Tag Archives: USA

Death of a Gunfighter (1969) Don Siegel, Richard Widmark, Lena Horne, Carroll O’Connor, Western

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In the turn-of-the century Texas town of Cottownwood Springs, marshal Frank Patch is an old-style lawman in a town determined to become modern. When he kills drunken Luke Mills in self-defense, the town leaders decide it’s time for a change. They ask for Patch’s resignation, but he refuses on the basis that the town on hiring him had promised him the job for as long as he wanted it. Afraid for the town’s future and even more afraid of the fact that Marshal Patch knows all the town’s dark secrets, the city fathers decide that old-style violence is the only way to rid themselves of the unwanted lawman.
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Tchoupitoulas (2012) Bill Ross IV, Turner Ross, William Zanders, Bryan Zanders, Kentrell Zandrs, Documentary

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Bill and Turner Ross’s Tchoupitoulas begins with wistful narration from its young protagonist, an impoverished African-American boy with a distinctly Southern drawl detailing a dream he’s recently had: “I don’t really have dreams,” he says, “but last night I did. It was actually a close-up of my future—like a flashback, except a flashing future. I was dreaming I seen me in the NFL, and I was playing for the New York Giants.” Right away, the similarities between this doc-fiction hybrid and Benh Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild are evident, which makes sense considering both films are products of Court 13, a so-called “independent filmmaking army” made up of a group of ex-New Yorkers who moved to New Orleans in hopes of fostering a grassroots film community. But thanks to its decidedly less sensationalistic point of view, Tchoupitoulas proves the perfect antidote to the twee affectations of Zeitlin’s feature.
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The Opposite Sex (1956) David Miller, June Allyson, Joan Collins, Dolores Gray, Comedy, Musical, Romance

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Shortly after their tenth wedding anniversary, New York theater producer Steven Hilliard and his wife, former popular radio singer Kay Hilliard née Ashley, are getting a Kay-initiated Reno divorce after Kay finds out about a marital indiscretion he had with Crystal Allen, a gold digging chorus girl in one of his shows. News of the indiscretion made its way to Kay indirectly by her catty friend, Sylvia Fowler. In Kay getting the divorce, Kay’s best friend, playwright Amanda Penrose believes Kay is playing right into the wants of Crystal, whose main goal is not to be happily married to Steven, but to get what such a marriage can bring to her in material wealth and comfort. Amanda does not believe Steven loves Crystal and that he still really does love Kay. And Kay does proceed with the divorce despite believing theirs was a happy and loving marriage before she learned of the indiscretion, and despite having an adolescent daughter, Debbie, to consider. But when Kay learns some …
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Command Decision (1948) Sam Wood, Clark Gable, Walter Pidgeon, Van Johnson, War, Drama

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General Dennis of the US Force in England in World War II finds that he must order his planes deeper and deeper into Germany to prevent the production of military jet planes that will turn the tide of battle to the Germans. He must fight congressmen, and his own chain of command to win the political battle before he can send his planes out. His problem is complicated by a very narrow window of good weather necessary to allow his effort to be successful. Adapted from a stage play, it attempts to look at the challenges of command in the political arena.
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Harlow (1965) Gordon Douglas, Carroll Baker, Red Buttons, Raf Vallone, Biography, Drama, Romance

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In this story, Harlow starts in the movies as set dressing, the pretty girl who is used for the glamour shots. Refusing to descend to the casting couch for work, she finds that she is soon blacklisted from the industry. But an agent named Arthur sees something in Jean and begins representing her. For a long time, the jobs are scarce and consist mostly of receiving the pie in the face in low budget comedies. But Arthur’s belief in Jean never wavers and when she finally graduates to featured roles, the critics say that she cannot act, but she is unforgettable. Polishing the image as the girl next door, but with some fire, she begins her climb to the top and becomes the girl every woman wants to look like and every man wants to have. But her own life is a disaster – unlike her screen life.
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