
The Louisiana wedding of debutante Phoebe Ann Naylor to Don Andrea de Baldasar, El Duce de la Casala is stopped by the Cavalry over a matter of honor. Don Andrea flees across the river to Texas, where he meets up with Sam Hollis and his Indian sidekick, Kronk, who are carrying rifles to the town of Moccasin Flats. Don Andrea rescues an Indian maiden, Lonetta, tames some longhorns, competes with Sam for Phoebe’s affections, eludes a Comanche war party and the cavalry (who have come to Moccasin Flats to celebrate Texas’ statehood) and ultimately saves the town and gets his girl.
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Author Archives: rarefilm
Veda (2010) Zülfü Livaneli, Serhat Mustafa Kiliç, Dolunay Soysert, Burhan Güven, Biography, Drama, History

Story based on the memoirs of Salih Bozok, which traces the life of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
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Un amore a Roma / Love in Rome (1960) Dino Risi, Mylène Demongeot, Elsa Martinelli, Peter Baldwin, Drama, Romance

Stormy love between young writer of a noble decayed family and a lazy amoral starlet. Between arguments and reconciliations, jealousies and acts of infidelity, the relation between Marcello and the femme fatale-ish heroine, Anna (played by luscious French starlet Mylene Demongeot), seems not to have future. Marcello says he wants to remain free but – deep inside – wants a traditional fiancée and wife while Anna, as an aspirant actress, is of a free and rebellious nature, not very tilted with sentimental attachments. He gradually understands that he could never have her and be her only man.
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Mavro livadi / Black Field (2009) Vardis Marinakis, Sofia Georgovassili, Hristos Passalis, Despina Bebedelli, Drama, Romance

Greece, 1654. A seriously wounded Janissary arrives at a cloister situated on a cliff, and the sisters take him in and care for him. Sister Anthi, one of those who tends him, falls in love with the soldier and eventually helps him escape. The central focus of the film does not come out of its historical context but is derived from the relationship between the two main characters and, above all, from the quest for freedom and identity for young Anthi. The initially silent sister, hiding a surprising secret, discovers heretofore unknown desires that lead her to a radically altered view of herself.
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Tsirk / Circus (1936) Grigori Aleksandrov, Isidor Simkov, Lyubov Orlova, Evgeniya Melnikova, Vladimir Volodin, Comedy, Musical

Circus tells the story of an American named Marion who is banished from the US because a black man impregnates her. Marion escapes to Russia to start a new life in the circus and joins up with lustful, anti-Russian ringmaster who happens to be in love with her. The ringmaster knows her secret about the black baby and threatens to reveal it unless she marries him. The problem is that Marion has fallen in love with a Russian acrobat and later out of sheer jealousy, the ringmaster reveals the identity of the woman’s child in front of the circus audience.
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The Candidate (1972) Michael Ritchie, Robert Redford, Peter Boyle, Melvyn Douglas, Comedy, Drama

Californian lawyer Bill McKay fights for the little man. His charisma and integrity get him noticed by the Democratic Party machine and he is persuaded to run for the Senate against an apparently unassailable incumbent. It’s agreed he can handle it his own way, on his own terms. But once he’s in the race and his prospects begin to improve, the deal starts to change.
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The Hot Rock (1972) Peter Yates, Robert Redford, George Segal, Ron Leibman, Action, Comedy, Crime

Dr. Amusa approaches Dortmunder about a valuable gem in a museum that is of great signifigance to his people in Africa, stolen during colonial times. Dortmunder assembles a crack team of cat burglars and hatches an elaborate plan for stealing the gem. Despite their care and experience, circumstances and plain bad luck keep the gem just out of their reach.
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Partir / Leaving (2009) Catherine Corsini, Kristin Scott Thomas, Sergi López, Yvan Attal, Drama, Romance

Suzanne is a well to do married woman and mother in the south of France. Her idle bourgeois lifestyle gets her down and she decides to go back to work as a physiotherapist. Her husband agrees to fix up a consulting room for her in their backyard. When Suzanne and the man hired to do the building meet, the mutual attraction is sudden and violent. Suzanne decides to give up everything and live this all engulfing passion to the fullest.
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Nacktschnecken / Slugs (2004) Michael Glawogger, Raimund Wallisch, Michael Ostrowski, Pia Hierzegger, Comedy, Drama, Erotic

Three college dropouts trying to make ends meet in Graz, Austria. One day they get the ultimate job offer: to shoot an amateur porn video. It sounds like good money, sexual adventure, and just plain fun. Despite a few initial difficulties, the three friends develop an almost fierce ambition to achieve their goal. But love, embarrassment, and technical difficulties get in the way.
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Soft Beds, Hard Battles (1974) Roy Boulting, Peter Sellers, Lila Kedrova, Curd Jürgens, Comedy

In this comedy, set during the Nazi occupation of France, Peter Sellers plays most major male parts, so he stars in nearly every scene, always bumbling in inspector Clouseau-style. As British Major Robinson he is hidden in Madame Grenier’s Parisian brothel, right under the nose of the Nazi clients, such as Gestapo agent Herr Schroeder (again him). As Général Latour he leads the French resistance, which includes the brothel madam -made a colonel in charge of her sexy ‘troops’- and a priest, and is joined by young US diplomat Alan Cassidy. As Japanese imperial Prince Kyoto he becomes a target for the resistance in a monastery on his way to Hitler (again him). At the end he decorates the heroes as French president.
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