Author Archives: rarefilm

Un singe en hiver (1962) Henri Verneuil, Jean Gabin, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Suzanne Flon, Comedy, Drama

Un singe en hiver (1962)
A young man, Gabriel Fouquet, arrives in a coastal town in Normandy to visit his daughter, who is staying in a boarding school. He ends up lodging in a guesthouse run by the aged Albert Quentin and his wife Suzanne. To forget his troubles, Gabriel hits the bottle, not realising that the teetotal Albert was once a heavy drinker. Twenty years ago, the latter pledged never to touch alcohol again if he and his wife survived the war. Through his friendship with Gabriel, Albert becomes nostalgic about his past, recalling his time as a sailor on an expedition to China. To drown their sorrows, the two men embark on a drinking binge which quickly gets out of hand…
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Brimstone (1949) Joseph Kane, Rod Cameron, Lorna Gray, Walter Brennan, Western

Brimstone (1949)
The age-old enmity between cattle ranchers and settlers once again takes center stage in this slightly above-average Western filmed in Republic Pictures’ Trucolor system. Walter Brennan plays Pop “Brimstone” Courteen, an ornery rancher who avenges the loss of the free range by robbing stagecoaches and banks. The Courteen gang, which also includes Pop’s three sons, Nick (Jim Davis), Luke (Jack Lambert), and the reluctant Bud (James Brown), gets a bit of competition from The Ghost, a mystery outlaw who really is Marshal Johnny Tremaine (Rod Cameron). Tremaine’s undercover investigation leads to McIntyre (Forrest Tucker), the sheriff of Gunsight, who is in the employ of the Courteens. In love with Molly Bannister (Adrian Booth), a settler, Bud turns against his ruthless family, but will Tremaine be able to save the boy from his father’s wrath?
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Puppet on a Chain (1971) Geoffrey Reeve, Sven-Bertil Taube, Barbara Parkins, Alexander Knox, Action, Thriller

Puppet on a Chain (1971)
This detective thriller features one of the most exciting boat chases ever filmed, a scene that has been compared to the car chase in Bullitt. It is also notable for having much scenic footage of the Netherlands and of Amsterdam. In this film, the headquarters of a drug-smuggling cartel is the quarry of American narcotics agent Paul Sherman (Sven-Bartil Taube). Though the cartel’s activities are centered in Amsterdam, Sherman’s search for the headquarters leads to an island castle owned by an offbeat religious group. Sherman and his partner Maggie (Barbara Parkins) run into serious trouble when they try to gain access to the forbidding site. Paul escapes captivity and chases the culprits by boat.
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Requiescant (1967) Carlo Lizzani, Lou Castel, Mark Damon, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Western

Requiescant (1967)
In the post-Civil War West, a young boy is rescued from a massacre by Protestants who instill the value of pacifism in the young boy. But it’s only when he chases after his missing step-sister that he discovers a skill for gunslinging, takes on the name Requiscant, and re-enters the world of violence denied to him as a child. This spaghetti Western also includes a cameo from director Pier Paolo Pasolini as a renegade priest.
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The Front Page (1931) Lewis Milestone, dolphe Menjou, Pat O’Brien, Mary Brian, Comedy

The Front Page (1931)
Hildy Johnson, newspaper reporter, is engaged to Peggy Grant and planning to move to New York for a higher paying advertising job. The court press room is full of lame reporters who invent stories as much as write them. All are waiting to cover the hanging of Earl Williams. When Williams escapes from the inept Sheriff, Hildy seizes the opportunity by using his $260 honeymoon money to payoff an insider and get the scoop on the escape. However, Walter Burns, the Post’s editor, is slow to repay Hildy back, hoping that he will stay on the story. Getting a major scoop looks possible when Hildy stumbles onto the bewildered escapee and hides him in a roll-top desk in the press room. Burns shows up to help. Can they keep Williams’ whereabouts secret long enough to get the scoop, especially with the Sheriff and other reporters hovering around?
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Era notte a Roma / It Was Night in Rome (1960) Roberto Rossellini, Leo Genn, Giovanna Ralli, Sergey Bondarchuk, Drama, War

Era notte a roma (1960)
During WW2, in Rome , a trio of escaped Allied POWs find themselves in limbo as they try to avoid re-capture and reach their dispersed units. Michael Pemberton is a British Major, Fyodor Aleksandrovic Nazukov is a Soviet Sergeant and Peter Bradley is an American Lieutenant. A beautiful young Italian woman, Esperia Belli, agrees to give them shelter. She knows that despite Italy’s efforts to break with Nazi Germany and join the Allies there are some Italians who are Fascist sympathizers and would gladly denounce Esperia to the German authorities. Hiding enemy soldiers or escaped POWs is punishable by death. Esperia hopes to get in contact with the Italian anti-Fascist resistance which could help the three escaped Allied POWs rejoin their respective armies. Until then, the fugitives are stuck in Esperia’s attic.
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