Tag Archives: 1950s

A Night to Remember (1958) Roy Ward Baker, Kenneth More, Ronald Allen, Robert Ayres, Action, Drama, History

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On April 14, 1912, just before midnight, the “unsinkable” Titanic struck an iceberg. In less than three hours, it had plunged to the bottom of the sea, taking with it more than 1,500 of its 2,200 passengers. In his unforgettable render­ing of Walter Lord’s book of the same name, the acclaimed British director Roy Ward Baker depicts with sensitivity, awe, and a fine sense of tragedy the ship’s last hours. Featuring remarkably restrained performances, A Night to Remember is cinema’s subtlest and best dramatization of this monumental twentieth-century catastrophe.
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Yellowneck (1955) R. John Hugh, Lin McCarthy, Stephen Courtleigh, Berry Kroeger, Adventure, Drama, War

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A disgraced Confederate Colonel who has deserted his command flees to the Everglades where he encounters a disparate group of four other Southern deserters. Togethher they struggle to find their way out of the swamp and resolve their own personal demons under the eyes of hostile Seminoles as they battle to survive the elements and each other.
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La pattuglia sperduta (1954) Piero Nelli, Annibale Biglione, Óscar Navarro, Filippo Posca, Drama, War

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Nel marzo 1849, Carlo Alberto è in procinto di riprendere la guerra contro gli Austriaci. Da tutta Italia arrivano in Piemonte volontari decisi a combattere per l’indipendenza dall’Austria. La mattina del 20 marzo una pattuglia rimane tagliata fuori in territorio nemico, mentre sta per avere inizio la battaglia di Novara: una pericolosa avventura che dura tre giorni.
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Un condamné à mort s’est échappé ou Le vent souffle où il veut / A Man Escaped (1956) Robert Bresson, François Leterrier, Charles Le Clainche, Maurice Beerblock, Drama, Thriller, War

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A Man Escaped opens with the indelible image of a pair of restless hands belonging to a French resistance officer named Lieutenant Fontaine (Francois Leterrier). His face is inscrutable and impassive, concealing his calculated attempt to flee from the escorted prison transport vehicle. He reaches for the door handle, retreats, then reaches again. At a momentary distraction of a crossing railcar, he seizes the opportunity, but is immediately recaptured, and is severely beaten by the German guards for the attempt. Imprisoned and condemned to die, Fontaine finds the courage and determination to escape his certain fate.
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Ukikusa / Floating Weeds (1959) Yasujirô Ozu, Ganjirô Nakamura, Machiko Kyô, Haruko Sugimura, Drama

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A troupe of travelling players arrive at a small seaport in the south of Japan. Komajuro Arashi, the aging master of the troupe, goes to visit his old flame Oyoshi and their son Kiyoshi, even though Kiyoshi believes Komajuro is his uncle. The leading actress Sumiko is jealous and so, in order to humiliate the master, persuades the younger actress Kayo to seduce Kiyoshi.
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Pickpocket (1959) Robert Bresson, Martin LaSalle, Marika Green, Jean Pélégri, Crime, Drama

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Michel takes up picking pockets as a hobby, and is arrested almost immediately, giving him the chance to reflect on the morality of crime. After his release, though, his mother dies, and he rejects the support of friends Jeanne and Jacques in favour of returning to pickpocketing (after taking lessons from an expert), because he realises that it’s the only way he can express himself…
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Copper Canyon (1950) John Farrow, Ray Milland, Hedy Lamarr, Macdonald Carey, Western

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A group of copper miners, Southern veterans, are terrorized by local rebel-haters, led by deputy Lane Travis. The miners ask stage sharpshooter Johnny Carter to help them, under the impression that he is the legendary Colonel Desmond. It seems they’re wrong; but Johnny’s show comes to Coppertown and Johnny romances lovely gambler Lisa Roselle, whom the miners believe is at the center of their troubles.
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