tracy was originally cast in the lead role, but withdrew due to ill health and concerns over the ability of co-star Suzy Parker. |
| TENDER MERCIES | Bruce Beresford 1983. Color - USA - English - 100 min | 92 min (TCM print). Rank: 206 | Alchoholic former country singer Mac Sledge makes friends with a young widow and her son. The friendship enables him to find inspiration to resume his career. | Robert Duvall, Tess Harper, Allen Hubbard, Betty Buckley,Ellen Barkin, Wilford Brimnley, Lenny von Dohlen, Paul Gleason. H.Foote scply . Rating: 7.4 | Won 2 Oscars. Another 6 wins and 10 nominations. When Mac was talking with the band about possibly joining them to record some songs, they stopped in front of a shop named "T.M. Harper Hardware". Tess Harper played Rosa Lee, Mac's new wife. |
| TEORAMA | Pier Paolo Pasolini 1969. Black and White | Color (Eastmancolor) - Italy - Italian | English (only a few words) - 105 min | Finland: 99 min (cinema release) (1971) | West Germany. 97 min. Rank: 295 | A strange visitor in a wealthy family. He seduces the maid, the son, the mother, the daughter and finally the father before leaving a few days after. After he's gone, none of them can continue living as they did. Who was that visitor ? Could he be God ? | Terence Stamp, Sylvano Mangano, Massimo Girotti. Written By: Pier Paolo Pasolini (novel), Pier Paolo Pasolini (screenplay). Rating: 7.1 | Second part of Pier Paolo Pasolini's "Mythical Cycle" also including Oedipus Rex, Pigpen and Medea. |
| TEX | Tim Hunter 1982. Color - USA - English - 103 min. Rank: 574 | Coming-of-age adventure about two teenage brothers and their struggles to grow up, on their own, after their mother dies and their father leaves them. | Matt Dillon, Jim Metzler, Meg Tilly, Bill McKinney, Frances Lee McCain, Ben Johnson, Emilio Estevez, Jack Thibeau. S.E.Hinton cameo and story. Written By: S.E. Hinton (novel), Charles S. Haas (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.4 | Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 2 nominations. The movie is set about 10 years after the end of the novel That Was Then, This is Now. Two characters make appearances in Tex: Cathy Carlson, as Tex's English teacher, and the hitchhiker, who is Mark in disguise, escaped from prison. |
| THANKS A MILLION | Roy Del Ruth 1935. Black and White - USA - English - 87 min. Rank: 373 | Entertainers enter a political rally to get out of the rain and become part of the show. One of them (Powell) gives a speech in place of the besotted candidate (Walburn) and is chosen to be the candidate by backers he later exposes as crooks. | Dick Powell, Ann Dvorak, Fred Allen, Patsy Kelly, Alan Dinehartt, Margaret Irving, R.Walburn, Paul Whiteman, Yacht Club Boys. Nunnaly Johnson scpt. Rating: 6.9 | Nominated for Oscar. Russell Hicks (Mr. Bradley) and Phil Baker (Man in Sequence with Beetle and Bottle) are in studio records/casting call lists as cast members for their roles, but they did not appear or were not identifiable in the movie. |
| THAT LADY IN ERMINE - DUPLICATE ENTRY | Ernst Lubitsch, and 1 more credit. 1948. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 89 min. Rank: 728 | Circa 1861, Angelina, ruling countess of an Italian principality, is at a loss when invaded by a Hungarian army. Her lookalike ancestress Francesca, who saved a similar situation 300 years before, comes to life from a portrait to help her descendant. Complicating factor: the newlywed countess feels strangely drawn to the handsome invader.. | Betty Grable, Douglas Fairbanksjr, Cesar Romero, Walter Abel, Rgeinald Gardiner, Harry Davenport poss. inc.. Rating: 5.7 | Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 nomination. Director Ernst Lubitsch died early in production; Otto Preminger completed the film. |
| THAT UNCERTAIN FEELING | Ernst Lubitsch 1941. Black and White - USA - English - 84 min. Rank: 373 | Against her better judgement, happily married Jill Baker is persuaded to see a popular psychoanalyst about her psychosomatic hiccups. Soon, she's disillusioned about husband Larry; and one day in the doctor's waiting room she meets pianist Alexander Sebastian, who's even more confused than she is. Can this marriage be saved? Larry has a plan that is pure Lubitsch.. | Burgess Meredith, Merle Oberon, Melvin Douglas, Alan Mowbray, Olive Blakeney, Harry Davenport,Sig Ruman,Eve Ardin.Remake of Kiss me Again '2S. Written By: Donald Ogden Stewart (screenplay), Walter Reisch (adaptation), and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.9 | Nominated for Oscar. Despite the indifferent reception That Uncertain Feeling received, the cast treasured its experience with the master director and the atmosphere he created on set. Meredith enjoyed working on the production and years later recalled, "I don't know when I had a better time in my whole career than during that period." Of Lubitsch, Meredith said, "He was very psychic. I'd fall down laughing because right away he'd improvise, in the middle of a scene he was doing for me, some very personal thing about my life, with his big cigar in |
| THE ELUSIVE CORPORAL (aka Le caporal épinglé) | Jean Renoir 1963. Black and White - France - French | German - 90 min | 105 min. Rank: 373 | An upper-class corporal from Paris is captured by the Germans when they invade France in 1940. Assisted and accompanied by characters as diverse as a morose dairy farmer, a waiter, a myopic intellectual, a working-class Parisian, and a German dental assistant, the corporal tries to escape from prison camps, sometimes making it a few yards, sometimes reaching the French border. | Jean-Pierre Casal, Claude Brasseur, O.E.Hasse. Written By: Guy Lefranc (adaptation), Jacques Perret (novel), and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.9 | Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 nomination. |
| The KEY | Carol Reed 1958. Black and White - UK - English - 134 min | West Germany: 127 min. Rank: 546 | During World War II, tug boats conduct what are called salvage missions - picking up disabled ships. Not well equipped with weaponry, the tugs are sitting ducks for enemy fire. As such, the crew working the tugs have precarious lives, many with deep seated emotional problems. Before the Americans join the war, ex-American military man David Ross is assigned to captain a tug for the British military. He is shown the ropes by an old friend, Captain Chris Ford. Chris currently shares a flat with a young beautiful Italian-Swiss woman named Stella, who came with the flat and who lives a reclusive life there. Chris is the latest in a long line of tug boat captains who have lived there, each who has found another person to take over the flat and the associated looking after of Stella if anything is to happen to him. That person is given a key to the flat, the key only to be used if needed. The first in the series was Phillip Westerby.. | William Holden, Sophia Loren, Trevor Howard,. Oscar Homolka,Kieron Moore, Bernard Lee, Michael Caine (bit) from Jan deHartog novel. Written By: Jan de Hartog (novel), Carl Foreman. Rating: 6.5 | Won BAFTA Film Award. Kieron Moore was second choice for Kane. |
| The MAN | Joseph Sargent 1972. Color (Eastmancolor) - USA - English - USA: 93 min. Rank: 467 | When the President and Speaker of the House are killed in a building collapse, and the Vice-President declines the office due to age and ill-health, Senate President pro tempore Douglas Dilman (James Earl Jones) suddenly becomes the first black man to occupy the Oval Office. The events from that day to the next election when he must decide if he will actually run challenge his skills as a politician and leader. | James Earl Jones, Burgess Meredith, Martin Balsam, Jack Benny, Lew Ayres, William Windom, Barbara Rush, Janet MacLachlan (Rod Serling adapted Irving Wallace play). Written By: Irving Wallace (novel), Rod Serling (screenplay). Rating: 6.7 | Jack Benny's last feature film or cameo appearance. |
| The OUTFIT | John Flynn 1974. Color (Metrocolor) - USA - English - Germany: 105 min | USA: 103 min. Rank: 467 | When the small criminal Macklin is released from prison, he learns that shortly before his brother was shot by two killers. They didn't know that the bank they robbed was owned by the syndicate. When he's almost offed by a killer too, he pays the mobster Jack Manner a visit and demands reparation. His friend Cody helps him to gratify his thirst for revenge. | Robert Duvall, Karen Black, Joe Don Baker, Robert Ryan, Timothy Carey, Richard Jaeckel, Sherree North, Marie Windsor, Jane Greer, Henry Jones, Joanna Cassidy, Elisha Cook jr, Anita O'Day Richark Stark scpt from Donald E.Westlake novel. Written By: Donald E. Westlake (novel), John Flynn. Rating: 6.7 | Joe Don Baker's character mentions that his diner (which we see at the start of the film) has a location in Presque Isle. The equivalent character in the novel this films adapts, Handy McKay, also has a diner in a town called Presque Isle. However, that Presque Isle refers to the actual town in Maine (McKay mentions the location in Maine), while this film seems to take place in the Southwest. |
| THE VISIT | Bernhard Wicki 1964. Black and White - USA | West Germany | France | Italy - English | French - 100 min. Rank: 373 | Carla Zachanassian had a child by Serge Miller as a teenager. When Serge refused to marry her, she was driven out of town. By her own wit and cunning, she has returned as a multi-millionaire for a visit. The town lays out the red carpet expecting big things from Carla, only to learn that her sole purpose is to see Serge Miller killed.. | Ingrid Bergman, Anthony Quinn, Inna Demick, Paolo Stoppa, Hans-Christian Blech, Romolo Valli, Valentina Cortese, Eduardo Cianelli (It-Fr-Ger). Written By: Ben Barzman (screenplay), Friedrich Dürrenmatt (play), and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.7 | Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 nomination. The New York production of "The Visit" by Friedrich Dürrenmatt, adapted by Maurice Valency, opened at the Lunt-Fontanne Theater (And starred Lunt and Fontanne) in New York on Nov. 29, 1958, ran for 189 performances and was nominated for the 1959 Tony Award for the Best Play. |
| THERE WAS A CROOKED MAN | Joseph L. Mankiewicz 1970. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 126 min. Rank: 295 | Charm, intelligence and success in criminal career doesn't prevent Paris Pitman Jr. to start doing ten years in prison, in the middle of the Arizona desert. However, those years should pass quickly because of a $500,000 loot previously stashed away. New idealistic warden would only make Pitman think of getting his fortune even sooner. He starts to manipulate everyone to achieve his goal. | Kirk Douglas, Henry Fonda, Hume Cronyn, Warren Oates, Burgess Meredith, John Randolph, Michael Blodgett, Arthur O'Connell, Martin Gabel, Alan Hale, Victor French, Barbara Rhodes, Lee Grant. Scrpt:David Newman,Robert Benton. Written By: David Newman, Robert Benton. Rating: 7.1 | Last film of Byron Foulger. |
| THEY GOT ME COVERED | David Butler 1943. Black and White - USA - English - 95 min. Rank: 467 | Bumbling reporter Robert Kittredge has been fired after bungling his latest assignment. His career isn't all he's botched up: his girlfriend Chris is tired of waiting for him to marry her. When he gets a hot tip on some Nazi spies operating in Washington, D.C., he convinces Chris to help him break the story so he can get his job back. The pair soon find themselves in several awkward predicaments as they track the criminals down in a night club, a burlesque show, and face a final showdown at a beauty salon. | Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour, Lenore Aubert, Otto Preminger, Eduardo Cianelli, Marion Martin, Donald Meek, Phyllis Ruth, Phillip Ahn, Donald MacBride, Mary Treen, Bettye Avery, Florence Bates, Walter Catlett, Nino Pepitone, George Chandler, Stanley Clements, . Written By: Leo Rosten (story), Leonard Spigelgass (story), and 3 more credits. Rating: 6.7 | Samuel Goldwyn paid Paramount $133,500 to borrow Bob Hope for twelve weeks, during which time Hope made this film and The Princess and the Pirate. |
| THEY WERE TEN | Baruch Dienar 1961. Black and White - Israel - Hebrew - 105 min. Rank: 467 | At the turn of the century, 10 Jews respond to a Russian pogrom by emigrating to Galilee. In the desert the nine men and one woman battle for survival against the forces of nature, hostile Arabs, and their own human weaknesses. | Nanette Linar, Oded Teomi, Leo Filler, Yosef Safra, Yosef Zur, Gavriel Dagan, Israel Rubinshik, Nissim Azikri, Amnon Kahanovitsh, Moshe Yaari (Turk). Written By: Gabriel Dagan, Baruch Dienar, and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.7 | |
| Michael Mann 1981. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 122 min. Rank: 259 | Frank is an expert professional safecracker, specializing in high-profile diamond jobs. After having spent many years in prison, he has a very concrete picture of what he wants out of life--including a nice home, a wife, and kids. As soon as he is able to assemble the pieces of this collage, by means of his chosen profession, he intends to retire and become a model citizen. In an effort to accelerate this process, he signs on to take down a huge score for a big-time gangster. Unfortunately, Frank's obsession for his version of the American Dream allows him to overlook his natural wariness and mistrust, when making the deal for his final job. He is thus ensnared and robbed of his freedom, his independence, and, ultimately, his dream. | James Caan, Tuesday Weld, Willie Nelson, James Belushi, Robert Prosky, Tom Signorelli, Dennis Farina, Nick Nickeas, Del Close, William L.Peterson, Mighty Joe Young. Filmed @ Green Mill, used car lot @ Western and Irving Park (old Selig site), etc. Michael M. Written By: Frank Hohimer (novel), Michael Mann (screen story), and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.2 | In the hospital scene, James Caan decided to stare coldly at J. Jay Saunders who played the doctor. This really frightened Saunders and his reaction in the scene is genuine. | |
| THIN MAN | W.S. Van Dyke 1934. Black and White - USA - English - 91 min. Rank: 50 | After a four year absence, one time detective Nick Charles returns to New York with his new wife Nora and their dog, Asta during Christmas time. Nick re-connects with many of his old cronies, several of whom are eccentric characters, to say the least. He's also approached by Dorothy Wynant whose inventor father Clyde Wynant is suspected of murdering her step-mother. Her father had left on a planned trip some months before and she has had no contact with him. Nick isn't all that keen on resuming his former profession but egged-on by wife Nora, who thinks this all very exciting, he agrees to help out. He solves the case, announcing the identity of the killer at a dinner party for all of the suspects. | William Powell, Myrna Loy, Maureen O'Sullivan, Nat Pendelton, Minna Gombell (Mimi),Porter Hall,Henry Wadsworth (Tommy),William Henry (Gil.Wynant),Harold Huber (Nunheim),Cesar Romero,Natalie Moorehead (Julia), Ed Brophy,Walter Long, Thomas Jackson (reporte. Written By: Albert Hackett (screen play), Frances Goodrich (screen play), and 1 more credit. Rating: 8.1 | Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 1 win. American Film Institute Catalog of Feature Films 1931-40 erroneously identifies Huey White as playing the role of 'Face' Tefler, but it's actually Jack Irwin. |
| THING From Another World | Christian Nyby, and 1 more credit. 1951. Black and White - USA - English - 87 min | USA: 81 min (re-issue version) | USA: 85 min (original US 16 mm television syndication prints). Rank: 206 | Scientist at an Arctic research station discover a spacecraft buried in the ice. Upon closer examination, they discover the frozen pilot. All hell breaks loose when they take him back to their station and he is accidentally thawed out! | Margaret Sheridan, Kennth Tobey, Robert Cornthwaite (Prof.Carrington), Douglas Spencer (Scotty), James Young (Lt.Eddie Dykes), Dewey Martin, Robt.Nichols (Lt.Ken Erickson), William Self (CoI.Barnes),Eduard Franz,Sally Creighton, Jas.Arness. Written By: John W. Campbell Jr. (story), Charles Lederer, and 2 more credits. Rating: 7.4 | It is generally believed that Howard Hawks took over direction during production, and it has always been acknowledged by director Christian Nyby that Hawks was the guiding hand. However, in an interview James Arness said that while Hawks spent a lot of time on the set, it was Nyby who actually directed the picture, not Hawks. |
| THINGS TO COME | William Cameron Menzies 1936. Black and White - UK - English - 100 min | UK: 117 min | Canada: 91 min (VHS version) | UK: 108 min (premiere cut) | UK: 113 min (original version) | USA: 92 min (cut version) | Spain: 89 min (DVD). Rank: 435 | A global war begins in 1940. This war drags out over many decades until most of the people still alive (mostly those born after the war started) do not even know who started it or why. Nothing is being manufactured at all any more and society has broken down into primitive localized communities. In 1966 a great plague wipes out most of what people are left but small numbers still survive. One day a strange aircraft lands at one of these communities and its pilot tells of an organization which is rebuilding civilization and slowly moving across the world re-civilizing these groups of survivors. Great reconstruction takes place over the next few decades and society is once again great and strong. The world's population is now living in underground cities. In the year 2035, on the eve of man's first flight to the moon, a popular uprising against progress (which some people claim has caused the wars of the past) gains support and becomes violent. | Fredric March, Edward Chapman, Ralph Richardson, Margaretta Scott, Cedric Hardwicke, Derek deMarney, Ann Todd, George Sanders. Written By: H.G. Wells (novel), H.G. Wells (screenplay). Rating: 6.8 | The Image Entertainment DVD promises a 97 minute version "restored from the original 35mm masters." The version on the disc runs only 92 minutes, shorter than some VHS versions, but has better print quality than most previous releases. |
| THIRD MAN | Carol Reed 1950. Black and White - UK - English | German | Russian - 104 min | USA: 93 min. Rank: 10 | An out of work pulp fiction novelist, Holly Martins, arrives in a post war Vienna divided into sectors by the victorious allies, and where a shortage of supplies has lead to a flourishing black market. He arrives at the invitation of an ex-school friend, Harry Lime, who has offered him a job, only to discover that Lime has recently died in a peculiar traffic accident. From talking to Lime's friends and associates Martins soon notices that some of the stories are inconsistent, and determines to discover what really happened to Harry Lime. | Orson Welles, James Cotton, Alida Valli, Trevor Howard, Paul Horbinger, Ernst Deutsch, Eric Ponto (Dr.W), Erich Ponto, Siegfried Breur, Bernard Lee, Geoffrey Keen, Wilfred Hyde-White, Erich Pohlman, martin Miller Graham Greene story. Written By: Graham Greene (by), Graham Greene (screenplay), and 3 more credits. Rating: 8.5 | This was meant to be the first of a series of collaborations between mega-producers David O. Selznick and Alexander Korda. However, as the production grew difficult, they decided to take it one film at a time. Ironically, due to the success of the film, since both producers were at each other's throats for the credit for the film, they never collaborated again. |
| THIRTY NINE STEPS | Alfred Hitchcock 1935. Black and White - UK - English - 86 min. Rank: 93 | Richard Hannay is a Canadian visitor to London. At the end of "Mr Memory"'s show in a music hall, he meets Annabella Smith who is running away from secret agents. He accepts to hide her in his flat, but in the night she is murdered. Fearing he could be accused on the girl's murder, Hannay goes on the run to break the spy ring. | Madeline Carroll, Robert Donat, Lucie Mannheim, Godfrey Tearle, PeggyAshcroft, John Laurie, Helen Haye, Peggy Simpson, Miles Malleson, Gus McNaughton and Jerry Vernon (salesmen). Written By: John Buchan (adapted from the novel by), Charles Bennett (adaptation), and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.9 | The 62 imported sheep, upon arriving at the sound stage, immediately went to work on the bracken and bushes that had been brought with them. The infuriated crew had to replace the real plants with ones hastily bought from a local nursery. |
| THIRTY YEARS OF FUN (compilation) | Robert Youngson 1963. Black and White - USA - English - 85 min. Rank: 467 | Spanning a period from the Gay Nineties through the Roaring 20S, the film is a compilation of excerpts from silent screen comedies, presented chronologically and placed in historical perspective by newsreel clips of Teddy Roosevelt, AND the Wright brothers. | Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Laurel and Hardy (incl 'I7), Harry Langdon, Sidney Chaplin, Charlie Chase. Rating: 6.7 | |
| THIS SPORTING LIFE | Lindsay Anderson 1963. Black and White - UK - English - 134 min. Rank: 93 | Despite success on the field, a rising rugby star senses the emerging emptiness of his life as his inner angst begins to materialize through aggression and brutality, so he attempts to woo his landlady in hopes of finding reason to live. | Richard Harris, Rachel Roberts, Alan Badel. Written By: David Storey (based on the novel by), David Storey (screenplay). Rating: 7.9 | When Richard Harris is roughed up behind the scrum, rugby league legend Derek Turner, who was playing the character who punches him, was asked by the director to make the contact look real. So he did. He punched Harris for real and knocked him out completely, shooting for the day had to be stopped while Harris recovered. This was Richard Harris's first Oscar nomination. It would be 27 years before he would receive another one, this time for " The Field". |
| THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR | Norman Jewison 1968. Color - USA - English - 102 min. Rank: 373 | Four men pull off a daring daytime robbery at a bank, dump the money in a trash can and go their separate ways. Thomas Crown, a successful, wealthy businessman pulls up in his Rolls and collects it. Vickie Anderson, an independent insurance investigator is called in to recover the huge haul. She begins to examine the people who knew enough about the bank to have pulled the robbery and discovers Crown. She begins a tight watch on his every move and begins seeing him socially. How does the planner of the perfect crime react to pressure? | Steve McQueen, Faye Dunaway, Paul Burke, Jack Weston, BiffMcGuire, Yaphet Koto, Todd Martin, Sam Melville, Ted Gehring. Rating: 6.9 | Won Oscar. Another 1 win and 5 nominations. Of all of the films that Steve McQueen made in his career, this is reported to have been his favorite. |
| THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE | George Roy Hill 1967. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English | Spanish | French | German | Italian - 138 min | 153 min (roadshow version). Rank: 467 | In 1922 New York City, Millie Dillmount and Miss Dorothy Brown are just two of the girls living at the Priscilla Hotel for Single Young Ladies run by Mrs. Meers. Orphaned, Miss Dorothy, just recently arrived, is a naive, old-fashioned girl from a seemingly privileged background who has aspirations to be a stage actress. From more modest means, Millie, in New York for three months, used to be old fashioned, but now has a new modern sensibility and look to match, complete with bobbed hair and dresses with hemlines above the knee. Included in this new modern sensibility is Millie's goal of getting a job as a stenographer, with a quick promotion to being her wealthy boss' "Mrs.". Love is not to factor into the equation. She believes she's found the right employer in the form of chisel-jawed Trevor Graydon of the Sincere Trust Insurance Company. Millie's pursuit of Mr.. | Julie Andrews, Mary Tyler Moore, Carol Channing, James Fox, Beatrice Lillie, John Gavin, Jakc Soo, Pat Morita, Philip Ahn, Cavada Humphrey, Anthony Dexter, Lou Nova, Herbie Faye, Benny Rubin, Mae Clarke. Rating: 6.7 | Won Oscar. Another 5 wins and 10 nominations. The stage musical "Thoroughly Modern Millie" opened at the Marquis Theater on April 18, 2002, ran for 903 performances and won the 2002 Tony Award (New York City) for the Best Musical and was nominated for Best Book and Score. |
| THOSE MAGNIFICENT MEN IN THEIR FLYING MACHINES | Ken Annakin 1965. Color - UK - English | French | German | Italian | Japanese - 138 min. Rank: 373 | In the early days of the 20th century, a British Newspaper offers a prize for the winner of a cross channel air race which brings flyers from all over the world. There are many sub-plots as the flyers jockey for position and the affections of various women. | Stuart Whitmna, Sarah Miles, James Fox, Alberto Sordi, Robert Morley, Gert Frobe, Jean Pierre Cassel, TerryThomas, Irina Demick, Benny Hill,Gordon Jackson, Millicent Martin, Tony Hancock, Red Skelton (great sequence w. Ronald Searle titles), Jas.Robewrts. Written By: Ken Annakin, Jack Davies. Rating: 6.9 | Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win and 6 nominations. Most of the aerial scenes were filmed before 10 am each day when the air was least turbulent. |
| THREE SISTERS | Paul Bogart 1966. - USA - English - - English - 168 min. Rank: 259 | In a small Russian town at the turn of the century, three sisters (Olga, Irina, and Masha) and their brother Andrei live but dream daily of their return to their former home in Moscow, where life is charming and stimulating meaningful. But for now they exist in a malaise of dissatisfaction. Soldiers from the local military post provide them some companionship and society, but nothing can suffice to replace Moscow in their hopes. Andrei marries a provincial girl, Natasha, and begins to settle into a life of much less meaning than he had hoped. Natasha begins to run the family her way. Masha, though married, yearns for the sophisticated life and begins a dalliance with Vershinin, an army officer with a sick and suicidal wife. Even Irina, the freshest, most optimistic of the sisters, begins to waver in her dreams until, finally, tragedy strikes. | Kim Stanley, Geraldine Page, Shelly Winters, Kevin McCarthy, Sandy Dennis. Actor's Studio production of Chekov play. Written By: Anton Chekhov (play), Randall Jarrell. Rating: 7.2 | James Tolkan's movie debut. |
| TIGHT LITTLE ISLAND (aka. Whisky Galore) | Alexander Mackendrick 1949. Black and White - UK - English | Gaelic - 82 min. Rank: 206 | Based on a true story. The name of the real ship, that sunk Feb 5 1941 - during WWII - was S/S Politician. Having left Liverpool two days earlier, heading for Jamaica, it sank outside Eriskay, The Outer Hebrides, Scotland, in bad weather, containing 250,000 bottles of whisky. The locals gathered as many bottles as they could, before the proper authorities arrived, and even today, bottles are found in the sand or in the sea every other year. | Basil Radford, Catherine Lacey, Bruce Seton, Joan Greenwood, Gordon Jackson, James Rbtsn Justice, Duncan MacRae, Finlay Curie (narr). Written By: Compton MacKenzie (novel), Compton MacKenzie (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.4 | Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Fourteen whisky bottles, said to be the last surviving from the wreck of the SS Politician, the real-life shipwreck that inspired the film, were sold in 1993 at a Glasgow auction for £12,012 (approximately $22,500 at 2006 conversion rates), with a bottle of Haig Dimple fetching £1,210 (the equivalent of $2,270). |
| TILLIE AND GUS | Francis Martin 1933. Black and White - USA - English - 58 min. Rank: 259 | Tillie and Augustus Winterbottom are thought to be missionaries when they arrive to find Phineas Pratt trying cheat the Sheridans out of her father's inheritance, including a ferry franchise and a boat. The only way to keep the franchise is to win a race against Pratt's boat. | W.C.Fields, Allison Skipworth, Baby LeRoy, Jacqueline Wells (Julie Bishop), Clifford Jones (Phillip Trent), Clarence Wilson, George Barbier, Barton MacLane, Edgar Kennedy, Robert McKenzie, James Burke, Irving Bacon, Billy Engle, Brooks Benedict. Written By: Walter DeLeon (screenplay), Francis Martin (screenplay), and 9 more credits. Rating: 7.2 | W.C. Fields wrote nearly all of his own dialogue to this film as well as several entire sequences in which he appeared, despite frequent objections from the director. After the success of this film, an exhibitor at Paramount announced that the comedian would be permitted full creative control to his following productions. |
| TILLIE'S PUNCTURED ROMANCE | Mack Sennett 1914. Black and White - USA - English - 74 min (21.5 fps) | 82 min (2003 restoration). Rank: 373 | Charlie talks wealthy farmer's daughter Tillie into eloping with him (and taking her father's money). In the city Tillie gets drunk and lands in jail while Charlie runs off with her money and his old girlfriend Mabel. Later Charlie reads that Tillie (now working as a waitress) has inherited the estate of her multi-millionaire uncle. Charlie dumps Mabel and talks Tillie into moving into her uncle's villa, and Mabel arranges to become a housemaid there. The uncle (never really dead) returns and summons the police to have them all thrown out. | Marie Dressler, Charlie Chaplin, Mabel Normand, Mack Swain, Charles Bennett, Chester Conklin Keystone made first comedy feature. Rating: 6.9 | Seventh of twelve movies that starred The Keystone Cops. |
| TIME MACHINE | George Pal 1960. Color (Metrocolor) - USA - English - 103 min | Australia: 89 min (video version). Rank: 185 | On January 5, 1900, a disheveled looking H.G. Wells - George to his friends - arrives late to his own dinner party. He tells his guests of his travels in his time machine, the work about which his friends knew. They were also unbelieving, and skeptical of any practical use if it did indeed work. George knew that his machine was stationary in geographic position, but he did not account for changes in what happens over time to that location. He also learns that the machine is not impervious and he is not immune to those who do not understand him or the machine's purpose. George tells his friends that he did not find the Utopian society he so wished had developed. He mentions specifically a civilization several thousand years into the future which consists of the subterranean morlocks and the surface dwelling eloi, who on first glance lead a carefree life. Despite all these issues, love can still bloom over the spread of millennia. | Rod Taylor, Alan Young, Yvette Mimieux, Sebastian Cabot, Tom Helmore, Whit Bissel, Doris Lloyd, Paul Frees, Bob Barren, H.G.Wells story. Written By: David Duncan (screenplay), H.G. Wells (novel). Rating: 7.5 | Won Oscar. Another 1 nomination. George Pal had long planned to do a sequel to this film. Several submitted scripts were reportedly rejected by MGM. |
| TINKER, TAILER, SOLDIER SPY | John Irvin 1979. Color - UK - English - 290 min | UK: 315 min (7 parts). Rank: 1 | George Smiley has been retired for about a year when he finds a friend from the circus, his old outfit in British Intelligence sitting in his living room. He is taken to the home of an advisor to the Prime Minister on intelligence matters where he finds evidence that one of the men in the senior ranks of his old agency is a Russian spy. Smiley is asked to find him, without official access to any of the files in the Circus or letting on that anyone is under suspicion. With only a few old friends, his own powers of deduction, and secrecy as weapons, Smiley must unearth the spy who turned him out of the Circus. | Alec Guiness, Alexander Knox two :60 chapters of the John Le Carre miniseries. Written By: John le Carré (novel), Arthur Hopcraft (dramatisation). Rating: 8.8 | Nominated for Primetime Emmy. Another 4 wins and 7 nominations. John le Carré has admitted that the vocabulary used in the novels/series (babysitters, lamplighters, the Circus, the nursery, moles) was made up. He was later amused to discover that real agents had begun to appropriate some of his vocabulary once his espionage stories were published. |
| TO BE OR NOT TO BE | Ernst Lubitsch 1942. Black and White - USA - English | German - 99 min. Rank: 50 | In occupied Poland during WWII, a troupe of ham stage actors (led by Joseph Tura and his wife Maria) match wits with the Nazis. A spy has information which would be very damaging to the Polish resistance and they must prevent it's being delivered to the Germans. | Jack Benny, Carole Lombard, Robert Stack, Felix Bressart, Lionel Atwill, Stanley Ridges (Prof.Siletsky), Sig Ruman, Tom Duggan (Bronski), Charles Halton (Dobosh), Helmut Dantine, Miles Mander (Maj.Cunningham), Maude Ebem (Anna,maid), Halliwell Hobbes (Gen. Written By: Melchior Lengyel (original story), Edwin Justus Mayer (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 8.1 | Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 wins. After the shooting of this film was finished, Carole Lombard told many people that this film was the happiest experience of her career from start to finish. |
| TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT | Howard Hawks 1944. Black and White - USA - English | French - 100 min. Rank: 70 | Harry Morgan and his alcoholic sidekick, Eddie, are based on the island of Martinique and crew a boat available for hire. However, since the second world war is happening around them business is not what it could be and after a customer who owes them a large sum fails to pay they are forced against their better judgement to violate their preferred neutrality and to take a job for the resistance transporting a fugitive on the run from the Nazis to Martinique. Through all this runs the stormy relationship between Morgan and Marie "Slim" Browning, a resistance sympathizer and the sassy singer in the club where Morgan spends most of his days. | Humphrey Bogart, Walter Brennan, Lauren BacaII, Delores Moran, Hoagy Carmichael, Walter Molnar, Sheldon Leonard, Marcel Dalio, Walter Sande, Dan Seymour, Aido nadi, Paul Marion, Pat West, Sir Lancelot, Eugene Borden, Edith Wilson Jules Furthman-William F. Written By: Jules Furthman (screenplay), William Faulkner (screenplay), and 3 more credits. Rating: 8 | "Lux Radio Theater" broadcast a 60 minute radio adaptation of the movie on October 14, 1946 with Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall reprising their film roles. |
| TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD | Robert Mulligan 1962. Black and White - USA - English - 129 min. Rank: 10 | Based on Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize winning book of 1960. Atticus Finch is a lawyer in a racially divided Alabama town in the 1930s. He agrees to defend a young black man who is accused of raping a white woman. Many of the townspeople try to get Atticus to pull out of the trial, but he decides to go ahead. How will the trial turn out - and will it change any of the racial tension in the town ? | Gregory Peck, Phillip Alford, John Megna, Brock Peters, Robewrt Duvall, Frank Overton, Rosemary Murphy, Paul Fix, Collin Wilcox, William Windom, Alice Ghostley; narr. Kim Stanley. Scply:Harper Lee from Horton Foote novel. Written By: Harper Lee (novel), Horton Foote (screenplay). Rating: 8.5 | Mary Badham (Scout) and Gregory Peck (Atticus) became close during filming and kept in contact for the rest of his life. He always called her Scout. |
| TOKYO OLYMPIAD | Kon Ichikawa 1966. Color (Eastmancolor) - Japan - Japanese - 170 min | USA: 170 min (1984 reissue) | USA: 93 min. Rank: 35 | Ichikawa's cameras follow the 1964 Summer Olympics from opening to closing ceremonies. Sometimes he focuses on spectators, as athletes pass in a blur; sometimes he isolates a competitor; other times, it's a closeup of muscles as a hammer is thrown or a barbell lifted; or, we watch a race from start to finish. We see come-from-behind wins in the women's 800 and the men's 10,000 meters. We follow an athlete from Chad from arrival to meals, training, competition, and loss. Throughout, the film celebrates the nobility of athletes pushing themselves to the limit, regardless of victory. | documentary prob. 93m version of 170m orig. Written By: Kon Ichikawa, Yoshio Shirasaka, and 2 more credits. Rating: 8.2 | |
| TOO LATE THE HERO | Robert Aldrich 1970. Color (Metrocolor) - USA - English - Argentina: 145 min | USA: 133 min (video compilation) | USA: 133 min (TCM Print). Rank: 435 | A WWII film set on a Pacific island. Japanese and allied forces occupy different parts of the island. When a group of British soldiers are sent on a mission behind enemy lines, things don't go exactly to plan. This film differs in that some of the 'heros' are very reluctant, but they come good when they are pursued by the Japanese who are determined to prevent them returning to base. | M.Caine, Fonda bit, Cliff Roberton, Ian Bannen, Harry Andrews, Denholm Elliot, Ron Fraser (BJK's friend) WW2 Pacific NMT,red,jmp cts. Written By: Robert Aldrich (screenplay), Robert Aldrich (story), and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.8 | Tokyo firms created 400 new Japanese army uniforms for the production. |
| TOO MANY HUSBANDS | Wesley Ruggles 1940. Black and White - USA - English - 81 min. Rank: 574 | It's been a year since Bill Cardew was declared dead by drowning, and his widow Vicky is now married to his old friend and business partner, Henry Lowndes. When Bill unexpectedly returns from the island where he was marooned, what is Vicky to do? Well, having twice been a rather neglected wife, Vicky finds all the attention from two husbands competing for her favors delightful, and is in no hurry to make a decision..much to the discomfiture of hapless Bill and Henry. | Fred MacMurray, Melvin Douglas, Jean Arthur, Harry Davenport, Dorothy Peterson, Melville Cooper, Edgar Buchanan, Tom Dugan, Gary Owen, Lee White, Mary Treen, William Brisbane, Sam McDaniel Ralph Peters (cabbie), Dave Willock. Written By: Claude Binyon (screenplay), W. Somerset Maugham (based on the play by). Rating: 6.4 | Nominated for Oscar. Released at about the same time as My Favorite Wife. "My Favorite Wife" deals with a husband, a wife, and a fiancé. This one deals with a wife with two husbands. Both did well at the box office. |
| TOPAZ | Alfred Hitchcock 1969. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English | Spanish | French | Russian - 143 min | 127 min (edited version) | Portugal: 125 min. Rank: 632 | A high ranking Russian official defects to the United States, where he is interviewed by US agent Michael Nordstrom. The defector reveals that a French spy ring codenamed "Topaz" has been passing NATO secrets to the Russians. Michael calls in his French friend and counterpart Andre Devereaux to expose the spies. | John Forsythe, Frederick Stafford, Dany Robin, John Vernon, Karin Dor, Michel Piccoli, Phillippe Noiret, Claude Jade, Michel Subor, Roscoe Lee Browne. inc.-20. Written By: Leon Uris (from the novel by), Samuel A. Taylor (screenplay). Rating: 6.2 | After Leon Uris left the film, Alfred Hitchcock asked Arthur Laurents if he was interested in working with Hitchcock on the script of Topaz. But Arthur Laurents refused. So Hitchcock called Samuel A. Taylor to work on the script. One of the difficulties Hitchcock and Samuel Taylor faced was they didn't have enough time to work on the script. According to the book "The A-Z of Hitchcock", Samuel Taylor had to continue writing throughout the shooting. |
| TOPAZE | Harry d'Abbadie d'Arrast 1933. Black and White - USA - English - 78 min. Rank: 435 | An honest and naive schoolteacher gets a lesson in how the world works outside the classroom, when a rich Baron and his mistress use the teacher's name and outstanding reputation in a crooked business scheme. | John Barrymore, Myrna Loy, ASlbert Conti, Luis Alberni, Reginald Mason, Jobyna Howland, Jackie Searle, Frank Reicher. Ben Hecht scpt. from Marcel Pagnol play. Written By: Ben Hecht, Benn W. Levy (adaptation), and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.8 | This film and Out All Night were released on a double bill in many theaters during their original run. |
| TOPKAPI | Jules Dassin 1964. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English | French | Turkish | German | Greek | Italian - 120 min. Rank: 329 | A small-time con-man with passport problems gets mixed up with a gang of world-class jewelry thieves plotting to rob the Topkapi museum in Istanbul. Turkish intelligence, suspecting arms smuggling, gets involved, and under pressure the con-man rises to heights he'd never dreamed of. | Melina Lercouri, Peter Ustinov, Maximillian Schell, Robert Morley, Sakim Tamiroff, Giles Segal, Jess Hahn, Titos Vandis, Ege Ern art , Senih Orkan, Ahmet Danyal Topatan, Josef Dassin (Josef), Amy Dalby, Despo Diamantidou. Written By: Monja Danischewsky (screenplay), Eric Ambler (novel). Rating: 7.0 | Won Oscar. Another 2 wins and 4 nominations. Cited by Mission: Impossible TV series creator Bruce Geller as the inspiration for his own series. |
| TOPPER | Norman Z. McLeod 1937. Black and White - USA - English - 97 min. Rank: 206 | The funloving Kerbys, stockholders in the bank of which henpecked, stuffy Cosmo Topper is president, drive recklessly once too often and become ghosts. In limbo because they've never done either good or bad deeds, they decide to try a good one now: rehabilitating Topper. Lovely, flirtatious Marion takes a keen personal interest in the job. Will Topper survive the wrath of jealous ghost George? Will Mrs. Topper find that a scandalous husband isn't all bad? | Bennett,Grant,Young,Burke, Mowbray, Paulette,Arthur Lake,Hedda Hopper, Theodore von Eltz,J.Farrell MacDonald,Doodles Weaver,Si Jenks ,Hoagy ,Claire Windsor (if). Written By: Jack Jevne (screen play), Eric Hatch (screen play), and 2 more credits. Rating: 7.4 | Nominated for 2 Oscars. This was the first black and white film to be "colorized" in 1985. |
| TOPPER RETURNS | Roy Del Ruth 1941. Black and White - USA - English - 88 min. Rank: 373 | Topper is once again tormented by a fun-loving spirit. This time, it's Joan Blondell, who was accidentally murdered while vacationing at the home of her wealthy friend, Ann Carrington (Landis), the intended victim. With Topper's help, Joan sets out to find her killer with the expected zany results. | Roland Young, Billie Burke, Joan Blondell, Carole Landis, Dennis O'Keefe, Patsy Kelly, H.B.Warner, Rochester, Geo.Zucco, Donald MacBride, Rafaello Ottiano, Trevor Bardette.ScptJ onathan Latimer,Gorden Douglas,Paul Gerald SmithlThome Smith. Written By: Thorne Smith (characters), Jonathan Latimer (original screenplay), and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.9 | Nominated for 2 Oscars. In the film, Eddie (played by Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson) says that he's going back to "Mr. Benny", an in-joke reference to the fact that Anderson played Rochester, the valet, on Jack Benny's radio program and later TV show. |
| TOPPER TAKES A TRIP | Norman Z. McLeod 1939. Black and White - USA - English | French - 80 min | West Germany: 90 min. Rank: 546 | Mrs Topper's friend Mrs Parkhurst has convinced Mrs topper, to file for a divorce from Cosmo, due to the strange circumstances of his trip with ghost Marion Kirby. Marion comes back from heaven's door to help Cosmo again, this time only with dog Mr. Atlas. Due to a strange behaviour of Cosmo, the judge refuses to divorce them, so Mrs Parkhurst takes Mrs Topper on a trip to France, where she tries to arrange the final reasons for the divorce, with help of a gold-digging French baron, Marion takes Cosmo to the same hotel, to bring them back together and to get her own final ticket to heaven, but the whole thing turns out to be not too easy.. | Roland Young, Billie Burke, Constance Bennett, Alan Mowbray, Verree Teasdale, Franklin Pangborn, Alex D'Arcy, Paul Hurst, Eddy Conrad, Spencer Charters, Irving Pichel, Leon Belasco, Torben Meyer, Cary Grant (clip). from Thorne Smith. Written By: Thorne Smith (novel), Jack Jevne (screenplay), and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.5 | Nominated for Oscar. |
| TOUCH OF EVIL | Orson Welles 1958. Black and White - USA - English | Spanish - 95 min | Germany: 111 min (1998 alternate version) | USA: 108 min (1975 alternate version) | USA: 112 min (director's cut) | Spain: 106 min (DVD edition). Rank: 27 | Mexican Narcotics officer Ramon Miguel 'Mike' Vargas has to interrupt his honeymoon on the Mexican-US border when an American building contractor is killed after someone places a bomb in his car. He's killed on the US side of the border but it's clear that the bomb was planted on the Mexican side. As a result, Vargas delays his return to Mexico City where he has been mounting a case against the Grandi family crime and narcotics syndicate. Police Captain Hank Quinlan is in charge on the US side and he soon has a suspect, a Mexican named Manolo Sanchez. Vargas is soon onto Quinlan and his Sergeant, Pete Menzies, when he catches them planting evidence to convict Sanchez. With his new American wife, Susie, safely tucked away in a hotel on the US side of the border - or so he thinks - he starts to review Quinlan's earlier cases. While concentrating on the corrupt policeman however, the Grandis have their own plans for Vargas and they start with his wife Susie. | Charleton Heston, Janet Leigh, Orson Welles, Joseph Calleia, Akim Tamiroff, Valentin de Vargas, Ray Collins, Dennis Weaver, Joanna Moore, Mort Mills, Marlene Dietrich, Vitor Millan, LaIo Rios, Michael Sargant, Mercedes MccCambridge, Joseph Cotton, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Phil Harve. Written By: Orson Welles (screenplay), Whit Masterson (novel), and 2 more credits. Rating: 8.3 | Orson Welles said that this was the most fun he'd ever had filming a picture, unlike most of his Hollywood films, because he wasn't troubled by studio interference (until after he completed the picture, anyway), he was given a healthy budget and he was working with a crew of some of his favorite actors on a script that didn't involve as much symbolism and all-out cinematic tricks as something like Citizen Kane. |
| TRACK OF THE CAT | William A. Wellman 1954. Color (WarnerColor) - USA - English - 102 min. Rank: 574 | A family saga: In a stunning mountain valley ranch setting near Aspen, complex and dangerous family dynamics play out against the backdrop of the first big snowstorm of winter and an enormous panther with seemingly mythical qualities which is killing cattle. An arrogant, pitiless son (Robert Mitchum) and a rigid pharisaic mother side against a moral eldest son and and a defeated alcoholic father while the youngest son tries to lay low, hoping against hope to persuade his family to allow him to marry a girl he has brought to visit. The girl however draws venomous condemnation and the two elder brothers set out in the midst of a violent snowstorm on a dangerous mission to kill the deadly panther. | Robert Mitchum, Tab Hunter, Theresa Wright, Diana Lynn, Phillip Tonge (Pa), Beulah Bondi, William Hopper, Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer. A.L.Bezzerides scpt. Written By: A.I. Bezzerides (screenplay), Walter Van Tilburg Clark (novel). Rating: 6.4 | Average Shot Length = ~10 seconds. Median Shot Length = ~9 seconds. |
| TRADE WINDS | Tay Garnett 1938. Black and White - USA - English - USA: 93 min. Rank: 546 | Kay Kerrigan commits a murder and then changes her hair color, assumes a new identity and flees the country by ship. She's unaware that she's being followed by Sam Wye, a skirt chasing detective. The two soon develop a shipboard romance. Will Sam be able to bring Kay back to the States and likely imprisonment? | Frederic March, Joan bennett, Ralph Bellamy, Ann Southern, Sidney Blackmer, Thomas Mitchell, Robert Elliott, Richard "Tucker, Joyce Compton, Patricia Farr, Wilma Francis, Phyllis Barry, Dorothy Tree, Kay Linaker, Dorothy Comingore, Harry Barris, Brooks Be. Written By: Tay Garnett (story), Dorothy Parker, and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.5 | Ann Sothern's character proved so popular in this movie, it was spun off to create series of "Maisie" films. |
| TRAMP, TRAMP, TRAMP | Harry Edwards 1926. Black and White - USA - 62 min. Rank: 574 | Low-life Harry falls in love with sweet Betty who inspires him to improve himself so he can marry her. He enters a $25,000 cross-country hiking contest. After many adventures he wins, pays off his father Amos's mortgage and marries Betty. | Harry Langdon, Joan Crawford, Edwards Davis, Car;ton Griffin, Alex B. Francis, Brooks Benedict, Tom Murray Frank Capra,one of writers. Rating: 6.4 | When Harry and Betty's "baby" is introduced, we see that he is also played by Harry Langdon. This came about because the real baby that was to be used for the scene wouldn't cooperate, and as a gag Langdon had the cameraman shoot him playing the baby. After it was screened, Langdon liked it so much he left it in. |
| TRANSATLANTIC MERRY-GO-ROUND | Benjamin Stoloff 1934. Black and White - USA - English - 91 min. Rank: 373 | Underworld king Lee Lother has been killed aboard a ocean liner, several people could have been the murderer. There is his mistress Anya Roysen, a married woman, who was jealous of his flirtations with his old moll, night club singer Sally Marsh, who had agreed for one last night with Lother, to get her younger brother Ned out of the Lother's clutches because he has faked Lother's name on a check to pay his gambling debts. Then there is Sally's new flame Jimmy Brett, a con man and gentlemen thief, who has out-tricked Lother in a fixed poker game, and is, together with shorty, after the ladies jewels. Inspector McKinney suspects Joe Saunders, a recently released convict, who was arrested due to some tips by Lother, but Ned and Sally insist that they committed the crime alone. | Gene Raymond, Sid Silvers, Jack Benny, Nancy Carroll, Sydney Howard, Sidney Blackmer,Ralph Morgan,Shirley Grey,Robert Elliott, Sam Hardy, William"Stage"Boyd, Carlyle Moore, Frank Parker, Mitzi Green, Syd Daylor, Boswell Srs. Written By: Leon Gordon (story), Joseph Moncure March (additional dialogue and scenes), and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.9 | This is purportedly the first time the term "Rock 'n' Roll", the title of the song performed by the Boswell Sisters, is used in a movie. |
| TRAP OF SOLID GOLD | Paul Bogart 1967. Color - - English - 60 min. Rank: n/a | Cliff Robertson, Dina Merrill, Dustin Hoffman, Conrad Nagel (:51). Written By: John D. MacDonald (story), Ellen M. Violett (teleplay). Rating: | ||
| TREASURE OF SIERRA MADRE | John Huston 1948. Black and White - USA - English | Spanish - 126 min. Rank: 10 | Fred C. Dobbs and Bob Curtin, both down on their luck in Tampico, Mexico in 1925, meet up with a grizzled prospector named Howard and decide to join with him in search of gold in the wilds of central Mexico. Through enormous difficulties, they eventually succeed in finding gold, but bandits, the elements, and most especially greed threaten to turn their success into disaster. | Humphrey Bogart, Walter Huston, Tim Holt, Bruce Bennett, Barton Maclane, Alfonso Bedoya, Robert Blake, John Huston, Pat Flaherty, Jack Holt, Ann Sheridan (Streetwalker). Written By: John Huston (screenplay), B. Traven (novel). Rating: 8.5 | There were scenes in which Walter Huston had to speak fluent Spanish, a language he did not know off camera. To fill this need, John Huston hired a Mexican to record the lines, and then the elder Huston memorized them so well that many assumed he knew the language like a native. |
| TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN | Elia Kazan 1945. Black and White - USA - English - 129 min. Rank: 70 | In Brooklyn circa 1900, the Nolans manage to enjoy life on pennies despite great poverty and Papa's alcoholism. We come to know these people well through big and little troubles: Aunt Sissy's scandalous succession of "husbands"; the removal of the one tree visible from their tenement; and young Francie's desire to transfer to a better school..if irresponsible Papa can get his act together. | Dorothy McGuire, Joan Blondell, James Dunn, Lloyd Nolan,Peggy Ann Garner,Ted Donaldson,James Gleason,Ruth Nelson, John Alexander, B.S.Pully, Ferike Boros, Charles Halton, Patricia McFadden, J.Farrell MacDonald, Adeline De Walt Reynolds, George Reynolds, M. Written By: Tess Slesinger (screen play), Frank Davis (screen play), and 2 more credits. Rating: 8 | Won Oscar. Another 1 win and 1 nomination. Gene Tierney was originally cast as Katie Nolan. When Tierney became pregnant, Dorothy McGuire was given the role. |
| TRIAL AND ERROR | James Hill 1962. Black and White - UK - English - 88 min | USA: 76 min. Rank: 647 | After 40 years of undistinguished practice Morgenhall (Sellers), an unsuccessful barrister, is assigned the defence of an accused murderer. His client Fowle (Attenborough), wants to plead guilty to murdering his wife. Morgenhall botches the case. | Peter Sellers, Richard Attenborough (5 pts), Beryl Reid, David Lodge, Frank Pettingill, Eric Woodburn, Frank Thornton John Mortimer play TRIBUTE (Bob Clark' SO Can) Jack lemmon, Robby Benson, Lee Remick, Kim Cattrall, Colleen Dewhurst, John Marley, Gale G. Written By: John Mortimer (play), Pierre Rouve (screenplay). Rating: 6.1 | Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. |
| TRIBUTE | Bob Clark 1980. Color - Canada - English - 121 min. Rank: 647 | A shallow Broadway press agent learns he is dying just as his son by his ex-wife arrives for a visit. | Jack Lemmon, Robby Benson, Lee Remick, Kim Cattrall, Colleen Dewhurst, John Marley, Gale Garnett, Teri Keane, Rummy Bishop, John Dee, Bob Windsor. Written By: Bernard Slade (play), Bernard Slade (screenplay). Rating: 6.1 | Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 wins and 12 nominations. The original Broadway production of "Tribute" by Bernard Slade opened on June 1, 1978 at the Brooks Atkinson Theater and ran for 212 performances. |
| TRIBUTE TO A BAD MAN | Robert Wise 1956. Color (Eastmancolor) - USA - English - 95 min. Rank: 506 | Jeremy Rodock is a tough horse rancher who strings up rustlers soon as look at them. Fresh out of Pennsylvania, Steve Miller finds it hard to get used to Rodock's ways, although he takes an immediate shine to his Greek girl Jocasta. | James Cagney, Don Dubbins, Stephen McNally, Irene Pappas,Vic Morrow,James Griffith,Onslow Stevens,James Bell,Jeanette Nolan,Chubby Johnson, Royal Dano, Lee Van Cleef, Bud Osborne, Tom London, Dennis Moore, Buddy Roosevelt. Written By: Michael Blankfort (story), Jack Schaefer (short story). Rating: 6.6 | Robert Francis was originally cast in the role of Steve Miller but he died in a plane crash two weeks before he was set to begin filming on location in Colorado. He was replaced by Don Dubbins. |
| TRUE GLORY | Garson Kanin, and 1 more credit. 1945. Black and White - UK | USA - English - 87 min. Rank: 93 | A documentary account of the allied invasion of Europe during World War II compiled from the footage shot by nearly 1400 cameramen. It opens as the assembled allied forces plan and train for the D-Day invasion at bases in Great Britain and covers all the major events of the war in Europe from the Normandy landings to the fall of Berlin. | Garson Kanin scpt, William Alwyn,music played by London Symph.Orch (Muir Matheson). Conceived by Dwight Eisenhower. European war documentary Possibly Stuart Erwin, Lloyd Nolan and others doing voices.. Rating: 7.9 | Won Oscar. Another 2 wins. According to the film's director Garson Kanin, when the movie won the 1945 Academy Award as 'Best Documentary Feature', the Oscar went to the uncredited producer, General Dwight D. Eisenhower. |
| TWELVE CHAIRS | Mel Brooks 1970. Color - USA - English | Russian - 94 min. Rank: 506 | A treasure hunt. An aging ex-nobleman of the Czarist regime has finally adjusted to life under the commisars in Russia. Both he and the local priest find that the family jewels were hidden in a chair, one of a set of twelve. They return separately to Moscow to find the hidden fortune. | Ron Moody, Frank Langella, Dom DeLuise, Mel Brooks, Bridget Brice, Robert Benral, David Lander, Andreas Voutsinas, Vlada Petric, Diana Copeland. Written By: Ilya Ilf (novel), Yevgeni Petrov (novel), and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.6 | When Ostap Bender is walking around Stargorod at the beginning of the movie, he turns from a street. There were an old and a new street sign hanging. The old one was "Czar Nicolaus II Avenue", the new one was "Marx, Engels, Lenin and XXXXXXX-Street". The censored name was Trotzkiy, a partner of Wladimir Lenin and Stalin, who was the head of the government of the USSR at the time the movie is set in (1927) was against him. |
| TWICE IN A LIFETIME | Bud Yorkin 1985. Color - USA - English - 111 min. Rank: 546 | A middle-aged steelworker is content with his job and his family, but feels that something is missing in his life. On his 50th birthday, he stops in at a local bar for a drink to celebrate. He finds himself attracted to the young, very sexy barmaid--and, to his surprise, he finds that she is also very attracted to him. | Gene Hackman, Ann Margaret, Ellen Burstyn, Amy Madigan, Ally Sheedy, Brioan Dennehy, Stephen Lan, Darrell Larson. Rating: 6.5 | Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 nominations. The orginial title of the script was "Kisses at 50". |
| TWISTED CROSS | 1956. USA - English | German. Rank: 238 | Documentary of how Hitler came to power and was eventually was defeated. | Documentaryt on Nazi Germany and WW2: Alexander Scourby, Eva Braun and Neville Chamberlain. Rating: 7.3 | |
| TWO RODE TOGETHER | John Ford 1961. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 109 min. Rank: 373 | The US Army is under pressure from the desperate relatives of white prisoners of the Comanches to secure their rescue. A cynical and corrupt marshal, Guthrie McCabe, is persuaded by an army lieutenant to assist in the negotiations with the Comanches. However, just two captives are released; and their reintegration into white society proves highly problematic. | James Stewart, Richard Widmark, Linda Christian, Shirley Jones, Andy Devine, John McIntyre, Mae Marshj, Henry Brandon. Written By: Frank S. Nugent (screenplay), Will Cook (novel). Rating: 6.9 | The movie's critical and commercial failure was largely blamed on the miscasting of the two leads, since James Stewart, at 52, and Richard Widmark, at 45, were both much older than their characters. |
| TWO THOUSAND TEN | Peter Hyams 1984. Color (Metrocolor) - USA - English | Russian - 116 min. Rank: 506 | In this sequel to 2001: A Space Odyssey, a joint American- Soviet expedition is sent to Jupiter to discover what went wrong with the U.S.S. Discovery against a backdrop of growing global tensions. Among the mysteries the expedition must explain are the appearance of a huge black monolith in Jupiter's orbit and the fate of H.A.L., the Discovery's sentient computer. Based on a novel | Roy Scheider, John Lithgow, Helen Mirren, Bob Balaban, Keir Dullea, Madolyn Smith, Elya Baskin, Savely Kamarov, Douglas Rain (voice). Written By: Arthur C. Clarke (novel), Peter Hyams (screenplay). Rating: 6.6 | Nominated for 5 Oscars. Another 1 win and 3 nominations. One of the characters is "Kirbuk", a backwards representation of "Kubrick". Stanley Kubrick directed 2001: A Space Odyssey. |
| TWO WOMEN | Vittorio De Sica 1960. Black and White - Italy | France - Italian | German - 100 min. Rank: 109 | Cesira and her 13-year-old daughter, Rosetta, flee from the allied bombs in Rome during the second world war. They travel to the village where Cesira was born. During their journey and in the village, the mother does everything to protect Rosetta. However, on one occasion they both get raped by soldiers hiding in a church. This cruel event is too much for the always powerful fighting Cesira and she suffers from a breakdown. During their stay in the village, a young intellectual, Michele falls in love with Cesira who does not know how to reply to the advances of such a gentleman. | Sophia Loren, Raf Vallone, Eleanora Brown, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Scply: Cesare XZavattini from Alberto Moravia novel' (Italian). Written By: Alberto Moravia (novel), Cesare Zavattini (adaptation), and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.8 | Won Oscar. Another 8 wins and 2 nominations. Italian censorship visa #33469 delivered on 26 November 1960. |
| TYCOON | Richard Wallace 1947. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 128 min | West Germany: 95 min (cut version). Rank: 692 | Engineer Johnny Munroe is enlisted to build a railroad tunnel through a mountain to reach mines. His task is complicated, and his ethics are compromised, when he falls in love with his boss's daughter. | John Wayne, Laraine Day, Cedric Hardwicke, Judith Anderson, Anthony Quinn, Grant Withers. Written By: Borden Chase (screenplay), C.E. Scoggins (novel), and 1 more credit. Rating: 5.9 | This was the most expensive movie produced by RKO to date. |
| UGLY AMERICAN | George Englund 1963. Color (Eastmancolor) - USA - English - Germany: 115 min | USA: 120 min. Rank: 467 | An intelligent, articulate scholar, Harrison MacWhite, survives a hostile Senate confirmation hearing at the hands of conservatives to become ambassador to Sarkan, a southeast Asian country where civil war threatens a tense peace. Despite his knowledge, once he's there, MacWhite sees only a dichotomy between the U.S. and Communism. He can't accept that anti-American sentiment might be a longing for self-determination and nationalism. So, he breaks from his friend Deong, a local opposition leader, ignores a foreman's advice about slowing the building of a road, and tries to muscle ahead. What price must the country and his friends pay for him to get some sense? | Marlon Brando,Eiji Okada,Sandra Church,Pat Hingle,Arthur Hill, Jocelyn Brando, Judson Pratt, Geo.Shibata, Phil Ober, Stephan Schnaubel, Carl Benton Reid. Written By: William J. Lederer (novel), Eugene Burdick (novel), and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.7 | Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 1 win and 1 nomination. Emma Atkins is played by Marlon Brando's sister, Jocelyn Brando. |
| UNCLE HARRY (aka ZERO MURDER CASE) | Harry Kerwin 1958. Black and White - UK - English - 75 min. Rank: n/a | Peter Cushing?, Mary Morris?. Rating: | ||
| UNDER FIRE | Roger Spottiswoode 1953. Color - USA - English - 128 min. Rank: 329 | Nicaragua 1979: Star photographer Russel Price covers the civil war against president Somoza. Facing the cruel fighting - people versus army - it's often hard for him to stay neutral. When the Guerillas have him take a picture of the leader Rafael, who's believed to be dead, he gets drawn into the happenings. Together with his reporter friends Claire and Alex he has to hide from the army. | Nick Nolte, Ed Harris, Gene Hackman, Joanna Cassidy, Alma Martinez, Holly Plance, Hamilton Camp,Jean-Louis Trintignant, Richard Masur. Mute print. Written By: Ron Shelton, Clayton Frohman (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.0 | Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 wins and 3 nominations. WILHELM SCREAM: when a man is thrown off an elephant in the beginning of the film |
| UNDER TEN FLAGS | Duilio Coletti 1960. Black and White - Italy | USA - English - USA: 92 min | UK: 110 min. Rank: 613 | 665-Day Pursuit of the Killer-Ship Atlantis. | Charles Laughton, Van Heflin, Mylene Demongeot, John Ericson, Liam Redmond, Alex Nicol, Gregoire AsIan, Cecil Parker, Eleanora Rossi-Drago. Written By: Bernhard Rogge (diaries), Vittoriano Petrilli (screenplay), and 4 more credits. Rating: 6.3 | The ship, Abdullah, that caused so much consternation to the Atlantis is the fictional name for the British ship, Kemmendine. |
| UNDER THE RAINBOW | Steve Rash 1951. Color - USA - English - 98 min. Rank: 791 | In World War II era Los Angeles, the manager of the Culver Hotel leaves his nephew in charge for a weekend. The nephew changes the name to the Hotel Rainbow and overbooks with royalty, assassins, secret agents, Japanese tourists, and munchkins (from the cast of _Wizard of Oz, The (1939)_ ). Secret Service agent Bruce Thorpe and casting director Annie Clark find romance amidst the intrigue and confusion. | Chevy Chase, Carrie Fisher, Eve Arden, Joseph Maher, Adam Arkin, Mako, Pat McCormick, Billy Barty. Written By: Fred Bauer (story), Pat Bradley (story), and 5 more credits. Rating: 4.9 | When Carrie Fisher was a guest on the Tonight Show, she admitted that this was one of the worst movies she ever starred in. |
| VAMPIRE BAT | Frank R. Strayer 1933. Black and White - USA - English - USA: 64 min (2005 restoration) | 65 min (copyright length). Rank: 741 | When the villagers of Klineschloss start dying of blood loss, the town fathers suspect a resurgence of vampirism. While police inspector Karl remains skeptical, scientist Dr. von Niemann cares for the vampire's victims one by one, and suspicion falls on simple-minded Herman Gleib because of his fondness for bats. A blood-thirsty mob hounds Gleib to his death, but the vampire attacks don't stop. | Lionel Atwill, Fay Wray, Melvyn Douglas, Maude Eberne, George E.Stone, Dwight Frye, Robert Frazier, Rita Carlisle, Lionel Belmore, Fern Emmett. :45 version. Rating: 5.6 | Filmed at night on Universal's European village set. The interior of Lionel Atwill's house is the set from The Old Dark House. |
| VARIETY (aka Jealousy, aka Varieté) | Ewald André Dupont 1925. Black and White - Germany - - USA: 72 min | 112 min (18 fps). Rank: 206 | Prologue: The murderer "Boss" Huller - after having spent ten years in prison - breaks his silence to tell the warden his story. "Boss", a former trapeze artist, and his wife own a cheap side-show that displays ''erotic sensations''. But he longs for his former glamorous life in the circus. When he meets the orphan Berta-Marie, he falls under her spell and leaves his wife and young son behind. He makes Berta-Marie his partner in a new trapeze number. One day, the famous trapeze artist Artinelli takes note of them and engages them for his trapeze show in Berlin. Their salto mortale becomes an immediate sensation. Calculatedly and cold, Artinelli seduces Berta-Marie and destroys "Boss'" happiness. | Emil Jannings, Maly Delschaft, Lya DePutti, Warwick Ward, Alex Hyde and his New York Jazz Orchestra. Written By: Felix Hollaender (novel), Ewald André Dupont (scenario). Rating: 7.4 | |
| VARIETY TIME (compilation) | Hal Yates 1948?. Black and White - USA - English - 59 min. Rank: 714 | Jack Paar introduces musical numbers, comic bits from RKO cast-offs, and a few variety acts. | Compilaion from RKO shorts/features get cast. Written By: Leo Solomon (Jack Paar material), Hal Yates (Edgar Kennedy screenplay). Rating: 5.8 | |
| VIEW FROM POMPEY'S HEAD | Philip Dunne 1955. Color - USA - English - 97 min. Rank: 692 | Anson Page, a lawyer with Southern roots leaves New York, his wife and his kids for Georgia. His assignment is to investigate the case of Garvin Wales, a famous writer, now nearly blind and embittered, whose royalties have apparently never reached him. Back in his native South, Page finds himself immediately exposed to what he had fled : racial and class prejudices. But he also meets his former love, Dinah, now married to go-getter uncouth businessman Mickey Higgins. Will he find out whatever happened to 2,000 dollars in rights Wales did not cash? Will Dinah and Anson renew their love story? | Richard Egan, Dana Wynter, Cameron Mitchell, Sidney Blackmer, Marjorie Rambeau, Dorothy Patrick Davis, Rosemarie Bowe, Jerry Paris, Bess Flowers, De Forest Kelly,. Written By: Hamilton Basso (novel), Philip Dunne. Rating: 5.9 | Dana Wynter was said to have remarked, "I have a difficult time remembering this film, especially when fans tell me they have enjoyed it, because of the fact it had a different title in just about every country it played in." |
| VIOLENT SATURDAY | Richard Fleischer 1955. Color - USA - English - 90 min. Rank: 435 | A number of otherwise insignificant small-town stories erupt into drama when a gang of hoodlums decides to rob the local bank. A father looking for pride in his son's eyes, a timid clerk who is a peeping tom by night, a man striving to rewin his wife's love, an Amish farmer faced with viciousness, and a proper older woman turned thief, all find themselves entangled with the bank robbers as a peaceful weekend turns violent. | Victor Mature, Richard Egan, Stephen McNally, Virginia Leith, Tommy Noonan, Lee Marvin, Margaret Hayes, J.Carroll Naish, Sylvia Sydney, Ernest Borgnine, Dorothy Patrick, Biully Chapin, Brad Dexter, Donald Gamble, Raymong Greenleaf, Richard Murray, Robert . Written By: Sydney Boehm (screenplay), William L. Heath (novel). Rating: 6.8 | |
| VIRGIN QUEEN | Henry Koster 1955. Color - USA - English - 92 min. Rank: 467 | Sir Walter Raleigh gains audience with Queen Elizabeth I and soon wins her over to his way of thinking. He wants ships to sail and make a name for England. A young ward of the court, Beth Throgmorton, is strongly attracted to Raleigh and returns the attraction. But soon the Queen shows her desires and he bends in order to achieve his goal of ships. But still he loves Beth. | Bette Davis, Richard Tod, Joan Collins, Jay Robinson, Herbert Marshall, Dan O'Herlihy, Robert Douglas, Romney Brent, Rod Taylor (Gilwyn). Written By: Harry Brown (story), Mindret Lord. Rating: 6.7 | Nominated for Oscar. The second time that actress Bette Davis portrays British monarch Queen Elizabeth I. |
| VIVA LAS VEGAS | . - - - - - . Rank: n/a | No Elvis in this one. Rating: | ||
| VOICE IN THE WIND | Arthur Ripley 1944. Black and White - USA - English - 85 min. Rank: 791 | A concert pianist has lost his memory, the result of his being arrested and tortured by the Nazis during the war for playing a banned song. He journeys to the island of Guadelupe to try to regain his memory and his health. | Francis Lederer, Sigrid Gurie, J.Edward Bromberg, J.Carroll Naish, Alexander Granach, David Kota, Olga Fabian,Howard Johnson,Hans Schumm,Luis Alberni. Written By: Arthur Ripley (original story), Friedrich Torberg (adaptation). Rating: 4.9 | Nominated for 2 Oscars. This film was produced by Ripley-Monter Productions, with the intended release by Producer's Releasing Corporation (which was not the production company nor the 'producer',) but it was bought by United Artists, who was unable to meet their promise of releasing a specified number of films for the 1943-44 production season. In the same year, United Artists purchased many films from other companies, including eight or more from Paramount. |
| WAGES OF FEAR (Le salaire de la peur) | Henri-Georges Clouzot 1955. Black and White - France | Italy - French | English | Spanish | German | Italian | Russian - 131 min | France: 156 min | 148 min (director's cut) | West Germany: 150 min. Rank: 27 | In the South American jungle supplies of nitroglycerene are needed at a remote oil field. The oil company pays four men to deliver the supplies in two trucks. A tense rivallry develops between the two sets of drivers and on the rough remote roads the slightest jolt can result in death. | Yves Montand, Charles Vanel (Jo), Verna Clouzet (Linda), Folco Lulli (Luigi), Peter van Eyck, William Tubbs (Bill O'Brien), Dario Moreno (Hernandez), Jo Dest (Smerloff), Centa (camp chief), Luis deLima (Bernardo), Jeronimo Mitchell (Dick). Written By: Georges Arnaud (novel), Henri-Georges Clouzot (adaptation), and 1 more credit. Rating: 8.3 | Visa d'exploitation en France #11794. |
| WAIT UNTIL DARK | Terence Young 1967. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 108 min. Rank: 109 | Susie's husband is asked to hold a doll for a woman as they get off an airplane. She disappears. Mike and Carlino are small time hoods who find the woman's body in Susie's apartment, placed there by her partner, Harry Rote. Susie's blindness is the key to them searching the apartment for the doll that contains smuggled drugs. Mike pretends to be an old friend of Susie's husband while her husband is away and together the crooks invent a story of a police investigation of her husband that only the discovery of the now missing doll can save him from. Rote is a killer, and his stalking of Susie becomes more and more obvious as the story unfolds, leaving us with the question, how does a blind woman defend herself? | Audrey Hepburn, Alan Arkin, Richard Crenna, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Jack Weston, Samantha Jones, Julie Heord, Frank O'Brien, Gary Morgan, Jean Del Val. Written By: Frederick Knott (play), Robert Carrington (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.8 | Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win and 3 nominations. Despite getting an Oscar nomination for this movie, Hepburn would not make another film until Robin and Marian. |
| WALK IN THE SUN | Lewis Milestone 1945. Black and White - USA - English | Italian - 117 min. Rank: 238 | In the 1943 invasion of Italy, one American platoon lands, digs in, then makes its way inland to attempt to take a fortified farmhouse, as tension and casualties mount. Unusually realistic picture of war as long quiet stretches of talk, punctuated by sharp, random bursts of violent action whose relevance to the big picture is often unknown to the soldiers. | Dana Andrews, Richard Conte, Sterling Holloway, George Tyne, John Ireland, Herbert Rudley, Richard Benedict, Norman Lloyd, Lloyd Bridges, Huntz Hall, James Cardwell, Chris Drake, George Offreman,jr, Danny Desmond, Victor Cutler,Steve Brodie, Al Hammer, Mat. Written By: Harry Brown (novel), Robert Rossen (screenplay). Rating: 7.3 | Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. |
| Luchino Visconti 1954. Color (Technicolor) - Italy - Italian | German (only a few words) - Italy: 118 min | USA: 93 min (edited/dubbed) | Italy: 123 min (director's cut). Rank: 157 | Venezia, spring of 1866, in the last days of the Austrian occupation. A performance of Il Trovatore ends up in confusion due to an anti-Austrian demonstration, organised by Count Ussoni. His cousin Countess Serpieri falls in love with vile Austrian Lieutenant Franz Mahler, but the times are changing. | Alida Valli, Farley Granger, Massimo Giroti, Heinz Moog. Dialogue by Tennessee Williams and Paul Bowles. Written By: Luchino Visconti (story), Suso Cecchi d'Amico (story), and 8 more credits. Rating: 7.6 | The film opens in La Fenice, the Venice opera house. La Fenice was destroyed by arson in 1996, but reopened in 2003. Enlarged frames of this movie were used as a reference in reconstructing it. | |
| WAR BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN | Melville Shavelson 1972. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - Netherlands: 110 min | USA: 110 min. Rank: 676 | 2 quirky Manhattanites crash into each other cute at an ophthalmologist's office. Peter is a grouchy cartoonist/author whose vision is failing, divorced mother Theresa is also reluctant to plunge into a relationship right now. It's not love at first sight - both have their eyes dilated, plus Peter constantly lampoons women in his work, which book seller Theresa knows well. Loosely based on James Thurber's drawings "The War Between Men and Women," and Thurber's life, the film features animated sequences. | Jack Lemmon, Barbara Harris, Json RobardsJr, Herb Edelman, Lisa Gerritsen, Moosie Drier, Severn Darden, Lisa Eilbacher, Lucille Meredith, Ruth McDevitt, Joey Faye, Alan DeWitt, John Zaremba, Dr.Joyce Brothers.(Thurber). Written By: Danny Arnold, Melville Shavelson, and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.1 | |
| WAR WAGON | Burt Kennedy 1967. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English | Spanish - 96 min. Rank: 467 | Taw Jackson returns from prison having survived being shot, to the ranch and gold that Frank Pierce stole from him. Jackson makes a deal with Lomax, the man who shot him 5 years ago to join forces against Pierce and steal a large gold shipment. The shipments are transported in the War Wagon, an armored stage coach that is heavily guarded. The two of them become the key players in the caper to separate Pierce from Jackson's gold. | John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, Robert Walker, Keenan Wynn, Bruce Cabot, Joanna Barnes. Written By: John Wayne. Rating: 6.7 | According to director Burt Kennedy, he gave up half his salary so that he could afford to hire Kirk Douglas (quoted in the Production Notes on the Universal Western Collection DVD). |
| WATERMELON MAN | Melvin Van Peebles 1970. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 100 min. Rank: 613 | Jeff Gerber, an insurance agent, lives in a typical suburban neighborhood. He is also both racist and a fitness freak. But Jeff's bigoted world of taunting and harassing black people on and off the job is turned upside down when his skin inexplicably turns dark overnight. As Jeff tries to come to terms with this unexplained phenomenon that has befallen him, he soon becomes the victim himself when all of his friends and neighbors suddenly shun and harass him. This puts a strain on his marriage and loyal wife Althea, who begins to crack under the pressure. When all medical attempts to change his skin back to his former color fail, Jeff accepts that Kharma has caught up with him. Jeff tries to see the light of being a persecuted black man in this cruel and segregated world with the help of some of some new black friends, some of whom were people he, as a white man, taunted and harassed. | Godfrey Cambridge, Estelle Parsons, Mantan Moreland, Howard Caine, D'Urville Martin Martin, Emil Sitka. (uncredited music Elmore James) poss.Vinegar. Rating: 6.3 | Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. D'Urville Martin not only plays the credited role of the Bus Driver, but also participant in the Yacht Club "riot" scene. |
| WAY OUT WEST | James W. Horne 1937. Black and White - USA - English - 64 min (copyright length) | 63 min (TCM print). Rank: 126 | Stan and Ollie are charged with delivering the deed to a valuable gold mine to the daughter of a dead prospector. However they reckon without the machinations of her evil guardian Mickey Finn who is determined to have the gold mine for himself and his saloon singer wife Lola. | Laurel and Hardy, Jimmy Finlayson, Sharon Lynne, Stanley Fields, Rosina Lawrence, James Mason (no), Vivien Oakland, Harry Bernar,d Mary Gordon, Avalon Quartet incl Chill Wills, Sam Lufkin, Flora Finch, Fred"Snowflake"Toones, Bobby Dunn, WEB (Michael Gordon'. Written By: Jack Jevne (story), Charley Rogers (story), and 5 more credits. Rating: 7.7 | Nominated for Oscar. The role of Mary Roberts was originally intended for Julie Bishop. |
| WEB | Michael Gordon 1947. Black and White - USA - English - 87 min. Rank: 295 | Leopold Kroner, formerly of Colby Enterprises, is released after five years in prison for embezzlement. Andrew Colby, claiming that Kroner has threatened him, hires lawyer Bob Regan as a secret bodyguard. Sure enough, Kroner turns up in Colby's room with a gun, and Regan kills him. Then Regan, who sticks around to romance Colby's secretary Noel, begins to suspect he's been used. | Ella Raines, Edmond O'Brien, William Bendix, Vioncent Price, Maria Palmer, John Abbott, Fritz Leiber, Howalnd Chamberlain, Tito Vuolo, Wilton Graff, Rabin Raymond, Ed Begley; Joe Kirk, William Haade and Ethen Laidlaw (plainclothesmen),Pierre Watkin,Gino Cor. Written By: William Bowers (screenplay), Bertram Millhauser (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.1 | Adapted for radio as part of the "Lux Radio Theater" on Sept. 29, 1947, with Raines, Price, and O'Brien reprising their roles. |
| WE'RE NO ANGELS | Michael Curtiz 1955. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English | French - 106 min. Rank: 206 | In Christmas, three prisoners - Joseph, Albert and Jules - escape from the Devil Island to a French small coastal town. They decide to robber a store, to get some money and clothes and travel by ship to another place. They pretend to be there to fix the roof, but pretty soon they realize that the financial condition of the family Ducotel is not good. Andre Tochard, the selfish and mean owner of the establishment, explores the family Ducotel. The three convicts spend the Christmas night with the Ducotel and are so well treated by the family that they decide to help them. Their pet will help them to fix the situation. | Humphrey Bogart, Aldo Ray, Peter Ustinov, Joan Bennett, Basil Rathbone, Leo G. Carroll . Written By: Albert Husson (play), Ranald MacDougall. Rating: 7.4 | |
| WE'RE NOT MARRIED | Edmund Goulding 1952. Black and White - USA - English - 86 min. Rank: 574 | A Justice of the Peace performed weddings a few days before his license was valid. A few years later five couples learn they have never been legally married. Annabel Norris, already Mrs. Mississippi and ready to enter the Mrs. America contest, is now free to enter the Miss Mississippi contest. | Ginger Rogers, Fred Allen, Victor Moore, Marilyn Monroe, David Wayne, Eve Arden, Paul Douglas, Eddie Bracken, Mitzi Gaynor, Louis Calhern, Zsa Zsa Gabor, James Gleason, Paul Stewart, Jane DarwelI, Tom Powers, Victor Sutherland, Alan Bridge, Harry Golder, . Written By: Nunnally Johnson (screenplay), Dwight Taylor (adaptation), and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.4 | The archive background footage showing New York City's Broadway at night is vintage May-June 1935, judging from the film titles prominently displayed on various theatre marquees. |
| WHAT A WAY TO GO | J. Lee Thompson 1964. Black and White | Color - USA - English | French - 111 min. Rank: 467 | This black comedy opens with Louisa Foster donating a multimillion dollar check to the IRS. The tax department thinks she's crazy and sends her to a psychiatrist. She then discusses her four marriages, in which all of her husbands became incredibly rich and died prematurely because of their drive to be rich. | Shirley MacLaine, Paul Newman, Robert Mitchum, Dean Martin, Gene Kelly, Bob Cummings, Dick Van Dyke, Reginald Gardiner, Margaret Dumont, Lou Nova (Tentino), Fifi O'Dorsay(baroness), Wally Vernon (agent)Army Archard Burt Mustin, Queenie Leonard, Tom Conway. Written By: Gwen Davis (story), Betty Comden (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 6.7 | Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 1 win and 4 nominations. Following death of Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor was briefly attached to project before Shirley MacLaine ultimately played the lead role. |
| WHEN COMEDY WAS KING | Robert Youngson 1960. Black and White - USA - English - 81 min. Rank: 109 | Robert Youngson's affectionate, nostalgic retrospective of the Golden Age of Silent Comedy with special attention to the three acknowledged comic geniuses of the period: Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keatonm and Harry Landon. The two major comedy studios of the era, Mack Sennett and Hal Roach, especially Laurel an Hardy, are given credit as the great innovators of slapstick visual comedy. | Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Laurel and Hardy, Ben Turpin, Fatty Arbuckle, Wallace Berry, Gloria Swanson, Keystone Cops, Charlie Chase. Rating: 7.8 | Footage excerpted from Movie Night (1929), Fatty and Mabel Adrift (1916), Teddy at the Throttle (1917), The First 100 Years (1924), It's a Gift (1923), A Pair of Tights (1929), Cops (1922), Yukon Jake (1924), Big Business (1929) and others. |
| WHERE DANGER LIVES | John Farrow 1950. Black and White - USA - English | Spanish - 82 min. Rank: 506 | One night at the hospital, young doctor Jeff Cameron meets Margo, who's brought in after a suicide attempt. He quickly falls for her and they become romanticly involved, but it turns out that Margo is married. At a confrontation, Margo's husband accidentally gets killed and Jeff and Margo flee. Heading for Mexico, they try to outrun the law. | Robert Mitchum, Faith Domergue, Claude Rains, Maureen O'Sullivan, Charles Kemper, Ralph Dumke, Billy House, Harry Shannon, Billy Van Zandt, Stanley Andrews, Jack Kruschen, Tol Avery,Ray Teal,Julien Rivero,Mike Lally,Phillip Ahlm(sic). Written By: Charles Bennett (screenplay), Leo Rosten (story). Rating: 6.6 | Working title was "A White Rose for Julie." |
| WHITE ZOMBIE | Victor Halperin 1932. Black and White - USA - English - 69 min | USA: 67 min (Roan restoration) | Canada: 85 min (Ontario). Rank: 546 | Young couple Madeleine and Neil are coaxed by acquaintance Monsieur Beaumont to get married on his Haitian plantation. Beaumont's motives are purely selfish as he makes every attempt to convince the beautiful young girl to run away with him. For help Beaumont turns to the devious Legendre, a man who runs his mill by mind controlling people he has turned into zombies. After Beaumont uses Legendre's zombie potion on Madeleine, he is dissatisfied with her emotionless being and wants her to be changed back. Legendre has no intention of doing this and he drugs Beaumont as well to add to his zombie collection. Meanwhile, grieving 'widower' Neil is convinced by a local priest that Madeleine may still be alive and he seeks her out. | Bela Lugosi, Madge Bellamy, John Herron, Joseph Cawthorn, Robert Frazer, Clarence Muse, Brandon Hurst. Rating: 6.5 | Rob Zombie named his first heavy metal band, White Zombie, after this movie. |
| WHO IS HARRY KELLERMAN and WHY IS HE SAYING THOSE TERRIBLE THINGS ABOUT ME? | Ulu Grosbard 1971. Color - USA - English - 108 min | West Germany: 90 min. Rank: 751 | Georgie Soloway, a pop hit love song writer who cannot love, himself, or others. He spends his days with various women flying his plane, and dropping in to the world around him. | Dustin Hoffman, Barbara Harris, Jack Warden, David Burns, Gabriel Dell, Dom DeLuise, Betty Walker. Herb Gardner story. Rating: 5.5 | Nominated for Oscar. To achieve maximum realism, Ulu Grosbard insisted that Dustin Hoffman appear live at the now-shuttered rock palace Fillmore East. Cameras captured the reaction of the regular Friday night audience gathered for an actual Grateful Dead concert. |
| WHY WORRY | 1923. Color (tinted and toned) | Black and White - USA - English (intertitles) - 60 min | USA: 63 min (Turner library print). Rank: 185 | Harold Van Pelham (Lloyd) is a hypochondriac, rich businessman who sails to the tropics for his 'health.' Instead of the peace and seclusion he is seeking, he finds himself in the middle of a revolution. He is imprisoned where he befriends the friendly giant, Colosso (Aasen), and they engineer an escape. Together, they quell the revolution. | Harold Lloyd, Jobyna Ralston, John Aasen, Leo White, James Mason. Written By: Sam Taylor (story), Ted Wilde (story), and 2 more credits. Rating: 7.5 | Harold Lloyd's first film with leading lady Jobyna Ralston. She was picked primarily because Lloyd wanted somebody who was exactly the opposite of his previous leading lady, Mildred Davis, who had by then retired from films to become Mrs. Harold Lloyd. |
| WICKED LADY | Michael Winner 1983. Color - UK - English - USA: 98 min . Rank: 801 | Caroline is to be wed to Sir Ralph and invites her sister Barbara to be her bridesmaid. Barbara seduces Ralph, however, and she becomes the new Lady, but despite her new wealthy situation, she gets bored and turns to highway robbery for thrills. While on the road she meets a famous highwayman, and they continue as a team, but some people begin suspecting her identity, and she risks death if she continues her nefarious activities. | Faye Dunnaway, Alan Bates, John Gielgud, Denholm Elliott, Prunella Scales, Oliver Tobias, Glynis Barber, Joan Hickson, Dermot Walsh mute. Written By: Leslie Arliss (screenplay), Gordon Glennon (additional dialogue), and 3 more credits. Rating: 3.5 | John Walker in 'The Film Year Book Volume Two' described John Gielgud in this movie as "wearing a modified Harpo Marx wig . . . ". |
| WILD HEART | 1952. Color (Technicolor) - UK | USA - English - 82 min. Rank: 574 | A re-editing of Gone to Earth after a disagreement and court case between director Michael Powell and producer David O. Selznick. Selznick's changes are mainly:- (1) Adding a prologue. (2) Adding scenes explaining things, often by putting labels or inscriptions on them. (3) Adding more close-ups of Jennifer Jones. He also deleted a few scenes that he felt weren't dramatic enough. Sadly some of these were major plot points so the story doesn't make as much sense as the original. In his autobiographies, Powell claimed that Selznick only left about 35 mins of the original film. In fact there's a lot more than that. About 2/3 of the original remains. | Jennifer Jones, David Farrar, Cyril Cusack, Sybil Thorndyke, Edward Chapman, George Cole, Hugh Griffith, Esmond Knight. Written By: Mary Webb (novel), Michael Powell , and 3 more credits. Rating: 6.4 | |
| WILD RIVER | Elia Kazan 1960. Color - USA - English - 110 min | Argentina: 112 min. Rank: 157 | A young field administrator for the TVA comes to rural Tennessee to oversee the building of a dam on the Tennessee River. He encounters opposition from the local people, in particular a farmer who objects to his employment (with pay) of local black laborers. Much of the plot revolves around the eviction of an elderly woman from her home on an island in the River, and the young man's love affair with that woman's widowed granddaughter. | Montgomery Clift, Lee Remick, Jo Van Fleet, Albert Salmi, J.C.Flippen, James Westerfield, Big Jeff Bess, Robert Earl Jones, Frank Overton, Barbara Loden, MAlcolm Atterbury, Bruce Dern, Judy Harris, Judy Harris, Jim Menard, Jim Steakley, Patricia Perry. Written By: Paul Osborn (screenplay), William Bradford Huie (novel), and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.6 | Lee Remick's favorite of all her films. |
| WILD SEED | Brian G. Hutton 1965. Black and White - USA - English - 99 min. Rank: 676 | A 17-year-old girl runs away from her east coast home, going west to Los Angeles to meet her biological father. She has learned from letters her mother kept that he was tragically separated from her before the girl's birth. On the road, she is protected and befriended by an independent-minded young drifter who helps her on her journey. | Michael Parks, Cecilia Kaye, Ross Elliott, Woodrow Chambliss, Rupert Crosse, Eva Novak, Norman Burton, Merritt Bohn, Anthony Lettier. Written By: Ike Jones (story), Lester Pine. Rating: 6.3 | |
| WILD STRAWBERRIES | Ingmar Bergman 1957. Black and White - Sweden - Swedish | Latin - 91 min. Rank: 15 | With the exception of his elderly housekeeper Miss Agda who he treats almost like a surrogate platonic wife, widowed seventy-eight year old Dr. Isak Borg, a former medical doctor and professor, has retreated from any human contact, partly his own want but partly the decision of others who do not want to spend time with him because of his cold demeanor. He is traveling from his home in Stockholm to Lund to accept an honorary degree. Instead of flying as was the original plan, he decides to take the day long drive instead. Along for the ride is his daughter-in-law Marianne, who had been staying with him for the month but has now decided to go home. The many stops and encounters along the way make him reminisce about various parts of his life. Those stops which make him reminisce directly are at his childhood summer home, at the home of his equally emotionally cold mother, and at a gas station where the attendants praise him as a man for his work.. | Victor Sjostrom, Ingrid Thulin, Bibi Andersson, Gunnar Bjornstrand, Folke Sundquist, Bjorn Bjelvenstam. Rating: 8.4 | Top 250 #128 | Nominated for Oscar. Another 11 wins and 2 nominations. Ingmar Bergman has described in the interview how he came up with the idea while driving from Stockholm to Dalarna, stopping in Uppsala where he had been born and raised, and driving by outside his grandmother's old house, when he suddenly began to think about how it would be if he could open the door and inside it would be just as it had been during his childhood. "So it struck me - what if you could make a film about this; that you just walk up in a realistic way and open a door, and then you walk into your childhood, and th |
| Anthony Mann 1950. Black and White - USA - English - 92 min. Rank: 109 | In a marksmanship contest, Lin McAdam wins a prized Winchester rifle, which is immediately stolen by the runner-up, Dutch Henry Brown. This "story of a rifle" then follows McAdams' pursuit, and the rifle as it changes hands, until a final showdown and shoot-out on a rocky mountain precipice. | James Stewart, ShelIy Winters, Dan Duryea, Stephen McNalIy, Millard Mitchell, Charles Drake, John McIntyre, Will Geer, J.C.Flippin, Rock Hudson, John Alexander, Steve Brodie, James Millican, Abner Biberman, Tony Curtis, James Bets,Greg Martell, Chuck Rober. Written By: Robert L. Richards (screenplay), Borden Chase (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 7.8 | "Lux Radio Theater" broadcast a 60 minute radio adaptation of the movie on November 12, 1951 with James Stewart reprising his film role. | |
| WITH SIX YOU GET EGG ROLL | Howard Morris 1968. Color - USA - English - 95 min. Rank: 676 | Abby McClure, a widow with three sons, and Jake Iverson, a widower with a teen-age daughter, get fixed up. They start dating and decide to get married. They're not prepared for the hostile reactions from their children, especially Jake's daughter Stacy, who wants to be the woman of the house, and Abby's oldest son Flip, who hates Jake. | Doris Day, Brian keith, Barbara Hershey. Written By: Gwen Bagni (screenplay), Paul Dubov (screenplay), and 4 more credits. Rating: 6.4 | This was Doris Day's final big screen appearance, following a 20 year career in the movies. |
| WONDERFUL WORLD OF THE BROTHERS GRIMM | 1962. Color (Metrocolor) - USA - English - 135 min. Rank: 613 | The fictionalized lives of the story-telling Grimm brothers are brought to life in this all-star fantasy film. In the early nineteenth century, the brothers Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm are commissioned to write a family history for a local Duke. Reenactments of three of their stories including "The Dancing Princess", "The Cobbler and the Elves" and "The Singing Bone". | Laurence Harvey, Karl Boehm, Claire Bloom, Walter Slezak, Barbara Eden, Oscar Homolka, Arnold Stang, Martita Hunt, Betty Garde, Brian Russell, Ian WolfeWalter Rilla, Yvette Mimeux, Russ Tamblin, Jim Baccus, Beulah Bondi, Robert Foulk, Terry-Thomas, Buddy . Written By: David P. Harmon (screenplay), Charles Beaumont (screenplay), and 5 more credits. Rating: 6.3 | Won Oscar. Another 2 wins and 6 nominations. Walter Rilla spoke English with a heavy accent, so his voice was dubbed by another actor. |
| WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP | George Roy Hill 1982. Color (Technicolor) - USA - English - 136 min. Rank: 329 | Based on the John Irving novel, this film chronicles the life of T S Garp, and his mother, Jenny. Whilst Garp sees himself as a "serious" writer, Jenny writes a feminist manifesto at an opportune time, and finds herself as a magnet for all manner of distressed women. | Robin Willams, Mary Beth Hurt, Glenn Close, John Lithgow, Hume Cronyn, Jessica Tandy, Swoosie Kurtz, James McCall(yng Garp), Amanda Plummer. Written By: John Irving (novel), Steve Tesich (screenplay). Rating: 7.0 | Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 5 wins and 1 nomination. According to Variety magazine, the role of Jenny Fields was offered to Pat Benatar, but she turned it down to continue her musical career. |
| WORLD AT WAR-DOCUMENTARY: 1930-1950 Laurence OIivir, narrator | Rank: n/a | Rating: | ||
| WORLD WAR II-Documentary. 1.1939-1941,2.1942-1945, 3-Prologue | Rank: n/a | Rating: | ||
| WRATH OF GOD | Ralph Nelson 1972. Color (Metrocolor) - USA - English - USA: 111 min. Rank: 692 | Irish adventurer Emmett Keogh finds himself partnered with a hard-drinking priest named Van Horne in revolutionary Central America. Tricked into delivering guns by smuggler/con man Jennings, the three end up joining forces against despot Tomas de la Plata, who treats his subjects ruthlessly and who has a special hatred for priests. Van Horne, who seems to be a priest in costume only, decides to stand up to de la Plata and lead a revolt against him. | Robert Mitchum, Rita Hayworth, Frank Langella, John Colicos,Victor Buono, Ken Hutchinson, Paula Pritchett, Gregory Sierra. Written By: James Graham (novel), Jack Higgins, and 1 more credit. Rating: 5.9 | The part of Father Van Horne was offered to Trevor Howard. |
| WRONG ARM OF THE LAW | Cliff Owen 1963. Black and White - UK - English - 94 min. Rank: 506 | The crooks in London know how it works. No one carries guns and no one resists the police. Then a new gang appears that go one better. They dress as police and steal from the crooks. This upset's the natural order of the police/criminal relationship and the police and the crooks join forces to catch the IPOs (Impersonating Police Officers), including an armored car robbery in which the police must help the gangs to set a trap. | Peter Sellers, Lionel Jeffries, Bernard Cribbins, Davy Kaye, Nanette Newman, John LeMessurier, Dermot Kelly, Dennis Price, Michael Caine (bit) . Written By: Ray Galton, Alan Simpson, and 5 more credits. Rating: 6.6 | In the police station on "no crime" night, one of the coppers can be seen reading a comic book based on the US TV show Car 54, Where Are You?. Joe E. Ross and Fred Gwynne can be seen on the cover. |
| WRONG BOX | Bryan Forbes 1966. Color (Technicolor) - UK - English | Swahili - 105 min. Rank: 373 | A tontine is established for a dozen children, a tontine being a kind of bet/insurance, money is put in for each to grow with interest and the last survivor is to get the lot. We watch the group dwindle until only two brothers are left. One brother is watched by his nephews who will keep him alive at all costs, the other lives in ill health and poverty as the only support of his fairly stupid grandson. Statues and bodies are switched, in the wrong boxes until everyone is sure someone has died. Now if they can only make it seem as if the other brother died first, hundreds of thousands of pounds (in Victorian England when a pound was a pound) will be theirs. | John Mills, Ralph Richardson, Michael Caine, Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Nanette Newman, Wilfred Lawson, Tony Hancock, Peter Sellers. Written By: Robert Louis Stevenson (suggested by a novel by), Lloyd Osbourne (suggested by a novel by), and 2 more credits. Rating: 6.9 | Won BAFTA Film Award. Another 2 nominations. Charles Victor was booked to appear in this film but died before he could film his scenes. |
| WUTHERING HEIGHTS | William Wyler 1939. Black and White - USA - English - 104 min. Rank: 109 | The story of unfortunate lovers Heathcliff and Cathy who, despite a deep affection for one another, are forced by circumstance and prejudice to live their apart. Heathcliff and Cathy first meet as children when her father brings the abandoned boy to live with them. When the old man dies several years later Cathy's brother, now the master of the estate, turns Heathcliff out forcing him to live with the servants and working as a stable boy. The barrier of class comes between them and she eventually marries a rich neighbor, Mr. Edgar Linton, at which point Heathcliff disappears. He returns several years later, now a rich man but little can be done. | Merle Oberon, Laurence Olivier, David Niven, Donald Crisp, Flor Robson, Hugh Williams, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Leo G. Carroll, Cecil Humphreys, Miles Mander, Sarita Wooten, Rex Downing, Douglas Scott (child), Cecil Kellaway. Written By: Charles MacArthur (screenplay), Ben Hecht (screenplay), and 2 more credits. Rating: 7.8 | Won Oscar. Another 2 wins and 7 nominations. The Mitchell Camera Corporation selected Gregg Toland and this picture to be the first to use their new Mitchell BNC camera. This camera model would become the studio standard. |
| Robert Fuest 1970. Color - UK - English - 104 min | Germany: 100 min (TV). Rank: 506 | The Earnshaws are Yorkshire farmers during the early 19th Century. One day, Mr. Earnshaw returns from a trip to the city, bringing with him a ragged little boy called Heathcliff. Earnshaw's son, Hindley, resents the child, but Heathcliff becomes companion and soulmate to Hindley's sister, Catherine. After her parents die, Cathy and Heathcliff grow up wild and free on the Moors and despite the continued enmity between Hindley and Heathcliff they're happy-- until Cathy meets Edgar Linton, the son of a wealthy neighbor. | Anna-Calder Marshall, Timothy Dalton, Harry Andrews, Pamela Brown, Judy Cornwell, James Coussins, Hugh Griffith. Written By: Emily Brontë (novel), Patrick Tilley (screenplay). Rating: 6.6 | Nominated for Golden Globe. Patrick Mower was the first choice for Heathcliff but was unavailable due to his filming of Cry of the Banshee. | |
| Michael Curtiz 1942. Black and White - USA - English - 126 min. Rank: 126 | A musical portrait of composer/singer/dancer George M. Cohan. From his early days as a child-star in his family's vaudeville show up to the time of his comeback at which he received a medal from the president for his special contributions to the US, this is the life- story of George M. Cohan, who produced, directed, wrote and starred in his own musical shows for which he composed his famous songs. | James Cagney, Joan Leslie, Walter Huston, Richarrd Whorf (Sam Harris), George Tobias, Irene Manniung (Fay Templeton), Rosemary deCamp (Nellie), Jeanne Cagney (Josie), S.Z.Sakall, Walter Catlett, Frances Langford, Minor Watson (Ed Albee), Eddie Foyjr, Ches. Written By: Robert Buckner (screenplay), Edmund Joseph (screenplay), and 3 more credits. Rating: 7.7 | Won 3 Oscars. Another 2 wins and 5 nominations. James Cagney's performance as George M. Cohan is ranked #6 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time. | |
| YESTERDAY, TODAY AND TOMORROW | Vittorio De Sica 1963. Color (Technicolor) - Italy | France - Italian - Argentina: 118 min | France: 118 min | Netherlands: 117 min | USA: 119 min. Rank: 259 | Three different stories of Italian social mores are presented. In "Adelina", unemployed Carmine Sbaratti and his wife Adelina Sbaratti survive through Adelina selling black market cigarettes on the street. They are unable to pay for the furniture they bought (which is under Adelina's name), but are able to avoid the bailiff when he comes for the money or to repossess. They come up with a longer term solution to avoid Adelina being prosecuted for non-payment, but that solution has a profound effect on the family, especially Carmine. In "Anna", Anna Molteni, the spoiled wife of a successful businessman, and an artist named Renzo are on the cusp of an affair. Anna is feeling neglected in the marriage, as her husband seems more concerned about success and money than her. But a car accident shows both Anna and Renzo if an affair with each other is really what they want.. | Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni, Tina Pica, Giovanni Ridolfi. Written By: Eduardo De Filippo (story) (segment "Adelina"), Eduardo De Filippo (screenplay) (segment "Adelina"), and 7 more credits. Rating: 7.2 | Won Oscar. Another 4 wins and 2 nominations. Italian censorship visa # 41787 delivered on 4-12-1963. |
| Akira Kurosawa 1961. Black and White - Japan - Japanese - 110 min | USA: 75 min. Rank: 15 | Sanjuro, a wandering samurai enters a rural town in nineteenth century Japan. After learning from the innkeeper that the town is divided between two gangsters, he plays one side off against the other. His efforts are complicated by the arrival of the wily Unosuke, the son of one of the gangsters, who owns a revolver. Unosuke has Sanjuro beaten after he reunites an abducted woman with her husband and son, then massacres his father's opponents. During the slaughter, the samurai escapes with the help of the innkeeper; but while recuperating at a nearby temple, he learns of innkeeper's abduction by Unosuke, and returns to the town to confront him. | Toshiro Mifune, Eijiro Tono, Seizaburo Kawazu, Isuzi Yamada, Hiroshi Tachikawa, Kyu Sazanka, Daisuke Kato, Tatsuya Nakadai, Kamaturi Fujiwara. Written By: Akira Kurosawa (story), Akira Kurosawa (screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 8.4 | Top 250 #115 | Nominated for Oscar. Another 3 wins and 1 nomination. Tatsuya Nakadai, who plays the flamboyant, pistol-waving Unosuke here, also plays the main villain role in the Yojimbo sequel, Sanjuro. | |
| YOU CAN'T CHEAT AN HONEST MAN | George Marshall, and 1 more credit. 1939. Black and White - USA - English - 79 min. Rank: 259 | Larson E. Whipsnade runs a seedy circus which is perpetually in debt. His performers give him nothing but trouble, especially Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy. Meanwhile, Whipsnade's son and daughter, Phineas and Vicky, attend a posh college. Vicky turns down her caddish but rich suitor Roger Bel-Goodie, but changes her mind when she learns of her father's financial troubles. Will Vicky marry for money or succumb to the ventriloqual charm of Edgar Bergen? Will Whipsnade's Circus Giganticus make it over the state line one jump ahead of the sheriff? | W.C.Fields, Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy, Mortimer Snerd, Constance Moore, Mary Forbes, Thurston Hall, Princess Baba, John Arledge, Ed Brophy, Arthur Hohl, Rochester, Grady Sutton, Jmes Bush (Bel-Goodie), Irving Bacon, Eddie Dunn, Walter Tetley, Delmar. Written By: George Marion Jr. (screen play), Richard Mack (screen play), and 6 more credits. Rating: 7.2 | W.C. Fields and Edgar Bergen were paid $100,000 each. Fields was paid an additional $25,000 for writing the script. |
| Frank Capra 1938. Black and White - USA - English | Russian - 126 min. Rank: 70 | The stenographer Alice Sycamore is in love with her boss Tony Kirby, who is the vice-president of the powerful company owned by his greedy father Anthony P. Kirby. Kirby Sr. is dealing a monopoly in the trade of weapons, and needs to buy one last house in a twelve block area owned by Alice's grandparent Martin Vanderhof. However, Martin is the patriarch of an anarchic and eccentric family where the members do not care for money but for having fun and making friends. When Tony proposes Alice, she states that it would be mandatory to introduce her simple and lunatic family to the snobbish Kirbys, and Tone decides to visit Alice with his parents one day before the scheduled. There is an inevitable clash of classes and lifestyles, the Kirbys spurn the Sycamores and Alice breaks with Tony, changing the lives of the Kirby family. | Jean Arthur, Lionel Barrymore, James Stewart, Edward Arniold, Mischa Auer, Ann Miller, Spring Byington, Rochester, Donald Meek, Halliwell Hobbes, Dub Taylor, Samuel S.Hinds, Harry Davenport, Charles Lane. From Geo.KauffmanMoss Hart play. Written By: Robert Riskin (screenplay), George S. Kaufman (based upon the play by), and 1 more credit. Rating: 8 | Won 2 Oscars. Another 5 nominations. The Broadway play "You Can't Take It With You" opened at the Booth Theater in New York on December 14, 1936 and ran for 838 performances. The original cast included Jess Barker as Tony Kirby, Margot Stevenson as Alice Sycamore and Henry Travers as Grandpa. Donald, played so memorably in this film by Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson, was originally portrayed by Oscar Polk, who later played house servant "Pork" in Gone with the Wind. | |
| YOU GOTTA STAY HAPPY | H.C. Potter 1948. Black and White - USA - English - 100 min. Rank: 574 | Indecisive heiress Dee Dee Dillwood is pushed into marrying her sixth fiancée, but unable to face the wedding night, she flees into the adjacent hotel room of commercial pilot Marvin Payne, who just wants to sleep. Somehow, she persuades him to take her to California. Her fellow passengers include a chimpanzee, a corpse (in a coffin), an absconding embezzler, and two smoochy newlyweds. Can love be far behind? | Joan Fontaine, James Stewart, Eddie Albert, Roland Young, Willard Parker, Halliwell Hobbes, Stanley Prager,Mary Forbes,Porter Hall,Percy Kilbride, William Bakewell, Housley Stevenson, Emory Parnell, Bert Conway, Jimmy Dodd, Paul Cavanaugh, Fritz Feld, Art. Written By: Karl Tunberg (written for the screen by), Robert Carson (story). Rating: 6.4 | "Lux Radio Theater" broadcast a 60 minute radio adaptation of the movie on January 17, 1949 with James Stewart and Joan Fontaine reprising their film roles. |
| YOU MUST BE JOKING | Michael Winner 1965. Black and White - UK - English - USA: 100 min. Rank: 751 | A motley group of soldiers are set loose on swinging England in an initiative test to collect a selection of esoteric items. | Michael Callanb, Lionel Jeffries, Denholm Elliott, Wilfred Hyde-White, Bernard Cribbins, James Robertson Justice, Terry-Thomas, Lee Montague, Richard Wattis, Miles Malleson, Ronald Howard, Peter Bull. Written By: Alan Hackney (screenplay), Alan Hackney (story), and 2 more credits. Rating: 5.5 | Gabriella Licudi and Patricia Viterbo both receive an "introducing" credit. |
| YOUNG FRANKENSlEIN | Mel Brooks 1974. Black and White - USA - English | German - 106 min. Rank: 70 | A young neurosurgeon (Gene Wilder) inherits the castle of his grandfather, the famous Dr. Victor von Frankenstein. In the castle he finds a funny hunchback called Igor, a pretty lab assistant named Inga and the old housekeeper, frau Blucher -iiiiihhh!-. Young Frankenstein believes that the work of his grandfather is only crap, but when he discovers the book where the mad doctor described his reanimation experiment, he suddenly changes his mind.. | Gene Wilder, Peter Boyle, Marty Feldman, Teri Garr, Madeline Kahn, Cloris Leachman, Kenneth Mars, Richard Haydn, Gene Hackman (no Brooks). Written By: Gene Wilder (screen story and screenplay), Mel Brooks (screen story and screenplay), and 1 more credit. Rating: 8 | Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 9 wins and 3 nominations. The Blind Man scene includes parts where we see the monster having hot soup poured on him and getting his thumb lit on fire. To keep himself protected, Peter Boyle had a hot pad on his lap, and he held a fake thumb with alcohol on it to keep the fire burning. |
| YOUNG PHILADELPHIANS | Vincent Sherman 1959. Black and White - USA - English - 136 min. Rank: 259 | Up and coming, young lawyer Anthony Lawrence faces several ethical and emotional dilemmas as he climbs the Philadelphia social ladder. His personal and professional skills are tested as he tries to balance the needs of his fiance Joan, the expectations of his colleagues and his own obligation to defend his friend Chester on a murder count. | Paul Newman, Barbara Rush, Alexis Smith, Brian Keith, Diane Brewster, Billie Burke, John William,s Robert Vaughn, Otto Kruger, Adam West. Written By: James Gunn (screenplay), Richard Powell (novel). Rating: 7.2 | Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 2 nominations. Barbara Rush replaced Natalie Wood who was put on studio suspension for refusing the role. |
| YOUNG STRANGER | John Frankenheimer 1957. Black and White - USA - English - 84 min. Rank: 467 | Hal Ditmar is a clean-cut kid, the son of a wealthy movie producer. When an argument at a theatre turns into a fight between Hal and the theatre manager, Hal finds no one, not even his father, will believe his actions were justified as self-defense. The police are concerned that Hal is a juvenile delinquent in the making, but the real problem lies in Hal's father's inattention to his son. It's up to Hal's mother to try to bridge the gulf between father and son. | James McArthur, Kim Hunter, James Daly, James Gregory, Whit Bisselll, Jeff Silver (Jerry), Jakc Mullaney (confused boy), Eddie Ryder (man in theatre). Written By: Robert Dozier (screenplay), Robert Dozier (television play "Deal a Blow"). Rating: 6.7 | Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. |
| YOU'RE TELLING ME | Erle C. Kenton 1934. Black and White - USA - English - 66 min. Rank: 157 | Sam Bisbee is an inventor whose works (e.g., a keyhole finder for drunks) have brought him only poverty. His daughter is in love with the son of the town snob. Events conspire to ruin his bullet-proof tire just as success seems near. Another of his inventions prohibits him from committing suicide, so Sam decides to go on living. | W.C.Fields, Joan Marsh, Buster Crabbe, Adrienne Ames, Louise Carter, Kathleen Howard, James B"Pop"Keaton, Robert McKenzie, George Irving, Jerry Stewart, Del Henderson, Vernon Dent, Tammany Young, Elise Cavanna, Eddie Baker, Billy Engle. Written By: Walter DeLeon (screenplay), Paul M. Jones (screenplay), and 3 more credits. Rating: 7.6 | Fields' character Bisbee describes a possible scenario involving catching burglars in the basement and drinking with them, a scenario that would be played out in a later film, Man on the Flying Trapeze. |
| Z | Costa-Gavras 1969. Color (Eastmancolor) - France | Algeria - French | Russian | English - 127 min. Rank: 50 | In a mid-sized metropolis (population 500,000) in a right-wing military led country, a pacifist organization, which supports the opposition party in the government, is planning on holding an anti-military, nuclear disarmament rally. The organization's charismatic leader - the deputy - is scheduled to arrive in the town from the capital the day of the rally. Beyond the problems arranging the rally due to the probable incitement of violence at such a rally, the organization learns of an unconfirmed report that there will be an attempt on the deputy's life. The rally does happen, after which a three-wheeled kamikaze runs over the deputy, who eventually passes away from his injuries. The official report is that the incident was a drunken accident. In reality, the deputy's death was murder orchestrated by the secret police, the general for who likens the pacifist organization to mildew killing off agricultural crops.. | Yves Montand, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Irene Pappas, Jacques Perrin, Renato Salvatori. Written By: Vasilis Vasilikos (novel), Jorge Semprún, and 1 more credit. Rating: 8.1 | Won 2 Oscars. Another 9 wins and 9 nominations. The meaning of "Z" : At the very end of the movie, a message tells us "Also the military regime banned (..) the letter "Z" which means "He is alive" in ancient Greek." |
| Jean Vigo 1933. Black and White - France - French - 41 min. Rank: 157 | After the holidays, Caussat and Bruel are going back to the boarding school, where their life is sad, dull, as all prisoner's ones. But there is plot setting up for a revolt.. | Jean Daste, Robert LeFlon, Louis Lefebre,Constantin Kelber, Gerard de Bedarieux (inspiration for IF). Rating: 7.6 | Banned by the French censor until well after World War II. | |
| ZORBA THE GREEK | Mihalis Kakogiannis 1964. Black and White - USA | UK | Greece - English | Greek - 142 min. Rank: 126 | An aimless Englishman finds he has a small inheritance on a Greek island. His joyless existence is disturbed when he meets Zorba, a middle aged Greek with a real lust for life. As he discovers the earthy pleasures of Greece, the Englishman finds his view on life changing. | Anthony Quinn. Written By: Nikos Kazantzakis (from the novel by), Mihalis Kakogiannis (screenplay). Rating: 7.7 | Won 3 Oscars. Another 3 wins and 16 nominations. In the earlier stages of filming, Mihalis Kakogiannis and Anthony Quinn had frequent disagreements as the director felt that his leading actor was being too over-the-top. |