Brimstone and Treacle is a modern gothic tale about the evil that men do and the price that must be paid to make things right. Read More »
Author Archives: rarefilm
The Bandit Trail (1941) Edward Killy, Tim Holt, Ray Whitley, Janet Waldo, Action, Adventure, Comedy, Music, Romance, Western
Rancher Tom Haggerty is killed trying to stop a gun battle between his hot-headed brother Red and the sheriff, who is trying to repossess Haggerty’s ranch for defaulting on a bank loan. Read More »
Goldsnake – Anonima Killers (1966) Ferdinando Baldi, Stelio Candelli, Annabella Incontrera, Juan Cortés, Action, Crime
When the US government finds out that a Chinese scientist, Chang, has discovered a means of creating astonishingly small atomic weapons, they are concerned. Read More »
Memories and Confessions (1993) Manoel de Oliveira, Maria Isabel de Oliveira, Diogo Dória, Documentary, Biography, History
A docu-drama that follows Manoel de Oliveira’s life during the times of dictatorship in Portugal. Read More »
Carnival Story (1954) Kurt Neumann, Anne Baxter, Steve Cochran, Lyle Bettger, Drama
In search of better business, a big American carnival opens in Munich, Germany. Joe the barker befriends attractive pickpocket Willie, finds her a job, and beds her. Read More »
Benilde or the Virgin Mother (1975) Manoel de Oliveira, Maria Amélia Matta, Jorge Rolla, Varela Silva, Drama
A young girl, Benilde, so protected by her religious family that she seemingly knows nothing about procreation, insists that her mysterious pregnancy is a miracle Read More »
Halfway to Shanghai (1942) John Rawlins, Kent Taylor, Irene Hervey, Henry Stephenson, Adventure, Mystery
The film itself concerns a train hurtling through the night toward Rangoon (which must be half-way to Shanghai from some point) Read More »
Island in the Sun (1957) Robert Rossen, James Mason, Joan Fontaine, Dorothy Dandridge, Drama, Romance
Set on a fictitious island in the Carribean during colonial British rule, it focuses on the life of a young charismatic and handsome black male with political aspirations. Read More »
New Faces of 1937 (1937) Leigh Jason, Joe Penner, Milton Berle, Harry Parke, Comedy, Musical, Romance
A crooked producer tries to link his backers by producing a flop and disapearing with the money. Read More »
Garbo Talks (1984) Sidney Lumet, Anne Bancroft, Ron Silver, Carrie Fisher, Comedy, Drama
Estelle is a one-person protest army: she goes to jail over grocery prices, shames construction workers for catcalls to passing women, and won’t cross a picket line for her son’s wedding. Read More »
One, Two, Three (1961) Billy Wilder, James Cagney, Horst Buchholz, Pamela Tiffin, Comedy
Berlin is the epitome of political and economic polarization. A microcosm of that polarization is the life of American C.R. MacNamara, known as Mac to his friends. Read More »
Joyless Street (1925) Georg Wilhelm Pabst, Asta Nielsen, Greta Garbo, Ágnes Eszterházy, Drama
Vienna in the biggest depression, directly after WW1. In a slum, Lila Leid, the wife of lawyer Leid is murdered, Egon, secretary of one of Leid’s clients is arrested. Read More »
The Story of Alexander Graham Bell (1939) Irving Cummings, Don Ameche, Loretta Young, Henry Fonda, Biography, Drama, History
Alexander Graham Bell falls in love with deaf girl Mabel Hubbard while teaching the deaf and trying to invent means for telegraphing the human voice. Read More »
The Show-Off (1926) Malcolm St. Clair, Ford Sterling, Claire McDowell, Charles Goodrich, Comedy, Drama
A blowhard who poses as a railroad executive (but is really just a $30-a-week clerk) catches a young bride and then drives her family’s finances to the brink of ruin. Read More »
Roma l’altra faccia della violenza / Rome: The Other Side of Violence (1976) Marino Girolami, Marcel Bozzuffi, Anthony Steffen, Ennio Girolami, Action, Crime
The story concerns a special undercover squad attached to the Rome police force and commanded by Inspector Betti. Read More »