Orson Welles

The Stranger is often considered Orson Welles’ most “traditional” Hollywood-style directorial effort. Welles plays a college professor named Charles Rankin, who lives in a pastoral Connecticut town with his lovely wife Mary (Loretta Young). One afternoon, an extremely nervous German gentleman named Meineke (Konstantin Shayne) arrives in town. Professor Rankin seems disturbed–but not unduly so–by Meineke’s presence. He invites the stranger for a walk in the woods, and as they journey farther and farther away from the center of town, we learn that kindly professor Rankin is actually notorious Nazi war criminal Franz Kindler.Read More »

Plot
Two-part profile of actor-director Orson Welles, looking at his life and career in theatre, radio and particularly film.Read More »

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Life and times of Nikola Tesla, famous scientist whose inventions were stolen, but whose greatest contribution to mankind remain a mystery to this day.

A bewitching film about Nikola Tesla (Peter Bozovic), one of the world’s most gifted but unknown scientific discoverers, the genius who ushered in the age of electricity, who was born in 1856 in the village of Smiljan, in the province of Lika, Croatia—then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Tesla’s inventions were stolen but whose name nevertheless remains legendary for his overwhelming scientific contributions. He is quoted as saying “Science is but a perversion of itself unless it has as its ultimate goal the betterment of humanity.”Read More »

“Perhaps the most fascinating component of the films directed by Orson Welles was the masterpiece he never lived to complete. Beginning in 1957 and continuing on-and-off for the next 15 years, Welles self-financed and directed an audacious film version of Cervantes’ “Don Quixote” which brought the legendary knight and his rotund aide Sancho Panza out of 16th century Andalusia and into the world of (then-) modern Spain. But despite his genius behind the camera, Welles was remarkably neglectful in maintaining and preserving the footage he created and much of his work was considered lost…and the footage that remained was not properly stored!Read More »

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A stark, perverse story of murder, kidnapping, and police corruption in a Mexican border town.Read More »

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Compulsion is a compelling, stylish thriller, loosely based on the famous 1924 murder trial of thrill-killers Loeb and Leopold, two homosexual students who murdered a young boy to demonstrate their intellectual superiority. Artie Straus (Bradford Dillman) is a sadistic, mother-dominated bully. Judd Steiner (Dean Stockwell) is a submissive, introverted sissy. Having been raised by wealthy, arrogant families, both Artie and Judd consider themselves above conventional morality. Unfeeling and conceited, the boys, after thRead More »

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Posing as wealthy Cuban plantation owner Joseph Johnson, Augustus Billings is having an affair with married Clairette Dathis. Augustus is able to get away just before Clairette’s husband, Leon Dathis, comes home. But Leon finds out about the affair. With Augustus’ photograph in hand, Leon goes on a search for his wife’s lover. The ensuing chase leads to one sight gag close call after another. Eventually, the real Joseph Johnson in Cuba gets unwittingly into the act.Read More »

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‘Guy Van Stratten, American smuggler, leaves an Italian prison term with one asset, a dying man’s words about wealthy, mysterious Gregory Arkadin. Guy finds it most pleasant to investigate Arkadin though his lovely daughter Raina, her father’s idol. To get rid of Guy, Arkadin claims amnesia about his own life prior to 1927, sending Guy off to investigate Arkadin’s unknown past. Guy’s quest spans many countries and eccentric characters who contribute clues. But the real purpose of Guy’s mission proves deadly; can Guy himself survive it?’
– Rod Crawford (IMDb)Read More »

A documentary on the life and films of director John Ford.

Plot Synopsis by Clarke Fountain
This documentary profiles the great American filmmaker John Ford (1895-1973). Among the films he directed were The Young Lincoln, Stagecoach, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and The Grapes of Wrath. Ford’s work was distinguished by its great emotional clarity, which some see as sentimentality, and storytelling which evokes and defines what it is to be American. The film features interviews with Ford and with many of his stars, as well as exemplary clips from his films. Many of Ford’s films were westerns, and interviews with him are filmed in Monument Valley, one of his favorite film settings. It is narrated by director Peter Bogdonavich, whose own work shows Ford’s influence. Among the actors interviewed are John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart and Henry Fonda.Read More »