William Holden

  • George Seaton – The Counterfeit Traitor (1962)

    USA1961-1970George SeatonThrillerWar

    An American oil company executive of Swedish descent, now living in Sweden, is blackmailed into spying for the Allies during World War II. At first resentful, his relationship with a beautiful German Allied agent causes him to realize how vital his work is. When he learns that his anti-Nazi German associates are under suspicion from the Gestapo, he risks his own life to go back inside Nazi Germany to finish his work and try to save his friends. It’s an exciting story with great characters, filmed partly in the locations where the story took place.Read More »

  • Rudolph Maté – Union Station (1950)

    USA1941-1950Film NoirRudolph MatéThriller

    Synopsis:
    Union Station is a tense crime thriller in the tradition of The Naked City that unfolds in Los Angeles. William Holden plays railroad worker Lt. William Calhoun. Calhoun goes into action when Lorna Murchison (Allene Roberts), the sightless daughter of millionaire Henry Murchison (Herbert Heyes), is kidnapped by ruthless Joe Beacon (Lyle Bettger). The abduction is witnessed by Joyce Willecombe (Nancy Olson), Murchison’s secretary. Using the handful of clues provided by Joyce, Calhoun and his associate, Inspector Donnelly (Barry Fitzgerald) do their best to second-guess the kidnapper.Read More »

  • John Ford – The Horse Soldiers (1959)

    1951-1960John FordUSAWarWestern

    Ex railroad man, Yankee Colonel John Marlowe leads an irregular troop on a mission into the Confederacy, feuding every step of the way with his company doctor Major Kendall. Also confusing issues is Hannah Hunter, a Southern Belle who learns of their plans and must be brought along for security reasons. They succeed in their ‘dirty’ raid on a railhead town, but escape back to Union lines looks grim, with several rebel armies closing in from all sides – including a company of children from a confederate military academy.Read More »

  • Joshua Logan – Picnic (1956)

    1951-1960DramaJoshua LoganRomanceUSA

    Synopsis:
    One of the biggest box-office attractions of the 1950s, Picnic was adapted by Daniel Taradash from the Pulitzer Prize-winning William Inge play. William Holden plays Hal Carter, a handsome drifter who ambles into a small Kansas town during the Labor Day celebration to look up old college chum Alan (Cliff Robertson, in his film debut). Hoping to hit up Alan for a job–or a handout–Hal ends up stealing his buddy’s fiancee Madge Owens (Kim Novak). Hal also has a catnip effect on spinster schoolteacher Rosemary Sydney (Rosalind Russell), so much so that Rosemary makes a fool of herself in front of the whole town, nearly driving away her longtime beau Howard Bevans (Arthur O’Connell).Read More »

  • Billy Wilder – Sunset Blvd. (1950) (HD)

    1941-1950Billy WilderDramaFilm NoirUSA

    Quote:
    An aging silent film queen refuses to accept that her stardom has ended. She hires a young screenwriter to help set up her movie comeback. The screenwriter believes he can manipulate her, but he soon finds out he is wrong. The screenwriters ambivalence about their relationship and her unwillingness to let go leads to a situation of violence, madness, and death.Read More »

  • Rudolph Maté – The Dark Past (1948)

    1941-1950Film NoirRudolph MatéUSA

    Quote:
    Taken hostage along with his family and friends, psychologist Andrew Collins (Lee J. Cobb) is held by the murderous fugitive Al Walker (William Holden) and his gang. While Walker’s crew, which includes his lover, Betty (Nina Foch), tends to the other hostages, the desperate mastermind talks to Collins about his troubled past. As the night progresses, Collins gets Walker to focus on a disturbing dream, resulting in a psychological breakthrough that may help avoid a violent conflict.Read More »

  • George Cukor – Born Yesterday (1950)

    1941-1950ClassicsComedyGeorge CukorUSA

    Synopsis:
    Uncouth, loud-mouth junkyard tycoon Harry Brock descends upon Washington D.C. to buy himself a congressman or two, bringing with him his mistress, ex-showgirl Billie Dawn. Brock hires newspaperman Paul Verrall to see if he can soften her rough edges and make her more presentable in capital society. But Harry gets more than he bargained for as Billie absorbs Verall’s lessons in U.S. history and not only comes to the realization that Harry is nothing but a two-bit, corrupt crook, but in the process also falls in love with her handsome tutor.Read More »

  • Billy Wilder – Sunset Blvd. (1950)

    1941-1950Billy WilderDramaFilm NoirUSA

    Quote:
    One of Wilder’s finest, and certainly the blackest of all Hollywood’s scab-scratching accounts of itself, this establishes its relentless acidity in the opening scene by having the story related by a corpse floating face-down in a Hollywood swimming-pool. What follows in flashback is a tale of humiliation, exploitation, and dashed dreams, as a feckless, bankrupt screenwriter (Holden) pulls into a crumbling mansion in search of refuge from his creditors, and becomes inextricably entangled in the possessive web woven by a faded star of the silents (Swanson), who is high on hopes of a comeback and heading for outright insanity. Read More »

  • Otto Preminger – The Moon Is Blue (1953)

    1951-1960ComedyOtto PremingerRomanceUSA

    Two aging playboys make a play to sway young Patty from her vow to remain a virgin until her wedding night. Yet while she remains oblivious to David and Donald’s ulterior motives for wooing her, Patty’s goodness tames the Lotharios instead. The Moon Is Blue was based on a stage play produced by Preminger, and he filmed English and German versions simultaneously using the same sets and different actors. The German version, Die Jungfrau auf dem Dach, was released the same year, starring Hardy Krüger and Joahnna Matz.Read More »

Back to top button