The Steel Lady (1953)iMDB Rating: 6.3 Date Released : 9 October 1953 Genre : Action, Drama Stars : Rod Cameron, Tab Hunter, John Dehner, Richard Erdman Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
Surviving a plane crash in the Sahara, four oilmen find and manage to repair a German Afrika Corps tank which had been buried in the sand since WWII. Heading toward a French Foreign Legion outpost, they encounter a nomadic Arab tribe who believe the oilmen have found the treasure of Calipha, a rival Arab leader. If trying to acquire the jewels by guile doesn't work, the Arabs are prepared to kill the oilmen to get the stolen treasure.
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Review :
What a great movie!!!
I watched this movie several times when I was about 5 years old. All my older siblings were off to school, and my mother was doing her morning chores. I used to dream about finding that tank in the desert and driving off in it to defeat the bad guys. For years I've been trying to find a copy of it, and I am thrilled to know there are others who remember and enjoyed it as much as I did! I'm surprised there hasn't been a modern remake yet. It's hard to comment though on the quality of acting or direction when you haven't seen this movie since you were too young to know about that stuff, but from a kids point of view, I'd have to say this movie has everything an adventure-minded boy of the 50's and 60's would want to see in a movie.
How to Marry a Millionaire (1953)iMDB Rating: 7.0 Date Released : 5 November 1953 Genre : Comedy, Drama, Romance Stars : Marilyn Monroe, Betty Grable, Lauren Bacall, David Wayne Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
Three New York models, Shatze, Pola and Loco set-up in an exclusive appartment with a plan: tired of cheap men and a lack of money they intend to use all their talents to trap and marry three millionaires. The trouble is that's it's not so easy to tell the rich men from the huxters and even when they can, is the money really worth it?
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Review :
Monroe and Grable and Bacall
This entertaining film has the three girls (Pola, played by Marilyn Monroe in specs; Schatze, played by Lauren Bacall and looking rather mumsy; and Loco, played by Betty Grable with those fabulous legs) setting up shop in an apartment, ready to reel in wealthy husbands.
The boys in question include David Wayne, Rory Calhoun, Cameron Mitchell, William Powell, and Alex D'Arcy. Trying to figure out the scheming girls is hard for them, especially when the girls are going all out to hide their real personalities!
This glitzy fluff is enlivened by real-life in-jokes - Betty Grable doesn't recognise a Harry James record (she was married to him at the time), and Lauren Bacall says she's mad about 'that old man in The African Queen'(real-life husband Bogart of course). Bacall comes out best of the girls although Monroe is always worth watching and Grable was effective decoration even towards the end of her career, as she was here (having been on screen for over twenty years at this point - her first appearance was in her teens in 'Hold 'Em Jail', I think).
The Eddie Cantor Story (1953)iMDB Rating: 5.8 Date Released : 20 January 1954 Genre : Biography, Drama, Music Stars : Keefe Brasselle, Marilyn Erskine, Aline MacMahon, Arthur Franz." /> Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
Not to be out done by his late rival Al Jolson, Eddie Cantor got a biographical film of his own. It's no more true to life than The Jolson Story in fact it may be less true. Cantor had his faults, but on the whole was a nicer person than Jolson. But in fact these films are only an excuse to hear the many songs identified with Cantor over the course of his almost 50 years as an active performer beginning with him as a child working in one of Gus Edwards productions for talented kids.
Keefe Brasselle is superficially suggestive of Cantor and the lipsynching of Cantor standards is performed well. I don't think he came close to capturing the inner Cantor. Best in the film is Aline McMahon as Eddie's fabled Grandma Esther who raised him after he was orphaned.
At least the Jolson Story got it right that Al Jolson was not the man's birth name, he's presented to us as Asa Yoelson the cantor's son (no pun intended) from the beginning. Eddie Cantor's real name was Izzy Ishkowitz, but that was never brought up at all. It's the biggest error of the film.
The film stops in the early 30s and Cantor had at least 20 more years of active performing. It's adequate, but catch some of his films if you want to know what a marvelous performer Eddie Cantor was.
La bella mugnaia (1955)iMDB Rating: 5.9 Date Released : 27 October 1955 Genre : Comedy Stars : Vittorio De Sica, Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni, Paolo Stoppa. Alla fine del '600 nel napoletano sotto la dominazione spagnola, il mugnaio Luca cerca di arrabattarsi per non pagare le gabelle che impone Don Teofilo, il governatore, con il consiglio di Gardunia; da quella sulla pioggia (anche quando non c'è) a quella sul matrimonio. In questo è aiutato dalla bella moglie Carmela; diventa così amico di tutti i potenti del vicinato che sperano di conquistare le..." /> Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
Alla fine del '600 nel napoletano sotto la dominazione spagnola, il mugnaio Luca cerca di arrabattarsi per non pagare le gabelle che impone Don Teofilo, il governatore, con il consiglio di Gardunia; da quella sulla pioggia (anche quando non c'è) a quella sul matrimonio. In questo è aiutato dalla bella moglie Carmela; diventa così amico di tutti i potenti del vicinato che sperano di conquistare le grazie della moglie. Tra i potenti vi è anche il governatore che, dietro consiglio di Gardunia, fa imprigionare Luca per avere mano libera con la moglie. Ma anche nei migliori piani le cose non vanno come previsto.
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Review :
Buxom wife.
This very earthy comedy was based on the play "The Three-Cornered Hat" from the Spanish novel of Alarcon. It is a subject which director Mario Camerini had previously filmed in 1935. This CinemaScope/Technicolor remake was a modest success in the States after its release, although not so big a hit with the Catholic Legion of Decency which condemned it. The film has Vittorio De Sica as a lecherous governor of Naples in 1680 who lusts after the wives of several peasants, particularly the miller's wife Carmela, played by a ravishing Sophia Loren. The miller himself, played by a youngish Marcello Mastroianni, plans to avenge his honor by seducing the wife of the governor. Wonderful fun boasting a great cast and one of the earliest pairings of Loren and Mastroianni.
Het misdaad syndicaat (1954)iMDB Rating: 6.8 Date Released : 17 June 1955 Genre : Crime, Drama, Film-Noir, Thriller Stars : Robert Taylor, Janet Leigh, George Raft, Steve Forrest. Detective Chris Kelvaney has a brother, Eddie, who also is a policeman. He witnessed a murderer running away from the scene of the crime. Chris has contacts with the gangster Beaumonte, who is willing to pay $15,000 if Eddie withdraws his testimony. But Eddie is an honorable cop and refuses. Beaumonte makes sure that Eddie is killed. After his death, Kelvaney starts to track down his brother's ..." /> Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
Detective Chris Kelvaney has a brother, Eddie, who also is a policeman. He witnessed a murderer running away from the scene of the crime. Chris has contacts with the gangster Beaumonte, who is willing to pay $15,000 if Eddie withdraws his testimony. But Eddie is an honorable cop and refuses. Beaumonte makes sure that Eddie is killed. After his death, Kelvaney starts to track down his brother's killer.
Review :
Nice crime melodrama with Taylor in top form...
Robert Taylor puts an even harder edge on his 'Johnny Eager' type of role with another hard-boiled, even tougher characterization as a man steeped in underworld crime until his brother (Steve Forrest) is killed by mosbsters. Crisply directed, nice all-around performances from an attractive cast--Janet Leigh, Steve Forrest, George Raft, Alan Hale, Jr.--with Taylor highly convincing in the tough central role.
Not the kind of gritty film noir one would suspect coming from the MGM studios--but well worth it with its Raymond Chandler type of dialogue and a climactic gun fight that is extremely well handled.
Crime buffs should enjoy this one--as will Robert Taylor's fans.
Man on a Tightrope (1953)iMDB Rating: 7.1 Date Released : 29 June 1953 Genre : Drama Stars : Fredric March, Terry Moore, Gloria Grahame, Cameron Mitchell Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
Czech circus owner-Clown and his entire troupe employ a daring stratagem in order to escape en masse from behind the iron curtain.
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Review :
Intriguing and well-acted
This is an interesting movie about the members of a circus troupe trying to flee Communist domination while battling amongst themselves. Adolphe Menjou is spectacular as a down-on-his-luck government functionary. Gloria Grahame is chilling in her scenes. Richard Boone and Cameron Mitchell lend professional support.
The Golden Blade (1953)iMDB Rating: 5.6 Date Released : 12 August 1953 Genre : Adventure Stars : Rock Hudson, Piper Laurie, Gene Evans, George Macready. Harum (Rock Hudson) is a fearless man of the people who comes to Bagdad to avenge the murder of his father and meets Krairuzan (Piper Laurie), a princess disguised as a commoner, working against a plot by a band of evil schemers trying to do away with her father, the Caliph. She gives Harum a golden sword which, in his hands, makes him invincible. Harum uses the sword in the name of justice and ..." /> Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
Harum (Rock Hudson) is a fearless man of the people who comes to Bagdad to avenge the murder of his father and meets Krairuzan (Piper Laurie), a princess disguised as a commoner, working against a plot by a band of evil schemers trying to do away with her father, the Caliph. She gives Harum a golden sword which, in his hands, makes him invincible. Harum uses the sword in the name of justice and is doing quite well until a duplicate sword is placed in his scabbard during one of his off-guard moments, and he winds up in chains.
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Review :
Lively, physically beautiful, with delightful comedy and John Rich's script
Young Piper Laurie and handsome newcomer Rock Hudson were both featured to great advantage in this clearly-plotted and lively adventure-comedy. Imaginative veteran Nathan Juran directs very accurately and imaginatively, and the acting by George Macready as the ambitious villain, aided by Gene Evans (not quite up to a classical accent) and Kathleen Hughes and that of their opponents played by Edgar Barrier, the crafty Stephen Geray and others is above average for any genre. Adding to the fun is lovely Laurie impersonating a boy, a mysterious magic sword (which in lesser hands would have been a detriment) and its magical unwillingness to obey other than a virtuous owner. There is a prolonged sequence when various magicians attempt to remove the sword--which Macready needs to claim the throne--that has become embedded in a wall, and more physically colorful and beautifully-realized scenes than in any ten mean-streets melodramas of the post 1970s. If you do not fall in love with the spirited Khairozan, as Hudson does in the film, then you are probably dead. If you cannot delight in this youthful and stirring adventure of a bygone era, you had best give Grecianized Near-Easterns, our richest adventure genre in so many ways, a consistent miss.
Big Leaguer (1953)iMDB Rating: 5.9 Date Released : 19 August 1953 Genre : Drama, Family, Sport Stars : Edward G. Robinson, Vera-Ellen, Jeff Richards, Richard Jaeckel. John Lobert runs a training camp in Florida for the New York Giants. Every year, he evaluates the 18-22 year old hopefuls to pick the best for a minor league contract. They all have dreams and talent, but the elimination whittles them down to a lucky few who will get the $150 a month contract. This year John's niece comes down from the home office in New York and is attracted to tall quiet Adam." /> Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
John Lobert runs a training camp in Florida for the New York Giants. Every year, he evaluates the 18-22 year old hopefuls to pick the best for a minor league contract. They all have dreams and talent, but the elimination whittles them down to a lucky few who will get the $150 a month contract. This year John's niece comes down from the home office in New York and is attracted to tall quiet Adam.
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Review :
Freaky Baseball Film
There are very few good baseball films and certainly this isn't one of them but Robert Aldrich somehow makes it all watchable. Edward G. Robinson is so good you actually believe he is baseball veteran Hans Lobert, who really lived and played ball for several teams in the early 20th century. Lobert's real name was Honus but everyone called him Hans, same as Honus Wagner, everyone called him Hans, too. The real Carl Hubbell and the real Al Campanis (who's next appearance was probably on the Nightline Show that cost him his job as Dodger general manager when he maligned African-Americans!)show up in this unknown and odd film which only runs 71 minutes. Richard Jaekel has one of his best parts and shows a real naturalness. It's nice to see him in something other than a war movie. And finally there's Vera Ellen, the smallest waist in Hollywood, doing a movie outside of her husband's, Herbert Yates, Republic Studios. An odd film for fanatical baseball fans only.
Adventures of Captain Africa, Mighty Jungle Avenger! (1955)iMDB Rating: 7.1 Date Released : 9 June 1955 Genre : Adventure Stars : John Hart, Rick Vallin, Ben Welden, June Howard. Filled from front to back with stock footage taken from the Columbia serials "The Phantom-1943" and, primarily, "The Desert Hawk-1944", with John Hart and the always-dull Rick Vallin making less-than-adequate substitutes for Tom Tyler and Gilbert Roland, this Sam Katzman "production" finds the mighty jungle avenger and legendary Captain Africa - A "Phantom" rip-off that side-stepped the need to ..." /> Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
Filled from front to back with stock footage taken from the Columbia serials "The Phantom-1943" and, primarily, "The Desert Hawk-1944", with John Hart and the always-dull Rick Vallin making less-than-adequate substitutes for Tom Tyler and Gilbert Roland, this Sam Katzman "production" finds the mighty jungle avenger and legendary Captain Africa - A "Phantom" rip-off that side-stepped the need to pay King Features another fee for using the character - pledging to see that the legitimate Arabian caliph, Hamid, is restored to the throne which a tyrannical rival has usurped. He is joined in this enterprise by adventurer Ted Arnold, wild-animal trapper Nat Coleman, and his assistant Omar and, to cover all bases, the Arabian princess Rhoda. This rambles on for fifteen chapters as they are beset by guards of the tyrant caliph, desert outlaws, wild beasts of the jungle, and a pair of white adventurers, Boris and Greg, (doing the work of dozens for budgetary reasons) who have a vested interest ...
Review :
Almost The Phantom
Many serial fans know that 'The Adventures of Captain Africa' was originally to be 'The Adventures of The Phantom'. Stills of this production show up from time to time.
The late John Hart told me (and others) at an Old Time Radio convention in NJ that, contrary to what some film historians say, the entire Phantom serial had finished production before Columbia Studios realized that their option for a second Phantom serial had expired.
Soon, producer Sam Katzman brought Hart and other actors back together to replace every shot in which The Phantom had appeared with new Captain Africa scenes.
The costume assembled for Capt. A was somewhat lackluster; an aviator's cap, mask, turtle-neck, jodhpurs, gun belt and boots.
Hart, an amusing and self-deprecating, man said: "As The Phantom I looked pretty good. As Captain Africa, I looked like an idiot."
Radio Cab Murder (1954)iMDB Rating: 6.7 Date Released : 1 October 1954 Genre : Crime Stars : Jimmy Hanley, Lana Morris, Sonia Holm, Jack Allen Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
Fred Martin, a reformed taxi driver is used by the police, to go undercover in order to help catch a gang of safe robbers, but things start to go wrong, when the police stakeout the wrong bank, and Fred finds himself alone with the crooks.
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Review :
It ends well.
"Radio Cab Murder" begins with an armed robbery. A cab driver, Fred Martin, sees the getaway and gives chase and almost catches up to them...almost. The police were thankful Martin tried and are impressed because Martin is an ex-con--and he's really turned his life around since his release. And, among his co-workers, he's very popular. However, someone is trying to get Martin fired--and sent an anonymous letter to his employer--telling him that Martin in an ex-con. However, the boss likes Martin also and already knows he's an ex-con. No problem, right? Well the police soon realize that the letter might not have come from some crank but a local gang. That's because their safe-cracker was found dead (of natural causes, apparently)--and Martin used to break open safes. It seems that they are TRYING to get him fired so that he'll need work--and they'll offer him some quick money doing SOMETHING illegal. But what is it? Well, the only way to find out is if Martin is willing to work for the police--which he does. But this gang is very deadly and very cautious and it sure looks as if Fred is in for trouble.
This is a very low budget British film. I didn't recognize anyone in the film. Yet, despite this, the film was reasonably exciting and well done. In particular, it ended very well when Martin's friends back at the cab company learn he's in danger and come pouring out of the woodwork to find him! While not a great film by any stretch, it is entertaining and worth a look.
If you are interested in seeing it, it's available from Alpha Video. The print is surprisingly good considering the source.
King of the Khyber Rifles (1953)iMDB Rating: 6.5 Date Released : 22 December 1953 Genre : Adventure, Drama, Romance Stars : Tyrone Power, Terry Moore, Michael Rennie, John Justin Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
Freshly arrived Sandhurst-trained Captain Alan King, better versed in Pashtun then any of the veterans and born locally as army brat, survives an attack on his escort to his Northwest Frontier province garrison near the Khyber pass because of Ahmed, a native Afridi deserter from the Muslim fanatic rebel Karram Khan's forces. As soon as his fellow officers learn his mother was a native Muslim which got his parents disowned even by their own families, he falls prey to stubborn prejudiced discrimination, Lieutenant Geoffrey Heath even moves out of their quarters, except from half-Irish Lt. Ben Baird. Brigadier general J. R. Maitland, whose policy is full equality among whites, learns King knew Kurrum Khan as a boy and charges him with training and commanding native cavalry, which comes along fine. The general's egalitarian daughter Susan Maitland takes a fancy to King, even falls in love but the general decides to send her safely home to England after a kidnapped attempt when King saved ...
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Review :
The first revisionist colonial adventure of India
While offering many racist undercurrents in portraying imperialism and eastern characters, adventure movies have long satisfied a desire for escape, becoming one of the principal avenues for presenting views of foreign cultures (however warped) and distant lands to curious and receptive audiences. The genre is sufficiently flexible to allow for only a lukewarm endorsement of colonialism or questioning of its political effects, a tradition going back at least to 1928 and the notable production of WHITE SHADOWS OVER THE SOUTH SEAS. However, this theme only became established after World War II, as films began to reflect the crumbling of western empires in Africa and Asia and recognition grew of the pernicious effects of imperialism and its attendant racism. The first major film signpost of these changes was KING OF THE KHYBER RIFLES (1953), set in the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857, a conflict that had rarely been treated in films up to that time. The story centers on a character of Eurasian ancestry, Captain Alan King (Tyrone Power), who falls in love with an English girl, Susan (Terry Moore), the daughter of the outpost's commander, General Maitland (Michael Rennie)--providing an opportunity for exploring racial attitudes in a colonial setting. Focusing on a relationship between a half-caste and a white girl was, in the early 1950s, an original cinematic theme, and KING OF THE KHYBER RIFLES was unique for presenting it in adventure.
KING OF THE KHYBER RIFLES explores King's personal difficulties as he tries to find his own social position, living in uneasy suspension between the world of the native and the foreign sahibs, torn between them; only the adventurous experience can resolve his status. Prejudice against King emerges because of his parentage; fellow officers refuse to be billeted in the same quarters, and he is conspicuously not invited to the queen's birthday ball. The stress is not simply on his courage but more on the numerous challenges he must face in daily living. A social outcast at the fort, King is most secure in the home of his adopted father, Hamid Bahra, a Moslem holy man; the picture was originally to end with King returning to Bahra before joining Susan. KING OF THE KHYBER RIFLES has a lone hero and none of the emphasis on military camaraderie, or the careless, Boys' Own tone to be found in such films as GUNGA DIN. Authentic details of Indian atmosphere convey a sense of accuracy, such as the rumors that the cartridges for the new Enfield rifles are greased with pig's fat, simultaneously offending Moslem and Hindu alike. King must use his unique appeal as a fellow native to lead the Khyber Rifles in an attack on Khan's encampment. At the last moment, King's men resolve not to use the rifles but offer to follow him using their knives. The imperial conflict is between men who are sons of India, whether Kurram Khan and his followers or King and the Khyber Rifles. Yet KING OF THE KHYBER RIFLES ultimately evades the question of the desire for Indian independence, through depicting Kurram Khan's leadership as far more ruthless and dictatorial than British rule. King is in a unique position; his half-caste status, negotiating between British and Indian with a knowledge of both, enables a British victory, establishing not just his equality within the fort but also his eligibility to marry Susan. The British outpost offers the hero the only world where his merits can win recognition, partaking of both sides of his ancestry by following in his father's military footsteps. King's birthplace and home are India, not England, and though he may serve the British, he does so for the distinction such duty may bring through association with a respected unit like the Khyber Rifles. King secures greater respect than is accorded to white officers like Maitland. While utilizing many of the incidents and motifs of THE LIVES OF A BENGAL LANCER, THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE, GUNGA DIN, and other such movies, KING OF THE KHYBER RIFLES also sums them up, providing both a commentary and a decisive new turn. KING OF THE KHYBER RIFLES brings Indians to the forefront, honoring the native traditions while still treating heroes and villains according to standardized genre patterns. While clearly an adventure of colonial India in the classical mode, KING OF THE KHYBER RIFLES represents a fundamental shift to an awareness of its own conventions, allowing the film to be watched today more easily than many other adventures of a similar vintage. KING OF THE KHYBER RIFLES was the fourth picture shot in Twentieth Century-Fox's new widescreen process, CinemaScope, and it was widely acclaimed as the the first picture whose action fully justified use of the anamorphic lens. Fox's directing "King" was assigned to it: Henry King, a sixty-seven year old veteran whose career stretched back to the teens, and was a personal favorite of Zanuck as well as a close friend of leading star Tyrone Power. Power, tired of playing action roles, disliked KING OF THE KHYBER RIFLES, and by then was more interested in unusual, challenging character roles. Unfortunately, Zanuck wanted to use Terry Moore, who was already under contract, as the leading lady, a role she sought assiduously despite being completely miscast in the part. Zanuck was enthusiastic about shooting KING OF THE KHYBER RIFLES in Lone Pine, and Henry King agreed that a location trip to India was unnecessary, and the California locale substituted so well that many reviewers believed that at least portions of the picture had been shot in India. Producer Frank Rosenberg selected Bernard Herrmann to write the score, hoping for and receiving something more exotic and less intrusive than the type of martial music Alfred Newman had written for previous Henry King-Tyrone Power adventure films at Fox. KING OF THE KHYBER RIFLES was widely touted as Fox's Christmas release, becoming a box-office hit, and it is still popular on television.
The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953)iMDB Rating: 6.7 Date Released : 13 June 1953 Genre : Adventure, Horror, Sci-Fi Stars : Paul Hubschmid, Paula Raymond, Cecil Kellaway, Kenneth Tobey Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
As a result of an arctic nuclear test, a carnivorous dinosaur thaws out and starts making its way down the east coast of North America. Professor Tom Nesbitt, only witness to the beast's existence, is not believed, even when he identifies it as a "rhedosaurus" to paleontologist Thurgood Elson. All doubts disappear, however, when Elson is swallowed whole during an oceanic bathysphere excursion to search for the creature. Soon thereafter the rhedosaurus emerges from the sea and lays waste to Manhattan Island until Nesbitt comes up with a plan to try to stop the seemingly indestructible beast.
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Review :
A piece of sci-fi history.
The first true Harryhausen films, and it's a real landmark film, the first of the atomic age monster movies (and one which led to the creation of a certain Japanese monster).
Atomic tests in the arctic release a prehistoric beast which has been trapped in the ice for millions of years. In no time the mysterious creature is wrecking havoc, but sceptical scientists refuse to believe in the existence of such a thing.
In common with a lot of Harryhausen's creations, the Beast itself has a real character, is a believable animal rather than just a monster. The film is cleverly-written and the characters are well-thought-out. A first-rate tale.
Avant le déluge (1954)iMDB Rating: 7.1 Date Released : 26 February 1954 Genre : Crime, Drama Stars : Antoine Balpêtré, Paul Bisciglia, Bernard Blier, Jacques Castelot." /> Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
That was the beginning of the era when André Cayatte was championing all the good causes.Coming after "justice est faite"(about euthanasia) and "nous sommes tous des assassins" (about the death penalty,a subject which was unusual at the time),"avant le déluge" showed the youth's anguish after WW2,when they talked about a third world war in the fifties. Unable to relate to their parents,and frightened by the bleak future that was left for them ,a girl and four boys want to do what Noah did:escape to an Island in the sun on a boat.But their disposable funds are low and they get involved with robbery and murder,which leads them to their standing trial.
In fact,Cayatte put the parents in trial,and if his plea was unsubtle and devoid of nuance,it was a heartfelt account of an utterly distraught generation.
ANOTHER LOOK AT "AVANT LE DELUGE"(2006)
Given the rating on the IMDb board,and the very poor reviews it gets in French books,it' s obvious that this movie needs reassessment.
"It is a dated movie, sneer French critics,forgetting that it's its greatest quality:it is a film which was made in the early fifties and it does belong to that era.one cannot think of such a screenplay in our (troubled however) times.and nevertheless ,the movie had problems with the censorship which found it hard to believe such youngsters could turn into criminals.the movie repeats it twice "he is only 17" "he's just turned seventeen" "she's not seventeen".The movie got a PG 16 although ,except for one sequence ,it is not violent,even compared to its time's standards.
these are not natural born killers.they became murderers by chance.with a little luck,things would have worked out fine.and there are the parents....
....blame it on mama ,on papa! Cayatte holds the parents responsible for everything.Once again,it was trendy to laugh at Cayatte in those fusty Cahiers du Cinema .The parents are caricatures ,stereotypes,but the director wanted them to be so.....WW2 collaborator whose hate for Jews verges on paranoia ....liberal father whose naiveté predates May 68 and the post-81 disappointment (left/right/left/right,it is all the same)....wealthy parents whose concern is to make sure their fortune will be safe when the flood comes....over possessive mother whose son has difficulties finding his sexual identity.....and no parents at all ,as far the young Jew is concerned....
These parents are afraid...they fear that the Corean war might turn WW3.They never stop talking about this impending war.That's why their sons and daughter are beyond their command: fifteen years later,they would have gone to India ,or become hippies.In 1953,it is still the old dream of sailing away to the islands in the sun (see " Quai des Brumes " or" les Portes dela Nuit" )A critic noticed that the film the young Jew shows to his friend ,a shy boy under his mom's thumb, (one of the other boys even uses the word "minion" )features only male natives;their relationship is certainly homosexual,even if the repressed young man cannot take the plunge. This is really a lost generation,the generation who will be sacrificed in another dirty war in Algeria.The last pictures ,even if WW3 will not happen , pack a real wallop and are not telling the audience "we've had a narrow escape" but "watch out it's not over,it has just begun"
those parents are in fact no more stereotypes than Nicholas Ray's families in "rebel without a cause" .when Philippe screams "Mom ! please help me" behind her locked door ,he is not more ridiculous than Dean or Wood in the American movie.
Best scene: the killing of Daniel.Remembering what his crazy father said about the Jews ,in his black raincoat ,Jean does what the Gestapo used to do ten years before.
For this is a film noir,full of despair and pessimism;Cayatte's most complex work, admired by Bergman and Bunuel,it has worn remarkably well,just because it is a dated work:unique.
Playgirl (1954)iMDB Rating: 5.8 Date Released : 21 April 1954 Genre : Drama, Film-Noir Stars : Shelley Winters, Barry Sullivan, Colleen Miller, Gregg Palmer. Nightclub singer Fran Davis is out to educate her out-of-town friend Phyllis Matthews on the ins-and-outs of life in the Big City. But, par for the course in this Joseph Pevney potboiler, publisher Mike Marsh, Fran's lover and unhappy married man to begin with, falls in love with Phyllis. There is a misunderstanding of the situation by the two girls. The girls quarrel, Marsh is shot, Fran hits ..." /> Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
Nightclub singer Fran Davis is out to educate her out-of-town friend Phyllis Matthews on the ins-and-outs of life in the Big City. But, par for the course in this Joseph Pevney potboiler, publisher Mike Marsh, Fran's lover and unhappy married man to begin with, falls in love with Phyllis. There is a misunderstanding of the situation by the two girls. The girls quarrel, Marsh is shot, Fran hits the skids and she and Phyllis, to say the least, are on the outs. Then Fran learns that Phyllis is about to be used unwittingly as a decoy in a murder. Fran rides to her friend's rescue.
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Review :
Shelly Winters unloosed in disorganized cautionary melodrama
Before they started streaming into New York from Minnesota, they used to come from Kansas (or, in this case, its neighbor to the north). Wide-eyed Colleen Miller gets off the Big Dog from Grand Island, Nebraska to try her hand at the modeling game; she batches it with an old hometown friend, now a nightspot shantoozie (Shelley Winters, who forebodingly sings the old Sophie Tucker number `There'll Be Some Changes Made').
Winters has all the right connections, both high and low (or so she thinks). She's having an affair with the married publisher (Barry Sullivan) of a photomag, Glitter, and can set Miller up for dates with any number of high-rolling but penniless scions of old-money families. But it's Sullivan who finds Miller more enchanting than the needy Winters, who ends up throwing a drunken wingding in which a pistol plays an inopportune part. Though cleared of murder charges, the two gals from the Great Plains, now mortal enemies, find that nobody wants them anymore, either for torch songs or fashion layouts (Winters confides that she spends her days `breaking phonograph records and emptying ice-cube trays').
There's a lot more plot (and many more characters, most of them generic) in this cautionary melodrama about the snares of the Big Town - maybe too much of both (though it's unfair to judge from a showing cut down to fit a commercial television slot). And It's not clear whether the playgirl of the title is Winters or Miller, or if it even matters. Joseph Pevney seems to be reworking material about the interface between show business and crime that he had done two years earlier, and much more successfully, in Meet Danny Wilson (where Winters also appeared). The movie comes off as unfocused and strident. But then that's the price to be paid for unloosing Winters.
Moord in de Rue Morgue (1954)iMDB Rating: 5.8 Date Released : 27 March 1954 Genre : Crime, Horror, Mystery Stars : Karl Malden, Claude Dauphin, Patricia Medina, Steve Forrest Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
After several women are murdered, the police are baffled who the suspect is. All evidence points to Dupin, but soon it becomes apparent that it is something that is stronger and more deadlier than man.
Review :
More gripping than the 1932 version directed by Robert Florey...
Although not in the same league with Warner's HOUSE OF WAX, at least this version of the Edgar Allen Poe story has some interesting ingredients that make it passable entertainment. First and foremost, the always dependable KARL MALDEN as a sinister man terrifying Paris with his ape and a pleasant supporting cast that includes CLAUDE DAUPHIN, PATRICIA MEDINA and a very young and slim MERV GRIFFIN.
David Buttolph's music adds some flavor to the improbable Poe story and the sets and costumes provide additional quality. But the basic story is so silly that none of it seems quite credible. You just have to suspend your disbelief long enough to enjoy the tale, expanded a bit from Poe's original short story with only modest returns.
STEVE FORREST, as a man wrongly accused, gives the film's most earnest performance but it's KARL MALDEN and his ape companion that you're most likely to remember.
At any rate, a vast improvement over the stilted '32 version directed by Robert Florey with a very young Leon Ames as the romantic lead and Bela Lugosi providing the only thrills.
Papa, maman, la bonne et moi... (1954)iMDB Rating: 6.9 Date Released : 26 November 1954 Genre : Comedy Stars : Robert Lamoureux, Fernand Ledoux, Gaby Morlay, Nicole Courcel." /> Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
Etienne Chatiliez's idea -a big boy nearing thirty still living with his folks - for his "Tanguy" was not that much new,by a long shot.Jean -Paul Le Chanois's hero did the same in 1954;take law instead of Chinese and you've got a "new" screenplay.
THat said,"Papa ,Maman,la bonne et moi" is a rather clumsy comedy ,Gaby Morlay playing -as an amateur- Marguerite Gautier at fifty-something does not exactly equal Garbo.It' s not very funny all in all,and there are not many surprises for the audience.
Le Chanois,one of the betes noires of la nouvelle vague,was a former critic in "les cahiers du cinema" though,this magazine in which Truffaut and co cut their teeth in the fifties.
This is now some kind of document of a time when petits bourgeois like Lamoureux's family used to live in the same apartment building than the proles.(with one significant difference:the rich used to live on the lower stories ,the less-than-wealthy in the rooms with slopping ceilings up where they belong ,so to speak.)
East of Sumatra (1953)iMDB Rating: 5.9 Date Released : 23 September 1953 Genre : Adventure Stars : Jeff Chandler, Marilyn Maxwell, Anthony Quinn, Suzan Ball Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
Duke Mullane, manager of a Malayan tin mine, goes to a little-known island to open a new mine in the jungle. Initially, the natives there are friendly, especially dancer Minyora...who proves to be affianced to local ruler King Kiang. Alas, a series of unfortunate incidents changes Kiang's attitude to hostility, and Duke is stranded with his crew, Minyora, and his old flame Lory...who's now engaged to his boss! Are romantic triangles more deadly than poisoned darts?
Watch East of Sumatra Trailer :
Review :
Early 50s potboiler
Jeff Chandler always impressed me as having two expressions: one, as one overdue for a visit to the toilet and the other, relief at just having been. This film, which is thin on story, is another tough guy going to tame the wild elements, story. Chandler is at his hammy best, Marilyn Maxwell is always a delight to look at and Tony Quinn plays a Malay chief. This is not the most entertaining film you'll encounter on the late show but it has some pleasant moments about a time when tough guys could wrest fortunes out of the jungle without a worry in the world about pollution, colonial exploitation or globalization, and just making sure, they get the girl.
The Steel Lady (1953)iMDB Rating: 6.3
