
Jaded movie star Vanessa Windsor, saved from a studio accident by handsome extra Chris Farley, pursues him, and soon he’s the ‘caretaker’ of her beach house. Vanessa’s sexy, alcoholic adult daughter Penny accidentally meets Chris, who rescues her from an ‘octopus’ boyfriend. Before you know it, Chris is involved with both mother and daughter, and his only way out is to take a job in a Mexican picture about man-eating orchids…
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Tag Archives: 1950s
Pecos River (1951) Fred F. Sears, Charles Starrett, Jock Mahoney, Anne James, Western

Steve is a Government Agent looking for the gang that stole the U.S. Mail. When Old Henry kills an outlaw trying to rob the stage, the outlaws gun down Henry at his home. His son Jack, just back from the East, is taught to shoot by the Durango Kid. Steve appears to join the gang in order to catch them.
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Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956) Ishirô Honda, Raymond Burr, Takashi Shimura, Momoko Kôchi, Action, Horror, Sci-Fi

When American reporter Steve Martin investigates a series of mysterious disasters off the coast of Japan, he comes face to face with an ancient creature so powerful and so terrifying, it can reduce Tokyo to a smoldering graveyard. Nuclear weapon testing resurrected this relic from the Jurassic age, and now it’s rampaging across Japan. At night, Godzilla wades through Tokyo leaving death and destruction in his wake, disappearing into Tokyo Bay when his rage subsides. Coventional weapons are useless against him; but renowned scientist Dr. Serizawa has discovered a weapon that could destroy all life in the bay – including Godzilla. But which disaster is worse, Godzilla’s fury, or the death of Tokyo Bay?
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Many Rivers to Cross (1955) Roy Rowland, Robert Taylor, Eleanor Parker, Victor McLaglen, Comedy, Romance, Western

During 1798,Bushrod Gentry is a Kentucky trapper who travels from place to place,sometimes staying with settler families for a night or two before moving on.Being a handsome man he often breaks the hearts of the unmarried young daughters of his hosts and it always leads to proposals of marriage from the girls’ part.This causes Bushrod to quickly pack his gear, give the smitten girl his standard speech about why he cannot marry or settle down and depart in a hurry, leaving the girl in tears.But one day,after being saved from an Indian attack by young Scotish woman, Mary Stuart Cherne, he takes shelter with her family until his broken arm can heal.Invariably,the girl falls for his charm and asks him to marry her.Bushrod gives her his standard speech and thinks he’s off the hook but stubborn Mary Stuart is not so easily dissuaded.This leads to lies, insinuations, evasive actions, hilarity, fist fights with her brothers, a shooting contest, broken promises and a shotgun wedding.
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The Silent World / Le monde du silence (1956) Jacques-Yves Cousteau, Louis Malle, Frédéric Dumas, Albert Falco, Documentary

Witness the birth of a new kind of documentary, as legendary diver, conservationist and filmmaker Jacques Cousteau takes you deep beneath the waves to explore a wealth of life that was previously hidden from view. As much of the technology for shooting film underwater was developed by Cousteau’s team, this was the first time such amazing sights could be captured on film. The result, a Technicolor 1950s masterpiece, succeeds both in revealing an untouched world of beauty, life and drama, as well as evoking a sense of adventure, freedom and boundless possibility. Set on board and below the good ship Calypso during an exploratory expedition, this feature-length documentary was co-directed by Cousteau and Louis Malle, whose first film this was (Cousteau selected Malle for this assignment immediately upon the latter’s graduation from film school). Highlights include a shark attack on the carcass of a whale, and the discovery of a wrecked, sunken vessel. A window into the world beneath the sea as well as the colourful and nostalgic world of the 1950s, The Silent World was the start of an entire movement, and is now available on DVD as a vital part of any collection. This classic film is one of few to have won both the Academy Award (Best Documentary Feature) as well as the Palme D’Or in 1956.
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Showdown at Abilene (1956) Charles F. Haas, Jock Mahoney, Martha Hyer, Lyle Bettger, Western

Jim Trask, former sheriff of Abilene, returns to the town after fighting for the Confederacy to find everyone thought he was dead. His old friend Dave Mosely is now engaged to Trask’s former sweetheart and is one of the cattlemen increasingly feuding with the original farmers. Trask is persuaded to take up as sheriff again but there is something about the death of Mosely’s brother in the Civil War that is haunting him.
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Interpol (1957) John Gilling, Victor Mature, Anita Ekberg, Trevor Howard, Crime, Thriller, Drama

U.S. narcotics agent Charles Sturgis trails international dope smuggler Frank McNally by following his reluctant accomplice, Gina Broger, through the “pickup alleys” of New York, London, Lisbon, Rome, Naples and Athens. When Gina is finally arrested by Interpol, she helps Sturgis trace McNally and his $3,000,000 consignment back to New York.
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A Touch of Larceny (1959) Guy Hamilton, James Mason, George Sanders, Vera Miles

In this British comedy, a formerly rakish submarine captain is transferred to a desk job. His reputation as a hero and playboy precedes him. He meets an old comrade and his gorgeous fiancee, a Yankee widow. His buddy is quite wealthy and the retired captain realizes that he too must make plenty of dough to steal the woman away. He immediately engineers an elaborate quick money scheme. First he makes it seem as if he has become a traitor in order to get the newspapers to write bad things about him. He then plans to sue them all for libel. He leaves his phony trail and then maroons himself on a desert island. He is later rescued and interrogated by the Special Branch. Fortunately, he convinces them of his innocence and continues with his plan. He then goes to the woman’s home and is there discovered by his buddy. The friend sees that the two really are in love and gallantly bows out.
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Il tempo si è fermato / Time Stood Still (1959) Ermanno Olmi, Natale Rossi, Roberto Seveso, Paolo Guadrubbi, Drama

Two middle-aged men work as caretakers on an isolated dam construction site high in the snow-capped Italian Alps. When one of them leaves for the valley to spend Christmas vacation with his family he is temporarily replaced with an adolescent boy. The other man is both annoyed and intrigued by the boy and his habits: he listens to loud music, sleeps too long in the mornings and doesn’t drink any alcohol. They barely speak to one another in the first couple of days. But when an avalanche cuts their small hut from electricity they slowly start growing more fond of each other.
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Screaming Eagles (1956) Charles F. Haas, Tom Tryon, Jan Merlin, Alvy Moore, Drama, War

The D-Day invasion of 1944 provides a backdrop for the Allied Artists actioner Screaming Eagles. Tom Tryon plays Private Mason, an ill-tempered member of the 101st Airborne Infantry division. Mason makes plenty of enemies with his negative attitude until good-guy lieutenant Pauling (Jan Merlin) straightens him out. The 101st’ s main objective (once all personal travails are swept away, that is) is to capture and hold a vital bridge in Normandy. Jacqueline Beer, later one of the costars of TV’s 77 Sunset Strip, provides the feminine interest as an attractive resistance fighter (were there ever any unattractive resistance fighters?) Featured in the cast are TV favorites Martin Milner and Alvy Moore and second-generation thespian Edward G. Robinson Jr.
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