(Brute Force (1947)

Description: At overcrowded Westgate Penitentiary, where violence and fear are the norm and the warden has less power than guards and leading prisoners, the least contented prisoner is tough, single-minded Joe Collins. Most of all, Joe hates chief guard Captain Munsey, a petty dictator who glories in absolute power. After one infraction too many, Joe and his cell-mates are put on the dreaded drain pipe detail; prompting an escape scheme that has every chance of turning into a bloodbath.

Cast

Burt Lancaster ... Joe Collins

Hume Cronyn ... Capt. Munsey

Charles Bickford ... Gallagher

Yvonne De Carlo ... Gina Ferrara

Ann Blyth ... Ruth

Ella Raines ... Cora Lister

Anita Colby ... Flossie

Sam Levene ... Louie Miller #7033

Jeff Corey ... 'Freshman' Stack

Rating 7.7/10

Runtime: 98 min

Language: English

Country: USA

Directed by: Jules Dassin

(The Bad and the Beautiful (1952

Description: Told in flashback form, the film traces the rise and fall of a tough, ambitious Hollywood producer Jonathan Shields, as seen through the eyes of various acquaintances, including a writer James Lee Bartlow, a star Georgia Lorrison and a director Fred Amiel. He is a hard-driving, ambitious man who ruthlessly uses everyone - including the writer, star and director - on the way to becoming one of Hollywood's top movie makers

Cast

Kirk Douglas ... Jonathan Shields

Lana Turner ... Georgia Lorrison

Walter Pidgeon ... Harry Pebbel

Dick Powell ... James Lee Bartlow

Barry Sullivan ... Fred Amiel

Gloria Grahame ... Rosemary Bartlow

Gilbert Roland ... Victor 'Gaucho' Ribera

Leo G. Carroll ... Henry Whitfield

Vanessa Brown ... Kay Amiel

Paul Stewart ... Syd Murphy

Rating 7.8/10

Runtime: 118 min

Language: English

Country: USA

Directed by: Vincente Minnelli

(I want to live (1958

Description: Barbara Graham is a woman with dubious moral standards, often a guest in seedy bars. She has been sentenced for some petty crimes. Two men she knows murder an older woman. When they get caught they start to think that Barbara has helped the police arresting them. As a revenge they tell the police that Barbara is the murderer.

Cast

Susan Hayward ... Barbara Graham

Simon Oakland ... Edward S. 'Ed' Montgomery

Virginia Vincent ... Peg

Theodore Bikel ... Carl G.G. Palmberg

Wesley Lau ... Henry L. Graham

Philip Coolidge ... Emmett Perkins

Rating 7.5/10

Runtime: 121 min

Language: English

Country: USA

Directed by: Robert Wise

(Good, The Bad And The Ugly (1966

In the last and the best installment of his so-called "Dollars" trilogy of Sergio Leone-directed "spaghetti westerns," Clint Eastwood reprised the role of a taciturn, enigmatic loner. Here he searches for a cache of stolen gold against rivals the Bad (Lee Van Cleef), a ruthless bounty hunter, and the Ugly (Eli Wallach), a Mexican bandit. Though dubbed "the Good," Eastwood's character is not much better than his opponents -- he is just smarter and shoots faster. The film's title reveals its ironic attitude toward the canonized heroes of the classical western. "The real West was the world of violence, fear, and brutal instincts," claimed Leone. "In pursuit of profit there is no such thing as good and evil, generosity or deviousness; everything depends on chance, and not the best wins but the luckiest." Immensely entertaining and beautifully shot in Techniscope by Tonino Delli Colli, the movie is a virtually definitive "spaghetti western," rivaled only by Leone's own Once Upon a Time in the West (1968). The main musical theme by Ennio Morricone hit #1 on the British pop charts. Originally released in Italy at 177 minutes, the movie was later cut for its international release. 

Cast

Clint Eastwood

 Eli Wallach

 Lee Van Cleef

 Aldo Giuffre

 Chelo Alonso

 Mario Brega

 Luigi Pistilli

 Rada Rassimov

(Magnificent Seven (1960

Fine action western - not as highly acclaimed as the film it copied, Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai, but pacier, more accessible, and even better acted. Elmer Bernstein was Oscar-nominated for perhaps the greatest of all western themes. There were three lesser sequels - Return of the Magnificent Seven (1966), Guns of the Magnificent Seven (1969) and The Magnificent Seven Ride! (1972). 

Cast

Yul Brynner 

Eli Wallach 

Steve McQueen 

Robert Vaughn 

James Coburn 

Brad Dexter

 Charles Bronson 

Horst Buchholz 

(Red River(1948

Brave American pioneers are sorely beset by hordes of cruel Comanche Indians in this traditional western on a grand scale. Some film textbooks record that this received poor reviews on release, but the truth is that it was received favourably. The view of Indians is far from sympathetic and now looks naive, but this remains an outstanding western of the 40s - and not just because it's full of scenic grandeur and impressive set-pieces, especially the cattle stampede. The relationship between the two protagonists (which owes a lot to The Mutiny on the Bounty ) is well written and strongly played; Clift's performance won the critical attention, but Wayne is at least as impressive. Christian Nyby's editing was Oscar-nominated; Russell Harlan’s photography and Dimitri Tiomkin's score should have been.

Cast

John Wayne 

Montgomery Clift 

Joanne Dru

Walter Brennan

Colleen Gray

(Cape Fear (1962

Description: Small-town lawyer Sam Bowden's life becomes torturous when Max Cady re-enters his life. Cady went to jail for 8 years after Bowden testified that Cady attacked a young woman. Now that Cady has been released, he begins to terrorize Bowden and his family, particularly targeting Bowden's daughter, Nancy. Initially, Cady uses his newfound knowledge of the law (learned in prison) to annoy the Bowdens, then poisons the family dog... Who's next ?

Rating 7.8/10

Runtime: 105 min

Language: English

Country: USA

Directed by: J. Lee Thompson

Cast

Gregory Peck ... Sam Bowden

Robert Mitchum ... Max Cady

Polly Bergen ... Peggy Bowden

Lori Martin ... Nancy Bowden

Martin Balsam ... Police Chief Mark Dutton

Jack Kruschen ... Attorney Dave Grafton

Telly Savalas ... Private Detective Charles Sievers

(Murder on the Orient Express (1974

Description: The Belgian detective Hercule Poirot boards the Orient Express. One of the passengers requests his protection, but Poirot declines. The next day the passenger is found dead in his compartment and Poirot is asked to solve the case. The train is forced to stop due to a snow drift blocking the tracks. This gives him a few hours to figure out the murderer's identity before the local police take over the investigation. During his investigation, Poirot discovers that many of the passengers have some connection to a 5 year old case where an infant was kidnapped and murdered in which the mastermind escaped prosecution. This lead to the death (during childbirth) of the mother and the suicide of her father. This could be the vital clue to crack the case, but can he do it in time?

Rating 7.3/10

Runtime: 122 min

Language: English

Country: UK

Directed by: Sidney Lumet

Cast

Albert Finney ... Hercule Poirot

Lauren Bacall ... Mrs. Harriet Belinda Hubbard

Martin Balsam ... Signor Bianchi

Ingrid Bergman ... Greta Ohlsson

Jacqueline Bisset ... Countess Andrenyi

Jean-Pierre Cassel ... Pierre Paul Michel

Sean Connery ... Colonel Arbuthnot

John Gielgud ... Mr. Beddoes

Wendy Hiller ... Princess Dragomiroff

Anthony Perkins ... Hector Willard MacQueen

Vanessa Redgrave ... Mary Debenham

Rachel Roberts ... Hildegarde Schmidt

Richard Widmark ... Mr. Ratchett

Michael York ... Count Andrenyi

(The man who shot Liberty Valance (1962

Description: Senator Ranse Stoddard returns to the city of Shinbone in the Wild West, to go to the funeral of his friend, Tom Doniphon. To a journalist, who's wondering what the senator is doing in Shinbone, he tells how his career started as the man who shot Liberty Valance. As a lawyer he came to Shinbone to bring law and order to the west by means of law books. When the stagecoach is held up by outlaws, he is savagely beaten by Liberty Valance. He survives the attack and is nursed by his future wife, Hallie. Hallie is being wooed by a local rancher, Tom Doniphon. Ranse teaches the people of Shinbone to read and write, all the while trying to find a way of bringing Valance to justice. He finally takes up a gun and faces Valance in a menacing shootout.

Rating 8.1/10

Runtime: 123 min

Language: English

Country: USA

Directed by: John Ford

Cast

John Wayne ... Tom Doniphon

James Stewart ... Ransom Stoddard

Vera Miles ... Hallie Stoddard

Lee Marvin ... Liberty Valance

Edmond O'Brien ... Dutton Peabody

Andy Devine ... Marshal Link Appleyard

Ken Murray ... Doc Willoughby

John Carradine ... Maj. Cassius Starbuckle

Jeanette Nolan ... Nora Ericson

John Qualen ... Peter Ericson

Willis Bouchey ... Jason Tully (conductor)

(Kiss of death (1947

Description: Small-time crook Nick Bianco gets caught in a jewel heist and despite urgings from well-meaning district attorney D'Angelo, refuses to rat on his partners and goes to jail, assured that his wife and children will be taken care of. Learning that his depressed wife has killed herself, Nick informs on his ex-pals and is paroled. Nick remarries, gets a job and begins leading a happy life when he learns one of the men he informed on, psychopathic killer Tommy Udo, has been released from custody and is out for revenge against Nick and his family.

Rating: 7.7/10

Runtime: 98 min

Language: English

Country: USA

Color: Black and White

Directed by: Henry Hathaway

Cast:

Victor Mature ... Nick Bianco

Brian Donlevy ... Asst. Dist. Atty. Louis D'Angelo

Coleen Gray ... Nettie

Richard Widmark ... Tommy Udo

Taylor Holmes ... Earl Howser, Attorney

Howard Smith ... Warden

Karl Malden ... Sgt. William Cullen

(Winchester 73 (1950

Description: Lin McAdam rides into town on the trail of Dutch Henry Brown, only to find himself in a shooting competition against him. McAdam wins the prize, a one-in-a-thousand Winchester rifle, but Dutch steals it and leaves town. McAdam follows, intent on settling his old quarrel, while the rifle keeps changing hands and touching a number of lives, until a final showdown and shoot-out on a rocky mountain precipice.

Rating 7.9/10

Runtime: 89 min

Language: English

Country: USA

Directed by: Anthony Mann

Cast

James Stewart ... Lin McAdam

Shelley Winters ... Lola Manners

Dan Duryea ... Waco Johnnie Dean

Stephen McNally ... Dutch Henry Brown

Millard Mitchell ... High Spade

Charles Drake ... Steve Miller

John McIntire ... Joe Lamont

Will Geer ... Wyatt Earp

Jay C. Flippen ... Sgt. Wilkes

Rock Hudson ... Young Bull

Tony Curtis ... Doan

(Some like it hot (1959

Description: Joe, the saxophone player, is Josephine in the all girls band that he joined with Jerry, the bass violin player, to be one step ahead of the mob after witnessing the 1929 St. Valentine's Day Massacre in Chicago. After a train ride that sets a record for number of people in an upper berth, they are In Miami. Joe decides to be the man of Sugar Kane's dreams and invites her out to a yacht he doesn't have. But he can use Osgood Fielding's yacht if Jerry -- as Daphne -- will keep Osgood dancing. The pace gets even giddier when the Chicago mob arrives in Miami for a convention.

Rating 8.3/10

Runtime: 121 min

Language: English

Country: USA

Directed by: Billy Wilder

Cast

Marilyn Monroe ... Sugar Kane Kowalczyk

Tony Curtis ... Joe - 'Josephine'/'Junior'

Jack Lemmon ... Jerry - 'Daphne'

George Raft ... Spats Colombo

Pat O'Brien ... Det. Mulligan

Joe E. Brown ... Osgood Fielding III

Nehemiah Persoff ... Little Bonaparte

Joan Shawlee ... Sweet Sue

Billy Gray ... Sig Poliakoff

George E. Stone ... Toothpick Charlie

Dave Barry ... Beinstock

Mike Mazurki ... Spats' henchman

Harry Wilson ... Spats' henchman

For a Few Dollars More -1965

Description: Monco is a bounty killer chasing El Indio and his gang. During his hunting, he meets Col. Douglas Mortimer, another bounty killer, and they decide to make a partnership, chase the bad guys together and split the reward. During their enterprise, there will be lots of bullets and funny situations. In the end, one of the bounty hunters shows the real intention of his hunting.
Rating 8.3/10
Runtime: 132 min
Language: English
Country: USA
Directed by: Sergio Leone
Cast
Clint Eastwood ... Monco
Lee Van Cleef ... Col. Douglas Mortimer
Gian Maria Volonte ... El Indio
Mara Krupp ... Mary
Luigi Pistilli ... Groggy
Klaus Kinski ... Wild (the hunchback)
Joseph Egger ... Old Prophet (as Josef Egger)
Panos Papadopulos ... Sancho Perez
Benito Stefanelli ... Luke
Roberto Camardiel ... Station clerk

(Strangers on a train (1951

Description: Tennis star Guy Haines meets a stranger on the Washington-to-New York train who offers to exchange murders. The stranger, Bruno Anthony, will kill Guy's estranged wife if Guy will kill Bruno's hated father. Guy doesn't take Bruno seriously until his wife, Miriam, is found murdered in an amusement park. Guy becomes the chief suspect, which threatens his tennis career, his romantic involvement with a U.S. senator's daughter, Anne Morton, his hopes for a political career, and even his life. When it becomes evident to Bruno that Guy isn't going to kill his father, he tells Guy he intends to establish Guy's guilt conclusively by planting his monogrammed cigarette lighter on the island where Miriam was murdered. With Anne's help, Guy attempts to stop Bruno after rushing through an important tennis match and racing to the amusement park.
Rating: 8.3/10
Runtime: 101 min
Language: English
Country: USA
Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast
Farley Granger ... Guy Haines
Ruth Roman ... Anne Morton
Robert Walker ... Bruno Anthony
Leo G. Carroll ... Sen. Morton
Patricia Hitchcock ... Barbara Morton

( The Birds (1963

Descrition: Spoilt socialite and notorious practical joker Melanie Daniels is shopping in a San Francisco pet store when she meets Mitch Brenner. Mitch is looking to buy a pair of love birds for his young sister's birthday; he recognises Melanie but pretends to mistake her for an assistant. She decides to get her own back by buying the birds and driving up to the quiet coastal town of Bodega Bay, where Mitch spends his weekends with his sister and mother. Shortly after she arrives, Melanie is attacked by a gull, but this is just the start of a series of attacks by an increasing number of birds.
Rating: 7.8/10
Runtime: 119 min
Language: English
Country: USA
Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast
Tippi Hedren ... Melanie Daniels
Rod Taylor ... Mitch Brenner
Jessica Tandy ... Lydia Brenner
Suzanne Pleshette ... Annie Hayworth
Veronica Cartwright ... Cathy Brenner

-Rope -1948

Description: Brandon and Philip are two young men who share a New York apartment. They consider themselves intellectually superior to their friend David Kentley and as a consequence decide to murder him. Together they strangle David with a rope and placing the body in an old chest, they proceed to hold a small party. The guests include David's father, his fiancée Janet and their old schoolteacher Rupert from whom they mistakenly took their ideas. As Brandon becomes increasingly more daring, Rupert begins to suspect
Rating 8.0/10
Runtime: 80 min
Language: English
Country: USA
Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast
James Stewart ... Rupert Cadell
John Dall ... Brandon Shaw
Farley Granger ... Phillip Morgan
Cedric Hardwicke ... Mr. Kentley
Constance Collier ... Mrs. Atwater
Douglas Dick ... Kenneth Lawrence
Edith Evanson ... Mrs. Wilson
Dick Hogan ... David Kentley
Joan Chandler ... Janet Walker

(The man who knew too much (1956

Description: Dr. Ben McKenna, his wife Josephine and their son Hank are on a touring holiday of Africa when they meet the mysterious Louis Bernard on a bus. The next day Bernard is murdered in the local marketplace, but before he dies he manages to reveal details of an assassination, which is being masterminded by the Draytons, an English couple they have met in a restaurant, and is due to take place in London in a few days' time. Fearing that their plot will be revealed, the assassins kidnap Hank in order to keep the McKenna's silent. Ben and Jo go to London and take matters into their own hands.

Rating 7.5/10

Runtime: 120 min

Language: English/Arabic/French

Country: USA

Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock

Cast

James Stewart ... Dr. Ben McKenna

Doris Day ... Josephine Conway McKenna

Christopher Olsen ... Hank McKenna

Brenda De Banzie ... Lucy Drayton

Bernard Miles ... Edward Drayton

Ralph Truman ... Buchanan

Daniel Gélin ... Louis Bernard

Mogens Wieth ... Ambassador

Alan Mowbray ... Val Parnell

Hillary Brooke ... Jan Peterson

(Casablanca (1943

Description: In World War II Casablanca, Rick Blaine, exiled American and former freedom fighter, runs the most popular nightspot in town. The cynical lone wolf Blaine comes into the possession of two valuable letters of transit. When Nazi Major Strasser arrives in Casablanca, the sycophantic police Captain Renault does what he can to please him, including detaining Czech underground leader Victor Laszlo. Much to Rick's surprise, Lazslo arrives with Ilsa, Rick's one time love. Rick is very bitter towards Ilsa, who ran out on him in Paris, but when he learns she had good reason to, they plan to run off together again using the letters of transit. Well, that was their original plan.

Rating 8.8/10

Runtime: 102 min

Language: English/French/German

Country: USA

Directed by: Michael Curtiz

Cast

Humphrey Bogart ... Rick Blaine

Ingrid Bergman ... Ilsa Lund

Paul Henreid ... Victor Laszlo

Claude Rains ... Captain Renault

Conrad Veidt ... Major Strasser

Sydney Greenstreet ... Signor Ferrari

Peter Lorre ... Ugarte

(Gone with the wind (1939

Description: The epic tale of a woman's life during one of the most tumultuous periods in America's history. From her young, innocent days on a feudalistic plantation to the war-torn streets of Atlanta; from her first love whom she has always desired to three husbands; from the utmost luxury to absolute starvation and poverty; from her innocence to her understanding and comprehension of life.

Rating 8.1/10

Runtime: 224 min

Language: English

Country: USA

Directed by: Victor Fleming

Cast

Thomas Mitchell ... Gerald O'Hara

Barbara O'Neil ... Ellen O'Hara - His Wife

Vivien Leigh ... Scarlett O'Hara - Their Daughter

Evelyn Keyes ... Suellen O'Hara - Their Daughter

Ann Rutherford ... Carreen O'Hara - Their Daughter

Clark Gable ... Rhett Butler - a Visitor from Charleston

Olivia de Havilland ... Melanie Hamilton

George Reeves ... Brent Tarleton - Scarlett's Beau

Fred Crane ... Stuart Tarleton - Scarlett's Beau

Hattie McDaniel ... Mammy - O'Hara House Servant

Oscar Polk ... Pork - O'Hara House Servant

Butterfly McQueen ... Prissy - O'Hara House Servant

Victor Jory ... Jonas Wilkerson - O'Hara Field Overseer

Everett Brown ... Big Sam - O'Hara Field Foreman

Howard C. Hickman ... John Wilkes

Alicia Rhett ... India Wilkes - His Daughter

Leslie Howard ... Ashley Wilkes

(King Kong (1933

Description: In 1933, the bold and successful filmmaker Carl Denham travels by ship with a large crew, his friend Jack Driscoll and the starlet Ann Darrow to an unknown island to shoot a movie. The local natives worship a huge gorilla called Kong and they abduct Ann to offer her in a sacrifice to Kong. Jack Driscoll, who is in love with her, Carl Denham, who aims to capture the animal for an exhibition in New York and part of the crew hike into the jungle, where dinosaurs live, trying to rescue Ann. King Kong falls in love for Ann and protects her against the dangers. But the gorilla is captured and brought to New York. In the middle of a show in Broadway, King Kong escapes, bringing panic to the Apple city.

Rating 8.1/10

Runtime: 104 min

Language: Engish

Country: USA

Directed by: Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack

Cast

Fay Wray ... Ann Darrow

Robert Armstrong ... Carl Denham

Bruce Cabot ... John 'Jack' Driscoll

Frank Reicher ... Capt. Englehorn

Sam Hardy ... Charles Weston

Noble Johnson ... Skull Island nation leader