Mr. Wolf's BIG List of Forgotten, Overlooked and Underappreciated Films.
With this list I hope to shine a light on lesser-known/under-viewed films I feel deserve a little more attention - All films on this list have received less than 10,000 votes.
Also, one film I had to remove because it's labeled "Adult": Yoshiwara enjô (1987)
If you have any comments/suggestions, feel free to leave them here: Letterboxd
Also, one film I had to remove because it's labeled "Adult": Yoshiwara enjô (1987)
If you have any comments/suggestions, feel free to leave them here: Letterboxd
List activity
85K views
• 5 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
5395 titles
- DirectorAlain ResnaisStarsClaude RichOlga Georges-PicotAnouk FerjacAfter attempting suicide, Claude is recruited for a time travel experiment, but, when the machine goes haywire, he may be trapped hurtling through his memories.Said to have inspired Michel Gondry's 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind', the story also has a lot in common with Chris Marker's 'La Jetée' and Terry Gilliam's 'Twelve Monkeys', obviously.
- DirectorNikos KoundourosStarsDinos IliopoulosMargarita PapageorgiouGiannis ArgyrisA peaceful, frightened little man is mistakenly identified as "the dragon", a notorious criminal at large. He briefly and reluctantly rules the underworld until they realize their mistake.Golden Lion nominee 1956 (no winner awarded). Routinely regarded as one of the greatest Greek films of all-time.
- DirectorTomás Gutiérrez AleaStarsSergio CorrieriDaisy GranadosEslinda NúñezA Cuban man cycles through his opinions and memories as the threat of foreign invasion intensifies and the rest of his family moves to Miami.Ranked as the 144th best film of all time in a 2012 Sight & Sound poll.
- DirectorEliseo SubielaStarsLorenzo QuinterosHugo SotoInés VernengoA patient in a mental hospital claims to be an extraterrestial. Could he be right?The makers of this film actually sued several people connected to the 2001 science fiction film 'K-PAX' on the grounds of plagiarism, but that complaint was later withdrawn. Watch both films for yourself and see the similarities.
- DirectorGuy HamiltonStarsAlastair SimArthur YoungOlga LindoA wealthy family is visited by a police inspector, who questions the family about the suicide of a young working-class woman.
- DirectorWojciech HasStarsJan NowickiTadeusz KondratIrena OrskaJózef visits his dying father at a remote mental institution, where time itself doesn't seem to exist, and the line between dreams and memories becomes indistinguishable.Palme d'Or nominee 1973 ('Scarecrow' (1973) and 'The Hireling' (1973) shared the honor). Not exactly material for the casual filmgoer.
- DirectorNarciso Ibáñez SerradorStarsLilli PalmerCristina GalbóJohn Moulder-BrownA strict headmistress runs a secluded school for wayward girls in 19th century France, whose students are disappearing under mysterious circumstances.Stylish and no doubt influential Spanish thriller from the writer/director of 'Who Can Kill a Child?' (1976). One thing you can say about Narciso Ibáñez Serrador, he knew how to end a horror film proper.
- DirectorJean RenoirStarsMichel SimonJanie MarèseGeorges FlamantMaurice Legrand, a meek cashier married to a nagging wife, has a secret passion: he's a Sunday painter. He falls in love with Lulu, a young woman dominated by Dédé, the pimp who she works for. Dédé pushes Lulu into a relationship with him.'The Bitch'
It was remade by Fritz Lang in the United States as 'Scarlet Street' (1945).
Notes: From Wikipedia - In the film Michel Simon falls in love with Janie Marèze, and he did off-screen as well, while Marèze fell for Georges Flamant, who plays the pimp. Renoir and producer Pierre Braunberger had encouraged the relationship between Flamant and Marèze in order to get the fullest conviction into their performances - (Flamant was a professional criminal but an amateur actor). After the film had been completed Flamant, who could barely drive, took Marèze for a drive, crashed the car and she was killed. At the funeral Michel Simon fainted and had to be supported as he walked past the grave. He threatened Renoir with a gun, saying that the death of Marèze was all his fault. "Kill me if you like", responded Renoir, "but I have made the film" - DirectorJean RenoirStarsRené LefèvreFlorelleJules BerryThe boss of a publishing company is a womanizer and a jerk, but what would happen if he suddenly disappeared?
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsMaj-Britt NilssonBirger MalmstenAlf KjellinA lonely woman recalls her first love thirteen years prior during a brief summer vacation.Golden Lion nominee 1952 ('Forbidden Games' (1952) won). Considered Ingmar's first "important" film. Bergman established many of the themes he'd explore more thoroughly in future films here.
- DirectorLuis BuñuelStarsErnesto AlonsoMiroslavaRita MacedoThe delirious journey of a mentally disordered man, who is obsessed with committing the perfect crime.
- DirectorVíctor EriceStarsOmero AntonuttiSonsoles ArangurenIcíar BollaínA woman reflects on her childhood relationship with her father, attempting to understand the depths of his despair and the truth of his myths.Golden Hugo winner 1983. Palme d'Or nominee 1983 ('The Ballad of Narayama' (1983) won). Made 10 years after his first film, this is Víctor Erice's enigmatic follow-up to his brilliant masterpiece 'The Spirit of the Beehive', a neglected gem.
- DirectorFrantisek VlácilStarsJosef KemrMagda VásáryováNada HejnaA grim portrayal of the shift from Paganism to Christianity in medieval central Europe - as a young virgin promised to God is kidnapped and raped by a marauder who her religious father seeks to kill in return.Voted the greatest Czech film of all-time.
- DirectorJacques RivetteStarsJuliet BertoDominique LabourierBulle OgierA mysteriously linked pair of young women find their daily lives preempted by a strange boudoir melodrama that plays itself out in a hallucinatory parallel reality.Just see it. Many will be perplexed to the point of disliking it, others, like I, will be enthralled by its strange magic.
- DirectorMarcel CarnéStarsArlettyMarie DéaFernand LedouxIn medieval France, the Devil intervenes when one of his two envoys, sent to seduce and deceive mortals, falls instead for a victim.'The Devil's Envoys'
- DirectorToshio HirataOsamu TezukaStarsKatsue MiwaRyouko KitamiyaKazuko SugiyamaWhen Unico, a young unicorn, is taken from his family by evil gods, his powers of joy and happiness are put to the test. Can Unico's power triumph the darkness?Starts out light, but soon gets very dark. Thus is the fate of "Unico". AKA - 'The Fantastic Adventures of Unico'.
- DirectorFrançois TruffautStarsGérard DepardieuFanny ArdantHenri GarcinTwo ex-lovers wind up living next door to each other with their respective spouses. Forbidden passions ensue.
- DirectorRoy BoultingStarsHayley MillsHywel BennettBillie WhitelawMartin Durnley (Hywel Bennett) is a troubled young man. With a mother who insists on treating him like a child, a stepfather who can't wait to see the back of him, and a brother with Down's Syndrome shut away in an institution, is it any wonder he retreats into an alternate personality - that of six-year-old Georgie? It is Georgie who befriends Susan Harper (Hayley Mills), but friendship soon turns into obsession. When Susan begins to distance herself, something inside Georgie snaps and he embarks on a killing spree, with Susan as the next target.Daryl Hannah's catchy whistling from 'Kill Bill' was borrowed this film and was composed by Bernard Herrmann, Alfred Hitchcock's frequent collaborator.
- DirectorKonrad WolfStarsSasha KrusharskaJürgen FrohriepErik S. KleinThe tragic love of a Jewish girl and a Nazi officer is presented as a symbol of human purity defeated by fascism and racial prejudice.
- DirectorYusaku SakamotoEiichi YamamotoIn a small and colourful town, a little girl, a tiny grey mouse, a plentiful sycamore tree, a troublesome moth and a vivid community of posters coexist in a forgotten street corner.
Osamu Tezuka’s childhood experiences in wartime Japan indelibly shaped the themes and motifs of his manga and anime. His award-winning animation Story of a Certain Street Corner (aka Tales of the Street Corner/ ある街角の物語, 1962) is the most lyrical expression of Tezuka’s humanist, anti-war sentiments...-Nishikata Film Review
- DirectorWladyslaw StarewiczStarsNina StarA partly-animated short film, a fairy-tale-like telling of why the nightingale only sings at night. A young girl who has caught a nightingale dreams about the nightingale and its mate, and comes to realize that birds are not made to be captive but free. In return for its freedom, the nightingale loans the child its voice for use in the daytime, which is why nightingales only sing at night.
- DirectorIvan AksenchukStarsNina GulyaevaAnatoliy PapanovVladimir TroshinBased on the fairy tale by Andersen. A film about love and friendship. The little mermaid falls in love with a handsome prince and saves him from death. To be with him, the Little Mermaid loses her voice in exchange for a human form.
'The Little Mermaid' "On the motives of a fairy tale of Andersen. The Film is about love and friendship. Mermaid falls in love with fine prince and rescues him from destruction. She wanted to be with him so she loses her voice in exchange for a human appearance."
- DirectorHsiao-Hsien HouStarsChi-Kuang WangShu-Chen LiHsiu-Ling LinA coming-of-age story about a young brother and sister who spend a pivotal summer in the country with their grandparents.
Grandpa (Koo Chuen) and Grandma (Mei Fong) live in the fertile Taiwanese countryside. A boy (Wang Chi-Kwang) and his sister (Sun Cheeng-Lee) are packed off to their grandparents when their mother falls ill. Though relationships are strained at first, the boy and girl end up having a wonderful summer with grandpa, as the old man takes them on fishing trips and helps them in their search for a lost cow. Summer At Grandpa's didn't have a very long theatrical life in Taiwan, though it proved more successful on the international scene. The film's original title was Tung-Tung-Te-Chia-Ch'i, which in itself is reason enough to see it - Allrovi
- DirectorKenji MizoguchiStarsKinuyo TanakaMitsuko MitoKuniko MiyakeA woman's struggle for equality in Japan in the 1880s. Eiko Hirayama leaves Okayama for Tokyo, where she helps the fledgling Liberal Party and falls in love with its leader Kentaro Omoi, just as the party is being disbanded by the government. Eiko and Omoi are jailed because of a fire at a factory instigated by Chiyo, a servant girl from Eiko's home in Okayama, who was sold to slavery. A few years later the 1889 constitution is proclaimed, Eiko, Omoi, and Chiyo are pardoned, and the Liberal Party is reinaugurated. However Omoi does not campaign for women's rights.
- DirectorVladimir MotylStarsAnatoliy KuznetsovPavel LuspekayevSpartak MishulinAt the end of the Russian Civil War, Red Army soldier Fyodor Sukhov is ordered to guard the harem of a Caspian Sea guerrilla leader.
- DirectorRitwik GhatakStarsSupriya ChoudhuryAnil ChatterjeeGyanesh MukherjeeA selfless young woman (Supriya Choudhury) sacrifices her own happiness for her unappreciative family.
- DirectorMax OphülsStarsJames MasonBarbara Bel GeddesRobert RyanAn ambitious young LA department store model gets her wish of marrying a millionaire but she eventually discovers that rich life isn't always a happy one.
- DirectorAndré DelvauxStarsSenne RouffaerBeata TyszkiewiczHector CamerlynckGovert Miereveld is a schoolteacher who has an unhealthy obsession with Fran, one of his students. On the day of Fran's graduation, Govert decides that he needs to tell her.
- DirectorLuis García BerlangaStarsNino ManfrediEmma PenellaJosé IsbertAn undertaker marries an old executioner's daughter and must continue his father-in-law's profession after his retirement, although he doesn't like it.
- DirectorGustav MachatýStarsKarel SchleichertIta RinaOlaf FjordA young woman is seduced and abandoned by a man who was invited to stay at his home by her father in a stormy night. Noticing that she is pregnant, the girl decides to leave home and start a new life.
'Erotikon' - Remarkably frank for any era, EROTIKON is drenched in a ripe sensuality that flows freely from every frame. A young woman is seduced and abandoned by a stranger. What happens next appears to follow the ages-old dictate of guilt, humiliation, and punishment but director Gustav Machat has something far more adult up his sleeve. A genuine scorcher from Czechoslovakia -Brown Paper Tickets
- DirectorKarel KachynaStarsJirina BohdalováRadoslav BrzobohatýGustav OpocenskýAfter coming home from a Party gathering one night, a Czech official becomes convinced that he is about to be the subject of a political purge and tries to do damage control, while also dealing with his turbulent marriage.
- DirectorJan NemecStarsHelena PejskováJana PracharováZdena SkvoreckaA small group of bourgeois guests head for a birthday party of a prominent figure. As they go through the woods and have a picnic, they are suddenly surrounded by a bunch of suspicious strangers.
- DirectorRobert SiodmakStarsClaus HolmMario AdorfHannes MessemerA serial killer strikes again during World War II in Germany. The wrong man is arrested and a detective hunts down the real killer, but justice in Nazi Germany is not so easily administered.
- DirectorRobert HamerStarsGoogie WithersJack WarnerJohn McCallumAn escaped convict tries to hide out at his former lover's house, but she has since married and is reluctant to help him.
- DirectorJohn DuiganStarsNoah TaylorLoene CarmenBen MendelsohnIn rural 1960s Australia, a boy watches helplessly as his best friend falls in love with a small-time criminal, setting off a violent chain of events.
- DirectorKen RussellStarsRichard ChamberlainGlenda JacksonMax AdrianPiano teacher Peter Ilych Tchaikovsky struggles against his homosexuality by marrying, but unfortunately he chooses a nymphomaniac whom he cannot satisfy.
- DirectorDelbert MannStarsRobert PrestonDorothy McGuireEve ArdenIn Oklahoma in the 1920s, Rubin Flood (Robert Preston) loses his job as a travelling salesman when the company goes bankrupt. This adds to his worries at home. His wife Cora (Dorothy McGuire) is frigid because of trying to make ends meet. His teenage daughter Reenie (Shirley Knight) is afraid of going out on dates, but eventually makes friends with a troubled Jewish boy Sammy Golden (Lee Kinsolving), and his son is a mama's boy. He finally storms out of the house when Cora falsely accuses him of having an affair with Mavis Pruitt (Dame Angela Lansbury).
- DirectorClaude Autant-LaraStarsMicheline PresleGérard PhilipeDenise GreyDuring World War I, the star-crossed affair of an underage French student with a woman engaged to a soldier.
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsChôko IidaHôhi AokiEitarô OzawaA young boy follows Tashiro home to his tenement housing complex on the outskirts of Tokyo, the boy who was separated from his carpenter father somehow and somewhere in Kudan. All Tashiro knows is that the boy and his father came to town from Chigasaki that morning. Despite Tashiro's want to house the kid until they decide what to do more permanently, Tashiro's roommate, Tamekichi, the tenement's head, won't let the kid stay, not liking children and not wanting to get involved. So Tashiro foists the kid onto their neighbor, the widowed Tane, who too protests, she also not liking children and not wanting to get involved. Tane treats the boy with disdain, which only increases by the next morning due to an overnight incident. Amongst the tenement residents, Tane is charged with going to Chigasaki to see if she can find the father or find out what happened to him. On that trip, what she learns by putting the pieces of the story together is that the father purposefully abandoned the boy as he went off to look for work. This news does not change Tane's outlook or poor treatment of the boy. Nothing changes as the week progresses, however Tane's outlook takes a one hundred eighty degree turn when there is the possibility that she may never see the boy again.
- DirectorAgnieszka HollandStarsBrigitte RoüanFrançois CluzetJean-François StéveninOlivier, the nine-year-old son of Elisabeth and country veterinarian Serge, vanishes one afternoon on the way to his grandmother's house. The emotional aftermath of his disappearance sends his father packing from France to Africa and nearly destroys his mother, who clings to her remaining child Nadine--and her devoted neighbor Marcel. Several years later, having relocated to the city, the police investigator who handled the case meets a Paris rent-boy whom he believes is the missing Olivier. Once he returns to his rural home, the teenage Olivier tries to assuage his mother's now-entrenched grief and heal the rift between his reunited parents. Meanwhile, he must overcome his brooding adolescent sister's jealousy and doubts about his identity and reconcile his sleazy street life with his picturesque new surroundings. Questions about the tight-lipped Olivier's true motivations continue to crop up, however, threatening to send his mother over the edge for good.
- DirectorHsiao-Hsien HouStarsChia-bao ChangNeng ChangChih-Chen ChenThe semi-autobiographical film on director Hou Hsiao-Hsien's childhood and adolescence, when he was growing up in Taiwan, living through the deaths of his father, mother and grandmother.
- DirectorDouglas SirkStarsJohn GavinLiselotte PulverJock MahoneyOn the Russian front in 1944, German private Ernst Graeber receives a leave and visits his family in Germany but Germany isn't the same country he left behind.
- DirectorÉric RohmerStarsMarie RivièreMaría Luisa GarcíaVincent GauthierIt's July, and Delphine has nowhere to go for the summer. She feels very bored and "empty", but this won't last; one day she accidently meets someone who seems to be totally made for her...
- DirectorErnst LubitschStarsMarlene DietrichHerbert MarshallMelvyn DouglasA woman and her husband take separate vacations, and she falls in love with another man.
- DirectorStanislav RostotskiyStarsAndrey MartynovIrina DolganovaElena DrapekoDuring World War II in a small village outpost, a Soviet sergeant has his troop replaced by an all female unit. As they finally begin to appreciate one another, German paratroopers are spotted nearby and the realities of war emerge.
- DirectorFrancesco RosiStarsLino VenturaTino CarraroMarcel BozzuffiAn investigation of the judges' assassinations reveals a political background.
- DirectorArne SkouenStarsJack FjeldstadHenny MoanAlf MallandDuring World War II, nine members of the Norwegian Resistance are trapped by the Germans in a deadly ambush. Only one escapes, and a fierce hunt through the ice desert has begun.
- DirectorHsiao-Hsien HouStarsTony Leung Chiu-waiShu-Fen HsinSung-Young ChenThe story of a family embroiled in the "White Terror" that was wrought on the Taiwanese people by the Kuomintang government after their arrival from mainland China in the late 1940s.
Seen through the prism of the Lin family, this complex family drama from Taiwanese master Hou Hsiao Hsien details a brief but crucial moment in Taiwanese history between 1945, when 50 years of Japanese colonial rule came to an end, and 1949, when Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist Kuomintang forces established a government-in-exile after the Communist army captured mainland China. The film opens with the reedy voice of Emperor Hirohito announcing Japan's surrender as the eldest of the Lin clan's four sons awaits the birth of his child in a coastal town not far from Taipei. Soon afterward, he changes the name of his Japanese decorated bar to "Little Shanghai" and begins trading in the post-war black market. The second son has died in Philippines during the war. The third son, who had a nervous breakdown in Shanghai, starts to consort with Shanghaiese drug dealers upon his return to Taiwan. Once the eldest learns of the third's dealings, he forces him to stop. In retaliation, the Shanghaiese mob arranges for the third son to be imprisoned on trumped up charges of collaboration with the Japanese. The youngest son, Wen-ching, is a gentle deaf-mute photographer who has leftist leanings. The film climaxes with the notorious Incident of February 28, 1947, a Tiananmen Square-style massacre of native Taiwanese committed by Kuomintang troops resulting in between 18,000 to 28,000 causalities. The wounded pour into the neighbor clinic as Wen-ching and his friend Hinoe get arrested. After his release, Hinoe heads for the mountains to join the leftist guerillas while Wen-ching promises to look after his friend's sister Hinomi. Soon after, Wen-ching and Hinomi marry. Just as she is about to bear a child, however, the Kuomintang arrests Wen-ching for his involvement with the guerillas - Allrovi
- DirectorMiklós JancsóStarsJános GörbeZoltán LatinovitsTibor MolnárIn Hungary, the national movement led by Kossuth has been crushed and the Austrian hegemony re-established, but partisans carry on with violent actions. In order to root out the guerilla, the army rounds up suspects and jails them in an isolated fort. The authorities do not have the identity of the guerilla leaders, who are supposed to be present among the prisoners. However, they know enough about some of the suspects to apply perfidious forms of coercion effectively.
- DirectorIrene StarewiczWladyslaw StarewiczStarsClaude DauphinRomain BouquetSylvain ItkineWhen Renard the Fox's mischievous pranks go too far, King Lion is forced to attempt to bring the trickster to justice.
- DirectorJuraj HerzStarsRudolf HrusínskýVlasta ChramostováJana StehnováSet in Central Europe during World War II, a demented cremator believes cremation relieves earthly suffering and sets out to save the world.
- DirectorFrantisek VlácilStarsVítezslav VejrazkaMiroslav MachácekCestmír RandaA priest travels to investigate a miller suspected to be working with the devil.
Although this well-wrought Czech drama has a definite materialistic slant the story is entertaining, set in the 16th century when the Inquistion was still in force. A small town is one day visited by a priest who is there on a secret mission. He is a member of the Inquisition sent to investigate the activities of a local miller. The miller and his son are the descendants of an old family whose ancestral home burned down a century ago, but was rebuilt from scratch. The miller inherited much of his knowledge about the land, water, and a building's stability from generations of family experience. His reputation for finding water and predicting when a structure might collapse have come to the attention of the Inquisition -surely he must be in league with the Devil - Allrovi
- DirectorSatyajit RayStarsSoumitra ChatterjeeBobitaSandhya RoyAs food shortages reach catastrophic proportions, Gangacharan attempts to preserve his privileged situation while his generous wife Ananga conversely tries to help and support the community.
- DirectorNikita MikhalkovStarsMarcello MastroianniSilvana ManganoMarthe KellerAn Italian tells his story of love to a Russian. In a series of flashbacks, Romano Patroni leaves his wife to visit a spa where he falls in love with a Russian woman. He returns to Italy resolved to leave his wife and marry his love.
- DirectorWaris HusseinStarsMark LesterTracy HydeJack WildTwo youngsters declare to their parents that they want to get married as soon as possible.A more charming film you are not likely to find, and you just can't beat that ending! Where's the love?
Tracy Hyde did a little more acting throughout the years, but not much. Mark Lester retired from film in 1977, but there is a rumored comeback. Jack Wild continued acting sporadically until 2005, but tragically died in 2006 from oral cancer caused by his alcoholism and smoking. He was 53. - DirectorSatyajit RayStarsSharmila TagoreSoumitra ChatterjeeChhabi BiswasA young woman is deemed a goddess when her father-in-law, a rich feudal land-lord, has a dream envisioning her as an avatar of Kali.
- DirectorAndrzej ZulawskiStarsMalgorzata BraunekLeszek TeleszynskiJan NowickiSet during the occupation of Poland during World War II. Some German soldiers slaughter a woman, her son, and mother-in-law. The husband and his father escape by being in the forest. The husband decides to join the resistance but at the first meeting the Gestapo kills his go-between and chases him. During his escape he gets into the apartment of a pregnant woman in labor and helps her with the childbirth. He works in the typhus center where he is a guinea pig for lice after being immunized to make more vaccine. He goes to the hospital to end the misery of a man mistaken as him and tortured. He seems to see his own body and is finally reconciled with himself.
- DirectorNikita MikhalkovStarsAleksandr KalyaginElena SoloveyEvgeniya GlushenkoIn Imperial Russia, the nobility has its own entertainments, disputes and worries.
- DirectorTheodoros AngelopoulosStarsEva KotamanidouVangelis KazanAliki GeorgouliGreece, 1939-1952: Fascist, Nazi, and Communist conflict, as seen through the eyes of a family of travelling provincial players.
- DirectorBernhard WickiStarsVolker BohnetFritz WepperMichael HinzIn 1945, Germany is being overrun, and nobody is left to fight but teenagers.
- DirectorJean-Pierre MelvilleStarsHoward VernonNicole StéphaneJean-Marie RobainIn occupied France, an elderly man and his niece are forced to give shelter to a German army lieutenant who seemingly loves their country and culture.
- DirectorPeter HallStarsCyril CusackIan HolmPaul RogersIn a dreary North London flat, the site of perpetual psychological warfare, a philosophy professor visits his family after a nine-year absence, and introduces the four men, father, uncle, and two brothers, to his wife.
- DirectorJaco Van DormaelStarsMichel BouquetMireille PerrierJo De BackerThomas believed he was switched at birth with Alfred. Feeling cheated, Thomas spent his life plotting revenge against Alfred, his perceived lifelong adversary who he felt stole the privileged life that should have been his.
- DirectorBryan ForbesStarsAlan BatesBernard LeeHayley MillsWhen an injured wife murderer takes refuge on a remote Lancashire farm, the owner's three children mistakenly believe him to be the Second Coming of Christ.
- DirectorJerzy SkolimowskiStarsJeremy IronsEugene LipinskiJiri StanislavNowak (Irons), a Polish contractor, leads a group of workmen to London so they can provide cheap labor for a government official based there. Nowak must manage the project and the men as they encounter the temptations of the West and loneliness and separation from their families. Nowak is the only one of the group who speaks English, and he uses this as a tool over his team. When the unrest in Poland leads to a military takeover, Nowak is faced with a much more difficult situation than he expected.
- DirectorDavid Hugh JonesStarsJeremy IronsBen KingsleyPatricia HodgeAn affair between a literary agent and his best friend's wife. The story unfolds in reverse-chronological order.A film told in reverse chronological order. Sound familiar? Besides the obvious film, you may also remember a Seinfeld episode, "The Betrayal", that was actually inspired by this film's structure. Great film ... and great Seinfeld episode!
- DirectorCarlos SauraStarsGeraldine ChaplinJosé Luis López VázquezAlfredo MayoJulian, a middle-aged single doctor, meets his childhood friend Pablo again. The latter is back from Africa and has just married a beautiful young blonde, Elena. Julian falls in love with her and tries to seduce her, but she mockingly pushes him away from her. He then finds that Ana, his nurse, bears a troubling resemblance to Elena. He decides to gradually transform Ana into Elena...
- DirectorAlan J. PakulaStarsMaggie SmithTimothy BottomsDon Jaime de Mora y AragónAmerican Walter Elbertson (Timothy Bottoms), in his late teens, is feeling lost within his family of overachievers. Thirtysomething Englishwoman Lila Fisher (Dame Maggie Smith) is emotionally repressed. The two meet on their respective vacations in Spain when, on the spur of the moment, Walter decides to ditch his overly-regimented cycling-tour group and join the bus tour-group of which Lila is a member. They hardly speak to each other during the first few days, and when they do, they make each other nervous, since each is scared of life. Despite their fears of life, or largely because of it, they enter into a friendship that blossoms into a romance, however rocky the road to that romance is. Out of circumstance, they abandon the bus tour and travel together through Spain on their own, together. Their relationship is put to the test of outside scrutiny when they meet and have an extended stay with a Spanish Duke (Don Jaime de Mora y Aragón).
Filmed in 1971 under the title The Widower, Love and Pain and the Whole Damn Thing finally reached the screen in 1973. Set in Spain, the film stars Timothy Bottoms as the aimless son of doctor Charles Baxter. While bicycling through the Spanish countryside, Charles makes the acquaintance of much-older Lila (Maggie Smith.) He falls in love with her, but she is resistant. Eventually touched by Charles' clumsy sincerity, Lila invites him to bed....-Allrovi
- DirectorÉric RohmerStarsPhilippe MarlaudMarie RivièreAnne-Laure MeuryA young student is devastated when he finds that his girlfriend is cheating on him. In order to find out why she did it, he decides to spy on her and her lover.
- DirectorStanley KwanStarsMaggie CheungHan ChinTony Ka Fai LeungBiopic of 1930s Chinese actress Lingyu Ruan.
- DirectorNarciso Ibáñez SerradorStarsLewis FianderPrunella RansomeAntonio IranzoA couple of English tourists arrive on an island where all the children have gone crazy and are murdering the adults.Also known as 'Island of the Damned'.
- DirectorCharles CrichtonStarsAlastair SimFrederick PiperHarry FowlerA gang of street boys foil a master crook who sends commands for robberies by cunningly altering a comic strip's wording each week, unknown to writer and printer. The first of the Ealing comedies.
- DirectorFrank LaunderStarsAlastair SimMargaret RutherfordJohn TurnbullChaos ensues for staff and students alike after an all-boys and an all-girls school are amalgamated into one.Laugh-out-loud hilarious! Seek this one out.
- DirectorShôhei ImamuraStarsYoshiko TanakaKazuo KitamuraEtsuko IchiharaThe story of the aftermath of the Hiroshima bombing, based on Masuji Ibuse's novel.
- DirectorLuchino ViscontiStarsHelmut BergerRomy SchneiderTrevor HowardThe reign of the tormented Ludwig, king of Bavaria, from 1864 to 1886.
- DirectorPaul NewmanStarsJoanne WoodwardNell PottsRoberta WallachA middle-aged misfit struggles to raise her daughters, one popular and the other a promising science student.Brutally great performance by Woodward. Nell Potts, who gives a terrific and guileless performance herself, is Woodward's real-life daughter, and she and her father, Paul Newman, were once cast as the father and daughter grifters in the film 'Paper Moon', but dropped out, much to Ryan and Tatum O'Neal's good fortune. Nell only starred in two films, this and 'Rachel, Rachel' (1968), both directed by Paul Newman and starring Joanne Woodward.
- DirectorRowland V. LeeStarsLoretta YoungGene RaymondO.P. HeggieAn orphan girl escapes her caregivers to be with a young man raised at the zoo whose only previous friends are the animals.
- DirectorRobert HamerHal E. ChesterCyril FrankelStarsIan CarmichaelTerry-ThomasAlastair SimA young man finds a very special school. It teaches him how to take advantage of people. He begins to put the lessons into operation.Remade in 2006. Awful film. The original is king!
- DirectorJean-Pierre MelvilleStarsJean-Paul BelmondoEmmanuelle RivaIrène TuncSet during occupied France, a faithless woman finds herself falling in love with a young priest.
- DirectorJoseph H. LewisStarsNina FochMay WhittyGeorge MacreadyJulia Ross secures employment through a rather nosy employment agency, with a wealthy widow, Mrs. Hughes, and goes to live at her house. 2 days later, she awakens - in a different house, in different clothes and with a new identity. She's told she is the daughter-in-law of Mrs. Hughes and has suffered a nervous breakdown. Is Julia really 'Julia', or is it true that she's lost all memory of who she is?
- DirectorHideo GoshaStarsRumi AikiHideyo AmamotoNoboru AndôAfter going to prison for killing the boss of the Kanno gang, a gangster gets released early - only to find that his ex-gang has merged with the Kannos. But with bitter resentments lingering on both sides, bloodshed is bound to begin anew.
Wolves is set in Japan in the 1920s. The disintegration of the ancient samurai traditions is paralleled with the rise of the Yakuza, Japan's equivalent of the Mafia. Three gangsters try to keep themselves from getting killed, not only by their higher-ups but by those who perceive them as a threat against the old ways. Evocatively photographed, Wolves allows Western audiences a glimpse of an oft-ignored chapter in Japanese history - Allrovi
- DirectorAleksey GermanStarsAndrei BoltnevNina RuslanovaAndrey MironovRussian provincial town in the middle of the 1930s Stalin's Great Purge. Ivan Lapshin, the head of the local police, does what he has to do. And he does it well.
Alexei German's third film as director is based on stories written by his father, prominent author Yuri German. The mostly black-and-white film begins with a present-day color sequence, then reverts to monochrome and the freezing winter of 1935, when the narrator was nine years old. The boy lived in an apartment with his father and two other men, Police Chief Ivan Lapshin (Andrei Boltnev) and his officious underling (Alexei Zharkov). The story focuses on Lapshin as he tracks down a gang of crooks in his provincial Russian village, helps his recently widowed friend, and enters into a tentative relationship with an actress (Nina Ruslanova). Capable direction by German and a talented ensemble cast make this detailed look at the pre-purge Soviet Union both entertaining and richly rewarding - Allrovi
- DirectorJ. Lee ThompsonStarsJohn MillsAnthony QuayleSylvia SymsDuring World War II in North Africa, a medical field unit must cross the desert in their ambulance in order to reach the British lines in Alexandria.
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsShin SaburiMichiyo KogureKôji TsurutaA childless middle-aged couple faces a marital crisis.
Re-released in 1972, Ochazuke No Aji, or The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice, is one of those films whose transcendent simplicity transforms an ordinary story into something special. A man with very simple tastes and habits meets with growing exasperation from his more sophisticated wife. She treats him with increasing disrespect and nearly has an affair, but something changes her attitude and she returns to him with an appreciation for his simplicity and reliability.-Allrovi
- DirectorJirí WeissStarsIvan MistríkDaniela SmutnáJirina SejbalováDuring World War II, a young student from Prague hides a Jewish girl inside his house. But not all of his neighbors are willing to take the risk.
- DirectorWilliam A. WellmanStarsWallace BeeryRichard ArlenLouise BrooksAfter killing her treacherous step-father, a girl tries to escape the country with a young vagabond. She dresses as a boy, they hop freight trains, quarrel with a group of hobos, and steal a car in their attempt to escape the police, and reach Canada.
- DirectorKenji MizoguchiStarsKazuo HasegawaKyôko KagawaEitarô ShindôIshun is a wealthy but unsympathetic master printer who has wrongly accused his wife and best employee of being lovers. To escape punishment, the accused run away together, but Ishun is certain to be ruined if word gets out.The Crucified Lovers
- DirectorPál FejösStarsBarbara KentGlenn TryonFay HoldernessTwo lonely people in the big city meet and enjoy the thrills of an amusement park, only to lose each other in the crowd after spending a great day together. Will they ever see each other again?
- DirectorVojtech JasnýStarsJan WerichEmília VásáryováVlastimil BrodskýPeople arrive in a small village with a strange cat wearing glasses. When someone takes them off, he can color people, according to their nature and mood. Adults consider him dangerous; children love him.
- DirectorTheodoros AngelopoulosStarsManos KatrakisMary HronopoulouDionysis PapagiannopoulosAn old communist returns to Greece after 32 years in the Soviet Union. However, things aren't the way he had hoped for.
- DirectorFrank BorzageStarsCharles BoyerJean ArthurLeo CarrilloA wealthy divorcée falls for a charming Parisian, but her insanely jealous ex-husband will do anything to get her back.
- DirectorGlauber RochaStarsJardel FilhoPaulo AutranJosé LewgoyIn the fictional Latin American country Eldorado, a poet tries to effect political change by influencing powerful men.
- DirectorSatyajit RayStarsPradip MukherjeeRafique AhmedS. BagchiA bright and idealistic young man steels himself for the dog-eat-dog business world, only to flounder in a job market packed with thousands of other hopefuls.
- DirectorGermaine DulacStarsGermaine DermozMadeleine GuittyJean d'YdAn unhappily married woman devises a scheme to get rid of her husband.
- DirectorFrank BorzageStarsJames DunnSally EilersMinna GombellA man and woman, skeptical about romance, nonetheless fall in love and are wed, but their lack of confidence in the opposite sex haunts their marriage.Pretty good film. No seedy pre-code story here as the films title might imply; just light drama. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, and Borzage won the Academy Award for Directing.
- DirectorJoe MayStarsKay FrancisBasil RathboneIan HunterAging down on her luck cabaret singer murders a respectable composer. On trial she slowly gives in and explains her crime. They had a complicated history.
German director Joe May brought a decidedly Teutonic ambience to his American film Confession--no surprise, since the film was based on the 1935 German production Mazurka. Kay Francis plays a onetime singer who confesses to the murder of her pianist, Basil Rathbone. In flashback, we learn that Rathbone had been responsible for the breakup of Francis's marriage. Years later, Rathbone came back into her life, this time with the intention of seducing Ms. Francis' grown daughter (Jane Bryan). In a variation of Madame X, Francis was stuck with the dilemma of deflecting Rathbone from his "mission"--and of keeping her true identity secret from her daughter. Prior to Mazurka, the Hans Rameau story upon which Confession was based had been filmed as a silent picture starring Gloria Swanson - Allrovi
- DirectorJuraj HerzStarsIva JanzurováJosef AbrhámNina DivískováKlara and Viktoria are sisters. Their father dies, leaving most of his property to Klara. When Klara becomes involved with a man that her sister loves, Viktoria begins to plot her murder.
- DirectorCarl SchultzStarsWendy HughesRobyn NevinNicholas GledhillHis mother dead, PS lives in Sydney with working-class Aunt Lila and Uncle George. When he's six or eight, his posh Aunt Vanessa descends from England. Named a co-guardian by PS's feckless, absent father, she asserts her rights and convinces Lila to have PS live with her weekdays. PS is happy at Lila's, playing with children, running about, speaking up. At Vanessa's, there's a regimen of private school, round vowels, piano and riding lessons, and lonely indoor play with fancy toys. He's miserable and when he objects, she sues for complete custody. Will anyone listen to him? And will he take on Vanessa's challenges to find out who he is and to love someone?Brilliant, heartbreaking film! Unjustly and CRIMINALLY forgotten!
- DirectorReginald Le BorgStarsJon HallLouise AllbrittonEdward Everett HortonA harried daughter tries to keep her wacky family together while trying to sell her eccentric father's latest invention, a collapsible life raft.Just a Great film. There is a charmingly brilliant scene where Virginia, the daughter of an inventor, convinces a bus driver, played by the great Buster Keaton, to leave his scheduled route and take a leisurely, romantic drive along the beach. Great stuff!
- DirectorNikita MikhalkovStarsYuriy BogatyryovAnatoliy SolonitsynSergey ShakurovSet during the Civil War between the Reds and the Whites that followed the 1917 revolution in Russia