greatest-ever-made's - Favourites List
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Frank Borzage: Vol 1: Seventh Heaven / Street Angel (1928)Seventh Heaven / Street Angel
Frank Borzage, the sensitive actor-turned-director famed for his mystical romanticism, created some of Hollywood's most acclaimed and sensual films. This release brings together two lavishly produced landmarks of the silent period by this visionary poet of desire.
7th Heaven (1927)'7th Heaven' is a lyrical tale of transformational love in which Paris sewage worker Chico (Charles Farrell) and street waif Diane (Janet Gaynor) rise above their poverty-stricken lives to reach for the stars.
Street Angel (1928)
In 'Street Angel' Janet Gaynor plays Angela, a would-be prostitute who risks losing her lover Gino (Charles Farrell) as she is forced to confront her past.- Director:
- Frank Borzage
- Cast:
- Janet Gaynor, Charles Farrell, Albert Gran
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A tall, handsome 'preacher' - his knuckles eerily tattooed with 'love' and 'hate' - roams the countryside, spreading the gospel...and leaving a trail of murdered women in his wake. To Reverend Harry Powell (Robert Mitchum), the work of the Lord has more to do with condemning souls than saving them, especially when his own interests are involved. Now his sights are set on $10,000 - and two little children are the only ones who know where it is. 'Chill...dren!' the preacher croons to the terrified boy and girl hiding in the cold, dark cellar...innocent young lambs who refuse to be led astray. - Director:
- Charles Laughton
- Cast:
- Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Lillian Gish
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Rashomon (1950)Rashômon
A woodcutter experiences a horrific series of events - an ambush, rape and murder. In the telling of the tale however, each of the four participants give different views of what actually happened - is any of them telling the truth? Kurosawa's masterful film plays on the subjective nature of truth while unfurling a riveting tale of violence and greed. - Director:
- Akira Kurosawa
- Cast:
- Toshirô Mifune, Machiko Kyô, Masayuki Mori
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Late Autumn (1960)Akibiyori
When college nostalgia inspires a group of middle-aged businessmen to match-make for the widow - played with measured dignity by Setsuko Hara (Tokyo Story) - of one of their friends and her daughter, they have no idea of the strife their careless interference will cause. Late Autumn's examination of familial upheaval moves effortlessly from comedy to pathos and is amongst the finest of legendary director Yasujiro Ozu's post-war films. - Director:
- Yasujirô Ozu
- Cast:
- Setsuko Hara, Yôko Tsukasa, Mariko Okada
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Ordet (1955)The Word
A tale of miraculous resurrection brought about by human love, Ordet is an extraordinary expression of spiritual optimism without being either sentimental or pious. Religious intolerance and family tensions lie at the heart of the film, which explores the clash between orthodox religions and true faith. Dreyer achieves its powerful effects in deceptively simple ways, and has produced, in its closing moments, one of the most extraordinary scenes in all cinema. - Director:
- Carl Theodor Dreyer
- Cast:
- Birgitte Federspiel, Preben Lerdorff Rye, Hanne Agesen
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Based on the story by Graham Greene, 'Went the Day Well?' is a classic piece of propagandist entertainment, a warning to British citizens to remain ever alert for the arrival of the enemy. A rare foray into darker material by Ealing Studios, Alberto Cavalcanti's film tells the story of a quiet English village which has been infiltrated by German soldiers masquerading as British troops, leaving the plucky villagers to uncover the plot and fight back. - Director:
- Alberto Cavalcanti
- Cast:
- Leslie Banks, C.V. France, Valerie Taylor
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The Killers (1946)Los asesinos
Ernest Hemingway s spare, laconic short story about two professional killers and their encounter with a mysteriously unresisting victim was significantly expanded into this all-time film noir classic, which Hemingway said was the first adaptation of his work that he really admired. As washed-up boxer turned hitman victim Ole 'Swede' Andreson, Burt Lancaster made his screen debut, and was catapulted to instant stardom, not least for the screen chemistry that he showed opposite sultry Ava Gardner, whose Kitty Collins is the very personification of the femme fatale. German émigré Robert Siodmak was one of the filmmakers who helped create film noir, and Elwood Bredell s high-contrast cinematography, all harsh lighting and long shadows, elevates the film far above a conventional crime drama. But even on that level it s a first-rate demonstration of how to maintain narrative tension, with the flashback structure withholding crucial details until almost the very end. - Director:
- Robert Siodmak
- Cast:
- Burt Lancaster, Ava Gardner, Edmond O'Brien
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Alice White (Anny Ondra) is frustrated with her police officer boyfriend Frank (John Longden) as he neglects her in favour of his work. To spite him, she arranges to meet another man. When he tries to rape her, she ends up killing him in defence. The case gets assigned to Frank who realises that Alice is the murderer, but it seems someone else knows too as Alice begins to receive threats of blackmail from an anonymous source. - Director:
- Alfred Hitchcock
- Cast:
- Joan Barry, Anny Ondra, John Longden
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Olivia de Havilland stars in a dual role as twin sisters - one of whom has committed a murder. Since each twin can provide an alibi for the other, a rumpled detective (Thomas Mitchell) and a handsome shrink (Lew Ayres) are compelled to get to the truth, a task not made easy by the siblings. At first the duo seem physically and emotionally similar but soon subtle nuances begin to differentiate their personalities. In a tour-de-force performance De Havilland's fine acting peels away the layers of emotionalism that define each sister's character traits. - Director:
- Robert Siodmak
- Cast:
- Olivia De Havilland, Lew Ayres, Thomas Mitchell
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The Crimson Pirate (1952)Crveni gusar
In the late 189th century, Captain Vallo, his trusty mute partner Ojo and his crew of nefarious pirates scour the Caribbean searching for ships to plunder. This light heartedx action romp has everything you would expect from a pirate film; scurvy men, a big pirate vessel, swordfights and a damsel in distress! - Director:
- Robert Siodmak
- Cast:
- Burt Lancaster, Nick Cravat, Eva Bartok
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Anthony Perkins plays Ben Owens, a greenhorn sheriff who hasn't worn his badge long... and won't live to wear it much longer unless he gets some savvy help. Fonda, bringing to his role the presence and plain speaking that made him an icon of the cinematic West, plays wily bounty hunter Morg Hickman. "A decent man doesn't want to kill," Morg counsels Ben. "But if you're going to shoot, shoot to kill." Morg backs up his words with action. And when the time comes, so will Ben. - Director:
- Anthony Mann
- Cast:
- Henry Fonda, Anthony Perkins, Betsy Palmer
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The Man from Laramie (1955)El hombre de Laramie
Under Mann's superb direction, Stewart departs from his well-loved "ordinary hero" role and gives a riveting performance as a resolute vigilante obsessed with finding the man responsible for his brother's death. Among the suspects are an arrogant cattle baron (Donald Crisp), his sadistic son (Alex Nicol) and his ranch foreman (Arthur Kennedy). One explosive confrontation, in which Stewart is dragged by a wild horse and shot in the hand at close range, is one of movie history's most memorable sequences. - Director:
- Anthony Mann
- Cast:
- James Stewart, Arthur Kennedy, Donald Crisp
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Mann's film tells of Jeff Webster (James Stewart) and his sidekick Ben Tatum (Walter Brennan), two stoic adventurers driving cattle to market from Wyoming to Canada who become at loggerheads with a corrupt judge (John McIntire) and his henchmen. Ruth Roman (Strangers on a Train) plays a sultry saloon keeper who falls for Stewart, teaming up with him to take on the errant lawman. - Director:
- Anthony Mann
- Cast:
- James Stewart, Ruth Roman, Corinne Calvet
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A Foreign Affair (1948)Operation Candy Bar
From the inimitable Billy Wilder (Double Indemnify, The Lost Weekend) comes this classic comedy that mixes romance with hard-boiled wit in a story about stiff-necked Iowa congresswoman Phoebe Frost (Jean Arthur -Shane) mired in jaded postwar Berlin. As she investigates the morale of American troops, Phoebe is cynically wooed by fellow Iowan Captain John Pringle (John Lund), who is trying to cover up his affair with Nazi-tainted chanteuse Erika von Schlutow (Marlene Dietrich). Filled with sharp dialogue and satiric jabs, 'A Foreign Affair' is one of Wilder's most beloved comedies... - Director:
- Billy Wilder
- Cast:
- Jean Arthur, Marlene Dietrich, John Lund
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Cary Grant and a stellar cast romp through this classic farce based on Joseph Kesselrings 1941 Broadway hit and breezily directed by Frank Capra. Frazzled drama critic Mortimer Brewster (Grant) has two aunts (Josephine Hull and Jean Adair) who ply lonely geezers with poisoned libations, one sociopathic brother (Raymond Massey) who looks like Boris Karloff, one bonkers brother (John Alexander) who thinks he's Teddy Roosevelt, one impatient new bride (Priscilla Lane)and only one night to make it turn out all right. In this circus center ring is Grant, twisting his face into a clown's gallery of flabbergasted reactions and transforming his natural athletic grace into a rubber-legged comic ballet. Youll die laughing. - Director:
- Frank Capra
- Cast:
- Cary Grant, Priscilla Lane, Raymond Massey
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