Russian exiles in Paris plot to collect ten million pounds from the Bank of England by grooming a destitute, suicidal girl to pose as heir to the Russian throne. While Bounin is coaching her he comes to believe she is really Anastasia. In the end, the Empress must decide her claim.
In The Hasty Heart, a group of Allied soldiers are recovering in a hospital of Burma, when a dour Scot is added to their ranks. The Scot is dying, unknown to himself. Can the soldiers and nurse reach out to him?
Alfred Hitchcock himself called this 1934 British edition of his famous kidnapping story the work of a talented amateur, while his 1956 Hollywood remake was the consummate act of a professional director. Be that as it may, this earlier movie still has its intense admirers who prefer it over the Jimmy Stewart-Doris Day version, and for some sound reasons. Tighter, wittier, more visually outrageous (back-screen projections of Swiss mountains, a whirly-facsimile of a fainting spell), the film even has a female protagonist (Edna Best in the mom part) unafraid to go after the bad guys herself with a gun. (Did Doris Day do that that? Uh-uh.)
Orson Welles‘ performance in Black Magic is absolutely riveting. It’s a must-see performance. He plays the role of the charlatan Cagliostro with gusto, and style. Welles moves the audience from sympathy for the character to disgust for some of his actions, and back to sympathy. The other performers also do an excellent job. But it’s Welles performance that makes Black Magic a must-see movie.
Black Magic
Bird of Paradise – Dolores Del Rio, Joel McCrea. A wealthy playboy falls for a stunning Polynesian princess when his yacht crashes into a coral reef. But each must overcome the prejudices and traditions of their own kind that threaten to pull them apart.
Bird of Paradise [Joel McCrea]
Dramatic World War II action aboard a U.S. submarine is the setting for the only film in which Ronald Reagan and Nancy Davis star together. Based on a true incident, submarine Commander Casey Abbott (Reagan) leads a daring mission to enter the heavily mined Tsushima Straits to sever a vital link between the Asiatic mainland and the Japanese home islands. Abbott charts the dangerous waters, destroys an enemy island installation and sinks thousands of tons of enemy shipping. In the course of the operation, Abbott teaches his second in command, Lt. Commander Landon (Arthur Franz), the important difference between command decision and emotional reaction. Landon is put to the test when he must order a crash dive which leaves Abbot swimming alone in the trackless sea. When rescued, Abbott is cared for by nurse Blair (Davis), and now he, too, must test his own emotions.
Susan Hayward has a signature role in I’ll Cry Tomorrow, a pedal-to-the-metal look at the troubled times of singer Lillian Roth. Hayward snagged her fourth Oscar nomination for the part, which takes Roth from humble beginnings through great stardom and finally into a hell of alcoholism and recovery. The movie delivers on a couple of tendencies of its era (1956): a fresh frankness about addiction (The Man with the Golden Arm had come out the year before), plus some handy psychoanalyzing of the heroine–in this case, Roth’s problems are laid at the feet of her pushy stage mother (Jo Van Fleet).
In Badlands, Kit Carruthers, a young garbage collector and his girlfriend Holly Sargis from Fort Dupree, South Dakota, are on the run after killing Holly’s father. Because the father disagreed with their relationship.
Badlands
Movie review of Harry and Tonto, starring Art Carney, in his Academy Award (best actor) winning role as Harry, a retired teacher in his seventies living in an area of New York City where he and his deceased wife raised his children – where he’s lived all his life. The building he lives in is torn down to make way for a parking garage. So Harry and his cat Tonto begin a journey across America. He visits his children, sees the world he never seemed to have the time to see before. Along the way, he makes new friends and says goodbye to old ones.
Harry and Tonto
