Leo Genn

  • Terence Young – No Time to Die aka Tank Force! (1958)

    Terence Young1951-1960DramaUnited KingdomWar
    No Time to Die (1958)
    No Time to Die (1958)

    Quote:
    In Italian Libya during the North African campaign of the Second World War, a Royal Armoured Corps squadron of British tanks is destroyed in battle by German Afrika Korps panzers. A tank commanded by American Sgt. David Thatcher (Victor Mature) is hit and he and driver Trooper “Tiger” Noakes (Anthony Newley) bail out. The squadron’s attached reconnaissance vehicle, commanded by Sgt. Kendall (Leo Genn), becomes stuck in the sand and the crew bail out too. The three survivors are quickly captured and transported to an Italian POW camp run by German Army Captain Ritter (Alfred Burke).Read More »

  • John Huston – Moby Dick (1956) (HD)

    1951-1960ActionClassicsJohn HustonUSA

    Set in 19th Century New England, the story follows the whaling ship Pequod and its crew. Leading them is Captain Ahab, who was almost killed by the “great white whale,” Moby-Dick. Now he is out for revenge. With the crew that has joined him, Ahab is out to destroy the huge mammal, but soon he learns that his obsession with vengeance is so great that he cannot turn back, eventually leading to the death of him and all save his newest able seaman, Ishmael.Read More »

  • Mervyn LeRoy & Anthony Mann – Quo Vadis (1951)

    1951-1960Anthony MannDramaEpicMervyn LeRoyUSA

    America’s mid-20th century love affair with the Biblical epic began with Mervyn LeRoy’s Quo Vadis (1951). And a new Blu-ray by Warner Home Video goes a long way to proving why that’s the case. The saturated colors and epic setpieces that dominate the film’s mise-en-scène are reason enough to sit back and enjoy the spectacle. But Peter Ustinov’s scenery-chewing performance as the last Roman Caesar, Nero, is another great justification. This film was the template for future movies of its ilk, and should be seen for that if for no other reason. Like The Robe (1953), or Ben-Hur (1959), Quo Vadis is based on a historical novel that examines the nascent religion of Christianity through the eyes of an outsider. Here it is loyal Roman commander Marcus Vinicius (Robert Taylor), who falls in love with a Christian slave, the beautiful Lygia (Deborah Kerr), while struggling to remain loyal to the increasingly mad Emperor Nero. Lygia’s entreaties for Vinicius to join her in following Christ’s teachings are initially dismissed.Read More »

  • Anatole Litvak – The Snake Pit [+Commentary] (1948)

    1941-1950Anatole LitvakClassicsDramaUSA

    Shocking and highly controversial at the time of release, The Snake Pit broke new ground in Hollywood cinema for its depiction of mental illness and its treatment.

    Olivia de Havilland (Gone with the Wind; The Heiress), delivers an astounding performance as a young bride who suffers a breakdown and finds herself committed to an asylum.Read More »

  • John Huston – Moby Dick (1956)

    1951-1960AdventureClassicsJohn HustonUSA

    Synopsis:
    This classic story by Herman Melville revolves around Captain Ahab and his obsession with a huge whale, Moby Dick. The whale caused the loss of Ahab’s leg years before, leaving Ahab to stomp the boards of his ship on a peg leg. Ahab is so crazed by his desire to kill the whale, that he is prepared to sacrifice everything, including his life, the lives of his crew members, and even his ship to find and destroy his nemesis, Moby Dick.Read More »

  • Werner Jacobs & John Llewellyn Moxey – Circus of Fear (1966)

    1961-1970John Llewellyn MoxeyMysteryThrillerUnited KingdomWerner Jacobs

    Quote:
    After a bank heist has gone wrong police find that their investigating takes them to a particular traveling circus. It seems that wherever the circus goes, crime and evil follow with it. Finally one police department will put a stop to it…but can they?Read More »

  • Terence Young – Too Hot to Handle AKA Playgirl After Dark (1960)

    1951-1960CrimeDramaTerence YoungUnited Kingdom

    Plot Synopsis by Eleanor Mannikka
    With dialogue ranging from flat to offensive and acting in the same range, this low-brow erotic crime drama by director Terence Young stars Jayne Mansfield as Midnight Franklin, a star stripper in a Soho club that is in serious rivalry with another strip joint. A reporter gets involved in the strip scene while writing a story on the clubs, and in the end he has quite a lot to write about. The competition between the two clubs heats up, and after one of the owners is the unknowing instrument in the death of a young (illegally young) stripper, both rival clubs head for a crash.Read More »

  • Claude Pinoteau – Le silencieux AKA Escape to Nowhere (1973)

    Drama1971-1980Claude PinoteauFranceThriller

    Shortly after a delegation of Russian nuclear physicists arrives in London, one of their number, a man named Haliakov, is abducted by the British security services. Haliakov is in truth Clément Tibère, a French scientist who was coerced into working for the Russians some years ago. The British agents compel Tibère to work for them, revealing the identity of two notorious spies. Tibère realises that his life is now in peril, that it is only a matter of time before the KGB takes its revenge…Read More »

  • Roberto Rossellini – Era notte a Roma AKA It Was Night in Rome [Long ver.] (1960)

    1951-1960DramaItalyRoberto RosselliniWar

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    Quote:
    In keeping with his previous film Il generale Della Rovere, filmmaker Roberto Rossellini pursues a wartime theme in this “personal epic” Era notte a Roma.
    The film is set in Rome during the German occupation after the armistice on 8 September 1943.
    The story concerns three Allied POWS, who escape from their camp and hide out in Rome. The trio is given shelter and aid by a beautiful young woman who deals with black market disguised as a nun, her partisan boyfriend and several other people.
    The three prisoners (one is Russian, one English, one American) display a genuine warmth towards each other that probably is meant to reflect the three countries’ joint effort against Nazi Germany.
    Just as the variety of Italians involved in their protection as well as in their pursuit seems to be meant to reflect the chaos and mistrust reigning in those dark days. Acts of courage alternate with acts of treachery.
    For reasons that remain obscure, Era Notte a Roma was never initially given a widespread American release.Read More »

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