Death Defying Acts
Death Defying Acts (2007) starring Guy Pierce, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Timothy Spall, Saoirse Ronan The movie Death Defying Acts is a Hollywood fantasy, based very loosely on the… Read More »Death Defying Acts
The Young in Heart
The Young in Heart (1938) starring Janet Gaynor, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Roland Young, Billie Burke, Paulette Goddard
Synopsis of The Young in Heart
Thrown out of the Riviera, a family of grifters meets a lonely, vulnerable rich old woman and insinuate themselves into her life while they sponge off her.
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The Story of Ruth
The Story of Ruth (1960) starring Elena Eden, Peggy Wood, Viveca Lindfors, Tom Tryon, Stuart Whitman
Synopsis of The Story of Ruth
The Story of Ruth is inspired by the Biblical story. Moabitess priestess Ruth is drawn both to a Judean man and to his talk of a forgiving God. After tragedy strikes, she begins a new life in Bethlehem.
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The Penalty
The Penalty (1920), starring Lon Chaney, Ethel Grey Terry
Synopsis of The Penalty
In The Penalty, Lon Chaney stars as Blizzard a criminal mastermind crippled in his childhood by a young doctor’s mistake. He takes his revenge on the world through his crimes. But is the person he has become his fault or is there some other explanation?
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Marooned 1969
Marooned (1969) starring Gregory Peck, David Janssen, Richard Crenna, James Franciscus, Gene Hackman
Synopsis of Marooned
Marooned is a gripping, yet starkly realistic, portrayal of three astronauts on an extended special mission who find themselves unable to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere. As the oxygen supply diminishes, the stranded astronauts must face the inevitability of death.
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Hangmen Also Die
Hangmen Also Die! (1943), by Fritz Lang, starring Brian Donlevy, Walter Brennan, Gene Lockhart, Anna Lee
Synopsis of Hangmen Also Die
Hangmen Also Die is set in occupied Czechoslovakia. It revolves around the successful plot by the Czech resistance to assassinate Deputy Reich-Protector of Bohemia and Moravia Hangman Reinhard Heydrich. And the hunt by the Gestapo to track down the killers that follow.
Isle of the Dead
Isle of the Dead (1949) starring Boris Karloff, Ellen Drew
Synopsis of Isle of the Dead
In Isle of the Dead, a group of disparate characters is quarantined on a Greek island during the Balkan Wars of 1912. Septicemic plague causes the quarantine, and the group’s only hope is for the hot, dry sirocco winds to kill the fleas that cause it. In addition, one of them suspects another of being the supernatural vorvolaka.
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The Vanishing Virginian
The Vanishing Virginian (1942), starring Frank Morgan, Kathryn Grayson
Frank Morgan stars in a rare leading role in The Vanishing Virginian and does it well. It’s a sweet, tender story – with moments of bitter-sweetness. The funeral scene for Josh is truly touching, as well as giving Kathryn Grayson an opportunity to sing beautifully.
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The Cabinet of Caligari (1962)
The Cabinet of Caligari (1962), starring Glynis Johns
First off, it needs to be noted that this is not a remake of the classic horror film. It is, instead, more of a psychological thriller. The Cabinet of Dr. Calibari begins with young Jane (played by the lovely Glynis Johns – the mother in Mary Poppins, the heroine in The Court Jester) driving along, and having a tire blowout. She walks for what seems like hours until she happens upon a house. Where she is taken in by the titular Dr. Caligari (Dan O’Herlihy). But the next day, when she wants to leave, she finds she cannot. She is a prisoner in the house, along with several others — and the doctor’s staff.
The Picture of Dorian Gray
The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945) starring George Sanders, Hurd Hatfield, Angela Lansbury, Donna Reed, Peter Lawford
The Picture of Dorian Gray is one of the great movies. It’s about a young man who, after an off-hand wish, finds himself unaging, with age — and corruption — affecting his portrait. But he himself is apparently untouched. He is guided down the path of corruption and self-indulgence. He leads, directly or indirectly, to multiple deaths and suicides. Can he find salvation?
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