The Barefoot Contessa 1954 N/R, 128 min. Genre: Drama
Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Ava Gardner, Edmond O'Brien, Marius Goring, Rossano Brazzi, Valentina Cortese, Elizabeth Sellars, Warren Stevens, Franco Interlenghi, Bessie Love, Mari Aldon, Diana Decker, Bill Fraser
Through flashbacks from her graveside, friends (Humphrey Bogart and Edmond O'Brien) tell the story of film star Maria Vargus (Ava Gardner) and her rise and fall. Edmond O'Brien won an Oscar as Best Supporting Actor.
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Catlow 1971 PG, 103 min. Genre: Western
Director: Sam Wanamaker Cast: Yul Brynner, Richard Crenna, Leonard Nimoy, Daliah Lavi, Jo Ann Pflug, Jeff Corey, Bessie Love, David Ladd, Julian Mateos, Michael Delano, Robert Logan, John Clark, Dan van Husen, Cass Martin, Jose Nieto
Based on Louis L'Amour's novel, this is the story of Catlow's (Yul Brynner) attempt to take off with a fortune in gold and the subsequent hunt for him by friend and foe alike. Hot on Catlow's trail is Marshal Ben Cowan (Richard Crenna) who was Catlow's Civil War buddy. Also in pursuit is a killer, Miller (Leonard Nimoy), who has been hired to kill Catlow. The action sequences in this film are very good.
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Children of the Damned 1963 N/R, 90 min. Genre: Horror / Thriller
Director: Anton Leader Cast: Ian Hendry, Alan Badel, Barbara Ferris, Alfred Burke, Sheila Allen, Ralph Michael, Patrick Wymark, Martin Miller, Harold Goldblatt, Bessie Love
Yes, some of the smart alien children from 1960's "Village of the Damned" survived. They have a thirst for both power and revenge, so let the weak sequel begin.
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The Hollywood Review of 1929 1929 N/R, 130 min. Genre: Musical
Director: Charles Riesner Cast: Conrad Nagel, John Gilbert, Joan Crawford, Bessie Love, Marion Davies, Marie Dressler, Jack Benny, Norma Shearer, Lionel Barrymore, Buster Keaton
This was the premier for a series of films starring Hollywood production company stars. Silent-screen M.G.M. stars appear in speaking roles, and musical numbers contribute to the film.
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Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages 1916 N/R, 163 min. Genre: Drama / Romance aka: Intolerance
Director: D.W. Griffith Cast: Lillian Gish, Mae Marsh, Howard Gaye, Elmo Lincoln, Walter Long, Bessie Love, Tully Marshall, Erich von Stroheim, Monte Blue, Donald Crisp, Robert Harron, F.A. Turner, Sam De Grasse, Vera Lewis, Eleanor Washington
This great film presents four stories, each in a different era from ancient Babylon to the present. All of the stories involve man's intolerance to man. The stories include a mountain girl in Babylonia and religious rivalry at the time, Pharisees' condemnation of Jesus Christ, the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre in Paris and how it coincides with two Huguenots preparing for marriage, and social reformers in modern America destroying the lives of a young couple.
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Isadora 1968 PG, 168 min. Genre: Drama aka: The Loves of Isadora
Director: Karel Reisz Cast: Vanessa Redgrave, James Fox, Jason Robards, Ivan Tchenko, John Fraser, Bessie Love, Cynthia Harris, Libby Glenn, Tony Vogel, John Warner
This film biography of dancer Isadora Duncan (Vanessa Redgrave) is told, in part, through flashbacks as she suffers personal tragedies along with fame and fortune. The film was cut and rereleased as "The Loves of Isadora."
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Lady Chatterley's Lover 1981 R, 105 min. Genre: Foreign / Drama
Director: Just Jaeckin Cast: Sylvia Kristel, Shane Briant, Nicholas Clay, Ann Mitchell, Elizabeth Spriggs, Peter Bennett, Anthony Head, Frank Moorey, Bessie Love, John Tynan, Michael Huston, Fran Hunter
After her husband (Shane Briant) suffers an injury during World War I that leaves him paralyzed and impotent, Lady Constance Chatterley (Sylvia Kristel) becomes the lover of gamekeeper Oliver Mellors (Nicholas Clay), and passionate lovemaking ensues.
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The Lost World 1925 N/R, 101 min. Genre: Adventure
Director: Harry O. Hoyt Cast: Wallace Beery, Bessie Love, Lewis Stone, Lloyd Hughes, Alma Bennett, Arthur Hoyt, Bull Montana, Charles Wellesley, Margaret McWade, Frank Finch Smiles, Jules Cowles, George Bunny
Based on a novel by A. Conan Doyle, this is the first of several versions of the book. Professor Challenger (Wallace Beery) insists that dinosaurs still live in the headwaters of the Amazon. An expedition is funded, and, indeed, the good professor is correct. Good special effects for the time, and this silent film holds up well today.
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Promise Her Anything 1966 N/R, 98 min. Genre: Comedy
Director: Arthur Hiller Cast: Warren Beatty, Leslie Caron, Robert Cummings, Hermione Gingold, Lionel Stander, Keenan Wynn, Cathleen Nesbitt, Bessie Love, Donald Sutherland, Mavis Villiers
Porn filmmaker Harley Rummell (Warren Beatty) gets saddled with his downstairs neighbor's infant son while she plots marriage to a psychologist.
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Reds 1981 PG, 200 min. Genre: Drama / Romance
Director: Warren Beatty Cast: Warren Beatty, Diane Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Gene Hackman, Edward Herrmann, Maureen Stapleton, Jerzy Kosinski, Paul Sorvino, M. Emmet Walsh, Ian Wolfe, Nicolas Coster, Bessie Love, MacIntyre Dixon, Pat Starr, George Plimpton
This movie tells the story of the Russian Revolution and mixes in the love story of John and Louise (Warren Beatty and Diane Keaton) who are swept up in the momentum of change. Academy Awards were received by Warren Beatty for his directing and Maureen Stapleton for Best Supporting Actress. Nominations included Best Picture, Actor (Beatty), Actress (Keaton), and Supporting Actor (Jack Nicholson).
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The Ritz 1976 R, 91 min. Genre: Comedy
Director: Richard Lester Cast: Jack Weston, Rita Moreno, Jerry Stiller, Kaye Ballard, F. Murray Abraham, Treat Williams, Bessie Love, John Ratzenberger, George Coulouris, Dave King, Paul B. Price, Tony De Santis
An interesting cast of talented stars contribute to this story about the experiences of Gaetano Proclo (Jack Weston) when he chooses a gay bath house, the Ritz, as the perfect place to hide from his brother-in-law Carmine Vespucci (Jerry Stiller) who has promised his dying father that he will "Get Proclo!"
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The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone 1961 N/R, 103 min. Genre: Drama
Director: Jose Quintero Cast: Vivien Leigh, Warren Beatty, Coral Browne, Jill St. John, Lotte Lenya, Jeremy Spenser, Bessie Love, Carl Jaffe, Stella Bonheur, Warren Mitchell
Aging actress Karen Stone (Vivien Leigh) travels to Rome where she finds adventure in a love affair with the greedy Paolo (Warren Beatty). Lotte Lenya was nominated for an Oscar as Best Supporting Actress.
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The Story of Esther Costello 1957 N/R, 104 min. Genre: Drama
Director: David Miller Cast: Joan Crawford, Rossano Brazzi, Heather Sears, Lee Patterson, Ron Randell, Fay Compton, Bessie Love, Sid James, Denis O'Dea, John Loder
Esther Costello (Heather Sears) has been deaf, mute, and blind since childhood and has suffered through subsequent exploitation; now an American woman, Margaret Landi (Joan Crawford), is involved in her life.
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Sunday Bloody Sunday 1971 R, 110 min. Genre: Drama
Director: John Schlesinger Cast: Peter Finch, Glenda Jackson, Murray Head, Peggy Ashcroft, Tony Britton, Maurice Denham, Bessie Love, Vivian Pickles, Harold Goldblatt, Richard Pearson, Frank Windsor, Thomas Baptiste, June Brown, Hannah Norbert, Marie Burke
In this story of a bisexual love triangle, set in London during the early 1970s, Bob Elkin (Murray Head) is the lover of both Dr. Daniel Hirsh (Peter Finch) and Alex Greville (Glenda Jackson)–who happen to share the same answering machine service. Bob and Alex agree to babysit for the five children of Alva and Bill Hodson (Vivian Pickles and Frank Windsor), but on Saturday morning Bob excuses himself and leaves. Alex knows that he is headed off to see Daniel and does not handle the problem well–all of which Bob will learn when he returns on Sunday. This is a groundbreaking film on the subject of homosexuality. Great performances make this adult drama an event well-worth viewing. Oscar nominations were received for Best Actor (Finch), Best Actress (Jackson), and Best Director.
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Vampyres 1974 R, 87 min. Genre: Horror / Thriller aka: Daughters of Dracula Vampyres: Daughters of Darkness
Director: Jose Ramon Larraz Cast: Marianne Morris, Anulka Dziubinska, Murray Brown, Brian Deacon, Sally Faulkner, Michael Byrne, Karl Lanchbury, Bessie Love, Elliott Sullivan, Margaret Heald
Lesbian vampires Fran and Miriam (Marianne Morris and Anulka Dziubinska–a Playboy centerfold) hang out by the highway at night hitching a ride and luring the victims to their mansion where each is drained of blood. But, one intended victim, Ted (Murray Brown), falls in love with Fran, AND she takes a liking to him. However, he knows he will be drained of blood eventually. Lots of nakedness and blood with good "creepiness." This is a cut down version to get it into the "R" category.
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| 1. The Barefoot Contessa (1954)
2. The Broadway Melody (1929)
3. Catlow (1971)
4. Children of the Damned (1963)
5. The Hollywood Review of 1929 (1929)
6. Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages (1916) aka: Intolerance
7. Isadora (1968) aka: The Loves of Isadora
8. Lady Chatterley's Lover (1981)
9. The Lost World (1925)
10. Promise Her Anything (1966)
11. Reds (1981)
12. The Ritz (1976)
13. The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (1961)
14. The Story of Esther Costello (1957)
15. Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971)
16. Vampyres (1974) aka: Daughters of Dracula aka: Vampyres: Daughters of Darkness
In The News
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