
In this slick updating of Dashiell Hammet’s crime novel, political boss Paul Madvig (Brian Donlevy) falls for reform politician Ralph Henry’s attractive daughter Janet (Veronica Lake), despite the caution of his best friend, Ed Beaumont (Alan Ladd). Paul’s efforts to disassociate himself from the criminal underworld backfire, however, when he is accused of murdering Janet’s disreputable brother, and a casino owner Paul had offended sends his sadistic thugs after Ed in revenge.
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Author Archives: rarefilm
Jocks (1986) Steve Carver, Scott Strader, Perry Lang, Mariska Hargitay, Comedy, Sport

The coach of a college tennis team is given an ultimatum: put together a winning team, or else.
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Inugami (2001) Masato Harada, Yûki Amami, Atsuro Watabe, Eugene Harada, Thriller, Fantasy, Drama

Akira, a teacher from Tokyo, has just arrived in a small rural town to begin his new job. Soon after arriving, he meets, and begins to fall for, Miki, a papermaker and part of a large and unusual family. When he learns of an ancient legend that the family carries the curse of the Inugami, or Dog God, he brushes it off as silly superstition. After a series of mysterious deaths, however, the townspeople begin to grow restless, and Akira must confront the truth about Miki and her family.
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Kwaidan (1964) Masaki Kobayashi, Rentarô Mikuni, Michiyo Aratama, Misako Watanabe, Art-house, Fantasy, Horror

After more than a decade of sober political dramas and socially minded period pieces, the great Japanese director Masaki Kobayashi shifted gears dramatically for this rapturously stylized quartet of ghost stories. Featuring colorfully surreal sets and luminous cinematography, these haunting tales of demonic comeuppance and spiritual trials, adapted from writer Lafcadio Hearn’s collections of Japanese folklore, are existentially frightening and meticulously crafted.
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Nu Guo – In the Name of the Mother (2014) Documentary

In China, in the foothills of the Himalayas, a non-violent egalitarian society has for millennia offered proof that a harmonious and peaceful life is still possible. On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the United Nations the Mosuo were recognized as a “model society”. On what basis does this community of about 50,000 people function? Above all, for how much longer can it resist the pressures of a market economy engendered by strategically organized mass tourism? In a landscape of outstanding beauty, encounters and testimonies draw us closer to the traditional values cherished by this ethnic group confronted by a crucial challenge: how to safeguard the essence of its identity from destruction and not succumb, as have so many other societies, to the impact of unconstrained globalization.
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Woman In Lust (1993) Drama, Crime, Sexploitation, Erotic

Anna for her boyfriend Steven, when at the expense of the dancers, and the earned money is given to Steven to do business, hope one day to live a normal life, but the original love Stephen is a liar…
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Trois vies et une seule mort / Three Lives and Only One Death (1996) Raoul Ruiz, Marcello Mastroianni, Anna Galiena, Marisa Paredes, Comedy, Crime

Take a walk into the weird world of filmmaker Raul Ruiz as he takes us to Paris for a twisted ride. A man which shares four names and four personalities (which is the real one?) is the link between four different, yet similar, stories involving love, lust, crime, and time.
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The World of Suzie Wong (1960) Richard Quine, William Holden, Nancy Kwan, Sylvia Syms, Drama, Romance

Robert Lomax, tired of working in an office, wants to be an artist. So he moves to Hong Kong to try his hand at painting. Finding a cheap hotel, he checks in, only to find it’s used by prostitutes and their “dates” they meet in the bar downstairs. Since he never picks up any of the ladies, they all want to know more about him. Eventually, he does hire one to model for him… and soon falls in love. However, since he’s on a limited budget, he can’t afford her exclusively, but doesn’t want to “share” her with anyone else.
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The Unfaithful (1947) Vincent Sherman, Ann Sheridan, Lew Ayres, Zachary Scott, Crime, Drama, Film-Noir

Chris Hunter kills an intruder and tells her husband and lawyer it was an act of self-defense. It’s later revealed that he was actually her lover and she had posed for an incriminating statue he created.
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Brahman Naman (2016) Qaushiq Mukherjee, Shashank Arora, Tanmay Dhanania, Chaitanya Varad, Comedy

Being a teenage virgin in Bangalore, India, during the 1980s was not for the faint-hearted. If you were a quiz nerd on top of that, forget about it. Naman, a young quizard who is determined not to sleep alone, leads his hopelessly nerdy high school friends on a trip to Calcutta with their eyes on a major college quiz prize. Young, smart, and full of heart, the trio are determined to win, but they’re just as determined to lose their virginity in the process.
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