Skip to content
A Tale of Two Cities, starring Ronald Coleman, Elizabeth Allan, Donald Woods, Edna May Oliver, Reginald Owen, Blanche Yurka, Basil Rathbone

A Tale of Two Cities

  • by

A Tale of Two Cities (1935). Starring Ronald Colman,  Elizabeth Allan,  Donald Woods,  Edna May Oliver,  Reginald Owen,  Blanche Yurka,  Basil Rathbone

Synopsis of  A Tale of Two Cities

 A Tale of Two Cities (1935)  “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times….” Charles Dickens‘ tale of love and tumult during the French Revolution comes to the screen in a sumptuous film version by the producer famed for nurturing sprawling literary works: David O. Selznick (David Copperfield, Anna Karenina, Gone with the Wind). Ronald Colman (The Prisoner of Zenda) stars as Sydney Carton. He’s sardonic, dissolute, a wastrel… And destined to redeem himself in an act of courageous sacrifice. “It’s a far, far better thing I do than I’ve ever done,” Carton muses at that defining moment.

A Tale of Two Cities

The Mark of Zorro

  • by

The Mark  of Zorro (1940), starring  Tyrone Power,  Linda Darnell,  Basil Rathbone,  J. Edward Bromberg,  Gale Sondergaard,  Eugene Pallette

Synopsis of  The Mark  of Zorro

Posing as a foppish coward, Diego, a Spanish nobleman, fights injustice in colonial California in The Mark of Zorro. Upon his return from Spain, Diego realizes that Captain Pasquale is terrorizing the district and levying unreasonable taxes. Disguised as Zorro – a masked Robin Hood-like swashbuckler – the young Spaniard menaces the local authorities to the delight of all the peasants. In the meantime, posing as the inept fop, he is able to move through society without being suspected.

The Mark of Zorro

David Copperfield

  • by

David Copperfield (1935) starring  Freddie Bartholomew,  Frank Lawton,  W.C. Fields, Basil Rathbone  There’s a lot of good things to be said about  David Copperfield — fine acting all around, interesting characters that the audience cares… David Copperfield

The Whispering Shadow

  • by

The Whispering Shadow, starring Bela Lugosi, Henry B. Walthall, Karl Dane, Roy D’Arcy, Viva Tattersall, Robert Warwick

A mysterious criminal known as The Whispering Shadow commits crimes by means of a gang he controls by television and radio rays. Jack Norton, whose brother was murdered by The Whispering Shadow, suspects that the eerie Professor Strang – whose ghostly wax museum contains figures far too lifelike – may be involved in the crimes.

The Whispering Shadow

The Black Sleep [Basil Rathbone]

  • by

The Black Sleep (1956), starring Basil Rathbone, Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney, Jr., John Carradine, Akim Tamiroff, Tor Johnson

The Black Sleep – Many  of Hollywood’s top horror stars appears in this story  of a mad doctor. He’s performing brain surgery on unwilling victims attempting to save the life of his wife. The story begins in a dark cell of Newgate Prison in London of 1872. Sir Joel Cadman (Basil Rathbone) is an eminent surgeon who is visiting Dr. Gordon Ramsey (Herbert Rudley). He’s a former student who has been condemned to death by hanging for murder. A murder that he believes himself to be innocent of having committed.

The Black Sleep [Basil Rathbone]

Romeo and Juliet

  • by

Romeo and Juliet (1936), starring Norma Shearer, Leslie Howard,  Basil Rathbone,  Edna May Oliver,  John Barrymore,  C. Aubrey Smith

Synopsis of  Romeo and Juliet

 Romeo and Juliet is  Shakespeare’s classic tale of love and youth ruined by a family feud. The Montagues and the Capulets, two powerful families of Verona, hate each other. Romeo, a Montague, crashes a Capulet party, and there meets Juliet. They fall in love and secretly marry. After killing a nephew of Lady Capulet in a fight, Romeo is banished from Verona. Capulet tries to marry Juliet to Paris, a prince. Juliet seeks the counsel of Friar Laurence, who married her and Romeo. He suggests a daring plan that ends tragically.

Romeo and Juliet

The Daydreamer

  • by

The Daydreamer (1966), starring  Hayley Mills,  Tallulah Bankhead,  Burl Ives,  Victor Borge,  Terry-Thomas,  Ed Wynn,  Patty Duke,  Ray Bolger,  Boris Karloff,  Margaret Hamilton,  Cyril Ritchard,  Jack Gilford

Product Description

The Daydreamer, experience one of Rankin-Bass’ best-loved theatrical movies, filmed in an enchanting combination of live-action and stop-motion animation, as young Hans Christian Andersen daydreams his way to adventure through his most famous fairy tales. In ‘The Little Mermaid’ everyone’s favorite girl of the sea (Hayley Mills) must triumph over the evil Sea Witch (Tallulah Bankhead) with a little help from Father Neptune (Burl Ives). In ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes’ a pair of villainous tailors (Victor Borge and Terry-Thomas) create a surprising new outfit for a gullible king (Ed Wynn). The fun continues with Patty Duke as Thumbelina, Ray Bolger as The Pieman, Boris Karloff as a sinister rat, Margaret Hamilton as the mean Mrs. Klopplebobbler, and much more in this timeless kids’ classic.

Editorial review of The Daydreamer courtesy of  Amazon.com

The Daydreamer

Leave Her to Heaven

  • by

Leave Her to Heaven (1945) starring Gene Tierney, Cornel Wilde, Jean Crain, Vincent Price

reviewed by The Masked Reviewer

 Richard Harland (Cornel Wilde) elopes with a charming young socialite Ellen Berent (Gene Tierney). Only to find her family surprised by his appearance more than the sudden marriage. All seems to be going well for the happy couple until Richard decides to invite his little brother Danny (Darryl Hickman) to Ellen’s special summer home. Danny’s visit changes into Danny moving in permanently. All Ellen wants is to live a quiet happy life with Richard. Richard doesn’t understand that so he also invites her mother, and cousin to live with them for the summer. Ellen can’t stand this invasion of privacy anymore. You must watch Leave Her to Heaven for yourself. Because it has one of the finest portrayals of madness in film. This is an excellent film.

Leave Her to Heaven

Frank Lloyd Wright

  • by

Frank Lloyd Wright, a film by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick

Product Description of  Frank Lloyd Wright

 Frank Lloyd Wright was the greatest of all American architects. He was an authentic American genius, a man who believed he was destined to redesign the world, creating everything anew. Over the course of his long career, Wright designed over eight hundred buildings, including such revolutionary structures as the Guggenheim Museum, the Johnson Wax Building, Fallingwater, Unity Temple and Taliesin. Wright’s buildings and his ideas changed the way we live, work and see the world around us. Frank Lloyd Wright’s architectural achievements were often overshadowed by the turbulence of his melodramatic life. Frank Lloyd Wright

Five Weeks in a Balloon

  • by


Irwin Allen’s  Five Weeks in a Balloon  (1962), starring Cedric Hardwicke, Richard Haydn, Red Buttons, Barbara Eden, Fabian, BarBara Luna, Peter Lorre

Synopsis of  Five Weeks in a Balloon

 In Five Weeks in a Balloon,  Professor Ferguson plans to demonstrate the practicality of his new hot air balloon design by charting the unknown areas of Africa – but the government wants him to claim the area to prevent slave trading from being established there. His crew consists of his friend Jacques, a retired general, and a journalist — and along the way they pick up two escaped slaves and a slave trader as well.

Five Weeks in a Balloon
Exit mobile version