Watch The Shanghai Story Online

The Shanghai Story (1954)iMDB Rating: 6.0
Date Released : 1 September 1954
Genre : Action, Drama, Thriller
Stars : Ruth Roman, Edmond O'Brien, Richard Jaeckel, Barry Kelley. Too many years in the Orient have made a bitter man of Dr. Dan Maynard (Edmond O'Brien), an American surgeon, and too little emotional stability has tarnished the Tangier-born Rita King (Ruth Roman). They meet when a night-raid by Shanghai's police chief brings all westerners together in the Waldorf House Hotel, where they are interned under the guardianship of the coldly cruel Major Ling Wu (..." />
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Too many years in the Orient have made a bitter man of Dr. Dan Maynard (Edmond O'Brien), an American surgeon, and too little emotional stability has tarnished the Tangier-born Rita King (Ruth Roman). They meet when a night-raid by Shanghai's police chief brings all westerners together in the Waldorf House Hotel, where they are interned under the guardianship of the coldly cruel Major Ling Wu (Philip Ahn). Only Rita is free to come and go due to her friendship with Shanghai;s new police chief, Colonal Zorek (Marvin Miller. The liberty and luxury in which she lives arouses Maynard's contempt. But his opinion changes when she is instrumental in getting Major Wu replaced and punished, and when she arranges for a young girl, Penny Warren (Jeanne Perreau'), to be taken to a hospital for an emergency operation. But when a spy hunt reaches a bitter climax, and an internee is shot down while trying to escape, Maynard believes the tip-off came from Rita.

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Streaming Hell and High Water Online

Hell and High Water (1954)iMDB Rating: 6.3
Date Released : 6 February 1954
Genre : Action, Adventure, Drama, Thriller
Stars : Richard Widmark, Bella Darvi, Victor Francen, Cameron Mitchell. A privately-financed scientist and his colleagues hire an ex-Navy officer to conduct an Alaskan submarine expedition in order to prevent a Red Chinese anti-American plot that may lead to World War III. Mixes deviously plotted schoolboy fiction with submarine spectacle and cold war heroics." />
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A privately-financed scientist and his colleagues hire an ex-Navy officer to conduct an Alaskan submarine expedition in order to prevent a Red Chinese anti-American plot that may lead to World War III. Mixes deviously plotted schoolboy fiction with submarine spectacle and cold war heroics.

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Review :

High Water Widmark -- Excellent Cold War Drama

HELL AND HIGH WATER was produced in 1954 when 20th Century-Fox was showing off their spectacular new CinemaScope process and Sterephonic Sound --- and thereby dominating the box office like they wouldn't do again until the Star Wars movies. They made the most of previously seldom filmed Paris, London, Rome, Tokyo location shots -- combined with excellent storytelling. With this movie they hired Samuel Fuller to direct it, one of the few directors with name recognition.

A group of ex-Navy men are hired as mercenaries to take a submarine to an island in the Arctic to allow two scientists to investigate the suspected existence of nuclear weapons there.......

When I saw this film in 1954, it was as movies were made to be shown. It played the 3,450 seat Loew's Capitol Theater which had an atmosphere fit for royalty; plus the widest screen, best stereo, best projection we ever had in Washington, DC. Loew's Capitol --- which lives on only in memory --- makes our present Kennedy Center look like a tar paper shack in comparison. Hell and High Water just came out in DVD but the CinemaScope effect is muted in that format; still we're used to that now.

I rated this film a 10. In 1954 I might have said 8. But that was then and this is now. A few days ago a movie came out called SUPERBAD -- an instantly disposable piece of tripe, but thanks to 2007's low standards SUPERBAD ranks #81 in the all-time great movie list -- the CASABLANCA of the Bevis and Butthead Era. HELL AND HIGH WATER is a much better movie than any 2007 film, so by today's if-it-has-a-pulse-give-it-an-A standards it's gotta rate a 10.

Streaming Outlaw's Daughter Online

Outlaw's Daughter (1954)Date Released : 1 November 1954
Genre : Western
Stars : Bill Williams, Kelly Ryan, Jim Davis, George Cleveland. 20th Century-Fox, concentrating on their own CinemaScope films and therby not making enough films to meet their release needs, went outside to independent film makers to make up for the studio's output, and the consequences was that director/producer names such as Wesley Barry and Edward L. Alperson (on this one) and the likes of Sig 'n Sam Neufeld/Newfield on others, found their names, to the ..." />
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20th Century-Fox, concentrating on their own CinemaScope films and therby not making enough films to meet their release needs, went outside to independent film makers to make up for the studio's output, and the consequences was that director/producer names such as Wesley Barry and Edward L. Alperson (on this one) and the likes of Sig 'n Sam Neufeld/Newfield on others, found their names, to the surprise of probably themselves and certainly to the film-going public, on screen behind the 20th Century-Fox logo. No matter the reason or how it was packaged, a whole lot of B-dross, minus the production values the studio usually managed to disguise their own in-house dross with, begin to appear. This one has Jess Raidley (Bill Williams), not-ready-to-quit henchman of retired outlaw Jim Dalton (Nelson Leigh), carrying on with business as usual. When circumstances force Jess to kill Dalton, the latter's daughter, Kate (Kelly Ryan), blames sight-unseem Marshal Dan Porter (Jim Davis), whom she ...

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Review :

Whatever became of Kelly Ryan ?

I was 11 when I saw this B-western and I do not remember anything about it except that I fell deeply and as passionately as an 11 year old can for the eponymous heroine as played by Kelly Ryan.Miss Ryans place in the chronology of such things was that she replaced Francoise Arnoul ("French Can Can")in my affections and shortly after was replaced by Debbie Reynolds. I never heard of Miss Ryan again. But it says much about the impression she made on me that 50 years later her name came readily to mind.

Streaming Night People Online

Night People (1954)iMDB Rating: 6.6
Date Released : 14 May 1954
Genre : Adventure, Crime, Film-Noir, Mystery, Thriller
Stars : Gregory Peck, Broderick Crawford, Anita Björk, Rita Gam. Post WWII yarn about a young GI abducted by the Soviets in West Berlin and hauled off to the East. His recovery gets complicated as Colonel Steve Van Dyke (Peck) tries to sort out the usefulness of informants, spies, bureaucrats, and the abductee's influential father (Crawford)!" />
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Post WWII yarn about a young GI abducted by the Soviets in West Berlin and hauled off to the East. His recovery gets complicated as Colonel Steve Van Dyke (Peck) tries to sort out the usefulness of informants, spies, bureaucrats, and the abductee's influential father (Crawford)!

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Review :

Superior Cold War Espionage Thriller; Very Well-Acted B/W Suspense

Nunnally Johnson has been awarded every prize a screenwriter can be given. This film, with its many strengths, demonstrates why as well as does any of his efforts. The storyline here is both complex and adult; it is a Cold War thriller with very-strongly-developed characters, fine performances and great B/W production values throughout. Johnson wrote the script from a story by Jed Harris and directed. The story revolves around a Colonel played strongly by Gregory Peck who is in charge of US forces in Berlin who are dealing daily with the four powers governing their sectors there. Three challenges weigh on him at once. The Russian counterpart he has been trying to help defect is murdered; a young US serviceman is inexplicably kidnapped after meeting the German girl he loves, and demands are made by the Russians to get into their hands two persons in exchange for the soldier. Then the young man's industrialist father arrives to complicate matters further, making demands, while the Colonel discovers a traitor in his own circle of operatives. There are many fine performances in the well-chosen cast, headed by Peck's very strong military character, aided by Walter Abel and Buddy Ebsen; others noteworthy include Peter Van Eyck, Max Showalter, Jill Esmond, Marianne Koch, Anita Bjork and Broderick Crawford. Lovely Rita Gam plays the Colonel's secretary and steals every scene she is in. I found the military-parade pre-opening too-long; but the dialogue, characters and situations were everywhere absorbing and amazing memorable; had Johnson done nothing bu the scripts for this and "The Dirty Dozen", his place in Hollywood history would be secure. I suggest that with all its fine technical and creative aspects, when viewers talk about films "they used to make but can't or don't make any more", "Night People" is exactly the sort of powerful and adult film they have in mind.

Streaming Tourments (1954) Online

Tourments (1954)iMDB Rating: 5.9
Date Released : 23 April 1954
Stars : Paul Azaïs, Blanchette Brunoy, Claudy Chapeland, Raymond Cordy." />
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Streaming The Final Test Online

The Final Test (1954)iMDB Rating: 7.0
Date Released : 5 January 1954
Genre : Comedy, Drama, Sport
Stars : Jack Warner, Robert Morley, George Relph, Adrianne Allen. Sam Palmer is a cricket player who is playing the last Test match of his career. His schoolboy son, Reggie, is a budding poet who disappoints Sam by not attending the penultimate day's play. Then Reggie is suddenly invited to the home of poet and writer Alexander Whitehead. Reggie fears he will also miss the final day - and therefore Sam's last innings - but it turns out that Alexander is a ..." />
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Sam Palmer is a cricket player who is playing the last Test match of his career. His schoolboy son, Reggie, is a budding poet who disappoints Sam by not attending the penultimate day's play. Then Reggie is suddenly invited to the home of poet and writer Alexander Whitehead. Reggie fears he will also miss the final day - and therefore Sam's last innings - but it turns out that Alexander is a cricket fan.

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Review :

An absolute belter

This is a magnificent film and all the better for this being such a surprise. There's a quiet dread when you watch any film that claims to be about sport, especially when so many of its stars are credited to appear. Wooden and contrived come to mind. This throws all such stereotypes out of the window and is a wonderful and thoughtful classic.

There is humour and a great deal of emotion, there is also a splendid performance from Jack Warner who really surprised me with his sensitive portrayal of a proud cricketer and father. Robert Morley hams it up as usual and there is the delight of a Richard Wattis cameo to add icing to this wonderful cake.

All in all, this is a joy to watch; intelligent and witty thanks to Terrance Rattigan's sharp script. I love cricket, but those that know nothing of it will still get a great deal of pleasure from this cracking film.

Watch New Faces (1954) Online

New Faces (1954)iMDB Rating: 6.9
Date Released : 28 May 2014
Genre : Musical, Comedy
Stars : Ronny Graham, Eartha Kitt, Robert Clary, Alice Ghostley. A filmed performance (in CinemaScope) of the highly popular Broadway hit that was basically a collection of skits, sketches, songs and dances built around a flimsy plot to meld them all together which, for the most part, worked. The plot involves a performer/producer (Ronny Graham)who finds himself in financial difficulties on the eve of opening night because a big check is needed before the ..." />
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A filmed performance (in CinemaScope) of the highly popular Broadway hit that was basically a collection of skits, sketches, songs and dances built around a flimsy plot to meld them all together which, for the most part, worked. The plot involves a performer/producer (Ronny Graham)who finds himself in financial difficulties on the eve of opening night because a big check is needed before the curtain can go up. But a wealthy Texan says he will put up the money, if his daughter is in the show and he can see it first. End of plot, but the beginning of the careers of some young and talented people who have had careers across many decades. Ertha Kitt sings four songs, including "C'est Si Bon" and "Santa Baby" in and around some funny skits; "Trip of the Month", "Snake Charmer", "Crazy Man" and "Oedipus Goes South." Graham and Mel Brooks (in his Melvin Brooks days)are credited with most of the sketch material and just the title of the "Oedipus" bit suggests Brooks. There is a burlesque of "...

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Review :

Be very grateful for Eartha Kitt

It's no wonder she was called "the most exciting woman in the world"-- she's certainly the most exciting person in this revue! As others have said, Alice Ghostley also shines and Paul Lynde has a couple of good moments; but the rest of the cast is either mediocre or downright awful, especially Clary and Graham. A big part of the problem is the dearth of good songs; most are forgettable or worse. The choreography is uninspired too, although the vaguely Latin number with Carol Lawrence is pretty good. I usually enjoy shows like this, so I was surprised as well as disappointed. How this became a big Broadway hit is a mystery.

Watch Mädchenjahre einer Königin Online

Mädchenjahre einer Königin (1954)iMDB Rating: 6.3
Date Released : 10 October 1955
Genre : Comedy, History, Romance
Stars : Romy Schneider, Adrian Hoven, Magda Schneider, Karl Ludwig Diehl. England, the 19th century. Young Victoria is crowned to be the queen of England. She aims to do her best in order to help her country prosper. However, the family and her trustful advisor, Lord Melbourne, plan marriage for her. She is to get married to a German prince Albert. But Victoria sees her future differently and decides to leave London for a few days. She goes to Paris. On her way to ..." />
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England, the 19th century. Young Victoria is crowned to be the queen of England. She aims to do her best in order to help her country prosper. However, the family and her trustful advisor, Lord Melbourne, plan marriage for her. She is to get married to a German prince Albert. But Victoria sees her future differently and decides to leave London for a few days. She goes to Paris. On her way to France, she stays incognito in a little tavern in Dover with a baroness. There by chance she meets a handsome man and falls in love head over heels. Later, however, in very strange circumstances, it turns out that the handsome man is prince Albert himself...

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Review :

Beautiful Introduction to Sissi Trilogy

Ernst Marischka, one of the most respected Austrian directors of that time, made films full of beautiful scenes, delicate love and with respect to all that is precious in life.

Nowadays, if people should hear about him, they associate the name of Marischka with SISSI trilogy (1955,1956,1957). However, he made other excellent films like DAS DREIMADERLHAUS (1958), EMBEZZLED HEAVEN (1958) and definitely this one, MADCHENJAHRE EINER KONIGIN showing the young years of queen Victoria. Although it deals with a slightly different theme than SISSI films, I do not see many differences between this movie and SISSI. They are strikingly similar.

The movie is almost identical. The style, the music, the photography. In fact, the crew are almost the same. Anton Profes, Bruno Mondi!

The cast... Romy Schneider's one of the first main roles. It was a lovely introduction to her role of Sissi since this film was made one year before the first part of the trilogy about the Austrian empress. It is also a film where Romy plays with her mother, Magda Schneider. But Ernst Marischka was not the first director who cast Romy to play with her mum. Romy's debut, WENN DER WEISSE FLIEDER WIEDER BLUHN (1953) was her performance with her mother, too. Therefore, there were some voices that Romy began her Austrian career on the bases of her mother's fame. Indeed, there is some truth in it.

Again, like in SISSI, this film shows love very gently. Victoria meets Prince Albert in a little inn in Dover. Their sympathy is based on pure exaltation in dance and gentle smiles. And now...? What would it be showed like? Only sex... But is it the only thing love is based on?

I am grateful to Ernst Marischka for these movies. They had a soul and a message. Some people may call them kitschy, but I will never give up admiring these films. They are IMPRESSIVE!!! UNFORTUNATELY, HIGHLY UNDERRATED!

Watch Jungle Gents (1954) Online

Jungle Gents (1954)iMDB Rating: 7.1
Date Released : 5 September 1954
Genre : Comedy
Stars : Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Bernard Gorcey, Laurette Luez
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When the boys discover that Sach has a strange ability to sniff out diamonds, they hatch a scheme to make money out of it.

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Review :

Bowery Boys #35

Jungle Gents (1954)

** (out of 4)

The Bowery Boys head to Africa after its learned that Sach (Huntz Hall) has the ability to smell diamonds. Once in Africa they must battle natives, lions and of course some bad guys who want to steal the diamonds. By the time this entry came along it was doubtful anyone was expecting any type of classic and a classic is exactly what we don't get. JUNGLE GENTS isn't the worst film in the series but at the same time you can tell that the writers started to aim at a lower type of comedy meant to appeal to those under the age of ten. I don't mind that the series is working away from some of the darker entries but at the same time I found much of the humor to just be downright silly and not in a good way. There's a lot of added sound effects, which were clearly being "borrowed" from the Three Stooges shorts but they don't work here. Even Hall is a lot more animated with his facial gestures and they too don't get any laughs. The film contains a lot of stock footage from the BOMBA series and this includes various shots of the wild life. One of the most embarrassing moments in the film is also perhaps the funniest and it's when Sach and Slip are in a tent sleeping an a lion walks in on them. There's some footage of a real lion but then it switches to a fake one and this fake lion is without question the worst prop I've seen from a movie in God knows how long. If you've seen any of pre-1920 versions of THE WIZARD OF OZ you will see that the lion, as expected, is played by a man in costume but you also have humans playing horses and various other animals. Those outfits looked a lot more realistic that the fake lion here but what happens with the boys at least made me laugh. Gorcey must have paid the writers a few extra bucks because his mangled words are faster and happening at a higher rate than the previous entries. Hall and Gorcey are both in the right mood and deliver a few nice moments. Bernard Gorcey is on hand as usual as is Woody Strode in a few scenes. Clint Walker nearly steals the film with a hilarious bit at the end. The thirty-fifth entry in this series isn't one of the best but it' s fast moving enough to where fans will want to watch it.

Streaming L'affaire Maurizius Online

L'affaire Maurizius (1954)iMDB Rating: 6.8
Date Released : 4 June 1954
Genre : Drama
Stars : Daniel Gélin, Madeleine Robinson, Eleonora Rossi Drago, Anton Walbrook." />
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Review :

And justice for no one.

At first sight,Duvivier seems to follow in André Cayatte's footsteps.At the time,the latter director had launched a crusade against all the miscarriages of justice and had begun to champion any good cause going.But further acquaintance shows this:"l'affaire Maurizius" is a Duvivier movie .In Cayatte's movies,the problems are finally generally solved: in "Nous Sommes Tous Des Assassins" ,René was granted a pardon,in "Les Risques du Métier" ,the schoolteacher was rehabilitated.Even when the story turns black ("Le Glaive et la Balance" or "Justice est Faite") ,Cayatte " manages to limit the damage" so to speak.One should note that the young lead ,Jacques Chabassol,was part of Cayatte's "Avant le Deluge" (1953).

In "l'Affaire Maurizius",no one was saved:the judge has lost his son who is ashamed of his father ,the son has lost all his illusions,the gorgeous reluctant femme fatale has turned into a prematurely aged lady,her former lover is now living on the fringes of society,and the chastised innocent ......his fate is sealed as soon as the film begins...

....because,when the movie begins,"L'Affaire Maurizius" is an old one everybody wants to forget.That an innocent man may have spent seventeen years in jail does not seem to move the bourgeois judge (Charles Vanel),jealous of his privileges.Little by little,through flashbacks,scenes of the past resurfaces again .The judge 's son believes in justice and wants to save the prisoner(Daniel Gélin)who was "burried alive" .But Waremme (Anton Walbrook) tries to explain to him that the society scoffs at the law:while he is talking to the desperate young man,two dancers appear as shadow graphs on the window.This is the key to the film and to Duvivier's black world.

"L'Affaire Maurizius" is wrapped in mystery: all the flashbacks are filmed in places which seem secret and where a danger seems impending.The film sets are bare when they depict the past,emphasizing the characters who,unfortunately,with the exception of Vanel,sometimes display a tendency to overact.This misty atmosphere will emerge again in later works such as "Marianne de Ma Jeunesse" or "La Chambre Ardente".

Some objections to "l'Affaire Maurizius" remain: overacting (Anton Walbrook verges on ridicule),and Madeleine Robinson's underwritten part:she barely appears ten minutes whereas she plays a pivotal role in the screenplay.Her relationship with her younger sister (Eleonora Rossi-Drago) is only skimmed over whereas it is essential to the plot.

However,like almost all the movies Duvivier made ,it is a must: his pessimism leaves the viewer no hope : the last scene could be subtitled "out of the blue ... and into the black ,they give you this but you pay for that,and once you're gone you can never come back.." (Neil Young)

Streaming Ernst Thälmann - Sohn seiner Klasse (1954) Online

Ernst Thälmann - Sohn seiner Klasse (1954)iMDB Rating: 6.7
Date Released : 12 March 1954
Genre : Biography, Drama, War
Stars : Günther Simon, Hans-Peter Minetti, Erich Franz, Erika Dunkelmann. This historical-biographical film begins in the first days of November 1918 on the western front. News comes to the soldiers of a revolutionary uprising in Kiel. Young Thälmann, a soldier against his will, would like to join the expanding conflict on the side of his comrades in Hamburg. As the revolution becomes threatened by the betrayal of the right-wing Social Democrats and the splintering of ..." />
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This historical-biographical film begins in the first days of November 1918 on the western front. News comes to the soldiers of a revolutionary uprising in Kiel. Young Thälmann, a soldier against his will, would like to join the expanding conflict on the side of his comrades in Hamburg. As the revolution becomes threatened by the betrayal of the right-wing Social Democrats and the splintering of the working class, he nevertheless tries unremittingly to unite the workers. The reactionaries grow ever stronger and the neediness of ordinary people multiplies. In this dire situation, the Hamburg police commissioner would like to block the unloading of a ship full of provisions that were sent from Petrograd as a message of solidarity. But Thälmann prevails in unloading it. The high point and conclusion of the first part of the Thälmann films is established at the Hamburg Uprising in October 1923.

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Review :

Thälmann - Founding Father of German Communism

This film can only be appreciated if one knows its background. It was made in this curious country the GDR, and Ernst Thälmann was the leader of the German communist party before the Second World War. In fact, Thälmann was seen by the GDR-elite as something of a founding father, perhaps in the same way as the Americans admire Washington or Lincoln. Just like the carving of the first American presidents in rock, so one finds megalomaniac statues of Thälmann in the former GDR. This was of course a bit much for the common people, but the film had a relative success (perhaps also because bus loads of school children and personnel clubs were driven for free to the cinemas - try that with YOUR boss!). Somehow the people in the GDR saw that the roots of communism lie in humanism. Even now most people in the former GDR think of their past as indeed living in a dictatorship, but not in a wrong state. Just look at for instance the realistic, touching and much loved film "Paul und Paula". In addition it should be kept in mind, that Thälmann was active in the same political organization as the much mourned Rosa Luxemburg. On the other hand he was also associated with Walter Ulbricht, who started his career in the GDR as a Stalinist. Thälmann had already been put in a Nazi jail by the time that the cruelties of Stalin reached their climax. The film "Ernst Thälmann" portrays (in 2 DVDs!) his life and death, in a realistic way, but with extreme willingness. Political films are commonly biased, in both east and west, and the communist system has always been to weak to endure criticism from within. The story is therefore a straigthforward historic epic poem, in which the actors do a good job. It is all realism, you get what you see, and there are no hidden meanings, false bottoms or other "bourgeois" deceptions. There is nothing wrong with that. Of course the film can not conceal the violent nature of the communist party, and her destabilizing effect on the Republic of Weimar. In fact it does not even try, since the bringing about of the revolution and the fall of capitalism is the ultimate goal of Leninism, and thus seen as a virtue. The viewer should also bear in mind that in the roaring twenties the Comintern had already become an instrument for the protection of Soviet interests. The revolutionary climate died around 1920. Whereas the proletarian resistance against the fascist Kapp Putsch (1920) was justified and successful, this was not longer the case for the ensuing Ruhr uprising by the communists in 1921. By that time the socialdemocrats and the trade unions had already abandoned the armed resistance against the German military. The Ruhr uprising (against the disarmament of the workers) was without chance, and ordered by the Comintern (with the Soviet president Lenin behind it as driving force) mainly to weaken the German neighbour. The script has no room for such criticism or even doubts. If Thälmann has ever made a mistake, it is certainly not visible in this movie. For some strange reason, the personal glorification of the leaders has always been typical in communist countries. They were probably supposed to represent the human goodness, and be the ultimate example for the common people. With Thälmann this turned out to be especially easy, after his eventual murder by the Hitler fascists. If one is able to feel empathy, and to accept the rather unusual ideological perspective, then the viewer is rewarded with a nice impression of the Republic of Weimar, and the rise and establishment of Nazism.

Watch Moord in de Rue Morgue (1954) Online

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
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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.

Streaming Orient Express Online

Orient Express (1954)iMDB Rating: 4.8
Date Released : 8 October 1954
Genre : Drama, Music, Romance
Stars : Silvana Pampanini, Henri Vidal, Folco Lulli, Robert Arnoux. On December 24th the Orient Express gets snowbound near a little mountain village and its passengers are forced to spend some time there, mingling with the local people, upsetting their usually monotonous daily lives. Beatrice, the beautiful schoolmistress, finding it harder and harder to put up with the courtship of Dal Pozzo, the arrogant, pot-bellied mayor, falls for Jacques, a handsome ..." />
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On December 24th the Orient Express gets snowbound near a little mountain village and its passengers are forced to spend some time there, mingling with the local people, upsetting their usually monotonous daily lives. Beatrice, the beautiful schoolmistress, finding it harder and harder to put up with the courtship of Dal Pozzo, the arrogant, pot-bellied mayor, falls for Jacques, a handsome journalist she mistakes for a time for a dangerous criminal. On the other hand, the sight of Roxane, a vaudeville star, kindles a flame in the pure heart of Giovanni, Dal Pozzo's bullied nephew. As for the pharmacist, she starts dreaming of a new life with Mr. Davis, an easy-going Englishman. Destiny will bless some of them and thwart others.

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Review :

Come forward, sweet tear!

I wonder if this really is an episode of a 50s TV series - I really find that doubtful. What we have here is a big production movie - avalanche, winter landscapes - and not stock footage but the real thing, properly filmed, in colour. To my knowledge no TV serials of the early fifties were shot in colour, neither in Europe nor in the US. I find it hard to believe that this film that boosts the creative talent of Germany, Italy and France, could have been a one night episode. It might have been a cinematic rip off of the series, but Orient Express definitely was released cinematically.

Otherwise the film stinks and you won't miss anything if you miss it. The story is very superfluous and predictable, the direction is barely noticeable, and the actors are baaaaaaaaad - I only knew Curd Jürgens and Eva Bartok, but they do nothing to save the anonymous ensemble of Italian - French second degree thespians. Jürgens basically walks through the film, trying to keep as low as possible (he probably realized halfway through the production that this is developing into a turkey). Eva Bartok is dreadful - she looks like a porn star trying to cross over to a legitimate feature production. I sort of fell in love with her when I saw Blood and Black Lace by Mario Bava, but I never have seen another movie where Bartok is better than slightly embarrassing. No doubt a beautiful woman, she is much too busy to keep her lips sensually apart and the twinkle in her eyes to really remember about the rudimentary techniques of acting. Shame really.

The film is obviously lip synced (I have only the German version on DVD), and I've never heard it done more miserably: be it in the Alps, in the train, in the church or in the bedroom, everything sounds alike! The only redeeming feature which made me sit through this mediocre tear jerker was the superb picture quality and colours featured on the DVD.

If you have nothing to do on a Christmas eve because you've been a bastard and nobody calls you, you might want to cleanse your soul and shed a few tears watching this soap operetta.

Streaming Casanova's Big Night Online

Casanova's Big Night (1954)iMDB Rating: 6.8
Date Released : 12 April 1954
Genre : Adventure, Comedy, Musical
Stars : Bob Hope, Joan Fontaine, Audrey Dalton, Basil Rathbone
Movie Quality : HDrip
Format : MKV
Size : 870 MB

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Italy, 1757. Lowly tailor Pippo Popolino disguises himself as the great Casanova in order to romance attractive widow Francesca. He little suspects what he's getting into: locked into the incongruous role by the desperation of the real Casanova's creditors, Pippo must journey to Venice on a delicate mission far beyond his capabilities.

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Review :

There's Hope For Venice Yet

One of Bob Hope's funnier comedies was Casanova's Big Night which finds tailor's apprentice Hope exchanging places with the great Casanova who is played by Vincent Price in an unbilled cameo.

Casanova's been down on his luck lately and he's beating it out of town owing the butcher, baker, and candlestick maker as well as his valet, Basil Rathbone. But after Dutchess Hope Emerson and her son Robert Hutton catch Hope in Casanova's outfit, Rathbone and the creditors decide to let the ruse continue.

Emerson wants to hire the world's greatest lover to seduce her son's intended, Audrey Dalton, because she feels she's a titled goldigger. True, but that's beside the point. The proof will be if the great lover can steal a certain petticoat with a crest embroidered on it.

The Doge of Venice Arnold Moss and his two scheming aides Raymond Burr and John Carradine also have their doubts that Hope might not be the great Casanova. What could ever give them that idea?

By the way Cassanova's Big Night was unusual for Hope in that he went the entire film without one Crosby joke.

The palace intrigue is as thick as a cement pudding, but Hope manages to bumble through it with the help of Joan Fontaine who is one of the creditors. As is the case in all his films, she develops as a soft spot for old ski nose.

Paramount gave Hope an unusually good supporting cast here and they all perform well. Of course fans of the classics might well recognize that the plot was lifted from The Three Musketeers.

But can you imagine the havoc that three Bob Hopes would have caused Venice?

Streaming The Seekers (1954) Online

The Seekers (1954)iMDB Rating: 5.8
Date Released : 5 November 1954
Genre : Adventure, Drama, Romance
Stars : Jack Hawkins, Glynis Johns, Noel Purcell, Inia Te Wiata." />
Movie Quality : HDrip
Format : MKV
Size : 700 MB

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Review :

First Colour Feature Filmed in New Zealand

I give it an "8" for historical interest as the first colour feature filmed in my country of New Zealand, even though I haven't seen it yet (I have a copy ordered).

This film is available (legally) on DVD in Australia in a two-movie pack with another Jack Hawkins film "The Planter's wife". You can order it from www.ebay.com.au (for only ten Australian dollars!!!). Is also advertised on www.ebay.com in the States from another Australian source.

"The Seekers" is an important film historically in New Zealand where I live, because it's the first colour feature filmed here and one of the handful of international productions before the 1970's explicitly set here and it features several prominent indigenous Maori actors including acclaimed opera singer Inia Te Wiata who went on to perform at Covent Garden in London.

No doubt the comments posted by others above are valid re-the racist colonialist attitudes etc. After all, at the time this film was made, in 1954, the only features made here in New Zealand were directed by foreigners such as the British Annakin. We had to wait until the 1960s before a feature by a New Zealander. And even white New Zealanders in this period shared such colonialist attitudes and saw themselves s carrying white civilization to the "barbarous Pacific." No doubt some humour can be found if, like me, you enjoy marveling at the dated heroic poses often found in these British films made at the fag-end of Empire when Britannia hadn't quite yet waived the rules...At least this production has some Maori cast members- most Hollywood films set in New Zealand of this period use Mexicans or Asians to stand in for the indigenous Maori people (see below).

Other major international productions filmed or set in New Zealand in this period include "Green Dolphin Street" (director Victor Saville, 1947; starring Lana Turner and Van Heflin) about an Englishman thwarted in love who seeks redemption in exile in New Zealand, which won an Oscar for Best Special Effects for its earthquake scenes; "Until They Sail" (director Robert Wise, 1957; starring Paul Newman, Jean Simmons, Joan Fontaine, Sandra Dee and Piper Laurie) about GIs romancing New Zealand girls during the war; and "Two Loves" (director Charles Walters, 1961; starring Jack Hawkins again, Shirley MacLaine and Laurence Harvey) in which Shirley Maclaine is an idealistic young American immigrant school teacher amongst the impoverished Maoris battling (and in love with) the cynical Harvey and the set-in-his ways school inspector Hawkins. All the Maori roles seem to be played by Asians or Mexicans. This is also the case on "Green Dolphin Street" where all the Maoris seem to be played by Mexicans (apparently that one was filmed on a Hollywood lot).

A late entrant in the "British films with a New Zealand connection" genre is the entertaining "Mr Forbush and the Penguins" (aka "Cry of the Penguins") 1971 (starring John Hurt and Hayley Mills) based on a New Zealand novel. Esteemed English thespian Joss Ackland wins the all-time award for "worst foreign attempt at a New Zealand accent" in his cameo as a Kiwi official at the High Commission in London (has to be heard to be believed!!!).

Watch The Miami Story (1954) Online

The Miami Story (1954)iMDB Rating: 6.1
Date Released : 3 May 1954
Genre : Crime, Drama
Stars : Barry Sullivan, Luther Adler, John Baer, Adele Jergens." />
Movie Quality : BRrip
Format : MKV
Size : 700 MB

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Review :

Good cast and fast pace punch up laughable plot in grade-B gangster film

"The Miami Story" (1954) was one of a whole wave of crime thrillers inspired by the Kefauver Senate hearings on organized crime that focused on individual cities and purported to tell the "story" of the crime wave that overwhelmed the city in question and how it was broken. They usually had some elected official come out on camera at the film's beginning to give the stamp of legitimacy and tell us something about "the story you're about to see" that has absolutely nothing to do with the story we're about to see. In the case of "The Miami Story," that official is Senator George Smathers of Florida, who assures us with a straight face that crime has been virtually wiped out in Miami. Right. (Did anyone inform Santos Trafficante?)

Like all the other films in this cycle, "The Miami Story" takes a stock gangster plot that had been beaten to death in the 1930s and updates it to contemporary Florida. A committee of five Miami civic leaders seeks a way to bring down crime boss Tony Brill and his R&L Industries, the front for gambling and all sorts of vice rackets in Miami, so they call in ex-gangster Mick Flagg, who'd once been framed for murder by Brill and now lives incognito on an Indiana farm. Flagg is given a free hand and in no time at all is going through the motions of setting up a rival operation with Cuban backing, all to intimidate Brill, and ordering the police chief around as if he were Eliot Ness: "Give me some Cubans!" "I want the Biscayne Club closed town tonight!"

The police in this film do all kinds of things on Flagg's orders that they could easily have done on their own. At one point, Flagg has the cops install a TV camera in Brill's office at the Biscayne Club, all to capture private, incriminating conversations. However, TV cameras back then were huge bulky affairs so they can only stick one in an air conditioning shaft with a grill in front of it. As if the gangsters won't bother to investigate why no cool air will be forthcoming that night in the Miami heat. And when the cops watch the proceedings on little TV monitors outside the club, we see Brill and his men on the tiny screens exactly as they're shot in the film, in medium shots complete with pans and zooms. No high angle, no wide angle, nothing blurry, and no AC grill blocking the view! And they hear everything clearly even though no mike was seen installed.

Yes, the film is pretty far-fetched on all counts, never mind that they never even mention the mafia. Fortunately, the film is short (75 min.) and fast-paced and the cast is topped with four actors who really know how to sell this stuff. Tall, rugged western star Barry Sullivan plays Flagg and he's quite forceful and convincing, never one to hold back when a punch or a pistol-whipping are called for. Luther Adler, an old hand at film noir bad guys ("D.O.A.," "Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye"), plays Brill with old school charm and an indeterminate, vaguely Eastern European accent. Beverly Garland, also a veteran of "D.O.A." and later to shine in late '50s monster romps like "It Conquered the World" and "Curucu, Beast of the Amazon," plays Holly, an innocent girl caught up in the intrigue who takes sides with Flagg. Brassy blonde Adele Jergens, an underrated '50s B-movie queen, plays Gwen, Brill's all-knowing girlfriend and a cool customer in her own right.

The director is Fred F. Sears, who knew how to craft these things so that they never slowed long enough to give an audience a chance to question it. He and this film's producer, Sam Katzman, and writer, Robert E. Kent, re-teamed two years later for the similarly-themed "Miami Exposé," also reviewed on this site, which suffers from considerably weaker casting and even more ludicrous plotting.

Streaming Salka Valka Online

Salka Valka (1954)iMDB Rating: 6.5
Date Released : 15 November 1954
Genre : Drama
Stars : Gunnel Broström, Folke Sundquist, Margaretha Krook, Erik Strandmark." />
Movie Quality : HDrip
Format : MKV
Size : 700 MB

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