Summary
One rainy night, a stranger arrives in a nondescript seaside town and checks into a cheap hotel. All that is known about him is his name – Pierre – and everyone he meets is suspicious of him. He appears to know the area well; he looks to be in good health. But why is he here? Why is he so sad? The answers emerge when another man appears on the scene, an acquaintance of Pierre who knows the crime that he has committed and who intends to use the information to his own advantage…Read More »
Quote: There are eight million stories in the Naked City,” as the narrator immortally states at the close of this classic film by Master noir craftsman Jules Dassin—and this is one of them. A model is found dead in the bathtub of her apartment, apparently after committing suicide. However, the coroner realizes that she was actually murdered with a simulation of suicide, and the experienced Homicide Lieutenant Detective Dan Muldoon initiates his investigations with Detective Jimmy Halloran and his team.Read More »
From Classic film: One of the earliest films about anti-Semitism in the U.S.A. (though Oscar Best Picture winner, The Life of Emile Zola (1937) dealt with the subject in France), this Best Picture winner ironically competed against another (better?) film based on the same, Crossfire (1947). The former is a story about a gentile writer who pretends to be Jewish and then experiences the prejudice firsthand, while the latter explores a murder whose anti-Semitic motive is at first unknown. Additionally (even stranger?), these two similar films competed with a Dickens classic & two traditionally Christmastime films The Bishop’s Wife (1947) and Miracle on 34th Street (1947). But Best Actor nominee Gregory Peck & Director Elia Kazan (winning an Oscar with his first nomination) proved a more powerful combination than the three Roberts (Young, Mitchum, Ryan – though Robert Ryan was nominated for Best Supporting Actor) & Director Edward Dmytryk, who received his only Academy Award nomination.Read More »
Plot Synopsis by Paul Brenner: Humphrey Bogart plays a psychotic killer who disposes of his wives through slow ingestion of poison in The Two Mrs. Carrolls, made in 1945 but shelved for two years because of its similarity to Gaslight. Bogart is Geoffrey Carroll, an artist who paints a portrait of his wife as “The Angel of Death” and then meets Sally Morton (Barbara Stanwyck), with whom he quickly falls in love. In order to get rid of his wife and take up with Sally, Geoffrey slowly poisons his spouse by lacing her nightly glass of warm milk with liberal doses of toxic chemicals. He sends his daughter Beatrice (Ann Carter) away to school and, while the daughter is away, his wife dies. Read More »
Plot Synopsis
“Originally released in England as Penn of Pennsylvania, this is the story of legendary Quaker leader William Penn. As portrayed by Clifford Evans, Penn is courageous if pedantic crusader for religious liberties, bound and determined to create a new colony for himself and his fellow Quakers. This he does when he journeys to the New World to form the colony of Pennsylvania. Understandably concentrating on Penn and his disciples, the film gives short shrift to several other important historical characters, notably King Charles II (Dennis Arundell). Deborah Kerr is likewise given little to do as Penn’s faithful and supportive wife Gulielma.”–Hal Erickson, AllMovieRead More »
Ein Versicherungsangestellter heiratet eine Frau aus reichen Haus, ohne Einverständnis ihrer Eltern. Eines Tages geht er zu einem Wahrsager, der seiner Frau ein jähes Ende prophezeit.Read More »
Synopsis: ‘It’s postwar London and Mary Justin runs into Steve Stratton, a university lecturer and her first and truest love. Having opted for the security of marriage to a financier, the meeting reawakens memories of their passionate relationship. And matters reach their inevitable conclusion when they meet again in the Alps.’ – ScreenrushRead More »
Plot: Johnny Riggs, a con man on the lam, finds himself in a Latin-American country named Patria. There, he overhears a convent-bred rich girl praying to her guardian angel for help in managing her tangled business affairs. Riggs decides to materialize as the girl’s “angel”, gains her unquestioning confidence, and helps himself to the deluded girl’s millions. Just as he and his partner are about to flee Patria with their booty, Riggs realizes he has fallen in love with the girl and returns the money, together with a note that is part confession and part love letter. But the larcenous duo’s escape from Patria turns out to be more difficult than they could ever have imagined. Written by Dan NavarroRead More »
Quote:
Jenny and Dale Williams have been married ten years and parents of a
nine-year-old daughter, “Cookie” Williams. They live well, have
separate careers, are surrounded by sophisticated friends, and are
afflicted with overattentive in-laws on each side. Celebrating their
tenth anniversary,this, of course, means it is time to tell each other
they want a divorce from each other. They talk about it. They talk to
their friends about it. The friends and in-laws talk to them and to
each other and to anyone who will listen about it.Read More »
