greatest-ever-made's - Rented List
-
When one of his mobsters stages an unauthorised hit, Manhattan crime boss Charlie Lupo (Broderick Crawford) calls in Nick Magellan (Richard Conte) an enforcer from Chicago in order to stamp his authority. Conte soon cuts through the undisciplined crime syndicate and the widowed Lupo begins to treat him as the son he never had and promotes him to the top rung of the mob. Lupo's hard-drinking, rebellious daughter Kathy (Anne Bancroft) wants nothing to do with her father's business, or with any of his minions but the steely 'torpedo' from Chicago has sent her pulse racing. But when Kathy has to fight for Magellan's affections with her father's platinum blonde mistress (Marilyn Maxwell) the newly formed 'father-son' relationship is set to explode... - Director:
- Russell Rouse
- Cast:
- Broderick Crawford, Richard Conte, Anne Bancroft
- Formats:
-
-
Edge of Darkness (1943)Norway in Revolt
In 1930, director Lewis Milestone won an Academy Award for his eloquent anti-war masterpiece, 'All Quiet on the Western Front'. But with 'Edge of Darkness', made in 1943 during the dark days of the German blitzkrieg, Milestone displays no such pacifist sentiments. Indeed, this remarkable drama, set in a small Norwegian village, pays tribute to the heroic spirit of common people taking up arms against the Nazi invaders. Errol Flynn delivers a fine, understated performance as a common fisherman who leads the town's resistance efforts. Ann Sheridan's strong character reflects the strength of all womankind. And featured in the superb ensemble cast are Walter Huston, Ruth Gordon and Judith Anderson. - Director:
- Lewis Milestone
- Cast:
- Errol Flynn, Ann Sheridan, Walter Huston
- Formats:
-
-
The Sleeping City (1950)Web of the city / Confidential Squad
At Bellevue Hospital, New York, an intern is shot in the head by an unknown killer. Inspector Gordon (John Alexander) of the 9th Precinct finds no obvious leads but senses an undercurrent of mystery at the hospital; enter Detective Fred Rowan (Richard Conte), whose medical background enables him to pose as an intern. Through wheels within wheels, Rowan finally penetrates to a secret, dirty racket...and nurse Ann Sebastian (Coleen Gray), whom he's been dating, may be mixed up in it. - Director:
- George Sherman
- Cast:
- Richard Conte, Coleen Gray, Richard Taber
- Formats:
-
-
December 7th (1943)December 7th: The Movie
During World War II, director John Ford joined the ranks of the many Hollywood actors and filmmakers who participated in the war's film propaganda effort. At the behest of the United States' military, John Ford and legendary cinematographer Gregg Toland (Citizen Kane - The Grapes of Wrath) mounted the first re-creation of the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 7th. Steeped in controversy since it's making when the War Department censored almost half the film because it was too even-handed and didn't demonise the Japanese enough. 'December 7th' is one of John Ford's most controversial films, being unseen in its original form for nearly fifty years. - Director:
- John Ford
- Cast:
- George O'Brien, Walter Huston, Harry Davenport
- Formats:
-
-
After doctor Walter Bernsdorf (Paul Lukas) slays his unfaithful wife (Gloria Stuart) in a fit of jealous rage, his best friend and attorney Paul Held (Frank Morgan) promises to do all he can to spare him from the gallows. As he crafts a temporary insanity defense, the counselor starts perceiving echoes of the dead woman's behavior in his own spouse (Nancy Carroll)...and his snowballing suspicions might foment another tragedy. - Director:
- James Whale
- Cast:
- Nancy Carroll, Frank Morgan, Paul Lukas
- Formats:
-
-
Mobster Nick Scanlon (Robert Ryan) has bribed several local government and law-enforcement officials to make it easy for him to carry out his rackets; and those that can't be bought, are ruthlessly rubbed out. But the arrival of a new police captain, the maverick, incorruptible Tom McQuigg (Robert Mitchum) spells danger for Scanlon's mob. With the city's prosecuting attorney and police detective Turk (William Conrad) in Scanlon's employ, McQuigg's attempts to clean up the city are doomed to failure, until he persuades a sexy nightclub singer Irene Hayes (Lizabeth Scott) to testify against Scanlon. But can McQuigg prevent Irene and his honest officers from the revenge of the mob? - Director:
- John Cromwell
- Cast:
- Robert Mitchum, Robert Ryan, Lizabeth Scott
- Formats:
-
-
Charlie Chaplin joined Mack Sennett's Keystone Film Company in late 1913 after being seen in Fred Karno's touring vaudeville troupe. After a few initial uneasy steps, his rise was meteoric - making 35 films in a single year, directing more than half of them, and developing his much-loved persona, the Tramp. This stunning set, featuring the 34 surviving Chaplin Keystone films (including the feature Tillie's Punctured Romance), is the result of an eight-year international collaboration to reconstruct and restore the films between the BFI National Archive, Cineteca Bologna/L'Immagine Ritrovata and Lobster Films, with the cooperation of UCLA Film and Television Archive, Library of Congress, and the support of Association Chaplin. - Director:
- Charlie Chaplin
- Cast:
- Charlie Chaplin, Mabel Normand, Chester Conklin
- Formats:
-
-
Freud (1962)Freud: The Secret Passion
He dared to search beyond the flesh...This pseudo-biographical movie depicts 5 years from 1885 in the life of the Viennese psychologist Freud (Montgomery Clift). Disillusioned with the way his colleagues refuse to treat patients in a mental asylum, following a trip to Paris to visit Dr. Charcot he sees how hysterical patients are treated by means of hypnosis. Experimenting with these new techniques, Freud concentrates on Cecily Koertner (Susannah York), a young woman suffering a nervous and physical breakdown upon the death of her father. - Director:
- John Huston
- Cast:
- Montgomery Clift, John Huston, Susannah York
- Formats:
-
-
Broken Lullaby (1932)The Man I Killed / The Fifth Commandment
Musician Paul Renard (Phillips Holmes) is haunted by the memory of Walter (Tom Douglas), a German soldier he killed during the First World War. He travels to Walter's home town and, passing himself off as a friend of the deceased, is taken in by his grieving family. But when he finds himself falling in love with Elsa (Nancy Carroll), Walter's fiancée, he becomes worried that the truth will emerge... - Director:
- Ernst Lubitsch
- Cast:
- Lionel Barrymore, Nancy Carroll, Phillips Holmes
- Formats:
-
-
Metropolis (1927)Metrópolis
Shortly after that 1927 release, an entire quarter of Lang's original version was cut by Paramount for the US release, and by Ufa in Germany, an act of butchery very much against the director's wishes. The excised footage was believed lost, irretrievably so - that is, until one of the most remarkable finds in all of cinema history, as several dusty reels were discovered in a small museum in Buenos Aires. Argentina in 2008. Since then, an expert team of film archivists has been working at the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung in Germany to painstakingly reconstruct and restore Lang's film. - Director:
- Fritz Lang
- Cast:
- Brigitte Helm, Alfred Abel, Gustav Fröhlich
- Formats:
-
-
Bluebeard's 8th Wife (1938)Bluebeard's Eighth Wife
Set on the French Riviera, the charming daughter (Claudette Colbert) of a destitute aristocrat (Edward Everett Horton) catches the eye of a dashing millionaire (Gary Cooper). After a brief courtship, she accepts his marriage proposal, only to find out on their wedding day that he has been down the aisle before - seven times! Determined to teach him a lesson, she makes a mockery of their matrimony in a variety of side-splitting situations. - Director:
- Ernst Lubitsch
- Cast:
- Claudette Colbert, Gary Cooper, Edward Everett Horton
- Formats:
-
-
She Done Him Wrong (1933)Diamond Lil / Ruby Red / Diamond Lady / Diamonds / Lady Lou
Set in the 1890s, West plays a brash barroom entertainer with a soft spot for men in trouble, especially the mission director, young Cary Grant. She unknowingly gets caught up in a murder, as well as a white slavery ring, and sets about clearing things up as only Mae can. In between rescues she manages to perform some of her heated, hip-swinging classics including a steamy belting of "Frankie and Johnnie". Dripping in gems and low cut splendour, Mac is a delight for all of the senses. No one comes close to this lady's style of pure brazen wit and suggestive invitations to "Come up some time and see me?" - Director:
- Lowell Sherman
- Cast:
- Mae West, Cary Grant, Owen Moore
- Formats:
-
-
In one of cinemas most influential, and gripping, roles, James Dean plays Jim Stark, the new kid in town whose loneliness, frustration and anger mirrored those of most postwar teens - and reverberates more than 40 years later. Natalie Wood (as Jim's girlfriend Judy) and Sal Mineo (in his screen debut as Jim's tag-along pal Plato) were Academy Award nominees for their achingly true performances. - Director:
- Nicholas Ray
- Cast:
- James Dean, Natalie Wood, Sal Mineo
- Formats:
-
-
The star of 'Caddyshack', 'Ghostbusters', and 'Groundhog Day' headlines and codirects this uproarious Big Apple heist-and-pursuit caper. Bill Murray plays Grimm, a frazzled urbanite who disguises himself as a clown - and sets out to rob a bank. Geena Davis and Randy Quaid play accomplices in Grimm's daring scheme, and Jason Robards is the blustery cop caught up in Grimm's "Clown Day Afternoon". Swiping a million bucks is a snap compared to getting out of town. Grimm and cohorts commandeer a car, a cab, a bus, a baggage tram and a plane (and encounter future stars Stanley Tucci and Tony Shalhoub in hilarious supporting roles) to make what becomes a less-than-merry escape. But for comedy lovers, 'Quick Change' is a ticket to ride! - Director:
- Howard Franklin
- Cast:
- Bill Murray, Geena Davis, Randy Quaid
- Formats:
-
-
Six Bridges to Cross (1955)Million Dollar Holdup / Five Rivers to Cross / Five Bridges to Cross
Inspired by the Great Brinks Robbery of 1950, in which armed robbers made off with two and a half million dollars, 'Six Bridges to Cross' tells the decades-long story of the friendship between a cop and a crook. Streetwise delinquent Jerry Florea (Sal Mineo) is shot and wounded by rookie policeman Eddie Gallagher (George Nader) while fleeing the scene of a robbery. Despite this, the two develop a friendship as Eddie and his wife (Julie Adams) take Jerry under their wing, trying to keep him on the straight and narrow. As an adult Jerry (now played by Tony Curtis) marries and seems to settle down, until an armoured security company across the streetfrom him is robbed of two and a half million dollars. - Director:
- Joseph Pevney
- Cast:
- Tony Curtis, George Nader, Julie Adams
- Formats:
-