Nick and Nora Charles cordially invite you to bring your own alibi to The Thin Man, the jaunty whodunit that made William Powell and Myrna Loy the champagne elite of sleuthing, Bantering in the boudoir, enjoying walks with beloved dog Asta or matching each other highball for highball and clue for clue, they combined screwball romance with mystery. The resulting triumph nabbed four Academy Award nominations (including Best Picture) and spawned five sequels. Credit W.S. " Woody" Van Dyke for recognizing that Powell and Loy were ideal together and for getting the studio's okay by promising to shoot this splendid adaptation of Dashiell Hammett's novel in three weeks. He took 12 days. They didn't call him "One-Take Woody" for nothing.
Deported gangland boss Nick Ferraro has hatched a scheme to re-enter the States and take charge of his crime racket. Dan Milner is a professional gambler who is roughed up by Ferraro's hoods and then offered $50,000 to leave America and head to the remote Mexican resort of Morros Lodge. En route, Milner bumps into the beautiful Lenore Brent, a nightclub singer and mistress of Hollywood star Mark Cardigan. As Milner settles into the rich playground of Morros Lodge, his every move is watched by Thompson, one of Ferraro's henchmen. Realising that he may be in over his head, Milner decides to make his own enquiries as to the identity of his paymaster. But Nick Ferraro is not the type of man to be investigated...
Dr. Jeff Cameron (Robert Mitchum) breaks the golden rule when he falls in love with his patient, the beautiful heiress Margot Lannington (Faith Domergue). After a whirlwind romance, he goes to confront her father who seems determined to separate them. Five minutes later he receives the biggest shock of his life - and Edward Lannington (Claude Rains) lies dead...
Now Jeff and Margot are on the run for murder, with 500 miles of bad road between them and the Mexican border. It's a road with many sudden twists and chilling revelations - as Jeff begins to realise that Margot has more secrets she's keeping from him...
Set against a backdrop of the dangerous and often brutal days of the early Western pioneers, David Harvey (William Holden) is a widower with a young son, living on an isolated Ohio farm. David wants his son to be raised the way his wife wanted, with schooling, Bible study and proper manners, so he consults the preacher at a nearby settlement who recommends that a bonded servant Rachel (Loretta Young) would make him a suitable wife. David takes Rachel on to cook and clean for him as a marriage of convenience, and although he treats her well, there is no affection between them, until his smooth-talking friend, Jim Fairways (Robert Mitchum) arrives. When Jim shows an obvious interest in Rachel, David begins to realise that there is a woman in his house.
"One of Our Aircraft Is Missing" is a dramatic and suspenseful story based on the actual methods by which the Dutch smuggled "crashed" British airmen back to England. Six such airmen parachute from their crippled plane into a wood and are discovered by children who take them to a farm where the Dutch question them at length before offering to help. They endure many narrow escapes from the Nazis before they reach a sea port. Their attempted journey across the Channel is fraught with many dangers and an unexpected turn of events.
Adapted from a pair of plays by Frank Wedekind, 'Pandora's Box' tells the story of sex worker Lulu (Louise Brooks), a free spirit whose open sexuality breeds chaos in its wake. When Lulu's latest lover, the newspaper editor Dr. Ludwig Schdn (Fritz Kortner), announces plans to leave her to marry a more respectable woman, Lulu is devastated. Cast in a musical revue written by Schon's son, Aiwa (Francis Lederer), Lulu seduces Schon once more - only to have their tryst exposed, and Schon's plans for a more socially acceptable marriage shattered. Left with no choice but to marry Lulu, Schon meets with tragedy on their wedding night. Lulu stands trial for the incident, facing years of imprisonment. With the aid of her former pimp (Carl Goetz), an infatuated lesbian countess (Alice Roberts) and Aiwa, she flees toward a fate of increasing squalor and peril, finally crossing paths one Christmas Eve with Jack the Ripper.
Set amidst the glittering theatre world of 19th century Paris, the story revoles around the beautiful and free-spirted courtesan, Garanace, and the four men who compete for her affections; a mime-artist, an actor, an aristocrat and a criminal. As the melodrama unfolds, we are treated to one of cinema's greatest love stories, a captivating tale of passion, deception and murder.
Mata Hari: the name breathes mystery, intrigue and sexual allure. Who better to play the notorious World War I spy than Greta Garbo, the enigmatic, exquisite screen icon called The Swedish Sphinx? Garbo is mesmerizing as the dancer-turned-German secret agent in a wartime Paris seething with secrets and betrayal. The notable supporting cast includes Lionel Barrymore as a Russian general besotted with her, Lewis Stone as an icy master spy, and Ramon Novarro as a handsome aviator who wins the heart Mata Hari did not know she possessed. With the world at war, love was her weapon. And the only men she couldn't seduce were the 12 in the firing squad that ended her tragic and tumultuous life.
Jean Servais is Tony le Stephanois, a master thief with a battered face and a tubercular cough, souvenirs of a recent stint in the pen. The ageing Tony is reluctant to return to a life of crime, but when he realizes his girlfriend has thrown him over for a rival gangster, he agrees to attempt one last job. Together with three collaborators – a young father, a boisterous Franco-Italian and a sentimental Milanese safecracker – Tony meticulously engineers his biggest heist yet: robbing the most heavily guarded jewelry store in Paris.
Life in 1847 Paris is as spirited as champagne and as unforgiving as the gray morning after. In gambling dens and lavish soirees, men of means exert their wills and women turned courtesans exult in pleasure. One such woman is Marguerite Gautier (Greta Garbo), the Camille of this sumptuous romance tale based on the enduring Alexandre Dumas story.
Shirley MacLaine is Irma, a popular Parisian prostitute who has just hired a new pimp, Nestor (Jack Lemmon), a former honest cop who was fired and framed by his boss after Nestor inadvertently had him arrested in a raid. However, Nestor's love for Irma is making his newfound vocation impossible, so he poses as a phoney British lord who insists on being Irma's one and only "client". But when "Lord X" (Jack Lemmon) appears to have become the victim of foul play...further comedic complications ensue!
This 50th anniversary collection contains the most important examples of the BBC's comprehensive coverage of the Apollo missions to the Moon. The cultural impact is featured in James Cameron's sobering film 'Nobody Ever Asks Why'. Live commentary is provided by James Burke and Patrick Moore for the first step on the Moon and James Burke's definitive series 'Project Apollo' explains how it all happened, using exclusive interviews with the men that walked on the Moon. '8 Days' marries the voices of the Apollo 11 astronauts with specially shot live action, bringing the drama of Apollo 11 to life. The result is a nail biting story of triumph over adversity.
Barbara Stanwyck plays a nightclub singer whose snappy street slang attracts the attention of bookish encyclopaedia editor Gary Cooper and his aged bachelor colleagues who devote their lives to compiling the perfect encyclopeadia. At first, their interest in her is strictly professional, but she soon charms the old men into letting her hide from the police (and her gangster boyfriend) in their mansion, Initially, she resents her forced stay, but after a while she falls for the charm of bookworm Cooper, and makes him realise there is more to life than books.
Monty Python delivers a scathing, anarchic satire of both religion and Hollywood's depiction of all things biblical with their second film. The setting is Judea 33 A.D., a time of poverty and chaos, with no shortage of messiahs, followers willing to believe in them, and exasperated Romans trying to impose some order. At the centre of it all is Brian Cohen (Graham Chapman), a reluctant would-be messiah who rises to prominence as a result of a series of absurd and truly hilarious circumstances providing ample opportunity for the entire ensemble (John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, Michael Palin and Chapman) to shine in multiple roles as they mock everyone and everything from ex-lepers, Pontius Pilate, and the art of haggling to crazy prophets, Roman centurions, and crucifixion.
To escape the burdens of rule, Sweden's Queen Christina rides into the countryside disguised as a boy. There she meets and secretly falls for a dashing Spanish envoy on his way to the royal court. Imagine the envoy's delighted surprise when he and the young "nobleman" must share a bed at an overcrowded inn.
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