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The Penalty, starring Lon Chaney, Ethel Grey Terry

The Penalty

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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?

The Penalty

Marooned 1969

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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.

Marooned 1969

Hangmen Also Die

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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.

Hangmen Also Die

Isle of the Dead

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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.

Isle of the Dead

The Vanishing Virginian

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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.

The Vanishing Virginian

The Cabinet of Caligari (1962)

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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 Cabinet of Caligari (1962)

The Picture of Dorian Gray

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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?

The Picture of Dorian Gray

The Black Room (1935)

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Synopsis of  The Black Room (1935)

Boris Karloff is superb in a dual role as twin brothers (one evil, one good), born to the ruling family in the early 1800’s in Czechoslovakia. The bad twin inherits the castle and becomes infamous for his sadistic behavior and murders the good twin, assuming his identity so that he might continue his heinous acts.

The Black Room (1935)

M – Peter Lorre, Fritz Lang

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M (1931) directed by Fritz Lang, starring Peter Lorre

I’ve known for a long time that Fritz Lang was a ground-breaking movie director (Metropolis for example)–but I’ve never truly appreciated that for myself, until I recently saw his black and white movie about a search for a child murderer, titled M.  Fritz Lang described M as a documentary, and I would have to agree with that–it looks, and feels, like a documentary.  

M – Peter Lorre, Fritz Lang

Our Vines Have Tender Grapes

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Our Vines Have Tender Grapes (1945), starring Edward G. Robinson, Agnes Moorehead, Margaret O’Brien

Synopsis of Our Vines Have Tender Grapes

 An endearing and quietly rhapsodic slice of Americana about a single year among the Norwegian immigrants in a Wisconsin farm town, Our Vines Have Tender Grapes enthralled 1945 audiences and critics with its timeless joys. Told from the viewpoint of little Selma (Margaret O’Brien), the film explores grand childhood adventures: making friends, a pet calf, Christmas, a terrifying trip down a flood-swollen river, a barn fire and a ride on a circus elephant’s trunk. In a change-of-pace role, Edward G. Robinson is a revelation of wisdom and compassion as Selma’s father, leading a fine cast that illuminates the profound power of everyday triumphs and sorrows.

Our Vines Have Tender Grapes
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