85% (3) In Cold Blood 134 min, R, [Biography, Crime, Drama, History] [Richard Brooks] [07 Mar 1968]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 80%, Rotten Tomatoes: 86%, Metacritic: 89%, External Reviews
Awards: Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 4 wins & 5 nominations.
Actors: John Forsythe, Paul Stewart, Robert Blake, Scott Wilson
Writer: Truman Capote (based on the book by), Richard Brooks (written for the screen by)
External Links: Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: In meeting in Kansas, ex-cons Perry Smith and Dick Hickock are breaking several conditions of their respective paroles. The meeting, initiated by Dick, is to plan and eventually carry out a robbery based on information he had received from a fellow inmate about $10,000 cash being locked in a hidden safe in the home of the farming Clutter family of Holcomb, Kansas. After the robbery, they plan on going to Mexico permanently to elude capture by the police. Each brings a necessary personality to the partnership to carry out the plan, Dick who is the brash manipulator, Perry the outwardly more sensitive but unrealistic dreamer with a violent streak under the surface. Perry literally carries all his dreams in a large box he takes with him wherever he goes. The robbery does not go according to plan in any respect, the pair who ultimately hogtie and execute all four members of the Clutter family, only coming away from the home with $43 in cash. As Perry and Dick go on the run, a murder investigation ensues, led by Topeka based Detective Alvin Dewey. If Dewey and his team are able eventually to identify the pair as the murderers and capture them, they, if they understand the two, may get their much needed confessions in dividing and conquering. Perry and Dick's fates may also be regardless of who literally pulled the trigger.
Rotten Tomatoes: This docudrama recreates a real life crime in which an entire family was brutally murdered by wandering gunmen.
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87% (2) Kiss Me Deadly 106 min, Not Rated, [Crime, Film-Noir, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller] [Robert Aldrich] [01 Jul 1955]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 76%, Rotten Tomatoes: 97%, External Reviews
Awards: 1 win.
Actors: Albert Dekker, Juano Hernandez, Paul Stewart, Ralph Meeker
Writer: Mickey Spillane (novel), A.I. Bezzerides (screenplay)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Website Language: English, Italian, Spanish Country: USA
Plot: A frightened woman is running barefoot on a highway, trying desperately to flag a car. After several cars pass her by, the woman sees another car approaching, and to make sure either the car stops - or, she's killed, she stands in the path of an on-coming car. Private Investigator Mike Hammer is the one at the wheel, and after almost hitting the woman, he tells her to get in. The woman's name is Christina Bailey.. She is obviously on the run, being barefoot and wearing nothing but a trench coat, and the scent of fear. Whoever was after her eventually catches up with them. Christina has information they want, but dies while being questioned. The killers fake an accident by pushing Hammer's car off the road, but, he survives, waking up in hospital two weeks later. As Mike starts to investigate Christina's death, he's told by the police to stay out of it, but, the hard-nosed PI proceeds anyways. Little did he know that Christina's secret would lead to death and destruction.
Rotten Tomatoes: This film noir stars Ralph Meeker as Mickey Spillane's anti-social private eye Mike Hammer. After he and a hitchhiker are kidnapped by thugs, the semiconscious Hammer helplessly watches as the girl is tortured to death. Seeking vengeance, Hammer searches for the secret behind the girl's murder.
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83% (2) Champion 99 min, Approved, [Drama, Film-Noir, Sport] [Mark Robson] [20 May 1949]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 74%, Rotten Tomatoes: 92%, External Reviews
Awards: Won 1 Oscar. Another 1 win & 9 nominations.
Actors: Arthur Kennedy, Kirk Douglas, Marilyn Maxwell, Paul Stewart
Writer: Carl Foreman (screenplay), Ring Lardner (story "Champion")
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: Midge Kelly, hitchhiking west with lame brother Connie, is hustled unprepared into a pro boxing match. Though he's severely beaten, manager Tommy Haley finds him promising. Arrived in California, Midge and Connie find nothing but a menial job from which Midge gets relief by seducing Emma, a lovely young waitress. One shotgun marriage later, ambitious Midge falls back on the only option he knows: boxing. Seduced by cheering crowds, money, and a succession of blondes, Midge becomes more and more of a hero in public...and a heel in private.
Rotten Tomatoes: In this boxing drama, Kirk Douglas stars as Midge Kelly, a poor, ambitious boy who accidentally learns that he is a "natural" boxer. He wins his early fights with ease and eventually becomes champion of the world. Then rot sets in and almost destroys his life and career.
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74% (1) The Window 73 min, Approved, [Drama, Film-Noir, Thriller] [Ted Tetzlaff] [01 May 1949]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 74%, External Reviews
Awards: Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 1 win & 2 nominations.
Actors: Arthur Kennedy, Barbara Hale, Bobby Driscoll, Paul Stewart, Ruth Roman
Writer: Mel Dinelli (screenplay), Cornell Woolrich (based on a story by: "The Boy Cried Murder")
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: At the age of 9, Tommy Woodry has a reputation for telling tall tales -- the latest one being that his family is moving from Manhattan to a ranch out west. When the landlord interrupts the Woodrys at dinner to show their about to be vacated apartment, the Woodrys tell Tommy enough is enough. Then that hot summer night Tommy decides to sleep on the fire escape -- outside the Kellerson's apartment, since it is a story higher and gets more breeze. Tommy sees the Kellersons kill a man. Tommy's parents and the police won't believe his story. But the Kellersons want to silence him.
Rotten Tomatoes: In this melodrama, Bobby Driscoll stars as a young boy prone to fibs. Thus, no one believes Driscoll when he claims to have seen a murder in a neighboring apartment. No one, that is, except the killers. With no help from his parents or the law, Driscoll must save himself.
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67% (1) The Dain Curse 360 min, [Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller] [N/A] [22 May 1978]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 67%, External Reviews
Awards: Nominated for 3 Primetime Emmys. Another 1 win.
Actors: James Coburn, Jason Miller, Nancy Addison, Paul Stewart
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: Hard-boiled private dick Hamilton Nash is hired to investigate a case of stolen diamonds, which leads him to a lovely and odd young woman named Gabrielle, who believes she has been stricken with the ancient curse of the Dain family. The curse has historically caused its victims to die prematurely.
Rotten Tomatoes: Dashiell Hammett's money-grubbing detective Hamilton Nash is on the case in this mystery set in 1928. This time he is looking into the suspicious suicide of a prominent millionaire and trying to recover purloined diamonds that are reportedly cursed. This version of the tale was released as five-hour television mini-series. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
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67% (1) Appointment with Danger 89 min, APPROVED, [Crime, Drama, Film-Noir] [Lewis Allen] [11 Jun 1951]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 67%, External Reviews
Actors: Alan Ladd, Jan Sterling, Paul Stewart, Phyllis Calvert
Writer: Richard L. Breen, Warren Duff
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: Relentless postal inspector Al Goddard is set to Gary, Indiana, when another officer is murdered. He must find the nun who witnessed the murder, then infiltrate the gang by convincing them he is a postal inspector gone bad.
Rotten Tomatoes: In this film, Al Goddard, special investigator for the U.S. post office, is assigned to collar two criminals who've murdered a postal detective. Goddard must first locate the only witness to the crime, attractive young nun Sister Augustine.
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62% (1) Top Secret Affair 100 min, APPROVED, [Comedy] [H.C. Potter] [30 Jan 1957]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 62%, External Reviews
Actors: Jim Backus, Kirk Douglas, Paul Stewart, Susan Hayward
Writer: John P. Marquand (novel), Roland Kibbee, Allan Scott
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: The head of a large publishing empire is dismayed when a top army general is about to be appointed to an atomic energy committee. She's determined to discredit him prior to the appointment and invites him to spend the weekend at her country home where she's arranged many traps.
Rotten Tomatoes: When an Army general is appointed to the sensitive diplomatic post that the powerful publisher of a prominent news magazine had hoped would go to a particularly qualified civilian, she launches a vitriolic campaign to discredit the general. First the publisher orders one of her cameraman to snap a few incriminating photographs of the general. In order to get them, she invites the general out for a night on the town. No matter how hard she tries to get him drunk, the general remains sober. Unfortunately, she ends up quiet tipsy and falls in a pool where she nearly drowns until the general rescues her. The sodden but grateful publisher kisses him and it is at that point that they realize that animosity is rapidly turning to love, at least for her. When she discovers that her newborn love is fated to remain unrequited because of things from the general's past, the jealous publisher pens a poisonous article about him. This creates all kinds comical obstacles and further misunderstandings.
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