AFI's 100 YEARS...100 HEROES & VILLAINS
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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
Cinematographer: Russell Harlan
Genre: Drama
Production Company: Brentwood Productions, Inc., Pakula-Mulligan 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.
RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981)
Cast: Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman
Directors: Steven Spielberg
Producer: George Lucas
Writer: Lawrence Kasdan
Editor: Michael Kahn
Cinematographer: Douglas Slocombe
Genre: Adventure
Production Company: Lucasfilm, Ltd.
Composer: John Williams [composer]
In 1936 South America, archeologist-professor Indiana “Indy” Jones explores the jungle for a golden godhead. Retrieving the idol from an ancient temple, Indy unwittingly triggers a series of booby traps and narrowly escapes, but he is thwarted by the unexpected appearance of a rival archeologist named René Belloq, who is delighted to seize the relic and unleash an army of tribal warriors. Dodging arrows, Indy gets away on an awaiting seaplane. Back in the U.S., Indy returns to his university classroom, where is visited by colleague Marcus Brody. The erudite gentleman chides Indy for his illicit practices of hunting artifacts for financial gain, then alerts his friend to the presence of two U.S. intelligence agents on campus, who are waiting to meet him. In a lecture hall, the men ask Indy to interpret a secret German communiqué recently intercepted in Cairo, Egypt. The agents reveal that Nazis are excavating the area for biblical artifacts to prove Adolf Hitler is the Christian Messiah, and to wield the relics’ mystical powers. When the German dispatch gives orders to acquire a “headpiece” from a professor named Abner Ravenwood, Indy acknowledges the name of his former mentor and realizes the Nazis have discovered the ancient city of Tanis, the focus of Ravenwood’s research. Indy explains that Tanis is the burial place of the Lost Ark of the Covenant, which holds the Ten Commandments, but its exact location has remained a mystery for 3,000 years. According to ancient lore, the ark’s tomb in the “Well of Souls” can only be located by taking a special headpiece to the “Map Room” in Tanis and holding it up to the rising sun on the “Staff of Ra.” The refraction will cast a beam on a floor model of the city, and reveal the ark’s secret location. To prevent Hitler from obtaining the ark, the agents offer Indy a lucrative deal to retrieve the artifact, and he begins his journey, unaware he is being followed by a Nazi operative named Arnold Toht. In a remote region of Nepal, Indy finds Ravenwood’s tavern and learns the professor is dead, but his daughter, Marion, is running the family business. The young woman, who was once romantically involved with Indy, is displeased by the reunion and blames him for exploiting her innocence. Marion feigns ignorance about the headpiece, but she is tempted by Indy’s $3,000 payment and instructs him to come back the next day. When Indy leaves, Arnold Toht skulks inside with an army of Nepalese henchmen and demands the headpiece, threatening Marion with a hot poker from her fire pit. However, Indy comes to her rescue and a gun battle ensues, setting the tavern ablaze. In the commotion, Toht grabs the medallion, but it has been scorched by the fire and brands his palm. As Toht drops the artifact and runs away, Indy and Marion overcome their attackers. Marion seizes the headpiece with her scarf and vows to remain by Indy’s side until he pays her in full. The two fly to Cairo, where they are welcomed by Indy’s colleague, Sallah, who reports the Nazis have made progress excavating the Map Room in Tanis. After a brief respite, the couple is attacked in a marketplace, and Indy mistakenly believes his lover has been killed in a truck explosion. Consoling himself with alcohol, Indy is detained by his nemesis, René Belloq. The archeologist explains that after snatching Indy’s godhead in South America, he joined forces with the Nazis and has secret plans to obtain the ark for himself. Outraged, Indy nearly starts a gunfight, but he is saved by Sallah’s brood of children. Sallah takes Indy to the home of a mystic, who decodes the text on Ravenwood’s headpiece to reveal the exact location of the Map Room, and the men are pleased to learn that the Nazis are digging in the wrong place. At dawn, Indy and Sallah sneak to the real Map Room excavation, where Indy rappels into the chamber, affixes the headpiece to its staff, and holds it up to the rising sun to ascertain the exact coordinates of the ark’s burial place. Back at Nazi base camp, Indy disguises himself as an Arab and is joyous to find Marion alive. Although the young woman is tied to a post in Belloq’s tent, Indy refuses to release her because it will draw attention to his whereabouts, and he pursues his quest for the ark with promises to return. At sundown, Indy and Sallah excavate the Well of Souls, and pry open the roof to discover a chamber filled with venomous snakes. Despite Indy’s aversion to reptiles, he fends off the serpents with torches and retrieves the ark. As the sun rises, the ark is hoisted out of the chamber and Indy prepares to follow, but his escape is thwarted by Belloq, who has discovered the site and is thrilled to usurp Indy’s discovery yet again. Belloq, Arnold Toht, and a commander named Colonel Dietrich, throw Marion into the snake pit and trap the couple inside, sealing off light and air. However, Indy uses his bullwhip to topple a statue and knock down a wall. The couple resurfaces at an airfield where Nazis prepare to airlift the ark, but Indy fights off a Nazi muscle man, who meets his death by backing into the plane propeller, the aircraft explodes due to a gas leak. Realizing the ark will be diverted away on a truck, Indy orders Marion to meet him back in Cairo and chases the convoy on horseback. Although Indy hijacks the truck, he is thrown from the speeding vehicle and slides underneath the carriage to regain control of the wheel. In Cairo, Indy and Marion set sail with the ark, but their steamer is overtaken by a German U-boat, with Belloq and Colonel Dietrich aboard. When the Nazis recapture Marion and the ark, the steamer captain convinces the Germans that Indy is dead, and they fail to notice as he stows away on the submarine. As the U-boat lands on a remote island, Belloq convinces Dietrich to open the ark before delivering it to Hitler, and the men lead a procession to find a suitable place for the unveiling. Indy ambushes the Nazis along the way, but Belloq challenges the archeologist to destroy the relic, and Indy backs down. Indy and Marion are tied to a stake and watch from afar as the ark is opened. Although there is nothing inside but sand, steam rises from the vessel, taking the form of ghosts. As Indy warns Marion to keep her eyes shut, chaos ensues. Arnold Toht, Colonel Dietrich, and their soldiers are mesmerized by the phantoms, and Belloq is possessed by a supernatural fire that shoots laser beams from his eyes and drills onlookers through their hearts. After a gas storm sweeps away the bodies, Indy opens his eyes and embraces his terrified lover. Back in Washington, D.C., Indy reconvenes with the secret agents to receive payment for the ark and protests that the relic has been taken into custody without input from scientific researchers, who can safeguard its powers. Despite Indy’s pleas, the ark is taken away to a vast warehouse, where it is obscured in a sea of identical wooden crates labeled “top secret.”
DR. NO (1963)
Cast: Sean Connery, Ursula Andress, Joseph Wiseman
Directors: Terence Young
Producer: Harry Saltzman
Writer: Richard Maibaum
Editor: Peter Hunt
Cinematographer: Ted Moore
Genre: Drama
Production Company: Eon Productions, Ltd.
Composer: Monty Norman
British Secret Service Agent 007 James Bond is sent to Jamaica to investigate the murder of a fellow agent and his secretary. Upon his arrival, Bond experiences attempts on his life through an automobile crash, by means of a tarantula, and by seduction by Miss Taro. Bond, aided by the American CIA agent Felix Leiter, links the murders to Dr. No, a mad scientist operating from Crab Key; and despite the natives' fear of the key because of the legend of a fire-breathing dragon, he persuades Quarrel, a black man, to transport him there and assist him in the investigation. Landing, they encounter Honey, a blonde, bikini-clad, shell-hunter; and after they are spotted by Dr. No's patrol boat, Bond persuades Honey to join them. Trying frantically to escape, they are cornered by a flamethrowing tank (the dragon of the legend), which kills Quarrel. Bond and Honey are captured and imprisoned in Dr. No's secret base, where they learn of his experiments to divert the course of rockets fired from Cape Canaveral. Bond escapes from his cell by means of a ventilator shaft and intercepts Dr. No just as he is ready to deflect another rocket. In a death struggle, Dr. No is killed, and Bond flicks every switch in the laboratory; but before the final explosion, he rescues Honey and they escape in a motor launch.
CASABLANCA (1943)
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid
Directors: Michael Curtiz
Producer: Jack L. Warner
Writer: Howard W. 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."
HIGH NOON (1952)
Cast: Gary Cooper, Thomas Mitchell, Lloyd Bridges
Directors: Fred Zinnemann
Writer: Carl Foreman
Editor: Elmo Williams
Cinematographer: Floyd Crosby
Genre: Western
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.
THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (1991)
Cast: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn
Directors: Jonathan Demme
Producer: Edward Saxon
Writer: Ted Tally
Editor: Craig McKay
Cinematographer: Tak Fujimoto
Genre: Drama
Production Company: Strong Heart Productions
Composer: Howard Shore
Clarice Starling, a top student at the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Academy in Quantico, Virginia, is summoned by Jack Crawford of the FBI’s Behavioral Science Services Department to partake in a special assignment. Crawford tells Clarice, a former student of his at the University of Virginia, that the FBI is collecting data on all imprisoned serial killers, but thus far, they have had no luck with Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a psychiatrist who ate his murder victims, earning the nickname “Hannibal the Cannibal.” Clarice suspects the assignment is related to an ongoing investigation of “Buffalo Bill,” a wanted serial killer who skins his female victims, but Crawford denies it. In Maryland, at the Baltimore State Forensic Hospital headed by the self-important Dr. Frederick Chilton, Clarice is warned upon arrival that Dr. Hannibal Lecter is a “pure psychopath.” Eyeing her lasciviously, Dr. Chilton suggests Jack Crawford is attempting to manipulate Lecter by sending an attractive woman to question him. Clarice is led to a maximum-security corridor in the basement, where Lecter is being held in a glassed-in cell. Clarice introduces herself, and Lecter sniffs the air, guessing the type of lotion and perfume she uses. He attempts to psychoanalyze Clarice, guessing by her accent and clothing that she is from West Virginia and only one generation removed from “poor white trash.” When she asks him to fill out an FBI questionnaire, he loses patience with her and sends her away. Clarice walks past a neighboring cell, where a prisoner named Miggs masturbates and throws semen in her face. Lecter overhears and calls Clarice back. Apologizing for Miggs’s rudeness, he offers Clarice a clue, urging her, “Look deep within yourself.” He also instructs her to look up his former client, Miss Moffet. Later, Jack Crawford tells Clarice that Lecter retaliated against Miggs by verbally tormenting him until he swallowed his own tongue. Based on Lecter’s clue, Clarice finds a business called Your Self Storage, where a storage unit has been rented for the past ten years under the name Hester Moffet. There, Clarice discovers a transvestite’s disembodied head inside a jar. She returns to the Baltimore State Forensic Hospital and questions Lecter again, pointing out that the name “Hester Moffet” is an anagram for “the rest of me.” Lecter identifies the disembodied head as belonging to Benjamin Raspail, a former client; however, he denies killing the man, and reveals that Raspail was the victim of a fledgling killer interested in transformation. Clarice guesses the killer could be Buffalo Bill and presses for more information, but Lecter demands to be transferred to a new hospital and given a cell with a view. In exchange, he offers a complete psychological profile on Buffalo Bill. Meanwhile, in Memphis, Tennessee, Buffalo Bill kidnaps Catherine Martin, the daughter of U.S. Senator Ruth Martin. When the body of another victim is found in Clay County, West Virginia, Jack Crawford takes Clarice with him to view it. On the way there, they examine photographs of Buffalo Bill’s former victims, all overweight young women missing large swaths of skin. At a funeral home, Clarice discovers a cocoon lodged in the victim’s throat. The cocoon is found to be a Death’s Head Moth, a rare insect indigenous to Asia. Clarice visits Lecter again, and offers him a transfer to a Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital in upstate New York and a yearly vacation at Plum Island, but only if he helps the FBI find Buffalo Bill in time to save Catherine Martin. She gives Lecter a case file, and he agrees to help in exchange for personal information about Clarice. She confesses that her mother died very young, and her father, a policeman, was killed in the line of duty when she was ten years old, leaving her orphaned. She went to live with relatives on a farm in Montana, although she ran away after two months. Turning the conversation back to Buffalo Bill, Clarice asks about the significance of the moth, which was found in Benjamin Raspail’s head as well as the latest victim’s, and Lecter says it is a symbol of change. Although Buffalo Bill is not a transsexual, he says it is one of many identities the killer has tried on in an effort to escape his own terrifying pathology. Meanwhile, at Buffalo Bill’s house, Catherine Martin is held at the bottom of a well in the basement. Referring to her as “it,” Buffalo Bill sends lotion down the well and forces her to rub it on her skin. Catherine cries and begs to see her mother, then screams in terror when she sees a fingernail embedded in the well wall. Later, Dr. Frederick Chilton visits Lecter, who is restrained inside his cell. Chilton reclines on Lecter’s bed and informs him that the deal Clarice offered was bogus. Unwittingly leaving his pen behind on the bed, Chilton claims he made a legitimate deal with Senator Ruth Martin, who has offered Lecter a transfer to a Tennessee prison. Soon, Lecter is strapped to an upright stretcher, restrained with a face mask, and flown to Memphis, where he meets Ruth Martin at the airport. He informs the senator that the killer is “Louis Friend,” a former lover of Benjamin Raspail. He also gives a physical description, then insults Martin by asking her if she breastfed Catherine and suggesting her nipples must tingle when her daughter is in peril. Clarice goes to the Memphis building where Lecter is being held overnight in a makeshift cell. She accuses him of using another anagram with Louis Friend, which stands for Iron Sulfide, also known as “Fool’s Gold.” She begs him to give her the killer’s real name, but he insists Clarice has everything she needs to know in the case file. He presses her for more personal information, and she reveals the reason she ran away from the farm in Montana: One night, she woke to a frightening noise and discovered lambs being slaughtered in the barn; she tried to save them and was sent to an orphanage as punishment. In turn, Lecter describes Buffalo Bill as someone driven by a covetous nature, and explains that a person begins to covet what he or she sees every day. Later, Lecter uses the pen Dr. Chilton dropped in his cell to break free from handcuffs and attack two police guards, Lieutenant Boyle and Sergeant Pembry, murdering them and posing as a wounded Pembry to escape the building. Back in Quantico, Clarice finds Lecter’s notations on a map of locations where the victims’ bodies were found, describing the spots as “desperately random.” Clarice recalls what he said about coveting and deduces that Buffalo Bill must have known his first victim, Fredrica Bimmel. She goes to Bimmel’s home in Belvedere, Ohio, and discovers that the girl was a seamstress. She reasons that Buffalo Bill must also be a tailor creating a dress made of women’s skin. She calls Crawford to share her theory, but he responds that the FBI has already identified Buffalo Bill, who goes by the names Jame Gumb and John Grant, and they are on their way to arrest him at home in Calumet City, Illinois. Despite the news, Clarice continues her investigation in Belvedere. She finds Stacy, a friend of Fredrica Bimmel’s, who does not recall Fredrica having any male friends but says she often did tailoring for an older woman named Mrs. Littman. Clarice goes to Littman’s house just as Crawford and a SWAT team surround the house in Calumet City and find it empty. Clarice rings the doorbell, and Buffalo Bill answers the door. He identifies himself as Jack Gordon and leads her inside. Clarice observes his odd behavior and notices a moth flying around spools of yarn. She orders him to freeze at gunpoint, but Bill flees into the basement. Clarice follows, discovers Catherine Martin in the well, and assures her she is safe. Catherine begs Clarice not to leave her alone, but Clarice goes in search of Buffalo Bill. She discovers a dress form draped in an unfinished “dress” made from human skin, resembling a woman’s body. The lights are shut off and Clarice fumbles in the dark. Using infrared goggles to stalk her, Buffalo Bill creeps up behind Clarice, but she hears him cock his gun and reflexively turns and shoots him dead. Police arrive and escort Catherine Martin and Clarice outside. Sometime later, Jack Crawford watches Clarice graduate and congratulates her afterward. She is told she has a phone call, and recognizes Dr. Hannibal Lecter’s voice on the line. Calling from an undisclosed tropical location, Lecter promises not to attack her, saying the world is more interesting with her in it. Just before hanging up, he claims he is “having an old friend for dinner” as he watches Dr. Frederick Chilton disembark from a small plane.
ROCKY (1976)
Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young
Directors: John G. Avildsen
Producer: Irwin Winkler
Writer: Sylvester Stallone
Editor: Richard Halsey
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.
ALIENS (1986)
Cast: Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Paul Reiser
Directors: James Cameron
Producer: Gordon Carroll
Writer: James Cameron
Editor: Ray Lovejoy
Cinematographer: Adrian Biddle
Genre: Science fiction
Production Company: Brandywine, Twentieth Century Fox Productions Ltd
Composer: James Horner
Ripley, a pilot officer, hibernates inside a spacecraft as it docks at Gateway space station. Later, when Ripley wakes, an employee of the “Company” named Carter Burke explains that she was in “hypersleep” for fifty-seven years. At a Company board meeting, Ripley is interrogated about her decision to destroy a $42 million starfreighter. Although Ripley claims she blew up the ship to annihilate the alien that killed her crew, the flight recorder does not corroborate her explanation, and the board is skeptical. Ripley says the alien, which gestates inside human bodies, laid thousands of eggs on the spaceship after it landed on the planet LV-426. When Ripley’s case is closed, she suggests that chairman Van Leuwen send a mission to LV-426 for proof, but he tells her that settlers have populated the planet for twenty years, developing atmospheric processers, and they have never encountered aliens. Sometime later, Burke tells Ripley that the Company has lost contact with the LV-426 colony and asks her to return to the planet with a brigade of marines. Although Ripley initially refuses, she wakes from a recurring nightmare and calls Burke to agree under the condition that the aliens are annihilated, not retained for research. Later, the rescue mission crew, including Ripley and Burke, approach LV-426 and are awakened from hibernation. During their briefing about the mission, the marines are eager for an alien “bug hunt,” but Ripley warns about the impending danger. The crew is dropped to the surface of LV-426 in a transport spaceship furnished with weapons and an armored vehicle. As they approach the deserted central atmospheric processing plant, Burke informs Ripley that the Company has made a vast investment in the planet’s industry. Heavily armed, the first squad of marines, including Private Vasquez, Private Hudson, Corporal Hicks and Sergeant Apone, enter the building as Ripley surveys video footage transmitted by eye-level cameras attached to their helmets. The soldiers soon find evidence of aliens, but Hicks fails to detect signs of life in his motion sensor. Despite Ripley’s warning, Lieutenant Gorman determines the aliens are gone and commands the remaining crew to enter the building. Inside, they find a “medlab” with aliens preserved in glass. When motion is detected outside, the soldiers prepare for an attack, but instead discover a frightened little girl named Newt. Back in the medlab, Bishop dissects an alien while Hudson detects a congregation of life forms at a nearby processing station. After driving the armored vehicle to the site, a team of marines, including Vasquez, Hudson, Hicks and Apone, find the building covered in a “secreted resin” and soon discover human bodies embalmed within it. One woman, still alive, begs to be killed as an alien bursts from her chest. As Hudson detects another alien, the soldiers are attacked and their communication with Gorman is cut off. Frustrated by Gorman’s incompetence, Ripley takes control of the vehicle and narrowly rescues the few surviving soldiers: Hicks, Hudson and Vasquez. Meanwhile, Gorman hits his head and becomes unconscious. Ripley suggests that they incinerate the planet with a nuclear explosion, but Burke refuses to authorize the plan. When Ripley points out that the mission is a military operation and Hicks is in charge, the corporal orders immediate evacuation and destruction of the plant. Before they can return to the transport spacecraft, however, the ship is attacked by an alien and explodes, leaving the crew stranded. Back at the central plant, Ripley learns it will take seventeen days for a rescue mission to reach them and orders Hudson to find blueprints of the building so they can barricade themselves. Reviewing the plans, the team discovers that aliens are moving from the processing station to the plant through a service tunnel and, after welding the tunnel door shut, Hicks gives Ripley a wristband “locator,” so he can remotely detect her. That night, Ripley puts Newt to sleep in the medlab and gives her the locator, promising not to leave without her. When Bishop tells Ripley about his research, she orders him to kill the alien specimens, but he reports that Burke wants the creatures returned to Company labs alive. Later, Burke explains that the specimens are highly lucrative. Opposing his plan, Ripley says the colony log revealed Burke’s willful neglect to warn settlers about the danger on LV-426 and threatens to implicate him in their deaths. Later, Bishop, an android crew member, shows Ripley and Hicks a malfunctioning ventilation system that will cause the planet to explode in four hours. In a last chance for survival, Bishop offers to commandeer a nearby transmitter so he can remote-pilot a rescue spaceship. After Gorman revives from his injury, Ripley falls asleep with Newt in the medlab, but wakes to find an escaped alien locked inside with them. When Ripley motions for help on the security camera, Burke turns off the monitor. Ripley then uses her cigarette lighter to trigger the fire alarm and as she fights off the alien, Hicks smashes through the window to rescue her. Ripley tells the crew that Burke released the aliens so they would impregnate her and Newt, thereby allowing him to smuggle embryos back to Gateway. Although Hicks wants to kill Burke, the lights go out and Ripley announces that the aliens have cut off the electricity. Using a motion sensor, Hudson detects approaching aliens, and the creatures attack from the ceiling. A battle ensues, leaving Hudson and Burke dead. Following Newt’s directions, the crew escapes through air ducts and Hicks receives a report from Bishop that the rescue ship will land in sixteen minutes. Meanwhile, Vasquez, who is defending the team from behind, is injured and Gorman runs to her aid. Realizing he and Vasquez are surrounded, Gorman detonates a grenade, sacrificing their lives to help the others. Further along in the duct, Newt falls down a shaft and Ripley and Hicks follow the signal from her locator. However, before they rescue Newt, an alien captures the girl and Hicks is wounded. As Ripley helps Hicks to the dock, the spacecraft arrives. Ripley orders Bishop to pilot the ship back to the processing plant where the settlers’ bodies were discovered, convinced that it contains the queen alien’s nest and that Newt is still alive within it. With only minutes to spare before the planet explodes, Ripley follows the locator’s signal into the alien nest but only finds the detached wristband until Newt screams for help. After peeling the girl from the resin, Ripley encounters the queen alien, laying eggs. Ripley backs away, setting fire to the nest. As the queen pursues them, Ripley and Newt return to the dock only to find the ship gone. However, Bishop pilots the spacecraft back to his companions and they escape LV-426 as it explodes. Back at the space station, as Ripley commends Bishop, he is impaled and torn in half by the alien queen, who attached herself to the spaceship as it flew away. Unarmed, Ripley attempts to distract the alien from Newt, then fights the creature by operating a human-shaped mechanical loader. Grabbing the alien with the loader’s arm, Ripley tries to throw the beast into an airlock chamber to eject it from the spaceship, but the alien pulls Ripley inside with her. As Ripley climbs out, she opens the outer door of the chamber and the alien is sucked into space. Later, the three survivors, Hicks, Newt and Ripley, hibernate peacefully as the spaceship returns home.
IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1947)
Cast: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore
Directors: Frank Capra
Producer: Frank Capra
Writer: Frances Goodrich
Editor: William Hornbeck
Cinematographer: 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.
LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (1962)
Cast: Peter O'Toole, Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn
Directors: David Lean
Producer: Sam Spiegel
Writer: Robert Bolt
Editor: Anne V. Coates
Cinematographer: F. A. Young
Genre: Adventure, Biography
Production Company: Horizon Pictures (G.B.), Ltd.
Composer: Maurice Jarre
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.
MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON (1939)
Cast: Jean Arthur, James Stewart, Claude Rains
Directors: Frank Capra
Producer: Frank Capra
Writer: Sidney Buchman
Editor: Gene Havlick
Cinematographer: Joseph Walker
Genre: Comedy-drama
Production Company: Columbia Pictures Corp.
Composer: Dimitri Tiomkin
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.
THE GRAPES OF WRATH (1940)
Cast: Henry Fonda, Jane Darwell, John Carradine
Directors: John Ford
Writer: Nunnally Johnson
Editor: Robert Simpson
Cinematographer: Gregg Toland
Genre: Drama
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.
SCHINDLER'S LIST (1993)
Cast: Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes
Directors: Steven Spielberg
Producer: Steven Spielberg
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.
STAR WARS (1977)
Cast: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher
Directors: George Lucas
Producer: Gary Kurtz
Writer: George Lucas
Editor: Paul Hirsch
Cinematographer: Gilbert Taylor
Genre: Adventure, Science fiction
Production Company: Lucasfilm, Ltd.
Composer: John Williams
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.
NORMA RAE (1979)
Cast: Sally Field, Ron Leibman, Beau Bridges
Directors: Martin Ritt
Producer: Tamara Asseyev
Writer: Irving Ravetch
Editor: Sidney Levin
Cinematographer: John Alonzo
Genre: Drama
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.
SHANE (1953)
Cast: Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur, Van Heflin
Directors: George Stevens
Producer: George Stevens
Writer: A. B. Guthrie Jr.
Editor: William Hornbeck
Cinematographer: Loyal Griggs
Genre: Western
Production Company: Paramount Pictures Corp.
Composer: Victor Young
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."
DIRTY HARRY (1971)
Cast: Clint Eastwood, Harry Guardino, Reni Santori
Directors: Don Siegel
Producer: Robert Daley
Writer: Dean Reisner
Editor: Carl Pingitore
Cinematographer: Bruce Surtees
Genre: Drama
Production Company: The Malpaso Company
Composer: Lalo Schifrin
In San Francisco, while police inspector Harry Callahan, called "Dirty Harry" by his colleagues, is at the crime scene of a young woman shot to death in a rooftop swimming pool, he notices a nearby high-rise building that has an unobstructed view of the roof. Climbing to the top of the other building, Harry finds a shell casing for a 30-06 high-powered rifle, then sees a handwritten note attached to an aerial. The note, which is addressed "to the city of San Francisco" and signed "Scorpio," demands $100,000 or Scorpio will kill one person each day, starting with a Catholic priest or a black person. The mayor decides to pay the ransom, over the objections of Harry, his boss, Lt. Bressler, and the chief of police, and instructs them to do what Scorpio has demanded, respond with a personal ad placed in The San Francisco Chronicle . The mayor then instructs them to add that it will take some time to get the money, hoping to give the police more time to find Scorpio. After the ad appears, Scorpio goes onto a rooftop in the North Beach area looking for a victim. While he is setting his rifle sight on a gay black man, a police helicopter crew spots him and, using a loud speaker, orders him to desist, but Scorpio quickly packs up and escapes. That night, Harry and his temporary partner, Chico Gonzalez, a college graduate who majored in sociology and is the antithesis of Harry, are driving through the Tenderloin District when Chico sees a man carrying a tan suitcase that looks like one the police saw Scorpio carrying. They stop the car and separate, after which Harry follows the man to a nearby apartment and, spying at him and his girlfriend through their window, determines that he is not the killer. Some time later, when the body of a ten-year-old black boy is found in a vacant lot, with a spent 30-06 shell casing nearby, Harry knows that Scorpio has killed again. The police establish a command center to set a trap for Scorpio in North Beach. There the police arrange for a particular building's rooftop to remain unlocked, near St. Peter and Paul Church, assuming that Scorpio will try to carry through with his threat to kill a priest. That night, while Harry uses binoculars to survey the area, Scorpio goes onto the unlocked rooftop. Harry yells to Chico to turn on the lights when he gives the signal, illuminating Scorpio on the roof. Harry shoots at, but misses the killer, precipitating a gunfight between the two. By the time Harry and Chico reach the other building, Scorpio has disappeared, but not before killing a policeman. The next day, Bressler shows Harry a letter that Scorpio has just sent in which he encloses pictures of fourteen-year-old Ann Mary Deacon and a demand for the $100,000. The letter, which also encloses a lock of Ann Mary's hair and one of her molars, states that she has been buried in a secret location and only has enough oxygen to live until 3:00 a.m. Although Harry is convinced that the girl is already dead, Bressler asks him to carry the money, at the mayor's request. Bressler orders Harry to go alone, as instructed by Scorpio, and tells Chico to take the night off, but Harry and Chico secretly obtain sensitive microphones that enable them to keep in contact at a distance. That night, Harry waits at the Marina until Scorpio calls him on a pay telephone, then sends him to various locations throughout the city, with Chico secretly driving to each point after hearing the instructions through the listening device. The final destination is beneath the cross on top of Mt. Davidson. Scorpio, who is wearing a ski mask, tells Harry to drop the bag of money and stand with his nose against the cross, then starts to beat and kick him, saying he has changed his mind and will let the girl die. Hearing this from a short distance away, Chico starts to shoot until Harry tells him not to kill Scoprio. In the melee, Harry manages to take a switchblade knife taped to his leg and stab Scorpio in the leg, sending the squealing killer rolling down the hill. Chico is badly wounded and taken to the hospital, but Scorpio manages to escape. Later, despite his own beating, Harry goes to question a physician at a local hospital who reported a man receiving treatment for a suspicious knife wound. Under questioning, the doctor remembers that the wounded man sells programs at nearby Kezar Stadium, where he has a small room. Accompanied by fellow detective DeGeorgio, Harry climbs over the locked stadium fence then finds Scorpio's room, where he has hidden his 30-06 rifle. Harry then sees Scorpio in the distance and chases him out onto the field. When DeGeorgio turns on the stadium lights, Harry has a clear shot at Scorpio and wounds him in the leg. Lying on the field, Scorpio screams and demands a lawyer, as Harry slams his foot on Scorpio's leg. Although Harry elicits a confession from Scorpio for killing Ann Mary, whose body was found where Scorpio said he buried her, as the district attorney angrily tells him the next day, his blatant violation of Scorpio's rights mean that the seized rifle and confession will be inadmissible in court. Frustrated and angry, Harry is convinced that Scorpio will kill again because he likes it and decides to use his own time to follow him. Scorpio soon becomes unnerved by Harry's constant presence and, in retaliation, hires someone to beat him so that he can tell reporters that Harry did it. Meanwhile, Harry goes to visit the recuperating Chico and tells him that he wants him to be his permanent partner, but Chico sheepishly says that he is going to get a teaching job instead. As Harry leaves the hospital with Chico's wife, she says that it is her fault, not Chico's, but Harry, whose own wife was killed by a drunk driver, gently tells her not to blame herself because the violence of his life is not for her and Chico. Soon Scorpio robs and attacks a liquor store owner, then seizes a school bus carrying several grammar school children. He then forces the terrified bus driver, Marcella Platt, to phone the mayor so that Scorpio can reveal his new demands for $200,000 and an airplane. The mayor is told to have the money delivered just off the Sir Francis Drake Blvd. off-ramp on the highway north toward Santa Rosa. The mayor asks Harry to deliver the money, but Harry angrily refuses then leaves the mayor's office. A short time later, as the bus exits the highway and approaches a rock quarry, Scorpio sees Harry standing on a trestle bridge. Harry jumps onto the roof as the bus passes underneath, then Scorpio starts shooting into the roof, causing the bus to barrel to a stop. The terrified children and bus driver escape, while Scorpio enters the quarry, chased by Harry. Seeing a young boy fishing in a nearby pond, Scorpio exits the quarry and takes him hostage. When Harry follows, Scorpio puts his gun to the boy's head, threatening to shoot unless Harry drops his gun. Harry quickly shoots and disables Scorpio, enabling the boy to rush away. As Harry approaches, the badly wounded Scorpio eyes his gun, prompting Harry to tell him that in all the excitement he himself does not know if he fired five shots or six and asks Scorpio if he feels lucky. Laughing, Scorpio starts to reach for the gun but is mortally wounded by Harry's powerful .44 Magnum pistol. Harry now opens his wallet and removes his badge, flinging it far out into the water.
THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD (1938)
Cast: Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone
Directors: William Keighley
Producer: Jack L. Warner
Writer: Norman Reilly Raine
Editor: Ralph Dawson
Cinematographer: Sol Polito
Genre: Adventure
Production Company: Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
Composer: Erich Wolfgang Korngold
King Richard the Lion-Heart, who left England to fight in the Crusades, has been taken captive and is being held for ransom. He has entrusted his kingdom to his brother, Prince John, who, along with Sir Guy of Gisbourne and the Sheriff of Nottingham, is plotting to overthrow the throne. At a banquet in John's honor, Sir Robin of Locksley disrupts the proceedings and openly accuses John of treachery. Robin eludes John's knights and hides out in Sherwood Forest, where he gathers a band of men, including Will Scarlett, Little John and Friar Tuck, to protect and provide for the Saxon poor by stealing from the rich. When Gisbourne and the sheriff ride through the forest, accompanied by Richard's ward, the lovely Maid Marian, Robin, who is now known as Robin Hood, kidnaps the royal group, seizes their tax money for Richard, and opens Marian's eyes to the reality of Norman oppression. They are released unharmed, but the enraged sheriff proposes an archery tournament to lure Robin out of Sherwood. The sheriff's trick succeeds, and when Robin accepts his victory prize from Marian, he is caught and sentenced to hang. Marian, now in love with Robin, alerts his men, who save him from the gallows. While Robin secretly visits Marian and confesses his love, Richard rides into Sherwood. He discovers John's plans to be crowned king and enlists Robin's help. At the castle, Gisbourne exposes Marian's allegiance to Robin and imprisons her. The coronation begins on schedule, but Richard's and Robin's men appear from under monks' robes and attack John's knights. In a spectacular sword fight, Gisbourne is killed by Robin. After Richard is restored to his rightful throne, he banishes John and gives Robin and Marian permission to marry.
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
Genre: Drama
Production Company: The Mirisch Corp.
Composer: Quincy Jones
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.
BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID (1969)
Cast: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Katharine Ross
Directors: George Roy Hill
Producer: John Foreman
Writer: William Goldman
Editor: Richard C. Meyer
Cinematographer: Conrad Hall
Genre: Comedy-drama, Western
Production Company: Campanile Productions, Inc.
Composer: Burt Bacharach
Dismayed by the extreme measures to prevent robberies taken by a small-town western bank, notorious bank robber Butch Cassidy wanders over to a saloon to meet his partner, The Sundance Kid, who is in the middle of a card game. One of the players, Macon, unaware of Sundance’s identity, accuses the outlaw of cheating and, refusing to surrender his money, prepares to fight it out. When Butch attempts to intervene, Macon orders him away until he learns Sundance’s identity after which he meekly withdraws his accusation. On the long ride back to their hideout, the Hole in the Wall in Wyoming, Butch tries to convince Sundance that they should go to Bolivia, which abounds in gold. Arriving at the hideout, Butch is surprised to find gang members Harvey Logan, News Carver and Flat Nose Curry preparing to rob the Union Pacific Overland Flyer train. Butch vetoes their plan, declaring that banks are much more reliable. Harvey then informs Butch that because Butch has spent so much time away, Harvey has taken over leadership of the gang and made the decision to rob the Flyer. Butch insists he remains the gang’s leader, leading Harvey to challenge him to a fight, which Butch quickly wins by distracting his opponent. Afterward, Butch decides that the plan to rob the train on both of its scheduled trips through the area is sound. The gang stops the Flyer, whose engineers are excited at being robbed by Butch, but the theft is almost thwarted by the dedicated efforts of a young clerk, Woodcock, who refuses to open the train car containing the bank safe. News then dynamites the door and, while the others retrieve the money, Butch revives the stunned Woodcock. A few nights later in a nearby town, Butch and Sundance sit on a bordello balcony and watch with amusement as down on the street the town marshal struggles to incite the townspeople into forming a posse to go after the Hole in the Wall gang. Butch then envisions he and Sundance joining the army and becoming officers, and confides that his real name is Robert LeRoy Parker. Sundance reveals his real name is Harry Longabaugh and as the men toast each other, the townspeople lose interest in the marshal's exhortations when a salesman demonstrates a new invention, the bicycle. When Butch turns his attentions to one of the bordello girls, Sundance rides off. One evening some days later, schoolteacher Etta Place arrives at her small house and is startled to find Sundance waiting for her in the dark. While Sundance points his gun at her, Etta disrobes and lets her hair down, then as he embraces her, she chastises him for being late. A few days later, Etta awakens to the strange sight of Butch riding around the house on a bicycle. Delighted, Etta takes a ride with Butch who performs tricks on the bicycle before being run off by a bull. On the way back to the house, Etta asks Butch if he has come to enlist Sundance in another robbery. Butch admits that he cannot understand why, despite working hard all his life, he has always been broke. Later, Butch, Sundance and the gang make another strike on the Flyer and Butch is delighted to discover the committed Woodcock back on the job. After tricking the young clerk into opening the car door, Butch discovers that Woodcock has firmly secured the safe. Using several sticks of dynamite, Butch blows up the entire train car and as the men laughingly retrieve the flyaway money, a train engine pulling a single car comes up behind the Flyer. Alarmed, Butch and the others watch as several horses and riders leap from the train car and start after them. Butch and Sundance immediately flee, but two of the gang members scrambling to get away are shot down. When Butch and Sundance split off from the surviving two gang members, they are frustrated that all the pursuers come after them. Butch and Sundance ride hard through the day into the evening, returning to the friendly bordello, but their efforts to throw off the pursuers fail, forcing them to escape into the night. To their dismay, their hunters follow using torches. Impressed and incredulous at the group’s tenacity in tracking over various terrains throughout the next day, Butch repeatedly wonders about the men’s identities. In a far-flung town, Butch and Sundance stop at the office of old friend Sheriff Ray Bledsoe, who angrily informs them that their presence might compromise his position. When Butch asks Bledsoe to vouch for them so they can enlist in the army, the old sheriff roughly tells them that they are doomed to meet a bloody end. Butch and Sundance resume their flight and during brief rest stops observe their single-minded pursuers. Sundance believes one of them may be a famous full-blooded Indian tracker from Oklahoma named Lord Baltimore. Although Butch is skeptical, after studying the men, he wonders if their leader is the famous lawman LaForce, known for his trademark white skimmer hat. Increasingly apprehensive, Butch and Sundance continue their evasions, riding high into a steep mountain range, where they let their remaining horse go and proceed on foot only to find themselves on a cliff overlooking a river. Realizing that half of the trackers are behind them, and the others have taken up positions on the cliff across the river, Butch determines they can fight or surrender. Sundance refuses to capitulate, but when Butch abruptly suggests they jump into the river, he staunchly refuses, finally admitting that he cannot swim. Butch assures Sundance the fall will likely kill them and, as their pursuers watch helplessly, the duo plunges into the river, which sweeps them away to safety. Some days later, an exhausted Butch and Sundance arrive at Etta’s home, where she relates that the newspapers had reported their capture. She explains that the head of the Union Pacific lines, E. H. Harriman, outraged by the constant robberies of his trains by the Hole in the Wall gang, has put together an exclusive posse comprised of the nation’s best lawmen to assure the demise of Butch and Sundance. Butch angrily accuses Harriman of bad business practices, declaring that if the tycoon would simply pay them the money he has paid the posse, Butch would stop robbing him. Sundance fears they will be on the run forever and later that night he and Butch invite Etta to flee with them to Bolivia. She agrees, stipulating that if the law should reach them there, she will not stay to watch them die. The next day, the trio sets off for New York, where they catch a steamer to South America. Upon arriving in a small, dusty village in Bolivia, Sundance expresses disgust with the primitive surroundings. While attempting to rob a village bank, the duo is horrified that no one speaks English, prompting Etta to teach them holdup commands in Spanish. Etta joins in the next several heists and, soon, Butch and Sundance develop a reputation as Los Bandidos Yanquis , or the Yankee Bandits. Their spree comes to an abrupt end, however, when Butch spots LaForce in a village. Etta insists that the lawman is outside his jurisdiction, but Sundance reminds her that the posse’s mission is to kill them. Butch declares that if they commit no further robberies, they cannot be traced, and so announces they are going “straight.” The men then take a job with Percy Garris, escorting a mining payroll, but on their very first job, Garris is killed by local bandits. When the bandits fire on Butch and Sundance, they readily surrender the money, but when it becomes obvious the thieves do not intend to let them go, the duo is forced to kill them. Dejected, Butch and Sundance return to Etta who urges them to take up farming or ranching. When they refuse, Etta decides to return to America. Butch and Sundance resume robbing banks and one day arrive in the small town of San Vicente, where they are recognized and reported to the local police. The police chief summons the army, then surrounds Butch and Sundance with his own forces. In the ensuing gunfight, the outlaws run low on ammunition, forcing Butch to make a daring race across the courtyard to grab their gun belts, while Sundance provides furious cover. Badly wounded, the men collapse in a local building and as they painfully rearm, Butch confides to the skeptical Sundance that he has discovered another place rich with potential, Australia. Unaware that a large contingent of soldiers has joined the police outside, Butch and Sundance confidently rush out of the building to make their escape, only to be caught in a hail of bullets.
MAHATMA GANDHI: 20TH CENTURY PROPHET (1953)
Cast: Quentin Reynolds
Producer: Stanley Neal
Writer: Edith Martin
Genre: Documentary
Production Company: American Academy of Asian Studies, Stanley Neal Productions, Inc.
Composer: Edward Paul
In Jan 1948, the flag of the United Nations is lowered to half-staff in honor of Mohandas K. Gandhi, the Indian leader known as Mahatma, which is Sanskrit for "a great soul." Many historians have called him the most powerful man of the twentieth century. Gandhi, who was born in Porbunder, India on 2 Oct 1869, studies law in England, where he becomes familiar with texts that will greatly influence his life, the Bahavad Gita --the book of books--and Christ’s “Sermon on the Mount.” Gandhi particularly comes to admire one tenant of the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are the Peacemakers.” Gandhi and his wife Kasturba move to South Africa, where he becomes a successful lawyer, often fighting against discrimination. After becoming famous for his espousal of non-violence, Gandhi returns to India in 1915. Now preferring to wear the simple, loincloth garment that will become his trademark, Gandhi preaches to large crowds, who are drawn to his non-violent message. He soon begins the Satyagraha Ashram for followers who embrace his philosophy. Troubles between Indians and the British, who have ruled India since the mid-eighteenth century, result in the death of over 300 non-violent protesters. Gandhi is jailed by the British, but sends words of peace to his followers. In 1925, Gandhi establishes the All-India Spinners’ Association and encourages a “home spinning” movement, intended to free Indians from reliance upon foreign-produced cloth. Gandhi feels that only by contemplation and participation in simple tasks such as spinning cloth, can man achieve true peace. Throughout the 1920s, Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru gather with other Indian leaders, attempting to plot out eventual self-rule through the granting of Dominion Status by Great Britain. In 1930, in protest of the British government’s tax on salt, Gandhi, accompanied by seventy-nine of his followers, begins a walk to the sea. Along the way, tens of thousands join the march. On 5 Apr 1930, when Gandhi and his followers reach Dandi, on the coast, he is the first man to take water from the sea to make salt, but others quickly follow suit. Over French and American protests, Gandhi is imprisoned by the British for violating laws against making salt. Soon Nehru and other Indian leaders are also arrested. More than 100,000 are eventually imprisoned, all following Gandhi’s philosophy, “reject the act but do not harm the man.” In Jan 1931, all are released after the British acquiesce and allow Indians to distill salt. Gandhi is the only Indian leader invited to England for a round table conference to discuss Dominion Status for India. He travels to England, refusing all offers of luxurious accommodations, and continues his spinning. Although he is mobbed by crowds of admirers, results of the conference are not promising, and Gandhi returns home after visiting other countries in Europe. Now affectionately called “Baba,” father, by his followers, Gandhi is again arrested after embracing the "untouchables," who are not Hindi. He goes on a six-day fast, which is only broken when Indians, who fear he is near death, embrace the untouchables. Throughout the 1930s, people from around the world flock to see Gandhi. When Britain enters the war in 1939, Gandhi supports the British, fearing Nazi and Japanese aggression. In 1943, Gandhi is again arrested after the British refuse to discuss independence until after the war, and the slogan “Quit India” becomes popular throughout the country. By 1944, Kasturba, Gandhi’s wife of sixty-two years, has died and he has become very frail. After the war, Gandhi is willing to accept British terms of independence, but clashes between Hindi and Muslims violently escalate. Hoping to stop the killing, Gandhi goes to the Muslims. Eventually, the riots stop and Muslims are granted a separate state, Pakistan, but many Hindi are against the separate state. In early 1948, a newly independent India establishes a constitution along American and Swiss models, with a new flag featuring a spinning wheel. Lord Louis Mountbatten, the last viceroy of India, helps with the transition, enabling the British to leave as friends, rather than enemies. Hoping to unite his divided people, Gandhi goes on a final fast. On Friday, 30 Jan 1948, Gandhi is shot to death while walking to a meeting of the country’s leaders. His death leads to a deep mourning in India. His body is burned for fourteen hours and his ashes are placed in urns that are sent throughout India and the world. In India, an urn placed at the meeting of the rivers is poured into the water as planes drop rose petals overhead.
SPARTACUS (1960)
Cast: Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons
Directors: Stanley Kubrick
Producer: Kirk Douglas
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.
ON THE WATERFRONT (1954)
Cast: Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb
Directors: Elia Kazan
Producer: Sam Spiegel
Writer: Budd Schulberg
Editor: Gene Milford
Cinematographer: Boris Kaufman
Genre: Drama
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.
THELMA & LOUISE (1991)
Cast: Susan Sarandon, Geena Davis, Harvey Keitel
Directors: Ridley Scott
Producer: Ridley Scott
Writer: Callie Khouri
Editor: Thom Noble
Cinematographer: Adrian Biddle
Genre: Adventure, Drama
Production Company: Pathe Entertainment
Composer: Hans Zimmer
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.
THE PRIDE OF THE YANKEES (1943)
Cast: Gary Cooper, Teresa Wright, Babe Ruth
Directors: Sam Wood
Producer: Samuel Goldwyn
Writer: Jo Swerling
Editor: Daniel Mandell
Cinematographer: Rudolph Maté
Genre: Biography
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."
SUPERMAN (1978)
Cast: Marlon Brando, Gene Hackman, Christopher Reeve
Directors: Richard Donner
Producer: Pierre Spengler
Writer: Mario Puzo
Editor: Stuart Baird
Cinematographer: Geoffrey Unsworth
Genre: Adventure
Production Company: Dovemead, Ltd., International Film Production Inc.
Composer: John Williams [composer]
On the planet Krypton, Jor-El explains that the planet is bent on a natural course of self-destruction but the Kryptonian Council rejects his theory that its citizens should evacuate. While agreeing not to start a panic, Jor-El only has enough time to save his baby son Kal-El by sending him to Earth. Wife Lara doubts their son will fit in, but Jor-El tells her that his powers will help Earth’s people survive. The baby is sent off in a rocket capsule carrying crystals filled with Krypton’s history. Couple Martha and Jonathan Kent stop their car to inspect a burnt out crater in the field. A naked Kal-El emerges with his arms outstretched. As Jonathan fixes a flat tire, arguing with Martha whether they should keep the child, the tire jack gives way. The baby lifts the truck before Jonathan is crushed. He is persuaded at that moment to raise the child as family, and they name him Clark. The years go by and Clark doesn’t always fit in with his high school crowd, but a pep talk from his dad reminds him that although he is different, he was put on Earth for a reason. Clark races his dad to the house but Jonathan has a fatal heart attack. One night, Clark goes to the barn and discovers crystals from his Kryptonian rocket. He tells his mother he must go North to discover his birthright, and she gives him her blessing. In the far reaches of the North Pole, Clark creates a Fortress of Solitude. He listens to the archives that Jor-El prepared to explain his heritage. The crystals hold the secrets to Clark’s existence. Clark becomes a reporter at the Daily Planet newspaper as his day job and Superman becomes his secret identity. Editor Perry White introduces Clark to the staff, and reporter Lois Lane is annoyed when he assigns Clark the city beat, which was Lois’ job. Later, two policemen follow Otis, a henchman who works for criminal mastermind Lex Luther. At the train yard, Otis descends a secret passageway controled by Luther. When one officer arrives at the passageway entrance, Luther’s controls push him into the path of an oncoming train. Luther hints to his assistant, Miss [Eve] Teschmacher that his latest crime involves real estate and he reminds her she is fortunate to have a Park Avenue address. The only problem is that the address is two hundred feet underground and she is not impressed. At the Daily Planet, Lois rides a helicopter to get a story at the airport. The helicopter spins out of control and the pilot is knocked unconscious. Lois hangs precariously from the helicopter as it leans off the side of the building. Clark transforms into Superman and saves Lois after she loses her grip and plummets through the air. When Superman grabs the helicopter and returns it safely to the roof, the public watches from below and cheers. Shortly thereafter, Superman catches a criminal and delivers him and his stolen jewels into the hands of a police officer. So begins Superman’s war on crime and good deeds throughout Metropolis. Perry rallies his reporters to find out everything they can about Superman. He wants the Daily Planet to have the best coverage on the caped crusader. Later, Lois gets an anonymous note to have dinner. Superman shows up on her terrace and Lois interviews him. He explains his purpose is to fight for “truth, justice, and the American way.” They fly all over the city and by the time they return to her apartment, Lois has fallen in love with him. When Clark shows up for their date, her thoughts are miles away. While Otis and Miss Teschmacher read Lois’ exclusive interview with Superman, Luther realizes that pieces of exploding Krypton that have landed on Earth are lethal to Superman. Luther sets up a roadside accident to create a diversion for some soldiers transporting a missile, while Miss Teschmacher inputs the coordinates that change the missile codes. Meanwhile, Luther sends a high-frequency message that only Superman can hear. Within five minutes, Luther plans to release poison gas from thousands of air ducts in the city. Clark becomes Superman, burrowing deep in the ground like a drill bit until he steps into Luther’s underground headquarters. Luther shares his plan to send nuclear missiles to the San Andreas fault, which would destroy big cities like Los Angeles and San Diego and increase the value of all the land Luther owns east of the fault. As the military launches its test missile, it’s apparent that the coordinates have malfunctioned and Lois is heading straight into the path of the destruction. Luther says only his detonator can stop the missiles. When Superman searches for it, he opens a lead box and is weakened by some Kryptonite. Luther tosses him and the Kryptonite into the swimming pool to drown. Miss Teschmacher rescues him because he promises to save her mother who lives in Hackensack, New Jersey, in the path of one of the missiles. Superman destroys one missile, while the other missile goes off, causing an earthquake as Luther predicted. He repairs the fault line, saves a train from derailing, and reporter Jimmy Olsen from failing into the Hoover dam. Superman also prevents the broken dam from flooding a town and saves Lois by turning back time after she suffocates when her car is buried in the fault. Alive again, Lois complains to Superman about her crummy day filled with exploding rocks and crumbling roads as he grins at her. She melts at his smile but Jimmy interrupts them. Soon, Superman leaves them to deliver Luther and Otis to prison. The warden thanks him for making the country safer. In turn, Superman tells him they are all part of the same team.
ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN (1976)
Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford, Jack Warden
Directors: Alan J. Pakula
Producer: Walter Coblenz
Writer: William Goldman
Editor: Robert L. Wolfe
Cinematographer: Gordon Willis
Genre: Drama
Production Company: Wildwood Enterprises, Inc.
Composer: David Shire
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.
12 ANGRY MEN (1957)
Cast: Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, Ed Begley
Directors: Sidney Lumet
Producer: Reginald Rose
Writer: Reginald Rose
Editor: Carl Lerner
Cinematographer: Boris Kaufman
Genre: Drama
Production Company: Orion-Nova Productions
Composer: Kenyon Hopkins
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.
PATTON (1970)
Cast: George C. Scott, Karl Malden, Michael Bates
Directors: Franklin J. Schaffner
Producer: Frank McCarthy
Writer: Francis Ford Coppola
Editor: Hugh S. Fowler
Cinematographer: Fred Koenekamp
Genre: Biography
Production Company: Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp.
Composer: Jerry Goldsmith
In 1943, after German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps has severely defeated American tank units in the Kasserine Pass, Tunisia, Gen. George S. Patton is sent to spearhead the U. S. sector of the North African campaign. His dramatic flair for leadership revitalizes the tank corps; an avid student of military history, he indulges his mystical belief in reincarnation and envisions the succession of great warriors and battles that have preceded him. Aided by his deputy commander, Gen. Omar N. Bradley, Patton scores a decisive victory over Rommel at El Guettar, which eventually leads to the German expulsion from North Africa. His next assignment is to lead the 7th Army into Sicily by taking Palermo, but instead he is ordered to protect the flank of his chief rival, British Field Marshal Montgomery, while Montgomery leads the attack. On his own initiative, Patton pushes forward and takes Messina, the island's main port and primary objective of the campaign, thereby intensifying his feud with Montgomery. Shortly thereafter, Patton visits a field hospital where, in a fit of rage, he slaps a weeping, battle-fatigued soldier; his action causes Allied Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower to demand the general's public apology and to eventually relieve Patton of his command. In spite of his probation, Patton's worth as a decoy during a tour of the Mediterranean is acknowledged, and he eventually assumes leadership of the 3rd Army under the command of Bradley. He forces his men through an impasse at Normandy and comes to a dramatic rescue of the beleaguered 101st Airborne under siege at Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge. Patton pushes his troops all the way to Czechoslovakia where, with total victory imminent, he is ordered to allow Montgomery and the Russian troops to rout the already disorganized German army. At the war's end, Patton cannot refrain from insulting America's current ally, Russia; unable to make the transition to peacetime, he is removed from command and bids a sad farewell to his staff.
COOL HAND LUKE (1967)
Cast: Paul Newman, George Kennedy, J. D. Cannon
Directors: Stuart Rosenberg
Producer: Gordon Carroll
Writer: Frank Pierson
Editor: Sam O'Steen
Cinematographer: Conrad Hall
Genre: Drama
Production Company: Jalem Productions, Inc.
Composer: Lalo Schifrin
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.
ERIN BROCKOVICH (2000)
Cast: Julia Roberts, David Brisbin, Dawn Didawick
Directors: Steven Soderbergh
Producer: Danny DeVito
Writer: Susannah Grant
Editor: Anne V. Coates
Cinematographer: Ed Lachman
Genre: Drama
Production Company: Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Jersey Films, Universal Pictures
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. Some time 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.
THE BIG SLEEP (1946)
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, John Ridgely
Directors: Howard Hawks
Producer: Jack L. Warner
Writer: William Faulkner
Editor: Christian Nyby
Cinematographer: Sid Hickox
Genre: Film noir
Production Company: Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
Composer: Max Steiner
Los Angeles private detective Philip Marlowe is summoned to the mansion of General Sternwood, a wealthy, aging invalid with two wild young daughters: the predatory, childish Carmen and the divorced Vivian Rutledge. Sternwood explains that Arthur Gwynne Geiger, a rare book dealer, is demanding payment of Carmen's gambling debts. Sternwood adds that earlier, a man named Joe Brody made a similar request, which was handled by ex-bootlegger Sean Regan, who has since disappeared. Although Marlowe advises Sternwood to pay the money, he agrees to look into the matter for him. After he leaves the general, Vivian asks to speak with him. She assumes that Sternwood hired Marlowe to look into Regan's disappearance, but Marlowe reveals nothing. At Geiger's store, Marlowe questions Agnes, the attendant, about rare books, and her confused response convinces him that the store is a cover for some illegal activity. The attractive bookseller across the street confirms his guess, and Marlowe waits at her shop for Geiger to make an appearance. Marlowe follows Geiger to his house, where, after a while, Carmen arrives. Later, Marlowe hears a scream followed by gunshots. Inside the house, Marlowe discovers a drugged Carmen with Geiger's dead body. Marlowe also finds a hidden camera with no film in it and a book containing the names of Geiger's blackmail victims. After Marlowe drives Carmen home, he returns to Geiger's, but in the meantime, the body has been removed. Later, one of Sternwood's cars containing the body of his chauffeur, Owen Taylor, is dredged out of the ocean. That afternoon, Vivian tells Marlowe that blackmailers have demanded $5,000 for a compromising photograph of Carmen taken at Geiger's the previous night. When Marlowe asks if she can pay the money, Vivian says she might be able to get it from Eddie Mars, the gambler whose wife ran off with Regan. Marlowe then returns to Geiger's store, where he sees two men loading Geiger's stock into their car and tails them to Brody's apartment. Later, he learns that Mars owns the house where Geiger was shot. That evening, when Vivian reports that the blackmailers failed to contact her, a skeptical Marlowe drives to Brody's apartment building. Vivian and Agnes are both hiding inside, and Carmen arrives later, intending to shoot Brody. After Marlowe disarms Carmen, Brody admits that he is the blackmailer, but denies that he killed Geiger. Marlowe forces Brody to give the photographic negative to Vivian, who then takes Carmen home. Marlowe explains that Taylor, who was in love with Carmen, shot Geiger and then accuses Brody of killing Taylor. Brody is about to tell Marlowe what information Geiger had on the Sternwoods, when he responds to a knock on the door and is shot. Marlowe catches the killer, Geiger's assistant Carol Lundgren, who believed that Brody murdered Geiger and shot him in retaliation. Now that the murders seem to be solved, Vivian tries to dismiss Marlowe, but he is convinced that Mars knows something about Regan's disappearance. Marlowe's suspicions of Mars increase when Vivian wins a lot of money gambling at Mars's club, only to have it stolen later in what appears to Marlowe to be a phony holdup. When Vivian later tells him that Regan has been found in Mexico, Marlowe believes that she is trying to throw him off Regan's trail. Subsequently, Marlowe learns from Agnes the whereabouts of Mars's wife Mona, who was supposed to have run off with Regan, and drives to the hideout, where he is taken prisoner by Mars's men. Vivian is also hiding out at the house and with her help, Marlowe shoots Mars's hired killer Canino, and they make their escape. Marlowe then lures Mars to Geiger's house and accuses him of blackmailing Vivian to keep Carmen's murder of Regan secret. After Mars is mistakenly killed by his own men, Marlowe tells the police that Mars murdered Regan and privately exacts Vivian's promise that she will send Carmen away where she will be prevented from hurting anyone else.
FARGO (1996)
Cast: Frances McDormand, Steve Buscemi, Peter Stormare
Directors: Joel Coen
Producer: Ethan Coen
Writer: Ethan Coen
Editor: Roderick Jaynes
Cinematographer: Roger Deakins
Genre: Comedy-drama, Mystery
Production Company: Working Title Films
Composer: Carter Burwell
In 1987 Minneapolis, Minnesota, Jerry Lundegaard struggles as the sales manager at an Oldsmobile dealership owned by his father-in-law, Wade Gustafson. After taking on a $320,000 loan using nonexistent vehicles as collateral, Lundegaard schemes to get himself out of debt by hiring two men to kidnap his wife, Jean, for an $80,000 ransom, to be paid by Wade Gustafson. A mechanic at the dealership named Shep Proudfoot connects Lundegaard with Carl Showalter and Gaear Grimsrud, a couple of petty criminals based in Fargo, Noth Dakota, who agree to do the kidnapping in exchange for a new car and half the ransom. In the meantime, Lundegaard proposes a potentially lucrative real estate deal to Wade, in the hope of borrowing $750,000 to invest. Wade decides to pursue the deal on his own behalf, which furthers Lundegaard’s resolve to go through with the kidnapping. Showalter and Grimsrud take Jean by force, driving her out of town in a car from Lundegaard’s dealership. On their way to a cabin at Moose Lake, they are stopped by a state trooper who tickets them for driving without tags. Jean makes a noise from inside the car, which prompts Gaear to shoot the trooper dead, as well as two passersby. The triple murder is investigated by Marge Gunderson, the Brainerd, Minnesota, chief of police, who discovers that the killers called Shep Proudfoot from their hotel room. She goes to the Oldsmobile dealership to question him and Lundegaard, who attests that no vehicles have gone missing from the lot. That evening, Marge meets up with an ex-classmate, Mike Yanagita, who tries to seduce her despite the fact that she is married and pregnant. Due to the new complications in the kidnapping, Showalter doubles the previously negotiated fee, demanding $80,000 from Lundegaard. In the meantime, with only twenty-four hours to prove to the loan company that he has the collateral he promised, Lundegaard tells Wade that the ransom has been set at $1 million. Wade thwarts Lundegaard’s plan by insisting on delivering the ransom money, himself. Armed with a loaded gun, Wade brings the money to Showalter in a Minneapolis parking garage. The kidnapper becomes agitated when Wade asks to see his daughter, who is not there. He shoots Wade, but Wade manages to shoot back before dying. Showalter flees with a bullet wound to the jaw. He is shocked to find $1 million in the briefcase. He removes the $80,000 that he and Grimsrud were promised, then buries the remainder on the side of the highway. Showalter returns to the cabin at Moose Lake to discover that Grimsrud has killed Jean. Showalter offers Grimsrud his half of the $80,000 and insists on fleeing separately. They squabble over who gets to keep the car, and Grimsrud ends the dispute by killing Showalter with an axe. Marge questions Lundegaard’s honesty and returns to the Oldsmobile dealership to interrogate him again. Lundegaard runs away, and Marge reports him to Minnesota police. She receives a tip from a bar owner who overheard Showalter bragging about his exploits, and locates the Moose Lake cabin, where she finds the missing dealership car in question. Grimsrud is feeding Showalter’s dead body into a woodchipper as Marge appears. To stop him from escaping on foot, she shoots him in the leg. He and Jerry Lundegaard are arrested, and Marge returns home to her husband, Norm. The two casually discuss his painting of a mallard, which has been selected to appear on a new three-cent postage stamp, and the arrival of their baby in two months.
TARZAN THE APE MAN (1932)
Cast: Neil Hamilton, C. Aubrey Smith, Maureen O'Sullivan
Directors: W. S. Van Dyke
Editor: Ben Lewis
Cinematographer: Clyde De Vinna
Genre: Adventure
Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp.
English trader James Parker and his partner, Harry Holt, are about to embark on a journey beyond the Mutia Escarpment, where a fabled ivory-rich elephants' graveyard lies, when James's daughter Jane arrives from England. After a tearful reunion with her father, Jane, who says she is "through with civilization" and prefers to be a savage, insists on joining the expedition on its dangerous trek in search of an ivory deposit worth eleven million dollars. Though James is reluctant to let his daughter accompany them, he eventually allows her to go when a smitten Harry sides with her. Before they leave, James tells his daughter about the legend surrounding the burial site, and warns her that the natives consider the place sacred and taboo and that all who so much as look at it are put to death by tribal witchmen. James's account of the legend soon proves true when a native, crazy with fear after having seen the burial ground, runs into their camp to take refuge from the brutal Ubangi tribe and then mysteriously dies. When the expedition party finally arrives at the wall of the Mutia Escarpment, they are forced to scale its narrow precipice, which proves too narrow for one of the men, who falls to his death. Jane also loses her footing, but she is pulled back by a rope. After coming to a resting point, the expedition party is bewildered by an ape call they hear in the distance that is distinctly human-like. They soon meet the source of the sound when Tarzan uses his jungle call to save them from an attack by threatening hippopotami. Tarzan, who understands no language, then carries the screaming Jane to his treetop home, where she gradually loses her fear of him and the apes who live in the trees. Later, while Tarzan has left Jane to search for food, Harry and James rescue her, but not before Harry shoots an ape that he believes is a threat to Jane. Tarzan witnesses the killing and follows the expedition to take revenge on them. After drowning one of James's African guides, Tarzan recaptures Jane and then, with the help of an elephant, engages an attacking lion in a fight. The elephant carries the defeated and unconscious Tarzan to safety and then calls Tarzan's apes to summon Jane. Jane arrives in time to bandage the wounded ape man, and the two share a romantic swim in a nearby river. Later, from her treetop vantage point, Jane sees her ailing father fall down and decides that she must go to him. Tarzan, hurt by Jane's departure, flees into the jungle. Soon after he leaves, the expedition is surrounded by a large number of pygmies, who abduct the hunters and take them downriver to their camp. Along the way, Jane sees Cheetah, Tarzan's chimpanzee friend, and sends the animal for help. While the pygmies make a cruel game out of sacrificing Harry, James and Jane to a ferocious beast in a pit, Tarzan arrives with a herd of elephants, and Jane and her party are freed. Jane, her father, Tarzan and Harry ride away from the camp on the backs of elephants, and though James discovers that his elephant is dying, he insists on staying on him in the hope that the animal will lead him to the sacred burial site. The elephant leads James to the site, but as soon as he sets his eyes on the grave, he dies. After saying goodbye to Harry, Jane is reunited with Tarzan and Cheetah and remains with them.
SERGEANT YORK (1941)
Cast: Gary Cooper, Walter Brennan, Joan Leslie
Directors: Howard Hawks
Producer: Jesse L. Lasky
Writer: Howard W. Koch
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.
TRUE GRIT (2010)
Cast: Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Josh Brolin
Directors: Joel Coen
Producer: Scott Rudin
Writer: Joel Coen
Editor: Roderick Jaynes
Cinematographer: Roger Deakins
Genre: Western
Production Company: Mike Zoss Productions , Skydance Productions
Composer: Carter Burwell
One winter around 1878, strong-willed, fourteen-year-old Mattie Ross of Yell County travels to Fort Smith, AR to retrieve the corpse of her father who was killed by his hired hand, Tom Chaney, during a horse-buying trip. Although Chaney has fled into Choctaw territory beyond the jurisdiction of Fort Smith’s sheriff, Mattie is intent that the murderer receives retribution for her father’s death. After shrewd negotiations with horse trader, Col. Stonehill, Mattie obtains compensation for her family’s two horses that were stolen by Chaney from Stonehill’s stables and she sells back all the Mustang ponies bought by her father, except one, which she keeps for herself and names “Little Blackie.” She then inquires about hiring a deputy marshal to track down Chaney. Although three marshals are suggested to her, Mattie determines that the middle-aged, one-eyed, alcohol-sodden Reuben “Rooster” Cogburn is the best person for her purpose because of his reputation for an unrelenting lack of pity toward his quarry. Offering money from the sale of the ponies, she tells Rooster that he has “true grit,” and asks him to help her bring Chaney to justice. At first Rooster brushes her aside, but she stubbornly persists until he agrees. Meanwhile, La Boeuf, a Texas Ranger who has been pursuing Chaney for the killing of a Texas senator, has tracked the fugitive as far as Fort Smith and asks to partner with Rooster. La Boeuf offers his knowledge of Chaney, who he has pursued for several months, in exchange for Rooster’s knowledge of Indian Territory. Mattie is obstinately against La Boeuf ‘s participation in their search, because she wants to see Chaney hanged in Arkansas for her father’s murder and he wants Chaney tried in Texas where bounty money is offered. Mattie also insists that she accompany Rooster and Le Boeuf on the chase, but when she shows up at the appointed time to meet them, she discovers they have left without her. She follows them and, when refused a ride on a ferry, stubbornly fords the river on horseback. When she catches up, La Boeuf is annoyed by her feistiness and whips her until Rooster forces him at gunpoint to stop. As they travel, Rooster and La Boeuf constantly bicker and compete with each other, prompting La Boeuf to terminate their partnership and ride off alone. Mattie and Rooster continue riding to Bagby’s, a remote trading post, where they learn that someone, possibly one of Lucky Ned Pepper’s outlaw gang, recently bought supplies there and paid with a rare California gold piece that Mattie recognizes was stolen by Chaney from her father. Rooster points out that it is unclear whether Chaney has joined the gang or if the gang robbed and killed him. Guessing that the gang went north and that Chaney may be with them, Rooster and Mattie follow. Along the way, they encounter a rustic healer wearing a bearskin who directs them to a dugout cabin where they can spend the night. At the cabin they find Emmett Quincy and young Moon, who is suffering from an untreated gunshot wound. When asked about Chaney and Pepper, Quincy feigns ignorance, but Moon, who wants medical attention promised by Rooster, confirms that the gang was at Bagby’s two days earlier. To stop Moon from talking, Quincy chops off his fingers then throws a knife, mortally wounding him, and Rooster shoots Quincy dead. Before dying, Moon relates that Pepper’s gang is expected at the dugout that night. Rooster and Mattie lie in wait for the outlaws, but it is La Boeuf who arrives first. Before La Boeuf can be warned, the gang captures him with a lasso and drags him behind a horse. Rooster shoots several of the outlaws, and in the exchange of gunfire during which at least one outlaw escapes, La Boeuf bites his tongue and is shot in the shoulder, possibly by one of Rooster’s bullets. The next day, Rooster, Mattie and La Boeuf ride to a mine where they expect Pepper may take refuge, but instead find it deserted. Rooster’s drinking and his quarreling with La Boeuf cause the lawmen to again part ways. As La Boeuf prepares to leave them, Mattie asks to go with him, as she now believes she chose the wrong man for her mission. The dejected La Boeuf, however, says that the trail is cold and he is returning to Texas. The next morning, Mattie goes to the river for water and unexpectedly encounters Chaney. Armed with her father’s old gun, she tries singlehandedly to arrest him, but Chaney refuses to cooperate. She shoots, superficially wounding him, and the sound of the report alerts Rooster, as well as Pepper and other members of his gang. Pepper abducts Mattie and, threatening to kill her, calls out to Rooster to leave the area. After they are certain that Rooster is far away, the gang prepares to move on, but because they are short on horses, Chaney is left with Mattie until a horse can be sent to him. Pepper threatens to withhold Chaney’s pay if Mattie is harmed, but Chaney tries to kill her after the gang leaves. Responding to the sound of Mattie’s gunshot, La Boeuf arrives and knocks Chaney unconscious. From their location on a rock ledge, La Boeuf and Mattie can see Rooster in a clearing far in the distance. On horseback, Rooster faces off with Pepper and three gang members. Charging at them with his reins in his mouth and shooting guns with both hands, Rooster kills three of the men, but his horse is shot out from under him, pinning him to the ground. Although Pepper is wounded and possibly dying, he takes advantage of Rooster’s inability to move and aims to shoot him. However, from the rock ledge, La Boeuf shoots his high-powered Carbine rifle, killing Pepper before he can harm Rooster. Meanwhile, Chaney regains consciousness while Mattie’s and La Boeuf’s attentions are diverted and temporarily knocks out La Boeuf. Grabbing La Boeuf’s rifle, Mattie shoots Chaney, but the recoil knocks her backward into a snake pit, where she is bitten in the arm by a rattlesnake. Arriving soon after, Rooster climbs into the pit to get Mattie and La Boeuf pulls them out. La Beouf remains with Chaney’s body until Rooster can send help to him, but Rooster, aware that Mattie’s condition is critical, carries her in his arms and, on Little Blackie, races off for a doctor. After passing the outlaw’s corpses strewn along the meadow, Rooster and Mattie ride for hours, into the wintery night. As snow falls and Mattie turns delirious, Rooster pushes the pony beyond its endurance until the animal dies from exhaustion. Rooster then walks the remainder of the distance, carrying her. Breathing hard by the time they get near Bagby’s, Rooster shoots his gun in the air as a call for help and admits to himself that he has grown old. Mattie remains unconscious and, to save her life, her arm must be amputated by the doctor. When Mattie awakens, Rooster is gone, but she learns that he remained with her until he was certain she would survive. For a long time, Mattie does not hear from Rooster, who ignores her offer to pay him the money she owes for his services. Twenty-five years later, Mattie, a spinster and as strong-willed as ever, receives a brief message from Rooster that includes an announcement of his appearance in Cole Younger and Frank James’s Wild West Show. Mattie travels to Memphis where the show is playing, but learns from Younger that Rooster died three days earlier. She takes Rooster’s body home to bury in the Ross family plot. Although she would have welcomed hearing from La Boeuf, she never again sees him.
STAR WARS (1977)
Cast: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher
Directors: George Lucas
Producer: Gary Kurtz
Writer: George Lucas
Editor: Paul Hirsch
Cinematographer: Gilbert Taylor
Genre: Adventure, Science fiction
Production Company: Lucasfilm, Ltd.
Composer: John Williams
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.
CITY LIGHTS (1931)
Cast: Charlie Chaplin, Virginia Cherrill, Florence Lee
Directors: Charles Chaplin
Writer: Charles Chaplin
Editor: Charles Chaplin
Cinematographer: 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.
LASSIE COME HOME (1943)
Cast: Roddy McDowall, Donald Crisp, Dame May Whitty
Directors: Fred M. Wilcox
Producer: Samuel Marx
Writer: Hugo Butler
Editor: Ben Lewis
Cinematographer: Leonard Smith
Genre: Drama
Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp.
Composer: Daniele Amfitheatrof
Unaware that his poor, unemployed father Sam has been forced to sell his beloved collie Lassie to the Duke of Rudling, young Joe Carraclough, of Yorkshire, England, is immediately concerned when the dog fails to meet him, as usual, after school. When Sam and his wife Helen finally break the news, Joe is inconsolable. Lassie, meanwhile, is taken to the duke's kennels, where she is locked in a pen by Hynes, the cruel, Cockney dogkeeper. The next day, however, Lassie digs her way out of her pen and shows up at Joe's school at the usual time, four o'clock. Although Joe is overjoyed to see Lassie, his parents know that they must return her to the duke and reluctantly hand her over to Hynes. Lassie soon escapes a second time by jumping over the pen's fence. This time Joe runs off and hides with Lassie, but the two are quickly found by Sam, who insists that Joe return Lassie to the duke in person. At the duke's estate, Joe is somewhat cheered by the presence of Priscilla, the duke's sympathetic young granddaughter, who promises to give Lassie special care. That evening, Sam lectures Joe on the importance of honesty and informs his son that the duke is taking Lassie hundreds of miles away to Scotland for a dog show and will be staying there indefinitely. Later, in Scotland, Priscilla notices that Hynes has chained Lassie inside her pen and complains to her grandfather. The duke soundly chastises Hynes and orders him to walk Lassie around the estate's grounds. Hynes is so rough with Lassie, however, that the dog breaks away from him and dashes to the front gate, where Priscilla and the duke are standing. Priscilla opens the gate and allows Lassie to escape, then comments to her astounded grandfather that the collie is headed south, toward England. Lassie runs and runs until a rain storm forces her to take shelter. The next day, she resumes her journey and is almost killed by two shepherds, who suspect her of killing their sheep. After traversing a swampy area, Lassie then swims a river into England. Once in England, an exhausted, hungry Lassie collapses outside a cottage owned by Dally and Dan'l Fadden. Although the elderly couple eagerly adopt the dog, Dally soon realizes that Lassie, who whines to be let outside every afternoon at four, is not happy. Sensing that Lassie is anxious to continue her trek but is too "polite" just to go, Dally orders Lassie to leave the next day at four. Lassie takes off and eventually meets up with Rowlie Palmer, a tinker who travels with his little dog Toots. Lassie is cautious around Rowlie, but accepts his food and follows his wagon. Later, as Rowlie is selling his wares in a village, Lassie performs with Toots, doing tricks that Rowlie has taught her. That night at his camp, Rowlie is attacked by two roving thieves, Buckles and Snickers. Both Toots and Lassie help Rowlie in the fight, and when Buckles mortally wounds Toots, Lassie unleashes all her fury on him. Although the crooks scamper away, Rowlie is crushed by Toots's death. Soon after, Rowlie parts with Lassie, sensing as the Faddens did, that she is on a special journey. Lassie then makes her way through a city and is pursued by two dog-catchers. To avoid capture, Lassie jumps from a warehouse window, injuring her leg. Despite exhaustion, hunger and lameness, Lassie perseveres until she arrives at the Carracloughs' cottage. Helen and the still out-of-work Sam are stunned to see Lassie, filthy and thin, but gladly welcome her home. Soon after, the duke and Priscilla drive up to the cottage, and Sam and Helen, now determined to keep Lassie, hide her. To their surprise, the duke offers Sam a job as his new dogkeeper, and Sam gratefully accepts. Lassie soon gives her presence away, but the duke and Priscilla pretend not to recognize her. Then, just before four o'clock, Lassie limps over to Joe's school for her long-awaited reunion. Upon seeing Lassie, Joe, who has never stopped yearning for his dog, runs to her side and gives her a joyous, tearful embrace. Sometime later, Joe and Priscilla enjoy a bike ride together, accompanied by Lassie and her sprawling litter of collie puppies.
SERPICO (1973)
Cast: Al Pacino, John Randolph, Jack Kehoe
Directors: Sidney Lumet
Producer: Martin Bregman
Writer: Waldo Salt
Editor: Dede Allen
Cinematographer: Arthur J. Ornitz
Genre: Drama
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.
GOODBYE, MR. CHIPS (1939)
Cast: Robert Donat, Greer Garson, Terry Kilburn
Directors: Sam Wood
Producer: Victor Saville
Writer: R. C. Sherriff
Editor: Charles Frend
Cinematographer: F. A. Young
Genre: Drama
Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp.
Composer: Louis Levy
In 1870, Mr. Charles Chipping, an unsophisticated, dour young man, embarks on a teaching career at Brookfield, an English boys school steeped in tradition. Chipping is a kindhearted man who takes pity on a homesick young boy he meets on the train to Brookfield. His initial lack of authority in the classroom, however, results in a chaotic outburst from the boys and a severe reprimand from his headmaster. Determined to stay at Brookfield, Chipping soon becomes a strict disciplinarian, disdained by the boys and looked upon condescendingly by his fellow instructors. As the years pass, Chipping enters middle age with a sad longing to be liked by the boys for whom he has such affection, but he is unable to put aside his stern facade. His lack of rapport with his students has also prevented him from becoming a headmaster, a position for which Chipping has always yearned. One summer, Max Staefel, a German master who is Chipping's only friend, suggests that they take a walking tour of Austria together. During a dense fog, Chipping encounters Katherine Ellis, a modern young Englishwoman who is enchanted by his kindness and old-fashioned manners. Although Chipping falls in love with Kathy, he thinks that their different personalities and ages would make marriage impossible, and she leaves the inn at which they are staying uncertain of his true feelings. When they meet again in Vienna, their love deepens, and just as Kathy is leaving to return to England with her friend Flora, Chipping proposes. At the beginning of the new term at Brookfield, the students and staff are amused by the thought of Chipping's marriage and are shocked to see how attractive and charming Kathy is. With her gentle guidance, "Chips," as she calls him, allows his kind nature to emerge and thereby gains the respect and affection of students and faculty. Although Kathy dies in childbirth, Chips's enduring love for her helps him to maintain his blossomed personality and advance his career. Years later, when an elderly Chips is given notice by a new headmaster who wants to "modernize" the school, the boys, along with their parents, many of whom as students had also grown to love Chips, demand that the headmaster ask Chips to stay on. Several years later, when Chips does retire, he maintains a cottage near the school and continues his closeness with the boys, entertaining them after school and listening to their troubles. When World War I begins and many of the masters enlist in the army, Chips is asked to return to the school and serve as its headmaster, the position for which he and Kathy had wished years before. After the war, Chips returns to retirement, but still stays in close contact with the boys. He dies dreaming of all his past students not long after young Peter Colley III, the youngest of a family of boys whom Chips had taught through the years, waves to him and says "Goodbye, Mr. Chips."
BOYS TOWN (1938)
Cast: Spencer Tracy, Mickey Rooney, Henry Hull
Directors: Norman Taurog
Producer: Orville O. Dull
Writer: John Meehan
Editor: Elmo Veron
Cinematographer: Sidney Wagner
Genre: Drama
Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp.
Composer: Edward Ward
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.
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (1956)
Cast: Charlton Heston, Yul Brynner, Anne Baxter
Directors: Cecil B. DeMille
Producer: Cecil B. DeMille
Writer: Jesse Lasky Jr.
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’ 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’ 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’ 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’ 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’ 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.
Upon reaching Egypt, Moses confronts Rameses, demanding that his people be freed. Rameses laughs at Moses’ 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’ 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’ 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.
THE FRENCH CONNECTION (1971)
Cast: Gene Hackman, Fernando Rey, Roy Scheider
Directors: William Friedkin
Producer: G. David Schine
Writer: Ernest Tidyman
Editor: Jerry Greenberg
Cinematographer: Owen Roizman
Genre: Drama
Production Company: D'Antoni Productions, Inc.
Composer: Don Ellis
From his home in Marseilles, millionaire Alain Charnier runs the largest heroin-smuggling syndicate in the world, employing ruthless Pierre Nicoli to assassinate his adversaries. While they refine their plan to smuggle $32 million worth of heroin into the United States by hiding it in the car of their new accomplice, French television personality Henri Devereaux, in New York City two police detectives continue their dogged pursuit of drug dealers. Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle and his partner, Buddy “Cloudy” Russo, use intimidation and psychological tactics to taunt and trap their targets, sometimes skirting the boundaries of ethical behavior. One night after a typically grueling day of chasing down suspects, Popeye convinces Cloudy to go to the local club with him for a drink. There, Popeye, who thinks of little else besides his job, grows suspicious of the patrons at one table who are celebrating boisterously. “Just for fun,” he and Cloudy tail the main carouser, Sal Boca, all night until he returns to the diner he runs with his wife Angie. Days later, they are still watching Sal, who has a record of petty crimes, as does his brother Lou. Cloudy, posing as a patron, is able to observe the steady traffic of local businessmen who hold clandestine meetings in the back room with Sal. One day, the detectives tail Sal to the apartment building of drug financier Joel Weinstock, and exult that they have finally connected him to a known criminal. To obtain insider information, Popeye storms into a gritty bar frequented by drug users and small-time dealers. Shoving the customers against the wall and humiliating them, Popeye picks their pockets for drugs and makes a few arrests. His real aim, however, is to meet in private with one of the dealers, Hector, who is his secret informant, without arousing the others’ suspicions. To that end, Popeye roughs up Hector and pulls him into the back room, and after Hector reveals that a shipment of heroin is due into the New York harbor soon, Popeye punches him to make their “confrontation” appear real. The detectives bring their case to their captain, Walter Simonson, who derides the circumstantial evidence and berates them for failing to break a big case. Together, the partners manage to convince Simonson to allow them two wiretaps, one on Sal’s diner and the other on his house. Days later, at the same time as Charnier and Nicoli, newly arrived in New York, watch Devereaux’s car being transported onto the wharf, federal agents Bill Mulderig and Klein are brought onto the case. Mulderig dislikes Popeye because, on a previous case, the detective’s rough tactics resulted in the death of a policeman. Cloudy, who attempts to defend his partner, later visits Popeye’s apartment and finds him handcuffed to the bed by a young sexual partner. Over the next few days, Popeye and Cloudy follow Sal’s conversations on the wiretap, and one day they rejoice to hear a Frenchman call and make an appointment to meet. In the car on the way to the planned rendezvous, as Mulderig razzes Popeye from the backseat, they are caught in a traffic jam that endangers their ability to follow Sal. Popeye races out onto the street to catch sight of Sal’s car, and soon the police are back on his trail as he enters the Roosevelt hotel. There, they spot Sal with Charnier and Nicoli, then follow them to a restaurant, standing on the freezing street while the Frenchmen enjoy a leisurely gourmet meal. Charnier leads Popeye to his hotel, where the detective is able to learn the Frenchmen’s names from the clerk. Soon after, Sal brings the heroin to Weinstock, whose drug expert tests it and reports that it is high-grade, valuable dope. However, Weinstock, knowing the police are after Sal, insists on taking more time before agreeing to Charnier’s price. Meanwhile, Charnier slips away from the federal agents posted around his hotel and walks along the street, where Popeye is shocked to spot him. Popeye follows him into the subway, but as he attempts to trail him, the wily Charnier manages to evade him, waving as his subway car speeds away from the detective. Klein follows Sal to Washington, D.C, where Sal meets with Charnier to ask for a few more days. Charnier insists on having the money by the end of the week, then tells Nicoli to kill Popeye, as he poses the biggest threat to their deal. At the same time, Simonson informs Popeye that, with no movement on the case, he must close it down. The furious Popeye, unable to convince Simonson to give him more time, fights with Mulderig. Soon after, Popeye is walking near his apartment when Nicoli, hiding on a rooftop, shoots at him. Popeye tries to secure the area, then crawls along the building's side until he can climb to the roof. There, he is able to spot Nicoli and races to follow him into an elevated subway platform. As Nicoli steps onto a car, a transit guard hears Popeye yell a warning, causing him to follow Nicoli suspiciously as he travels from car to car. On the ground, Popeye commandeers a passerby’s car and speeds to the next subway station, hoping to reach it before the train. On the el, Nicoli shoots and kills the policeman, then holds the driver at gunpoint and commands him not to stop at the station. Popeye arrives at the stop and runs to platform, but when the train does not slow down, he jumps back into his car and careens wildly through the city streets, narrowly avoiding other cars and pedestrians, to reach the next station. Nicoli has confronted the conductor and passengers with his gun drawn, and now shoots the conductor as the driver suffers a heart attack. The train, rushing out of control, slams directly into a parked train. Below, Popeye sees the wreck and, stopping his car, walks disoriented to the bottom of the el stairs. Nicoli climbs through a door to the outside of the cars, crawling between them in order to escape the wrecked train, but as he reaches the top of the station stairs, Popeye gets him in his gun sights. Nicoli, now unarmed, turns to run, but Popeye shoots him in the back, killing him. Soon after, Popeye and Cloudy are following Sal when as he picks up Devereaux’s car. They pursue the car to the street where Sal parks it, and watch for days as it sits untouched. When some men approach the car, Popeye arrests them, and although they are soon revealed to be petty car thieves, he orders the car torn apart. The police mechanic rips apart the entire car but finds nothing. Popeye, insisting the heroin is in the car, urges him to try again, and this time, they uncover 120 pounds of dope in the front grille. Hours later, they have replaced the heroin and rebuilt the car, which they return to Devereaux in order to trail him. Devereaux, spooked by the police interest, informs Charnier that he no longer wants to be involved. Charnier and Nicoli then drive the car to meet with Weinstock and his men at an abandoned warehouse, where they swap the drugs for cash. Sal, exulting in his new wealth, drives off with Charnier, only to find the bridge closed off by Popeye and his men. They return to the warehouse, where all of the criminals scatter, followed by the police. Popeye, obsessed with catching Charnier, stalks through the dilapidated building. When he hears footsteps, he turns and shoots, accidentally killing Mulderig. Although Cloudy is horrified, Popeye single-mindedly continues his pursuit, wandering off into the shadows, where a lone shot rings out.
THE MARK OF ZORRO (1940)
Cast: Tyrone Power, Linda Darnell, Basil Rathbone
Directors: Rouben Mamoulian
Producer: Darryl F. Zanuck
Writer: John Taintor Foote
Editor: Robert Bischoff
Cinematographer: Arthur Miller
Genre: Adventure
Production Company: Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp.
Composer: Alfred Newman
In the early 1800s, when Diego Vega, one of the best swordsmen in all of Spain, is unexpectedly summoned home to California by his father, Don Alejandro, he returns to find that his father has been deposed as alcalde and the peasants crushed beneath the yoke of tyranny under Don Luis Quintero and his soldiers, who are led by the sword brandishing Captain Esteban Pasquale. With the odds against an uprising because of the sheer number of soldiers under Pasquale's command, Diego becomes the scourge of the oppressors by acting as the masked bandit Zorro by night while impersonating a foppish dilettante by day. As Zorro, he falls in love with Quintero's beautiful niece Lolita, while as Don Diego, he flirts with Quintero's conceited wife Inez, thus earning the ire of Pasquale, her other suitor. When Zorro orders that Quintero return to Spain and appoint Don Alejandro as his successor, Pasquale cleverly proposes an alliance between the Vega and Quintero families through a marriage between Diego and Lolita. At first repulsed, Lolita embraces Diego after she discovers that he is the dashing Zorro. However, Diego's masquerade is exposed when his accomplice, Fray Felipe, is arrested by Pasquale and Diego challanges the smug captain to a duel. When Diego kills his opponent, he attracts the suspicion of Quintero, who arrests him and sentences him to death. As Fray Felipe and Diego await the firing squad, Diego outwits the guard, breaks out of jail and leads the peasants and caballeros in a rebellion against the soldiers. With Quintero and his men defeated, Don Alejandro takes over as alcalde, and peace is restored to the village of Los Angeles.
BATMAN (1989)
Cast: Jack Nicholson, Michael Keaton, Kim Basinger
Directors: Tim Burton
Producer: Jon Peters
Writer: Sam Hamm
Editor: Ray Lovejoy
Cinematographer: Roger Pratt
Genre: Adventure
Production Company: Guber-Peters Company, PolyGram Pictures , Warner Bros. Pictures
Composer: Danny Elfman
Batman, the caped crusader, operates as a vigilante in crime-ridden Gotham City. Although police do not acknowledge his existence, journalist Alexander Knox publishes a story about him in the Gotham Globe, enduring the ridicule of his fellow newspapermen, who believe Batman is a myth. However, a beautiful photographer named Vicki Vale approaches Knox at his desk, reveals that she shares his enthusiasm for the Batman story and presents her latest work, photographs of a foreign war that recently made the cover of Time magazine. Knox eagerly agrees to work with Vicki, who suggests they start by attending a benefit held by local businessman, Bruce Wayne. Meanwhile, Carl Grissom, head of Gotham’s crime syndicate, worries that newly elected district attorney, Harvey Dent, plans to investigate Axis Chemical Co. Since Grissom’s syndicate has ties to Axis, Grissom sends his underling, Jack Napier, to raid company files before police get to them. Napier, who is secretly having an affair with Grissom’s mistress, grudgingly follows orders. That evening, at Bruce Wayne’s mansion, Knox attempts to glean information about Batman from Police Commissioner Gordon and Harvey Dent, while Vicki seeks out the party’s host, who eventually reveals himself and confesses he is a fan of her photography. Grissom betrays Napier by calling in an anonymous tip to the police, and Gordon gets word that Axis Chemical is being raided. The commissioner rushes to the scene with Police Lieutenant Eckhardt and a team of policemen. As they arrive, a shootout ensues, and Napier releases toxic chemicals to stave off his pursuers. Batman appears and captures Napier, but Napier’s man, Bob the Goon, holds Gordon at gunpoint, forcing the caped crusader to release his captive. Napier shoots Lt. Eckhardt, then fires at Batman, who deflects the bullet back to his attacker’s face. Napier falls into a vat of chemicals and the police leave him for dead. Later, as Knox attempts to cover the story, police claim Batman was never there, but Knox is unconvinced. Vicki accepts an invitation to dine with Bruce Wayne, and the two forgo his formal dining room to eat in the kitchen with Albert, Bruce’s butler and trusted confidant. That night, in a makeshift operating room, a doctor performs surgery on Napier’s mangled face, and the gangster laughs hysterically when he sees his reflection in the mirror. Aware that he was set up, Napier surprises Grissom at his office and reveals his new look: green-tinted hair, a chalky, white face, and a permanent, grotesque grin painted red. Still laughing, Napier instructs Grissom to call him “Joker,” then shoots the man dead. After waking up in Bruce Wayne’s bed, Vicki tries to arrange a second date, but Bruce claims he must leave town. Meanwhile, Napier’s new alter ego, the Joker, leads a crime syndicate meeting and announces Grissom has gone away and left him in charge. He kills Tony, one of the syndicate men, and his henchmen usher the others away at gunpoint. Suspicious that Bruce lied to her, Vicki follows him into town and observes as he leaves two red roses on the sidewalk in front of a shuttered hotel. At the Gotham City courthouse, Vinny, one of the syndicate members, files an affidavit for control of Grissom’s holdings, and a crowd forms outside as Knox questions him. Bruce gets there just before the Joker and his henchmen arrive. Marching up the courthouse steps, the Joker kills Vinny with a poisoned pen, then escapes in a car. Later, Bruce informs Albert that Napier is still alive and has taken control of Grissom’s operation. He requests police files on Napier, and learns that the gangster has a history of violence and psychological problems, as well as an interest in chemistry. At the Axis plant, the Joker oversees production of new chemicals, and soon, women begin dying with wide grins on their faces from poisoned cosmetics. Despite the rash of deaths, Gotham’s mayor insists that a 200th anniversary celebration for the city will go on as scheduled. Meanwhile, after seeing a photograph of Vicki in the courthouse crowd, the Joker decides to make her his next girl friend and lures her to a museum, where she believes she is meeting Bruce. As she waits at a table, Vicki receives a box containing a gas mask and a note instructing her to wear it. Suddenly, toxic gas spills into the museum, incapacitating everyone but Vicki. The gas clears and the Joker marches in with his goons, who deface paintings and sculptures at his instruction. He asks Vicki about Batman, but she claims to know nothing. Batman crashes in through the ceiling, rescues her, and drives her away in his heavily armored Batmobile. However, they are forced to proceed on foot when the vehicle crashes. The Joker’s henchmen catch up to Batman, but when they shoot, they discover he is protected by body armor. As Batman fights off his attackers, Vicki secretly snaps photographs. Afterward, he retrieves the Batmobile and leads her to his headquarters in a cave outside the city. Batman shares his findings that the Joker has poisoned hundreds of cosmetics, but the poisoning effects only take hold when certain components are mixed, like hairspray with lipstick and perfume, and provides her with a report to be printed in the Gotham Globe. The next morning, Vicki discovers that Batman stole the film from her camera, but, with the help of Knox, she gets Batman’s story printed on the front page. Unaware that he is Batman, Vicki reprimands Bruce for not returning her calls when he comes to her apartment later that day. He attempts to explain his dual identity, but they are interrupted by the Joker, who aims his gun at Bruce and asks if he “ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight.” Bruce recognizes the phrase, but crumples to the ground when the Joker shoots him. Vicki rushes to Bruce’s aid but finds him gone, realizing that he used her silver tray to stop the bullet. At the Gotham Globe offices, Knox shows Vicki a newspaper clipping about the murder of Bruce’s parents, which he witnessed as a child, and she deduces that the scene of the crime was the spot where Bruce left the roses. In a televised announcement, the Joker tells Gotham’s citizens that he will drop twenty million dollars on the streets at midnight as part of the 200th anniversary celebration, and challenges Batman to a duel. Meanwhile, Bruce looks at the newspaper clipping of his parents’ killing and recalls the shooter asking, “You ever dance with the devil by the pale moonlight?” Bruce suits up as Batman and drives the Batmobile into Axis Chemical Co., where he drops a bomb that destroys the plant. At midnight, the Joker enters Gotham City on a parade float and throws money on the crowd as promised. However, several large balloons tethered to the float release poisoned gas, causing revelers to drop to the ground, lifeless. There to cover the story, Knox orders Vicki inside his car and dons a medical mask as he attempts to fight off the Joker’s goons. Batman flies over the city in his airplane, the Batwing, collecting the poison-filled balloons and sending them into the upper atmosphere. Angry over the stolen balloons, the Joker shoots Bob the Goon dead, then fires at the Batwing, causing it to crash into a church. Vicki rushes to the Batwing, but the Joker kidnaps her and leads her inside the church. Batman emerges from the crash and follows them into a stairwell leading to the belfry. Joker releases one of the bells, which crashes to the first floor and blocks police from entering. However, Batman continues his pursuit and faces off with several of Joker’s henchmen before tussling with the Joker himself. Although Batman knocks him over the side, the Joker lands on a ledge and pulls Batman and Vicki over. As they dangle from the ledge, a helicopter arrives to rescue the Joker, who takes hold of a rope ladder dangling from the aircraft. Batman uses his grapple gun to shoot wire around Joker’s ankle. The other end of the wire is tied to a gargoyle that breaks off the belfry as the Joker is pulled away, but the weight of the gargoyle causes the archvillain to lose his grip, and he plummets to his death. Later, Harvey Dent holds a press conference and reads a letter from Batman, who promises to fight the forces of evil if they return to Gotham City. Dent also reveals a bat-shaped spotlight Batman provided for police to call on him. Viewing the spotlight with a smile, Vicki greets Albert, who awaits her with a car and informs her that Bruce will be a little late for their date.
SILKWOOD (1983)
Cast: Meryl Streep, Kurt Russell, Cher
Directors: Mike Nichols
Producer: Mike Nichols
Writer: Nora Ephron
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.”
TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY (1991)
Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Robert Patrick
Directors: James Cameron
Producer: Gale Anne Hurd
Writer: James Cameron
Editor: Conrad Buff
Cinematographer: Adam Greenberg
Genre: Adventure, Science fiction
Production Company: Carolco, Pacific Western , Lightstorm Entertainment
Composer: Brad Fiedel
Sarah Connor explains that a nuclear blast killed more than three billion people in 1997. In present-day 2029, survivors wage war against machines controlled by a computer named Skynet. Sarah recounts that Skynet sent two machines, called Terminators, back in time to destroy the human resistance leader, her son, John Connor. The first Terminator attempted to kill Sarah in 1984, before John was born, but failed. The second Terminator was sent to kill John as a young boy; however, the human resistance sent their own Terminator to protect him. In 1995, in Los Angeles, California, a Terminator, resembling a naked man, is transported to a parking lot outside a bar. The Terminator walks inside and is met with laughter and hostility. After stabbing one of the patrons with his own knife, the Terminator takes another patron’s clothing, a motorcycle, and a shotgun. The same night, a second Terminator, the T-1000, arrives, kills a police officer, and steals his patrol car and uniform. In the morning, John Connor works on his motorbike. Though his foster parents, Todd and Janelle Voight, order John to clean his room, he speeds away with his friend, Tim. At Pescadero State Hospital, a "Criminally Disordered Retention Facility," Sarah Connor exercises in her cell while Dr. Silberman leads a group of medical professionals on a tour of the facility. Approaching Sarah’s cell, Silberman describes her condition as “acute schizoaffective disorder,” saying she believes a machine was sent back in time to kill her while the father of her child, a soldier, was sent back simultaneously to protect her. The T-1000, dressed as a policeman, arrives at the Voight residence to question John's foster parents and obtains a picture of the boy. Meanwhile, John hacks into an automated teller machine to steal cash, telling Tim that Sarah taught him the trick. In an office building, Miles Dyson, a leading scientist with Cyberdyne Systems, examines a robotic arm and central processing unit in glass cases; unbeknownst to him, the items are relics of the 1984 Terminator. At an arcade in a shopping mall, John and Tim play games, while the Terminators close in on the boy. The T-1000 appears in the arcade, and John escapes to a hallway where he sees the Terminator brandishing a shotgun. As the Terminator and the T-1000 exchange fire, the Terminator pushes John to safety and shoots the other machine multiple times; however, the T-1000 quickly recovers. John runs to his motorbike and rides away, pursued by the Terminator on a motorcycle and the T-1000 in a stolen tow-truck. Riding onto an overflow channel, the Terminator pulls John onto the motorcycle while shooting at the tow-truck. The T-1000 crashes into an overpass and the truck explodes, allowing the Terminator to ride away with John. Moments later, the T-1000 emerges from the flames unharmed, re-forming into human shape. At the side of the road, John confirms that the Terminator has come to protect him, realizing that his mother’s beliefs about the future were true. He learns that the Terminator’s body is “living tissue over metal endoskeleton” and the T-1000 is a newer prototype, made of liquid metal. That evening, John calls the Voights to warn them about the T-1000, but when Janelle answers the phone, he senses that she seems different. In fact, the T-1000 has killed Janelle and assumed her form, and proceeds to kill Todd while talking on the phone. The Terminator deduces that John is speaking to the T-1000 and hangs up, explaining to the boy that Terminators can imitate any living thing of approximately the same size. At the hospital, police show Sarah pictures of the Terminator in 1984 and at the mall earlier that day, identifying the Terminator as her son’s kidnapper. She says nothing, but steals a paper clip. Realizing that the T-1000 will go after his mother next, John insists that he and the Terminator save Sarah. The Terminator rejects the idea and they argue. John discovers that the machine must obey his orders without question after he screams for the Terminator to let him go and the machine immediately drops him. Hearing the screams, two men in an adjacent parking lot offer to help the boy, but John rudely dismisses them and they insult him in return. When he orders it to take care of them, the Terminator wields a gun but John shoves it away. After the men run to safety, John informs the Terminator that killing people is unacceptable. That night, Sarah uses the paper clip to escape from her room. The T-1000 arrives at the hospital and assumes the identity of a policeman who patrols the building and then kills him. Fighting off nurses and guards, Sarah attacks Silberman and fills a syringe with Liquid Rooter. Moments later, John and the Terminator gain access to the hospital after the Terminator shoots a guard in the knees, careful not to kill him. Plunging the syringe into his neck, Sarah takes Silberman hostage and makes her way through the hospital. A guard grabs the syringe and frees the doctor, and Sarah runs away. At the end of a hallway, the Terminator emerges and Sarah runs in the other direction. Guards subdue her, but the Terminator fights them off and John arrives, assuring his mother that the Terminator will help them. The T-1000 appears and chases Sarah, John, and the Terminator to a parking garage where they steal a police car. Pursuing them on foot, the T-1000 climbs aboard the car, but the Terminator shoots it off. Sarah scolds her son for risking his life to save her. John cries and the Terminator asks what is wrong with his eyes. At a closed auto repair shop, the Terminator stitches a cut for Sarah and she removes the bullets from the Terminator’s back. When John suggests the Terminator behave more like a human, he learns that the machine is in “read-only” mode. To reverse the “read-only” mode, Sarah unscrews a port built into the Terminator’s skull and removes a central processing unit. Though she wants to destroy the computer altogether, John stops her, insisting he needs the Terminator. The next morning, John teaches the Terminator colloquialisms such as “no problemo” and “hasta la vista, baby.” The Terminator informs Sarah that Miles Dyson will soon invent a microprocessor that allows stealth bombers to fly unmanned. Dyson’s employer, Cyberdyne Systems, will use the microprocessor to innovate military technology, resulting in the creation of the machines ultimately controlled by Skynet. The Terminator states that the machines become “self-aware,” and when humans attempt to shut them down, Skynet will bomb Russia in retaliation. Russia will respond by attacking with a nuclear bomb on August 29, 1997. In Mexico, Sarah, John, and the Terminator arrive at a camp and meet Sarah’s militant friend, Enrique Salceda. They obtain an arsenal of weapons, clothes, and a new vehicle. John bonds with the Terminator and talks about his nomadic childhood and the rogue military training to which Sarah subjected him. After a nightmare about the nuclear blast, Sarah awakens, determined to kill Dyson before he invents the microprocessor. She leaves John and the Terminator behind, but they soon follow. Outside Dyson’s home, Sarah shoots through the window and pursues the scientist inside, shooting him in the shoulder; however, when she takes aim at the fallen Dyson, she cannot bring herself to execute him. The Terminator and John arrive, and the Terminator explains to Dyson the catastrophic consequences of his invention. Convinced, Dyson agrees to help them destroy Cyberdyne Systems in order to save humanity. Fully armed, they arrive at Cyberdyne’s offices, subdue the night watchman, and break into the lab. A security guard sounds a silent alarm, and police swarm the building. Dyson and John retrieve the previous Terminator's arm and central processing unit from their glass cases. The group disperses explosives throughout the lab, and Dyson grabs the detonator as they leave. At that moment, police arrive and open fire, hitting Dyson multiple times. Sarah, John and the Terminator escape, but Dyson remains behind. As he dies, he strikes the detonator, causing the lab to explode. John and Sarah take cover in an elevator as the Terminator shoots through the lobby, steals a police van, and crashes into the building to retrieve them. The T-1000 arrives on a police motorcycle and drives up the stairs, spotting his targets from above as they leave in the van. When a helicopter passes, the T-1000 drives out the window, grabs onto the aircraft, and commandeers it. He pursues the van and exchanges gunfire with Sarah, who is shot in the leg. The T-1000 rams the helicopter into the van, and both vehicles crash. Continuing the chase, John, Sarah, and the Terminator hop into a pickup truck, while the T-1000 obtains a large tanker truck filled with liquid nitrogen. John takes the steering wheel as the Terminator climbs aboard the tanker and blasts the T-1000 with bullets. The tanker rolls on its side, and the Terminator jumps off. Sarah and John drive inside a steel mill and crash; nearby, the tanker also skids to a stop. The T-1000 exits and steps into spilled liquid nitrogen which causes it to freeze and break apart. The Terminator opens fire, and the T-1000 shatters into frozen shards. The Terminator and John help Sarah, incapacitated by her bullet wound, move through the mill. Extreme heat liquefies the T-1000's frozen shards, and the machine re-forms. In hand-to-hand combat against the T-1000, the Terminator’s arm is trapped under a gear. While the T-1000 pursues John and Sarah, the Terminator breaks free, leaving an arm behind. Sarah lowers John down a shaft before the T-1000 extends its finger into a sharp point and pierces her shoulder. The Terminator appears and beats the T-1000 with a steel bar. In retaliation, the T-1000 rams the bar through the Terminator’s body, causing the Terminator’s system to shut down. However, shortly after the T-1000 leaves, the Terminator regains power. As the T-1000 approaches John, disguised as Sarah, the real Sarah appears and opens fire. Just as she runs out of ammunition, the Terminator arrives, shooting the T-1000 with a grenade launcher. The T-1000 explodes and falls into a vat of molten metal which destroys the machine. After they dispose of the robotic arm and central processing unit, John becomes upset at the suggestion that the Terminator must now be destroyed. The Terminator expresses a newfound understanding of why people cry. Sarah presses a button to lower the Terminator into the molten metal, and the Terminator signals them with a “thumbs up.”
PHILADELPHIA (1993)
Cast: Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington, Jason Robards
Directors: Jonathan Demme
Producer: Edward Saxon
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.
GLADIATOR (2000)
Cast: Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen
Directors: Ridley Scott
Producer: Douglas Wick
Writer: David Franzoni
Editor: Pietro Scalia
Cinematographer: John Mathieson
Genre: Epic
Production Company: Scott Free Productions
Composer: Hans Zimmer
In a bleak winter forest in the year 180 A.D., Roman general Maximus Decimus Meridias reviews his battle-weary troops before they launch their final campaign to conquer Germania. Maximus is greatly admired by his men, alongside whom he fights during the battle and leads them to victory. Commodus and his sister Lucilla, the scions of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, travel to Maximus’ army camp, having been summoned by their father. On their arrival they learn that the soldiers have been gone for nineteen days. Commodus rides to the front to honor his father but is affronted when Marcus Aurelius pays homage to Maximus. The emperor, who loves Maximus as a son, believes that he is slowly dying and sends for Maximus that night to ask him to succeed him after his death and give the control of Rome to the Senate. Maximus, longing only to return to his native Spain and his family, rejects the idea, but Marcus Aurelius is adamant as he believes that Commodus is morally corrupt. While Maximus prays alone to devotional figures of his family for guidance, Marcus Aurelius tells Commodus his decision. Commodus feels betrayed and, sobbing, murders his father. The murder is covered up and Commodus immediately seizes power. When Maximus refuses to vow his loyalty, Commodus orders his immediate execution. In a remote forest location, Maximus overwhelms his would-be assassins and, injured, rides for home, but arrives to find that his wife and son have been hanged and burned to death by Commodus’ Praetorian guards. Maximus collapses and while unconscious is taken prisoner by a slave trader. A fellow captive named Juba befriends Maximus and treats his wound, after which they are both sold to fight promoter Proximo to be trained as gladiators. Proximo assumes that Maximus is a deserter from the Roman army and he is dubbed “Spaniard.” While a reluctant Maximus is being trained as a gladiator, Commodus returns to Rome as emperor but is uninterested in the actual work of ruling. Lucilla acts as a mediator between Commodus and the hostile Senate, while Commodus focuses on his plans to hold 150 days of games to honor his father. In time, Maximus gains the respect of his fellow gladiators as well as the crowds who cheer him on as he repeatedly defeats his foes, but Maximus remains disgusted by the blood sport. Proximo meets privately with Maximus and admits that he was once a gladiator who was granted his freedom by Marcus Aurelius. Proximo informs him that they will be fighting in Commodus’ games at the Roman coliseum and advises him that if he wins that crowd, he, too, might win his own freedom. Meanwhile, Lucilla, a widow who was once in love with Maximus, tries to keep her brother from dissolving the Senate, resorting even to sleeping tonics to keep him at bay. Proximo and his gladiators arrive in Rome and are assigned to fight a re-creation of the Battle of Carthage. The gladiators are awed by the size of the coliseum but once inside the arena, they battle for their lives. Maximus uses his skills as a general and urges his fellow gladiators to work together, and they succeed in killing the opposition. The audience cheers them on and, when Commodus goes down to meet the gladiators, he demands that Maximus remove the helmet that hides his face. Maximus then reveals his true identity and vows vengeance, but when the frightened Commodus calls forth his Praetorian guards, the crowds boo him until he gives Maximus the thumbs-up symbol of approval. Commodus later confides to Lucilla that his guards lied to him that Maximus was dead and that this must mean he does not have their respect. Lucilla advises him to force them to respect him, but later secretly meets with Maximus to seek his help against Commodus, whom she fears. Maximus is too embittered to offer his support. In an attempt to kill Maximus, Commodus next pits him against several vicious tigers and a top gladiator; although Maximus again survives, he refuses to kill the gladiator. Maximus’ former assistant, Cicero, makes contact with him and Maximus sends him to Lucilla to tell her he has changed his mind and will help her. When Lucilla arranges for Maximus to meet with Gracchus, a Roman senator who opposes Commodus, Maximus relates to Gracchus that it was Marcus Aurelius’ final wish that power be returned to the Senate. Maximus then asks for his freedom, in return for which he will gather his troops and kill Commodus and his guards. When Gracchus is arrested soon after, Lucilla arranges with Proximo to free Maximus that night. At the palace, Commodus is stunned when Lucilla’s son Lucius innocently reveals that his mother believes that Maximus is the savior of Rome. Lucilla returns as Commodus is telling Lucius a story about ancestral betrayal, and she realizes that her disloyalty has been discovered. As a result, Commodus’ spies slip a poisonous snake into the bed of senator Gaius, who is sympathetic to Lucilla’s cause. Before Maximus can be freed, Commodus’ Praetorian guards arrive at Proximo’s encampment. After giving Maximus the keys to free all the slaves, Proximo fights the Praetorians to his death. The slaves rally to combat the guards while Maximus escapes to meet Cicero. Maximus finds Cicero at the appointed place seated on his horse, but Cicero cries out a warning and is hanged by a noose around his neck, while Maximus is captured Commodus’ forces. Commodus now demands that Lucilla live estranged from her son, and implies that he hopes that he and she will produce their own heir. He then decides to fight Maximus himself as part of the games, but to ensure his own victory, stabs the former general in the back, and then has his man, Quintus, cover the wound with armor. Commodus and Maximus face off in the arena, but when Commodus loses his sword, Quintus refuses to give him another. Commodus then pulls a knife from his sleeve and they fight hand-to-hand, but Maximus overpowers him and finally gains his revenge, killing Commodus. As Maximus slowly dies from the knife wound, he tells Quintus to free his men, reinstate Gracchus and restore the dream of Rome as Marcus Aurelius had wished. After Lucilla runs to his side and assures him that Lucius is safe, Maximus dies with visions of his family walking through fields to greet him. Lucilla weeps over his body, then demands that the people of Rome honor him. Gracchus and the slaves carry Maximus’ body from the arena, leaving Commodus in the dirt. Later, Juba buries the carved devotional figures of Maximus’ family, and having earned his own freedom, pledges to see his friend again in time.
Villains
THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (1991)
Cast: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn
Directors: Jonathan Demme
Producer: Edward Saxon
Writer: Ted Tally
Editor: Craig McKay
Cinematographer: Tak Fujimoto
Genre: Drama
Production Company: Strong Heart Productions
Composer: Howard Shore
Clarice Starling, a top student at the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Academy in Quantico, Virginia, is summoned by Jack Crawford of the FBI’s Behavioral Science Services Department to partake in a special assignment. Crawford tells Clarice, a former student of his at the University of Virginia, that the FBI is collecting data on all imprisoned serial killers, but thus far, they have had no luck with Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a psychiatrist who ate his murder victims, earning the nickname “Hannibal the Cannibal.” Clarice suspects the assignment is related to an ongoing investigation of “Buffalo Bill,” a wanted serial killer who skins his female victims, but Crawford denies it. In Maryland, at the Baltimore State Forensic Hospital headed by the self-important Dr. Frederick Chilton, Clarice is warned upon arrival that Dr. Hannibal Lecter is a “pure psychopath.” Eyeing her lasciviously, Dr. Chilton suggests Jack Crawford is attempting to manipulate Lecter by sending an attractive woman to question him. Clarice is led to a maximum-security corridor in the basement, where Lecter is being held in a glassed-in cell. Clarice introduces herself, and Lecter sniffs the air, guessing the type of lotion and perfume she uses. He attempts to psychoanalyze Clarice, guessing by her accent and clothing that she is from West Virginia and only one generation removed from “poor white trash.” When she asks him to fill out an FBI questionnaire, he loses patience with her and sends her away. Clarice walks past a neighboring cell, where a prisoner named Miggs masturbates and throws semen in her face. Lecter overhears and calls Clarice back. Apologizing for Miggs’s rudeness, he offers Clarice a clue, urging her, “Look deep within yourself.” He also instructs her to look up his former client, Miss Moffet. Later, Jack Crawford tells Clarice that Lecter retaliated against Miggs by verbally tormenting him until he swallowed his own tongue. Based on Lecter’s clue, Clarice finds a business called Your Self Storage, where a storage unit has been rented for the past ten years under the name Hester Moffet. There, Clarice discovers a transvestite’s disembodied head inside a jar. She returns to the Baltimore State Forensic Hospital and questions Lecter again, pointing out that the name “Hester Moffet” is an anagram for “the rest of me.” Lecter identifies the disembodied head as belonging to Benjamin Raspail, a former client; however, he denies killing the man, and reveals that Raspail was the victim of a fledgling killer interested in transformation. Clarice guesses the killer could be Buffalo Bill and presses for more information, but Lecter demands to be transferred to a new hospital and given a cell with a view. In exchange, he offers a complete psychological profile on Buffalo Bill. Meanwhile, in Memphis, Tennessee, Buffalo Bill kidnaps Catherine Martin, the daughter of U.S. Senator Ruth Martin. When the body of another victim is found in Clay County, West Virginia, Jack Crawford takes Clarice with him to view it. On the way there, they examine photographs of Buffalo Bill’s former victims, all overweight young women missing large swaths of skin. At a funeral home, Clarice discovers a cocoon lodged in the victim’s throat. The cocoon is found to be a Death’s Head Moth, a rare insect indigenous to Asia. Clarice visits Lecter again, and offers him a transfer to a Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital in upstate New York and a yearly vacation at Plum Island, but only if he helps the FBI find Buffalo Bill in time to save Catherine Martin. She gives Lecter a case file, and he agrees to help in exchange for personal information about Clarice. She confesses that her mother died very young, and her father, a policeman, was killed in the line of duty when she was ten years old, leaving her orphaned. She went to live with relatives on a farm in Montana, although she ran away after two months. Turning the conversation back to Buffalo Bill, Clarice asks about the significance of the moth, which was found in Benjamin Raspail’s head as well as the latest victim’s, and Lecter says it is a symbol of change. Although Buffalo Bill is not a transsexual, he says it is one of many identities the killer has tried on in an effort to escape his own terrifying pathology. Meanwhile, at Buffalo Bill’s house, Catherine Martin is held at the bottom of a well in the basement. Referring to her as “it,” Buffalo Bill sends lotion down the well and forces her to rub it on her skin. Catherine cries and begs to see her mother, then screams in terror when she sees a fingernail embedded in the well wall. Later, Dr. Frederick Chilton visits Lecter, who is restrained inside his cell. Chilton reclines on Lecter’s bed and informs him that the deal Clarice offered was bogus. Unwittingly leaving his pen behind on the bed, Chilton claims he made a legitimate deal with Senator Ruth Martin, who has offered Lecter a transfer to a Tennessee prison. Soon, Lecter is strapped to an upright stretcher, restrained with a face mask, and flown to Memphis, where he meets Ruth Martin at the airport. He informs the senator that the killer is “Louis Friend,” a former lover of Benjamin Raspail. He also gives a physical description, then insults Martin by asking her if she breastfed Catherine and suggesting her nipples must tingle when her daughter is in peril. Clarice goes to the Memphis building where Lecter is being held overnight in a makeshift cell. She accuses him of using another anagram with Louis Friend, which stands for Iron Sulfide, also known as “Fool’s Gold.” She begs him to give her the killer’s real name, but he insists Clarice has everything she needs to know in the case file. He presses her for more personal information, and she reveals the reason she ran away from the farm in Montana: One night, she woke to a frightening noise and discovered lambs being slaughtered in the barn; she tried to save them and was sent to an orphanage as punishment. In turn, Lecter describes Buffalo Bill as someone driven by a covetous nature, and explains that a person begins to covet what he or she sees every day. Later, Lecter uses the pen Dr. Chilton dropped in his cell to break free from handcuffs and attack two police guards, Lieutenant Boyle and Sergeant Pembry, murdering them and posing as a wounded Pembry to escape the building. Back in Quantico, Clarice finds Lecter’s notations on a map of locations where the victims’ bodies were found, describing the spots as “desperately random.” Clarice recalls what he said about coveting and deduces that Buffalo Bill must have known his first victim, Fredrica Bimmel. She goes to Bimmel’s home in Belvedere, Ohio, and discovers that the girl was a seamstress. She reasons that Buffalo Bill must also be a tailor creating a dress made of women’s skin. She calls Crawford to share her theory, but he responds that the FBI has already identified Buffalo Bill, who goes by the names Jame Gumb and John Grant, and they are on their way to arrest him at home in Calumet City, Illinois. Despite the news, Clarice continues her investigation in Belvedere. She finds Stacy, a friend of Fredrica Bimmel’s, who does not recall Fredrica having any male friends but says she often did tailoring for an older woman named Mrs. Littman. Clarice goes to Littman’s house just as Crawford and a SWAT team surround the house in Calumet City and find it empty. Clarice rings the doorbell, and Buffalo Bill answers the door. He identifies himself as Jack Gordon and leads her inside. Clarice observes his odd behavior and notices a moth flying around spools of yarn. She orders him to freeze at gunpoint, but Bill flees into the basement. Clarice follows, discovers Catherine Martin in the well, and assures her she is safe. Catherine begs Clarice not to leave her alone, but Clarice goes in search of Buffalo Bill. She discovers a dress form draped in an unfinished “dress” made from human skin, resembling a woman’s body. The lights are shut off and Clarice fumbles in the dark. Using infrared goggles to stalk her, Buffalo Bill creeps up behind Clarice, but she hears him cock his gun and reflexively turns and shoots him dead. Police arrive and escort Catherine Martin and Clarice outside. Sometime later, Jack Crawford watches Clarice graduate and congratulates her afterward. She is told she has a phone call, and recognizes Dr. Hannibal Lecter’s voice on the line. Calling from an undisclosed tropical location, Lecter promises not to attack her, saying the world is more interesting with her in it. Just before hanging up, he claims he is “having an old friend for dinner” as he watches Dr. Frederick Chilton disembark from a small plane.
PSYCHO (1960)
Cast: Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, John Gavin
Directors: Alfred Hitchcock
Producer: Alfred Hitchcock
Writer: Joseph Stefano
Editor: George Tomasini
Cinematographer: John L. Russell
Genre: Horror
Production Company: Shamley Productions, Inc.
Composer: Bernard Herrmann
On a Friday afternoon in Phoenix, Arizona, Marion Crane and her lover, Sam Loomis, are having a romantic rendezvous at a hotel when Marion complains that she is tired of meeting Sam under such sordid circumstances. Sam, who runs a hardware store in Fairvale, California, assures her that they can marry after he pays his debts, but Marion longs for immediate respectability. Upon her return to the real estate office where she works as a secretary, Marion learns that her boss, George Lowery, is with oil tycoon Tom Cassidy. When the men return, the lecherous Cassidy brags to Marion that he is paying $40,000 in cash to buy a house for his daughter. Lowery, worried about leaving the money in the office over the weekend, tells Marion to take it to the bank, and Marion asks to go home afterward. After rebuffing Cassidy again, Marion departs, but at her apartment, stuffs the money into her purse and leaves with a suitcase. Driving until exhaustion forces her to pull over, Marion falls asleep on a lonely stretch of road. She is awoken on Saturday morning by a highway patrolman, who is suspicious of her irritable manner. After the policeman dismisses her, Marion, afraid that he will remember her, goes to a used car lot and trades in her vehicle for one with California plates. Later, during a fierce rainstorm, Marion misses the turnoff to Fairvale and stops at the Bates Motel, where the proprietor, Norman Bates, welcomes her and offers to fix her dinner at his home, a looming structure on the hill behind the motel. Marion accepts, but as she hides the cash in a newspaper she had purchased, she hears an old woman loudly berate Norman for attempting to bring a girl into her home. When Norman returns with sandwiches, he explains to the apologetic Marion that his mother is ”not quite herself.” Norman then invites her into his parlor behind the office, where Marion is nonplussed by the birds Norman has stuffed in pursuit of his hobby, taxidermy. Marion chats with the shy Norman, who confesses how alone he is, except for his mother. When Marion asks if Norman has any friends, Norman replies that “a boy’s best friend is his mother,” although he admits that he wishes he could run away, as Marion is apparently doing. Norman relates his belief that everyone is in a trap of some kind, and that his mother is mentally ill due to the deaths of his father and later, her lover. When Marion suggests that Norman could lead a life of his own if he put his mother in an institution, he reacts bitterly, stating that his mother is harmless and that he could never abandon her. Relaxing, Norman asserts that “we all go a little mad sometimes.” Realizing that she has gone mad herself, Marion tells Norman that she has to return to Phoenix, in hopes of escaping a private trap. Marion then goes to her room, unaware that Norman is watching her undress through a peephole. While Marion writes a note calculating how much of the stolen money she has spent, Norman strides to the house, resolved to assert himself. Norman’s strength fades, however, and as he sits dejectedly at the kitchen table, Marion tears up her note, flushes it down the toilet and enters the shower. As Marion enjoys her shower, a shadowy female figure enters the bathroom and repeatedly stabs her. A few minutes later, in the house, Norman screams out to his mother about the blood, then rushes to find Marion, lifeless on the bathroom floor. Sickened but determined to protect his mother, Norman wraps Marion’s body in the shower curtain and after cleaning the room, deposits her corpse and belongings into the trunk of her car. Norman also tosses in the newspaper, which he does not know holds the money, then sinks the car in a swamp behind the house. A week later, as Sam is writing to Marion, he is interrupted by her sister Lila, whom he has never met. Sam is baffled by Lila’s frantic questioning about Marion and is prevented from answering by the arrival of Milton Arbogast, a private investigator. Arbogast and Lila explain to Sam about Marion’s theft, and although Sam maintains his innocence, Arbogast remains suspicious that he is involved. Promising Lila that he will find her sister, Arbogast then spends two days searching the area. When he reaches the Bates Motel, he interrogates Norman, who stammers that he has never seen Marion. Arbogast uncovers Norman’s lie, however, and after Norman admits that Marion was at the motel, the detective appears to accept his statement that she left early in the morning. When Arbogast sees Mrs. Bates sitting in a window of the house, he wants to question her, but Norman orders him to leave. Unsettled, Arbogast calls Lila and relates everything that Norman said, then states that he will return to Fairvale after interrogating Mrs. Bates. As Arbogast climbs the stairs in the house, however, he is stabbed to death by a woman. Soon after, Norman sinks Arbogast’s car in the swamp, while in Fairvale, Lila grows impatient about the detective’s absence and Sam eventually takes her to see Deputy Sheriff Al Chambers. Convinced that Arbogast got “a hot lead” from Norman, then left to chase Marion and the money, the skeptical Chambers dismisses Lila’s concerns, especially when she mentions Mrs. Bates. Chambers explains that, ten years earlier, Norman’s mother poisoned her lover upon discovering that he was married, then committed suicide. After Chambers telephones Norman, who confirms that Arbogast left suddenly, Norman confronts his mother, telling her that she must hide in the fruit cellar for her own protection. Over her loud objections, Norman then carries her downstairs. Unsatisfied by Chambers’ remarks, Lila and Sam drive to the motel the following day and check in. After sneaking into the room in which Marion stayed, Lila finds a piece of the paper on which Marion had written. Convinced that Norman hurt Marion to steal the money, Sam detains him in the office while Lila searches for Mrs. Bates. Norman, irritated by Sam’s insinuations, retreats to his parlor and upon hearing Sam’s mention of his mother, knocks Sam unconscious. Meanwhile, Lila has been exploring the house, in which she finds Mrs. Bates’s immaculate bedroom and her bed, which bears the imprint of her body. Lila also snoops around Norman’s squalid room, which contains his childhood toys and a small cot. Returning to the first floor, Lila sees Norman running up to the house and hides downstairs. As Norman goes upstairs, Lila creeps down to the fruit cellar, where she finds Mrs. Bates sitting with her back to the door. Lila inches forward to tap the old woman on the shoulder, but when she swings around, Lila is horrified to find herself staring at a decaying corpse. As she screams, Lila turns around to see Norman, wearing a wig and one of his mother’s dresses. Shrieking “I am Norma Bates,” Norman lunges toward her with a knife, but Sam arrives in time to overpower him. Later, as Sam and Lila wait with Chambers and other officials at the courthouse, Norman is examined by a psychiatrist, Dr. Richmond. Richmond explains that Norman, who suffers from a split personality, has been taken over by the dominant personality, that of his mother, and that Norman himself no longer exists. Richmond states that after the death of his father, Norman was overwhelmed by his domineering mother, and that when she took a lover, Norman killed them both. Unable to bear the guilt, Norman preserved her corpse, then, to heighten the illusion that “Mother” was alive, began dressing and speaking as her. Believing that his mother would be as jealous of him as he was of her, Norman subconsciously allowed the Mother side of his personality to murder any woman whom he found attractive. As they discuss the case, Norman sits in a nearby room, huddled in a blanket, while the Mother side of his personality thinks to herself that she could not allow her son to brand her a killer. Noticing a fly on her hand, Mother cunningly declares that she will not swat it, so that anyone observing her will know that she would not even harm a fly.
THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (1980)
Cast: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher
Directors: Irvin Kershner
Producer: Gary Kurtz
Writer: Leigh Brackett
Editor: Paul Hirsch
Cinematographer: Peter Suschitzky
Genre: Science fiction
Production Company: Chapter II Company (Star Wars Corp.), Lucasfilm Limited
Composer: John Williams [composer]
During an intergalactic civil war, freedom fighters Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Princess Leia battle against an evil empire. Imperial dictator Darth Vader is intent on finding young Luke, and sends exploratory robot “droid” probes into space, to discern the boy’s whereabouts. When the droids crash into the frozen planet Hoth, the secret location of a rebel base, the insurgents mistake the event for a meteorite shower, and Luke is sent to investigate. On his mission, Luke is knocked unconscious by a predatory Wampa creature. Meanwhile, back at rebel headquarters, Han Solo reports that he is being hunted by a former creditor, Jabba the Hut, and must abandon the base to protect its security. When Leia objects to Han’s departure, he chides her for being secretly in love with him, but she recoils at the notion and the two separate on bitter terms. Before Han leaves, however, he learns from droid C-3PO that Luke is missing. As Han searches for his friend in a blizzard, Luke awakens in the Wampa’s cave, conjures the metaphysical power of “the Force,” and assumes his novice faculties as a budding Jedi knight to escape. Back at rebel headquarters, Leia reluctantly agrees to close the outpost’s shield doors for the night. As Luke nears death in the blizzard, he envisions his former Jedi mentor, Ben “Obi-Wan” Kenobi, who orders the boy to travel to the Dagobah System and seek instruction from the universe’s senior Jedi master, Yoda. Just then, Han saves Luke and uses his friend’s lightsaber to cut open the stomach of his dead, bipedal “tauntaun.” The men take shelter in the animal’s corpse for the night, and are picked up by a search and rescue operation the following morning. Back at the base, the rebels detect an Imperial frequency. Han and his tall, hairy Wookiee companion, Chewbacca, destroy Darth Vader’s probe droid, but the rebels realize their outpost has been discovered and prepare to evacuate. Meanwhile, Darth Vader navigates his Stardestroyer toward the Hoth System and deploys a fleet of armored Imperial walkers to conduct ground battle. Boarding fighter planes, Luke and his colleagues are unable to defend the base; Luke’s gunner is killed and he is forced to crash land. Back at rebel headquarters, Han is given clearance to leave in his spaceship, the Millenium Falcon, but he lingers, realizing that the station is threatened with imminent destruction. Just as Darth Vader takes over the rebel stronghold, Han, Leia, Chewbacca, and C-3PO narrowly escape in the Millenium Falcon. Outside, Luke watches his friends speed away, then pilots his own spaceship, navigated by droid R2-D2, and heads toward the Dagobah System. He crash-lands in a remote swamp. Meanwhile, the Millenium Falcon malfunctions and is unable to activate its light speed hyper drive. Han evades attackers by steering through an asteroid field and hiding the ship in a cylindrical rock crevice. There, the crew struggles to repair the spacecraft, and Han and Leia kiss. Han soon realizes that he mistakenly landed the Millenium Falcon inside the belly of an enormous worm, and the rebels escape through the creature’s clenching jaws. Back in the Dagobah System, Luke is startled to find an aged troll-like creature, who reveals himself to be Yoda. Despite Yoda’s observation that Luke is too impatient and bitter to become a Jedi, he agrees to begin training the young man. Yoda warns that “the Force” can be wielded for evil as well as good, and that the dark side is seductive. However, Luke will know the difference between the opposing forces if he is at peace with himself and understands that Jedis never use power aggressively. Feeling a chill in the air, Luke confronts a vision of Darth Vader; Luke beheads the enemy with his lightsaber, only to see his own face appear in his opponent’s mask. Elsewhere, on the Imperial Stardestroyer, Darth Vader orders his starfleet to follow the Millenium Falcon. Darth Vader’s evil master, the Emperor, announces that Luke is the son of Anakin Skywalker, and will threaten the Empire if he becomes a full-fledged Jedi. Vowing to lure Luke over to “the dark side,” Darth Vader devises a trap. He hires bounty hunters to track down the Millenium Falcon, forcing Luke to come out of hiding and defend the lives of his friends. Meanwhile, Han navigates toward the Cloud City metropolis of a former associate and fellow-gambler, Lando Calrissian, who wields control over the Tibanna gas mine near planet Bespin. Back in the Dagobah System, Yoda orders Luke to telepathically lift his sunken fighter plane from the swamp in which it crashed, but Luke loses faith in his abilities, and fails. When Luke complains that the mystical ideals of “the Force” are impossible to attain, Yoda raises the spaceship himself. In time, Luke’s skills improve, but he is startled by a premonition that Han and Leia are in grave danger. He vows to rescue them, but Yoda warns that Luke will destroy the rebel movement if he ends his training too soon. An apparition of Obi-Wan Kenobi cautions Luke that he will soon be tempted by evil; Luke will have to battle Darth Vader alone. Ignoring the advice of his masters, Luke embarks on his rescue mission with a promise to return to Yoda. When Obi-Wan mutters that the boy was the last hope of the universe, Yoda professes: “There is another.” Meanwhile, Han reunites with Lando, and the two men cordially bicker over ownership of the Millenium Falcon, leaving Leia suspicious. Shortly after the rebels’ arrival, Lando betrays them to Darth Vader and they learn of the scheme to entice Luke. Darth Vader plans to carbon-freeze the boy for his transport back to the Emperor, and tests the dangerous congealing device with Han as an experimental subject. Leia declares her love for Han, and kisses him farewell. Han’s frozen body is handed over to the bounty hunters, who leave the city to claim their pending rewards. Leia, Chewbacca, and C-3PO are detained by stormtroopers, but Lando secretly rescues them, promising to help save Han. Meanwhile, Luke lands his spacecraft in the Cloud City and confronts Darth Vader. The two battle with lightsabers and Luke impresses the evil leader by controlling his fear. However, Darth Vader advises Luke to unleash his anger, because hatred is the only force strong enough to kill one’s enemies. Darth Vader unhinges part of the space station, causing Luke to be sucked out of the room. As Luke clings to a railing above an abyss and pulls himself to safety, his friends dodge gunfire in another part of the city; the rebels recover R2-D2 and escape in the Millenium Falcon. Luke continues to battle Darth Vader, who severs Luke’s lightsaber-bearing hand. Defenseless, the boy backs away to another perch above the abyss. Darth Vader invites Luke to embrace the power of evil and declares himself Luke’s long-lost father. Choosing between certain death or reuniting with the parent he always wished to know, Luke plummets into the void and lands inside a chute. He slides through the outskirts of the floating Cloud City and clings for life in outer space, calling aloud for Obi-Wan and Leia. Inside the Millenium Falcon, Leia hears Luke’s voice and insists on turning the ship around to save her friend. Meanwhile, Darth Vader returns to his Stardestroyer and orders the Millenium Falcon captured. Speaking telepathically to his son, Darth Vader tells Luke that their union is “destiny.” Just as the Stardestroyer places the Millenium Falcon in its magnetic “tractor beam,” R2-D2 fixes the spaceship’s hyper drive and it blasts into light speed to escape the Imperialists. At a rebel space station, Luke is outfitted with a new hand as Lando and Chewbacca set out to save Han.
THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939)
Cast: Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger
Directors: Victor Fleming
Producer: Mervyn LeRoy
Writer: 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.
ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST (1975)
Cast: Michael Berryman, Peter Brocco, Dean R. Brooks
Directors: Milos Forman
Producer: Saul Zaentz
Writer: Bo Goldman
Editor: Lynzee Klingman
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.
IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1947)
Cast: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore
Directors: Frank Capra
Producer: Frank Capra
Writer: Frances Goodrich
Editor: William Hornbeck
Cinematographer: 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.
FATAL ATTRACTION (1987)
Cast: Michael Douglas, Glenn Close, Anne Archer
Directors: Adrian Lyne
Producer: Stanley R. Jaffe
Writer: James Dearden
Editor: Michael Kahn
Cinematographer: Howard Atherton
Genre: Drama
Production Company: Jaffe/Lansing Productions
Composer: Maurice Jarre
While attending a launch party for his client’s latest book, New York City attorney Dan Gallagher meets the publisher’s alluring new editor, Alex Forrest. That weekend, Dan’s devoted wife, Beth, and their young daughter, Ellen, drive upstate to visit Beth’s parents and tour a potential new house in the suburb of Bedford. Dan stays behind to attend an impromptu work meeting, where he strikes up a connection with Alex. Afterward, the two go out for a drink, which leads to a passionate weekend together at her apartment. Early Sunday morning, Dan sneaks out of Alex’s bed and returns home. After learning that Beth has extended her trip, he receives a call from Alex, who convinces him to spend the day with her. While cooking dinner, they listen to Madama Butterfly, and Dan recalls a memory of seeing the opera with his father as a child. Alex expresses her desire to see him again, but Dan reminds her that the affair cannot continue because he is happily married. Distraught, Alex attempts suicide by slitting her wrists, forcing Dan to stay the night while she recovers. The next day, Dan reunites with his family and tours Ellen’s dream house in Bedford, which he reluctantly agrees to buy. Upon returning to work, he is surprised to find Alex waiting outside his office, and she apologizes for her behavior. As a “peace offering,” she invites him to attend a performance of Madama Butterfly, but Dan firmly declines. Although they part on friendly terms, Alex is unable to accept the breakup and continually calls Dan at his office and at home. When he finally agrees to meet, Alex tells Dan she is pregnant with his child and plans to follow through with the pregnancy. After confirming the test results with her gynecologist, Dan panics and changes his telephone number in an effort to protect his family. However, as the Gallaghers prepare to move, Alex poses as a buyer interested in their apartment, and obtains their new phone number from Beth. Furious, Dan confronts her, but she threatens to tell Beth about their affair unless he agrees to take responsibility for the baby. As a warning, Alex dumps acid on the hood of his car and leaves him intimidating messages on an audio cassette tape. Dan attempts to file a restraining order, but police say they cannot implicate Alex without probable cause. One night, she follows Dan to his new home in the suburbs, and vomits at the sight of him spending time with Beth and Ellen. After visiting with Beth’s parents one afternoon, the Gallaghers return home to find Ellen’s pet rabbit boiling in a pot on the kitchen stove. That night, Dan tells Beth about his tryst with Alex and her supposed pregnancy. Before throwing him out of the house, Beth has her husband call Alex to inform her that the affair is no longer a secret. Beth threatens to kill Alex if she ever attempts to harm their family again. A few days later, Alex abducts Ellen from school and takes her to an amusement park, but safely returns her home after a few hours. While frantically searching for her daughter, Beth gets into a car accident that leaves her hospitalized. Seeking revenge, Dan drives into the city and attacks Alex in her apartment, nearly strangling her. Alex lunges at him with a knife, but he wrests the blade from her grasp and leaves without a word. Although police agree to question Alex, they are unable to find her anywhere in Manhattan. Beth returns from the hospital, and Dan prepares tea in the kitchen while she draws a bath. Suddenly, Alex emerges from the hallway brandishing a knife and corners Beth against the bathroom wall. The whistle of the kettle blocks out Beth’s screams for help. Eventually, Dan hears the scuffle and rushes upstairs. He attempts to drown Alex in the scalding bath water, and after a lengthy struggle, her body goes limp. As Dan breathes a sigh of relief, however, Alex revives, and rears up from the water. Beth appears in the doorway with a gun and shoots Alex in the chest. After escorting police outside, Dan returns to the house and embraces his wife.
DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944)
Cast: Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson
Directors: Billy Wilder
Producer: B. G. DeSylva
Writer: Billy Wilder
Editor: Doane Harrison
Cinematographer: John F. Seitz
Genre: Film noir
Production Company: Paramount Pictures, Inc.
Composer: Miklos Rozsa
On a dark Los Angeles night in July 1938, insurance agent Walter Neff is bleeding from a gunshot wound and slips into his office at the Pacific All Risk Insurance Co. Walter records his murder confession on the dictaphone, addressing his boss and friend, Barton Keyes, a meticulous and intuitive claims agent. Walter thinks back to May when it all started: Walter visits an expensive Spanish-style house in Los Feliz to follow-up an automobile insurance renewal for Mr. Dietrichson. He is immediately attracted to Dietrichson's wife Phyllis, who first appears clad only in a towel. Walter flirts with Phyllis, whose interest is piqued, nevertheless, she rebuffs him and the next day changes his appointment to meet with her husband. When Walter arrives that day, he and Phyllis are alone and she inquires about getting an accident policy for her husband without his knowledge. Upset by her implications, Walter leaves, but his expectation that he has not seen the last of Phyllis is fulfilled when she appears at his apartment. Walter soon gives in to his longing and kisses Phyllis, after which she reveals that she has been abused and neglected by her husband. Phyllis admits to having fantasies of killing Dietrichson, but his life insurance beneficiary is his mature daughter Lola, who hates her. Walter is repulsed by, and at the same time, strangely drawn to Phyllis's fantasy, and his thoughts linger on how to accomplish an undetectable crime. Agreeing to help Phyllis kill her husband, Walter meets with Dietrichson and, in Lola's presence, tries to sell him accident insurance. Dietrichson refuses the accident insurance, but enrolls for auto insurance, and is unaware that Walter has given him an accident insurance form to sign as well. Walter secretly advises Phyllis to book a train for Dietrichson's business trip, as a double indemnity clause in the policy will award her double the stated $50,000 if Dietrichson dies from an unlikely cause, such as a train accident. Phyllis and Walter begin to meet surreptitiously every morning in a local market. Dietrichson breaks his leg just after the accident policy comes through, and the lovers are delayed in carrying out their plan. In mid-June, as Keyes offers to hire Walter as his assistant, Phyllis telephones and informs Walter that Dietrichson is leaving that night on the train. Walter turns down Keyes' offer and after leaving the office, calculates his every move to avoid future suspicion, then hides in the Dietrichsons' car. After Phyllis uses a pre-arranged signal, Walter sits up from the back seat and strangles Dietrichson to death. Dressed as Dietrichson, Walter then boards the train and heads for the observation car. Walter is dismayed to find another passenger, Jackson, sitting on the deck, but when he leaves to get Walter a cigar, Walter jumps off the back of the train. After leaving Dietrichson's body on the tracks, Phyllis and Walter leave together in her car. The police declare Dietrichson's death accidental, but Norton, the president of All Risk, is reluctant to pay out the $100,000 and meets with Phyllis. Phyllis pretends to be bereaved and is genuinely shocked at Norton's suggestion of suicide. After she leaves, Walter is delighted when Keyes assures Norton that he will have to pay out the claim. At his apartment later that night, Walter is surprised by a visit from Keyes, who has developed indigestion due to an incongruity in the case: Dietrichson never filed a claim for his broken leg, even though he had just purchased accident insurance, in addition to which, the train was going so slowly that suicide is unlikely. Keyes concludes that Dietrichson was ignorant of the policy, and he is suspicious of Phyllis. A nervous Walter rushes Keyes out, as Phyllis hides behind the door to escape notice. The next day, Lola confides in Walter that she suspects that Phyllis, who was her mother's nurse, killed her mother six years earlier and now has done the same to her father. In order to distract Lola, Walter spends the next few days with her, and learns that she has broken up with her college drop-out boyfriend, Nino Zachette. During this time, Keyes becomes convinced that Dietrichson was murdered, and sends for Jackson. Jackson confirms that the man on the train does not match photographs of Dietrichson, and Keyes subsequently has Phyllis followed by detectives. Walter urges Phyllis not to sue for the claim, which is now being withheld, as Keyes will oppose it, but she is determined to get the money, and insists that the murder was all his doing. Walter is now suspicious of Phyllis, as Lola has told him that Nino is seeing her stepmother, and Walter thinks about killing her. Phyllis files suit for the insurance money, and Keyes tells Walter that her partner-in-crime has shown himself. Worried that Keyes is on to him, Walter listens to Keyes's dictaphone and hears that Keyes suspects that Nino is Phyllis' partner-in-crime, after which he arranges to meet with Phyllis late that night. Unknown to Walter, Phyllis has prepared for his visit by hiding a gun under a seat cushion. Walter confronts Phyllis and tells her that he knows she has used him and that he intends to frame Nino for the murder. Phyllis then shoots Walter, but is unable to kill him. Admitting that she has never loved him, Phyllis now embraces him, and Walter shoots her twice, killing her. As he leaves the house, Nino walks up, and Walter urges him to go to Lola, who truly loves him. By 4:30 a.m., Walter finishes his confession as Keyes makes his presence known, having been called by the janitor who noticed Walter trailing blood. Walter walks out, intending to escape to the border, but collapses before he gets to the elevator. Keyes, disappointed, nevertheless reveals his affection for Walter, and Walter reciprocates, as Keyes lights Walter's final cigarette.
THE EXORCIST (1973)
Cast: Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Lee J. Cobb
Directors: William Friedkin
Producer: William Peter Blatty
Writer: William Peter Blatty
Editor: Bud Smith
Cinematographer: Owen Roizman
Genre: Horror
Production Company: Hoya Productions, Inc.
Following a series of strange events at an archeological excavation in Iraq, including the discovery of a Christian amulet and an ominous statue of the demon Pazuzu, aging Jesuit priest Father Merrin accepts that he will soon be called on to perform an exorcism. Meanwhile, movie star Chris MacNeil is on location at Georgetown University, a Jesuit school near Washington, D.C., where she lives in a rented two-story house with her ten-year-old daughter Regan, secretary Sharon, butler Karl and housekeeper Willie. Already fearful that her recent estrangement from Regan’s father might cause her daughter emotional damage, Chris is concerned when Regan claims that “Captain Howdy,” an imaginary person, answers the questions she presents to a Ouija board game. Elsewhere on campus, Father Damien Karras, an Ivy league-educated psychiatrist who counsels clergy, is having a crisis of faith. Each day signs of human suffering confirm his doubts, including an encounter with a derelict beggar and visits to his ailing mother, a Greek immigrant who suffers alone, unable to leave her apartment because of an injury. One night, Regan, who earlier heard her mother spout obscenities about her absent father, climbs into bed with Chris, claiming that her own bed was shaking violently. Unable to sleep, Chris hears growling sounds from the attic and is frightened when her candle is blown out while she investigates. When Chris takes Regan to the hospital for a physical soon after, the young girl is uncharacteristically aggressive and blasphemous, but Dr. Klein assures Chris that Regan is merely suffering from depression caused by her parents’ separation and prescribes Ritalin. Meanwhile on campus, a priest discovers that the chapel’s statue of the Virgin Mary has been defaced with red paint and makeshift breasts and penis. Karras is angst-ridden after his uncle insinuates that Karras’ choice to become a penniless priest rather than a well-paid psychiatrist has forced the family to put his mother in a mental institution. Visiting the facility, Karras is devastated when his mother refuses to speak with him. Late one night during a celebrity cocktail party held at the MacNeil house, Regan descends the stairs in her nightgown and, gesturing toward a guest, announces that he will die then urinates on the floor. Chris puts her scared daughter to bed and assures her that the strange behavior is just bad nerves; however, later that night, Chris, finds a screaming Regan being violently tossed on the bed, moving as if controlled by another force. Days later, Father Dyer comforts his close friend, Karras, who is tortured with guilt after his mother dies. Meanwhile, Regan’s unexplained illness worsens, prompting Chris to take her to the hospital where she screams profanities, spits and fights. Attributing Regan’s personality change to temporal lobe lesions, Klein takes brain scans and consults with specialists. Called to the house on emergency one night, Klein and brain expert Dr. Tanney find Regan being slammed against her bed by an unexplained force while her eyes roll back in her head and she rages in a sub-human voice, “fuck me.” After Regan’s slap sends Klein hurtling across the room, the doctors sedate her and suggest to Chris that Regan’s pathological state has given her increased motor power. When a battery of excruciating tests fails to reveal that anything is physically wrong with Regan, Klein admits that the cause must be psychological. One evening, Chris returns home after work to find the lights blinking on and off and Regan alone in a freezing cold bedroom with the window open. Sharon arrives moments later and explains that she left Regan with family friend and the film’s director Burke Dennings, who has mysteriously disappeared. They soon learn that Burke has been found dead, having apparently broken his neck while falling down the stairs outside Regan’s window. That evening, Regan contorts into a bizarre backbend and races backward down the stairs, spewing blood and horrifying her mother, who now suspects Regan is responsible for Burke’s death. Days later, when a psychiatrist hypnotizes Regan to address the other, apparently beastly person inside her, Regan grows pale and growls, then exhales a noxious breath and grabs the psychiatrist’s genitals. Meanwhile, homicide detective William F. Kinderman, who suspects that the chapel desecration and Burke’s death are linked, questions Karras about witchcraft, a subject about which the psychiatrist has written about. Kinderman explains that Burke’s head was turned completely around, facing backwards, an unlikely position to be caused by the fall. Kinderman suspects that Burke was murdered and that the perpetrator might be a mentally ill priest rebelling against the church, but Karras reminds him that confidentiality precludes him from revealing any information. After Chris adamantly refuses to institutionalize Regan, the doctors recommend a Catholic exorcism to rid Regan of the invading spirit, causing Chris to leave, insulted by the suggestion of witchcraft, although she knows she cannot keep Regan sedated at home forever. Interviewing Chris about Burke’s death days later, Kinderman states that Regan was obviously not powerful enough to push the grown man out of her window, but wants to speak with Regan about whether someone else was in her room that night. Chris is barely able to keep her composure, so certain is she that Regan is probably responsible, but manages to usher Kinderman out. Minutes later, a terrified Chris finds Regan stabbing her genitals with a crucifix and screaming, “let Jesus fuck you.” Regan then slaps Chris across the room, blocks her exit by moving the furniture with sheer will and, in Burke’s voice, states that Regan killed him. Desperate, Chris introduces herself to Karras, in hopes that he might perform an exorcism, but the priest tells her that the church has not had call to use the ritual in many years and must have sufficient proof of the devil’s possession before sanctioning an exorcism. Karras reluctantly visits Regan, who is so wounded with gashes from self-abuse that her feet and hands are now tied to the bed, while the furniture has been padded to prevent further injury. Seeing the priest, Regan introduces herself as the devil in the beast’s voice and uses the voice of the derelict beggar to intrigue him further. When Regan insinuates that Karras’ mother is among the inhabitants of Regan’s body, Karras asks for her maiden name, prompting Regan to vomit on him. Although doubtful of the possession, Karras cannot explain Regan’s knowledge of his mother’s death nor her ability to speak Latin, French and an indiscernible language. After Regan writhes as if burned when Karras sprinkles her with holy water, he informs Chris that the water was actually from the tap and that he is unable to support a case for exorcism, prompting Chris to admit that Regan pushed Burke to his death. Karras then listens to tape recordings of Regan’s voice played backwards, which reveal different voices calling for Regan’s death. Finally, after Sharon shows him raised welts on Regan’s body that spell out “Help Me,” Karras presents the case to the president of the university, who summons Merrin to perform the exorcism. The night he arrives at the house, Merrin warns Karras, who is acting as his assistant, to avoid conversing with the devil, who will lie to them to avoid the confrontation. When Karras tries to explain the case’s background, Merrin silences the priest, stating that they deal only with the present. As they enter the room calling out Regan’s full Christian name, the priests can see their breath in the frigid air. Merrin sprinkles holy water and recites the Lord’s prayer while Regan, now grotesquely deformed by the beast within her, screams profanities at the men and hisses at them with a long serpent tongue. Although Merrin proceeds undeterred, Karras is shocked speechless but soon joins Merrin in chanting vehemently for the devil to be cast out of Regan’s body. The room shakes and the walls crack, while Regan accuses Karras of killing his own mother, turns her head completely around and busts her restraints. As she levitates, the priests chant in unison, yelling, “the power of Christ compels you,” which quells the creature. While taking a break, Karras asks Merrin why the devil would inhabit such an innocent girl, and Merrin replies that he wants to make us believe that humans are merely ugly, worthless animals whom God could not love. Physically exhausted by the events, Merrin secretly takes nitroglycerine pills to stave off a heart attack and returns to the room to find Karras falling victim to the devil’s lies and sends Karras away. Minutes later, when Chris asks him if Regan is going to die, Karras regains his strength and returns to the room, but finds Merrin unconscious and Regan freed from her restraints. Unable to revive the priest, Karras chokes Regan, raging for the devil to take him instead of the girl. When Regan rips the medallion from Karras’ neck, the devil enters Karras’ body, leaving Regan to collapse on the floor, whimpering. Karras drives the demon out of his own body just before hurtling himself out the window. The detective, who has just arrived, rushes to the room to find Merrin dead and Karras at the bottom of the stairs. Hearing her daughter’s voice, Chris rushes to aid Regan, while at the foot of the stairs, Dyer asks the dying Karras to confess his sins so that he might enter heaven. Days later, Dyer arrives at the house just as Chris and Regan are about to move out. Regan, who remembers nothing of the possession, sees the priest’s collar and kisses him. When Chris then attempts to give him Karras’ medallion, Dyer hands it back as a memory of their faith. As the MacNeils drive away, Kinderman, who will not press charges against Regan, once again tries to befriend a priest, this time Dyer, to get to the bottom of the strange events.
SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS (1938)
Cast: Adriana Caselotti, Harry Stockwell, Lucille LaVerne
Producer: Walt Disney
Writer: Ted Sears
Genre: Musical
Production Company: Walt Disney Productions, Ltd.
Composer: Frank Churchill
As part of her daily beauty routine, the Wicked Queen asks her Magic Mirror, "Who is the fairest one of all?" and is told that Snow White, her blossoming stepdaughter, is now the "fairest one of all." In an envious rage, the queen orders a woodsman to kill Snow White, who has just met the handsome and endearing Prince, in the forest. Once there, however, the woodsman finds he cannot do the deed and admonishes the princess to hide, while he returns to the queen with a pig's heart, which he claims belonged to Snow White. Frightened by the dark, stormy forest, Snow White runs wildly through the trees until she collapses with exhaustion on the forest floor. After her nap, she wakes to find the woods full of friendly, furry animals, who guide her to an empty cottage. Shocked by the decrepit condition of the cottage, Snow White enlists the help of the animals to clean it up, and then falls asleep in an upstairs bedroom, which has been furnished with seven tiny beds. While Snow White sleeps, the owners of the beds, the Seven Dwarfs--Sleepy, Dopey, Doc, Sneezy, Grumpy, Bashful and Happy--return from working at the local diamond mine and discover the snoozing princess. After much confusion, Snow White strikes a deal with the Dwarfs, offering her domestic services in exchange for room and board. To Grumpy's dissatisfaction, Snow White turns the household upside down and instigates positive changes in the Dwarfs' life. The Dwarfs' newly found happiness ends abruptly when the evil queen, who has learned from the Magic Mirror that Snow White is alive, transforms herself into an old hag and, equipped with a poison apple, heads for the Dwarfs' cottage. Lured by the queen, the innocent Snow White bites into the apple and falls into a death-like sleep, which can be broken only when she is kissed by her first true love. Satisfied that Snow White is doomed, the queen rushes back toward her castle but is chased by the Dwarfs and falls to her death off a cliff. While lying in the woods in a glass-domed coffin built by the Dwarfs, Snow White is found by the Prince. Entranced by her tranquil beauty, the prince kisses her back to life and carries her off to eternal happiness.
THE GODFATHER PART II (1974)
Cast: Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton
Directors: Francis Ford Coppola
Producer: Francis Ford Coppola
Writer: Francis Ford Coppola
Editor: Richard Marks
Cinematographer: Gordon Willis
Genre: Drama
Production Company: The Coppola Company
Composer: Nino Rota
In 1901, in the village of Corleone, Sicily, nine-year-old Vito Andolini is comforted by his mother as they walk in his father's funeral procession. When shots ring out, Vito's older brother Paolo is killed, prompting Signora Andolini to take Vito to see local Black Hand leader, Don Francesco, called "Ciccio," whom her husband had offended. She begs him to spare Vito's life, but the don coldly refuses, prompting Vito's mother to take a knife to Ciccio's throat and scream for her son to run. She is killed by the don's henchmen, but Vito escapes. Despite threats from Ciccio's men, some villagers help Vito, enabling him to sail to America. When he is diagnosed with smallpox and placed in quarantine on Ellis Island, Vito, who has been given the surname Corleone by an immigration official, gazes at the Statue of Liberty from his small room.
In 1958, Vito's grandson, Anthony Corleone receives his First Holy Communion in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. After the ceremony, his parents, Kay and Michael, host a lavish party at their lakeside estate. Michael, who has succeeded Vito as the don of the Corleone family, receives guests who seek his favor, including Senator Pat Geary, a pompous hypocrite, who incurs Michael's enmity when he demands money in exchange for the license Michael seeks for a gambling casino. Others at the party include Michael's weak, older brother, Fredo, who cannot control his drunken wife, and their widowed younger sister, Connie, who prefers the high life to caring for her children. Al Neri, who represents elderly Jewish gangster Hyman Roth, discusses a Cuban casino deal between Roth and the Corleones, while old family friend and lieutenant Frankie Pentangeli begs Michael not to do business with Roth or his cohorts, the ruthless New York Rosato brothers. Late that night, as Michael prepares for bed and admires a picture that Anthony has drawn for him, the room is riddled by machine gun fire. Because Michael drags himself to Kay's side and covers her body with his, neither is hurt, but Kay is quietly resentful and views Michael's promises to turn the family business legitimate as lies. Michael warns his security men to capture the assassins alive, but by the time the men are found near the lake, they have been killed. Privately, Michael confides in his adopted brother, Tom Hagen, that he is the only person he trusts and relates that he will be in complete charge while Michael goes away to try to solve what has happened.
In 1917, In New York's Little Italy, Vito, now a grown man with a wife and baby son, goes to an Italian-language vaudeville show with his friend, Genco Abbandando, who is in love with one of the actresses. Backstage, Vito sees local Black Hand leader Fanucci intimidate the young actress' father and is distressed to learn that Fanucci offers "protection" to all of the local Italian merchants, even Genco's father, for whom Vito works. Soon after, Clemenza, a neighbor across the alley, throws a package to Vito and asks him to hide it. A short time later, Fanucci comes into the Abbandando grocery and demands that Genco's father hire his nephew. When the distraught Signor Abbandando tells Vito that he must let him go, Vito comforts him and says that he will never forget all of his kindnesses. The next day, Clemenza stops Vito on the street and asks about the package, which contained guns. Impressed when Vito says that he does not concern himself with things that are not his business, Clemenza offers to give Vito's wife a rug that belongs to a friend. Cemenza then takes Vito with him to a luxurious house, where they break in and steal an expensive carpet.
After leaving Lake Tahoe, Michael travels to Miami, where he goes to the modest suburban home occupied by Roth and his wife, and tells him that Pentangeli was behind the assassination attempt. Agreeing to do business together in Cuba, Roth tells Michael to bring $2,000,000 cash to him in Havana. Michael asks Roth if he minds that Pentangeli must be killed, but Roth dismisses Pentangeli as "small potatoes." Next, Michael travels to Long Island, to his father's former house in Long Beach, now occupied by Pentangeli and his family. He then tells Pentangeli that he knows it was Roth who tried to have him killed and asks him to pretend to make peace with the Rosato brothers so that Roth will be lulled into a sense of security. Sometime later, when Pentangeli and his cohort, Willy Cicci, go to a New York bar to meet with the brothers, Tony Rosato grabs him from behind and, saying “Michael Corleone says hello,” starts to strangle him. Just then, a policeman enters the bar and the Rosatos flee, leaving Pentangeli for dead and wounding Cicci outside. Meanwhile, as Michael travels to Cuba, Kay begins to feel like a prisoner at the estate because the guards, under Tom and Michael’s orders, prevent her from leaving. In Havana, Michael and Roth are among several prominent American corporate executives who are being wooed by the country’s president, who assures them that the country’s rebels will be driven out by the new year. Later, on the way to Roth’s 67th birthday party, Michael sees a mass arrest and is struck by the dedication the rebels show when one man blows up himself and a soldier with a grenade. At the party, Roth, who has a heart condition, tells those gathered that he will leave most of his interests to Michael, then privately asks Michael why the $2,000,000 has not arrived. Back at his hotel room, Michael greets Fredo, who has brought a briefcase filled with the money. After Michael tells Fredo that Roth and his underling, Johnny Ola, are in Havana, Fredo denies having met them. Michael then suggests that they spend the day together. Listening as Fredo almost tearfully asks why they never spent time alone together before, Michael, who thinks that Pentangeli has been killed on Roth’s orders, says that Roth will never see the New Year. That night, which is New Year’s Eve, Fredo acts as host to a number of American VIPs, including Sen. Geary, who now is indebted to the Corleone family because a few weeks before, Tom had covered up the violent death of a prostitute with whom Geary was involved. When Johnny arrives, he and Fredo pretend not to know each other, but when the party goes to a sex show and Fredo casually tells Geary and the others that Johnny had told him about the club, Michael knows that Fredo had betrayed him. Meanwhile, Johnny is strangled in his hotel room. The killer then goes to kill Roth, but because Roth has had a mild stroke, he is being taken to the hospital. There, while one of the nurses leaves to celebrate the New Year with her friends, the killer sneaks into Roth’s room and starts to strangle him, but is interrupted by the nurse and a guard, who kills him before he can finish. At midnight, in the presidential palace, Michael embraces Fredo and tells him he knows that it was he who betrayed him and that he broke his heart. Moments later, the president announces that, because the rebels have advanced, he is resigning and will be leaving the country immediately. As Fredo wanders through the chaos in the streets, Michael calls for him to come with him to a waiting plane, but the frightened Fredo runs away. Days later, Michael meets Tom at a Las Vegas hotel and learns that Kay has had a miscarriage. He tells Tom to find Fredo and tell him that he knows he was misled by Roth but he should come home and not be afraid.
In 1918, as Vito drives through Little Italy, Fanucci jumps on his car and tells him that he wants him and his friends to “wet my beak” and give him $200 as part of their earnings from stealing expensive dresses. That night, Vito convinces Clemenza and their friend Tessio to give him $50 and promises to make Fanucci accept that. When Vito visits Fanucci at a local café, he offers the $100, saying he needs more time for the rest. Impressed with Vito’s courage, Fanucci agrees, and leaves. Because it is the Festa of San Rocco, Fanucci struts through the crowds and offers money to the church. Unknown to him, Vito has followed him on the rooftops and enters Fanucci’s house. When Fanucci arrives, Vito shoots him at close range, then takes the money from his wallet, disposes of the pieces of the gun in different drain pipes, then joins his wife and three young sons to watch fireworks.
When Michael returns to his Lake Tahoe estate, he goes to his mother’s cottage to talk with her before his family. Speaking in Italian, he asks if his father ever lost his family. When she says that you never lose your family, he whispers “ tempi cambi ,” times change. At the same time, Willy Cicci, who was only wounded by the Rosato brothers, is testifying before a U.S. Senate committee investigating organized crime, saying that he was a “button man” for Michael when he wanted something done.
In Little Italy, in 1923, Vito is now known as “Don Vito,” and with his old friend Genco, he has started the Genco Olive Oil Company, which imports oil from Sicily. Vito is so respected and feared within the Italian-American community that when his wife’s widowed friend, Signora Colombo, faces eviction by her landlord, Signor Roberto, the mere knowledge that Vito is her patron, makes the frightened Roberto allow her to keep the dog her son loves and stay in her apartment with a lowered rent.
When Michael is summoned to testify at the Senate hearings, rather than exercise his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination, Michael calmly answers the senator’s questions, saying that he is not a Mafia boss but a legitimate businessman. In a statement, Michael challenges them to produce any evidence of his crimes. A short time later, Michael and Tom learn that Pentangeli survived the attack against him and, thinking that Michael had ordered his death, has been cooperating with the FBI. Michael asks Fredo for information, but Fredo, who knows nothing, lashes out at Michael for relegating his older brother to menial assignments. After Michael says that that is what their father wanted, he tells Fredo that he now means nothing to him and never wants to see him again. After leaving Fredo, Michael tells one of his underlings that he doesn’t want anything to happen to Fredo while his mother is alive. Meanwhile, Pentangeli, who is living in comfort within FBI custody, fears testifying, but his FBI guards assure him that they can protect him. When the hearings resume, Pentangeli, who is set to testify, is stunned when he sees his older brother, who lives in Sicily, enter the chambers with Michael. When questioning begins, instead of corroborating what he had said in sworn statements to the FBI, Pentangeli denies Michael’s criminal activity and says that he merely told the FBI what they wanted to hear. Although the senators suspect intimidation, there is nothing they can do. After the hearings, at their Washington hotel, Kay tells Michael that she is leaving him and taking the children with her. While they are arguing, Michael tells her that he knows that she blames him for the miscarriage but that he will change. She then confesses that it was not a miscarriage but an abortion because the “Sicilian thing” must end and she did not want to bring another of his sons into the world. After slapping her with such force that she falls, Michael screams that she will never take his children from him.
In 1927, Vito, his wife and their three young children arrive in Corleone. They are welcomed by Vito’s old friend and now business partner in Genco Olive Oil, Don Tommasino. After celebrating with relatives, who admire the prosperous family, Vito accompanies Tommasino to now elderly Don Ciccio’s estate. After introducing himself and kissing Ciccio’s hand, Vito tells him that his father was Antonio Andolini, then rips the don’s belly apart with his knife. As Ciccio screams out and dies, Tommassino is wounded as he and Vito make their escape. Leaving Corleone a short time later, Vito shows baby Michael how to wave goodbye.
At Mama Corleone’s funeral in Lake Tahoe, a distraught Fredo wants to speak with Michael, but Tom tells him Michael will not enter until Fredo leaves. Connie then goes to speak privately with Michael and tells him that she had hated him for a long time, but now realizes that he was just being strong for the family. Saying that she now wants to take care of him, she asks him if he can forgive Fredo. Michael then goes to Fredo and embraces his sobbing brother, but with his eyes, lets his underling Rocco Lampone know that his feelings have not changed. Sometime later, as Michael and Tom discuss the fact that Roth, who survived a stroke, has been deported from Israel and is flying back to Miami, Michael lashes out at him for not being with him on the things he needs to do. Tom assures him of his loyalty and asks what he can do. Tom soon visits Pentangeli in custody. Assured by Tom that his brother is safely back in Sicily and his own family will be well cared for, Pentangeli, who loves history, lets Tom know that he will die as disgraced Roman senators did, opening their veins in a warm bath. Back in Lake Tahoe, Fredo, who has enjoyed spending time fishing with Anthony is about to go out onto the lake when Connie says that Michael wants Anthony right away. Later, when Fredo and Rocco are out on the lake, Fredo says a “Hail Mary” just before Rocco shoots him. At the same time, Roth arrives at the Miami airport, where he is shot and killed, and the FBI agents discover that Pentangeli has killed himself in the bathtub. As Michael sits alone in his den, he thinks about Pearl Harbor Day, 1941, when he, his brothers and Connie waited for their father to come home for a birthday celebration: Although he is going to college, Michael announces that he has just enlisted in the Marines, angering Sonny and Tom. When their father comes home, everyone leaves the dining room to greet him at the door, except Michael, who remains at the table, alone.
In 1958, Vito's grandson, Anthony Corleone receives his First Holy Communion in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. After the ceremony, his parents, Kay and Michael, host a lavish party at their lakeside estate. Michael, who has succeeded Vito as the don of the Corleone family, receives guests who seek his favor, including Senator Pat Geary, a pompous hypocrite, who incurs Michael's enmity when he demands money in exchange for the license Michael seeks for a gambling casino. Others at the party include Michael's weak, older brother, Fredo, who cannot control his drunken wife, and their widowed younger sister, Connie, who prefers the high life to caring for her children. Al Neri, who represents elderly Jewish gangster Hyman Roth, discusses a Cuban casino deal between Roth and the Corleones, while old family friend and lieutenant Frankie Pentangeli begs Michael not to do business with Roth or his cohorts, the ruthless New York Rosato brothers. Late that night, as Michael prepares for bed and admires a picture that Anthony has drawn for him, the room is riddled by machine gun fire. Because Michael drags himself to Kay's side and covers her body with his, neither is hurt, but Kay is quietly resentful and views Michael's promises to turn the family business legitimate as lies. Michael warns his security men to capture the assassins alive, but by the time the men are found near the lake, they have been killed. Privately, Michael confides in his adopted brother, Tom Hagen, that he is the only person he trusts and relates that he will be in complete charge while Michael goes away to try to solve what has happened.
In 1917, In New York's Little Italy, Vito, now a grown man with a wife and baby son, goes to an Italian-language vaudeville show with his friend, Genco Abbandando, who is in love with one of the actresses. Backstage, Vito sees local Black Hand leader Fanucci intimidate the young actress' father and is distressed to learn that Fanucci offers "protection" to all of the local Italian merchants, even Genco's father, for whom Vito works. Soon after, Clemenza, a neighbor across the alley, throws a package to Vito and asks him to hide it. A short time later, Fanucci comes into the Abbandando grocery and demands that Genco's father hire his nephew. When the distraught Signor Abbandando tells Vito that he must let him go, Vito comforts him and says that he will never forget all of his kindnesses. The next day, Clemenza stops Vito on the street and asks about the package, which contained guns. Impressed when Vito says that he does not concern himself with things that are not his business, Clemenza offers to give Vito's wife a rug that belongs to a friend. Cemenza then takes Vito with him to a luxurious house, where they break in and steal an expensive carpet.
After leaving Lake Tahoe, Michael travels to Miami, where he goes to the modest suburban home occupied by Roth and his wife, and tells him that Pentangeli was behind the assassination attempt. Agreeing to do business together in Cuba, Roth tells Michael to bring $2,000,000 cash to him in Havana. Michael asks Roth if he minds that Pentangeli must be killed, but Roth dismisses Pentangeli as "small potatoes." Next, Michael travels to Long Island, to his father's former house in Long Beach, now occupied by Pentangeli and his family. He then tells Pentangeli that he knows it was Roth who tried to have him killed and asks him to pretend to make peace with the Rosato brothers so that Roth will be lulled into a sense of security. Sometime later, when Pentangeli and his cohort, Willy Cicci, go to a New York bar to meet with the brothers, Tony Rosato grabs him from behind and, saying “Michael Corleone says hello,” starts to strangle him. Just then, a policeman enters the bar and the Rosatos flee, leaving Pentangeli for dead and wounding Cicci outside. Meanwhile, as Michael travels to Cuba, Kay begins to feel like a prisoner at the estate because the guards, under Tom and Michael’s orders, prevent her from leaving. In Havana, Michael and Roth are among several prominent American corporate executives who are being wooed by the country’s president, who assures them that the country’s rebels will be driven out by the new year. Later, on the way to Roth’s 67th birthday party, Michael sees a mass arrest and is struck by the dedication the rebels show when one man blows up himself and a soldier with a grenade. At the party, Roth, who has a heart condition, tells those gathered that he will leave most of his interests to Michael, then privately asks Michael why the $2,000,000 has not arrived. Back at his hotel room, Michael greets Fredo, who has brought a briefcase filled with the money. After Michael tells Fredo that Roth and his underling, Johnny Ola, are in Havana, Fredo denies having met them. Michael then suggests that they spend the day together. Listening as Fredo almost tearfully asks why they never spent time alone together before, Michael, who thinks that Pentangeli has been killed on Roth’s orders, says that Roth will never see the New Year. That night, which is New Year’s Eve, Fredo acts as host to a number of American VIPs, including Sen. Geary, who now is indebted to the Corleone family because a few weeks before, Tom had covered up the violent death of a prostitute with whom Geary was involved. When Johnny arrives, he and Fredo pretend not to know each other, but when the party goes to a sex show and Fredo casually tells Geary and the others that Johnny had told him about the club, Michael knows that Fredo had betrayed him. Meanwhile, Johnny is strangled in his hotel room. The killer then goes to kill Roth, but because Roth has had a mild stroke, he is being taken to the hospital. There, while one of the nurses leaves to celebrate the New Year with her friends, the killer sneaks into Roth’s room and starts to strangle him, but is interrupted by the nurse and a guard, who kills him before he can finish. At midnight, in the presidential palace, Michael embraces Fredo and tells him he knows that it was he who betrayed him and that he broke his heart. Moments later, the president announces that, because the rebels have advanced, he is resigning and will be leaving the country immediately. As Fredo wanders through the chaos in the streets, Michael calls for him to come with him to a waiting plane, but the frightened Fredo runs away. Days later, Michael meets Tom at a Las Vegas hotel and learns that Kay has had a miscarriage. He tells Tom to find Fredo and tell him that he knows he was misled by Roth but he should come home and not be afraid.
In 1918, as Vito drives through Little Italy, Fanucci jumps on his car and tells him that he wants him and his friends to “wet my beak” and give him $200 as part of their earnings from stealing expensive dresses. That night, Vito convinces Clemenza and their friend Tessio to give him $50 and promises to make Fanucci accept that. When Vito visits Fanucci at a local café, he offers the $100, saying he needs more time for the rest. Impressed with Vito’s courage, Fanucci agrees, and leaves. Because it is the Festa of San Rocco, Fanucci struts through the crowds and offers money to the church. Unknown to him, Vito has followed him on the rooftops and enters Fanucci’s house. When Fanucci arrives, Vito shoots him at close range, then takes the money from his wallet, disposes of the pieces of the gun in different drain pipes, then joins his wife and three young sons to watch fireworks.
When Michael returns to his Lake Tahoe estate, he goes to his mother’s cottage to talk with her before his family. Speaking in Italian, he asks if his father ever lost his family. When she says that you never lose your family, he whispers “ tempi cambi ,” times change. At the same time, Willy Cicci, who was only wounded by the Rosato brothers, is testifying before a U.S. Senate committee investigating organized crime, saying that he was a “button man” for Michael when he wanted something done.
In Little Italy, in 1923, Vito is now known as “Don Vito,” and with his old friend Genco, he has started the Genco Olive Oil Company, which imports oil from Sicily. Vito is so respected and feared within the Italian-American community that when his wife’s widowed friend, Signora Colombo, faces eviction by her landlord, Signor Roberto, the mere knowledge that Vito is her patron, makes the frightened Roberto allow her to keep the dog her son loves and stay in her apartment with a lowered rent.
When Michael is summoned to testify at the Senate hearings, rather than exercise his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination, Michael calmly answers the senator’s questions, saying that he is not a Mafia boss but a legitimate businessman. In a statement, Michael challenges them to produce any evidence of his crimes. A short time later, Michael and Tom learn that Pentangeli survived the attack against him and, thinking that Michael had ordered his death, has been cooperating with the FBI. Michael asks Fredo for information, but Fredo, who knows nothing, lashes out at Michael for relegating his older brother to menial assignments. After Michael says that that is what their father wanted, he tells Fredo that he now means nothing to him and never wants to see him again. After leaving Fredo, Michael tells one of his underlings that he doesn’t want anything to happen to Fredo while his mother is alive. Meanwhile, Pentangeli, who is living in comfort within FBI custody, fears testifying, but his FBI guards assure him that they can protect him. When the hearings resume, Pentangeli, who is set to testify, is stunned when he sees his older brother, who lives in Sicily, enter the chambers with Michael. When questioning begins, instead of corroborating what he had said in sworn statements to the FBI, Pentangeli denies Michael’s criminal activity and says that he merely told the FBI what they wanted to hear. Although the senators suspect intimidation, there is nothing they can do. After the hearings, at their Washington hotel, Kay tells Michael that she is leaving him and taking the children with her. While they are arguing, Michael tells her that he knows that she blames him for the miscarriage but that he will change. She then confesses that it was not a miscarriage but an abortion because the “Sicilian thing” must end and she did not want to bring another of his sons into the world. After slapping her with such force that she falls, Michael screams that she will never take his children from him.
In 1927, Vito, his wife and their three young children arrive in Corleone. They are welcomed by Vito’s old friend and now business partner in Genco Olive Oil, Don Tommasino. After celebrating with relatives, who admire the prosperous family, Vito accompanies Tommasino to now elderly Don Ciccio’s estate. After introducing himself and kissing Ciccio’s hand, Vito tells him that his father was Antonio Andolini, then rips the don’s belly apart with his knife. As Ciccio screams out and dies, Tommassino is wounded as he and Vito make their escape. Leaving Corleone a short time later, Vito shows baby Michael how to wave goodbye.
At Mama Corleone’s funeral in Lake Tahoe, a distraught Fredo wants to speak with Michael, but Tom tells him Michael will not enter until Fredo leaves. Connie then goes to speak privately with Michael and tells him that she had hated him for a long time, but now realizes that he was just being strong for the family. Saying that she now wants to take care of him, she asks him if he can forgive Fredo. Michael then goes to Fredo and embraces his sobbing brother, but with his eyes, lets his underling Rocco Lampone know that his feelings have not changed. Sometime later, as Michael and Tom discuss the fact that Roth, who survived a stroke, has been deported from Israel and is flying back to Miami, Michael lashes out at him for not being with him on the things he needs to do. Tom assures him of his loyalty and asks what he can do. Tom soon visits Pentangeli in custody. Assured by Tom that his brother is safely back in Sicily and his own family will be well cared for, Pentangeli, who loves history, lets Tom know that he will die as disgraced Roman senators did, opening their veins in a warm bath. Back in Lake Tahoe, Fredo, who has enjoyed spending time fishing with Anthony is about to go out onto the lake when Connie says that Michael wants Anthony right away. Later, when Fredo and Rocco are out on the lake, Fredo says a “Hail Mary” just before Rocco shoots him. At the same time, Roth arrives at the Miami airport, where he is shot and killed, and the FBI agents discover that Pentangeli has killed himself in the bathtub. As Michael sits alone in his den, he thinks about Pearl Harbor Day, 1941, when he, his brothers and Connie waited for their father to come home for a birthday celebration: Although he is going to college, Michael announces that he has just enlisted in the Marines, angering Sonny and Tom. When their father comes home, everyone leaves the dining room to greet him at the door, except Michael, who remains at the table, alone.
A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (1971)
Cast: Malcolm McDowell, Patrick Magee, Michael Bates
Directors: Stanley Kubrick
Producer: Stanley Kubrick
Writer: Stanley Kubrick
Editor: Bill Butler
Genre: Drama, Fantasy
Production Company: Polaris Productions, Inc., Hawks Films Limited
Sometime in the not-to-distant future, gangs of teenage thugs roam rubble-strewn streets, terrorizing citizens who sequester themselves behind locked doors. Alex, the leader of one of the gangs, and his “droogs,” Pete, Georgie and Dim, distinguish themselves by wearing all-white, cod pieces, bowler hats and walking canes as the spend their nights committing rapes, muggings and beatings for entertainment. One night, after stopping at the Korova Milk Bar for the house specialty, drug-laced milk that induces “ultra violence,” the group kicks an elderly tramp mercilessly. Finding rival gang leader Billyboy and his hoodlums raping a woman nearby, Alex and his droogs take a moment to enjoy the scene then use chairs, broken bottles and knives to pummel the other gang unconscious. The gang speeds off in their Durango 95 sports car playing a game called “hogs of the road,” which entails forcing other drivers off the road. Spotting a wealthy residence displaying the sign “HOME,” the gang gains admittance by claiming that they need to use the phone to report an accident. Once inside, Alex beats and kicks the home’s owner, writer Mr. Frank Alexander, while mimicking a soft shoe dance routine and singing a musical number. After the droogs shove balls into the mouths of Alexander and his wife and wrap their heads in tape, Alex rapes Mrs. Alexander as Mr. Alexander watches helplessly. Later, Alex returns to municipal flatblock 18A, a disheveled modern apartment building where he lives with his cowardly mum and dad. After stashing stolen money and watches, Alex listens to his favorite composer, Beethoven, plays with his pet snake and dreams of further violence. The next morning, Alex refuses to go to school, claiming that his work, “helping here and there,” has left him exhausted. Soon after, a government probation officer, Mr. Deltoid, arrives at the flat and knees Alex in the genitals for reverting to outbursts of violence and wasting the government’s resources trying to reform him. Unaffected by the visit, Alex picks up two young women at a record shop and brings them back to his room to have sex, becoming so involved that he misses a gang meeting. Later, after his droogs express their disappointment to Alex about his missing their meeting and Georgie rebukes him for picking on Dim and then suggests they commit larger robberies. Outraged at the insubordination, Alex knocks Georgie into a river and knifes Dim’s arm when he tries to help Georgie. Having reasserted his authority, Alex appropriates Georgie’s suggestion. The gang then proceeds to the home of health club owner Mrs. Webber, who is known as “Catlady” and lives alone with her dozens of cats. Having read about the Alexanders, Webber refuses the gang entrance when they attempt the accident ruse again, but Alex then breaks into the house and bludgeons Webber unconscious with a large sculpted phallus, part of Webber’s erotic art collection. Hearing approaching sirens, Alex flees outside, where his droogs, fed up with Alex’s brutality, bash him unconscious and leave him for the police. After Webber dies from her injuries, Alex is sentenced to 14 years in prison. During his jail admittance procedure, Alex must submit to an autocratic officer who assigns him a number to replace his name, strips him of clothes and belongings and performs an anal search. For his first two years, Alex panders to the prison chaplain by quoting the Bible and accompanying him on keyboard for service hymns, while secretly fantasizing about the Bible’s violent and sexual passages. One day, Alex, hoping for an early release from jail, claims that he wants to reform permanently and asks the chaplain to help him get on the list for an experimental treatment of aversion therapy known as the Ludivicko technique, but the chaplain warns him that the brainwashing program will erase his will and therefore his soul. Soon after, the unscrupulous Minister of the Interior, hoping the aversion therapy will win his government valuable public support, chooses the enthusiastic Alex as the first candidate and sends him to the Ludivicko Center, where Alex is promised that he will be permanently cured in two weeks. Alex is then injected with a serum that causes him to feel waves of excruciating nausea and suffocation, which he names the “sickness,” when his violent passions arise. Bound in a straightjacket with his eyelids forced open by clamps, Alex is forced to watch hours of violence and mass destruction as part of his conditioning to repulse violence. On the second day of treatment, when the attending doctors play Beethoven’s ninth symphony during the screenings, Alex realizes that the music of his favorite composer will now forever be associated with “the sickness,” and begs them to stop, but the doctors refuse. The day before his release, Alex is presented on a stage before an audience of government officials and other authorities to prove the treatment’s validity. Alex’s fear of “the sickness” prompts him to follow orders and submit to degrading treatment without reacting with violence. When he is then presented with a nude woman, Alex at first grasps for her, but the sickness prevents him from even touching her. Although the chaplain loudly protests that Alex has lost all choice and deems the treatment unethical, the Minister of the Interior proclaims it a success and releases Alex. Returning home, Alex discovers that his parents have taken a lodger, Joe, who defends his mum and dad and protests that Alex should not be allowed to return because of his atrocious behavior. Learning that the police have taken away his belongings and his snake is dead, Alex leaves the apartment sobbing and contemplates suicide at the river. When a tramp interrupts to ask for change, the man recognizes Alex as the brutal youth who beat him years ago, and leads him to a tunnel teaming with elderly drunkards who accost him. Police officers stop the fight, but Alex soon recognizes the officers as Georgie and Dim, who are happy to mete out their revenge against their former leader. They handcuff Alex and drive him to an isolated area where they nearly drown him in an animal trough while laughing at the cruel spectacle. Weak, soaking and unable to recognize his surroundings, Alex mistakenly seeks help at “HOME.” Alexander, who lost his wife to suicide just after Alex and the dross’s attack, recognizes Alex only as the man in the newspaper who was forced to submit to the police’s inhumane experiments and offers him a bath and dinner. However, when Alex starts humming his signature show tune, Alexander then realizes that Alex is his previous assailant and concocts a plan. Thinking Alex’s behavior modification treatment unjust, the politically subversive writer calls several journalists who arrive shortly after to use Alex’s testimony for their own political agenda. After learning that his conditioning includes a severe aversion to Beethoven, the writer serves Alex sedative-laced wine, locks him a room and tortures Alex by playing Beethoven at a deafeningly loud volume. Alex attempts suicide by jumping from the second story window, but the fall succeeds only in broken bones that result in an extended stay at a hospital. Newspapers soon report Alex’s attempt as proof of the government’s inhumanity, thus prompting the government to hire psychiatrist Dr. Taylor to reverse the Ludivicko conditioning. The doctor then tests Alex by presenting him with cartoons with open-ended narratives. Alex happily creates violent dialogue for his characters, thus proving his “recovery.” Soon after, the Minister of Interior visits Alex with an offer. Reminding him that the writer and several of his other victims would like him either killed or imprisoned, the minister, worried about the outcome of the election, offers Alex a job and financial compensation in trade for being the minister’s propaganda tool. As Alex accepts the proposal, the press photographs the two men to publicize the government’s change of heart. When Beethoven’s ninth symphony is then played, Alex spontaneously imagines scenes of public fornication and happily announces that he is “cured indeed.”
2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968)
Cast: Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester
Directors: Stanley Kubrick
Producer: Stanley Kubrick
Writer: Stanley Kubrick
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.
ALIEN (1979)
Cast: Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright
Directors: Ridley Scott
Producer: Gordon Carroll
Writer: Dan O'Bannon
Editor: Terry Rawlings
Cinematographer: Derek Vanlint
Genre: Science fiction
Production Company: Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp.
Composer: Jerry Goldsmith
In a futuristic outer space, the commercial towing ship The Nostromo is returning home to Earth with twenty million tons of mineral ore. On board, “Mother,” the aircraft’s computer, awakens the crew of five men and two women from hyper-sleep. After breakfast, Dallas, the captain, learns that company headquarters has ordered the crew to detour and investigate a mysterious audio beacon. Parker, the ship's engineer, gripes that he is not being paid for rescue work, but Ash, the science officer, reminds him that according to their job contracts, they are obligated to look into transmissions of possible intelligent origins and by refusing, they forfeit their monetary share from the mission. Dallas agrees with Ash, and the crew proceeds to disengage the ship from the docking platform and navigate towards the signal. The ship incurs damages from a rough landing on a rocky planetary terrain. While Parker and his technician, Brent, make repairs, Dallas, along with executive officer Kane and navigator Lambert, don spacesuits and track the signal on foot. After coming upon a derelict spacecraft, they climb inside and discover a large alien life form, fossilized in a chair. Meanwhile on board the ship, warrant officer Ripley learns that the signal is a warning rather than an S.O.S. After being lowered into a cavernous chamber, Kane discovers egg-shaped forms covered by mist. He notices movement inside an egg, but while observing, an organism attaches itself to the front of his helmet, leaving him unconscious. Dallas and Lambert carry him back to the ship, but Ripley reminds Dallas that the quarantine law requires twenty-four hours for decontamination and denies them reentry. Overhearing the exchange, Ash ignores Ripley's seniority and opens the hatch. In the infirmary, Ash and Dallas contemplate whether to detach the organism covering Kane’s face. Although Kane is still alive, the organism has paralyzed him. When Dallas cuts off a digit of the tentacle, an acidic liquid drips on the floor and begins to burn through flooring of the decks, temporarily threatening the hull. Unable to assist Kane for now, the crew waits while Parker and Brett repair the ship. Back in the infirmary, Ripley criticizes Ash for letting the organism onboard, which put the entire crew at risk. Ash claims that he disregarded the quarantine law to save Kane’s life. Sometime later, the organism detaches from Kane’s face and disappears. When its lifeless form drops from the ceiling, Ash is eager to conduct tests, while Ripley suggests discarding it. Because Ash is the science officer, Dallas lets him decide. Outside the infirmary, Ripley confronts Dallas to warn him that she does not trust Ash. With the majority of repairs complete, the ship takes off and returns to the docking station. As they continue the journey home, Kane regains consciousness; but during a meal, he begins to choke and convulse. From his chest, an embryonic organism suddenly bursts out and scurries away. After the crew buries Kane by propelling his body into space, they divide into two groups to locate the alien with a tracking device, nets and electrical prods. During the search, the team of Ripley, Parker and Brett, mistake the movement of Jones, the ship's cat, for the alien. When Brett follows the cat into another section, the alien, who has grown large and menacing, jerks him into an air shaft. Ripley and Parker rush in to witness Brett's death. In reporting to Dallas, Parker speculates that the organism is using the air ducts to move around the ship. Therefore, Dallas devises a plan to trap the alien in the main air lock and set it on fire. While the others monitor the alien’s movement and close off vents, Dallas enters the air shaft with a flamethrower. As he approaches a junction in the passage, Lambert yells that the organism is moving toward him. A screech is heard, followed by static on the radio. Parker finds no sign of the captain's dead body. The remaining crewmembers are tense as Ripley decides to continue with the plan to trap the organism in the air shaft. She becomes more frustrated by Ash’s seeming lack of concern or advice. While Parker is refueling the flamethrower, Ripley, as the new commanding officer, consults with "Mother" and learns that the priority is to bring back the alien species; however the crew is expendable. As a distressed Ripley leaves the computer annex, Ash tries to kill her. Lambert and Parker arrive and struggle to fight him off, until Ash begins to spew goo and disintegrate. When his head becomes detached, Parker and the others realize that he is a robot. Because Ash has been protecting the alien all along, Ripley believes that the company wants the species for their weapons division. She repairs Ash's communication function in the hope of extracting knowledge about how to kill the alien. However, as his head returns to life, Ash merely states that they cannot kill a perfect species and admits that he admires the alien for its purity as a survivor. After disconnecting the robot, Ripley decides that they will blow up the ship and escape in the shuttle. While Lambert and Parker collect supplies, Ripley prepares the shuttle for departure. She hears Jones the cat meowing and secures him in a cage. As Lambert and Parker are loading a cart, the alien attacks them. Ripley hears their distress over the radio and rushes to help, but finds both of them dead. After she runs back to program the destruction of the ship, the voice of "Mother" begins the countdown to detonation. Despite the nearby presence of the alien, Ripley and Jones eventually manage to board the escape shuttle without interference from the creature. From the window of the shuttle, Ripley watches the ship disintegrate and announces that she got the “son of a bitch.” She comforts Jones before placing him in the sleep capsule. While setting the controls for the journey home, the hand of the alien unexpectedly lurches out from the instrument panel. Ripley darts into a closet and puts on a spacesuit while keeping an eye on the alien's location. Returning to the control room, she opens the hatch, spears the organism, and it is jettisoned into space. Just as the creature is almost sucked back into the exhaust, she blasts the jet engines and the blaze pushes the alien away from the shuttle. As the only surviving crew member, Ripley dictates a report before entering hyper-sleep, estimating that she will arrive on the frontier in about six weeks.
SCHINDLER'S LIST (1993)
Cast: Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes
Directors: Steven Spielberg
Producer: Steven Spielberg
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.
CHINATOWN (1974)
Cast: Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston
Directors: Roman Polanski
Producer: Robert Evans
Writer: Robert Towne
Editor: Sam O'Steen
Cinematographer: John Alonzo
Genre: Mystery, Romance
Production Company: Long Road Productions, Inc.
Composer: Jerry Goldsmith
In 1937 Los Angeles, private detective J. J. "Jake" Gittes, who specializes in adultery cases, is hired by the well-dressed Mrs. Evelyn Mulwray to follow her husband Hollis, chief engineer for the Department of Water and Power. Jake later sits in on a city council meeting, where Mayor Bagby offers his support for a new dam that will guarantee an adequate water supply for the city. After Hollis emotionally speaks out condemning the project as unsafe, Jake follows him as he inspects the dry Los Angeles riverbed under the Hollenbeck Bridge, then goes out to Point Fermin, where thousands of gallons of water rush through a drainage pipe out into the sea that night. A few days later, Jake and his associate, Duffy, photographs Hollis rowing a pretty young blonde woman around Echo Park Lake. Jake then follows the couple to the El Macando courtyard apartments, where he secretly takes pictures of the girl embracing Hollis. The next day, one of Jake's photographs is printed on the front page of the newspaper, accompanied by a story about Hollis' "love nest." When Jake arrives at his office, he is stunned to learn that the woman claiming to be Mrs. Mulwray was an imposter, and the real Evelyn, who has come to the office, intends to sue him. Angry that he has been duped, Jake finesses his way into Hollis' office, but finds no compromising information, only a handwritten notation reading "Oak Pass Reservoir, Tuesday, 2:00 pm." His search is interrupted by Hollis' underling, Russ Yelburton, who assures him that Hollis is not the sort of man to have an affair, then escorts Jake out. Jake then goes to Hollis' estate to speak with him directly. Evelyn says that she will not pursue her lawsuit, then suggests that Hollis might be at the Oak Pass reservoir. Jake then drives there and encounters Lt. Lou Escobar, an old rival from his days on the police force in Chinatown, and sees Hollis' dead body being pulled from the water. Evelyn later identifies Hollis at the morgue and refutes Escobar's suggestion that her husband committed suicide, claiming that they were trying to work out their problems over his affair. Outside, Jake tries to convince Evelyn that Hollis was murdered, but she insists that it was an accident. After she leaves, Jake goes back inside to look around and is puzzled when a medical examiner casually tells him that one of the bodies in the morgue was a homeless man who drowned under the Hollenbeck Bridge. Knowing that there should not have been enough water there to drown someone, Jake revisits the bridge. After finding only a small pool of water in the gravelly land below, Jake speaks with a boy on horseback and learns that water rushes through at night. When Jake returns to walk around the Oak Park Reservoir that evening, he hears a gunshot, then a rush of water, which quickly envelopes him. After making his way out of the torrent, he is stopped by a short man in a white suit, accompanied by Claude Mulvihill, a cheap detective whom Jake detests. The short man puts a knife into Jake's left nostril, then suddenly cuts through it, warning Jake that next time he will lose his entire nose. At the office the next day, as Duffy and Jake’s other associate, Walsh, try to talk him out of pursuing the Mulwray case, he receives a phone call from a woman named Ida Sessions, who reveals that she was hired to impersonate Mrs. Mulwray but had no idea that anyone would be killed. Because she is frightened, she will not reveal anything more, but tells him to look in the obituary column. Later, Jake goes back to see Yelburton, and while he is waiting, notices several pictures on the walls of Hollis with Noah Cross, the man whom Walsh had photographed a few days before having a heated argument with Hollis outside the Pig 'n Whistle restaurant. Yelburton's secretary tells him that Cross and Hollis owned the water company in partnership, but Hollis thought that water should belong to the people and gave the company to the city. When he speaks with Yelburton, Jake alludes to knowing more than he does, saying that Hollis’ murder is tied to the new dam and the deliberate dumping of thousands of gallons of water during a drought. After Yelburton sheepishly admits that some water has been diverted quietly to the northwest San Fernando Valley, Jake proffers that he is not after him, but those behind him. Returning to his office, Jake is visited by Evelyn, who wants to hire him to investigate Hollis' murder. Some time later, Jake goes to Catalina Island to the Albacore Club to see Cross, whom he has learned is Evelyn’s father. Implying that he does not want his vulnerable daughter to be taken advantage of, but also indicating that he feels sorry for the girl Hollis was seeing, Cross offers to double what Evelyn is paying if Jake finds the girl. Jake catches Cross in a lie when he says that he had not spoken to Hollis in years, but Cross brushes aside Jake’s revelation that they had been photographed together. Some time later, Jake goes to the Hall of Records, where he discovers that thousands of acres of farm land in the Valley recently have been sold. Armed with a list of the purchases he has torn from the record books, Jake drives to the Valley but finds himself chased by a family of angry farmers who think he works for the water company. Just before Jake is knocked out by one of the younger farmers, the father snarls that the city has attacked their wells to force them to sell their land cheap. When Jake wakes up, Evelyn is with him, summoned by the father, who found her card in Jake’s pocket. As they drive back into town, Jake tells her that the proposed dam is a fraud because the water will be going to unincorporated areas of the Valley instead of the city of Los Angeles. He also tells her about the recent land sales at bargain prices. As Evelyn comments on the old-fashioned names of the buyers, Jake suddenly remembers that one of them, Jaspar Lamar Crabb, who was listed in the obituary column Ida Sessions suggested he look at, had died a week before his deed was recorded. Because Crabb had lived at the Mar Vista Rest Home, Jake suggests they drive there. Pretending that they are looking for a home for his father, they ask to look around. Jake recognizes the names of many of the residents as the same as those on the newly recorded deeds, but when he speaks with one of the residents, Emma Dills, who is making a quilt with an emblem for the Albacore Club, she knows nothing about any property in the Valley. The home’s manager, now joined by Claude, then orders them to leave. Outside, Jake sees the man in the white suit approaching and, with Evelyn’s quick driving, is able to escape. Later, at Evelyn’s house, the two make love. After Evelyn receives a phone call, she tells him that she must leave, but first confides that her father owns the Albacore Club. When Jake then reveals that he had met her father there, she becomes unsettled and warns him that her father is dangerous. Suspicious of the phone call, Jake follows Evelyn to a house on Canyon Drive where he peeks through the window and sees the young blonde woman crying, apparently struggling with Evelyn and her Chinese butler, Kahn. When Evelyn gets into her car, she is startled by Jake, who assumes that the girl is being held against her will and coldly threatens to call the police. Evelyn then says that the girl is her sister and implies that she condoned Hollis' affair because she wanted him to be happy. Finally back at his house, Jake receives two anonymous calls from a man who says that Ida Sessions wants to see him. The next morning, Jake arrives at Sessions’ house, where he discovers her dead body, then is surprised by Escobar and his partner, Loach. Escobar guesses that Ida had initially hired Jake but assumes that Evelyn killed her husband and is being blackmailed by Jake. Escobar also reveals that the autopsy on Hollis showed that he had drowned in salt water, not the reservoir’s fresh water. After Jake tries to convince Escobar that there has been a plot to divert water and that Hollis was murdered because of it, Escobar gives him two hours to find Evelyn and bring her in to the police. Jake then goes to Evelyn’s house, but only finds the maid. He then goes outside and gazes at the pond, which the gardener complains is filled with salt water. Remembering that he had seen something shiny in the pond the first time he visited, Jake and the gardener retrieve a broken pair of gold-rimmed glasses. Jake then drives to the Canyon Drive house and gruffly asks Evelyn if the glasses belonged to Hollis. After she acknowledges that they look like his, Jake calls Escobar and tells him to come over. Evelyn is confused by Jake’s actions, prompting him to demand that she tell him about the girl, suggesting that she killed Hollis out of jealousy and shouting that he knows that she does not have a sister. As Jake angrily starts to slap her, Evelyn finally breaks down and screams "she's my sister and my daughter." She then explains to the stunned Jake that she became pregnant at age fifteen after her father raped her, then went to Mexico, where Hollis took care of her and continued to take care of both her and the girl, who is named Katherine. Now Jake tells her to find a place to go, and Evelyn suggests Kahn's house in Chinatown. Before leaving, Evelyn glances again at the eyeglasses and mentions that they could not have belonged to Hollis because he did not wear bifocals. A short time after Evelyn drives away with Katherine, Escobar and Loach arrive. Jake lies that Evelyn has gone to her maid's house in San Pedro and offers to give them the address, but Escobar insists that Jake come along. When they arrive in the San Pedro, Escobar reluctantly acquiesces to Jake’s request for a few minutes alone with Evelyn. The house actually belongs to Curly, a man who had hired Jake to follow his cheating wife. Once inside, Jake asks Curly to take him for a ride in his truck, and while Jake hides from sight, offers to forgive his bill and pay him $100 if he will take Evelyn and Katherine to Ensenada in his boat. Later, outside Evelyn’s house, Jake loads Curly's truck with her suitcases, then calls Cross to tell him that he has found the girl and he should bring his checkbook to Evelyn’s house. When Cross arrives, Jake confronts him about murdering Hollis and raping Evelyn. Although Cross genuinely admired Hollis for "making this town," he admits to murdering him so that water could be brought to the Valley. He also said it was not for the money, which he did not need, but for the future, explaining that once water is in the Valley, the land will be incorporated into the city. With Loach as his henchman, Cross forces Jake to take them to Katherine. When Cross, Jake and Loach arrive on Chinatown’s Alameda Street a short time later, they are approached by Escobar and his men, who start to handcuff Jake. Happy to be taken out of danger, Jake blurts out that Cross killed Hollis. During the confusion of conflicting stories, Evelyn and Katherine approach Evelyn's car. When Cross tries to introduce himself to Katherine as her grandfather, Evelyn draws a gun and warns that he will never have her. After shooting Cross in the arm, she drives off, ignoring Escobar’s order that she stop. When she continues driving down the street, Escobar and his men shoot at the car until it stops. Hearing the sound of the car’s blaring horn in the distance, Jake, Escobar, Cross and the others rush to it and find Katherine covered in blood, screaming next to Evelyn’s dead body. Cross pulls Katherine away, shielding her eyes, as Jake stares at Evelyn’s body. When he directs a crack at Escobar, Escobar screams at Walsh and Duffy to do Jake a favor and take him away. As Jake is being pulled away by his friends, Walsh tries to comfort him saying, “Forget it, Jake, it’s Chinatown.”
MISERY (1990)
Cast: James Caan, Kathy Bates, Frances Sternhagen
Directors: Rob Reiner
Producer: Andrew Scheinman
Writer: William Goldman
Editor: Robert Leighton
Cinematographer: Barry Sonnenfeld
Genre: Horror
Production Company: Castle Rock Entertainment, Nelson Entertainment
Composer: Marc Shaiman
At the Silver Creek Lodge in Colorado, novelist Paul Sheldon celebrates the completion of his latest book with a glass of Dom Perignon champagne and a cigarette. Afterward, he packs up the manuscript and checks out of his cabin. As he drives away, a snowstorm hits, and Paul loses control of his car on a windy, mountain road. The car crashes, landing upside down on the snow-covered hillside. Months earlier, in New York City, Paul complains to his agent, Marcia Sindell, that he has become a romance novelist and wants to get back to serious writing. Marcia reminds him that his romance novels, featuring the character “Misery,” have made him rich and laments that he has killed her off in the latest installment, Misery’s Child. However, Paul is finally working on a novel that will make him proud and intends to finish it in Silver Creek. Back in the present, Paul is discovered by a local named Annie Wilkes, who pries him out of his wrecked car, takes him home, and makes him her patient, administering an intravenous drip feed and pain pills. When he first awakens, Annie introduces herself as Paul’s “number one fan” and assures him that she is a nurse. Later, when Paul asks why he is not in a hospital, she says the roads are closed and phone lines are down due to the blizzard. In another moment of wakefulness, Paul asks Annie if he will be able to walk again, and she pulls the sheets back to reveal his swollen, heavily bruised legs in makeshift splints. She confirms that he has many broken bones but will be able to walk once he receives an operation. She also reports that she re-located his dislocated shoulder. Marcia Sindell begins to worry about Paul, who has not been seen or heard from in days. She contacts Buster, the Silver Creek police chief, who agrees to investigate. Meanwhile, Annie continues to take care of Paul, who says it is a miracle she found him. She corrects his assumption, admitting that she used to sit outside his cabin and daydream about what he was writing, and when he left on the day of the blizzard, she was right behind him. Annie asks to read the manuscript she salvaged from Paul’s car, and he permits her in a show of gratitude. That night, Annie reveals that she read the first forty pages and detests it. Losing her temper, she yells at Paul for using bad language, and Paul becomes frightened. Later, when Misery’s Child is released, Annie excitedly retrieves her copy from the general store and reads it quickly, reporting on her progress and comparing the book’s brilliance to the Sistine Chapel. She introduces Paul to her sow named “Misery,” and later confesses that his books helped her through the heartbreak of her husband leaving. In the middle of the night, Annie rouses Paul and berates him for killing off the character Misery in Misery’s Child. She threatens him with a stool, then smashes it into the wall, warning that no one will ever come for him. Later, Paul drags himself out of bed but discovers that the door to his room is locked. After finding him on the floor the next morning, Annie rolls a charcoal grill into his room and forces Paul to light his manuscript on fire, aware that he only keeps one copy of his works in progress. Just then, Buster flies overhead in a helicopter, casually pointing out the Wilkes farm and instructing the pilot to turn around. Later, Annie presents Paul with a wheelchair and sets up a writing table by his window. She announces that he is going to resurrect her beloved Misery in a new novel, titled Misery’s Return. Paul pretends to be pleased but asks for a different kind of paper for the typewriter. Annie goes into town, and Paul uses a bobby pin she dropped on the floor to unlock the door to his room. Finding the front door locked and the phone disconnected, he wheels himself through the living room, noticing his signed portrait alongside Annie’s collection of Misery books. In the kitchen, he spots a knife block on the counter but hears Annie’s car approaching and hurries back to his room. Later, Buster discovers Paul’s car, and Sherman Douglas, the Colorado police chief, tells reporters that Paul is presumed dead. However, Buster notices pry marks on the driver’s side door and determines that Paul was rescued. Annie criticizes Paul’s early attempts at the new Misery book, but when he writes something that pleases her, he suggests they celebrate with a candlelit dinner. Having stashed numerous pain pills, he uses them to drug Annie’s wine, but she knocks over the glass before taking a sip. As time goes on, Paul continues to write, his legs heal, and he regains strength by lifting the typewriter in secret. On a rainy night, Annie delivers Paul’s pills in a stupor and says she has fallen in love with him but knows it is unrequited. She produces a shotgun from her robe and says she needs to load it. When she drives into town, Paul sneaks out of his room and steals a knife from the kitchen. On his way back, he finds Annie’s scrapbook with newspaper clippings about various mysterious deaths, including her husband’s, and Annie’s incarceration for a number of infant deaths at a hospital where she worked as a nurse. Back in his room, he practices pulling the knife from his sling, then hides it under the mattress. Hours later, Paul awakens to find Annie injecting him, and he loses consciousness. Waking up again, he finds himself strapped to the bed. Annie wields the knife and says she knows he saw her scrapbook. To discourage him from leaving his room again, she places a block between his legs and uses a hammer to break his ankles. Sometime later, Buster becomes suspicious of Annie when he sees her losing her temper in town, and reads about her conviction at the library. He goes to her farm, where Annie hides Paul in the basement just in time to greet Buster at the door. As the police chief searches the house, Annie explains that she is Paul’s biggest fan and has been writing another Misery novel to keep his legacy alive. Buster starts to leave, but hears Paul cry out from the basement. Just as he opens the basement door and recognizes Paul at the bottom of the stairs, Annie shoots the police chief from behind. She tells Paul it is now time for both of them to die, but Paul convinces her that he needs to finish the last Misery book. Promising to complete it before dawn, he sneaks a container of lighter fluid in his pants and returns to his room. Hours later, he begins typing the final page and Annie anticipates the three things he always uses to celebrate the end of a book: a cigarette, a match, and a bottle of Dom Perignon. She delivers the items, and Paul instructs her to get a glass for herself. He then throws the manuscript onto the floor and douses it with lighter fluid, using the match to ignite the book as Annie returns. Devastated, she throws herself onto the ground, and Paul bashes her over the head with the typewriter. In the ensuing struggle, Annie shoots him in the shoulder and he trips her, causing her head to hit the typewriter. Believing she is dead, Paul crawls out of the room but Annie attacks once more, and he uses a doorstop to deliver the fatal blow to her skull. Eighteen months later, Paul celebrates the critical success of his latest book, The Higher Education of J. Philip Stone, with Marcia at a restaurant. He claims his experience with Annie helped him as a writer, but when Marcia suggests he write a non-fiction account of his abduction, Paul balks at the idea. Explaining he has not yet recovered, he hallucinates Annie as their waitress, while the actual waitress introduces herself as Paul’s “number one fan.”
JAWS (1975)
Cast: Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss
Directors: Steven Spielberg
Producer: Richard D. Zanuck
Writer: Peter Benchley
Editor: Verna Fields
Cinematographer: Bill Butler
Genre: Drama
Production Company: Universal Pictures , Zanuck/Brown Company
Composer: John Williams
One summer evening in late June on the New England island of Amity, teenager Chrissie Watkins invites a drunken fellow student, Cassidy, to skinny dip in the ocean. Although enthused, Cassidy passes out a few feet from the shore, while Chrissie strips and dives into the sea only to be brutally attacked from underwater. The next morning, police chief Martin Brody meets Cassidy, who has reported Chrissie missing, on the beach just as Deputy Hendricks discovers the mutilated remains of a female body. Suspecting that Chrissie was a victim of a shark attack, Brody hurries to his office to make out a report and consult with the town physician. Determined to close the beaches when the doctor confirms his fears, Brody sets off to Amity Bay, but is intercepted by Mayor Larry Vaughn, two city council members and the doctor. Vaughn reminds Brody that closing the beaches requires a signed city ordinance and that the Fourth of July weekend is about to begin. When the doctor reluctantly admits that the body may have been mutilated by a motorboat blade and Vaughn insists they do not want to start a pointless panic, Brody grudgingly agrees to keep the beaches open. The next day, an uneasy Brody oversees the crowded beach, accompanied by his wife Ellen and their two young sons, Michael and Sean. Dozens of children and young people thrash about in the surf and a dog repeatedly fetches a stick thrown in the water by his owner. Moments later, however, the dog disappears and a group of people suddenly notice a pool of bloody red foam in the sea. As the swimmers and waders run to the beach in a panic, a mangled raft washes to shore while vacationer Mrs. Kintner searches in vain for her young son, Alex. After Mrs. Kintner posts a three thousand dollar reward to kill the shark that killed Alex, Brody and the Amity city board meets with local businesses, fisherman and townspeople to quell their mounting alarm. When Brody acknowledges that he must close the beaches, Vaughn reassures the dismayed business owners that the closure will last only twenty-four hours. The meeting is interrupted by local professional fisherman and shark hunter, Quint, who vows to capture the shark single-handedly for $10,000, which Vaughn agrees to consider. The following morning, Brody is horrified to find Amity harbor teaming with boats and people from Connecticut, Rhode Island and New Jersey who have responded to Mrs. Kintner’s reward offer. Struggling to control the crowds who bear everything from dynamite to guns to small fishing reels, Brody is relieved when Matt Hooper from the Oceanographic Institute arrives. At police headquarters, Hooper examines Chrissie’s remains and declares that the wounds are from a sizeable shark. That afternoon a group of fishermen triumphantly return to Amity harbor with the carcass of a ten-foot shark which they proudly display for reporters and locals. Although Vaughn is delighted by the exhibition, Hooper insists the bite radius of a Tiger shark is too small to be the same shark that killed Chrissie. As Brody remains doubtful, Mrs. Kintner arrives and demands to know why he allowed the beaches to remain open after Chrissie’s death. That evening, Hooper visits the brooding Brody at home and reaffirms that the captured shark is not the one that killed Chrissie, and presses the chief to allow him to cut open the captured dead shark to explore its digestive remains. After Hooper determines that the shark caught by the fishermen has no human remains inside it, Brody realizes that he must close the beaches, but Hooper insists they immediately go in search of the killer shark in his high-tech exploration boat, the Aurora. Despite Brody’s frank admission that he fears the water, Hooper forces the chief to accompany him. With the aid of the Aurora's powerful spotlights, Brody and Hooper soon come upon a half-sunken dinghy showing unusual signs of damage and Brody recognizes the boat as belonging to an islander. Donning scuba gear, Hooper goes underwater to inspect the little boat’s hull and pulls an enormous shark tooth embedded in the planking. When the mangled remains of a torso abruptly float by a gapping hole in the boat, the startled Hooper drops the tooth. The next morning, Brody and Hooper met Vaughn on the beach to excitedly report that the shark attacks were made by a Great White. Without the tooth as evidence, however, the mayor remains skeptical and insists the beaches remain open the next day, which is the Fourth of July. The holiday dawns to hordes of vacationers packing the beaches. Hooper abandons a commitment to an eighteen-month research project in order to search for Amity’s Great White shark, while Brody, Hendricks and backup deputies with helicopter support observe the waters. Distressed that no one has actually gotten into the water, Vaughn appeals with a family to do so and soon the surf is teaming with people. When Brody’s son Michael asks permission to take his new sailboat out to sea, Brody pleads with him to go into the nearby estuary. While Vaughn cheerfully gives an interview to a television reporter, swimmers are suddenly terrified to see a large fin cutting across the water. As the panicked crowd returns en masse to the beach, Brody’s assistants reveal the fin to be a hoax perpetrated by two local teenage boys. Meanwhile, a young woman standing between the sea and the pond sees a massive underwater form head into the relatively shallow estuary where Michael and his friends are struggling to raise their sail. Nearby, a man in a dinghy calls advice to the boys just as the underwater creature smashes into his boat. The subsequent swell overturns Michael’s small sailboat and, as the boys thrash about, Michael witnesses the man being bitten in half by the enormous shark and faints. Meanwhile, the young woman’s continued cries alert Brody who races toward the pond as Michael’s friends pull him safely to shore. Later, at the hospital, where Michael is declared fine, a stunned Vaughn wonders if he can be held accountable for keeping the beaches open, but an angry Brody forces him to sign a contract hiring Quint. The next day, Brody and Hooper meet Quint at his pier-side office where Brody officially charters the fisherman’s boat, the Orca. Although Quint chafes about the college educated Hooper joining them, Brody insists that the oceanographer and much of his technical equipment be taken on board. Over the next couple of days, the Orca roams far out to sea in search of the shark. One afternoon Quint’s thick cable fishing line is bitten in two, but otherwise their quarry remains elusive. Soon after, as a grumpy Brody resumes shoveling bloody crum out to sea to lure the shark, the creature breaks the surface of the water, its massive mouth gapping. Stunned by the enormity of the shark, Brody staggers into the cabin and tells Quint that he will need a bigger boat. As Quint and Hooper excitedly watch the shark circle the Orca, the older man declares the creature is at least twenty-five feet long and three tons. While Quint prepares to shoot a cable line attached to a flotation barrel into the shark, Hooper attaches a radio tracking device to the barrel. After striking the shark with the harpoon and cable, the Orca follows the racing barrel, but Quint is taken aback when the shark easily pulls the air-filled keg underwater and disappears. Night falls with no further sign of the shark and the men sit in the tiny cabin drinking and talking. Quint reveals that in World War II, he served on board the U.S.S. Indianapolis which was sunk by a Japanese submarine and nearly eight hundred of its surviving crew was lost to shark attacks while waiting for rescue in the open sea. The men fill the subsequent tense silence with songs, when the shark surfaces in the dark and rams into the hull, damaging the boat’s shaft. Despite Quint firing several rounds at the shark, it remains unaffected, but disappears for the remainder of the night. The next morning, Quint and Hooper struggle to repair the battered rudder and engine housing, when the shark surfaces and Quint shoots another cable and barrel into it, then ties the cables lines to the transom cleats. As the shark, now hooked to two floatation barrels, races further out to sea, Quint pushes the rough running engine of the Orca in pursuit, ignoring Brody’s argument to turn back toward land. Later the shark appears to have vanished, only to surface suddenly and attack the cable lines. Panicked, Brody attempts to radio the Coast Guard, but Quint smashes the radio with a bat. Quint then calmly shoots another line and a third barrel into the shark, but when the shark heads to sea again towing the Orca, Quint is forced to cut the taunt cable lines, fearing that the transom will be pulled off. As the battered and listing Orca begins taking on water, the men watch incredulously as the barrels turn toward them, then submerge and go beneath the boat. Moments later, the shark rams the keel. The ship’s stressed engine bearings begin to smoke, and Quint, masking his concern, pushes the engine as the shark begins pursuing them. Upon reaching the boat, the great shark rises up, biting into the transom. The violence of the creature’s attack finishes the Orca's weakened engine. The shark disappears as Brody and Hooper realize that the Orca is sinking by the stern. Handing Brody a lifejacket, Quint asks Hooper about the shark cage and other equipment he has brought on board. When Hooper reveals that he has a large syringe full of strychnine nitrate, Quint declares the syringe will never penetrate the shark’s tough skin. Hooper nevertheless volunteers to go underwater in the cage and attempt to shoot the syringe into the shark’s mouth with the harpoon gun. Despite Brody’s protests, Hooper dons scuba gear and oxygen, and is lowered in the cage into the water. Within moments the shark appears and rams the cage from behind Hooper, then grabs the bars and shakes the cage, causing the terrified Hooper to drop the harpoon gun, unfired. Fleeing the shark’s crazed attack through the mangled cage bars, Hooper swims to the sea bottom. Meanwhile the shark, momentarily trapped between the cage and the side of the Orca, thrashes violently as Quint struggles to crank the winch. The bent ginpole gives way as the shark extricates itself and Quint and Brody are horrified when the battered, empty cage surfaces. The shark reappears at the stern and again lunges at the Orca's deck, tilting the boat sharply, causing Quint and Brody to tumble and slide toward the maddened creature. Brody hangs on to the cabin doorframe, but Quint, unable to maintain his grip on Brody’s legs, slides directly into the shark’s jaws. When the shark submerges with Quint’s bloodied corpse, Brody casts about for a weapon and spots Hooper’s remaining oxygen tank. When the shark attacks again, Brody manages to wedge the tank into its mouth. Taking Quint’s rifle, Brody climbs out onto the bridge mast, which is now almost parallel with the water, and as the shark comes at him, fires repeatedly until a bullet strikes the oxygen tank, causing it to explode and blow off the creature’s head. As blood and flesh rain down on Brody and the nearly submerged Orca, the shark’s other half falls slowly through the water. Moments late, Brody is amazed when Hooper surfaces. The men laugh weakly in relief and, after Hooper learns of Quint’s demise, the men use the remaining floatation barrels as support and paddle their way toward land.
MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY (1962)
Cast: Marlon Brando, Trevor Howard, Richard Harris
Directors: Carol Reed
Producer: Aaron Rosenberg
Writer: Charles Lederer
Editor: John McSweeney Jr.
Cinematographer: Robert Surtees
Genre: Drama
Production Company: Arcola Pictures Corp.
Composer: Bronislau Kaper
In December of 1787, H. M. S. Bounty sets sail from Portsmouth, England. Her destination is Tahiti, and her mission is to transplant thousands of breadfruit plants from that island to Jamaica in the hope that the plants will become a food staple for plantation slaves. The vessel is commanded by William Bligh, an experienced but tyrannical captain who quickly arouses the ire of the crew. His first officer is Fletcher Christian, a somewhat foppish country gentleman, though an excellent sailor, whose genteel family background irritates the lowborn Bligh. As a result of Bligh's disastrous attempt to reach Tahiti by rounding Cape Horn in midwinter, the ship loses a month of sailing time and arrives in Tahiti at a time when the breadfruit plants are dormant. Bligh is enraged, but the crew is delighted at the prospect of spending 4 months on the beautiful tropical isle. Once the Bounty is again at sea, trouble erupts anew. Goaded on by seaman John Mills and by his own mounting anger against Bligh's cruelty, Christian leads a mutiny and takes control of the ship. Bligh and 18 other men are set adrift in a boat and eventually reach Timor. Christian takes the Bounty back to Tahiti to pick up supplies and those natives, including his own beloved Maimiti, who wish to start a new life with the mutineers. Aware that the British Navy will soon send ships in search of them, Christian looks for a new home and eventually finds the remote and uncharted Pitcairn Island. He soon realizes that he and his men must return to England or forever be hunted as criminals, but he loses the possibility of a choice when some of the mutineers set fire to the Bounty . In a hopeless attempt to save the ship, Christian is fatally burned. Before dying, he urges his men to stifle their rebellious natures and live in peace with one other.
BAMBI (1942)
Cast: Peter Behn, Hardie Albright, Ann Gillis
Writer: Larry Morey
Genre: Children's works
Production Company: Walt Disney Productions
Composer: Frank Churchill
One April morning, the animal inhabitants of the forest welcome a new fawn, the son of the Great Prince of the Forest. Especially interested in Bambi, the new arrival, is young rabbit Thumper, who watches the fawn take his first awkward steps. Later, Thumper accompanies Bambi on a walk, teaching him how to say "bird" and introducing him to the beauties of the wilderness. While learning to say "flower," Bambi is confused when a young skunk emerges from a patch of blossoms and assumes he is being named, but the skunk is pleased by his new moniker. Bambi and his mother lead an idyllic life, cuddling to ward off April showers and enjoying the protection of the forest. One day, Bambi's mother takes him to the meadow to graze, but warns him that he must be careful as the meadow is without sufficient cover. Bambi and Thumper play and eat clover, although Bambi is overcome with shyness upon meeting a pretty little girl fawn named Faline. The Great Prince then walks through the meadow, and Bambi is awed by his father's majestic bearing. The Great Prince senses danger, however, and helps Bambi and his mother reach the forest as a gunshot echoes through the meadow. Bambi is mystified by the occurrence, and his mother explains that "Man was in the forest." Later, in the winter, Thumper and a clumsy Bambi ice skate on a pond covered with "stiff water." The season is harsh, however, and Bambi's mother diligently forages for food for her hungry son. Soon the grass begins to grow again, and Bambi and his mother return to the meadow to graze, but there, Bambi's mother becomes alarmed and orders him to run. Bambi races ahead as gunshots ring out, and upon reaching the thicket, is terrified to realize that he is alone. The Great Prince arrives and tells the grieving fawn that his mother cannot be with him anymore, then urges his son to follow him. Later, Spring comes again to the forest, and the adolescent Bambi, Thumper and Flower are scornful of the silly antics of the birds. Friend Owl warns them that all animals become "twitterpated" during the Spring, and soon his words are proven true as a pretty girl skunk and a lovely little bunny mesmerize Flower and Thumper. Left on his own, the disgruntled Bambi is drinking from the stream when he once again meets Faline. Faline flirtatiously licks Bambi, and the young couple chase each other and play. Bambi is challenged by another young buck but triumphs in battle, and soon is gamboling across the meadow with Faline. Later, Bambi is disturbed by the sound of hunting horns, and the Great Prince warns him that Man has returned in great numbers, and that they must retreat deep into the forest. Faline is separated from Bambi during the confusion, but when she is cornered by a pack of dogs, Bambi rushes to rescue her. Faline escapes from the dogs, but Bambi is shot as he jumps across a ravine. He falls unconscious as a fire, sparked by the hunters' campfire, begins to spread, but the Great Prince arrives and urges Bambi to flee. The animals dash through the forest as the fire races along behind them, but eventually the Great Prince and Bambi reach safety, and Bambi is reunited with Faline. More time passes as new growth appears in the burned-out areas, and one day, Flower and Thumper, who have families of their own, proudly watch as Faline introduce her twin fawns to the other forest animals. Bambi, who is standing with his father, oversees the gathering, then takes his father's place as the Prince of the Forest.
THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (1962)
Cast: Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Janet Leigh
Directors: John Frankenheimer
Producer: George Axelrod
Writer: George Axelrod
Editor: Ferris Webster
Cinematographer: Lionel Lindon
Genre: Drama
Production Company: M. C. Productions
During the Korean War, members of a U. S. Army patrol are captured and taken to Manchuria by Chinese Communists who brainwash them into believing that Raymond Shaw, a mother-dominated sergeant, has led a successful action against the Communists. Back in the United States, Raymond is awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor on the strength of his comrades' testimony. Actually he is now a puppet of the Communists; at the sight of a Queen of Diamonds, his mind is triggered into obeying any instruction, retaining no knowledge of his subsequent actions. Meanwhile, another member of the patrol, Bennett Marco, begins having nightmares in which he vaguely recalls what happened in Korea. Suspicious, he starts an investigation and discovers Raymond's strange reaction to the playing card. Unknown to Raymond, the key Communist behind the U. S. operation is his mother, a politically ambitious woman who plans to have her son shoot the presidential nominee during a rally at Madison Square Garden, thus paving the way for her husband, Senator Iselin, the vice-presidential nominee, to take control of the government. As part of the Communist master plan, she uses the cards to force Raymond into killing both his wife, Jocie, and his father-in-law, Senator Jordan, a crusading liberal and his mother's chief political enemy. On the night of the rally, Marco confronts Raymond with a handful of the cards and tries to convince him that he no longer has control of his own mind, but Raymond follows his mother's instructions and takes a rifle to a deserted projection booth. At the last moment, however, the hypnotic spell breaks and he kills his mother and stepfather and then takes his own life.
THE TERMINATOR (1984)
Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Biehn, Linda Hamilton
Directors: James Cameron
Producer: Gale Anne Hurd
Writer: James Cameron
Editor: Mark Goldblatt
Cinematographer: Adam Greenberg
Genre: Science fiction
Production Company: Hemdale Productions
Composer: Brad Fiedel
In Los Angeles, California, a Terminator humanoid “cyborg” arrives from the twenty-first century, and attacks a group of young delinquents for their clothing. Elsewhere in the city, soldier Kyle Reese arrives through the same time portal. The accompanying atmospheric disturbance attracts police, who chase Kyle into a clothing store. After evading his pursuers, Kyle dons contemporary clothing, steals a police rifle, and searches a telephone directory for the address of Sarah J. Connor. In the morning, the Terminator steals a car and robs a gun shop of several automatic weapons. He discovers three listings for “Sarah Connor” in the telephone directory and kills the first two. Certain that Sarah J. Connor will be the next victim, police detective Hal Vukovich telephones her apartment and leaves a message. However, Sarah’s roommate, Ginger Ventura, is in the bedroom, making love with her boyfriend, Matt, and does not hear the warning. Sarah learns of the murders and enters a nightclub to evade Kyle, who appears to be stalking her. She telephones her apartment, unaware that the Terminator has already killed both Ginger and Matt. Hearing her voice, the cyborg realizes that his intended victim is still at large. He memorizes Sarah’s face from a photograph, and makes his way to the nightclub. Sarah telephones the police department and Lieutenant Ed Traxler offers protective custody. Seconds later, Kyle aids Sarah’s escape while the Terminator sprays the club with bullets. Pursuing his victims, the cyborg commandeers a police car and rallies several officers to join the chase. After taking refuge in a parking structure, Kyle calms the hysterical Sarah, explaining that he was sent from the year 2027 to protect her from the Terminator, a creature devoid of emotion and impervious to conventional weapons, despite its exterior of flesh and blood. Ignoring Sarah’s skepticism, Kyle recounts a series of events in the near future, beginning with a nuclear war started by defense network computers. The machines will perceive all humans as a threat and herd them into concentration camps for extermination. Sarah’s unborn son, John Connor, will save humanity by teaching the prisoners how to fight and ultimately win. The machines have responded by sending the Terminator to kill Sarah, ensuring that John Connor will never be born. Following another encounter with the Terminator, Sarah and Kyle are taken into police custody. While Lt. Traxler comforts Sarah, psychiatrist Dr. Peter Silberman interviews Kyle, certain that the soldier suffers from psychosis. Meanwhile, the Terminator attends to his damaged body, and dons sunglasses to hide the sight mechanism exposed by a missing eye. He attacks the police station, killing most of the officers while Kyle and Sarah escape to the city outskirts. The soldier delivers a verbal message to Sarah from John, thanking her for the values she instilled in him, and reminding her that his life depends on her survival. Kyle describes the world of 2017, in which humans are forced to hide during the day, but have some freedom at night, despite the presence of roving “hunter-killer” devices. Realizing their robotic soldiers were too easily identified, the machines created Terminators to infiltrate and kill their human enemies. He recalls an incident in which he narrowly survived a Terminator attack that killed many in his underground bunker. In the morning, they rent a motel room and make pipe bombs from common household items. Using information from Sarah’s address book, the Terminator invades her mother’s home and intercepts a telephone call. He replicates Mrs. Connor’s voice and convinces Sarah to reveal her location. At the motel, Kyle admits to falling in love with Sarah after seeing a photograph given to him by her son. Sarah reciprocates and they make love. The Terminator appears that evening and pursues the couple through the streets, while Kyle throws pipe bombs in his path. The chase ends with Kyle and Sarah trapped inside their overturned car. The cyborg commandeers a tanker truck, intending to crush his enemies. Kyle places a bomb in the vehicle, causing its flammable contents to explode. He embraces Sarah, believing their ordeal is over, until the cyborg’s mechanical skeleton rises from the flames. It follows the couple into a factory building, where Kyle attempts to destroy it with a pipe bomb. The ensuing explosion leaves Kyle dead, the skeleton in pieces, and Sarah with a shrapnel wound to the leg. As she mourns Kyle, the upper half of the skeleton crawls toward her. She leads it into a hydraulic press and crushes it until its glowing red eyes go dark. Sometime later, Sarah drives through the Mexican desert, pregnant with Kyle’s son, John. She stops at a gas station, where a young boy photographs her. She buys the photograph, recognizing it as the same one Kyle carried with him. The boy warns of a storm on the horizon, but Sarah continues her journey.
ALL ABOUT EVE (1950)
Cast: Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, George Sanders
Directors: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Producer: Darryl F. Zanuck
Writer: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Editor: Barbara McLean
Cinematographer: Milton Krasner
Genre: Drama
Production Company: Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp.
Composer: Alfred Newman
At the Sarah Siddons Society's annual banquet, imperious theater critic Addison DeWitt, playwright Lloyd Richards and his wife Karen, producer Max Fabian and legendary actress Margo Channing watch as Eve Harrington is presented with the theater's most prestigious award. Karen recalls when Eve first entered their lives: On a rainy October night, Karen arrives at the theater where Margo is starring in Lloyd's play, and is approached by Eve, who has been to every performance. Touched by the young woman's devotion to Margo, Karen brings her backstage. In Margo's dressing room, Eve describes her childhood in the Midwest and her marriage to Eddie, an Air Force radio technician who was killed in the war. Eve explains that her life changed when she happened to see Margo in a play in San Francisco, and when the production moved to New York, Eve followed. Director Bill Sampson, Margo's younger boyfriend, comes to say goodbye before leaving for Hollywood to direct a film. Eve accompanies Margo and Bill to the airport, and so endears herself to them that Margo moves Eve into her guestroom. Eve quickly makes herself indispensable as Margo's assistant, to the displeasure of Margo's maid, retired vaudevillian Birdie Coonan. Their relationship becomes strained, however, when Eve arranges a homecoming birthday party for Bill without telling Margo. The night of the party, Margo and Bill quarrel about Eve, and he chides Margo for her jealousy and insecurity about her age. The tension between them escalates as the guests begin to arrive, and Margo gets drunk and grows maudlin. Max takes Margo aside and says he has foolishly agreed to audition Addison's date, the breath-taking Miss Casswell, and Margo promises to read with her. She then asks Max to give Eve a job in his office. Meanwhile, Eve tells Karen that she would like to replace Margo's pregnant understudy, and Karen promises to speak to Max. On the day of Miss Casswell's audition, Margo shows up late and encounters Addison in the lobby of the theater. Addison tells her that Miss Casswell already read with Margo's new understudy, Eve, adding that Eve performed brilliantly. Margo argues bitterly with Lloyd and accuses Bill of rehearsing Eve on the sly. When they are alone, Bill asks Margo to marry him, as he has many times before, and when she says no, he walks out. Lloyd goes home and raves to Karen about Eve's performance, and comments that he longs to see Margo put in her place. Recalling that they are scheduled to spend the weekend in the country with Margo, Karen comes up with an idea to teach Margo a lesson, and places a call to Eve. At the end of a tense weekend, Lloyd and Karen are driving Margo to the train station when the car suddenly runs out of gas. While Lloyd sets off to find help, Margo apologizes to Karen for her recent bad behavior and Karen looks guilt-stricken. Eve goes on in Margo's role that night, with Addison and several other critics in attendance, all of them invited that afternoon. After the show, Addison goes backstage and overhears Eve making a play for Bill in her dressing room. When Bill rejects her, Addison comes in and offers to help promote her career. The next day, Addison's column sings Eve's praises and makes snide remarks about "mature" actresses playing youthful roles. Bill returns to Margo's side to comfort her. Later, Lloyd tells Karen that he would like to put his next play into production right away, with Eve as "Cora," the role that was to have been Margo's. That night, after the show, Lloyd and Karen join Bill and Margo at the Cub Room, and Bill announces that he and Margo are engaged. The waiter brings an urgent note from Eve, asking Karen to meet her in the ladies' room. Eve asks for the lead in Lloyd's new play, adding that Addison will print the truth about Margo's missed performance if her demand is not met. Karen shakily returns to the table, only to hear Margo declare that she does not want to play "Cora." On the night of the play's New Haven opening, Eve tells Addison that Lloyd is going to leave Karen and marry her. To Eve's surprise, Addison coldly vetoes her plans, saying he has uncovered her scandalous past, and that Karen told him about Eve's attempt to blackmail her. Addison tells her that she belongs to him, and Eve wretchedly submits. Back at the awards banquet, Eve gives a humble acceptance speech and promises to return to the theater after her upcoming assignment in Hollywood. After the banquet, Eve is tired and depressed, and returns to her apartment, where she finds a young woman, Phoebe, waiting in her room. Phoebe says she is the president of one of Eve's fan clubs and took the subway from Brooklyn in the hope of meeting her idol. When the doorbell rings, an exhausted Eve asks Phoebe to take care of things. Phoebe opens the door to Addison, who has brought Eve's award, which was left in the taxi, and takes it into the bedroom. Fondling the award with a determined gleam in her eye, Phoebe tries on Eve's cape and stands before the mirror, posing and bowing.
WALL STREET (1987)
Cast: Michael Douglas, Charlie Sheen, Daryl Hannah
Directors: Oliver Stone
Producer: Edward R. Pressman
Writer: Stanley Weiser
Editor: Claire Simpson
Cinematographer: Robert Richardson
Genre: Drama
Production Company: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, American Entertainment Partners L.P.
Bud Fox, an ambitious junior stockbroker at the Wall Street financial firm of Jackson Steinem Co., hounds millionaire investor Gordon Gekko for a meeting. Gekko’s secretary, Natalie, dismisses him, until Bud shows up at Gekko’s office, bearing the businessman’s favorite Cuban cigars. Gekko grants Bud a five-minute meeting, during which the young stockbroker recommends several investments that Gekko rejects as “dogs.” However, Gekko perks up when Bud mentions Bluestar Airlines, a small company about to receive a favorable ruling in a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) investigation, that will allow it to expand its business. Bud has the information because his father, Carl Fox, is a Bluestar employee and mechanics’ union representative; therefore, it is technically illegal for him to share it. When Gekko asks how he knows about the FAA ruling ahead of its announcement, Bud responds, “I just know.” Gekko orders Bud to buy him 20,000 shares of Bluestar. As expected, the airline’s value appreciates when the ruling is reported, and Gekko profits. He gives Bud more money to invest, and rewards him with perks, including beautiful women, fancy dinners, and cocaine. When Bud’s investments lose money, Gekko summons him to a sports club. There, after beating Bud in racquetball, Gekko lectures him on the ruthlessness of capitalism and suggests that he read Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. Bud begs for another chance. Gekko encourages him to break the law again by spying on Sir Larry Wildman, a business rival against whom Gekko has a vendetta. Bud reluctantly agrees. He follows Wildman around the city and discovers his plans to buy Anacott Steel, an ailing company based in Eerie, Pennsylvania. Gekko orders Bud to drive up the price of Anacott Steel by buying tens of thousands of shares. He also instructs Bud to tip off the Wall Street Chronicle about the stock, and encourage fellow brokers at Jackson Steinem to sell it to their clients. By the end of the day, Anacott Steel’s stock has risen to over $50 per share. Bud goes to Gekko’s home in the Hamptons to deliver paperwork, and is drawn into a cocktail party thrown by Gekko and his wife, Kate. Among the crowd is Darien Taylor, a beautiful but materialistic interior decorator, with whom Bud is instantly smitten. Sir Larry Wildman arrives and demands a meeting with Gekko. Bud is pulled into the meeting, during which Wildman accuses Gekko of sabotaging him. Instead of liquidating Anacott Steel, he plans to keep it in business. Thus, he is compelled to offer Gekko $65 per share for all of his shares. Gekko drives up the price to $71.50, and revels in Wildman’s comeuppance. He tells Bud to “astonish” him with new deals. Bud tries to elicit information from his college friend, Roger Barnes, now a successful lawyer. Barnes refuses to risk disbarment for leaking information, but suggests which lawyer at his firm is in possession of the most priceless files. Bud notices a maid from Marsala Maintenance on his way out of Barnes’s office. He finds Marsala’s headquarters and offers the owner capital in exchange for a partnership. Later, Bud disguises himself as a Marsala worker to break into the firm and steal information. His illegal maneuvers lead to more lucrative deals. Bud begins dating Darien Taylor, who decorates his lavish new apartment. When Darien discusses her new relationship with Gekko, who was once her boyfriend, he warns her against falling in love with Bud, who is not as worldly or jaded as she. Bud and Gekko attend a stockholder meeting for Teldar Paper, in which Gekko recently became majority shareholder. A Teldar executive calls for restructuring of the stock to prevent Gekko from breaking up the company. Gekko responds with a speech in praise of greed, and encourages fellow stockholders to support his plan to make the company profitable by downsizing its overpaid executive pool. Back at Jackson Steinem, Bud’s record commissions earn him a prized corner office. Increasingly fueled by Gekko’s brand of greed, he mistreats his co-worker, Marv, and again exploits his insider information on Bluestar Airlines by suggesting that he and Gekko take it over. However, instead of liquidating the company, Bud wants to make it profitable again by reducing salaries. He sets a meeting at his apartment between Gekko, his father, Carl, and two of Carl’s co-workers who represent the pilots’ and flight attendants’ unions. Gekko presents Bud’s plan to revive the company by temporarily reducing salaries. Carl does not believe him and warns that Gekko is using Bud. In turn, Bud accuses his father of being jealous because he lacks the courage to be truly ambitious. Despite Carl’s disapproval, Gekko buys Bluestar and instates Bud as the new chief of the company. However, when Bud stops by Roger Barnes’s office for a visit, Barnes invites him into a meeting concerning Bluestar, and Bud discovers that Gekko has betrayed him by arranging for a liquidation. Barnes also warns that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is investigating Bud. Infuriated, Bud goes to Gekko’s office and accuses him of betraying the Bluestar employees. Gekko coolly explains that he had a change of heart, and reminds his protégé that deals are about money, and nothing more. Bud leaves in a daze. Darien finds him sulking at home. When Bud recounts what happened, she forbids him from dropping Gekko as a client, since her decorating business is also dependent on Gekko’s connections. Bud insists that he can no longer work with the man, and Darien ends their relationship. Shortly after, Bud learns that Carl has suffered a heart attack. At the hospital, Bud apologizes to Carl for going against his wishes with the Bluestar deal, and promises he has a plan to save the company. Carl tells his son that he is proud of him. Bud conspires with Larry Wildman to sabotage Gekko’s purchase of Bluestar in the manner that Gekko sabotaged the Anacott Steel deal. Before Gekko purchases more Bluestar stock, Bud spends the day selling it to various clients, tipping off other brokers to buy it, and successfully driving up the price. Thus, Gekko is forced to buy the majority of shares at a much higher price than intended. However, just as he makes his purchase, Bud sells his other clients’ shares, and encourages the rest of Jackson Steinem’s brokers to “dump” their shares, driving down the price, and causing Gekko to dump his shares out of fear. Just before the stock exchange closes, Wildman purchases the majority of Bluestar at a cut-rate price. The next day, Bud triumphantly returns to work, only to be arrested for insider trading. Sometime later, he meets Gekko in Central Park. Gekko physically and verbally attacks him, reminding Bud of all the illegal tips that he gave him. Having turned state’s evidence, Bud is secretly recording the conversation, to be used in a larger investigation of Gekko. Later, Bud’s parents drive him to the courthouse, where he faces conviction for his crimes. Dropping him off at the courthouse steps, Carl commends his son for returning the money he made off illegal investments, and suggests the ordeal is an opportunity for Bud to turn his life around.
THE SHINING (1980)
Cast: Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd
Directors: Stanley Kubrick
Producer: Stanley Kubrick
Writer: Stanley Kubrick
Editor: Ray Lovejoy
Cinematographer: John Alcott
Genre: Drama
Production Company: Hawk Films Ltd.
In the Colorado mountains, teacher and writer Jack Torrance interviews for the position of off-season caretaker at the Overlook Hotel. Because the area becomes snowbound in winter, only the caretaker and his family remain onsite from December to May. The hotel’s manager, Stuart Ullman, cautions Jack that in 1970, a caretaker, Grady, became overwhelmed by “cabin fever” and killed his wife and two young daughters with an ax, then shot himself. Jack assures Ullman that five months of peace is what he is seeking in order to begin a writing project he has planned. Meanwhile, in Boulder, Jack’s wife Wendy and their son Danny discuss the possibility of moving. Danny says that his imaginary friend, “Tony,” is against the move. While Danny brushes his teeth, “Tony” tells him that Jack will get the job and, soon after, Jack calls Wendy and confirms that he has been hired. When Danny insists that “Tony” tell him what is wrong with the hotel, he goes into a trance and sees startling images, among them, two young girls identically dressed and hotel doors from which blood gushes. The visions become so frightening that Danny blacks out and Wendy arranges for a doctor to visit. When the doctor asks Danny what he remembers, he says he was talking to “Tony,” but is otherwise reticent. The doctor prescribes rest and suggests there is a psychological explanation for the incident. Wendy tells her that “Tony” first appeared in Danny’s life after an “accident” in which an inebriated Jack dislocated the boy’s arm. In denial about the significance, Wendy says that good came out of the event, because Jack vowed to quit drinking and has remained alcohol-free for five months. Days later, the family arrives at the Overlook Hotel as staff and guests are leaving. Ullman and staff members give the family a tour of their living quarters and other areas of the labyrinthine building that was built in 1907 on a Native American burial ground. Outside, Jack and Wendy are shown the hotel’s thirteen-foot-high hedge maze and the snowcat, a vehicle necessary to traverse deep snow. While showing the Torrances the grandly decorated Gold Room, Ullman explains that alcoholic beverages are removed during the winter for insurance reasons. While playing in the game room, Danny again sees a vision of the identically dressed girls. Wendy and Danny visit the kitchen and meet head chef, Dick Hallorann, who shows Wendy the stored food in the pantries and walk-in freezer. Wendy is surprised when Dick addresses Danny as “Doc,” because it is a nickname she and Jack sometimes call the boy. As Dick continues the tour, he telepathically asks Danny if he would like some ice cream and, later, when Danny and Dick eat ice cream alone together, Dick reveals that he sensed Danny’s mental powers. Dick explains that he, too, has them and that the abilities are known as “shining.” Danny confides that “Tony” told him not to tell Wendy and Jack about the powers and asks if there is something bad about the hotel. Dick says that the hotel also has a way of shining and that when events happen, they can leave traces like pictures in a book that only those who “shine” can detect. Danny asks about Room 237 and says he thinks Dick is scared of it. Dick tells him he has no need to know about that room, and is adamant that Danny avoid it. A month passes, but during this time Jack is unable to start his novel. However, he proclaims his fondness for the hotel, and tells Wendy he feels as if he has been there before. As Wendy and Danny explore the maze outside, Jack, frustrated about his lack of productivity, bounces tennis balls against the hotel’s inner walls. Days later, while racing his tricycle through the halls, Danny comes to Room 237 and cautiously tries the door handle. The door is locked and an image of the two girls again appears in his mind. Lonely, Wendy visits Jack as he is typing, but, showing anger out of proportion to the situation, Jack tells her to never enter the room while he is working. When the phone lines go down due to snowstorms, Wendy contacts the Forest Service by radio. The ranger suggests she leave the radio on at all times so they can make emergency contact, if necessary. Danny is again racing through the halls on his tricycle when the two girls appear unexpectedly on his path. This time they speak, inviting him to play and anticipating they will be together forever. In his mind, Danny sees images of their bloody and mutilated bodies, and tells “Tony” he is scared. “Tony” reminds him that Dick said the images are harmless, like pictures in a book. One morning, Danny finds Jack in the family’s apartment, sitting in his bathrobe, undressed and unshaven, and staring blankly into space. Jack says he is tired but cannot sleep, and wishes they could stay at the hotel forever. Danny asks if Jack would ever hurt him or Wendy, but Jack reassures Danny that he would never do him harm. A few days later, Danny is playing when Jack’s tennis ball rolls toward him. Danny follows the ball’s path and arrives at Room 237, where the door is now open. In the basement, Wendy is checking the furnaces when she hears Jack screaming. She finds Jack asleep at his desk and when she wakens him, he says he had a nightmare in which he killed her and Danny, and cut them into pieces. Soon after, a traumatized Danny walks into the room, his shirt torn and his neck bruised. Accusing Jack of injuring Danny, she takes the boy from the room, leaving Jack bewildered. Later, Jack enters the empty ballroom, yearning for a drink. At the bar, he sees Lloyd the bartender and orders a bottle of bourbon. He tells Lloyd he always liked him and that he was the best bartender. When Lloyd asks Jack how things are going, Jack expresses resentment that Wendy will not forgive him for injuring Danny. Wendy runs in and tells Jack that Danny told her a “crazy woman” tried to strangle him. Searching for the woman, Jack finds, in Room 237, a young, nude woman, who silently leaves her bath and approaches him. After they embrace, she turns into an elderly hag with gaping sores. Frightened, Jack backs out of the room, but when he returns to the family’s apartment, he says he found nothing and suggests that Danny’s bruises are self-inflicted. Wendy proposes that the family leave, but Jack condemns her for creating Danny’s problem, and not appreciating his need to write or his responsibility to the hotel. In his bedroom, Danny spots the word “Redrum” written on the door in red then sees the vision of the elevator gushing blood. Meanwhile, in Miami, Dick watches Colorado weather reports and is unable to shake his feeling of foreboding. After seeing visions of Room 237 and a terrified Danny, he phones the Forest Service about his concerns for the family. The ranger tries several times to contact the Torrances, but to no avail. On his return to the Gold Room, Jack sees the Overlook’s hallways strewn with balloons and party streamers, and hears music and finds the room filled with revelers in 1920s attire. When a waiter bumps into Jack, spilling a drink on his coat, he offers to help Jack clean up in the men’s room and reveals his name is Grady, the name of the caretaker who killed his family. However, Grady denies he is the man and claims that Jack has always been the caretaker. Grady tells Jack that Danny is trying to bring in someone from outside and that Danny has a “very great talent,” but is “naughty.” In the family’s apartment, Wendy makes plans to leave Jack and drive Danny down the mountain in the snowcat. When Danny begins to call out the word, “Redrum,” repeatedly, she talks to him, but “Tony” answers, saying that Danny cannot wake up. In the hallway, Jack hears the Forest Service’s attempt to contact them and dismantles the radio. Spurred by his concern for Danny, Dick flies to Denver where he borrows a snowcat and drives the winding roads up the mountain. At the Overlook, Wendy, armed with a baseball bat, looks for Jack at his desk and, finding him gone, examines a stack of papers that Jack typed. She discovers that all of them contain, in multiple formats and with spelling and grammatical variations, the words, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” When Jack appears, Wendy warns him to stay away. Although Jack addresses her with brutal language, he maintains that he will not hurt her. Menacingly, he backs her up the staircase until she swings the bat at him and sends him tumbling down the steps. She then drags Jack into a large pantry and locks him inside. Soon after, she discovers that Jack has disabled the snowcat. In the afternoon, Jack is addressed from outside the pantry by the voice of Grady, who chides him for not disciplining Wendy and Danny, and questions his motivation and sincerity. After Jack asks for another chance, the pantry door unlocks, freeing him. In the apartment, Danny repeatedly chants “Redrum,” and takes a knife. With Wendy’s lipstick, he writes the word on a door. As his chant gets louder, Wendy looks in a mirror and sees the word reversed to read “Murder.” Jack breaks the apartment door with an ax, and Wendy and Danny take refuge behind the locked bathroom door. Wendy pushes Danny outside through a window, where he slides down a snow bank to the ground below. However, she cannot fit through the window and, as Jack chops his way through the bathroom door, she takes the knife Danny dropped and slashes Jack’s hand. Jack abandons his pursuit of Wendy when he hears Dick’s Snowcat approaching. When Dick enters, Jack bursts out of the darkness and kills him with the ax. Hiding in the kitchen, Danny lets out a blood-curdling scream and Jack chases the boy. Danny escapes to the hedge maze, but observes that his footprints in the snow will lead Jack to him. After walking backwards several steps, careful to step into his previous tracks, Danny squeezes through a hedge wall. Jack follows Danny’s tracks until they end, but then, cold and exhausted, he collapses. While searching the hallways for Danny, Wendy encounters ghostly images of previous hotel patrons. After she finds Dick’s mutilated corpse, a blood-spattered ghost appears and tells her it is a “great party.” She finds the Colorado room filled with cobwebs and skeletons, and the elevator doors gushing blood. She joins Danny outside and they drive down the mountain in Dick’s snowcat. The next morning, Jack is dead, frozen in the maze, but inside the Overlook there is a photo hanging on a wall. The photo, dated July 1921, shows a large group of people at a party. Jack is among them, front and center, smiling into the camera.
WHITE HEAT (1949)
Cast: James Cagney, Virginia Mayo, Edmond O'Brien
Directors: Raoul Walsh
Producer: Louis F. Edelman
Writer: Ivan Goff
Editor: Owen Marks
Cinematographer: Sid Hickox
Genre: Drama
Production Company: Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
Composer: Max Steiner
Ruthless killer Cody Jarrett and his gang rob a train in California. During the robbery, Cody kills the engineers, and as one of the bodies falls, it activates a steam valve, badly scalding gangster Zuckie Hommell. Together with Cody's mother and his sexy, double-dealing wife Verna, the gang hides out in the mountains. Ma lovingly fosters Cody's criminal career and is the only one who can ease the blinding headaches that periodically immobilize him. She is his ally against Big Ed Somers, who is waiting for a chance to take over the gang and get Verna for himself. Cody decides to take advantage of an approaching storm to leave the hideout. After promising to send a doctor back for Zuckie, Cody surreptitiously orders gang member Cotton Valleti to kill him. Cotton only pretends to do the deed, however, and leaves a pack of cigarettes behind with his friend. The later discovery of Zuckie's scalded and frozen body, together with Cotton's prints on the cigarette pack, provide the Treasury Department with enough clues to link the train robbery to Cody's gang. Treasury agents, led by Philip Evans, come close to catching Cody, but thanks to Ma's warning, the gang escapes. Cody now creates an alibi for the murderous train robbery, a federal offense, by confessing to a robbery in Illinois that took place at the same time. Although Evans is aware that Cody is lying, he cannot prove it, so he sends for undercover agent Hank Fallon. Under the name Vic Pardo, Hank is sent to jail, where he plans to get close to Cody. Meanwhile, Big Ed takes advantage of Cody's absence to take over the gang. At the prison, Hank saves Cody's life when Roy Parker, one of Big Ed's associates, tries to kill him. After she hears about the attempt, Ma reassures Cody that she will take care of Big Ed. Cody begs her not to try, and his fears for her safety bring on a headache. Hank helps Cody, the way Ma did, and that night Cody reveals that he plans to escape. Hank conveys the escape plans to an agent who is posing as his wife, but on the day of the break, a newly arrived inmate reveals that Ma is dead. Cody goes berserk in the prison mess hall and is taken to the dispensary. There, he uses a smuggled gun to take the doctor hostage and, together with Hank, Parker and two other convicts, makes his escape. Outside, Cody kills Parker and then heads for Bakersfield to avenge Ma's death. When Verna learns of Cody's escape, she tries to sneak away, but Cody is waiting for her. Although Verna killed Ma, she tells Cody that Big Ed shot her in the back and offers to show him how to sneak past Big Ed's defenses. Cody kills Big Ed and then he, Verna and Hank join the rest of the gang. Copying the gimmick of the Trojan Horse, Cody plans to rob a payroll by sneaking the gang into a company inside an oil tanker. Meanwhile, Hank tries to tip off the police. While pretending to fix Verna's radio, he rigs up a signal that will locate the truck for the agents and then leaves a message on a gas station washroom mirror. The police track the truck to an oil plant in San Pedro and surround the area. Cotton spots them at the same time that one of the gang recognizes Hank as an agent. Cody then takes Hank hostage, but he escapes when the police throw tear gas into the plant. During the ensuing gunfight, all the gangsters are killed except Cody, who climbs to the top of an oil tank. Now completely insane, Cody yells, "Made it Ma, top of the world!" before exploding the tank with his bullets.
THE WAR OF THE WORLDS (1953)
Cast: Gene Barry, Ann Robinson, Les Tremayne
Directors: Byron Haskin
Producer: George Pal
Writer: Barré Lyndon
Editor: Everett Douglas
Cinematographer: George Barnes
Genre: Science fiction
Production Company: Paramount Pictures Corp.
Composer: Leith Stevens
After what appears to be a meteor crashes in a gulley in the San Gabriel Mountains east of Los Angeles, scientist and Pacific Technical professor Clayton Forrester drives to the site. The blackened, cylindrical object has attracted a crowd of onlookers, including Sylvia Van Buren, a library science teacher from the University of Southern California, who knows Clayton by reputation. Unable to use his Geiger counter on the fiery hot object, Clayton decides to spend the night in the area and return to the gulley the next day. Sylvia and her uncle, Pastor Matthew Collins, offer Clayton their home and invite him to a square dance that evening. While Clayton and Sylvia are enjoying the dance, three locals who have been assigned to watch the object are startled when a previously hidden lid unscrews and a long-necked, metallic probe with a pulsating red "eye" emerges from the object's top. Although terrified, the men attempt to greet the probe, carrying a white flag and declaring their friendship. The probe studies the men for a few seconds, then shoots out a death ray, obliterating them. At the same moment, the power goes out at the dance and all the guests's wristwatches stop. After Clayton determines that everything has become magnetized, the sheriff drives up to announce that a fire has broken out in the gulley. Clayton, the sheriff and his deputy rush to the site and are immediately targeted by the probe. Sensing danger, the deputy races off in the patrol car, while Clayton and the sheriff dive behind some rocks. The probe shoots some rays, annihilating the patrol car, but missing Clayton and the sheriff. After a second object streaks across the sky and lands nearby, soldiers and ordnance from El Toro Marine Base are called to the scene and arrive with a radio reporter and other scientists. When an Air Force plane flies over the gulley, the probe begins firing at it, convincing Clayton that the object is the product of extraterrestrial intelligence, probably Martian. Later, reinforcements from the 6th Army Command, led by Gen. Mann, roll in, and Mann reveals that space ships have landed all over the world and that once they become active, phone lines and other means of communication are rendered useless. Noting that the two southern California sites are the only ones that have been militarily surrounded, Mann tells Clayton that their operations will be a guide for the rest of the world. At dawn, as the Army prepares to attack, a disc-shaped craft, to which the probe is attached, rises out of the gulley on invisible magnetic legs and starts "walking" toward the soldiers. Disregarding protocol, the pacifistic Matthew steps out to meet the craft and two others that have emerged from the gulley and, while reciting the 23rd Psalm, is disintegrated by death rays. Army tanks and artillery then bombard the discs, but enshrouded in an electromagnetic force field, the discs prove impenetrable. After many soldiers are killed by the advancing crafts, Mann orders a retreat and heads for Los Angeles. Clayton, meanwhile, escapes with Sylvia in his airplane, but is soon forced to crash-land. Clayton and Sylvia flee and hide while the discs encircle the downed plane. Sylvia falls asleep in Clayton's arms, and later, after they have found refuge in an abandoned farm house, Clayton reassures Sylvia that they will find a way to destroy the Martians. Suddenly, another space vessel crashes into the side of the house and Clayton is knocked out. When he revives hours later, a terrified Sylvia informs him that more ships have landed in the hills, and they are blocked in. Another probe, this one with a red, green and blue "eye," thrusts itself into the house, and Clayton hacks it in two with an ax. After Sylvia catches a glimpse of a small, long-armed creature outside, the creature sneaks up behind her and touches her with its spindly, three-fingered hand. Clayton hurls the ax at the creature, and the creature, whose wide, flat head boasts a single, three-colored eye identical to the probe, scurries off, screeching in pain. In the confusion, Clayton and Sylvia slip away, and later, while world leaders meet to discuss the plight of the planet, stagger into Pacific Tech with the hacked-off probe and a scarf stained with alien blood. An examination of the blood reveals that the Martians are anemic, and the probe, which the scientists speculate mimics the aliens' actual eyes, is dissected to demonstrate how their vision works. Government and military leaders in Washington, D.C., meanwhile, decide to drop an atomic bomb on the California invaders, but the aliens' force fields again prove impervious. Calculating that they have only six days to stop the aliens, the Pacific Tech scientists prepare to leave for Colorado, where they hope to devise an effective attack strategy. As Los Angelenos frantically evacuate, Clayton sends Sylvia off on a school bus with the other scientists, then follows in a truck. In the downtown area, however, the truck is beseiged and stolen by hysterical citizens, desperate to get out of the city. Clayton is abandoned on the street and, after finding a torn-off school bus sign, begins to search for Sylvia. Recalling a story she told him about her childhood, Clayton goes from church to church looking for her, while the alien ships begin their assault on the city. The churches are filled with frightened people, and when Clayton finally locates Sylvia, they embrace as a minister prays for a miracle. Just then, one of the ships crashes into a neighboring building, and silence fills the air. Outside, Clayton and the others see the craft door open and a Martian arm flop down. The alien then dies, and other ships begin to crash around it. The Martians, who have contracted bacterial infections from the Earth's atmosphere, expire, and to the world's relief, the invasion ends.
CAPE FEAR (1962)
Cast: Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum, Polly Bergen
Directors: J. Lee Thompson
Producer: Sy Bartlett
Writer: James R. Webb
Editor: George Tomasini
Cinematographer: Sam Leavitt
Genre: Drama
Production Company: Melville-Talbot Productions
Composer: Bernard Herrmann
Following a 6-year imprisonment for committing a sadistic sex crime, Max Cady arrives in a small southern town to seek revenge on the man responsible for his conviction, counselor Sam Bowden. Although Cady makes no direct threats, it is apparent that he is after Sam's wife, Peggy, and his 12-year-old daughter, Nancy. Because he has broken no law, neither Sam nor the police are able to take any legal action against him. Consequently, Sam cannot prevent Cady from poisoning the family dog, menacing Nancy when she leaves school, and whispering obscenities to Peggy over the telephone. Furthermore, Cady refuses to be bribed or bullied out of town. Desperate, Sam decides to take the law into his hands and lay a trap for Cady. After hiding his wife and daughter in a houseboat on the Cape Fear River, he leaves town. He then secretly returns, hopeful that Cady has discovered the hiding place. The ruse works, and Cady arrives on the scene late one night. Following a furious struggle in the river, Sam overpowers Cady and once more is instrumental in sending him to prison.
THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER (1955)
Cast: Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Lillian Gish
Directors: Charles Laughton
Producer: Paul Gregory
Writer: James Agee
Editor: Robert A. Golden
Cinematographer: Stanley Cortez
Genre: Drama
Production Company: Paul Gregory Productions
Composer: Walter Schumann
During the Depression of the 1930s, Preacher Harry Powell, a murderous, self-proclaimed “man of the cloth,” travels throughout rural West Virginia believing that he is doing the Lord’s work by killing rich widows. One evening, Preacher is apprehended by the police for stealing a car and is sentenced to thirty days at Moundsville Penitentiary. Soon after, in nearby Cresap’s Landing, Ben Harper robs a bank and kills two employees. Ben races home, where his son John and young daughter Pearl are playing with her doll, Miss Jenny. Ben, who is wounded, looks for a place to stash the stolen $10,000, and after hiding it, makes John and Pearl swear never to reveal where the money is. John then watches with horror as several policemen drag Ben away. Ben winds up in a cell with Preacher, who harangues him to reveal the money’s location. Ben scornfully dismisses Preacher, who nonethless thanks the Lord for leading him to a “widow in the making.” After Ben is hanged, John watches over Pearl and ignores the taunts of other children, while Willa takes a job at Walt and Icey Spoon’s ice cream parlor. One day, John visits his only friend, Uncle Birdie Steptoe, a well-meaning drunkard who lives in a wharfboat on the river. Birdie promises to repair Ben’s skiff, but John’s happiness is tempered when Birdie reveals that he met a stranger claiming to have known Ben. When John then goes to the ice cream parlor, he finds Willa, Pearl, Icey and Walt being charmed by the smooth-talking, gospel-quoting Preacher. Preacher tells them that he worked at the penitentiary, but John remains suspicious. When Preacher spots John eyeing the tattoos of the word “LOVE” on his right hand and "HATE" on his left hand, he wins over Icey completely by dramatically telling the story of “right hand-left hand,” and how love triumphs over hate in the Bible. Icey insists that Preacher attend the town picnic the following Sunday, then begins to pressure Willa to make herself attractive to the handsome stranger. At the picnic, Willa confesses to Icey her fear that Preacher is after Ben’s stolen money, and at Icey’s prompting, asks Preacher if Ben told him about the loot. After Preacher claims that Ben told him he had thrown it into the river, a relieved Willa asserts that she now feels clean. Later, when John goes home one night, he is confronted by Preacher, who reveals that he and Willa are to be married the next day. John replies that Preacher will never be his dad, then inadvertantly blurts out that he will “never tell.” Preacher realizes that John knows where the money is hidden but, stating that they have a long time to share their secrets, allows the boy to run off. On Willa and Preacher’s wedding night, Willa is deeply ashamed when Preacher roars at her that he will not be “pawing” her as the business of their marriage is to tend the children she already has, not to beget more. Later, Willa, who desperately wants to please Preacher, leads a revival meeting with him and renounces her former sinful life. One night, Pearl is playing outside with the stolen money, which Ben had hidden in Miss Jenny, when John finds her and stuffs the bills back into the doll, just as Preacher comes to call them in. After Preacher reprimands John for telling Willa that he has been asking him about the money, Willa scolds John for lying, as she believes that Preacher is innocent. Soon after, however, Preacher locks John in his bedroom while Willa is out, and takes Pearl to the parlor to question her. As Willa is coming home, she overhears Preacher threaten to tear off the little girl’s arm if she does not reveal the money’s hiding place. That night, as Willa lies in bed, she realizes that Preacher always knew that Ben did not throw the money away, and that John knows where it is hidden. Still unable to face the truth, Willa states that Preacher married her to save her soul, and lies passively as he slits her throat with his switchblade. The next morning, Preacher tearfully tells Walt and Icey that Willa has run away. While the Spoons are comforting Preacher, Uncle Birdie discovers Willa’s body, trapped in her old model-T car, in the river. Afraid that he will be blamed for the murder, Uncle Birdie returns to his boat and gets drunk. Later that day, John and Pearl are about to be apprehended by Preacher as they hide in the cellar when Icey suddenly arrives. The children reluctantly emerge at Icey’s bidding, and after Icey departs, John tells Preacher, who is badgering Pearl, that the money is buried in the cellar. Preacher forces the children to accompany him, but John succeeds in outwitting him and escapes outside with Pearl. While Preacher is attempting to break open the cellar door, John runs to Uncle Birdie for help, but finds him passed out. John then puts Pearl into Ben’s skiff and barely manages to push the little boat into the river before Preacher can catch them. Time passes as the children, relentlessly pursued by Preacher, float down the river. One morning, the sleeping children are awoken by Rachel Cooper, an elderly farmer who takes in orphaned and illegitimate children. The pragmatic but compassionate and religious Rachel currently cares for Ruby, Mary and Clary, and quickly settles John and Pearl in with her brood. One night, Ruby goes to town, supposedly for a sewing lesson, but in reality to meet boys. She is approached by Preacher, who questions her about John and Pearl. Although Ruby becomes enamored of Preacher, he leaves upon obtaining the information he seeks, and when she returns home, Ruby confesses her actions to Rachel. Rachel forgives the confused adolescent but remains worried about Preacher, who shows up the next day, claiming to be John and Pearl's father. When John declares that Preacher is not his dad, Rachel realizes that Preacher is a fraud and chases him away with a shotgun. As he retreats, Preacher screams that he will be back that night, prompting Rachel to hold vigil with her gun. Preacher sits in the front yard, waiting, and when Rachel is distracted by Ruby, he slips into the house. When Preacher suddenly appears before her, Rachel shoots and wounds him, and he runs into the barn. Kept company by John, Rachel then waits through the night, watching the barn, until the state troopers arrive in the morning. As the men arrest Preacher, John, overcome by memories of Ben’s arrest, runs to the prone Preacher and hits him with Miss Jenny. When money pours from the burst doll, John, unable to bear the strain any longer, cries out for his father to take the money back. Later, John, incapable of looking at Preacher, is unable to identify him at his trial for Willa’s murder. After the trial, an irate Walt and Icey lead a mob to lynch Preacher, but he is snuck out the back by the police, who are assured by Bart the hangman that it will be a pleasure to carry out his duties. Later, on Christmas day, the girls give Rachel potholders, while John shyly presents her with an apple wrapped in a doily. Rachel gives John a pocket watch, and after the happy boy goes upstairs, warmly states that children continue to abide and endure.
TAXI DRIVER (1976)
Cast: Robert DeNiro, Jodie Foster, Albert Brooks
Directors: Martin Scorsese
Producer: Michael Phillips
Writer: Paul Schrader
Editor: Tom Rolf
Cinematographer: Michael Chapman
Genre: Drama
Production Company: Bill/Phillips Productions, Italo-Judeo
Composer: Bernard Herrmann
Twenty-six year old Travis Bickle applies for a job as a New York City taxicab driver. The personnel officer drills Travis with questions, and warms to him when he realizes they both served in the Marines. After Travis expresses his willingness to drive long hours, any day, in any part of the city, he is hired. Travis later writes in his diary about the poor condition of the city, the disturbing people he sees, and his new job which pays him $300 to $350 per week. At work, he picks up an older man with a prostitute and complains afterward about cleaning bodily fluids off the backseat of the cab. After working twelve hour shifts, he complains that he cannot sleep and wants a purpose in life. One day, Travis sees a campaign worker named Betsy and describes his romantic impression of her in his diary. Inside headquarters for Senator Charles Palantine’s presidential campaign, Betsy and her coworker, Tom, engage in friendly conversation while Travis watches from his parked cab. Betsy becomes aware of Travis; however, when Tom goes outside to confront him, he speeds away. Later, he sits with fellow cab drivers in an all-night cafeteria, and they discuss the various acts of violence they've encountered. Travis remains distant and glares at several African American men. Sometime later, Travis asks Betsy out for coffee, and she accepts. At a diner, Travis and Betsy discuss the campaign, and she offers her impression of Travis, comparing him to lines from a song by Kris Kristofferson. Travis promptly buys the record. One evening, Travis picks up Senator Palantine. Though ignorant about political issues, Travis suggests the candidate clean up the city and expresses his support of the senator's candidacy. Later, a twelve year-old prostitute, Iris, gets into Travis' cab. No sooner is she in the cab, when her pimp, Matthew, also known as “Sport,” arrives and pulls her from the car. Travis takes Betsy to a pornographic movie on their next date. She becomes agitated, storms out of the theater, and hails a cab. After numerous attempts to send her flowers, Travis calls Betsy in an attempt to reconcile, but she has no interest. As time passes, Travis grows angrier. He rushes into Palantine’s campaign office, yells at Betsy, and threatens her. One evening, a passenger instructs Travis to pull over so he can watch the shadow of a woman standing by a lit window in an apartment building. The passenger explains that she is his wife and is having an affair. He tells Travis he intends to kill her. Travis listens, occasionally glancing suspiciously at the passenger in the rearview mirror. Later, at the cafeteria, Travis confides to Wizard, an older driver, that he has been having destructive thoughts. Wizard tells Travis to stop worrying and promises he will be okay. One night, Travis almost hits Iris by accident. He follows her and a friend as they walk down the street, but the girls pick up two men on the corner. Travis discusses loneliness in his diary, and states that his life needs a change. He meets with Easy Andy who sells, among other things, guns. Travis purchases an assortment of firearms and, intent on getting into shape, begins working out, eating healthier, and taking target practice. At home, he practices pulling guns out of holsters and hiding a knife in his boot. One day, Travis attends a rally for Palantine where he talks with a secret service agent who appears suspicious of his behavior. As Travis walks away, agents try to snap a picture of him, but he disappears into the crowd. At night, Travis stops at a convenience store. When a young man holds up the cashier, Travis approaches from the back of the store and shoots the thief. He then panics because he doesn't have a gun permit, but the cashier promises to cover for him and sends him away. After he leaves, the cashier beats the unconscious criminal with a metal bar. Travis watches another campaign event from his cab, but police usher him away. At home, he writes to his parents, telling them he has a top-secret government job and a girlfriend named Betsy. He later approaches Iris and arranges a deal for her services with Sport. They go into a nearby apartment building where Iris’ timekeeper charges Travis for a room and waits in the hallway. Inside the room, Iris seduces Travis, but he rejects her advances. He explains that he came because he wants to help her escape. The next day, they meet for breakfast at a diner. Travis tells Iris he may have to go away for work, and he wants to give her money so she can leave Sport and her life as a prostitute. In the evening, alone with Sport, Iris expresses her unhappiness, but he manipulates her into staying. After more target practice and preparation, Travis arrives at another rally, having shaved his hair into a Mohawk. Travis approaches Palantine, but, when he reaches into his coat, the secret service men see him and spring into action. Travis escapes to his apartment where he regroups and heads back out, this time to the apartment building where Sport operates. Travis shoots Sport and enters the nearby building where Iris sees clients. In the hallway, he shoots Iris’ timekeeper. Having followed Travis inside, the wounded Sport shoots him in the neck, but Travis returns fire and kills the pimp. He makes his way to Iris’ room as the timekeeper, still alive, comes after him. Travis is then shot by Iris’ client, but he quickly fires back and kills the man. The timekeeper attacks Travis as he crashes into Iris’ room. After a struggle, he stabs the timekeeper and shoots him in the head while Iris looks on, terrified. Travis attempts to shoot himself next, but the guns are out of bullets. He collapses on the couch moments before the police enter. In the days that follow, news reports praise Travis as a hero, and Iris' parents send him a thank you letter for bringing their daughter back to them. After recovering from the incident, Travis returns to work. One night, he picks up Betsy, and they awkwardly discuss Palantine's nomination victory and Travis' brush with fame. At her destination, Betsy gets out of the cab and Travis throws the meter, giving her a free ride.
REBECCA (1940)
Cast: Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine, George Sanders
Directors: Alfred Hitchcock
Producer: David O. Selznick
Writer: Robert E. Sherwood
Editor: Hal C. Kern
Cinematographer: George Barnes
Genre: Drama
Production Company: Selznick International Pictures, Inc.
Composer: Franz Waxman
Maxim de Winter, who is in Monte Carlo to forget the drowning death of his wife Rebecca, meets the demure paid companion of matronly socialite Edythe Van Hopper and begins to court her. The girl falls in love with Maxim and happily accepts when he asks her to be his wife. The bride's happiness comes to an abrupt end when Maxim takes her to his grand seaside estate, Manderley. There she is tormented by the housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers, who continually reminds the young bride of the great beauty and elegance of the first Mrs. de Winter and undermines her attempts to assert herself in the household. One night shortly after her arrival, a boat is wrecked off shore, and during the rescue attempt, another submerged boat is found in which the body of Rebecca is trapped. Maxim then confesses to his insecure wife the true story of his miserable marriage to Rebecca: After only four days of marriage, Rebecca began flaunting her infidelities. For the family's honor, Maxim continued his marriage, with Rebecca playing the great lady, until she informed her husband that she was to become a mother and he was not the father. Angered, Maxim struck Rebecca and she fell, hitting her head on a ship's tackle. He then placed her body in a boat and sunk it. When a new inquest is held into Rebecca's death, things look dim for Maxim until Rebecca's London doctor testifies to the authorities that she was dying of cancer and was contemplating suicide. Maxim is then free to begin life anew with his now blossoming bride. However, Mrs. Danvers is unable to relinquish her beloved Manderley to the new Mrs. de Winter and sets fire to the house and perishes.
BONNIE AND CLYDE (1967)
Cast: Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, Michael J. Pollard
Directors: Arthur Penn
Producer: Warren Beatty
Writer: David Newman
Editor: Dede Allen
Cinematographer: Burnett Guffey
Genre: Biography, Drama
Production Company: Tatira-Hiller Productions
Composer: Charles Strouse
During the Depression in the early 1930s, Bonnie Parker meets Clyde Barrow when he tries to steal her mother's car. Intrigued by his brazen manner and bored with her job as a waitress, she decides to become his partner in crime. Together they stage a series of amateur holdups that provide them with excitement but little monetary reward. Eventually they take on C. W. Moss, a dimwitted garage mechanic, who serves as their getaway driver. Finally they are joined by Clyde's brother Buck, recently released from prison, and his wife, Blanche, a whining preacher's daughter. As they add bank robbery and murder to their list of crimes, the quintet quickly becomes the object of statewide manhunts. While holed up in a rented apartment in Joplin, Missouri, they make the first of their incredible escapes from the police. Fascinated by the legendary reputation growing around them, they brag about their exploits, take pictures of each other, and, on one occasion, force a Texas Ranger to pose with them. Through it all a love relationship develops between Bonnie and Clyde that endures despite Clyde's impotence. After a visit with Bonnie's mother, the gang is surrounded in Dexter, Iowa. Buck dies with half of his face shot away, Blanche is blinded and captured, and Bonnie is wounded in the shoulder. The three survivors find a temporary hideout with C. W.'s father in a Louisiana town, and there Bonnie and Clyde finally consummate their love. Bonnie recovers from her wounds, and they plan to move on again; but C. W.'s father, hoping to lighten his son's punishment, has cooperated with the police in setting a trap. In May of 1934, Bonnie and Clyde ride into a police ambush and die as their bodies are riddled with a thousand rounds of ammunition.
DRACULA (1931)
Cast: Bela Lugosi, Helen Chandler, David Manners
Directors: Tod Browning
Producer: Carl Laemmle Jr.
Editor: Milton Carruth
Cinematographer: Karl Freund
Genre: Horror
Production Company: Universal Pictures Corp.
English businessman Renfield has a harrowing journey to Transylvania, where he is to arrange a lease of the Carfax Abbey in England for Count Dracula. Unknown to Renfield, Dracula is a centuries-old vampire, who lives off the blood of humans and cannot withstand the light of day. Renfield is greeted at Dracula's castle by Dracula himself, but after he passes out from drinking drugged wine, his host descends upon him to feed on his blood. Renfield, weakened by the attack, and Dracula board an England-bound ship which also carries the coffin in which Dracula sleeps during the day and several coffins filled with his native soil, which is required for his survival. When the ship docks in Whitby Harbor, the entire crew is found dead. Only Dracula and Renfield, who appears to have gone insane, survive. Renfield is installed in Dr. Seward's sanitarium, where the physician studies his strange habit of consuming the blood of small animals. Meanwhile, Dracula drains the blood of the female population of London. One night at the opera, Dracula introduces himself to Dr. Seward and meets his daughter Mina, her fiancé, John Harker, and friend Lucy. Lucy is enchanted by Dracula's romantic manner, and later, Dracula attacks and kills her. German scientist Van Helsing arrives in London to assist Dr. Seward, and correctly assesses the situation. As Carfax Abbey is next to Seward's estate, Dracula has easy access to its occupants, and he takes advantage of his ability to transform himself into a bat to attack his next victim, Mina. However, she does not die immediately, but undergoes a change over several nights. Van Helsing confirms for Seward and Harker that Dracula truly is a vampire when Dracula's reflection does not appear in the mirror of a cigarette box. Meanwhile, Renfield constantly escapes from the hospital as ordered by his master, Dracula. Despite the precautions of Van Helsing to prevent Dracula's entry into Mina's room, he hypnotizes her maid to open the windows to admit him. Mina succumbs to a final bonding with Dracula and becomes a vampire. She confesses to Van Helsing that she has seen Lucy since she was buried, which confirms his suspicions that the "woman in white" who has been attacking young children is Lucy. Dracula tries to hypnotize Van Helsing to force him to do his will, but Van Helsing resists and is saved by his crucifix, upon which Dracula cannot look. Dracula, followed by Renfield, takes Mina to Carfax Abbey, where he plans to make her final transition to vampirism. Van Helsing and John follow Renfield there, but when Dracula discovers their presence, he kills Renfield. Dawn approaches, and when Van Helsing finds Dracula in his coffin, he drives a stake through his heart, killing him for eternity. At the same time that Dracula is killed, Mina is released from her spell. With the horror ended, John and Mina reunite.
MARATHON MAN (1976)
Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Laurence Olivier, Roy Scheider
Directors: John Schlesinger
Producer: Robert Evans
Writer: William Goldman
Editor: Jim Clark
Cinematographer: Conrad Hall
Genre: Drama
Composer: Michael Small
On the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur, Thomas Babbington “Babe” Levy, a Columbia University graduate student, runs in New York City’s Central Park. Elsewhere, after removing a Band-aid tin from a security deposit box at a bank, an older German man hands off the tin to a passerby on the street. Driving home, he has a heated argument with another driver, and both cars run into an oil truck, causing an explosion. Later that day, Babe sees a news report about the accident, in which the German man is identified as Klaus Szell, the brother of infamous Nazi, Christian Szell, who was presumed dead after World War II. In a hotel room in Paris, France, a valet attempts to deliver a suit that does not belong to the room’s occupant, Doc Levy. On a phone call to his friend “Janey,” Doc worries that someone besides Janey might know he is there. Doc becomes more suspicious after he delivers a package to LeClerc, a French antique dealer, and detects that LeClerc is surprised to see him. However, LeClerc denies it and promises to have a package for Doc that night at the opera. When Doc leaves in a taxi, a bomb explodes nearby. After showing up late to a seminar, Babe speaks to Professor Biesenthal about his dissertation on the use of tyranny in American political life. Biesenthal says he was once a mentee to Babe’s father, H. V. Levy., and tells Babe that McCarthyism will have to be a focus of his dissertation, even if it was the force that brought his father down, prompting Babe to remember his father’s suicide. Back in Paris, Doc meets his colleague, Peter Janeway, aka “Janey,” for lunch, and announces that someone is trying to kill him. That night, at the opera, Doc finds LeClerc dead and runs away. The next morning, Chen, an assassin, tries to strangle Doc in his hotel room, but Doc overpowers the man and breaks his neck. Doc learns from Janeway that Klaus Szell has died, and deduces that the attack by Chen must be related, saying that they are “getting rid of the couriers.” Meanwhile, Babe meets an attractive girl named Elsa Opel at the library and follows her home. Despite Elsa’s insistence that their relationship cannot go anywhere, she agrees to a date. Sometime later, Babe and Elsa are robbed by two well-dressed muggers in Central Park. On a flight from Uruguay to New York City, Christian Szell disguises himself by shaving the top of his head bald. As Szell’s airplane lands in New York, Karl and Erhard, the men who robbed Babe, are there to meet him. Doc, who is Babe’s older brother, shows up at Babe’s apartment and becomes suspicious when he hears that Babe was robbed by men in suits. Babe asks Doc to take a look at some interviews he has conducted with his father’s old colleagues, but Doc yells at him to forget their father, saying he was a suicidal drunk. The next day, Doc takes Babe and Elsa to lunch, and Babe nervously watches as Doc flirts with Elsa. Catching Elsa in a lie, Doc accuses her of being German instead of Swiss, and suggests she is after Babe for a green card. That night, at a secret rendezvous, Szell admits to Doc that Elsa has been spying on Babe, then stabs Doc in the abdomen. Doc stumbles to Babe’s apartment, bleeding to death, but dies before he can deliver a warning about Szell. Janeway arrives at Babe’s apartment, where police officers address him as commander. Sending the others away, Janeway tells Babe that he suspects Doc’s murder was “political,” having to do with Doc’s line of business. Although Babe believed his brother worked in the oil industry, Janeway reveals that he was an employee of a secret government agency called “The Division.” Later that night, after Janeway has left, Karl and Erhard break into Babe’s apartment, kidnap him, and take him to a secret location. There, Babe is tied to a chair in a sparse room and joined by Szell, who arrives with a set of dental instruments. Szell asks Babe multiple times, “Is it safe?” After Babe responds that he has no idea what Szell is talking about, Szell examines Babe’s teeth with a metal scraper and asks again, “Is it safe?” Babe doesn’t answer, and Szell tortures him with the dental instrument. Later, when Karl moves Babe to another room, Janeway appears and stabs Karl to death. Shooting Erhard as they escape, Janeway takes Babe to his waiting car and drives away, explaining that Karl and Erhard were associated with Szell, the wealthiest and most wanted Nazi alive. He says Szell was a dentist who made money bribing Jewish prisoners for release from Auschwitz, and later invested in gold and diamonds that had been hidden in New York in a safety deposit box. Janeway says that Szell was after Babe because Doc was a courier who transported diamonds to Paris for Szell in exchange for Szell’s cooperation with the Division as an informant. Becoming stern, Janeway orders Babe to confess what Doc has told him about the diamonds, but Babe claims ignorance. Janeway stops the car, and Karl and Erhard approach from outside. Stupefied, Babe cries out that Janeway already killed Karl and Erhard but Janeway admits to using a fake knife and blanks in his gun. Back in Szell’s hideout, Janeway informs Szell that Babe knows nothing, but Szell insists he cannot risk it. In another torture session, Szell wields an electric drill and tells Babe there must be a reason Doc went to his apartment. After Szell drills into one of Babe’s teeth, he determines that Babe knows nothing. Meanwhile, Janeway calls Szell a useless relic and informs him that he must leave the country the next day. When Karl and Erhard force Babe into another car, Babe manages to break away. Using his distance running skills, he outruns Janeway, who hops into Karl and Erhard’s car and directs them toward the highway ramp where Babe has run. Babe jumps from one ramp to another, and an automobile accident stops Janeway’s crew from pursuing him further. Exchanging the Rolex watch that Doc gave him for a taxi ride back to his block, Babe calls Elsa from a payphone and arranges to meet her, then sneaks into a building across the street from his apartment, aware that his building is being watched. In the other apartment building, Babe asks Melendez, a loose acquaintance, to rob his apartment and take his father’s old gun, stashed inside a desk drawer. Melendez agrees, and later breaks into Babe’s apartment with a crew of several men. As Janeway appears and draws a gun, five of Melendez’s men draw their own guns and continue with the robbery. Retrieving the gun from Melendez, Babe meets Elsa and she drives them to a country house. Upon arrival, Babe is suspicious and asks if the house belongs to Szell and if Janeway is inside. Elsa finally admits that Janeway is coming soon and confesses to working as a courier for Szell. When Janeway arrives with Karl and Erhard, Babe holds Elsa hostage, but allows the men to come inside. In the living room, Karl draws his gun unexpectedly and Janeway tries to stop him, but Babe shoots Karl first. Janeway shoots Erhard and Elsa before dropping his own gun, then tells Babe the location of the bank where Szell’s safety deposit box is located. Elsa urges Babe to leave, but as he walks out of the house, Janeway retrieves his gun, shoots Elsa again, and aims at Babe through the window. Babe shoots Janeway first, however, killing him. In Manhattan’s jewelry district, Szell goes to various appraisers to learn the market value of diamonds, but is recognized by one of the appraisers who is a Holocaust survivor. Running away, Szell is recognized on the street by an old lady, another Holocaust survivor, who yells for people to stop him. When the appraiser catches up to him, Szell slits the man’s throat with a switchblade and takes a taxi to his bank. Opening the security deposit box, Szell rejoices at the sight of his massive diamond collection. Leaving the bank with his briefcase full of diamonds, Szell is accosted by Babe, who leads him, at gunpoint, to a water treatment facility in Central Park. There, Babe grabs a handful of diamonds and throws them into the air, telling Szell that he can keep as many diamonds as he can swallow. After swallowing a few, Szell refuses to continue and orders him to shoot. Babe remains frozen, and Szell eventually knocks the gun out of his hand, approaching him with the switchblade. Babe grabs the briefcase and throws it down a set of stairs. Lunging after the diamonds, Szell falls down and accidentally stabs himself, dropping dead into the water. Outside, Babe throws his father’s gun into a lake.
SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS (1957)
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, Susan Harrison
Directors: Alexander Mackendrick
Producer: James Hill
Writer: Clifford Odets
Editor: Alan Crosland Jr.
Cinematographer: James Wong Howe
Genre: Film noir
Production Company: Hecht-Hill-Lancaster, Norma-Curtleigh Productions
One night in Manhattan, slick, up-and-coming press agent Sidney Falco scans the column of New York Globe writer J. J. Hunsecker, an immensely popular journalist whose column and radio show have great influence in the entertainment world. Because J. J. has, for the fifth day in a row, neglected to publicize any of Sidney’s clients, Sidney’s business is rapidly failing, despite his attempts to placate each client. In consternation, he turns cruelly on his sweet secretary, Sally, but then explains that his drive for success forces him to curry favor with J. J., who is snubbing him for failing to break up the relationship between J. J.’s sister Susie and jazz musician Steve Dallas. Later, at the club where Steve performs, Sidney argues with his uncle and Steve's manager, Frank D’Angelo, who had promised him that Steve and Susie had broken up. Upon learning from cigarette girl Rita that Susie is awaiting Steve in back, Sidney interrupts the two as they celebrate their recent engagement, incurring Steve’s anger. Steve, who values integrity above all else, accuses Sidney of “scratching for information like a dog.” Inside, Rita appeals to Sidney to help her retain her job, which is at risk because she refused to sleep with columnist Leo Bartha, who then ordered her to be fired. Sidney secures a date with Rita, then follows Susie into a cab, where the meek nineteen-year-old questions his relationship with J. J., calling him “a trained poodle.” While reassuring Susie that he considers J. J. a close friend, Sidney confirms the information that Susie and Steve are engaged, then races to J. J.’s customary booth at the 21 Club to inform him. J. J. is dining there with Senator Harvey Walker, starlet Linda James and manager Manny Davis, and when Sidney joins them against J. J.’s wishes, the columnist excoriates him, forcing Sidney to accept the abuse with a smile. When Walker tries to help, pointing out that columnists need press agents to furnish the necessary gossip, J. J. turns his lacerating gaze to the senator, humbling him by stating that he should not travel so openly with Linda, his mistress. Sidney follows J. J. outside, where the columnist greets his informer, police lieutenant Harry Kello, who is long indebted to J. J. for petitioning the mayor to save his job after Kello beat a suspect severely. After Sidney reveals Susie’s engagement, J. J. allows him one more chance to destroy the relationship, stating that Susie is all he has. Desperate to protect his livelihood, Sidney vows that “the cat’s in the bag and the bag’s in the river.” He goes to Toot Shor’s club, where Bartha, J. J.’s main competitor, is dining with his wife Loretta. Sidney threatens to reveal Bartha’s dalliance with Rita to Loretta unless the columnist prints an item stating that Steve is a Communist who smokes marijuana, but despite Sidney’s machinations, Bartha calls his bluff, telling Loretta the truth and calling J. J. a disgrace. Sidney then petitions columnist Otis Elwell, who agrees to print the item if Sidney will fix him up with an “available” woman. To that end, Sidney brings Otis to his scheduled rendezvous with Rita, who balks at the implications of the introduction, until Sidney wheedles her into accepting, stating that Otis can help save her job as well as help him save face with J. J. After Sidney leaves, Rita, who has just told Sidney she is “not that kind of girl,” reminds Otis that they slept together years earlier. The next morning, Sidney visits J. J.’s office, where the secretary, Mary, admonishes him for his sleazy tactics but nonetheless allows him to see J. J.’s column before it is printed. Noting an item promoting comedian Herbie Temple, Sidney then goes to Herbie, hoping to win his business, and pretends to call J. J. and arrange for the publicity. Back at Sidney's office, Frank and Steve are waiting, sure that the “smear” in Otis’ column came from Sidney. Sidney allays their suspicion with his customary outraged defensiveness, then, upon hearing that Steve has been fired, secretly calls J. J. and instructs him to order the club owner to rehire the musician, thus winning Susie’s trust. When Susie, horrified after seeing the article, enters the Hunsecker home, J. J. imperiously chastises the terrified girl for not coming to him with her problems. Susie, suspicious and chafing under her brother’s tight control, finds the strength to ask J. J. to get Steve his job back. J. J. complies but asks Steve to meet him at the radio station. Before the meeting, Sidney advises J. J. to bait Steve into causing a scene, hoping to poison Susie against him. Noting Sidney's delight with his devious plan, J. J. calls him “a cookie full of arsenic.” Sidney then joins with J. J. to taunt the upright musician, prompting Steve to ask Susie what she wants. When the overwhelmed girl flees the room, Steve breaks down and rebukes J. J. as a “national disgrace” full of “phony patriotism.” He storms out, after which J. J. forbids Susie to see him again. That night, Sidney joins J. J. at 21 and is taken aback to discover that the columnist now plans to destroy Steve’s career. Sidney balks at J. J.’s command to plant marijuana on the musician, stating he can accept a dog collar but not a noose, but after J. J. offers to let Sidney write his column for three months while he vacations with Susie, Sidney’s greed prevails and he accepts the job. Later, Susie breaks up with Steve, hoping this will save him from further attacks by J. J., but as soon as Steve finishes work that night, Kello arrests him, beating him in the process. Sidney is getting drunk while toasting his “favorite perfume—success” when he receives a message asking him to meet J. J. at his house. There, Susie, who has learned about Steve’s arrest, is planning to commit suicide, hoping J. J. will forever detest Sidney for driving her to desperation. Sidney downplays the threat, berating the girl for “thinking with her hips,” an improvement, he says, over her typical incompetence. When Susie tries to throw herself over the balcony, Sidney barely manages to rescue her. Just then, J. J. enters and, upon spotting Sidney holding a negligee-clad Susie, attacks the publicist, who realizes that it was not J. J. but Susie who called him to the house. To save himself, Sidney proclaims that Steve’s arrest was J. J.’s idea, after which the columnist calls Kello and orders Sidney’s arrest for planting the marijuana. Sidney runs out, vowing to reveal all he knows, as Susie packs her belongings. J. J. begs her to stay, but she coolly informs him she would rather die than live with him. As Kello beats Sidney and J. J. stares into his empty home, Susie strides to the hospital to join Steve.
BLUE VELVET (1986)
Cast: Kyle MacLachlan, Isabella Rossellini, Dennis Hopper
Directors: David Lynch
Producer: Fred Caruso
Writer: David Lynch
Editor: Duwayne Dunham
Cinematographer: Frederick Elmes
Genre: Drama
Production Company: Blue Velvet Productions
Composer: Angelo Badalamenti
College student Jeffrey Beaumont returns home to the small logging town of Lumberton when his father suffers a heart attack. After visiting the hospital, Jeffrey finds an amputated human ear in a vacant lot, and takes the organ to police detective John Williams, whose daughter, Sandy, was an underclassman at Jeffrey’s former high school. As Det. Williams takes over the case, Jeffrey plies Sandy for information, and she reports that a mysterious singer named Dorothy Vallens is somehow involved. They drive to her apartment building, which is located near the field in which the ear was discovered. The following day, Jeffrey picks Sandy up from school, and plots to covertly survey Dorothy Vallens’s apartment by pretending to be a pest exterminator. Dorothy allows Jeffrey inside, but his ruse goes awry when a man dressed in a yellow suit arrives, and Jeffrey steals a spare key to return later. That night, Sandy and Jeffrey watch the chanteuse perform the song “Blue Velvet” at a local nightclub, and drive back to her apartment before the performance ends. Sandy, who is terrified by Jeffrey’s homespun investigation, promises to honk the car horn if she sees Dorothy return. Inside, Jeffrey is overwhelmed by the urge to urinate and does not hear Sandy’s alarm when he flushes the toilet. Heeding Dorothy’s approach, Jeffrey hides in the living room closet and peers through its wood-slat door as she undresses, and answers a telephone call from a deranged, sadistic tormentor, Frank Booth. The conversation leads Jeffrey to believe that Frank has aligned himself with Dorothy’s estranged husband, Don, and has kidnapped their young son, Little Donny. Finishing the call, Dorothy is terrified to find Jeffrey in her closet. She threatens him with a knife, orders him to strip naked, and seduces him, but Frank arrives unexpectedly and Jeffrey returns to the closet. He watches through the slats as Frank becomes psychologically unhinged, inhaling drug vapors through a gas mask, simulating sex, and slapping Dorothy while referring to her as “Mommy.” When Frank leaves, Jeffrey consoles the frenzied singer, and she propositions him for sex. Jeffrey is intrigued, but recoils when she orders him to hit her. The next evening, Jeffrey gives Sandy a chaste description of the encounter, leaving out the sex, and speculates that Frank cut off the ear of Dorothy’s husband. Sandy, who has led an idyllic and sheltered life, is devastated to learn about the sinister nature of humanity, and describes a dream she had the night she met Jeffrey. In her vision, the darkness of the world turned to light when thousands of robins, the birds of love, were liberated from captivity. Sometime later, Jeffrey returns to Dorothy’s nightclub, follows Frank home, and begins to conduct surveillance, taking photographs of various associates, including the man in the yellow suit from Dorothy’s apartment, who he calls the “Yellow Man,” and a figure in a “well-dressed man disguise.” Reporting back to Sandy, Jeffrey suspects the transactions are drug-related, as a dealer was killed nearby, and a girl’s legs were broken. While Sandy is aghast at Jeffrey’s discoveries, he remains exhilarated, and explains he is finally able to see mysterious aspects of life that were previously concealed. He confesses that Sandy is one such “mystery,” and kisses her, but she begs him to respect her innocence. That night, Jeffrey makes love to Dorothy, and reluctantly submits to her masochistic desires. As they bid each other farewell, Frank arrives and orders Jeffrey to join his gang for a “joy ride” in his car. They speed to a brothel called “This Is It,” where Dorothy is permitted to visit her son, and an effeminate host named Ben serenades Frank with his favorite song, “In Dreams.” Frank loses patience and declares it is time to resume his journey of sexual conquest. Back on the road, Frank fondles Dorothy’s breasts and Jeffrey punches him in protest. Frank drags the boy out of the vehicle at knifepoint, applies lipstick, and kisses him. Threatening to possess Jeffrey in his dreams, Frank beats the young man until he loses consciousness. Jeffrey awakens alone in a lumberyard, stumbles home, and telephones Sandy, who convinces him to reveal his findings to her father. Looking for Det. Williams at the police station, Jeffrey is shocked to discover that Williams’s partner, Tom Gordon, is Frank’s associate, the “Yellow Man.” Jeffrey takes his photographs to the Williams home to reveal them to Det. Williams in private, and promises to end his amateur investigation. When Jeffrey returns to the house for a date with Sandy, he finds Det. Gordon fraternizing with the family and fears Det. Williams is also allied with Frank, but the officer quietly assures him that he is still on the case. Sandy takes Jeffrey to a high school party, where they kiss on the dance floor, and declare their love. However, their bliss is suspended when a car chases them home, and Jeffrey believes Frank is coming after him. Pulling over, he discovers the stalker is Sandy’s jilted boyfriend, Mike, who challenges him to a fight. Just then, Dorothy limps toward them in a stupor, naked and bruised. As Jeffrey embraces her and guides her to his car, Sandy wonders why the woman is so intimate with her paramour. Back at the Williams house, Dorothy calls Jeffrey her “secret lover,” and tells Sandy that he “put his disease in me.” Sandy is grief-stricken, and sobs in her mother’s arms. While paramedics take Dorothy away, Sandy hits Jeffrey, but she later forgives him when he calls from a hospital pay phone. Jeffrey orders Sandy to send her father to Dorothy’s apartment and heads there himself, only to discover a gruesome crime scene. Det. Gordon, aka the “Yellow Man,” stands in rigor mortis with a lethal gorge in his skull, and Dorothy’s husband, Don, who is missing an ear, is sitting nearby with a deadly gunshot to his head. A police radio in Gordon’s coat pocket alerts Jeffrey to a raid at Frank’s warehouse, and he decides to finally relinquish his obsession with the case. As Jeffrey leaves, however, he sees the outlaw in the “well-dressed man disguise,” and realizes the imposter is Frank. Rushing back to Dorothy’s apartment, Jeffrey grabs Det. Gordon’s radio and hides in the bedroom, transmitting his whereabouts to Det. Williams. He suddenly remembers that Frank has a radio, too, and is listening to his report. Jeffrey drops the intercom and runs to the living room. As Frank searches the bedroom, Jeffrey snatches Det. Gordon’s gun and returns to his hiding place. Frank realizes he has been deceived and storms toward the closet, where Jeffrey shoots him through the forehead. Just then, Sandy arrives with her father, who assures the boy that the nightmare has ended. Sometime later, Jeffrey awakens in his backyard, and Sandy calls him inside for lunch. His father has returned home from the hospital in good health, and a robin perches in the kitchen window with a beetle in its beak, restoring light and love to Lumberton. At a park, Dorothy embraces her young son.
THE THIRD MAN (1950)
Cast: Joseph Cotten, Valli, Orson Welles
Directors: Carol Reed
Producer: Carol Reed
Writer: Graham Greene
Editor: Oswald Hafenrichter
Cinematographer: Robert Krasker
Genre: Adventure
Production Company: London Film Productions, Ltd.
In post-war Vienna, a city occupied by four Allied forces and sustained by a thriving black market, American writer Holly Martins arrives, penniless, at the invitation of his old friend Harry Lime, who had offered him a job. Holly goes to Harry's apartment and is told by the porter that Harry was run over by a car and killed. He rushes to the cemetery, where he finds Harry's funeral in progress. As he leaves the gravesite, Holly is approached by a British officer, Major Calloway, who offers him a ride and buys him a drink. When Calloway tells him that Harry was a notorious racketeer, Holly drunkenly vows to prove him wrong. Later, at his hotel, Holly is approached by Crabbin, the head of a cultural institute, who mistakes him for a prestigious novelist and offers to pay for his stay in Vienna if he will speak at one of their meetings. Holly soon receives a call from "Baron" Kurtz, who identifies himself as a friend of Harry and arranges to meet Holly at a café. Kurtz describes Harry's accident and mentions that Harry's Rumanian friend Popescu was also present when Harry died. Holly inquires about the beautiful woman he saw at the funeral, and Kurtz replies that she was Harry's girl friend, Anna Schmidt, an actress at the Josefstadt Theatre. Holly calls on Anna after a performance, and she tells him that Harry's personal physician, Dr. Winkel, happened to show up at the scene of the accident, and that the man behind the wheel of the car was actually Harry's driver. Anna expresses her suspicion that Harry's death was not accidental, and accompanies Holly to Harry's apartment to question the porter. Contrary to Kurtz's account, the porter says that Harry was killed at once, adding that an unidentified third man was present and helped carry the body. When Holly escorts Anna to her apartment, they find Calloway and members of the international police force searching her room. Calloway confiscates Anna's identification papers, claiming they were forged, takes her to the police station and questions her about Josef Harbin, an employee of a military hospital who recently disappeared. After Anna is released, she and Holly go to a nightclub, where they are joined by Kurtz and Popescu, and Holly relates what the porter told him about the third man. The next evening, Holly and Anna set out to talk to the porter again, but as they approach the building, the neighbors tell them that the porter has been murdered. When Holly returns to his hotel, he is promptly whisked away to Crabbin's cultural institute. The badly shaken Holly stumbles through his guest appearance at the literary salon, but when Popescu arrives with two men, he flees. Holly goes to see Calloway, who tells him about Vienna's black market for penicillin, explaining that racketeers often increase their profits by diluting the drug, which has disastrous medical effects. Calloway says that Harbin worked for Harry, stealing penicillin from laboratories, and shows Holly the evidence his men have collected implicating Harry and Kurtz. Holly is appalled by his friend's actions, and goes to Anna and tells her that he is returning to the United States, then admits his strong feelings for her. After leaving Anna's apartment, Holly notices a man standing in the shadows and dares him to reveal himself. When an irate neighbor opens a window, the light falls across the face of Harry Lime, who disappears before Holly can reach him. Holly summons Calloway, who retraces Harry's escape route and discovers an abandoned news kiosk leading underground to the main sewer. Calloway has Harry's coffin exhumed, and the body inside turns out to be Harbin's. Using Kurtz as an intermediary, Holly arranges a meeting with Harry at the amusement park ferris wheel. Harry smoothly dismisses Holly's moral outrage at the penicillin racket and warns his old friend to stop talking to the police. Undeterred, Harry offers to help the police capture Harry in exchange for safe passage out of Vienna for Anna, who is about to be arrested by the Russians. When Anna furiously rejects the deal, Holly wants to quit, but Calloway takes him to the children's hospital to see some of the brain-damaged young victims of Harry's racketeering. Heartsick over what he sees, Holly agrees to act as a decoy to capture Harry. After waiting for Harry for hours in a café, Holly is joined by Anna, who berates him for working for the police. When Harry arrives, Anna warns him, and he escapes into the sewer, with Holly and the police in pursuit. Harry shoots and kills a British soldier, Sgt. Paine, and Holly slips away and shoots Harry as he tries to crawl through a grate to the street above. After Harry's real funeral, Holly watches in despair as Anna silently walks away down a long, tree-lined avenue.
LITTLE CAESAR (1931)
Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Glenda Farrell
Directors: Mervyn LeRoy
Writer: Francis Edwards Faragoh
Editor: Ray Curtiss
Cinematographer: Tony Gaudio
Genre: Drama
Production Company: First National Pictures, Inc.
After robbing a gas station, Enrico Cesare Bandello, known as Rico, leaves his small town for the city with his friend Joe Massaro. Joe wants to find work as a dancer, but Rico admires the front page notoriety that gangster Diamond Pete Montana receives. He joins Sam Vittori's gang, one of the two biggest gangs in town, working directly under Montana, chief lieutenant to Big Boy, the head of the city's underworld. The other gang is headed by Little Arnie Lorch, who owns a gambling salon. Joe has a job as a dancing partner to Olga Strassoff at Lorch's establishment. Rico plans a New Year's Eve raid on Lorch's club and convinces Joe to act as the front man. During the raid, Rico kills McClure, the crime commissioner, who is a guest that night. After that, Rico and Sam compete for leadership of the gang and Rico wins. Lorch tries to kill Rico, and after he fails, Rico hunts him down and drives him out of the city. Soon afterward, Big Boy offers Rico Montana's territory, and Rico begins to dream of heading the underworld in place of Big Boy. Joe, meanwhile, plans to leave the gang at Olga's urging. Rico cannot bear to let Joe go, however, and in turn, demands that he leave Olga, threatening to kill her when Joe refuses. To save them both, Joe decides to turn state's evidence. Rico intends to kill Joe to stop him from talking, but he cannot pull the trigger. After his failed assassination attempt, Rico flees, hiding out from the police. Hoping to goad Rico into revealing himself, Sergeant Flaherty tells the newspapers that Rico was a coward. Rico reacts by phoning the police, and the call is traced to his hiding place, where the police hunt him down and shoot him. Rico dies beneath a poster advertising the dancing team of Joe and Olga.
ONE HUNDRED AND ONE DALMATIANS (1961)
Cast: Rod Taylor, J. Pat O'Malley, Betty Lou Gerson
Directors: Clyde Geronimi
Editor: Donald Halliday
Genre: Comedy
Production Company: Walt Disney Productions
Composer: George Bruns
Pongo is a male dalmatian living in London with his master, Roger, a bachelor songwriter who has yet to sell his first tune. Bored with their single existence, Pongo arranges for Roger to meet Anita, a pretty young woman who just happens to have a female dalmatian named Perdita. It is not long before love blossoms all around and a double wedding takes place. A few months later, Perdita gives birth to 15 puppies, much to the delight of Cruella De Vil, a wealthy, wicked former schoolmate of Anita's whose burning passion is to own a coat made of dalmatian pelts. When she is unable to purchase the puppies, she has them "dognapped" and brought to her castle, where 84 other dalmatians are also being held captive. All attempts by the police to find the missing pups fail, and the desperate Pongo and Perdita appeal to the dogs of London, via the "twilight bark." Led by The Colonel, an indomitable shaggy dog, all dogdom comes to the rescue and, aided by geese, cats, and horses, tracks down the missing puppies. A daring rescue is accomplished, and Cruella meets her death when her pursuing automobile sails off a cliff. All ends happily as Roger sells his first song, buys the De Vil estate, and moves in with Anita and the 101 dalmatians.
A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (1984)
Cast: John Saxon, Ronee Blakley, Heather Langenkamp
Directors: Wes Craven
Producer: Robert Shaye
Writer: Wes Craven
Editor: Rick Shaine
Cinematographer: Jacques Haitkin
Genre: Horror
Production Company: New Line Cinema , Media Home Entertainment, Inc., Smart Egg Pictures
Composer: Charles Bernstein
A mysterious man makes a glove with knives for fingers. In an eerie, nightmarish setting, Tina Gray is chased into a boiler room and attacked by the man wearing the glove. Tina screams herself awake and finds her nightgown slashed. At school, Tina tells her boyfriend, Rod Lane, her friend, Nancy Thompson, and Nancy’s boyfriend, Glen Lantz, about the nightmare and Nancy also admits to having a bad dream. That night, Tina’s mother is away so Nancy and Glen stay over, and Rod arrives unexpectedly. After Rod and Tina make love, Rod admits he has nightmares too. A noise awakens Tina and she checks outside. A disfigured man wearing a hat, a red and green striped sweater and the finger-knives chases her. When he catches her, Tina is suddenly in the bedroom. Rod awakens to find her screaming but he cannot see anyone else. Tina’s chest is ripped open and blood flies as she swings around the room. Rod escapes as Nancy and Glen rush in and find Tina’s body. Lieutenant Thompson, Nancy’s father, is certain Rod is the killer and angry that his ex-wife let Nancy stay at Tina’s. As Nancy walks to school the next morning, Rod grabs her and says he did not kill Tina. Following his daughter, Thompson arrests Rod. In English class, Nancy falls asleep but wakes up to see Tina in a body bag being dragged off by an unseen person. It is dark as Nancy follows the blood trail and finds herself in a boiler room. Suddenly, the disfigured man, identifying himself as “Freddy,” chases her. Nancy screams that it is only a dream, burns her arm on a steam pipe and wakes up in class screaming, with a burn on her arm. She visits Rod in jail and he insists someone else killed Tina. At first, Rod had thought it was one of his nightmares because all he saw were the knife wounds appearing on Tina’s body. At home in her bathtub, Nancy falls asleep and finger-knives pull her under water into an abyss. She escapes back up in to the bathtub and takes pills to stay awake. After Glen, who lives across the street, climbs in her window to check on her, Nancy asks him to stand guard while she searches for Freddy in her sleep. In her dream, Nancy finds herself at the police station and sees Freddy enter Rod’s jail cell. She calls for Glen to wake her, but instead Freddy chases her back to her house where Glen is asleep. Freddy attacks Nancy but her alarm clock rings, waking Nancy and Glen. They rush to the police station and Nancy begs her father to check on Rod. In the cell, Rod’s sheet wraps around his neck in a noose, then drags him around the cell and hangs him. At Rod’s funeral, Nancy tries to describe Freddy to her parents but they insist on getting her help. At a sleep disorder institute, Nancy dreams, the monitors go crazy and she screams hysterically. They wake her to find Nancy has a grey streak in her hair, her arms are slashed and she has brought Freddy’s hat out from her dream. Later, Nancy’s mother hides the hat with her vodka bottle, but Nancy finds it and points to the name inside – Fred Krueger. Her mother insists Krueger is dead. The next day, Glen and Nancy discuss their nightmares, and Glen mentions he read about the Balinese dream skill of turning your back on a monster to take its power away. Nancy shows him a book on booby traps and survival skills. Nancy returns home to find her mother has installed security bars. Nancy’s mother leads her to the basement and tells her about Fred Krueger, a child murderer. After he was freed on a technicality, a group of neighborhood parents found Krueger in his boiler room and set it on fire. Nancy’s mother took his finger-knives glove and assures Nancy it is safe to sleep because Krueger is dead. But Nancy knows she is not safe and calls Glen. She plans to bring Freddy back from her dream and wants Glen to catch him. They agree to stay awake and meet at midnight but when Nancy starts to leave, she finds her mother drinking in the hallway. She calls Glen but his parents answer, insist it is too late and hang up. Nancy’s phone rings and when she hears knives screeching, she yanks it from the wall. The unplugged phone rings and Freddy announces he is her boyfriend now. A large tongue extends from the phone and licks Nancy. She runs to save Glen but the front door is locked and her drunken mother will not give Nancy the key. Glen is asleep when Freddy pulls him into a hole in the middle of the bed and a torrent of blood explodes. Paramedics, police and Nancy’s father arrive. She calls Glen’s house and tells her father that she is going after Freddy in her dreams and wants him to catch Freddy when she brings him out at 12:30. Her father tells her to get some sleep and orders an officer to watch Nancy’s house. Nancy booby traps the house, sets her alarm clock and goes to sleep. In her dream, she searches boiler rooms until she finds Freddy. He chases her when she jumps from the boiler room into her front yard. As Nancy’s alarm rings, she leaps on Freddy, pulling him out of the dream and into her bedroom. Nancy runs from the room and screams out the window for help. Freddy opens the bedroom door and is hit by a sledgehammer. He follows Nancy downstairs and trips a wire that explodes a lamp. He chases Nancy to the basement where she douses Freddy with gasoline and sets him on fire. Her father rushes into the house and Nancy leads him toward the basement but flaming footsteps lead to her mother’s bedroom. They arrive as the burning Freddy attacks her mother. As they smother the fire, Freddy vanishes and her mother’s corpse disappears into the mattress. After Nancy sends her father downstairs, Freddy rises from the bed. Nancy faces Freddy and takes back the energy she gave him. It is just a dream and she wants her mother and friends back. As Nancy turns her back on Freddy, he reaches to attack but disappears. Nancy opens the bedroom door and finds herself outside on a sunny yet slightly foggy day. Her mother joins her and promises to stop drinking. Glen, Tina and Rod arrive in a red convertible and Nancy happily gets in. A red and green striped convertible top suddenly locks into place and the windows shut, trapping the teens as the car drives off. Nancy’s mother waves until Freddy’s arm smashes through the front door window and pulls her inside. Children on the lawn play jump rope and sing, “One, two, Freddy’s coming for you.”
MOMMIE DEAREST (1981)
Cast: Faye Dunaway, Diana Scarwid, Steve Forrest
Directors: Frank Perry
Producer: David Koontz
Writer: Frank Yablans
Editor: Peter E. Berger
Cinematographer: Paul Lohmann
Genre: Biography, Melodrama
Production Company: Frank Yablans Presentation, Inc., Dunaway/O'Neill Associates, Inc.
Composer: Henry Mancini
When an alarm clock sounds at four a.m., actress Joan Crawford scrubs her skin and gets dressed. As Joan is chauffeured to the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studio, she reviews her lines for the picture Ice Follies of 1939 and signs autographs. Later, at home, Joan polishes the floor and reprimands her maid, Helga, for failing to clean underneath a potted tree. Joan warns another housekeeper, Carol Ann, that she must be more vigilant. Joan’s lover, Hollywood lawyer Greg Savitt, arrives and Joan demands that he remove his shoes, then leads him upstairs to her shower. Sometime later, Joan distributes Christmas presents at an orphanage in front of photographers and, afterwards, tells Greg that the only thing missing in her life is a baby. Although Greg suggests Joan is “too vain” to be pregnant, she confesses she miscarried seven times with her former husband and has decided to adopt. Greg explains that adoption agencies do not favor working, divorced women such as Joan, and says that the baby needs a father, but Joan argues that she never had a father of her own. Despite Greg’s quip that a child would provide great publicity for Joan, the actress claims that he is too focused on business and does not understand her womanly needs. After Joan is designated an “unsuitable parent” by an adoption agency, Greg arranges for Joan to receive a two month-old baby girl, and she names the child Christina. Years later, at Christina’s lavish birthday party, Joan and Christina wear matching dresses and are photographed by reporters. Pleased with the attention, Christina calls Joan “Mommie Dearest” and they exchange loving sentiments. After showing off her second child, Christopher, to studio photographers, Joan is troubled by a grass stain on Christina’s dress and orders her to have it cleaned. Later, in Christina’s room, Joan informs her daughter that she can only keep one of her presents and the rest will be donated to orphans. One day, Joan forces Christina to practice diving beyond exhaustion, telling Greg that she wants her daughter to feel a sense of competition despite her privileged upbringing. When Greg excuses himself for a meeting, Joan implores him to pull strings at M-G-M to secure her next role. As Greg leaves, he notices Joan challenging Christina to a swimming race, despite the girl’s fatigue. When Christina tells her mother the contest is unfair and vows never to play with her mother again, Joan spanks the girl and locks her in a pool house. Sometime later, Greg calls to inform Joan that she got the part she wanted, but when Joan runs upstairs to share the news with Christina, she finds her daughter in her dressing room, impersonating her famous mother. Although Christina says she is “play acting,” Joan thinks her daughter is making fun of her and cuts off the girl’s hair in a rage. One evening at Perino’s Restaurant, Joan signs autographs for her fans outside while Greg waits at a table with L. B. Mayer and his banker associates. Although Joan joins them, she later berates Greg for using her as spectacle for the businessmen, and Greg complains that Joan cares too much for her fans. When Joan suggests that Mayer is trying to end her career, Greg says that she has grown too old for the roles that made her famous. Despite their argument, Joan attempts to seduce Greg, but he leaves, ending their relationship. The next morning, Christina and Christopher find their mother cutting Greg’s image out of her photographs. Sometime later, Joan scolds her children for waking her, and when Christina mimics her mother’s anger with her doll, Joan confiscates her toys. After a meeting at M-G-M, where Mayer asks Joan to leave the studio because her pictures are no longer profitable, Joan destroys her rose garden and orders her children to help her. Looking to regain her career, Joan prepares to audition for Midred Pierce and Carol Ann explains to Christina that it is humiliating for Joan to endure a screen test. After winning the role, Joan is nominated for an Academy Award, but on the evening of the award ceremony, Joan feigns pneumonia and listens to a broadcast of the show at home. When she is named Best Actress for her work in Mildred Pierce , Joan greets fans and reporters outside her house with an acceptance speech. Late one night, Joan finds a wire hanger in Christina’s closet, becomes enraged, and beats daughter with it. Joan then forces Christina to scrub the bathroom floor and hits the girl with a can of cleaning powder. However, on Christmas Eve, Joan hosts a radio show at her home and creates the illusion of a perfect family. Sometime later, Christina escorts Joan’s new lover, Ted Gelber, to her mother’s room, but when the child returns, interrupting a moment of intimacy, Joan enrolls her at Chadwick Country Boarding School. Years later, a teenaged Christina joins her mother for dinner and although Christina shows off a near-perfect report card, Joan claims her daughter has become more rebellious and threatens to take her out of Chadwick. Back at the house, Joan explains that she is having financial problems because she lost her contract at Warner Bros. and Christina must enter a work-scholarship program at school. As Joan sobs, Christina consoles her mother and tells her she loves her, but later finds Joan collapsed on a couch, surrounded by boxes of newly purchased shoes. At school, Christina is caught kissing a boy named Tony in the horse stables, and when Joan finds out, she forces Christina to leave. Returning home, Joan tells reporter Barbara Bennett that Christina was expelled, but the girl contradicts her mother’s lie, sending Joan into a frenzy of verbal and physical abuse. Sometime later, Joan sends Christina to a convent and marries Al Steele, the chairman of Pepsi-Cola. Years pass and Christina returns home to meet Al, who she calls “daddy” at Joan’s request. As Joan oversees the construction of her new apartment in New York City, she wishes Christina luck with her acting career, but refuses to lend financial support. Al secretly gives cash to his stepdaughter when she leaves, then warns Joan that the apartment remodel is bankrupting him. After Al’s death, Pepsi-Cola executives try to force Joan into retirement, but she threatens to speak out publically against the company and remains on the Board of Directors. Visiting Christina, Joan learns that her daughter is under consideration for a part in a soap opera and gives her a pearl necklace. When Christina is cast in the role, Joan watches the soap opera every day. However, Christina is hospitalized for an ovarian tumor and is outraged when Joan temporarily takes her place on her show. Sometime later, Joan becomes reclusive and asks Christina to accept a lifetime merit award on her behalf. After Joan’s funeral, Christina and Christopher learn that their mother left them nothing in her will. Although Christopher says that Joan had “the last word,” Christina thinks otherwise.
THE PUBLIC ENEMY (1931)
Cast: James Cagney, Jean Harlow, Edward Woods
Directors: William A. Wellman
Writer: Kubec Glasmon
Editor: Edward M. McDermott
Cinematographer: Dev Jennings
Genre: Drama
Production Company: Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
Tom Powers and Matt Doyle, two tough young kids growing up poor in Chicago, work for Putty Nose, a fence. He sets up a robbery deal for them, promising to get them out of trouble if anything goes wrong, but when they bungle the job he abandons them. During Prohibition, they find a new ally, Paddy Ryan, who sets them up in the illegal brewery business. When Mike, Tom's older brother returns from World War I, he berates Tom for his dealings with gangsters and Tom angrily leaves home. The gang's big boss, Nails Nathan, uses Tom and Matt to pressure the local speakeasies, which are caught between rival gangs, into using only the beer that they sell. Tom grows into a ruthless gangster. One day he takes out his frustrations on his girl Kitty, shoving a grapefruit in her face and dumping her in favor of glamorous Texan Gwen Allen. Later, celebrating in an expensive night club, Tom spots their old pal Putty Nose. Tom and Matt follow him to his apartment, where Tom kills him. When Nails dies after a fall from a horse, his death precipitates a gang war. Paddy sends the gang into hiding, but Tom refuses to stay. He and Matt are ambushed by the rival gang as they leave, and Matt is killed in the shootout. Tom vows revenge and single-handedly takes on his rivals. He kills several, but he is wounded himself and collapses outside in the pouring rain. He survives, but the gang kidnaps him from the hospital and delivers his bandage-wrapped dead body to the door of his mother's house.
THE LITTLE FOXES (1941)
Cast: Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall, Teresa Wright
Directors: William Wyler
Producer: Samuel Goldwyn
Writer: Lillian Hellman
Editor: Daniel Mandell
Cinematographer: Gregg Toland
Genre: Drama
Production Company: Samuel Goldwyn Productions, Inc.
Composer: Meredith Willson
In the deep South of 1900, shrewish Regina Giddens readies her household in anticipation of a dinner to honor William Marshall, a wealthy Chicago industrialist who is thinking of building a cotton mill in their small town. Gathered at the table to honor Marshall are Regina's sweet young daughter Alexandra, her greedy brothers, shopkeepers Ben and Oscar Hubbard, and Oscar's wife and son, Birdie and Leo. When the kind-hearted Birdie begins to chatter, Oscar cruelly accuses her of living in the past glory of her failed family fortune and once grand plantation. After an evening of listening to the brothers' blandishments, Marshall agrees to go into business with them, invites Regina to visit him in Chicago, then bids them goodnight. When Regina suddenly declares that she plans to move to Chicago with Alexandra, her brothers unceremoniously remind her that first she needs to convince her absent husband, Horace, the head of the Planters Trust Co. bank, to invest his money in the cotton mill. Aware that her brothers need Horace's third to complete the deal, the rapacious Regina insists on a larger share of the venture. Oscar then maliciously retorts that her invalid husband is less than eager to abandon the refuge of his hospital room in Baltimore for Regina's icy charms. Ben settles the argument by offering his sister a forty-percent share, with the balance coming from Oscar's portion. Oscar reluctantly agrees on the condition that a marriage between his shiftless son Leo and Alexandra be part of the deal. To lure Horace home, Regina orders Alexandra to travel to Baltimore and bring her father back. The next day on the way to the train station, Alexandra says goodbye to David Hewitt, a young newspaper man with whom she is infatuated. On the trip home, Horace, suffering from a serious heart condition, is forced to rest at a hotel in Mobile to regain his strength, thus delaying his arrival. As Regina readies the house for her husband, her brothers taunt her about Horace's tardiness. Later, Oscar criticizes Leo's incompetence and Leo, a clerk at Horace's bank, mentions that he has been rifling his uncle's safe-deposit box and discovered $90,000 in negotiable bonds. Leo's disclosure causes the avaricious Oscar to consider "borrowing" the bonds. When Horace finally arrives, Regina briefly feigns concern for her husband until, no longer able to contain her malevolence, she lashes out at him, knowing that he is dying. When her odious brothers appear, Regina reconciles with Horace to expedite the business deal. As Horace swallows a spoonful of his heart medicine, Ben badgers him about investing his money. Pleading illness, Horace asks to postpone his answer, thus engendering Regina's fury. Later, after a party at the Giddens house, Oscar informs Regina that he must leave the next day for Chicago to close the deal. Marching into Horace's room, Regina and her brothers demand his answer, and Horace denounces the deal on the grounds that it will cheat the town's working poor by undercutting labor costs. As a furious Regina argues with Horace, Ben and Oscar descend the stairs and Oscar instructs Leo to "borrow" Horace's bonds. Later, Ben smugly informs his sister that Oscar is on his way to deliver the money to Chicago. Overhearing their conversation, Horace denounces Regina and her brothers as vultures, and Regina fires back that she hopes he dies soon. One day, while Regina is out of the house, David and Alexandra join Horace, Birdie, and the family's faithful maid, Addie, for an impromptu party. Slightly tipsy, Birdie recalls her family's contempt for the Hubbard family's exploitation of the poor who shopped at their store, and confides that Oscar married her only to gain control of the cotton in her family's fields. When Addie comments about the "people who eat the earth like locusts" Horace recites a quotation from the Song of Solomon about the little foxes who spoil the vines. Birdie then admits that she drinks to "stop the pain" and warns Alexandra that this will be her fate, too. Later, Horace visits the bank to examine his will. Stunned, Leo tries to distract Horace as he leafs through the safe-deposit box. After Leo leaves the room, Horace reopens the box and discovers the missing bonds. When Horace asks Cal, his driver, to fetch the Giddens' lawyer from Mobile, Leo overhears their conversation and alerts his father. That night, as David and Horace play cribbage, David confides that he has fallen in love with Alexandra. Regina, meanwhile, is having a dress fitted by David's seamstress mother, and coldly informs her that she objects to David's courtship of Alexandra. When Regina returns home, Horace tells her about the theft and spitefully declares that he has decided to allow her brothers the loan of the bonds, thus insuring that Regina will never share in the profits. Regina's venomous response induces Horace to suffer a heart attack, and when Regina refuses to bring his medicine from the bedroom, the stricken Horace crawls up the stairs and collapses. Regina withholds Horace's medication until the damage is irreversible. Drawn by the news of Horace's attack, Oscar and Ben hurry to the Giddens house. When Regina reveals Horace's decision to "lend her brothers the bonds," Ben and Oscar take a keen interest in his health. After Regina demands seventy-five percent of the business in the event of her husband's death, Ben scurries to bring a second doctor. Soon after, Horace dies and Regina threatens to jail her brothers for theft unless they accept her terms. Alexandra overhears their conversation, and after her uncles depart, declares she is leaving Regina and denounces her as "one who eats the earth." As Alexandra runs off into the night with David, Regina watches from the shadows of her bedroom window, completely alone.
WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? (1962)
Cast: Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Victor Buono
Directors: Robert Aldrich
Producer: Robert Aldrich
Writer: Lukas Heller
Editor: Michael Luciano
Cinematographer: Ernest Haller
Genre: Drama
Production Company: Associates & Aldrich Co., Inc.
Composer: Frank De Vol
In the 1920's, 6-year-old Baby Jane Hudson becomes an enormously successful child star in vaudeville while her older sister, Blanche, is forced to remain quietly in the background. As the two reach maturity, however, Jane loses both her appeal and her talent, and Blanche develops into a beautiful and renowned film actress. Then, at the height of her career, Blanche is crippled in an automobile accident for which the alcoholic Jane is held responsible. As the years pass, the two sisters become virtual recluses in an old mansion, where the slatternly and guilt-ridden Jane cares for the helpless Blanche. When she learns Blanche is planning to sell the house and perhaps place her in a home, Jane plots a diabolical revenge. She serves her sister trays of dead rats and parakeets, tears out her phone, and keeps her a prisoner in her bedroom. She even resorts to killing their black maid, Elvira, with a hammer when the woman becomes suspicious and threatens to go to the police. Jane is also planning to make a comeback and has hired the obese pianist Edwin Flagg to accompany her. But when Edwin discovers Blanche gagged and bound to her bed, he runs hysterically from the house. Realizing he will go to the police, Jane drags Blanche into a car and drives to a nearby beach. There Blanche confesses that she had arranged the automobile accident and had intended to kill her sister to avenge herself for the years of humiliation she had spent in the shadow of Baby Jane. As the police arrive upon the scene, the now totally deranged Jane goes into her song-and-dance routine of long ago.
BATMAN (1989)
Cast: Jack Nicholson, Michael Keaton, Kim Basinger
Directors: Tim Burton
Producer: Jon Peters
Writer: Sam Hamm
Editor: Ray Lovejoy
Cinematographer: Roger Pratt
Genre: Adventure
Production Company: Guber-Peters Company, PolyGram Pictures , Warner Bros. Pictures
Composer: Danny Elfman
Batman, the caped crusader, operates as a vigilante in crime-ridden Gotham City. Although police do not acknowledge his existence, journalist Alexander Knox publishes a story about him in the Gotham Globe, enduring the ridicule of his fellow newspapermen, who believe Batman is a myth. However, a beautiful photographer named Vicki Vale approaches Knox at his desk, reveals that she shares his enthusiasm for the Batman story and presents her latest work, photographs of a foreign war that recently made the cover of Time magazine. Knox eagerly agrees to work with Vicki, who suggests they start by attending a benefit held by local businessman, Bruce Wayne. Meanwhile, Carl Grissom, head of Gotham’s crime syndicate, worries that newly elected district attorney, Harvey Dent, plans to investigate Axis Chemical Co. Since Grissom’s syndicate has ties to Axis, Grissom sends his underling, Jack Napier, to raid company files before police get to them. Napier, who is secretly having an affair with Grissom’s mistress, grudgingly follows orders. That evening, at Bruce Wayne’s mansion, Knox attempts to glean information about Batman from Police Commissioner Gordon and Harvey Dent, while Vicki seeks out the party’s host, who eventually reveals himself and confesses he is a fan of her photography. Grissom betrays Napier by calling in an anonymous tip to the police, and Gordon gets word that Axis Chemical is being raided. The commissioner rushes to the scene with Police Lieutenant Eckhardt and a team of policemen. As they arrive, a shootout ensues, and Napier releases toxic chemicals to stave off his pursuers. Batman appears and captures Napier, but Napier’s man, Bob the Goon, holds Gordon at gunpoint, forcing the caped crusader to release his captive. Napier shoots Lt. Eckhardt, then fires at Batman, who deflects the bullet back to his attacker’s face. Napier falls into a vat of chemicals and the police leave him for dead. Later, as Knox attempts to cover the story, police claim Batman was never there, but Knox is unconvinced. Vicki accepts an invitation to dine with Bruce Wayne, and the two forgo his formal dining room to eat in the kitchen with Albert, Bruce’s butler and trusted confidant. That night, in a makeshift operating room, a doctor performs surgery on Napier’s mangled face, and the gangster laughs hysterically when he sees his reflection in the mirror. Aware that he was set up, Napier surprises Grissom at his office and reveals his new look: green-tinted hair, a chalky, white face, and a permanent, grotesque grin painted red. Still laughing, Napier instructs Grissom to call him “Joker,” then shoots the man dead. After waking up in Bruce Wayne’s bed, Vicki tries to arrange a second date, but Bruce claims he must leave town. Meanwhile, Napier’s new alter ego, the Joker, leads a crime syndicate meeting and announces Grissom has gone away and left him in charge. He kills Tony, one of the syndicate men, and his henchmen usher the others away at gunpoint. Suspicious that Bruce lied to her, Vicki follows him into town and observes as he leaves two red roses on the sidewalk in front of a shuttered hotel. At the Gotham City courthouse, Vinny, one of the syndicate members, files an affidavit for control of Grissom’s holdings, and a crowd forms outside as Knox questions him. Bruce gets there just before the Joker and his henchmen arrive. Marching up the courthouse steps, the Joker kills Vinny with a poisoned pen, then escapes in a car. Later, Bruce informs Albert that Napier is still alive and has taken control of Grissom’s operation. He requests police files on Napier, and learns that the gangster has a history of violence and psychological problems, as well as an interest in chemistry. At the Axis plant, the Joker oversees production of new chemicals, and soon, women begin dying with wide grins on their faces from poisoned cosmetics. Despite the rash of deaths, Gotham’s mayor insists that a 200th anniversary celebration for the city will go on as scheduled. Meanwhile, after seeing a photograph of Vicki in the courthouse crowd, the Joker decides to make her his next girl friend and lures her to a museum, where she believes she is meeting Bruce. As she waits at a table, Vicki receives a box containing a gas mask and a note instructing her to wear it. Suddenly, toxic gas spills into the museum, incapacitating everyone but Vicki. The gas clears and the Joker marches in with his goons, who deface paintings and sculptures at his instruction. He asks Vicki about Batman, but she claims to know nothing. Batman crashes in through the ceiling, rescues her, and drives her away in his heavily armored Batmobile. However, they are forced to proceed on foot when the vehicle crashes. The Joker’s henchmen catch up to Batman, but when they shoot, they discover he is protected by body armor. As Batman fights off his attackers, Vicki secretly snaps photographs. Afterward, he retrieves the Batmobile and leads her to his headquarters in a cave outside the city. Batman shares his findings that the Joker has poisoned hundreds of cosmetics, but the poisoning effects only take hold when certain components are mixed, like hairspray with lipstick and perfume, and provides her with a report to be printed in the Gotham Globe. The next morning, Vicki discovers that Batman stole the film from her camera, but, with the help of Knox, she gets Batman’s story printed on the front page. Unaware that he is Batman, Vicki reprimands Bruce for not returning her calls when he comes to her apartment later that day. He attempts to explain his dual identity, but they are interrupted by the Joker, who aims his gun at Bruce and asks if he “ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight.” Bruce recognizes the phrase, but crumples to the ground when the Joker shoots him. Vicki rushes to Bruce’s aid but finds him gone, realizing that he used her silver tray to stop the bullet. At the Gotham Globe offices, Knox shows Vicki a newspaper clipping about the murder of Bruce’s parents, which he witnessed as a child, and she deduces that the scene of the crime was the spot where Bruce left the roses. In a televised announcement, the Joker tells Gotham’s citizens that he will drop twenty million dollars on the streets at midnight as part of the 200th anniversary celebration, and challenges Batman to a duel. Meanwhile, Bruce looks at the newspaper clipping of his parents’ killing and recalls the shooter asking, “You ever dance with the devil by the pale moonlight?” Bruce suits up as Batman and drives the Batmobile into Axis Chemical Co., where he drops a bomb that destroys the plant. At midnight, the Joker enters Gotham City on a parade float and throws money on the crowd as promised. However, several large balloons tethered to the float release poisoned gas, causing revelers to drop to the ground, lifeless. There to cover the story, Knox orders Vicki inside his car and dons a medical mask as he attempts to fight off the Joker’s goons. Batman flies over the city in his airplane, the Batwing, collecting the poison-filled balloons and sending them into the upper atmosphere. Angry over the stolen balloons, the Joker shoots Bob the Goon dead, then fires at the Batwing, causing it to crash into a church. Vicki rushes to the Batwing, but the Joker kidnaps her and leads her inside the church. Batman emerges from the crash and follows them into a stairwell leading to the belfry. Joker releases one of the bells, which crashes to the first floor and blocks police from entering. However, Batman continues his pursuit and faces off with several of Joker’s henchmen before tussling with the Joker himself. Although Batman knocks him over the side, the Joker lands on a ledge and pulls Batman and Vicki over. As they dangle from the ledge, a helicopter arrives to rescue the Joker, who takes hold of a rope ladder dangling from the aircraft. Batman uses his grapple gun to shoot wire around Joker’s ankle. The other end of the wire is tied to a gargoyle that breaks off the belfry as the Joker is pulled away, but the weight of the gargoyle causes the archvillain to lose his grip, and he plummets to his death. Later, Harvey Dent holds a press conference and reads a letter from Batman, who promises to fight the forces of evil if they return to Gotham City. Dent also reveals a bat-shaped spotlight Batman provided for police to call on him. Viewing the spotlight with a smile, Vicki greets Albert, who awaits her with a car and informs her that Bruce will be a little late for their date.
DIE HARD (1988)
Cast: Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Alexander Godunov
Directors: John McTiernan
Producer: Lawrence Gordon
Writer: Jeb Stuart
Editor: Frank J. Urioste
Cinematographer: Jan de Bont
Genre: Drama
Production Company: Gordon Company , Silver Pictures
Composer: Michael Kamen
New York City police detective John McClane flies to Los Angeles, California, to visit his estranged wife, Holly, and their two children for Christmas. Argyle, an inexperienced limousine driver, picks John up at the airport and drives him to his wife’s office located on the thirtieth floor of Nakatomi Plaza. Uncertain whether Holly will invite him home that night, John enlists Argyle to wait for his call in the underground parking lot. At the lobby desk, he is disappointed to find his wife listed under her maiden name, “Holly Gennaro.” Riding the elevator to the thirtieth floor, John finds himself among revelers at the Nakatomi Corporation’s Christmas party. The President, Joe Takagi, recognizes him and leads him to Holly’s office, where they find her colleague, Harry Ellis, alone at her desk, snorting cocaine. When Holly returns, she is surprised to see John and shows him to the bathroom, where he washes up. Holly invites John to stay at the house and says she has missed him, but he confronts her about using her maiden name. Holly claims the Japanese businessmen prefer to think of a high-powered career woman as single. Holly is called away to make a speech, leaving John behind. Meanwhile, a group of international criminals led by a German man, Hans Gruber, park a truck in the underground parking lot and storm the building, killing two security guards and taking over the lobby desk. An African American computer expert, Theo, hacks into the security system to lock down the building, while John, who has taken off his shirt and shoes, calls Argyle from the bathroom and tells him to keep waiting in his limousine. The phone line goes dead, and John senses something is wrong. Armed with automatic weapons, Hans’s group emerges from the elevator onto the thirtieth floor and takes the partygoers hostage. Hearing shots fired, John pulls his gun and escapes to the emergency stairwell. Railing against the Takami Corporation’s greed, Hans leads Takagi at gunpoint to his office on another floor. There, Hans announces his plan to steal $640 million in bearer bonds stored in the company’s vault, but Takagi claims he cannot provide the necessary access codes. John spies some of the terrorists moving explosives into the building, then sneaks up on Takagi’s office as Hans shoots Takagi dead. After retreating to an unoccupied floor, John pulls a fire alarm, and although police respond, one of the terrorists posing as a security guard, Eddie, convinces the officers that it was a false alarm. Pinpointing the floor where the alarm was pulled, another terrorist, Tony, pursues John. Activating a table saw to lure Tony out, John ambushes the terrorist and the men struggle until they fall down a stairwell, where Tony dies from his injuries. Still barefoot, John tries to steal Tony’s shoes but they are too small. John sends Tony’s corpse down in the elevator to the thirtieth floor with the message, “Now I have a machine gun,” scrawled on Tony's shirt. Tony’s brother, Karl, intends to avenge Tony’s death, but Hans reminds him they must prioritize the robbery. John procures a CB radio and gains access to the roof, where he radios police. Although a policewoman reprimands him for using a secure line, she overhears loud noises as Karl and two of his cohorts shoot at John, and sends Sgt. Al Powell to investigate. Running back inside, John uses the strap of Tony’s machine gun to descend into a ventilation shaft, where he almost falls to his death but saves himself by grabbing onto the edge of an air duct and climbing inside. Sensing John might be inside the duct, Karl shoots at it from below but is drawn away when he learns Sgt. Al Powell is outside the building. John retreats to Takagi’s office where he smashes the window with a chair to get Al’s attention. Two more assassins, Heinrich and Marco, pursue him, but John shoots them both dead. In the lobby, Eddie opens the door for Al, who performs a cursory walk-through and leaves. Before Al drives away, however, John drops Marco’s corpse onto Al’s police car, prompting Al to call for back-up. Hearing Al’s distress call, television reporter Sam Thornberg begs for a news truck to cover the event. Over the CB radio, John tells Al that nine terrorists, led by Hans Gruber, remain, along with roughly thirty hostages on the thirtieth floor of the building. Deputy police chief Dwayne T. Robinson takes Al’s radio and orders John to stand by. Introducing herself as “Miss Gennaro” to Hans, Holly asks to move her pregnant assistant to a couch and requests bathroom breaks for the hostages. In the parking lot, Argyle hears news of the attack over his CB radio and realizes it is taking place above him. While continuing to penetrate the vault’s security system, Theo watches surveillance cameras and announces when four SWAT [Special Weapons and Tactics] members attempt to infiltrate the building’s main floor. As the terrorists fire shots outside, Robinson wants the SWAT members to retreat but their leader insists they keep going. The SWAT men are killed, and two terrorists, James and Alexander, launch a missile at an armored police vehicle when it approaches another corner. John sends an explosive device down the elevator shaft to the floor where James and Alexander operate their rocket launcher, causing a major blast. Police chief Robinson reprimands John over the radio, but John demands to speak to Al, who informs him that he just killed two more terrorists. Holly’s colleague, Harry Ellis, attempts to make a deal with Hans, lying that he and John are longtime friends. Hans gives Ellis his CB radio to contact John; although Ellis tells John that Hans will kill him if John does not produce a bag of detonators that Heinrich was carrying, John refuses, and Hans shoots Ellis. To stall the police, Hans offers a deal: if they release a list of incarcerated revolutionaries in Northern Ireland, Canada, and Sri Lanka, he will release the hostages to awaiting helicopters on the roof. Two FBI agents, “Big” Johnson and “Little” Johnson, arrive, informing Robinson that they are taking over. John comes across Hans, who fakes an American accent and pretends to be a Nakatomi employee, Bill Clay. Identifying himself as a policeman from New York, John enlists Hans’s help, giving him a handgun. However, when Hans points the gun at John and demands the detonators, Hans discovers the gun is not loaded. Terrorists Karl, Fritz, and Franco emerge from the elevator and John shoots them both dead as he retreats, cutting his foot on broken glass. As Karl and Hans return to the thirtieth floor, Holly notices Karl’s frustration and grins, sensing John is still alive. In a bathroom, John removes the glass from his bloodied foot and radios Al, asking him to pass along an apology to Holly in case he dies. He says he should have been more supportive when she was promoted; instead, he allowed her to move to California without him. He asks why Al is just a beat cop, and Al confesses that he accidentally shot a child while on duty. When the FBI cuts power to the building, the vault opens and the terrorists remove the bearer bonds. FBI agents lie to Hans that the prisoners have been released in exchange for the hostages and helicopters are on the way. At the McClane residence, Sam forces his way inside with a news crew to put John and Holly’s children, Lucy and John Jr., on the air. Hans sees the report and realizes Holly and John are married; thus, he takes Holly at gunpoint while the other hostages are ushered to the roof. John realizes Hans is planning to blow up the roof as the helicopters descend, and radios Al to warn him, but Al does not hear. Near the roof, Karl ambushes John and shoots him in the shoulder; however, John overpowers Karl, tying a chain around his neck and leaving him to hang. On the roof, John demands Holly, but the other hostages alert him that Hans took her to the vault. After John sends the hostages back inside, FBI agents in helicopters mistake John for a terrorist and shoot at him. He ties a fire hose around his waist and jumps over the side of the building, shooting through a window and swinging inside just before the hose snaps. As the terrorists’ explosives blow up the roof, John heads to the vault, where he and Hans come to a stand off. Hans holds Holly at gunpoint and forces John to drop his weapon. However, John removes a second gun secretly taped to his back and shoots Hans and Eddie. Hans totters backward and falls through a window, still holding onto Holly’s wrist. Just in time, John undoes Holly’s watch, and the two watch as Hans loses his grip and falls to his death. Reunited, John and Holly kiss. Outside the building, John embraces Al and introduces Holly using her maiden name, but Holly corrects him, identifying herself as “Holly McClane.” Covered in blood, Karl emerges from the building and points his gun at John, but Al shoots him dead before anyone else can react. Excited by the evening’s dramatic turn, Argyle drives his limousine out of the parking lot and picks up Holly and John.
SCARFACE (1983)
Cast: Al Pacino, Steven Bauer, Michelle Pfeiffer
Directors: Brian De Palma
Producer: Louis A. Stroller
Writer: Oliver Stone
Editor: Jerry Greenberg
Cinematographer: John Alonzo
Genre: Drama
Production Company: Universal Pictures
Composer: Giorgio Moroder
In 1980, Fidel Castro allows over 125,000 Cuban refugees to leave the country on boats headed to the United States. Arriving in Florida, Tony Montana, one of the refugees, is questioned by immigration officials. Believing Tony has a criminal history, they detain him and send him to Freedom Town, a refugee camp under a highway. After a month at the camp, Tony’s friend Manny Ray says that he’s found them a job that will earn them green cards and get them out of Freedom Town. A wealthy cocaine dealer named Frank Lopez wants them to assassinate Emilio Rebenga, a former Cuban politician who has just arrived at the camp. Tony agrees, telling Manny that he kills Communists “for fun.” One day, a riot breaks out in Freedom Town, and Manny, aided by a few others, corners Rebenga inside a tent. As the politician tries to escape, Tony stabs him. Later, Tony, Manny, and their accomplices, are awarded green cards and released from custody. In Miami, Tony and Manny work at a food stand where Omar Suarez, an underboss of Frank Lopez, visits them one night. Suarez offers Tony and Manny another job, unloading marijuana off of a boat from Mexico for 500 dollars each. Insulted by the offer, Tony demands more money, and Suarez offers them a better job – retrieving a shipment of Colombian cocaine. Soon after, Tony and Manny are joined by two of their accomplices from Freedom Town, Angel Fernandez and Chi Chi, as they head to a seedy, beachside hotel to pick up the cocaine. While Manny and Chi Chi wait in the car, Tony and Angel arrive at the hotel room of Hector the Toad. Tony becomes irritated when Hector is slow to exchange the cocaine, suspecting that the drug dealer only wants to steal the money Tony was given to purchase the drugs. Two of Hector’s men appear, attacking Angel from behind. Tony is held at gunpoint in the bathroom while Hector dismembers Angel with a chainsaw inside the shower. Manny and Chi Chi arrive just in time to save Tony, shooting down Hector’s henchmen. After Hector escapes through a window, Tony follows him outside and shoots him dead in the crowded street. As police sirens blare nearby, Tony, Chi Chi, and Manny escape with both the money and the cocaine. The next night, Suarez introduces Tony to his boss, Frank Lopez, the owner of the money that Tony recovered from the botched cocaine deal. Frank is impressed by Tony and hires him. Tony meets Frank’s girlfriend, Elvira Hancock, and is attracted to her. Frank takes Tony and Manny out to the decadent Babylon nightclub, and offers two lessons: “Lesson number one – don’t underestimate the other guy’s greed; and lesson number two – don’t get high on your own supply.” Tony dances with Elvira, who scorns him for being low-class. Later, he and Manny try to pick up women on the beach to no avail. Tony tells his friend that they need money and power before American women will take an interest in them. Later, Frank sends Tony and Manny to pick up Elvira, who doesn’t like their Cadillac with tiger-print seat covers. Tony insists they go to a car dealership immediately; there, he purchases an expensive sports car. Leaving Manny behind to work out the details with the car dealer, Tony snorts cocaine in the parking lot with Elvira, who warms to him. Later, Tony visits his estranged mother and sister at their house in a remote part of the city. Though he hasn’t contacted them in five years, Tony’s sister Gina is overjoyed to see him. Tony’s mother is more cautious, suspicious of his criminal lifestyle. When Tony offers them $1,000 in cash, his mother refuses the money, knowing it was earned illegally. Despite Gina’s objections, Tony’s mother disowns him. As he leaves, Gina follows Tony outside where Manny is waiting inside the car. Gina apologizes and expresses her own loyalty to her brother. Driving away, Manny tells Tony that Gina is beautiful, and Tony shouts at Manny to stay away from her. Tony later accompanies Suarez to Bolivia to meet with a drug lord named Alejandro Sosa on Frank’s behalf. During the visit, Sosa discovers that Suarez is a police informant. Sosa’s henchmen then murder Suarez by hanging him from a helicopter mid-air while Frank and Tony watch from the ground. Tony undermines Frank’s authority by negotiating a distribution deal with Sosa himself, and when he gets back, Frank is furious because he feels he cannot sell the large amount of cocaine to which Tony agreed. Defending his choice, Tony tells Frank that he needs to expand his operation to cities outside Miami. One day, Tony visits Frank’s house to see Elvira, and though she fears that Frank will catch them, Tony remains unconcerned. He tells Elvira that he likes her and wants to marry her, and suggests that Frank is finished. Later, Tony sees Gina dancing with a man at the Babylon and becomes enraged. Before he can approach her, Tony is approached by Mel Bernstein, a corrupt police detective. Bernstein accuses Tony of murdering Rebenga and Hector, and offers him police protection in exchange for money and information on rival drug dealers. Frank and Elvira arrive at the club, and Tony joins Elvira at her table as Bernstein leaves. Walking up to the table, Frank tells Tony to move, but Tony refuses, saying that Frank has no right to give him orders. After the confrontation, Frank and Elvira leave, and Tony returns his attention to Gina. As she and her dancing partner go into the men’s bathroom, Tony follows and finds them inside a stall, snorting cocaine. He grabs Gina’s friend and throws him out, then confronts his sister. Manny enters the bathroom and watches as Tony threatens and hits Gina. After Tony walks out, Manny comforts Gina, then drives her home. In the car, Gina expresses her attraction to Manny, but he firmly rejects her, knowing Tony would disapprove. Back at the club, Tony watches the stage show. When a spotlight hits Tony at his table, two assassins with machine guns suddenly open fire from across the room. Tony ducks under the table after taking a bullet to the shoulder, then shoots both of his attackers before fleeing the club. Believing Frank is behind the botched assassination attempt, Tony goes to his office and confirms that Frank ordered the hit. Sensing that Tony plans to kill him, Frank grovels at Tony’s feet, offering money and Elvira in exchange for his life. Tony orders Manny to shoot Frank, and turns his attention to Bernstein, who was meeting with Frank when he walked in. Tony shoots Bernstein twice. Covered in blood, he finds Elvira in the bedroom and tells her to pack her things and join him. Waiting for Elvira in the living room, Tony spots a blimp outside with a digital sign scrolling the message, “The world is yours.” Now the boss of Frank’s cocaine ring, Tony buys a mansion and marries Elvira. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Tony, Manny and Gina are falling in love. With Tony in charge, the business flourishes, but he and Elvira are both addicted to cocaine, and their relationship suffers. Tony becomes increasingly paranoid and suspicious of a van parked outside his estate. The bank informs Tony that he must pay higher fees in order to launder his increasing flow of money. Manny suggests a new contact he recently met who offers a lower rate on money-laundering, and when Tony steps in to handle the deal, he is arrested in a sting operation. After posting a $5 million dollar bail, Tony’s lawyer suggests that he can be cleared of the corruption charges but will not avoid a jail sentence for tax evasion. Fearing the loss of his main distributor, Sosa intervenes, promising that his contacts in Washington, D.C. can clear the charges. However, in exchange, Sosa asks Tony for his help in the assassination of a Bolivian journalist who is threatening to expose Sosa’s operation. Tony reluctantly agrees. Back in Miami, Tony eats dinner at a posh restaurant with Elvira and Manny. Both inebriated, Tony and Elvira argue loudly, and Elvira tells him that she is leaving him and walks out. Tony then goes to New York to assist with the hit Sosa ordered. Sosa’s men wire a bomb to the journalist’s car, but when Tony sees that the journalist is accompanied by his wife and child, he orders them to call off the hit. Before one of the assassins can detonate the bomb, Tony shoots him. He then attempts to call Manny and learns that both he and Gina have been missing for two days. In Miami, Tony calls Sosa, who is furious about the botched hit and rescinds his offer to keep Tony out of jail. Later that night Tony visits his mother, who gives him the address of the house where she believes Gina might be. Tony and two of his men drive to the house to confront his sister. There, he knocks on the door, and Manny answers. When Tony sees Gina, wearing only a robe, he shoots and kills Manny. Crying hysterically, Gina confesses that she and Manny just got married, and they were planning to surprise Tony with the news. Tony’s men pull Gina off of Manny’s corpse and take her back to Tony’s mansion. Assassins swarm Tony’s property as he arrives and heads upstairs, isolating himself in the office, surrounded by mounds of cocaine. No longer crying, Gina steps into Tony’s office, barely clothed, and pretends to seduce him, accusing him of wanting to sleep with her. She then shoots her brother in the leg. As Gina continues to fire shots at Tony, an assassin steps in from the balcony and kills her. Tony pushes the assassin off the balcony, and sees throngs of men invading his property. Back inside, Tony holds Gina’s body, pretending she is not dead, as hired killers infiltrate his mansion. When the assassins reach his office, Tony wields a machine gun and kills several men. During a long firefight, Tony is shot several times. After Tony launches an explosive from the balcony, he is gunned down from behind. Tony’s body falls over the railing and splashes into a fountain below. Atop the fountain is a neon sign with the words, “The World Is Yours.”
THE USUAL SUSPECTS (1995)
Cast: Stephen Baldwin, Gabriel Byrne, Benicio Del Toro
Directors: Bryan Singer
Producer: Bryan Singer
Writer: Christopher McQuarrie
Editor: John Ottman
Cinematographer: Newton Thomas Sigel
Genre: Drama
Production Company: Blue Parrot
Composer: John Ottman
On a ship docked in Southern California, two men survive a heist gone awry: Hungarian gangster Arkosh Kovash, and a criminal with cerebral palsy who goes by the name “Verbal” Kint. As the ship goes up in flames, Kovash is rushed to the hospital to be treated for burns, while Verbal is taken into police custody. He confesses to interrogators that six weeks earlier, in a line-up at a New York City jail, he met four other criminals: Keaton, McManus, Fenster, and Hockney. With the help of Keaton’s lawyer girl friend, the five men—all of whom were innocent of the crime in question—were released. However, they banded together to get revenge on the New York Police Department (NYPD) by holding up a jewel smuggler in cahoots with corrupt policemen. The fivesome stole a collection of emeralds worth millions of dollars. In doing so, they exposed over fifty cops who stood to profit from the smuggled jewels. Verbal explains that he and the others brought the stolen emeralds to California to sell them on the black market. Redfoot, the man who bought them, offered more work to the group, and they agreed. However, the subsequent robbery went poorly. Afterward, they discovered that a lawyer named Kobayashi had masterminded it. Upon meeting him, they learned that Kobayashi was behind the police line-up which had brought them together in the first place. Kobayashi explained that he was acting on behalf of Keyser Soze, a Turkish mob boss seeking to avenge Keaton, McManus, Fenster, Hockney, and Verbal, all of whom had unwittingly crossed him at different times. Kobayashi delivered Keyser Soze’s new orders: the men were to rob a ship run by Argentinian drug smugglers, and destroy the cocaine onboard, worth $91 million. In exchange, they would settle their scores with Soze. Verbal gives an anecdote to illustrate Soze’s brutality, then tells the rest of the story: Fenster was killed for trying to flee before the raid, and the others were scared into submission by Kobayashi, who threatened to hurt their families and loved ones if they didn’t go through with it; once on board the ship, they killed a number of Argentinian and Hungarian mobsters, only to find there was no cocaine; Hockney, McManus and Keaton were killed by an unidentified shooter; and the same man set the ship on fire while Verbal hid on the dock. During Verbal’s interrogation, Arkosh Kovash, the other survivor, has been giving testimony from his hospital bed, in which he claims to have seen Keyser Soze. With the help of a Hungarian translator, he describes Soze to a sketch artist. Meanwhile, Detective Kujan, who has been speaking with Verbal, forms the opinion that Keaton was actually Soze, based on his link to one of the smugglers aboard the ship. Verbal confirms this suspicion, claiming that Keaton masterminded everything. However, he is unwilling to testify in court. Just as Verbal is let out on bail, Kujan realizes he was making up names and facts based on bits of information plucked from a bulletin board inside the room, and the bottom of Kujan’s coffee mug, which reads “Kobayashi.” Kujan rushes after Verbal, who is no longer walking with a limp as he heads down the street, indicating he does not actually have cerebral palsy. Meanwhile, a police sketch is delivered to the station, showing Kovash’s description of Keyser Soze, which is the exact likeness of Verbal. On the street, Verbal barely eludes Kujan as he steals into a car driven by the man he referred to in his testimony as Kobayashi.
GOLDFINGER (1964)
Cast: Sean Connery, Gert Fröbe, Honor Blackman
Directors: Guy Hamilton
Producer: Harry Saltzman
Writer: Richard Maibaum
Editor: Peter Hunt
Cinematographer: Ted Moore
Genre: Adventure, Drama
Production Company: Danjaq, S. A., Eon Productions, Ltd.
Composer: John Barry
Auric Goldfinger, one of the wealthiest and most evil men in the world, is suspected of depleting England's gold reserve through smuggling. Secret agent James Bond is assigned to investigate the matter. He meets Goldfinger at a Miami hotel and learns Goldfinger's method of cheating in high stake card games. Jill, the smuggler's secretary, views the other players' hands through a telescope and relays the information to her boss through his hearing aid. When Jill becomes attracted to Bond, Goldfinger murders her by coating her body with heavy gold paint. Bond then trails Goldfinger's Rolls Royce across Europe to his Alpine headquarters. Tilly Masterson, Jill's sister, is also trailing Goldfinger, but she is killed by Goldfinger's mute Asian servant, Oddjob. Bond learns that the Rolls Royce is solid gold and provides the means for smuggling, but he is captured and flown to Goldfinger's Kentucky headquarters by Pussy Galore, Goldfinger's beautiful pilot. Bond learns that Goldfinger is planning to rob Fort Knox by paralyzing the defense forces with gas sprayed from the planes of Pussy's flying circus, and then blowing up the fort with an atomic bomb borrowed from Communist China. Goldfinger proceeds with the plan, and Bond is handcuffed to the bomb; but, unknown to Goldfinger, Pussy, who has succumbed to Bond's charm, changes sides, and warns Washington. The plot is thwarted, and Bond manages to free himself from the bomb only seconds before detonation and then escapes attack from the razor-brimmed hat of Oddjob. Later, as Bond is being flown to meet the President, with Pussy aboard the Air Force jet, he is confronted by Goldfinger disguised as a U.S. general. During a fight, Goldfinger is killed when he is sucked out of the plane window; Bond and Pussy parachute to safety.
TRAINING DAY (2001)
Cast: Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke, Scott Glenn
Directors: Antoine Fuqua
Producer: Jeffrey Silver
Writer: David Ayer
Editor: Conrad Buff
Cinematographer: Mauro Fiore
Genre: Drama
Production Company: Training Day Productions
Composer: Mark Mancina
Newly assigned to an undercover narcotics unit of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), police officer Jake Hoyt must spend a day with veteran Detective Alonzo Harris, for a performance evaluation. At the start of the day, Harris and Jake stop a drug deal and confiscate what appears to be marijuana. Although Jake declines, Harris insists that he prove his undercover skills by smoking the drugs, eventually forcing him to do so by gunpoint. Afterward, Harris reveals that the marijuana was actually laced with the dangerous hallucinogenic, PCP. He takes the inebriated Jake to visit Roger, a former police officer who now deals drugs. Soon after, in an alleyway, they chance upon two drug addicts who are about to rape a teenage girl. Harris observes as Jake moves in to stop them. As the three scatter, Jake retrieves the girl’s wallet that fell on the ground. Elsewhere, Harris and Jake catch a crack cocaine dealer named Blue, who offers information on a higher-up, Kevin “Sandman” Miller. Harris and Jake go to Sandman’s address, where Harris produces a false search warrant, conducts a raid, and steals $40,000. During lunch time, Jake accompanies Harris to the home of his mistress, Sara, and their son. Afterward, they rendezvous with three corrupt LAPD officials, who warn Harris that the Russian mafia is after him, and urge him to leave town. Harris denies it, claiming the situation is under control. He hands over the $40,000 he just stole in exchange for an arrest warrant, which he uses against Roger, the ex-cop-turned-drug-dealer whom he and Jake visited earlier. With the help of four other crooked cops, Harris confiscates $4 million from Roger’s house. He orders Jake to kill Roger, but Jake will not comply. Harris shoots and kills Roger, himself. Jake wrests Harris’s gun, which prompts a standoff between him and Harris’s cohorts. Harris warns Jake that they could easily kill him and link the incident to the PCP in his bloodstream, thereby forcing him into submission. Later that night, Harris abandons Jake at the home of a gang member named Smiley. Realizing that Smiley was paid to kill him, Jake attempts to flee. A gang member searches him before the planned execution and discovers the wallet of the girl he saved in the alleyway. She happens to be a cousin of Smiley’s. Jake explains that he stopped two men from raping her, and out of gratitude, they spare his life. Jake goes to Sara’s apartment in search of Harris, who is on his way to pay off the Russian mafia with the money he stole from Roger. Harris tries to speed away in his car, but Jake jumps on top of it and causes him to crash. As neighbors crowd around, Harris attempts to bribe them for help, to no avail. He pulls a gun, but Jake stops him with a shot to his backside. Jake seizes Harris’s money and police badge, and heads back to the police station to report him. Harris rushes to the Los Angeles International Airport, hoping to evade capture, but before he makes it there, he is stopped and killed by the Russians. When Jake returns to his home that night, he sees a television news report of Harris’s death.
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Heroes
1. Atticus Finch
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
Cinematographer: Russell Harlan
Production Company: Brentwood Productions, Inc., Pakula-Mulligan Productions, Inc.
2. Indiana Jones
RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981)Cast: Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman
Directors: Steven Spielberg
Producer: George Lucas
Writer: Lawrence Kasdan
Editor: Michael Kahn
Cinematographer: Douglas Slocombe
Production Company: Lucasfilm, Ltd.
3. James Bond
DR. NO (1963)Cast: Sean Connery, Ursula Andress, Joseph Wiseman
Directors: Terence Young
Producer: Harry Saltzman
Writer: Richard Maibaum
Editor: Peter Hunt
Cinematographer: Ted Moore
Production Company: Eon Productions, Ltd.
4. Rick Blaine
CASABLANCA (1943)Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid
Directors: Michael Curtiz
Producer: Jack L. Warner
Writer: Howard W. Koch
Editor: Owen Marks
Cinematographer: Arthur Edeson
Production Company: Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
5. Will Kane
HIGH NOON (1952)Cast: Gary Cooper, Thomas Mitchell, Lloyd Bridges
Directors: Fred Zinnemann
Writer: Carl Foreman
Editor: Elmo Williams
Cinematographer: Floyd Crosby
Production Company: Stanley Kramer Productions, Inc.
6. Clarice Starling
THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (1991)Cast: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn
Directors: Jonathan Demme
Producer: Edward Saxon
Writer: Ted Tally
Editor: Craig McKay
Cinematographer: Tak Fujimoto
Production Company: Strong Heart Productions
7. Rocky Balboa
ROCKY (1976)Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young
Directors: John G. Avildsen
Producer: Irwin Winkler
Writer: Sylvester Stallone
Editor: Richard Halsey
Cinematographer: James Crabe
Production Company: Chartoff-Winkler Productions, Inc.
8. Ellen Ripley
ALIENS (1986)Cast: Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Paul Reiser
Directors: James Cameron
Producer: Gordon Carroll
Writer: James Cameron
Editor: Ray Lovejoy
Cinematographer: Adrian Biddle
Production Company: Brandywine, Twentieth Century Fox Productions Ltd
9. George Bailey
IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1947)Cast: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore
Directors: Frank Capra
Producer: Frank Capra
Writer: Frances Goodrich
Editor: William Hornbeck
Cinematographer: Victor Milner
Production Company: Liberty Films, Inc.
10. T. E. Lawrence
LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (1962)Cast: Peter O'Toole, Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn
Directors: David Lean
Producer: Sam Spiegel
Writer: Robert Bolt
Editor: Anne V. Coates
Cinematographer: F. A. Young
Production Company: Horizon Pictures (G.B.), Ltd.
11. Jefferson Smith
MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON (1939)Cast: Jean Arthur, James Stewart, Claude Rains
Directors: Frank Capra
Producer: Frank Capra
Writer: Sidney Buchman
Editor: Gene Havlick
Cinematographer: Joseph Walker
Production Company: Columbia Pictures Corp.
12. Tom Joad
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.
13. Oskar Schindler
SCHINDLER'S LIST (1993)Cast: Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes
Directors: Steven Spielberg
Producer: Steven Spielberg
Writer: Steve Zaillian
Editor: Michael Kahn
Cinematographer: Janusz Kaminski
Production Company: Amblin Entertainment
14. Han Solo
STAR WARS (1977)Cast: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher
Directors: George Lucas
Producer: Gary Kurtz
Writer: George Lucas
Editor: Paul Hirsch
Cinematographer: Gilbert Taylor
Production Company: Lucasfilm, Ltd.
15. Norma Rae Webster
NORMA RAE (1979)Cast: Sally Field, Ron Leibman, Beau Bridges
Directors: Martin Ritt
Producer: Tamara Asseyev
Writer: Irving Ravetch
Editor: Sidney Levin
Cinematographer: John Alonzo
Production Company: Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp.
16. Shane
SHANE (1953)Cast: Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur, Van Heflin
Directors: George Stevens
Producer: George Stevens
Writer: A. B. Guthrie Jr.
Editor: William Hornbeck
Cinematographer: Loyal Griggs
Production Company: Paramount Pictures Corp.
17. Harry Callahan
DIRTY HARRY (1971)Cast: Clint Eastwood, Harry Guardino, Reni Santori
Directors: Don Siegel
Producer: Robert Daley
Writer: Dean Reisner
Editor: Carl Pingitore
Cinematographer: Bruce Surtees
Production Company: The Malpaso Company
18. Robin Hood
THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD (1938)Cast: Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone
Directors: William Keighley
Producer: Jack L. Warner
Writer: Norman Reilly Raine
Editor: Ralph Dawson
Cinematographer: Sol Polito
Production Company: Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
19. Virgil Tibbs
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.
20. Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid
BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID (1969)Cast: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Katharine Ross
Directors: George Roy Hill
Producer: John Foreman
Writer: William Goldman
Editor: Richard C. Meyer
Cinematographer: Conrad Hall
Production Company: Campanile Productions, Inc.
21. Mahatma Gandhi
MAHATMA GANDHI: 20TH CENTURY PROPHET (1953)Cast: Quentin Reynolds
Producer: Stanley Neal
Writer: Edith Martin
Production Company: American Academy of Asian Studies, Stanley Neal Productions, Inc.
22. Spartacus
SPARTACUS (1960)Cast: Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons
Directors: Stanley Kubrick
Producer: Kirk Douglas
Writer: Dalton Trumbo
Editor: Robert Lawrence
Cinematographer: Russell Metty
Production Company: Universal-International Pictures Co., Inc., Bryna Productions, Inc.
23. Terry Malloy
ON THE WATERFRONT (1954)Cast: Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb
Directors: Elia Kazan
Producer: Sam Spiegel
Writer: Budd Schulberg
Editor: Gene Milford
Cinematographer: Boris Kaufman
Production Company: Horizon-American Pictures, Inc..
24. Thelma Dickerson & Louise Sawyer
THELMA & LOUISE (1991)Cast: Susan Sarandon, Geena Davis, Harvey Keitel
Directors: Ridley Scott
Producer: Ridley Scott
Writer: Callie Khouri
Editor: Thom Noble
Cinematographer: Adrian Biddle
Production Company: Pathe Entertainment
25. Lou Gehrig
THE PRIDE OF THE YANKEES (1943)Cast: Gary Cooper, Teresa Wright, Babe Ruth
Directors: Sam Wood
Producer: Samuel Goldwyn
Writer: Jo Swerling
Editor: Daniel Mandell
Cinematographer: Rudolph Maté
Production Company: Samuel Goldwyn Productions, Inc.
26. Superman
SUPERMAN (1978)Cast: Marlon Brando, Gene Hackman, Christopher Reeve
Directors: Richard Donner
Producer: Pierre Spengler
Writer: Mario Puzo
Editor: Stuart Baird
Cinematographer: Geoffrey Unsworth
Production Company: Dovemead, Ltd., International Film Production Inc.
27. Bob Woodward & Carl Bernstein
ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN (1976)Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford, Jack Warden
Directors: Alan J. Pakula
Producer: Walter Coblenz
Writer: William Goldman
Editor: Robert L. Wolfe
Cinematographer: Gordon Willis
Production Company: Wildwood Enterprises, Inc.
28. Juror #8
12 ANGRY MEN (1957)Cast: Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, Ed Begley
Directors: Sidney Lumet
Producer: Reginald Rose
Writer: Reginald Rose
Editor: Carl Lerner
Cinematographer: Boris Kaufman
Production Company: Orion-Nova Productions
29. General George Patton
PATTON (1970)Cast: George C. Scott, Karl Malden, Michael Bates
Directors: Franklin J. Schaffner
Producer: Frank McCarthy
Writer: Francis Ford Coppola
Editor: Hugh S. Fowler
Cinematographer: Fred Koenekamp
Production Company: Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp.
30. Luke Jackson
COOL HAND LUKE (1967)Cast: Paul Newman, George Kennedy, J. D. Cannon
Directors: Stuart Rosenberg
Producer: Gordon Carroll
Writer: Frank Pierson
Editor: Sam O'Steen
Cinematographer: Conrad Hall
Production Company: Jalem Productions, Inc.
31. Erin Brockovich
ERIN BROCKOVICH (2000)Cast: Julia Roberts, David Brisbin, Dawn Didawick
Directors: Steven Soderbergh
Producer: Danny DeVito
Writer: Susannah Grant
Editor: Anne V. Coates
Cinematographer: Ed Lachman
Production Company: Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Jersey Films, Universal Pictures
32. Philip Marlowe
THE BIG SLEEP (1946)Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, John Ridgely
Directors: Howard Hawks
Producer: Jack L. Warner
Writer: William Faulkner
Editor: Christian Nyby
Cinematographer: Sid Hickox
Production Company: Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
33. Marge Gunderson
FARGO (1996)Cast: Frances McDormand, Steve Buscemi, Peter Stormare
Directors: Joel Coen
Producer: Ethan Coen
Writer: Ethan Coen
Editor: Roderick Jaynes
Cinematographer: Roger Deakins
Production Company: Working Title Films
34. Tarzan
TARZAN THE APE MAN (1932)Cast: Neil Hamilton, C. Aubrey Smith, Maureen O'Sullivan
Directors: W. S. Van Dyke
Editor: Ben Lewis
Cinematographer: Clyde De Vinna
Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp.
35. Alvin York
SERGEANT YORK (1941)Cast: Gary Cooper, Walter Brennan, Joan Leslie
Directors: Howard Hawks
Producer: Jesse L. Lasky
Writer: Howard W. Koch
Editor: William Holmes
Cinematographer: Sol Polito
Production Company: Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
36. Rooster Cogburn
TRUE GRIT (2010)Cast: Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Josh Brolin
Directors: Joel Coen
Producer: Scott Rudin
Writer: Joel Coen
Editor: Roderick Jaynes
Cinematographer: Roger Deakins
Production Company: Mike Zoss Productions , Skydance Productions
37. Obi-Wan Kenobi
STAR WARS (1977)Cast: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher
Directors: George Lucas
Producer: Gary Kurtz
Writer: George Lucas
Editor: Paul Hirsch
Cinematographer: Gilbert Taylor
Production Company: Lucasfilm, Ltd.
38. The Tramp
CITY LIGHTS (1931)Cast: Charlie Chaplin, Virginia Cherrill, Florence Lee
Directors: Charles Chaplin
Writer: Charles Chaplin
Editor: Charles Chaplin
Cinematographer: Mark Marklatt
Production Company: Charles Chaplin Productions
39. Lassie
LASSIE COME HOME (1943)Cast: Roddy McDowall, Donald Crisp, Dame May Whitty
Directors: Fred M. Wilcox
Producer: Samuel Marx
Writer: Hugo Butler
Editor: Ben Lewis
Cinematographer: Leonard Smith
Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp.
40. Frank Serpico
SERPICO (1973)Cast: Al Pacino, John Randolph, Jack Kehoe
Directors: Sidney Lumet
Producer: Martin Bregman
Writer: Waldo Salt
Editor: Dede Allen
Cinematographer: Arthur J. Ornitz
Production Company: De Laurentiis International Manufacturing Company S.p.A., Artists Entertainments Complex, Inc.
41. Charles Edward Chipping
GOODBYE, MR. CHIPS (1939)Cast: Robert Donat, Greer Garson, Terry Kilburn
Directors: Sam Wood
Producer: Victor Saville
Writer: R. C. Sherriff
Editor: Charles Frend
Cinematographer: F. A. Young
Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp.
42. Father Edward
BOYS TOWN (1938)Cast: Spencer Tracy, Mickey Rooney, Henry Hull
Directors: Norman Taurog
Producer: Orville O. Dull
Writer: John Meehan
Editor: Elmo Veron
Cinematographer: Sidney Wagner
Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp.
43. Moses
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (1956)Cast: Charlton Heston, Yul Brynner, Anne Baxter
Directors: Cecil B. DeMille
Producer: Cecil B. DeMille
Writer: Jesse Lasky Jr.
Editor: Anne Bauchens
Cinematographer: Loyal Griggs
Production Company: Paramount Pictures Corp.
44. Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle
THE FRENCH CONNECTION (1971)Cast: Gene Hackman, Fernando Rey, Roy Scheider
Directors: William Friedkin
Producer: G. David Schine
Writer: Ernest Tidyman
Editor: Jerry Greenberg
Cinematographer: Owen Roizman
Production Company: D'Antoni Productions, Inc.
45. Zorro
THE MARK OF ZORRO (1940)Cast: Tyrone Power, Linda Darnell, Basil Rathbone
Directors: Rouben Mamoulian
Producer: Darryl F. Zanuck
Writer: John Taintor Foote
Editor: Robert Bischoff
Cinematographer: Arthur Miller
Production Company: Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp.
46. Batman
BATMAN (1989)Cast: Jack Nicholson, Michael Keaton, Kim Basinger
Directors: Tim Burton
Producer: Jon Peters
Writer: Sam Hamm
Editor: Ray Lovejoy
Cinematographer: Roger Pratt
Production Company: Guber-Peters Company, PolyGram Pictures , Warner Bros. Pictures
47. Karen Silkwood
SILKWOOD (1983)Cast: Meryl Streep, Kurt Russell, Cher
Directors: Mike Nichols
Producer: Mike Nichols
Writer: Nora Ephron
Editor: Sam O'Steen
Cinematographer: Miroslav Ondricek
Production Company: ABC Motion Pictures
48. Terminator
TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY (1991)Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Robert Patrick
Directors: James Cameron
Producer: Gale Anne Hurd
Writer: James Cameron
Editor: Conrad Buff
Cinematographer: Adam Greenberg
Production Company: Carolco, Pacific Western , Lightstorm Entertainment
49. Andrew Beckett
PHILADELPHIA (1993)Cast: Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington, Jason Robards
Directors: Jonathan Demme
Producer: Edward Saxon
Writer: Ron Nyswaner
Editor: Craig McKay
Cinematographer: Tak Fujimoto
Production Company: TriStar Pictures , Clinica Estetico
50. General Maximus Decimus Meridus
GLADIATOR (2000)Cast: Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen
Directors: Ridley Scott
Producer: Douglas Wick
Writer: David Franzoni
Editor: Pietro Scalia
Cinematographer: John Mathieson
Production Company: Scott Free Productions
Villains
1. Dr. Hannibal Lecter
THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (1991)Cast: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn
Directors: Jonathan Demme
Producer: Edward Saxon
Writer: Ted Tally
Editor: Craig McKay
Cinematographer: Tak Fujimoto
Production Company: Strong Heart Productions
2. Norman Bates
PSYCHO (1960)Cast: Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, John Gavin
Directors: Alfred Hitchcock
Producer: Alfred Hitchcock
Writer: Joseph Stefano
Editor: George Tomasini
Cinematographer: John L. Russell
Production Company: Shamley Productions, Inc.
3. Darth Vader
THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (1980)Cast: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher
Directors: Irvin Kershner
Producer: Gary Kurtz
Writer: Leigh Brackett
Editor: Paul Hirsch
Cinematographer: Peter Suschitzky
Production Company: Chapter II Company (Star Wars Corp.), Lucasfilm Limited
4. The Wicked Witch of the West
THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939)Cast: Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger
Directors: Victor Fleming
Producer: Mervyn LeRoy
Writer: Noel Langley
Editor: Blanche Sewell
Cinematographer: Harold Rosson
Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp.
5. Nurse Ratched
ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST (1975)Cast: Michael Berryman, Peter Brocco, Dean R. Brooks
Directors: Milos Forman
Producer: Saul Zaentz
Writer: Bo Goldman
Editor: Lynzee Klingman
Cinematographer: Haskell Wexler
Production Company: Fantasy Films
6. Mr. Potter
IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1947)Cast: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore
Directors: Frank Capra
Producer: Frank Capra
Writer: Frances Goodrich
Editor: William Hornbeck
Cinematographer: Victor Milner
Production Company: Liberty Films, Inc.
7. Alex Forrest
FATAL ATTRACTION (1987)Cast: Michael Douglas, Glenn Close, Anne Archer
Directors: Adrian Lyne
Producer: Stanley R. Jaffe
Writer: James Dearden
Editor: Michael Kahn
Cinematographer: Howard Atherton
Production Company: Jaffe/Lansing Productions
8. Phyllis Dietrichson
DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944)Cast: Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson
Directors: Billy Wilder
Producer: B. G. DeSylva
Writer: Billy Wilder
Editor: Doane Harrison
Cinematographer: John F. Seitz
Production Company: Paramount Pictures, Inc.
9. Regan MacNeil
THE EXORCIST (1973)Cast: Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Lee J. Cobb
Directors: William Friedkin
Producer: William Peter Blatty
Writer: William Peter Blatty
Editor: Bud Smith
Cinematographer: Owen Roizman
Production Company: Hoya Productions, Inc.
10. The Queen
SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS (1938)Cast: Adriana Caselotti, Harry Stockwell, Lucille LaVerne
Producer: Walt Disney
Writer: Ted Sears
Production Company: Walt Disney Productions, Ltd.
11. Michael Corleone
THE GODFATHER PART II (1974)Cast: Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton
Directors: Francis Ford Coppola
Producer: Francis Ford Coppola
Writer: Francis Ford Coppola
Editor: Richard Marks
Cinematographer: Gordon Willis
Production Company: The Coppola Company
12. Alex De Large
A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (1971)Cast: Malcolm McDowell, Patrick Magee, Michael Bates
Directors: Stanley Kubrick
Producer: Stanley Kubrick
Writer: Stanley Kubrick
Editor: Bill Butler
Production Company: Polaris Productions, Inc., Hawks Films Limited
13. HAL 9000
2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968)Cast: Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester
Directors: Stanley Kubrick
Producer: Stanley Kubrick
Writer: Stanley Kubrick
Editor: Ray Lovejoy
Cinematographer: Geoffrey Unsworth
Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc.
14. The Alien
ALIEN (1979)Cast: Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright
Directors: Ridley Scott
Producer: Gordon Carroll
Writer: Dan O'Bannon
Editor: Terry Rawlings
Cinematographer: Derek Vanlint
Production Company: Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp.
15. Amon Goeth
SCHINDLER'S LIST (1993)Cast: Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes
Directors: Steven Spielberg
Producer: Steven Spielberg
Writer: Steve Zaillian
Editor: Michael Kahn
Cinematographer: Janusz Kaminski
Production Company: Amblin Entertainment
16. Noah Cross
CHINATOWN (1974)Cast: Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston
Directors: Roman Polanski
Producer: Robert Evans
Writer: Robert Towne
Editor: Sam O'Steen
Cinematographer: John Alonzo
Production Company: Long Road Productions, Inc.
17. Annie Wilkes
MISERY (1990)Cast: James Caan, Kathy Bates, Frances Sternhagen
Directors: Rob Reiner
Producer: Andrew Scheinman
Writer: William Goldman
Editor: Robert Leighton
Cinematographer: Barry Sonnenfeld
Production Company: Castle Rock Entertainment, Nelson Entertainment
18. The Shark
JAWS (1975)Cast: Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss
Directors: Steven Spielberg
Producer: Richard D. Zanuck
Writer: Peter Benchley
Editor: Verna Fields
Cinematographer: Bill Butler
Production Company: Universal Pictures , Zanuck/Brown Company
19. Captain Bligh
MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY (1962)Cast: Marlon Brando, Trevor Howard, Richard Harris
Directors: Carol Reed
Producer: Aaron Rosenberg
Writer: Charles Lederer
Editor: John McSweeney Jr.
Cinematographer: Robert Surtees
Production Company: Arcola Pictures Corp.
20. Man
BAMBI (1942)Cast: Peter Behn, Hardie Albright, Ann Gillis
Writer: Larry Morey
Production Company: Walt Disney Productions
21. Mrs. John Iselin
THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (1962)Cast: Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Janet Leigh
Directors: John Frankenheimer
Producer: George Axelrod
Writer: George Axelrod
Editor: Ferris Webster
Cinematographer: Lionel Lindon
Production Company: M. C. Productions
22. Terminator
THE TERMINATOR (1984)Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Biehn, Linda Hamilton
Directors: James Cameron
Producer: Gale Anne Hurd
Writer: James Cameron
Editor: Mark Goldblatt
Cinematographer: Adam Greenberg
Production Company: Hemdale Productions
23. Eve Harrington
ALL ABOUT EVE (1950)Cast: Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, George Sanders
Directors: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Producer: Darryl F. Zanuck
Writer: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Editor: Barbara McLean
Cinematographer: Milton Krasner
Production Company: Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp.
24. Gordon Gekko
WALL STREET (1987)Cast: Michael Douglas, Charlie Sheen, Daryl Hannah
Directors: Oliver Stone
Producer: Edward R. Pressman
Writer: Stanley Weiser
Editor: Claire Simpson
Cinematographer: Robert Richardson
Production Company: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, American Entertainment Partners L.P.
25. Jack Torrance
THE SHINING (1980)Cast: Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd
Directors: Stanley Kubrick
Producer: Stanley Kubrick
Writer: Stanley Kubrick
Editor: Ray Lovejoy
Cinematographer: John Alcott
Production Company: Hawk Films Ltd.
26. Cody Jarrett
WHITE HEAT (1949)Cast: James Cagney, Virginia Mayo, Edmond O'Brien
Directors: Raoul Walsh
Producer: Louis F. Edelman
Writer: Ivan Goff
Editor: Owen Marks
Cinematographer: Sid Hickox
Production Company: Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
27. Martians
THE WAR OF THE WORLDS (1953)Cast: Gene Barry, Ann Robinson, Les Tremayne
Directors: Byron Haskin
Producer: George Pal
Writer: Barré Lyndon
Editor: Everett Douglas
Cinematographer: George Barnes
Production Company: Paramount Pictures Corp.
28. Max Cady
CAPE FEAR (1962)Cast: Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum, Polly Bergen
Directors: J. Lee Thompson
Producer: Sy Bartlett
Writer: James R. Webb
Editor: George Tomasini
Cinematographer: Sam Leavitt
Production Company: Melville-Talbot Productions
29. Reverend Harry Powell
THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER (1955)Cast: Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Lillian Gish
Directors: Charles Laughton
Producer: Paul Gregory
Writer: James Agee
Editor: Robert A. Golden
Cinematographer: Stanley Cortez
Production Company: Paul Gregory Productions
30. Travis Bickle
TAXI DRIVER (1976)Cast: Robert DeNiro, Jodie Foster, Albert Brooks
Directors: Martin Scorsese
Producer: Michael Phillips
Writer: Paul Schrader
Editor: Tom Rolf
Cinematographer: Michael Chapman
Production Company: Bill/Phillips Productions, Italo-Judeo
31. Mrs. Danvers
REBECCA (1940)Cast: Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine, George Sanders
Directors: Alfred Hitchcock
Producer: David O. Selznick
Writer: Robert E. Sherwood
Editor: Hal C. Kern
Cinematographer: George Barnes
Production Company: Selznick International Pictures, Inc.
32. Clyde Barrow & Bonnie Parker
BONNIE AND CLYDE (1967)Cast: Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, Michael J. Pollard
Directors: Arthur Penn
Producer: Warren Beatty
Writer: David Newman
Editor: Dede Allen
Cinematographer: Burnett Guffey
Production Company: Tatira-Hiller Productions
33. Count Dracula
DRACULA (1931)Cast: Bela Lugosi, Helen Chandler, David Manners
Directors: Tod Browning
Producer: Carl Laemmle Jr.
Editor: Milton Carruth
Cinematographer: Karl Freund
Production Company: Universal Pictures Corp.
34. Dr. Szell
MARATHON MAN (1976)Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Laurence Olivier, Roy Scheider
Directors: John Schlesinger
Producer: Robert Evans
Writer: William Goldman
Editor: Jim Clark
Cinematographer: Conrad Hall
35. J.J. Hunsecker
SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS (1957)Cast: Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, Susan Harrison
Directors: Alexander Mackendrick
Producer: James Hill
Writer: Clifford Odets
Editor: Alan Crosland Jr.
Cinematographer: James Wong Howe
Production Company: Hecht-Hill-Lancaster, Norma-Curtleigh Productions
36. Frank Booth
BLUE VELVET (1986)Cast: Kyle MacLachlan, Isabella Rossellini, Dennis Hopper
Directors: David Lynch
Producer: Fred Caruso
Writer: David Lynch
Editor: Duwayne Dunham
Cinematographer: Frederick Elmes
Production Company: Blue Velvet Productions
37. Harry Lime
THE THIRD MAN (1950)Cast: Joseph Cotten, Valli, Orson Welles
Directors: Carol Reed
Producer: Carol Reed
Writer: Graham Greene
Editor: Oswald Hafenrichter
Cinematographer: Robert Krasker
Production Company: London Film Productions, Ltd.
38. Caesar Enrico Bandello
LITTLE CAESAR (1931)Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Glenda Farrell
Directors: Mervyn LeRoy
Writer: Francis Edwards Faragoh
Editor: Ray Curtiss
Cinematographer: Tony Gaudio
Production Company: First National Pictures, Inc.
39. Cruella De Vil
ONE HUNDRED AND ONE DALMATIANS (1961)Cast: Rod Taylor, J. Pat O'Malley, Betty Lou Gerson
Directors: Clyde Geronimi
Editor: Donald Halliday
Production Company: Walt Disney Productions
40. Freddy Krueger
A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (1984)Cast: John Saxon, Ronee Blakley, Heather Langenkamp
Directors: Wes Craven
Producer: Robert Shaye
Writer: Wes Craven
Editor: Rick Shaine
Cinematographer: Jacques Haitkin
Production Company: New Line Cinema , Media Home Entertainment, Inc., Smart Egg Pictures
41. Joan Crawford
MOMMIE DEAREST (1981)Cast: Faye Dunaway, Diana Scarwid, Steve Forrest
Directors: Frank Perry
Producer: David Koontz
Writer: Frank Yablans
Editor: Peter E. Berger
Cinematographer: Paul Lohmann
Production Company: Frank Yablans Presentation, Inc., Dunaway/O'Neill Associates, Inc.
42. Tom Powers
THE PUBLIC ENEMY (1931)Cast: James Cagney, Jean Harlow, Edward Woods
Directors: William A. Wellman
Writer: Kubec Glasmon
Editor: Edward M. McDermott
Cinematographer: Dev Jennings
Production Company: Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
43. Regina Giddens
THE LITTLE FOXES (1941)Cast: Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall, Teresa Wright
Directors: William Wyler
Producer: Samuel Goldwyn
Writer: Lillian Hellman
Editor: Daniel Mandell
Cinematographer: Gregg Toland
Production Company: Samuel Goldwyn Productions, Inc.
44. Baby Jane Hudson
WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? (1962)Cast: Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Victor Buono
Directors: Robert Aldrich
Producer: Robert Aldrich
Writer: Lukas Heller
Editor: Michael Luciano
Cinematographer: Ernest Haller
Production Company: Associates & Aldrich Co., Inc.
45. The Joker
BATMAN (1989)Cast: Jack Nicholson, Michael Keaton, Kim Basinger
Directors: Tim Burton
Producer: Jon Peters
Writer: Sam Hamm
Editor: Ray Lovejoy
Cinematographer: Roger Pratt
Production Company: Guber-Peters Company, PolyGram Pictures , Warner Bros. Pictures
46. Hans Gruber
DIE HARD (1988)Cast: Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Alexander Godunov
Directors: John McTiernan
Producer: Lawrence Gordon
Writer: Jeb Stuart
Editor: Frank J. Urioste
Cinematographer: Jan de Bont
Production Company: Gordon Company , Silver Pictures
47. Tony Camonte
SCARFACE (1983)Cast: Al Pacino, Steven Bauer, Michelle Pfeiffer
Directors: Brian De Palma
Producer: Louis A. Stroller
Writer: Oliver Stone
Editor: Jerry Greenberg
Cinematographer: John Alonzo
Production Company: Universal Pictures
48. Verbal Kint
THE USUAL SUSPECTS (1995)Cast: Stephen Baldwin, Gabriel Byrne, Benicio Del Toro
Directors: Bryan Singer
Producer: Bryan Singer
Writer: Christopher McQuarrie
Editor: John Ottman
Cinematographer: Newton Thomas Sigel
Production Company: Blue Parrot
49. Auric Goldfinger
GOLDFINGER (1964)Cast: Sean Connery, Gert Fröbe, Honor Blackman
Directors: Guy Hamilton
Producer: Harry Saltzman
Writer: Richard Maibaum
Editor: Peter Hunt
Cinematographer: Ted Moore
Production Company: Danjaq, S. A., Eon Productions, Ltd.
50. Alonzo Harris
TRAINING DAY (2001)Cast: Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke, Scott Glenn
Directors: Antoine Fuqua
Producer: Jeffrey Silver
Writer: David Ayer
Editor: Conrad Buff
Cinematographer: Mauro Fiore
Production Company: Training Day Productions
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