Emergency Wedding 1950 N/R, 78 min. Genre: Drama
Director: Edward Buzzell Cast: Larry Parks, Barbara Hale, Willard Parker, Una Merkel, Alan Reed, Eduard Franz, Irving Bacon, Don Beddoe, Jim Backus, Queenie Smith
In this remake of "You Belong to Me," Dr. Helen Hunt (Barbara Hale) is about to divorce her worthless husband–until he turns his life around and becomes a benefactor to humankind.
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The Great Rupert 1950 N/R, 86 min. Genre: Comedy aka: A Christmas Wish
Director: Irving Pichel Cast: Jimmy Durante, Terry Moore, Tom Drake, Frank Orth, Queenie Smith, Chick Chandler, Don Beddoe, Sara Haden, Jimmy Conlin, Hugh Sanders
A pet squirrel uncovers lost money, which–at first–appears to solve all the problems for a troupe of struggling acrobats.
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The Killers 1946 N/R, 105 min. Genre: Drama / Romance aka: Ernest Hemingway's The Killers
Director: Robert Siodmak Cast: Burt Lancaster, Ava Gardner, Edmond O'Brien, Albert Dekker, Sam Levene, William Conrad, Virginia Christine, John Miljan, Donald MacBride, Vince Barnett, Charles McGraw, Charles D. Brown, Jack Lambert, Queenie Smith, Jeff Corey
Ernest Hemmingway's story is the springboard for this tale about killers (Charles McGraw and William Conrad) who murder an aging prizefighter Ole "Swede" Anderson (Burt Lancaster). Insurance investigator Jim Rearden (Edmond O'Brien) looks for "Swede's" beneficiary, and, in a series of flashbacks, he connects "Swede" to an unsolved robbery. It was "Swede" and his ex-girlfriend Kitty Collins (Ava Gardner) who conspired to take the goods, double-cross crime boss Big Jim Colfax (Albert Dekker), and then take off on their own. And, no, they do not live happily ever after.
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The Legend of Lylah Clare 1968 N/R, 130 min. Genre: Drama
Director: Robert Aldrich Cast: Kim Novak, Peter Finch, Ernest Borgnine, Milton Selzer, Ellen Corby, Michael Fox, Queenie Smith, Sidney Skolsky, Lee Meriwether, Valentina Cortese
Lewis Zarkan (Peter Finch) is a Hollywood director obsessed with his deceased wife, Lylah Clare (Kim Novak). He hires Elsa Brinkman (Kim Novak) to play his wife in a film biography, and Elsa becomes more and more like Lylah during the filming.
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The Long Night 1947 N/R, 97 min. Genre: Drama
Director: Anatole Litvak Cast: Henry Fonda, Barbara Bel Geddes, Vincent Price, Ann Dvorak, Elisha Cook Jr., Moroni Olsen, Will Wright, Queenie Smith, Mary Gordon, Byron Foulger
When Maximilian, a magician (Vincent Price), causes Joe's girlfriend (Barbara Bel Geddes) to leave him, Joe (Henry Fonda) kills Maximilian. Told in flashback, the girlfriend tries to talk Joe into surrendering to the police.
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Mississippi 1935 N/R, 75 min. Genre: Musical
Director: A. Edward Sutherland Cast: Bing Crosby, W.C. Fields, Joan Bennett, Queenie Smith, Gail Patrick, Claude Gillingwater, John Miljan, Edward Pawley, Fred Kohler, Dennis O'Keefe
With a Rogers and Hart score to back him, Bing Crosby shines as Tom Grayson who is rejected by his Philadelphia family and becomes a singer with the troupe on a Mississippi riverboat under the command of Commodore Jackson (W.C. Fields). This story was based on Booth Tarkington's "Magnolia."
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My Sister Eileen 1955 N/R, 106 min. Genre: Musical / Comedy / Romance
Director: Richard Quine Cast: Janet Leigh, Betty Garrett, Jack Lemmon, Bob Fosse, Kurt Kasznar, Dick York, Lucy Marlow, Barbara Brown, Horace McMahon, Queenie Smith, Tommy Rall, Henry Slate, Hal March, Kathryn Grant, William Newell
This musical remake of the 1940s' play and film involves two sisters–Eileen (Janet Leigh) and Ruth (Betty Garrett)–who move from Ohio to New York City where they move into a basement apartment. Ruth aspires to be a writer, but her work is turned down by magazine publisher Bob Baker (Jack Lemmon) until he convinces her to move away from fiction and write about her "true" life. Eileen Aspires to be an actress, and now Ruth pretends to be Eileen in her writings, which involve Eileen's misadventures with strange men. It works, and both find fame, fortune, and love. Highlight: Jack Lemmon and Betty Garrett perform "It's Bigger than You and Me." Screenplay by Blake Edwards.
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On Your Toes 1939 N/R, 93 min. Genre: Musical
Director: Ray Enright Cast: Vera Zorina, Eddie Albert, Alan Hale, Frank McHugh, James Gleason, Donald O'Connor, Leonid Kinskey, Queenie Smith, Berton Churchill, Irving Bacon
Although this film is loosely based on the Rogers and Hart musical, not much of the original Broadway show remains. Phil Dolan Jr. (Eddie Albert) is a composer who endures a long romance with ballerina Vera (Vera Zorina).
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Show Boat 1936 N/R, 113 min. Genre: Comedy / Musical / Drama / Romance
Director: James Whale Cast: Irene Dunne, Helen Morgan, Allan Jones, Paul Robeson, Charles Winninger, Hattie McDaniel, Helen Westley, Donald Cook, Sammy White, J. Farrell MacDonald, Queenie Smith, Francis X. Mahoney, Marilyn Knowlden, Arthur Holh, Charles Middleton
This is the film that first brought Jerome Kern's Broadway musical to the screen. Cap'n Andy Hawk's (Charles Winninger) show boat troupe features married actors Julie and Steve (Helen Morgan and Donald Cook), but when it is revealed that Julie is a mulatto, she is fired, and Steve leaves with her. Cap'n Andy's daughter Magnolia (Irene Dunn) takes over the leading role and is joined by gambler Gaylord Ravenal (Allan Jones) as her leading man. Later, Magnolia and Gaylord leave the show boat dreaming of a perfect life together, but problems lie ahead. Paul Robeson's poignant rendition of "Old Man River" is the highlight of this very good version.
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| 1. Emergency Wedding (1950)
2. The Great Rupert (1950) aka: A Christmas Wish
3. The Killers (1946) aka: Ernest Hemingway's The Killers
4. The Legend of Lylah Clare (1968)
5. The Long Night (1947)
6. Mississippi (1935)
7. My Sister Eileen (1955)
8. On Your Toes (1939)
9. Show Boat (1936)
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