Movies: 2833

The film Bonjour Tristesse (1958) is a Technicolor movie in CinemaScope, directed and produced by Otto Preminger. Cécile, a wealthy and unconventional young woman, shares a close bond with her playboy father Raymond. However, she finds herself uninterested in potential suitors and their activities. As she dances to the titular song, she reflects on the events of the previous summer on the French Riviera, wondering if she will ever be happy again. The story then unfolds through flashbacks as Cécile and Raymond holiday on the Riviera with his current mistress Elsa, a shallow and superficial woman. During their vacation, ...

Lafayette Escadrille (1958) is an American war film produced by Warner Bros. It marks the final work of director William A. Wellman, who also wrote the original story. The film follows Thad Walker, a privileged youth from Boston who flees to France during World War I after getting into legal trouble. In Paris, he meets fellow Americans ‘Duke’ Sinclair, Dave Putnam, Tom Hitchcock, and Bill Wellman at a bar where they hear about an exciting new opportunity: joining the recently formed Lafayette Escadrille and becoming volunteer pilots for France. The group enlists and trains together before ultimately becoming ...

Directed by Jodie Copelan and starring Scott Brady and Clint Eastwood, Ambush at Cimarron Pass (1958) is an American Western film. After surviving an ambush, Sergeant Blake and his cavalry squad are escorting prisoner Corbin back to their fort. Corbin had been unsuccessfully attempting to sell repeating rifles to the Apache, which are now in the hands of the cavalry. Along the way, they meet a group of former Confederate soldiers led by Sam Prescott, including young Keith Williams who harbors resentment towards northerners. ...

3:10 to Yuma (1957), a classic American Western film, was directed by Delmer Daves and starred the talented Glenn Ford and Van Heflin. It is based on a short story by Elmore Leonard and tells the gripping story of Dan Evans, a struggling rancher in the Arizona Territory during the 1880s. Evans and his sons witness notorious outlaw Ben Wade and his gang robbing a stagecoach, but when one of the robbers is overpowered, Wade coldly takes matters into his own hands. As they make ...

Saint Joan (1957) is a historical drama film based on the 1923 play by George Bernard Shaw, centered around the life of Joan of Arc. In the year 1456, King Charles VII has recurring visions of Joan, his former army commander who was burned at the stake for heresy twenty-five years prior. In these dreams, he informs Joan that her case has been reviewed and her conviction overturned. Charles reminisces about how she first came into his life as a simple peasant girl at the age of seventeen and how she received divine messages from Saints Catherine and Margaret, foretelling her role in leading the French army against ...

The legal mystery thriller film, Witness for the Prosecution (1957), was directed by Billy Wilder. Despite objections from his private nurse Miss Plimsoll, senior barrister Sir Wilfrid Robarts agrees to defend Leonard Vole. He is recovering from a heart attack and his doctor had warned against taking on criminal cases. Vole is accused of murdering Emily French, a wealthy widow who had named him as her main beneficiary after falling in love with him. When speaking with Vole’s German wife Christine, Sir Wilfrid notices her cold and self-possessed demeanor. However, she does provide an alibi for her husband, although ...

12 Angry Men (1957) is an American legal drama film directed by Sidney Lumet, adapted from a 1954 teleplay of the same name by Reginald Rose. On a hot summer day in the New York County Courthouse, a jury prepares to deliberate the case of an impoverished 18-year-old boy accused of killing his abusive father. The judge instructs them that if there is any reasonable doubt, they must return a verdict of ‘not guilty’. Otherwise, the defendant will face a mandatory death sentence via the electric chair. The verdict must be unanimous. Initially, the evidence seems ...

The Creature Walks Among Us (1956) is an American monster horror film and the third installment in the Creature from the Black Lagoon franchise by Universal Pictures. After escaping from Ocean Harbor Oceanarium in Florida, the Gill-man is pursued by a group of scientists led by Dr. William Barton. As they travel on the Vagabondia III to capture the creature in the Everglades, it becomes evident that Barton is mentally unstable and treats his wife Marcia poorly. His possessiveness and paranoia intensify as their guide Jed Grant continually flirts with Marcia, despite her rejection of his advances. Despite her husband’s ...

Bob the Gambler (1956) is a French heist gangster film directed by Jean-Pierre Melville. He lives alone in Paris’ Montmartre district, where the demi-monde community holds him in high regard. A former bank robber and convict, Bob has kept out of trouble for two decades and is even on friendly terms with Ledru, a police commissioner whom he once saved. Always a gentleman, Bob takes in Anne, an attractive young woman who has lost her job and is being pursued by Marc, a pimp Bob despises. Despite her advances, Bob resists Anne’s charms and instead introduces her to Paolo, his young protégé who ultimately ...

The Killing (1956), an American film noir directed by Stanley Kubrick and produced by James B. Harris, follows the story of Johnny Clay, a seasoned criminal who is planning his final heist before settling down with his fiancée, Fay. His plan involves robbing the money-counting room at a racetrack during a high-stakes race. To pull off the heist, Johnny enlists the help of a corrupt cop, George Peatty (a betting window teller who can gain access to the backroom), a sharpshooter to cause a distraction by shooting the favorite horse during the race, a wrestler to start a ...

The American film, Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (1955) directed by Charles Lamont, tells the story of two Americans stranded in Cairo, Egypt. While there, they overhear a discussion about the mummy Klaris, who guards the Tomb of Princess Ara, and his sacred medallion that reveals the location of her treasure. Along with them, Semu and his followers eavesdrop on this conversation, as does Madame Rontru, a woman hoping to steal the treasure for herself. In an attempt to fulfill their dream to return to America, Abbott and Costello apply for positions to accompany Klaris back home. Tragically, before they can reach ...

Abbott and Costello star in the comedy film, Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops (1955), directed by Charles Lamont. While watching a silent film called ‘Eliza and the Bloodhounds’ at a nickelodeon, Willie Piper gets kicked out for being too expressive. Outside, his friend Harry Pierce shows him an advertisement in the newspaper seeking investors for a motion picture studio. With exactly $5,000 in cash, they are drawn to the opportunity. However, they soon discover that they have been tricked by con man Joe Gorman into purchasing a deed for the West ...

Jack Arnold directed Revenge of the Creature (1955), a 3D monster film. After surviving multiple gunshot wounds, the Gill-man is taken to the Ocean Harbor Oceanarium in Florida for further observation. There, animal psychologist Professor Clete Ferguson and ichthyology student Helen Dobson study him. Despite Joe Hayes’s objections, Helen and Clete develop feelings for each other. Unfortunately, this causes obstacles for Clete’s attempts to communicate with the Gill-man, who seems quite taken with Helen. In the end, the Gill-man breaks free from his tank and fatally injures ...

The film noir, The Desperate Hours (1955), stars Humphrey Bogart and Fredric March and was both produced and directed by William Wyler. It is based on Joseph Hayes’ novel and play of the same name, released in 1954 and 1955 respectively. In the movie, Glenn Griffin leads a trio of escaped convicts who invade a suburban home in Indianapolis at random. They hold the Hilliard family, who reside in the house, hostage while waiting for a package from Griffin’s ...

The British black comedy crime film, The Ladykillers (1955), was directed by Alexander Mackendrick for Ealing Studios. It follows the story of Mrs Wilberforce, a kind and quirky elderly widow who resides in a sinking, crooked home above a railway tunnel in Kings Cross, London. Despite her active imagination and frequent visits to the local police station to report suspicious activity in the neighbourhood, her reports are often dismissed. Things take an interesting turn when she is approached by ‘Professor’ Marcus, a sinister figure seeking to rent rooms in her house. This scene was captured on Argyle Street ...

Rififi (1955) is a French crime film based on the novel of the same name by Auguste Le Breton. Directed by Jules Dassin, an American filmmaker who was blacklisted at the time, it features Jean Servais as the lead character, Tony ‘le Stéphanois’. After serving five years in prison for a jewel heist, Tony finds himself struggling to make ends meet. His friend Jo approaches him with a plan to rob a Parisian jeweler’s store by breaking the window in broad daylight and taking some gems. Initially hesitant, Tony ...

The American black-and-white 3D monster horror film, Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), was produced by William Alland and directed by Jack Arnold. During a geology expedition in the Amazon, a skeletal hand with webbed fingers from the Devonian period is discovered, providing a direct link between land and sea animals. Expedition leader Dr. Carl Maia instructs his two assistants to remain at camp while he visits the marine biology institute. There, he meets up with his friend and former student, ichthyologist Dr. David Reed. After working at an aquarium in California, ...

The American horror comedy film, Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1953), stars the comedy duo of Abbott and Costello, along with Boris Karloff in a co-starring role. While walking home from a pub, newspaper reporter Bruce Adams stumbles upon a murder victim who turns out to be a prominent doctor. The next day, two American policemen named Slim and Tubby are observing London police methods when they are called to break up a brawl at a women’s suffrage rally in Hyde Park. Amidst the chaos, Adams and young suffragette Vicky Edwards get caught up in the ...

When You Read This Letter (1953) is a French-Italian drama film directed by Jean-Pierre Melville. After their parents pass away in a car accident, Thérèse Voise, a strong-willed young woman, leaves her convent just before taking her vows to dedicate herself to taking care of her younger sister Denise and running the family stationery shop. Thérèse is fiercely protective of Denise and becomes worried when she begins spending time with Max, an amateur boxer and mechanic who has a reputation for being self-centered and morally questionable. Max’s lifestyle includes multiple relationships with women at nightclubs and ...

The War of the Worlds (1953) is an American science fiction thriller film directed by Byron Haskin. It is the first of several feature film adaptations of H. G. Wells’ 1898 novel with the same title. A large object crashes near the small town of Linda Rosa, California, where Dr. Clayton Forrester, an atomic scientist, investigates and meets Sylvia Van Buren and her uncle, Pastor Collins. The three then attend an evening square dance but soon return to the crash site where they witness a hatch unscrewing and falling off of the object. As three men try to make contact ...