the 100 most inspiring films of all time
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The American Film Institute proudly curates lists to celebrate excellence in the art of the moving image. They reflect the collective opinion of a wide range of scholars, artists and experts who champion the power of the art form. We believe their greatest impact is to inspire personal, passionate discussions about what makes a great film and why. We encourage you to join in the conversation as we continue to pursue the revolutionary power of visual storytelling to share diverse perspectives, inspire empathy and drive culture forward.
Writer: Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett, Frank Capra
Editor: William Hornbeck
Cinematographer: Joseph Walker, Joseph Biroc, Victor Milner
Genre: Comedy-drama, Fantasy
Production Company: Liberty Films, Inc.
On Christmas Eve, 1945, prayers are heard in heaven for George Bailey of Bedford Falls, New York. To help George, Clarence Oddbody, an angel who has not yet earned his wings, is being sent to earth to keep the despairing George from killing himself on this crucial night. To prepare him for his task, Clarence is shown George's life: As a child, George stops his younger brother Harry from drowning in an icy pond, then catches a bad cold and loses his hearing in one ear. Weeks later, George goes back to work at his after school job in Mr. Gower's drugstore and prevents Gower, who has gotten drunk after learning that his son has died of influenza, from accidentally dispensing arsenic-filled capsules to a sick child. George promises the remorseful Gower never to tell anyone about the incident and he never does. In 1928, as a grown young man, George, who has always dreamed of travel to exotic places, is about to leave on a world tour with money he has saved since high school. That night, at his younger brother Harry's high school graduation party, he becomes attracted to Mary Hatch, a girl who has secretly loved him since childhood. After a Charleston contest that results in an unscheduled splash into the school's swimming pool, they discuss their different ideas for the future until George's Uncle Billy comes for him with the news that his father has had a stroke. After Mr. Bailey's death, George's trip is canceled, but he still plans to leave for college until he learns that the board of directors of his father's financially tenuous building and loan society will not keep it open unless George manages it. Fearing that Mr. Potter, the town's richest and meanest man, will then have financial control of the town, George agrees to stay. Four years later, when Harry returns from college, financed by his brother, George again looks forward to leaving the stifling atmosphere of Bedford Falls and letting Harry run the business. However, when he learns that Harry has just married Ruth Dakin, whose father has offered Harry a good job, he again sacrifices his future to ensure Harry's. That night, George wanders over to Mary's house. Though he is adamant that he never intends to marry, he realizes that he loves her. Soon they are married, but as they leave for their honeymoon, a run on the bank convinces George to check on the building and loan. Because the bank has called in their loan, they have no money, only the honeymoon cash that Mary offers. Through George's persuasive words, most of the anxious customers settle for a minimum of cash, and they end the day with two dollars left. That night, Ernie the cab driver and Bert the cop show George his new "home," an abandoned mansion that Mary had wished for the night of the graduation dance. As the years pass, George continues to help the people of Bedford Falls avoid Potter's financial stranglehold as Mary rears their four children. On the day before Christmas, after the end of World War II, the 4-F George elatedly shows his friends news articles about Harry, who became a Medal-of-Honor-winning flier, while Uncle Billy makes an $8,000 deposit at the bank. Distracted by an exchange with Potter, Billy accidentally puts his deposit envelope inside Potter's newspaper, and Potter does not give it back when he finds it. Later, after Billy reveals the loss to George, they vainly search, while a bank examiner waits. Now on the verge of hysteria over the possibility of bankruptcy and a prison term for embezzlement, George goes home, angry and sullen. He yells at everyone except their youngest child Zuzu, who has caught a cold on the way home from school. He screams at Zuzu's teacher on the telephone, then leaves after a confrontation with Mary. He desperately goes to Potter to borrow the money against the building and loan, or even his life insurance, but Potter dismisses him, taunting him that he is worth more dead than alive. At a tavern run by his friend, Mr. Martini, George is socked by Mr. Welch, the teacher's husband. Now on the verge of suicide, George is about to jump off a bridge when Clarence comes to earth and intervenes by jumping in himself. George saves him, and as they dry out in the tollhouse, Clarence tells George that he is his guardian angel. George is unbelieving, but when he says he wishes that he had never been born, Clarence grants his wish. Revisiting Martini's and other places in town, George is not recognized by anyone and discovers that everything has changed. Harry drowned and Gower went to jail for poisoning the sick child. The town was renamed Pottersville and is full of vice and poverty. When George finally makes Clarence show him Mary, he discovers that she is a lonely, unmarried librarian. Finally, unable to face what might have been, George begs to live again and discovers that his wish is granted when Bert finds him back at the bridge. At home, an elated George is soon greeted by Mary, who has brought their friends and relatives, all of whom have contributed money to help him out. Harry arrives and offers a toast to his "big brother George, the richest man in town." As a bell on the Christmas tree rings, Zuzu says that every time a bell rings an angel receives his wings, and George knows that this time it was Clarence.
Production Company: Pakula-Mulligan Productions, Inc., Brentwood Productions, Inc.
Composer: Elmer Bernstein
In a small Alabama town in 1932, widowed lawyer Atticus Finch strives to create an atmosphere free from hatred and prejudice for his two children, six-year-old Scout, a tomboy, and her ten-year-old brother, Jem. The youngsters lead a carefree life, racing about the town, jeering at eccentric Mrs. Dubose and frightening themselves and their new friend, six-year-old Dill Harris, with exaggerated stories about Arthur "Boo" Radley, a supposedly mentally handicapped neighbor whom they have never seen. When Atticus agrees to represent Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a young white woman, Mayella Violet Ewell, the children must defend themselves against the racist taunts of their classmates. Though Atticus is able to demonstrate Tom's innocence by forcing Mayella to admit that her father beat her when he found her making advances toward Tom, the all-white jury returns a verdict of guilty. Atticus tries to have the decision reversed, but before he can do so, Tom attempts to escape and is killed. In revenge against Atticus, Bob Ewell attacks Scout and Jem, but Boo, who has secretly watched over the children and has left gifts for them in a tree trunk, saves them by killing Ewell. Unwilling to expose Boo to any publicity, Sheriff Heck Tate concludes that Ewell fell on his own knife and decides that there will be no trial.
Producer: Steven Spielberg, Gerald R. Molen, Branko Lustig, Kathleen Kennedy
Writer: Steve Zaillian
Editor: Michael Kahn
Cinematographer: Janusz Kaminski
Genre: Drama
Production Company: Amblin Entertainment
Composer: John Williams [composer]
In September 1939, at the onset of World War II, German entrepreneur and Nazi party member Oskar Schindler goes to Krakow, Poland, where tens of thousands of Polish Jews have been forced to relocate under German occupation. Schindler wants to open a ceramics factory but lacks the necessary capital. He asks Jewish accountant Itzhak Stern to help him recruit Jewish investors, who would go unnamed, as Jews are no longer allowed to own businesses. Stern rejects the idea. However, in March 1941, when Krakow Jews are forced out of their homes and into a sixteen-block walled ghetto, Stern reconsiders. He recruits investors, who initially balk at Schindler’s offer to repay them in ceramic goods, but agree to invest when Schindler convinces them their money will be of no value in the ghetto. Itzhak Stern recruits Jewish workers for Schindler’s factory. Because it is located outside the ghetto, the workers must be deemed “essential” and receive blue cards to allow them to come and go. Stern helps some elderly and handicapped Jews get hired by forging paperwork to prove they are essential. Schindler reprimands him for this practice, but does not fire anyone. He establishes contracts with the German army, and the business gets off to a strong start. Schindler’s estranged wife, Emilie, arrives, and is not surprised when she finds her husband with another woman. Schindler brags to Emilie that he has finally achieved success, and is proud to be a war profiteer. They briefly reunite, but when Emilie offers to stay, if he promises to be faithful, Schindler sends her away. One day, he gets word that Stern has been sent to a concentration camp. He rushes to the train station, threatens the Nazi officers, and retrieves Stern, who apologizes, explaining he accidentally left home without his work card. The exasperated Schindler wonders what would have happened if he had not made it to the station in time. In the winter of 1942, Krakow Jews struggle to withstand the demoralizing conditions of the ghetto. Austrian Schutzstaffel (SS) officer Amon Goeth arrives in Krakow to oversee the building of the Plaszow forced labor camp, and establishes himself as a ruthless killer when he shoots a Jewish engineer for being too argumentative. In March 1943, Krakow Jews are again forced to relocate to Plaszow. Their “liquidation” from the ghetto results in mass bloodshed, as Nazi guards gun down anyone who attempts to hide or flee. Schindler observes the atrocity, and is struck by a young Jewish girl in a red coat, moving alone through the chaotic streets. In the ghetto’s infirmary, a Jewish doctor and nurse administer a fatal dose of medicine to patients just before SS officers burst in and shoot them in their hospital beds. At Plaszow, Goeth amuses himself by shooting slow-moving or resting workers with a sniper rifle. When Schindler’s workers fail to report to the factory, he goes to Plaszow to inquire about their whereabouts, and must ingratiate himself with Goeth to allow for their release. Word spreads that Schindler is a benevolent boss. Regina Perlman, a young Jewish woman living in Krakow under a false identity, begs Schindler to hire her parents. Schindler again reprimands Itzhak Stern for his charitable hiring practices. He defends Goeth as someone who is under tremendous pressure, who would not normally act like a tyrant. Stern relays a story about Goeth executing prisoners at random, and urges Schindler to fight against Goeth’s brutality. Schindler relents and hires Regina Perlman’s parents. The next time he visits Goeth, Schindler pulls aside his Jewish housemaid, Helen Hirsch, who recalls Goeth beating her on the first day of work, and predicts he will someday kill her. Upstairs, Schindler tells the drunken Goeth that true power is refraining from killing someone when you have every reason to do it. The next day, Goeth experiments with showing mercy toward the Jewish prisoners, but quickly gives up and kills his houseboy for failing to properly clean his bathtub. Later, Goeth paces in Helen’s quarters, struggling to restrain himself despite his strong attraction to her. Finally, instead of kissing her, he beats her. In the women’s barracks, a female prisoner shares a rumor that at some camps, Jewish prisoners are lured into gas chambers disguised as showers and killed en masse. Others cannot believe it, and laugh it off as impossible. With an incoming shipment of Hungarian Jews arriving at Plaszow, German doctors are called to determine which existing workers can stay, and who must be sent to concentration camps. Children are loaded into trucks and driven out of the camp, as their parents chase after them in desperation. Schindler goes to the train station, where departing Jews are packed into unventilated train compartments. He suggests hosing them down as a prank, but Goeth realizes Schindler is doing it out of pity, to keep them from overheating. Soon, Schindler is arrested for kissing a Jewish worker who presented him with a birthday cake. Goeth negotiates his release. In April 1944, a Nazi edict requires that buried Jewish bodies be exhumed and burned. Plaszow workers are tasked with digging up the dead bodies. Goeth tells Schindler that the “party is over,” and everyone will soon be sent to Auschwitz. Schindler concocts a plan to start a new factory in his hometown of Zwittau-Brinnlitz, Czechoslovakia. He uses all his money and belongings to bribe SS officials, including Goeth, to allow over 1,000 of his workers, named on a list, to be transferred to the new factory. He wants to add Helen Hirsch to the list, but Goeth plans to shoot her. Schindler entices him to wager Helen in a card game, and Goeth loses, allowing Schindler to rescue her. Although Schindler’s male workers arrive in Zwittau-Brinnlitz, the women are diverted to Auschwitz, due to an alleged clerical error. There, their hair is cut off and they are forced to shower in a large room that they fear is a gas chamber. Schindler goes to Auschwitz and uses diamonds to negotiate their release. SS officers try to steal his child employees, but Schindler insists he needs their small fingers to polish shell casings. Back in Zwittau-Brinnlitz, Schindler forbids SS guards from shooting any of his workers, or carrying guns on the factory floor. He reunites with his wife, Emilie, and promises to be faithful to her. When Stern warns Schindler that the company’s new artillery shells are failing tests, the satisfied Schindler vows never to produce working artillery. The workers are allowed to resume observing the Sabbath, despite the SS guards’ dismay. Just as Schindler and the factory run out of money, Germans surrender to Allied forces, bringing an end to World War II. Schindler makes an announcement to his workers and the SS guards that he is a war criminal and will flee that night. He urges the guards, who have received orders to kill all the Jews at the factory, to return home as men instead of murderers. The guards reluctantly leave. Schindler observes three minutes of silence for the Jewish victims of the war. One of the workers allows three of his gold teeth to be pulled, to fabricate a gold ring as a parting gift for Schindler. At midnight, they present him with the ring, engraved with a Hebrew saying that states, “Whoever saves one life saves the world entire.” Stern credits Schindler with saving 1,100 people. Schindler breaks down in tears, disappointed in himself for not saving more. He dons a concentration camp uniform, and flees with Emilie. The next day, a soldier arrives to tell the workers that they have been liberated, but discourages them from going back to Poland. He points them in the direction of the nearest town, where they walk to find food. In time, Goeth is arrested at a sanitarium and hanged for war crimes. Schindler’s marriage and subsequent business ventures fail. In 1958, he is named a “righteous person” by the council of Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, Israel. The descendants of the Jews he saved eventually outnumber all the Jews in Poland.
Producer: Irwin Winkler, Robert Chartoff, Gene Kirkwood
Writer: Sylvester Stallone
Editor: Richard Halsey, Scott Conrad
Cinematographer: James Crabe
Genre: Drama
Production Company: Chartoff-Winkler Productions, Inc.
Composer: Bill Conti
In late November, 1975, Rocky Balboa, a sweet, garrulous, slightly over-the-hill boxer, wins his latest match with more fury than talent. Although he is well-known and well-liked in his South Philadelphia neighborhood, back in his dingy apartment, he has only his turtles to whom he can report his triumph. He then visits the local pet store in the hope of winning over the painfully shy clerk, Adrian Pennino, but she barely responds to his efforts. During his day job Rocky works as a collector for local loan shark Tony Gazzo, but when he cannot bring himself to break the thumb of one debtor, Rocky earns Gazzo’s displeasure. Demoralized, Rocky turns to the one place at which he feels at home, the gym, but there discovers that his manager, Mickey Goldmill, has given his locker to a new contender. When Rocky confronts Mickey, the 76-year-old former bantamweight states that although Rocky has heart, he fights “like an ape” and should quit before he loses his one distinction, his unbroken nose. After once again getting nowhere with Adrian, Rocky visits her brother, meat packer Paulie Pennino, to ask why she disdains him. Paulie declares Adrian a “loser,” a spinster at almost thirty, but invites Rocky to Thanksgiving dinner with them the following night. Meanwhile, reigning heavyweight champion Apollo Creed learns that his next opponent, set to fight him in five weeks’ time, is injured and no worthy contender can be arranged. Creed, a colorful attention-seeker, despairs of losing the media coverage and decides to launch an exhibition fight with a Philadelphia unknown on New Year’s Day, the first day of the country’s bicentennial. Declaring that Americans will love the idea of an underdog ostensibly being given his big chance, he thumbs through a list of local boxers and pinpoints Rocky, whose self-appointed nickname is "The Italian Stallion," as an interesting ethnic counterpoint. At the same time, Rocky prepares for his first “date” with Adrian, but upon entering Paulie’s house, realizes that Adrian is unaware of the set-up. Embarrassed, she declares herself unready for guests, prompting Paulie to explode in anger and throw her turkey dinner into the alleyway. Although she locks herself in the bedroom in response, Rocky urges her to come out and takes her to a closed ice skating rink, which he convinces the manager to open briefly. As Adrian skates, Rocky trots alongside her, explaining that he never succeeded as a boxer because he is a left-handed hitter. When he confesses that his father told him he had no brains so had better work with his body, Adrian reveals that her mother told her to develop her brains, as she did not have a good body. Walking to his apartment, he asserts that their weaknesses—his dim-wittedness and her timidity—make them perfect partners. At his stoop, she tries to leave but he charms her into staying, then once inside soothes her skittishness and gently initiates a passionate embrace. The next day, Rocky learns from Mickey that Creed’s promoter, Miles Jergens, wants to meet with him, and both assume Creed is looking for a sparring partner. When Mickey insults him, Rocky demands an explanation, and Mickey spits out his disgust that Rocky failed to live up to his early promise as a fighter and instead became “a leg-breaker.” At Jergens’ office, Rocky is stunned to learn that he is being offered a chance at the heavyweight championship but quietly turns down the opportunity, knowing he has no possibility of winning. However, Jergens convinces him that he cannot pass up the chance of a lifetime, and soon after the bout is announced on television. Watching the broadcast later, Paulie points out to Rocky that the commentators were mocking him, and although Rocky professes not to care, he later admits his distress to Adrian. He plans to train alone, and when Mickey visits to plead to be his manager, Rocky brushes off the old man’s desperate self-marketing, declaring that he needed a manager ten years ago when he still had a future. Mickey, for whom Rocky’s fight represents his last stab at success, shuffles out in defeat, but outside stops to listen as Rocky explodes in anger, shouting that this lucky break has come too late for him and he is sure to be beaten badly. Minutes later, however, Rocky chases after Mickey and hires him. Rocky immediately begins a self-imposed, grueling training schedule, running through the city at four a.m. On his first day, he ascends the steep, stone stairs of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and is exhausted by the time he reaches the top. He stops by Paulie’s meat-packing plant, where Paulie, as is customary, pesters him for a job with Gazzo. When Paulie then questions angrily whether or not Rocky has slept with Adrian, Rocky pushes him away, punching a frozen carcass until his fists bleed. Later, a reinvigorated Mickey trains Rocky enthusiastically, and despite agreeing to the trainer’s demand that he swear off women during training, Rocky spends more and more time with Adrian. After weeks of Rocky’s training regimen, which now includes daily workouts punching the frozen meat, a drunken Paulie arranges a television interview in the meat locker. Although Creed, busy preparing his media exposure, ignores the broadcast, his trainer is impressed by Rocky’s tenacity. Afterward, Paulie overhears Rocky complaining to Adrian about him, and threatening them both with a bat, raves that he failed to marry in order to take care of Adrian. With sudden vitriol, she screams that she owes him nothing and no longer wants to feel like a loser, and after Paulie collapses in drunken exhaustion, Adrian and Rocky agree that she will move in with him. Each day, Rocky runs through the neighborhood, receiving the well-wishes of the locals. Finally, after weeks of exertion, he is able to run up the museum steps with ease, and at the top throws up his hands in triumph. His status as the underdog contender has earned him national attention and affection, but on the night before the fight, Rocky visits the empty arena and realizes anew that there is no way he can win. At home, he tells Adrian that it does not matter if he loses, but if he can just last all fifteen rounds, as no one ever has against Creed, he will know for the first time that he is more than “just another bum from the neighborhood.” On the day of the fight, as the arena fills, Rocky prays, then banters with Adrian. As he enters the ring, the announcers report that some have called the bout “the caveman vs. the cavalier,” and that the Las Vegas odds assume that Rocky will be knocked out within three rounds. Next, with supreme fanfare, Creed, throwing money to the crowd, enters the arena, costumed as George Washington on a boat. The fight begins, with Rocky’s friends watching eagerly on the local tavern television. Creed, overconfident, is far quicker than Rocky and jabs at him tauntingly, but when Rocky lands an unexpected strong hit, felling Creed for the first time ever, the champion returns with renewed vigilance. He begins to pummel Rocky, and when Rocky manages to back Creed up against the ropes, Creed breaks his nose. During the ensuing bout, Rocky takes a tremendous beating but continually rebounds to land a few hard punches. Fourteen rounds later, both are still fighting with equal commitment and have suffered multiple injuries. Exhausted, Rocky keeps struggling to his feet, even as the commentators wonder what could possibly be keeping him up, and Mickey demands that he give up. Finally, Rocky slams Creed in the ribs, causing internal bleeding. In their respective corners, Rocky demands that his cut man slice his eye with a razor to drain it of blood, while Creed orders his trainer to let the fight continue. The fifteen rounds finally draw to a close and the crowd roars its approval. As the reporters swarm him with questions, Rocky bats them away and shouts Adrian’s name. She runs toward him, slowed by the crowd, as the announcer proclaims that the fight has ended in a split decision. When Adrian finally reaches Rocky, she falls into his arms. Flush with his own personal victory and barely even registering that the fight has been called for Creed, Rocky declares his love for her.
The untimely death of Senator Foley presents problems for political boss Jim Taylor, who needed the senator's help to perpetrate a land swindle at Willet Creek. Taylor orders Governor Hubert Hopper, whom he controls, to appoint a yes man, but citizen committees want someone else. Hopper is also besieged by his sons, who ask him to appoint Jefferson Smith, the patriotic leader of the Boy Rangers. Confused, Hopper appoints Jeff, then convinces Taylor that naïve Jeff cannot learn enough about politics in time to affect the crooked bill. Jeff's appointment as junior senator is also supported by the senior senator, Joseph Paine, who is both Taylor's stooge and Jeff's idol. Jeff and Paine go to Washington, where Jeff, overwhelmed by his first sight of the Capitol dome, leaves the group and boards a tour bus. Five hours later, he reaches his office, where his cynical secretary, Clarissa Saunders, is waiting for him with her chum, newspaperman Diz Moore. They think Jeff's patriotic spirit is hokum, and Saunders engineers a disasterous press conference for Jeff. The next morning, Paine takes Jeff to be sworn in at the Senate, where one senator objects, alleging that the newspaper stories prove Jeff is unfit. Paine defends Jeff, and after he is sworn in, enraged Jeff goes on a rampage, slugging the reporters, who label him an "honorary stooge." The truth of it stings Jeff, and after seeking advice from Paine, who tells him to sponsor a bill proposing a national Boy Rangers camp, Jeff and Saunders stay up all night working on the bill, which Jeff presents in the Senate the next morning. Despite Jeff's nervousness, the senators like his ideas, except for Paine, who is horrified to discover that Jeff wants to use Taylor's Willet Creek site. Paine knows that Jeff must not be in the Senate the next day, when the Willet Creek bill is being discussed, and so he resolves to distract Jeff with his beautiful daughter Susan. Jeff is thrilled by Susan's attentions, but the next night, Saunders, drunk with Diz, becomes distraught over the way Jeff is being misled. She asks Diz to marry her, and they return to her office to collect her things. Jeff is there when they arrive, however, and she tells him about Paine, Taylor and the graft. As they leave, Diz realizes that Saunders is in no shape to get married, and he takes her home. Stunned by Saunders' revelations, Jeff rushes to Paine's house to confront him, but Paine tries to smooth-talk him. Later, when Taylor himself arrives, he tells Jeff that he runs Paine, and that if Jeff is smart, he will cooperate. The next day, Jeff attempts to speak against the crooked bill, but, not understanding rules of protocol, yields the floor to Paine, who denounces Jeff on charges of using the boys camp for personal gain. Some time later, at Jeff's hearing before the Committee on Privileges and Elections, Hopper, Paine and others present phony evidence that Jeff owns the land upon which he wants to build the camp. Jeff is so dumbfounded by Paine's lies that he cannot testify on his own behalf and decides to leave Washington. Later that night, Jeff goes to the Lincoln Memorial, where Saunders finds him and convinces him to attempt a filibuster. The next morning, after a night of coaching, Jeff reveals the truth about Taylor and Paine to the Senate, even as Paine continues trying to condemn him. Jeff intends to talk until his news reaches his home state, and the people rise up against the corruption, but Taylor organizes a massive newspaper campaign against Jeff. Many hours later, Saunders cheers up Jeff with a note telling him she loves him, and then calls his mother, telling her to enlist the Boy Rangers to spread the truth. The boys publish their tiny newspaper, but Taylor's gang steals the papers and injures some of the boys. Back at the Senate, Paine brings in 50,000 telegrams drummed up by Taylor, all of them urging Jeff to quit. Though discouraged, Jeff resolves to keep fighting, but after he gives one last speech to Paine, he collapses from exhaustion after the almost twenty-four hour filibuster. Paine finally breaks down, and after attempting suicide outside the senate chamber, confesses that everything Jeff has said is true. Everyone in the room cheers and Saunders jumps for joy.
Cast: Dee Wallace, Peter Coyote, Robert MacNaughton
Directors: Steven Spielberg
Producer: Steven Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy
Writer: Melissa Mathison
Editor: Carol Littleton
Cinematographer: Allen Daviau
Genre: Fantasy, Science fiction
Production Company: Universal Pictures , Amblin' Entertainment
Composer: John Williams [composer]
On a late autumn night, a spaceship filled with foliage and fungi sits among the trees of a quiet forest. Small, squat alien creatures wander near the ship observing plants on Earth until their chests illuminate red. One alien wanders off alone, looking at the city lights below, when a brigade of trucks parks nearby and humans begin to inspect the area with flashlights. The extra-terrestrial’s chest glows red, attracting the attention of the humans, and the creature runs screeching back toward its spaceship. However, the aircraft’s ramp closes and the ship launches into the sky, leaving the alien behind. Meanwhile, as a group of boys play games in a suburban home, Michael instructs his younger brother, Elliott, to retrieve pizzas from the deliveryman. While outside, Elliott hears a rustling in the illuminated shed behind the house. Believing the noise to be coming from the dog, Harvey, the boy tosses a baseball inside the shed, but the ball is thrown back to him. Elliott leads the other boys and his mother, Mary, outside to show them the strange occurrence. There, they find unusual footprints, which they assume were made by coyotes. After everyone has gone to sleep, Elliott inspects the yard and nearby cornfield with a flashlight. He follows a pair of tracks into the dirt and encounters the wrinkly, blue-eyed extra-terrestrial, which screams and runs away. The next morning, Elliott rides his bicycle into the park, dropping a trail of Reese’s Pieces candies behind him, but quickly returns home when he notices a man inspecting the area. During dinner, the boy insists that the alien he saw was real, despite the skepticism from his mother, brother, and younger sister, Gertie. When Elliott mentions that his absent father is in Mexico with a woman named Sally, his mother begins to cry and leaves the room. That night, Elliott sits outside on a lawn chair and the alien approaches him, dropping a handful of Reese’s Pieces at his feet. Elliott uses more of the sweets to lure the creature into his bedroom, where the alien mimics Elliott’s movements and watches the boy as he falls asleep. Elsewhere, a group of men use radar equipment to search the forest and find a cluster of the forgotten candies. The next day, Elliott feigns illness so he can stay home while his mother goes to work and his siblings attend school. The boy speaks to the alien and shows it his belongings. Once he retrieves food from the kitchen, Elliott draws a bath and speaks to his mother on the telephone while the alien swims in the water. After school, Elliott shows the creature to Michael and Gertie, who yell in alarm, but agree to keep the creature a secret from their mother. The alien uses its powers to levitate balls of clay into the air, mimicking the orbit of planets in the solar system, and revive a wilted flower. Although amazed, Elliott becomes concerned about beeping noises and voices of the scientists nearing the house. After Elliott and Michael leave for school, Mary hears shuffling in Elliott’s closet, but the alien hides itself among the children's stuffed animals. While Elliott attends a dissection lesson in biology class, the creature drinks beer from the refrigerator at home. As the alcohol takes effect in the alien’s body, their telepathic connection causes Elliott to simultaneously become intoxicated and slide out of his chair. Meanwhile, the alien reads a newspaper comic depicting spacemen attempting to contact their home planet, and watches television programs featuring flying spaceships and people using telephones. In class, Elliott frees the frogs from their jars before their classmates can dissect them. As the alien watches John Wayne kiss Maureen O’Hara in The Quiet Man, Elliott grabs his classmate and kisses her, prompting a teacher to drag him away. The alien then dismantles a Speak & Spell toy and carries various household items upstairs to the closet. Later, Gertie attempts to show the creature to her mother, but Mary is distracted putting away groceries and does not notice that it has begun to mimic the girl's educational television program. She then receives a telephone call from the school and leaves to pick up Elliott. When the boy returns home, he finds that Gertie has dressed the alien in a dress and wig, and that the creature can now speak. Elliott calls the creature “E.T.,” and E.T. uses signals and its limited vocabulary to tell the children that it wishes to “phone home.” That night, a man drives by the house in a van and eavesdrops on Elliott and Michael rummaging through the garage for equipment to build a radar machine. On Halloween, Elliott reminds Gertie to meet him at “the lookout” point later that evening, and covers E.T. in a sheet, pretending it is his sister dressed as a ghost. He and Michael lead E.T. up the hill to meet Gertie with his bicycle, and Elliott rides into the woods with E.T. in the front basket. After nightfall, E.T. levitates the bike into the air and they ride through the sky. Elliott then helps E.T. construct a device that will send a signal to the alien's home planet. When the children do not return home that night, Mary leaves to search for them, and a group of suited men enter the house. She finds Gertie and Michael on the streets, who inform her that Elliott is in the forest. Meanwhile, the wind pushes the gears on the machine, emitting a code out into space. Upset by the thought of E.T. leaving, Elliott cries and falls asleep among the trees. The next morning, Mary reports Elliott’s disappearance to a police officer, but the boy returns home, ill and alone. Michael finds E.T., white and sickly, lying in a stream. When he brings the dying creature home and shows it to Mary, she attempts to take the children away. However, a team of scientists dressed in spacesuits enter the house and cover the premises in protective quarantine barriers. While scientists run medical tests on E.T. and Elliott and asks the family questions, Michael informs them that his brother is able to telepathically sense E.T.’s feelings, and one man tells Elliott he is glad that he found E.T. before they did. As Elliott regains strength through the night, E.T. fades, and the alien’s heart eventually stops. Despite the scientists’ efforts to resuscitate the creature, E.T. dies, and they pack its body in a nitrogen chamber. As Elliott says goodbye, E.T.’s chest glows red, and a nearby pot of wilting flowers blooms again. E.T. repeats “E.T. phone home,” prompting Elliott to realize that the alien’s companions are returning. Elliott loudly weeps to distract the doctors from noticing that E.T. is still alive, and later Mike steals a medical van, with Elliott and E.T. hiding in back. He instructs his friends to meet them at the top of the hill as Mary and Gertie chase after them in the car, the scientists trailing behind. The boys ride their bicycles through the neighborhood with E.T. perched in Elliott’s basket, lifting them into the air to evade the police. As they reach the forest, E.T.’s spaceship lands in the clearing, and Mary arrives with Gertie. The girl gives E.T. a flower pot, and the alien tells her to “be good.” Elliott asks his friend to stay, but E.T. hugs the boy goodbye, assuring him, “I’ll be right here,” before walking up the ramp. The spaceship flies away, leaving behind a rainbow in the sky.
Production Company: Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp.
Composer: Alfred Newman
Tom Joad returns from prison, where he was serving time for manslaughter, to his family's Oklahoma farm and finds the house abandoned. Muley, his half-crazed neighbor, tells Tom about the recent dispossession of the sharecroppers, who have been driven out by drought and the greedy land companies. Tom finally locates his family as they are about to pack their belongings on a dilapidated truck and head West, lured by promises of work and high wages in California. Joined by their friend Casy, a former "fire and brimstone" preacher, the Joads begin their long trek west on Route 66. Soon after, Grandpa dies and is buried alongside the road. Their hopes for a bright future are dimmed when a man at a roadside camp warns of no work in California, but the family continues on. As the Joads cross the great California desert, Grandma dies, and the remainder of the family emerges from the desert to find no jobs and hoards of starving migrants. Poverty and desperation begin to break apart the family as the husband of pregnant daughter Rosasharn leaves her. Despite rumors of labor violence, the family nonetheless hits the road once again. Hounded by the law and the local citizenry, the Joads find work as strikebreakers. Casy warns Tom that strikebreaking will only drive down wages, and when a deputy murders Casy for his labor organizing, Tom fights back and kills the deputy. With Tom now hunted as a murderer, the family steals away under cover of night and finds temporary refuge in a government agricultural camp. When the police track Tom down at the camp, however, he is forced to bid farewell to his family, knowing he may never see them again. As the family leaves the haven of the camp for promise of work in Fresno, Ma Joad voices the faith to carry on.
Cast: Dennis Christopher, Dennis Quaid, Daniel Stern
Directors: Peter Yates
Producer: Peter Yates
Writer: Steve Tesich
Editor: Cynthia Scheider
Cinematographer: Matthew F. Leonetti
Genre: Comedy-drama
Production Company: Twentieth Century-Fox
In Bloomington, Indiana, recent high school graduate Dave Stoller carries a cycling trophy as he walks through the woods with Mike, Cyril, and Moocher, on their way to swim at an abandoned, water-filled quarry. Later that morning, Dave rides his bike through town, singing in Italian, while his parents, Evelyn and Ray, discuss his recent behavior at breakfast. Ray wants Dave to get a job and move out, but Evelyn defends her son’s interest in cycling and remaining at home with his parents, the way Italian people live. Dave returns with his trophy and announces that an Italian cycling team may race in Indiana soon. Ray later pretends Dave is a stranger when he rides past his father’s used car lot and shouts hello in Italian. Back at the quarry, Dave and his friends discuss their need to find jobs, hoping to work at the same place. Mike notices several college students from the University of Indiana on the other side of the quarry and becomes upset, suggesting that if they want to infringe upon the locals’ territory, he and his friends should take a trip to the college campus. Soon after, they drive to Indiana University and discuss the differences between the rich students and themselves. While they watch the football team practice, Mike recalls his time as a high school quarterback and expresses the frustration he feels when reading newspaper stories about players on the college team. Later, Dave practices Italian on campus and spots a beautiful girl riding a moped. Picking up a book that she dropped, Dave chases her on his bike, and outside the girl’s sorority house, he returns the book. Dave introduces himself as “Enrico,” an Italian exchange student, and she tells him her name is Katherine. One day, Dave receives a cycling journal in the mail and learns that Team Cinzano, the Italian cyclists, will hold a race in nearby Indianapolis. As Dave rides through town, Cyril runs alongside him, and they discuss a college entrance exam Dave is supposed to take, though he admits he doesn’t want to go back to school. One night, Dave stands outside Katherine’s sorority and serenades her in Italian while Cyril plays his guitar. Inside the sorority, Katherine’s friend Suzy calls Katherine’s current boyfriend, Rod, to alert him. Meanwhile, Evelyn and Ray have a romantic dinner at home, listening to Italian music. When Dave finishes his song, Katherine rides off with him, leaving Cyril behind. Rod and his friends pull up and run after Cyril, believing he was the one who serenaded Rod’s girlfriend. Later, Dave and Katherine return, and she kisses him goodnight. The next day, Mike sees Cyril’s bruises and demands to know what happened, but Cyril remains mum about the incident. Determined to find the culprit, Mike drives to campus where Cyril identifies Rod, who is driving around with a new girl. Rod calls Mike and his friends “Cutters,” a local word for townies. Spotting Rod’s car later that night, Mike, Cyril, and Moocher search for Rod inside a dining hall where Dave and Katherine are having a date. Mike and Rod start a brawl, and police arrive to break it up. Rod and his friends gather before a college administrator who suggests they resolve their conflict with the local residents in a more dignified manner and announces that this year’s Little 500 bicycle race will welcome one team comprised of four non-students. At the quarry, Dave says he does not want to race in the Little 500, but Mike encourages him, suggesting that they will have a proper team if all four participate. On the other side of the quarry, Rod shows up with friends, and he and Mike engage in an impromptu swimming contest until Mike cuts his head on a rock. Afterward, Moocher and Dave walk through town, and Moocher announces that he’s going to marry his girlfriend, Nancy. He then meets Nancy at the courthouse to apply for a marriage license. Riding his bike through a red light, Dave almost collides with his father who is leading a test drive. Ray’s vehicle stalls and later must be towed, costing him the sale. The next evening, Evelyn suggests that Ray give Dave a job, and, despite his resistance, Ray hires Dave to wash the cars on the lot. When a customer attempts to return a car, citing a ninety-day guarantee Ray promised, Dave encourages his father to honor his word, but Ray refuses. He then suffers a heart attack. At home, as a doctor tends to Ray in bed, Dave tells his mother he will not compete in the upcoming bicycle race against the Italians, but Evelyn urges him to race despite Ray’s condition. At the Cinzano 100 race, Dave gets a slow start but eventually catches up to the Italian team, who later cheat by shifting Dave’s gear and sticking a pole through his wheel, causing him to fall and injure himself. At home, Dave greets Ray and Evelyn without an Italian accent. When Ray asks about the race, Dave cries and hugs his father. On campus, Dave admits to Katherine that he lied about being Italian, and she reacts by slapping him and storming off. At night, Ray asks Dave to join him for a walk. They discuss Dave’s future, and Dave admits he is scared to go to college. Ray recalls his days working as a lowly stone cutter, and urges his son to aim for higher goals. One day, Dave’s friends present him with an old Roadmaster bicycle, the only make allowed in the Little 500. Though Dave remains unenthusiastic, his passion is reignited when Mike expresses doubt about their chances of winning. Dave takes the bike home and fixes it. In town, he runs into Katherine, and she wishes him luck, saying that she will soon leave for a job in Chicago, Illinois. On the day of the Little 500, Dave and his friends wear shirts provided by Evelyn, with the team name “Cutters” across their chests. Though Dave gains a strong lead early in the race, he collides with another rider and sustains an injury. Moocher, Cyril, and Mike take turns riding while Dave receives medical attention. Listening to the race on the radio, Ray leaves work to join Evelyn in the crowd. When Dave sees his father there, he is inspired to get back into the race. Tied with Rod’s team on the final lap, Dave pulls ahead at the last minute and wins the race. Some time later, Ray rides a bicycle through campus and says hello to Dave, now a student, who has just met a charming French girl.
Cinematographer: Charles [G.] Clarke , Lloyd Ahern
Genre: Comedy-drama
Production Company: Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp.
Composer: Cyril J. Mockridge
In downtown Manhattan, Kris Kringle, a white-bearded man, protests to Doris Walker, the organizer of the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, that the man who will portray Santa Claus is drunk. Doris then hires Kris to substitute for the now unconscious Santa. When Doris, a widow, returns to her apartment, she discovers that her young daughter Susan is watching the parade from the apartment of their neighbor, lawyer Fred Gailey. Doris joins them, thanks Fred for his kindness to Susan, and learns that he has been cultivating a friendship with Susan in hopes of meeting her. Later, at Fred's instigation, Susan wrangles an invitation for him to join them for Thanksgiving dinner. Because of his successful portrayal of Santa during the parade, Kris is hired to be Macy's store Santa. Although Mr. Shellhammer, the head of the toy department, advises Kris to suggest certain toys to indecisive children, Kris instead tells harried mothers where to find the toys their children want, even if it is not at Macy's. Shellhammer is about to fire Kris, when one of the mothers thanks him for putting the Christmas spirit back into the holiday and vows to do all her shopping at Macy's. Later, when Fred brings Susan to visit Santa, Doris, who was disillusioned by a bad marriage to Susan's father, chastises him for filling her head with myths and fairy tales. While they quarrel, Susan witnesses Kris speaking Dutch to a Dutch orphan and begins to think that Kris may really be Santa Claus. Doris then asks Kris to tell Susan who he really is and when he insists that he is Santa, she asks to see his employment card. Learning that he has given his name as Kris Kringle, Doris becomes afraid that he is insane and is about to dismiss him when store owner Macy praises her and Shellhammer for developing the new policy he believes they have instituted. Afterward, Shellhammer dissuades Doris from firing Kris and suggests that she have him evaluated by Sawyer, the personnel director. In the meantime, Doris calls Dr. Pierce, the head of the Brook's Home for Old People, where Kris lives. Kris passes his psychological tests, but the bad-tempered Sawyer recommends his dismissal anyway. Pierce counters by saying that Kris suffers from a delusion for good and insists that he is not dangerous. He further suggests that Kris live closer to the store until his job ends. Fred, having seen the positive effect that Kris has on Susan, offers to let the old man stay with him. That night, Susan reveals to Kris that she wants a real house for Christmas and shows him a magazine picture of her dream house. Although Kris makes no promises, he does agree to try to get it for her. One day, Kris has lunch with seventeen-year-old Alfred, a janitor who plays Santa at the YMCA. When a disconsolate Alfred reveals that according to Sawyer, playing Santa is evidence of a guilt complex, Kris angrily confronts Sawyer and hits him on the head with his cane. Sawyer lies about the causes of the encounter and, using a series of ruses, contrives to have Kris committed to the mental ward at Bellevue. Because he is convinced that Doris participated in Sawyer's plot, Kris deliberately fails his competency tests. The hospital then contacts Fred, who, after questioning Kris, agrees to help him gain his release. Fred successfully swings public opinion in Kris's favor, and at his trial, announces that he will prove that Kris actually is Santa Claus and is therefore sane. Judge Henry X. Harper is distressed by Fred's announcement as he is up for re-election and does not want to alienate either parents of children who believe in Santa or those who think Kris is a crazy old man. Doris tries to talk Fred out of his decision, and learning that he quit his job in order to defend Kris, accuses him of being unrealistic. The next day in court, Fred calls his witnesses. Macy testifies that he believes Kris is Santa, then fires Sawyer. After District Attorney Thomas Mara's young son testifies that his father told him there is a Santa Claus, an embarrassed Mara concedes that there is a Santa Claus, but insists that Fred must produce official proof that Kris is the one and true Santa. That night, Doris and Susan write Kris a note to cheer him up. A postal worker, seeing the courthouse address, then decides to send all the letters addressed to Santa to the courthouse. On Christmas Eve, Fred uses the bags of mail as official proof from the U.S. government that Santa exists, and the judge happily dismisses the case. On Christmas, Susan, Doris and Fred celebrate with Kris at the Brook's Home. Kris presents Pierce with an X-ray machine purchased with a bonus from Macy's, but Susan is so disappointed that she did not get her wish that she announces her disbelief in Santa. Doris, who has fallen in love with Fred, then explains that it is important to believe in something even if common sense says otherwise. After the party, Fred drives Doris and Susan home, following directions from Kris. To Susan's delight, they drive right past her dream house, which is for sale, and she rushes out of the car into the vacant house. Susan's excitement prompts Fred to propose to Doris, and when she accepts, he notices Kris's cane leaning against the wall.
Producer: Steven Spielberg, Ian Bryce, Mark Gordon, Gary Levinsohn
Writer: Robert Rodat
Editor: Michael Kahn
Cinematographer: Janusz Kaminski
Genre: Drama
Production Company: Amblin Entertainment , Mutual Film Company
Composer: John Williams [composer]
In Normandy, France, an elderly veteran visits a World War II memorial and cemetery with his family, and cries at a gravesite. Decades earlier, on June 6, 1944, U.S. soldiers participate in the invasion of Normandy. Under heavy German gunfire, droves of American troops fall to their deaths on Omaha Beach. U.S. Captain John H. Miller and some of his battalion survive the ordeal. Soon after, at U.S. War Department headquarters in Washington, D.C., General Marshall gets the news that three brothers in a family of four sons have died in combat; and that the remaining brother, James Ryan, is currently stationed in Normandy with the 101st Airborne Division. Marshall orders for Private Ryan to be brought home safe to his family. Capt. Miller receives the order and selects seven men to accompany him on the rescue mission. The team includes Sergeant Horvath; Private Reiben; Private Caparzo; Private Mellish; Private Jackson; T/4 Medic Wade; and Corporal Upham, an interpreter. They meet up with the 101st Division in Neuville, France, where they locate a Private James Ryan; however, he is not the Ryan with three brothers. In the meantime, Private Caparzo is shot and killed by a German sniper. Private Jackson retaliates by killing the sniper. Miller is told by a group of soldiers moving through the area that the correct Private Ryan is stationed at a bridge in the French town of Ramelle. On the way there, Miller and his men discover two dead bodies of U.S. paratroopers near a radar site, and locate a German machine gun position. Miller chooses to engage the Germans, putting his company at risk. The ensuing skirmish leaves Wade dead. They succeed, however, and take a remaining German soldier as their prisoner. Cpl. Upham speaks to the German and convinces Miller to let him go. Private Reiben disapproves and threatens to leave, but Miller regains his confidence with a personal confession. He reveals his work as a school teacher back home, and openly regrets how many lives he has taken. While he does not actually care about Private Ryan, he wants badly to complete the mission as he hopes it will earn all of them a return home. Miller and his men continue to Ramelle, where they find Private Ryan making preparations for an impending attack on the bridge he’s been defending. Although he is devastated by the news about his brothers, he is adamant to keep fighting alongside his men. Miller agrees to join forces with Ryan’s paratrooper unit, and helps orchestrate an ambush. The ensuing fight ends in many casualties, including Privates Jackson and Mellish, and Sergeant Horvath. Capt. Miller is shot by the same German soldier he freed in Neuville. Cpl. Upham, who had advocated for the man, kills the German in retaliation. As an American plane and more ground units show up, the Germans retreat. A dying Miller is surrounded by Privates Reiben and Ryan. With his last words, he tells Ryan, “Earn this.” Back in the present, the elderly man at the memorial is Private Ryan, and the grave he visits belongs to Capt. Miller. Ryan asks his wife if his life was worthy of Miller’s sacrifice, and she assures him that it was. As he leaves, Ryan gives a heartfelt salute to Miller’s tombstone.
Production Company: Samuel Goldwyn Productions, Inc.
Composer: Hugo Friedhofer
At the end of World War II, three demobilized servicemen meet on a flight to Boone City, their mid-Western hometown. The men, Air Force Captain Fred Derry, sailor Homer Parrish, and Army Sergeant Al Stephenson, quickly develop a bond, even though they come from different backgrounds. Al is a prominent banker with a wife and two children; Fred is a former soda jerk from the wrong side of the tracks, and Homer, who has lost both hands in the war, comes from a close-knit, middle-class family. As they share a taxi from the airport and happily reminisce about familiar locations, including a tavern run by Homer's uncle, Butch Engle, each expresses trepidation about the future and how they will adapt to civilian life. Homer is welcomed joyfully by his parents and girl friend, Wilma Cameron, but his mother cannot hide her heartbreak over seeing his prosthetic hooks. Al is dropped off next at his swank apartment, where he is lovingly greeted by his wife Milly and two children, Peggy and Rob, who have grown up during their father's absence. Finally, Fred goes to see his good-hearted, alcoholic father Pat and his stepmother Hortense in the shanty in which they live and learns that his wife Marie has moved into her own apartment. At Al's apartment, the realization that things have changed during his absence makes Al feel awkward and he suggests that Milly and Peggy join him for a night out on the town. Homer is equally uncomfortable talking with Wilma's parents and decides to go to Butch's place, where he finds Fred brooding over not locating Marie. They are soon joined by a very intoxicated Al, who arrives with the indulgent Milly and Peggy. While playing the piano, Butch listens sympathetically as Homer talks about his family's self-consciousness, then plays "Among My Souveniers" for Al, who dances lovingly with Milly. When the bar closes, Peggy drives the group to Marie's apartment building, but when Fred passes out on the front steps, they decide to take him home to their place. In the middle of the night, Fred has a nightmare about a friend burning in his crashing plane, and his screams awaken Peggy, who gently comforts the sobbing Fred back to sleep. The next morning, a very apologetic Fred is driven home to Marie by Peggy and confesses that he doesn't know what he will do, but will never go back to soda jerking. Meanwhile, Al awakens with a hangover, throws his army boots out the window and compares himself unfavorably to his pre-war photograph. After showering and shaving, he and Milly nervously embrace for their first time since he went into the Army. Later, Al is irritated that Mr. Milton, his former boss, wants him to return right away to the bank and saddened by the thought of all the men who did not come back. Meanwhile, Fred goes to see his old boss, Mr. Bullard, and discovers that the drugstore is now part of a large chain. Bullard recommends Fred to the new manager, but Fred bristles at the idea of taking a low-paying job which would still involve working at the lunch counter. When Al goes to the bank that afternoon, Milton offers him a large raise and a promotion to head the small loans department, but pressures him to start working as soon as possible. That night, when Marie insists that Fred wear his uniform to impress her friends, he agrees, but begins to worry that their hasty wartime marriage was a mistake. At Homer's house, Wilma tries to make him realize that she still loves him as much as ever, but runs home crying after Homer angrily pushes his hooks through a window after seeing his little sister Luella and her friends staring at him. Some weeks later, Fred's money is gone, and he has been unable to get a job. Marie, who likes to go to clubs every night, argues with Fred over money, prompting him to take the job at the drugstore. One day, Peggy stops by, and he asks her to have lunch with him. During lunch he tells her about his "cockeyed" dreams overseas of having a family and a little home, then later kisses her. That same afternoon, Al takes a chance on granting a loan to fellow veteran Novak, a hard-working sharecropper, whose only collateral is his abilities. Although dismayed, Milton does not override Al's decision, but advises him to be more cautious and not gamble with the depositors' money. That night, as Al and Milly prepare to go out to a banquet in his honor thrown by Milton, Milly says that she has a hunch that Peggy is "crazy" about Fred. Peggy, who has invited Fred and Marie out to dinner, admits that she is in love with Fred, but does not want to be, and thinks that seeing Fred with his wife will have a therapeutic effect on her. At the banquet, an inebriated Al gives a rambling speech, but ends by saying that he loves the bank so much, he plans to gamble with the depositors' money and on the future of the country. Although Milton is somewhat annoyed at Al's remarks, Milly feels very proud. At the end of the evening, Peggy returns home and tells her parents that she is going to break up Fred's loveless marriage. Al and Milly try to convince her that an outsider cannot know the true state of someone else's marriage. The next day, Al meets Fred at Butch's and asks him if he is in love with Peggy. When Fred admits that he is, Al suggests that he reconsider things, prompting Fred to call Peggy and lie that he has merely been flirting with her. Some time later, Homer visits Fred at the drugstore and gets into a conversation at the lunch counter with a man who suggests that the war was unnecessary and that the United States was pushed into it by "the Limies" and "the Reds." Fred asks him to leave and Homer, who is incensed by the man's self-proclaimed "old-fashioned Americanism," goes after him. Fred then slugs the man and is fired. On the way home, Fred asks about Wilma and advises Homer to tell her how much he loves her and marry her right away. Late that night, Wilma comes to see Homer, saying that her parents want her to go away because it is obvious that Homer no longer loves her. He argues that she does not know what it would be like living with him, but because she wants to try, he decides to let her see the worst. In his room, Homer gets out of his robe, is able to drop the harness that holds his prosthetics and put on his pajama top without help, but after that, he is completely vulnerable. Rather than being repulsed, Wilma says that she will never leave him and lovingly tucks him into bed. Some time later, Fred, who has been unable to get another job, argues with Marie, who wants to go out with an old boyfriend. Bitterly telling him that she gave up the best years of her life for him, she demands a divorce. Fred then goes back to his father's house and decides to leave Boone City for good. After saying goodbye to his father and Hortense, and leaving his military decorations with them, Fred goes to the airport and waits for the next flight out. Walking onto a part of the field filled with surplus military planes now destined for scrap, Fred climbs into the tail of one of the planes and begins to think of the horrors he witnessed during the war. When he is startled by Karney, the man who owns the salvage company, Fred asks him if he has any jobs. The gruff Karney, who is also a veteran, explains that he is using the scrap for prefabricated houses and hires Fred on the spot. Some weeks later, at Homer and Wilma's wedding, Fred, who is Homer's best man, is nervous to see Peggy and her parents again. At first, Fred and Peggy merely exchange pleasantries, but when Homer kisses Wilma at the end of the ceremony, Fred goes to Peggy and they kiss, happy to face an uncertain future together.
Production Company: Imagine Entertainment , Universal Pictures
Composer: James Horner
On July 20, 1969, astronaut Jim Lovell watches with family and friends as Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the Moon are televised. Lovell, who took part in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Moon-orbiting Apollo 8 mission the previous year, vows to complete a moonwalk, himself. He is initially scheduled to take part in the Apollo 14 mission; however, he and his crew, including Ken Mattingly and Fred Haise, are called on to replace Alan Shepard’s team for the upcoming Apollo 13 mission. When Mattingly is exposed to German Measles, Jack Swigert must take his place. Lovell frets over losing Mattingly but agrees to move forward. On April 11, 1970, the Saturn V rocket launches the Apollo 13 spacecraft out of the Earth’s atmosphere. Three days later, the crew films a television transmission from inside the command module Odyssey. Shortly after, a liquid oxygen tank explodes when Swigert turns it on, and its contents are lost. The crew discover that another oxygen tank is leaking, which requires two fuel cells to be shut off. In the face of these technical difficulties, the Moon landing must be aborted. The lunar module Aquarius is used to power an emergency return to Earth. Meanwhile, at a command station in Houston, Texas, NASA flight director Gene Kranz works with his team to bring the men home safely. Tensions rise among Lovell and his team, as the command module’s cabin loses heat due to power restrictions. Haise suffers a urinary tract infection which leads to fever. He argues with Swigert, whom he blames for the oxygen tank malfunction, but Lovell steps in to mediate. With carbon dioxide levels spiking inside the cabin, Kranz’s team in Houston works frantically to save the astronauts. They engineer a way for Lovell’s team to release the damaged Aquarius module just before re-entry to the Earth’s atmosphere via the Odyssey. Ground control loses communication with the Apollo 13 team longer than expected, but they land safely in the Pacific Ocean. They are rescued and brought aboard the U.S.S. Iwojima, where they are received as heroes. As an older man, Lovell recalls that, following an investigation, it was determined that a minor defect caused the oxygen tank explosion. Apollo 13 marked the final mission into space for his team. Mattingly, who never contracted Measles, orbited the Moon via the Apollo 16 mission in 1972. Ten years later, Swigert was elected to Congress but died of cancer before he could take office. Lovell continued to follow NASA’s work, and watched other astronauts fulfill his dream of walking on the Moon.
Cast: Gene Hackman, Barbara Hershey, Dennis Hopper
Directors: David Anspaugh, Angelo Pizzo
Producer: Carter De Haven, Angelo Pizzo, John Daly, Derek Gibson
Writer: Angelo Pizzo
Editor: C. Timothy O'Meara
Cinematographer: Fred Murphy, Oliver Wood
Genre: Drama
Production Company: Hemdale Film Corporation
Composer: Jerry Goldsmith
In 1951, unemployed college basketball coach Norman Dale begins a new job at Hickory High School in rural Indiana, after being hired by his longtime friend, Principal Cletus Summers. Resistant to change, the teachers and townspeople defensively question Norman’s credentials, making him feel unwelcome. Among the dissenters is faculty member Myra Fleener, who has advised star player Jimmy Chitwood not to participate in the upcoming season because his mother has fallen ill. At his first practice, Norman is shocked to learn the team consists of only seven members, one of whom is ridiculed for his short stature. Despite the disadvantage to the team, Norman does not hesitate to dismiss Buddy Walker and his friend, Whit Butcher, for being disrespectful. With the five remaining players--Rade Butcher, Everett Flatch, Merle Webb, Strap Purl, and Ollie McLellan--Norman develops exercises to improve their fundamental techniques while downplaying scrimmage and shooting. The program is met with derision from Hickory’s male residents, but Rollin Butcher eventually forces his son, Whit, to apologize for his behavior, and convinces his peers to refrain from intruding on Norman’s practices. Although he does not pressure Jimmy Chitwood to change his mind, Norman wonders if the boy has potential to attend college on an athletic scholarship. Myra challenges him, believing that pursuit of an athletic career will squander Jimmy’s academic potential and chance to get out of Hickory. At a school pep rally, the students chant, “We want Jimmy!,” but Norman demands they respect the six players who have put in the time and effort to be on the team. During the first game, the boys disobey the coach’s instructions to practice passing the ball before shooting. After a crushing defeat, Norman warns them to never question his authority. In town, Myra’s mother, Opal, invites Norman to visit their farm. Although reluctant to reveal many personal details, Myra confesses she left Hickory to pursue a graduate degree, but was forced to return after her father died. The night before the next game, Everett’s alcoholic father, “Shooter” Flatch, draws from his experience as a former Hickory player to offer Norman some friendly scouting tips. In the next match against the Cedar Knob Knights, Norman gets into an altercation with the referee over an unfair call. Rade comes to his defense by punching an opposing player, and Cletus is forced to take over as coach. Afterward, Norman learns that Cletus suffers from a serious heart condition, and asks Shooter to get sober and step in as his new assistant. Shooter is initially unwilling to give up drinking, but cleans up his appearance in time for the next game. With Cletus home on bed rest, Myra assumes the role of acting principal and informs Norman that the town has proposed a referendum for his dismissal. After another incident on the court, Myra discovers that Norman was permanently suspended from coaching in New York for physically assaulting one of his own players during a game. Although she intends to disclose the truth at the referendum, she admires his efforts to help Shooter, and speaks publicly his favor. Moments before the vote is announced, Jimmy Chitwood announces he will resume his basketball career if Norman is permitted to continue coaching. The townspeople agree, and the team goes on to secure a string of successive victories. Over time, Shooter finds confidence as a coach and rebuilds his relationship with his son. However, the mounting pressure of sectional finals causes him to relapse, and he drunkenly wanders onto the court in the middle of the game. Embarrassed, Everett gets into a fight with another player, sustaining a large gash in his shoulder blade. Later that day, Everett and Norman discover Shooter lying unconscious in the snow, and take him to the hospital. During the sectional championships, Everett’s wound reopens, forcing Norman to pull him out of the game. When Strap commits a foul in the final quarter, Ollie is sent in as an alternate. Defying all expectations, Ollie scores two free throw points and wins the game. Before going on to the state finals, Norman and Myra admit their mutual attraction, and Everett encourages his father to get well. The smallest school to ever compete in the Indiana State Championships, Hickory travels to Indianapolis to face off against the defending team from South Bend Central. With only seconds remaining on the clock, Jimmy makes a tiebreaking basket and clinches the title. As the crowd erupts in applause, Norman looks to the stands and sees Myra proudly smiling back at him.
Writer: Pierre Boulle, Carl Foreman, Michael Wilson
Cinematographer: Jack Hildyard
Genre: Drama
Production Company: Horizon-American Pictures, Inc.
Composer: Malcolm Arnold
In World War II Burma, after they are captured by Japanese troops during World War II, British commander Col. Nicholson and his troops march into Prisoner of War Camp 16 whistling their regimental tune. Their crisp arrival is wryly observed by Shears, an American sailor who bribes a guard to transfer him from the burial detail to the infirmary. When the camp’s commander, Col. Saito, imperiously informs the new prisoners that they will all be expected to work on building a railroad that will connect Bangkok to Rangoon, Nicholson protests that under the regulations of the Geneva Convention, all officers are exempt from manual labor. Afterward, Nicholson goes to the infirmary to visit Jennings, one of his wounded men. There Maj. Clipton, the camp’s medical officer, introduces the colonel to “Commander Major” Shears. When Jennings proposes escaping, Nicholson counters that he was ordered by headquarters to surrender, and therefore escaping would constitute a military infraction. Incredulous at the colonel’s naïveté, Shears retorts that escape is their only chance to avoid the death sentence of forced labor. The following day, Saito announces that all the men, including officers, will work on building a bridge across the River Kwai. When Nicholson defiantly waves a copy of the Geneva Convention, Saito slaps him across the face with it and flings it to the ground. Nicholson still refuses to let his officers perform manual labor, and after the other men march off to work, Saito calls for a machine gun and threatens to gun down all the officers. Watching in horror, Clipton runs out of the infirmary and protests that he and his patients have seen everything and will be witnesess to murder if Saito orders the gunners to fire. Saito then changes his mind and forces the officers to stand for the entire day in the merciless sun. Afterward, Saito locks Nicholson in “the oven,” a crude metal shed, and imprisons the other officers in the “punishment hut.” As the troops encourage Nicholson with a rendition of “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow,” Shears, Jennings and a prisoner named Weaver escape into the jungle. Jennings and Weaver are gunned down by the guards, who then pursue Shears to a ridge above the river and shoot him. The guards assume that Shears is dead after he plunges into the river, but he survives and makes his way down river to the shore. Later, Saito summons Clipton and asks him to tell Nicholson that unless he cooperates, the patients in the infirmary will be forced to work. Confronted with the ultimatum, Nicholson still refuses to comply on the grounds that “it is a matter of principle.” With only two months left before the May first deadline for the completion of the bridge, Saito, frustrated by the slow progress, takes command of the project himself. After a segment of the bridge collapses, a defeated Saito has Nicholson brought to his office from the oven and explains that if he fails to meet the deadline, he will be forced to commit hara-kari. Unmoved, Nicholson insists that the Geneva Convention be adhered to, after which Saito orders him taken back to the oven. Meanwhile Shears, who was found near death by some friendly villagers, recovers and begins a solitary boat trip down river. Days later, his water exhausted, Shears passes out, leaving his boat to drift aimlessly. Plagued by ineptness and sabotage in his efforts to build the bridge, Saito orders the weakened and dehydrated Nicholson pulled from the oven and brought to his office where he grants a general amnesty to the officers and declares it will not be necessary for them to perform manual labor. As the men cheer Nicholson’s victory, Saito sits in his office, broken and sobbing. Upon inspecting the bridge, Nicholson criticizes the workers’ cavalier attitude and asks Capt. Reeves, who worked as a civilian engineer, for advice. Reeves observes that the river bottom at the present location is soft mud and suggests moving downstream where the bottom is solid bedrock. When Maj. Hughes, a public works engineer, criticizes the men’s lack of teamwork, Nicholson declares that they will rebuild the company’s morale by building an exemplary bridge. Nicholson, completely oblivious to the fact that he is about to aid and abet the enemy, presents a plan to Saito increasing the men’s daily work quota and suggests that Japanese soldiers should work laying track. Seeing his position crumbling, Saito stoicly says that he has already given the order. Shears, meanwhile, has been picked up by a sea rescue plane and brought to a hospital in Ceylon where he is visited by Maj. Warden, the explosives instructor at a nearby British commando school, who invites him to a meeting at the school. At the meeting, Warden explains that he plans to lead a team into Burma to blow up the bridge and asks Shears to join them. Shears, desirous of returning to civilian life, demurs, confessing that he was merely impersonating an officer and therefore is not qualified for the mission. Warden then informs him that the U.S. Navy already knows about his deception and has authorized his transfer to the British commandoes. Faced with possible imprisonment for impersonating an officer, Shears reluctantly accepts the assignment and retains his rank as Major. At the prison camp, Clipton warns Nicholson that he could be charged with treason for collaborating with the enemy. Obsessed by proving the mettle of his British soldiers, Nicholson turns a deaf ear to the medic’s protest. At the commando school meanwhile, Shears joins a team comprised of Warden, Chapman and Lt. Joyce, a young recruit wary of killing. As the four parachute into the jungle, Chapman crashes into a tree and is killed. The others are met by Yai, a native guide who hates the Japanese, and four women bearers. As they begin their trek through the jungle, they receive a radio transmission from headquarters informing them that a special train carrying troops and VIPs is scheduled to inaugurate the bridge on the thirteenth, and ordering them to carry out the demolition on that day. Realizing that he cannot finish the bridge by the deadline, Nicholson matter-of-factly tells Clipton that he has asked the officers to work beside the enlisted men and they have volunteered "to a man." After Clipton's protests, Nicholson then recruits wounded men from the infirmary to perform “light labor.” In the jungle, meanwhile, Warden’s team is accosted by Japanese soldiers, and in the skirmish Warden is shot in the ankle. Warden subsequently stumbles along on his crippled foot, climbing torturous mountain paths, but when they are just six hours away from the bridge, he declares that the others should continue on without him. Angrily denouncing Warden’s self-sacrifice as the histrionics of a British gentleman, Shears orders him hoisted onto a stretcher, after which they all continue on together, reaching the bridge just as Nicholson is nailing up a plaque commemorating the work of the British soldiers. That night, as the prisoners put on a show in celebration of the completion of the bridge, concluding with “God Bless the King,” Joyce and Shears, aided by the women, pilot a raft filled with plastic explosives to the bridge while Saito, having been bested by the British, makes preparations for hara-kari. After attaching the explosives to the bridge, Joyce takes cover with the detonator while Shears swims back across the river to await the arrival of the train the next day. At daybreak, the commandoes discover that the water level of the river has dropped, exposing the wires leading to the detonator. When the troops march onto the bridge for the ribbon cutting ceremony, Clipton informs Nicholson he wants no part of the festivities and retreats to a hill to watch. As the train whistle is heard in the distance, Nicholson spots the wires and calls Saito to go with him and investigate. Warden watches in disbelief as Nicholson follows the wire to the detonator, incredulous that a British officer would try to prevent an act of sabotage against the enemy. Sneaking up behind Saito, Joyce stabs him in the back with his knife, then informs Nicholson that they have been sent by the British to blow up the bridge. Crazed, Nicholson attacks Joyce, prompting Shears to scream “kill him” and swim to Joyce’s defense. As Warden bombards the bridge with mortar shells, the Japanese open fire, wounding Shears and killing Joyce. When the injured Shears dies at Nicholson’s feet, the colonel realizes his folly just as he is wounded by mortar fire and falls onto the detonator, setting off the explosives as the train approaches the bridge. As the bridge collapses, sending the train spilling into the river, Clipton surveys the scene and utters “madness.”
In 1887 Annie Sullivan arrives in Tuscumbia, Alabama, to undertake the seemingly impossible task of teaching deaf, blind, 7-year-old Helen Keller "language" through the sense of touch. Blind herself as a child and hardened by both her early years in institutions and the death of her younger, crippled brother, Annie realizes that if Helen is to be helped she must be removed from the pampering influence of her mother and the shouting domination of her father. Though Annie succeeds in getting the family to allow her 2 weeks alone with Helen in a small garden house on the Keller property, the high-spirited and strong-willed child opposes her at every turn. At the end of the 2 weeks, however, Helen has learned to dress herself, eat with a fork, and understand the alphabet of touch. She is still unable, however, to comprehend that the words she spells are names for the objects she touches. Annie asks for another week alone with Helen, but the parents, seeing the progress that has been made, insist on bringing the child back into the household. There, she attempts to revert to her former willful savagery, but Annie again opposes her. Following an outburst at the dining room table, Annie drags the child to the pump on the front lawn and forces her to refill a pitcher from which she spilled the water. As the water pours over her hands, the sudden realization that what she feels is w-a-t-e-r dawns on the child, and she grasps Annie's hand and spells out the word. Wildly excited, Helen races about spelling the name of everything she touches--pump, tree, porch, bell, mother, father. Finally, Annie identifies herself by spelling out "teacher."
Production Company: Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp.
Composer: David Shire
In the summer of 1978, Norma Rae Wilson and her parents, Leona and Vernon Witchard, are among the laborers who operate the noisy weaving machines at the O.P. Henley textile mill in the small, Southern town of Henleyville. On her lunch break, Norma notices that her mother’s hearing is damaged and rushes her to the factory doctor, Dr. Watson, who dismisses the deafness as temporary. His lack of concern angers her. At home, Norma helps her father clean the kitchen and encourages her two children, Craig and Millie, to do their homework. As she is preparing to go out, Reuben Warshovsky, a labor organizer from New York City, arrives at the door inquiring about renting a room with a mill family. Although Vernon has never received a raise, he states that Reuben and his union are not welcomed. That evening, Norma meets her lover, George Benson, at a motel. Following sex, Norma tells George that she no longer wants to continue the affair, and he slaps her. As Norma leaves the room, she sees Reuben who has just checked into the motel. After he prepares an ice pack for her bleeding nose, she apologizes for her father’s rudeness and says that Reuben is the first Jewish person she has ever met. Outside the Henley mill, Reuben hands out leaflets for the TWUA (Textile Workers Union of America). A factory supervisor, Jimmy Jerome Davis, states that a union organizer seems to arrive every four years, just like the locusts. During her shift, Norma is informed that she is being promoted to spot-checking. Gardner, her boss, hopes that the raise will encourage her to complain less. With a clipboard in hand, she records worker productivity, including her father’s, who resents her new authority. When she monitors an employee named Sonny Webster, he begins to act silly and taunts her. Norma is not amused, warning him that his behavior could get them fired. That night, Sonny stops by Norma’s house to apologize, explaining that he was wound up after receiving divorce papers earlier, and invites her out for a drink. She accepts, ignoring her father’s disapproval about going out with another, new man. As she starts her shift one morning, Norma notices that the workers, who are also her friends, will not talk to her. When one of them calls her a “fink,” she announces to Gardner that she is quitting, recognizing that she is being used to identify the slow laborers so the company can eliminate them. Refusing to fire Norma because of her family’s long history with the mill, he reassigns her to the weaving room. She smiles when her friend Bonnie Mae welcomes her back as one of them. One afternoon, Sonny drives Norma, along with her children and his daughter, Alice, to the lake. While the kids are playing, he proposes to Norma, reasoning that as single parents they can help each other. Soon afterwards, Sonny and Norma are married. Sometime later, Norma attends a meeting organized by Reuben who gives a persuasive speech about exploitation in the textile industry and urges everyone to sign a union card. On another day, Norma observes Reuben’s tenacity as he inspects the factory bulletin boards to confirm that the TWUA notices are posted. Before long, she shows up at his motel room, now a makeshift office, to ask if participation with the union will jeopardize her job. After Reuben reassures her, Norma signs up. As she campaigns for the union during a work break, supervisor Lujan harasses Norma, but she is not intimidated. When Reverend Hubbard refuses to let her use the church for a union meeting because it will include African-Americans and whites, she organizes the gathering at her home, despite Sonny’s protest. During the meeting, the workers describe the prison-like conditions at the factory, and one woman speaks about her husband who recently died from “brown lung.” Afterward, Reuben is worried, since his campaign has only attracted seventeen workers, so Norma suggests they reach out to people along the back roads. During an evening at home, Norma is busy making calls on behalf of the union when Sonny complains that she is neglecting her responsibilities as a wife and mother. Provoked, she begins charging through household chores until Sonny calms her. One day during his shift, Vernon’s arm goes numb and he wants to lie down, but the floor supervisor advises him to carry on until his upcoming break. He tries to continue, but suddenly collapses and dies. Following Vernon’s death, Reuben’s motel office is crowded with volunteers. When Norma yells at someone for being late, Reuben kicks her out of the office; however, he follows her to a nearby diner, assuring her that she is the “Mother Jones” of their cause. One evening, Al London and Sam Dakin, officials with TWUA’s national headquarters, arrive at the motel, worried about Reuben’s association with Norma. In her presence, they complain to Reuben that she has an illegitimate child and a promiscuous reputation, which the mill can use to tarnish the union’s image. Screaming, Reuben staunchly defends her and orders the men to leave. Sometime later, Norma calls Reuben from the factory to notify him of an incendiary letter posted by the company, declaring that African-Americans are going to take over the union. As Reuben meets her at the gates, a group of white workers are beating up an African-American because of his union sympathies. If Norma cannot obtain the letter, Reuben tells her to memorize it and then write it down. During her break, Norma is able to replicate most of the letter on a piece of toilet paper, but Reuben criticizes her for not getting the entirety, reiterating that the union needs the exact wording to take legal action. The next day, Norma furiously copies the letter in front of her supervisors. Leroy Mason, the top manager, orders her to put down the pencil and paper. In his office, Norma remains defiant, and Mason demands that she immediately leave the factory. In the weaving room, a guard tries to escort her out, but she resists. Among the din of the machines, Norma writes “UNION” on a piece of cardboard and stands on a table holding it above her head. As the workers look up, they begin to switch off their machines until the factory floor is quiet. When Sheriff Lamar Miller arrives, Norma proudly walks out of the building with him, but once outside, she realizes that he is arresting her and not taking her home. While she kicks and screams, they force her into the police car. At the station, Norma is booked for disorderly conduct, but Reuben posts bail later that evening. As she cries from the trauma of the experience, Reuben instructs her that being arrested is minor when compared to the real dangers of union organizing. As soon as she gets home, Norma wakes up her children to disclose her arrest, her imperfect past and the identity of their fathers, so that they will be prepared when people gossip about her. Even though it got her fired, she explains to them that she believes in the union. Sometime later, a crowd of workers waits inside the factory while the union vote is counted. Outside, Norma and Reuben listen to the cheers when the result is announced in favor of the union. Norma holds back tears while she walks Reuben to his car, which is packed for his trip back to New York. After thanking each other, they shake hands, and Norma watches him drive away.
Cast: Michael Berryman, Peter Brocco, Dean R. Brooks
Directors: Milos Forman
Producer: Saul Zaentz, Michael Douglas
Writer: Lawrence Hauben, Bo Goldman
Editor: Lynzee Klingman, Sheldon Kahn
Cinematographer: Haskell Wexler
Genre: Drama
Production Company: Fantasy Films
At an Oregon mental asylum, serene but tyrannical Nurse Ratched maintains firm control over the men’s ward. In the day room, calm music blares from a record player, as she and her assistant, Nurse Pilbow, hand out daily medications to their patients. Randle Patrick McMurphy, who is eager to escape a work farm prison where he is serving a six-month sentence for statutory rape, is delivered to the asylum wearing handcuffs. When McMurphy attempts to greet a very tall Native American, called Chief Bromden, he is met with a blank stare and no response. Billy Bibbit, the youngest patient in the ward who has a marked stutter, informs McMurphy that Bromden is a deaf-mute. When the hospital psychiatrist, Dr. Spivey, meets with McMurphy, he tells him that the prison officials believe McMurphy is faking mental illness and informs him that the hospital staff will be evaluating him to determine whether he should be returned to complete his sentence or remain at the asylum. McMurphy arrives at Ratched’s ward as she is leading a group therapy session in which she urges the men to discuss the marital and sexual problems of Harding, a well-spoken, educated patient who suspects his wife of infidelity. The men are at first reluctant to speak up, but Ratched encourages them to talk. Due to the intrusive nature of the discussion, Harding becomes upset, causing tension to rise within the group. The session ends with loud arguments that prompt the orderlies to physically remove some of the patients out of the room to restore the peace. During an outdoor exercise interval, McMurphy encourages Bromden to play basketball by climbing onto the shoulder of another patient and shooting the ball through the hoop, but Bromden shows little interest. Later, McMurphy encourages his fellow patients to play blackjack, instead of their usual pinochle, using cigarettes to represent dimes. When McMurphy asks Ratched to turn down the music so the men can hear each other, Ratched refuses, explaining that the older men who are hard of hearing would not be able to enjoy it. McMurphy balks at taking medication, but Ratched convinces him to cooperate by offering to administer the medicine in another way. At the next group session, McMurphy suggests changing the work detail, so that the men can watch the opening of the World Series on television. Ratched patiently explains that making changes would disturb the men in the ward who take a long time adjusting to a schedule. She suggests taking a vote, but most of the men are reluctant, even fearful, of voting against her will. Later, in the “tub room” of the asylum, McMurphy suggests that they leave the asylum to watch the game at a bar, but the men explain that they are locked in. McMurphy bets them that he can get them out and attempts to lift a large marble washing station with which he plans to break open a window, but finds it too heavy. When he finally gives up, he tells the others that at least he tried. At the next group session, Ratched focuses on Billy, who had asked a girl to marry him. Ratched mentions that Billy’s mother never told Ratched about the girl, which causes Billy’s stutter to intensify. When she asks about the first time he tried to commit suicide, another patient, Cheswick, asks Ratched why she presses Billy on the subject when he does not wish to talk. Changing the subject, he says that he would like to see the baseball game and asks for another vote. This time, all nine men in the group vote in favor of the game, but Ratched tells them that there are eighteen patients in the ward and a majority vote is needed to change ward policy. McMurphy approaches each of the other men, urging them to raise their hands, but they are too mentally ill to comprehend the events around them. Just as Ratched ends the group meeting, McMurphy convinces Bromden to raise his hand, but Ratched again refuses to give in, claiming that the vote was closed. Refusing to be defeated, McMurphy stares at the blank television screen and pretends to watch the game, shouting out a play-by-play commentary that inspires the other men to join him and cheer. After his fourth week at the asylum, McMurphy meets with Spivey, as other doctors observe their conversation. When he is asked if he likes being at the asylum, McMurphy responds that Ratched is not honest, that she “likes a rigged game.” Spivey tells McMurphy that he diagnoses no evidence of mental illness, prompting McMurphy to make silly faces and other odd movements, and ask, “Is this crazy enough for you?” As the men are preparing to go on an outing, McMurphy impulsively asks Bromden to help him over the barbed wire fence around the hospital. On the other side, he hides in the vacant bus until the men board, then drives the bus away, leaving the asylum staff behind. After picking up Candy and Rose, friendly prostitutes with whom he is acquainted, he takes the men to a marina, where he convinces the harbor master to let them charter a boat, introducing himself and his cohorts as doctors from the mental institution. He teaches the men to bait a hook and puts Cheswick in charge of the ship’s wheel, while Billy and Candy go below deck. When the men later return to the waiting police who accompany Spivey, they are exhilarated. Later, the panel of doctors meet and cannot agree on whether McMurphy is mentally ill, but some believe he is dangerous. When they consider returning him to the prison, Ratched suggests that they keep him rather than relinquish their problems to another institution. Outside, McMurphy leads the men in a game of basketball. Bromden walks back and forth between the two baskets, ensuring that his own team’s ball goes into the basket while preventing the opposing team’s ball from going through, but everyone enjoys the game. During a hydrotherapy session, McMurphy mentions to one of the orderlies that he has only sixty-eight days left of his sentence, but is told that, unlike a prison sentence, asylum commitments last until the doctors allow you to leave. At the next group session, McMurphy accuses his fellow patients of not explaining that he must remain there at the discretion of Ratched and the doctors. Harding says that he did not know, as he had voluntarily committed himself, and Ratched explains that McMurphy is one of only a few who are actually committed. Hearing that Billy could leave if he wished, McMurphy tells him that he is young and should be out enjoying women. He tells the men they are no crazier than most people. When Ratched encourages comments on McMurphy’s statement, the men direct their challenges at her, by asking why the doors to their rooms are locked during the day and why their cigarettes are withheld from them. When the usually docile Cheswick demands his cigarettes, Ratched accuses McMurphy of creating the necessity of rationing their cigarettes, because he was winning their money and cigarettes in gambling. A patient, Taber, who has been hiding a lit cigarette in the cuff of his pants, yells out in pain when it burns his leg, creating chaos that builds when Cheswick loudly demands his cigarettes and disturbs the more vulnerable patients. To calm him, McMurphy breaks the window of the nurses’ office to retrieve his cigarettes. Meanwhile, Washington, an orderly, tries to force Cheswick from the room, prompting McMurphy to punch him. They fight, but when Washington holds McMurphy down, the silent Bromden comes to his aid. Order is restored when more orderlies are called in, and McMurphy, Bromden and Cheswick are cuffed and taken from the room to be given sedatives. While waiting in a hall, after Cheswick is taken away, McMurphy offers Bromden a piece of chewing gum and is given a quiet thank you, revealing that Bromden can both hear and speak. McMurphy suggests they escape the asylum together, but he is taken away and given electroshock treatment. When McMurphy returns to the ward, he shuffles in, bearing a vacant look on his face, but soon laughs and acknowledges that he is playing a joke on the men. Still intent on escaping, McMurphy breaks into the nurses’ office one night and calls Candy and Rose, asking them to bring liquor. McMurphy invites Bromden to leave with him, but Bromden declines. When Candy and Rose arrive, McMurphy pulls them in through a window and awakens the men for a farewell party. Afterward, McMurphy prepares to leave with the women and says goodbye to each of the men. Noting that Billy is upset, McMurphy invites him to come along, but Billy believes he is not ready for the outside world. Realizing that the virginal Billy is attracted to Candy, McMurphy arranges for them to have a private “date.” While waiting for Candy, McMurphy falls asleep and when the orderlies and nurses arrive the next morning to discover the disheveled room, it is too late for him to escape. When the hospital attendants discover Billy in bed with Candy, Ratched asks him if he is ashamed of himself. Billy answers without stuttering that he is not, but when Ratched threatens to tell his mother, he breaks down and is taken from the room by the orderlies. Shortly after, Billy commits suicide. Angry, McMurphy grabs Ratched by the throat and strangles her, until Washington knocks him out. Later order is restored and Ratched, now wearing a neck brace, regains control of the men, although they still play blackjack using cigarettes for money. McMurphy, however, has not been seen and various rumors circulate, some stating that he escaped the asylum and others that he is on another floor, “meek as a lamb.” During the middle of the night, McMurphy is returned to his bed by orderlies. Bromden goes to him, ready for the two of them to escape, but discovers that McMurphy has been given a lobotomy that has left him vacant and spiritless. To free him, Bromden suffocates his friend with a pillow. He then goes to the tub room, lifts the washing station and breaks the window, through which he leaves the asylum.
Cast: Millie Perkins, Joseph Schildkraut, Shelley Winters
Directors: George Stevens
Producer: George Stevens
Writer: Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett
Editor: David Bretherton, Robert Swink, William Mace
Cinematographer: William C. Mellor
Genre: Drama
Production Company: Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp.
Composer: Alfred Newman
As a truckload of war survivors stops in front of an Amsterdam factory at the end of World War II, Otto Frank, a lone, dejected figure gets out and walks inside. After climbing the stairs to a deserted garret, Otto finds a girl's discarded glove and sobs, then is joined and comforted by Miep Gies and Mr. Kraler, factory workers who shielded him from the Nazis. After tonelessly stating that he is now all alone, Otto begins to search for the diary written by his youngest daughter Anne. Miep promptly retrieves the journal for Otto, and he receives solace reading the words written by his thirteen-year-old daughter three years earlier: The date is July 1942, and Anne begins by chronicling the restrictions placed upon Jews that drove the Franks, Otto, his wife Edith and their daughters Margot and Anne, into hiding over the spice factory. Sharing the Franks' hiding place are Hans and Petronela Van Daan and their teenage son Peter. Kraler, who works in the office below, and Miep, his assistant, have arranged the hideaway and warn the families that they must maintain strict silence during daylight hours when the workers are there. On the first day, the minutes drag by in silence. After work, Kraler delivers food and a box for Anne compiled by her father, which contains her beloved photos of movie stars and a blank diary. In the first pages of the diary, Anne describes the strangeness of never being able to go outside or breathe fresh air. As the months pass, Anne's irrepressible energy reasserts itself and she constantly teases Peter, whose only attachment is to his cat, Moushie. Isolated from the world outside, Otto schools Anne and Margot as the sounds of sirens and bombers frequently fill the air. Mrs. Van Daan passes the time by recounting fond memories of her youth and stroking her one remaining possession, the fur coat given to her by her father. The strain of confinement causes the Van Daans to argue and pits the strong-willed Anne against her mother. One day, Kraler brings a radio to the attic, providing the families with ears onto the world. Soon after, Kraler asks them to take in another person, a Jewish dentist named Albert Dussell. When Van Daan complains that the addition will diminish their food supply, Dussell recounts the dire conditions outside, in which Jews suddenly disappear and are shipped to concentration camps. When Dussell confirms the disappearance of many of their friends, the families' hopes are dimmed. One night, Anne dreams of seeing one of her friends in a concentration camp and wakes up screaming. In October 1942, news comes of the Allied landing in Africa, but rather than producing relief, the bombing outside the factory intensifies, fraying the refugees' already ragged nerves. On Hanukkah, Margot longingly recalls past celebrations and Anne produces little presents for everyone. When Van Daan abruptly announces that Peter must get rid of Moushie because he consumes too much food, Anne protests. Their argument is cut short when they hear a prowler break in the front door and the room falls silent. Peter then sends an object crashing to the floor while trying to catch Moushie, and the startled thief grabs a typewriter and flees. A watchman notices the break-in and summons two Gestapo officers, who search the premises, shining their flashlights onto the bookcase that conceals the attic entrance. The families wait in terror until Moushie knocks a plate from the table and meows, reassuring the officers that the noise was caused by a common cat. After the officers leave, Otto, hoping to foster faith and courage, leads everyone in a Hanukkah song. In January 1944, Anne, on the threshold of womanhood, begins to attract Peter's attention. When Miep brings the group a cake, Dussell and Van Daan bicker over the size of their portions and then Van Daan asks Miep to sell his wife's fur coat so that he can buy cigarettes. After Kraler warns that one of his employees asked for a raise and implied that something strange is going on in the attic, Dussell dourly comments that it is just a matter of time before they are discovered. Anne, distraught, blames the adults for the war which has destroyed all sense of hope and ideals. When she storms out of the room, Peter follows and comforts her. Later, Anne confides her dreams of becoming a writer and Peter voices frustration about his inability to join the war effort. In April 1944, amid talk of liberation, the Franks watch helplessly as more Jews are marched through the streets. Tensions mount, and when Van Daan tries to steal some bread from the others, Edith denounces him and orders him to leave. As Dussell and Van Daan quarrel over food, word comes over the radio of the Normandy invasion and Van Daan breaks into tears of shame. Heartened by the news, everyone apologizes for their harsh words, and Anne dreams of being back in school by the fall. By July 1944, the invasion has bogged down and Kraler is hospitalized with ulcers. Upon hearing that the Gestapo has found the stolen typewriter, Anne writes that her diary provides her a way to go on living after her death. After the Van Daans begin to quarrel once more, Peter declares that he cannot tolerate the situation and Anne soothes him by reminding him of the goodness of those that have come to their aid. Their conversation is interrupted by the sirens of an approaching Gestapo truck. As Anne and Peter bravely stand arm in arm certain of their impending arrest, they passionately kiss. As the German soldiers break down the bookcase entrance to the hideout, Otto declares they no longer have to live in fear, but can go forward in hope. Back in the present, Otto tells Miep and Kraler that on his long journey home after his release from the concentration camp he learned how Edith, Margot and the others perished, but always held out hope that perhaps Anne had somehow survived. Otto sadly reveals that only the previous day in Rotterdam he met a woman who had been in Bergen-Belsen with Anne and confirmed her death. Otto then glances at Anne's diary and reads, "In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart," and reflects upon his daughter's unshakeable optimism.
Producer: Irwin Winkler, Robert Chartoff, James D. Brubaker
Writer: Philip Kaufman
Editor: Glenn Farr, Lisa Fruchtman, Stephen A. Rotter, Douglas Stewart, Tom Rolf
Cinematographer: Caleb Deschanel
Genre: Adventure, Drama
Composer: Bill Conti
At Muroc Air Force Base in 1940s California, test pilots risk their lives to set a new record for speed, and frequent a rugged bar called Happy Desert Riding Club. There, pilot “Slick” Goodlin brags he can break the sound barrier for $150,000, but war hero Chuck Yeager volunteers to perform the mission at no added cost to his meager salary. The night before his flight, Yeager playfully chases his wife, Glennis, through the desert on horseback and breaks a rib, but he reports to duty in the morning, and his friend, Jack Ridley, rigs the X-1 rocket hatch with a broken broom handle to accommodate for Yeager’s injury. On 14 October 1947, Yeager becomes the first man to break the sound barrier. Although the flight is deemed “top secret” by the U.S. government, rumors spread about Yeager, who becomes known as “the fastest man alive,” and pilots flock to California’s Mojave Desert, hoping to top Yeager’s ongoing streak of record-breaking speeds. By 1952, Muroc is renamed “Edwards Air Force Base” and becomes home to the best pilots in the world, including Gordon “Gordo” Cooper, Donald “Deke” Slayton, and Virgil “Gus” Grissom. As the men compete for the most dangerous missions, their wives worry about becoming widows. In 1957, the Soviet Union launches “Sputnik,” becoming the first country to operate a global satellite in outer space, and U.S. Senate Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson fears Russia has gained an upper hand in the Cold War. Eager to overshadow “Sputnik” and assert America’s world-dominance, Johnson advises a committee to endorse a new space program, “Project Mercury,” which will launch human-piloted rockets into space. Over time, pilots are subjected to grueling physical and psychological tests to prove they have “the right stuff,” and on 9 April 1959, the newly-established National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announces the “Mercury Seven” astronauts. Edwards Air Force Base pilots Gordon “Gordo” Cooper, Donald “Deke” Slayton, and Virgil “Gus” Grissom are joined by Marine John Glenn and Navy officers Alan Shepard, Scott Carpenter, and Walter “Wally” Schirra. Back at the Happy Desert Riding Club, pilots Jack Ridley and Chuck Yeager listen to a radio broadcast of the NASA press conference, disgruntled that Yeager was eliminated from the selection due to his lack of higher education. Yeager remains determined to push the limits of aeronautical engineering, even though his celebrity has been eclipsed by the Mercury Seven. Meanwhile, the new astronauts are promoted by the media as Cold War heroes and are relocated to Cape Canaveral, Florida. However, their missions are delayed by a series of failed, unmanned test launches, and NASA decides to replace the pilots with a chimpanzee for the first flight. Resenting the snub, the Mercury Seven band together to prove the merits of their education, insisting that pilots are not interchangeable with primates. The men also leverage their popularity in the press, threatening to smear NASA unless its engineers comply with their demands for a rocket capsule window and escape hatch. Still, NASA launches a chimpanzee into space on 31 January 1961, and the Soviets put a man in space two months later. With new urgency to compete with Russia, the U.S. launches a rocket piloted by Alan Shepard on 5 May 1961, and his successful mission is celebrated by President Kennedy, who declares that Project Mercury is evidence of America’s political and technological mastery. On 21 July 1961, Gus Grissom makes the next Mercury flight, but the capsule hatch prematurely blows open when he lands in the ocean. Despite Grissom’s protests, he is blamed for panicking inside the capsule, triggering the hatch, and causing the aircraft to sink. Grissom fails to receive the heroic homecoming of his predecessor, and his wife, Betty, is devastated. As Betty cries about the sacrifices she and the other Mercury Seven wives make to accommodate for their husbands’ life-threatening careers, news reporters arrive to announce that the government has changed its tack, and Grissom is being heralded as a hero, after all. Back at Edwards Air Force Base, Chuck Yeager watches the ensuing television news coverage with his fellow pilot, Jack Ridley, who suggests President Kennedy is glorifying Grissom to manipulate the media, and divert attention away from the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) failed invasion of Cuba. When Ridley speculates that Grissom is responsible for the sunken capsule, Yeager insists the astronaut should be commended, regardless of the mission’s outcome. Sometime later, the Happy Desert Riding Club is destroyed in a fire, taking with it a memorial wall of photographs that honored unknown test pilots who died in the line of duty. Back in Cape Canaveral, John Glenn is launched into space for the world’s first orbital mission on 20 February 1962. During the flight, ground control is alerted to a failure in the spacecraft’s heat shield, indicating that the capsule will burn up during re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere, and the mission is cut short. Although Alan Shepard wants to warn his friend, NASA orders him to remain mum, and John Glenn is dazzled by sparks of light that surround the capsule. As Glenn returns to Earth, consumed in flames, his fellow astronauts presume they have lost their friend, but he arrives safely and is honored with a ticker tape parade in New York City. With Project Mercury at the height of its success, the astronauts are relocated to a new space center in Houston, Texas, where Lyndon B. Johnson welcomes them with a stadium celebration. There, Gordo Cooper receives news that he will be the final Mercury Seven astronaut to go into space, and he plans to outshine his predecessors. Meanwhile, back at Edwards Air Force Base, Yeager is tired of being overshadowed by the Mercury astronauts. Eager to set a new record, Yeager sneaks into a state-of-the-art, supersonic NF-104 airplane and pilots the aircraft toward space. However, he loses control of the plane and free falls back to Earth. As Yeager parachutes to the ground, he is reunited with his friend, Jack Ridley, who is astounded by Yeager’s unsung courage. On 15 May 1963, Gordo Cooper finally proves he has “the right stuff,” orbiting Earth twenty-two times, completing Project Mercury, and showing the world that the U.S. is empowered by bravery, collaboration, and patriotism.
Producer: Edward Saxon, Jonathan Demme, Gary Goetzman, Kenneth Utt, Ron Bozman
Writer: Ron Nyswaner
Editor: Craig McKay
Cinematographer: Tak Fujimoto
Genre: Drama
Production Company: TriStar Pictures , Clinica Estetico
Composer: Howard Shore
Andrew "Andy" Beckett is an attorney at the firm of Wyant, Wheeler, Hellerman, Tetlow & Brown in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. One night, while working late at the office, Andy’s mentor, Charles Wheeler, assigns him to represent Highline, a new corporate client, in a high-profile lawsuit. Andy is told there are ten days to file Highline’s complaint before the statute of limitations runs out. When Walter Kenton, one of the partners, points out a mark on his forehead, Andy lies that he was hit in the head with a racquetball. In truth, the mark is a Karposi sarcoma (KS) lesion caused by acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) – a deadly disease with no cure that prompts fear and disgust in people who associate the condition with a reckless, homosexual lifestyle. In fear of discrimination, Andy conceals the fact that he is homosexual and has AIDS. With more lesions cropping up on his face, he works from home to avoid being seen. The night before the Highline complaint is due, he delivers the paperwork to his office with instructions for filing. The next day, Andy experiments with makeup, hoping to disguise his lesions enough to return to the office. He falls ill and is taken to the emergency room, where he is met by his live-in partner, Miguel Alvarez, who advocates for him when the doctor recommends a painful colonoscopy. They are interrupted by an urgent phone call from Andy’s co-worker, Jamey Collins, who informs him the Highline complaint has gone missing. Andy panics, aware that the statute of limitations runs out in seventy-five minutes. One month later, visibly deteriorated, Andy goes to the office of personal injury attorney Joe Miller, seeking representation in a wrongful termination lawsuit against Wyant, Wheeler, Hellerman, Tetlow & Brown. Although they have met in the past, Miller does not recognize Andy at first. Andy believes that, after noticing his lesions, the partners realized he had AIDS and purposely misplaced the Highline complaint in order to fire him. Miller, who harbors homophobic feelings, rejects the lawsuit, claiming Andy does not have a viable case, and makes haste to his doctor’s office, worried he might have contracted AIDS by shaking Andy’s hand. The doctor assures him that AIDS is only transmitted through the exchange of bodily fluids such as blood or semen. Miller goes home to his wife, Lisa, and baby daughter. He tells Lisa about Andy, and she accuses him of being homophobic. Two weeks later, Miller spots Andy at a law library. While the patrons around him squirm at the sight of his lesions, a librarian suggests Andy conduct his research in a private room. Miller interrupts, prompting the librarian to leave. Andy has decided to represent himself in his case against the firm, but Miller changes his mind and offers to represent him. Andy points out a Supreme Court ruling which resulted in the Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973, barring discrimination against handicapped workers. He also notes that AIDS has been legally classified as a handicap due to the physical limitations it imposes and the prejudice surrounding the disease. Later, Charles Wheeler is incensed when Miller delivers him a court summons. Attorney Bob Seidman suggests they make a settlement offer, but his colleagues reject the idea. Wheeler wants to highlight Andy’s “deviant” lifestyle in court. He insists Andy was fired for incompetence, and no one knew about his disease. However, Seidman hints that he might have suspected it. Seven months later, Joe Miller gives his opening statement in the civil suit. He vows to prove Andy is a brilliant lawyer whose decision to conceal his AIDS was legal. He claims the firm panicked upon discovering Andy had AIDS, and illegally fired him. The firm’s defense attorney, Belinda Conine, tells the jury that Andy was a duplicitous, mediocre lawyer who is angry about dying and wants revenge. At a bar, Miller is teased for representing a homosexual. He answers that homosexuality makes him sick, but that does not negate the law. In court, paralegal Melissa Benedict testifies that Walter Kenton, who noticed the lesion on Andy’s forehead, worked with her at a different firm when she contracted AIDS from a blood transfusion. She disclosed her disease and had visible lesions that caused Walter Kenyon to recoil anytime he saw her. African American paralegal Anthea Burton testifies that she suspected Andy had AIDS and believes the partners must have, too. She was discriminated against by Wheeler, who complained that her earrings were too “ethnic.” At a drugstore, a University of Pennsylvania law student approaches Miller, recognizing him from television news reports. The student commends him and asks him on a date. Offended, Miller attacks the young man. The next day in court, Miller questions attorney Jamey Collins on the witness stand. He abruptly demands to know if Collins is a homosexual, using several homophobic slurs. The judge calls for order, and Miller explains that he is simply pointing out what the lawsuit is really about: the general public’s hatred and fear of homosexuals, and how it played a part in Andy’s firing. At home, while Andy works on the case, Miguel administers his AIDS medication through an intravenous drip feed (IV). When Miguel complains that Andy is not giving him any time, Andy decides to boost morale by hosting a costume party. The Millers attend, and Joe Miller stays after to prepare Andy for the witness stand. Opera plays in the background. Miller admits he knows nothing about opera music, and Andy, attached to the IV drip, turns up his favorite aria, explaining its meaning as he walks around the room, trailing the IV stand behind him. Both Miller and Andy are moved to tears as Andy translates the lyrics about love overcoming tragedy. When Andy is called to the witness stand, he is extremely weak. Defense attorney Belinda Conine questions him about the gay pornographic theater where he contracted the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS. To characterize his behavior as reckless and immoral, she points out that Andy was living with Miguel at the time. Andy clarifies that Miguel never contracted AIDS, himself. She asks Andy to point out any lesions on his face. He has only one small lesion by his ear. She uses a mirror to prove the point that his colleagues could not have noticed such a lesion from three feet away. In his redirect, Miller borrows the mirror and asks Andy if he has any lesions that resemble the ones he had on his face when working for the firm. Andy removes his shirt, and Joe holds a mirror up to prove that the lesions are highly visible. Shortly after, Andy collapses and is rushed to the hospital. In his absence, attorney Bob Seidman testifies that he suspected Andy had AIDS. Three days later, the jury finds Wyant, Wheeler, Hellerman, Tetlow & Brown guilty. Andy is awarded over $4 million in punitive damages, in addition to back pay, and compensation for mental anguish and humiliation. Miller visits Andy in the hospital. Barely able to speak, Andy removes his oxygen mask and tells Miller a lawyer joke. He thanks him for his excellent work, and Miller lovingly readjusts Andy’s oxygen mask. Miller and Andy’s family bid him good night. Miguel stays at Andy’s side, kissing his hand. Andy says he is ready to die. Soon after, Miller and his family attend Andy’s memorial service, where guests watch home videos of Andy as a happy child.
In Sparta, Mississippi, one hot September night, the murdered body of wealthy industrialist Philip Colbert is found in an alley. Hunting for suspects, the police pick up Virgil Tibbs, a well-dressed black man, and bring him to headquarters for questioning. To the consternation of police chief Bill Gillespie, Tibbs turns out to be a top homicide detective from Philadelphia, who has been in town visiting his mother. Ordered by his superior in Philadelphia to assist with the case, Tibbs conducts the postmortem examination and thus displays his superior knowledge of criminology. Though enraged, Gillespie reluctantly acquiesces in Tibbs's findings. As the investigation gets underway, Gillespie accuses young Harvey Oberst of the murder when he catches him with the dead man's wallet, but Tibbs quickly proves that Oberst stole the wallet after he found the body. Tibbs, for his part, is so determined to establish the guilt of Eric Endicott, an influential but insolent and bigoted conservative who opposed Colbert's progressive plans for a modern factory, that he too makes a false accusation. Gradually, as Tibbs and Gillespie combine their efforts, a grudging tolerance develops between them. After Gillespie has wrongly charged his own deputy, Sam Wood, with the murder, the local tease, Delores Purdy, is dragged into the police station by her brother, who claims that she is pregnant by Wood. Upon learning about an abortionist called Mama Caleba, Tibbs visits the woman and is still with her when Delores arrives, accompanied by the actual father of her child, diner counterman Ralph Henshaw. Tibbs confronts him, and Henshaw confesses that he murdered Colbert to obtain the money for Delores' abortion. With the case closed, Gillespie drives Tibbs to the railway depot. The two men shake hands in acknowledgment of the mutual respect that has grown between them.
Production Company: Samuel Goldwyn Productions, Inc.
Composer: Leigh Harline
In the 1910s, young Henry Lou Gehrig, the son of German immigrants, yearns to play baseball, but his mother, who is a cook at Columbia University, wants him to become an engineer. Years later, when Lou is enrolled at Columbia, he is popular with other students and excels in all sports, even though he must work as a waiter in his fraternity house. When sports writer Sam Blake observes Lou's excellence at baseball, he begins to write about him. One day, Sam goes to the fraternity to see if Lou is interested in playing ball for the New York Yankees. Because some of the other boys had just played a trick on him, Lou thinks that Sam is part of the ruse and throws him out. Later, when he learns that Sam is genuine, Lou is pleased by the offer, but sheepishly declines, saying that he is going to be an engineer. One night, Lou's mother becomes gravely ill and must go to the hospital. Worried that his mother will not get the care she needs in a charity ward, Lou secretly signs with the Yankees to earn enough money to keep her in a private hospital. While she recovers, Lou and his father let her believe that he has enrolled at Harvard, when he actually is playing for the Yankees' farm team in Hartford. Lou soon becomes known for his hard work and consistent performance on the diamond, and within a short time is recalled by the Yankees. Mrs. Gehrig is at first angry and disappointed when she learns the truth, because she wants Lou to take advantage of other opportunities that America offers, but soon accepts her son's decision. The shy, but affable Lou eventually becomes the team's first baseman, and Sam, who is his strongest supporter, becomes his roommate on the road and tells rival sportswriter Hank Hannemann that Lou epitomizes what is best about baseball and America. In Chicago, Lou meets Eleanor Twitchell, the daughter of a wealthy hot dog manufacturer, and is smitten when she playfully dubs him "Tanglefoot" after he trips on some bats. When the team next travels to Chicago, Lou asks Eleanor out and soon the two fall in love. Despite Mrs. Gehrig's jealousy over not remaining Lou's "best girl," he proposes to Eleanor. Although at first Lou's mother tries to usurp Eleanor's position, Lou smooths things over and assures Eleanor that she is the manager of their team. As the years pass, the "Iron Horse," as the sports writers call Lou, remains happy in his career and marriage. In 1938, shortly after Lou is honored for playing in his 2,000th consecutive game, he begins to notice a strange weakness in his arms. His playing and coordination worsen, and by the 1939 season, his performance has become so poor that he is benched for the first time in his career. Lou goes for medical tests and learns that he must give up baseball, and when he asks "is it three strikes?" the doctor confirms Lou's fears. Lou does not want Eleanor to know that his illness is fatal, and although she guesses the truth, she maintains the pretense that he will recover. With his career over, Lou is honored at a special ceremony held at Yankee Stadium. In front of thousands of fans, and standing beside former teammates, Lou delivers a humble speech praising his family and colleagues. He ends by saying, "People all say that I've had a bad break. But today--today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth."
In 1947, Andy Dufresne is charged with the murder of his wife and her lover. The Portland, Maine, banker maintains his innocence but circumstantial evidence leads to his conviction. He receives two life sentences, to be served at the Shawshank State Penitentiary. There, he befriends Ellis Boyd “Red” Redding, another “lifer” known for smuggling things into the prison. Andy is assigned work in the prison laundry, where he is raped multiple times by “The Sisters,” a gang of inmates led by Bogs Diamond. Andy eventually offers his banking know-how to a guard named Byron Hadley, who wishes to avoid taxes on an inheritance. Hadley steps in when the Sisters nearly murder Andy, providing protection by moving Bogs to another prison. The warden, Samuel Norton, gives Andy a new job at the prison library. Andy is soon punished with solitary confinement for playing an opera recording over the public announcement system. Norton begins a money-making scheme that centers around underpaid prison labor and bribes, and enlists Andy to launder the money. In 1965, Andy and Red befriend a new inmate named Tommy, whose former cellmate at a different prison professed guilt for the murder of Andy Dufresne’s wife and her lover. Andy brings the information to Warden Norton, who refuses to help, out of fear that Andy will implicate him in the money laundering scheme. Andy is sent back to solitary confinement, and Norton orders Hadley to murder Tommy. After two months in solitary, Andy is released. He tells Red of his dream to escape to Zihuatanejo on the coast of Mexico. Knowing that Andy has procured a length of rope from another inmate, Red frets that he is mentally unstable and might commit suicide. To his surprise, Andy escapes from Shawshank via a hole in the wall of his cell, which he began digging back in 1947, with a rock hammer Red procured for him. Using his money-laundering alias, “Randall Stephens,” Andy withdraws funds that he had stashed away for Norton, and informs a local newspaper about the corruption at Shawshank. Hadley is arrested by police, but Norton kills himself to avoid capture. After serving forty years, Red is paroled. As instructed by Andy some time ago, Red goes to a hayfield in Buxton, Maine, where Andy buried money. There, Red finds a letter from Andy, directing him to Zihuatanejo. Uncharacteristically hopeful, Red breaks parole and successfully crosses the border into Mexico, where he joyously reunites with Andy on a beach in Zihuatanejo.
Cast: Mickey Rooney, Donald Crisp, Elizabeth Taylor
Directors: Clarence Brown
Producer: Pandro S. Berman
Writer: Theodore Reeves, Helen Deutsch
Editor: Robert J. Kern
Cinematographer: Leonard Smith
Genre: Drama
Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp.
Composer: Herbert Stothart
In the English coastal village of Sewels in Sussex, twelve-year-old Velvet Brown and her older sisters, Edwina and Malvolia, happily finish their last day of school before summer vacation. While walking home, Velvet meets young drifter Mi Taylor and strikes up a conversation with him. As the horse-crazy girl is talking to Mi, she sees a beautiful, rambunctious gelding being chased by its owner, farmer Ede, and is awestruck. When Ede then questions Mi about his business in Sewels in Sussex, Velvet, who is impressed by Mi's knowledge of horses, insists that he has been invited to dine with her family. That evening at dinner, Mrs. Brown asks Mi, whom she has never before met, about an address book with her name written in it, and he reveals that it belonged to his now-deceased father. Although Mrs. Brown is deliberately secretive about her relationship with Mi's father, she does invite Mi to spend the night in the stable. Velvet then tries in vain to convince her father Herbert, a butcher who prides himself on his thrift and self-control, to hire Mi as a delivery boy. When he and his wife discuss the matter later, however, the wise, persuasive Mrs. Brown easily changes his mind. Later, Velvet confesses to her mother that she has "fallen in love" with The Pie and asks her about Mi's father. Mrs. Brown, a former swimmer, reveals that when she was twenty, Mi's father was her devoted trainer and inspired her to swim the English Channel, a feat never before accomplished by a woman. Mrs. Brown adds that she declined to tell the obviously embittered Mi about his father because she felt that it was not the proper time to do so. Unaware that he has just stolen all of her mother's savings from the kitchen, Velvet rushes to tell Mi the news about his new job and home. Mi covers up his theft and accepts the job, then, chagrined, sneaks back to the kitchen to return the money. Later, Velvet coaxes Mi into taking her on a delivery to farmer Ede's, and on the way, Mi states that he was once thrown by a horse and now hates them. As they are watching The Pie in the field, the horse jumps Ede's wall and dashes off toward town. After estimating the length of the horse's jump, the astounded Mi mutters that The Pie could jump "Beecher's Brook." The Pie's subsequent rampage through the village leads Ede to decide to raffle off the horse. Mr. Brown at first refuses to allow Velvet to participate in the raffle, but when Mi proudly announces that he has bought tickets for all of the children, Mr. Brown relents. Although Velvet confidently proclaims that her number, 62, is going to be selected, another number is drawn, and Velvet collapses with disappointment. Later, however, Velvet learns that when the winning number was not claimed, a second number, 62, was drawn, and she is awarded The Pie. Velvet then asks Mi about "Beecher's Brook" and he reluctantly reveals that it is a difficult jump at the Grand National Steeplechase course. Velvet spends her first day with The Pie racing through the countryside, but her joy is cut short when her father insists that the horse earn his keep by pulling the delivery cart. As soon as he is hitched, however, The Pie bolts and destroys the cart, causing Mr. Brown to denounce Mi as a meddler. Later, Velvet reveals to Mi that she wrote away to the Aintree race course for entrance papers to the Grand National Steeplechase. Although Mi tries to discourage her, Velvet asks her mother for permission to enter the race, which includes a 100-pound entrance fee. After Mi admits that The Pie is good enough to win, Mrs. Brown gives Velvet the 100 pounds she earned for her Channel swim, which she has been saving in anticipation of a "breath-taking piece of folly" like The Pie. Mrs. Brown and Velvet then entrust Mi to deliver the money to Aintree, and although he is tempted to abscond with it while in London, Mi carries out his assignment, impressing even Mr. Brown. When Mi tells Velvet that he was unable to find a jockey or a trainer in London, she persuades him to train the horse by promising him one-half of any Grand National winnings. Over the next several months, Velvet and Mi, a former jockey, rigorously train The Pie. During the winter, The Pie becomes seriously ill, and the entire Brown family worries as Mi struggles to save him. The Pie survives, and come spring, Velvet and Mi leave for Aintree. There they meet with Ivan Taski, a Latvian jockey whom Mi hired through the mail. Taski's lackluster attitude toward the race convinces both Velvet and Mi that they cannot win with him, and on the eve of the contest, they find themselves with no jockey. Velvet then tries to convince Mi to ride The Pie, but he tearfully refuses, explaining that during a race in Manchester, he pushed his horse too hard and caused a collision that resulted in the death of another jockey. Later, however, when Mi is alone with The Pie, he realizes he must challenge his fears in order to make Velvet's dream come true. After riding The Pie around the track, Mi rushes to tell Velvet that he wants to race, but discovers that she has donned jockey clothes and is determined to ride the race herself. Although Mi tells her that she will be disqualified, Velvet insists that Mi cut her hair and help her with her impersonation. Claiming not to speak English, Velvet convinces the officials that she is Taski and undertakes the arduous race, with The Pie at one-hundred-to-one odds. As horse after horse drops out, Velvet steadily gains ground and wins the race, cheered on by a joyful Mi. Just after finishing, however, Velvet collapses from exhaustion, and the track doctor soon discovers her true sex. As predicted, The Pie is disqualified, but Velvet is nonetheless heralded as a hero throughout England and earns the nickname "National Velvet." Later, back in Sewels in Sussex, Velvet is besieged by lucrative job offers, including one from a Hollywood film studio. Velvet is tempted by the offer until she learns that the studio also wants The Pie. Fearing that The Pie would be made into a sideshow, Velvet tells her father she is not interested. Mr. Brown is angered by Velvet's decision until Mrs. Brown explains that Velvet knows intuitively that her time in the limelight must be brief and dignified. Soon after, as Mi is packing to go, Mr. Brown admits that he always mistrusted him, but is now proud to have known him. Mi leaves the Brown home without saying goodbye, but a grateful Velvet races after him, sure that the proper time has come to tell him about his father.
Hollywood film director John L. Sullivan dreams of making a film called Brother, Where Art Thou, dealing with the misery of the poverty-stricken, and convinces the studio executives to allow him to do research by traveling cross-country disguised as a hobo. As "Sully" treads the road dressed in a hobo outfit from the studio costume department, a fully-equipped "land yacht," complete with physician, photographer, reporter, secretary and chauffeur, follows him to take care of his every need. Hampered by their presence, Sully insists on traveling alone and arranges to meet the land yacht in Las Vegas. After working as a hired hand for a widow who has more in mind for him than chopping wood, he sneaks out of her house at night and hitchhikes, but the truck he gets a ride with lands him back in Hollywood. Frustrated by his failure, Sully wanders into a diner to buy a cup of coffee with his last dime, and a beautiful blonde actress, down on her luck, takes pity on him and buys him breakfast. Sully and "The Girl" are later arrested for stealing his own car, but they return to his palatial home after his valet and butler bail them out. The Girl dresses as a boy and joins him for his experiment, and the next morning they hop an outbound freight car. Sully and The Girl live like true hoboes, wandering through shantytowns, lining up for food at soup kitchens and listening to midnight sermons in order to secure beds at missions. In Kansas City, Sully declares his mission complete, but The Girl saddens at the thought of losing him to Hollywood. He admits to her that although he cares for her, his greedy wife will not release him from their marriage of convenience, arranged by his business manager to lower his taxes. That night, Sully wanders the streets handing out $5,000 worth of five-dollar bills to the needy. A hobo wearing Sully's stolen shoes which contained his only identification, follows Sully and robs him, and after knocking him unconscious, drags his body onto a freight car. The hobo dies shortly thereafter when he is hit by a train, and Sully awakens the next day at an unknown train station. Disoriented, Sully is arrested after an unintentional altercation with a railroad employee, and because he cannot recall his identity due to the severe blow to his head, he is called "Richard Roe" and sentenced to a hard labor camp. Sully finally recalls his identity but is beaten by the warden for speaking out of turn. At work on the chain gang, Sully is befriended by an elderly trustee, who helps him survive. He is placed in the sweatbox because of his outburst after seeing a front-page article reporting his presumed death. One evening, the convicts are allowed to see a Mickey Mouse cartoon at a black church. The parishioners are gracious, and Sully the sophisticate surprises himself when he joins in the uproarious laughter of the audience at the antics on the screen. In order to get his picture in the newspaper, Sully confesses to his own murder. The Girl, hard at work on a film, sees his photo in the newspaper and brings it to the attention of the studio heads. Overjoyed that he is alive, Sully's friends and coworkers meet him after he is released from the labor camp. Sully is pleased to hear that his wife, believing he was dead, married his business manager immediately, and that he is free to marry The Girl. Aware of the powerful misery of the poor and disadvantaged, Sully abandons his idea of directing a tragedy and is determined to produce a film that will make people laugh.
Writer: Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson, Edgar Allan Woolf, Noel Langley
Editor: Blanche Sewell
Cinematographer: Harold Rosson
Genre: Fantasy, Musical
Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp.
Dorothy Gale, a Kansas farm girl, lives with her Auntie Em and Uncle Henry. When Almira Gulch, who owns half the county, brings a sheriff's order to take Dorothy's little dog Toto away to have the dog destroyed, because Toto bit Miss Gulch's leg, Auntie Em and Uncle Henry refuse to go against the law, and they give the dog to Miss Gulch. However, as Miss Gulch rides away on her bicycle with Toto in her basket, the dog escapes and returns home. Realizing that Miss Gulch will come back, Dorothy runs away with Toto. They come to the wagon of the egotistical, but kindly Professor Marvel, a fortune-teller and balloonist, who tricks Dorothy into believing that her aunt has had an attack because she ran away. Dorothy rushes home greatly concerned, but a cyclone's approach causes her difficulty, and by the time she gets to the farm, Auntie Em, Uncle Henry and the three farmhands have entered the storm cellar. Inside her room, Dorothy is hit on the head by a window and knocked unconscious. When she revives, she sees through the window that the house has risen up inside the cyclone. When she sees Miss Gulch, traveling in mid-air on her bicycle, transform into a witch on a broomstick, Dorothy averts her eyes. The house comes to rest in Munchkinland, a colorful section of the Land of Oz inhabited by little people, and lands on top of the Wicked Witch of the East. Knowing that the dead witch's ruby slippers contain magic, Glinda, the Good Witch of the North, through her powers, has them placed on Dorothy's feet before the dead witch's sister, the Wicked Witch of the West, can retrieve them. The Wicked Witch vows revenge. Glinda then suggests that the wonderful Wizard of Oz can help Dorothy get back to Kansas and instructs her to take the yellow brick road to the distant Emerald City, where the Wizard resides. Along the way, Dorothy meets a friendly scarecrow who laments that he is failure because he has no brain, an emotional tin man, who longingly describes the romantic life he would lead if he only had a heart, and a seemingly ferocious lion who actually lacks courage. Dorothy suggests that they all go with her to ask the Wizard for his help. With help along the way from Glinda to battle a spell of the Wicked Witch, the four friends reach the Emerald City, where in the great hall of the Wizard, they see a terrifying apparition that identifies itself as “Oz” and lambasts Dorothy's companions for their deficiencies. When the lion faints from fright, Dorothy rebukes the Wizard for scaring him, and the Wizard agrees to grant their requests if they will first prove themselves worthy by bringing him the broomstick of the Witch of the West. As they pass through a haunted forest on their way to the witch's castle, the witch sends an army of winged monkeys, who capture Dorothy and Toto. In her castle, when the witch threatens to have Toto drowned, Dorothy offers the slippers in exchange for her dog, but the witch cannot remove them, and she remembers that the slippers will not come off as long as Dorothy is alive. As the witch ponders the proper way to kill Dorothy, Toto escapes. The dog leads Dorothy's friends to the castle, where they rescue her, but the witch's guards soon surround them. After the witch sadistically says that Dorothy will see her friends and dog die before her, she ignites the Scarecrow's arm. Dorothy tosses a bucket of water to put out the fire, and when some water splashes in the witch's face, she melts. The guards and monkeys, relieved that the witch is dead, hail Dorothy and give her the broomstick. Upon their return to Oz, the Wizard orders Dorothy and her friends to come back the next day. As they argue, Toto snoops behind a curtain and pulls it back to reveal a man manipulating levers and speaking into a microphone, who then admits to the group that he is really the “powerful” Wizard. Greatly disappointed and angry at the sham, Dorothy calls him a bad man, but he retorts that while he is a bad wizard, he is a good man. He then awards the Scarecrow a diploma, the Lion a medal and the Tin Man a testimonial, and states that where he comes from, these things are given to men who have no more brains, courage or heart than they have. Confessing that he is a balloonist and a Kansas man himself, the Wizard offers to take Dorothy back in his balloon. However, as they prepare to leave, Toto leaps from the balloon to chase a cat, and after Dorothy goes to retrieve the dog, the balloon takes off without them. Glinda then comforts Dorothy and reveals that she has always had the power to return home, but that she had to learn it for herself. Dorothy says that she has learned never to go further than her own backyard to look for her heart's desire. After Dorothy tearfully kisses and hugs her friends, Glinda tells her to click the heels of the slippers three times with her eyes closed and to think to herself, “There's no place like home.” This she does, and she awakens to find Uncle Henry and Auntie Em at her bedside. Professor Marvel, having heard that Dorothy was badly injured, comes by, and she begins to tell about her journey, which Auntie Em calls a bad dream. The farmhands come in, and Dorothy remembers them as her three friends in Oz and the professor as the Wizard. When Toto climbs on the bed, Dorothy says she loves them all and that she will never leave again, and she affirms to her aunt that there is no place like home.
Production Company: Stanley Kramer Productions, Inc.
Composer: Dimitri Tiomkin
At 10:30 on a quiet morning in 1870, three outlaws ride into the western town of Hadleyville just as its marshal, Will Kane, is being married to a pretty Quaker named Amy Fowler. To please Amy, Will resigns his post immediately after the ceremony, but he is troubled because the new marshal has not arrived to take his place. Suddenly the station master rushes in with the terrible news that Frank Miller, a wild outlaw whom Will had arrested for murder five years earlier, recently received a pardon and is due to arrive in Hadleyville on the noon train. The three outlaws, Jack Colby, Ben Miller and James Pierce, have ridden to the station and are awaiting Miller's arrival. Alarmed, the wedding guests urge Will and Amy to leave town immediately, but after only a few moments on the road, Will turns the wagon around and heads back. "I expect he'll come looking for me," Will replies when Amy asks for an explanation. Will's young wife begs him to leave with her, and when he protests that he has never run from anyone, she threatens to leave on the train whether or not he accompanies her. Will hurriedly begins to make plans for the town's defense, and is surprised when Judge Percy Mettrick, who had sentenced Miller to be hanged, packs his belongings and flees. Will is relieved to see Harvey Pell, his deputy, still in town, but Harvey, angry that an outsider was hired to replace the retiring marshal, agrees to stay only if Will promises to support his bid for the post. Will refuses, whereupon Harvey removes his guns and walks out. Will visits his old flame, businesswoman Helen Ramirez, who had formerly been Miller's mistress. Will warns Helen about Frank, and she admits that she has sold her store and plans to depart on the noon train. In the saloon, men who enjoyed the rowdy times when Frank and his henchmen controlled the town celebrate his imminent return and refuse Will's request for help. Will then visits the home of his friend, Sam Fuller, but as Sam listens from the next room, his wife tells Will that he is not at home. Next, Will interrupts the church service to ask for deputies. Although several of the townspeople proclaim that it is Will who has made their town safe and decent, many of them also argue that Miller's impending arrival is not their problem. Finally, Mayor Jonas Henderson declares that a gunfight would hurt the town's image and that Will should have left when he had the chance. Stunned, Will leaves the church and asks his mentor, Martin Howe, for help. Howe, once the marshal himself, has become cynical, however, and after Will exits his home, he mumbles, "It's all for nothing, Will." Harvey, now drunk, tries to force Will to leave town, but Will refuses, and the two men fight until the marshal knocks his former deputy unconscious. As noon approaches, Amy visits Helen, who assures her that there is no longer anything between herself and Will. She also reproaches the young wife for not defending her husband, but softens after Amy reveals that both her father and brother were killed in a gunfight. In Will's office, the only citizen who had willingly pinned on a deputy's badge now backs out and goes home, leaving the marshal utterly alone. Will writes his last will and testament, then enters the deserted street as Amy and Helen drive a wagon toward the train station. The train arrives, and as Miller disembarks, the two women get on board. Miller straps on his gun, and the four outlaws walk toward the center of town, where Will awaits them. When one of the outlaws breaks a window, Will is able to duck inside a building and shoot him. Hearing the shot, Amy gets off the train and runs back to town. Will kills another of his attackers and takes cover in the livery stable, which the two remaining outlaws set on fire. As the frightened horses charge out, Will leaps on one and makes his escape, but falls after being shot in the arm. Amy shoots one of the gunmen in the back before he can shoot Will, but is captured by Miller, who uses her as a hostage. In response to Miller's threats, Will faces him in the street, but Amy pushes the outlaw, giving Will the chance to shoot him dead. Amy and Will embrace, and the townspeople rush into the street. Disgusted by the cowardice of his former friends, Will tosses his tin star in the dirt at their feet, then leaves with Amy.
Cast: Kevin Costner, Amy Madigan, James Earl Jones
Directors: Phil Alden Robinson
Producer: Lawrence Gordon, Charles Gordon, Brian Frankish
Editor: Ian Crafford
Cinematographer: John Lindley, Ricky Bravo
Genre: Drama, Fantasy
Production Company: Gordon Company
Composer: James Horner
Ray Kinsella recalls his late father, John, a one-time minor league baseball player and devoted fan of the sport. After Ray’s mother died, John Kinsella took care of his son, but Ray ultimately clashed with him and went to college in Berkeley, California, far away from their home in New York City. Ray joined the hippie movement, then married his college sweetheart, Annie, just before his father died. The young couple had a daughter, Karin, and when Ray turned thirty-six, Annie convinced him to buy a farm in Iowa. Ray claims he never did anything crazy until he heard “the voice.” One day, walking through the cornfields on his farm, Ray hears a voice whisper repeatedly, “If you build it, he will come.” Later, the voice wakes him up and Ray responds by asking what he should build. The next day, as the voice speaks to him, Ray hallucinates a baseball field and the late “Shoeless Joe” Jackson, an outfielder who was ousted from the Major Leagues after his team, the Chicago White Sox, were found guilty of conspiring to lose the 1919 World Series. Back in the house, Ray tells Annie the voice wants him to build a baseball field so Shoeless Joe can play again, and she responds that it is the craziest idea she ever heard. However, Ray fears becoming like his father, who aged too quickly and never followed his dreams. Annie offers to support him, even though he must plow down a large portion of their corn to build the field. Neighbors watch in disbelief as Ray begins plowing. His daughter, Karin, joins him as he recounts the story of Shoeless Joe, who earned his nickname when he removed an uncomfortable pair of spikes during the middle of a game and played barefoot. Recalling the 1919 World Series controversy, Ray insists there was no evidence that Shoeless Joe conspired to lose, given his exemplary performance in the games. Ray tells Annie that his father once saw Shoeless Joe playing in the minor leagues under a different name, and Annie notices Ray is smiling. She says it is the first time she has seen her husband look happy when talking about his father. The baseball field is completed, but Shoeless Joe does not appear for some time. One night, Annie tallies the bills and announces that the farm is losing money due to the lost acreage. She also reminds Ray that they spent all of their savings on the field, which they should now replant with corn. Karin interrupts, saying a man is standing outside. Ray finds a young Shoeless Joe standing on his baseball field and greets him in disbelief. He hits balls for the outfielder to catch, then pitches to him. After hitting a homerun, Shoeless Joe comments about how much he misses baseball. Annie and Karin come to greet their guest, but he cannot walk past the border of the baseball field. He mentions that seven other players would like to join him next time, and Ray says they are welcome. Before he disappears into the cornfield, Shoeless Joe asks if he is in heaven, and Ray responds, “No, it’s Iowa.” Later, Annie’s brother, Mark, informs Ray that he is going to lose his farm and offers to buy the property before the bank forecloses on it. Karin announces that “the game is on,” and Ray leaves the room with her. Mark follows, and sees them watching Shoeless Joe and his seven companions warming up on the field. However, Mark cannot see the players and mocks Ray as he leaves. When the voice speaks to Ray again, it says, “Ease his pain.” Confused by the instruction, Ray attends a Parent Teachers Association (PTA) meeting with Annie, where a concerned mother named Beulah discusses her desire to ban 1960s counterculture books written by Terence Mann. Annie defends Mann and convinces the majority of the crowd to side with her before Ray drags her out of the meeting, announcing that he has had an epiphany. He reminds Annie that Mann is his favorite author as well as hers, and believes the voice was telling him to ease Mann’s pain. The novelist, now a recluse, once gave an interview in which he described a recurring dream of playing baseball at Ebbets Field with Jackie Robinson. Thus, Ray thinks he must bring Mann out of hiding to attend a baseball game. Annie forbids him going on a trip because they cannot afford it, but when she remembers the dream she had the night before in which Ray attended a Boston Red Sox game with Mann, he reveals he had the same dream. Changing her mind, Annie offers to help him pack. In Boston, Massachusetts, Ray bribes a mechanic for Mann’s home address and goes to the author’s apartment. There, he informs Mann of his mission and persuades him to attend a Red Sox game at Fenway Park, even though the author denies having had a recurring dream about Ebbets Field. At the game, Ray sees the statistics of 1922 New York Giants player Archibald “Moonlight” Graham on the Jumbotron. Graham, who only played one game and never went to bat, was from Chisolm, Minnesota. Ray deduces that he must go to Chisolm, and offers to take Mann home early, apologizing that he was not needed after all. However, just after Ray drops him off, Mann blocks the car and reveals that he also saw the message about Graham. He joins Ray on the trip to Chisolm, where they learn that Graham, who became a doctor and devoted husband, died in 1972. That night, Ray takes a walk in town and realizes he has been transported back to 1972. He sees Graham walking down the street and follows him to his office, where he tries to convince the doctor to come to Iowa with him for another chance to play baseball. However, Graham refuses to leave his wife, even for a short trip. Ray calls home to Annie, who reports that Mark has taken over the loan on their house and will foreclose if they do not agree to sell to him. Rushing back to Iowa, Ray is joined by Mann and a young hitchhiker, who turns out to be a younger version of Graham who calls himself “Archie” and aspires to play baseball. When Archie falls asleep, Ray tells Mann that he played baseball as a child but quit at age fourteen when he read Mann’s novel, The Boat Rocker, and decided to rebel against his father’s wishes, including the desire for him to play baseball. Ray laments that he left home at seventeen after telling his father he could never respect a man who idolized a criminal like Shoeless Joe. For years he did not speak to his father, too ashamed to apologize, and the next time he saw him was at his funeral. That night, they arrive at the farm and discover Shoeless Joe on the field with two full teams. Mann and the Kinsellas watch as Archie joins the seasoned players for a game. The next day, Mark arrives to find Ray and the Kinsellas on the sidelines, watching another game. Karin announces that her father will not have to sell the farm because people will pay to watch the game. Believing the girl is delusional, Mark shakes her, causing her to fall from the bleachers and lose consciousness. Annie goes to call for help, but Ray stops her, certain that Archie can aid their daughter. Archie approaches, and at the edge of the field, transforms into the older Dr. Graham, who discovers Karin is choking and slaps her back to dislodge a hot dog. Having witnessed the rescue, Mark changes his mind and agrees that Ray should keep the farm. When the baseball players retire for the day, Shoeless Joe invites Mann to join them. Ray wants to come too, but Mann reminds him he has a family and claims this is an opportunity for him to write a new story. Mann finally admits he did dream about playing at Ebbets Field, and Shoeless Joe reminds Ray, “If you build it, he will come,” before leaving the field. One last player remains, and Ray realizes it is his father. Upon Annie’s encouragement, he introduces John to his wife and daughter, but does not reveal that he is his son. John compliments the beauty of the field and says it is a “dream come true.” The men discuss whether or not it is heaven or simply Iowa, and Ray finally calls him “Dad” when he asks him to play catch.
In 1916 British Intelligence supports the Arab rebellion against the Turkish-German alliance. Dryden, a civilian member of the Arab Bureau, selects Lt. T. E. Lawrence, an enigmatic twenty-nine-year-old scholar, to evaluate the Arab revolt. Enthusiastically undertaking this assignment, the officer contacts Prince Feisal, a rebel leader, and persuades Feisal to lend him a force of fifty men. With this skeleton band, accompanied by Sherif Ali ibn el Karish, Lawrence crosses the Nefud Desert. At the journey's end, however, Lawrence learns that one of his men is missing. Undeterred by Arab assertions that the missing man's death had been divinely decreed, Lawrence returns to the desert and rescues him, earning thereby Ali's friendship and the respect of his subordinates. At a well Lawrence is confronted by the sheikh Auda Abu Tayi, whom he persuades to join the assault on Aqaba, a Turkish port at the desert's edge. The Turks, surprised by the overland attack, are routed, and the victory revitalizes the Arab rebellion. Arab unity, however, is undermined by internecine warfare. When one of his troop slays one of Auda Abu Tayi's henchmen, Lawrence in expiation executes the murderer, who proves to be the Arab he had saved in the desert. Unnerved, Lawrence returns to Cairo. Delighted by Lawrence's military success, however, General Allenby provides him with arms and money for future victories. Lawrence launches a series of successful guerrilla raids, which, as reported by American journalist Jackson Bentley, establish his international reputation. While on a scouting mission with Ali, Lawrence is captured and tortured by the Turks. He returns to Cairo, where General Allenby persuades him to spearhead an attack on Damascus. After the battle, Lawrence leads his men in the massacre of the retreating Turks. Upon entering Damascus the British Army is met by victorious Arab forces. Lawrence relinquishes control of the city to an Arab Council, but soon factionalism threatens to destroy it. On May 19, 1935, Lawrence dies in a motorcycle crash in Dorset, England, and is commemorated in services at St. Paul's.
Cast: Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington, Cary Elwes
Directors: Edward Zwick
Producer: Freddie Fields
Writer: Kevin Jarre
Editor: Steven Rosenblum
Cinematographer: Freddie Francis, David Wargreich
Genre: Drama
Production Company: Tri-Star Pictures
Composer: James Horner
Union Army Captain Robert Gould Shaw is wounded in the Battle of Antietam on 17 September 1862. At the medical tent, Shaw learns that President Abraham Lincoln will soon issue an Emancipation Proclamation to end slavery in the South. When he is sent home to Boston, Massachusetts, the twenty-five-year-old Shaw attends a party thrown by his abolitionist parents. There, he meets former slave and famous abolitionist, Frederick Douglass, and Governor John Albion Andrew, who offers Shaw a promotion to colonel and the opportunity to lead the 54th Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, the first to be comprised of African American soldiers. Shaw accepts the promotion and invites his friend, Cabot Forbes, to be his second-in-command. Thomas Searles, an African American childhood friend of Shaw’s, volunteers to join them as well. The 54th Regiment settles at Readville Camp on 27 November, 1862, where white soldiers tease the black volunteers upon arrival. The bookish Searles joins several other black soldiers in a tent, including Trip, a rebellious runaway slave from Tennessee who nicknames Searles “Snowflake,” and John Rawlins, who formerly worked for the Union cause by clearing dead bodies from battlefields. At lunch, Searles approaches Cabot Forbes, but Colonel Shaw interrupts and forbids Forbes from fraternizing with any soldiers. In a letter to his mother, he remarks that the black soldiers learn very quickly, work hard, and seem to be able to relax easily during their free time. When Shaw receives a proclamation from the Confederacy, he reads it to the regiment, informing them that the Confederacy plans to kill any uniformed African American captives and all white officers who command them. The men are offered honorable discharge, but the young colonel is heartened to find the next day that no one has opted to leave. Sergeant Major Mulcahy, a tough Irishman, is brought in to train the men. One day, when Mulcahy kicks the exhausted Searles, Shaw calls him aside, but the sergeant major convinces him that his tough manner is necessary for the soldiers’ growth. The men receive Enfield rifled muskets and Forbes teaches them how to use the weapons. Interrupting the lesson, Shaw takes Forbes’s pistol and shoots into the air repeatedly to simulate battle as a timid soldier, Jupiter Sharts, takes target practice. Later, Forbes accuses Shaw of being too hard on the men, but Shaw defends his strict attitude, insisting he has the soldiers’ best interests at heart. Although the men are sorely in need of new shoes, the quartermaster believes they will never be allowed to fight and explains to Shaw that shoes are reserved for soldiers going into battle. With his feet badly wounded by wearing worn-down shoes, Trip sneaks out of camp in search of new ones but is caught. Shaw orders him to be whipped for desertion but winces at the sight of Trip’s exposed back, heavily scarred by lashings he received as a slave. Nevertheless, Mulcahy flogs him in front of the entire regiment, and Trip sheds a tear while glaring at Shaw. Later, the colonel learns from Rawlins that Trip had gone in search of shoes, and the next day, he returns to the quartermaster’s office and demands footwear for his soldiers. Shoes arrive, along with pay stubs. However, Shaw makes an announcement that the army has decided to pay its African American soldiers only ten dollars per month, while white soldiers receive a monthly stipend of thirteen dollars. Trip protests the unequal pay and convinces others to join him in ripping up their pay stubs. Shaw stands in solidarity with the men, stating that the white officers will take no pay as well. Uniforms arrive, and soon after, the regiment marches through Boston in a parade presided over by Governor Andrew and Frederick Douglass. Finally heading to war, the men travel by boat to South Carolina. They are joined by Pierce, a journalist for Harper’s Weekly, who witnesses Shaw promote Rawlins to Sergeant Major despite Union rules against the advancement of African American soldiers. The men arrive in Beaufort, South Carolina, on 9 June 1863. There, they are assigned to manual labor while white regiments are sent to battle. Shaw begs his superior, General Harker, to allow his men to go to war, but Harker instead sends him on a pillaging mission with Colonel Montgomery, a Kansas native who also leads an African-American regiment. Complimenting the discipline of Shaw’s men, Montgomery proudly proclaims that he used to own slaves and understands how to control them. They arrive in Darien, a town in Georgia populated by a handful of secessionists, where Shaw disagrees with Montgomery’s orders to ransack and burn the buildings, but Montgomery uses his higher rank to force Shaw’s cooperation. Back in Beaufort, Shaw threatens to expose Harker and Montgomery’s corruption, and Harker finally relents and allows the 54th Regiment to fight. On 16 July 1863, Shaw’s men engage in their first battle on James Island in South Carolina. In a forest, they shoot at the approaching Confederate soldiers, then engage in hand-to-hand combat using bayonets. Searles is shot, but saves Trip by spearing his attacker. The regiment successfully holds off the Confederates, who retreat, but not before the 54th suffers forty-two casualties. When the bullet is removed from his shoulder, Searles begs Shaw not to send him home on medical leave, and Shaw agrees. Later, the colonel finds Trip and congratulates him for his fighting. He informs the soldier that Rawlins recommended him for a commendation, but Trip refuses the honor. He tells Shaw he is not fighting the war for him and does not wish to carry the flag, then asks what will happen to the black soldiers after the war is over. Shaw sympathizes, but suggests that things will be better if the Union wins. The 54th Regiment travels to Fort Wagner on Morris Island, South Carolina, where Union Navy ships have been attacking a beachside Confederate garrison manned by 1,000 soldiers. General Strong addresses Shaw and several others about plans for a land attack. After Strong acknowledges that the regiment who leads will experience heavy casualties, Shaw volunteers his men. Strong worries that Shaw’s men have not slept in two days, but Shaw promises that his soldiers possess the character needed for such a mission. The night before they go into battle, the 54th Regiment gathers around a campfire to play instruments and sing. Rawlins addresses the group, asking for the Lord’s blessing in their mission, then encourages Trip to speak. Reluctantly, Trip acknowledges that he does not pray and has no family, but considers his fellow soldiers to be family. In the morning, Shaw gives a stack of letters for Pierce to mail and encourages him to remember what he sees that day. On the beach, Shaw looks out at the sea from horseback, then releases his horse as he joins his men on foot. In their initial advance toward the garrison, the men are barraged by cannon fire. They endure numerous casualties before taking cover in sand dunes, waiting for the sun to go down. Hours later, Shaw leads the way as they rush the garrison in the dark of night. The colonel is shot down, and Trip takes the flag he was carrying and continues. Moments later, Trip is shot dead. The heavily depleted regiment continues to advance, with Forbes and Rawlins leading the way. Under fire, the men clamor up the wall of the garrison to find they are greatly outnumbered. The next day, the bodies of fallen Union soldiers cover the beach. Shaw’s dead body is rolled into a mass grave, where Trip’s body lands on top of him. Although Fort Wagner is never taken, word of the 54th Regiment’s heroics encourage Congress to authorize the raising of more black troops. Over 180,000 African Americans ultimately volunteer for the Union cause, and their contribution is cited by President Lincoln as helping to turn the tide of the war in the Union’s favor.
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid
Directors: Michael Curtiz
Producer: Jack L. Warner, Hal B. Wallis
Writer: Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein, Howard Koch
Editor: Owen Marks
Cinematographer: Arthur Edeson
Genre: Romance
Production Company: Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
Composer: Max Steiner
During World War II, Casablanca, Morocco is a waiting point for throngs of desperate refugees fleeing Nazi-occupied Europe. Exit visas, which are necessary to leave the country, are at a premium, so when two German couriers carrying letters of transit signed by General DeGaulle are murdered and the letters stolen, German Major Strasser and Louis Renault, the prefecture of police, are eager to find the documents. Strasser is particularly concerned that the letters not be sold to Victor Lazlo, the well-known Czech resistance leader, who is rumored to be on his way to Casablanca. That night, Renault and Strasser search for the killer at Rick's Café Americain, a popular nightclub run by the mysterious American expatriate Richard Blaine. Earlier, Ugarte, a shady dealer in exit visas, had asked Rick to hold the stolen letters temporarily, explaining that he has a buyer for them and with the money from their sale, he plans to leave Casablanca. Although Rick fought on the side of the loyalists in Spain, he has grown cynical, and when Renault advises him not to interfere with Ugarte's arrest, Rick replies "I stick my neck out for nobody." He makes a bet with Renault, however, that Lazlo will manage to leave Casablanca despite German efforts to stop him. After Ugarte is arrested, Lazlo and his companion, Ilsa Lund, arrive at Rick's. Ilsa recognizes Sam, the piano player, and while Lazlo makes covert contact with the underground, Ilsa insists that Sam play the song "As Time Goes By." Reluctantly, Sam agrees, and a furious Rick, who had ordered him never to play the song again, emerges from his office to stop him. Rick is taken aback when he sees Ilsa, whom he knew in Paris. Later, after the café is closed, Rick remembers his love affair with Ilsa: After a brief happy time together, the Nazis invade Paris and, worried that Rick will be in danger because of his record, Ilsa advises him to leave the city. He refuses to go without her, and she agrees to meet him at the train station. Instead of coming, though, she sends him a farewell note, and Sam and Rick leave just ahead of the Nazis. Rick's thoughts return to the present with Ilsa's arrival at the café. She tries to explain her actions, but when a drunken Rick accuses her of being a tramp, she walks out. The following day, Lazlo and Ilsa meet with Renault and, there they learn that Ugarte has been killed while in police custody. After Rick helps a young Romanian couple win enough money at roulette to allow them to leave the country, Lazlo, suspecting that Rick has the letters, asks to buy them. Rick refuses and, when Lazlo asks his reasons, suggests that he ask Ilsa. Angered when Rick allows his orchestra to accompany a rousing rendition of "La Marseillaise," Strasser orders the closing of the Café. That night, while Lazlo attends an underground meeting, Ilsa meets Rick and explains that she stayed behind in Paris because, on the day Rick left Paris she had learned that Lazlo, her husband, whom she had married in secret and thought dead, was alive. Now realizing that they still love each other, Ilsa tells Rick that he must made decisions for both of them. Meanwhile, the police break up the underground meeting, and Lazlo takes refuge at Rick's. Before he is arrested, he begs Rick to use the letters to take Ilsa away from Casablanca. The next day, Rick sells the café to his competitor Ferare, the owner of the Blue Parrot, and tricks Renault into releasing Lazlo from prison. They head for the airport, but Renault has managed to alert Strasser, who hurries after them. At the airport, Rick tells Ilsa, who thought that she would be staying with him, that she is to leave with Lazlo because she gives meaning to his work. He then tells Lazlo that he and Ilsa loved each other in Paris, and that she pretended she was still in love with him in order to get the letters. Lazlo, who understands what really happened, welcomes Rick back to the fight before he and Ilsa board the plane. Strasser arrives just as the airplane is about to take off and when he tries to delay the flight, Rick shoots him. Renault then quickly telephones the police, but instead of turning in Rick, he advises them to "round up the usual suspects," and the two men leave Casablanca for the Free French garrison at Brassaville. It is, Rick says, "the beginning of a beautiful friendship."
Cast: Charlie Chaplin, Virginia Cherrill, Florence Lee
Directors: Charles Chaplin
Writer: Charles Chaplin
Editor: Charles Chaplin
Cinematographer: Rollie Totheroh, Gordon Pollock, Mark Marklatt
Genre: Comedy-drama
Production Company: Charles Chaplin Productions
Composer: Charles Chaplin
At an outdoor dedication ceremony, a tramp is discovered sleeping in the arms of a statue as it is being unveiled before a crowd. He is chased into the city, where he meets a beautiful, blind flower girl, and buys a flower with his last coin. That night, he stops a drunken man from drowning himself. Gratefully, the man invites him to his mansion, which is presided over by a snobby butler named James and they begin to drink. The millionaire and the tramp continue their revels at a nightclub. Early the next morning, when they return home, the millionaire drunkenly offers the tramp money and the use of his Rolls Royce. The tramp uses his windfalls to help the flower girl. Because she cannot see his shabby clothes, the girl thinks her benefactor is a wealthy young man. Determined to help her, the tramp returns to the mansion, but the millionaire has sobered up and does not recognize him, so the tramp takes a job cleaning streets and gives the girl and her grandmother what money he can. By accident the tramp finds out they are behind in their rent and that there is a doctor in Vienna who can cure blindness by an expensive operation. Needing money in a hurry to help his friends, the tramp agrees to participate in a crooked boxing match for a cut of the winning purse, but his crooked partner is replaced by a legitmate fighter, who knocks him cold. Out on the streets, the tramp runs into the millionaire, who is back from Europe. Drunk again, he gladly gives the tramp $1,000 for the operation, but two crooks see the transaction and rob them. The tramp calls the police, but by the time they arrive, the crooks have vanished and the police arrest the tramp. He runs away and manages to give the money to the girl before he is taken off to jail. The girl gets her operation and opens up a successful flower shop, imagining her benefactor in every rich young man who comes into the shop. When the tramp gets out of jail, he wanders into the shop by accident. Naturally, she does not recognize him, and laughingly offers him a flower and a coin. He refuses the money, but when she presses it into his hand, she recognizes him by the feel of his skin and is moved.
In June 1972, a smiling, confident President Nixon is about to address the American people. At the Watergate building in Washington, D. C., flashlight beams are visible through the windows of an office. Security guard Frank Wills discovers a piece of masking tape covering a door latch in the garage, and calls the police to report a possible burglary. Inside an office, one of the burglars announces through a walkie-talkie, “We’re home.” On the receiving end is a man watching from an adjacent window, who warns them of “activity.” Undercover police enter the building and arrest the burglars. The next morning, Harry Rosenfeld and Howard Simons, editors at the Washington Post, briefly discuss the burglary, including the large amounts of cash, 35mm cameras and walkie-talkies found in the burglars’ possession, and the fact that they invaded the Democratic Party’s national headquarters. Reporter Carl Bernstein asks to cover the story, but it is given to Bob Woodward. Woodward attends the burglars’ arraignment and is surprised to learn that they have private council. The burglars, James W. McCord, Bernard Barker and three others, have a Mr. Starkey as their private attorney, even though they hadn’t contacted anyone since the arrest. Back at the office, Woodward, Rosenfeld and Bernstein discuss the information they’ve gathered: McCord had worked for the CIA, though the CIA denies knowledge of him. That night, a policeman calls Woodward concerning some entries found in the address books of two of the burglars, which include the names “Howard Hunt” and “WHouse.” Woodward calls the White House the next morning and asks for Hunt; he is referred to the office of Charles Colson, special council to the President. When he finally reaches Hunt, Woodward’s questions are greeted with shock and evasiveness. Woodward continues his investigation, and is ultimately given an unsolicited denial of Colson’s involvement in the Watergate burglary from the White House. Simons, realizing that the story is of national interest, believes it should be covered by a top political writer, rather than an inexperienced youngster. Rosenfeld disagrees, and partners Bernstein with Woodward. Bernstein begins his research by interviewing Karen, a former employee of Colson’s. She describes both Colson and Hunt as very secretive, but she learned that Hunt was investigating Senator Edward Kennedy on behalf of the White House, doing extensive research at the White House library. Bernstein contacts the librarian, who corroborates Karen’s story, then suddenly denies any knowledge of Hunt. Woodward calls Deputy Director of Communications Ken Clawson at the White House, who denies that the librarian spoke to Bernstein. The reporters take their investigation to the Library of Congress but find nothing. The resulting news story is lacking in hard evidence, and Executive Editor Ben Bradlee keeps it off the front page. From a phone booth, Woodward calls an anonymous man, who refuses to discuss Watergate. The next morning, Woodward finds a note from the man in his copy of The New York Times . That night, Woodward takes a series of taxis to an underground garage, where the anonymous man is waiting. Woodward promises the man that his identity will remain secret, then recounts the details of the investigation. The man advises Woodward to “follow the money.” Soon after, The New York Times uncovers evidence of the Watergate conspiracy dating back to March 1972. Bernstein travels to Miami, FL, where State Attorney Dardis has subpoenaed Bernard Barker’s telephone and money records. Dardis’s file contains several checks from a Mexican bank, and one from a Florida Bank issued to Kenneth H. Dahlberg for $25,000. Woodward contacts Dahlberg, an officer with the Committee to Re-Elect the President (CREEP), who gave the check to CREEP finance chairman Maurice Stans, who in turn gave it to Barker. At a meeting of Washington Post editors, feelings are mixed about continuing the Watergate investigation, with Rosenfeld as the strongest advocate. One editor admits that he simply does not find the story believable. At their next conference, Woodward and Bernstein inform Bradlee and Simons that the General Accounting Office (GAO) has discovered a secret fund containing hundreds of thousands of dollars among CREEP’s accounts. Woodward’s anonymous source, now referred to as “Deep Throat,” points to the money as the key to the investigation. Bradlee is losing faith in the story, but Woodward and Bernstein are undaunted. They acquire a list of CREEP employees and attempt to interview several in their homes. One woman tells them to leave before they are seen, and is in tears as she closes the door. The reporters continue to visit CREEP employees, but virtually all refuse to talk; Woodward and Bernstein suspect an organized cover-up. After two weeks, they still have no solid evidence. Rosenthal further discourages them with the news that the GAO report will not be released until after Nixon is re-nominated for president, and only Hunt, the five burglars, and CREEP operative G. Gordon Liddy will be indicted for the Watergate burglary. Bernstein continues his efforts to interview CREEP employees, using any excuse to get inside their houses. One woman, a CREEP bookkeeper, admits that she had long been aware of the secret fund and mentions a list of fifteen names with a dollar amount next to each. The list was destroyed, however. She refuses to disclose the names of the men who control the secret fund but she will identify initials. As Woodward and Bernstein transform the bookkeeper’s comments into a story, they discover that former Attorney General and CREEP chairman John Mitchell controlled the secret fund, along with Liddy, Bart Porter, Jeb Magruder, attorney to the President Herbert Kalmbach, and one other. When the reporters visit the bookkeeper again, she indicates that they are being watched. Woodward and Bernstein next visit Hugh Sloan, who recently resigned as CREEP treasurer as an act of conscience. Sloan states that all CREEP activities are approved by the White House, and estimates the amount of the secret fund at close to $1 million. The two reporters describe John Mitchell’s criminal activities to Bradlee, Rosenfeld and Simons; Bradlee is aggravated by the fact that none of the sources can be named, but still approves the story. Bernstein calls Mitchell at home to read him the story, in case he’d like to comment on it. Mitchell responds with vulgarity and threats, and issues a statement the next day denouncing the story, without pointedly denying it. Bernstein travels to Los Angeles, CA, to interview Donald Segretti, a young lawyer who, under the supervision of CREEP operative Dwight Chapin, sabotaged the campaigns of several Democratic presidential candidates. That night, Woodward meets with Deep Throat, who explains that the Department of Justice was well aware of the infiltration and sabotage of the Democrats. As Woodward leaves the underground garage, he suspects that he’s being followed and starts to run, though no one is behind him. Woodward learns from an FBI source that Segretti was paid from the CREEP secret fund by Chapin, who was hired by White House Chief of Staff H. R. Haldeman, suggesting that Haldeman is the fifth man who controls the fund. Woodward and Bernstein visit Sloan for confirmation of Haldeman’s involvement, but rather than confirming the story, Sloan says he has “no problem” with it. Bernstein calls his source at the FBI, who confirms that “John Haldeman” controlled the fund. Woodward is not convinced, nor is Bradlee, but Bernstein gets further confirmation from a contact at the Justice Department and Bradlee runs the story. The following morning, Sloan denies implicating Haldeman, and the Nixon administration publicly denounces the Washington Post. The paper is barraged with criticism, and Bradlee is angered by his reporters’ blunder, but he stands by the story. At Woodward’s next meeting with Deep Throat, he learns that Haldeman runs the entire operation, Mitchell has the entire U. S. intelligence community involved in his covert operations, and the cover-up exists mainly to protect these covert operations. He is also told that he and Bernstein are under surveillance and their lives are in danger. Woodward heads to Bernstein’s apartment and shares this new information via typewriter to keep their conversation from being heard. They wake up Bradlee at his home and disclose what they’ve learned from Deep Throat. Bradlee states that, even though half of all Americans have no interest in the Watergate affair, the future of the nation may be riding on it. Woodward and Bernstein are soon back at their typewriters, relentlessly working on the story as Nixon is sworn in for his second term. Sometime later, the Washington Post teletype reports the convictions and sentences of the conspirators, and Nixon's resignation from office.
Among the socially prominent citizens of San Francisco are Matt Drayton, the publisher of a liberal newspaper, and his wife, Christina, the owner of a fashionable art gallery. One day their daughter, Joey, returns from a vacation in Hawaii with John Prentice, a black physician whom she has known for only ten days but intends to marry. Because John must leave the next day for Switzerland on behalf of the World Health Organization, Joey is determined that their wedding take place immediately, and she asks for her parents' permission. Furthermore, John secretly confides to the Draytons that he will not marry Joey without their consent. Suddenly confronted with a test of their longtime liberal beliefs, Matt and Christina find themselves unable to reach a decision. Less involved observers, however, quickly voice their opinions: Christina's business associate, Hilary St. George, is quick to reveal her bigotry; an old family friend, Monsignor Ryan, is confident that the couple will be able to overcome their obstacles; and the Draytons' shocked black maid, Tillie, berates John for his impertinence. Though Christina yields to her daughter's wishes, Matt remains undecided. The dilemma is compounded when Joey persuades John's parents to fly up from Los Angeles. Upon their arrival, Mrs. Prentice sides with Christina; but her husband is dubious about the situation and argues with his son. Mrs. Prentice appeals to Matt, recalling the days when they stood on the threshold of a youthful marriage. Realizing that the decision rests with the children, he finally offers Joey and John his blessing; moved by the wisdom of Matt's words, Mr. Prentice also relents.
Production Company: Horizon-American Pictures, Inc..
Composer: Leonard Bernstein
At the request of mob boss Johnny Friendly, longshoreman Terry Malloy, a former boxer, lures fellow dock worker Joey Doyle to the roof of his tenement building, purportedly to discuss their shared hobby of pigeon racing. Believing that Friendly only intends to frighten Joey out of his threat to speak to the New York State Crime Commission, Terry is stunned to see Joey topple from the building as he and his brother, Charley “the Gent,” watch from across the street. As neighbors gather around Joey’s body, his distraught sister Edie accuses parish priest Father Barry of hiding behind the church and not helping the neighborhood break free from the mob’s grip. Listening nearby, Terry is disturbed by Edie’s indictment and later joins Charley, Friendly’s lawyer and accountant, at a meeting with Friendly and his lackeys. Friendly assures Terry that Joey’s death was necessary to preserve his hold on the harbor, then directs dock manager Big Mac to place Terry in the top job slot the following day. The next morning, while waiting for the day’s work assignment, the dock workers offer their sympathy to Joey’s father Pop, who gives Joey’s jacket to Kayo Dugan. Meanwhile, Terry is approached by Crime Commission representative Eddy Glover, but refuses to discuss Joey. Edie then comes down to the docks to apologize to Father Barry, but he admits that her accusation has prompted him to become more involved in the lives of the longshoremen. As the men disperse for work, Father Barry asks some of them to meet later downstairs in the church, despite being advised that Friendly does not approve of union meetings. Later, in the warehouse, Charley asks Terry to sit in on the church meeting. When Terry hesitates, Charley dismisses his brother’s fears of “stooling.” Despite the sparse turnout at the meeting in the church, Father Barry adamantly declares that mob control of the docks must end and demands information about Joey’s murder. Several men bristle in anger upon seeing Terry at the meeting, and Kayo tells Father Barry that no one will talk out of fear that Friendly will find out. Father Barry insists the men can fight Friendly and the mob through the courts, but the men refuse to participate. Eventually, Friendly’s stooges break up the meeting by hurling stones through the church windows. After Pop and Kayo are attacked outside, Father Barry presses Kayo to take action and Kayo agrees. Terry insists on walking Edie home and, on the way, she hesitatingly tells him abut her convent upbringing and ambition to teach. At home, Pop scolds Edie for walking with Terry, whom he calls a bum, and demands that she return to college. Edie responds that she must stay to find out who killed Joey. Later that day Edie is surprised to find Terry on the roof with Joey’s pigeons. Terry shows her his own prize bird, then asks her if she would like to have a beer with him. At the bar, Terry tells Edie that he and Charley were placed in an orphanage after their father died, but they eventually ran away. He took up boxing and Friendly bought a percentage of him, but his career faded. Swept up among wedding party revelers at the bar, Edie and Terry dance together until they are interrupted by Glover, who serves Terry with a subpoena to the Crime Commission hearings. Edie demands to know if Friendly arranged Joey’s murder, and when Terry cautions her to stop asking questions, she accuses him of still being owned by the mobster. That evening, Friendly visits Terry, who is evasive about the church meeting, then surprised when Friendly reveals that Kayo testified before the commission. Charley criticizes Terry for seeing Edie, and Friendly orders Terry back to working in the ship hold. The next day in the hold, Terry attempts to speak with Kayo, but the older man brushes him aside, calling him one of Friendly’s boys. Big Mac and one of his henchmen rig a crane to slip, and a load of boxes crashes down upon Kayo, killing him in front of Terry. Outraged, Father Barry gives an impromptu eulogy for Kayo, asserting that Kayo was killed to prevent him from testifying further. After two of Friendly’s henchmen begin pelting the priest with fruit and vegetables, Pop and Edie arrive and watch as Father Barry ignores the abuse and exhorts the men to believe in themselves and reject mob control. Terry furiously knocks out one of the henchmen, angering Friendly and Charley. Later, Father Barry returns Joey’s jacket to Pop and Edie. That night, after Edie gives Joey’s jacket to Terry, the guilt-stricken Terry tries but is unable to tell her about his part in Joey’s murder. The next morning Terry seeks out Father Barry to ask for guidance as he believes he is falling in love with Edie, but is conflicted about testifying and about going against Charley. Father Barry maintains that Terry must follow his conscience and challenges him to be honest with Edie. When Terry meets Edie on the beach later, he relates the details of the night of Joey’s murder, insisting that he did not know Joey would be killed, but Edie rushes away in distress. Later while tending his pigeons on the roof, Terry is visited by Glover and implies that he might be willing to testify. Their meeting is reported to Friendly, who orders Charley to straighten Terry out. That night, Charley takes Terry on a cab drive and chides him for not telling him about the subpoena. When Terry attempts to explain his confusion, Charley brusquely threatens him with a gun. Hurt, Terry reproaches his older brother for not looking after him and allowing him to become a failure and a bum by involving him with the mob. Charley gives Terry the gun and says he will stall Friendly. Terry goes to see Edie, and breaks down her apartment door when she refuses to let him in and demands to know if she cares for him. Edie tells Terry to listen to his conscience, which angers him, but the two embrace. When Terry is summoned to the street, Edie begs him not to go, then follows him. After the couple is nearly run down by a truck, they find Charley’s body hung up on a meat hook on a nearby fence. Taking down his brother’s body, Terry vows revenge on Friendly, and sends Edie for Father Barry. Armed, Terry hunts for Friendly at his regular bar, but Father Barry convinces him that the best way to ruin Friendly is in court and Terry throws away the gun. The next day at the hearings, Terry testifies to Friendly’s involvement in Joey’s death, outraging the mobster, who shouts threats at him. Back at home, Terry is scorned by the neighbors for testifying and discovers that his pigeons have been killed by a boy he once coached. Edie attempts to comfort Terry, advising him to leave, but Terry insists that he has the right to stay in his town. The next day Terry reports to work as usual, but is ignored by the men and refused work by Big Mac. In his office at the pier, Friendly, who is about to be indicted, swears vengeance on Terry. Terry confronts Friendly on the pier, declaring he is nothing without guns, and the two fall into a brutal fistfight. While Friendly’s men help to thrash Terry, the dockworkers watch impassively as Edie arrives with Father Barry. Friendly orders the longshoremen to begin unloading, but the men refuse and demand that Terry be allowed to work, hoping the shipping owners will witness their refusal to obey Friendly and realize their intention to restart a clean union. Father Barry urges on the beaten Terry, who rises and defiantly stumbles down the pier and into the warehouse.
Producer: Wendy Finerman, Steve Tisch, Steve Starkey
Writer: Eric Roth
Editor: Arthur Schmidt
Cinematographer: Don Burgess, David M. Dunlap
Genre: Comedy-drama
Production Company: The Tisch Company
Forrest Gump, a middle-aged man seated on a bus bench in Savannah, Georgia, offers a chocolate to an African-American nurse beside him. He tells the nurse an old saying of his mother’s: “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get.” Forrest explains that he was named after an ancestor, General Nathan Forrest, who started the Ku Klux Klan, a racist organization. By naming her son "Forrest," Mrs. Gump wanted him to remember that people sometimes do things that don’t make any sense. Decades earlier, in Greenbow, Alabama, young Forrest lives with Mrs. Gump, his single mother, in a large, rural house where she rents out rooms to travelers. Born with a crooked spine, Forrest is made to wear a pair of leg braces to straighten his back. One day, a school administrator, Mr. Hancock, tells Mrs. Gump that Forrest cannot attend public school because his intelligence quotient of seventy-five is too low, but Mrs. Gump changes Hancock’s mind by having sex with him. Later, while a musician houseguest plays his guitar, Forrest dances, moving awkwardly due to his leg braces. Afterward, Mrs. Gump and Forrest spot the houseguest on television – it is Elvis Presley, a famous rock n’ roll musician, emulating Forrest’s style of dancing. On his first day of school, Forrest is shunned by all the kids on the school bus except by Jenny, a young girl who is abused by her alcoholic father. Forrest and Jenny become close friends, and, one day, when bullies throw rocks at Forrest, Jenny instructs him to run. Forrest runs so fast that the braces come off of his legs. From that day forward, Forrest runs everywhere he goes and eventually his athletic abilities earn him a football scholarship to the University of Alabama. When Forrest visits Jenny at her all-girl college, he embarrasses her by interrupting a date with a young man. Later that night, Jenny places Forrest’s hand on her breast, and he apologizes after ejaculating inside his pants. When he is selected for the All-American football team, Forrest meets President John F. Kennedy at the White House in Washington, D.C. Upon graduation, Forrest joins the United States Army and befriends Bubba Blue, another recruit who hails from a long line of shrimp fishermen. One night, a soldier hands Forrest a Playboy magazine with nude pictures of Jenny. On leave, Forrest goes to the topless bar where Jenny is working in Memphis, Tennessee, and when a man splashes Jenny with his drink, Forrest hits him and carries Jenny offstage. Afterward, she reprimands Forrest for trying to save her. Forrest tells Jenny he loves her, but she replies that he doesn’t know what love is. After they are sent to fight in the Vietnam War, Bubba suggests to Forrest that they start a shrimp fishing business when they return home. Sometime later, Forrest’s troop is ambushed in the jungle and Forrest saves several injured men, including his troop leader, Lieutenant Dan, by carrying them to safety. Although he is shot in the buttocks, Forrest heads back into the line of fire to find Bubba. Discovering that his friend is fatally injured, Forrest cradles Bubba in his arms as he dies. In the Army hospital, Forrest convalesces next to Lieutenant Dan, who has lost both his legs and resents Forrest for saving his life. Meanwhile, Forrest receives a stack of letters that were returned, unopened, from Jenny’s address in Greenbow. When he is awarded a Congressional Medal of Honor, Forrest returns to the White House and meets President Lyndon B. Johnson. During an anti-war protest outside the Washington Monument, Forrest is invited onto the stage to talk about the war, but an Army official unplugs the speaker system so that Forrest’s speech is inaudible. Spotting Forrest from the crowd, Jenny runs into the Reflecting Pool where Forrest joins her. Jenny takes Forrest to the headquarters of the Black Panthers, an African-American militant group, and one of the members lectures Forrest on the Vietnam War. When her boyfriend slaps Jenny across the face, Forrest attacks him. Later, Forrest tells Jenny that he would never hit her, saying he would like to be her boyfriend. However, after walking around with Forrest all night, Jenny returns to her abusive boyfriend. As she and the boyfriend board a bus, Forrest gives Jenny his Medal of Honor. Forrest, who spent countless hours playing ping-pong during his convalescence, travels to Army hospitals and teaches wounded soldiers how to play. Upon winning an international ping-pong championship in China, Forrest becomes a celebrity in the United States and is interviewed on The Dick Cavett Show alongside John Lennon of the famous rock n’ roll band, The Beatles. Leaving the show, Forrest runs into Lieutenant Dan who is now a bitter, wheelchair-bound alcoholic. After spending Christmas together, Forrest and Lieutenant Dan celebrate New Year’s Eve at a bar in New York City. Forrest daydreams about Jenny, who is in California, sneaking away from yet another abusive boyfriend. Traveling with the U.S. Ping-Pong Team, Forrest meets President Richard Nixon, and Nixon recommends that Forrest stay at the Watergate Hotel. There, Forrest notices flashlights inside the adjacent Watergate office complex one night and calls security, thus uncovering the infamous Watergate break-in. After he is discharged from the Army, Forrest receives $25,000 for endorsing a ping-pong paddle and uses the money to start a shrimp fishing business called Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, in honor of Bubba. Forrest names his boat Jenny and hires Lieutenant Dan to be his first mate, raising Dan’s spirits. Elsewhere, Jenny takes drugs and contemplates suicide. Although Forrest and Lieutenant Dan initially encounter obstacles at sea, their luck changes when a hurricane washes in an abundance of shrimp, making Bubba Gump an overnight success. One day on the boat, Forrest learns that Mrs. Gump is sick and he rushes home. Shortly after his return, Mrs. Gump dies from cancer. Since Lieutenant Dan invested Bubba Gump money into Apple Computers, Forrest receives windfall profits and gives his money away to churches, hospitals, and Bubba’s family. Forrest moves back into his mother’s house and cuts the grass at Greenbow’s high school football field for free. One day, Jenny arrives, and Forrest provides her with a room. First, she sleeps for a very long time, and after that, they walk around Greenbow together. When they come upon her father’s old house, Jenny becomes angry, throwing things and crying. On the Fourth of July, Forrest asks Jenny to marry him, but she refuses, saying he doesn’t want to marry her. Later that night, however, Jenny declares her love for Forrest, and they make love. The next morning, Jenny leaves without saying goodbye. Lonely in her absence, Forrest puts on a pair of running shoes that Jenny gave him and runs from his house. He doesn’t stop running and eventually reaches California, where he turns around and heads back East. Forrest runs cross-country multiple times, and after he receives attention from the press, other runners begin to follow him. Jenny sees Forrest on television and sends him a letter, asking him to visit Savannah, where she now works as a waitress. While still waiting for the bus in Savannah, Forrest learns from another passenger that he can walk to Jenny’s house. Finally, he leaves the bench where he first spoke to the nurse. At her apartment, Jenny apologizes for how she has treated Forrest, saying she was “messed up.” Forrest meets Jenny’s son, also named Forrest, and learns that he is the father. Forrest panics, asking if the child is smart, and Jenny assures him that he is. At a playground, Jenny tells Forrest that she is sick with a virus that has no cure. Forrest invites her and their son to stay with him in Greenbow, promising to take care of her. Jenny asks Forrest to marry her and he agrees. After they are married in Greenbow, she dies, and Forrest has her father’s house razed. Forrest continues to live in his mother’s house, sending his son to school on the same bus where he first met Jenny.
Writer: Ted Sears, Webb Smith, Joseph Sabo, Otto Englander, William Cottrell, Erdman Penner, Aurelius Battaglia
Genre: Fantasy
Production Company: Walt Disney Productions
Composer: Paul J. Smith
Geppetto, a kindly old woodcarver, creates a little puppet boy of pine and names him Pinocchio. Because the old man, who has been generous and good all of his life, loves children and has none of his own, the Blue Fairy brings the marionette to life to be a son to him. She tells Pinocchio, however, that he must earn his right to become a real boy by exhibiting the virtues of truth, courage and selflessness. To aid him in his task, she makes Jiminy, a vagabond cricket who has snuck into Geppetto's workshop to spend the night, Pinocchio's conscience, dubbing him the "Lord High Keeper of the Knowledge of Right and Wrong." Pinocchio's first test comes the next morning, when, on his way to school, he is accosted by J. Worthington Foulfellow, a wily fox also known as "Honest John." Along with his daffy companion Gideon, Foulfellow convinces Pinocchio that he should become an actor in the puppet show belonging to Stromboli, a tyrannical puppeteer. Jiminy's protests that Pinocchio must go to school fall on deaf ears, and the little puppet is soon a big hit with Stromboli's audience. Seeing that Pinocchio is doing well, Jiminy decides that a successful actor does not need a conscience and leaves. All is not well, however, for the cruel Stromboli locks Pinocchio in a bird cage when he tries to leave after the show. After deciding to say goodbye to "Pinoc," Jiminy returns to Stromboli's wagon, where he is horrified to discover the puppet's predicament. Jiminy's efforts to pick the lock do not succeed, and as the companions despair, they are astonished to see the Blue Fairy, who questions Pinocchio about why he did not go to school. The flustered Pinocchio tells lie after lie, and his nose grows with each falsehood. The Blue Fairy rebukes Pinocchio, explaining that "a lie grows and grows until it's as plain as the nose on your face." After Pinocchio promises to reform, the beautiful fairy sets him free, and Pinocchio hastens with Jiminy toward home. Pinocchio is stopped again by Foulfellow, who tempts him to go to Pleasure Island, a magical place where boys can do anything they want. Pinocchio joins the other boys on the coach driven by a mysterious coachman, and soon is indulging in the cigars, beer and billiards offered at Pleasure Island. As Pinocchio plays with his new friend Lampwick, Jiminy discovers that the boys on the island transform into donkeys, which are then sold by the coachman. He then returns to the terrified Pinocchio, who has just seen Lampwick turn into a donkey. Pinocchio sprouts ears and a tail, but escapes with Jiminy before his transformation is complete. Upon their return home, they discover that Geppetto, Figaro, the kitten, and Cleo, the goldfish, have been swallowed by Monstro, a gigantic whale. With no thought for his own safety, Pinocchio voyages to the bottom of the sea, where he finds Geppetto, Cleo and Figaro alive in the whale's belly. After a joyful reunion with his father, Pinocchio hits upon the idea of making Monstro sneeze. After setting Geppetto's boat on fire, the little group escape on a raft when the smoke causes Monstro to sneeze. The irritated whale chases his former captives, and Pinocchio bravely rescues Geppetto at the cost of his own life. Geppetto, Figaro, Cleo and Jiminy sorrowfully return home, and as they are mourning, the Blue Fairy appears and turns Pinocchio into a real boy as a reward for his actions. She also gives Jiminy a gold badge for his services as Pinocchio's conscience, and as Geppetto and his son celebrate, Jiminy sings that "when you wish upon a star, your dreams come true."
Editor: Paul Hirsch, Marcia Lucas, Richard Chew, John Jympson
Cinematographer: Gilbert Taylor
Genre: Adventure, Science fiction
Production Company: Lucasfilm, Ltd.
Composer: John Williams [composer]
During an interstellar civil war, rebels battle against an evil empire, led by Darth Vader and a villainous governor named Grand Moff Tarkin. The imperial stronghold is a planet-sized, armored space station called the Death Star, and insurgent Princess Leia Organa leads a mission to seize the battleship’s blueprints, hoping to reveal its vulnerability. During the ensuing battle, Darth Vader and his military force of stormtroopers capture Leia’s spaceship, but she secretly hides the Death Star plans in a robot “droid” named R2-D2, who flees the spaceship with his companion, C-3PO. Unable to recover the plans, Darth Vader discovers that an escape pod was launched during the attack, and orders the droids detained. Meanwhile, R2-D2 and C-3PO crash land on the desert planet Tatooine. Ornery C-3PO is displeased by his companion’s claim that they are on an important mission, and the two droids part ways. However, they are captured by cloaked scavengers called Jawas and sold to young Luke Skywalker and his Uncle Owen. As the boy refurbishes the droids, he complains that Uncle Owen has thwarted his dream of becoming a pilot and following in the footsteps of his deceased father. Fiddling with R2-D2, Luke unwittingly activates a three dimensional projection of Princess Leia, uttering the plea: “Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you’re my only hope.” Smitten and intrigued, Luke wonders if the message is addressed to a hermit known as “Ben” Kenobi. At dinner, Luke tells Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru about Leia’s message, but Owen orders the boy to erase R2-D2’s memory, and insists that Obi-Wan died alongside Luke’s father. Storming away, Luke discovers that R2-D2 has escaped. The next morning, Luke and C-3PO recover the wayward droid, but are attacked by the hostile, nomadic Sand People. However, “Ben” Kenobi comes to the rescue, and admits that “Obi-Wan” is his real name. Seeking shelter at Obi-Wan’s home, Luke learns that his father was a Jedi knight during the Clone Wars, and was known as the galaxy’s best starfighter. Obi-Wan explains that he mentored Luke’s father and makes good on an old promise, giving Luke his father’s lightsaber. Since Jedis were guided by “the Force,” a mystical energy that unites all living creatures in peace, the neon light sword once upheld universal justice. However, Luke’s father was killed by a colleague, Darth Vader, who used his knowledge of “the Force” to betray the Jedis. As Obi-Wan activates R2-D2’s message from Leia, she explains that she was on a mission to bring Obi-Wan back to her home planet of Alderaan, and adds that vital information has been hidden in R2-D2’s memory system. The only person equipped to retrieve the data is her Jedi father, so the droid must be escorted to Alderaan immediately. Obi-Wan announces he will teach Luke to use “the Force,” so he can be of service on the mission, but Luke insists on returning home. Meanwhile, on the Death Star, Grand Moff Tarkin announces that the galaxy’s government council has been dissolved, and the Empire is one step closer to ultimate power. Back on Tatooine, Luke discovers his family murdered by stormtroopers and vows to become a Jedi. He joins Obi-Wan and the droids in their search for a pilot at the spaceport town of Mos Eisley. In a seamy tavern, they hire rugged outlaw smuggler Han Solo and his first mate, a tall, hairy Wookiee named Chewbacca. The men narrowly escape a stormtrooper attack in Han Solo’s Millennium Falcon. Meanwhile, Vader tortures Leia to discover the whereabouts of the rebel base, but she remains resolute. Tarkin navigates the Death Star toward Alderaan, then orders Leia’s execution and threatens to destroy her home planet unless she confesses. Although Leia claims the rebel base is on planet Dantoonine, Tarkin incinerates Alderaan. At the same moment, on the Millennium Falcon, Obi-Wan feels pain in his heart. He acknowledges a terrible tragedy, but continues Luke’s lightsaber training, teaching the boy to trust his instincts and to use “the Force.” When the Millennium Falcon reaches Alderaan, the planet is gone and the ship is forcibly sucked into the Death Star by its “tractor beam.” Darth Vader learns that the Millennium Falcon began its journey in Tatooine and realizes it is transporting the coveted Death Star plans. Meanwhile, Obi-Wan uses “the Force” to ensure that no humans or droids are detected aboard the spaceship, but Darth Vader perceives the presence of his former Jedi master. Upon their arrival aboard the Death Star, Han Solo and Luke kill several stormtroopers, don their armor, and capture a nearby outpost. There, R2-D2 plugs into the Death Star’s computer network and discovers seven locations that secure the battleship’s “tractor beam.” Once the locks are disabled, the Millennium Falcon can escape. Obi-Wan declares that he alone must immobilize the locks and leaves after promising Luke, “the Force will be with you… always.” Just then, R2-D2 locates Princess Leia and reports that her execution is pending. Luke convinces Han Solo to join him on a rescue mission with assurances of a bountiful reward. As they release the princess, a gunfight ensues, and Leia orders her rescuers into a garbage chute to escape. There, Luke is pulled underwater by a tentacled monster, but the creature suddenly disappears when the dump walls begin to compact. Radioing C-3PO for help, Luke orders R2-D2 to shut down the “garbage mashers,” and the comrades are saved. As they return to the Millennium Falcon and battle stormtroopers, Obi-Wan disables the “tractor beam” and reunites with Darth Vader, who is intent on killing his former Jedi master. However, Obi-Wan warns that the prospect for peace will become infinitely more powerful if Darth Vader succeeds. When Obi-Wan is confident that Luke can see him, and that Leia has safely boarded the Millennium Falcon, he permits Darth Vader to strike him dead, but his voice remains fixed in Luke’s consciousness. The friends escape a firefight, and Leia warns that the Millennium Falcon has been fitted with a tracking device. The Death Star follows as they proceed to the rebel base on the planet Yavin. There, R2-D2’s data is analyzed and soldiers are briefed that the Death Star’s weak point can only be accessed by a one-man fighter jet. The pilots must navigate down a narrow trench and fire into a two-meter-wide thermal exhaust port, causing a chain reaction. As Luke mans his ship, with R2-D2 as his navigator, Han Solo ducks away with his reward money, claiming the battle is a suicide mission. Meanwhile, the Death Star comes within firing range of Yavin and the Imperial leaders anticipate their decisive victory. Rebels race toward the battleship and attempt to dodge their pursuers, including Darth Vader, who pilots a deadly imperial fighter. With many of Luke’s senior comrades defeated, the boy is ordered to the front, but his rear guard is killed. The Death Star takes aim at Yavin just as Luke speeds toward its vulnerable portal. Although he uses a device to guide him, he subconsciously hears Obi-Wan’s refrain, “use the Force,” and turns off the computer to follow his instinct. Just then, Darth Vader directs his guns on Luke’s starfighter and prepares to fire, but Han Solo suddenly appears in the Millenium Falcon and interferes, sending the villain spiraling into space. Luke’s missiles successfully destroy the Death Star an instant before the battle station fires at Yavin, and peace is finally restored to the universe.
Writer: Arthur Wimperis, George Froeschel , James Hilton, Claudine West
Editor: Harold F. Kress
Cinematographer: Joseph Ruttenberg
Genre: Drama
Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp.
Composer: Herbert Stothart
In early summer 1939, middle-class English housewife Kay Miniver happily returns from a London shopping trip to Belham, the Thames Valley village in which she lives, and is flattered that station master Ballard has named his newly propagated rose after her. That night, Kay feels slightly guilty over buying an expensive hat, while her architect-husband Clem feels the same way about his new sportscar. When they eventually confess their respective purchases, they laugh, happy in the knowledge that they can now afford some of life's little luxuries. The next day, Kay and Clem welcome home their eldest child Vin, who has returned home for the summer holiday and is a bit pompous after his year at Oxford. Vin embarrasses his parents when he insults Carol Beldon, granddaughter of local aristocrat Lady Beldon, when Carol comes to ask Kay to influence Ballard to withdraw his rose from competing against Lady Beldon's in the annual flower show. At a dance that night, Carol receives a secret message from Vin asking her to meet him. The two confess their mutual attraction and promise to write to each other while Carol and her grandmother are away in Scotland. Some weeks later, concern over the fall of Poland dominates village conversations, and at church on Sunday, the vicar's sermon is interrupted by news that England is now at war with Germany. While Clem, Kay and their two youngest children, Toby and Judy, return home, Vin goes to the Beldon estate to make certain that the newly returned Carol and her grandmother are adequately prepared. Although Lady Beldon at first refuses to take seriously new air raid regulations, Vin takes charge of the situation. He and Carol also come to an "agreement" about their relationship and kiss for the first time. Eight months later, after Vin has left school to join the RAF, the Minivers, like others in the village, have made accommodations for the war, but have yet to seriously feel its effects. In the pub, the locals laugh at the radio admonitions of the traitor Lord Haw Haw that England will soon fall, and discuss a German pilot who parachuted out of his plane and may be hiding near the village. That night, Vin proposes to Carol, much to the delight of Clem and Kay. Immediately thereafter, Vin is ordered back to his airbase, and in the middle of the night, Clem, a member of the Thames River patrol, is awakened and told to meet at the pub. Like the other local boat-owners, Clem is at first amused and somewhat irritated by the call-up, but soon finds that his is one of thousands of privately owned, seaworthy crafts needed to evacuate stranded British soldiers from Dunkerque, France. Five days later, Kay's only news of what Vin and Clem may be doing comes from the papers. When she goes for a stroll in her garden one morning, she sees the boots of the missing German pilot. Unable to get the sleeping flyer's gun away, she rushes to the house, but he forces his way into her kitchen and holds her at gunpoint while she brings him food. Weakened from his wounds, the flyer collapses and Kay is able to take his revolver and call for help. Before the police arrive, though, the German bitterly tells Kay that England will soon fall, just as Holland and Poland did, and she slaps him. After the police take the flyer away, Clem returns in his badly damaged boat, unharmed, but exhausted from his ordeal, and soon they learn that Vin, too, is safe. A short time later, Vin and Carol marry, after Kay convinces Lady Beldon that the couple are right for each other. One night, while Carol and Vin are on their honeymoon, Clem, Kay, Judy and Toby retreat to their bomb shelter while an air battle rages overhead. As the children sleep, Kay calmly knits and Clem reads until the bombing becomes so fierce that the children awaken, crying, and the family fearfully huddles together, realizing that their house has been hit. When Carol and Vin return from their honeymoon, they are shocked by the bomb damage, but Kay and Clem shrug off the partial destruction of their home and look forward to going to the annual flower show. At the show, Lady Beldon is secretly informed that she has won the competition, but when Kay helps her to realize that the judges chose her rose over Ballard's more worthy flower because of her position in the village, Lady Beldon announces that Ballard has won the prize. The show is then interrupted by an air raid warning. As Kay drives Carol home, they are heartsick at the destruction they see. When a plane dives toward them, Kay thinks that the car has been hit but soon realizes that Carol has been badly wounded. Kay is able to get Carol home, but she dies before medical help can arrive. On Sunday morning, in the badly damaged village church, the vicar sadly talks of those who have died, including Carol and Ballard. As the vicar reads from the Ninety-First Psalm, Vin goes to Lady Beldon's pew to comfort her, and more British planes take to the air.
Cast: Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Eleanor Parker
Directors: Robert Wise
Producer: Robert Wise
Writer: Ernest Lehman
Editor: William Reynolds, Larry Allen
Cinematographer: Ted McCord
Genre: Drama, Musical
Production Company: Argyle Enterprises, Inc., Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp.
The antics of tomboyish Maria, a novice at the abbey in Salzburg, concern the Mother Abbess, who is unsure of Maria's intensions. Encouraging the girl to test her feelings, the Mother Abbess sends Maria to be the governess for the seven children of the widower Baron Georg von Trapp, a retired naval officer. The children are at first hostile to Maria, but she soon wins them over. The baron, who is a strict disciplinarian, leaves to visit his love interest, Baroness Elsa Schraeder. While he is gone, Maria allows the children greater freedom, and teaches them to sing. The youths become so excited when the baron returns that they fall out of a rowboat in the lake. The accident precipitates an argument between Maria and the baron, and he orders her to leave; but when he goes into the house and finds the children entertaining his friend Max Detweiler and the baroness with a song, he asks Maria to stay. Max later suggests that they enter the Salzburg Festival as a singing group, but the baron refuses. Maria becomes aware that she is falling in love with the baron and returns to the abbey. The children follow and try to persuade her to return; when the Mother Abbess learns of their visit, she sends Maria back to the Trapp home. Maria again decides to leave when she hears that the baron plans to marry the baroness. However, the baroness soon realizes her suitor is in love with Maria, and releases him. Maria weds the baron, and while they are away on their honeymoon, the Nazis take over Austria. Taking advantage of the baron's absence, Max enters the children in the Salzburg Festival. When the baron returns with his new bride, Maria, he forbids the children to appear at the festival, and learns that the Nazis, to whom he is violently opposed, have ordered him to take command of a ship. The Trapps plan an escape, but are stopped by Stormtroopers. Max convinces the Nazis that the family is on its way to the Salzburg Festival, and that he plans to leave for his ship immediately after the performance. The Trapps win first place at the show and, using their exit song to escape, take refuge in the town abbey. The Nazis learn their whereabouts and surround the building, but the family escapes through a secret tunnel to the nearby mountains.
At the close of a murder trial conducted in a New York City courtroom, the judge gives the jury its final instructions, reminding them that a guilty verdict will mean an automatic death sentence for the defendant, a Puerto Rican youth accused of killing his father. Once in the stiflingly hot jury room, Juror 3, a middle-aged businessman who is estranged from his own son, loudly proclaims that the boy is guilty and that all ghetto youths are criminals, while Juror 7, a fast-talking salesman, wants the jury to reach a decision quickly because he wishes to attend a baseball game that evening. Juror 1, the foreman, who is a genial high school football coach, conducts a preliminary ballot and, without hesitation, eleven jurors vote for conviction. Juror 8, a sensitive and thoughtful architect, casts the only dissenting vote, stating that he has doubts about the case and wishes to give the boy, who has had a difficult life in the ghetto, a fair hearing. Juror 10, approximately sixty years old and the owner of a garage, gruffly declares that the architect is a weak-willed "bleeding heart" before launching into a diatribe against slum dwellers. Wishing to restore calm, Juror 12, a young advertising executive, suggests that each juror present the reasons behind his verdict as a means of convincing Juror 8. The salesman, the garage owner and the businessman all suggest that the boy's ethnicity and class have been enough to convince them he murdered his father, while Juror 2, a shy and stammering bank clerk, appears to be maintaining his guilty verdict because he feels intimidated by the more outspoken jurors. Juror 4, a middle-aged and articulate stockbroker, and Juror 6, a young blue-collar worker, go over the evidence which determined their verdicts with much detail and thought. The prosecution has presented two seemingly reliable eyewitnesses, and motivation for the murder was suggested by the youth's frequent fights with his father. In addition, a shopkeeper identified the murder weapon as identical to an unusual and ornately carved knife he had sold the boy shortly before the murder. Finishing his exposition, Juror 4 offhandedly remarks that "everyone knows slums breed criminals," leading Juror 5, who until this point has remained silent, to declare with great dignity that he was raised in a slum. After Juror 8 points out inconsistencies in the prosecution's case and raises a number of questions, he throws down a cheap knife he bought near the courthouse which appears almost identical to the murder weapon. As many of the jurors begin to grow frustrated with the discussion, Juror 8 suggests that the foreman take a secret ballot from which he will abstain, promising that if all of them vote guilty this time, he will go along with them on the final ballot. Now, however, one juror out of the eleven votes "not guilty." Most of the jurors believe that Juror 5 has changed his mind, but the "not guilty" vote turns out to be that of Juror 9, an elderly and frail man to whom the jurors have, until now, paid little attention. After tempers have cooled down, Jurors 8 and 9 point out the inconsistencies in the prosecution's version of events on the night of the murder, and Juror 9 is especially convincing when he notes problems with the testimony of a prosecution witness who, like himself, is elderly. The two men manage to sway Jurors 5 and 11 to their side, for a total of four "not guilty" verdicts. Juror 10 now explodes with anger over what he views as "nitpicking" and Juror 3 harasses Juror 11, an Eastern European refugee, for changing his mind. After tempers subside, the weary jury continues its deliberations and when another ballot is taken, the tally is six to six, with Jurors 2 and 6 changing their original verdicts. Now at a complete standstill, some of the jurors want to declare a hung jury, but know that the judge will not accept the declaration without further deliberations. When Juror 11, who takes his duty as a citizen very seriously, questions whether all of the jurors have a clear understanding of "reasonable doubt," the obnoxious Juror 7 makes an angry speech full of anti-immigrant invective. Next, the newly confident Juror 2 asks how a 5'6" boy could have made a downward stab wound on a man who stood 6'2", leading Juror 5, who saw many a knife fight in the tough neighborhood in which he was raised, to convincingly demonstrate that the boy would most likely have held the knife underhanded, making a downward wound impossible. The foreman and Juror 12 eventually vote "not guilty," as does Juror 7, whose lack of concern over the case and desire to do whatever is most expedient greatly angers Juror 11, the immigrant. When Juror 8 asks the three remaining jurors to explain their continued insistence on a guilty verdict, Juror 10 makes an angry speech so full of hate and bigotry that everyone is shocked into silence. Juror 4, earlier so confident that the boy was guilty, admits he has reasonable doubt when the astute Juror 9 suddenly remembers that a female prosecution eyewitness had impressions on the sides of her nose of the sort left by eyeglasses. In support of their "not guilty" verdicts, the jurors realize that the witness deceived the court by taking off her glasses prior to her court appearance and they surmise that she was most likely not wearing them in bed the night she claimed to have witnessed the murder. Since Juror 10, who remains separated from the group because of shame over his outburst, has indicated he will change his vote, Juror 3 now stands alone in his conviction that the boy is guilty and he becomes increasingly belligerent and stubborn. When a picture of his son, who is only a few years older than the accused, unexpectedly falls out of his wallet, he suddenly breaks down into sobs and exclaims that all children are rotten ingrates. Overcome with emotion and guilt at the memory of his son, who rejected his harsh and authoritarian manner, he finally whispers "not guilty." As the jurors silently file out of the jury room, Juror 8 gently hands the distressed man his jacket. On the courthouse steps, Juror 8 and Juror 9 bid farewell, secure in the knowledge that they helped to ensure that personal prejudices did not determine the fate of the accused.
Cast: Thomas Mitchell, Barbara O'Neil, Vivien Leigh
Directors: Victor Fleming, Sam Wood, George Cukor, Chester Franklin, James Fitzpatrick
Producer: David O. Selznick
Writer: Sidney Howard, Barbara Keon, Lydia Schiller, Connie Earl
Cinematographer: Ernest Haller, Lee Garmes
Genre: Romance
Production Company: Selznick International Pictures, Inc.
Composer: Max Steiner
In 1861, Scarlett O'Hara, the headstrong sixteen-year-old daughter of wealthy Georgia plantation-owner Gerald O'Hara, is sick of hearing talk about going to war with the North. She much prefers to have beaux like Brent and Stuart Tarleton talk about the next day's barbecue at Twelve Oaks, the neighboring Wilkes plantation. When the twins reveal the “secret” that Ashley Wilkes is planning to marry his cousin Melanie Hamilton from Atlanta, Scarlett refuses to believe it because she is in love with Ashley herself. Her father later confirms the news when he returns home to Tara, the O'Hara plantation, and advises Scarlett to forget about the serious-minded Ashley, because “like should marry like.” At the barbeque, Scarlett acts coquettish with all of the young men, hoping to make Ashley jealous, then, during an afternoon rest, sneaks into the library to see him. He says that he will marry Melanie because they are alike, but leads Scarlett to believe that he loves her instead of Melanie. When he leaves, Scarlett angrily throws a vase and is startled to discover Rhett Butler, a notorious rogue from Charleston, who has been lying unnoticed on a couch the entire time. She is angry at his seeming indifference to the seriousness of her feelings for Ashley and annoyed by his frank appreciation of her physical beauty. Later, when news arrives that war has broken out between the North and the South, Scarlett is stunned to see Ashley kiss Melanie goodbye as he leaves to enlist, and in a daze accepts the impulsive proposal of Melanie's brother Charles.
Just after Ashley and Melanie marry, Scarlett and Charles marry as well, delighting Melanie, who tells Scarlett that now they will truly be sisters. Some time later, Scarlett receives word that Charles has died of the measles, and she is forced to don widow's black clothing and refrain from going to the parties she loves. Her understanding mother Ellen decides to let her go to Atlanta to stay with Melanie and her Aunt Pittypat, hoping that Scarlett will feel less restless there. At an Atlanta fundraising bazaar, Scarlett is so bored watching other girls dance, that when Rhett bids for her in a dance auction, she enthusiastically leads the Virginia Reel with him, oblivious to the outrage of the shocked local matrons. Rhett, who has become a successful blockade runner, continues to see Scarlett over the next few months and brings her presents from his European trips. As the war rages, Melanie and Scarlett receive word that Ashley will be returning home on a Christmas leave. Atlanta is now suffering the privation of a long siege, but the women manage to give Ashley a small Christmas feast. Before he returns to the front, Ashley tells Scarlett that the South is losing the war and asks her to stay by the pregnant Melanie.
Melanie goes into labor as Atlantans leave the city before Northern troops arrive. When Aunt Pitty leaves for Charleston, Scarlett desperately wants to go with her, but remembers her promise to Ashley, and remains with Melanie. Because Melanie's labor is difficult and the doctor is too busy attending wounded soldiers to come to her aid, Scarlett must attend her alone. After the baby is born, Scarlett sends her maid Prissy for Rhett, who reluctantly arrives with a frightened horse and a wagon. Though he thinks that Scarlett is crazy when she insists upon returning to Tara, he risks his life to drive the women and the infant through the now-burning city. Outside Atlanta, as Rhett and Scarlett see the decimated Southern army in retreat, he feels ashamed and resolves to join them for their last stand. Scarlett is furious with him, even after he admits that he loves her and gives her a passionate kiss before leaving. When the women finally arrive at Tara, the plantation is a shambles and the house has been looted. Scarlett's mother Ellen has just died of typhoid and her father's mind is gone. Desperate for something to eat, Scarlett first tries drinking whiskey, then goes into the fields. After choking on a radish, she vows that if she lives through this she will never go hungry again. [An Intermission divides the story at this point.]
Soon Scarlett bullies her sisters and the remaining house slaves into working in the fields. After she kills a Yankee scavenger and, with Melanie's help, hides the body, the contents of his wallet provide them with some money for food. When the war ends, Ashley returns and Scarlett goes to him for advice when Pork, one of the former slaves who has remained with the family, tells her that $300 in taxes are owed on Tara. Ashley offers no solution to her problem, but admits once again that he loves her, even though he will never leave Melanie. More determined than ever to obtain the money after Jonas Wilkerson, a ruthless Yankee who was once Tara's overseer, says that he is going to buy Tara when it is auctioned off for taxes, Scarlett decides to ask Rhett for the money. With no proper clothes to wear, Scarlett and her old governess, Mammy, use material from Tara's velvet drapes for a new dress. In Atlanta, they discover that Rhett has been imprisoned by the Yankees, but has charmed his way into their good graces. Scarlett tries to pretend that everything is fine at Tara, but Rhett soon sees her roughened hands and realizes what her situation is. Because he is under arrest and his money is all in an English bank, Rhett cannot help Scarlett, so she leaves, infuriated. That same day, she runs into Frank Kennedy, her sister Suellen's beau, and sees that he has become a successful merchant. Scarlett tricks Frank into marrying her by telling him that Suellen loves someone else, and is thus able to use his money to save Tara. Scarlett then moves to Atlanta to work at Frank's shop and to make his fledgling lumber business a success. She also uses an unwitting Melanie to help make Ashley come to work at the lumber mill. One day, Scarlett is attacked by scavengers while driving her carriage near a shanty town, but is saved by Big Sam, a former Tara slave. Scarlett is not physically harmed, but that night Frank, Ashley and some of the other men band together to “clear out” the shanty. While Scarlett, Melanie and the other women wait at Melanie's house, Rhett arrives to warn them that the Yankees are planning an ambush. Melanie tells him where the men have gone, and some time later, he prevents their arrest by pretending to the Yankees that they have all been drinking with him at the notorious Belle Watling's bordello. Ashley is wounded, but Frank has died on the raid.
A few weeks later, Scarlett, who is drinking heavily, is visited by Rhett, who proposes to her and offers to give her everything she wants. Though she says that she does not love him, she agrees to marry him, and on their expensive honeymoon, he vows to spoil her to stop her nightmares of the war. A year later, Scarlett gives birth to a daughter, whom Melanie nicknames “Bonnie Blue.” Though Rhett has never cared about Atlanta society, he now wants to ensure Bonnie's future. He begins to acquire respectability, and within a few years his charitable contributions and sincere devotion to Bonnie impresses even the hardest of Atlanta's matrons. Meanwhile, Scarlett still longs for Ashley and has told Rhett that she no longer wants him to share her bedroom. One day, Ashley's sister India and some other women see Scarlett and Ashley in an embrace. Though nothing improper happened, Scarlett is afraid to attend Melanie's birthday party for Ashley that night. A furious Rhett forces her to attend, though, then leaves. Melanie's open affection to her makes Scarlett ashamed, and when she returns home she sneaks into the dining room to drink. There she finds Rhett drunk and a violent quarrel erupts. After Scarlett calls Rhett a drunken fool, he grabs her and carries her upstairs, angrily telling her that this night there will not be “three in a bed.” The next morning, Scarlett is happy, but when Rhett scoffs that his behavior was merely an indiscretion, her happiness turns to anger. Rhett then leaves for an extended trip to England and takes Bonnie with him.
Some months later, because Bonnie is homesick, Rhett returns to Atlanta and discovers that Scarlett is pregnant. She is happy to see Rhett, but his smirk of indifference and accusation about Ashley enrages her so that she starts to strike him and falls down the stairs. She loses the baby, and although she calls to him during her delirium, Rhett does not know and thinks that she hates him. After she recovers, he suggests that the anger and hatred stop for Bonnie's sake, and Scarlett agrees, but as they are talking, the headstrong Bonnie tries to make her pony take a jump and she falls and breaks her neck. Both are shattered by Bonnie's death, especially Rhett, who refuses to let her be buried because Bonnie was afraid of the dark. Only Melanie, to whom Rhett has always felt a closeness, convinces him to let the child go. After her talk with Rhett, Melanie, who has become pregnant despite the danger to her health, collapses and suffers a miscarriage. On her deathbed, Melanie asks Scarlett to take care of Ashley, but when Scarlett sees how much the distraught Ashley loves Melanie, she finally realizes how wrong she has been for years and knows that it is Rhett she truly loves. She rushes back home and tries to prevent him from leaving her, but he will not stay because it is too late for them. Scarlett tearfully asks him what she will do and as he leaves he answers, “Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.” Through her sobs, Scarlett begins to think of Tara, from which she has always gained strength, and determines that she will return there and will think of a way to get Rhett back. She resolves to think about it tomorrow for, “after all, tomorrow is another day.”
Cast: Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons
Directors: Stanley Kubrick, Anthony Mann
Producer: Kirk Douglas, Edward Muhl, Edward Lewis
Writer: Dalton Trumbo
Editor: Robert Lawrence
Cinematographer: Russell Metty
Genre: Epic
Production Company: Universal-International Pictures Co., Inc., Bryna Productions, Inc.
Composer: Alex North
During the last century of the Roman Republic, thousands are born enslaved to either the privileged class known as patricians or the wealthiest of the commoners, known as plebeians. One exceptionally strong slave in the rock mines of Libya, Spartacus, is regularly whipped for displaying his intelligence and pride. One day, Batiatus, who trains slaves to become gladiators, purchases Spartacus and several other slaves for his training camp in Capua. There, Batiatus announces that each man will be taught to fight to the death strategically, for the pleasure of patricians who enjoy the “sport.” Training proves as dehumanizing as the mines; each slave is branded, mercilessly instructed by head trainer Marcellus, and kept in cells. Spartacus tries to befriend Ethopian gladiator Draba, but soon learns that the men refuse to ally, knowing that they may be forced to kill each other. One night, Spartacus is presented the slave woman Varinia. Batiatus and Marcellus, knowing that Spartacus has never had a woman, watch from a grate above his cell as Varinia stoically undresses. Their laughter disgusts Spartacus, and after he refuses to mistreat the young woman, Batiatus takes her away as punishment for not acting as “a man.” Over the next weeks, Spartacus excels at gladiatorial skills and falls further in love with Varinia. Marcellus attempts to derail their attraction, but the couple manages to exchange furtive touches. One day, Marcus Licinius Crassus, a patrician in competition with the plebeian Gracchus for control of the Roman Senate, arrives at Capua along with his wife Lady Helena, sister-in-law Claudia and her fiancé, Marcus Glabrus. To celebrate the betrothal, Crassus insists that a gladiatorial match be arranged, ignoring Batiatus’ concern that forcing the slaves to fight to the death in their own camp could cause an uprising. Helena and Claudia choose four slaves, including Spartacus and Draba, to fight, and order them to be scantily clad. As the matches begin, the patricians banter happily, undisturbed by the desperation of the fighting men. Spartacus listens from the holding cell as a friend is killed, then enters into battle against Draba. Draba overcomes Spartacus, but, unwilling to kill his compatriot, instead attacks Crassus and is immediately killed by a guard. When Spartacus later hears that Crassus has bought Varinia, he can no longer control his rage, and attacks Marcellus. Emboldened, the other slaves follow suit and escape, forming an “army” that travels across the countryside, looting landowners and freeing slaves, who then join the swelling ranks. Word soon spreads to Rome of the slave rebellion, causing outrage in the senate. While Crassus is away, Gracchus cannily challenges Glabrus, now head of the Roman garrison, to lead some of the troops against the slaves, leaving Julius Caesar as temporary chief of the remaining garrison. When Crassus returns, he comprehends immediately that Gracchus plots to keep Glabrus out of Rome, leaving Crassus more vulnerable to attack. Meanwhile, Spartacus inspires his troops to form a united front that can sweep across the country and escape over the sea to their homelands. In one town, Spartacus is elated to find Varinia, who has escaped and now confesses her love. Back in Rome, while Crassus admires his new “body slave,” Antoninus, Gracchus schemes with Batiatus, who blames Crassus for Spartacus’ rebellion. Soon, Spartacus’ army settles at Mt. Vesuvius, where an escaped Antoninus impresses Spartacus, who longs for an education, with his songs. One day, Tigranes, a representative of Salician pirates, visits to offer the slaves support. Spartacus trades the army’s riches for 500 ships, to await the army on the east coast of Italy. Tigranes agrees to the trade, and when he wonders aloud why Spartacus believes he can defeat the mighty Roman garrison, the former slave replies that, unlike soldiers, his men are not afraid to die, since even death is preferable to a life in chains. Soon after, Glabrus arrives and, underestimating the intelligence of the slaves, fails to prepare his troops adequately. Spartacus is able to destroy the garrison and capture Glabrus, whom he sends back to the senate with the message that the army will not be stopped. Crassus is forced to banish Glabrus and retire in shame. Throughout the winter, Spartacus’ ever-growing group crosses the country, many dying along the way. In the spring, Spartacus is overjoyed to learn that Varinia is pregnant. Meanwhile, Gracchus convinces the senate to name Caesar as commander of the garrison and to send two legions to destroy Spartacus. When no one volunteers to lead the legions against Spartacus, Gracchus is forced to ask Crassus, who is delighted to head the campaign to "restore order" to Rome. Later, Gracchus reveals to Caesar that he has maneuvered the sale of the Salician ships to Spartacus, knowing that Spartacus’ triumph will spell defeat for Crassus. Although Spartacus celebrates upon reaching an encampment a mere twenty miles away from the Salician ships, Tigranes soon arrives, with the news that Pompey and Crassus have conspired to surround Spartacus’ army, necessitating the withdrawal of the ships. Spartacus realizes that Crassus is forcing him to attack Rome, which will allow the patrician to use all the troops at his disposal against them. Dismissing Tigranes’ offer to smuggle Spartacus and Antoninus, now his closest aide, to freedom, Spartacus instead stirs his troops to march against Rome. At the same time, the Romans elect Crassus as head consul and leader of the legions, and he vows to destroy Spartacus and restore order to the empire. The armies soon come within fighting distance of each other, and Crassus, single-minded in his fear of and hatred for Spartacus, pays Batiatus to identify the former slave on the battleground. Just before the battle, Spartacus tells Varinia that his only prayer is for his son to be born free and to learn about his father’s cause. Within hours, Crassus’ trained troops have overcome the slave army, and Crassus announces to the survivors that they will be spared crucifixion if they identify Spartacus. Spartacus stands to speak, but before he can sacrifice himself, Antoninus stands and declares, “I am Spartacus.” One by one, each slave follows suit, choosing death over betraying the man who brought him freedom. Enraged, Crassus orders them all to be crucified during a long march, lining the road to Rome with their bodies. He also finds Varinia, clutching Spartacus’ newborn son, and sends her to his estate. Along the march, Crassus recognizes Antoninus and then, upon spotting Spartacus, guesses he may be his enemy, and orders the two men be kept alive until they reach his estate. There, he banishes Gracchus to the country, intending to use him in the future for his popularity with the “rabble.” Soon after, Batiatus experiences what Gracchus terms “a bad case of dignity” and refuses to identify Spartacus, and instead plots with Gracchus to steal Varinia from the estate in order to irritate Crassus. Crassus dotes on Varinia, whose love he believes will prove his superiority over Spartacus but she vows never to stop loving Spartacus. Meanwhile, Spartacus mourns Varinia and his son, who he assumes have died. When Crassus confronts Spartacus, the slave spits in his face, spurring the dictator to order him to fight Antoninus to death, with the winner to be crucified. Spartacus and Antoninus fight valiantly, each trying to save the other from a more painful death, and Spartacus soon triumphs. After murmuring that he loved Spartacus like a father, Antoninus dies, and Spartacus proclaims that “he will come back, and he will be millions.” Crassus, fearful even in his victory, orders Spartacus crucified at the gates to Rome. Meanwhile, Batiatus brings Varinia and the boy to Gracchus, who presents them with falsified papers that will allow them freedom, then kills himself. As Varinia leaves Rome, she catches sight of Spartacus on the cross. In his last moments of life, Spartacus sees Varinia lift his son and hears her declare that the boy, now free, will never forget his father.
Ethel Thayer and her retired English professor husband, Norman Thayer, Jr., arrive at their New England summer cottage, nestled in the woods next to a lake called Golden Pond. While Norman is a curmudgeon and exaggerates his senility, Ethel has a youthful spirit and is delighted by their holiday. She scolds Norman for his obsession with death. As the couple paddles in a canoe on the lake, Ethel spots two loons and interprets their call as a welcome, but Norman feigns disinterest. Sometime later, Norman grudgingly agrees to pick wild strawberries for Ethel; however, he becomes disoriented in the woods and returns home empty-handed. Meanwhile, postman Charlie Martin delivers the couple’s mail by motorboat, and Ethel insists he stay for coffee. Ethel reads a letter from her divorced daughter, Chelsea Thayer Wayne, announcing that she and her dentist boyfriend, Bill Ray, will be visiting the cottage to celebrate Norman’s eightieth birthday on their way to Europe. Norman is indifferent and preoccupies himself with the newspaper. When Charlie leaves, Norman admits fear that he is losing his wits, but Ethel consoles her husband, saying he is her “knight is shining armor.” Sometime later, on the evening of Norman’s birthday, Chelsea arrives. She refers to her father formally, by his first name, and Norman criticizes his thin daughter for being overweight. The Thayers are surprised that Chelsea is accompanied by thirteen-year-old Billy Ray, the surly son of Bill. Chelsea is shocked to see how much her father has aged. When Chelsea ducks out of the house to avoid her father, Bill remains with the old man and tries to be cordial. Speaking peevishly with his daughter’s suitor, Norman responds sarcastically when Bill asks for permission to sleep in the same room with Chelsea, but Bill refuses to be intimidated. Meanwhile, Ethel and Chelsea swim naked in the lake, laughing about old times. As Bill joins Chelsea outside, Ethel returns to the cottage and asks Norman to do a favor for his daughter; Chelsea has asked them to look after Billy while she and Bill travel in Europe. Sometime later, Chelsea laments her difficult relationship with Norman, and Ethel observes that her daughter has a chip on her shoulder. She warns that life passes too quickly to harbor bad feelings. In time, Chelsea and Bill leave for Europe. Billy is hostile to being left behind, but Norman wins the boy over. He takes Billy on fishing excursions and teaches him to perform a back flip dive off the dock. As days pass, Norman takes Billy fishing at a secret inlet on Golden Pond called Purgatory Cove and tells the boy about his nemesis, a large trout named “Walter” that has eluded him for years. Ethel surprises the men by tracking them down to deliver lunch. As she boats away, Norman is delighted to reel in an enormous rainbow trout, but insists it is not Walter. However, Norman’s spirits darken that evening when he nearly burns down the cottage after leaving the fireplace unattended. He blames Billy for the incident, and the boy’s feelings are hurt, but Ethel reminds Billy that Norman means well, despite his cantankerous demeanor. The following day, Billy is thrilled to motorboat across the Golden Pond on his own. Back at the cottage, Norman astonishes Ethel by stealing a kiss. In the evening, Norman and Billy fish for Walter and the boy helps his elderly friend navigate through a bed of rocks into Purgatory Cove. When they reach their destination and cast lines, Norman accidentally calls the boy “Chelsea,” and Billy admits he is going to miss Norman’s company. Just then, Billy hooks a large fish, but when Norman nets the catch they realize it is a dead loon. When Billy asks if Norman is afraid of dying, the old man dismisses him and insists they boat home. With Billy at the helm, Norman directs the boy through the rocks, but suddenly orders him to reverse. Panicked, Billy mistakenly gears the boat forward at full speed and Norman is thrown from the vessel as it collides with a nearby boulder. With his head bloodied, Norman comes to the surface and calls for Chelsea. Billy jumps into the water to save the old man and the two cling to a rock. Meanwhile, Ethel drives to the home of Charlie, the mailman, terrified by Norman and Billy’s disappearance. Charlie motorboats to Purgatory Cove, but insists no one would be crazy enough to navigate through the rocks. Knowing her husband’s stubbornness, Ethel forces Charlie to proceed into the cove as she scans the lake with a flashlight. Calling Norman’s name, Ethel sees the two and dives into the water to save them. One week later, back at the cottage, Norman and Billy pretend to immerse themselves in a jigsaw puzzle while Ethel goes to search the woods for mushrooms. When they sneak away to fish, Ethel calls them “juvenile delinquents” and they promise to stay close to home. While they fish in a rowboat, Chelsea returns home and startles her mother, who sings aloud while picking flowers. Ethel tells her daughter about Billy’s close relationship with Norman and their boating accident. Announcing her new marriage to Bill, Chelsea explains that the doctor returned to California for work. She is jealous of Billy’s connection to Norman and complains that her father is a “selfish son-of-a-bitch,” but Ethel hits her across the face. Meanwhile, Billy hooks a large fish, and Norman declares they have finally caught the “son-of-a-bitch,” Walter. Back on shore, Ethel encourages Chelsea to make amends with her father. As Norman and Billy pull toward the dock, Chelsea greets Billy and he announces their victory over Walter. However, Norman let the fish go. Billy rushes inside the cottage to share the news with Ethel, and Chelsea asks her father if they can be friends. Despite Norman’s petulance, he is happy to hear about his daughter’s new marriage. When he announces with pride that Billy has mastered the back flip, Chelsea concedes that she was always “too fat” to successfully follow her father’s instructions. Although Norman protests, Chelsea swims to the dock and makes the dive as Norman cheers his daughter’s courage. Sometime later, Chelsea and Billy pack their rental car to leave Golden Pond. Norman gives Billy a fishing rod, then places a second-place medal that he won at Princeton University around Chelsea’s neck. She calls him “dad” for the first time and they embrace. Later still, Norman and Ethel close the house for the winter and Norman suffers heart pains. Ethel gives her husband medication and attempts to phone the operator, but is unable to get through. Ethel fears Norman is dying, but he insists he feels better. As she helps him to his feet, Norman spots two loons on Golden Pond and declares that the birds have come to say goodbye.
While touring the southwestern United States, Homer Smith, a black ex-GI, encounters five nuns attempting to farm some barren Arizona land on the edge of the desert. He asks them for a day's work and learns that they are East German refugees who have come to the States to claim the farm which was willed to their Order. Homer repairs their leaky roof and performs other chores, but the Mother Superior persuades him to stay on to help clear the debris from a collapsed barn. Although he is astounded to learn that Mother Maria intends for him to erect a new chapel on the site, Homer so admires her determination that he agrees to take the job if she can provide the materials. He also goes to work for a local contractor, contributing his pay to buy food for the Order and teaches English to the nuns. When the materials run out, however, Homer leaves. He returns a few weeks later, drawn by the urge to finish the chapel, and the townspeople, ashamed of their negligence, finally join in and help Homer. The evening before the bishop is due to arrive for the dedication, Homer leaves as unceremoniously as he had arrived.
Cast: Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester
Directors: Stanley Kubrick
Producer: Stanley Kubrick
Writer: Stanley Kubrick, Arthur C. Clarke
Editor: Ray Lovejoy
Cinematographer: Geoffrey Unsworth
Genre: Science fiction
Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc.
At the dawn of mankind, a colony of peaceful vegetarian apes awakens to find a glowing black monolith standing in their midst. After tentatively reaching out to touch the mysterious object, the apes become carnivores, with enough intelligence to employ bones for weapons and tools. Four million years later, in the year 2001, Dr. Heywood Floyd, an American scientist, travels to the moon to investigate a monolith that has been discovered below the lunar surface. Knowing only that the slab emits a deafening sound directed toward the planet Jupiter, the U.S. sends a huge spaceship, the Discovery , on a nine-month, half billion-mile journey to the distant planet. Aboard are astronauts David Bowman and Frank Poole, plus three others in frozen hibernation, and a computer called HAL 9000. During the voyage, HAL predicts the failure of a component on one of the spacecraft's antennae. Bowman leaves the ship in a one-man space pod to replace the crucial part; the prediction proves incorrect, however, and when Poole ventures out to replace the original part, HAL severs his lifeline. Bowman goes to rescue him, but HAL closes the pod entry doors and terminates the life functions of the three hibernating astronauts. Forced to abandon Poole, who is already dead, Bowman reenters the Discovery through the emergency hatch and reduces HAL to manual control by performing a mechanical lobotomy on the computer's logic and memory circuits. Now alone, Bowman continues his flight until he encounters a third monolith among Jupiter's moons. Suddenly hurtled into a new dimension of time and space, he is swept into a maelstrom of swirling colors, erupting landscapes and exploding galaxies. At last coming to rest in a pale green bedroom, Bowman emerges from the nonfunctioning space capsule. A witness to the final stages of his life, the withered Bowman looks up from his deathbed at the giant black monolith standing in the center of the room. As he reaches toward it, he is perhaps reborn, perhaps evolved, perhaps transcended, into a new "child of the universe," a fetus floating above the Earth.
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Katharine Hepburn, Robert Morley
Directors: John Huston
Producer: S. P. Eagle
Writer: Peter Viertel, John Collier
Editor: Ralph Kemplen
Cinematographer: Jack Cardiff
Genre: Romance
Production Company: Horizon Enterprises, Inc., Romulus Films, Ltd.
Composer: Allan Gray
In September 1914 in the German East African village of Kungdu, British Reverend Samuel Sayer and his spinster sister Rose lead prayers at the makeshift First Methodist Church. The natives struggle to follow the English psalm, but race outside when they hear Canadian Charlie Allnut's ancient launch the African Queen chug into the village, laden with mail and goods. Though conscious of his lower social standing, Charlie lunches with the Sayers, who delicately ignore his rumbling stomach. Before leaving, he informs them about the encroaching war in Europe, and although the Sayers are frightened, they refuse to desert the village. Only hours later, however, German troops invade Kungdu, imprison the natives and burn down the huts. By the time the smoke clears, Samuel has begun to lose his mind from shock and grief. He soon collapses, unintentionally wounding Rose by raving that their attraction to missionary work grew out of a lack of more attractive social options. When Charlie returns to the destroyed village the next day, he finds Samuel dead, and helps Rose bury him. She then accepts Charlie's offer to hide from the Germans on his boat. Once they are on the river, Charlie explains that the Germans have positioned a heavily armed steamer, the Louisa, at the mouth of Lake Tanganyika to block British troops. Rose immediately forms a plan to attack the Louisa by crafting torpedoes out of explosives and an oxygen tank, strapping them to the African Queen and ramming into the steamer. Charlie tries desperately to dissuade her, describing the German fort and impassable rapids they will have to face along the way, but Rose's determination eventually shames him into agreeing to the plan. After they set sail, he teaches Rose how to read the river, and they negotiate how to bathe in private. That night, a pouring rain forces Charlie to seek shelter under Rose's tarpaulin, and after at first banishing him, Rose softens and allows him to sleep near her. They reach the first set of rapids the next afternoon, and Charlie's hopes that the death-defying experience will frighten Rose are dashed after she proclaims it the most stimulating physical experience she has ever had. At night, a frustrated Charlie taps into his gin reserves and later rants drunkenly that he will not sail any farther, calling Rose a "skinny old maid." He awakes the next morning to find her pouring each of his gin bottles into the ocean. Hours later, he begs her to speak to him, and she finally reveals that it is his refusal to sail which has infuriated her. Charlie yells but then quickly backs down, agreeing to accompany her while doubting their chances for success. Their first obstacle is the German fort, where the soldiers open fire on the African Queen. The engine is hit, but Charlie repairs it and they sail on. Immediately afterward, they reach another set of rapids. Rose struggles to steer while Charlie races to keep the engine stoked, and although they are badly pummeled, they miraculously reach calm waters. Thrilled, Charlie and Rose fall into an embrace which quickly becomes romantic. Later, as they declare their love, they finally learn each other's first name. They then sail peacefully past exotic flora and fauna until they hit a waterfall, which damages the rudder. Although Charlie despairs, Rose devises a plan to weld a new rudder, and days later, the boat is fixed. Just miles down the river, however, they are attacked by a horde of mosquitoes, which terrifies Rose and forces them to stay in open water. Within days, they become lost in the stagnant shallows. Thick reeds bog down the boat, forcing Charlie to pull it through the water. When he finally boards again, exhausted, he finds leeches covering his body, and even though he is shaking with revulsion, he must return to the water to keep the boat moving. Hours later, they reach land, where Charlie feverishly tells Rose they may not make it but that he loves her. They both collapse into sleep, and during the night, a fresh rain sweeps the launch downstream onto Lake Tanganyika. They awaken to find the Louisa only miles away, and retreat into the reeds to hide. By the next day, they have discerned the ship's sailing pattern and Charlie makes the torpedoes. They set out on their attack that night, but a sudden storm capsizes the launch and Rose and Charlie are separated in the dark. Charlie is imprisoned by the Germans and, not wanting to live without Rose, accepts his sentence of hanging. Just then, however, Rose is brought in, and when she hears that Charlie is to be killed, proudly admits their whole scheme to the soldiers. Before they are hanged, Charlie requests that the captain marry them, and just as the service ends, the African Queen surfaces, hits the Louisa and explodes. Floating together in the water, the newlyweds see the boat's nameplate, realize that their plan has succeeded after all, and happily swim toward the shore.
Cast: Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward Arnold
Directors: Frank Capra
Producer: Frank Capra, Robert Riskin
Writer: Robert Riskin
Editor: Daniel Mandell
Cinematographer: George Barnes
Genre: Drama
Production Company: Frank Capra Productions, Inc.
Composer: Dimitri Tiomkin
When the metropolitan newspaper The Bulletin is bought by publisher D. B. Norton, he changes its name to The New Bulletin and replaces its motto, "A free press for a free people," with "A streamlined newspaper for a streamlined era." As part of the new streamlining efforts, managing editor Henry Connell fires "sob-sister" columnist Ann Mitchell because she does not produce enough "fireworks" to bring up the paper's circulation. However, Ann resolves to fight for her job by writing a phony letter to her column, claiming to have received it from a man protesting the degenerated state of affairs in the world and announcing his plans to jump from the roof of City Hall at midnight on Christmas Eve. She signs the letter "John Doe," and its publication results in an explosion of public interest in the fictitious man. Mayor Lovett, who is sensitive about the publicity a suicide from City Hall would generate, publicly offers the mysterious John Doe a job to prevent the suicide, and marriage proposals begin to pour in from concerned women. As a result of the overwhelming interest in her creation, Ann is able to convince Connell that The New Bulletin should continue to print stories about "John Doe" or be forced to admit fraud. Ann is quickly reinstated at the paper, with a thousand dollar bonus, and the search begins for a real person they can use as their John Doe stooge. After reviewing a number of derelicts who have shown up at the paper claiming to have penned the original suicide letter, Ann and Connell decide upon a former bush league baseball pitcher named Long John Willoughby, who is in need of money to repair his injured arm. The naïve John is hired for the job and treated to expensive gifts by the paper, while his hobo friend, The "Colonel," voices his disapproval of the arrangement and tries to warn him about the dangers of becoming one of the "heelots" who, like a lot of heels, sacrifice character for comfort and wealth, and lose compassion for those less fortunate than themselves. No sooner does the John Doe ideal gain widespread notoriety, than the unscrupulous Norton plans to use its potential to further his political goals. Norton commissions Ann to write a radio speech for John, paying her generously for the effort, but she anguishes over the content of the speech, until she finds inspiration in the idealistic writings of her father's diary. Before John makes his speech, however, Mike, an emissary from The Chronicle , Norton's chief competitor, tries to persuade the baseball player to expose the hoax by telling him that if he continues the scam, his baseball career will be over. John considers this, but despite an offer of five thousand dollars and a guaranteed hasty exit from the performance, he tremblingly reads the speech written by Ann, with whom he is infatuated. Later regretting the incident, John and The Colonel flee, but Ann and Norton quickly catch up with them in Millville, where Ann asks John to hear out local members of one of the newly formed John Doe Clubs, hoping that they will convince him to go on as their spokesman. John agrees to continue after being moved by the sincerity of a local John Doe Club chapter leader, Bert Hansen, who tells a heartwarming story about how the movement has been a true inspiration for him and his neighbors. While John, who is now in love with Ann, seeks advice from her mother about how to propose to her, Norton showers Ann with expensive gifts and coerces her into persuading the baseball player to announce the creation of a new political party, which the publisher plans to exploit as a stepping stone to the presidency, at the planned John Doe convention. Disillusioned by the whole affair, Connell gets drunk and exposes Norton's plans to take over the minds of the American people to John, who immediately marches over to Norton's, where he finds Ann and Norton's cohorts meeting to decide the future of the John Doe movement. After upbraiding them for their misdeeds, John announces that he plans to reveal the truth about Norton and his sinister plot at the convention that evening, and then storms out. Ann rushes after him to explain her unwilling involvement in the plan, but John refuses to listen, and police detain her until after the convention. That night, John is outwitted by Norton, who foils his attempt to expose him by distributing printed propaganda that portrays John as a fake and cutting the microphone wires before he can explain the situation. The crowd turns on John, and he is forced to leave and go into hiding. John mulls over the debacle and decides that the only way he can redeem himself is by making good on the suicide promise and thus proving his sincerity and devotion to the cause. On Christmas Eve, the now ill Ann, The Colonel, Connell and Norton intuitively gather on top of City Hall and wait for John to show up. John emerges from the darkness just before midnight, and, as he prepares to jump, Norton tries to stop him by telling him that the act will go unnoticed by the public, because he has made arrangements to have his body removed immediately after impact. Ann pleads with John to reconsider, but he appears resolved to go through with it until a delegation of John Doe Club members arrive and persuade him not to jump by convincing him that they had always believed in him and his good intentions. With his faith in the goodness of the human spirit restored, John leaves the rooftop carrying Ann, who has fainted, in his arms.
Cast: David McCullough, Jeff Bridges, Paul Vincent O'Connor
Directors: Gary Ross, Frank Marshall, Don Bradley
Producer: Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, Gary Ross, Jane Sindell, Gary Barber, Roger Birnbaum, Tobey Maguire, Allison Thomas, Robin Bissell
Writer: Gary Ross
Editor: William Goldenberg
Cinematographer: John Schwartzman, Mitch Amundsen, Billy Roe
Genre: Drama
Production Company: Universal Studios , Spyglass Entertainment Group, L. P.
Composer: Randy Newman
During the Great Depression, a destitute Canadian family leaves their child, Red Pollard, in the care of a horse trainer. Red grows up to become a jockey, earning additional money as an amateur boxer. As a result of an illegal boxing match, the hot-tempered Red loses sight in one eye. Meanwhile, Charles Howard rises to prominence in Northern California as a self-made car dealer. When his son dies in an automobile accident, he falls into a depression and his marriage disintegrates. He goes to Mexico for a divorce, and there meets young Marcela Zabala, who becomes his second wife. Howard obtains a stable of horses and hires Tom Smith to oversee them. Smith urges Howard to buy “Seabiscuit,” a young horse of good lineage but with behavioral issues. In search of a jockey for Seabiscuit, Smith encounters Red Pollard and sees that his temperament would be a good match for the horse. Red and Seabiscuit get along well, and despite some setbacks, they begin to win races. While the horse-racing elite shuns Seabiscuit for lack of pedigree, the lower classes and victims of the Great Depression rally around him as a symbol of the underdog. Howard challenges “War Admiral,” the number one racehorse in the U.S., to go against Seabiscuit in a match race. War Admiral’s owner, the wealthy Samuel Riddle, finally agrees. As the date approaches, Red endures a riding injury that leaves him unable to jockey. Red trains his friend and fellow jockey, George Woolf, to replace him, giving him the tip that Seabiscuit does best if he can ride alongside his opponent and look at him from the side. Using this strategy, Woolf rides Seabiscuit to victory against War Admiral. Seabiscuit is injured in a later race at Santa Anita Park, and Red helps him recover. For the horse’s final race, also at Santa Anita, Red fashions a brace that will keep his injured leg stable so that he can jockey Seabiscuit, himself. With the help of Woolf, who is racing on another horse, Red moves Seabiscuit from last place to win the race.
Producer: Steven Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, Quincy Jones, Jon Peters, Peter Guber
Writer: Menno Meyjes
Editor: Michael Kahn
Cinematographer: Allen Daviau
Genre: Drama
Production Company: Amblin Entertainment , Guber-Peters Company
Composer: Quincy Jones
In the winter of 1909 Georgia, a fourteen-year-old African American girl named Celie gives birth to a daughter, Olivia, as her younger sister, Nettie, acts as midwife. Since the baby was conceived through incest, Celie’s father, Pa, seizes the infant and warns his daughter to keep the pregnancy a secret. Celie had previously conceived another child through incest, a son named Adam, but he was also removed from her care. Sometime later, a prominent local farmer named Albert Johnson asks Pa’s permission to marry young Nettie. Refusing, the old man offers Celie instead, and Albert takes the girl to his plantation. There, she calls him “Mister,” acts as a domestic servant, and endures his abuse. In the spring, Celie believes she recognizes her seven-month-old daughter, Olivia, in town. She follows Corrine, the baby’s supposed mother, to learn the child was adopted by Reverend Samuel. However, Celie remains uncertain whether the child is her own. Back at the farm, Celie is visited by Nettie, who escaped Pa. Celie warns Nettie to leave the farm before Albert has his way with her, but the sisters are inseparable, and Nettie teaches Celie to read. One day, Albert attempts to rape Nettie on her route to school. When she retaliates, Albert violently forces her to leave, and she and Celie are separated yet again. Nettie promises to write to her sister. Sometime later, Albert receives a letter announcing the imminent arrival of his former lover, a diva named Shug Avery. Although Celie hopes for mail from Nettie, Albert declares she will never see letters from her sister. Years pass, and Celie improves her reading to escape Albert’s brutality. In summer 1916, Albert meets his son Harpo’s pregnant fiancée, Sofia. Although he forbids the marriage, the two wed after the birth of their first child. When the couple moves to the Johnson farm, both Albert and Celie advise young Harpo to beat the brazen girl into submission. Instead, Sofia punches Harpo in the eye and vows to fight for her dignity. Although Harpo and Sofia have more children, their brawls continue and Sofia leaves with their offspring. One day, during a rainstorm, Albert returns home with an ailing Shug Avery and Celie is smitten by the sickly, yet unabashed, starlet. Later, Celie bathes Shug and the woman cries about the loss of her pastor father’s affection. Meanwhile, Albert’s father, Old Mr., arrives unexpectedly and renounces his son’s romance with the free-spirited, promiscuous Shug, but Celie secretly spits in his water. In summer 1922, Albert, Harpo, and their musician friend, Swain, build a makeshift, lakeside saloon called “Harpo’s” for Shug to reestablish her singing career. There, crowds defy Prohibition to indulge in alcohol and Shug’s seductive spectacles. Celie is mesmerized one night by a suggestive song called “Miss Celie’s Blues.” Just then, Harpo’s estranged wife, Sofia, arrives with a gentleman friend, and Harpo coaxes her onto the dance floor. However, Harpo’s latest lover, Squeak, is displeased by the reunion and slaps Sofia. After returning home from the ensuing brawl, Celie dresses in Shug’s cocktail dress and smiles for the first time. However, her joy dissipates when Shug announces her intention to leave the Johnson farm. As Shug inquires about Celie’s relationship with Albert, the girl reveals he has never cared about her happiness, and he beats her when Shug is not around. Declaring her love for the girl, Shug says Celie is still a virgin and kisses her. In the coming days, Shug visits her preacher father and he ignores her. When Shug leaves for Memphis, Tennessee, Celie plans to escape, but Albert interferes. Sometime later, in town, Sofia refuses to be a servant for Miss Millie, the mayor’s wife, then punches the mayor in retaliation for his verbal abuse. Eight years later, in spring 1930, a gray-haired and defeated Sofia is released from prison, only to become Miss Millie’s maid. On Christmas day, Miss Millie drives Sofia to reunite for the day with her three estranged children and extended family, including Harpo. However, Miss Millie fears the black men are attacking her when they help maneuver her car and she orders Sofia to leave. During Easter 1935, Shug returns to the Johnson farm with her new, wealthy husband, Grady. As Albert and Grady drunkenly discuss their romantic rivalry, Shug checks the mail and finds a letter from Celie’s sister, Nettie, who is now living in Africa. The letter confirms that Celie’s two children, Olivia and Adam, were adopted by Corrine, the lady Celie saw in town, and her husband, Reverend Samuel. Nettie joined the missionaries on their journey to Africa as the children’s nanny. Shug and Celie search the house and find Nettie’s previous letters hidden under the floorboards. Reading Nettie’s old letters, Celie learns about her sister’s life in Africa, and the violence of white colonists. However, Nettie promises to return with the children as soon as they meet the approval of U.S. immigration. Sometime later, Albert beats Celie, demanding she shave his face, and she prepares to murder him, but Shug comes to the rescue. Meanwhile, in Africa, Olivia and Adam are initiated into a native tribe as knives slice through their cheeks. In Georgia, at Easter dinner, Shug announces she is bringing Celie to Memphis. When Albert objects, Celie defies her husband, and Sofia, who has returned home from her servitude to Miss Millie, regains her impetuous nature. After holding a knife to Albert’s throat, Celie leaves the farm, vowing that her husband will suffer for his offenses. By fall 1937, Albert’s farm is decrepit and his face unshaven. That winter, Celie returns for Pa’s funeral. Realizing the man was really her stepfather, Celie is relieved that her children are exempted from an incestual lineage, and she inherits the flourishing homestead that once belonged to her biological father. Sometime later, Celie and Shug walk through the field of purple flowers surrounding the house and Shug declares that God is offended when people fail to notice the divine glory of color. Inspired by natural beauty, Shug resumes singing at Harpo’s saloon one Sunday. However, Shug’s pastor father hears his daughter’s song at his nearby parish and orders the chorus to sing louder and drown out Shug’s voice. Defying her father’s scorn, Shug sings along with the gospel and the saloon patrons, including Celie and Sofia, follow her to the church. There, Shug bellows the Christian verse to her estranged father and they embrace. Meanwhile, back at the Johnson farm, Albert receives a letter addressed to Celie from the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service. In an attempt to redeem himself, Albert retrieves his hidden savings of cash, goes to the immigration bureau, and secures the safe return of Celie’s family. Sometime later, Celie sees strangers on the horizon of her purple flower field and realizes the African visitors are Nettie, as well as Adam and Olivia. Watching the joyful reunion from Celie’s porch, Shug notices Albert in the distance and recognizes his contribution to Celie’s happiness.
Cast: Robin Williams, Robert Sean Leonard, Ethan Hawke
Directors: Peter Weir
Producer: Steven Haft, Paul Junger Witt, Tony Thomas
Writer: Tom Schulman
Editor: William Anderson , Priscilla Nedd, Lee Smith
Cinematographer: John Seale
Genre: Comedy-drama
Production Company: Touchstone Pictures, Silver Screen Partners IV, Witt-Thomas Productions
Composer: Maurice Jarre
At Welton Academy, an elite, all-boys preparatory school in Vermont, headmaster Nolan welcomes students and parents in a ceremony celebrating the start of fall semester, 1959. The boys are asked to repeat the school’s “four pillars” – tradition, honor, discipline, excellence – and are reminded that seventy-five percent of last year’s graduating class went on to study at Ivy League universities. Mr. Nolan introduces a new English teacher, a Welton alumnus named John Keating, and, later, greets parents as they bid goodbye to their sons. An introverted new student, Todd Anderson, meets his roommate, Neil Perry, whose overbearing father barges into their dormitory room and demands that Neil drop one of his extracurricular activities in favor of his studies. Meanwhile, Todd suffers from feelings of inadequacy because his older brother, Jeffrey, graduated Welton as valedictorian. On the first day of class, John Keating leads his students into a hallway to view old photographs of former students, reminding everyone that they are now dead. He quotes Walt Whitman’s poem about Abraham Lincoln, “O Captain! My Captain!” and invites the students to address him as their captain. Next, he instructs Gerard Pitts to read a line from a Robert Herrick poem, “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time,” and acquaints the boys with the phrase “Carpe diem,” Latin for “Seize the day.” As Neil and Todd examine the photographs of their predecessors, Keating whispers “Carpe diem” into the students' ears. That evening, Neil invites Todd to join his friends in a study group, but Todd declines. Another study group regular, Knox Overstreet, leaves campus to have dinner at the home of family friends, the Danburrys. There, he meets Chris Noel, the girl friend of Mr. Danburry’s son, Chet, and becomes smitten with her. Returning to the dormitory, Knox announces that he has just met the most beautiful girl he has ever seen. The next day, Keating asks Neil to read a chapter from their textbook titled Understanding Poetry, which outlines a metric to determine the value of a poem. Denouncing the concept of measuring a poem’s worth, Keating instructs the class to rip the chapter from their books. Later, when they find the Welton annual from Keating’s senior year, the boys pore over his entry and notice “Dead Poets Society” listed as one of his interests. When they ask him about it, Keating explains that he and his friends used to gather at an Indian cave on school grounds and read poems by the Romantics, in addition to their own works. Inspired, Neil forms a new Dead Poets Society, including the free-spirited Charlie Dalton, bookish Steven Meeks, strait-laced Richard Cameron, Gerard Pitts, Knox, and Todd, who agrees to participate by taking meeting minutes instead of reading aloud. Keating leaves Five Centuries of Verse, the book used by the original Dead Poets Society, in the dormitory for Neil to find. At their first meeting in the cave, Neil reads Keating’s opening statement, scrawled inside the book, a quote from Henry David Thoreau’s Walden. For the rest of the meeting, the boys share food hoarded from the dining hall, read poems, and listen to Charlie Dalton’s original verse. In another class, Keating asks the students to stand on top of his desk to gain new perspective and find their own voice. He assigns the boys to write an original poem, to be read aloud the following Monday, and tells Todd he knows the assignment must terrify him. Later, as Todd works on his poem, Neil announces plans to audition for a local production of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Todd remarks that Neil’s father will not approve, but Neil does not intend to tell him, insisting that he is going to do what he wants for the first time in his life. After he wins the role of “Puck,” Neil forges permission notes from Nolan and his father. Back in class, Knox reads his love poem, “To Chris,” aloud, and the boys mock him. Keating calls Todd to the front of class, but he refuses, saying he did not complete the assignment. The teacher encourages Todd to believe in himself and draws him out of his seat. Upon Keating’s prompts, Todd composes an impromptu poem that impresses his classmates. At another Dead Poets Society meeting, Charlie plays saxophone and Knox complains that he will kill himself if he cannot have Chris. He is inspired to call her, and Chris invites him to a party at Chet’s house. When Keating takes his class into a courtyard and asks three boys to walk together, the boys quickly match their strides and begin to march. Keating uses their behavior to demonstrate the dangers of conformity, then encourages the boys to establish their own style of walking as Nolan observes the exercise from afar. That night, Neil finds Todd sitting alone with a shrink-wrapped desk set. He admits that it is his birthday, and his parents sent him the same gift they sent the year before. Neil makes light of the situation by suggesting the desk set is aerodynamic and encouraging Todd to toss it over a ledge. Knox goes to Chet’s party and gets drunk, eventually sitting down next to a sleeping Chris and daring to kiss her forehead. As his friend points out the transgression, Chet attacks Knox and threatens him to stay away. Charlie tells the others that he entered a column in the school newspaper on behalf of the Dead Poets Society, demanding that girls be admitted to Welton. The group panics as Nolan announces an inquiry into the offending article. Charlie confesses and receives corporal punishment, but refuses to name his cohorts. Later, Keating reprimands Charlie, telling him to use better judgment. Although Neil’s father finds out about his participation in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and forbids him from appearing onstage, Neil decides to perform anyway, lying to Keating that his father reluctantly gave him permission. Meanwhile, Knox goes to Chris’s school and reads her a poem in front of classmates. In turn, she comes to Welton to warn him that Chet plans to retaliate, but Knox charms her with his persistence and convinces her to accompany him to Neil’s play. With Keating and the Dead Poets Society in the audience, Neil delivers a bravura performance as “Puck”; however, his father arrives during the play and forces him to return home after the performance, announcing plans to remove Neil from Welton and enroll him in a military academy. Devastated, Neil waits until his parents are asleep, then retrieves a gun from his father’s desk and shoots himself. Hearing the gunshot, Mr. Perry rushes downstairs to find his son’s dead body. Nolan announces to grieving students that an investigation into Neil’s death will be conducted. At a meeting of the Dead Poets Society, Cameron reveals that he confessed about the group to Nolan, who plans to implicate Keating in Neil’s suicide. Only Charlie is unwilling to comply with Nolan’s investigation, and he is expelled. The others sign a document that claims Keating abused his authority and encouraged Neil to perform onstage despite his father’s disapproval. Keating is fired, and Nolan arrives to take over his class. He begins by asking Cameron to read from the Understanding Poetry chapter that was ripped out upon Keating’s orders. A frustrated Nolan provides his own text for Cameron to read, while Keating arrives to collect his personal belongings. Todd apologizes for signing the letter, then stands on his desk and says, “O captain, my captain.” Nolan shouts at him to get down, but Knox follows suit, as do Pitts and Meeks. Before he leaves, half the students stand on their desks, and Keating tells the boys, “Thank you.”
While playing on his Wyoming homestead, young Joey Starrett spies a lone rider approaching his house, then listens with great curiosity as Shane, the buckskin clad stranger, reveals to his father Joe that he is heading north, toward home. When Joey cocks the rifle he has been toting, Shane, startled by the noise, draws his gun with the speed of a gunslinger. Joe is disturbed by Shane’s behavior and, as a group of men ride up, sends him on his way. The men’s leader, grizzled cattle baron Rufe Ryker, accuses Joe of squatting on his grazing land and demands that he give up his homestead. When Joe refuses, Ryker’s men start to intimidate him until Shane suddenly reappears at Joe’s side. The men depart, and Joe’s wife Marian, who has observed everything from inside the house, urges Joe to invite Shane to dinner. Joey is thrilled to have Shane spend the evening with them, and at the end of the meal, Shane, reticent to talk about his past, goes outside to chop wood for the family. Joe joins in and the next day, the two men team up to pull a stubborn tree stump out of the ground. Later, Joey tells Shane that his parents want him to stay and innocently lets on that his father is concerned about Ryker’s threats. Shane, who has put away his gun, agrees to remain and heads to town to buy work clothes. Soon after, homesteader Ernie Wright arrives at the Starretts’ to announce that Ryker’s men have destroyed his wheat field and, consequently, he and his family are moving away. Joe begs Ernie to stay and calls for a meeting of the homestead men that night. Meanwhile, in town, Shane purchases clothes at Sam Grafton’s general store, then orders a soda pop in the adjoining saloon. There, Chris Calloway, one of Grafton’s men, calls Shane a “sodbuster” and tosses a glass of whiskey on his new shirt. Shane does not react to Calloway’s provocations, however, and walks out. That night, during the meeting, Joey overhears homesteader Fred Lewis, who witnessed the saloon exchange, declare that Shane did not stand up to Calloway. Marian reassures Joey that Shane is not a coward, but counsels him not to become too attached to him. Later, having decided to stick together as a group, the homesteaders and their families go to town to shop for the next day’s Fourth of July celebration. At Grafton’s, Calloway again confronts Shane in the saloon, but this time, Shane throws two drinks on Calloway and slugs him. After a grueling fistfight, Shane finally knocks out Calloway and is offered a job by Ryker. When Shane declines, Ryker accuses him of lusting after Marian, and despite pleas from Joey, Shane single-handedly takes on all of Ryker’s men. Joe aids Shane in the fracas, until Grafton, fed up with the destruction, demands a halt. As the homesteaders depart, Ryker vows to fight on and sends for notorious Cheyenne gunslinger Jack Wilson. Back at home, Joey gushes to Marian about his love for Shane, while Marian wrestles with her growing romantic feelings for the loner. The next day, after Joey admits to Shane that he sneaked a peek at his gun, Shane gives the boy some pointers on how to shoot and demonstrates his skill as a marksman. Though impressed, Marian expresses her disapproval of guns and asks Shane not to encourage Joey’s interest. Ernie, meanwhile, complains to neighbor Stonewall Torrey that because Ryker’s men killed his sow and ruined his fields, he is giving up. Angry, Stonewall, whose courage has been questioned by some of the homesteaders, goes to town and, in the saloon, criticizes Ryker for running Ernie off his land. Later, at the Fourth of July party, Joe and Marian also celebrate their tenth wedding anniversary, and Marian shares a dance with Shane. When Stonewall arrives and announces that Ryker has hired a gunfighter, Shane guesses he is Wilson. Back at their house, the Starretts and Shane are met by Wilson, Ryker’s brother Morgan and Ryker, who in an attempt to appear reasonable, offers to sell Joe his land. Joe angrily rejects the idea, pointing out that the government already recognizes the homesteaders’ claims. In turn, Ryker complains that because he fought the Indians and slaved to make the land livable, he is entitled to own it, without fences. Ryker and Wilson depart peacefully, but in town, Ryker instructs Wilson to do whatever is necessary to defeat Joe. To that end, Wilson provokes a confrontation with Stonewall, then shoots him down when he makes a half-hearted move for his gun. With the nearest lawman a three-day ride away, Wilson’s claim of self-defense goes unchallenged. At Stonewall’s funeral, the Lewis family announce that they, too, are leaving their homestead, but Joe and Shane beseech their other neighbors to keep fighting. Just then, a fire is spotted at the Lewis place, and Ryker’s blatant sabotage strengthens Joe’s resolve to stop Ryker at any cost. That night, Ryker sends for Joe, while Joe prepares to challenge Ryker at gunpoint, ignoring Marian’s tearful pleas not to risk his life. Shane, who has been warned about Ryker’s plans by a reformed Calloway, dons his buckskins and straps on his gun, then fights Joe to keep him from leaving. When Shane hits Joe in the head with his gun butt, a terrified Joey screams hatefully at him, but Marian is relieved. Joe is knocked out, and aware that she will not see Shane again, Marian says a grateful goodbye. Joey trails Shane to the saloon and sees him goad Wilson into drawing his gun. Shane shoots Wilson dead, then shoots Ryker when he draws, and with Joey’s help, outdraws Morgan. Later, Joey apologizes for his angry words and begs Shane to return to the homestead. Gently declining, Shane tries to explain to the boy that he cannot change the man he is at heart and does not belong there. As Shane mounts his horse and rides off, Joey, devastated and confused, cries after him to "come back."
Producer: Robert N. Fried, Cary Woods, Lee R. Mayes
Writer: Angelo Pizzo
Editor: David Rosenbloom
Cinematographer: Oliver Wood
Genre: Biography, Drama
Production Company: TriStar Pictures , Fried/Woods Films
Composer: Jerry Goldsmith
In 1960s Joliet, Illinois, Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger dreams of attending the University of Notre Dame, and playing football for the Fighting Irish. Despite his dedication and perseverance in high school football, Rudy is too small in stature and lacks the natural talent to play on a major college football team. Furthermore, his grades are too poor to gain admittance to Notre Dame. Instead of going to college, he takes a job at the local steel mill, where his father, Daniel, Sr., and older brothers, Frank and John, work. Still hoping to attend Notre Dame, Rudy saves money for tuition. His best friend, Pete, is the only person to take his ambitions seriously, while his father discourages him from chasing unrealistic dreams, and his embittered brother Frank laughs him off as pathetic. After Rudy’s twenty-second birthday, Pete is killed in an explosion at the steel mill. Rudy is devastated. Although his longtime girl friend, Sherry, wants to get married, Pete’s death inspires Rudy to make a drastic change. At the funeral, he tells Sherry he is moving to South Bend, Indiana, to attend Notre Dame. Daniel, Sr. tries to stop him from leaving, but Rudy remains steadfast. Arriving in South Bend, he goes to the Notre Dame admissions office, which is not yet open. A priest named Father Cavanaugh agrees to see him, and hears Rudy’s plight. Cavanaugh recommends Rudy enroll at nearby Holy Cross Junior College. If he earns good grades there, he can apply to Notre Dame as a transfer student. Rudy follows Cavanaugh’s advice, and throws himself into his studies at Holy Cross. He also introduces himself to Ara Parseghian, Notre Dame’s head football coach, and declares his intentions to one day play for the Fighting Irish. In the meantime, Rudy wants to help the team in any way possible, but Parseghian cannot hire a non-student. In turn, Rudy offers his services to “Fortune,” a groundskeeper at the Notre Dame football stadium. Even though Rudy is willing to work for free, Fortune insists on paying him minimum wage, and turns a blind eye when Rudy, who cannot afford student housing, begins sneaking into his office at night and sleeping on a cot. Rudy meets “D-Bob,” a Notre Dame student who works as a teaching assistant at Holy Cross. Impressed by Rudy’s ease with girls, D-Bob offers to tutor him in exchange for help with getting a date. When they begin working together, D-Bob suspects Rudy is dyslexic and a test reveals that he is. Rudy learns tools to deal with his dyslexia, and earns better grades, but his application to attend Notre Dame in the spring is rejected. He returns home for Christmas, and shows his father his report card. He admits Notre Dame rejected him, but urges his father, a Notre Dame fanatic, to come see a game when he finally makes the team. Certain that his son will never achieve such a lofty goal, Daniel, Sr. claims he prefers to watch the games from his living room, while brother Frank ridicules Rudy for being delusional. Johnny arrives with Sherry, and Rudy realizes they are now a couple. He leaves in anger. Back in South Bend, he continues to study hard and trains for the football team in his spare time. In the spring of his freshman year, he receives another rejection letter and loses his patience. Fortune tells Rudy he is too obsessed with the football team and is ignoring the great education he is getting at Holy Cross. As a sophomore, Rudy is rejected by Notre Dame a third time. He goes to church to pray. Father Cavanaugh reminds him that God works in his own time. With only one more chance for a junior-year transfer, Rudy is finally accepted into Notre Dame. Overjoyed, he goes to the steel mill to tell his father, who proudly announces the news over a loudspeaker. Rudy returns to South Bend for football tryouts. His dogged determination impresses an assistant coach, and he is brought on as a “scout team” member, whose sole purpose is to play defense against first-string players in practice. On a daily basis, Rudy takes hit after hit from much larger players. He is constantly injured, but works through the pain, and sets an example for the rest of the team. Parseghian credits him with playing with heart, and agrees to put Rudy on the dress list for one game during his senior year. Rudy shares the news with his family, but later learns that Parseghian has quit, and will be replaced by former National Football League (NFL) coach Dan Devine. D-Bob, who is on his way to law school in Miami, Florida, assures Rudy that Devine will honor Parseghian’s promise. As a senior, Rudy continues to work hard on the scout team, but week after week, he is not added to the dress list. Days before the final game of the season against Georgia Tech, the dress list is posted. Rudy searches for his name to no avail. His dreams dashed, he quits the team and skips the final practice session. Fortune finds him brooding and reveals that he was a Notre Dame football player who “rode the bench” for two years. He developed suspicions that he wasn’t being played because he was African American, and quit the team. He regrets the decision now, and urges Rudy not to quit. Rudy returns to practice, where he is welcomed by applause from other players. Afterward, team captain Roland Steele leaves his jersey on Dan Devine’s desk, insisting that Rudy be added to the dress list in his place. When other members of the team follow suit, Devine changes his mind and adds Rudy to the list. Rudy arranges for his parents and brothers to attend the game. D-Bob comes up from Miami, and Fortune attends his first game since he was on the team. In the fourth quarter, Notre Dame gains a sizable lead over Georgia Tech. Players beg Devine to put Rudy on the field, and when the coach ignores them, they begin chanting Rudy’s name. The crowd joins in. With less than a minute left, Devine tells his offense to “kill the clock.” However, in order to give Rudy one last chance to play defense, they run a different play and score another touchdown. Rudy is sent onto the field with twenty-seven seconds left in the game. In the final play, he sacks Georgia Tech’s quarterback. The crowd cheers. Rudy’s teammates hoist him on their shoulders and carry him off the field. He marvels at the packed stadium as his friends and family celebrate his victory.
Production Company: Lomitas Productions, Inc., Curtleigh Productions, Inc.
Composer: Ernest Gold
When a truck transporting chain gang convicts back to prison crashes on a rainswept Southern road, two of the prisoners escape: Noah Cullen, a black man who reacts violently to racial insults, and John "Joker" Jackson, a Southern white bigot. While the two try unsuccessfully to break the three-foot chain that binds them together, Sheriff Max Muller, under pressure from the governor, organizes a posse of state troopers and civilian volunteers. Muller reminds the well-armed troopers and local hunters that the convicts are men, "not rabbits," and his refusal to allow one volunteer's brutal Dobermans off the leash angers police captain Frank Gibbons, who would just as willingly capture the men dead as alive. Meanwhile, Joker and Cullen argue about which direction they should take. Cullen, who realizes he has little chance of attaining freedom in the South, finally convinces his reluctant partner to proceed around the swamp and then try to jump a train to Ohio. While attempting to cross a rushing river, Cullen loses his footing, and the two are carried away by the rapids. Joker eventually grabs onto a branch, but when Cullen thanks him for pulling him out of the river, the white man snarls a cutting response. The convicts manage to kill a frog, and as they devour it, Joker advises Cullen to be less sensitive about racial epithets. Countering the white man's claim that "I didn't make the rules," Cullen answers that Joker breathed in his racism at birth and has been spitting it out ever since. In order to avoid the detection of a passing farmer, Cullen and Joker leap into a clay pit, and only by coordinating their efforts are they able to climb back out. That evening, as the men wait for the cover of darkness before sneaking into a small settlement, they begin to discuss their past experiences and future hopes. Their attempt to break into the general store for food, however, produces disastrous results: Joker seriously injures his wrist, and the townspeople capture them. The locals are about to lynch the escaped convicts when Big Sam, who had been a convict himself, rescues and later frees the men. At the same time, Gibbons, exasperated with what he considers the slow pace of the pursuit, threatens that Muller will lose his job if the posse fails to recapture the prisoners. A portable radio carried by one of the civilians endlessly blares rock and roll, which further erodes the tempers of the pursuers. The next day, Cullen and Joker are surprised when a young boy named Billy aims a shotgun at them, but they easily overcome the youngster, who leads them to his farm. There they hungrily devour a meal and hammer the chain from their wrists. Billy's mother, whose husband had abandoned her eight months before, is attracted to Joker, and as she tends to his injury, she confesses that she is deeply lonely. While Cullen sleeps, the couple makes love, and in the morning, the woman announces that she wants to escape in her car with Joker. Reluctant to abandon Cullen at first, Joker finally agrees to the plan just as Cullen appears. The woman advises Cullen to take the shortcut through the swamp to the railroad tracks, but after he leaves, she admits that the swamp is impenetrable bog and quicksand. Furious at his own inadvertant betrayal of Cullen, Joker pushes the woman away and starts to go after his cohort. The boy shoots Joker in the shoulder, and when the injured man finally locates Cullen in the swamp, he protests that he is too weak to go on. The posse has now reached the woman's farm. Proceeding through the swamp, Muller threatens to shoot the Dobermans if Gibbons removes their muzzles. Cullen and Joker, hearing the train whistle, stumble up the hill as the train crosses a trestle. Cullen leaps on, but cannot hold onto Joker, and both men tumble to the ground. Cradling Joker's head against his chest, Cullen muses, "We gave 'em a hell of a run for it, didn't we?" As Muller, who wants to confront the prisoners alone, approaches the men, Cullen sings his blues anthem, "Long Gone," and then laughs.
Cast: Charlton Heston, Jack Hawkins, Haya Harareet
Directors: William Wyler
Producer: Joseph R. Vogel, Sol C. Siegel, Sam Zimbalist, J. J. Cohn
Writer: Karl Tunberg
Editor: Ralph E. Winters, John D. Dunning, Margaret Booth
Cinematographer: Robert L. Surtees
Genre: Epic
Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp.
Composer: Miklos Rozsa
During the reign of the emperor Tiberius, the Roman officer Messala arrives in Jerusalem as the new Tribune, head of the Roman garrison. Having spent much of his boyhood in Jerusalem while his father was provincial governor of Judea, Messala became close friends with Judah Ben-Hur, a Jewish prince from a rich and influential family. On the night of his return, Messala is visited by Judah, and the two men warmly reminisce about happy times of their boyhood. Messala tells Judah that the emperor wants the recent rebelliousness of Judea crushed and asks for his help. Judah is uneasy with the request but, as he is against violence, agrees to speak with other influential Jews. The next day, Messala visits Judah, his mother Miriam and sister Tirzah. Messala gives Tirzah a beautiful brooch, and Judah presents Messala with a horse he has raised, but the men argue over Messala’s insistence that Judah tell him the names of Jewish leaders who will not denounce rebellion. Judah refuses, severing their friendship. That night, Simonides, the faithful steward of the house of Hur, returns from Antioch with good news of the family's increasing wealth. He asks for permission for his daughter Esther to marry a free man, and says that she wants to ask Judah personally for permission. Judah is attracted to Esther, whom he has not seen since childhood, and grants permission, saying her freedom will be his wedding gift, even though he knows that she is marrying only because her father wishes it. Later that night, when Judah and Esther are alone, they exchange a passionate kiss. Judah then takes Esther's slave ring and promises to wear it until he meets the woman he will marry. The next day, Gratus, the new governor, arrives to a cold reception by the people of Jerusalem. As Judah and Tirzah watch his procession from the roof of their house, Tirzah leans against some tiles and accidentally loosens them, causing them to fall just as Gratus is passing. After he is thrown from his horse and knocked unconscious, Roman soldiers storm the house. As they enter the courtyard, Judah tells Tirzah and Miriam to say nothing, then tries to reason with the soldiers, pleading that it was an accident. When Messala suddenly appears at the courtyard entrance, Judah appeals to him, but Messala coldly watches as Judah, Tirzah and Miriam are taken away. After their arrest, Messala goes to the roof and sees the loose tiles, confirming that Judah had been telling the truth, but says nothing. Soon guards go to Judah's cell to tell him that he is being sent to the seaport of Tyrus, which Judah knows means imprisonment as a galley slave. He overpowers the guards and escapes into the garrison, then steals a spear and breaks into Messala's quarters. After Messala orders his guards to leave them, Judah demands to know what has happened to Miriam and Tirzah. Messala tells him that Gratus will recover but they will be punished for their crime. Judah does not understand why Messala would let this happen, especially after Messala admits that he knows the truth. Judah begs for mercy, but Messala rebuffs him, saying that the people now will fear him, and warning if Judah kills him, Tirzah and Miriam will be crucified before his eyes. Defeated, Judah has no choice but to let the guards take him away as he asks God to grant him vengeance. Days later, as Judah and other chained prisoners, weakened by thirst and exhaustion, enter the town of Nazareth, townspeople offer them water, but the Roman guard stops a woman who tries to give some to Judah. In despair, Judah falls to the ground and implores God to help him. At that moment, a carpenter, who has seen his plight, approaches, gives him water and bathes his face and hands. The guard then tries to stop the carpenter but strangely acquiesces when he looks into the man's face. Judah also gazes in awe at the young Nazarene, not understanding why he has offered help. Three years later, Judah is rower 41 in a Roman galley. On the day that Roman Consul Quintus Arrius takes command of the vessel, Arrius goes below to survey the rowers. Sensing both strength and hatred in 41, Arrius deliberately taunts him by lashing him, and later observes his reaction when the men are submitted to a grueling test of endurance to increase their rowing speed. Later, Judah is ordered to Arrius' quarters, where the consul offers him the chance to leave the galley and become a charioteer or gladiator. Judah declines, saying that he has not died because God does not want it so. Soon a fleet of Macedonian ships is sighted and the galley prepares for battle. Prior to the start of the fighting, Arrius orders a subordinate to chain and lock the rowers' shackles to their posts, but leave 41's unlocked. During the battle, when their galley is rammed, the rowers are trapped until Judah kills their guard, takes his keys and unlocks the others. He then goes on deck, where he throws a spear at an enemy soldier who has attacked Arrius and forced him into the water. Judah dives after Arrius and pulls him to safety on some floating debris that serves as a raft. When Arrius realizes that his ship is sinking, he tries to kill himself with his own knife, but Judah stops him. The next morning, the two men are alone in the sea, with no ships in sight. Arrius asks to know 41's name and wonders why he saved his life. Moments later, they see a ship in the distance and realize that it is Roman. When they are brought onboard, Arrius shocks the captain by giving Judah water before he himself drinks. He then learns that, although five galleys were lost in the battle, the Romans were victorious. Arrius then takes Judah's arm, and leads him off, past the rowers’ hole. Some time later, Arrius is hailed in a procession through the streets of Rome, accompanied by Judah, who rides in his chariot. When the emperor awards Arrius with the baton of victory, he inquires about Judah and agrees to meet with Arrius to discuss his situation. The next day, the emperor gives Judah to Arrius, to be his slave. Months later, Judah has ridden Arrius' chariot to victory five times in the Roman arena, bringing him fame and admiration throughout Rome. At a celebration banquet, Arrius announces that he is adopting Judah as his heir, replacing the son who had died. When Arrius and Judah, who accepts his new name as Young Quintus Arrius, speak privately, Judah tells Arrius of his affection and gratitude, and accepts his signet ring, but reveals that he must return to Judea to find his mother and sister. On his way to Jerusalem, Judah stops at an oasis, where an old man, Balthasar of Alexandria, thinks that he may be the man whom he saw as a baby in a stable in Bethlehem. Balthasar soon realizes that Judah is not that man, but the two strike up a friendship. Balthasar introduces Judah to Sheik Ilderim, a wealthy Arab who cherishes his magnificent team of white chariot horses. Judah observes the team and admires them, but over dinner in Ilderim’s tent, refuses his suggestion that he drive the team for him in the arena. Judah is intrigued, though, when Ilderim expresses his hope to humiliate the arrogant Messala by a victory over his chariot and adds that, in the arena, there is no law. When Judah arrives at his family’s now-decaying home in Jerusalem, he is surprised to see Esther, who never married but returned to the house with Simonides after he, who was also imprisoned, was released. Simonides, who was crippled and blinded under torture, proudly tells Judah that his fortune is safely hidden. Later, Judah and Esther kiss and reveal their feelings for each other, but Esther worries that Judah is consumed with hate and tells him of a young Nazarene she has heard of who preaches of love. The next day, Messala receives the gift of an expensive knife from Quintus Arrius, the younger. Messala is shocked when the man is revealed to be Judah, who shows him the seal from Arrius’ signet ring. Judah then tells Messala if Miriam and Tirzah are restored to him, he will forget what has happened, and says that he will return the next day. Shaken by Judah’s appearance, Messala tells his underling Drusus to go to the prison and find out what has happened to the women. In the lowest level of the prison, Drusus discovers that the women, who had not been seen in years, are now lepers. Fearful of the disease, the guards order the women taken to the edge of the city and the contents of their cell burned. Late that night, Miriam and Tirzah, covering their deformities in rags, go to their home. Although they merely want to look at it, Esther hears them. The women refuse to let her approach, and when Esther reveals that Judah is not dead, but in Jerusalem, Miriam makes her promise to tell him that they have died in prison. When Esther later tells Judah what Miriam had asked, his bitterness and despair frighten her, and she implores him not to be consumed with hatred. Judah will not listen, though, and leaves, determined to find a means of revenge against Messala. [An intermission divides the story at this point.]
Soon Ilderim goes to Messala’s home, offers a wager of a trunk filled with gold and silver and asks him and his companions for odds on an upcoming chariot race. When Messala hears that his opponent will be Judah, he accepts the wager at four to one, calling it the difference between a Roman and a Jew--or an Arab. On the day of the race, Pontius Pilate, an old friend of Arrius, who has become the new governor of Judea, oversees the race. Ilderim is optimistic, and happy that Judah has earned his horses’ affection, but worries when he sees that Messala’s chariot has spiked wheels and warns Judah. During the nine-lap race, Messala uses the blades on his wheels to destroy many chariots, and several of the other charioteers are killed or maimed. Messala tries to destroy Judah’s chariot, but instead crashes his own and is dragged by his team. Judah wins the race and is crowned victorious by Pilate, who calls him the crowd’s current god when the Judeans cheer loudly for him. After the race, Messala, who is in agony, will not allow the physician to amputate his mutilated legs until after Judah, whom he has summoned, arrives. Rather than seeking forgiveness, as Messala dies, he taunts Judah by revealing that Tirzah and Miriam are not dead but living in the valley of the lepers. In despair, Judah goes to the valley to find his mother and sister, ignoring the fear of contagion. As he searches, he is stunned to see Esther and Malluch, the mute who takes care of Simonides, bringing baskets of food down to the lepers’ caves. Judah angrily confronts Esther for her deception and demands to see Miriam and Tirzah, but she pleads that they would be shattered if he saw what has become of them. When Miriam and Tirzah weakly call for Esther, Judah hides as Esther gives them food, and weeps when he hears his mother ask if he is well and happy. Although still unconvinced by Esther’s pleas to remain hidden, Judah nonetheless leaves with her and Malluch. On their way back to the city, they see a crowd gathering on a mountain top. Balthasar, who is in the crowd, calls out to Judah, saying that the Nazarene who will speak is the one he sought, and that he is the son of God. Although Judah momentarily thinks of the Nazarene who had given him water, he scoffs at the remark and returns to the city alone. Judah is then summoned by Pilate, who greets him warmly as the son of his old friend, and delivers the message that he has been granted Roman citizenship. Though expressing his affection for Arrius, Judah rejects the citizenship and gives Arrius’ ring to Pilate to return, saying that Rome turned Messala into what he became. When Judah returns home, Esther tells him of the words of love and forgiveness she heard from the Nazarene, but Judah will not listen. The next day, Esther returns to the valley of the lepers, followed at a distance by Judah. When Miriam approaches she reveals that Tirzah is dying. As Esther tells Miriam of the Nazarene’s words and says that she wants to take them to him, Judah comes forward. Miriam tries to make Judah go away by showing him her deformed face, but Judah strokes her forehead and embraces her. He then carries Tirzah from the cave and, with Miriam and Esther, walks back to Jerusalem. The city is almost deserted when they arrive. People shun the lepers, but an old blind man tells them that people are gathered for the trial of the Nazarene. They then walk to the center of the city and observe Pilate washing his hands of the man, who is sentenced to death. Seeing the Nazarene's tortured body, the women weep, but Judah suddenly recognizes him. Judah then follows his journey to the crucifixion site, and when the Nazarene stumbles under the weight of his cross, offers him water. As the women sadly return to the valley of the lepers, Judah continues to follow the Nazarene. When Judah sees Balthasar, he relates what happened in Nazareth and wonders what the man has done to deserve this, but Balthasar says that he came into the world for this purpose. As the Nazarene dies, the skies darken and a storm rages. Outside the city, Miriam, Tirzah and Esther have taken cover. Tirzah says that she is no longer afraid, and Miriam sadly says, “His life is over.” Suddenly, through lightning flashes, Esther sees that Miriam and Tirzah no longer bear the deformities of leprosy. That night, when Judah returns home, he embraces Esther and relates that, even near death, the Nazarene sought forgiveness for those who caused his suffering. Esther then shows him that Miriam and Esther have been cured and the four lovingly embrace.
Writer: Abem Finkel, Harry Chandlee, Howard Koch, John Huston
Editor: William Holmes
Cinematographer: Sol Polito
Genre: Drama
Production Company: Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
Composer: Max Steiner
The Valley of the 3 Forks of the Wolf, located in the Cumberland Mountains in Tennessee, is the home of the Yorks, a family of poor mountain farmers. In the spring of 1916, a drunken Alvin C. York, the oldest son, interrupts a church service attended by his mother, sister Rosie and brother George, when he and two friends take potshots at a nearby tree. Later, at Mother York's request, Pastor Rossier Pile speaks to Alvin, but has little influence on the hell-raising young man. One day, while hunting, Alvin encounters Gracie Williams and instantly decides to marry her. When he tells this plan to Gracie, however, she turns him down cold. Convinced that Gracie's objections would be overcome if he had more money, Alvin determines to buy a rich piece of bottomland to farm. He works day and night to earn the money, collecting the final amount after winning a shooting contest, but when he brings the money to Nate Tompkins, the owner, he learns that Nate sold the land a few minutes earlier to Zeb Andrews, his rival for Gracie's hand. Alvin proceeds to get very drunk and then, on his way to kill Zeb, is hit by lightning. Taking this as a sign from God, Alvin starts to attend church and makes his peace with Zeb and Nate. Soon, a surprized Zeb offers to let Alvin sharecrop the land he just bought. When the United States enters World War I, Alvin refuses to register for the draft, believing that killing, even as a patriotic duty, is against the Bible. Pile convinces him to register as a conscientious objector, but Alvin's request for "C.O." status is denied and he is drafted. At Camp Gordon in Georgia, Alvin's shooting so impresses his superiors that they promote him to corporal and make him an instructor. Although he agrees to teach, Alvin turns down the promotion because of his religion. His superior officer, Major Buxton, counters by arguing the importance of defending freedom, and gives Alvin a furlough to think over the proposition. In the end, Alvin decides to accept the promotion, and later, his unit sails for France to fight in the Argonne offensive of 1918. As the men advance through an area surrounded by Germans, Alvin single-handedly kills twenty Germans and convinces 132 more to surrender. Together with the seven men remaining from his unit, Alvin brings the German prisoners back to headquarters. He is awarded a French medal, the Distinguished Service Cross and the Congressional Medal of Honor. After returning to a hero's welcome in New York, Alvin wants nothing more than to go back to Tennessee. He refuses all the money offered to him, explaining that he did what he did because he had to and is not proud of what happened. Back in Tennessee, Alvin is reunited with his family, his beloved mother, and Gracie. Despite Alvin's wish not to gain by his actions, the people of Tennessee have purchased the bottomland farm and paid for a house to be built on the land where Gracie and Alvin will start their married life.
Cast: Richard Dreyfuss, Francois Truffaut, Teri Garr
Directors: Steven Spielberg
Producer: Julia Phillips, Michael Phillips
Writer: Steven Spielberg
Editor: Michael Kahn
Cinematographer: Vilmos Zsigmond, William A. Fraker , Douglas Slocombe
Genre: Science fiction
Production Company: Columbia Pictures, EMI
Composer: John Williams [composer]
A sandstorm batters the Sonora Desert in Mexico. Two vehicles arrive and discharge Mayflower Project operatives including David Laughlin, who explains that he is not a professional interpreter, but a cartographer. However, Laughlin translates for French scientist Claude Lacombe as project members rush to a mysterious circle of vintage WW II airplanes, which were reported missing in 1945. Meanwhile, in Indianapolis, Indiana, air traffic controllers monitor a strange aircraft in the vicinity of two airliners. There is a near miss, but the pilots don’t want to report an Unidentified Flying Object (UFO). Elsewhere, in Muncie, Indiana, a young boy named Barry Guiler is awakened by the wind. As his toys begin to operate independently, Barry goes downstairs, where he is delighted to find the front door is open and the house bathed in bright light. Barry’s mother, Jillian Guiler, awakens to see Barry running into the woods. Nearby, Roy Neary is at home with his wife, Ronnie, and their three children when the phone rings. Ronnie is told that there is a widespread power outage and Roy is to report to work at a substation. As Jillian looks for Barry in the woods, Roy parks on a country road, lost. Lights appear behind Roy’s truck and levitate as mailboxes shake and the truck loses power; gravity is momentarily reversed, then everything goes quiet. Roy sees a spacecraft flying away and drives after it while Barry runs down a road on Crescendo Summit and encounters a family watching the sky. Jillian finds Barry and grabs her son just as Roy’s truck comes around a bend, narrowly missing them. Three low-flying spacecraft fly past, followed by three police cars. The UFOs fly through a toll collection area, cross into Ohio, and disappear into the distance as electric power is restored across the valley. With his face half-sunburned, Roy heads home to collect his family and drives them back to Crescendo Summit, hoping to share another UFO event with them. The next morning, Roy is fascinated by the mountainous shape of his shaving cream and later receives a phone call terminating his employment. Despite Ronnie’s protests, Roy goes back to Crescendo Summit that night and gathers with fellow UFO witnesses, including Jillian and Barry, whom Roy observes making the same mountain shape in the mud that he saw earlier in his shaving cream. Although the crowd is excited by approaching lights, the aircraft turn out to be helicopters. Across the globe in India, Lacombe and his team record thousands of people chanting a series of musical tones. When asked where the sounds came from, the people point to the sky. Back in the U.S., Lacombe shares his breakthrough with an auditorium audience and demonstrates hand signals that correlate to the musical notes. A satellite dish in Barstow, California, beams the tonal sequence into space and a signal of repeating numbers is received in response. Laughlin, the cartographer-turned-translator, notes that the first set of numbers is a longitude and the team determines that the location is in Wyoming. Meanwhile, in Muncie, Barry plays the same notes on a xylophone while Jillian sketches the mysterious mountain. Taking out the trash, Jillian sees rolling clouds and the bright lights of an approaching spacecraft, then runs inside and barricades the house as it rattles. Despite Jillian’s efforts to grab hold of her son, Barry crawls away through the dog door and disappears. Sometime later at a U.S. Air Force briefing, Major Benchley and the Mayflower Support Leader debunk the sightings; however, a team of people in red jumpsuits and sunglasses are loaded on a bus in an unidentified military warehouse. Reviewing a map of a Wyoming mountain called Devil’s Tower, military personnel, including Major “Wild Bill” Walsh, debate possible cover stories to evacuate the area without prompting suspicion. Back at the Neary home, Roy continues to be haunted by the mountain shape; he sculpts it with mashed potatoes at dinner and later builds a clay model, but remains bewildered. In the morning, Roy knocks the peak off of his clay mountain in defeat and the flat plateau triggers recognition. After uprooting plants and collecting debris from neighbors’ yards, Roy’s obsession frightens Ronnie and she gathers the children to leave for her sister’s home. Constructing a mountain from mud, Roy watches television and notices a breaking news report about a train derailment in Wyoming that supposedly unleashed nerve gas. When the footage depicts a mass evacuation near Devil’s Tower, Roy is elated to recognize the flat-topped mountain of his imagination. Meanwhile, Jillian sees the same report and connects the Devil’s Tower to her own obsessive drawings. Sometime later, Roy drives a rented station wagon to Wyoming, where he rescues Jillian from being evacuated on a train. As Roy speeds away from the military checkpoint, Jillian updates him on the search for Barry. Arriving at a barbwire barricade, Roy and Jillian see Devil’s Tower in the distance and marvel at the mountain that had previously only existed in their minds. Continuing on the road, they observe what appear to be dead livestock; although Roy believes the evacuation is a government hoax, they don gas masks to be safe. Soon, the car is stopped by military vehicles. Roy and Jillian are separated and detained by soldiers dressed in hazardous material suits. Lacombe and Laughlin interrogate Roy, asking if he has had a “close encounter” and showing him photographs of eleven people, including Jillian. At a base camp below Devil’s Tower, Roy and Jillian are reunited on a helicopter with the ten other people who sought out the mountain, but Roy is convinced that the air is not contaminated with nerve gas and takes off his mask to prove that the story is a hoax. Meanwhile, Wild Bill Walsh berates Lacombe for allowing civilians into the restricted area; however, Lacombe defends the UFO witnesses and suggests that there may be thousands more. Back at the helicopter pad, Roy, Jillian, and a comrade named Larry Butler escape and soldiers give chase. Maj. Walsh orders helicopters to spray the sleep aerosol previously used on the area’s livestock to make the animals appear dead. Although the sleeping gas fells Larry, Roy and Jillian get away and discover a well-lit arena with a landing strip on the backside of Devil’s Tower. As scientists make preparations, lights appear in the distance and move toward Roy and Jillian. When four spacecraft fly over the arena, project members play the tones that Lacombe discovered in India and Jillian recognizes the tune from Barry’s xylophone. After repeating the musical sequence in response, the spacecrafts fly away and the scientists break into applause. As more spacecraft swarm overhead, Roy wants to get closer, but Jillian is afraid to continue. After kissing his companion farewell, Roy climbs toward the landing strip. In a moment of silence, an enormous mother ship arrives, casting a dark shadow. While the notes are reciprocated between the scientists and the spaceship, Jillian follows Roy into the arena. As the craft lowers its ramp, radiating a warm glow, figures materialize in the light, including the WW II pilots who went missing in 1945 and Barry, who runs to Jillian. Lacombe and the officials discuss Roy as a potential human representative for the spaceship’s next voyage and Lacombe admits envy. The spaceship’s ramp opens again, revealing a spider-like creature and other humanoid aliens, and an official asks Roy for his full cooperation. Following a church service, the team of astronauts in red jumpsuits walks toward the mother ship with Roy in tow, but two aliens pull Roy out of the line and lead him aboard the craft. When an alien exchanges hand signals with Lacombe, a calm falls over the observers. The mother ship ascends into the sky, with Roy aboard, and disappears into the darkness.
Cast: Kevin Costner, Mary McDonnell, Graham Greene
Directors: Kevin Costner
Producer: Jim Wilson, Kevin Costner, Jake Eberts
Writer: Michael Blake
Editor: Neil Travis, William Hoy, Stephen Potter, Chip Masamitsu
Cinematographer: Dean Semler
Genre: Western
Production Company: TIG Productions , Majestic Films International
Composer: John Barry
In 1863 Tennessee, wounded Union Army Lieutenant John J. Dunbar overhears that his foot is about to be amputated and escapes the hospital tent. He returns to the battlefield, where Union soldiers have reached a stalemate with the Confederates. Mounting a horse named Cisco, Dunbar embarks on a suicide mission by riding along the Confederate front lines. The enemy soldiers shoot at him, but he survives. While the Confederates are distracted, the Union soldiers attack and put the Confederates to rout. For his heroism, Dunbar is decorated and awarded the horse. He also receives the medical treatment necessary to save his foot. Given the choice of any post, Dunbar opts for the western frontier. A crass wagon driver named Timmons leads him to the remote post of Ft. Sedgwick, where he is to report to Captain Cargill. However, they find the post abandoned and in disrepair. Although Timmons does not want to abandon him, Dunbar insists on staying there alone. He spends his days cleaning up the fort, writing in his journal, and admiring the beautiful terrain. Soon after, Pawnee Indians see Timmons traveling on his own and kill him. Nearly a month passes with no sign of Cargill. A wolf with white paws begins to make regular visits to the fort and Dunbar names it “Two Socks.” One day, Dunbar returns from bathing in the river to find “Kicking Bird,” a Sioux Indian, inspecting the fort. Dunbar approaches, and Kicking Bird retreats in fear. Dunbar writes about the encounter in his journal, and decides to bury his armaments so they do not fall into enemy hands. Back at the Sioux village, Kicking Bird discusses Dunbar with the tribe in Lakota, their native language. Although a younger Indian named “Wind In His Hair” denounces all white men and doubts Dunbar’s ability to survive on his own, Kicking Bird is impressed by Dunbar’s independence and believes he might be peaceable. Wind In His Hair leads a group of Sioux to steal Cisco, but the horse breaks free and returns to Ft. Sedgwick. Dunbar dons his army uniform and sets out to visit the Sioux village. On the way, he comes upon a white woman in Sioux garb, who is bleeding from a self-inflicted wound. The woman screams when she sees Dunbar, but passes out. He takes her back to the village and tells the Sioux, “She’s hurt,” but they do not understand. Wind In His Hair takes the woman, and Kicking Bird discourages other Sioux from attacking, promising that Dunbar did not come to fight. Later, at the behest of their chief, “Ten Bears,” Kicking Bird and Wind In His Hair make the first of many friendly visits to Ft. Sedgwick. Dunbar gives them coffee and sugar, and attempts to communicate using gestures. He learns they are in search of buffalo, but assures them he has not seen any. Kicking Bird asks Stands With A Fist, the white woman Dunbar rescued, to act as translator, but she claims the white man’s language has died inside her. She recalls her childhood on the frontier, when she narrowly escaped an Indian attack on her family. After Kicking Bird and Wind In His Hair deliver a buffalo hide to Dunbar, the soldier writes in his journal that Indians are nothing like the negative stereotypes perpetuated by white people. He is invited to the Sioux village, where Kicking Bird offers him a pipe inside his teepee. Stands With A Fist appears and uses broken English to translate their conversation. Dunbar is not surprised to learn that Kicking Bird is a holy man. Back at Ft. Sedgwick, he awakens to the thunderous sound of a buffalo stampede. He rides to the Sioux village to inform them, then joins in their buffalo hunt. They come upon a field of slain buffalo, killed only for their hides. The Indians lament the wasted animals, and Dunbar feels guilty knowing white hunters must be the culprits. When they catch up to the herd, the Sioux use arrows to kill buffalo, while Dunbar uses his rifle. “Smiles A Lot,” a younger Sioux boy, is knocked off his horse and nearly killed by a buffalo, but Dunbar shoots the animal just in time. The Sioux celebrate the hunt with an all-night party. Wind In His Hair trades his breastplate for Dunbar’s army jacket, and Dunbar proudly wears the traditional garb. He is dropped back off at Ft. Sedgwick, where Two Socks awaits him, but he soon becomes lonely without the Sioux. Three days later, he sets out for an unannounced visit to the village. Two Socks follows, prompting Dunbar to chase the animal away. On their way to visit Dunbar at the same time, a group of Sioux observe as Dunbar and Two Socks run in circles in a field. They offer him his own teepee at the village, and Dunbar settles in there. Kicking Bird asks how many white people are coming, but Dunbar cannot bring himself to admit that the Sioux will soon be outnumbered. A war party is assembled to fight the Pawnee Indians, enemies of the Sioux. Dunbar asks to fight, but Kicking Bird wants him to stay behind and watch over his family. Dunbar agrees, and Kicking Bird calls him by his new name, “Dances With Wolves.” Dunbar learns how to say the name in Lakota, and uses it to identify himself henceforward. While the war party is away, Dances With Wolves and Stands With a Fist get to know each other over language lessons. Stands With A Fist reveals how she came to live with the Sioux at a young age. Dunbar asks why she is not married, but she refuses to answer. He learns from an elder that her husband was killed recently, and Stands With A Fist will be in mourning until Kicking Bird, who rescued her as a young girl, decides she is ready to move on. Later, Stands With A Fist is dismayed to find Dunbar has returned to Ft. Sedgwick. There, he sketches her in his journal and writes that he loves her. Dunbar finally coaxes Two Socks to eat out of his hand, just before Stands With A Fist appears. She kisses him and says they must be careful not to get caught before she is out of mourning. They return to the village and make love in his teepee that night. They are interrupted by a commotion outside. Dunbar learns that the Pawnee are headed to the village, so he retreats to Ft. Sedgwick to retrieve his store of guns. Armed with U.S. army rifles, the Sioux easily defeat the Pawnee. At the urging of his wife, “Black Shawl,” Kicking Bird tells Stands With A Fist that her mourning period is over and officiates her wedding to Dances With Wolves. Dunbar finally reveals to Kicking Bird that droves of white people are bound to overtake the land. The Sioux chief, Ten Bears, says they will continue to fight for their territory, just as they have throughout history. The next day, they migrate to their winter camp. Dances With Wolves returns to Ft. Sedgwick to retrieve his journal, concerned that it may tip off the soldiers to his whereabouts, but he is discovered by Union Lieutenant Elgin’s command and taken prisoner. Accused of treason, Dances With Wolves is severely beaten and sentenced to hanging at Ft. Hayes. Wind In His Hair leads a group to rescue Dances With Wolves. Two Socks follows the soldiers’ trail, as well, but the animal is brutally shot by Dances With Wolves’s captors. At a river crossing, the Sioux attack Lt. Elgin and his men, killing the soldiers and rescuing Dances With Wolves. They arrive at the Sioux winter camp, where Stands With A Fist embraces her husband, and they fall into the snow together. Dances With Wolves informs Ten Bears that the soldiers will continue to search for him now that he is a confirmed traitor. He needs to leave the Sioux and suggests that they move their camp as well. Before he and Stands With A Fist leave, Dances With Wolves receives a gift from Kicking Bird, who observes that they have come a long way. Smiles A Lot surprises Dances With Wolves with his journal, which he retrieved during the skirmish with Lt. Elgin’s men. As U.S. soldiers search the mountains, Dances With Wolves and Stands With A Fist ride away. Watching the couple go, Wind In His Hair calls out that he will always be a friend to Dances With Wolves.
Production Company: Radnitz/Mattel Productions, Inc.
In Louisiana in 1933, the Morgan family, Nathan Lee, Rebecca and children David Lee, Earl and Josie Mae, suffers the myriad deprivations of the Depression, barely surviving by sharecropping for demanding store owner Mr. Perkins. Early one evening, Nathan takes David and their beloved dog Sounder to hunt raccoon for dinner. Nathan's shot misses its target, however, and although he is angry and depressed that once again there will be no meat on the family table, Rebecca responds to the news with customary composure. Later, Rebecca reminds Nathan they have been through other tough times, but he bitterly wonders why they toil ceaselessly to make Perkins richer. In the morning, Rebecca finds sausage and ham in the kitchen, and cooks it without a word. After the thrilled children eat their fill, she mildly asks Nathan where he was the previous night, and he responds, “I did what I had to do.” David attends school, where he and the other few black children in the class must sit in the back row. Later, the children bring Mrs. Rita Boatwright her laundry, which Rebecca, who takes in laundry to supplement the family's income, has washed. The kindly white woman lends David her copy of The Three Musketeers and offers to discuss it with him. The children then rush to the sugar cane fields, where the men are playing baseball, in time to see Nathan pitch a winning game. On the walk home they celebrate with family friends Ike and Harriet, but upon reaching their home, are distressed to see Sheriff Charlie Young and his deputy waiting there. Young brusquely arrests Nathan for stealing the ham from a neighbor’s smokehouse, and leads him off to jail in handcuffs. When Sounder, barking loudly, follows the truck, the deputy shoots him. Sounder limps off into the woods, and Rebecca holds tight to Earl and Josie Mae as David follows the wounded dog, but cannot locate him. Soon after, Rebecca goes to town to visit Nathan, leaving David in charge. As the children wait in tense silence, Rebecca walks miles in the heat to the jail, but despite her pleas, Young announces that black women are forbidden to visit their husbands in jail. While in town, she stops by Perkins’ store to trade walnuts for ingredients to bake Nathan a cake. Perkins complains to Rebecca that Nathan has made him look bad, as he has been good to the family, and demands that she do the cropping on her own if Nathan is not home by spring. At the trial, Nathan is sentenced to one year of hard labor at a parish prison camp. Over the next days, while David searches for Sounder, Rebecca bakes the cake and has David bring it to Nathan. From his cramped cell, Nathan struggles to reach the high window for a glimpse of Rebecca, but cannot. He collects himself and shares the cake with David, then asks the boy not to return. In Nathan’s absence, the family toils day and night to support themselves. At night, David reads The Three Musketeers to them, and on the weekends they attend church. After church one day, they are visited by the reverend, who reminds a skeptical Rebecca to take her troubles to the Lord. One night, Sounder returns. David ministers to him, and although the dog heals, he will not bark. After the sheriff refuses to inform Rebecca to which labor camp Nathan has been sent, David asks Mrs. Boatwright to find out for him. Young refuses to tell her the information, so after he leaves the office, she screws up her courage to spy in Nathan’s file. Returning, Young catches her and declares that if she reveals Nathan’s whereabouts to Rebecca, he will turn the entire parish against her. Outside, Mrs. Boatwright tells David that she did not see the name of the labor camp, but knowing that she is lying, he turns away wordlessly. Soon after, however, Mrs. Boatwright arrives at the house and announces the location of the labor camp to Rebecca, who cries with joy. The older woman teaches the family to read a map and pinpoints the location of the camp, and the next day, Rebecca sends David off with Sounder to find his father. Over many days, the boy travels through rain and sunshine, woods and fields, finally reaching the labor camp. There, however, no one will talk to him for fear of reprisal, and the foreman hits his hand with a pipe and chases him away. Dejected, David walks to a nearby schoolhouse, and inside is stunned to see that all the students are black. The young black teacher, Camille Johnson, invites him in and tends to his hand, and upon noting his fascination with the classroom, offers to put him up for the night. Her lovely home is filled with books, and Camille inspires David with tales of notable blacks in history and the writings of intellectuals such as W. E. B. Dubois. The next morning, in class, one boy tells a story of rescuing his sister from drowning, and although the other children doubt his veracity, David defends the boy, knowing that people can achieve the impossible when they are forced to do so. He sets off again for home, laden with books from Camille and hoping fervently to return. Rebecca welcomes him joyously, and although she knows that his returning to Camille’s school will mean even more work for her, she agrees to consider it. Over the hot summer, they reap and process the sugar cane, and at the end of cropping season receive their meager payment. One afternoon as Rebecca is sewing, she hears Sounder suddenly bark and run off down the road, and realizes that at long last Nathan has returned. Shouting his name, she runs to meet him, and although he is limping, he drops his cane and rushes to her. The family embraces, weeping with joy. At dinner, Nathan explains that he was injured in a dynamite blast that rendered him unable to work and so was released early. David feels hugely relieved to have Nathan home, but when his father tries to work the next day, he collapses in pain, then bravely carries on. Later, a letter from Camille arrives for David, instructing him to arrive within the week. Nathan is pleased, but David announces that he will not leave his father’s side. When Nathan shakes him in anger, declaring that he needs schooling like he needs “good air to breathe,” David runs off. At Rebecca’s urging, Nathan tracks David to the nearby pond and gently tells the boy that when he was wounded, he made up his mind to beat death, and now he wants David to beat the life that is in store for him. He promises to love David no matter where he is. Days later, David, dressed in a new suit, bids goodbye to his mother, sister and brother and sets out for his school, accompanied by his proud father.
Cast: Mel Gibson, Sophie Marceau, Patrick McGoohan
Directors: Mel Gibson
Producer: Mel Gibson, Alan Ladd Jr., Bruce Davey
Writer: Randall Wallace
Editor: Steven Rosenblum
Cinematographer: John Toll
Genre: Drama
Production Company: Icon Productions , Ladd Company
Composer: James Horner
In thirteenth century Scotland, the death of King Alexander III leads to an invasion by King Edward I of England, a.k.a. Edward “Longshanks.” A Scottish boy named William Wallace is spared from the fighting, but his father and brother are killed. Wallace goes on a journey through Europe with his Uncle Argyle. He gets an education, and when he returns to Scotland as a young man, he is married in a secret ceremony to his childhood sweetheart, Murron MacClannough. Later, English soldiers attack and try to rape Murron, but Wallace saves her. She defends herself in yet another attack, which leads to her arrest and execution. To avenge her death, Wallace organizes a group of fighters to attack the English soldiers stationed in his hometown. Longshanks hears of the uprising and instructs his heir, Prince Edward, to retaliate. Wallace organizes a mass rebellion against the occupying English. The Scots win at the Battle of Stirling, and Wallace teams up with nobleman Robert the Bruce, whose father, Robert the Elder, aspires for his son to win the Scottish crown. Meanwhile, Longshanks sends Prince Edward’s wife, Princess Isabella of France, to divert Wallace with negotiation talks. She develops a romantic interest in him, instead, and reveals that more English troops are set to invade. Wallace mobilizes Scottish nobles and Robert the Bruce to fight back. However, Robert the Bruce betrays the Scots by aligning with Longshanks. He later regrets the decision and promises to fight on behalf of the Scottish from now on. Wallace murders Lochlan and Mornay, two noblemen who betrayed him by taking bribes from Longshanks. He launches a seven-year-long campaign against the English, with the aid of Isabella. She engages in a secret affair with Wallace, and becomes pregnant with his child. After Wallace is taken captive by the English, Isabella taunts a dying Longshanks with the knowledge that she is carrying Wallace’s child. The English court finds Wallace guilty of high treason, and sentences him to torture and beheading. Wallace refuses to utter any words of submission as he is tortured before a crowd. He is told to ask for mercy prior to his beheading, but instead cries out, “Freedom!” Robert the Bruce eventually becomes King of Scotland. In 1314, he is due to accept English rule in a ceremony at Bannockburn in Scotland. There, he uses Wallace’s sword to signal a surprise attack on the English. The resulting Battle of Bannockburn leads to the re-establishment of Scotland’s freedom.
Production Company: Guber-Peters Company, [in association with] Star Partners II, Ltd.
Composer: Hans Zimmer
Struggling to keep his specialty car dealership in business, Charlie Babbitt takes his fiancée and employee, Susanna, for a weekend getaway in Palm Springs, California. However, on the way there, Charlie learns that his father, Sanford Babbitt, has died, and he and Susanna travel to Cincinnati, Ohio, for the funeral. At his childhood home, Charlie shows Susanna his father’s 1949 Buick Roadmaster convertible that he coveted as a child. He recalls a traumatic incident when, as a teenager, he took the car against his father’s wishes. His father reported the vehicle stolen and allowed Charlie to stay in jail for two days after he was arrested. Upon his release, Charlie left town and never spoke to his father again. Later that day, a lawyer reads Charlie a bitter letter from his father, who left him the Buick Roadmaster and some rose bushes, while the rest of his $3 million estate has gone into a trust for another beneficiary. The next day, Charlie goes to his father’s bank and learns that the beneficiary resides at Wallbrook, an institute for the mentally disabled. There, Charlie meets with Dr. Bruner, who refuses to disclose any information regarding the trust. Meanwhile, an autistic man named Raymond approaches Susanna as she waits outside in the Buick Roadmaster, informing her that he drove the car just last week. When Charlie returns, he orders Raymond to go away but stops short when Raymond describes the history of the car in detail. Realizing that he and Raymond share the same parents, Charlie demands an explanation from Dr. Bruner, who confirms that Raymond is Charlie’s brother and has lived at Wallbrook since he was eighteen years old, and Charlie was still a toddler. He says Raymond is a high-functioning autistic savant, who has trouble communicating and expressing his emotions in a traditional way. To avoid feeling terrified by life, Raymond has established routines and rituals that include daily viewing of the television programs, Jeopardy! and The People’s Court. Due to Raymond’s autism, and his inability to understand the concept of money, Bruner explains that he has control over the $3 million trust – a fact that Charlie finds maddening. In his room, Raymond nervously recites the Abbott and Costello comedy routine, “Who’s on First?” while Charlie touches his books against his brother’s will. A caretaker named Vern explains that Raymond does not like his books to be touched, nor does he like to make physical contact with others. Although Jeopardy! will soon air, Charlie convinces Raymond to join him for a walk. Outside, he lets him know that their father has died and asks if he would like to visit the cemetery. Seeming confused, Raymond responds, “I don’t know.” Charlie tries to lure Raymond on a road trip by promising to take him to a Los Angeles Dodgers baseball game. Raymond agrees, but also says he is not supposed to be off the grounds for more than two hours. They leave Wallbrook and, later, check into a hotel. Raymond complains that his room looks different and demands to eat the same dinner he would have been served at the facility. Susanna argues with Charlie, who led her to believe that the trip was Dr. Bruner’s idea. Later that night, Raymond hears Susanna and Charlie having sex and wanders into their adjoining room. Charlie yells when he realizes his brother is sitting on the bed, then leads him back to his room, where Raymond uses a flashlight to read the phonebook in the dark. Susanna reprimands Charlie for being insensitive. Charlie then confesses that he plans to take Raymond back to his home in Los Angeles, and keep him until Bruner gives Charlie half his father’s estate. Disapproving, Susanna packs her things and leaves. The next day, Charlie and Raymond stop at a diner, where Raymond recognizes a waitress’s name from the phonebook and recites her phone number. Charlie realizes that Raymond memorized A-G in the phonebook overnight, then observes as his brother accurately counts 246 fallen toothpicks in a matter of seconds. That afternoon, as they are about to board a plane to Los Angeles, Raymond cites airplane crash statistics and refuses to board. When Charlie tries to force him, Raymond screams and beats his head until Charlie relents. They hit the road again in the Roadmaster, and the long trip to California is further slowed by Raymond’s quirks, including his refusal to go outside in the rain. Stopping in a small town one day, Charlie leaves his brother in the car to make a call and returns to find him gone. Meanwhile, Raymond has stopped in the middle of an intersection, misinterpreting a “Don’t Walk” sign, while cars honk at him. A man gets out of his car to push Raymond out of the way, but Charlie rushes to his aid. He takes Raymond to a doctor, who tests his intelligence by asking him to multiply large numbers and confirming the answers with a calculator. Based on his correct calcuations, Charlie determines that Raymond is a genius; however, when Raymond is asked to subtract simple dollar amounts, he is unable to apply math to real life situations. Over the next couple days, Charlie attempts to salvage his failing business over the phone and sets up a custody hearing for Raymond. The next time they check into a motel, Raymond mutters “Funny Rainman” and Charlie realizes that his childhood imaginary friend, “Rainman,” was actually his brother. Raymond produces a photograph of the two boys as children and recalls bidding Charlie goodbye as he left for Wallbrook. As Charlie draws a bath, Raymond beats his head and shouts, “Hot water burn baby,” prompting Charlie’s realization that his brother was sent away for nearly burning him in scalding water. The next day, Charlie buys Raymond a portable television and calls one of his salesman, Lenny, who informs him that his cars have been repossessed and the business owes $80,000 to customers. Desperate for money, Charlie trains Raymond to play blackjack and count cards, and takes him to a Las Vegas, Nevada, casino, where they quickly win $86,000. Charlie buys Raymond a date with a call girl and, at their lavish suite, teaches him how to dance in preparation for the date. Susanna shows up unexpectedly and reunites with Charlie. The three go down to the casino to meet Raymond’s call girl, but she does not show up. Taking Raymond back to the suite, Susanna dances with him in the elevator and teaches him how to kiss. The next day, Charlie lets Raymond drive outside the casino before they head to Los Angeles, where Raymond recites “Who’s on First?” as Charlie shows him around his home. Dr. Bruner arrives for the custody hearing, and offers Charlie a check for $250,000 to return Raymond back to his custody. However, Charlie refuses the check, claiming his priorities have changed and he wants to take care of his brother himself. As Charlie sleeps one morning, Raymond leaves a toaster on until smoke from the appliance sets off an alarm. Charlie wakes up to the sound of Raymond’s panic attack and rushes to stop the alarm. Later, as Raymond is interviewed by a psychologist for the custody hearing, he reveals that Charlie brought him to Las Vegas to gamble and allowed him to drive. When the psychologist asks Raymond where he wants to live, he simultaneously opts to stay with Charlie and return to Wallbrook. Realizing his brother needs more care than he can provide, Charlie allows Raymond to go back with Dr. Bruner, but promises to visit in two weeks. As they say goodbye at the train station, Raymond mentions the secret code he and Charlie used for betting on blackjack, then disappears onto the train.
Producer: Fred Roos, Tom Sternberg, Francis Coppola
Writer: Melissa Mathison, Jeanne Rosenberg, William D. Wittliff
Editor: Robert Dalva
Cinematographer: Caleb Deschanel
Genre: Adventure
Production Company: Omni Zoetrope
Composer: Carmine Coppola
In 1946, off the coast of North Africa, young Alec Ramsey and his father travel aboard the H.M.S. Drake, a passenger ship from Liverpool, England. One afternoon, Alec sees a wild black stallion on deck. The animal rears and thrashes as a team of men whip the horse, restrain him with ropes, and quarantine him in a makeshift stall. Alec later brings the stallion sugar cubes, but is chased away by a Middle Eastern passenger wearing a headscarf. That night, Alec’s father shows him winnings from a poker game and gives the boy a pocketknife and a statuette of Bucephalus, a magnificent black horse. Alec’s father recites his version of the ancient legend of Bucephalus, an untamable animal whose owner, King Philip II, planned to kill it in an arena. However, the king’s son protested, and Philip declared the boy could keep the stallion if he could ride it. The young man succeeded, and later became Alexander the Great. As Alec and his father prepare to sleep, a fire breaks out on the ship and they race to the deck. Separated from his father, Alec tries to help the stallion escape, but the horse’s Middle Eastern keeper interferes and cuts off Alec’s life preserver. The boy’s father attacks the man and tries to toss the preserver back to his son. As the horse jumps overboard, Alec is thrown from the ship without a life vest and plunges dangerously close to the propeller. He sees the stallion’s ropes caught in the blades and cuts him loose with his new pocketknife. While the vessel sinks, Alec ties the horse’s rope around his waist and the stallion swims away. Alec awakens on a desert island with only his knife and the Bucephalus statuette. After days of solitude, he finds the stallion, tangled in his ropes. He creeps toward the rearing beast and sets him free yet again. One afternoon, the boy awakens to a cobra within striking distance of his face, but the stallion stomps the snake to death and gallops away. Over time, Alec learns to make fire and eat seaweed. He eventually lures the horse to eat dried leaves from his hand. Alec leads his new animal friend, “The Black,” into the ocean, where he mounts the horse and learns to ride. The boy and The Black become inseparable. When fishermen discover Alec, the stallion refuses to stay behind on the island and amazes the men by swimming after them. They haul The Black onto their boat, and Alec is returned home to his mother in Flushing, New York. However, the stallion is displeased by his containment in a suburban backyard, and Alec finds it impossible to readjust to domestic life. One day, The Black is startled by trash collectors wearing headscarves and gallops away through the city’s streets. Alec gives chase to no avail. Early the next morning, he awakens to the sound of a horse-drawn carriage and meets an elderly black gentleman named Snoe, who claims that his horse, “Napoleon,” knows The Black’s whereabouts. Snoe tells the boy to follow the morning star to a remote barn. There, Alec sneaks inside and falls though the floor into an underground shelter. An elderly farmer named Henry Dailey appears, insisting the horse belongs to him. However, he changes his mind when he sees Alec’s mastery over the wild animal. Henry feeds the boy breakfast and explains that he has failed at making a living. He agrees to give The Black a home on condition that Alec cleans the stable. Alec returns home but continues to work at the stable and learns that Snoe’s “Napoleon” also lives on Henry’s farm. One day, Alec discovers an abandoned office, filled with old racing trophies, and realizes that Henry Dailey was once a jockey trainer. He asks Henry to help him become The Black’s jockey, and the old man obliges. However, The Black remains wild and is resistant to saddle and reins. Henry teaches Alec to ride on a bale of hay and warns him to always hold The Black’s mane. Early one morning, Henry secretly begins training Alec and The Black on a real racetrack. He invites his former partner, Jake, to time The Black’s speed and they agree the horse has enormous potential. As training continues, Snoe tells Alec that he should keep his animal wild, but the boy is intent on proving The Black is the fastest horse alive. On another night, Henry covertly invites horseracing’s famous radio announcer, Jim Neville, and a host of investors, to the racetrack. During a thunderstorm, The Black surpasses record time, but Alec finishes the lap unconscious, clinging to the horse’s mane. The boy comes to with a handful of hair and hears Jim Neville agree to promote The Black as a “mystery horse,” keeping the identity of Henry and Alec a secret. Sometime later, Neville publically challenges the two top racehorses in the world to compete against The Black, and arranges a tournament. He encourages his radio audience to bet on the newcomer. At home, Alec tells his mother that he will ride the “mystery horse,” and Henry Dailey makes an impassioned plea on the boy’s behalf, but she is unwilling to put her son in danger. However, she changes her mind when Alec shows her the Bucephalus statuette and tearfully explains how The Black saved his life. At the Santa Anita Racetrack in Arcadia, California, a sold-out crowd anticipates Neville’s contest. Dressed in a masked uniform, Alec tries to contain The Black at the starting gate, but the stallion fights a contender and injures his leg. The race begins, but The Black falls behind, and Alec loses balance. However, the boy and his horse gallop closer toward the lead as his mother, Henry, Snoe, and “Napoleon” watch. When Alec and The Black overtake the world-champion horses and win the race, the crowd goes wild, and Alec throws his arms into the air, remembering his days on the island. A veterinarian promises Alec that The Black’s leg will heal, and the boy shows the Bucephalus figurine to his beloved stallion.
The Youngers are a Negro family living in three crowded, sunless rooms on Chicago's South Side. The squalid routine of their lives is suddenly disrupted when Lena Younger receives a $10,000 check from the company that insured her late husband. Lena wants to use the money to buy a house and to help her daughter, Beneatha, finish medical school. Lena's son, Walter Lee, however, wants to invest the money in a liquor store so he can rise above his status of chauffeur for a wealthy white man. Lena disapproves of the idea and makes a down payment of $3,500 on a small house in a white neighborhood. Frustrated and enraged, Walter Lee quarrels with his mother and his wife, Ruth, and storms out of the flat. He stays away from work for 3 days, and Lena finds him in a bar. She offers him the remaining $6,500 ($3,500 of which is to be set aside for Beneatha's education). Once more united and optimistic, the family prepares to move into their new home. Not even a visit from a hypocritical representative of an "improvement association," who offers to buy back the house at a higher price to preserve the community's all-white character, can alter their decision to move. Then their world collapses. Unknown to the rest of the family, Walter Lee invests the entire $6,500 in a liquor store and is swindled. Realizing he has betrayed his mother's trust, threatened his sister's future, and thrown away his father's life savings, Walter Lee desperately decides to accept the "improvement association"'s offer. But under the eyes of his entire family, he sees that such a move is only a step backwards, and he once more rejects the offer. Though it means hard work and years of sacrifice for all, the Youngers make their move.
Producer: Mike Nichols, Michael Hausman, Buzz Hirsch, Larry Cano
Writer: Nora Ephron, Alice Arlen
Editor: Sam O'Steen
Cinematographer: Miroslav Ondricek
Genre: Drama
Production Company: ABC Motion Pictures
Composer: Georges Delerue
Karen Silkwood and coworkers Drew Stephens and Dolly Pelliker arrive for work at the Kerr McGee Cimarron nuclear facility near Cimarron City, Oklahoma. Karen works in Dry Processing, processing plutonium and uranium oxide into nuclear fuel pellets. The plant manager conducts new trainees through the plant, and when asked about the effects of radiation exposure, answers that radiation is like sunburn, the kind of thing that cannot hurt you unless you are careless with it. When the lunch bell rings, Karen removes her protective gloves and attempts to rush out of her work area, but is called back by her fellow workers for not monitoring herself. She passes her bare hands across a radiation detector before leaving. In the lunchroom, Karen hears about a truck that became contaminated with radiation as the result of a container leak. She learns that her boyfriend, Drew, will have to work an hour late, and she cannot find Mace Hurley to ask permission to have Saturday and Sunday off to see her children. She notices Winston, a new worker in X-Ray Metalography. Drew asks if she likes him, but Karen responds, “As a matter of fact, he’s the type I hate.” When she catches up with Hurley, Karen is told that the plant operates twenty-four hours a day, and it is not possible to give her time off. As Karen tries to get one of her reluctant coworkers to take her weekend shifts, an alarm sounds. They believe it to be a test, but remark that, although test alarms are sounded regularly, they never actually evacuate the building, probably because it would shut down production. Gilda Schultz finally agrees to take Karen’s weekend shifts. That night, as Karen goes to her car, she hears a noise and goes to investigate. She sees a truck being cut apart, but when she asks what is going on, she is told to leave. Saturday morning, Karen, Drew and Dolly drive to Texas to take her kids to the beach. However, her ex-husband, Pete Dawson, has the weekend off himself, and tells Karen she should have talked to him as he has made his own weekend plans. He does allow Karen to take the children to a restaurant for a brief visit. On the way back to Oklahoma, Dolly asks how long Karen was married to Pete. Karen confesses that although they went to Louisiana, where they believed they could be married underage, they could not, and never actually were legally married. They were formally divorced, however, because their union was recognized as a common law marriage. Karen laments that she had the children in the car, and could have driven them to Oklahoma, but did not. Arriving at work on Monday, Karen is approached by a friend named Joe, who mentions he helped bury a contaminated truck Friday night. As she gets ready in the changing room, Karen learns that Gilda did not work her shifts, but Gilda informs her that the plant was shut down because of a contamination in their section right after Karen left. Gilda also mentions that the company believes Karen was responsible for the contamination in order to get the weekend off. She enters her work area wearing a full hazmat suit, and finds her coworkers similarly clad as the walls of the room are being scrubbed down by a cleanup crew. She complains about being unfairly blamed for the contamination, but Quincy Bissell, the union shop steward tells her the company has to blame somebody or risk accountability. Back in the plant, Thelma Rice, an older worker and friend of Karen’s, is “cooked” in a radiation accident. Thelma is taken to the decontamination room where she is showered down. Afraid that Thelma will get cancer as a result of her exposure, Karen urges the woman to listen to the doctor, who informs her that she only had surface exposure, and is in no danger after being scrubbed clean. Later, at home, Karen learns from Drew that Thelma only received twenty-four dpm’s [disintegrations per minute] of radiation, which he dismisses as "not super bad." He asks if Karen is just waking up to the potential danger of working with nuclear materials after almost two years. The next day, as she talks with her coworkers, Karen realizes that the doctor never gave Thelma a nasal smear, so he does not really know if she suffered any internal contamination. She urges Thelma to get the procedure. Later, Mace Hurley interrupts a birthday celebration for Gilda Schultz, and tells the Dry Processing employees to get back on the job. If they do not meet their contract goals, they will all be out of work. Karen attempts to pick up some birthday cake that has fallen onto the floor, but Hurley tells her to clean it up after her shift. As Karen leaves the Dry Processing room after vacuuming up the cake, she sets off the contamination alarm. She is scrubbed down, and told by the plant doctor to bring in urine samples every week. Later, Karen looks through a book supplied by the union, but which she is only now reading. She tells Dolly that all the information about “acceptable levels” of radiation is false, and that exposure to plutonium gives you cancer. Still later, Drew brings home news that Karen has been transferred out of Dry Processing into the Metalography department. She is upset, because the transfer means she will have to work three months before she can again qualify for overtime work. On her new assignment, Winston explains her duties, which include making photographic records of fuel rod samples. Karen catches Winston doctoring the photographic negatives to cover up imperfections in the fuel rods. At a union meeting, shop steward Quincy informs the workers that Kerr McGee has obtained enough signatures to hold a decertification vote. When he seeks volunteers to help him reach out to union members, Karen volunteers. Drew does not believe Karen has the political skills to be an effective negotiator, but she believes she can sit across the table from Mace Hurley as an equal. In time, Dolly begins dating a beautician named Angela. Drew becomes upset when Angela moves in to the house Dolly and Karen share, and Karen spends all her time on the phone with union matters. Karen suggests to Quincy that they involve the national union in their cause, and they land a meeting in Washington, D.C. with the national union and the Atomic Energy Commission [AEC]. The president of the national union informs Quincy and Karen that they can only win the decertification election based on health and safety issues, and promises to send doctors to talk with the Cimarron workers. The union president leaves to catch a plane, but Karen follows and tells him about the doctoring of the cross-section photographs of fuel rods intended for the Hanford, Washington, Breeder Reactor. The president asks for proof of her claims. Back in Oklahoma, Drew is upset when Quincy shows slides of the Washington, D.C. trip, and in the photos Karen appears to be flirting with attorney Paul Stone. On their way home, Drew asks if the company was aware of Karen’s trip to Washington, and that she is spying for the union. He informs Karen that he quit working for Kerr McGee, and moves out of the house. In the Metalography department, Karen goes through Winston’s desk drawer looking for doctored photographic negatives. Winston catches her, but she convinces him she was only using the drawer to store allergy medications not allowed in the plant. After doctors talk to the Kerr McGee workers, Winston confronts union lawyer Paul Stone, questioning why the union has only come in now that there is a pending decertification vote. He believes the company is looking out for its employees, and that if issues are raised, Kerr McGee will shut down the plant, putting the locals out of work while Stone will return to his job in Washington, D.C. Paul Stone does return to Washington, and he falls out of communication with Karen. She calls to tell him the union won the election, 80 to 61, but only reaches his answering machine. In time, Angela returns to her husband, leaving Dolly feeling rejected, just as Karen feels rejected by Paul Stone. At the plant, Gilda Schultz mentions that her husband has been working late flushing out pipes because the plant has come up more than a kilo short on plutonium. When Karen takes notes, her coworkers leave the room, concerned that her union activities will threaten their jobs. Karen finally speaks with Paul about several incidents at the plant, but he is more concerned with evidence of the doctored photographic negatives. Karen is shunned by management as well as her fellow employees. When she goes to Dry Processing in an attempt to speak with Gilda, she is rebuffed, and as she leaves the area and flashes her hand in front of the radiation monitor, she again sets off the alarm. Although the plant doctor informs her that the exposure level was acceptable, he orders her to start bringing in her urine samples on a daily basis. In declining health, Karen hits a deer as she drives home, and asks a passerby to call Drew. Soon, when she comes into work, she sets off a radiation alarm as she enters the plant. A team is sent to her house with a Geiger counter, finds the building contaminated, and takes everything out of the house. Mace Hurley suggests that Karen contaminated her own house, believing she would do anything to hurt the company. In turn, Karen believes her urine samples have been tampered with. She is told her latest nasal smear has a reading of 45,000 dpm. Hurley offers to get Karen a place to stay and help her with money, but first she must make a statement in her own words about what happened. She refuses, and drives away. Drew returns to the stripped house to reminisce about his days there with Karen, and takes the spare key left above the doorframe as a souvenir. Winston drives up and asks what Drew is doing there. Unable to contain his rage, Drew hits Winston, knocking him to the ground. He returns to his new home and finds Karen there. She tells him the company has contaminated her and is trying to kill her. Drew makes plans to take Karen to Los Alamos, New Mexico, where doctors are well versed in the effects of radiation. There, doctors inform Drew and Dolly that, although they have been exposed through contact with Karen, their radiation is within safe levels. Karen, however, is told that they have discovered americium, an element released when plutonium disintegrates. Based on the level of americium, they have determined that she has a level of six nanocuries in her body. The maximum body burden for occupational exposure is forty nano curies; however, the tests she has undergone may be off by as much as 300 percent. Afterward, Karen telephones Paul Stone, asking him to come to Oklahoma City with a New York Times reporter. Back home, Drew suggests they move to New Mexico and have babies, but Karen fears they would have developmental defects. The next morning Karen sets out for a union meeting and asks Drew to pick up Paul Stone and the New York Times reporter at the airport. At night, after she leaves a cafe, a car follows Karen as she drives home. The glare of headlights in her rearview mirror blinds her. Later, her car is found crashed by the side of the road. Her tombstone reads: Karen Gay Silkwood; Feb. 19, 1946; Nov. 13, 1974; Rest In Peace.”
Production Company: Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp.
Composer: Bernard Herrmann
One morning, in Jul 1951, people around the world are astonished by the appearance of an unidentified, fast-moving object circling the globe. The object, a large, metallic saucer, lands on the Mall in Washington, D.C., where a crowd quickly gathers. Soldiers surround the saucer, and tension grows until a helmeted man emerges, telling the crowd that he has come in peace. A nervous soldier shoots the man when he brandishes a small object, and people run in terror as an enormous robot lumbers out of the saucer. The robot, Gort, emits a mysterious ray that melts the soldiers' weapons until the wounded alien, Klaatu, orders him to desist and informs the soldiers that the object was a gift for their president. Klaatu is then rushed to Walter Reed Hospital, where presidential secretary Harley learns that he has traveled over 250,000,000 miles in five months. Klaatu reveals that he must talk to all of Earth's leaders, but Harley explains that due to the unstable political climate, not all of the leaders will consent to meet with one another. Klaatu insists that his mission is too important to be derailed by petty squabbles, and warns Harley that the future of the planet is at stake. The next day, doctors find that Klaatu has recovered from his wound, after which Harley returns with news that although the president has invited the world's leaders to meet, many have refused unless they can host the gathering. Bemused by their childish jealousies, Klaatu decides to learn more about the species he is visiting, and escapes from the hospital. Radio and television broadcasts announce Klaatu's escape, but no pictures of him are available. Using the name Carpenter, Klaatu obtains a room in the boardinghouse of Mrs. Crockett, which is also inhabited by Mr. and Mrs. George Barley, Mr. Krull and an attractive widow, Helen Benson, and her young son Bobby. The next day, Helen and her beau, Tom Stevens, go on a picnic, and Klaatu babysits Bobby, who takes him on a tour of the city. Klaatu is impressed with the Lincoln Memorial, and when he asks Bobby who the greatest man alive is, the boy replies that famed scientist Jacob Barnhardt is the one Klaatu seeks. After taking Bobby to visit the saucer, Klaatu goes with him to Barnhardt's house, where he easily solves a math problem begun by the absent Barnhardt. That night, Helen watches as a government agent picks up Klaatu at the boardinghouse. Klaatu is taken to see Barnhardt, who is thrilled to learn that he is the alien. Klaatu explains that because Earth's people are reaching a technological level at which they could be a danger to other planets, he has been sent to warn them of the consequences of their violence. Barnhardt speculates that no one will take his message seriously unless he can prove his superior capabilities, so Klaatu promises to arrange a demonstration in two days. The next evening, Tom belittles Klaatu's involvement with Helen and Bobby, although Bobby states that Klaatu is his best friend. After Helen and Tom leave, Bobby follows Klaatu as he goes to the saucer, where he signals to Gort and obtains entrance to the vessel. Inside, Klaatu arranges his demonstration, while Bobby runs home. When Helen and Tom return, Bobby tells them of his adventure, but they dismiss it as a bad dream. Tom grows worried though, when he snoops in Klaatu's room and finds one of the diamonds that Klaatu trades for currency. The following day, Klaatu gets Helen from her office, and when they enter the building's elevator, the power suddenly dies, and Klaatu reveals his identity to Helen. As he discusses his mission with her, people around the world are confused by the loss of all electricity, except to critical locations such as hospitals. Barnhardt is gleeful about the nonviolent demonstration, which he believes will ensure full attendance for his meeting that night of scientists and social leaders. Half an hour later, when the power is restored, Helen is convinced of Klaatu's sincerity, and is determined to help him. She is concerned about Tom, however, as he has taken the diamond to a jeweler for appraisal. Helen rushes to Tom's office, where she is dismayed to learn that he is more interested in the fame and fortune that will result from betraying Klaatu than in the reason for his visit. While Tom alerts the Pentagon, Helen storms out and whisks Klaatu away from the boardinghouse just before the military arrives. During their ride to Barnhardt's meeting, Klaatu tells Helen that if anything happens to him, she is to find Gort immediately and tell him "Klaatu Barada Nikto" to prevent him from destroying the Earth. Before they can reach the ship, however, Helen and Klaatu are stopped by soldiers, and Klaatu is fatally shot. Helen escapes and goes to Gort, who responds to her repetition of Klaatu's orders by carrying her inside the saucer, then stealing Klaatu's body and returning it to the ship. There, Gort revives Klaatu, although Klaatu tells Helen that his re-animation will last for an uncertain duration. Klaatu then appears before Barnhardt's colleagues and warns them that because the universe grows smaller every day, threats of aggression cannot be tolerated. Klaatu assures them that they will not lose any freedoms, but that they will be under the watchful eye of a robot such as Gort, who was invented by an organization of planets determined to stamp out violence. Each planet is guarded by a robot that impartially acts against aggression, and the inhabitants live in peace, Klaatu states, with their energies turned toward higher goals. Klaatu informs the crowd, "Your choice is simple: join us and live in peace, or pursue your present course and face obliteration." With a final smile for Helen, Klaatu then leaves with Gort.
In Seattle, Washington, Zack Mayo finds his father, Byron Mayo, in bed with a prostitute. Remembering his youth, Zack recalls meeting Byron in the Philippine Islands, where his father was stationed with the United States Navy. Zack’s mother had recently committed suicide and the boy blamed his father for deserting them. Although Byron was an alcoholic philanderer, who wanted to avoid his parental responsibilities, Zack protested going home and raised himself in a community of prostitutes and thieves. Now grown up, Zack announces to his father that he is joining the Navy to become a pilot. Despite Byron’s objections, Zack drives his motorcycle to the Port Rainier Naval Air Station and joins a group of new recruits. Drill instructor Sergeant Emil Foley warns the men and women that they must devote six years of their lives to the Navy and reprimands enlistee Sid Worley for failing to refer to him as “Sir.” When Zack snickers at Foley’s sexually suggestive language, Foley yells at him for looking him in the eye. Foley cautions the recruits that he will use any means necessary to weed out those who are unworthy of being pilots. Meanwhile, at a nearby paper factory, employees Paula Pokrifki and Lynette Pomeroy finish their work and head to the base to look for mates. With shaved heads and new uniforms, the recruits file into their rooms, then follow Foley’s command to line up outside. When a young woman named Casey Seeger laughs at Sid and Zack’s comments about people who feign pregnancy as an excuse to get married, Foley punishes them with fifty push-ups. Paula and Lynette walk past and tell Zack and Sid that they’ll see them in a month’s time when they are on “liberty.” During training, Foley pushes the endurance of his class and complains they are the worst he has ever seen. Back in the dormitory, Zack’s roommate, Perryman, warns that Zack’s covert operation, polishing boots and belt buckles for cash, will get the whole unit expelled. While Zack excels at physical training, he struggles with his academic studies and when Sid discovers Zack buying polished boots and buckles from a middleman, the friends agree that Sid will help Zack pass Aerodynamics in return for free goods. Later, at a dance, Zack and Sid reunite with Paula and Lynette. While Sid and Lynette discover they both have brothers who died in the Vietnam War, Paula encourages Zack to fulfill his dream of becoming a pilot and they kiss. Sometime later, the ladies meet Zack and Sid at a bar, but the men are hassled by locals and Zack breaks a man’s nose. After driving to the Tides Inn motel, Zack regrets the fight and rejects Paula’s attempt to console him, but, after Zack apologizes, the couple spends the night together. Back at the base, trainee Topper Daniels panics in a plane crash simulator and Foley dives into the water to save him. After Topper willingly drops out of the class, Foley inspects the dorm room to discover the stashed inventory from Zack’s covert business. When Zack refuses to withdraw from training, Foley vows to break the young man’s will by subjecting him to a weekend of abuse. As Zack works out in a pool of mud, Foley tells the young man that his childhood experiences have guided his life on a course of failure. At the end of the weekend, Zack remains resolute. Although Foley decides to expel him anyway, Zack cries that he has nowhere to go and Foley agrees to give him another chance. Back at the Tides Inn, Zack and Paula make love. Zack reveals that his mother overdosed, but when he claims to be unaffected by her suicide, Paula does not believe him. Later, on a ferryboat, Lynette admits to Paula that she has considered getting pregnant to trap Sid into a marriage. After an uncomfortable dinner with Paula’s family, Zack tells her that he will move to a base in Penascola, Florida, after graduation in three weeks. When Zack says he has no interest in marriage and family, Paula shows him a picture of her “real father,” a Naval officer candidate who left her mother. The next weekend, as Zack is dismissed on “liberty,” Paula calls him from the factory, but he refuses to answer. Although Paula is determined to go after Zack, her mother, Esther, stops her, warning that Paula might resort to dishonesty to “trap” him. After dinner with Sid’s parents, a Naval captain and his wife, Zack learns that his friend is planning to marry Susan, a girl who was engaged to his brother before he died in Vietnam. When Sid admits he has a date with Lynette that evening, Zack suggests that his friend “break it off clean” with Lynette the way he did with Paula. At a bar, Zack sees Paula flirting with a flight instructor and although he apologizes, she leaves with her date. Meanwhile, at the Tides Inn, Sid asks Lynette about her late period and she swears that, if pregnant, she would take responsibility for it herself. Back at the base, Sid tells Zack that Lynette’s pregnancy is confirmed by a doctor and she refuses to get an abortion because she is Catholic. When Sid says he will marry her out of duty, Zack suggests that his friend takes too much responsibility for others, including the death of his brother. Later, during a training exercise in an oxygen decompression chamber, Sid panics and refuses to put his mask on. Zack comes to his rescue, but Foley is not impressed and Sid is expelled. When Zack swears at Foley, claiming that Sid is the best candidate in the class, Sid admits that he voluntarily dropped out and says he was only in training because of his brother. Sid takes a cab to Lynette’s house after spending his life savings on a wedding ring, but when she learns he is no longer an officer candidate, she says she is not pregnant. Although Sid still wants to get married, Lynette refuses, explaining that she only wants to marry an officer so she can live overseas. Meanwhile, Zack picks up Paula to look for his friend and she takes him to see Lynette, who tells them she rejected Sid. Checking into the Tides Inn motel, Sid swallows the engagement ring with a bottle of alcohol, and, soon after, Zack and Paula discover his dead body hanging in the shower stall. Outside, Paula consoles Zack and reminds him that he is not responsible for the deaths of his mother and Sid. Although Zack tries to brush her off, Paula argues that she is not like Lynette. When she declares her love for him, Zack runs away, claiming that he does not want to be loved. At the base, Zack requests to see Foley privately, and when Foley refuses, Zack threatens to quit. Challenging Zack to a fight, Foley is surprised by Zack’s skills, but he overcomes Zack by kicking him in the groin. As Zack lies on the ground, Foley permits him to drop out of training. However, at the candidate’s graduation ceremony, Zack takes a pledge of allegiance with his class and, upon Foley’s order, they toss their hats in celebration. When Foley personally congratulates his graduates with their first official salutes, Zack tells the drill instructor that he would not have made it through without him. As Zack drives away, he sees Foley initiating a new class using the same orders he heard on his first day. In his officer’s uniform, Zack strides through the paper factory to collect Paula and, as he carries her away, her fellow workers, including Esther and Lynette, applaud.
Cast: James Stewart, Murray Hamilton, Patricia Smith
Directors: Billy Wilder
Producer: Leland Hayward, Billy Wilder
Writer: Billy Wilder, Wendell Mayes, Charles Lederer
Editor: Arthur P. Schmidt
Cinematographer: Robert Burks, J. Peverell Marley
Genre: Biography
Production Company: Leland Hayward Productions, Inc., Billy Wilder Productions, Inc.
Composer: Franz Waxman
In 1927, in a hotel near New York’s Roosevelt Field, air pilot Charles A. “Slim” Lindbergh has been waiting for seven days for the rain to stop, so that he can embark on what he hopes will be man’s first successful nonstop trans-Atlantic flight to Paris. While Lindbergh lies sleepless, his friend, B. F. “Frank” Mahoney, guards his hotel room door from the numerous reporters who have waited with him for a break in the weather. In his room, Lindbergh reminisces about his former days as an air mail pilot flying over the Midwest: On a wintry night flight to Chicago, Lindbergh lands his antiquated De Haviland in a tiny air field to gas up. Although snow seems imminent, Lindbergh takes off, unaware that the Chicago landing field has closed due to snow. While in the air, Lindbergh’s plane ices up and stalls, forcing him to parachute out with the mailbag. Continuing his journey by train, Lindbergh meets a suspender salesman who, recognizing he is an aviator, reports that two airmen died competing for the Orteig prize to be awarded to the first pilots to fly across the Atlantic nonstop. His interest piqued, Lindbergh calls Columbia Aircraft Corporation in New York City from the diner at St. Louis’ Lambert Flying Field. Pretending to represent a group of prominent businessmen planning to buy a plane to compete in the trans-Atlantic race, Lindbergh is quoted the price of $15,000 for a Belanca plane. For the next six weeks, Lindbergh proposes his idea about entering the competition to St. Louis financiers. Eventually, with the help of his flying student, Harry Knight, Lindbergh meets with bank president Harold Bixby and other prominent St. Louis citizens. He explains to the group that, according to his calculations, flying nonstop, he can cross the ocean in forty hours in a single-engine plane by stripping the craft of all non-essential weight, thus allowing room for extra fuel tanks. The men are excited by Lindbergh’s vision and create a name for the plane, Spirit of St. Louis . With a $15,000 check provided by them, Lindbergh proceeds to New York, but upon arriving there, is told by Columbia’s president that the company will not sell the plane unless they choose the pilot. Dispirited, Lindbergh returns to St. Louis, where his sponsors immediately send him to San Diego to check out a small aircraft factory, Ryan Company. There he meets Frank, the president who promises to build a plane in ninety days. At the factory, Frank, Lindbergh and Ryan’s chief engineer agree upon a design that puts the gas tank in front. Although it blocks Lindbergh’s forward view, he is confident that he can use side windows and a periscope to compensate. To further decrease the weight, Lindbergh refuses to install all heavy indicator panels and plans to navigate by “dead reckoning,” using the stars, sun and magnetic field. In the race to complete the plane ahead of schedule, workers at the factory agree to work twenty-four hour shifts. Meanwhile, a radio broadcast reports that a team of two pilots, who were vying for the Orteig prize, were killed flight-testing a plane. The Ryan plane is completed in sixty-three days, but it seems all for nothing, as two French fliers competing for the prize take off for New York. Confident that the pilots will succeed, Lindbergh flies the Ryan to St. Louis, where he apologizes to Bixby about losing the prize money to the French fliers, thus depriving his backers of the opportunity to recoup their investment. However, Bixby reports that the Frenchmen, now missing, are believed to have gone down from ice on their wings. Although other pilots are preparing to attempt the crossing, the businessmen are reluctant to risk Lindbergh’s life. Determined to carry on, Lindbergh explains that the dead pilots would understand his resolve and proceeds as planned. At the New York hotel, where reporters type that he is sleeping like a baby, Lindbergh breaks out of his reverie and worries about building enough speed to take off in the mud. To decrease the weight of his plane, if only by a pound, Lindbergh unpacks his toothbrush, razor and extra shirt. He also unpacks the St. Christopher medal given to him by his student, Father Hussman, and reminisces how the priest’s special prayers for every occasion seemed to compensate for his poor flying skills. Finally, unable to sleep, Lindbergh goes to the airport, where his plane waits, filled with three hundred gallons of gas. To decrease the plane’s weight by twenty pounds, he eliminates the parachute. Limited space in the compartment necessitates placing the magnetic compass in an awkward position, so he determines that he needs a small mirror to see it. From the crowd waiting to watch the take-off, a young woman offers her mirror, which is then glued into place. Surreptitiously, Frank slips the St. Christopher’s medal into Lindbergh’s lunch bag. After a risky take-off, during which Lindbergh barely tops the trees, he discovers he has a stowaway, a fly, and passes time by calculating whether the insect flying within the plane adds weight. Every hour, Lindbergh switches fuel tanks to keep the load balanced. After passing over Cape Cod, he realizes his foot is numb and that he has not slept in twenty-eight hours. This prompts memories of sleeping on railroad tracks, short bunk beds, and under a windmill. When Lindbergh begins to doze, the fly, which he named “Jasper,” awakens him by alighting on his face. Passing over Nova Scotia, Lindbergh spots a motorcyclist below and remembers his own Harley-Davidson, which he traded for his first plane on which he taught himself to fly. Eleven hours from New York, and with 1,900 miles of open water to cover before reaching Ireland, Lindbergh sees mountain peaks and wonders if the downed pilots are lost there. His own dangerous stunts come to mind and he recalls performing in a “Flying Circus.” During his sixteenth hour of flight, as darkness falls, he worries that the plane’s cylinder might crack from the cold. The sight of a “white ship,” which he soon realizes is an iceberg, is evidence that he is near the Arctic Circle. Exhausted, he longs to land on one and sleep, and remembers the time he landed an old clunker of a plane at Brooks Field army base. After eighteen hours of flight, the plane’s wings ice up, and when the engine stalls, he turns the plane toward warmer air. As the stalled plane begins to plummet, he prepares to bail out, but the ice breaks off and the engine resumes running. Upon returning to his course, Lindbergh discovers that his compass has become inoperable, thus forcing him to resort to flying by the stars. By dawn, he is so tired that he cannot do calculations and falls asleep, causing the plane to circle and descend, but sunlight reflecting off the mirror awakens him in time to regain control of the plane. A seagull alerts him to the nearness of land, and he soon realizes that he has reached Ireland ahead of schedule. When he prepares to eat his sandwich, he finds the St. Christopher’s medal and hangs it on the dashboard. At the coast of France he turns northeast to follow the Seine River, noting he has only ninety-eight miles to go. Anxiety strikes when his engines again cut out, until he realizes he forgot to switch gas tanks. With a flick of the switch, he remedies the problem and the plane continues. Evening falls and he sees the lights of Paris. Flying toward Le Bourget airfield, he is bewildered to see spotlights and crowds of people. Exhaustion causes him to panic as he lands and he cries out one of Father Hussman’s prayers, “Oh, God help me!” On the ground, hordes of people rush to Lindbergh, blind him with camera flashes and carry him triumphantly to the hangar, to which others are dragging his plane. Tired and confused, Lindbergh eventually realizes that the crowd is cheering for his great achievement. Upon Lindbergh’s return to New York, the celebrations continue with a huge parade in his honor.
Cast: Sissy Spacek, Tommy Lee Jones, Beverly D'Angelo
Directors: Michael Apted
Producer: Bernard Schwartz, Bob Larson
Writer: Tom Rickman
Editor: Arthur Schmidt
Cinematographer: Ralf D. Bode
Genre: Drama
Production Company: Universal Pictures
In Butcher Hollow, Kentucky, thirteen-year-old Loretta Webb delivers a lunch pail to her coal miner father, Ted, and is mesmerized by former soldier, Doolittle “Mooney” Lynn, who wins a bet that he can scale a nearby mountain in his jeep. At home, Ted gives Loretta a dress, but the other children are jealous. However, Ted insists that when girls become women they should have pretty things. At a community dance and pie auction, Mooney steps in as auctioneer, and ends up outbidding a local boy for Loretta’s chocolate pie. However, it proves to be inedible because Loretta accidentally used salt instead of sugar. The mistake does not dampen Mooney’s affection because he walks her home after she refuses to ride in his jeep. He says the army made him realize that the world is a big place, and he has no interest in being a coal miner. He plans to do bigger things. Soon, Mooney takes Loretta on an exhilarating jeep ride, racing around town. When Loretta returns, her father beats her with a switch for running off. She admits she is in love with Mooney, but Clara, her mother, thinks Mooney is wild, and warns her daughter not to see him anymore. One day, Mooney visits the Webb home, shows Loretta a wad of money he earned at work, and asks her to be his wife. Ted and Clara reluctantly give Mooney their blessing, and he promises he will never beat Loretta or take her far away from her family. After the couple is married, they spend their wedding night in a cold, shabby motel. Mooney roughly mounts his new wife in bed, and Loretta loses her virginity. Later, Mooney confesses that Loretta needs to improve her cooking, her cleaning, and her lovemaking. When he gives her a sex manual to read, she asks for more of his patience and understanding. Soon, Mooney sends her home, and she learns that she is pregnant. Mooney comes to town to tell Loretta he is leaving Kentucky for a logging job in Washington state, and he will send for her when he has enough money, but she reminds him that by doing so he will break his promise to her father. Mooney tells her she must decide whether she wants to be daddy’s girl or his wife. Soon, Ted waits with his pregnant daughter at the train station, and has a premonition he will never see her again. Several years later, Loretta and Mooney have four children, and she sings them to sleep. Loretta asks for a wedding ring for her anniversary, but he buys a guitar for her at a pawnshop instead. Although disappointed, Loretta teaches herself to play, and writes songs. Later, Mooney takes Loretta to a local bar, and arranges for her to sing with the band. When she insists that she cannot sing in front of strangers, Mooney bullies her. As a result of the audience’s enthusiasm, Mooney takes Loretta and the children on the road to record her first single. He takes publicity photographs, books Loretta to play at local “honky tonks,” and sends her records to radio stations. Meanwhile, the couple receives word that Ted has died, and return home for his funeral. Loretta sits by his grave, feeling guilty and sad. Soon, Mooney asks Loretta if she truly wants to be a professional singer because they need to introduce Loretta’s music to disc jockeys. When she admits that she wants to sing for a living, they leave the children with her mother. At one radio station, they persuade a disc jockey to play her song. From there, the couple travels to many local stations in the South, where Loretta does short interviews. Along the way, a deejay tells them that Loretta’s record has climbed to No. 14 on the country music charts. Later, they arrive at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee, and Loretta is given a chance to perform on an Ernest Tubb variety show. Still later, Loretta performs at Ernest’s Record Shop “Mid-Nite Jamboree,” and dedicates a Patsy Cline tune to Patsy’s recovery in the hospital. Afterward, Charlie Dick, Patsy’s husband, invites Loretta to meet Patsy. At the hospital, Patsy says she wanted to meet the gal who sang at the Opry seventeen times without sleeping with someone to get there. The women become friends and Patsy invites her to join her tour. Later, Loretta joins Patsy on stage, and Mooney orders her to wipe off her makeup, but she ignores him. Still later, Loretta finds Mooney in the arms of a prostitute inside a car. She orders him back to the tour bus, warns him never to fall to temptation again, and writes a song about the incident on the bus. One day, Loretta and Patsy return from a shopping trip, and Mooney again orders Loretta to remove her makeup. When Loretta refuses, they fight in the parking lot until she leaves in a car with Patsy and Charlie. Mooney returns home with a bandaged hand, and admits it is time for him to get another job. Loretta is willing to stop performing for the sake of their marriage, but Mooney advises her that successful people do not quit. He feels his job is done, and she needs a professional manager. Meanwhile, he gives her the wedding ring she has wanted for so long, and they make up. Later, Loretta tells Patsy she is pregnant again, and Patsy gives her some of her old maternity clothes. When she returns from doing a benefit in Kansas City, Patsy says they will go shopping for the things Loretta needs. However, Patsy is killed in a plane crash. Later, Loretta gives birth to twins she names “Peggy” and “Patsy.” She tells Mooney she will return to work soon. As Loretta starts touring, her songs become hits and her fans multiply. She and Mooney buy a home in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee, for her large family. Loretta asks Mooney to go out on tour to watch her interests. One night, Loretta is too exhausted to perform, but Mooney insists that she sing. On stage, she explains how hectic her life is, and collapses as she leaves. Back home, Loretta recuperates, and the couple makes plans to build a new house. Renewed in spirit, Loretta goes back on the road, and sings about being a coal miner’s daughter.
Luke Jackson is arrested for unscrewing the tops from a row of parking meters while on a drunken spree in a small Southern town. After the trial, he is sentenced to 2 years of labor on a chain gang. A loner who maintains his aloofness even while working in the blazing sun, Luke soon antagonizes another prisoner, Dragline, the acknowledged leader of the chain gang. The tension between the two men mounts until they finally have a fight in which Dragline beats Luke but is unable to make him give up. Luke's skill at poker, plus his refusal to break under pressure from the sadistic guards, win him the respect of Dragline and the admiration of the other inmates. A short time after Luke receives a farewell visit from his dying mother, a telegram arrives informing him that she is dead. Unable to bear his confinement, Luke saws a hole in the floor under his bunk and escapes; but he is captured, brutally beaten, and put in ankle chains. Undaunted, he breaks out again but is recaptured. Every effort is made to break his will, and he is bludgeoned and overworked until he begs the guards for mercy. Upon seeing Luke betray the myth of the indomitable hero, the other men treat him with contempt. Then, without warning, he escapes in a dump truck, followed by Dragline. Taking refuge in a church, Luke sends Dragline away and attempts to settle his score with God. Partly out of love for Luke, partly out of fear for his own safety, Dragline returns with the guards. Rather than surrender, Luke stands before a window and shouts his defiance until he is silenced by a bullet. The hysterical Dragline is beaten into submission and then returns to the chain gang where he perpetuates the legend of Cool Hand Luke.
When Judith Traherne, a gay, irrepressible member of the Long Island horsey set begins to suffer from chronic headaches, her family physician, Dr. Parsons, insists that she see Dr. Frederick Steele, a brilliant young brain surgeon. Judith arrives at Steele's office on the day that he is to retire from surgery because of the death of one of his patients, but, intrigued by Judith's symptoms and charmed by her spirit, he postpones his retirement and takes her case. After performing delicate brain surgery on Judith, Steele discovers that her tumor is malignant and that she has only ten months to live. Her doctors decide to hide the grim truth from Judith, but Steele is unable to coneal the facts from her best friend, Ann King. After her recovery from surgery, Judith and Steele fall in love and plan to be married. While packing for their move to Vermont, Judith accidentally comes across her case history file and learns of her hopeless prognosis. Angered at Steele and Ann's betrayal, Judith spurns Steele and begins a frivolous pursuit of pleasure, hiding her heartbreak with deceitful gaiety. When Steele admonishes her to find peace so that she can meet death beautifully and finely, however, Judith realizes that she must extract from life a full measure of happiness in the few brief months she has left with the man she loves. She and Steele are married and decide to carry on as if an entire life stretched ahead of them, ignoring the shadow of death that is ever present. Then, one morning, death comes to Judith and she faces it with courage and dignity, thus winning a victory over the forces of darkness.
Producer: Danny DeVito, Michael Shamberg, Stacey Sher, John Hardy, Carla Santos Shamberg
Writer: Susannah Grant
Editor: Anne V. Coates
Cinematographer: Ed Lachman
Genre: Drama
Production Company: Universal Pictures , Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Jersey Films
Composer: Thomas Newman
Erin Brockovich, a twice-divorced, unemployed mother of two young children and an infant, consults lawyer Ed Masry of the Van Nuys, California, firm Masry and Vititoe, regarding claims for injuries she suffered in an automobile accident that was not her fault. Although Ed assures her that he can get her a large settlement, he loses the case. Sometime later, Erin, who has been unable to get work, bullies her way into a job as a file clerk with Ed’s firm. Erin also meets a new neighbor, George, who has a passion for motorcycles and whom her children adore. One day, while filing, Erin comes across a pro-bono case against the San Francisco-based Pacific Gas & Electric Co. that Ed is handling on behalf of residents of Hinkley, California. When Erin asks Ed if she can assist with the case, he absent-mindedly agrees and Erin soon drives to Hinkley. There she meets with housewife Donna Jensen, who explains that both she and her husband Peter are seriously ill and that PG&E, a significant presence in the community, has been paying the family’s medical bills as well as trying to buy their house. The Jensens suspect that hexavalent chromium, known as Chromium 6, in use at the PG&E plant, may be causing their illness. Later, Erin learns from a UCLA professor that chromium 6 is added to water as an anti-corrosive and that certain levels of chromium 6 contamination can cause all kinds of illnesses, some of which can prove fatal. On the professor’s recommendation, Erin goes to the Lahontan Regional Water Board, which serves Hinkley, and by playing up to the naïve young, male clerk, is able to browse through hundreds of old records. Her rearch uncovers a cleanup and abatement order to PG&E to remove hexavelent chromium, because it is contaminating groundwater over a large area. When Erin returns to Ed’s office, she learns that she has been fired, as he had misunderstood what she was doing. At home, although Erin is reluctant to become involved with another man, she begins a relationship with George. Later, Ed comes to see Erin, who is still unemployed, to tell her that the UCLA professor has examined the papers she found in Hinkley and concluded that the levels of chromium there could be responsible for the cancer in the Jensen family. Ed apologizes to Erin and, after she apprises him of her other discoveries, is persuaded to rehire her, with a raise and benefits. Weeks later, a PG&E representative meets with Ed and Erin and informs them that the company has made a generous offer to buy the Jensens' home, but denies any responsibility for their medical expenses. Soon, Tom and Mandy Robinson, who used to live across the street from the Jensens, come to tell Erin that Mandy has suffered five miscarriages and that their chickens have died with strange tumors, prompting them to wonder if they are also victims of the chromium use. Ed and Erin then go to Hinkley, meet with other residents and inform them that his firm will represent them against PG&E. If they win the case, his fee will be forty percent of whatever is awarded, but if they lose, his fee will be zero. Erin then interviews several other families with serious illnesses, hoping to add more families to the claim. Although Ed, who is close to retirement age, begins to worry about battling a giant company like PG&E, knowing that they could keep him in court, at great expense, for years, he is willing to continue, if Erin can produce significant evidence. Erin then collects water samples around Hinkley. Nine months later, Ed and Erin attend a community picnic in Hinkley, seeking to add more names to their growing list of four hundred and eleven plaintiffs. The case is costing a great deal and Ed is forced to take a second mortgage on his house. He feels that the punitive damages claim hinges on whether the PG&E head office in San Francisco was aware of what was going on in Hinkley and uses a legal ploy of bringing a preliminary suit against PG&E in the San Bernardino County Court for damages and medical expenses due to ground water contamination. Although PG&E submits a motion to strike the claim, the judge rules in favor of the residents and reprimands PG&E’s lawyers, who later offer Ed and Erin a twenty-million dollar settlement, which they decline. Meanwhile, Erin’s relationship with George and her children is deteriorating, as she is seldom home. George asks her to quit her job, but she cannot because it has brought her recognition, along with great self-respect, and she no longer is willing to adjust her life to the needs of the men in her life. Although Erin asks George to stay, he reluctantly leaves. Erin is angered when she learns that Ed has engaged a new partner, Kurt Potter, an expert in toxic cases, to work on the Hinkley litigation, but Kurt has given Ed a check covering all expenses to date. Later, Ed presents Erin with a check for five thousand dollars and buys her a new car. The case now has six hundred and thirty-four plaintiffs and Kurt devises a new legal strategy. Feeling that if they go to trial, PG&E could stretch out the matter with appeals for ten years or more, he recommends that they agree to binding arbitration whereby the case is heard only by a judge, whose decision is final and cannot be appealed. Erin reminds Ed that the residents are expecting a trial, but he agrees with Kurt. Erin, who feels that Ed is pushing her out of the case, has difficulties with Teresa, Kurt’s prim, condescending co-counsel, but surprises her with her knowledge of the plaintiffs’ backgrounds. Kurt tells Ed that they must establish that the PG&E head office knew that the water was bad prior to 1987 and did nothing about it. In order to use the binding arbitration strategy, it is necessary that ninety percent of the plaintiffs agree to it, so Ed addresses a meeting at the Hinkley community center and eventually convinces almost everyone that this is their best chance to get money needed to meet ongoing medical expenses. However, they are still about two hundred and fifty signatures short, so Erin stays in a nearby motel and goes door-to-door, seeking the additional signatures. She asks George to come there and look after the children and he agrees. One night, after securing a bartender’s signature, Erin is approached by Charles Embry, whom she thinks is trying to pick her up, but Charles tells her that he used to work at the plant and that his forty-one-year-old cousin has just died from cancer after working in the water cooling towers. Charles tells Erin that he was assigned to destroy a lot of documents, most of which were dull, but some of which were related to water readings in holding pools and test wells. After getting information from the documents that Charles did not destroy, Ed and Erin present Kurt with the necessary six hundred and thirty-four signatures plus incriminating memos from the PG&E head office to the Hinkley plant. Later, Erin and George return to Hinkley, and Erin takes him to meet Donna. Erin tells Donna the news that the judge has ruled that PG&E will pay the plaintiffs three hundred and thirty-three million dollars. She then tells the overjoyed and relieved Jensens that they will receive five million dollars. Back in the office, the still-contentious Erin is working on another case when Ed gives her a bonus check, but warns her that the figure is not exactly what they discussed. Erin is outraged that Ed is underestimating her value, but rendered speechless when she sees that the check is for two million dollars.
Cast: Cary Grant, Victor McLaglen, Douglas Fairbanks Jr.
Directors: George Stevens
Producer: George Stevens
Writer: Joel Sayre, Fred Guiol, Ben Hecht, Charles MacArthur
Editor: Henry Berman, John Lockert, John Sturges
Cinematographer: Joseph H. August
Genre: Adventure
Production Company: RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Composer: Alfred Newman
At a British army post in India, native water carrier Gunga Din dreams of becoming a soldier. When the regiment learns that the telegraph wires to one of their outposts have been cut, Sergeants Cutter, MacChesney and Ballantine are sent to investigate. The three sergeants find the compound in the hands of a fiendish band of killers known as the Thugges, members of a fanatic religious order that worships the goddess Kali and has sworn to annihilate the British in India. The sergeants fend off the fanatics' attack, and upon their triumphant return to the post, Ballantine announces that he is foresaking the army to marry Emmy Stebbins and take a job in a tea company. His announcement is met with consternation by his pals, who immediately begin to scheme to keep their buddy in the service. Meanwhile, Gunga Din leads Cutter, who is obsessed with discovering hidden treasure, to a temple of gold, which, they discover, is the holy shrine of the Thugges. As he decoys the Thugges, Cutter sends Gunga Din to the post for reinforcements. MacChesney uses Cutter's dangerous position to trick Ballantine into reenlisting in the rescue mission, and the two ride out, leaving Ballantine's sweetheart behind. The sergeants have misunderstood Gunga Din however, and believing that Cutter is being held captive by priests, arrive with no reinforcements. Captured by the Thugges, the three sergeants watch helplessly as the Scottish troops march in to the fanatics' ambush. Then Gunga Din, imbued with the soldier's spirit, realizes his dream by sounding the bugle to warn the troops, heroically sacrificing his life for his sense of duty. Saved by Gunga Din's warning, the British defeat the Thugges. Later, Ballantine decides that his place is in the army, and Gunga Din is appointed a corporal in the British army and is buried with military honors.
Cast: Paul Newman, Charlotte Rampling, Jack Warden
Directors: Sidney Lumet
Producer: Richard D. Zanuck, David Brown, Burtt Harris
Writer: David Mamet
Editor: Peter Frank
Cinematographer: Andrzej Bartkowiak
Genre: Drama
Production Company: Zanuck/Brown Productions, Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation
Composer: Johnny Mandel
While attending the wake of a former acquaintance, struggling Boston, Massachusetts, attorney Francis “Frank” P. Galvin offers his business card to members of the family, but the gesture offends the grieving son, and Frank is thrown out of the funeral home. Later, he becomes intoxicated and destroys his office until his former law associate, Mickey Morrisey, exasperatedly informs him that he is due to appear in court in two weeks for a medical malpractice lawsuit. Leaving a note for his secretary, he returns to the bar before trudging to the hospital to observe his client, a brain-damaged patient now surviving on life support. Back at his office, he meets the patient’s sister, Sally Doneghy, and reviews the case: during the birth of her third child in an Irish Catholic hospital four years earlier, Deborah Ann Kaye was given the wrong anaesthetic, vomited into her oxygen mask, and stopped breathing. Abandoned by her husband, the comatose Deborah was left in Sally’s care, but the overburdened sister finally decided it was time to “let go” by filing a lawsuit and accepting her husband Kevin’s job transfer to Arizona. Upon hearing their story, Frank is confident that the Archdiocese of Boston will wish to avoid taking the case to court and offer a settlement sufficient to cover the costs of Deborah’s continuing medical care. Meanwhile, the hospital’s Bishop Brophy reviews Frank’s once-prestigious law career, which began its steep decline after he was once accused of jury tampering. Although he hopes to keep the case out of the public eye, Brophy and his aides sense that Frank is scared to challenge them in the courtroom. Gathering witnesses, Frank visits renowned anesthesiologist Dr. David Gruber, who surprises Frank by pressuring him to take the suit to court in order to punish Deborah’s doctors. After agreeing to reconvene for a formal deposition, Frank triumphantly heads to the bar for a drink, where he briefly speaks with a woman searching the newspaper listings for an apartment. He later returns to Deborah’s room in the hospital and is deeply affected by her misfortune. When Bishop Brophy offers him a $210,000 settlement, Frank rejects the money, realizing the immorality of collecting a paycheck without convicting the doctors responsible. Mickey criticizes his decision, but the two resolutely review evidence as the Archdiocese’s defending lawyer, Ed Concannon, briefs his large legal team on the details of the case and analyze Frank’s refusal to settle. At the end of the workday, Frank returns to the bar and spots the same woman, who introduces herself as a recent divorcée named Laura Fischer. After taking her to dinner, he invites her to his drab apartment to have sex, and she laughs at him for keeping a photograph of his former wife on his bedside table. Convincing Concannon and the skeptical Judge Hoyle that he plans to pursue the case, Frank timidly interviews his jurors. On his way to meet Dr. Gruber, he is confronted by Kevin Doneghy, who is furious about the decision to bypass the settlement. Unable to find Dr. Gruber in his office, Frank learns that his primary witness has since fled to the Caribbean, panics, and requests for an extension from the judge. Annoyed, Hoyle refuses, so Frank desperately, and unsuccessfully, attempts to appeal the Archdiocese’s offer. As Concannon rigorously coaches his witnesses, Frank hastily finds an alternate anesthesiologist named Dr. Lionel Thompson, and Deborah’s obstinate obstetrics nurse, Maureen Rooney. She refuses to testify, however, calling Frank an acquisitive lawyer and slamming the door in his face. That night, Dr. Thompson rehearses his answers for the courtroom, but his inexperience and unfamiliarity with medical terms destroys Frank’s confidence. When he mopes about his failure, Laura refuses to show him sympathy and pressures him to “grow up.” As the trial ensues the next morning, Concannon undermines Dr. Thompson’s authority by pointing out that he is frequently paid to testify in malpractice suits. In addition, Judge Hoyle impatiently interrupts Frank’s questioning in order to speed up the proceedings. During the lunch recess, Frank angrily threatens to file for a mistrial before returning to the courtroom and berating his next witness, Dr. Robert S. Towler, claiming that he has lied about the length of time it took to restore Deborah’s heartbeat after she suffered cardiac arrest. That evening, Frank dismisses Dr. Thompson and then tricks Maureen Rooney into telling him where to find another operating nurse, Kaitlin Costello Price, whose notes indicated that Deborah had eaten a full meal one hour prior to surgery. As Laura continues her relationship with Frank, she visits Concannon in his office, where the lawyer welcomes her back to her former job as a member of his firm. After using telephone records to contact Kaitlin, Frank tracks her down in New York City and pleads for her to appear in court. Laura agrees to meet Frank for lunch, but Mickey finds a paycheck from Concannon’s firm in her purse and rushes to the city to tell him of her deception. Upon seeing her, Frank punches Laura in the face and returns to Boston. Now refusing Mickey’s suggestion for mistrial, Frank surprises the court by calling Kaitlin to the witness stand to negate Dr. Towler’s claim that Deborah had fasted for nine hours before the procedure. Concannon shows her a conflicting document and accuses her of lying, but she procures a personal copy of the form, revealing that Dr. Towler blackmailed her into changing the number to protect his career following a series of problematic deliveries. As she leaves the room in tears, Concannon objects to Kaitlin’s unexpected appearance and her use of unapproved evidence. In agreement, Judge Hoyle instructs the jury to entirely disregard her testimony, but Bishop Brophy worries that the jurors may still believe her story. During his final appeal, Frank urges them to consider their religious values and humanity’s intrinsic sense of justice. After deliberation, the jury rules in favor of Deborah Ann Kaye and agrees to award her family a sum much higher than originally established by the plaintiff. Frank sees Laura standing outside the courtroom after the victory, but she disappears before he can approach. That evening, she telephones him from her hotel room, but he leans back in his office chair, letting the call ring unanswered.
Producer: Stuart Millar, Guy Trosper, Harold Hecht
Writer: Guy Trosper
Editor: Edward Mann
Cinematographer: Burnett Guffey
Genre: Biography
Production Company: Norma Productions, Inc.
Composer: Elmer Bernstein
In 1909, Robert Stroud kills a man in Alaska and is sentenced to 12 years imprisonment. He forfeits his chance for parole when he knifes another prisoner. While serving time at Leavenworth, he murders a prison guard who refuses to let his mother visit him, and he is condemned to death. Before his execution can be carried out, however, his mother visits Mrs. Woodrow Wilson, who persuades the president to commute Stroud's sentence to life imprisonment. The prison warden, Harvey Shoemaker, informs Stroud that he will spend the rest of his life in solitary confinement. One day during exercise period in the isolation yard, he finds a wounded sparrow and takes it to his cell. Secretly he nurses the bird back to health and then teaches it to perform tricks. When Warden Shoemaker is replaced by a kindlier man, Stroud is given permission to keep his pet and also to have other birds in his cell. Through endless study, he becomes an authority on caged birds and eventually writes a textbook on their diseases. After winning a prize in a magazine competition, he is visited by Stella Johnson, a lonely widow who suggests that they manufacture his remedies. A change in the prison set-up threatens to deprive Stroud of his birds, but he finds a legal loophole that will permit him to marry Stella while he is still in solitary confinement. The newspaper publicity which is created permits him to carry on his work. Then he is abruptly transferred to Alcatraz where his old nemesis, Shoemaker, is warden. When Stroud is informed that he can no longer keep his birds, he shifts his interest to caged men and writes a book on penology. Shoemaker, however, has the work confiscated. Stroud acts as a peacemaker in a prison riot and is transferred to a minimum security farm at Springfield, Missouri. As he leaves Alcatraz, he is met by Tom Gaddis, a social worker and writer who became Stroud's defender by writing Bird Man of Alcatraz in 1955.
Producer: Richard D. Zanuck, Lili Fini Zanuck, David Brown
Writer: Alfred Uhry
Editor: Mark Warner
Cinematographer: Peter James
Genre: Comedy-drama
Production Company: The Zanuck Company
Composer: Hans Zimmer
In 1948 Atlanta, Georgia, septuagenarian Daisy Werthan loses control of her car as she backs it out of her garage. Coming to assess the damage, her son Boolie maintains that it was her fault, while Daisy argues the car malfunctioned. Later, Boolie, who runs the family business, Werthan Bag & Cotton Co., interviews Hoke Colburn to be his mother’s chauffeur. When he learns he will be driving Boolie’s mother, Hoke asks why Daisy is not doing her own hiring, and Boolie admits his mother is high-strung. Since Boolie will be paying his salary, he tells Hoke that Daisy can say whatever she wants but will never have the power to fire him. On his first day of work, Hoke meets Idella, Daisy’s African American maid, who says she does not envy his position. Meanwhile, Daisy tells Boolie she does not want a chauffeur hanging around the house, but Boolie instructs her to make the best of it. That afternoon, as Hoke talks to Idella in the kitchen, Daisy barges in and forbids him from conversing with the maid. She then reprimands him for overstepping his duties by dusting light bulbs and tending to her flowers. Hoke suggests he could plant a vegetable garden, but Daisy says she can plant her own garden if she wants. One day, Daisy announces plans to go grocery shopping. Hoke readies himself to drive her, but she insists on taking the streetcar. Hoke argues that a rich, Jewish lady like herself has no place carrying her own groceries on the streetcar, but she tells him that she grew up poor. Driving alongside her, Hoke follows Daisy down the street until she becomes embarrassed and gets in the car. From the backseat, she urges him to conserve gas by driving slowly and questions the route he is taking. Over time, Daisy accepts more rides from Hoke, although she does not like drawing attention to the arrangement and reprimands him for waiting for her in front of the Jewish temple after services. Daisy tells Hoke she does not want her friends to think she is pretending to be rich, but when the chauffeur reminds her that she is rich, she ignores him. Soon after, Daisy calls Boolie to her house, where she presents an opened can of salmon that Hoke stole and rants that she has no privacy anymore. Boolie loses his patience and tells her to leave him out of it just as Hoke interrupts, arriving for work with a replacement can of salmon. Chagrined, Daisy drops her complaint. At a cemetery, she tends to her late husband’s grave and asks Hoke to place flowers at the grave of a friend named Bauer. Hoke sheepishly reveals that he cannot read, and Daisy, a former teacher, tells him he can if he knows the alphabet and helps him sound out the letters of her friend’s name. On Christmas, Daisy goes to a party at Boolie’s house despite disapproving of her daughter-in-law Florine’s penchant for the Christian holiday. Before going inside, Daisy gives Hoke a wrapped gift but insists it is not a Christmas present. Hoke unwraps it to find a writing workbook and promises Daisy he will not tell anyone about the gift. When Daisy must travel to Mobile, Alabama, for her brother Walter’s birthday, she anxiously awaits Hoke’s arrival that morning. On the drive, they stop to eat lunch by the side of the road and Daisy recalls her first trip to Mobile in 1888, when she saw the ocean for the first time. Racist police officers stop and ask Hoke for his registration. Daisy states that the car belongs to her and, when they ask about her name, she says Werthan is “of German derivation.” As the police walk away, one of them jokes that an old Jew and an old African American are a sorry sight together. Nearing Mobile that evening, Hoke stops the car to urinate on the side of the road, but Daisy forbids it, saying he should have used the bathroom at a service station. Hoke points out that African Americans cannot use the bathrooms at service stations in this area and contends that he is a man of almost seventy years and should not be treated like a child. Hoke stands his ground, and Daisy panics when he leaves her alone in the car. Back in Atlanta, Hoke tells Boolie that his cousin’s wife, Jeanette, tried to hire Hoke in Alabama, telling him he could name his salary. Boolie agrees to give him a raise to seventy-five dollars per week, a sum that would appall Daisy, who believes anything over seven dollars per week is “highway robbery.” Sometime later, Idella dies on the job and Hoke attends her funeral with the Werthans. Afterward, Daisy and Hoke tend to Daisy’s vegetable garden together. On the morning of a winter storm, Hoke braves the icy roads to bring Daisy coffee. Although Boolie calls to check on his mother, she surprises him by reporting that Hoke is there to keep her company. Later, on the way to temple, Daisy and Hoke encounter a traffic jam, and Hoke learns from another driver that the temple has been bombed. Hoke recalls a time his friend’s father was lynched, but Daisy refuses to see the connection between racism and anti-Semitism. Sometime later, Daisy buys tickets to a dinner honoring Martin Luther King. Although she wants Boolie to go with her, he refuses to attend as it might hurt his business relationships. He tells Daisy to take Hoke as her date, but she does not mention the idea until they are on the way there, laughing it off as “silly.” Annoyed, Hoke tells Daisy she should not have tried to ask him at the last minute, then listens to Martin Luther King’s speech from inside the car while Daisy sits inside. Daisy grows older and more feeble, and one day, Hoke arrives at work to find her in a delusional state. She believes she is teaching school again and frantically searches for paperwork. Hoke calls Boolie to alert him, and, as he tries to calm her down, Daisy tells Hoke he is her best friend. After two years on the market, Daisy’s house is sold. On Thanksgiving, Hoke meets Boolie at the empty house, and they go together to visit Daisy at a nursing home. There, in the dining room, Daisy sends Boolie away at the mention of Florine, and Boolie jokes that Daisy wants Hoke to herself. She asks if Boolie is still paying Hoke, and when he confirms, she claims it is “highway robbery.” Hoke points out that Daisy has not eaten her pie, and helps feed her when she cannot use her fork.
In Arkansas, best friends Thelma Dickinson and Louise Sawyer arrange a weekend fishing trip. Thelma, a subservient housewife, is too intimidated to ask her husband, Darryl, for permission to go. Instead, she packs her bags and leaves him a note. Louise picks Thelma up in her convertible Ford Thunderbird, and Thelma presents Louise with a handgun she brought for protection. Louise is disturbed by the gun, but tells Thelma she can stow it in her purse. That evening, Thelma persuades Louise to make a pit stop at a honky-tonk. There, a man named Harlan Puckett buys them a round of drinks. Louise fends him off, but Thelma encourages her to loosen up. She says Louise’s years of waitressing have hardened her against men, and suggests she break up with her absentee boyfriend, Jimmy. Louise counters that Thelma should ditch her “loser husband.” Thelma gets drunk and dances with Harlan. When Louise goes to the bathroom, Thelma tells Harlan she has the “spins,” and he takes her outside to vomit. Afterward, he pushes her onto the hood of a car and undresses her. She resists, but he strikes her and flips her onto her stomach. Just as he is about to rape her, Louise appears with Thelma’s gun. Harlan lets Thelma go but shows no remorse, saying that he should have gone ahead and raped her. Louise loses her temper and shoots him dead. Thelma runs to get the car. As they drive away, a shocked Louise stares at the gun in her hand. Thelma suggests they go to police, but Louise thinks no one will believe their alibi after seeing Thelma flirt with Harlan. They drive to a diner, where Louise drinks coffee and tries to formulate a getaway plan. Thelma, whose nose is still bleeding from Harlan’s attack, becomes offended when Louise implies the murder was her fault because she put herself at risk. Back at the honky-tonk, Arkansas State Police detective Hal Slocumbe questions a waitress named Lena, who admits she saw Thelma dancing with Hal, but says the women were not “murdering types.” Thelma and Louise get back on the road. At dawn, Louise frets about money and asks Thelma how much she has. Thelma loses a $20 bill as she counts her cash, and announces she has $41. At a motel, Louise takes a shower and finds Thelma sulking on the bed. She accuses her of having a bad attitude and demands help, but Thelma says she already made her suggestion that they go to the police. Louise apologizes and says she is not ready to go to jail. She sends Thelma to the pool, calls her boyfriend, Jimmy, and asks him to wire her $6,700, which she promises to pay back from her savings. Although she won’t tell him what happened, he agrees to send the money to her next destination, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Meanwhile, Hal Slocumbe receives orders to issue an all-points bulletin for Thelma and Louise, and to involve the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the search. Leaving the motel, Louise outlines her plan to go to Mexico. She coaches Thelma to call her husband, Darryl, and act is if everything is normal. When they talk, Darryl distractedly yells at Thelma while watching a football game on television. She tells Darryl he is her husband, not her father, and hangs up. Outside the payphone booth, she runs into J.D., an attractive young cowboy who asks for a ride. She wants to say yes, but Louise refuses. On the road, Thelma asks how long until they are in Mexico, revealing that she wants to escape with her friend. Louise asks her to find a route on the map that does not take them through Texas. Thelma argues that Texas offers the only direct route, and asks why Louise refuses to go there. Louise will only say that Texas is not a good place for women accused of shooting a man with his pants down. On a desolate strip of road, they pass by J.D., the hitchhiking cowboy, and Thelma begs to pick him up until Louise acquiesces. Back in Arkansas, Hal gets a tip that the women may be driving a Ford Thunderbird. With that information, he tracks down Louise’s apartment and place of work. He questions Darryl Dickinson, who reveals that Thelma took a .38 revolver on the trip. Meanwhile, Thelma bonds with J.D. She tells him she first started dating Darryl when she was fourteen years old, married him at eighteen, and has mostly tolerated his bad attitude. They arrive at a motel, where Jimmy surprises Louise by delivering her money in person. He encourages her to stay the night, and says he got Thelma a room of her own. Louise forces J.D. to leave, then gives Thelma the envelope with $6,700 for safekeeping. She spends the night with Jimmy, who proposes marriage out of fear of losing her. Louise confesses that she once wanted to marry him, but not under these circumstances. Later, J.D. knocks on Thelma’s door. She lets him in and they goof around. When she learns he is an armed robber, Thelma asks him to demonstrate how he conducts a robbery, and he recites a speech he gives during hold-ups. They kiss and make love. In the morning, Jimmy offers to run away with Louise, but she declines and kisses him goodbye. Thelma joins her in the motel diner, giddily revealing that she had good sex for the first time in her life. Meanwhile, she forgot to safeguard Louise’s $6,700, and they return to the room to find J.D. has stolen it. Louise crumples to the floor and cries. Thelma assumes an uncharacteristic cool and urges her to get up. They drive west to a convenience store, where Thelma leaves Louise in the car. Minutes later, Thelma emerges with a bag of stolen cash. As they drive away, she boasts that she executed the robbery like a professional. Elsewhere, Darryl watches security camera footage, in which Thelma recites J.D.’s hold-up speech. Further west, the women drive past a gasoline tanker truck, and the driver sexually harasses them. They stop at a bar, where Louise orders Thelma to call home and, if she detects anything strange, to hang up. Thelma does so and hangs up when Darryl is nice to her. Louise deduces that police have tapped his phone. She calls back and asks to talk to whoever is in charge. Hal gets on the line, urges the women to turn themselves in for questioning, and warns that they will not make it to Mexico. That night, as they drive through the desert, Thelma, who has always wanted to travel, marvels at the landscape. Later, she laughs hysterically when she recalls Harlan’s murder. Louise tells her it is not funny and Thelma becomes somber. She asks Louise if she was raped in Texas, but Louise will not discuss it. When a policeman pulls them over for speeding, they steal his gun and lock him in the trunk of his car. Afterward, Louise worries that she ruined everything by refusing to go to police in the first place. Thelma assures her she did the right thing, and says her life would have been much worse if Harlan had raped her; she only regrets not killing him herself. Louise calls Hal again, and learns that she and Thelma have been officially charged with murder. Thelma interrupts and hangs up the receiver. However, unbeknownst to the women, the call lasted long enough for police to trace their whereabouts in Arizona. Thelma suspects Louise might be considering a plea deal, but Louise promises she is not. Thelma admits she has crossed a line, and can never go back to her old life. Louise agrees. Later that day, they encounter the rude gasoline truck driver and lure him to the side of the road, where they demand an apology. The man refuses, and they shoot up his truck, causing it to explode. They drive further into the desert, where several police cars track them. They gain a momentary lead but are forced to stop at the edge of the Grand Canyon. A helicopter appears, along with more police cars. Hal emerges from the helicopter and approaches. Thelma sees all the guns trained on them and tells Louise to keep driving. Louise realizes she wants to drive into the canyon. She kisses her friend, and the women hold hands as they plummet over the edge.
Writer: Aeneas MacKenzie, Jesse L. Lasky Jr., Jack Gariss, Fredric M. Frank
Editor: Anne Bauchens
Cinematographer: Loyal Griggs
Genre: Epic
Production Company: Paramount Pictures Corp.
Composer: Elmer Bernstein
During the rule of Rameses I in Ancient Egypt, the pharaoh is informed that the Hebrew slaves believe that a recently seen star portends the arrival of a deliverer who will free them. Wanting to subvert the deliverer, yet unwilling to kill all the Hebrew slaves, Rameses I theorizes that the deliverer must be newly born and so orders the death of every male, Hebrew infant. Jewish slave Yochabel, along with her young daughter Miriam, prepares an ark of bulrushes and places her infant son in it. Pushing the ark into the Nile, Yochabel instructs Miriam to follow it, and the girl watches as it is found by Bithiah, the pharaoh’s daughter. The recently widowed Bithiah believes that the baby was sent by her deceased husband and, naming him Moses, dismisses the concern of her servant Memnet, who warns her that the child’s swaddling cloth was made by Levite Hebrews. Declaring that her son will be a prince of Egypt, Bithiah makes Memnet vow never to reveal his origins, although the servant secretly keeps the cloth. Thirty years later, Bithiah’s brother Sethi is pharaoh, and Moses is much loved by the Egyptians, even more than Sethi’s own son, Rameses II. Rameses is deeply jealous of Moses, who has returned from Ethiopia after conquering it in Sethi’s name. Sethi chides Rameses for not completing the treasure city for his upcoming jubilee, and Rameses blames his failure on the stubbornness of the Hebrew slaves. At Rameses’ urging, Sethi sends Moses to oversee the new city’s construction, much to the chagrin of Nefretiri, the princess who must marry Sethi’s heir. Nefretiri is in love with Moses, who shares her passion, even though Sethi has not announced whether Moses or Rameses will succeed him. In Goshen, where the new city is being built, Moses supervises Baka, the cold-hearted master builder. Also driving the slaves is Dathan, a ruthless Hebrew who has become an overseer. Dathan and Baka both desire Lilia, a Hebrew slave who is in love with the stone cutter Joshua. One day, Yochabel, now an old woman, is almost crushed by the enormous stones being used to build the city. Joshua is condemned to death for attempting to save her, and Lilia then races through the crowd to find Moses and plead for his mercy. Upon examining the scene, Moses frees Yochabel and Joshua, then decrees that not only should the exhausted, starving slaves have a day of rest, they should be fed from the temple granaries. Soon the city is almost completed, and although Rameses and the greedy priests attempt to prejudice Sethi against Moses, Sethi is pleased by Moses’s progress. Sethi announces his intention to name Moses his successor, but Memnet, determined not to let a Hebrew sit on Egypt’s throne, reveals the truth of his birth to Nefretiri. Desperate to protect her beloved, Nefretiri kills Memnet, then tries to cover her actions. She confesses all to Moses, however, when he finds the swaddling cloth. Astonished by the news, Moses seeks out Yochabel, whom Nefretiri reveals is his mother. Moses finds Yochabel just as Bithiah is pleading with her to leave Egypt before Moses learns the truth, but when Yochabel cannot deny that he is her son, Moses accepts his heritage. After being welcomed by Miriam and his brother Aaron, Moses begins working in the mud pits making bricks alongside the slaves he once commanded. Although Yochabel is convinced that Moses is the deliverer, he remains doubtful about the god of the Hebrews. Later, Nefretiri pleads with Moses to return to the palace before Sethi learns of his situation. Nefretiri’s argument that he can better help his people after he is pharaoh seems to sway Moses, but he states that first he must see Baka, who has taken Lilia to be his house slave. Moses arrives as Baka is about to whip Joshua, who had come to rescue Lilia. Infuriated by Baka’s callousness, Moses kills him, then reveals his heritage to Joshua. The amazed stone cutter declares that Moses is the deliverer, and his words are overheard by Dathan, who informs Rameses. On the day of Sethi’s jubilee, Rameses announces that he has captured the Hebrew deliverer, and the courtiers are stunned when Moses, bound in chains, is led in. Shaken, Sethi asks Moses if he would lead the slaves in revolt against him, and Moses confesses that he would free them if he could. The heartbroken Sethi then announces that Rameses will succeed him and marry Nefretiri, and leaves Moses’s fate for Rameses to determine. Rameses then escorts Moses to the edge of the vast desert and, giving him the pole to which he was bound as a staff, tells him to go forth into his kingdom. Despite his lack of water and food, Moses crosses the desert to reach Midian, where he collapses at a well tended by the daughters of Bedouin shepherd Jethro. As time passes, Moses is accepted by the Bedouins and marries Jethro’s oldest daughter, Sephora, although he confesses that he is still tormented by the thought of Nefretiri. Several years later, Moses and Sephora have a son, Gershom, and happily tend their flocks, while in Egypt, Rameses, made pharaoh after Sethi’s death, has a son with Nefretiri. One day, Moses sees a burning bush on Mt. Sinai, the holy mountain of God. Climbing up the mountain, upon which no mortal man has set foot before, Moses finds the burning bush and hears the voice of God, who orders him to return to Egypt and lead the Israelites to Sinai, where they will receive God’s laws. Although he still doubts his ability to serve God, Moses is touched by the “light of the eternal mind,” and Joshua, who escaped from Egypt, swears to accompany him, as does Sephora. [An Intermission divides the story at this point.]
Upon reaching Egypt, Moses confronts Rameses, demanding that his people be freed. Rameses laughs at Moses’s proclamation that he brings the word of God, although Nefretiri is thrilled to see that Moses is alive. When Moses turns his staff into a serpent that swallows up the serpents produced by the Egyptian priests, Rameses dismisses his actions as a magician’s tricks, then continues to ignore Moses’s pleas to free his people, even though God sets loose nine plagues upon Egypt. Finally, after Moses turns the Nile into blood for seven days, Rameses’ advisors urge him to acquiesce, but the pharaoh insists that there must be a natural explanation for the phenomenon. When Rameses again denies Moses, Moses asserts that one final, terrible plague will be brought upon the Egyptians by Rameses’ own words. Scornful, Rameses declares that the next day, his soldiers will kill all the firstborn Hebrew children. Rameses’ words are turned back upon him, however, when the Hebrews protect their children by painting their doors with lambs’ blood, and a spreading pestilence kills every other firstborn child, including Rameses’ own son. Grief-stricken, Rameses grants the slaves their freedom, but after the exodus has begun, the vengeful Nefretiri taunts Rameses until he orders his charioteers to chase the freed slaves. Soon the Egyptian forces find the Hebrews by the Red Sea, and Dathan foments a call for Moses’s death for leading them to certain doom. To demonstrate the power of the Lord, Moses uses his staff to part the Red Sea and clear a path for the Hebrews, while God’s pillar of fire holds back the chariots. When the fire dissipates, Rameses orders his soldiers to cross the Red Sea, but before they can reach the Hebrews, Moses restores the sea and the Egyptians are drowned. Defeated, Rameses returns to the palace and there declares to Nefretiri that the god of Moses cannot be defied. Soon after, Moses leads his people to the base of Mt. Sinai and ascends the mountain to receive God’s laws. As forty days pass, the people grow anxious, with Dathan proclaiming that because Moses must be dead, the people should return to Egypt, where at least they can find food. Dathan assures the people that if they follow an Egyptian idol, they will be safe from the pharaoh’s wrath, and Aaron is ordered to craft a large, golden calf. Meanwhile, on the mountain, Moses witnesses God’s finger carve His ten commandments on two stone tablets. When Moses comes down from the mountain to share the laws, he is horrified to see the people worshipping the calf. Dathan attempts to defy Moses, but Moses throws the tablets on the ground, causing an immense earthquake that swallows the nonbelievers. Although they are forced by God’s anger to wander the wilderness for forty years, Moses and his people remain strong in their faith, until one day, they come to the River Jordan, across which lays their promised land. Moses informs his family that God has told him that he shall not pass the river, however, and gives his staff and robe to Joshua, thereby anointing him the new leader. With the restored tablets in the ark of the covenant, Moses urges his people to proclaim liberty throughout the land, then waves farewell as he ascends Mt. Nebo.
Cast: James Cromwell, Magda Szubanski, Christine Cavanaugh
Directors: Chris Noonan
Producer: George Miller, Doug Mitchell, Bill Miller
Writer: George Miller, Chris Noonan
Editor: Marcus D'Arcy, Jay Friedkin
Cinematographer: Andrew Lesnie
Genre: Comedy-drama
Production Company: Kennedy Miller Productions
Composer: Nigel Westlake
At a county fair, Farmer Hoggett participates in a contest, correctly guessing the weight of an orphaned piglet named Babe. He takes the piglet home as his prize and situates him in the barn with Fly and Rex, two Border Collies, and their litter of puppies. Fly, a sheep herding dog, acts as a mother to Babe. The pig also befriends a duck named Ferdinand, who makes himself useful to the farm by crowing like a rooster. Fearing that he will be eaten if Hoggett relies on an alarm clock, Ferdinand convinces Babe to help him break into the house and steal the clock. They complete their mission; however, as they are chased out by Duchess the house cat, they leave a mess in their wake. Rex admonishes Babe for associating with Ferdinand and for infiltrating the house. Later, after Rex and Fly’s puppies are sold off, the Hoggetts prepare for a Christmas dinner with relatives. Hoggett and his wife, Esme, consider serving Babe for dinner. Hoggett suspects Babe might win a prize at the next county fair, so a duck is chosen, instead. Hoping to make himself useful on the farm, Babe shows an unexpected proficiency for herding sheep. Rex does not approve and attacks Fly, whom he deems responsible for the pig’s proclivity. When Hoggett steps in to break up the fight, Rex bites the farmer’s hand. Hoggett retaliates by sedating Rex and chaining him up. While Fly recuperates from her injuries, Babe takes over sheep herding duties. One morning, he saves the sheep from a trio of vicious dogs. Maa, an older ewe who has been a friend to Babe, is fatally wounded. Hoggett mistakenly suspects Babe of killing her. Fly investigates the incident, and the sheep inform her what happened. She distracts Hoggett long enough for the farmer to discover that a group of feral dogs have been attacking sheep at nearby farms. Hoggett realizes that Babe had acted heroically, and rewards him by entering him into a sheep herding competition. The night before the event, Duchess the cat bitterly informs him that pigs are raised to be eaten. Frightened for his life, Babe flees the farm. Fly organizes a rescue mission. Rex finds Babe in a cemetery, and alerts Hoggett, who brings the pig home and tries to cheer him up. Babe warms to him once again, and soon, the two attend the sheep herding competition. When it is his turn to perform, Babe is unable to corral the sheep. Rex, who suffered a similar failure years before, runs back to the farm to get advice from Hoggett’s sheep. In exchange for better treatment from Rex, they inform him of a secret chant, known only to their species. Rex rushes back to the competition and teaches Babe the chant. The sheep submit completely upon hearing it, and Babe wins. Hoggett responds in his usual subdued manner, saying, “That’ll do, Pig. That’ll do.”
As Dan Farrow prepares to go to the electric chair, he indicts society for its part in his crimes. As he tells Father Edward Flanagan, "If I had only had one friend at twelve, I wouldn't be here." Dan's words haunt Flanagan and when he returns to Omaha he decides that he will open a home for boys in trouble. With a small stake from kindhearted pawnbroker Dave Morris, Flanagan starts the home but constantly must sway people who think that his philosophy "there's no such thing as a bad boy" is naive. He wins the reluctant support of newspaper publisher John Hargraves and donations start to mount. With Dave's help, he builds a city for wayward boys, called Boys Town, which operates on the honor system. One day, he is summoned to the penitentiary where he receives money from convict Joe Marsh who wants Flanagan to help his kid brother Whitey. Whitey is a cocky kid who wants no part of Boys Town. He stays, though, and runs for mayor of Boys Town, determined to win with his "don't be a sucker" campaign slogan. When the boys instead elect handicapped Tony Ponessa and reject Whitey's shoddy campaigning, Whitey decides to leave. Only little Pee Wee, the Boys Town mascot, begs him to stay. When Pee Wee is hit by a car, Whitey leaves, feeling guilty and hurt. He accidentally comes upon a bank robbery in Omaha and runs into Joe, who mistakenly shoots him in the leg. Joe takes Whitey to a church and calls Flanagan anonymously, after which Whitey is taken back to Boys Town. The sheriff comes to get Whitey, but Flanagan offers to take full responsibility for the boy. Whitey refuses to tell Flanagan about the robbery, because he has promised not to inform on Joe, but when he realizes that his silence could result in the end of Boys Town, he goes to Joe's hideout. Joe, realizing with Whitey that Boys Town is more important than themselves, releases his brother from his promise. His cohorts want to kill Whitey, but Joe protects him until Flanagan and the boys arrive at their hideout. The criminals are recaptured and Boys Town's reward is a flood of donations. A now committed Whitey is elected the new mayor of Boys Town by acclamation and Dave resigns himself to go into more debt as Flanagan tells him of his new ideas for expanding the facility.
Production Company: Mirisch Productions, Inc., Cartier Productions, Inc.
In 1905, poor Jewish milkman Tevye struggles to feed his family in the impoverished Russian village of Anatevka. Despite political unrest and anti-Semitism, Tevye maintains his religious traditions and devotion to God, with whom he carries on a constant dialogue. One day, Yente, the village matchmaker, informs Tevye’s wife Golde that widower Lazar Wolf, a middle-aged, wealthy butcher, has asked to marry Tzeitel, the oldest of their five daughters. Quick-witted Hodel and bookish Chava, Tevye’s second and third daughters, long to be matched, but Tzeitel explains that without a dowry or family connections, they will probably be married to older, unattractive men. Meanwhile, Tevye fantasizes about being rich and, good-humoredly, asks God if being wealthy “would spoil some vast, eternal plan.” Later, Tevye learns from his neighbors that Jews living in other areas are being evicted from their homes. As the men spout ineffective curses at the authorities, Perchik, a student from Kiev, approaches, chides them for their inaction and predicts that the rich must soon share their wealth. Upon learning that Perchik teaches for a living, Tevye, who appreciates learned men, offers to pay him food in exchange for lessons for his daughters. At home, Tzeitel urges the timid tailor Motel, the childhood friend with whom she is in love, to ask Tevye for permission to marry her, but he is waiting until he can afford to buy a sewing machine to prove to Tevye that he is worthy. During the Sabbath prayers, Tevye and Golde pray that their daughters will become good wives and mothers. Afterward, sent by Golde, Tevye visits Lazar and their conversation becomes increasingly confused, until Tevye realizes that Lazar wants to marry Tzeitel, not buy his cow. Tevye thinks hard about Lazar’s proposal because although Lazar is wealthy, he much older than Tzeitel, but he concludes that Tzeitel would be safe from hunger. After he agrees to the match, the two go out to drink and celebrate with the other Jewish men. Cossacks, moved by their joy, make a toast, and for a short time, Jews and Gentiles dance together. Afterward, as the drunken Tevye heads home, the constable, a bigoted man who nonetheless likes Tevye, warns that his superior has ordered “a little unofficial demonstration” against the Jews in the village. Continuing on his way, Tevye is approached by the Fiddler, a figment of his imagination, who begins to play for him and the two dance, despite Tevye’s fears of the impending pogram. The next day, Tevye suffers a hangover and sleeps late, while Perchik teaches Tevye’s youngest daughters, Bielke and Schprintze, an unorthodox interpretation of the story of Jacob. When Hodel later confronts him about his “advanced” thinking, Perchik belittles her blind adherence to tradition. He shows her how boys and girls now dance together, but they become tongue-tied upon realizing their mutual attraction. When Tevye revives, he announces Tzeitel’s engagement and is surprised when she tearfully begs him to call off the match. Motel and Tzeitel tell Tevye that they have pledged to marry each other, an “unheard of” break with tradition, which insults Tevye, as tradition dictates that the father arrange the marriage. He accuses Motel of being poor, but Motel summons the courage to say that “even a poor tailor deserves some happiness.” Impressed, Tevye reconsiders and gives them permission to wed and then wonders how to explain his illogical decision to Golde. Chava is walking alone in the countryside when she is taunted by four Russian boys, until a fifth one, Fyedka, orders them to stop. Like Chava, Fyedka loves books and offers to lend her one of his, so that they can discuss it together. That night, Tevye pretends to awaken from a nightmare, which he then describes vividly to Golde: In his dream, Grandmother Tzeitel tells him that her namesake should marry the tailor. Then Fruma Sarah, Lazar’s shrewish deceased wife, emerges from the grave and jealously threatens to strangle Tzeitel in her sleep if she marries Lazar. Disturbed by Tevye’s dream, Golde agrees that Tzeitel should marry Motel. Later, the constable is ordered by his superior to carry out the pogroms. During the wedding ceremony of Motel and Tzeitel, Tevye and Golde note how fast the time has gone by. During the following celebration, the villagers start to quarrel over Tzeitel marrying Motel rather than Lazar, but Perchik interrupts and points out that Motel and Tzeitel were in love. Then, taking down the cord separating men from women and thus breaking with tradition, he calls to Hodel to dance with him. Soon, Tevye orders Golde to dance with him and many startled villagers are lured by the joyfulness of the dancing, which is abruptly halted when the constable and his men break up the wedding, and then continue to vandalize other Jewish homes. Tevye orders his distraught family to clean up, but wonders why God has allowed this to happen. However, he does not lose his faith and later reports to Him that Motel and Tzeitel are too happy to “know how miserable they are.” Perchik tells Hodel that he must leave for Kiev, where Jews and Gentiles are working together to fight the restrictions of the Tsarist government. Before leaving, he asks her a “political question,” which she discovers is his way of proposing to her. She agrees to marry him, but when they announce their intention to Tevye, he refuses his permission. They explain that Perchik plans to send for her when he can, and that they wish his blessing, not his permission. Aghast, Tevye worries that his allowing Tzeitel’s unarranged marriage has had bigger consequences. Although to him love is just “a new style,” he ponders that once their old ways were new, and realizes that Hodel and Perchik were “matched” by God. He gives both his permission and blessing, but later must try to explain himself to Golde. Remembering back to his own wedding day, when his and Golde’s parents said that they would learn to love each other, Tevye asks Golde if she loves him. Although embarrassed, they admit to loving each other and find comfort in the realization. In Kiev, Perchik is arrested for his activism and sent to a Siberian workcamp. When Hodel decides to go to him, Tevye reluctantly walks her to the train stop. There she explains her sadness at leaving home, but feels she must be with Perchik, whose work she compares to that of Abraham, Joseph and Moses. She promises to be married according to their faith and Tevye dryly concedes that probably “a rabbi or two was also arrested.” When Motel, now a father, buys his sewing machine, the neighbors come to admire it. Chava tries to broach the subject of Fyedka with Tevye, but he forbids her to speak of the Gentile. Later, Golde learns from the priest that Chava and Fyedka eloped. Stunned, Tevye orders Golde, as tradition demands, to consider Chava dead to them. Alone, he remembers Chava as a child and, in his imagination, sees his three daughters dancing together before they are enticed away by their suitors. He imagines that Chava pauses as the Fiddler plays for her, but then leaves with Fyedka. Coming out of his reverie, he realizes she is standing before him, asking for acceptance. Although he tries, he realizes that to do so requires that he deny everything he believes in and, his heart breaking, sends her away. An edict from St. Petersburg evicting the Jews from Anatevka allows them three days to sell their belongings and leave. Despite the hardships there, the Jews are devastated, but begin packing, some unsure of their destination. Chava and Fyedka are also leaving, as they refuse to stay where neighbors mistreat one another. When Chava visits, Tevye refuses to talk to her, but when Tzeitel rebels and bids her goodbye, he tells her, under his breath, to say, “God be with you,” allowing the family to reclaim her. Pulling the cart loaded with their possessions, Tevye and his family join the march of exiled Jews. At a crossroad, the rabbi performs a last service before the neighbors disperse. Teyve and his family plod onward, but, when he hears the Fiddler playing a tune, Tevye motions for him to follow.
Production Company: Columbia Pictures Corp. of California, Ltd.
Composer: Howard Jackson
Martin W. Semple dies and leaves $20 million to his nephew, Longfellow Deeds, a tuba-playing resident of Mandrake Falls, which is a small town in Vermont. John Cedar, the deceased's lawyer, and Cornelius Cobb, a press agent, tell Deeds about his fortune and take him to New York City. Deeds quickly becomes tangled in the problems of the rich, including being the chairman of the board of the local opera company and dismissing a false claimant to the estate. Meanwhile, Cedar tries to obtain power of attorney from Deeds to cover up the half million dollars his firm embezzled from the estate. Cobb fights off the press, with the exception of Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Babe Bennett, who poses as impoverished Mary Dawson to get a scoop on Deeds. She faints in front of the kindhearted Deeds, who takes her to a restaurant and falls for her almost immediately. The restaurant is a favorite spot for famous writers, and after being introduced to some poets he admires, Deeds realizes they are ridiculing his greeting card poetry. He punches two of the sneering poets, but lets one of them, Morrow, take him on an all-night binge. The normally temperate Deeds gets drunk, feeds donuts to a horse and, wearing only his underwear, is escorted home by the police. The next day a newspaper article appears chronicling his adventures and branding him "The Cinderella Man." Cobb restrains Deeds from any rash action, and although hurt by the article, Deeds carries on. Weeks pass, and Cedar is distraught about not obtaining power of attorney from Deeds, while Mr. and Mrs. Semple, Deeds' cousins, come to the law firm to make a claim against him. During this time, Babe, who is falling in love with Deeds, continues to secretly publish inflammatory articles about him. Soon Deeds and society hostess Madame Pomponi hold a charity reception, but Deeds, sick of his guests' arrogance and eager to keep a date with Babe, throws them out, then rushes to Babe's apartment, gives her a poem and proposes. She quits her job the next morning, hoping that Deeds will forgive her when she tells him the truth. At the same time she is quitting, however, Cobb is revealing her identity to Deeds, who is crushed. He is about to leave for Mandrake Falls when a starving farmer bursts in and accuses him of neglecting the poor by wasting his money on high society high jinks. Inspired by the man's pleas, Deeds decides to give farms to needy families, and devises an $18 million dispersement plan, which horrifies Cedar and the Semples, who have Deeds arrested on an insanity charge. At the sanity hearing, the dispirited Deeds refuses to defend himself, preferring to listen silently to the exaggerations and lies told about him. When Judge May concludes that Deeds must be committed to an asylum, Babe protests in open court, explaining that Deeds is not defending himself because he has been hurt by her and the others. Under cross-examination by Cedar, she admits she loves Deeds, while her editor, MacWade, Cobb and the farmers all urge him to defend himself. He finally takes the stand and points out the eccentricities of others in the courtroom, including those of Judge May and the psychiatrist, then explains that he is giving the money away to those who need it most. Judge May dismisses all the charges against Deeds and the crowd sweeps Deeds out, while Babe remains weeping until he returns to carry her away.
Production Company: De Laurentiis International Manufacturing Company S.p.A., Artists Entertainments Complex, Inc.
Composer: Mikis Theodorakis
In New York City, police officer Frank Serpico, who has been shot in the face, is rushed the hospital, where Capt. Sidney Green places a twenty-four-hour-a-day guard at his door. While the doctors work to revive him, Frank, whose friends call him "Paco," thinks back to his first days on the force in the early 1960s: Upon his graduation from the police academy, Frank and his Italian-American family are thrilled. He joins a Bronx division and immediately makes waves with his brash demands and iconoclastic manner. When a rape in progress is called in, Frank hurries to respond, despite his partner’s objection that the call is not in their jurisdiction. At the scene, three men are assaulting a woman, and one warns the officers to put down their guns or he will slash her with a knife. When they flee, Frank chases one and makes the arrest. At the station, the girl recounts her ordeal quietly, after which the boy is badly beaten during his interrogation. Frank, who declines to hit the boy, later takes him out of chains and into a coffee shop to persuade him gently to confess the names of his cohorts. Frank then tracks down the other two men at a park, but because the case is officially under the supervision of a superior officer, he cannot obtain backup. Undeterred, he manages to arrest the two by himself and brings them in for booking, but is informed that the “collar” will be credited to the superior officer, as Frank is merely a patrolman. Soon, he applies to join the Bureau of Criminal Investigation, having learned that it is a handy route to earning a detective’s shield. After two years in the department, however, Frank remains an outsider, working harder than the other officers and affecting the look of the street hippies amongst whom he works in plainclothes. Despite his close family ties, he prefers his Greenwich Village apartment to their traditional life in Little Italy, where his father and brother Pasquale run a shoe repair shop. In his new neighborhood, he buys a sheepdog puppy and takes literature classes in Spanish, the language of many of the local criminals. In class he spots Leslie, who identifies herself as a dancer-singer-actress-Buddhist, and soon they are dating. Despite their growing attraction and his inclusion in her world of upscale artists, at work Frank is increasingly alienated, and when he reads the autobiography of ballet dancer Isabella Duncan, he is accused of being a homosexual by Lt. Steiger. Furious, Frank complains to the captain, and is consequently transferred to the Bronx, where his long hair and beard set him apart immediately, but his new captain, Tolkin, concurs that his appearance allows him more cover on the streets. His fellow officers, however, consider him an enigma, and during one shootout, almost kill Frank, not recognizing him as an officer. When the uniformed policeman then asks Frank if he can claim the arrest as his own, Frank agrees with great reluctance, frustrated with the incompetence and negligence all around him. At home, when Leslie threatens to marry her ex-boyfriend, Frank allows her to go. Soon after, he becomes friends with a charismatic fellow officer named Bob Blair, who has managed to move up in record time thanks to his political acumen. Frank is continually passed over for promotions, however, and one day is transferred to the 9th district. On his first day there, he receives an envelope full of cash, and not wanting to be part of the division-wide extortion, calls Blair for advice. Together they visit Blair’s friend, Inspector Kellogg, who counsels Frank over lunch that if he values his job, he will take the money quietly. Months later, Frank is dating his neighbor, a nurse named Laurie who shares his love of classical music, and struggling to gain a transfer out of the division, where he is assumed to be “on the take,” although he is donating the extorted monies to charity. At his urging, McClain moves him to the 7th division, which the captain, Palmer, vows is ethical. Working undercover there, he meets his old friend, Tom Keough, but is disappointed to learn that Keough is instrumental in the division’s extortion ring. Frank is partnered with Don Rubello, the “bagman” who collects bribe money from bookies. Despite Keough’s warning that Frank is considered by the officers to be untrustworthy because he does not take bribes, Frank refuses the monthly payout, allowing Rubello to hold his portion secretly. Although even Laurie suggests that Frank might be better off going along with the corruption, he remains steadfast and informs McClain of the goings-on. McClain passes the information on to Commissioner Delaney, but although the commissioner claims to be delighted with Frank’s integrity, nothing comes of the interaction, and Frank worries that the other officers will turn against him. He is paired with a new bagman, Alonso, a weary old-timer who once tried to quit but was threatened into staying. When Frank admits that he does not accept bribes, Alonso informs the others, and realizing the danger he is in, Frank demands that McClain introduce him to Delaney. When McClain refuses, Frank agrees to Blair’s suggestion that they go to Jerry Berman, an aide of the mayor. Although Berman is impressed and excited, he soon informs them that the mayor has declined to investigate, afraid of alienating the police force. At home, Frank rages to Laurie that the system is crooked from the top down, and fights with Blair, whom he blames for putting Frank in more danger. Soon after, his fellow officers call him to a meeting in the park, where they are furious to learn that Rubello pocketed all of Frank’s portion of the bribe money. Though Keough urges him to accept at least a token payment to prove his collusion, Frank refuses, earning their enmity. When he complains again to Laurie, paranoid and angry, she breaks down in tears, stating that she loves him but he has grown impossible to live with. One day, Frank arrests a loan shark who has been paying off the department. When he brings the man in for arrest, the loan shark scoffs at his earnestness, considering himself well protected. Despite the attempted intervention of Keough and the others, Frank throws the loan shark in jail, then in a rage brandishes the man’s record, which states that he once killed a policeman. Meeting McClain in secret, he demands to be moved and admits he spoke to the mayor’s officer. A furious McClain demands that he keep quiet, but soon the Deputy Chief Inspector calls him in to Capt. Palmer’s office to discuss his allegations. Although they are more concerned about the possible stain on the department than on fighting the corruption, they bring his complaints to the Commissioner, who agrees only to an internal investigation. Frank, who realizes that the department cannot investigate itself objectively and that only a few low-level policemen will bear the brunt of the inquiry, wants to stay uninvolved with the proceedings, so remains vague until Capt. Green takes over the case. Frank is finally won over by Green’s insistence that Frank testify and his reputation as an honest cop who has remained scrupulous despite intense pressure. At home, meanwhile, Laurie grows exhausted by his depression and fear, and leaves him, in spite of his last-minute avowal of love. During shooting practice one day, Keough warns Frank that his life is in danger. The grand jury hearing begins, during which Frank grows frustrated that the district attorney, Tauber, is not digging hard enough to convict the top players, such as Delaney and the mayor. Although Tauber insists that Frank will earn his detective’s shield for his actions, Frank declares that it is not worth his life. Soon, he is transferred to Manhattan, but refused a promotion. In the new division, he works with Lombardo, an undercover officer who admires Frank’s honesty. When they try to arrest a bookie, however, they learn that the bookies are paying off the police, and bring their discovery of the city-wide corruption to their chief, who refuses to get involved. Incensed, Frank calls Blair and, with Lombardo, they contact The New York Times , which then launches an investigation into the corruption. Frank is transferred to the Brooklyn narcotics division, where the plainclothesmen inform him that they regularly pocket tens of thousands of dollars in drug money, and warn him that if he objects, he will be killed. Soon after, he is with three other officers, tracking a drug pusher. When they finally locate the criminal, the others send Frank in first, and when Frank tries to force his way into the man’s apartment, the officers hang back, leaving him stranded. Trapped in the door, he is shot in the face. Back in the present, while Frank recovers in the hospital, the surgeon informs his parents that, although he will suffer long-term pain and hearing loss, he is stable. When Green visits, Frank requests that the guards at his door be sent home, as they distrust him, and shows Green the hate mail he receives daily. Green hands Frank his new detective’s shield, but Frank refuses it, breaking down in tears. Later, Frank testifies before the 1971 Knapp Commission, called in response to The New York Times series, stating that he hopes that his action will save future officers from banishment and reprisals, and urges the formation of an independent investigative body dealing with police corruption. After resigning from the police force, Frank moves out of his apartment and sits on the dock with his dog, waiting for a boat to take him away from New York.
Cast: Angela Bassett, Laurence Fishburne, Vanessa Bell Calloway
Directors: Brian Gibson
Producer: Doug Chapin, Barry Krost, Roger Davies, Mario Iscovich
Writer: Kate Lanier
Editor: Stuart Pappe, David Rawlins, Michael J. Hill, Thomas G. Finnan
Cinematographer: Jamie Anderson
Genre: Biography, Drama
Production Company: Touchstone Pictures
As a child, Anna Mae Bullock is abandoned by her mother, Zelma, in Nutbush, Tennessee, where she is raised by her grandmother. In 1958, teenaged Anna Mae is invited to live with her estranged older sister, Alline, and her mother, Zelma, in St. Louis, Missouri. Sensing Anna Mae’s resentment for being left behind, Zelma explains that the girl was too young to understand the troubles with her father at the time. Now single, Zelma invites a date over to the house and demands privacy. Alline, who is on her way to her bartending job at the Club Royal, begrudgingly takes her little sister along. The Ike Turner Revue performs, and Anna Mae becomes infatuated with frontman Ike Turner. Alline warns her sister that Ike is a womanizer, but Anna Mae is undeterred. She practices singing at home, and on another visit to the nightclub, volunteers herself when Ike invites women from the audience to commandeer his microphone. Anna Mae impresses the frontman with her distinctive voice and stage presence. After the performance, a band member named Spider takes her to a diner, but Ike intervenes and sends Spider out for cigarettes. Ike compliments Anna Mae’s “flair,” and tells her she sings like a man in a woman’s body. He laments previous partnerships with musicians who deserted him after becoming famous, and invites Anna Mae to become his new partner. Zelma and Alline are disbelieving when Anna Mae shares the news, but Ike allays their suspicions by showing up at the house and vowing to make Anna Mae rich. Ike writes songs for her to record and quickly assembles a group of female backup singers, “The Ikettes.” He buys the women dresses, choreographs their dances, and arranges a tour. One night, after a party at his house, Anna Mae stays behind. Ike flirts with her and tells her to stay in the spare bedroom. Anna Mae is awakened at gunpoint by Ike’s common-law wife, Lorraine, whose face is swollen. Lorraine hobbles out of the room and into her sons’ bedroom, where she shoots herself. She is taken to a hospital, and the traumatized Anna Mae awaits Ike’s return. The next day, Ike comes home with news that Lorraine will live. He tells Anna Mae that Lorraine stopped believing in him. Anna Mae promises she would never leave Ike, and the two make love. Soon, the new Ike Turner Revue goes on tour. After a good first performance, Ike rewards Anna Mae by allowing her to record his new song, “Fool In Love.” Anna Mae is in the hospital, having just given birth to Ike's son, when she first hears the song on the radio. The announcer credits it to “Ike and Tina,” and she realizes Ike has given her a stage name without telling her. The doctor diagnoses Anna Mae with severe anemia and extends her hospital stay to three weeks. However, Ike has arranged several shows he refuses to cancel. Late at night, he and his bandmate, Fross, smuggle Anna Mae and the baby out of the hospital. Anna Mae wants to stay, but Ike lures her with an engagement ring and the promise of a “quickie” wedding in Mexico. In August 1960, the Ike and Tina Turner Revue is scheduled to play at the famed Apollo Theatre in New York City. Before the show, however, Anna Mae tells Ike she is exhausted and fears her voice will fail if she tries to sing. She begs him for a rest, but he berates her and forces her to perform. Onstage, she hesitates before singing. In the silence, Ike kisses her, and the crowd applauds as Anna Mae sheds a tear. As she begins to sing, her voice goes in and out, but she perseveres. Back in St. Louis, Ike receives a large check from a record company. At a party, Anna Mae notices him flirting with an Ikette and becomes jealous, but Zelma instructs her to ignore it, insisting that Ike is a good man. Before the Turners move to California, Lorraine drops her two sons off at their doorstep. Anna Mae takes in the abandoned children, and becomes pregnant with a second of her own. By 1964, Ike has developed a cocaine habit and regularly beats Anna Mae, whose star quality is something he simultaneously depends on and resents. After performing their new song, “Shake A Tail Feather,” on a television variety show, Anna Mae is approached by record producer Phil Spector, who wants to record a new song with only her. Anna Mae collaborates with Spector on “River Deep, Mountain High,” stoking Ike’s jealousy. At a diner, while the song plays on the radio, the cocaine-addled Ike demands cake and insists that Anna Mae eat it. When she declines, he shoves the cake in her face, and Anna Mae throws water at him. An Ikette named Jackie intervenes, and Ike hits her. Jackie leaves, and warns Anna Mae that she will end up dead unless she leaves, too. In the middle of the night, Anna Mae attempts to flee with her children, but Ike tracks them down at a bus stop and drags them back home. Ike and Tina go on tour with the Rolling Stones, and continue to tour heavily through 1974. One night, Ike does cocaine and partygoers watch as Anna Mae records her song, “Nutbush City Limits.” Ike loses his temper, accuses Anna Mae of forgetting the words she wrote, and sends everyone away. He beats and rapes her in the recording booth. Later, in a dressing room before a show, Anna Mae has a swollen, black eye. She babbles nonsensically, and the Ikettes call for help when they discover she has taken an overdose of pills. Jackie visits her at the hospital and offers her a place to stay. Anna Mae returns home to find Ike partying with other women, while a muralist paints a pornographic image on one of their walls. She takes refuge at Jackie’s house, where the former Ikette, now a Buddhist, teaches her a Buddhist chant. Anna Mae finds solace in chanting and continues the practice at home. She and Ike travel to another city for a show. She tries to separate from him at the airport, but he shoves her in the back of a limousine and beats her. Anna Mae fights back, and the two arrive at their hotel covered in blood. Anna Mae regards her disfigured face in the bathroom mirror, and flees the hotel room after Ike passes out. With nothing but a few cents and a Mobil gas card, she arrives at another hotel and begs the manager for a room. In 1977, she sues Ike for divorce, and wins the right to keep her stage name, “Tina Turner.” In 1980, after performing as Tina Turner to a lackluster crowd at a San Francisco, California, hotel, she meets manager Roger Davies, who agrees to help revive her career. Anna Mae wants to shed her rhythm and blues background and become a rock and roll singer. Sometime later, she prepares for a comeback show at the Ritz nightclub in New York City. Her son, Ike, Jr., comes to her house with a bloodied face, and warns her that Ike is in a rage over the show. Ike, Jr. believes his father will kill Anna Mae to keep her from performing again. At the Ritz, Ike breaks into Anna Mae’s dressing room and threatens her with a gun, but she refuses to be afraid. She goes onstage, and the defeated Ike leaves during her opening song, “What’s Love Got To Do With It.”
Cast: Edward James Olmos, Lou Diamond Phillips, Rosana De Soto
Directors: Ramon Menendez
Producer: Tom Musca, Lindsay Law
Writer: Ramon Menendez, Tom Musca
Editor: Nancy Richardson
Cinematographer: Tom Richmond
Genre: Biography, Drama
Production Company: Eastside Productions
Composer: Craig Safan
At James A. Garfield High School in Los Angeles, California, Jaime Escalante arrives for his first day teaching computer science. However, a jaded administrator named Raquel Ortega informs him that the school never received funding for computers, and Jaime is re-assigned to teach math. His students are rowdy, and some only speak Spanish. Jaime struggles to gain control of the class. After school, he discovers his car has been broken into and the stereo stolen. Taking out the trash at home, Jaime runs into his neighbor, Joe, and surprises him with the news that he quit his high-paying, corporate job to become a teacher. One day in class, Jaime dresses up in a chef’s hat and cuts up apples to demonstrate percentages, disarming the students with his gruff demeanor and witty asides. Two gang members, Chuco and Angel, interrupt the lesson as they arrive late. Jaime asks Chuco to stay after class, but Angel returns with more gang members to intimidate him. Outside school, Jaime sees Chuco engaging in a brawl and stops Angel from joining. At the next class, Jaime forces Angel to answer a simple math question, and Angel begins to participate along with the other students. At an administrative meeting, Principal Joe Goodell announces that Garfield is at risk of being put on probation for poor academics. Jaime clashes with Raquel Ortega when he argues that students will rise to the level of expectation presented by their teachers. Back in class, Jaime passes out a quiz, and Angel leaves with Chuco. Later, Angel admits he wants to study, but he cannot be seen by his fellow gang members carrying books. In turn, Jaime gives Angel three math books so that he can keep them at home and school. When a hard-working, soft-spoken student named Ana Delgado reveals that she must quit school to work at her father’s restaurant, Jaime takes his wife, Fabiola, there for dinner. After the meal, Jaime confronts Mr. Delgado, who is proud of his business and wants his family members to work there. However, Delgado eventually changes his mind, and Ana is allowed to return to school. The class takes a field trip to the computer company where Jaime’s neighbor Joe works, and Jaime is surprised to learn that Joe’s teenaged daughter studies calculus. At the next administrative meeting, Jaime announces that he wants to teach calculus so his students can take the Advanced Placement examination and earn college credit. Although Goodell is in favor of the idea, Ortega feels strongly that the students will fail and lose confidence in themselves. With Goodell’s support, Jaime teaches math over summer break so his students will be ready for calculus in the fall. Although he must teach in the school locker room with no air conditioning, the students suffer through the heat. At the start of the next school year, Jaime passes out waivers for his students’ parents to sign, allowing them to come to school one hour early on weekdays and attend on weekends. The students have a hard time conforming to the demanding schedule, and one day, Angel shows up late after taking his ailing grandmother to a doctor. Jaime, who is also exhausted, refuses to listen to Angel’s excuse and orders him to leave. At home, Fabiola complains about all the extra work Jaime has taken on, informing their two sons that their father has agreed to teach night classes for no pay. Angel shows up at the front door with his grandmother, hoping that Jaime will forgive him, and Jaime ushers the older woman in while accusing Angel of being manipulative. At one of his night classes, Jaime teaches English to Spanish-speaking adults but walks out of class when he begins to feel ill. Outside, he topples over from a heart attack. While Jaime convalesces, his students have a substitute teacher, Mr. Schloss, who knows nothing about calculus. Although the doctor orders Jaime to avoid job-related activity for a month, he returns to Garfield early, helping the class prepare for the Advanced Placement examination. After taking the test, the students celebrate by going to the beach. Sometime later, test results reveal that all eighteen students passed the exam, meaning Garfield had more students pass than any other high school. Joe Goodell congratulates the class by making a special announcement, and the students present Jaime with a plaque. Soon afterward, Jaime learns his students are being investigated for cheating. Dr. Ramirez and Dr. Pearson of the Educational Testing Service question the class, but no one admits to breaking any rules. Jaime finds a fake letter of resignation someone slipped inside his schoolbooks and discovers his car has been stolen from the school parking lot. After walking home, he laments to Fabiola that the students have lost confidence. Angel appears outside, and Jaime is heartened to see that Angel stole his car only to fix it up. Jaime confronts Pearson and Martinez, who suggest that his students re-take the test. Jaime contends that the students were targeted because of race and socioeconomic status, but Pearson claims there were uncannily similar mistakes made on multiple tests. Even though Jaime does not want to comply, he encourages the students to re-test and helps them study with only one day’s notice before the exam. When the new tests are scored, Jaime and the students are redeemed by another set of excellent scores, with all eighteen students passing a second time.
Cast: Harrison Ford, Sigourney Weaver, Melanie Griffith
Directors: Mike Nichols
Producer: Douglas Wick, Robert Greenhut, Laurence Mark
Writer: Kevin Wade
Editor: Sam O'Steen
Cinematographer: Michael Ballhaus
Genre: Romantic comedy
Production Company: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
Composer: Carly Simon
In New York City, secretary Tess McGill takes the Staten Island Ferry on her way to work at Petty Marsh, a Wall Street financial firm. During the ferry ride, Tess’s friend Cyn presents her with a cupcake for her thirtieth birthday and asks about her plans. In addition to work, Tess says she has a speech class and an emerging markets seminar. She guesses correctly that a surprise birthday party has been arranged for her and agrees to be home by 7:15 p.m. At her desk, Tess changes out of the tennis shoes she wears for commuting and into high heels. She becomes despondent when she learns she has been rejected, yet again, by the company’s “entrée program,” but David Lutz, her superior, suggests she meet with his friend, Bob Speck, who works in the company’s arbitrage department. Tess agrees to the meeting, but when Speck picks her up in a limousine and snorts cocaine in the backseat, Tess realizes he intends to have a sexual tryst and nothing more. Back at Petty Marsh, she complains to the personnel director, Ruth, who discourages Tess’s ambition but offers her one last chance in the mergers and acquisitions department. Tess meets her new boss, Katharine Parker, and is surprised to find that Parker is a few months younger than her. As she goes over some ground rules, Parker tells Tess to dress impeccably and suggests she wear less jewelry. Parker claims she is open to new ideas, so Tess comes to her one morning with a proposal for one of their clients, Trask Industries. Although Trask has been attempting to acquire television stations, Tess suggests they should look into radio networks instead. She explains that owning radio stations would protect the company from being acquired by a foreign competitor because the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) forbids foreign ownership of U.S. radio entities. Parker likes the idea, and Tess suggests it might help her get into the entrée program if Parker supports it. When Parker agrees, Tess excitedly relays the news to her live-in boyfriend, Mick Dugan. The next day, Parker prepares to leave for a ski trip in the Alps and tells Tess she is expecting a marriage proposal from her boyfriend on the trip. Tess asks what she will do if he does not propose, but Parker argues that she makes things happen in her life and recommends that Tess do the same. Before she leaves, Parker informs Tess that Trask Industries did not respond well to her radio idea. Soon after, Parker breaks her leg on the ski slopes. She calls Tess from the hospital and asks her to take care of her house plants and mail for the next few weeks while she recuperates. Tess goes to the apartment and finds Parker’s tape recorder on her desk. Using the recorded messages to practice her speech, Tess discovers a dictated letter Parker planned to send to Jack Trainer at a company called Dewey Stone about the Trask radio acquisition. Although she has not sent the letter yet, Parker is planning to implement Tess’s idea without her knowledge. Dejected, Tess returns home to find Mick in bed with another woman. After sleeping at Parker’s apartment, Tess calls Jack Trainer and pretends to be an executive so that she can propose her idea for Trask Industries herself. Once the meeting is set up, Tess asks Cyn to cut her hair shorter and dons one of Parker’s expensive cocktail dresses for a Dewey Stone company party, where Tess hopes to have a casual run-in with Jack before their meeting. However, when Jack flirts with her at the bar and Tess asks where she can find “Jack Trainer,” he does not reveal his identity and says that “Jack” already left. Jack encourages her to have a drink with him, and Tess becomes inebriated after one shot of tequila because she took an antihistamine before the party. Seeing her colleagues from Petty Marsh, Tess flees and Jack follows her into a taxicab. She is too drunk to recall Parker’s address, so he takes her back to his apartment. Tess awakes in Jack’s bed the next morning and sneaks out. Later that day, she goes to her meeting at Dewey Stone and becomes flustered when she recognizes Jack from the night before. Tess proposes her idea for Trask, but Jack’s colleague, John Romano, rejects it. That afternoon, Tess tells Cyn that she botched her proposal, but Jack shows up to Petty Marsh, saying he wants to work together and has already found the ideal acquisition target – the family-owned Metro Radio Network. He asks her out to dinner, but Tess says she does not want to get romantically involved as long as they are working together. At Cyn’s engagement party, Mick attempts to make up with Tess and proposes to her in front of their friends. Tess responds with “Maybe,” prompting Mick to storm out and break up with her. The next day, Cyn comes to Tess’s office, begging her to give Mick another chance. Distracted, Tess wonders aloud if she could meet Oren Trask, the head of Trask Industries, by attending his daughter’s wedding, uninvited. They are interrupted by a call from Katharine Parker, who announces plans to return in a week. Later, Tess tells Jack she is going to meet with Oren Trask, but when he accompanies her, he discovers her scheme to infiltrate his daughter’s wedding reception. On the dance floor, Jack helps Tess approach Trask, switching dance partners with him. Tess introduces herself as a Petty Marsh associate and pitches her idea for a radio acquisition, and Trask agrees to meet with her the following week. The morning of their meeting at Trask’s office, Tess and Jack learn that another company has made an offer to buy Metro Radio Network. However, Tess argues that Metro is a family-oriented company and says its owner, Mr. Armbrister, would rather sell to Trask. She promises Armbrister will meet with him in person the next day. Back at his apartment, Jack and Tess and make love. Afterward, she starts to reveal her real job, but a phone call interrupts. Jack admits the call was from a girl friend with whom he plans to break up. When he mentions that the woman recently broke her leg on a ski trip, Tess realizes the girl friend is her boss, Katharine Parker, and rushes out. The next day, Parker returns home and instructs Tess to perform the menial tasks of carrying her luggage and picking up her prescriptions. When Jack comes to the apartment, Tess hides and overhears as he attempts to break up with Parker. Tess accidentally leaves her notebook on the bed, and Parker reads it after she leaves, discovering Jack’s phone number and notes about her next meeting with Trask. Livid, Parker barges into the meeting just after Armbrister accepts Trask’s offer of $68.5 million for his company. Identifying Tess as her assistant, Parker claims Tess stole her idea and feigns a fainting spell. Tess apologizes to everyone and leaves. The next week, Tess goes to Petty Marsh to pack up her desk. On the way out, she sees Jack and Parker enter the lobby with Trask. When Jack refuses to board the elevator with Parker and Trask unless Tess comes along, Trask is persuaded to join Jack and Tess in another elevator. Tess shows Trask her old files with the newspaper clippings that inspired her idea. When they arrive outside Parker’s office, Trask asks Parker how she came up with the idea, and Parker becomes flustered and says she cannot recall. Trask announces that he plans to have Parker fired and asks Tess to work for him. The next morning, Jack helps Tess get ready for her first day of work for Trask and presents her with a monogrammed lunch box. Tess finds her desk outside an office and sits down. However, her assistant, Alice Baxter, informs Tess that the office is hers. Thrilled, Tess calls Cyn from her new office to share the good news.
Actor and songwriter George M. Cohan is impersonating President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the musical show I'd Rather Be Right, by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, when he is summoned to meet the president at the White House. In response to the president's questions, George tells him the story of his life: George was born on the Fourth of July, 1878 to Jerry and Nellie Cohan, a pair of vaudeville actors. A short time later, his sister Josie is born and soon the family is touring the country as "The Four Cohans." The family gets a big break when they are hired to star in Peck's Bad Boy. At thirteen, George, the star of the play, is a success, but his self-importance is responsible for losing the Cohans several bookings. Several years later, George, now a young man, meets aspiring singer Mary when he is playing the part of an old man and she comes backstage to ask his sage advice about breaking into show business. The Cohans and Mary, who soon learns George's real age, go to New York, where George tries to sell the songs he has written. When he learns that The Four Cohans are losing work because of his reputation for imperious behavior, he pretends that his play has been sold so that the others will accept a booking without him. Later, in a bar, George overhears Sam H. Harris talking with Schwab, a potential backer, and offers him his new musical, Little Johnny Jones. Sam and George become partners and produce a number of plays that feature George's popular formula of success stories laced with patriotism. In the meantime, George proposes to Mary, Josie becomes engaged, and the older Cohans buy a farm and retire. It is the end of The Four Cohans and George takes this opportunity to write Popularity, a serious play. It fails miserably, but news of its failure is wiped out of the papers by the sinking of the Lusitania by the Germans in 1915. When the U.S. enters the war, George tries to enlist, but at thirty-nine, is too old to be a soldier. Unable to fight, George writes the inspirational song "Over There." After World War I, Cohan writes more shows. Josie and Nellie die and then George's father Jerry dies. Feeling his age, George dissolves his partnership with Sam so that he and Mary can take a much-needed rest. They travel to Europe and Asia, and end up on the Cohan farm. George pretends to enjoy his life, but he hates being out of the limelight. After a group of teenagers see George reading Variety and think that the headline "Stix Nix Hix Pix" is a form of jive talk, George realizes how much he still wants to be performing and gladly accepts Sam's offer to star in I'd Rather be Right. The president has listened quietly to George's story and now presents him with the Congressional Medal of Honor for his songs "Over There" and "It's a Grand Old Flag." George is the first actor to receive this honor, and he responds as he used to when he was with The Four Cohans, "My mother thanks you; my father thanks you; my sister thanks you; and I thank you." When George leaves the White House, a parade of soldiers and a band march by singing "Over There," and George proudly joins them.
Producer: Mildred Lewis, Colin Higgins, Charles B. Mulvehill
Writer: Colin Higgins
Editor: William A. Sawyer, Edward Warschilka
Cinematographer: John Alonzo
Genre: Romantic comedy, Satire
Production Company: Paramount Pictures Corp., Mildred Lewis & Colin Higgins Productions, Inc.
After another in a series of mock suicides staged by 20-year-old Harold Chasen fails to gain the attention he craves from his wealthy, socialite mother, the sullen young man stages a bloody scene in her bathroom, finally driving her to send him to a psychiatrist. During a therapy session, Harold explains that he finds "fun" in attending funerals. Soon after, Harold buys a hearse and goes to a funeral for a stranger, where he spots another casual observer, the 79-year-old Maude. At home that night, Mrs. Chasen, outraged by Harold's "amateur theatrics," sends him to his uncle, Gen. Victor Ball, a one-armed veteran who urges him to join the military and then salutes a portrait of his hero, Nathan Hale, using his mechanically rigged sleeve. Days later, after Harold fails to shake his imperturbable mother by floating face down in her lap pool, Mrs. Chasen announces that Harold must assume "adult responsibilities" by marrying and arranges for a series of dates. During a funeral for another stranger, Maude offers Harold licorice and then suggests that the deceased, who was 80, died at the perfect age. As the mourners exit the church, the affable Maude introduces herself, tells Harold they will be "great friends" and then steals the minister's car. Later, while Mrs. Chasen recites the dating service survey question "Do you have ups and downs without obvious reason?" Harold fakes shooting himself in the head. At the end of the next funeral Harold attends, Maude steals his hearse for a joy ride, then turns the wheel over to him after he informs her that it is his vehicle. Harold then drives Maude to her home, a converted railroad car full of art and memorabilia. Later, at the psychiatrist's office, Harold admits that he might have one friend, Maude. During his first date with Candy Gulf at the Chasen home, Harold pretends to set himself on fire within sight of young woman, who flees the house in terror. On his next visit to Maude, he finds his friend modeling in the nude for ice sculptor Glaucus. After he agrees with her that the nudity is permissible, Maude shows Harold her paintings, sculpture and “olfactory machine,” demonstrating it with a scent called "Snow on 42nd Street." Entranced by Maude's creativity and her insistence on experiencing something new each day, Harold shares with her his favorite activities: watching building demolitions and picnicking at a metal junkyard. Later, at a nursery, Maude explains that she likes to watch things grow and picks a tall solitary sunflower as her favorite flower. After Harold, in turn, chooses a ground cover daisy, saying that all daisies are alike, Maude notes observable differences between them. She advises him that all humans are special; the problem lies in the fact that they allow themselves to be treated all the same. On another outing, Maude, in her zeal, drives over a curb to show Harold a tree being suffocated by the city's smog. When the car is ticketed by police officers, Harold and Maude steal a different vehicle and race through a stop sign, defying the awe-struck police. Later at her home, Maude reminisces metaphorically about her past as a political protestor and explains that now she attempts more idiosyncratic strategies toward change. After playing a song on her player piano for him, Maude gives Harold a banjo. Harold returns home to find his mother has replaced his hearse with a new Jaguar sports car, which he quickly transforms into a mini-hearse with the help of a blowtorch. Days later, when Harold and Maude rush through a tollbooth while delivering the smog-ridden tree to its new home, a motorcycle officer pulls them over. Maude speeds off during the officer's interrogation and drives around in circles until the motorcycle breaks down. Later, when the same officer pulls them over again and reads a list of offenses, Maude and Harold steal his motorcycle. The officer aims his gun at them, but finds his efforts foiled by his unloaded gun. After sharing a hashish pipe at Maude's home, Harold admits that he has not lived, but does enjoy dying and recounts his first "death:" After a school physics lab experiment blows a hole in floor, police mistakenly report to Mrs. Chasen that her son has died in the explosion. Seeing his mother faint and relishing her attention, Harold decides to continue dying. Maude enthusiastically coaches Harold to live in the present and begins to waltz with him. Days later, during a date with Edith Phern, Harold, who has placed a fake plastic arm in the sleeve of his jacket, takes out a meat cleaver and chops off his hand arm, sending Edith fleeing from the room. Learning that his determined mother plans to induct him into the military, Harold and Maude scheme to foil her. Asking Victor to take a walk, Harold endures a minutely detailed account of his uncle's war adventures during another military pep talk. Harold then excitedly enumerates ways to kill and finally reveals a shrunken head, asking if Victor keeps souvenirs. When Maude suddenly appears carrying a peace sign and grabs the head, Harold pretends to start a brawl with her and pushes the elderly woman down a hole in the stone landing. A shocked Victor is convinced Harold killed the protestor and stops talking about the young man's induction. At the close of the day, Harold tells Maude she is beautiful and holds her hand, revealing a number tattoo indicating that she is a Holocaust survivor. During a date with actress Sunshine Doré, Harold performs a mock hara-kiri, but instead of being shocked, the actress recites the suicide scene from "Romeo and Juliet," pretends to stab herself and falls to Harold's side. That night, as Harold gives Maude a gift with the inscription "Harold loves Maude," she throws it in the sea, explaining with a smile that she will always know where it is. After spending the night with Maude, an ebullient Harold announces to his mother that he is marrying her and shows Mrs. Chasen Maude's picture. Horrified by their age difference, Mrs. Chasen sends Harold to see Victor and the psychiatrist, who caution him against the marriage. Finally, Harold is sent to a priest, who suggests that the idea of Harold "commingling" his "firm" body with the elderly woman is perverse. On Maude's 80th birthday, Harold fills her room with paper sunflowers and plans to propose to her, but Maude announces that she has taken enough sleeping tablets to kill her by midnight and wishes him farewell. Harold screams in outrage and calls for an ambulance. On the way to the hospital, as he professes his love to her, Maude looks on approvingly and suggests that Harold "go love some more." A grief-stricken Harold races from the hospital after Maude dies. When his car careens over an ocean cliff, Harold, standing high above on the cliff's edge, plucks at his banjo and skips to the music, celebrating life as Maude would have wanted.
Cast: Don Cheadle, Sophie Okonedo, Joaquin Phoenix
Directors: Terry George
Producer: A. Kitman Ho, Terry George
Writer: Keir Pearson, Terry George
Editor: Naomi Geraghty
Cinematographer: Robert Fraisse
Genre: Biography, Drama
Production Company: Miracle Pictures, Seamus
Composer: Andrea Guerra
In 1994, Paul Rusesabagina runs the Hotel des Mille Collines, a popular, European-owned establishment in the Rwandan capital of Kigali. Paul is a member of the Hutus, the majority group in power, while his wife, Tatiana, is a member of the minority Tutsi group. Division between the Hutus and the Tutsis deepens after the Rwandan president is assassinated, and suddenly Paul must work harder to pacify the people he deals with for business, including goods supplier Georges Rutaganda, a member of Hutu extremist group Interahamwe. Discrimination against Tutsis ramps up, and suddenly Paul’s neighbors are being killed. Civil war ensues. As Tatiana frets over her lost brother, his wife and their two daughters, Paul maintains the illusion of a functioning hotel while harboring refugees. More people pour in from an overcrowded United Nations (UN) camp, the Red Cross, and local orphanages. Paul solicits help from Augustin Bizimungu, a corrupt Rwandan army general who takes a liking to the hotel manager. In need of supplies, Paul goes with his wayward employee, Gregoire, to meet Georges Rutaganda. On the way, they see the Hutu militia abusing Tutsi captives. Georges boasts to Paul that the Tutsi people will soon be wiped out by genocide. Paul does not believe him at first, but on his return trip he encounters throngs of murdered Tutsis on the side of the road, confirming Georges’s estimation that half the Tutsi population has already been decimated. Col. Oliver, a Canadian officer for UN peacekeeping forces, helps evacuate refugees from Rwanda but laments his inability to intervene in the genocide. Paul’s family is supposed to be evacuated by the UN, but Gregoire informs against them and an ambush forces them to retreat to the hotel. Paul tries to bribe General Bizimungu for more help, but he refuses. Paul resorts to blackmailing the general. Soon, he and his family, and the remaining refugees at the hotel, are allowed to leave in a UN convoy. Once they make it to a territory controlled by Tutsi rebels, Paul and Tatiana reunite with her nieces.
Cast: Timothy Bottoms, Lindsay Wagner, John Houseman
Directors: James Bridges
Producer: Robert C. Thompson, Rodrick Paul
Writer: James Bridges
Editor: Walter Thompson
Cinematographer: Gordon Willis
Genre: Drama
Production Company: Thompson-Paul Productions
Composer: John Williams [composer]
On the first day of class at Harvard University, first-year law student James T. Hart becomes ill after enduring a grueling interrogation in Contract Law class by Professor Charles W. Kingsfield, Jr. That evening, Hart’s dorm leader, Toombs, observes that the intimidating Kingsfield, who has taught at the school for more than forty years, is rumored to drive students mad in their quest for a perfect grade. The next day, Hart’s neighbor, Franklin Ford III, asks him to join his study group along with fellow first-year law students Thomas Craig Anderson, Willis Bell, Kevin Brooks and O’Connor. Each member of the group will provide notes on one course for the term and exchange them just before final exams. In Kingsfield’s next class, the professor explains that his teaching method consists of continually presenting questions rather than lectures. In this way, Kingsfield explains, the students will learn to think like lawyers. A few nights later, as Hart returns to the dorm, a young woman, Susan Fields, runs up to him and takes his arm, explaining that she is being followed. Hart offers to walk Susan home and soon is chattering away about law school. Confident that Susan will remember him, Hart calls on her a few days later and after a pleasant evening, she invites him to spend the night. Ecstatic, Hart responds confidently in Kingsfield’s class the next day, but receives no approval or acknowledgement from Kingsfield. As Hart begins dating Susan regularly, Anderson warns him that it is folly for a first year to engage in romantic entanglements, but Ford approves. Over the next several weeks, Hart’s studies are gradually affected by his romance and he becomes upset when he finds himself unprepared in Kingsfield’s class. Meeting Susan in a park one afternoon, a weary Hart tells her that their relationship conflicts with his studies and accuses her of not providing him proper support. Offended, Susan leaves when Hart dozes off. That night Ford tells Hart of an annual party thrown by Kingsfield at his home the day after Thanksgiving for all his law students. The following week at the party, a nervous Hart mingles with other students and receives a shock to see Susan, who Ford informs him is Kingsfield’s daughter. Stunned, Hart begins to leave and Susan follows him to ask why he has not called her. Demanding to know why she lied about her identity, Susan tells him that Fields is her married name and that she is in the process of divorcing. Overcome, Hart leaves the party, but later visits Susan’s apartment where she explains that her husband Philip was a law-school drop-out whom she left after two years. Satisfied, Hart resumes seeing Susan. Over the next few weeks, Kevin tells Hart that he feels overwhelmed by the course work, in particular, Contract Law, and Hart promises to help. One night, after Kingsfield returns early from a New York trip, he nearly catches Hart and Susan in his house. The next day in class, Hart believes that the professor has pointedly ignored him and confronts Susan, demanding to know if she has told him about their romance. Susan insists that her father makes it a rule never to get personal with students and Hart is just another anonymous student to him. Frustrated, Hart asks Susan about her divorce, but she reveals she has no intention of remarrying and suggests they stop seeing each other for a while. By mid-term, tensions have risen in Hart’s study group, as Bell has taken a dislike to O’Connor and Kevin’s insecurities cause the others to wonder if he will complete his end-of-term notes. Later, Kevin tells Hart that he has acquired a tutor for the practice exams. One afternoon in the library, Hart learns of the restricted books known as the Red Set, which contain the professors’ original study notes. A couple of nights later, Hart and Ford break into the library stacks and Hart delights in pouring over Kingsfield’s notes. Exhilarated, Hart sends Susan flowers and when she telephones to thank him, the couple agrees to meet. Hart enthusiastically relates having read her father’s notes and understanding how he thinks, but Susan advises caution, then suggests they go away the following weekend to her family home on Cape Cod where they can discuss their relationship. After the next Contract Law class, Hart lingers behind to speak with Kingsfield and is elated when the professor invites him to do a research project for him over the weekend. When Hart telephones Susan to postpone their weekend, however, she hangs up on him. Hart works nonstop through the entire weekend on the project, but Monday afternoon reports to Kingsfield that he is unable to condense his conclusions yet. Kingsfield dismisses him, stating that when he did not receive the report first thing in the morning he had a third year complete it and informs Hart it would have been a supplement in his latest legal treaty. Crestfallen, Hart meets Susan and wonders if he might flunk Contract Law. Impatiently, Susan tells him that grades are nothing but paper, then wishes he would flunk, which could be a good thing. When Hart is horrified, an exasperated Susan declares she does not want to see him again. In the study group, Bell’s continued smug arrogance drives O’Connor to quit, taking his notes with him. Later, after Hart sees Susan walking with her father, he waits for her by her apartment and is startled when she brings home a man. Confronting them, Hart is chagrined when Susan introduces her husband Philip and informs Hart that Kingsfield is handling their divorce. At the next study group meeting when Bell displays his copious term notes, which are several hundred pages, and implies he may not share them, Ford throws him out. After Kevin admits he flunked the practice exams despite the tutor, Hart offers to help him study, but Kevin is certain that he will fail the entire semester. A few days later, Hart belatedly remembers Kevin’s wife Asheley’s invitation to her husband’s birthday party, but when he hurries to the Brooks’s apartment, Asheley confesses that Kevin has tried to commit suicide. When Susan agrees to see Hart, the two go to the Cape, where Hart continues discussing Kingsfield. Susan wearily wonders how long he will accept her father’s condescending, abrasive manner. In the next class, Hart startles Kingsfield by refusing to answer a question. When the professor humiliates Hart in front of the class, Hart calls him a “son of a bitch,” which Kingsfield states is the most intelligent thing stated all day. At the final study group meeting, only Hart, Anderson and Ford exchange notes as Kevin has withdrawn from the university. Hart and Ford then rent a Boston hotel room to study for exams. After the final exam, when Hart finds himself in the elevator with Kingsfield and tells the professor how much his course has meant to him, Kingsfield does not seem to recall Hart’s name. Later, Kingsfield grades the finals and Hart earns an “A.” Some days afterward at the Cape, Hart and Susan receive the mail delivery that brings Susan’s divorce decree and Hart’s grades. Without opening the envelope, Hart folds the paper into an airplane, then standing on a large rock, throws it out to sea.
In New York City, teenaged actors, musicians, and dancers audition for enrollment in the prestigious High School of Performing Arts. Among those accepted are Montgomery McNeil, an aspiring actor who grapples with his “closeted” homosexuality; Lisa Monroe, a fussy, unmotivated ballerina who prefers gossip over dancing; Coco Hernandez, a street smart singer-dancer with unwavering ambition; the shy and awkward Doris Finsecker, who is bullied by her overbearing “stage mother”; Raul Garcia, an arrogant compulsive liar who masks his Puerto Rican descent by changing his name to “Ralph Garci”; pianist Bruno Martelli, who vexes the conservative music teachers by infusing classical compositions with electronic synthesizers; and Leroy Johnson, a gangster with a special talent for dance, but no interest in school. On the first day of freshman year, homeroom English teacher Mrs. Sherwood insists the teens must excel in their academic studies as well as their performance skills. Throughout the afternoon, the students are warned that their ambition will most likely lead to rejection, as well as physical and emotional hardship. Only the strongest will survive high school, and the chance of gaining fame after graduation is highly unlikely. At the cafeteria, the students improvise a chaotic music and dance party with Bruno on piano and Coco singing about the school’s “hot lunch.” Aspiring actors Doris Finsecker and Montgomery McNeil are intimidated by the ruckus and huddle outside the cafeteria, becoming fast friends. Later, singer-dancer Coco Hernandez tracks down Bruno Martelli, her accompanist during the “hot lunch” jam session. She suggests they form a duo and perform at social events to earn a living, but the young man does not wish to collaborate. By sophomore year, however, Bruno hesitantly allows Coco to record lyrics over some of his compositions. When Bruno’s taxi driver father, Angelo Martelli, discovers a cassette tape of Bruno and Coco’s song “Fame,” he parks his cab on 46th Street in front of the school and blasts the tune through makeshift bullhorn speakers. Students love the song and create a traffic jam, dancing in the road and on top of cars. Bruno scolds his father for broadcasting the unfinished song, but Coco is elated to hear her voice resounding through the busy street. Sophomore year also marks a transition for dancer Leroy Johnson, whose illiteracy is exposed by Mrs. Sherwood. Although Leroy is enraged by the school’s high standards, he wants to keep dancing and slowly trains himself to read. Meanwhile, Leroy catches the attention of a new addition to the dance department, a wealthy and highly talented ballerina named Hilary van Doren. The overconfident girl fends off Coco, who is already courting Leroy. In the sophomore year drama program, students are instructed to recreate their most painful personal memories, and Montgomery reveals his homosexuality to the class. Although jokester Ralph Garci maliciously teases Montgomery and his best friend, Doris, he later reveals his own vulnerability while performing a monologue about the recent death of his idol, Freddie Prinze. As the year comes to a close, Miss Berg, the dance department head, tells her awkward and distracted student, Lisa Monroe, that she does not have the talent or ambition to be a professional dancer. Despite Lisa’s protests, she is expelled from school and terrifies her friends by walking toward an oncoming subway train. When the train passes, Lisa declares she will stay in school and transfer to the drama department. By junior year, Montgomery McNeil and Doris Finsecker become allied with Ralph Garci, and Ralph and Doris fall in love. One night, while the friends rehearse, Ralph’s five-year-old sister is attacked by drug addicts at their home in the Bronx, and the Ralph blames himself for not being there to protect her. He later tells Montgomery and Doris about his abusive father, who beat Ralph when he entertained his sister with comedic antics. On one occasion, Ralph’s sister was caught in between the two men, and her father smashed her head into a wall, leaving her disabled. Ralph’s father is now in prison, but the young man believes his gift for comedy provoked the attack. As Doris comforts her sobbing lover, Montgomery tosses his apartment keys on the bed and leaves. Doris and Ralph later bond at a raucous midnight screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show while Montgomery stays home, playing guitar in solitude. As the kids head into senior year, Ralph auditions at a comedy club called “Catch a Rising Star” and his stand-up routine is received by a cheering audience, as well as an offer for future work. However, his success leads to alcoholism and drug abuse. One evening at the club, Doris accuses Ralph of emulating Freddie Prinze and begs him to follow his own path. As Ralph takes the stage, Doris storms away and he botches his routine. Ralph mourns the loss of his girl friend and his good standing at the club, but Montgomery consoles his companion backstage. He reminds Ralph that fame comes at a cost. High school offers them training and a “hot lunch,” but in the real world, they may never be satisfied by their own success, just like Freddie Prinze. Senior year also brings tragedy to ballerina Hilary van Doren, who becomes pregnant with Leroy Johnson’s baby. She secretly decides to get an abortion, drop out of school, and move to San Francisco, California, where she has been offered a place with the city’s ballet company. Meanwhile, Coco and Bruno continue to collaborate and become close friends. One day, a shady American named “François Lafete” approaches Coco in a diner, and offers to make her a star if she takes a screen test. She expects to audition for a blockbuster, but finds herself in a seedy apartment, sitting in front of an amateur camera set-up. Lafete suggests she “make love to the camera” and orders her to expose her breasts. When she objects, he accuses her of being unprofessional, and she cries as he films her naked body. Back at school, Leroy learns that his nemesis, Mrs. Sherwood, is at the hospital with her mortally ill husband. There, Leroy tries to bully the English teacher into giving him a passing grade, because he will not be able to join the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater company if he fails to graduate. As the two argue, Leroy realizes that Mrs. Sherwood has problems of her own. He lets down his guard and comforts her. At graduation, the students who began their journey four years earlier showcase their talents with new ingenuity and confidence. Their song-and-dance performance is cheered by teachers and parents, who championed the youths all along.
Producer: Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Karen Kehela, Todd Hallowell
Writer: Akiva Goldsman
Editor: Mike Hill, Dan Hanley
Cinematographer: Roger Deakins
Genre: Biography
Production Company: Universal Pictures , DreamWorks Pictures, Imagine Entertainment
Composer: James Horner
In 1947, mathematics graduate students at Princeton University are reminded that mathematics built the atomic bomb and won the war, and now needs brave, publishable advances. Entering student John Forbes Nash, Jr. takes the admonition to heart and immediately alienates his competitive classmates, Martin Hansen, Ainsely, Bender and Richard Sol, by declaring that they have yet to produce any innovative ideas. Throughout the term, John sequesters himself with his studies, often scribbling formulae on his dorm window. One day, John’s personable British roommate, Charles Herman, convinces him to take a break, and John admits that work is all he has in life. Weeks later, after John spends forty-eight hours straight in the library tracing the algorithms of pigeons and footballers on the windows, Charles encourages him to visit the local bar. There the other students challenge John to approach a blonde co-ed, but she responds to his disconcertingly direct proposition by slapping him. Soon after, Professor Helinger warns John that his lack of progress and refusal to attend classes are jeopardizing his future placement, and points out a professor in the faculty room receiving pens from fellow teachers, an honor bestowed for “the achievement of a lifetime.” John’s dismay is tempered only after Charles throws his desk out the window, and they both break down in laughter. Later at the bar, while analyzing the most expedient way to win over a blonde, John formulates an idea that leads to a breakthrough paper on game theory, and Helinger awards him a position at the Wheeler Laboratories at "MIT," the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. There, Bender and Sol work as his assistants while John gains fame as one of the most promising scientists of his time. In 1953, Pentagon officials call on John to break a Russian code, and his brilliance attracts the attention of government agent William Parcher. Later, John reluctantly teaches a class at MIT, where student Alicia Larde impresses him with her resolve and intelligence. Parcher then visits John’s office and reveals a vast secret workforce defending America against Russian-held bombs. After implanting an identifying radium diode in John’s arm, Parcher engages him to scan American publications for embedded codes. Soon after, Alicia asks the shy professor on a date, and he brings her to a governor’s ball, where he charms her by showing her how to trace shapes against the stars. Over the next few weeks, he leaves envelopes of deciphered codes in a secret drop box for Parcher and dates Alicia, who responds favorably to his direct approach. John grows nervous about his secret work, seeing men in the shadows, but is cheered when one day Charles visits with his new charge, his orphaned niece Marcee. That night at dinner, John asks Alicia for empirical evidence of love, which she says takes the same kind of faith as does believing that the universe is infinite. They marry, and at the wedding, John spots Parcher watching from a parked car. One day in 1954, John drops off a package, and this time Parcher speeds up, commanding him to get into the car. They are chased by Russians, whom Parcher eventually kills, leaving John shaking in terror. He later tells Parcher that the work is too dangerous, especially as Alicia is now pregnant, but Parcher threatens that if he quits he will be killed, and John grows increasingly paranoid. At a conference, John is pleased to see Charles attending, but during his speech, he sees men in black suits and flees in panic, then is trapped outside and drugged. He awakens in a psychiatric hospital run by Dr. Rosen, but John believes the psychiatrist is a Russian interrogator and that Charles has turned him in. Rosen reveals to Alicia that John suffers from schizophrenia, a hallucinatory mental disorder, and that neither Charles, Marcee nor Parcher and his whole department exist. Uncertain, Alicia insists on gaining entry to John’s office, and is shocked to find it in chaos, with scribbled-on magazine pages tacked to every surface. Following a tip from Sol, she finds the drop site and discovers dozens of John’s envelopes sitting untouched in a mailbox. When she tries to inform John of his delusions, however, he turns away, afraid that she is part of the conspiracy against him. After John tears his arm apart looking for the implant, Rosen prescribes an intensive regimen of insulin shock therapy. A year later, the Nashes move to Princeton, where John’s medication reduces his ability to reason, care for their son or have sex. Alicia grows depressed and frustrated, and in response, John stops taking his pills. Soon Parcher reappears, urging John to continue his work in the barn, and when one day Alicia discovers the barn walls covered with paper, she realizes that John is sick again and barely saves the baby from drowning in the bath John is drawing for him. When she calls Rosen, Parcher, Charles and Marcee command John to stop her, and after he pushes her down, Alicia runs away in fear. A stricken John races out to Alicia’s car, but when she stops, he tells her that he has realized that Marcee never ages, and thus cannot be real. Although Rosen later advises them that schizophrenia is degenerative, John and Alicia agree to work together to find a solution not reliant upon medication. Hoping that a familiar community will help him chase away his delusions, he returns to Princeton, where Martin now heads the math department, and awkwardly asks his former rival to allow him access to the campus resources. Martin agrees, even after some minor stress causes John to have a breakdown outside the library, during which Parcher reviles him for his cowardice. Over the years, John continues to work and manages to ignore Parcher, Charles and Marcee, who nonetheless always remain nearby. Although most of the students ridicule John, one day in 1978, student Terry Kellum approaches him with a theory, and soon after, Alicia is proud to see John surrounded by students in the library. Martin agrees to allow him to lecture, and by 1994 he is a popular teacher. In March, Thomas King visits to inform John that he is being considered for the Nobel Prize in economics. King, who is there to ensure that John is competent enough to receive the award, insists on eating in the faculty room, and John reluctantly agrees. There John is shocked and pleased as, one-by-one, the other professors place pens at his table in honor of his achievements. In Stockholm, Sweden, John accepts the 1994 Nobel Prize in economics, and in his speech states he has discovered that “only the mysterious equations of love hold logic.” After crediting Alicia with his accomplishments, John escorts her home, with his demons accompanying them.
Writer: John Lee Mahin, Marc Connelly, Dale Van Every
Editor: Elmo Veron
Cinematographer: Harold Rosson
Genre: Adventure, Drama
Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp.
Composer: Franz Waxman
Harvey, the spoiled son of millionaire Cheyne, is suspended from his private boarding school for attempted bribery. Mr. Cheyne, although a well-meaning and loving father, is a widower who has been too busy to notice his son's increasing bullying and snobbishness. Hoping to change things, Mr. Cheyne decides to take Harvey with him on a boat trip to England, but on the first day out Harvey falls overboard, sickened by drinking too many chocolate sodas in a childish dare with two other boys from the ship. He is picked up by a happy-go-lucky Portuguese fisherman named Manuel Fidello who brings his "little fish" back to the We're Here , a schooner out of Gloucester. Because the boat has no radio, they cannot contact Mr. Cheyne and Harvey must stay aboard until the summer catch is complete. The men at first dislike Harvey, and call him a "Jonah," but gradually, under Manuel's gruff guidance, Harvey becomes a hardworking, friendly shipmate. The affection between Manuel and Harvey grows and Harvey looks forward to being with his friend when they return to land. On their return to port, however, during a race with a rival ship, Manuel is critically injured when one of the riggings falls, pulling him into the water. Because Manuel knows that he cannot survive, he orders Captain Disko to cut the ropes and let him go under. When the ship is back in Gloucester, Mr. Cheyne comes for Harvey, but the disconsolate boy prefers to cry alone in Manuel's dinghy than talk to his father. At a monument to men who have died at sea, Harvey throws a wreath into the water for Manuel, and as his father does the same, the two clasp hands. Finally, Harvey relates some fishing stories to his father as their limousine pulls Manuel's dinghy along on a trailer.
Production Company: Tri-Star-Delphi II Productions
In 1935, the Sunday dinner of Sheriff Royce Spalding is interrupted when he summoned to deal with Wylie, a drunk African-American teenager. During the confrontation, Royce is accidentally shot and killed. The town men bring Royce’s body home, where his wife Edna explains to their children, Frank and Possum, that their father is dead. A car arrives at the Spalding house, dragging Wylie’s dead body, as Edna’s sister, Margaret Lomax, stops by to console her sister. In another part of town, two lovers, Wayne Lomax and Viola Kelsey, meet in secret in an abandoned house. When Wayne returns home, he consoles his wife Margaret, and she confesses her fear that he too will end up dead. Wayne says that he loves her and nothing will happen to him. After church, Margaret brings food to Edna, but she is not hungry. She is worried about her family’s future because Royce was the breadwinner. In the town’s African-American community, Wylie is buried in a plain pine coffin, while Royce is buried in grandeur in the cemetery for white people. Sometime later, Edna gives dinner to Moze, an African-American man passing through town, who proposes that he could grow cotton on her farm and sell it. She declines his offer, and he leaves in the morning with some of her silverware. Mr. Denby from First Farmer’s Bank visits Edna and informs her that a mortgage payment on the farm is due in the middle of the month. When Denby suggests that she sell the farm and split up her family until she settles her finances, she tells him to leave. Later, Edna asks Margaret if she can help out in her beauty shop, but her sister says there aren’t enough customers. At night, Deputy Jack Driscoll arrives at Edna’s house with Moze and the stolen silverware, but Edna covers for Moze and tells Jack that Moze is her new farmhand. After Jack leaves, Edna asks Moze to plant cotton on her farm and warns that if he steals again, she’ll shoot him. When Mr. Denby learns of Edna’s plan to grow cotton, he is pessimistic and shows her a stack of foreclosures but she is determined. Edna buys cottonseed and Moze makes sure that she is not cheated and purchases a quality product. Meanwhile, Denby persuades Edna that the bank will look upon her situation more favorably if she takes in a boarder like his blind brother-in-law, Mr. Will. Edna cooperates, although Will makes it clear that he is displeased with the arrangement. Wayne continues his affair with Viola but is still attracted to Margaret. When the couple arrives late at the local dance, Viola and her husband, Buddy, require an explanation, and as the men get drinks, Margaret tells Viola that her husband’s lovemaking caused their delay. Upset, Viola ends the affair with Wayne. Back at Edna’s farm, Will discovers that Edna’s children have been playing his records and demands that Edna keep them away from his possessions. Later, Frank is caught smoking by his teacher Viola, and receives a spanking from Edna, who has never had to punish her children in the past since discipline was always Royce’s responsibility. The violent act upsets her and she confesses to Will how she misses her husband. Soon, a tornado descends and the townspeople take cover. As Edna struggles to move her plow horse into the barn, the wind caves in the attic walls where Possum plays with her dollhouse, but Will hears her scream and runs to rescue her. Moze opens the storm cellar and everyone in the household steps down to safety, including Frank, who arrives just in time. Meanwhile, Buddy climbs over debris to rescue Viola and her students from the damaged schoolhouse. As Buddy hugs his wife, Viola sees Wayne watching from across the street, and suggests to her husband that they move to another town. Once the storm is over, Edna’s home is damaged but still standing. At the bank, Edna asks Denby for an extension on her mortgage payment and while she waits for approval, she sees photographs of the winners of cotton-picking contests. Later, Edna tells Moze and Will that she will win that contest even if it kills her, because it is the only way to save her farm. During an evening of card playing, Buddy and Viola announce their move to Houston, Texas, but Margaret suspects an affair between her friend and her husband when Wayne reaches for the deck of cards and Viola avoids his touch. After the friends leave, Margaret confronts Wayne about his affair and says that she is no longer in love with him. At Edna’s farm, the family picks cotton except Will, and Moze warns that Edna’s plan will not work unless they hire extra pickers. Edna promises that she’ll pay the pickers from the contest money and they pick all night. When Edna takes their crop to the cotton gin owner, Mr. W. E. Simmons, he offers a low price, but Edna threatens to sell her crop to the Wheeler gin and Simmons reconsiders, offering an above-market price. At night, Will hears a noise, and Moze goes to the barn, where several Ku Klux Klan members beat him. Will grabs Royce’s gun, heads toward the barn and shoots the Klansmen until he runs out of bullets. When Will makes it clear that he recognizes the voices of Mr. Simmons and his associates, Mr. Thompson and Mr. Shaw, they leave. Afraid of the Klan’s return, Moze says goodbye and leaves the farm. Later, Buddy and Viola leave for Houston and pass by their church. Inside, as the minister gives a sermon on love and forgiveness, Margaret takes Wayne’s hand, and the congregation passes a tray of wine glasses filled with grape juice. Each member of the congregation takes a glass: Moze, Will, Possum, Frank, Edna, even their deceased loved ones, Royce, and Wylie. In the background, the hymn “Blessed Assurance” is sung by the choir.
Cast: Ben Kingsley, Joe Mantegna, Laurence Fishburne
Directors: Steven Zaillian
Producer: Scott Rudin, William Horberg, Sydney Pollack
Writer: Steven Zaillian
Editor: Wayne Wahrman
Cinematographer: Conrad L. Hall
Genre: Biography, Drama
Production Company: Mirage Enterprises
Composer: James Horner
During his seventh birthday party, Josh Waitzkin notices people playing chess at the tables in New York City’s Washington Square Park, and quickly develops an interest in the game. One day after school, Josh sits down at a table and plays for the first time against an elderly Russian man. Although he loses the match, Josh’s skills surprise his mother, Bonnie, and attract the attention of a drug hustler named Vinnie. His sportswriter father, Fred, unearths an old chess set and urges Josh to play. The game lasts hours as Fred strategizes over his moves, but Josh ultimately defeats him without much thought or effort. Realizing his son's potential, Frank hires renowned chess coach Bruce Pandolfini, who believes the boy has talent equal to that of famed world champion Bobby Fischer. During lessons, Bruce teaches Josh to carefully consider his moves without picking up the pieces, and devises an arbitrary points system as motivation. After entering his first children’s tournament, Josh goes on to win several more prestigious titles. His absence from school eventually concerns his teacher, who notifies the Waitzkins about his lagging schoolwork and struggling social relationships. Fred becomes defensive and rudely dismisses her for “belittling” Josh’s talent. As a result, Josh switches schools, and pursues his camaraderie with his supporter, Vinnie. Before long, Josh discovers he has a competitor in young Jonathan Poe, who has been working exclusively with a teacher since he was four years old. At the state finals, Josh suddenly becomes afraid of losing and purposely knocks himself out of the first round. Although Fred is upset, Bruce uses the setback as incentive to work harder. As part of his new discipline, Josh is banned from playing “speed rounds” with Vinnie in Washington Square Park, withdraws from his other hobbies, and encouraged to develop contempt for his opponents. As he struggles to regain his confidence, Bonnie recognizes that his fear of losing at chess is actually a fear of losing his father’s love and approval. Fred tells Josh he can quit, but the boy insists he will continue playing on his own terms. While returning to his matches in the park with Vinnie, Josh renews his interest in baseball and fishing. Despite Bruce’s objections, Fred understands that allowing Josh the freedom to do what he wants has revived his love of chess. At the national championships in Chicago, Illinois, Josh worries he cannot beat his new rival, Jonathan Poe. Between rounds, Bruce declares he is proud to be his teacher and gives him a paper certificate to symbolize his achievement. Josh easily plays most of the final match, but abruptly stops to consider his next few moves. Although he realizes he can win, he extends his hand to Poe, offering to declare a draw and share the championship. Poe refuses, and the two continue the game to Josh’s eventual victory. Afterward, Fred and Bonnie watch proudly as their son humbly accepts the title and puts his arm around a fellow player named Morgan.
In the early 1890s, at the Sorbonne in Paris, Marie Sklodowska, a poor Polish student, faints from hunger during one of Professor Perot's physics lecture. Concerned for Marie's health, Perot invites the gifted scholar to lunch and, after questioning her about her future plans, offers her a research job. Perot suggests that Marie conduct her research at the laboratory of chemistry and physics instructor Pierre Curie and arranges for her to meet him at a dinner party that night. Despite the Perots' attempts to make them comfortable, the absentminded Pierre acts shy around the equally reserved Marie. Before Marie arrives at the lab the next day, Pierre, who believes that women and science are "incompatible," instructs his young assistant, David LeGros, to set up her research equipment in a far corner. David is startled by Marie's attractiveness and awkwardedly shows her to her work station. Weeks later, after work, Pierre shares his umbrella with Marie during a rainstorm and chats with her for the first time. Pierre is greatly impressed by Marie's insightful scientific observations, and soon after, presents her with an inscribed copy of his new book. At that moment, Dr. Becquerel, another scientist in the building, rushes into the lab, anxious to share his latest discovery. Becquerel shows Pierre and Marie a light-sensitive plate with a photographic impression of a key on it. The impression was made inadvertently inside a drawer when the plate came into contact with some pitchblende ore. Marie is fascinated by the phenemenon and wonders aloud how light could be "locked up inside" the rock. Marie then informs Pierre that once she has graduated, she will be returning to Warsaw to be with her father. Although Pierre admonishes her not to give up her research, Marie is adamant about leaving. After Marie is honored at graduation as the top-ranked physics student, Pierre, anxious to delay her departure, invites her to spend the weekend at his parents' country home. There, Marie is welcomed by Pierre's physician father Eugene and his kind, perceptive mother. On the last day of her visit, Mme. Curie suggests that Marie prolong her visit, but once again, Marie insists that she has to return to Poland. Desperate, Pierre bursts into Marie's room that night and proposes they marry and pursue their "common scientific dream." Marie happily accepts and, during their honeymoon, reveals to Pierre that her dream is to uncover the mystery of the pitchblende phenomenon. Encouraged by Pierre, Marie undertakes her investigation of radioactivity, but after weeks of seemingly inaccurate test results, becomes discouraged. When Pierre suggests one evening that her equipment may be faulty, the couple races back to the lab to revamp the machine. The test results do not change, however, and Marie concludes that an unknown light-producing element must be present in the ore. Marie and Pierre eventually identify two elements, which they name radium and polonium, as the source of the radiation. Armed with this new information, Marie and Pierre apply for funding for a new laboratory, but the skeptical university board offers them only a rundown shed. Despite the serious discomforts of the large shed, the Curies begin the tedious process of isolating radium from the ore. A year later, after they have reduced the ore to two bonded elements, barium and radium, Marie consults with a doctor about some odd burns on her hands. Fearing that the burns may eventually become cancerous, the doctor advises Marie to stop the experiment. Marie insists on continuing, however, and comments to Pierre that if radioactive material is capable of burning healthy tissue, it might someday be used to destroy cancerous tissue. Marie then begins wearing gloves in the lab, and the burns disappear. Over the next two years, the Curies undertake to remove the barium from the sample, using a slow crystallization process. On New Year's Eve, the last crystallization is finally complete, and the scientists stare eagerly into the small lab dish, in which they expect to see a chunk of radium. To their great dismay, however, only a stain remains. Marie is crushed by their seeming failure, but later, in bed, she wonders whether the stain is, in fact, the radium. Marie and Pierre then rush back to the lab and are thrilled to see light emanating from the dish, indicating the presence of radium. Later, after they are awarded a Nobel Prize for their discovery, the Curies and their two children, Irene and Eve, enjoy a much-needed country vacation. As Pierre and Marie contemplate their future, which is to include a new, fully equipped lab, Pierre confesses that he has had premonitions about his death and tells Marie that, in the event of either of their deaths, the other must continue their work. On the day of the new lab's presentation, as Marie is being fitted for an elegant gown, Pierre goes out to buy her some special earrings. After leaving the jeweler's, Pierre walks distractedly into the street and is struck and killed by a passing truck. Paralyzed with grief, Marie withdraws from life and listens stone-faced as a concerned Professor Perot counsels her to go on with her work. Later, however, while going through Pierre's last effects, Marie finds the earrings and sobs, finally able to begin healing. Many years later, in honor of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the discovery of radium, Marie, who continued her research, lectures at the Sorbonne. Calling science "the clear light of truth," she advises her audience to "take the torch of knowledge and build the palace of the future."
Cast: Ralph Macchio, Noriyuki Pat Morita, Elisabeth Shue
Directors: John G. Avildsen
Producer: Jerry Weintraub, R. J. Louis
Writer: Robert Mark Kamen
Editor: Bud Smith, Walt Mulconery, John G. Avildsen
Cinematographer: James Crabe
Genre: Drama
Production Company: Columbia Pictures
Composer: Bill Conti
Teenager Daniel LaRusso leaves his hometown of Newark, New Jersey, and drives cross-country with his mother, Lucille, who has accepted a new job in Reseda, California. There, the two move into a modest apartment building managed by Mr. Miyagi, an eccentric, middle-aged Japanese gentleman who is more interested in training his bonsai trees than fixing the LaRussos’ plumbing. Daniel spends his first day in town at a beach party, where he becomes enamored with a girl named Ali Mills. However, their mutual flirtation is interrupted by Ali’s former boyfriend, Johnny Lawrence, and his gang of dirt bikers. When Johnny challenges Daniel to fight, the boys spar with karate, but Johnny’s superior skills leave Daniel injured and ashamed. The following morning, Daniel goes to his first day of school with a black eye and is reunited with Ali, who apologizes for her violent ex-boyfriend. As Johnny’s gang continues to persecute Daniel, he goes to a local “dojo” martial arts studio to seek training from a “sensei” named Kreese. There, Daniel observes Kreese’s reverence for merciless violence and learns that his nemesis, Johnny, is one of the sensei’s most devoted disciples. Riding home on his bicycle, Daniel is beaten by Johnny’s gang yet again and vows revenge. When Lucille sees her son tossing his broken bicycle into a dumpster, she worries about Daniel’s failure to adjust to his new home, but she refuses to pay for karate lessons because she is opposed to fighting under any circumstances, even in self-defense. Sometime later, Daniel is surprised to discover that his bike has been repaired by Mr. Miyagi, and the two become fast friends. On Halloween, Mr. Miyagi makes Daniel a costume out of a shower curtain so he can go to a party without revealing his whereabouts to Johnny. At the event, Daniel kisses Ali for the first time and she admits her desire to retaliate against Johnny. Responding to her request, Daniel rigs a hose in Johnny’s bathroom stall and douses the boy with water. A chase ensues and Daniel runs back to his apartment, where he is attacked by Johnny and his gang. However, Mr. Miyagi comes to his rescue, and the teens are surprised by the old man’s mastery of karate. As Mr. Miyagi tends to Daniel’s wounds, Daniel begs for instruction, but the sensei does not wish to encourage violence and escorts Daniel back to Kreese’s dojo to broker a truce. When Kreese declares that diplomacy is a sign of weakness and refuses to endorse a peaceful resolution, Mr. Miyagi challenges Johnny to fight Daniel at the upcoming All-Valley Championship Tournament, and Kreese grudgingly agrees to suspend attacks against Daniel in the months leading up the contest. As Mr. Miyagi drives Daniel to his traditional Japanese home, the boy worries he will not have the skills to defeat Johnny, but Mr. Miyagi assures him that winning is not the ultimate goal. The tournament will give Daniel the chance to earn respect, and gain self-confidence. When Daniel agrees to follow instruction without question, Mr. Miyagi orders him to wash his vintage car collection, using specific arm motions. Daniel grows increasingly irked by Mr. Miyagi’s demands for him to sand the porch and paint the house, and comes to believe he is being exploited. Although Daniel threatens to leave, Mr. Miyagi shows him that his manual labor has been a training exercise, and the arm motions he used to perform the tasks are karate techniques. Mr. Miyagi continues Daniel’s practice at the beach, where he impresses the boy by balancing on a wood stump, kicking, and landing on one foot. Although Daniel wants to learn the “crane technique,” Mr. Miyagi guides him to master the basics before moving on to greater challenges. Daniel arranges a date with Ali and takes her to an amusement park called Golf N’ Stuff, but he is embarrassed by his mother’s rickety car. The couple’s social class disparity is also troublesome to Ali’s parents, who encourage her to reconcile with Johnny because he comes from a wealthy family. When Daniel meets Ali at her parent’s country club for their second outing, he sees Johnny kiss her on the dance floor and trips over a waiter as he runs for the door, prompting the crowd to chuckle at his expense. Unaware that Ali pushed Johnny away, Daniel feels humiliated and seeks solace at Mr. Miyagi’s house. There, he finds his mentor intoxicated and realizes Mr. Miyagi is celebrating his wedding anniversary. Mr. Miyagi’s drunken ramblings and artifacts from a keepsake box inform Daniel that Mr. Miyagi’s wife died in childbirth at a U.S. Japanese relocation center during WWII. While Mrs. Miyagi was interned in the camp under harsh conditions, Mr. Miyagi fought with the American army in a dangerous European military operation, and won a Medal of Valor. Sometime later, Daniel celebrates his sixteenth birthday with Mr. Miyagi, who presents him with a fighting uniform his wife embroidered by hand. Outside, Mr. Miyagi astonishes the boy by giving him the choice of one of his freshly-waxed classic cars, and Daniel drives to Golf N’ Stuff in search of Ali. He learns Ali was not complicit in Johnny’s seduction and they rekindle their romance. The next day, at the All-Valley Championship Tournament, Daniel rises through the ranks as Mr. Miyagi, Ali, and Lucille cheer his victories. However, Johnny’s sensei, Kreese, is outraged by Daniel’s newfound expertise and orders one of his disciples to perform an illegal and harmful move, so Daniel will be too injured to continue. Although Daniel is disabled by the kick to his thigh, Mr. Miyagi rubs his hands together and magically remedies Daniel’s wound. During the championship match, Kreese instructs Johnny to go after Daniel’s bad leg, and Daniel is crippled by his strike. In the final round, however, Daniel musters the strength to stand on one leg, balance, and kick, performing Mr. Miyagi’s signature “crane technique.” As Johnny falls to the ground, Daniel is proclaimed the winner and the crowd cheers his unlikely victory. Johnny, who has finally learned humility, stands up to hand Daniel the trophy and Mr. Miyagi watches from afar with pride.
Producer: Taylor Hackford, Stuart Benjamin, Howard Baldwin, Karen Baldwin
Writer: James L. White, Taylor Hackford, James L. White
Editor: Paul Hirsch
Cinematographer: Pawel Edelman
Genre: Biography, Drama
Production Company: Universal Pictures , Bristol Bay Productions
Composer: Craig Armstrong
Musician Ray Charles, born Ray Charles Robinson, shoots to stardom in the 1950s as a pianist and singer with a unique sound incorporating rhythm and blues, gospel music, rock and roll, country, jazz, and orchestral pop. Growing up in the 1930s in Northern Florida, Ray experienced two tragedies: first, his younger brother drowned to death; and second, Ray lost his eyesight due to glaucoma. Despite those setbacks, and growing up as an African American in the segregated South, Ray pursues his ambitions with a workaholic zeal. He tours the “Chitlin’ Circuit,” a network of African-American-friendly nightclubs throughout the South, the East Coast and parts of the Midwest. At first he sings in the crooner style, but his music and vocals develop into a raucous hybrid of many genres. He struggles with a temporary addiction to heroin, and regularly cheats on his wife, Bea. One of his affairs, with backup singer Margie Hendrix, leads to onstage tension when Ray refuses to leave his wife for Margie. While he gains critical and commercial success, he also advocates for himself as a shrewd and sometimes mistrusting businessman. This causes rifts with some bandmates, his road manager Jeff Brown, and other employees. However, Ray unflaggingly honors his musical genius by continuing to write hit songs and innovate his sound.
Cast: Nicholas Farrell, Nigel Havers, Ian Charleson
Directors: Hugh Hudson
Producer: David Puttnam, Dodi Fayed
Editor: Terry Rawlings
Cinematographer: David Watkin
Genre: Drama
Production Company: Allied Stars, Enigma Productions Limited
In 1919 Cambridge, England, Harold Abrahams, the son of a self-made, Jewish-Lithuanian immigrant, is subjected to anti-Semitism as a student at the University. Abrahams excels at running and participates in a Gilbert and Sullivan club, where he meets and falls in love with a singer named Sybil Gordon. Another standout in the world of competitive running is Eric Liddell, a devout Scottish man who was raised in China by his missionary parents before returning to Scotland. Eric’s sister, Jennie, a sternly devout Christian, objects to her brother’s running. However, Eric insists that God endowed him with speed, and through running he brings glory to his Creator. Although Eric plans to return to China to do his own missionary work, he feels it is his present duty to pursue running. Soon, he faces Harold Abrahams in a race and wins. Upset by the loss, Harold accepts help from professional coach Sam Mussabini, despite the disapproval of some of his Cambridge college masters, who find it unbecoming for an amateur athlete to hire a trainer. Harold disregards their objections as a product of anti-Semitic prejudice. Both Harold and Eric are selected to race for Great Britain in the 1924 Olympics in Paris, France. En route to Paris, Eric learns that he is scheduled to run in the 100-meter event on a Sunday. As someone who observes the Sabbath, he declines to participate. Lord Andrew Lindsay, a teammate and one of Abraham’s friends from Cambridge, offers Eric his spot in the 400-meter race, which takes place on a Thursday. Eric accepts, and in the meantime, he gives a Sunday sermon at the Church of Scotland in Paris. Eric’s willingness to prioritize religion over his sport becomes international news. Meanwhile, Harold experiences a setback when he loses to U.S. runners in the 200-meter race. Recovering from the loss, he goes on to win the 100-meter gold medal, and Eric wins the 400-meter gold medal. In the years following, Harold marries Sybil and becomes “the elder statesman of British athletics,” living until 1978. Eric resumes his missionary work, and dies in occupied China at the end of World War II—a loss mourned by the Scottish people.
1. It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
Cast: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore
Directors: Frank Capra
Producer: Frank Capra
Writer: Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett, Frank Capra
Editor: William Hornbeck
Cinematographer: Joseph Walker, Joseph Biroc, Victor Milner
Production Company: Liberty Films, Inc.
2. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
Cast: Gregory Peck, John Megna, Frank Overton
Directors: Robert Mulligan
Producer: Alan J. Pakula
Writer: Horton Foote
Editor: Aaron Stell, J. Terry Williams
Cinematographer: Russell Harlan
Production Company: Pakula-Mulligan Productions, Inc., Brentwood Productions, Inc.
3. Schindler's List (1993)
Cast: Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes
Directors: Steven Spielberg
Producer: Steven Spielberg, Gerald R. Molen, Branko Lustig, Kathleen Kennedy
Writer: Steve Zaillian
Editor: Michael Kahn
Cinematographer: Janusz Kaminski
Production Company: Amblin Entertainment
4. Rocky (1976)
Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young
Directors: John G. Avildsen
Producer: Irwin Winkler, Robert Chartoff, Gene Kirkwood
Writer: Sylvester Stallone
Editor: Richard Halsey, Scott Conrad
Cinematographer: James Crabe
Production Company: Chartoff-Winkler Productions, Inc.
5. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
Cast: Jean Arthur, James Stewart, Claude Rains
Directors: Frank Capra
Producer: Frank Capra
Writer: Sidney Buchman, Lewis R. Foster
Editor: Gene Havlick, Al Clark
Cinematographer: Joseph Walker
Production Company: Columbia Pictures Corp.
6. E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
Cast: Dee Wallace, Peter Coyote, Robert MacNaughton
Directors: Steven Spielberg
Producer: Steven Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy
Writer: Melissa Mathison
Editor: Carol Littleton
Cinematographer: Allen Daviau
Production Company: Universal Pictures , Amblin' Entertainment
7. The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
Cast: Henry Fonda, Jane Darwell, John Carradine
Directors: John Ford
Writer: Nunnally Johnson
Editor: Robert Simpson
Cinematographer: Gregg Toland
Production Company: Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp.
8. Breaking Away (1979)
Cast: Dennis Christopher, Dennis Quaid, Daniel Stern
Directors: Peter Yates
Producer: Peter Yates
Writer: Steve Tesich
Editor: Cynthia Scheider
Cinematographer: Matthew F. Leonetti
Production Company: Twentieth Century-Fox
9. Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
Cast: Maureen O'Hara, John Payne, Edmund Gwenn
Directors: George Seaton
Producer: William Perlberg
Writer: George Seaton, Valentine Davies
Editor: Robert Simpson
Cinematographer: Charles [G.] Clarke , Lloyd Ahern
Production Company: Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp.
10. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Cast: Tom Hanks, Edward Burns, Tom Sizemore
Directors: Steven Spielberg
Producer: Steven Spielberg, Ian Bryce, Mark Gordon, Gary Levinsohn
Writer: Robert Rodat
Editor: Michael Kahn
Cinematographer: Janusz Kaminski
Production Company: Amblin Entertainment , Mutual Film Company
11. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
Cast: Myrna Loy, Fredric March, Dana Andrews
Directors: William Wyler
Producer: Samuel Goldwyn
Writer: Robert E. Sherwood
Editor: Daniel Mandell
Cinematographer: Gregg Toland
Production Company: Samuel Goldwyn Productions, Inc.
12. Apollo 13 (1995)
Cast: Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton
Directors: Ron Howard
Producer: Brian Grazer
Writer: William Broyles, Jr., Al Reinert
Editor: Mike Hill, Dan Hanley
Cinematographer: Dean Cundey
Production Company: Imagine Entertainment , Universal Pictures
13. Hoosiers (1986)
Cast: Gene Hackman, Barbara Hershey, Dennis Hopper
Directors: David Anspaugh, Angelo Pizzo
Producer: Carter De Haven, Angelo Pizzo, John Daly, Derek Gibson
Writer: Angelo Pizzo
Editor: C. Timothy O'Meara
Cinematographer: Fred Murphy, Oliver Wood
Production Company: Hemdale Film Corporation
14. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
Cast: William Holden, Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins
Directors: David Lean
Producer: Sam Spiegel
Writer: Pierre Boulle, Carl Foreman, Michael Wilson
Cinematographer: Jack Hildyard
Production Company: Horizon-American Pictures, Inc.
15. The Miracle Worker (1962)
Cast: Anne Bancroft, Patty Duke, Victor Jory
Directors: Arthur Penn
Producer: Fred Coe
Writer: William Gibson
Editor: Aram Avakian
Cinematographer: Ernesto Caparros
Production Company: Playfilms Productions
16. Norma Rae (1979)
Cast: Sally Field, Ron Leibman, Beau Bridges
Directors: Martin Ritt
Producer: Tamara Asseyev, Alex Rose
Writer: Irving Ravetch, Harriet Frank Jr.
Editor: Sidney Levin
Cinematographer: John A. Alonzo
Production Company: Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp.
17. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
Cast: Michael Berryman, Peter Brocco, Dean R. Brooks
Directors: Milos Forman
Producer: Saul Zaentz, Michael Douglas
Writer: Lawrence Hauben, Bo Goldman
Editor: Lynzee Klingman, Sheldon Kahn
Cinematographer: Haskell Wexler
Production Company: Fantasy Films
18. The Diary of Anne Frank (1959)
Cast: Millie Perkins, Joseph Schildkraut, Shelley Winters
Directors: George Stevens
Producer: George Stevens
Writer: Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett
Editor: David Bretherton, Robert Swink, William Mace
Cinematographer: William C. Mellor
Production Company: Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp.
19. The Right Stuff (1983)
Cast: Scott Glenn, Ed Harris, Barbara Hershey
Directors: Philip Kaufman
Producer: Irwin Winkler, Robert Chartoff, James D. Brubaker
Writer: Philip Kaufman
Editor: Glenn Farr, Lisa Fruchtman, Stephen A. Rotter, Douglas Stewart, Tom Rolf
Cinematographer: Caleb Deschanel
20. Philadelphia (1993)
Cast: Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington, Jason Robards
Directors: Jonathan Demme
Producer: Edward Saxon, Jonathan Demme, Gary Goetzman, Kenneth Utt, Ron Bozman
Writer: Ron Nyswaner
Editor: Craig McKay
Cinematographer: Tak Fujimoto
Production Company: TriStar Pictures , Clinica Estetico
21. In the Heat of the Night (1967)
Cast: Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger, Warren Oates
Directors: Norman Jewison
Producer: Walter Mirisch
Writer: Stirling Silliphant
Editor: Hal Ashby
Cinematographer: Haskell Wexler
Production Company: The Mirisch Corp.
22. The Pride of the Yankees (1943)
Cast: Gary Cooper, Teresa Wright, Babe Ruth
Directors: Sam Wood
Producer: Samuel Goldwyn
Writer: Jo Swerling, Herman J. Mankiewicz
Editor: Daniel Mandell
Cinematographer: Rudolph Maté
Production Company: Samuel Goldwyn Productions, Inc.
23. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Cast: Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton
Directors: Frank Darabont
Producer: Niki Marvin
Writer: Frank Darabont
Editor: Richard Francis-Bruce
Cinematographer: Roger Deakins
Production Company: Castle Rock Entertainment
24. National Velvet (1945)
Cast: Mickey Rooney, Donald Crisp, Elizabeth Taylor
Directors: Clarence Brown
Producer: Pandro S. Berman
Writer: Theodore Reeves, Helen Deutsch
Editor: Robert J. Kern
Cinematographer: Leonard Smith
Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp.
25. Sullivan's Travels (1941)
Cast: Joel McCrea, Veronica Lake, Robert Warwick
Directors: Preston Sturges
Producer: B. G. DeSylva
Writer: Preston Sturges
Editor: Stuart Gilmore
Cinematographer: John Seitz
Production Company: Paramount Pictures, Inc.
26. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Cast: Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger
Directors: Victor Fleming, King Vidor
Producer: Mervyn Le Roy
Writer: Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson, Edgar Allan Woolf, Noel Langley
Editor: Blanche Sewell
Cinematographer: Harold Rosson
Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp.
27. High Noon (1952)
Cast: Gary Cooper, Thomas Mitchell, Lloyd Bridges
Directors: Fred Zinnemann
Writer: Carl Foreman
Editor: Harry Gerstad, Elmo Williams
Cinematographer: Floyd Crosby
Production Company: Stanley Kramer Productions, Inc.
28. Field of Dreams (1989)
Cast: Kevin Costner, Amy Madigan, James Earl Jones
Directors: Phil Alden Robinson
Producer: Lawrence Gordon, Charles Gordon, Brian Frankish
Editor: Ian Crafford
Cinematographer: John Lindley, Ricky Bravo
Production Company: Gordon Company
29. Gandhi (1982)
Cast: Ben Kingsley, Rohini Hattangadi, Roshan Seth
Directors: Richard Attenborough
Producer: Richard Attenborough
Writer: John Briley
Editor: John Bloom
Cinematographer: Ronnie Taylor , Billy Williams
Production Company: Goldcrest Films, International Film Investors, National Film Development Corporation of India, Indo-British Films
30. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Cast: Peter O'Toole, Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn
Directors: David Lean
Producer: Sam Spiegel, David Lean
Writer: Robert Bolt, Michael Wilson
Editor: Anne V. Coates
Cinematographer: F. A. Young
Production Company: Horizon Pictures (G.B.), Ltd.
31. Glory (1989)
Cast: Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington, Cary Elwes
Directors: Edward Zwick
Producer: Freddie Fields
Writer: Kevin Jarre
Editor: Steven Rosenblum
Cinematographer: Freddie Francis, David Wargreich
Production Company: Tri-Star Pictures
32. Casablanca (1942)
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid
Directors: Michael Curtiz
Producer: Jack L. Warner, Hal B. Wallis
Writer: Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein, Howard Koch
Editor: Owen Marks
Cinematographer: Arthur Edeson
Production Company: Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
33. City Lights (1931)
Cast: Charlie Chaplin, Virginia Cherrill, Florence Lee
Directors: Charles Chaplin
Writer: Charles Chaplin
Editor: Charles Chaplin
Cinematographer: Rollie Totheroh, Gordon Pollock, Mark Marklatt
