Showing posts with label musical. Show all posts
Showing posts with label musical. Show all posts

Thursday, October 1, 2009

D

DAMES (1934) Dir: Ray Enright, Busby Berkeley. Writer: Robert Lord, Delmer Daves. Jimmy Higgens: Dick Powell, Barbara Hemingway: Ruby Keeler, Mabel Anderson: Joan Blondell, Guy Kibee: Horace P. Hemingway, Mathilda Hemingway: Zazu Pitts, Ezra Ounce: Hugh Herbert. Millionaire uncle Ezra plans to leave $10,000,000 to Horace P. Hemingway, his wife Mathilda and daughter Barbara if they demonstrate an extreme level of morality. Barbara's 13th cousin Jimmy Higgens is an actor and songwriter as well as Barbara's secret boyfriend. With the help of Mabel Anderson, Jimmy blackmails Horace into financing his Broadway show. Ezra who is also the head of the Ounce Foundation for the Elevation of American Morals and vows to close Jimmy's show. Barbara has also gotten a job as a dancer in the show.
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THE DAMNED (1969) Dir: Luchino Visconti. Writer: Nicola Badalucco, Enrico Medioli, Luchino Visconti. Frederich Bruckmann: Dirk Bogarde, Sophie Von Essenbeck: Ingrid Thulin. Martin Von Essenbeck: Helmut Berger, Aschbach: Helmut Griem, Gunther Von Essenbeck: Renaud Verley, Herbert Thallman: Umberto Orsini, Elisabeth Thallman: Charlotte Rampling, Konstantin Von Essenbeck: Reinhard Kolldehoff, Joachim Von Essenbeck: Albrecht Schoenhals. The extended Von Essenbeck family fights for control of the family steel and armaments company in the decade before World War 2. Some of the family members ally themselves with the SA and some with the SS. Their conflict includes murder and sending family members to concentration camps.
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DAVID HOLZMAN'S DIARY (1967) Dir: Jim McBride. Writer:Jim McBride. David Holzman: L.M. Kit Carson, Penny Wohl: Eileen Dietz. Young film maker, David Holzman makes a documentary about his everyday life.
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DR MABUSE, THE GAMBLER (1922) Dir: Fritz Lang. Writer: Thea von Harbou. Dr. Mabuse: Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Cara Carozza: Aud Egede Nissen, Countess Dusy Told: Gertrude Welcker, Count Told: Alfred Abel, State Attorney von Wenk: Bernhard Goetzke, Edgar Hull: Paul Richter, Spoerri: Forster-Larrinaga. Dr. Mabuse, psychiatrist, hypnotist, master of disguise, gambler and master criminal matches wits with State Attorney von Wenk, while causing havoc in Berlin.

F

THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER (1928) Dir: James Sibley Watson, Melville Webber. Writer: Edgar Allan Poe. Roderick Usher: Herbert Stern, Madeline Usher: Hildegarde Watson, Traveller: Melville Webber. A traveller arrives at the house of Usher to find siblings, Roderick with a heightened sense of his surroundings and Madeline in almost catatonic state.
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FLY (1970) Dir: John Lennon, Yoko Ono. Writer: John Lennon, Yoko Ono. The Woman: Virginia Lust. A fly is filmed in extreme close-up as it walks on the body of a naked woman.
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FLYING DOWN TO RIO (1933) Dir: Thornton Freeland. Writer: Cyril Hume, H.W. Hanemann, Erwin Gelsey. Belinha De Rezende: Dolores del Rio, Roger Bond: Gene Raymond, Julio Ruberio: Raul Roulien, Honey Hale: Ginger Rogers, Fred Ayres: Fred Astaire. When The Yankee Clippers band leader and amateur aviator, Roger Bond gets the band fired from a Miami hotel by flirting with patron, Belinha De Rezende, he gets the band a new job at a brand new hotel in Rio de Jeneiro. Meanwhile, Belinha has returned to Rio to see her father, the owner of the Hotel Atlantico, that has hired The Yankee Clippers. Too, Julio Ruberio, the best friend of Roger Bond is the fiance of Belinha. When three Greeks from Monaco try to take over the Hotel Atlantico by interfering with the hotel's entertainment permit. Roger, Fred Ayers and Honey Hale come to the rescue by staging a show on the wings of airplanes that fly over the hotel. Julio realizes that Belinha is really in love with Roger, so he steps aside.
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FORT APACHE (1948) Dir: John Ford. Writer: Frank S. Nugent. Capt. Kirby York: John Wayne, Lt. Col. Owen Thursday: Henry Fonda, Philadelphia Thursday: Shirley Temple, Sgt. Maj. Michael O'Rourke: Ward Bond, Lt. Michael Shannon O'Rourke: John Agar, George O'Brien: Capt. Sam Collingwood, Mrs. Emily Collingwood: Anna Lee, Sgt. Festus Mulcahy: Victor McLaglin, Silas Meacham: Grant Withers, Sgt. Beaufort: Pedro Armendariz, Mrs. Mary O'Rourke: Irene Rich, Cochise: Miguel Inclan. When glory seeking Lt. Col. Owen Thursday arrives to take command of Fort Apache, he comes into conflict with Capt. Kirby York. Thursday wants to pursue and capture Cochise, while York favors negotiation and the replacement of Indian Agent Silas Meacham. Col. Thursday's daughter, Philadelphia, enters into a romance with Sgt. Maj. O'Rourke's son, Lt. Michael Shannon O'Rourke. Col. Thursday tries to break up the relationship. Capt. York gets Cochise to agree to return to the reservation, but Col. Thursday double crosses York and Cochise and leads his command into battle against the Apaches and gets his command wiped out.
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49th PARALLEL (1941) Dir: Michael Powell. Writer: Emeric Pressbirger, Rodney Ackland. Lt. Hirth: Eric Portman, Lt. Kuhnecke: Raymond Lovell, Vogel: Naill MacGinnis, Kranz: Peter Moore, Lohmann: John Chandos, Johnny the Trapper: Laurence Olivier, Peter: Anton Walbrook, Anna: Glynis Johns, Philip Armstrong Scott: Leslie Howard, Andy Brock: Raymond Massey. When a German U-Boat tries to hide from allied patrols in Hudson's Bay, Canada, they put launch a shore party to get supplies. When Canadian bombers sink the U-Boat, the shore party is stranded. They make an attempt to escape Canada. They raid a Hudson's Bay Company store and kill Johnny the trapper, Eskimos, as well as some fliers sent by the company to investigate. They steal the plane, crash and find themselves in a Hutterite community. When Vogel, the only non Nazi in the group tries to leave, Lt. Hirth orders his execution. They steal from Philip Armstrong Scott, a Canadian writer's camp in the Rocky Mountains. In the end, Lt. Hirth is the only Nazi not either killed or captured. He tries to escape into a still neutral United States, but is prevented by Canadian soldier, Andy Brock, and is sent back to Canada by U.S. Customs agents.
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FOUR MEN ON A RAFT (1942) Dir: Orson Welles. Writer: Orson Welles. Themselves: Manuel "Jacare" Olimpio Meira, Jeronimo Andre De Souza, Raimundo "Tata" Correia Lima, Manuel "Preto" Pereira De Silva, Jose Sobrinho, Francisca Moreira Da Silva. When a young fisherman and husband dies in an accident at sea, four of his fellow fishermen sail from their small village to Rio de Janeiro, the then capital of Brazil to ask for relief for their hard lives. See IT'S ALL TRUE.
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FRANKENSTEIN (1931) Dir: James Whale. Writer: Garrett Fort, Francis Edward Farough. Henry Frankenstein: Colin Clive, The Monster: Boris Karloff, Elizabeth: Mae Clarke, Victor Moritz: John Boles, Fritz: Dwight Frye. Scientist Henry Frankenstein is obsessed with creating human life. He assembles a body from cadavers stolen from cemeteries, and adds a brain from a dead criminal. When the monster kills Henry's assistant, Fritz and his ex teacher, the monster escapes. Henry who has returned home to marry his fiancee, Elizabeth, has his wedding interrupted when the monster, now on the loose and terrorizing the country side kills a child, little Maria. Henry leads the townspeople in search of the monster, cornering him in an old windmill.

G

THE GIRL AND HER TRUST (1912) Dir: D.W. Griffith. Writer: George Hennessy. Grace a Telegraph Operator: Dorothy Bernard, Jack a Railroad Express Agent: Wilfred Lucas. Grace, a telegrapher is kidnapped by tramps when she tries to prevent them from stealing a strong box. Jack pursues the tramps and rescues Grace.
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THE GODDESS (1934) Dir: Wu Yonggang. Writter: Wu Yonggang. The Goddess: Ruan Ling-yu. The Boss: Zhang Zhizhi. In Shanghai, the Goddess, a single mother, sells herself on the streets to support her young son. Escaping from police raid she blunders into the room of the Boss, a street thug, who quickly becomes her pimp. She tries to escape the Boss, but is tracked down. She has sent her son to school, but when the other mothers discover that she is a prostitute, they demand the expulsion of her son. The school's headmaster tries to prevent the child's expulsion, and resigns in protest when he doesn't succeed. When the Boss finds and steals her hidden stash of money, the Goddess kills the Boss. The headmaster adopts the son when the Goddess is sent to prison for the murder. For a more detailed review, go to www.thenewcommonsense-wjy.blogspot.com/2010/05/goddess-silent-movie-dvd-of-week.html
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GOLD DIGGERS OF 1933 (1933) Dir: Mervyn LeRoy. Dance Sequences Dir: Busby Berkeley. Writer: David Boehm, Erwin S. Gelsey. Brad Roberts AKA Robert Treat Bradford: Dick Powell, Carol King: Joan Blondell, Polly Parker: Ruby Keeler, Trixie Lorraine: Aline MacMahon, J. Lawrence Bradford: Warren William, Fanuel H. Peabody: Guy Kibbee, Fay Fortune: Ginger Rogers. Boston blue blood, Robert Treat Bradford goes to New York, changes his name to Brad Roberts to become a Broadway composer. With the help of his show girl neighbors, Polly, Trixie, Carol, and Fay, he gets a show produced, with the girls as the stars. When his brother, J. Lawrence Bradford, discovers that his brother, Brad/Robert, has entered show business, accompanied by family lawyer, Fanuel H. Peabody, he tries to disinherit Brad. The show girls set their sights on J. Lawrence and Fanuel, both to save the show and take the two Bostonians for some money.
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GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK (2005) Dir: George Clooney. Writer: George Clooney, Grant Heslov. Edward R. Murrow: David Strathairn, Fred Friendly: George Clooney, Joe Wershba: Robert Downey, Jr., Patricia Clarkson: Shirley Wershba, Sig Mickelson: Jeff Daniels, William Paley: Frank Langella, Don Hollenbeck: Ray Wise. Joseph McCarthy, Roy M. Cohn: Archive Footage. CBS reporter Edward R. Murrow and producer Fred Friendly take on Sen. Joseph McCarthy at the height of the 50's anti-communist witch hunts.
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GRAND ILLUSION (1938) Dir: Jean Renoir. Writer: Charles Spaak, Jean Renoir. Lt. Marechal: Jean Gabin, Elsa:Dita Parlo, Capt. de Boeldieu: Pierre Fresnay, Capt. von Rauffenstein: Erich von Stroheim, Lt. Rosenthal: Marcel Dalio. When French pilot, Lt. Marechal and staff officer Capt. de Boeldieu are shot down by German pilot, Capt. von Rauffenstein, they are sent to a series of prisoner of war camps. Because of their record of escape attempts, they are sent to an old castle that is being used to house escape risks, commanded by Capt. von Rauffenstein,now badly injured from a crash. The two prisoners are reunited with Lt. Rosenthal, whom they met at their first POW camp. Capt. de Boeldieu and Capt. von Rauffenstein become close friends because of their common backgrounds. Capt. de Boeldieu creates a diversion so that Marechal and Rosenthal can escape, and is shot by von Rauffenstein. He dies, but the two escapees get away. As they near the Swiss border, they take refuge in a barn. They are discovered by the farm's owner, Elsa a German war widow, with a young daughter. Elsa and Marechal fall in love, but in the end, he and Rosenthal leave and make their way to Switzerland and freedom.
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GRASS: A NATION'S BATTLE FOR LIFE (1924) Dir: Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack. Writers: (Titles) Richard P. Carver, Terry Ramsaye. As Themselves: Marguerite Harrison, Haidar Kahn, the chief of the Bakhatiari people, Lufta, his son. A silent documentary about the Bakhatiari people of Iran as they move their 50,000 people and millions of animals to pasture.
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THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY (1903) Dir: Edwin S. Porter. Writers: Porter, Scott Marble. A Bandit, Shot Passenger, Tenderfoot Dancer: Gilbert "Bronco Billy" Anderson, Bandit Who Shoots at Camera: Justus B. Barnes, Little Girl: Mary Snow. The title pretty much tells it all. A gang robs a train, in the old west. They're pursued and either shot or captured. Some hand colored sequences.
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GREEN ZONE (2010) Dir: Paul Greengrass. Writer: Brian Helgeland. Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller: Matt Damon, Clark Poundstone: Greg Kinnear, Martin Brown: Brendan Gleeson, Freddy: Khalid Abdalla, Lawrie Dayne: Amy Ryan, General Al Rawi: Yigal Naor. When Chief Roy Miller is sent into Baghdad to secure WMD's at the beginning of the second Iraq war, he soon discovers that the evidence of WMD's was false. He begins a search for the truth that leads him to high ranking American officials.

O

OBJECTIVE, BURMA! (1945) Dir: Raoul Walsh. Writer: Ranald MacDougall, Lester Cole. Capt. Nelson: Errol Flynn, War Correspondent, Mark Williams: Henry Hull, S.Sgt. Treacy: James Brown, Lt. Sid Jacobs: William Prince, Cpl. Gaby Gordon; George Tobias. An American commando unit under the command of Captain Nelson, accompanied by war correspondent, Mark Williams, parachute into Japanese occupied Burma to blow up a Japanese radar station. When the landing strip the unit is supposed to use to escape Burma is over run by the Japanese, the commandos are forced to get back to their base on foot.
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OCEANS (2009) Dir: Jacques Perrin, Jacques Cluzand. Writer: Christophe Cheysson, Jacques Cluzand, Laurent Debas, Stephane Durand, Laurent Gande, Jacques Perrin, Francois Sarano. A documentary about the world's oceans.
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OLYMPIA: PART 1, FESTIVAL OF THE NATIONS (1938) Dir: Leni Riefenstahl. Writer: Leni Riefenstahl. Documentary of the 1936 Berlin Summer Olympics.
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OLYMPIA: PART 2, FESTIVAL OF BEAUTY (1938) Dir: Leni Riefenstahl. Writer: Leni Riefenstahl. Second part of the documentary of the 1936 Berlin Summer Olympics.
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ON THE TOWN (1949) Dir: Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly. Writers: Adolph Green, Betty Comden. Music: Leonard Bernstein. Gabey: Gene Kelly, Chip: Frank Sinatra, Ozzie: Jules Munshin, Brunhilde Esterhazy: Betty Garrett, Ivy Smith: Vera-Ellen, Claire Huddesen: Ann Miller, Lucy Shmeeler: Alice Pearce. Three sailors have a 24 hour liberty in New York City. They go off to sight see and find girls. Gabey sees a poster for Miss Turnstiles, AKA Ivy Smith and becomes obsessed with finding her. Chip and Ozzie find their own girls, Brunhilde and Claire. The three couples meet up at the Empire State Building. Chased by the police, they all end up at Cony Island before the three sailors have to be back on their ship.
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ONE, TWO, THREE (1961) Dir: Billy Wilder. Writer: Billy Wilder, I.A.L. Diamond. C.R. MacNamara: James Cagney, Otto Ludwig Piffl: Horst Bucholz, Scarlett Hazeltine, Phyllis MacNamara: Arlene Francis, Schlemmer: Hanns Lothar, Fraulein Ingeborg: Liselotte Pulver. The head of Coca Cola's Berlin office, C.R. MacNamara dreams of heading up European operations in London. When the president of Coke sends his wild daughter, Scarlett Hazeltine, to Berlin and asks the MacNamara's to keep an eye on her, C.R. sees his opportunity for advancement. When Scarlett sneaks out and marries a radical East German communist, C.R. plots to destroy the marriage. He succeeds in getting Otto arrested by the Communist East Germans by framing him as an American spy. When he learns that Scarlett is pregnant, he frees Otto and remakes him as a phony count and ardent conservative.
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THE OUTLAW JOSEY WALES (1976) Dir: Clint Eastwood. Writer: Phil Kaufman, Sonia Chernus. JoseyWales: Clint Eastwood, Laura Lee: Sondra Locke, Lone Watie: Chief Dan George, Terril: Bill McKinney, Jamie: Sam Bottoms, Grandma Sarah: Paula Trueman, Little Moonlight: Geraldine Keams, Fletcher: John Vernon, Ten Bears: Will Sampson. After the civil war, a group of Confederate irregulars surrender to the Union Army. When they are gunned down, Josey Wales, the only member who refused to surrender, heads towards Texas, pursued by troops led by Terril, the commander who killed Wales's wife and son at the beginning of the war and Fletcher a fellow irregular who urged the group to turn themselves in. . Along the way, others, including two Indians, Lone Watie and Little Moonlight, and Grandma Sarah and grand daughter Laura Lee, attach themselves to a reluctant Josey Wales.

S

SABOTEUR (1942) Dir: Alfred Hitchcock. Writer: Peter Viertel, Joan Harrison, Dorothy Parker. Barry Kane: Robert Cummings, Patricia Martin: Priscilla Lane, Charles Tobin: Otto Kruger, Freeman: Alan Baxter, Frank Fry: Norman Lloyd, Mrs. Sutton: Alma Kruger, Phillip Martin: Vaughan Glazer. When defense worker Barry Kane bumps into Frank Fry, Fry drops an envelope with his name and the address of a ranch in California. When a fire at the plant turns out to be sabotage, Kane is unjustly accused. Kane realizes that Fry is the actual saboteur and tries to bring him to justice. He goes to the ranch, owned by wealthy Charles Tobin. Tobin is a Nazi spy. Kane follows the trail to Hoover Dam, then New York City. Caught at the mansion of wealthy Mrs. Sutton, also a Nazi spy, he eventually convinces the FBI of his innocence and tracks Fry to the Statue of Liberty where Kane and Fry confront each other on the statue's torch.
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THE SADDEST MUSIC IN THE WORLD (2003) Dir: Guy Madden. Writer: Kazuo Ishiguro (story) George Toles (screenplay) Chester Kent: Mark McKinney, Lady Helen Port-Huntley: Isabella Rossellini, Fyodor Kent: David Fox, Narcissa: Maria de Medeiros, Roderick Kent AKA Gravillo the Great: Ross McMillan. When double amputee, 1930's, Winnipeg beer baroness, Lady Port-Huntley announces a contest for the saddest music in the world, entrants from all over the world come to Canada to compete. Among the contestants are Fyodor Kent representing Canada, his sons, Chester representing the United States, and Roderick AKA Gravillo the Great representing Serbia. Both Chester and Fyodor were once romantically involved with Lady Port-Huntley. Years earlier,Chester was driving when an accident occurred that resulted in injuries to Lady Port-Huntley's legs. Fyoder, a doctor, did the amputations. Chester is now involved with Roderick's missing ex wife, Narcissa.
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SECRET AGENT (1936) Dir: Alfred Hitchcock. Writer: Campbell Dixon. Ashenden: John Gielgud, The General: Peter Lorre, Elsa: Madeline Carroll, Marvin: Robert Young, Caypor: Percy Marmont, Mrs. Caypor: Florence Kahn, Lilli: Lilli Palmer, "R": Charles Carson. During World War 1, English secret agent, Ashenden is sent to Switzerland to hunt down a German agent. He, his agent, pretend wife, and the General, a hired killer, at first identify and kill Caypor, who turns out to be the wrong man. They then identify Marvin, an American as the true agent and follow him on a train into enemy territory.
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SECRETS OF A SOUL (1926) Dir: G.W. Pabst. Writer: Karl Abraham, Hans Neumann, Colin Ross, Hanns Sachs. Martin Fellman: Werner Krauss, The Wife: Ruth Weyher, Cousin Erich: Jack Trevor, Dr. Orth: Pavel Pavlov, Fellman's Assistant: Hertha von Walther. When Martin Fellman has a strange dream full of violent and sexual imagery, he has a nervous breakdown. He seeks help from psychiatrist Dr. Orth. By analyzing Fellman's dream, a cure is achieved.
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SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON (1949) Dir: John Ford. Writer: Frank S. Nugent, Laurence Stallings. Capt. Nathan Brittles: John Wayne, Olivia Dandridge: Joanne Dru, Lt. Flint Cohill: John Agar, Sgt. Tyree: Ben Johnson, 2nd Lt. Ross Pennell: Harry Carey, Jr., Top Sgt. Quincannon: Victor McLaglen, Abby Allshard: Mildred Natwick, Major Mac Allshard: George O'Brien, Chief Red Shirt: Noble Johnson, Chief Pony That Walks: Chief John Big Tree. Captain Nathan Brittles, on the eve of retirement, leads one last mission to deliver two women, Abby Allshard and Olivia Dandridge to a stagecoach stop, while avoiding warring Indians. Meanwhile, two junior officers, Lts. Cohill and Pennell, quarrel over Olivia Dandridge.
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SMART ALEC (1951) Dir. & Writer: Unknown. The girl: Candy Barr. A woman is picked up at a hotel and goes back to the mans room and has sex. When she refuses to perform oral sex, a friend is called on the phone to come over for a threesome.
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THE SOCIAL NETWORK (2010) Dir: David Fincher. Writer: Aaron Sorkin. Mark Zuckerberg: Jessie Eisenberg, Eduardo Saverin: Andrew Garfield, Cameron & Tyler Winklevoss: Armie Hammer, Sean Parker: Justin Timberlake, Erica Albright: Rooney Mara. The story of the inventing, founding of Facebook, and the law suits that resulted.
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SOMETHING NEW (1920) Dir: Nell Shipman, Bert Von Tuyle. Writer: Nell Shipman, Bert Von Tuyle. A Lady Writer: Nell Shipman, Bill Baxter: Bert Von Tuyle, Sid Bickley: L.M. Wells, Agrilla Gorgez: Merrill McCormick. A lady writer seeking inspiration sees a man with a Maxwell Roadster challenge a cowboy on horseback to a cross country race. She then imagines herself in Mexico as a lady writer visiting a mine co-owned by her father in search of inspiration. She's kidnapped by bandit gang leader, Agrilla Gorgez. When Bill Baxter, a mining engineer, is unable to find a horse to ride to the rescue, he goes on a cross country rescue mission in his Maxwell roadster.
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STAGECOACH (1939) Dir: John Ford. Writer: Dudley Nichols. The Ringo Kid: John Wayne, Dallas: Claire Trevor, Buck: Andy Devine, Hatfield: John Carradine, Doc Boone: Thomas Mitchell, Lucy Mallory: Louise Platt, Curly: George Bancroft, Peacock: Donald Meek, Gatewood: Breton Churchill, Luke Plummer: Tom Tyler. When The Ringo Kid escapes from prison, Curly, the local sheriff realizes that The Kid will go to Lordsburg to kill the Plummers, who killed The Kid's father and framed him for murder. Curly rides the local stagecoach that is going through to Lordsburg even though the Indian's are on the warpath. The Ringo Kid is captured along the way, as the stage faces danger from the marauding Indians. When they get through to Lordsburg, The Ringo Kid goes off to face the Plummers.
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STRIKE (1925) Dir: Sergei Eisenstein. Writer: Sergei Eisenstein, Grigori Aleksandrov. Factory Foreman: Grigori Aleksandrov, Chief of Police: I. Ivanov, A Revolutionary: Ivan Klyukvin, Police Spy: Maksim Shtraukh, King of Thieves: Boris Yurtsev. After a factory worker is accused of a theft he did not commit, he hangs himself. The factory workers, fed up with mistreatment go on strike. The factory owners refuse to negotiate, and as the strike drags on, and hunger sets in, their unity frays. The police hire thieves to stir up trouble and the army uses it as an excuse to massacre the striking workers.
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SUNRISE: A STORY OF TWO HUMANS (1927) Dir: F.W. Murnau. Writers: Hermann Sudermann (original theme), Carl Mayer (scenario). The Man: George O'Brien, The Wife: Janet Gaynor, The Woman From the City: Margret Livingston. A farmer meets a woman from the city. She asks him to kill his wife so that they run away together.
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SUNSET BOULEVARD (1950) Dir: Billy Wilder. Writer: Billy Wilder, Charles Brackett, D.M. Marshman, Jr. Joe Gillis: William Holden, Norma Desmond: Gloria Swanson, Max von Mayerling: Erich von Stroheim, Betty Schaefer: Nancy Olson, Themselves: Buster Keaton, Anna Q. Nilsson, Hedda Hopper, Cecil B. DeMille, H.B. Warner. Down on his luck screen writer, Joe Gillis, on the run from bill collectors, tries to hide out in what he thinks is an abandoned mansion. It is, however, occupied by silent film star, Norma Desmond. Desmond lives in the past, dreaming of a grand comeback. She takes Joe Gillis in, at first as a ghost writer on her comeback script, and then as her gigolo. Joe tries to break away from Norma, teams up with Betty on a script of his own, and is eventually shot and killed by Norma, when he finally tries to walk out.