Tag Archives: 1950s

Force of Arms (1951) Michael Curtiz, William Holden, Nancy Olson, Frank Lovejoy, Romance, War, Drama

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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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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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The Man Who Never Was (1956) Ronald Neame, Clifton Webb, Gloria Grahame, Robert Flemyng, War, Drama

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British Intelligence during World War II is trying to get the German High Command to shift its forces away from Italy prior to the invasion. To create the illusion that England is in fact planning to invade Greece, they plan to procure a dead body, plant secret papers on it, and arrange for the Spanish authorities to find it and send the papers on to the Germans. That’s the plan, anyway. First they have to find a body that will look drowned, then create an identity for it that will pass German scrutiny. Based on a true story.
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Leur dernière nuit (1953) Georges Lacombe, Jean Gabin, Madeleine Robinson, Michel Barbey, Drama

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Pierre Ruffin (Gabin), directeur d’une bibliothèque publique à Paris, une journée de l’homme estimée, la nuit devient le chef d’une bande de criminels. Cependant, pour Madeleine Marsan (Robinson), Pierre est l’homme qui l’a aidée quand elle était en difficulté, l’homme qui a découvert le véritable amour dans le milieu de l’adversité et de la tragédie …
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