Classic Movies, Movies |
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Classic Movies, MoviesPages Back To God's Country/something New Two extraordinary films starring early independent producer, writer, conservationist and star Nell Shipman. In "Back to God's Country" (1919, 72 min.), Shipman is a beautiful young wife trapped on an icebound ship. The captain will stop at nothing to have his way with Nell. With only the help of a ferocious dog named Wapi, she must stave off his advances and escape with her severely wounded husband to safety. "Something New" (1920, 60 min.) is a thrilling and hilarious Western where the hero comes to the rescue of the kidnapped girl--in a 1920 Maxwell sedan! Chased by bandits on horseback across rocky terrain, Shipman and co-star Bert Van Tuyle survive some of the most amazing stunts ever attempted in a roadster. Love Light This rarely-seen film directed by legendary Oscar-winning screenwriter Frances Marion (Stella Maris, The Wind, Camille) provided Mary Pickford with one of her most fully realized adult characters. Angela (Pickford) tends a lighthouse in an Italian fishing village while her brothers are fighting at the front. She discovers a foreign sailor washed ashore and nurses him back to health while falling in love. After they marry and have a child, Angela learns that he is a German spy and her innocent actions have helped cause the death of her brother. Marion showed Hollywood she could hold her own behind the camera in this beautifully atmospheric, gorgeously shot and deeply moving film. Just For The Hell Of It/blast-off "Just For the Hell of It" (1968, 81 min.) - Teens run amok in the Drive-In double bill from the incredible Herschell Gordon Lewis! A gang of nihilistic delinquents raise hell in a suburban community by doing whatever they want, whenever they want, Just For the Hell of It! Dexter, Denny, Bitsy, and Lummox aren't misunderstood, underprivileged, or even angry, they're just plain bad. When things get dull, they hop in their '67 Mustang and commit senseless acts of cowardly chaos. "Blast-Off Girls" (1967, 83 min.) Slimeball manager Boogie Baker tries to turn a small-time teenage rock band into an overnight sensation with the help of pot parties, blackmail, and plenty of Blast-Off Girls in H.G. Lewis' answer to "A Hard Day's Night," which also includes a cameo by Mr. Rock & Roll himself, Kentucky Fried Chicken's Colonel Sanders! Special Features: Trailer, Gallery of Drive-In exploitation art, Drive-In intermission shorts; "Facts of Life" Drive-In book pitch;...... Married Virgin The silent screen's greatest lover in an early performance. "The Married Virgin" is one of the first films featuring Rudolph Valentino, who would soon star in "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" and "The Sheik," establishing him as a silent era screen icon in 1921. Valentino plays Count Roberto di Fraccini, a fortune hunter having an affair with the wife of a wealthy older businessman while trying to finagle a large sum of money from the family by any means necessary. Valentino's striking appearance and the strength of his performance foreshadow the superstar he would soon become. Special Features: Includes an excerpt from "Eyes of Youth" (1919) and an original Pathe newsreel documenting the 150,000 people viewing Valentino's body lying in state in 1926. Foolish Wives A beautiful reconstruction of Erich von Stroheim's classic silent feature. Publicized as the first film to cost a million dollars, "Foolish Wives" was at once praised for its extravagant visual design and condemned for its portrayal of a rogue count's unbridled and often peculiar sexual obsessions. The plot concerns the actions of the "Count" and two of his mistresses posing as his cousins as they set about separating rich ladies from their fortunes. In every way characteristic of writer/director/star von Stroheim's greatest works, "Foolish Wives" has over time gained a reputation as the great director's other masterwork, ranking second only to "Greed." The film is mastered from the original restored print. Dr. Mabuse The Gambler Black & White, STD, Unrated, Fritz Lang Destiny Black & White, STD, Unrated, Fritz Lang Vanishing American Black & White, STD, English Subtitles, Unrated, Richard Dix Carmen/the Cheat Two Cecil B. DeMille classic film and a Charlie Chaplin short on one special DVD. "Carmen" (56 min.) stars famed Metropolitan Opera soprano Geraldine Farrar in her most famous role on stage and screen. Her high-spirited and erotic performance dominates this vibrant film adaptation of Prosper Meimee's story and George Bizet's opera. "The Cheat" (59 min.) establishes the familiar DeMille narrative formula wherein a wayward wife's implusive indiscretions propel her into public scandal, private shame and marital turmoil. Also included is Charlie Chaplin's "Burlesque On Carmen" (30 min.), a brilliant parody of DeMille's "Carmen," reconstructed for the first time. Battle Of The Sexes D. W. Griffith is properly esteemed as "The Father of Film" from his years of discovery making short films at the pioneer Biograph Company and for such pioneering features as "The Birth of a Nation," "Intolerance," "Broken Blossoms," Way Down East" and "Orphans of the Storm" (all available on DVD from Image Entertainment), but his later films--several of them lost or almost unavailable--were far less critically hailed. Griffith's 1928 comedy-drama "The Battle of the Sexes" proves to be the exception. It is the story of a middle-aged magnate (Jean Hersholt) who makes a fool of himself when he strays from his loving but frowsy wife (Belle Bennett) and children (Billy Bakewell and Sally O'Neil) into the cynical arms of a gold-digger (Phyllis Haver) and her dishonest lover (Don Alvarado). As these characters are hurt and healed, Griffith expertly draws fine lines between tragedy and comedy, and his skill makes all the difference between emotional...... Silent Shakespeare Such stuff as dreams are made on... In the early days of cinema, pioneer filmmakers created these seven charming, moving and magical films based on the plays of William Shakespeare. Considered a "lowbrow" medium, the fledgling movie industry sought to elevate its status by immortalizing the classics and hiring the greatest actors of the day. As most of these early photoplays were only one or two reels long, adapting the Bard proved to be both challenging and inspiring. Digitally restored by the British Film Institute, this DVD features: King John (Britain, 1899), The Tempest (Britain, 1908), A Midsummer Night's Dream (USA, 1909), King Lear (Italy, 1910), Twelfth Night (USA, 1910), The Merchant of Venice (Italy, 1910), Richard III (Britain, 1911). Tonight Or Never Silent screen superstar Gloria Swanson (Queen Kelly) is an opera diva with a problem, she sings beautifully, but without passion. Is handsome Melvyn Douglas (The Old Dark House) the answer to her dreams, or just a gigolo? Directed by Mervyn LeRoy (Little Caesar), Swanson and newcomer Douglas are sexy and charming in this romantic comedy of misunderstandings and double entendres. "Tonight or Never" is a delightful and dazzling film from Hollywood's Golden Age. |
