Tag Archives: 1950s

The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952) Henry King, Gregory Peck, Susan Hayward, Ava Gardner, Adventure, Drama, Romance, War

The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952)
As writer Harry Street lays gravely wounded from an African hunting accident he feverishly reflects on what he perceives as his failures at love and writing. Through his delirium he recalls his one true love Cynthia Green who he lost by his obsession for roaming the world in search of stories for his novels. Though she is dead Cynthia continues to haunt Street’s thoughts. In spite of one successful novel after another, Street feels he has compromised his talent to ensure the success of his books, making him a failure in his eyes. His neglected wife Helen tends to his wounds, listens to his ranting, endures his talk of lost loves, and tries to restore in him the will to fight his illness until help arrives. Her devotion to him makes him finally realize that he is not a failure. With his realization of a chance for love and happiness with Helen, he regains his will to live.
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Martin Luther (1953) Irving Pichel, Niall MacGinnis, John Ruddock, Pierre Lefevre, Biography, Drama, History

martin-luther-1953
This biographical account of Martin Luther’s actions that eventually created the Protestant and Lutheran religions was filmed in conjunction with the Lutheran Church. Niall MacGinnis portrays the monk who’s nailing of his list of 95 theses to the church door in Worms created a stir so large that it shook the very foundations of the Catholic Church. This film shows the struggle between Luther and the organized church and how the Catholic Church was not fully explaining things he questioned, which led him to be labeled a heretic.
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The Snow Creature (1954) W. Lee Wilder, Paul Langton, Leslie Denison, Teru Shimada, Horror

the-snow-creature-1954
Botanist Frank Parrish leads an expedition to the Himalayas to seek out new flora, accompanied by hardboiled news photographer Peter Wells. When their lead guide, Subra, learns his wife has been kidnapped by a Yeti, Parrish disbelieves him, so the sherpas commandeer the expedition at gunpoint and turn it into a search-and-rescue party. To Parrish’s surprise, they discover a whole family of Yetis in a cave, and are able to subdue the male and carry it back to civilization, to ship to the USA for study. Subra is forgiven his acts because he was right after all. Wells, meanwhile, phones in the story and Parrish finds his discovery – shipped upright in a meat cooler to maintain its natural environment – detained in the US because Wells’ story refers to it as a snowMAN, and a decision must be made whether this is a customs or immigration matter. During this bureaucratic snafu, the creature escapes its containers and disappears into Los Angeles, mysteriously appearing in different parts of …
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Davy (1958) Michael Relph, Harry Secombe, Ron Randell, George Relph, Comedy, Drama

davy-1958
The Mad Morgans are more than an increasingly popular variety act; they are a family team. But one of them aspires to greater things, and is in a dilemmaas to whether he should go it alone or stick with the group. Despite setbacks and obstacles, Davy finally gets his offer from the top. The entertainment world is his oyster but can the ties of flesh and blood stop him from achieveing his dreams?
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I magliari / The Magliari (1959) Francesco Rosi, Alberto Sordi, Belinda Lee, Renato Salvatori, Drama, Romance

I magliari (1959)
Mario is in Hannover to work as a miner but after loosing his job he decides to go back to Italy. When Totonno steals his passport to avoid the police and later on he offers him a new job as “magliaro” (cloth seller), Mario changes his mind and decides to follow Totonno to Hamburg. In Hamburg, Totonno and his friends have to sell Mayer’s cloth but they meet with the hostility of a Polish gang and Mario falls in love with Paula Mayer.
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Gli sbandati / Abandoned / The Disbanded (1955) Francesco Maselli, Lucia Bosé, Isa Miranda, Jean-Pierre Mocky, Drama

Gli sbandati AKA The Disbanded (1955)
Set during WWII, the film is a drama of the Italian resistance, with all the usual clichéd characters in attendance. The central character, a bombed-out gamine who falls in love with an Italian partisan, is played by Lucia Bose, who earned a great deal of praise for her performance. Most of the film deals with the culture-clash between the citified resistance fighters and their rural hosts.
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Fräulein (1958) Henry Koster, Dana Wynter, Mel Ferrer, Dolores Michaels, Romance, War, Drama

fraulein-1958
In melodramatic fashion, the film tells the tale of a young German woman who finds herself alone in the world when the rest of her family is killed in a WWII air raid. Helping an American military man escape the Gestapo, she finds herself on the run from the Russian Army. Escaping to the American (and safe) side of Berlin, she registers herself as a prostitute (unknowingly) and finds herself caught between the German officer who thinks she is for sale and the American officer who she saved and is now in love with her.
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Force of Arms (1951) Michael Curtiz, William Holden, Nancy Olson, Frank Lovejoy, Romance, War, Drama

force-of-arms-1951
Winter, 1943. The German army has halted the American advance in the mountains of Italy; back-and-forth combat decimates Joe Peterson’s platoon. On leave in Naples, Joe meets WAC lieutenant Eleanor MacKay; initially cool, she begins to melt during a bombing raid. Their romance develops despite Joe’s periodic returns to the front. But whether he’ll come back in the end becomes more than doubtful…
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