greatest-ever-made's - Rented List

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This trio of classic 1930's horror films - 'Murders in the Rue Morgue', 'The Black Cat', and 'The Raven' is also distinguished by a trio of factors regarding their production. Most notably, each film is based on a work by master of the macabre Edgar Allan Poe.

Part of the legendary wave of horror films made by Universal Pictures in the 30's, all three feature dynamic performances from Dracula's Bela Lugosi, with two of them also enlivened by the appearance of Frankenstein's Boris Karloff. And finally, all three benefit from being rare examples of Pre-Code studio horror, their sometimes-startling depictions of sadism and shock a result of being crafted during that brief period in Hollywood before the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code's rigid guidelines for moral content. Director Robert Florey, who gave the Marx Brothers their cinema start with 'The Cocoanuts' in 1929, worked with Metropolis cinematographer Karl Freund to give a German Expressionism look to 'Murders in the Rue Morgue' (1932), with Lugosi as a mad scientist running a twisted carnival sideshow in 19th-century Paris, and murdering women to find a mate for his talking ape main attraction. Lugosi and Karloff teamed forces for the first time in 'The Black Cat', a nightmarish psychodrama that became Universal's biggest hit of 1934, with Detour director Edgar G. Ulmer bringing a feverish flair to the tale of a satanic, necrophiliac architect (Karloff) locked in battle with an old friend (Lugosi) in search of his family. Prolific B-movie director Lew Landers made 1935's 'The Raven' so grotesque that all American horror films were banned in the U.K. for two years in its wake. Specifically referencing Poe within its story, Lugosi is a plastic surgeon obsessed with the writer, who tortures fleeing murderer Karloff through monstrous medical means. Significant and still unsettling early works of American studio horror filmmaking, these three Pre-Code chillers demonstrate the enduring power of Poe's work, and the equally continuous appeal of classic Universal horror's two most iconic stars.

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In 1912 Mack Sennett and two friends decided to invest their money to form the soon to be acclaimed Keystone Production Company. The new film company went on to produce highly successful classic comedies which encapsulate the era with their fast, furious, slapstick comedy.

These short movies are fondly looked upon as they include such performances as Fatty Arbuckle, Mack Swain and the much loved Keystone Kops which were to become some of the most infamous movies of the silent era.

Short Films Include:
- Ambrose's Lofty Perch (1915)
- Fatty's Spooning Days (1915)
- Ambrose's Fury (1915)
- Fatty's Suitless Days (1915)
- Willful Ambrose (1915)
- Little Billy's Triumph (1914)
- Those Bitter Sweets (1929)

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Gregory Peck won an Oscar for his brilliant performance as the Southern lawyer who defends a black man accused of rape in this film version of the Pulitzer Prize winning novel. The setting is a dusty Southern town during the Depression. A white woman accuses a black man of rape.

Though he is obviously innocent, the outcome of his trial is such a foregone conclusion that no lawyer will step forward to defend him - except Peck, the town's most distinguished citizen. His compassionate defense costs him many friendships but earns him the respect and admiration of his two motherless children.

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Rome, 1948: In an attempt to recover from his marriage .to Rita Hayworth and to restart his career, Orson Welles (Danny Huston - The Aviator, Children of Men) travels to Italy to act in the film Black Magic.

When an actor is murdered on his set, Welles is drawn into a dangerous web of intrigue, murder and politics. With only the last words of a dead man to guide him, Welles decides to investigate the murder himself with the help of ex-policeman Tommaso (Diego Luna) and the victim's tempestuous, beautiful and elusive step-daughter Lea (Paz Vega). As Welles looks deeper into the Roman underworld he unravels a conspiracy darker than he could have possibly imagined.

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While on holiday in Bavaria, wildlife hunter Alan Thorndike (Walter Pidgeon) stumbles upon the Fuhrer's country retreat, eventually spotting Hitler in the gardens.

After lining up the leader in the crosshairs of his empty rifle, Thorndike is arrested by members of Hitler's Gestapo bodyguard, who try to beat a confession out of him. After eventually escaping and navigating a tortuous route back to Britain, Thorndike is forced to seek help from local seamstress Jerry Stokes (Joan Bennett) when he discovers German agents are hunting him down.

An American gangster born in Italy, Vic Smith (Jeff Chandler), after being deported back to Italy as an undesirable citizen, gets involved with an Italian black-market ring and falls in love with Countess Christine di Lorenzi, a beautiful widow.

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Michael Curtiz brings a master skipper's hand to the helm of this thriller, Hollywood's second crack at Ernest Hemingway's 'To Have and Have Not'.

John Garfield stars as Harry Morgan, an honest charter-boat captain who, facing hard times, takes on dangerous cargo to save his boat, support his family, and preserve his dignity. Left in the lurch by a freeloading passenger, Harry starts to entertain the criminal propositions of a sleazy lawyer (Wallace Ford), as well as the playful come-ons of a cheeky blonde (Patricia Neal), making a series of compromises that stretch his morality - and his marriage - farther than he'll admit. Hewing closer to Hemingway's novel than Howard Hawks's Bogart-Bacall vehicle, 'The Breaking Point' charts a course through daylight noir and working-class tragedy, guided by Curtiz's effortless visual fluency and a stoic, career-capping performance from Garfield.

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Paula Considine (Gale Storm) arrives in Los Angeles trying to find the whereabouts of her missing sister. The girl had recently had a baby before her disappearance.

Asking for information at City Hall a local crime reporter called Mark Sitko (Dennis O'keefe) overhears the young ladies distraught conversation. He offers his services and connections to help with tracking down the story. Leading these two amateur sleuths to cross paths with a private detective and thrown into a shadowy world of black market baby racketeering!!!

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Attorney Bob Regan (Edmond O'Brien) is hired as a bodyguard to wealthy Andrew Colby (Vincent Price), who believes a former employee who just did a five-year bit for embezzlement is gunning for him.

Forced to kill the ex-con when he attacks Colby at his home, Regan starts to wonder if the whole thing wasn't an elaborate set-up and begins his own investigation with the help of Colby's secretary (Ella Raines).

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Timothy Spall plays Peter, a Bank worker living a mundane, routine life in Manchester. After an unexpected early retirement, he decides to visit his brother in sunny Benidorm, only to discover that he has disappeared.

As Peter searches for clues, his encounters with an eclectic cast of characters only lead to further confusion. In looking for his brother, can he ultimately rediscover himself?

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The government refuses to listen to scientists, but private industrialists finance the building of a spaceship, which will carry a limited number of people to another planet to begin a new civilization. As doomsday approaches, they race against time and the panic of those who will be left behind.

The potential pulverizing impact of the collision, the massive tidal waves and devastating earthquakes, and the final cosmic smashup make a chilling panorama of disaster. The balance between human and planetary drama is excellently maintained as the movie builds to its fascinating, unforgettable climax.

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In this landmark film, passion and tragedy collide on a military base as a fateful day in December 1941 draws near. Private Prewitt (Montgomery Clift) is a soldier and former boxer being manipulated by his superior and peers.

His friend Maggio (Frank Sinatra) tries to help him but has his own troubles. Sergeant Warden (Burt Lancaster) and Karen Holmes (Deborah Kerr) tread on dangerous ground as lovers in an illicit affair. Each of their lives will be changed when their stories culminate in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

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When he was a young boy and saw his father killed by an organized group of criminals, Tolly Devlin (Cliff Robertson) decided that he would track down those responsible and make them pay for their act of violence that cause his father's death.

After landing in jail when convicted on a burglary charge Tolly tracks down the leader of the gangsters who killed his father and extracts the names of the others who all have covers as respectable business men in a company that is a front for a criminal organization. When Tolly saves the life of mob drug courier Cuddles (Dolores Dorn) he realizes he can learn more about the crime organization and revenge his father's murder. When FBI operative Driscoll (Larry Gates) approaches Tolly with a deal to give them information in exchange for a conviction of the guilty men, Tolly refuses until he discovers the ring leader Conners (Robert Emhardt) who appears untouchable. Tolly concocts a scheme with Driscoll of supplying mis-information to the crooks which turns them against themselves, and it appears the police will have them all arrested until Tolly takes matters into his own hands.

Big game hunter, Bob Rainsford (Joel McCrea), barely survives a shipwreck in shark infested waters and washes ashore on the private island of Count Zaroff (played with a delightful zeal by Leslie Banks). Zaroff fancies himself an accomplished hunter also - only his preferred quarry, is man!

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In 1912 Mack Sennett and two friends decided to invest their money to form the soon-to-be acclaimed "Keystone Production Company". The new film company went on to produce highly successful classic comedies which encapsulate the era with their fast, furious, slapstick comedy.

These short movies are fondly looked upon as they include such performers as Fatty Arbuckle, Mark Swain and the much loved Keystone Kops which were to become some of the most infamous movies of the silent era.

Short Films Include:
- Mabels's Wilful Way (1915)
- Ambrose's Nasty Temper (1915)
- That Little Band of Gold (1915)
- Ambrose's Sour Grapes (1915)
- Mabel and Fatty's Married Life (1915)
- When Ambrose Dared Walrus (1915)
- Wandering Willies (1926)