 Abe Lincoln in Illinois 1940  N/R, 110 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: John Cromwell
Cast: Raymond Massey, Ruth Gordon, Gene Lockhart, Mary Howard, Howard Da Silva, Dorothy Tree, Harvey Stephens, Minor Watson, Alan Baxter, Elisabeth Risdon, Aldrich Bowker, Maurice Murphy, Louis Jean Heydt, Clem Bevans
Based on Robert E. Sherwood's Pulitzer Prize winning play, this is a classic film about the 16th President, covering his childhood through election to the Presidency. Along with Lincoln's professional life, highlighted by his debates with Stephen Douglas (Gene Lockhart), his personal life, including the doomed courtship of Ann Rutledge (Mary Howard) and later marriage to Mary Todd (Ruth Gordon in her screen debut) are also part of the story.
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Algiers 1938  N/R, 95 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: John Cromwell
Cast: Charles Boyer, Sigrid Gurie, Hedy Lamarr, Joseph Calleia, Alan Hale, Gene Lockhart, Walter Kingsford, Paul Harvey, Johnny Downs, Robert Greig
Suave French jewel thief Pepe le Moko (Charles Boyer) is safe within the Casbah confines where he plays cat-and-mouse games with Inspector Slimane (Joseph Calleia). But when he meets the beautiful Gaby (Hedy Lamarr), her very presence represents the world at large that he can no longer enter, and Inspector Slimane just bides his time. Charles Boyer was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar and Gene Lockhart was nominated for Best Supporting Actor.
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Androcles and the Lion 1952  N/R, 98 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Chester Erskine
Cast: Jean Simmons, Alan Young, Victor Mature, Robert Newton, Maurice Evans, Elsa Lanchester, Reginald Gardiner, Gene Lockhart, Alan Mowbray, Jim Backus, Noel Willman, John Hoyt, Lowell Gilmore, Woody Strode, Harry Cording
Based on George Bernard Shaw's satire, this is the story of young animal trainer Christian, Androcles (Alan Young), who removes a thorn from the paw of a lion, befriends the beast, and names it "Tommy." Later, Caesar (Maurice Evans) condemns Androcles and other Christians to certain death fighting lions in the Coliseum. But, Androcles is saved because the lion is "Tommy." Following the "battle," Caesar frees the Christians.
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Apartment for Peggy 1948  N/R, 96 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: George Seaton
Cast: Jeanne Crain, William Holden, Edmund Gwenn, Gene Lockhart, Griff Barnett, Randy Stuart, Marion Marshall, Gene Nelson, Henri Letondal, Houseley Stevenson
Peggy (Jeanne Crain) and her newly wed professor husband, Jason (William Holden), settle into the world of academia in this cute comedy about life in America following World War II. 2 User Reviews
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| | Great old movie | emily a 11/04/2007 | | I saw this movie many years ago. It was one of those late night gems that keep you up until it's over. It's a great comedy that even today would make you laugh out loud. If you want a good movie that reminds you of your favorite classics, this one is most definitely worth watching. |
| | doughjoe 08/11/2007 | | This is an overlooked gem of a film by the director/writer of Miracle on 34th Street and another excellent but hard-to-find film called Little Boy Lost (starring Bing Crosby). Dealing with issues as powerful as suicide and the tension to sacrifice ideals for material gain, Seaton once again shows that skilled directors could work within the Hollywood system and lift films into a higher realm. It is genuinely funny and touching, and - while some of the attitudes of 1948 seem rather dated - there is much that rings true. Excellent performances by Holden, Crain & Gwenn. |
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Billy the Kid 1941  N/R, 94 min.
Genre: Western
Director: David Miller
Cast: Robert Taylor, Brian Donlevy, Ian Hunter, Mary Howard, Gene Lockhart, Lon Chaney Jr., Henry O'Neill, Guinn "Big Boy" Williams, Frank Conlan, Frank Puglia, Cy Kendall, Ted Adams, Mitchell Lewis, Dick Curtis, Grant Withers
Although Billy the Kid (Robert Taylor) was a cold-hearted murderer, this film sympathizes with his psychotic personality.
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Blackmail 1939 N/R, 81 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: H.C. Potter
Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Ruth Hussey, Gene Lockhart, Bobs Watson, Guinn "Big Boy" Williams, John Wray, Arthur Hohl, Esther Dale, Joseph Crehan, Victor Kilian
In another good performance, Edward G. Robinson plays an innocent man who is blackmailed and sent to prison.
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Blondie 1938 N/R, 68 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Frank R. Strayer
Cast: Penny Singleton, Arthur Lake, Larry Simms, Jonathan Hale, Gene Lockhart, Ann Doran, Gordon Oliver, Kathleen Lockhart, Danny Mummert, Irving Bacon, Dorothy Moore, Fay Helm, Willie Best, Ian Wolfe, Edgar Dearing
Chic Young's comic strip about a suburban family comes to the screen. In this first of a series of 28 films, the Bumsteads (Arthur Lake and Penny Singleton) are worried about the prospect of Dagwood losing his job–the day before their fifth wedding anniversary.
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 Carousel 1956 N/R, 128 min.
Genre: Musical
Director: Henry King
Cast: Gordon MacRae, Shirley Jones, Audrey Christie, Cameron Mitchell, Robert Rounseville, Gene Lockhart, Barbara Ruick, Claramae Turner, John Dehner, Richard Deacon
Rodgers and Hammerstein scored a hit with this story about carnival barker Billy (Gordon MacRae) and the sweet, innocent Julie (Shirley Jones). They fall in love, Julie becomes pregnant, and Billy is killed in an attempted robbery. Fifteen years later, Billy is allowed to return to Earth for one day to come to the aid of his daughter who was born after his death.
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A Christmas Carol 1938 N/R, 68 min.
Genre: Family / Drama / Fantasy
Director: Edwin L. Marin
Cast: Reginald Owen, Gene Lockhart, Kathleen Lockhart, Terry Kilburn, Barry MacKay, Lynne Carver, Leo G. Carroll, June Lockhart, Ann Rutherford, Halliwell Hobbes, Lionel Braham, D'Arcy Corrigan, Ronald Sinclair, Bunny Beatty, John O'Day
This early version of "A Christmas Carol" is worth watching. Ebenezer Scrooge (Reginald Owen) is visited by the Ghosts of Christmas Present, Past, and Future (Ann Rutherford, Lionel Braham, and D'Arcy Corrigan), and they convince him to reassess his treatment of Tiny Tim (Terry Kilburn) and his family.
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Confidentially Connie 1953 N/R, 74 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Edward Buzzell
Cast: Van Johnson, Janet Leigh, Louis Calhern, Walter Slezak, Gene Lockhart, Arthur Space, Barbara Ruick, Hayden Rorke, Robert Burton, Marilyn Erskine
Connie Bedloe (Janet Leigh) tries to convince her poor but proud husband Joe (Van Johnson) that his teaching job is a dead end street and gets support from his scheming father (Louis Calhern).
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Crime and Punishment 1935 N/R, 86 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Josef von Sternberg
Cast: Edward Arnold, Peter Lorre, Marian Marsh, Tala Birell, Elisabeth Risdon, Robert Allen, Douglass Dumbrille, Gene Lockhart, Rafaela Ottiano, Thurston Hall
This is an interesting version of Dostoyevsky's novel about the man (Edward Arnold) who commits a murder and then finds he does have a conscience as well as a need for other people in his life. Peter Lorre plays the intrepid inspector who gets to the "heart" of the matter.
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The Devil and Daniel Webster 1941 N/R, 109 min.
Genre: Drama / Comedy / Fantasy / Horror
aka: Daniel and the Devil
All That Money Can Buy
Director: William Dieterle
Cast: Edward Arnold, Walter Huston, Jane Darwell, Simone Simon, James Craig, Gene Lockhart, John Qualen, George Cleveland, Jeff Corey, Anne Shirley, H.B. Warner, Frank Conlan, Lindy Wade, Alec Craig, Eddie Dew
Set in the1840s, Mr. Scratch (Walter Huston) is the Devil with whom Jabez Stone (James Craig) traded his soul for riches. Now, Stone refuses to live up to his part of the bargain and insists on a legal trial. Daniel Webster (Edward Arnold) represents Stone in this classic Stephen Vincent Benet tale. Walter Huston received an Academy Award nomination as Best Actor.
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A Dispatch from Reuters 1940 N/R, 90 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: William Dieterle
Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Edna Best, Eddie Albert, Albert Bassermann, Gene Lockhart, Otto Kruger, Nigel Bruce, Montagu Love, James Stephenson, Walter Kingsford
This is the biography of Julius Reuter (Edward G. Robinson) who began with a fleet of carrier pigeons and ended up with the first news wire service.
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Dr. Kildare Goes Home 1940  N/R, 78 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Harold S. Bucquet
Cast: Lew Ayres, Lionel Barrymore, Laraine Day, Samuel S. Hinds, Gene Lockhart, John Shelton, Nat Pendleton, Emma Dunn, Alma Kruger, Walter Kingsford
Dr. Kildare (Lew Ayres) completes his internship at Blair General and must return home to help his father who is overworked due to other doctors having moved out of his small town. Kildare has what he considers to be a great idea: open a clinic using underutilized doctors from Blair. Not all the townsfolk agree with the plan.
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Earthworm Tractors 1936 N/R, 65 min.
Genre: Comedy
aka: Natural Born Salesman
Director: Ray Enright
Cast: Joe E. Brown, June Travis, Guy Kibbee, Dick Foran, Carol Hughes, Gene Lockhart, Olin Howland, Joseph Crehan, Irving Bacon, Sarah Edwards, Charles C. Wilson, William B. Davidson
This Depression Era film provides plenty of laughs when natural born salesman Alexander Botts (Joe E. Brown) plies his trade selling Earthworm tractors. Botts works on Sam Johnson (Guy Kibbee) to sell him tractors, and after a series of near disasters Botts makes a deal with Johnson that includes not only tractors but the affections of Johnson's daughter, Mabel (June Travis), as well.
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Edison, the Man 1940 N/R, 104 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Clarence Brown
Cast: Spencer Tracy, Rita Johnson, Lynne Overman, Charles Coburn, Gene Lockhart, Henry Travers, Felix Bressart, Frank Faylen, Byron Foulger, Addison Richards
This sequel to "Young Tom Edison" features Spencer Tracy in the title role of the now-grown Edison who lives in poverty until his light bulb invention proves to be a success.
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Face to Face 1952   N/R, 92 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: John Brahm, Bretaigne Windust
Cast: James Mason, Gene Lockhart, Michael Pate, Albert Sharpe, Sean McClory, Alec Harband, Robert Preston, Marjorie Steele, Minor Watson, Dan Seymour
This film presents two tales, each from popular short stories. "The Secret Sharer," from Joseph Conrad's story, is directed by John Brahm. James Mason, an inexperienced sea captain, deals with a fugitive sailor. "The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky," from a Stephen Crane story, is directed by Bretaigne Windust. A sheriff returns to his western home from a honeymoon with his new bride. His enemy awaits. 1 User Review
| User Review |
| | Conrad psych drama | anonymous 03/18/2010 | | I saw this on you tube...unfortunately it was deleted before I could show it to my class. Does anyone know where I can buy it?? Anyroad, Mason as always is stunningly understated, darkeyed intense and perfect. |
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Francis Covers the Big Town 1953 N/R, 86 min.
Genre: Comedy / Drama / Fantasy / Adventure / Romance
Director: Arthur Lubin
Cast: Donald O'Connor, Yvette Duguay, Gene Lockhart, Nancy Guild, Larry Gates, Lowell Gilmore, William Harrigan, Gale Gordon, Chill Wills, Silvio Minciotti, Hanley Stafford, Forrest Lewis, John Qualen, Julian Rivero, Douglas Wood
Peter Stirling (Donald O'Connor) and his talking mule, Francis (voice of Chill Wills), arrive in New York City where Peter takes a job at the newspaper. Francis is boarded at the stables where the city's mounted police horses are kept, and Francis hears lots of gossip from the horses about criminal activities. Francis passes along his "news" to Peter, and Peter's career begins to soar–until local gangsters step in, and Peter is framed on a murder charge. Francis testifies at the trial, clears Peter's name, and Peter's editor, Tom Henderson (Gene Lockhart), promotes him to star reporter.
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The Garden Murder Case 1936 N/R, 61 min.
Genre: Mystery
Director: Edwin L. Marin
Cast: Edmund Lowe, Virginia Bruce, Benita Hume, Gene Lockhart, Nat Pendleton, H.B. Warner, Kent Smith, Grant Mitchell, Douglas Walton, Frieda Inescort, Henry B. Walthall, Jessie Ralph
The number of actors who play the suave Philo Vance continues to mount as Edmund Lowe takes on the role of the master sleuth. People are dying from what appear to be accidents, and Philo is called in by the police to help. He finds that hypnotism is involved, and he is almost a victim as he nears the perpetrator.
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The Gay Sisters 1942 N/R, 108 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Irving Rapper
Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, George Brent, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Donald Crisp, Gig Young, Nancy Coleman, Gene Lockhart, Donald Woods, Anne Revere
Conniving for land ownership, Fiona Gaylord (Barbara Stanwyck) and Charles Barclay (George Brent) marry while her sisters are left out of the deal.
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Going My Way 1944 N/R, 130 min.
Genre: Drama / Comedy / Musical
Director: Leo McCarey
Cast: Bing Crosby, Barry Fitzgerald, Frank McHugh, Rise Stevens, Gene Lockhart, William Frawley, James Brown, Jean Heather, Porter Hall, Fortunio Bonanova, Eily Malyon, Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer, Julie Gibson, Georgie Nokes, Martin Garralaga
Besides winning the Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Writer Awards, both Bing Crosby and Barry Fitzgerald won Academy Awards for their roles as Father O'Malley and Father Fitzgibbon. In the film, Father O'Malley is sent to the parish to help the elderly Father Fitzgibbon. It is a heartwarming story about their developing friendship. To top off the Oscars, it also won for Best Song: "Swinging on a Star."
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The Gorgeous Hussy 1936 N/R, 102 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Clarence Brown
Cast: Joan Crawford, Robert Taylor, Lionel Barrymore, Melvyn Douglas, James Stewart, Franchot Tone, Louis Calhern, Beulah Bondi, Sidney Toler, Gene Lockhart
This is the story about the Peggy Eaton scandal during the early 19th century and of President Andrew Jackson's rejection of those in his cabinet (including Vice President John C. Calhoun) who played a part in destroying Peggy Eaton's reputation.
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Hangmen Also Die 1943 N/R, 131 min.
Genre: Drama
aka: Lest We Forget
Director: Fritz Lang
Cast: Brian Donlevy, Walter Brennan, Anna Lee, Gene Lockhart, Dennis O'Keefe, Alexander Granach, Margaret Wycherly, Nana Bryant, Lionel Stander, Arthur Loft
Following the assassination of the hated Nazi, Reinhardt Heydrich, by Czechoslovakian Doctor Svoboda (Brian Donlevy), Germans retaliate against the Czechs through a reign of terror.
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 His Girl Friday 1940  N/R, 92 min.
Genre: Comedy / Drama / Romance
Director: Howard Hawks
Cast: Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell, Ralph Bellamy, Gene Lockhart, Helen Mack, Porter Hall, Cliff Edwards, Clarence Kolb, Roscoe Karns, Regis Toomey, Ernest Truex, Frank Jenks, Abner Biberman, Frank Orth, John Qualen
Newspaper editor Walter Burns (Cary Grant) pulls out all stops to prevent the marriage of his star reporter–and ex-wife–Hildy Johnson (Rosalind Russell) to insurance agent Bruce Baldwin (Ralph Bellamy). Walter convinces Hildy to cover one last story about the execution of anarchist Earl Williams (John Qualen). When Williams escapes, with help from Walter and Hildy he hides in the prison press room. Hildy is set to write her big story, while Walter uses their time together to woo her back. A Grant classic, along with great cast and script. 1 User Review
| User Review |
| | Verbal Comedy Doesn't Get Better Than This | 1fatts 07/23/2007 | Menjou and O'Brian did it in '31. Mathau and Lemmon in '74. Robert Ryan and George Grizzard did it on TV in 1970. And somebody even did it once somewhere as a musical. But this is the one. This one: 1940 with Cary Grant and Roz Russell.
A fast-paced play by McArthur and Hecht called "The Front Page" got kicked up several notches when someone decided to turn Hildy Johnson, the bitter, frustrated reporter looking for an escape from the newspaper game into a normal life, into a woman, ex-wife of fast-talking, vicious-but-lovable editor Walter Burns. Cary Grant as burns was never faster or funnier, but his pairing with Roz Russell as Hildy is nothing short of magic. The dialogue zings along, and every second line is a zinger.
But there is more to this than the very real verbal jousting. There is a glimpse into the world of newspapers which is illuminating and more than a little frightening. Anything for the story; it is never about fact, but about the lead, the scoop. Russell's scene with John Qualen's Earl Williams is sharp and tough and cold. The scenes with the veterans in the jailhouse newsroom captures an earlier time and speech pattern, but, one suspects, it has more to say about what media news is really about than All the President's Men could every have hoped to show.
There is an edge to the script that raises it about great comedy into something more important than that.
One of the best things Howard Hawks ever did. Not to be missed. |
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Honeymoon 1947 N/R, 74 min.
Genre: Comedy
aka: Two Men and a Girl
Director: William Keighley
Cast: Shirley Temple, Franchot Tone, Guy Madison, Lina Romay, Gene Lockhart, Grant Mitchell, Corinna Mura, Julio Villarreal, Manuel Arvide, Jose Goula
Barbara (Shirley Temple) heads to Mexico to marry her fiance (Guy Madison). Once there, she enlists the aid of the American Vice Consul (Franchot Tone) to find her husband-to-be and help cut red tape so they can marry.
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Hotel Imperial 1939 N/R, 67 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Robert Florey
Cast: Isa Miranda, Ray Milland, Reginald Owen, Gene Lockhart, J. Carrol Naish, Albert Dekker, Curt Bois, Henry Victor, Robert Middlemass, Spencer Charters
Set in 1917, the plot involves Anna's (Isa Miranda) visit to the Hotel Imperial on the Austria/Hungary border where she meets Lieutenant Nemassy (Ray Milland), and the two conspire against the successful advancing Russian forces. This film was remade in 1943 as "Five Graves to Cairo."
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The House on 92nd Street 1945 N/R, 88 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Henry Hathaway
Cast: William Eythe, Lloyd Nolan, Signe Hasso, Leo G. Carroll, Gene Lockhart, Lydia St. Clair, Reed Hadley, William Post Jr., Harry Bellaver, Charles Wagenheim
FBI agent Bill Dietrich (William Eythe) is given the job of breaking up a Nazi spy ring that is attempting to steal atomic bomb secrets. This film is an excellent example of how actual documentary film footage can be interwoven with a Hollywood film.
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Inspector General 1949 N/R, 102 min.
Genre: Comedy / Musical
Director: Henry Koster
Cast: Danny Kaye, Walter Slezak, Barbara Bates, Elsa Lanchester, Gene Lockhart, Alan Hale, Walter Catlett, Rhys Williams, Benny Baker, Norman Leavitt, Nestor Paiva, Byron Foulger, Jimmy Conlin, Fred Kelsey
A case of mistaken identity results in a very funny story as an illiterate stooge, Georgi (Danny Kaye), is wrongly identified as a man of power in the government. When he arrives in their town, corrupt town officers believe that Georgi is the Inspector General and grant him wishes and bribes to keep them from being arrested for stealing tax money. When the real Inspector General (Rhys Williams) arrives on the scene, the corruption is brought to an end, and Georgi is appointed the town's mayor–free to live happily ever after with the woman of his dreams, Leza (Barbara Bates). Songs include "The Gypsy Drinking Song."
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International Lady 1941 N/R, 100 min.
Genre: Adventure
Director: Tim Whelan
Cast: George Brent, Ilona Massey, Basil Rathbone, Gene Lockhart, George Zucco, Clayton Moore, Francis Pierlot, Martin Kosleck, Charles D. Brown, Marjorie Gateson
U.S. espionage agent Tom Hanley (George Brent) falls in love with Carle Nillson (Ilona Massey). She is really a spy for Hitler and is transmitting information on enemy activity to German U-Boats in the Atlantic.
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I'd Climb the Highest Mountain 1951 N/R, 87 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Henry King
Cast: Susan Hayward, William Lundigan, Rory Calhoun, Barbara Bates, Gene Lockhart, Lynn Bari, Ruth Donnelly, Kathleen Lockhart, Alexander Knox
Although unprepared for life in a rural community, Mary (Susan Hayward) gamely accompanies her minister husband, William Asbury Thompson (William Lundigan), to his new post in the Georgia hill country.
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 Joan of Arc 1948 N/R, 100 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Victor Fleming
Cast: Ingrid Bergman, George Coulouris, Gene Lockhart, Jose Ferrer, Leif Erickson, John Ireland, Ward Bond, Cecil Kellaway, Frank Puglia, Rand Brooks
Ingrid Bergman plays the title role of the young woman from Lorraine who helps the dauphin attain the throne and becomes a martyr in the process. Bergman received an Academy Award nomination, as did Jose Ferrer. The film also won three Oscars: Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, and an honorary award for distinguished service by Walter Wanger for producing this moral story.
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Juke Girl 1942 N/R, 90 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Curtis Bernhardt
Cast: Ann Sheridan, Ronald Reagan, Richard Whorf, Gene Lockhart, Faye Emerson, George Tobias, Alan Hale, Howard Da Silva, Fuzzy Knight, Donald MacBride
Migrant worker Steve Talbot (Ronald Reagan) gets involved in a feud between Florida packers and farmers that soon accelerates to murder.
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Leave Her to Heaven 1945 N/R, 111 min.
Genre: Drama / Thriller
Director: John M. Stahl
Cast: Gene Tierney, Cornel Wilde, Jeanne Crain, Vincent Price, Darryl Hickman, Ray Collins, Gene Lockhart, Chill Wills, Mary Philips, Reed Hadley, Hugh Maguire, Mae Marsh, Grant Mitchell, Addison Richards, Jim Farley
Beautiful Ellen Berent (Gene Tierney) is a psychopath who marries Richard Harlan (Cornel Wilde) and moves to their lodge in Maine where she plans to make sure that Richard shares all of his time with her. When Richard's crippled brother Danny (Darryl Hickman) visits them, Ellen stands by and does nothing to save him when he drowns in the lake. Ellen becomes pregnant, and, fearing that she will have to share Richard's affections with their baby, she purposefully falls down the stairs and miscarries. Finally, Ellen confesses her terrible deeds to Richard and then commits suicide–but not before making sure that her death looks like a murder and framing her sister Ruth (Jeanne Crain) for the crime. Ellen has managed to destroy everyone around her–including herself. Tierney received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.
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Madame Bovary 1949 N/R, 114 min.
Genre: Drama / Romance
Director: Vincente Minnelli
Cast: Jennifer Jones, James Mason, Van Heflin, Louis Jourdan, Alf Kjellin, Gene Lockhart, Frank Allenby, Gladys Cooper, Harry Morgan, George Zucco, John Abbott, Ellen Corby, Eduard Franz, Henri Letondal, Esther Somers
Set in 19th-century France, this is the film adaptation of Flaubert's classic novel about Emma Bovary (Jennifer Jones) and her scandalous affairs that lead to tragedy. Country girl Emma is bored with her life and marries Dr. Charles Bovary (Van Heflin) hoping for romance and social standing. But, the marriage is not what she had dreamed, and Emma begins affairs with numerous suitors–until, finally, in despair she commits suicide.
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The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit 1956 N/R, 153 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Nunnally Johnson
Cast: Gregory Peck, Fredric March, Jennifer Jones, Ann Harding, Arthur O'Connell, Lee J. Cobb, Keenan Wynn, Gene Lockhart, Marisa Pavan, Kenneth Tobey
The pitfalls of success on Madison Avenue are presented in this film as Gregory Peck plays the executive who is beginning to find that there is more to life than fame and fortune.
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 Meet John Doe 1941 N/R, 123 min.
Genre: Drama / Comedy / Romance
Director: Frank Capra
Cast: Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck, Walter Brennan, Edward Arnold, James Gleason, Spring Byington, Gene Lockhart, Irving Bacon, Regis Toomey, Warren Hymer, J. Farrell MacDonald, Rod La Rocque, Harry Holman, Pierre Watkin, Andrew Tombes
Journalist Ann Mitchell (Barbara Stanwyck) has been fired from her newspaper job, and she thinks she has found the perfect way to get that job back by printing a fake letter from "John Doe" announcing that he is going to jump off City Hall on New Year's Eve. The stunt works, the newspaper's readership rises, John Doe gains incredible support, and Ann is rehired. Now, Ann must find someone to play "John Doe"–and she does in the form of a soft-spoken hobo, Long John Willoughby (Gary Cooper). His popularity rises, newspaper publisher D.B. Norton (Edward Arnold) puts John Doe on the radio to deliver inspirational speeches, and soon he is deeply involved in politics. But, the politics support those of fascist Norton who has a secret plan to become a dictator of the United States. Will Willoughby catch on in time to save the day? 1 User Review
| User Review |
| | The darkest of the Frank Capra Films | 1fatts 07/22/2007 | It is the depression, and a failed baseball pitcher with a bum arm trying to get by in tough times, finds himself being trained by reporter Barbara Stanwyck to pretend to be John Doe, a symbol of the down-and-out who has promised to jump from the tallest building in town on New Year's Eve. Cooper as "Long John Willoughby" does "the decency of the simple man" quite wonderfully here. It's not as funny as "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town", but more poignant for sure.
The movie is solid Capra, with a Robert Riskin screenplay. But there is a darkness here which other Capra films just hint at. Yes, John Doe doesn't commit suicide. (Love conquers all. Sorry.) But the mildly upbeat ending is artificial. The bad guys win, in effect. The little guys, whom John Doe comes to represent, really are outmatched, outsmarted and defeated by the power of crooked money and crooked politics.
When Capra did Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, he invited all the members of the Senate to a preivew. Hearing that the Senate was presented in something less than pure halo and glory, they stayed away in droves. But it is John Doe that is the real critique, hidden in a comic script and a romantic ending.
Real hollywood film buffs need to be conversant with Capra. This is the one that needs to be the center of the discussion of "The Optimistic Vision of Frank Capra". |
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Men Are Such Fools 1938 N/R, 70 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Busby Berkeley
Cast: Wayne Morris, Priscilla Lane, Humphrey Bogart, Hugh Herbert, Johnnie Davis, Penny Singleton, Mona Barrie, Donald Briggs, Gene Lockhart, Kathleen Lockhart
A secretary (Priscilla Lane) at an advertising agency is out to climb the ladder of success, but her boyfriend (Wayne Morris) wants her to quit and get married. When she invents a cure for hangovers, she is on her way and love triangles abound. Will she get the aggressive Harry (Humphrey Bogart) or stay with her solid boyfriend? One of Berkeley's few non-musicals.
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 Miracle on 34th Street 1947 N/R, 95 min.
Genre: Family / Comedy / Drama
Director: George Seaton
Cast: Maureen O'Hara, John Payne, Edmund Gwenn, Natalie Wood, Thelma Ritter, Jerome Cowan, Gene Lockhart, Porter Hall, William Frawley, James Seay, Jack Albertson, Harry Antrim, Jeff Corey, Mary Field, Anthony Sydes
The new Santa Claus at Macy's Department Store teaches a lesson in faith to those who no longer believe in the spirit of Christmas. Jerome Cowan: "Your Honor, we request an immediate ruling from this court–is there or is there not a Santa Claus?" Edmund Gwenn received an Oscar for his great portrayal of Santa. There were two other Academy Awards (Best Writing-Original Story and Screenplay) and a nomination for Best Picture.
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Mission to Moscow 1943 N/R, 123 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Michael Curtiz
Cast: Walter Huston, Ann Harding, George Tobias, Oskar Homolka, Gene Lockhart, Frieda Inescort, Eleanor Parker, Richard Travis, Frank Puglia, Minor Watson
This film, presenting a unique look at Russian culture in 1940, was introduced by the actual United States ambassador (Joseph Davies). Based on fact, it shows the impact of isolationist forces in the U.S. before the country entered World War II and needed Russia as an ally.
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Northern Pursuit 1943 N/R, 93 min.
Genre: Action
Director: Raoul Walsh
Cast: Errol Flynn, Julie Bishop, Helmut Dantine, John Ridgely, Gene Lockhart, Tom Tully, Monte Blue, Bernard Nedell, Warren Douglas, Alec Craig
Canadian Mountie Steve Wagner (Errol Flynn) tracks down a Nazi pilot and breaks up an espionage ring operating in Canada.
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Of Human Hearts 1938 N/R, 100 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Clarence Brown
Cast: Walter Huston, James Stewart, Gene Reynolds, Beulah Bondi, Guy Kibbee, Charles Coburn, John Carradine, Ann Rutherford, Charley Grapewin, Gene Lockhart
Life for a 19th-century preacher (Walter Huston) and his son (James Stewart) is not always easy as they struggle to settle their differences as well as the Midwest. John Carradine is in the final scene as Abraham Lincoln giving advice on the values of family.
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One Foot in Heaven 1941 N/R, 108 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Irving Rapper
Cast: Fredric March, Grant Mitchell, Moroni Olsen, Jerome Cowan, Martha Scott, Beulah Bondi, Gene Lockhart, Elisabeth Fraser, Harry Davenport, Laura Hope Crews
William Spence (Fredric March) is a Methodist minister who, with his wife (Martha Scott), serves a number of Iowa parishes where he tries to bring God into the lives of those encountering changes in the world they have known. The picture earned an Academy Award nomination.
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Our Leading Citizen 1939 N/R, 89 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Alfred Santell
Cast: Bob Burns, Susan Hayward, Joseph Allen, Gene Lockhart, Charles Bickford, Elizabeth Patterson, Clarence Kolb, Paul Guilfoyle, Fay Helm, Kathleen Lockhart
A young lawyer, Clay (Joseph Allen), returns to his hometown to work with his deceased father's partner, Lem (Bob Burns). Lem's daughter, Judith (Susan Hayward), and Clay hit it off, but when he starts representing a factory owner who suppresses his workers for the sake of more money for himself, problems loom on the horizon.
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Rhubarb 1951 N/R, 94 min.
Genre: Family / Comedy
Director: Arthur Lubin
Cast: Ray Milland, Jan Sterling, Gene Lockhart, Elsie Holmes, William Frawley, Leonard Nimoy, Taylor Holmes, Donald MacBride, Strother Martin, Willard Waterman, Henry Slate, James Griffith, Jim Hayward, Tristram Coffin, James Flavin
Rhubarb is a cat that is willed to a baseball team–as the owner! Eric Yeager (Ray Milland) is appointed guardian of Rhubarb, and it becomes immediately apparent that Rhubarb brings good luck to the team, and the fun begins. Based on H. Allen Smith's best-selling novel.
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Riding High 1950 N/R, 112 min.
Genre: Musical
Director: Frank Capra
Cast: Bing Crosby, Coleen Gray, Charles Bickford, Margaret Hamilton, Frances Gifford, James Gleason, William Demarest, Ward Bond, Gene Lockhart, Raymond Walburn
This is a musical remake of Damon Runyan's "Broadway Bill," which Frank Capra also directed. It is the story of a gambler (Bing Crosby) who owns a horse that can't seem to win.
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A Scandal in Paris 1946 N/R, 100 min.
Genre: Drama
aka: Thieves' Holiday
Director: Douglas Sirk
Cast: George Sanders, Signe Hasso, Carole Landis, Akim Tamiroff, Gene Lockhart, Jo Ann Marlowe, Alma Kruger, Alan Napier, Vladimir Sokoloff, Pedro de Cordoba, Leona Maricle, Fritz Leiber
Based on the exploits of a real-life criminal, the suave Francois (George Sanders) escapes from jail with his friend, Emile (Akim Tamiroff). The adventures begin as Francois pulls off several clever crimes; spends a short time in Napoleon's army; and, after meeting the well-connected Therese (Signe Hasso), rises to Police Chief. He is now free to fill the office with his friends and uses the office for his base of crime operations.
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The Sea Wolf 1941 N/R, 90 min.
Genre: Adventure
Director: Michael Curtiz
Cast: Edward G. Robinson, John Garfield, Ida Lupino, Alexander Knox, Gene Lockhart, Barry Fitzgerald, Stanley Ridges, Howard Da Silva, Francis McDonald, David Bruce
Based on Jack London's novel, this is the adventure story of the diabolical Captain Wolf Larson (Edward G. Robinson) whose crew plots to save themselves from Larson's clutches.
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Sinners in Paradise 1938 N/R, 64 min.
Genre: Drama / Adventure
Director: James Whale
Cast: Madge Evans, John Boles, Bruce Cabot, Marion Martin, Gene Lockhart, Charlotte Wynters, Nana Bryant, Milburn Stone, Don "Red" Barry, Morgan Conway, Willie Fung
Lost in a storm, a China-bound seaplane crashes and tosses its nine passengers into the sea. All have personal problems that they bring with them when they wash ashore on the island where only a recluse named Jim Taylor (John Boles) lives with his servant, Ping (Willie Fung). Taylor isn't ready to let them use his boat to get help, and the group finds that they must actually work together in order to escape not only from the island but from their past problems as well.
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Something to Sing About 1937 N/R, 90 min.
Genre: Musical / Comedy / Drama
aka: Battling Hoofer
Director: Victor Schertzinger
Cast: James Cagney, Evelyn Daw, William Frawley, Mona Barrie, Gene Lockhart, Philip Ahn, Dwight Frye, William B. Davidson, Richard Tucker, Kathleen Lockhart, Marek Windheim, Johnny Arthur, James Newill, Harry Barris, Cully Richards
The story involves New York bandleader Terry Rooney (James Cagney) who seeks fame and fortune in Hollywood. Rooney marries his band's vocalist Rita Wyatt (Evelyn Daw), and they head for Hollywood. He meets studio head Bennett O. Regan (Gene Lockhart) who wrongly believes that Rooney is arrogant and also wants him to keep his marriage a secret, so he and Rita put on a charade. The movie turns out to be a big success, but Regan hides that fact from Rooney, and Rooney does not discover his fame until he returns home from a South Seas cruise with Rita.
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The Story of Alexander Graham Bell 1939 N/R, 97 min.
Genre: Drama
aka: Alexander Graham Bell
The Modern Miracle
Director: Irving Cummings
Cast: Don Ameche, Loretta Young, Henry Fonda, Charles Coburn, Spring Byington, Gene Lockhart, Sally Blane, Polly Ann Young, Jonathan Hale, Harry Davenport
This classic film tells the story of Alexander Graham Bell's (Don Ameche) struggles to invent the telephone and then his subsequent fight to keep the patent rights to his invention.
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The Strange Woman 1946 N/R, 100 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Edgar G. Ulmer
Cast: Hedy Lamarr, George Sanders, Louis Hayward, Gene Lockhart, Hillary Brooke, Rhys Williams, June Storey, Moroni Olsen, Alan Napier, Dennis Hoey
Bangor, Maine, was a bustling, brawling lumber town in the early 1800s when beautiful, young Jenny Hager (Hedy Lamarr) accepted a marriage proposal from wealthy businessman Isaiah Poster (Gene Lockhart), 20 years her senior. Shrewd for her age (due in part to having to deal with her drunken father for many years), she uses her new wealth to her advantage, including courting other men. Well acted and directed.
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That Wonderful Urge 1948 N/R, 82 min.
Genre: Comedy / Romance
Director: Robert B. Sinclair
Cast: Tyrone Power, Gene Tierney, Reginald Gardiner, Arleen Whelan, Lucile Watson, Gene Lockhart, Chill Wills, Hope Emerson, Porter Hall, Lloyd Gough, Richard Gaines, Taylor Holmes, Al Bridge, Lane Chandler, Frank Ferguson
Tyrone Power repeats his starring role in this remake of "Love Is News." This time, Gene Tierney takes the role of heiress Sara Farley who decides to get back at reporter Thomas Jefferson Tyler (Power) who has been printing non-flattering stories about her. Sara gets even by announcing to the press that she and Tyler are secretly married, and their love/hate relationship results in more than a few misadventures.
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They Died with Their Boots on 1941 N/R, 140 min.
Genre: Western
Director: Raoul Walsh
Cast: Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Arthur Kennedy, Walter Hampden, Sydney Greenstreet, Gene Lockhart, Anthony Quinn, Charley Grapewin, Hattie McDaniel, Regis Toomey, Eddie Acuff
This biography covers the life of George Custer (Errol Flynn) from his days as a West Point cadet, through Civil War service, to Indian fighting in America's West.
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Wedding Present 1936 N/R, 80 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Richard Wallace
Cast: Cary Grant, Joan Bennett, George Bancroft, Conrad Nagel, Gene Lockhart, William Demarest, Inez Courtney, Edward Brophy, Purnell Pratt, George Meeker
Charlie (Cary Grant) and Rusty (Joan Bennett) are reporters who find their relationship changing when Charlie is appointed the editor.
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| 1. Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940)
2. Algiers (1938)
3. Androcles and the Lion (1952)
4. Apartment for Peggy (1948)
5. The Big Hangover (1950)
6. Billy the Kid (1941)
7. Blackmail (1939)
8. Blondie (1938)
9. Carousel (1956)
10. A Christmas Carol (1938)
11. Confidentially Connie (1953)
12. Crime and Punishment (1935)
13. Cynthia (1947)
14. The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941)
aka: Daniel and the Devil
aka: All That Money Can Buy
15. A Dispatch from Reuters (1940)
16. Dr. Kildare Goes Home (1940)
17. Earthworm Tractors (1936)
aka: Natural Born Salesman
18. Edison, the Man (1940)
19. Face to Face (1952)
20. Francis Covers the Big Town (1953)
21. The Garden Murder Case (1936)
22. The Gay Sisters (1942)
23. A Girl in Every Port (1952)
24. Going My Way (1944)
25. The Gorgeous Hussy (1936)
26. Hangmen Also Die (1943)
aka: Lest We Forget
27. His Girl Friday (1940)
28. Honeymoon (1947)
aka: Two Men and a Girl
29. Hotel Imperial (1939)
30. The House on 92nd Street (1945)
31. Inspector General (1949)
32. International Lady (1941)
33. I'd Climb the Highest Mountain (1951)
34. Joan of Arc (1948)
35. Juke Girl (1942)
36. Leave Her to Heaven (1945)
37. Madame Bovary (1949)
38. The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (1956)
39. Meet John Doe (1941)
40. Men Are Such Fools (1938)
41. Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
42. Mission to Moscow (1943)
43. Northern Pursuit (1943)
44. Of Human Hearts (1938)
45. One Foot in Heaven (1941)
46. Our Leading Citizen (1939)
47. Rhubarb (1951)
48. Riding High (1950)
49. A Scandal in Paris (1946)
aka: Thieves' Holiday
50. The Sea Wolf (1941)
51. Sinners in Paradise (1938)
52. Something to Sing About (1937)
aka: Battling Hoofer
53. The Story of Alexander Graham Bell (1939)
aka: Alexander Graham Bell
aka: The Modern Miracle
54. The Strange Woman (1946)
55. That Wonderful Urge (1948)
56. They Died with Their Boots on (1941)
57. Wedding Present (1936)
In The News
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