Three years after the original "Danger Man" series concluded, it was revamped and continued in a longer format. (1 hour/episode instead of 30 minutes). John Drake was now a Special Security Agent for MI9, getting his exotic assignments exclusively from Her Majesty's Secret Service. This version of the series introduced far more Bond-like gadgets, from exploding tie-pins to tape-recording shavers, and emphasized fast action. Written by Marg Baskin
Summary:
Before The Avengers and the James Bond films, the pioneering 1960 British series Danger Man helped to usher in spy-mania in Great Britain. Patrick McGoohan stars as Drake, John Drake, an agent of NATOs secret service branch. A messy job, he informs us, Thats when they usually call on me. Most Americans only know Drake as the Secret Agent Man, the title of the hour-long series that debuted on these shores in 1964. This half-hour series never aired in the United States, making this five-disc set, containing all 39 first season episodes, essential for Brit-TV aficionados, not to mention that branch of Prisoner devotees who insist that the kidnapped No. 6 is actually Drake himself. Like 007, the dapper and unflappable Drake possesses a keen wit and animal sense of danger, and his assignments take him all over the world, from Rome and Paris to the Arabian desert.
Made as a series of 13 programmes about the influence of Greek culture in our society.
The Owl’s Heritage: Sequence
1. Symposium, or Accepted Ideas
2. Olympics, or Imaginary Greece
3. Democracy, or the City of Dreams
4. Nostalgia, or the Impossible Return
5. Amnesia, or History on the March
6. Mathematics, or the Empire Counts Back
7. Logomachy, or the Dialect of the Tribe
8. Music, or Inner Space
9. Cosmogony, or the Ways of the World
10. Mytholody, or Lies like Truth
11. Mysogyny, or the Snares of Desire
12. Tragedy, or the Illusion of Death
13. Philosophy, or the Triumph of the Owl
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Hanoun made "Une Simple Histoire" in 1958, but it looks more like 1938, with its dark, low-contrast photography (it was shot in 16-mm.), its unglamorous realism, and its heroine with her penciled eyebrows and her unstylishly bobbed hair. The heroine (Micheline Bezançon, the only player given credit in the program, although there are several other important roles) is a poor youngish woman who, with her little daughter, comes to Paris looking for a job. She doesn't get a job, and when, eventually, she can't afford a place to sleep she spends a night out of doors. She is discovered by a kindly older woman who takes her in (this is where the movie actually begins), and in whose apartment, in one extended flashback, she tells her story.
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Hitler's Madman is based on an all-too-real wartime atrocity. John Carradine portrays Heydrich, the vicious SS officer put in charge of Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia. Heydrich is killed by the Czech underground, prompting the Nazis to plan a horrible retaliation. The Gestapo selects the Czech village of Lidice for annihilation: They kill all the male villagers, throw the women and children into concentration camps, and torch Lidice into nonexistence. The victims of Nazi tyranny become martyrs to the underground cause, ending the film on a note of triumph. Based on a narrative poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay, Hitler's Madman was produced by the "poverty row" PRC studio, but was sold to MGM and given a class-A presentation at choice theatres throughout the U.S.
Ettore Scola's dark, romantic tale of a woman so stubborn and passionate that nothing can dissuade her from pursuing the object of her affections.
When Captain Bachetti arrives at his new post in Northern Italy, he already resents the reassignment, which has separated him from his mistress, the exquisite Clara. And the situation becomes even more disturbing when this man with a taste for beautiful women finds himself subjected to the persistent attentions of the spectacularly ugly Fosca; everything about this brash, loud, impolite and unattractive creature fills him with horror.
But the Captain has never before encountered the transformative power of love.
Valliant effort to use a mining catastrophe as a vehicle to pronounce this director's distaste for war. The audience not only learns a great deal about early mining rescue procedures but, we learn that Europeans at the interval between WWI and WWII, had concerning pacifists(for lack of a better term). The speeches given by both representatives of each country at the end of the film, are inspiring given the time. Although the revised edition, through the transfer technology of early foreign films, "cuts-off characters heads" at times, this film holds it's own in many different aspects. Character analysis, lighting techniques, historical content and a scenario that has tested and inspired many a writer and filmmaker.
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Tavernier's examination of the Paris police's losing battle against the drug-dealers was reportedly inspired by the experience of his son's addiction. It is an angry, despairing film. Early on the central character says that "all drug-dealers are terrorists" and later the police chief says that "my son is 13. He will have already met his first dealer".
This is a documentary-style examination from the front-line, where the police are demoralised, under-resourced, corrupt and incompetent. The 'hero', Lulu, (an outstanding performance by Didier Bezace) is a maverick detective who gets transferred to desk duties when he is angered by his drunken boss demanding the return of the unit's van in the middle of a stakeout - so he can go home! After struggling with the police station's incompetent bureaucracy, Lulu is placed in a new anti-drugs unit, led by practical joker Dodo, concerned only with filling in forms and meeting the Ministry's statistical targets.
Synopsis: While a woman is in the hospital preparing to deliver her child, her husband has all day to reflect upon his wife and their relationship. As he tends to his job as a television repairman, Slavek fondly remembers how he first met Ivana and the days they spent getting to know one another. Slavek also grows increasingly aware of the environment that surrounds him and questions the society his new child will be entering. Loaded with a repeated plea for social change, this is the first feature from Czech writer/director Jaromil Jires. (Kristie Hassen, allmovie)
Very early, rare Doug Fairbanks.
Douglas Fairbanks and Bessie Love, 28 January 2008
Author: drednm
Douglas Fairbanks started his film career in breezy little comedies that stressed his athleticism. REGGIE MIXES IN in a good example. Here he plays Reggie, a rich young man (he was 33) who oddly gets involved as a bouncer in a beer hall, a gang of thugs, and a love woman (Bessie Love). No much sense to the plot, rather a string of events loosely tied together and all aimed for Reggie to win the girl.
Fairbanks started in films in 1915 and right from the start, refused to play love scenes. So even in this 1916 film, Fairbanks and Love clutch but never kiss. He has a few terrific stunts, however, that keep this film surprising and brisk (at 47 minutes). Co-stars include Alma Rubens (hysterically named Lemona), Joseph Singleton (as the butler Old Pickleface), Lillian Langdon (as the aunt), and Frank Bennett (as Sammy the thug).
Reggie is the perfect character for Fairbanks in these early films because they allow him to polish his acting skills and presage his astonishing career as the swashbuckling superstar of the 20s, a career that combined his great athletic skills with a great sense of fun.
A woman breaks out of an insane asylum, accompanied by two crazed inmates, to kill her sister.
The synopsis from the IMDB:
Colourful 'optimistic tragedy' of a poor family in Ukraine, living in the Carpathian mountains near the Romanian border, during the Second World War. Five sons of the family make up the village band, but as the battles between the Nazi-supported Ukranian nationalists and the Soviets go on, their band loses one player after another.
Three French hipsters and their translator travel through rural Georgia to claim a remote, ruined castle that one of them has inherited. En route, they encounter an old man and his grandchild who are on a journey to carry out a mysterious, morbid ritual designed to end a conflict between warring clans.
Plot summary
Julia (Faye Dunaway), a divorced American fashion designer, is dying of a tragic, incurable disease. With only ten days to live, she spends her time vacationing in an Italian villa and watching television. She spots a TV interview with an Italian engineer Valerio (Marcello Mastroianni), who designs plastic air bags to protect passengers in automobile collisions. She recognizes his face as having met him before at the airport and calls him up to invite him over to her villa where they decide to spend the next several days together, making love. Julia's friend Maggie (Caroline Mortimer) reappears and reveals that Julia is actually an escapee from the hospital where she was being treated for her disease. Maggie urges Julia to return to the hospital where she can die a painless death. Julia ignores her and returns to the villa and the arms of her lover. Maggie then telephones Valerio and tells him about Julia's condition. Valerio is willing to stay for the duration but Julia is so upset by the fact that her lover knows her secret that she runs to a nearby mountaintop with the intention of committing suicide.
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Jean Grémillon’s first talkie, the 1930 LA PETITE LISE, is anything but talky. While opening
and closing with soulful afro-Latin strains, something just above silence reigns throughout
the film. Grémillon is already orchestrating the auditory menace of nuanced sound sculpting
that would later pervade REMORQUES (1941), setting forth evolving rhythmic figures at an
atmospheric whisper. Grémillon grafts this aural frieze onto smoldering b&w photography.
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David spends the last of his money on a room at the luxury hotel Waldhaus, where he plans to commit suicide. As part of his final act he invites his unsuspecting brother Gian along, ostensibly to spend his last days with him. Unexpectedly, Gian comes along with his girlfriend Valeria. David's decision to end his life is constantly with them, and as the trio float through the days at the hotel, they come face to face with their past, unfulfilled dreams and an almost unbearable present. Eventually, Valeria becomes so captivated by David's suicidal romanticism that the three of them end up in a ménage à trois – either their salvation or the end for each of them.
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Investment banker HP has allegedly ridden out the crash of the stock exchange. One evening, on a barbecue event with his banker friends and their wives, HP's Danish au pair girl threatens to blow the whistle on her love affair with HP's married boss. HP wants to please everybody but what was set out to be a gathering amongst friends spins out of control into a night of blackmail and intrigue. [imdb]
Based on the children's adventure novel by Enid Blyton, five young children come to learn the secrets of a ruined castle.
IMDB User Review
not sure why it's titled this, but it's a fanciful and exciting little trip
14 September 2008 | by Jack Gattanella (United States)
Jack Smith was one of the masters of the underground film-making 'group' in New York city in the early 60s, and this was one of the few films that Smith finished and screened. While nowhere near the notorious nature of Flaming Creatures or the color-grandeur of Normal Love, Scotch Tape is significant because in a 3-minute stretch of time Smith is able to convey a lot of energy and excitement over some footage that is hard to make out. It looks as those there are figures dancing among garbage or something, moving about, maybe even at 16 frames-per-second, and all done to a super catchy swing tune from the 30s.
Plot: Before Ruth Vincent, daughter of a state governor, and state attorney general Robert Sheldon can announce their marriage, the governor is accused of bribe-taking. To avoid the appearance of conflict of interest, they decide to keep their marriage secret. The political intrigue becomes more involved, and no one is quite what they seem. Soon Sheldon and Ruth must decide between saving the governor's career and an innocent person's life. Written by Rod Crawford
Carnevalesca with the beautiful Lydia Borelli is divided in to 4 parts, the white carnival, the innocent and pure childhood, the blue carnival love & youth, the red carnival the violent and destructive passion, the black carnival, death and madness.
In 1989, two years before the ultimate collapse of the Soviet Union, director Alexei Uchitel filmed this cinéma vérité document of five popular rock groups of the time. The film features live concert each band, as well as in-depth interviews with a single member of each. The central focus is Boris Grebenschikov of the group Akvarium, a self-proclaimed guru trying to find light in the overwhelming bleakness of the times.
The owner of a bookshop in Paris suffers a personal crisis. In order to solve it he decides to convert his library into a sex-shop but the only effect is that he turns himself into a sexual obsessive man. Written by Volker Boehm
Plot Synopsis from IMDB:
John Daniels stars as Jonathan Knight, the owner of "Mr. Jonathans", the most successful hair salon for women on the Sunset Strip. Jonathan is tall, muscular, black and ballsy. His reputation as a lover has become so awesome that he is sought after almost as much in that capacity as in his expertise as a hair stylist. Everything is cool for Jonathan until he messes with the mob in an effort to protect his young, attractive receptionist from her former boss. Action explodes when the "lovin' machine" becomes the "killing machine". Jonathan, equipped with chain saw in hand, gets down on the vicious mob gang.
Plot: The story revolves around Pamela, as a woman in late-1800's England who has no intention of marriage and wishes to be her own person. After a great deal of difficulty in finding a job, she finally lands a position at a "woman's" magazine, which covered topics such as sewing and cooking. After the editor takes sick, she moves the magazine into discussing issues of gender equality, child labor, medical care, and finding a job. She then finds herself as the unexpected leader of a movement. After an unexpected event, she is also faced with raising a child without a father, which people at that time thought was scandalous. Written by Taed Nelson
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