Tag Archives: 1940s

You Were Meant for Me (1948) Lloyd Bacon, Jeanne Crain, Dan Dailey, Oscar Levant, Musical

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This musical romance is set during the Great Depression and centers upon the rocky marriage between a flapper script girl and her band-leader spouse. Prior to the big stock market crash, they spend much of their time touring. She tires of it and returns to her country home. Unable to find new bookings, he soon joins her and brings with him his acerbic, cynical manager. The bandleader finds the pastoral life a crashing bore and so heads for the big city to find fortune. Fortunately, by the story’s end, he succeeds and happiness is the result. Songs include: “Crazy Rhythm,” “You Were Meant for Me,” “Goodnight Sweetheart” “Sweet Georgia Brown” and “What Can I Say After I Say I’m Sorry.”
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The Fallen Idol (1948) Carol Reed, Ralph Richardson, Michèle Morgan, Sonia Dresdel, Drama, Film-Noir, Mystery, Thriller

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Philippe, a diplomat’s son and good friend of Baines the butler, is confused by the complexities and evasions of adult life. He tries to keep secrets but ends up telling them. He lies to protect his friends, even though he knows he should tell the truth. He resolves not to listen to adults’ stories any more when Baines is suspected of murdering his wife and no-one will listen to Philippe’s vital information.
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Dark Passage (1947) Delmer Daves, Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Bruce Bennett, Film-Noir, Thriller

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Bogart plays a man convicted of murdering his wife who escapes from prison in order to prove his innocence. Bogart finds that his features are too well known, and is forced to seek some illicit backroom plastic surgery. The entire pre-knife part of the film is shot from a Bogart’s-eye-view, with us seeing the fugitive for the first time as he starts to recuperate from the operation in the apartment of a sympathetic young artist (played by Bacall) for whom he soon finds affection. But what he’s really after is revenge.
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Adam’s Rib (1949) George Cukor, Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Judy Holliday, Comedy, Drama, Romance

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When a woman attempts to kill her uncaring husband, prosecutor Adam Bonner gets the case. Unfortunately for him his wife Amanda (who happens to be a lawyer too) decides to defend the woman in court. Amanda uses everything she can to win the case and Adam gets mad about it. As a result, their perfect marriage is disturbed by everyday quarrels…
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Sinbad, the Sailor (1947) Richard Wallace, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Maureen O’Hara, Walter Slezak, Adventure, Fantasy, Romance

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Sinbad is a story teller who weaves great adventures about – himself. Whether they are true or not, no one knows. For this is the story of the eight adventures of Sinbad – as told by Sinbad. A ship saved by Sinbad and Sabu. A treasure map to the treasure of Alexander the Great, which mysteriously disappears from the ship. The beautiful Shireen – the woman who has stolen the heart of Sinbad. The evil Amir who wants the treasure for himself to own the world. The deadly Melik, who will stop at nothing and kill anyone to have the treasure. A perilous voyage to a mysterious island where the treasure is said to be held.
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Christmas Eve (1947) Edwin L. Marin, George Raft, George Brent, Randolph Scott, Comedy, Drama

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The greedy nephew of eccentric Matilda Reid seeks to have her judged incompetent so he can administer her wealth; but she will be saved if her three long-lost adopted sons appear for a Christmas Eve reunion. Separate stories reveal Michael as a bankrupt playboy loved by loyal Ann; Mario as a seemingly shady character tangling with a Nazi war criminal in South America; Jonathan as a hard-drinking rodeo rider intent on a flirtatious social worker. Is there hope for Matilda?
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Ziegfeld Girl (1941) Robert Z. Leonard, Busby Berkeley, James Stewart, Judy Garland, Hedy Lamarr, Drama, Musical, Romance

Ziegfeld Girl (1941)
Discovery by Flo Ziegfeld changes a girl’s life but not necessarily for the better, as three beautiful women find out when they join the spectacle on Broadway: Susan, the singer who must leave behind her ageing vaudevillian father; vulnerable Sheila, the working girl pursued both by a millionaire and by her loyal boyfriend from Flatbush; and the mysterious European beauty Sandra, whose concert violinist husband cannot endure the thought of their escaping from poverty by promenading her glamor in skimpy costumes.
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Seven Miles from Alcatraz (1942) Edward Dmytryk, James Craig, Bonita Granville, Frank Jenks, Action, Drama

Seven Miles from Alcatraz (1942)
After Pearl Harbor, convicts at Alcatraz prison live in fear of bomb attacks, driving Champ Larkin and his pal Jimbo to a desperate escape attempt which lands them on a tiny lighthouse island, where they take over. The five inhabitants are stymied in their efforts to summon aid. But the island also figures in the schemes of a big Nazi spy ring; which will win out, the gangsters’ greed or their patriotism?
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