Reviews of Classic and Modern Movies in a Flash!
Sorrowful Jones (Bob Hope) is a wisecracking and very thrifty bookie who accepts a desperate gambler’s unusual marker, his daughter. When the man doesn’t return Sorrowful decides to look after the girl for awhile, partly to appease his on again off again girlfriend (Lucille Ball) and partly out of his own growing attachment to the guileless little girl. When tragedy strikes Sorrowful must use all his imagination and ingenuity in order to save the day in this touching tale.
1hr. 28min.
A young man (Mickey Rooney) with a natural talent for boxing quickly rises from the slums of New York City. When he teams up with a gambler with a double life that includes an innocent daughter (Ann Blyth), the boxer realizes that maybe it’s time to find another way to live.
1hr. 44min.
When a drifting sailor Bobo (Jean Gabin) passes through a small fishing town he isn’t looking for or expecting much. His life begins to change when he rescues Anna (Ida Lupino) from suicide and the two begin a cautious relationship. Just as they begin to build a life together, a local murder threatens their fragile happiness.
1hr. 34min.
Set during the beginning of the 20th century, the story tells of a young doctor (Lew Ayres) who comes to a small fishing community in Nova Scotia to set up his practice. There he meets mute Belinda (Jane Wyman) the daughter of a gruff farmer (Charles Bickford), who believes that Belinda is witless. The young doctor quickly realizes the girls intelligence and is able to teach her sign language. Belindas’ father is begining to warm towards her when tragedy strikes.
Jane Wymans portrayal of the sweet, deaf-mute girl won her the academy award.
1hr. 42min.
Mickey Rooney and Elizabeth Taylor star in this story of a girls’ love for a horse and her dream of having it compete in the Grand Nationals. Helping with her dream is young Mi (Rooney) a vagabond with a mysterious past. Young Velvet (Taylor) accepts him without question, but her father (Donald Crisp) is suspicious. Anne Revere won best supporting actress for her portrayal of wise Mrs. Brown, in this classic film.
2hr. 5min.
Barbara Stanwyck stars as Elizabeth Lane, the perfect mother and housewife who also writes amazing recipes for an eminent housekeeping magazine. The only trouble is she’s actually not married and can’t cook. So, when a decorated sailor named Jefferson Jones (Dennis Morgan) is sent to spend Christmas with Elizabeth and her family (by order of the magazines publisher played by the legendary Sydney Greenstreet), it’s up to her wily uncle Felix (S.Z. Sakall) to hold the fiction together long enough for Elizabeth and Jeff to get their real life happy ending.
1hr. 42min.
Frank Capra directed and cowrote this gripping tale of a man, who says he’s fed up with the rotten people in the world, and will commit suicide at midnight on New Year’s Eve in protest. His letter to a newspaper captures the attention of the nation. But he’s really the publicity stunt of an ambitious reporter (Barbara Stanwyck). She gets a bum (Gary Cooper) to pose as ‘John Doe’, and she writes inspiring speeches for him to give to the public. They realize they might have a problem when John begins to believe in the speeches he makes.
1hr. 50min.
In this modern take on Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, eight scientist, each an expert in his field, have been working on an encyclopedia on slang for the past nine years. One day they realize that their slang isn’t current, so they send out their youngest scientist (Gary Cooper) whos’ expertise is in vocabulary. While collecting information, he meets Sugar Puss O’Shae (Barbara Stanwyk), the fast talking girlfriend of a notorious gangster (Dana Andrews). When it looks like Sugar Puss might have to turn states evidence against Andrews, she decides to hide out with the “old mothballs,” as she calls the scientists.
Featuring an endearing cast of characters, this is a charming comedy where sometimes even if you know all the words you just can’t seem to find the right ones.
1hr. 41min.
Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine star in Alfred Hitchcocks suspenseful tale of a young wife who begins to suspect that her husband is going to kill her for her life insurance.
At first everything seems perfect; a whirlwind courtship between shy young Lina (Fontaine) and debonair Johnny (Grant). It soon becomes apparent that Johnny is a compulsive gambler and spendthrift. After embezzling in order to gamble Johnny becomes desperate. Then when a business deal goes down the drain, he becomes fascinated with the idea of a perfect murder.
This film, written by Preston Sturges, tells the funny and poignant story of a thief named Lee (Barbara Stanwyk) and her prosecuting attorney John (Fred MacMurry). Taken into court just days before Christmas on a charge of shoplifting, Lees’ case is postponed by John who, through different circumstances, descides to take her to his families’ home for Christmas. Once there, she receives all the love she never knew as a child.
1hr. 40min.