Mutiny on the Bounty
Synopsis of Mutiny on the Bounty
Academy Award winner Clark Gable stars as the first mate who leads his ship’s exploited and abused crew in the Mutiny on the Bounty.
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Donald Crisp
Svengali
Svengali – the classic story of the obsessed hypnotist who compels a beautiful young woman to marry him …. But can’t compel her to fall in love with him.
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The Uninvited
The Uninvited (1944), starring Ray Milland, Ruth Hussey, Gail Russell
Synopsis of The Uninvited
The Uninvited is a ghost story about a brother and sister. They buy a seaside house, and soon become involved in ghost hunting. And become involved in the life of a young woman who’s involved with the ghost.
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The Adventures of Mark Twain
The Adventures of Mark Twain (1944), starring Fredric March, Alexis Smith
Review of The Adventures of Mark Twain
I’ve often said that Hollywood takes enormous liberties with biographies. That’s true in The Adventures of Mark Twain as well. But that doesn’t mean that it’s not a very enjoyable movie. It is, for a variety of reasons. It has a good pacing, interesting cinematography, and a compelling rags-to-riches story.
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Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941)
Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941) starring Spencer Tracy, Ingrid Bergman, Lana Turner
If there’s a problem with the 1941 version of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic tale of a man split between his dark and light sides, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, it unfortunately comes down to the lead actor, Spencer Tracy. It’s undeniable that Spencer Tracy is a fine actor but not in this film. He portrays Dr. Henry Jekyll as nearly neutral and spineless, and he plays Mr. Hyde not as a wild, unhindered, lover of self, but as a slightly more menacing version of Dr. Jekyll. When he starts a bar fight he doesn’t participate. When he abuses the lovely singer Ivy (Ingrid Bergman) its barely what most people would consider anger.
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Mary of Scotland 1936
Mary of Scotland (1936) starring Katherine Hepburn, Fredric March, John Carradine
Synopsis of Mary of Scotland
A historical movie, dealing with the life of Mary of Scotland. With some typical Hollywood liberties with historical fact. But with excellent performances all around.
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The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse
The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse (1938), starring Edward G. Robinson, Humphrey Bogart, Claire Trevor, Allen Jenkins
Editorial review of The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse, courtesy of Amazon.com
The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse is a stylish, often amusing crime drama, this 1938 feature revolves around a central, improbable plot twist that consciously serves its casting against type: as the eponymous doctor, Edward G. Robinson, who had helped define the Warner Bros. style for gritty gangster sagas, jettisons his signature snarl in favor of a plummy, vaguely English accent that underlines his urbane sophistication. Dr. Clitterhouse is a creature of privilege who embarks on a criminal life not out of desperation, but rather through intellectual curiosity; instead of slouch hats and suits, he has marcelled hair and first appears in white tie and tails. He begins pulling off “perfect” jewel thefts as research into the criminal mind, but his gradual immersion in New York’s shadowy demimonde of thieves and fences eventually finds the good doctor between those two worlds.