Author Archives: rarefilm

Stalingrad (1993) Joseph Vilsmaier, Dominique Horwitz, Thomas Kretschmann, Sebastian Rudolph, Drama, War

Stalingrad (1993)
“Stalingrad” follows the progress of a German Platoon through the brutal fighting of the Battle of Stalingrad. After having half their number wiped out and after being placed under the command of a sadistic Captain, the Lieutenant of the platoon leads his men to desert. The men of the platoon attempt to escape from the city which is now surrounded by the Soviet Army.
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5th Ave Girl (1939) Gregory La Cava, Ginger Rogers, Walter Connolly, Verree Teasdale, Comedy, Romance

5th Avenue Girl (1939)
Troubled with union problems in his business and lonely on his birthday because his wife, Martha, is out with a playboy, millionaire Timothy Borden meets unemployed and hungry Mary Grey in a park and convinces her to help him celebrate at a nightclub. Much to his surprise the following morning, Mary has slept in the guest room for the night. Not unmindful that Martha’s interest in Timothy seems renewed, he hires Mary to stay at the house as an employee and they go out on the town virtually every night. Mary meanwhile has a positive effect on other members of the household: daughter Katherine is in love with Michael, the communism-spouting chauffeur, and seeks her advice; and son Tim is forced to take over the neglected business to keep it from running downhill, which Timothy had been trying unsuccessfully to get him to do. Complications arise when Tim falls in love with Mary, but is bothered by the affair he perceives she is having with his father.
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Lancelot du lac / Lancelot of the Lake (1974) Robert Bresson, Luc Simon, Laura Duke Condominas, Humbert Balsan, Drama, History, Romance

Lancelot du lac (1974)
Having failed in their quest for the Holy Grail, the knights of the Round Table return to Camelot, their number reduced to a mere handful. Seeing a rift developing between Lancelot and Mordred, Arthur urges his knights to bury their differences and become friends. However, the king is unaware that Lancelot is having an affair with his queen, Guinevere. Lancelot is torn between his duty to his king and his love for the queen, whilst Mordred is determined to use his infidelity to destroy him.
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La lune dans le caniveau / The Moon in the Gutter (1983) Jean-Jacques Beineix, Gérard Depardieu, Nastassja Kinski, Victoria Abril, Drama

La lune dans le caniveau (1983)
In Marseilles, a woman commits suicide after she is raped in an alley. Nightly, her brother Gerard broods at the scene hoping to catch the rapist. He lives with his lover Bella whom he neglects, an alcoholic brother who lurks about, and his father who’s stayed drunk since the daughter’s death, ignoring work and his own companion. At a seedy bar, Gerard meets a wealthy, nihilistic hedonist and his beautiful sister. Gerard flips for her and thinks she’s his ticket out of the slum. Bella warns him otherwise and also, in jealousy, sets two thugs on him. Then Gerard thinks he’s found his sister’s rapist. These emotional crises force Gerard to choose what’s most important.
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Le château de verre / The Glass Castle (1950) René Clément, Michèle Morgan, Jean Marais, Jean Servais, Drama

Le chateau de verre (1950)
Laurent Bertal is a successful attorney who lives in Berne with his beautiful and adoring wife Evelyne. Theirs appears to be the perfect marriage, but while on holiday in Italy Evelyne falls in love with a young Frenchman, Rémy. While Evelyne is profoundly unsettled by this romantic entanglement, Rémy regards it as a mere distraction and soon heads back to Paris where he lives with his mistress, Marion. One day, Evelyne is overjoyed when she receives an invitation from Rémy to spend a weekend with him in Paris. The morning after their first night together in Rémy’s apartment, Evelyne accidentally breaks a glass ornament in the shape of a castle. The incident proves to be an omen of bad luck.
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I Love You, Alice B. Toklas! (1968) Hy Averback, Peter Sellers, Jo Van Fleet, Leigh Taylor-Young, Comedy, Romance

I Love You, Alice B. Toklas! (1968)
Peter Sellers stars as Harold Fine, a self-described square–a 35-year-old Los Angeles Lawyer who is not looking forward to middle age and his upcoming wedding. His life changes, however, when he falls in love with Nancy, a free-spirited, innocent, and beautiful young hippie. After Harold and his family enjoy some of her “groovy” brownies, he decides to “drop out” with her and become a hippie too. But can he return to his old life when he discovers that the hippie lifestyle is just a little too independent and irresponsible for his tastes?
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Crime in the Streets (1956) Don Siegel, John Cassavetes, Sal Mineo, James Whitmore, Crime, Drama, Film-Noir

Crime in the Streets (1956)
On a city’s mean streets, the boys join gangs at 15. Frankie leads the Hornets: he’s 18, seething, coiled. When a neighbor goes to the cops after seeing one of the Hornets with a zip gun, Frankie vows to kill the old guy, hatching a plan using Lou, who smiles and smokes, and “Baby,” the 15-year-old son of an immigrant shopkeeper. Ben Wagner, the social worker at a neighborhood settlement house, gets wind of the plan and tries to break through to Frankie. Frankie’s brother Richie, who’s about 12, worships and fears Frankie; he also figures out what his brother is up to. Is Frankie doomed to crash and burn at 18?
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