greatest-ever-made's - Rented List

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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.

In this vivid snapshot of Weimar life, a group of young Berliners enjoy a typical lazy Sunday, including a trip to the city's suburban lakes. Flirtations, rivalries and petty jealousies ensure as they all try to wring the last from their weekend even while Monday and the weekly routine loom.

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Set against a backdrop of emerging teen culture and rising racial tension in late 50s London, Colin Maclnnes' cult novel is brought to the screen in Julien Temple's lavish musical adaptation.

Struggling young photographer Colin sees his ambitious, fame-seeking girlfriend Crepe Suzette slipping away as she ruthlessly pursues a career in fashion. To win her back he'll need to compromise his idealism and do whatever it takes to make the big time himself.

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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.

Thor is imprisoned on the other side of the universe and he must race against time to stop Ragnarok - the destruction of his world and the end of Asgardian civilization at the hands of the ruthless Hela.

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After years of fame and misfortune in Mexico, the members of struggling Siberian rock band the Leningrad Cowboys decide to return to their native village.

Under the guidance of their former manager Vladimir, who now calls himself Moses, they face a difficult journey over the ocean and across the European continent. But tormented by lack of money, fuel and beverages the band begin to murmur against Moses and doubt his motives. On top of this they are persecuted by a certain member of the American intelligence agency who is hunting for the lost nose of the Statue of Liberty.

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Boris Karloff stars in one of his most chilling roles as the sinister 'resurrection man' of old Edinburgh. Medical student Donald Fettes (Russell Wade) is apprentice to Dr. 'Toddy' MacFarlane (Henry Daniell), greatest anatomist of the age.

But, as Fettes learns, MacFarlane is not scrupulous how he obtains the bodies he uses for dissection: he buys them from sinister cabman John Gray (Boris Karloff), who robs the graves of the recently deceased. But Gray's grim work has attracted attention and the cemeteries are under watch. Unwilling to give up his lucrative trade, Gray finds another source of corpses - the bodies of people he has killed himself...

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Following on from the success of 'Les Parapluies de Cherbourg' comes 'Les Demoiselles de Rochefort' - Jacques Demy's large-scale tribute to the Hollywood musical featuring screen legend Gene Kelly The story centres on twin sisters Delphine and Solange (played by real-life sisters Catherine Deneuve

and Frangoise Dorleac) who, tired of their humdrum existence, dream of finding success and romance in Paris. The superb ensemble, also featuring Danielle Darrieux, Michel Piccoli, Jacques Perrin, George Chakiris and Grover Dale, weave and wander around the town, looking for and just missing the love of their lives.

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An archaeologist forsakes his fiancee for a passionate affair with a beautiful young German woman. But lla has more than love on her mind... While the film's star, Nadja Tiller, was unknown in Britain, she had starred in many German films and was Miss Austria in 1949.

Ha's foreignness is key and Margaret's slightly prim glamour is no match for her continental seductiveness. But the promise of sex masks something more dangerous and giving her body so freely signals lla's emotional deadness. Mike learns his lesson the hard way.

Drawn from the same events that later inspired 'Gladiator', the film charts the power-hungry greed and father-son betrayal that led to Rome's collapse at the bloody hands of the Barbarians.

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Having retired from his position as head of the Green Manors Mental Asylum, Dr. Murchison (Leo G. Carroll) assigns famous psychiatrist Dr. Edwards (Gregory Peck) as his replacement. Dr. Edwards becomes attracted to the beautiful but cold Dr.

Constance Petersen (Ingrid Bergman) who soon realises that he is in fact a paranoid amnesiac impostor. She sets out to cure him whilst solving the mystery of what happened to the real Dr. Edwards...

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'The Naked' takes place in an office. The main characters in the film are some clerks. All play naked, but they don't f*** because this is a psychological film.

A clerk's life is full of many things - gossip, tea, coffee, the radio or even TV! But, as we all know, a clerk's life can also be full of danger - dog bites, tinned knuckles in the staff canteen, electric shocks, ransom demands...or even an exploding office. 'The Naked' gives you all this...and more, providing a challenging insight into life in an office where nobody wears any clothes.

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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.

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German-occupied Norway 1942: physics professor Dr. Pederson (Kirk Douglas) and underground leader Straud (Richard Harris) must convince British Intelligence that the Nazis are planning to build the A-bomb.

The Norse Hydro Plant at Telemark is central to enemy strategy and the Allies decide to send in a task force to destroy it.

Two treasure hunters are looking for a sunken ship that has $3 million of gold in its hold. The owner of a bar persuades them to let her in on the deal, ensuring intrigue and double crosses along the way. An impending monsoon also threatens the operation.