Lawman J.D. Cahill can stand alone against an army of bad guys. But as a widower father he's on insecure footing raising two sons; particularly when he suspects his boys have stepped outside the law...
Vera Cruz was only director Robert Aldrich's second Western (his first, made a few months earlier, was the revisionist, pro-Native-American Apache), but it's such an assured, stylish affair that he might have been roaming the sagebrush for decades. In the aftermath of the American Civil War two lone adventurers make their way south of the border, where Mexico is fighting a civil war of its own to rid the country of the French-imposed Emperor Maximilian. Neither the dour Benjamin Trane (Gary Cooper) nor the grinning, devil-may-care Joe Erin (Burt Lancaster) has much in the way of idealism, but Trane still retains a thin bitter edge of integrity, a quality quite alien to the cheerfully amoral Erin. In uneasy alliance, constantly looking to outwit or double-cross each other, the two find themselves escorting a beautiful French countess (Denise Darcel) and a shipment of gold across country. Cooper and Lancaster create a superb double-act, using their contrasted screen personas to point up the humour and the cynicism of the two mercenaries' relationship. Darcel makes less than she might of the femme fatale role, but there are relishable cameos from Cesar Romero as a suavely duplicitous aristo and Ernest Borgnine as another gringo with an exceptionally vicious streak. The script, according to Aldrich, was written on the run, "always finished about five minutes before we shot it", but you wouldn't guess it from the laconic wit of the dialogue. It looks great, too--Ernest Laszlo's widescreen photography makes the most of the handsome Mexican locations. With its irreverent take on the accepted moral conventions of the genre, Vera Cruz ushered in a new kind of Western, and its central love-hate relationship would be replayed in Sam Peckinpah's Ride the High Country (1962) and Sergio Leone's The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966). On the DVD: Not much in the way of extras but the mono sound has been expertly remastered to the benefit of Hugo Friedhofer's spirited score. Above all, the film's presented in its full Superscope ratio (16:9), a blessed relief after all those years when it showed up panned-and-scanned on BBC1. If ever a movie needed widescreen, it's this one--if only to fit in all Burt's teeth. You can see why they called him "Crockery Joe". --Philip Kemp
Forgotten Sins' is a startling and disturbing drama based on a true story. County sheriff Matt Bradshaw a devout churchgoer and respected pillar of the community stands accused of terrible crimes: sexually abusing his own daughters and organising multiple rapes and Satanic rituals. Matt's reaction to these accusations is almost as shocking - he makes a full and frank confession. Amid an atmosphere of religious frenzy and further accusations of murder and torture the witch hunt begins. Only one man believes in Matt's innocence: eminent psychologist Dr Richard Ofshe (William Devane). He is convinced that Matt is the innocent victim of religious brainwashing and police pressure for a confession. But what chance does Ofshe have of seeing justice done when Matt himself is so utterly convinced of his own guilt?
This exciting docudrama, narrated by Kevin Spacey, unravels some of America's most iconic and consequential presidential elections. Each episode captures the thrill of a presidential election by reliving one momentous campaign. Using archive footage, interviews with candidates, key players, historians and experts, along with stylised dramatisations, they illustrate how an election can be won or lost on a single issue. By exploring key themes, issues, turning points and strategies the series aims to shed light on the changing nature of political campaigning, and reveal what impact these elections had on the course of American history. THE SIX ELECTIONS FEATURED ARE: 1828 - Andrew Jackson vs John Quincy Adams, 1860 - Abraham Lincoln vs Stephen Douglas, 1948 - Harry Truman vs Thomas Dewey 1960 - John F. Kennedy vs Richard Nixon, 1988 - George H.W. Bush vs Michael Dukakis, 1992 - Bill Clinton vs George H.W. Bush.
The True Story of the Greatest Boxer of His Time. He called himself 'The Greatest' - and it was a title he merited. Muhammad Ali was quite simply the greatest boxer of the twentieth century. This film traces his meteoric rise to fame climaxing in his crucial 1964 title fight against Sonny Liston. A compelling true-life drama.
A large motor yacht becomes the focal point in this action tale when a group of mercenaries decide to capture the vessel. The original owner who was delivering it to Sydney Australia is believed dead but is in fact very much alive and determined to recover the yacht...
14 films in a 5 DVD set : a rip roarin' roundup of frontier features spanning seven decades of western action from early classics such as The Great Train Robbery Hell's Hinges and The Vanishing American to later greats including The Painted Desert Santa Fe Trail The Outlaw and One-Eyed Jacks. Watch legendary stars such as John Wayne Errol Flynn Gary Cooper Clark Gable and Marlon Brando just to name a few! The Great Train Robbery (1903) The Red Man's View (1909) Hell's Hinges (1916) The Vanishing American (1925) Fighting Caravans (1931) The Painted Desert (1931) The Desert Trail (1935) Trouble in Texas (1937) Santa Fe Trail (1940) Arizona Bound (1941) The Outlaw (1943) Abilene Town (1946) Daniel Boone Trail Blazer (1956) One-Eyed Jacks (1961)
Mr Deeds Goes To Town (1936): Gary Cooper is the pixilated small-town resident who refuses to let a million inheritance and a New York mansion alter his down-to-earth faith in people in Frank Capra's delightful comedy. Jean Arthur co-stars as the cynical reporter who falls for Deeds. Wild One (1954): Brando plays Johnny the leader of a vicious biker gang that involves a small sleepy California town. The leather-jacketed young biker seems hell-bent on destruction until he falls for Kathie (Mary Murphy) a good-girl whose father happens to be a cop. Unfortunately for Johnny his one shot at redemption is threatened by a psychotic rival Chino (Lee Marvin) plus the hostility and prejudice of the townspeople. All their smouldering passions explode in an electrifying climax. Holiday (1938): An iconoclastic young man (Cary Grant) who's engaged to a snooty heiress (Doris Nolan) discovers he's really in love with his fianc''e's down-to-earth sister (Katharine Hepburn) in director George Cukor's stylish comedy... The Howards Of Virginia (1940): Leading man Cary Grant plays Matt Howard a common man who gains employment as a surveyor through the help of Thomas Jefferson. Howard quickly falls head over heels for his wealthy employer's daughter Jane Peyton (Martha Scott). The couple appear to be set for happiness until Matt becomes involved in politics and the War of Independence arrives...
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