Reviews of Classic and Modern Movies in a Flash!
After a mission has gone wrong, British solider Eric Newby (Callum Blue) is captured in WWII Italy. When Italy is about to be liberated, he and his fellow captives are set to be moved but he injures his ankle and is left behind. He is then taken under the wing of the Italian citizens who hide him. Their kindness and courage in helping him changes his life, as does the love of a lovely Italian girl.
Based on a true story.
1hr. 38min.
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.
Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is always trying to stand up for people who can’t defend themselves, but plagued with chronic bad health he is unable to persue his dream of joining the army and fighting the Nazis in WWII. When he is approached by a mysterious scientist (Stanely Tucci) who holds the key to a marvelous strength serum, Steve is willing to take a chance.
With his newfound physical appearance and strength he is able to be the hero he always wanted to be and already was.
2hrs. 4min.
Set in Northern Africa during WWII, the small city of Casablanca becomes a melting pot for a variety of desperate individuals trying to escape the dangers of war. Rick (Humphrey Bogart) is a bitter night club owner who one night has Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman), a woman from his past, walk back into his life as she literally walks through the clubs doors.
This atmospheric masterpiece was filmed almost entirely on just three sets, while the script was being handed out as it was written daily, giving the film the sense of urgency and uncertainty that has made it one of the greatest films of all time. Caping it off is the unforgettably romantic and poignant theme song “As Time Goes By”.
1hr. 42min.
Susan Applegate (Ginger Rogers) has been living in New York for the past year and has decided she wants to return to her hometown in Iowa. Unfortunately the train fare has gone up and not wanting to stay in NYC a day longer she decides to pose as a 12 year old to get a half priced ticket. She is befriended by a kindly solider Major Philip Kirby (Ray Milland) and when the train is stranded because of a mud slide, he decides to take the “little girl” with him to his fiancé home. All chaos breaks out, when her home turns out to be amidst an all boy West Point like school, who are all too eager to impress young Susan. Things get more complicated when Susan starts to develop feelings for Philip.
1hr. 40min.
Set in a Midwest town in post-WWII, this film tells the story of a group of soldiers that formed an unbreakable bond that is threatened by social class and racism on their return home. They must face the corruption in their town, if there is ever to be change in this inspiring drama.
1hr. 32min.
This film traces the days leading up to the invasion of Normandy in 1944. The Nazis are desperate to know the location of the impending invasion and the Allies want to know exactly what the Nazis do or do not know about it. So, they send in Major Jefferson Pike (James Garner) to find out. Unbeknownst to them, a brilliant Nazi doctor (Rod Taylor) has devised an ingenious plan for getting Pike to tell them everything he knows about the invasion. Eva Marie Saint rounds out the cast, as she plays a concentration camp survivor, who’s being forced to help the doctor with his scheme.
1hr. 55min.
This post-WWII film tells the story of three men who have come home from the war; A military man, (Frederich March), who’s come home to his wife (Myrna Loy) and their now grown children (Teresa Wright and Micheal Wilding). A flier (Dana Andrews) who’s come home to a wife he hardly knows (Virginia Mayo). And a wounded sailor (Harold Russell) who’s trying to adjust to his disability as well as coming back to his family and childhood sweetheart (Cathy O’Donnell). The three men’s lives intertwine, as they try to make sense of their changed lives in this touching drama.
2hr. 52min.
Young Pepper wants nothing more than his best friend, his father, to come home from the war. With the help of a kindly priest, Pepper is given the tasks to fulfill that will do just that. When one of his tasks is to befriend an outcast, he must overcome his own prejudices to be able to befriend a lonely Japanese man named Hashimoto, who lives on the edge of the small fishing community.
With a little faith, one little boy will change himself and a town.
1hr. 47min.
This musical stars Deanna Durbin as a young schoolteacher from China, who, through the help of an aging sea captain, Mr. Holliday (Harry Davenport), evacuates nine war orphans. Bound for America, the ship is torpedoed and Mr. Holliday is presumably killed. The trouble begins when they reach America and none of the children are citizens. So, the natural solution to the problem at hand (according to the wily Barry Fitzgerald), is for Durbin to pose as Mrs. Holliday!
This film was originally intended to be Durbin’s dramatic debut, but the studio insisted on songs being added. The score was nominated for an Academy Award.
1hr. 37min.