It's not the 1935 Hitchcock classic, but this sturdy 1978 adaptation of John Buchan's The Thirty Nine Steps is still a rollicking good adventure. In keeping with the Boys' Own derring-do of the story (set in Edwardian London and the Scottish Highlands), the movie maintains a brisk pace that's interrupted only for tea or cocktails. Robert Powell is Richard Hannay, the man who unwittingly becomes embroiled in a dastardly Prussian plot to assassinate the Greek Prime Minister. Framed for murder, Hannay must flee to Scotland and attempt to clear his name whilst outwitting the prune-faced Prussian agents. Among all the deftly choreographed action sequences and careful period settings there's a strong vein of humour in the film, and if it wasn't for the numerous murders there would be little reason for PG certification. The grand dénouement comes with the realisation that the predicted time for the assassination is linked to Big Ben; unlike the earlier movie this version climaxes memorably with Powell hanging from the clock's minute hand. It might not be Hitchcock behind the lens, but it's still jolly good fun. --Joan Byrne
Don Siegel (Madigan) directs The Lineup, a brutal film noir loosely based on the radio and television series of the same name. Beginning as a straightforward police procedural, the film shifts into much darker territory as Julian and Dancer, two sociopathic gangsters played by Robert Keith (The Wild One) and Eli Wallach (The People Next Door), must retrieve a parcel of heroin that has ended up in the possession of unwitting tourists. With a screenplay by Stirling Silliphant (Murphy's War), The Lineup's influence stretches from Bob Dylan, who quoted its dialogue in Absolutely Sweet Marie', to Quentin Tarantino, whose erudite gangsters bear a close resemblance to Julian and Dancer. Extras: Indicator Standard Edition Special Features High Definition remaster Original mono audio Audio commentary with author James Ellroy and the Film Noir Foundation's Eddie Muller (2009) Audio commentary with film historian David Del Valle and author and screenwriter C Courtney Joyner (2020) The Influence of Noir (2009, 7 mins): appreciation by filmmaker Christopher Nolan The Streets of San Francisco (2020, 7 mins): video essay guide to the locations of The Lineup Three episodes of The Lineup radio series: The Candy Store Murder' (1950, 30 mins), written by Blake Edwards; The Case of Frankie and Joyce' (1951, 31 mins); and The Harrowing Haggada Handball Case' (1951, 26 mins), written by Edwards and Richard Quine Tricky Dicks (1953, 16 mins): comedy starring the Three Stooges, in which the trio send up the police procedural Original theatrical trailer Trailer commentary: short appreciation by A History of Violence screenwriter Josh Olson Image gallery: promotional and publicity materials New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
Humphrey Bogart is heartbreaking as the tragic Captain Queeg in this 1954 film, based on a novel by Herman Wouk, about a mutiny aboard a navy ship during World War II. Stripped of his authority by two officers under his command (played by Van Johnson and Robert Francis) during a devastating storm, Queeg becomes a crucial witness at a court martial that reveals as much about the invisible injuries of war as anything. Edward Dmytryk (Murder My Sweet, Raintree County) directs the action scenes with a sure hand and nudges his all-male cast toward some of the most well-defined characters of 1950s cinema. The courtroom scenes alone have become the basis for a stage play (and a television movie in 1988), but it is a more satisfying experience to see the entire story in context. --Tom Keogh
Starring Robert Beatty Jack Warner and Simone Signoret this is the story of a diverse group of people from very different backgrounds who were brought together in one of the strangest enterprises of the war. Sabotage was their job; sabotage organised from London in the form of macabre practical jokes as ingenious as they were injurious to the enemy. The work was over-clouded with the constant fear of discovery - and what it would mean.
Titles Comprise: The Dam Busters: Dr Barnes Wallis was possessed with a seemingly crazy idea - the creation of a bouncing bomb designed to destroy the Ruhr dams and paralyse the enemy's industrial nerve centre. He fought persistent scepticism and disbelief that such a feat was possible though even with the matchless skill of RAF Wing Commander Guy Gibson and his squadron could such a mission succeed? Against The Wind: Starring Robert Beatty Jack Warner and Simone Signoret this is the story of a diverse group of people from very different backgrounds who were brought together in one of the strangest enterprises of the war. Sabotage was their job; sabotage organised from London in the form of macabre practical jokes as ingenious as they were injurious to the enemy. The work was over-clouded with the constant fear of discovery - and what it would mean. The Colditz Story: One German maximum security prison was more famous than any other during World War II - Colditz castle. Although Colditz was considered 'escape proof' its boundaries were challenged many times by Allied prisoners of war with fatal results. On 15th October 1942 a group of British servicemen made the most historic and perhaps the most courageous attempt of all...
The most intense British mountain biking action ever captured on film! Discover the truth behind mountain biking addiction; hang out with the riders in the their own haunts; go beyond extreme action and off into a psychedelic soul ride. Follow Steve Peat Rob Warner Martyn Ashton Wil Longden Martin Hawyes etc and special guest Hans Rey from the UK to Southern California in search of mountain biking nirvana. Shot raw and live in 16mm motion picture film with a soundtrack featuring
A hapless New York advertising executive is mistaken for a government agent by a group of foreign spies, and is pursued across the country while he looks for a way to survive
Based loosely on the serial killings of Ed Gein (which also provided the inspiration for 'Psycho', 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' and 'Silence of the Lambs'). Ezra Cobb (Robert Blossom) is devastated when his mother dies, and so digs up her corpse and installs it in his home. After a while, Ezra decides that his Ma could use some company, and starts committing gruesome murders.
Brandon Krajewski co-writes and directs this US drama following a gay couple as they come to terms with their recent divorce. Following the end of their five-year marriage, Russ (Rob Warner) and Manny (Matt Palazzolo) head to the Californian coast to celebrate their relationship. However, the arrival of their friend Byron (Thomas Hobson) further complicates the couple's divorce weekend in wine country.
After Jeremy Capello is bitten by a beautiful and mysterious older woman his life begins to change dramatically as he realises he is becoming a vampire. What with the usual high school and teenage problems he soon realises that life isn't easy at seventeen...especially when you're a vampire.
Based freely on the classic novels by CS Forester, Hornblower is a series of TV films following the progress of a young officer through the ranks of the British navy during the Napoleonic Wars. The series' greatest asset is the handsome and charismatic Ioan Gruffudd in the lead role, surely a major star in the making. For television films the production values are very good, though as Titanic, Waterworld and The Perfect Storm demonstrated, filming an aquatic adventure is a very expensive business, and it is clear that the Hornblower dramas simply make the best of comparatively small budgets. No more faithful to Forester's books than the 1951 Gregory Peck classic Captain Horatio Hornblower, the real inspiration seems to have come from the success of Sharpe, starring Sean Bean, which likewise featured a British hero in the Napoleonic Wars. Nevertheless, while rather more easygoing than the real British navy of the time, the Hornblower saga delivers an entertaining adventure, greatly enhanced by the presence of such guest stars as Denis Lawson, Cheri Lunghi, Ronald Pickup and Anthony Sher. --Gary S Dalkin
Nuns On The Run (Dir. Jonathan Lynn 1990): Following in the great Carry On... tradition with a bit of Monty Python thrown in for good measure Nuns On The Run is a classic slice of slapstick comedy starring Eric Idle and Robbie Coltrane. Brian and Charlie work for a gangster. When the boss learns they want to leave he sets them up to be killed after they help rob the local Triads of their drug dealing profits. Brian and Charlie decide to steal the money for themselves but when their escape doesn't go to plan they have to seek refuge in a nuns' teacher training school. Disguised as nuns Brian and Charlie have to avoid their boss Triads police and Brian's girlfriend. There's also the problem of them being men disguised as nuns in an all women institution. Time Bandits (Dir. Terry Gilliam 1981): All the dreams you've ever had.... and not just the good ones. The first of three Terry Gilliam films collectively referred to as his Trilogy of the Imagination (along with 'Brazil' and 'The Adventures of Baron Munchausen') 'Time Bandits' is a wonderfully inventive fantasy with a massive cult following and universal appeal. A sleeper hit in 1981 the film grossed well over eight times its million budget. Co-written by Gilliam and fellow Monty Python veteran Michael Palin (who also appears in the film) 'Time Bandits' tells the story of Kevin (Craig Warnock) a young imaginative boy kidnapped by a band of mischievous dwarves who have stolen a map of the universe detailing the locations of holes in the space-time continuum from the Supreme Being (Ralph Richardson). The dwarves with Kevin in tow set off on a bizarre journey back and forth though time with the intention of looting the fortunes of history's rich and famous. Along the way they meet the likes of King Agamemnon (Sean Connery) Robin Hood (John Cleese) and Napoleon (Ian Holm) among others and even get to sail on the Titanic moments prior to its unfortunate encounter with an iceberg. Unknowingly the diminutive bandits are being watched by the spectre of Evil Genius (David Warner) who wants the map for his own typically wicked purposes...
When Toni Stroud a young dedicated cop is viciously raped by a drunken colleague she is prevented from turning him in by the force's unwritten code a 'blue wall of silence': you never rat on a fellow officer. Another female cop quickly becomes the rapist's next victim. And when Toni is asked to falsify a robbery report incriminating the women she decides to reveal the truth... A compelling true story of one woman's courageous battle to bring a brutal male-dominated system to justice.
A recently divorced woman attempts to reconcile her relation-ship with her daughter Justine. As they begin to develop trust and understanding Justine is arrested for the murder of a school -friend...
Based loosely on the serial killings of Ed Gein (which also provided the inspiration for 'Psycho', 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' and 'Silence of the Lambs'). Ezra Cobb (Robert Blossom) is devastated when his mother dies, and so digs up her corpse and installs it in his home. After a while, Ezra decides that his Ma could use some company, and starts committing gruesome murders.
Based freely on the classic novels by C. Forester, Hornblower is a series of TV films following the progress of a young officer through the ranks of the British navy during the Napoleonic Wars. The series greatest asset is the handsome and charismatic Ioan Gruffudd in the lead role, surely a major star in the making. For television films the production values are very good, though as Titanic, Waterworld and The Perfect Storm demonstrated, filming an aquatic adventure is a very expensive business, and it is clear that the Hornblower dramas simply make the best of comparatively small budgets. No more faithful to Forester's books than the 1951 Gregory Peck classic Captain Horatio Hornblower, the real inspiration seems to have come from the success of Sharpe, starring Sean Bean, which likewise featured a British hero in the Napoleonic Wars. Nevertheless, while rather more easy going than the real British navy of the time, the Hornblower saga delivers an entertaining adventure, greatly enhanced by the presence of such guest stars as Denis Lawson, Cheri Lunghi, Ronald Pickup and Anthony Sher.--Gary S Dalkin
When one of Satan's messengers (Rob Lowe) is sent to Earth and falls in love with a living angel there's going to be one hell of a good time in this romantic comedy...
Horatio Hornblower has been serving on the HMS Renown under Captain Sawyer. There is only one problem Sawyer appears to be going mad. His repeated unprovoked punishment of midshipman Wellard is not only unjust but also distracts him from the job in hand and endangers The Renown. Hornblower's ingenuity saves the ship from disaster but both the ship and Hornblower himself are in constant danger from Sawyer's irrational behaviour. The four lieutenants plan to remove Sawyer of command but despite a nasty accident Sawyer refuses to be budged. The Renown is once again endangered by Sawyer's actions when it comes under heavy fire from the Spanish fort. Once more Hornblower comes to the rescue in an act of astonishing bravery forcing Sawyer into the safety of his cabin. But now Hornblower finds himself languishing in a prison cell charged with mutiny facing an almost certain guilty verdict. The prospect: death...
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