Sister Mary Bonaventure is in charge of the hospital ward of a convent in the county of Norfolk, England. She is troubled by her own sister’s suicide, which she confides to her Mother Superior. A torrential rain closes nearby roads, causing Sergeant Melling of the police to bring condemned murderer Valerie Carns there. She is being taken to prison. Valerie was convicted of poisoning her brother Jason, a pianist. Jason’s physician, Dr. Jeffreys, is head of the hospital where Sister Mary now works. Valerie still proclaims her innocence, but Jeffreys insists that she gave Jason a fatal overdose of his medicine…
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Tag Archives: 1950s
Count the Hours (1953) Don Siegel, Teresa Wright, Macdonald Carey, Dolores Moran, Drama, Crime
The midnight murder of a rancher and his wife leaves circumstantial evidence pointing the finger of guilt toward a married couple, George Braden and his wife Ellen, who live and work on the ranch. George confesses to the killings in order to free his wife from hours of grilling by the police. Despite the best efforts of his defense attorney, Doug Madison , George gets the death penalty. Sunsequent events and his sympathy for Ellen convince Doug that George is innocent but he must find the real murderer to prove it. His man-hunt leads to a former hired hand, Max Verne. With the help of the latter’s greedy girl friend, Gracie Sanger, Max is found and admits to the killings. But when a hearing is held, a psychiatrist pronounces him unsound of mind but harmless and the judge sets him free.
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Qin Xianglian / Ping Opera (1955) Suling Xu, Li Zai Wen, Wei Rong Yuan, Chen Shao Fang, Drama
Qing (i.e. Qin) Xianglian was the wife of a man named Chen Shimei, who won the first title of national examination and awarded as husband of the emperor’s daughter. Then Qing (i. e. Qin) sues Chen as a murderer who plans to kill his wife and son. In spite of the royal power, gownsman Bao Zhen settles the lawsuit and sentences Chen to serve his head.
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The Young Philadelphians (1959) Vincent Sherman, Paul Newman, Barbara Rush, Alexis Smith, Drama
Up and coming, young lawyer Anthony Lawrence faces several ethical and emotional dilemmas as he climbs the Philadelphia social ladder. His personal and professional skills are tested as he tries to balance the needs of his fiance Joan, the expectations of his colleagues and his own obligation to defend his friend Chester on a murder count.
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Magokoro / Sincere Heart (1953) Masaki Kobayashi, Keiko Awaji, Motoji Fujiwara, Chieko Higashiyama, Drama, Romance
A young student falls into a hopeless romantic attraction to an invalid girl whom he can only see from afar.
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The Crimson Kimono (1959) Samuel Fuller, Victoria Shaw, Glenn Corbett, James Shigeta, Crime, Drama, Mystery
Classic, hard-to-find Sam Fuller pic is intriguing noir about two detective partners, one caucasian and one Japanese, who try to solve a complicated murder case. Unfortunately, trouble arises when along the way, both of them fall in love with the key witness!
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Raising a Riot (1955) Wendy Toye, Kenneth More, Shelagh Fraser, Mandy Miller, Comedy
Commander Peter Kent of the Royal Navy and his wife Mary have three children aged from five to eleven. Kent comes home after three years abroad with no idea how to handle the children. When Mary has to fly to Canada, Peter takes his children to his father’s new country home, which turns out to be a windmill. They clash with an American family in the neighbourhood.
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Torch Song (1953) Charles Walters, Joan Crawford, Michael Wilding, Gig Young, Drama, Music, Romance
Jenny Stewart is a tough Broadway musical star who doesn’t take criticism from anyone. Yet there is one individual, Tye Graham, a blind pianist who may be able to break through her tough exterior.
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Tômei ningen to hae otoko / The Invisible Man vs. The Human Fly (1957) Mitsuo Murayama, Ryûji Shinagawa, Yoshirô Kitahara, Junko Kanô, Crime, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
A series of ghastly murders is being committed. The one similarity in each of the murders is that a weird buzzing sound is always heard right before the murder occurs. Is the killer invisible or possibly some other incredible creature?
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The Happy Road (1957) Gene Kelly, Barbara Laage, Michael Redgrave, Comedy
While setting up a business in Paris, American widower Michael Andrews has placed his adolescent son, Danny Andrews, in a Swiss boarding school as Mike has no time during this phase of the business set-up to look after Danny on his own. Mike receives distressing news that Danny has run away from the school with another student, Parisienne Janine Duval. This news does not sit well with either Mike or Janine’s divorcée mother, Suzanne Duval. Suzanne believes Danny is a delinquent influence on her daughter, while Mike believes Janine is an enabler as non-French speaking Danny could not manage outside the school without some language assistance. They learn from another student that Danny is heading to Paris to show Mike that he is independent enough to live in Paris with Mike, while Janine tagged along because she sees herself as Danny’s girl and as she has not seen her mother in some time. As the children have not been gone long and as there is only one road between the school and Paris,…
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