Blind Husbands 1919 N/R, 68 min. Genre: Drama
Director: Erich von Stroheim Cast: Sam De Grasse, Francelia Billington, Erich von Stroheim, Gibson Gowland, Fay Holderness, Ruby Kendrick, Valerie Germonprez, Jack Perrin, Richard Cummings, William DeVaull
An Austrian lieutenant (Erich von Stroheim) and an American couple meet at a resort in the Alps. The lieutenant sets his sights on the American wife, and a flirtation begins. But, when the husband finds out about the lieutenant's behavior, there is a price to pay. Erich von Stroheim's first directorial effort.
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Doomed to Die 1940 N/R, 57 min. Genre: Mystery / Horror / Thriller
Director: William Nigh Cast: Boris Karloff, Grant Withers, Marjorie Reynolds, Melvin Lang, Guy Usher, Tristram Coffin, William Stelling, Catherine Craig, Henry Brandon, Richard Loo, Wilbur Mack, Kenneth Harlan, Gibson Gowland, Maxine Leslie
With help from reporter Bobby Logan (Marjorie Reynolds), ace detective Mr. Wong (Boris Karloff) investigates the murder of a shipping magnate and finds more than just murder. Fifth in the Mr. Wong series and the last one starring Karloff. One more would follow: "Phantom of Chinatown."
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The Mystery of the Marie Celeste 1935 N/R, 80 min. Genre: Mystery aka: Phantom Ship
Director: Denison Clift Cast: Bela Lugosi, Shirley Grey, Arthur Margaretson, Edmund Willard, George Mozart, Ben Welden, Dennis Hoey, Gibson Gowland, Clifford McLaglen, Terrence De Marney
In 1872 an American ship, "Marie Celeste," was found drifting off the British coast with no one on board. The mystery of what happened to the crew was never solved, and this film speculates on what may have happened: a sea captain (Bela Lugosi) extracts revenge from his earlier treatment on the ship. This early Hammer film is slow-paced and, overall, not very interesting.
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The Phantom of the Opera 1925 N/R, 86 min. Genre: Horror / Thriller / Drama
Director: Rupert Julian Cast: Lon Chaney, Mary Philbin, Norman Kerry, Snitz Edwards, Gibson Gowland, John Miljan, Chester Conklin, Arthur Edmund Carewe, John St. Polis, Alexander Bevani, Edward Cecil, Edith Yorke, William Tracy, Roy Coulson, Ward Crane
This is a very good, silent horror film with Lon Chaney at his best in the role of Erik, the Phantom, who lives in the sewers beneath the Paris Opera House and comes up to coach beautiful singer Christine (Mary Philbin). Through a series of terrors, including causing an enormous chandelier to crash on the audience, the Phantom forces the lead soprano to resign from the opera. Then, he lures Christine into his lair beneath the opera house and tells her that he loves her but that he will only let her go if she will break off her relationship with Raoul de Chagny (Norman Kerry). Christine agrees but then rushes to Raoul, and they plan to run away after the performance. The Phantom overhears her and kidnaps Christine asking only that she never remove his mask, but she sneaks up behind him, rips off the mask, and reveals the terror of what lies beneath. Now, it is the job of Raoul and secret service agent Simon Buquet (Gibson Gowland) to rescue Christine.
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S.O.S. Iceberg 1933 N/R, 77 min. Genre: Adventure
Director: Tay Garnett Cast: Rod La Rocque, Leni Riefenstahl, Sepp Rist, Gibson Gowland, Max Holzboer, Walter Riml, Ernst Udet, Nakinak
Based on an actual ill-fated expedition–with two survivors of the expedition party as advisers–this film follows the journey to Greenland in search of lost records, and the party becomes stranded on an iceberg. The leader's (Rod la Rocque) wife (Leni Riefenstahl) is a pilot who comes to the rescue, but her plane crashes on landing, and she joins the expedition. Eventually, a group of Eskimos arrives by kayak, along with pilot Ernst Udet, to save their lives.
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The Wolf Man 1941 N/R, 71 min. Genre: Fantasy / Drama / Horror
Director: George Waggner Cast: Lon Chaney Jr., Claude Rains, Evelyn Ankers, Bela Lugosi, Ralph Bellamy, Warren William, Patric Knowles, Fay Helm, Maria Ouspenskaya, Leyland Hodgson, J.M. Kerrigan, Forrester Harvey, Harry Cording, Gibson Gowland, Olaf Hytten
Larry Talbot (Lon Chaney Jr.), while attempting to prevent a wolf from mauling Jenny Williams (Fay Helm), is bitten by the animal. When he revives, Larry finds that Jenny is dead and lying by her side is Bela (Bela Lugosi). Bela is a wolf man, and now that he has bitten Larry, Larry will be transformed into a werewolf every time that there is a full moon. Larry confesses his fate to his father Sir John (Claude Rains) and to his sweetheart Gwen (Evelyn Ankers), but they do not believe him–until they are forced to confront the curse one fateful night during a full moon.
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| 1. Blind Husbands (1919)
2. Doomed to Die (1940)
3. Greed (1925)
4. The Mystery of the Marie Celeste (1935) aka: Phantom Ship
5. The Phantom of the Opera (1925)
6. S.O.S. Iceberg (1933)
7. The Wolf Man (1941)
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