Andre Laurence accompanies his college roommate, Tenga, back to Tenga’s Polynesian island home. There, Andre, assumes the native life and, after many trials with the native customs and their suspicions, marries his friend’s sister, Kalua. Their marriage is barren of children. A final blow to Andre comes with the eruption of a volcano and island’s holy man, The Kahuna, decides that the volcano can only be appeased with the sacrifice of Kalua.
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Tag Archives: 1950s
Affair in Trinidad (1952) Vincent Sherman, Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford, Alexander Scourby
When Steve Emery arrives in Trinidad at the urgent request of his brother, he is stunned to find that his brother has not only been murdered, but that his brother’s wife Chris is succumbing to the seduction attempts of the man who quite possibly is the murderer. His feelings are further exacerbated when he discovers that he, too, is becoming strongly attracted to Chris, who is a steamy cabaret singer. She, in turn, is playing off one against the other while betraying the secrets of both men to the police, for whom she is secretly working.
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The Sun Shines Bright (1953) John Ford, Charles Winninger, Arleen Whelan, John Russell
John Ford weaves three “Judge Priest” stories together to form a good- natured exploration of honour and small-town politics in the South around the turn of the century. Judge William Priest is involved variously in revealing the real identity of Lucy Lake, reliving his Civil War memories, preventing the lynching of a youth and contesting the elections with Yankee Horace K. Maydew.
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Female Jungle (1956) Bruno VeSota, Lawrence Tierney, Jayne Mansfield, John Carradine
A blonde actress is murdered across from a bar. An off-duty cop has been getting pleasantly sloshed, but becomes worried about his innocence when he finds out he was seen leaving the establishment with a blonde, but doesn’t remember. As he investigates, he interviews a columnist who was going with the actress, a caricaturist who drew the victim, the caricaturist’s wife who works at the bar, and the caricaturist’s lover, and slowly begins to put the pieces of the deadly puzzle together.
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La sfida / The Challenge (1958) Francesco Rosi, Rosanna Schiaffino, José Suárez, Nino Vingelli
Vito Polara is a young ambitious man from the slums of Naples, who wants to get as much power and money as possible. He decides to quit smuggling cigarettes and tries to take over the local fruit and vegetable distribution, which is considered more profitable. After challenging the rural crime boss of the local Camorra, Vito becomes part of his gang and soon his life changes. He moves to a new luxurious seaside apartment and plans to start a family with the beautiful Assunta. At their wedding party, however, and later on, he’s about to see who the real boss is.
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The Sound of Fury (1950) Cy Endfield, Frank Lovejoy, Kathleen Ryan, Richard Carlson
A family man -desperate for a job- latches onto a friend that encourages him into being a criminal.
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Tous peuvent me tuer / Everybody Wants to Kill Me (1957) Henri Decoin, François Périer, Peter van Eyck, Anouk Aimée
The holdup of the bank is a success. All happened according to plan. Now, Cyril Gad and his four accomplices must secure an alibi. What better place than a prison cell? As a result the five gangsters have themselves arrested on minor charges and start waiting until they are released. Unfortunately three of them die mysteriously, another one is openly murdered. The only man still alive, Tony, is scared.
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Gli innamorati / Wild Love (1955) Mauro Bolognini, Antonella Lualdi, Franco Interlenghi, Sergio Raimondi
The film is about some youths’ love stories: Franco and his hairdresser girlfriend Adriana, Otello another hairdresser who is hopelessly in love with Adriana. The youths usually meet in a restaurant whose owner, Ines, seduces Franco making Adriana very jealous. In turn the girl decides to accept Otello’s courting.
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Thérèse Raquin / The Adultress (1953) Marcel Carné, Simone Signoret, Raf Vallone, Jacques Duby
Therese has a boring life. She married Camille, her cousin, a sickly haberdasher, fully dominated by his mother (who lives with them). She dreams about passion. One day comes a truckdriver, Laurent… and of course they fall in love. But they will be pursued by fate.
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The Man with a Cloak (1951) Fletcher Markle, Joseph Cotten, Barbara Stanwyck, Louis Calhern
In 1848, a young Frenchwoman, Madeline Minot, goes to New York City to see Thevenet, the grandfather of her fiance. Thevenet had been with Napoleon and may be sympathetic to the political aims of his grandson. She finds the old man in very bad spirits, living in a large house with a housekeeper and a butler who are just waiting for him to die (and perhaps helping him along a bit) so they can inherit his fortune. They see Madeline as a threat to their plans. She is aided in her dealings with these strange people by a mysterious man in a cloak.
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