Oliver! (1968)

Oliver! (1968)

Orphaned Oliver (Mark Lester) escapes his dreary life in the workhouse and as an indentured servant and heads for London. There he meets up with pickpocket The Artful Dodger (Jack Wild) and Fagin (Ron Moody), who runs an army of child-criminals. When his first time on a job goes wrong, Oliver is taken to court,

A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935)

A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1935)

Hermia (Olivia de Havilland) loves Lysander (Dick Powell), but is required by her father to marry Demetrius (Ross Alexander), who had recently had an affair with Helena (Jean Muir). The Duke (Ian Hunter), who is preparing to wed the queen of the Amazons, sides with the father and the four youths escape into the wood.

Rebecca (1940)

Rebecca (1940)

Rich and imposing widower, Maxim de Winter (Laurence Olivier) quickly marries a lower class introvert (Joan Fontaine). The Second Mrs. de Winter—that’s the only name she’s given—has problems fitting in at Manderley, his ancient estate, and is constantly doubting herself, afraid that her husband can only love his dead first wife, Rebecca. Mrs. Danvers (Judith

Hello, Dolly! (1969)

Hello, Dolly! (1969)

Dolly Levi (Barbra Steisand), an elderly widow who for some reason looks twenty-five and stunning, decides to give up her matchmaking career and find herself a match. Her target is wealthy Horace Vandergelder (Walter Matthau). On her path to getting him, she fixes up the relationships of his niece Ermengarde (Joyce Ames), who she sends

Chimes at Midnight (1965)

Chimes at Midnight (1965)

Sir John Falstaff (Orson Welles) carouses with Prince Hal (Keith Baxter) and several unscrupulous characters, often in the bawdy house of Mistress Quickly (Margaret Rutherford), much to the displeasure of King Henry IV (John Gielgud). However a civil war and the king’s failing health will change the prince and his relationship with Falstaff. The idea

The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)

The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)

In 1873, the Amberson’s are at the height of society. Nearly undefined daughter Isabel (Dolores Costello) is wooed by the young men of the town, in particular bland (though we’re not supposed to think he’s bland) Eugene (Joseph Cotton). Though we are told she loves him, sticking with the old ways, she marries some guy

Sweet Charity (1969)

Sweet Charity (1969)

Charity Hope Valentine (Shirley MacLaine) is a naïve (really, really naïve…like pathologically…) dance hall girl who is seeking love. Her co-workers Helene and Nickie (Paula Kelly, Chita Rivera) are more realistic, dreaming only of rising a step on the economic ladder. Charity is robbed by a supposed boyfriend, and then forced to spend the night

Battleground (1949)

Battleground (1949)

During the Battle of the Bulge—December 1944—the 101st Airborne Division is moved to Bastogne. We follow a number of soldiers (Van Johnson, James Whitmore, Douglas Fowley, George Murphy, Herbert Anderson, Ricardo Montalban, Don Taylor, John Hodiak, Marshall Thompson) as they fight, suffer, die, and try to survive in the days they are trapped, surrounded by

Abbott and Costello Go to Mars (1953)

Abbott and Costello Go to Mars (1953)

Lester and Orville (Bud Abbott & Lou Costello) accidentally take off in an experimental spaceship and land in New Orleans during Marti Gras, thinking they are on Mars. A string of unlikely events put them back in the spaceship with a pair of bank robbers (Jack Kruschen and Horace McMahon) and headed toward Venus which

Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944)

Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944)

An account of the “Doolittle Raid” in which the US bombed Tokyo and other Japanese cities, undertaken to raise US morale and damage Japanese morale instead of for the physical damage that could be done. We follow the crew of “The Ruptured Duck,” captained by Ted Lawson (Van Johnson) and including gunner David Thatcher (Robert

12 Days of Christmas Eve (2004)

12 Days of Christmas Eve (2004)

A businessman (Steven Weber) must re-live Christmas Eve twelve times to learn the true meaning of the season. Quick Review: Was there a need to combine It’s a Wonderful Life with Groundhog Day?  The first has been copied far too many times and the second pretty much covered the reliving-a-day genre.  This isn’t an artistic

An American in Paris (1951)

An American in Paris (1951)

American expatriate painter Jerry Mulligan (Gene Kelly) is picked up by a wealthy divorcée (Nina Foch).  She becomes his patron, with an eye to becoming his lover, but he falls for Lise (Leslie Caron), an anonymous young shop girl. However, she has a secret: She’s engaged to a successful singer (Georges Guétary) who also happens to