The Devil-Ship Pirates 1964 N/R, 89 min. Genre: Adventure / Drama / Thriller
Director: Don Sharp Cast: Christopher Lee, Duncan Lamont, Barry Warren, Harry Locke, Andrew Keir, Michael Ripper, Suzan Farmer, Charles Houston, Leonard Fenton, John Cairney, Ernest Clark, Natasha Pyne, Jack Rodney, Philip Latham, Annette Whiteley
Spanish pirate Captain Robeles (Christopher Lee) has been fighting along with the Spanish Armada. After his ship suffers damage, Robeles pulls into a British port in a small village and convinces the residents that Spain won the battle and that Spain now rules them. Robeles proceeds to run the town–until pirate Manuel (Barry Warren) jumps ship and comes to the aid of the townsfolk.
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The Flesh and the Fiends 1959 N/R, 87 min. Genre: Horror / Thriller aka: The Fiendish Ghouls Mania Psycho Killers
Director: John Gilling Cast: Peter Cushing, June Laverick, Donald Pleasence, George Rose, Renee Houston, Dermot Walsh, Billie Whitelaw, John Cairney, Melvyn Hayes, June Powell
Dr. Knox (Peter Cushing) requires cadavers for his research, and the corpse suppliers resort to killing the locals to provide the needed bodies. Things get sticky when the good doctor's girlfriend shows up as a specimen. A good tale, though some gory parts–a few of which have been deleted in the various rereleases.
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Jason and the Argonauts 1963 G, 104 min. Genre: Animation / Family / Adventure / Fantasy aka: Jason and the Golden Fleece
Director: Don Chaffey Cast: Todd Armstrong, Nancy Kovack, Gary Raymond, Laurence Naismith, Niall MacGinnis, Michael Gwynn, Douglas Wilmer, Jack Gwillim, Honor Blackman, John Cairney, Patrick Troughton, Andrew Faulds, Nigel Green
Master stop-motion animator Ray Harryhausen really makes this a fantasy to watch. Based on Greek mythology, Jason (Todd Armstrong) is heir to the throne of Thessaly, but it is ordained that he must first return the magical Golden Fleece. Thus, under the protection of the goddess Hera, he and his crew set sail, encountering many obstacles along the way–including a seven-headed reptile, a 100-foot tall live statue, and an army of skeletons.
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A Night to Remember 1958 N/R, 122 min. Genre: Action / Drama
Director: Roy Ward Baker Cast: Kenneth More, Laurence Naismith, Michael Goodliffe, Frank Lawton, David McCallum, Jill Dixon, Honor Blackman, Alec McCowen, Ronald Allen, Anthony Bushell, Robert Ayres, John Cairney, Jane Downs, Kenneth Griffith, Ralph Michael
Based on Walter Lord's book, this is an excellent recreation of the sinking of the Titanic in 1912. The account was previously filmed five years earlier as "Titanic." While both films are good, this one is considered better with its attention to details of the disaster, using about 200 actors. Then, there is the 1997 Academy Award winner, which is great but not as historically accurate.
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Victim 1961 N/R, 90 min. Genre: Drama
Director: Basil Dearden Cast: Dirk Bogarde, Sylvia Syms, Dennis Price, Anthony Nicholls, Peter Copley, Norman Bird, Peter McEnery, Donald Churchill, Derren Nesbitt, John Barrie, John Cairney, Alan MacNaughtan
Homosexuality was illegal in England in the 1960s, and this film is one of the first to influence the "opening up" of the discussion on the subject. Melville Farr (Dirk Bogarde) is a married lawyer who had demonstrated homosexual tendencies in the past and had a male lover. Being illegal, such people were often blackmailed, and Melville gets involved with the issue when he takes on the blackmailing in court.
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| 1. The Devil-Ship Pirates (1964)
2. The Flesh and the Fiends (1959) aka: The Fiendish Ghouls aka: Mania aka: Psycho Killers
3. Jason and the Argonauts (1963) aka: Jason and the Golden Fleece
4. A Night to Remember (1958)
5. Victim (1961)
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