greatest-ever-made's - Rented List

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A U.S. naval engineer (Joseph Cotten) on assignment in Turkey is targeted for murder by Nazi agents. To save his life, the head of the Turkish secret police (Orson Welles) smuggles him out of the country on a cargo ship. But the Nazis are one step ahead.

They already have at least one assassin on board the ship, disguised as one of the passengers...

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The legendary Jane Russell scorches the screen as outlaw Belle Starr in this spectacular 1952 RKO Trucolor Western.

When the infamous Dalton Boys fall out with the sharp shooting Belle Starr (Jane Russell), she decides to form her own outlaw gang and quickly becomes the scourge of the Oklahoma Territories with a big bounty on her beautiful head. Disguising herself as a widowed showgirl, she hides away at the Birdcage gambling parlour and saloon, intending to rob the place at the first opportunity. But what Belle hasn't reckoned on is falling in love with the saloon owner Tom Bradfield (George Brent) - or the Dalton Boys riding into town looking for revenge...

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Two beachcombers with a yacht join woman-with-a-past Rita (Virginia Mayo) on a quest for black pearls on a secret island.

Arrived, they find another white man has made himself high priest; but George (Lance Fuller), the latter's handsome son, is fair game for Rita, who lands in the guise of a missionary! The inevitable conflict over the pearls brings violence and corruption to the quiet island.

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Eddie Ginley (Albert Finney) is a comedian turned private eye who gets into hot water when he meets a fat man (George Silver) and a femme fatale (Janice Rule). Armed with only rapid-fire banter and a sharpened instinct, Ginley must save the dame from a drug smuggling ring before the joke's on him.

Paying homage to Bogart, Chandler and Hammett, 'Gumshoe' puts a clever spin on the classic detective tale.

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A classic tale is reborn through the inspired imagination of cinematic dream-weaver Guillermo del Toro, directing alongside Mark Gustafson.

Realised through boundary-pushing, breathtakingly intricate stop-motion animation, this dark rendering of the fable of the puppet boy and his maker - which won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature - daringly transfers the story to Fascist Italy, where the irrepressible Pinocchio gradually learns what it means to be human through his experiences of war, death, and sacrifice. This 'Pinocchio' imbues the oft-told tale with a bold new resonance about living with courage and compassion.

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One of Hitchcock's first, this film tells the dramatic story of life in revolution torn Ireland and the lives of the cash strapped Doyle family. Like most of their neighbours, life had been tough and many sacrifices had to be made to keep body and soul together.

But the Doyle's were in for a pleasant surprise when told of a large inheritance due to come their way. Elated by their sudden wealth and their standing in the community the family's existence moved up a couple of rungs, and they began to live the life of the idle rich, even though the inheritance had still to be confirmed. But it only takes one slip twixt cup and lip to destroy not only what you had, but also what you thought you had! Life can suddenly turn very cruel, making it even more difficult than it was before.

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Vivien Leigh and Conrad Veidt star in this dashing spy thriller set in Sweden during the First World War. Spring 1918. The supposedly neutral country of Sweden has been heavily infiltrated by spies from France, Britain and Germany.

In Stockholm, high society is alive with intrigue, espionage and murder. No one is who - or what - they claim to be. Madeleine Goddard runs an elite fashion boutique - a job that often takes her to Paris. She is also a high-ranking German spy. Vying for her affections are an English secret agent and the charming aristocratic German deserter Baron von Marwitz. When her spy cell appears to have been compromised, Madeleine is sent to Paris to discover the fate of other agents. As her affair with von Marwitz deepens, she must decide which is more important to her ....love or duty.

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Shot over four arduous months in the wild, windswept Shetland Islands, Michael Powell's first independent production establishes the daring techniques and experimentation that would later become familiar hallmarks of his career.

'The Edge of the World' tells the moving story of a remote island and its inhabitants, whose traditions and way of life are threatened by a rapidly industrialising world. To settle an argument over whether the islanders should give up their livelihood and move to the mainland, two childhood friends follow an ancient tradition and climb the island's highest cliff face. The outcome shatters the island's peace and splits the two clans apart. Making the film proved so demanding and sensational that its 32-year-old director was moved to write a full-scale book about his obsession with the tragic grandeur of Scotland's Outer Isles and his struggle to film it, 200,000 Feet on Foula which actor Daniel Day Lewis reads from here on this video.

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A television producer hits upon an idea for a new programme - an hour-long show, five days a week showing the trials and tribulations of the life of a married couple.

The hook is that they are no ordinary couple - they must be famous, and the obvious choice is Simon (Peter Finch) and Laura (Kay Kendall) - a pair with a seemingly perfect life. That is, until the doors are closed...then, they argue, bicker and throw things at each other regularly. Will they be able to keep up their facade for the viewing millions?

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Larry Talbot (Lon Chaney Jr.) returns from college in America to his father's (Claude Rains) mansion in Wales. After meeting Gwen Conliffe (Evelyn Ankers) in the local village, he escorts her to the local fair.

She tells him the local legend of the werewolf, but he laughs it off - even when gypsy fortune teller Maleva (Maria Ouspenskaya) and her son Bela (Bela Lugosi) also tell him to beware. Later in the evening Gwen's friend Jenny is attacked by a wild wolf. Larry rescues her, but is bitten in the process. Sure enough, when the next full moon comes round, Larry finds himself transformed into the wolfman - a murderous creature that can only be destroyed by silver.

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Barbara Vining (Glynis Johns) is an impressionable teenage schoolgirl who has her first crush on her handsome Latin teacher Stephen Barlow (Leo Genn). Barlow meanwhile is married to a beautiful but insecure American Kay (Gene Tierney).

When Barbara disappears after a late night tutoring session at the Barlow home suspicion abounds. The pressure builds on Barlow as the Police launch an investigation and he is forced to step down from his post as teacher. The strength of Barlow's marriage is tested to the full as are the inter-relationships within the Vining family. Will Barbara be found and how will the respective families cope with the highly charged outcome?

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Straight from the pages of Peter O'Donnell's newspaper comic strip, Monica Vitti is Modesty Blaise - the world's deadliest female agent! With her outlandish James Bond-style weapons and ever-changing hair colour, international super spy Modesty Blaise (Monica Vitti) and her faithful sidekick Willie

Garvin (Terence Stamp) battle villains the world over. Modesty and Willie become embroiled in a government conspiracy involving diamonds, a Middle Eastern sheik and a heist plot by arch-villain Gabriel played in high camp by Dirk Bogarde in a wig and sinister glasses.

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Heroine Blanche Fury (Valerie Hobson) is an impoverished governess who marries into wealth and sets herself up as the mistress of a vast estate. Enter Heathcliffe-like stable boy Philip Thorn (Stewart Granger), who intends to run the estate and eventually claim Blanche as his own.

After a torrid, bodice-ripping romance between Blanche and Philip, the story segues into a no-names-please reenactment of the infamous 19th-century 'Rush Murder'.

The courageous story of the Battle of the Atlantic: a story of an ocean, a ship and a handful of men. The brave crew are the heroes. The heroine is the ship. The only villain is the sea that man, and war, have made even more brutal...

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It is 1989 and Paris is crowded with visitors, for it is the eve of the opening of the 'Great exhibition'. Victoria (Jean Simmons) and her brother, Johnny (David Tomlinson), arrive to take part in the event. Leaving her brother at the bar, Vicky retires to her hotel room for the night.

Next morning she excitedly runs to see Johnny and is bewildered to find that both her brother and his room have disappeared. Her surprise turns to concern when all the staff and guests deny ever seeing her brother. The authorities refuse to believe her story, but by chance she meets a young English artist, George (Dirk Bogarde) who knows her story to be true. Together they must try to unravel the mystery.