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Born to Battle (1935)
When Tom Saunders is charged with disturbing the peace
When Tom Saunders is charged with disturbing the peace, Mr. Larmer, representative of the Illinois Live Stock Corporation, comes to his aid. Larmer hires Tom to investigate the disappearance of cattle from the Lazy Y Ranch near Rawhide. Larmer then sends a letter to the corporation's superintendent, John Brownell, stating that Tom is to take over handling the cattle. As Tom heads to the ranch, he runs into Don Pablo Juan Jose Joaquin Aliso de la Cruz Gonzales, and his partner, Lem Holt, whom Pablo calls "Señor Blinky." The two men travel with Tom. Meanwhile, Brownell, who has not yet received Larmer's letter, has unwittingly hired a rustler, Nate, to care for the ranch's cattle. Once in town, Tom speaks to Brownell, who does not know that Tom was sent by Larmer, and he confides to Tom that nesters are settling on part of the ranch property. Brownell hires Tom to gain control of a house that the nesters are using. Tom takes Pablo and Lem with him, but the nesters turn out to be only a man, Mr. Powell, and his daughter Betty. Tom lets them continue to stay and confronts Nate on the reason that they must evict the Powells. Brownell claims to be unaware that the Powells were the nesters, and Tom decides that Nate is untrustworthy. Tom returns to Pablo and Lem to find that Lem has been killed by ambushers, and that the Powells have lost faith in Tom and have told Brownell to fire him. The sheriff arrests Tom for killing Lem. While Tom is in jail, Nate's man Clem takes Betty and her father hostage. The next day, Tom escapes from the jail and talks Brownell into helping him. The two men and Pablo capture Clem and Nate, and then free the Powells. Brownell agrees to hire Tom as ranch foreman, and the ranch even has a house, in which a married foreman and his wife can live, a feature which appeals to Tom, now that he and Betty have fallen in love.
The Dunwich Horror (1970)
Nancy Walker and Elizabeth Hamilton, two students who attend Miskatonic University....
Nancy Walker and Elizabeth Hamilton, two students who attend Miskatonic University and work in the school library, are putting away the Necronomicon , a rare book on the occult, after a lecture on the supernatural given by visiting professor Dr. Henry Armitage. Dr. Armitage discovers Wilbur Whateley memorizing ritual passages from the Necronomicon and is at first angry, but learns that Wilbur comes from nearby Dunwich, a village having a history of evil occurrences, and that Wilbur is the great-grandson of Oliver Whateley, who was hanged by the villagers as a demon. Nancy, finding herself attracted to Wilbur, offers to drive him home when he misses his bus. Later, in the old mansion where Wilbur lives with his grandfather, Wilbur drugs Nancy and sabotages her car, thus forcing her to stay for the night. (He plans to sacrifice her in a fertility rite in the hopes of gaining for himself contact with the spiritual world.) Nancy accepts his invitation to spend the weekend there, but her absence alarms both Elizabeth and Dr. Armitage, who learn that Wilbur's mother has been living in an insane asylum since giving birth to twins--Wilbur and a boy who has never been seen. Wilbur steals the Necronomicon from the library, kills a guard, and takes Nancy to the "Devil's Hopyard," a rocky hillside, for the ritual. Meanwhile, Elizabeth and Dr. Armitage arrive at the Whateley house; Elizabeth opens a locked door and is immediately devoured by an invisible creature, the Dunwich Horror (Wilbur's twin). The Horror escapes and ravages the countryside, intending to kill Wilbur. Eventually, Dr. Armitage confronts Wilbur and the monster at the Devil's Hopyard, and there Armitage utters a curse which sends both Wilbur and the Dunwich Horror up in flames.
Malaya (1949)
In 1942, shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor...
In 1942, shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, John Royer, an ex-newspaper correspondent, is summoned home by his publisher, John Manchester, after serving four years in the Far East. When Manchester asks Royer to help in a nation-wide drive to salvage rubber, the reporter scoffs and proposes a daring scheme to smuggle large quantities of rubber out of Japanese-occupied Malaya. After returning to his hotel room, Royer is contacted by a federal agent named Kellar, who reveals that he has thoroughly investigated Royer's past and has learned that Royer's story about smuggling resulted in the imprisonment of his friend Carnahan. Later, Kellar escorts Royer to a railroad car where Manchester is waiting with a panel of men, who intend to question him about his plans. Royer explains that he requires gold to buy the rubber, men needed to steal it and a camouflaged Navy ship to transport it from Malaya. Royer also insists that Carnahan be freed from Alcatraz to work on the mission. Carnahan is still angry at Royer for writing the expose that led to his imprisonment, but agrees to cooperate in return for his freedom. As Royer and Carnahan set sail for Malaya, Royer explains that he is risking his own life because his brother was killed by the Japanese. The cynical adventurer Carnahan responds that his only interest is in the gold. Upon reaching the Malay city of Penang, Carnahan and Royer pose as Irish seamen and visit the saloon owned by the Dutchman, an old friend of Carnahan's. There, Carnahan is warmly embraced by his former lover, the opportunistic singer Luana. The Dutchman also introduces them to Col. Genichi Tomura, the corrupt Japanese commandant with a penchant for gambling. After hearing their plans, the Dutchman agrees to recruit twelve men for the operation. While alone with Carnahan later that night, Luana recalls their past relationship and begs him to get her out of Malaya. The next morning, the Dutchman puts Carnahan and Royer in touch with three of the biggest planters in the district. Although all three agree to cooperate, Carnahan and Royer are wary of the third, Bruno Gruber, a German planter. That evening, while Carnahan distracts the Japanese by getting himself arrested, Royer, aided by Romano and the other guerillas, delivers the rubber from the first two plantations to a U.S. ship camouflaged as a small island. Afterward, the Dutchman convinces Tomura to release Carnahan into his custody. Afraid to trust the German, Carnahan refuses to participate in the last shipment but Royer, out of revenge for his brother's death, insists on completing the mission. Carnahan relents and joins Royer, then beats Gruber into revealing that the Japanese are waiting downstream to ambush them. Determined to secure the last of the rubber, Royer continues on alone and is brutally killed by Tomura's men. Hearing the sound of gunfire that signals the death of his friend, Carnahan shoots Gruber, prompting the Dutchman to observe that at least Royer died for his beliefs. The following day, Tomura visits the Dutchman and offers to allow the remaining rubber to be shipped out for a price. Although he suspects a trap, Carnahan resolves to complete Royer's mission. While Romano and his men deliver the rubber, Carnahan decoys Tomura with his boat. When Luana insists upon joining him, he pushes her overboard to safety. As Carnahan nears the U.S. ship, Tomura stops his boat, takes him captive, then signals the Japanese flotilla to attack the ship. Just then, two American PT boats suddenly appear and sink the flotilla with torpedoes. In the fracas, Carnahan is wounded but manages to kill Tomura. Some time after the end of the war, Kellar comes to Malaya to award a medal to Carnahan, who is now living on an island with Luana. Refusing the medal, the cynical Carnahan tells Kellar to pin it on the Dutchman instead.
The Executioner (1970)
British Intelligence agent John Shay suspects that a security leak caused the collapse of British operations in Vienna.
British Intelligence agent John Shay suspects that a security leak caused the collapse of British operations in Vienna. He persuades his girl friend Polly, a secretary at Intelligence headquarters, to allow him access to secret files. The information leads Shay to suspect fellow agent Adam Booth (whose wife, Sarah, has been having an affair with him) of being a double agent for the Soviet Union. Although Shay denounces Booth, his superiors refuse to act on what they believe to be groundless charges, and Shay is suspended from his duties for obtaining the confidential files. Nevertheless, he goes to Istanbul to search for more evidence against Booth; while he is investigating, an attempt is made on his life. With conclusive information from British scientist Philip Crawford, who is also involved with Sarah, Shay then murders Booth and finds a plane ticket to Athens in his pocket. Shay boards the plane, accompanied by Sarah, who is unaware of her husband's death. In Athens, where Shay impersonates Booth, they are captured by Soviet agents and held for an exchange for Crawford. Colonel Scott, CIA agent, rescues Shay and Sarah and reveals that Booth was indeed a double agent being used by the British to transmit false information to the Russians.
Screaming Mimi (1958)
In Laguna Beach, California, Virginia Weston runs to a bathhouse after a swim in the ocean.
In Laguna Beach, California, Virginia Weston runs to a bathhouse after a swim in the ocean. As her little dog starts yapping, an escaped inmate from a nearby mental institution steps out of the bushes, stabs the dog and then attacks Virginia. Alerted by Virginia's hysterical screams, her half brother, sculptor Charlie Weston, runs onto the front porch of his house and shoots the assailant. Charlie then drives Virginia, who is suffering from traumatic shock, to the Highland Sanitarium, where he commits her to the care of Dr. Greenwood. Over the next six months, Virginia falls under Greenwood's control and he becomes increasingly possessive of his voluptuous blonde patient. A short time later, Greenwood decides the time has come for them to leave the sanitarium, and they move to the city, where Virginia changes her name to Yolanda Lange and finds work as an exotic dancer at the El Madhouse nightclub. One night, Bill Sweeney, a reporter who covers the nightclub circuit for the local newspaper, comes to El Madhouse and is mesmerized by Virginia's sensuous dancing. After Virginia finishes her performance, Joann Mapes, the nightclub's proprietor, takes Bill backstage to meet her new star dancer. As Bill flirts with Virginia in her dressing room, he becomes intrigued by the nude statue of a frightened woman that he spots on her dressing table. Greenwood, now posing as Green, Virginia's manager, enters and after gruffly dismissing Bill, admonishes Virginia to follow his orders. On a dark street later that night, Virginia is attacked by a knife-wielding assailant. Before her Great Dane, Devil, can drive the assailant away, the man slashes Virginia across her stomach. After Virginia is taken to the hospital, Bill goes to the newsroom to review the file of Lola Lake, a dancer recently killed by "The Slasher." As Bill studies the article and accompanying photo, he is startled to see the statue of a nude, frightened woman lying next to Lola's body. When Bill goes to the hospital to question Virginia about the statue in her dressing room, she denies that it was ever there. Afterward, Bill discovers that Lola bought the statue at a gift shop owned by Raoul Reynarde. There, Raoul tells Bill that the statue is called "Screaming Mimi" and was created by a sculptor named Charlie Weston. After Bill buys Raoul's last statue, he sneaks into Virginia's dressing room and finds that her copy of the statue is gone. Once Virginia recovers, Capt. Bline, the officer in charge of the investigation into her attack, gives a party in her honor at El Madhouse, hoping that Virginia might be able to identify her assailant among the partygoers. Virginia never comes to the party, however, and instead walks Devil along the street of her attack. Sensing that Virginia would return there, Bill follows and meets her. After they passionately embrace, Bill takes Virginia back to his apartment, and as they make love, Virginia declares that he makes her feel "like a full person." The next morning, when Virginia awakens from a nightmare, Bill urges her to leave Greenwood and arranges to meet her at Virginia's apartment in one hour. When Bill arrives, however, Greenwood is there and Virginia, now cold and distant, insists on staying with him. After Bill storms out, Greenwood warns Virginia that she is "nothing" without him. Soon after, Bill receives a telegram from Charlie responding to his inquiry about the statue. Posing as an art dealer, Bill visits Charlie in Laguna Beach and learns that he modeled Mimi on his sister Virginia. Charlie explains that, just as he was beginning to sculpt the statue, Virginia was attacked and he was forced to commit her. Several months later, he received a letter from the sanitarium notifying him of his sister's death. Upon returning to the newspaper, Bill tells his editor, Walter Krieg, that he believes there is a link between Mimi and the slasher. Hoping that someone might be able to identify the statue stolen from Virginia's dressing room, Bill asks Walter to run a picture of it in the paper. After the police tap Virginia's phones, Bline and Bill listen in from the basement of her apartment building. Soon after, Greenwood calls from the lobby to see Virginia. Once inside her apartment, Greenwood chastises Virginia for keeping the statue, which he describes as "the fetish on which she has fixed her mania." Greenwood contends that because Virginia saw the statue right after her attack, she associated it with the attacker and then became fixated on those aggressive feelings, ultimately killing Lola after she bought a copy of the statue. Greenwood then explains that he attacked Virginia the night she met Bill in hopes of reversing her fixation. When Greenwood rifles through Virginia's drawer and finds her copy of the statue, she becomes enraged and commands Devil to attack him. Devil then lunges at Greenwood, sending him crashing though a window and onto the street below. As Bline, Bill and several police officers rush to the mortally injured Greenwood, Greenwood lies that he killed Lola, then beseeches Bill to take care of Virginia. Meanwhile, Virginia has slipped out of her apartment with Devil, and Bill tracks her to a run-down hotel on skid row. There, Bill states that he knows her real name is Virginia Weston and that she killed Lola. Just as Virginia sics Devil on Bill, the police arrive and subdue the dog. Virginia, now in a trance-like state, is led away into a waiting ambulance.
Yogoto no yume (1933)
Plot
This silent feature by the esteemed Japanese director Mikio Naruse takes the form of a domestic melodrama. Sumiko Kurishima stars as Omitsu, a barmaid and single parent long-estranged from her irresponsible, out-of-work husband (Tatsuo Saito). When he suddenly returns without advance warning, she does anything and everything in her power to pull the pieces of her shattered family back together. Naruse employs heavy stylization to tell his story, including the repeated use of montage, a fractured chronology, and metonymical close-ups of characters' moving legs. When combined, these elements imbue the motion picture with much tension and a lingering sense of unease.
Bimong (2008)
Plot
In this unusual and slightly ominous romantic fantasy from Korea, Joe Odagiri stars as Jin, a young man who experiences a foreboding nightmare about a traffic accident and feels compelled, upon waking, to travel to the same spot he visited in the dream. As it turns out, a hit-and-run accident indeed occurred there; curious, Jin tails the police to the home of the suspect - a beautiful young woman named Ran (Lee Na-Young) who vehemently denies involvement and cites, as an alibi, the fact that she slept the entire night. Jin relays the specifics of his dream to the cops and insists that they arrest him; they dismiss him as a crank and arrest Ran instead, but in time the young man and woman discover a bizarre pattern: when he dreams of specific events, she acts out those events in real life.
Aruitemo aruitemo (2008)
Plot
Forty-something art restorer Yokoyama Ryota (Abe Hiroshi) reluctantly returns to his parents' home with his new wife Yukari (Natsukawa Yui) for a rare reunion. The family is holding a memorial for the eldest son who passed away 15 years ago, and Ryota has not been looking forward to the occasion. To his father (Harada Yoshio), Ryota can never compare to his late brother, and silent resentment has accumulated between father and son over the years. Likewise, Ryota's mother (Kiki Kirin) carries years of bottled frustrations and disappointments that slip out in casual, cutting remarks. Only sister Chinami (You) seems to somehow keep herself above the family drama. As the day wears on, the family runs through the simple gestures and complex emotions that keep them together and push them apart.
The World Moves On (1934)
plot
In the tradition of Fox Studios' Oscar-winning Cavalcade, The World Moves On covers over one hundred years in the lives of two Louisiana families: The Girards, of French extraction, and the Warburtons, formerly of Manchester. Forming an alliance by marriage in 1825, the families rapidly corner the cotton business in the South. Years later, three of Girard/Warburton sons split up to head business operations in England, France and Germany: as a result, descendants of the original families find themselves fighting on opposite sides during WW I (this episode is similar to a memorable sequence in the 1928 silent Four Sons, which like World Moves On was directed by John Ford). Surviving the war, Richard (Franchot Tone), the last of the descendants becomes a sharkish Wall Street speculator in the 1920s, ultimately losing his fortune in the Wall Street Crash. Bloody but unbowed, Richard and his wife Mary (Madeleine Carroll) cut their losses and return to their ancestral home, to start all over again. Both The World Moves On and the subsequent Fox production Road to Glory rely to a considerable extent upon stock footage from the grim 1931 French antiwar drama Wooden Crosses.
Carver (2008)
plot
Based on true events, Carver tells the tale of five friends on a short camping trip in the mountain town of Halcyon Ridge. When they take a small detour to an abandoned farm owned by the Carver family, they fumble onto a horror film they think is only a movie. As they explore their eerie surroundings, they discover the truth behind the film and the Carver family. They begin to open doors that should never have been opened. Soon, it becomes a matter of life imitating art and art imitating death. Witness one of the most terrifying killing sprees ever to splash on screen. As you scream and cringe, you'll wonder what the Carvers could possibly do next...
Murder Is My Beat (1955)
Movie
Mr. Dean's body is found face down in the fireplace, his features burned beyond recognition. Detectives Patrick (Paul Langton) and Rawley (Robert Shayne) arrest nightclub-singer Eden Lane (Barbara Payton) and she is convicted of the crime. On the way to prison, Eden sees a man through the train window, identifying him as the murderer, and Patrick and Eden jump from the train to search for the man. In a series of plot twists, the murderer is found, and Eden and Patrick are reunited. Directer Edgar G. Ulmer uses flashbacks and elliptical editing to good effect, but the film lacks any strong visual or narrative center. Barbara Peyton delivers a great performance as the ambiguous, mysterious femme-fatale. While still of some interest, Murder is My Beat lacks the power and grim vision of Ulmer's bleak gem, Detour.