Anatole Litvak

  • Anatole Litvak – The Long Night (1947)

    Anatole Litvak1941-1950250 Quintessential Film NoirsFilm NoirThrillerUSA

    Synopsis:
    Shortly after a violent encounter with magician Maximilian (Vincent Price), Joe Adams (Henry Fonda) is shot by police. As he lies dying in his apartment, he reflects on his past. The flashbacks follow Joe as he falls in love with young Jo Ann (Barbara Bel Geddes), who is also being courted by Maximilian. Jo Ann begins to favor the compassionate Joe over the possessive magician, and Maximilian heads to Joe’s apartment intending to kill him, resulting in a dramatic standoff.Read More »

  • Anatole Litvak – Cette vieille canaille AKA The Old Devil (1933)

    1931-1940Anatole LitvakClassicsDramaFrance

    Vautier, a wealthy surgeon in his fifties, falls in love with Hélène, a young woman from a modest background. He allows her to have a string of short-lived lovers – but when Jean Trapeau, an old boyfriend, resurfaces, things get complicated.Read More »

  • Anatole Litvak – Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939)

    1931-1940Anatole LitvakClassicsThrillerUSA

    Prior to the United States entry into World War II, Nazi spies try to steal American military secrets. Among those whose passions are roused is Kurt Schneider who was court-martialed and dishonorably discharged from the US Army. Schneider is not very bright and is easily swayed by the oratory of Dr. Karl Kassel, a prominent physician who is eventually made the head of the Nazi spy ring. When Schneider’s contact is arrested in Scotland, the US military asks the FBI to root out the spies. Agent Edward Renard is put in charge of the case and they methodically arrest all who have been spying.Read More »

  • Anatole Litvak – The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a Gun AKA La dame dans l’auto avec des lunettes et un fusil (1970)

    Anatole Litvak1961-1970FranceMysteryThriller

    Synopsis:
    In one of those spur-of-the-moment decisions, Danielle “Dany” Lang, a meek English secretary with an international advertising agency in Paris, drives to sun-kissed French Riviera to blow off steam, after seeing her boss, Michael Caldwell, and his wife, Anita, off at the airport. The plan was to drop them off and drive Michael’s car back to the house; however, as soon as Dany sets foot on the picturesque resort for the first time in her life, a series of chance encounters with perfect strangers, who claim that they recognise her, begin to mar her ideal weekend. Now, there’s a strange noise coming from the boot of the car. Is the lady in the car going mad?Read More »

  • Anatole Litvak – Anastasia (1956)

    Anatole Litvak1951-1960DramaUSA

    Quote:
    Could an amnesiac refugee named Anna Anderson (Ingrid Bergman) truly be the Grand Duchess Anastasia, purported sole survivor of the execution of Czar Nicholas II and his family during the Bolshevik Revolution of 1918, and therefore the rightful heir to the Czar’s fortune? Backed by a group of White Russian exiles led by General Bounine (Yul Brynner), she faces her possible grandmother, the imperious Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna (Helen Hayes), and the fortune-hunting Prince Paul (Ivan Desny).Read More »

  • Anatole Litvak – The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse (1938)

    1931-1940Anatole LitvakCrimeDramaUSA

    Plot:
    A wealthy society doctor decides to research the medical aspects of criminal behaviour by becoming one himself. He joins a gang of thieves and proceeds to wrest leadership of the gang away from it’s extremely resentful leader.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 »

  • Anatole Litvak – Castle on the Hudson (1940)

    1931-1940Anatole LitvakCrimeDramaUSA

    Mobster Tommy Gordon isn’t worried about being sentenced to Sing Sing prison because his political pals have promised him a quick parole. A troublesome prisoner, he finally concedes that his friends have deserted him, and he makes an effort to reform. When his girlfriend Kay is injured in an accident, Warden Long gives Tommy a pass to go see her. But trouble erupts when Tommy encounters the man responsible for his imprisonment.

    Remake of the 1933 film 20,000 Years in Sing SingRead More »

  • Anatole Litvak – Goodbye Again (1961)

    1961-1970Anatole LitvakArthouseDramaUSA

    Goodbye Again, released in Europe as Aimez-vous Brahms? is a 1961 romantic drama film produced and directed by Anatole Litvak. The screenplay was written by Samuel A. Taylor, based on the novel Aimez-vous Brahms? by Françoise Sagan. The film, released by United Artists, stars Ingrid Bergman, Anthony Perkins, Yves Montand, and Jessie Royce Landis.Read More »

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