Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 1985 TV, 105 min. Genre: Family / Adventure
Director: Peter H. Hunt Cast: Patrick Day, Samm-Art Williams, Frederic Forrest, Lillian Gish, Barnard Hughes, Richard Kiley, Geraldine Page, Sada Thompson, Butterfly McQueen, Jim Dale, Ann Shropshire, Eugene Oakes, Jason Hankins, Bill Chamness, Hula Duke
This enjoyable remake of the Mark Twain classic is an American Playhouse production. Patrick Day and Samm-Art Williams give fine performances as Huck and the runaway slave Jim. Huck escapes from his brutal, alcoholic father Pap (Frederic Forrest) who had kidnapped him from the Widow Douglas' (Sada Thompson) home. As a means of escape, he joins Jim for the rafting trip down the Mississippi River, and they form a lasting bond. Along the way, they meet con-artists "the King (Barnard Hughes) and the Duke (Jim Dale) and reluctantly are drawn into their schemes.
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The Birth of a Nation 1915 N/R, 159 min. Genre: Drama / Adventure / Western / Romance aka: The Clansman
Director: D.W. Griffith Cast: Lillian Gish, Mae Marsh, Henry B. Walthall, Miriam Cooper, Mary Alden, Ralph Lewis, Donald Crisp, Raoul Walsh, Eugene Pallette, Elmo Lincoln, Robert Harron, John Ford, Joseph Henabery, Howard Gaye, Walter Long
With this epic film, Hollywood reached new heights in the production of extravaganzas. However, it is also an example of how filmmaking can be used as propaganda–in this case, glorifying the Ku Klux Klan. The film begins with lifelong friends the Camerons (Henry B. Walthall, Miriam Cooper, and Mae Marsh) being separated from the Stonemans (Lillian Gish, Ralph Lewis, and Robert Harron) by the Civil War and the Mason Dixon line. When the war ends, Ben Cameron (Walthall) organizes a secret group, the Ku Klux Klan, to "restore" order. Music and battle noises were added for a 1930 reissue.
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Broken Blossoms or The Yellow Man and the Girl 1919 N/R, 90 min. Genre: Drama / Romance aka: Broken Blossoms
Director: D.W. Griffith Cast: Lillian Gish, Richard Barthelmess, Donald Crisp, Arthur Howard, Edward Peil Sr., George Beranger, Norman Selby, Wilbur Higby, Moon Kwan, George Nichols
In this D.W. Griffith silent classic, Lillian Gish plays the undernourished, abused daughter of a brutal prizefighter, Battling Burrows (Donald Crisp). When she passes out in front of a shop owned by a newly arrived Chinaman (Richard Barthelmess), he takes her in and attempts to protect her from her father. He had also loved her from afar before rescuing her. Alas, her father finds out where she is hiding.
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The Cobweb 1955 N/R, 122 min. Genre: Drama
Director: Vincente Minnelli Cast: Richard Widmark, Lauren Bacall, Charles Boyer, Gloria Grahame, Lillian Gish, John Kerr, Susan Strasberg, Oscar Levant, Tommy Rettig, Fay Wray
The cobweb is a mental institution in this film about relationships between various staff members. Susan Strasberg and John Kerr make their screen debuts in this movie.
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The Comedians 1967 N/R, 156 min. Genre: Drama
Director: Peter Glenville Cast: Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, Alec Guinness, Peter Ustinov, James Earl Jones, Lillian Gish, Paul Ford, Roscoe Lee Browne, Raymond St. Jacques, Cicely Tyson
Political violence in Haiti under Papa Doc Duvalier is the undercurrent of this film. The story involves an affair between a hotel owner (Richard Burton) and the wife (Elizabeth Taylor) of a South American diplomat (Peter Ustinov).
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The Commandos Strike at Dawn 1942 N/R, 96 min. Genre: Drama
Director: John Farrow Cast: Paul Muni, Anna Lee, Lillian Gish, Cedric Hardwicke, Ray Collins, Lloyd Bridges, Rosemary DeCamp, Alexander Knox, Elisabeth Fraser, George Macready
When Nazis strike and gain control of his fishing village, Eric Toresen (Paul Muni) works with British forces to form a retaliatory underground movement.
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Duel in the Sun 1946 N/R, 138 min. Genre: Western / Drama
Director: King Vidor Cast: Jennifer Jones, Gregory Peck, Joseph Cotten, Lionel Barrymore, Lillian Gish, Walter Huston, Herbert Marshall, Charles Bickford, Harry Carey, Otto Kruger, Joan Tetzel, Tilly Losch, Butterfly McQueen, Scott McKay, Sidney Blackmer
Half-breed Pearl Chavez (Jennifer Jones) is taken into the home of Laura Belle McCanles (Lillian Gish), her cattle baron husband Senator (Lionel Barrymore), and two sons Jesse (Joseph Cotten) and Lewt (Gregory Peck). Because of her background, Pearl is thought of as hot-blooded, and both Jesse and Lewt vie for her affections. Meanwhile, the two brothers use different means to fight the railroad that is infringing on their land, and Lewt kills one man (Charles Bickford) when he tries to propose to Pearl. By story's end, Pearl decides to take the easy road and takes on the role of the Jezebel she is reputed to be. Produced by David O. Selznik, this epic film captures the romance and dangers of the bygone era when cattle was king.
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Follow Me, Boys! 1966 N/R, 131 min. Genre: Family
Director: Norman Tokar Cast: Fred MacMurray, Vera Miles, Lillian Gish, Charles Ruggles, Elliott Reid, Kurt Russell, Luana Patten, Sean McClory, Steve Franken, Parley Baer
Musician Lemuel Siddons (Fred MacMurray) decides to stop traveling, settle down in a small town, and dedicate himself to a troop of young Boy Scouts. Disney.
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His Double Life 1933 N/R, 63 min. Genre: Comedy / Drama
Director: Arthur Hopkins Cast: Roland Young, Lillian Gish, Lumsden Hare, Montagu Love, Lucy Beaumont, Charles Richman, Oliver Smith, Philip Tonge, Audrey Ridgewell, Regina DeValet
In this film based on Arnold Bennett's play, Roland Young takes the role of shy artist Priam Farrel whose death is mistakenly reported when the body of his valet is identified as that of Farrel. Going along with the error, Farrel attends his own funeral at Westminster Abbey and then meets and marries spinster Alice (Lillian Gish). But, life happily ever after is not an easy goal to obtain.
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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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Miss Susie Slagle's 1945 N/R, 88 min. Genre: Drama
Director: John Berry Cast: Veronica Lake, Sonny Tufts, Joan Caulfield, Ray Collins, Lillian Gish, Billy De Wolfe, Lloyd Bridges, Bill Edwards, Roman Bohnen, Morris Carnovsky
A group of medical students live together in Miss Susie Slagle's boarding house. Set in the early 1900s, this is the story of the drama and humor surrounding the lives of these future doctors and nurses.
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Night of the Hunter 1955 N/R, 93 min. Genre: Drama / Thriller
Director: Charles Laughton Cast: Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Lillian Gish, James Gleason, Evelyn Varden, Peter Graves, Don Beddoe, Billy Chapin, Sally Jane Bruce, Corey Allen, Gloria Castillo, Mary Ellen Clemons, Cheryl Callaway, Paul Bryar, Kathy Garver
This is a skillfully produced story of an evil man, Preacher Harry Powell (Robert Mitchum), on the trail of two children (Billy Chapin and Sally Jane Bruce) whose mother Willa (Shelley Winters) he has married and then murdered. He wants the $10,000 that is hidden in the little girl's doll and is willing to patiently follow their path to the end.
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Orders to Kill 1958 N/R, 93 min. Genre: Drama
Director: Anthony Asquith Cast: Eddie Albert, Paul Massie, Lillian Gish, James Robertson Justice, Irene Worth, Leslie French, John Crawford, Lionel Jeffries, Sam Kydd, Nicholas Phipps
Gene Summers (Paul Massie) is an American spy who is ordered to Paris to track down and kill a suspected French Nazi agent (Eddie Albert).
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Orphans of the Storm 1921 N/R, 150 min. Genre: Drama
Director: D.W. Griffith Cast: Lillian Gish, Dorothy Gish, Joseph Schildkraut, Frank Losee, Katherine Emmet, Morgan Wallace, Lucille La Verne, Sheldon Lewis, Frank Puglia, Creighton Hale, Monte Blue, Sidney Herbert, Lee Kohlmar, Marcia Harris, Leslie King
Set during the French Revolution, this is another of D.W. Griffith's great spectacles. It is the story of two orphans, Henriette and Louise (Lillian and Dorothy Gish), who were raised as sisters. After Dorothy goes blind, the two leave for Paris in an attempt to find someone to cure Dorothy. But they get separated as the war unfolds around them.
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Portrait of Jennie 1948 N/R, 86 min. Genre: Drama
Director: William Dieterle Cast: Jennifer Jones, Joseph Cotten, Ethel Barrymore, Lillian Gish, David Wayne, Cecil Kellaway, Albert Sharpe, Florence Bates, Henry Hull, Clem Bevans
Eban Adams (Joseph Cotten) is an artist whose subject (Jennifer Jones) grows older as he paints her portrait. Is she real, or does she represent someone from the world beyond?
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Sweet Liberty 1986 PG, 107 min. Genre: Comedy
Director: Alan Alda Cast: Alan Alda, Michael Caine, Lillian Gish, Michelle Pfeiffer, Bob Hoskins, Lise Hilboldt, Saul Rubinek, Lois Chiles, Linda Thorson, Diane Agostini, Antony Alda, Leo Burmester, Alvin Alexis
The quiet town of Sayeville is altered one summer when a Hollywood film crew comes to film a historical saga of the Revolutionary War. The author of the source for the filming is a college professor (Alan Alda) who lives in town and is on hand to watch how the movie moguls are ruining his story.
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The Unforgiven 1960 N/R, 125 min. Genre: Western
Director: John Huston Cast: Burt Lancaster, Audrey Hepburn, Charles Bickford, Lillian Gish, Audie Murphy, John Saxon, Albert Salmi, Joseph Wiseman, Doug McClure, Carlos Rivas, June Walker, Kipp Hamilton, Arnold Merritt
In the 1850s, Rachel (Audrey Hepburn), a full-blooded Kiowa, is taken in as an infant by the Zachary family. The Zacharys are a White frontier family, led by matriarch Mattilda (Lillian Gish) and her oldest son Ben (Burt Lancaster) who pass Rachel off as White. Now, in1865, amidst post-Civil War tensions, there are conflicts between the Kiowa and the Texas ranchers, and the Kiowa tribe tries to retrieve Rachel from the Zachary family. Racial prejudice plays a large role in the lessons of this tale.
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Warning Shot 1967 N/R, 100 min. Genre: Mystery
Director: Buzz Kulik Cast: David Janssen, Ed Begley, Keenan Wynn, Sam Wanamaker, Lillian Gish, Stefanie Powers, Eleanor Parker, George Grizzard, George Sanders, Steve Allen, Carroll O'Connor, Joan Collins
Sgt. Tom Valens (David Janssen) strives to clear his name after he is suspected of killing a man during a stakeout when, in actuality, the man first pulled a gun on Valens.
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Way Down East 1920 N/R, 145 min. Genre: Drama / Romance
Director: D.W. Griffith Cast: Lillian Gish, Richard Barthelmess, Lowell Sherman, Burr McIntosh, Creighton Hale, Kate Bruce, Mary Hay, Emily Fitzroy, Porter Strong, George Neville, Edgar Nelson, Norma Shearer, Vivia Ogden, Josephine Bernard, Mrs. Morgan Belmont
Poor country girl Anna Moore (Lillian Gish) leaves her home in Maine and visits Boston where she is tricked into a sham marriage to Lenox Sanderson (Lowell Sherman). After Anna becomes pregnant, Lenox leaves her, she gives birth, and the baby dies. Anna finds shelter at Squire Bartlett's (Burr McIntosh) estate and falls in love with his son David (Richard Barthelmess). When the Squire, who is a religious zealot, learns about Anna's background, he is furious and orders her out of the house and into a fierce snowstorm. David searches for Anna, finds her being swept down the river on an ice floe, saves her life, and asks her to marry him.
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A Wedding 1978 PG, 125 min. Genre: Comedy
Director: Robert Altman Cast: Lillian Gish, Ruth Nelson, Desi Arnaz Jr., Vittorio Gassman, Nina Van Pallandt, Dina Merrill, Carol Burnett, Paul Dooley, Amy Stryker, Mia Farrow
This is a good story about an upper-middle-class wedding in which religion and values are satirized.
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The Wind 1928 N/R, 88 min. Genre: Drama / Western
Director: Victor Sjostrom Cast: Lillian Gish, Lars Hanson, Montagu Love, Dorothy Cumming, Edward Earle, William Orlamond, Carmencita Johnson, Leon Janney, Billy Kent Schaefer
This is one of the last great silent films, and perhaps Lillian Gish's best performance. Letty Mason (Gish) moves to a barren dust bowl town in Texas to stay with relatives. She fights off the wind and sand, as well as husband Lige (Lars Hanson) who disgusts her, and a rapist. The desert storm climax is a classic.
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| 1. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1985)
2. The Birth of a Nation (1915) aka: The Clansman
3. Broken Blossoms or The Yellow Man and the Girl (1919) aka: Broken Blossoms
4. The Cobweb (1955)
5. The Comedians (1967)
6. The Commandos Strike at Dawn (1942)
7. Duel in the Sun (1946)
8. Follow Me, Boys! (1966)
9. The Great Chase (1963)
10. His Double Life (1933)
11. Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages (1916) aka: Intolerance
12. Miss Susie Slagle's (1945)
13. Night of the Hunter (1955)
14. Orders to Kill (1958)
15. Orphans of the Storm (1921)
16. Portrait of Jennie (1948)
17. Sweet Liberty (1986)
18. The Unforgiven (1960)
19. Warning Shot (1967)
20. Way Down East (1920)
21. A Wedding (1978)
22. The Whales of August (1987)
23. The Wind (1928)
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