Barbara Stanwyck

  • Frank Capra – The Bitter Tea of General Yen (1933)

    1931-1940DramaFrank CapraUSAWar

    Synopsis:
    The American missionary Megan Davis arrives in Shanghai during the Chinese Civil War to marry the missionary Dr. Robert Strife. However, Robert postpones their wedding to rescue some orphans in an orphanage in Chapei section that is burning in the middle of a battlefield. While returning to Shanghai with the children, they are separated in the crowd, Megan is hit in the head and knocked out, but is saved by General Yen and brought by train to his palace. As the days go by, the General’s mistress Mah-Li becomes close to Megan and when she is accused of betrayal for giving classified information to the enemies, Megan asks for her life.Read More »

  • Mitchell Leisen – Remember the Night (1940)

    1931-1940DramaMitchell LeisenRomanceScrewball ComedyUSA

    Synopsis:
    Just before Christmas, Lee Leander is caught shoplifting. It is her third offense. She is prosecuted by John Sargent. He postpones the trial because it is hard to get a conviction at Christmas time. But he feels sorry for her and arranges for her bail, and ends up taking her home to his mother for Christmas. Surrounded by a loving family (in stark contrast to Lee’s own family background) they fall in love. This creates a new problem: how do they handle the upcoming trial?Read More »

  • Anthony Mann – The Furies (1950)

    1941-1950Anthony MannClassicsUSAWestern

    Synopsis:
    The 1870s, New Mexico territory: T.C. Jeffords is a cattle baron who built his ranch, the Furies, from scratch. He borrows from banks, pays hired hands with his own script (“T.C.’s”), and carries on low-level warfare with the Mexicans who settled the land but are now considered squatters. He has enemies, including Rip Darrow, a saloon owner who’s father T.C. took land from. His headstrong daughter, Vance, has a life-long friend in one of the Mexicans, her heart set on Rip, and dad’s promise she’ll run the Furies someday. Her hopes are smashed by Rip’s revenge, a gold-digger who turns T.C.’s head, and T.C.’s own murderous imperialism. Is Vance to be cursed by fury and hatred?Read More »

  • Douglas Sirk – There’s Always Tomorrow (1955)

    1991-2000Douglas SirkDramaRomanceUSA

    Quote:
    Clifford Groves, toy manufacturer, is in full charge at the factory but feels left out and taken for granted by his wife and children at home. Alone and depressed, he meets old flame Norma, and one thing leads to another. While their relationship is still fairly innocent, his son Vinnie sees them together and suspects the worst. It’s time for tortured souls behind rain-streaming windows…Read More »

  • Douglas Sirk – All I Desire (1953)

    Drama1951-1960Douglas SirkUSA

    Quote:
    When the adulterous Naomi Murdoch (Barbara Stanwyck) returns to the family she abandoned years before, her arrival is rendered all the more difficult by the appearance of her former lover, Dutch (Lyle Bettger), anxious to rekindle the flames of their previous affair. As she tries to re-acquaint herself with the children she left for a life on the stage, Naomi must endure the bitterness of her eldest daughter, Joyce (Marcia Henderson), the misplaced admiration of her younger daughter Lily (Lori Nelson) and the reluctance of her school principal husband, Henry (Richard Carlson), to embrace her return. In early 20th century America, Naomi’s flamboyant style and perceived louche morality set the cat among the pigeons for the gossipy Riverdale, Wisconsin, townspeople.Read More »

  • Robert Florey – The Woman in Red (1935)

    1931-1940ClassicsDramaRobert FloreyUSA


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    Plot: Shelby Barrett (Barbara Stanwyck) rides show horses for wealthy widow “Nicko” Nicholas (Genevieve Tobin)and meets Johnny Wyatt (Gene Raymond), scion of a once-wealthy Long Island Family, but who now goes about the country riding polo ponies for “Nicko.” Despite the efforts of “Nicko” and wealthy Gene Fairchild (John Eldredge), who is in love with Shelby, Johnny and Shelby are married. Shelby is treated frigidly by her snobby-but-broke in-laws, who frown even more when she and Johnny start handling the horses for wealthy neighbors on money Shelby had borrowed from Fairchild without telling her proud-but-broke husband. Matters aren’t helped any when “Nicko” shows up and starts a gossip circuit directed against Shelby. When Johnny is away, Fairchild asks Shelby to help him entertain a wealthy client aboard his yacht. She tries to contact Johnny and fails but accepts the invitation.Read More »

  • William Dieterle – The Secret Bride (1934)

    1931-1940ClassicsDramaUSAWilliam Dieterle

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    Plot: Before Ruth Vincent, daughter of a state governor, and state attorney general Robert Sheldon can announce their marriage, the governor is accused of bribe-taking. To avoid the appearance of conflict of interest, they decide to keep their marriage secret. The political intrigue becomes more involved, and no one is quite what they seem. Soon Sheldon and Ruth must decide between saving the governor’s career and an innocent person’s life. Written by Rod CrawfordRead More »

  • Peter Godfrey – The Two Mrs. Carrolls (1947)

    1941-1950DramaFilm NoirPeter GodfreyUSA

    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 »

  • W.S. Van Dyke – His Brother’s Wife (1936)

    1931-1940ClassicsDramaUSAW.S. Van Dyke


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    Rita Wilson meets epidemiologist Chris Claybourne and they fall in love with each other. When Claybourne leaves for the tropics to find a cure against a disease, Wilson gets her revenge by marrying Claybourne’s brother although she still loves him. Written by Mattias ThuressonRead More »

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