greatest-ever-made's - Rented List

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Addiction, nonmonogamy, and female sexual liberation: decades before such ideas were widely discussed, Dorothy Arzner, the only woman to work as a director in 1930's Hollywood, brought them to the screen with striking frankness, sophistication, and wit - a mature treatment that stands out even in

the pre-Code era. Fredric March (in one of four collaborations with Arzner) and Sylvia Sidney turn in extraordinary performances as an urbane couple whose relationship is pushed to the breaking point by his alcoholism and wandering eye, leading them into an emotionally explosive experiment with an open marriage. Exposing the hypocrisies and petty cruelties simmering beneath the surface of high-society elegance, 'Merrily We Go to Hell' is a scathing early-feminist commentary on modern marriage.

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Diane Keaton stars as Carol Lipton, a bored Manhattan housewife who becomes convinced that her next-door neighbour has committed a murder. When her sceptical husband Larry (Woody Allen) rejects the idea, Carol turns to a flirtatious friend (Alan Alda) to help her search for clues.

And as their enthusiasm for the case grows, so does their interest in each other. Spurred on by jealousy - and by a seductive writer (Anjelica Huston) who's also excited by the mystery - Larry reluctantly joins the chase, only to learn that much more than his marriage is at stake. A comic romp bursting with wry one-liners and inspired sight gags.

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London 1893 is home to a killer with a macabre nickname...and also to a visionary genius who would write 'The Time Machine'. But what if H.G.

Wells' invention wasn't fiction? And what if Jack the Ripper escaped capture, fleeing his own time to take refuge in ours - with Wells himself in pursuit? From writer/director Nicholas Meyer, 'Time After Time' is a marvelous entertainment of shivery suspense and sly social comment. In modern-day San Francisco, the Ripper (David Warner) finds our violent age to his liking. Wells (Malcolm McDowell) dislikes the brave new world of fast food and television, far from the utopia he envisioned. But he is cheered by the emancipation of women, particularly one irresistible banker (Mary Steenburgen). For mystery, romance and excitement, 'Time After Time' is time well spent.

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London 1889 - When Scotland Yard fails to stop the gruesome rampage of Jack the Ripper, Sherlock Holmes (Christopher Plummer) and his trusted associate Dr. Watson (James Mason) decide to investigate.

Undeterred by the police withholding crucial information, the duo begin a dangerous adventure through London's underworld, finding themselves at the door of psychic Robert Lees (Donald Sutherland) who helps to set them on the right path. But even if Holmes' remarkable powers of deduction can unmask the maniacal fiend, can he and Watson face the most shocking secret of all?

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Valentine Wilmot (Jameson Thomas), the owner of the popular Piccadilly Club finds his lead male attraction, Victor Smiles (Cyril Ritchard) has quit and that the public has judged Victors partner Mabel (Gilda Gray) as over the hill.

Though they are lovers, Valentine must find another dancer to replace Mabel or face an uncertain future. When a customer (Charles Laughton in his first feature film) complains of a dirty dish, Valentine discovers the answer to all his problems down in the clubs scullery...

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Eric Stanton (Dana Andrews), a press agent down on his luck, drifts into a small Californian coastal town. He meets June (Alice Faye), a wealthy but reclusive woman, and has his eye on Stella (Linda Darnell), a sultry waitress.

In love with Stella but broke, Eric marries June for her money, planning a rapid divorce. However when Stella is murdered, the story takes an unexpected turn.

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The story of the fragile sentimentalism of a former prostitute who visits her sister only to be taunted mercilessly by her childish brother-in-law.

A Streetcar Named Desire: The Original Director's Version is the Elia Kazan/ Tennessee Williams film moviegoers would have seen had not Legion of Decency censorship occurred at the last time. It features three minutes of previously unseen footage underscoring, among other things, the sexual tension between Blanche DuBois (Vivien Leigh) and Stanley Kowalski (Marlon Brando), and Stella Kowalski's (Kim Hunter) passion for husband Stanley.

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When the murder of a priest results in a botched police investigation, prosecutor Henry Harvey (Dana Andrews) leads an effort to bring the killer to justice.

Once blackmail creeps into the investigation, all bets on an unclouded trial are off, resulting in an expolosive finale that remains one of the toughest in Kazan's work.

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"Whirlpool" is an intriguing blend of film noir and women's picture, Gene Tierney, the star of 'Laura', Preminger's first big success, here plays the well-dressed wife of a successful psychoanalyst, played with chilling remoteness by Richard Conte.

When arrested for shoplifting, she is saved from inevitable scandal by the intervention of a suave but lightly sinister hypnotist. However, the salvation proves deceptive and she soon finds herself enmeshed in a web of blackmail and murder. The script is by Ben Hecht, one of Hollywood's most brilliant screenwriters, who according to Hitchcock, was 'in constant touch with prominent psychoanalysts'. Preminger turns the story into an examination of people - and a marriage - under stress, and the conventional ending does little to dispel his somewhat bleak vision. The film may have a noirish theme, but the plot unfolds in a sumptuously photographed world of glossy interiors, luxurious decor and expensive clothes.

'A Walk in the Sun' tells the harrowing story of the US Infantry platoon of Texas Division after they hit the beaches of Salerno, Italy, in 1943. In their first six hours their objective is to march six miles inland to a Nazi defended farmhouse and blow up a nearby bridge. But nothing is as easy as it seems...

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Backroom rivalry at the Graftondale Royal Hospital surgical unit is unspoken but self-evident. Sir Arthur Gray (Michael Redgrave), a staunch traditionalist, is determined to keep things going his way in spite of his rival's ambitions to "turn the hospital into a laboratory".

Then, while carrying out a delicate heart operation, Sir Arthur has a momentary blackout.

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Set in the kingdom of Oudh during the last days of the Moghul Empire, 'The Chess Players' marked the first time that the legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray worked outside of his native Bengal.

The story follows two Indian noblemen (Saeed Jaffrey and Sanjeev Kumar) whose obsession with the game of chess renders them oblivious to the treacherous and historic events happening around them. In one of his finest performances, Richard Attenborough stars as General Outram, the British officer who covertly manoeuvres on behalf of the East India Company to seize control of the region and depose its King.

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Rocky (Mark Stevens) and Dan (Edmond O'Brien), war buddies, are prowl car cops on night duty. Dan is a cynic who views all lawbreakers as scum; Rocky feels more lenient.

Both are attracted to the radio voice of communicator Kate Mallory (Gale Storm); but in person, Kate proves reluctant to get involved with men who just might stop a bullet. By lucky chance, Rocky and Dan cause big trouble for murderous racketeer Ritchie Garris (Donald Buka); but when he swears vengeance, Kate's fears may prove justified.

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When a detective scoffs at his suggestion that an 18 year-old criminal be referred for psychiatric examination Dr. Andrew Collins (Lee J. Cobb), the police psychiatrist, tells him the story of his encounter with Al Walker (William Holden).

Walker had a history of violence and killed the prison warden during an escape. He and his gang took the Collins family and their friends hostage but when Dr. Collins learns that Walker has a violent recurring dream, he offers to help him decipher the dream and determine exactly what has driven him to a life of crime and violence.

Cattleman Flint (Duke R. Lee) cuts off farmer Sims' water supply. When Sims' son Ted (Ted Brooks) goes for water, one of Flint's men kills him. Cheyenne (Harry Carey) is sent to finish off Sims, but finding the family at the newly dug grave, he changes sides.