91% (3) Rosemary's Baby 137 min, R, [Drama, Horror] [Roman Polanski] [17 Oct 1968]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 80%, Rotten Tomatoes: 99%, Metacritic: 96%, External Reviews
Awards: Won 1 Oscar. Another 9 wins & 12 nominations.
Actors: John Cassavetes, Mia Farrow, Ruth Gordon, Sidney Blackmer
Writer: Ira Levin (novel), Roman Polanski (screenplay)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: Rosemary and Guy Woodhouse move into an apartment in an opulent but gothic building in Manhattan. Their landlord Edward "Hutch" Hutchins attempts to dissuade them from doing so: the building has an unsavory history. They discover that their neighbors are a very friendly elderly couple named Roman and Minnie Castevet, and Guy begins to spend a great deal of time with them. Strange things begin to happen: a young woman Rosemary meets in the laundry commits suicide, Rosemary has strange dreams and hears strange noises and Guy becomes remote and distant. Then Rosemary falls pregnant and begins to suspect that her neighbors have special plans for her child.
Rotten Tomatoes: In Roman Polanski's first American film, adapted from Ira Levin's horror bestseller, a young wife comes to believe that her offspring is not of this world. Waifish Rosemary Woodhouse (Mia Farrow) and her struggling actor husband, Guy (John Cassavetes), move into the Bramford, an old New York City apartment building with an ominous reputation and only elderly residents. Neighbors Roman and Minnie Castevet (Sidney Blackmer and Ruth Gordon) soon come nosing around to welcome the Woodhouses to the building; despite Rosemary's reservations about their eccentricity and the weird noises that she keeps hearing, Guy starts spending time with the Castevets. Shortly after Guy lands a plum Broadway role, Minnie starts showing up with homemade chocolate mousse for Rosemary. When Rosemary becomes pregnant after a mousse-provoked nightmare of being raped by a beast, the Castevets take a special interest in her welfare. As the sickened Rosemary becomes increasingly isolated, she begins to suspect that the Castevets' circle is not what it seems. The diabolical truth is revealed only after Rosemary gives birth, and the baby is taken away from her. Polanski's camerawork and Richard Sylbert's production design transform the realistic setting (shot on-location in Manhattan's Dakota apartment building) into a sinister projection of Rosemary's fears, chillingly locating supernatural horror in the familiar by leaving the most grotesque frights to the viewer's imagination. This apocalyptic yet darkly comic paranoia about the hallowed institution of childbirth touched a nerve with late-'60s audiences feeling uneasy about traditional norms. Produced by B-horror maestro William Castle, Rosemary's Baby became a critically praised hit, winning Gordon an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. Inspiring a wave of satanic horror from The Exorcist (1973) to The Omen (1976), Rosemary's Baby helped usher in the genre's modern era by combining a supernatural story with Alfred Hitchcock's propensity for finding normality horrific. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi
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78% (2) The Count of Monte Cristo 113 min, UNRATED, [Action, Adventure, Drama] [Rowland V. Lee] [07 Sep 1934]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 76%, Rotten Tomatoes: 80%, External Reviews
Awards: 1 win.
Actors: Elissa Landi, Louis Calhern, Robert Donat, Sidney Blackmer
Writer: Alexandre Dumas (novel), Philip Dunne (screenplay), Dan Totheroh (screenplay), Rowland V. Lee (screenplay), Philip Dunne (dialogue), Dan Totheroh (dialogue), Rowland V. Lee (dialogue)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: Edmond Dantes is imprisoned in the Chateau d'If without trial, for carrying a message from Napoleon in exile on Elba. After being told that he died in prison, his fiancé Mercedes is forced to marry his rival Count Mondego. Twenty years later, Dantes escapes with the help of the Abbe Faria, who leaves him the treasure of Monte Cristo. Dantes, now called the Count of Monte Cristo, plans his revenge on the three who framed him.
Rotten Tomatoes: Few famous novels have been filmed as often as Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo--and few versions are as enjoyable as this 1934 adaptation starring Robert Donat. Donat plays Edmond Dantes, wrongly accused of a plot against the post-Napoleonic French government. Condemned to a prison cell in the impenetrable Chateau D'If, Dantes vows vengeance against the four conspirators who framed him. He is particularly anxious to give his ex-friend Mondego (Sidney Blackmer) his comeuppance, since it was Mondego who married Dantes' fiancee Mercedes (Elissa Landi). Twelve years pass; with the help of ancient fellow prisoner Abbe Foria (O.P. Heggie), Dantes digs his way out of the Chateau D'If and escapes. He finds the treasure of Monte Cristo, which makes him the wealthiest man in the world. He uses his riches to put his plan of revenge into motion, methodically destroying every one of his enemies. Though he lives for vengeance, Dantes--alias the Count of Monte Cristo--has his humanity restored by the love of Mercede, who despite her marriage has always remained spiritually faithful to him. According to publicity, the 1955 TV series based on The Count of Monte Cristo was filmed on the standing sets from the 1934 film. This might well have been true, since both film and series were produced by Edward Small.
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70% (2) Beyond a Reasonable Doubt 80 min, Not Rated, [Crime, Drama, Film-Noir] [Fritz Lang] [01 Nov 1956]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 70%, Rotten Tomatoes: 71%, External Reviews
Actors: Arthur Franz, Dana Andrews, Joan Fontaine, Sidney Blackmer
Writer: Douglas Morrow (story and screenplay)
External Links: Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: Investigative reporter Tom Garrett is on leave from his newspaper job to work on his second novel. As Tom is having problems writing that second book, his boss and future father-in-law, newspaper publisher Austin Spencer, suggests he write a non-fiction book on capital punishment in their state instead. Both Austin and Tom have long believed that the state district attorney, Roy Thompson, has been able to manipulate juries into rendering wrongful guilty verdicts leading to the deaths of innocent people on death row. The plan would be to plant evidence leading to a guilty verdict of an innocent person in a murder case, Tom to be that innocent person. Austin and Tom would document all that planted evidence, and make it public after the rendering of the guilty verdict to reverse that wrongful verdict and hopefully lead to discussion of the merits of abolishing capital punishment. They decide that the fewer people that know about the plan, the better, which means not telling Tom's fiancée/Austin's daughter, Susan Spencer, about the plan. They are certain that the plan will not jeopardize Susan and Tom's ultimate marriage. They decide that the unsolved murder of burlesque dancer Patty Gray will be the case they use. As Tom and Austin go about implementing their plan, they don't account for two items which ultimately do place Tom's life in jeopardy. Saving Tom's life may in part may depend on the support of Susan, which may not be as easy to obtain as expected.
Rotten Tomatoes: A newspaper publisher convinces a writer to falsely produce circumstantial evidence in a murder investigation to incriminate himself, thus proving that such evidence is useless. His evidence is so convincing that he is unable to prove his innocence.
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81% (1) It's a Wise Child 83 min, [Comedy] [Robert Z. Leonard] [11 Apr 1931]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 81%, External Reviews
Actors: James Gleason, Marion Davies, Polly Moran, Sidney Blackmer
Writer: Laurence E. Johnson (play)
External Links: Wikipedia IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: N/A
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67% (1) Saturday's Hero 111 min, [Drama, Sport] [David Miller] [10 Sep 1951]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 67%, External Reviews
Awards: 1 nomination.
Actors: Alexander Knox, Donna Reed, John Derek, Sidney Blackmer
Writer: Sidney Buchman (screenplay), Millard Lampell (novel), Millard Lampell (screenplay)
External Links: Wikipedia IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: High school football hero Steve Novak finds himself caught up in the world of big-time college athletics at Jackson University in the 1950's. He must balance his desire to get an education with the high expectations of his coach and "benefactor," by whose grace he is attending Jackson. Still applicable today, the movie shows that the problems of college athletics are not just a new phenomenon.
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62% (1) Deluge 70 min, [Drama, Sci-Fi] [Felix E. Feist] [18 Aug 1933]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 62%, External Reviews
Actors: Lois Wilson, Matt Moore, Peggy Shannon, Sidney Blackmer
Writer: S. Fowler Wright (from the book by), John F. Goodrich (screen play by), Warren Duff (screen play by)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: New York City awaits a massive series of tidal waves which has already struck the North American west coast. As the waves strike and destroy the city, Martin is separated from his family. Seemingly the only survivor, he meets Claire, and they give one another aid and comfort during the crisis. Later, other survivors arise. As society attempts to rebuild, Martin and his wife Helen reunite. Peggy, who has shared a great deal with Martin during their time alone, informs Lois that she will not live without Martin.
Rotten Tomatoes: A solar eclipse, a massive tidal wave, and the last few people on Earth provide the focus of this early disaster film, set in a soggy New York City. Only one man in the Big Apple survived the wave. He swims out of the city and later meets the Eve to his Adam. He believes that his wife and child are dead, so he begins courting the woman and defending her against marauding stragglers. Things go well until his real wife shows up.
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58% (1) Accused of Murder 74 min, APPROVED, [Film-Noir, Mystery] [Joseph Kane] [21 Dec 1956]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 58%, External Reviews
Actors: David Brian, Sidney Blackmer, Vera Ralston, Virginia Grey
Writer: Robert Creighton Williams (screenplay), W.R. Burnett (screenplay), W.R. Burnett (novel)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: When gangland lawyer Frank Hobart is murdered there are two suspects, Ilona Vanve , beautiful nightclub singer, and a hood named Stan , who has been hired by underworld boss Chad Bayliss to kill Hobart. Attracted to Ilona, Lt. Detective Roy Hargis tries to protect her in spite of the growing evidence against her and the pressure put on him by his assistant, Sergeant Lackey. Hargis thinks the case has broken when a dance-hall girl, Sandra Lamoreaux , who saw Stan at the scene of the murder, tries to use this information to blackmail him, and is badly beaten. She manages to talk to Hargis, and her story brings about Stan's capture and conviction for murder. But he didn't do it. It is now up to Hargis to either clear or convict Ilona.
Rotten Tomatoes: Nightclub singer Ilona Vance (Vera Ralston) is Accused of Murder in this Republic programmer. And from the looks of things, Ilona is guilty; she was, after all, the last person to see crooked lawyer Hobart (Sidney Blackmer) alive. But Lt. Roy Hargis (David Brian) is convinced that Ilona is innocent, and he intends to prove it. Except for the mildly surprising denoument, there is little in Accused of Murder that is not thoroughly predictable. Star Vera Ralston, the wife of Republic chieftan Herbert J. Yates, is her usual expressionless self.
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