Tag Archives: 1940s

Our Vines Have Tender Grapes (1945) Roy Rowland, Edward G. Robinson, Margaret O’Brien, James Craig, Drama, Family

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Life in small town Wisconsin. Selma and Arnold, aged 7 and 5, pal around together between their two farms. Selma has a newborn calf that her father gave to her which she named ‘Elizabeth’. Nels is the editor of the Fuller Junction Spectator and the kids just call him ‘editor’. Viola is the new school teacher from the big city. While Nels wants to marry Viola, Viola does not want to live in a small quiet, nothing happening town. The biggest news is that Faraassen has built a new barn.
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Whistle Stop (1946) Léonide Moguy, George Raft, Ava Gardner, Victor McLaglen, Crime, Drama, Film-Noir

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Beautiful Mary returns to her small hometown after many years from Chicago wearing a mink coat and carrying an expensive cigarette case. Her arrival causes long standing enmities to surface between two of her old boyfriends, Kenny Veech, a loafing gambler, and debonair Lew Lentz, owner of a local nightclub. Their deep-seated animosity repeatedly results in antagonism and fights as they compete for Mary’s affections. Kenny’s friend Gitlo, a bartender in Lentz’ club, enlists Kenny in an aborted plan to rob Lentz of $15,000 in profits from sponsoring a local carnival. Lentz retaliates by framing both men for murder.
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Too Many Husbands (1940) Wesley Ruggles, Jean Arthur, Fred MacMurray, Melvyn Douglas, Comedy, Romance

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It’s been a year since Bill Cardew was declared dead by drowning, and his widow Vicky is now married to his old friend and business partner, Henry Lowndes. When Bill unexpectedly returns from the island where he was marooned, what is Vicky to do? Well, having twice been a rather neglected wife, Vicky finds all the attention from two husbands competing for her favors delightful, and is in no hurry to make a decision…much to the discomfiture of hapless Bill and Henry.
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Command Decision (1948) Sam Wood, Clark Gable, Walter Pidgeon, Van Johnson, War, Drama

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General Dennis of the US Force in England in World War II finds that he must order his planes deeper and deeper into Germany to prevent the production of military jet planes that will turn the tide of battle to the Germans. He must fight congressmen, and his own chain of command to win the political battle before he can send his planes out. His problem is complicated by a very narrow window of good weather necessary to allow his effort to be successful. Adapted from a stage play, it attempts to look at the challenges of command in the political arena.
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Stairway to Heaven (1946) Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger, David Niven, Kim Hunter, Robert Coote, Drama, Fantasy, Comedy

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Returning to England from a bombing run in May 1945, flyer Peter Carter’s plane is damaged and his parachute ripped to shreds. He has his crew bail out safely, but figures it is curtains for himself. He gets on the radio, and talks to June, a young American woman working for the USAAF, and they are quite moved by each other’s voices. Then he jumps, preferring this to burning up with his plane. He wakes up in the surf. It was his time to die, but there was a mixup in heaven. They couldn’t find him in all that fog. By the time his “Conductor” catches up with him 20 hours later, Peter and June have met and fallen in love. This changes everything, and since it happened through no fault of his own, Peter figures that heaven owes him a second chance. Heaven agrees to a trial to decide his fate.
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The Thin Man Goes Home (1945) Richard Thorpe, William Powell, Myrna Loy, Lucile Watson, Comedy, Crime, Mystery

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Nick and Nora head to Nick’s hometown of Sycamore Springs to spend some time with his parents. His father, a prominent local physician, was always a bit disappointed with Nick’s choice of profession in particular and his lifestyle in general. With Nick’s arrival however the towns folk, including several of the local criminal element, are convinced that he must be there on a case despite his protestations that he’s just there for rest and relaxation. When someone is shot dead on his doorstep however, Nick finds himself working on a case whether he wants to or not.
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