1950s

  • Vernon Sewell – Soho Incident AKA Spin a Dark Web (1956)

    1951-1960CrimeFilm NoirUSAVernon Sewell

    A Canadian living in London is trying to succeed as a prizefighter, without much luck. He meets the sister of a local mob leader, and she soon draws him into the gang’s activities. When he finds himself being drawn into a murder plot, he finally realizes that his lover is only using him, and determines to escape the gang – but things don’t turn out the way he planned.Read More »

  • Julien Duvivier – Marie-Octobre AKA Secret Meeting (1959)

    Drama1951-1960FranceJulien DuvivierMystery

    Fifteen years after WWII, a group of ex-resistance fighters are brought together by Marie-Octobre, so that the former members of the network can finally relive one fateful night and find out who betrayed their murdered leader, Castille.Read More »

  • Marc Allégret – Un Drôle de Dimanche AKA Sunday Encounter (1958)

    1951-1960ComedyFranceMarc Allégret

    Synopsis
    Un Drole de Dimanche (What a Sunday) stars Danielle Darrieux as Catherine and Bourvil as her ex-husband Jean. By chance, Catherine and Jean are reunited five years after she walked out of his life. In a fit of romantic nostalgia, Jean mentally reconstructs the events that led up to their separation. He then determines to win her back, certain that he’ll never, ever make the same mistakes again? or will he?Read More »

  • László Kardos – The Tijuana Story (1957)

    1951-1960CrimeFilm NoirLászló KardosUSA

    Quote:
    Kit Parker Films and Mill Creek Entertainment continue their deep dive into what might be thought of as the substratum of film noir with this third collection culled from the Columbia catalog. The fact that this latest offering supposedly spans the years of 1956 through 1960 may give some indication of just how deep this particular dive is, since many film fans will probably (rightly or wrongly) feel like the late fifties and first year of the sixties are decidedly past the heyday of film noir. (That “supposedly” is in the previous sentence because the earliest actual release date for the films in this set seems to actually be 1957, not 1956, which perhaps makes my point even better.) Still, as with the first two collections, there are some really interesting films in this set, and genre aficionados will most likely find at least a few titles in this set, including some more British productions, that may well spark interest.Read More »

  • Howard Hawks – Land of the Pharaohs (1955)

    1951-1960ClassicsEpicHoward HawksUSA

    Quote:
    What happens when we die? Probably nothing, and we damn sure can’t take anything with us. But just try telling that to Pharaoh Khufu (Jack Hawkins), who has amassed an ungodly amount of wealth in Howard Hawks’ soapy historical drama Land of the Pharaohs and wants nothing more than to buried with it. Enlisting the help of aging architect/slave Vashtar (James Robertson Justice) to design an intricate robber-proof tomb, Pharaoh Khufu spares no expense — and by that I mean “works thousands of slaves to death and raises taxes” — to ensure that it’s built exactly to spec and will preserve his body and treasures for all eternity. But when his second wife Princess Nellifer (Joan Collins) secretly plots to separate the two of them, a chain of lies and deceit as big as the Great Pyramid itself is set in motion.Read More »

  • Robert Aldrich – Apache (1954)

    1951-1960Robert AldrichUSAWestern

    Quote:
    Apache was based on Paul I. Wellman’s novel Broncho Apache, which in turn was inspired by a true story. Burt Lancaster plays Massai, a lieutenant of the great Apache warrior Geronimo (here depicted as an old man, played by Monte Blue). Though his tribe has signed surrender terms with the conquering whites, Massai refuses to do so. He escapes from a prison train and conducts a one-man war against the white intruders-and against some of his own people. Along the way, he claims Nalinle (Jean Peters), whom he previously regarded as a traitor to his cause, as his wife. John McIntire plays famed Indian scout Al Sieber, who-in this film, if not in real life-is sympathetic to the Indians’ plight and Massai’s single-purposed cause. The real-life counterpart to Massai was killed by Sieber’s minions after agreeing to call off the hostilies; United Artists objected to this, forcing producer/star Burt Lancaster to shoot an unconvincingly happy ending.Read More »

  • Vojtech Jasný – Touha AKA Desire (1958)

    1951-1960Czech RepublicDramaVojtech Jasný

    Four stories, four seasons of the year, four periods from the human lifeRead More »

  • Mickey Rooney – My True Story (1951)

    1951-1960CrimeDramaMickey RooneyUSA

    Plot Synopsis by Hal Erickson
    Mickey Rooney made his directorial debut with My True Story. Per its title, the film is based on an article which first appeared in the pages of True Story magazine. Jewel thief Ann Martin (Helen Walker) is paroled thanks to some string-pulling by criminal boss George Trent (Wilton Graff). Ann soon learns that she is expected to participate in a major gem heist. With the help of policeman Bill Phillips (Willard Parker) — who also happens to be a former member of U.S. military intelligence — Ann hopes to turn the tables on the smooth-but-deadly Trent. Featured in the cast as “Mark Foster” is Aldo DaRe, who would matriculate to stardom under the nom de film of Aldo Ray.Read More »

  • Sam Wood – Ambush (1950)

    1941-1950ClassicsSam WoodUSAWestern

    The U.S. Cavalry knows that traveling the unmapped Arizona Territory canyons and trails in search of a woman kidnapped by Apaches could mean riding into a trap. So they ask the help of Ward Kinman, a prospector and scout who knows both the terrain and the ways of the warring tribesmen. Nearly a decade after Billy the Kid, Robert Taylor saddled up a second time and portrayed Kinman in Ambush, the film that began his steady string of work in a genre that suited him like a Colt .45 tucked easy into hip leather. Marguerite Roberts (True Grit) offers a script filled with blazing action and romantic subplots. Among the co-stars: Chief Thundercloud (Tonto in The Lone Ranger serials of 1938 and 1939). From Warner Brothers!Read More »

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