Background to Danger 1943 N/R, 80 min. Genre: Drama / Adventure / Thriller
Director: Raoul Walsh Cast: George Raft, Brenda Marshall, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, Osa Massen, Turhan Bey, Frank Puglia, Pedro de Cordoba, Steven Geray, Nestor Paiva, Willard Robertson, Kurt Katch, Jean Del Val, Michael Mark, Wilhelm von Brincken
During World War II, American espionage agent Joe Barton (George Raft) is sent to Ankara where he is given an envelope containing maps showing where the Germans will invade Turkey. Nazi agent Colonel Robinson (Sidney Greenstreet) knows about the maps and orders his agents to severely beat Barton, but he is rescued by Turkish official Zaloshoff (Peter Lorre) and his sister Tamara (Brenda Marshall). The maps are stolen by Robinson's agents, and the chase is on as Barton will stop at nothing to retrieve them.
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Casino Royale 1954 N/R, 55 min. Genre: Drama / Thriller
Director: William H. Brown Cast: Barry Nelson, Peter Lorre, Linda Christian, Michael Pate, Gene Roth, Jean Del Val, Eugene Borden, Kurt Katch, William Lundigan
This is a little-known version of Ian Fleming's story and is the first–by far–filming of any of his work. It was presented live on TV as an episode of the TV series "Climax." James Bond (Barry Nelson) must deal with wicked, Russian spy Le Chiffre (Peter Lorre) who attempts to win back money he has lost through gambling in Las Vegas. Good baccarat playing.
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Destination Nightmare 1968 TV, 100 min. Genre: Horror / Thriller
Director: Paul Landres Cast: Boris Karloff, Whit Bissell, Myron Healey, Tod Andrews, George Hamilton, Jean Del Val, Iphigenie Castiglioni, Rusty Lane, Ron Hagerthy, Roy Engel
Boris Karloff introduces and stars in tales of the supernatural, which was the pilot for a TV series.
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Drums of the Desert 1940 N/R, 64 min. Genre: Adventure
Director: George Waggner Cast: Ralph Byrd, Lorna Gray, George Lynn, Willy Castello, Mantan Moreland, Jean Del Val, Ann Codee, Boyd Irwin, Neyle Morrow, Alberto Morin
On the way to Morocco and the French Foreign Legion, Paul (Ralph Byrd) meets Helene (Lorna Gray), and a romance begins. But Helene is engaged to Paul's best friend Jean (George Lynn), and the battle for her begins. Meanwhile, there are bad arms dealers to deal with.
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Fantastic Voyage 1966 N/R, 100 min. Genre: Sci-Fi / Adventure
Director: Richard Fleischer Cast: Stephen Boyd, Raquel Welch, Edmond O'Brien, Donald Pleasence, Arthur O'Connell, William Redfield, Arthur Kennedy, James Brolin, Barry Coe, Jean Del Val, Ken Scott, Shelby Grant, Brendan Fitzgerald, Brendon Boone, Christopher Riordan
In order to perform delicate brain surgery on brilliant scientist Jan Benes (Jean Del Val), a team of doctors (Stephen Boyd, Raquel Welch, William Redfield, Arthur Kennedy, and Donald Pleasence) must travel inside their patient's body. The medical team is shrunk into microscopic figures, and they ride in a miniature submarine as they enter the bloodstream and encounter chilling obstacles. The film won two Academy Awards for Best Art Direction/Set Decoration and Special Visual Effects, and it was nominated for three others.
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The Flying Deuces 1939 N/R, 67 min. Genre: Comedy
Director: A. Edward Sutherland Cast: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Jean Parker, Reginald Gardiner, Charles Middleton, Jean Del Val, Crane Whitley, James Finlayson, Richard Cramer, Michael Visaroff, Billy Engle, Sam Lufkin
After Ollie (Oliver Hardy) has been rejected by his lady love Georgette (Jean Parker) because she is already married to Francois (Reginald Gardiner), he and Stan (Stan Laurel) join the Foreign Legion to help Ollie forget his troubles. But, their ineptness leads to them being charged with desertion. They escape in a stolen airplane that crashes.
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Funny Face 1957 N/R, 103 min. Genre: Musical
Director: Stanley Donen Cast: Fred Astaire, Audrey Hepburn, Kay Thompson, Michel Auclair, Suzy Parker, Robert Flemyng, Ruta Lee, Iphigenie Castiglioni, Jean Del Val, Alex Gerry, Dovima, Virginia Gibson, Sue England, Paul Smith
Fashion photographer Dick Avery (Fred Astaire) uses a bookstore to shoot a layout and is fascinated with hapless clerk Jo Stockton (Audrey Hepburn) who has been left with the cleanup after models and photographer have left. Not to worry, Jo is rescued by Dick who takes her to Paris and turns her into a glamorous fashion model. All this, and a love story to boot, makes a good movie.
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The Hitch-Hiker 1953 N/R, 71 min. Genre: Drama
Director: Ida Lupino Cast: Edmond O'Brien, Frank Lovejoy, William Talman, Jose Torvay, Sam Hayes, Wendell Niles, Jean Del Val, Clark Howat, Natividad Vacio, Rodney Bell
As Roy and Gilbert (Edmond O'Brien and Frank Lovejoy) head off on a fishing trip, they make a big mistake: they pick up a hitchhiker, Emmett (William Talman), a sadistic, psychotic killer. Emmett takes the pair hostage and forces them to cross the desert and enter Mexico, playing a cat and mouse game with them on the way. A good film noir directed by the 1930s and 1940s star, Ida Lupino.
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The Last Time I Saw Paris 1954 N/R, 116 min. Genre: Drama / Romance
Director: Richard Brooks Cast: Elizabeth Taylor, Van Johnson, Walter Pidgeon, Donna Reed, Eva Gabor, Kurt Kasznar, Roger Moore, George Dolenz, Celia Lovsky, Peter Leeds, Sandy Descher, John Doucette, Odette Myrtil, Ann Codee, Jean Del Val
Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein, II wrote the title song for this film adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's "Babylon Revisited." Successful writer Charles (Van Johnson) returns to Paris and remembers the last time he was there. Through flashbacks, the story takes place in post-World-War-II Paris where struggling writer Charles meets and falls in love with American ex-patriot Helen Ellswirth (Elizabeth Taylor). They marry, and Charles loves Helen's free-spirited lifestyle. After Charles strikes it rich and lives off the revenue from a Texas oil well, he loses his desire to write, and his drinking leads to devastating results in his personal life.
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Little Boy Lost 1953 N/R, 95 min. Genre: Drama
Director: George Seaton Cast: Bing Crosby, Claude Dauphin, Christian Fourcade, Gabrielle Dorziat, Nicole Maurey, Georgette Anys, Henri Letondal, Peter Baldwin, Jean Del Val, Colette Dereal
While searching for the son he was separated from during World War II, Bill Wainwright (Bing Crosby) develops a deep relationship with a young boy, Pierre Fernier (Claude Dauphin), who may, or may not, be the son for whom he yearns.
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Seven Thieves 1960 N/R, 100 min. Genre: Drama
Director: Henry Hathaway Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Rod Steiger, Joan Collins, Eli Wallach, Alexander Scourby, Michael Dante, Berry Kroeger, Sebastian Cabot, Marcel Hillaire, John Beradino, Jean Del Val, Bess Flowers, Jonathan Kidd
A discredited professor (Edward G. Robinson) organizes a gang of thieves, plans a robbery, and then attempts it. The target is the bank vault inside a Monte Carlo casino. There is one problem: the criminals realize that there is no way to fence the loot and return it to the casino. Their take after all the work is the $3,000 they win at the gambling tables. Very good performances.
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Wait Until Dark 1967 N/R, 107 min. Genre: Drama / Horror / Thriller
Director: Terence Young Cast: Audrey Hepburn, Richard Crenna, Alan Arkin, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Jack Weston, Samantha Jones, Jean Del Val, Julie Herrod, Mel Ferrer, Robby Benson
Susie Hendrix (Audrey Hepburn) is a blind housewife whose life hinges on her own wits when she is confronted in her apartment by a pathological criminal, Roat (Alan Arkin), who is determined to find drugs. The drugs are hidden in a baby doll that, unbeknownst to Susie, her husband Sam (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) had accepted from a woman on an international flight. Susie does not know where the doll is, and tensions rise as Roat's violent behavior leads to a final confrontation in Susie's kitchen. Hepburn was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar.
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| 1. Background to Danger (1943)
2. Casino Royale (1954)
3. Crime Doctor's Gamble (1947)
4. Destination Nightmare (1968)
5. Drums of the Desert (1940)
6. Fantastic Voyage (1966)
7. The Flying Deuces (1939)
8. Funny Face (1957)
9. The Hitch-Hiker (1953)
10. The Last Time I Saw Paris (1954)
11. Little Boy Lost (1953)
12. Seven Thieves (1960)
13. Wait Until Dark (1967)
In The News
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