Tag Archives: 1950s

Strangers on a Train (1951) Alfred Hitchcock, Farley Granger, Robert Walker, Ruth Roman, Crime, Film-Noir, Thriller

Strangers on a Train (1951)
In Alfred Hitchcock’s adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s thriller, tennis star Guy Haines (Farley Granger) is enraged by his trampy wife’s refusal to finalize their divorce so he can wed senator’s daughter Anne (Ruth Roman). He strikes up a conversation with a stranger, Bruno Anthony (Robert Walker), and unwittingly sets in motion a deadly chain of events. Psychopathic Bruno kills Guy’s wife, then urges Guy to reciprocate by killing Bruno’s father. Meanwhile, Guy is murder suspect number one.
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So Long at the Fair (1950) Antony Darnborough, Terence Fisher, Jean Simmons, Dirk Bogarde, David Tomlinson, Drama, Film-Noir, Mystery

So Long at the Fair (1950)
Vicky Barton and her brother, Johnny, take a trip to the 1896 Paris Exhibition. They both sleep in seperate rooms in a hotel. When the sister gets up the next morning, she finds her brother and his room had disappeared and no one will even acknowledge that he was ever there. Now Vicky must find out what exactly happened to her brother.
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L’amour d’une femme / The Love of a Woman (1953) Jean Grémillon, Micheline Presle, Massimo Girotti, Gaby Morlay, Drama

L'amour d'une femme (1953)
Marie Prieur, a young doctor, decides to settle down on Ushant, a remote island belonging to Brittany. Little by little she manages to be accepted by the population. One day she meets André Lorenzi, a handsome engineer, and it is love at first sight. Life is wonderful for a while but André wants to marry her only if she remains at home. Despite her strong feelings for André, Marie refuses to give up her vocation and the two lovers part. Marie finds herself alone, with a broken heart.
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Man from Del Rio (1956) Harry Horner, Anthony Quinn, Katy Jurado, Peter Whitney, Romance, Western

Man from Del Rio (1956)
Mexican gunfighter Dave Robles outdraws the town’s outlaw-turned-sheriff and is invited to fill the dead man’s shoes. But a tin star doesn’t bring automatic respectability and Robles is shunned by the town’s leading citizens. His popularity with its less-savory element, particularly saloonkeeper Bannister, wanes dramatically, too, as he starts to take his job seriously. It is his love for a decent, caring woman that keeps Dave in town, but can she convince him to lay down his gun and start a new life?
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The Sleeping City (1950) George Sherman, Richard Conte, Coleen Gray, Richard Taber, Crime, Film-Noir, Drama

The Sleeping City (1950)
At Bellvue Hospital, New York, an intern is shot in the head by an unknown killer. Inspector Gordon of the 9th Precinct finds no obvious leads but senses an undercurrent of mystery at the hospital; enter Detective Fred Rowan, whose medical background enables him to pose as an intern. Through wheels within wheels, Rowan finally penetrates to a secret, dirty racket…and nurse Ann Sebastian, whom he’s been dating, may be mixed up in it.
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King Richard and the Crusaders (1954) David Butler, Rex Harrison, Virginia Mayo, George Sanders, Adventure, History, Romance

King Richard and the Crusaders (1954)
In 1191, King Richard the Lionhearted, along with several other European monarchs, is in the Holy Land intent on retaking Jerusalem from the Saracens. There is much infighting and outright treachery in the European encampment encampment however. Two nobles in particular, Sir Giles Amaury and Conrad of Montferrat, want to eliminate the English king and attempt to have him assassinated. Severely wounded and on his death bed, Richard is brought back to health by a Saracen doctor recruited by one of his loyal knights, Sir Kenneth of the Leopard. The king recovers from his wounds but when he hears that Sir Lawrence wishes to marry Lady Edith Plantagenet, the knight is banished only to be taken in by the very doctor who treated the king and who has an altogether different identity.
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The Cariboo Trail (1950) Edwin L. Marin, Randolph Scott, George ‘Gabby’ Hayes, Bill Williams, Western

The Cariboo Trail (1950)
Jim Redfern dreams of owning his own cattle ranch and along with his partners Mike Evans and Ling heads off on the Cariboo Trail into the interior of British Columbia. There’s a gold rush on and along the way they’re joined by old-timer Grizzly Winters, a prospector who hasn’t had much luck of late. They soon come up against Frank Walsh whose men stampede their cattle. Evans is severely injured forcing Redfern to amputate his left arm. Evans hates him for that and will have nothing to do with him or his dream of the cattle ranch. Walsh owns the local town making it difficult for Redfern to get re-established. Things begin to go his way when he finds gold.
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Beware My Lovely (1952) Harry Horner, Ida Lupino, Robert Ryan, Taylor Holmes, Crime, Drama, Film-Noir

Beware My Lovely (1952)
Helen Gordon hires Howard Wilton as a handyman to do chores around her house. She doesn’t know what she’s let herself in for. Insecure and paranoid, Wilton thinks everyone, including Helen, is against him. He suffers from memory lapses and extreme mood swings. She’s soon a prisoner in her own house after Wilton locks the doors and tears out the telephone. His mood swings from violence to complacency but after Helen gets a message to the police via a telephone repairman, she finds he is still in the house.
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The Prince Who Was a Thief (1951) Rudolph Maté, Tony Curtis, Piper Laurie, Everett Sloane, Adventure

The Prince Who Was a Thief (1951)
In 13th-century Tangiers, regent Mustapha covets the Caliphate’s throne. Baby Prince Hussein is next in line to the throne but he is too young to rule. An envious and ambitious regent, Mustapha hires a paid assassin to kill the infant king, leaving Mustapha free to rule the Caliphate as he pleases. On the night of the planed murder, the paid assassin, master thief Yussef, enters the chambers of the baby Prince ready to strike his deadly blow. However, Yussef is impressed by the child’s innocent gaze and decides to steal the infant Prince. Yussef lies to Mustapha the baby is dead but in fact the baby is safely in Yussef’s home. Yussef raises the baby as his own and teaches the young boy to be one of the best thieves in Tangiers. Nevertheless, having a deposed prince with many powerful enemies for a son could be dangerous.
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The Wild North (1952) Andrew Marton, Stewart Granger, Wendell Corey, Cyd Charisse, Adventure, Romance, Western

The Wild North (1952)
Jules Vincent, a happy-go-lucky, outgoing French Canadian trapper in the wild Northwest, befriends a beautiful Native American girl, and although he makes an enemy of bully Mike Brody, he agrees to travel with him. When Brody tries to kill them, Vincent kills him in self-defense. He is pursued by a by-the-book, idealistic Constable Pedley, who believes in the mounties’ credo “we always get our man.” The country is rugged and fraught with dangers like white water rapids, avalanches, wolf packs and desperadoes. After capturing Vincent, the inexperienced Mountie finds he is in no shape to get back to civilization without Vincent’s help. Pedley is torn between fulfilling his duty and freeing the man who has saved his life.
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The Capture (1950) John Sturges, Lew Ayres, Teresa Wright, Victor Jory, Drama, Film-Noir

The Capture (1950)
Badly injured and hunted by the police, Lin Vanner takes refuge in a priest’s home, and tells him what has happened. When Vanner was working in a Mexican oil field, he captured a man who was suspected of a payroll robbery, but then felt responsible when the man died in police custody. As a result of the incident, Vanner’s fiancée broke off their engagement, and he resigned from his job. He later felt compelled to visit the dead man’s widow, and ended up working on her ranch. But, as he now explains to the priest, the past has quickly caught up with him.
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The Quiet Gun (1957) William F. Claxton, Forrest Tucker, Mara Corday, Jim Davis, Western

The Quiet Gun (1957)
Hired gun Doug Sadler rides into a small Western town and immediately provokes the local sheriff, Carl Brandon, by tormenting a simpleminded local named Sampson. Brandon is further provoked by a visit from city attorney Hardy, who announces that the town council is charging local rancher Ralph Carpenter with violations of morality for living with an Indian girl. Brandon, who is in love with Carpenter’s estranged wife Teresa, realizes that there is something sinister behind both these events, but he is unsuccessful in preventing calamity from erupting. Eventually he must stand against his entire town in order to protect it and the law he represents.
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