Little-known gems from classic Hollywood
by Ahdar | created - 02 Dec 2012 | updated - 19 Jan 2013 | PublicEveryone knows Casablanca and Bringing Up Baby, but have you ever watched some of the lesser known gems of the studio system era?
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1. Lili (1953)
Passed | 81 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
An orphaned young woman becomes part of a puppet act and forms a relationship with the anti-social puppeteer.
Director: Charles Walters | Stars: Leslie Caron, Mel Ferrer, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Zsa Zsa Gabor
Votes: 3,935
A dark story that is made sweet by Leslie Caron. Has finally been released on DVD!
2. Brother Orchid (1940)
Passed | 88 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
When retired racket boss John Sarto tries to reclaim his place and former friends try to kill him, he finds solace in a monastery and reinvents himself as a pious monk.
Director: Lloyd Bacon | Stars: Edward G. Robinson, Humphrey Bogart, Ann Sothern, Donald Crisp
Votes: 3,170
A hilarious comedy about a mobster (Edward G. Robinson) who takes refuge in a monastery after his capo (Humphrey Bogart) tries to whack him.
3. Three Men on a Horse (1936)
Approved | 86 min | Comedy, Romance
A meek salesman with an uncanny ability to pick horses is virtually kidnapped by a trio of gamblers.
Director: Mervyn LeRoy | Stars: Frank McHugh, Joan Blondell, Guy Kibbee, Carol Hughes
Votes: 514
Three men believe they have struck gold when they discover a man with a never-fail nose for winners at the track.
4. Larceny, Inc (1942)
Passed | 95 min | Comedy
Three ex-cons buy a luggage shop to tunnel into the bank vault next door. But despite all they can do, the shop prospers...
Director: Lloyd Bacon | Stars: Edward G. Robinson, Jane Wyman, Broderick Crawford, Jack Carson
Votes: 3,146
An ex-con pretends to go straight when he buys a luggage store, but it turns out that it's next door to a bank vault.
5. The Lemon Drop Kid (1951)
Approved | 91 min | Comedy, Crime, Music
A New York City swindler has until Christmas to come up with the $10,000 he owes a gangster, prompting him to go into scamming overdrive.
Directors: Sidney Lanfield, Frank Tashlin | Stars: Bob Hope, Marilyn Maxwell, Lloyd Nolan, Jane Darwell
Votes: 2,260
A con man must pay a mobster the $10,000 he owes him before Christmas or it's the river and cement boots for him.
6. The Sundowners (1960)
Passed | 133 min | Drama, Western
In Australia's Outback during the early twentieth century, the impoverished Carmody family lives a nomadic life out of their wagon, but the mom and son want to settle, while the dad is against it.
Director: Fred Zinnemann | Stars: Deborah Kerr, Robert Mitchum, Peter Ustinov, Glynis Johns
Votes: 4,836
A roving family tries to survive against the odds in the Australian Outback.
7. Page Miss Glory (1935)
Passed | 93 min | Comedy, Romance
A chambermaid impersonates the fictional subject of a composite photo that won a beauty contest, with whom a famed aviator falls in love.
Director: Mervyn LeRoy | Stars: Marion Davies, Pat O'Brien, Dick Powell, Mary Astor
Votes: 1,419
Two men invent a fictional model. When she becomes popular they rope in a country bumpkin chambermaid to impersonate her.
8. The Search (1948)
Approved | 104 min | Drama, War
In post-war Berlin, an American private helps a lost Czech boy find his mother.
Director: Fred Zinnemann | Stars: Montgomery Clift, Ivan Jandl, Aline MacMahon, Wendell Corey
Votes: 4,840
An American GI finds a lost little boy in post-WWII Europe. A moving story nicely acted by all and shot on location.
9. It Happens Every Spring (1949)
Approved | 87 min | Comedy, Family, Sci-Fi
A scientist discovers a formula that makes a baseball which is repelled by wood. He promptly sets out to exploit his discovery.
Director: Lloyd Bacon | Stars: Ray Milland, Jean Peters, Paul Douglas, Ed Begley
Votes: 1,898
Great fantastical baseball fun with wise-cracking Paul Douglas as a bonus.
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