Classic Cinema
My favourite black and white film from 1928-1958
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23 titles
- DirectorGeorge CukorStarsNorma ShearerJoan CrawfordRosalind RussellA study of the lives and romantic entanglements of various interconnected women.
- DirectorVincente MinnelliBusby BerkeleyStarsEthel WatersEddie 'Rochester' AndersonLena HorneA compulsive gambler dies during a shooting, but he'll receive a second chance to reform himself and to make up with his worried wife.
- DirectorAndrew L. StoneStarsLena HorneBill RobinsonCab Calloway and His Cotton Club OrchestraThe relationship between an aspiring dancer and a popular songstress provides a retrospective of the great African-American entertainers of the early 1900s.
- DirectorNorman TaurogStarsJackie CooperRobert CooganMitzi GreenSkippy, the mischievous son of a wealthy doctor, meets Sooky in poverty-ridden Shantytown, and together they try to save Sooky's pet from a cruel dogcatcher.
- DirectorNorman TaurogStarsJackie CooperRobert CooganJackie SearlSkippy, son of Dr. Herbert and Mrs. Skinner, adamantly stands by his poor friend Sooky Wayne, who lives in Shantytown with his sickly mother. The Boone Boys, a boys' club that costs $30 dollars to join and has uniforms that Sooky admires, refuses to admit him because he is poor. Sooky and Skippy form their own club called the Beagle Boys.
- DirectorWesley RugglesStarsMae WestCary GrantGregory RatoffCircus performer Tira seeks a better life pursuing the company of wealthy New York men with improbable comic complications along the way.
- DirectorNorman Z. McLeodStarsCary GrantConstance BennettRoland YoungA fun-loving couple, finding that they died and are now ghosts, decide to shake up the stuffy lifestyle of a friend of theirs.
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsKatharine HepburnCary GrantCharles RugglesWhile trying to secure a $1 million donation for his museum, a befuddled paleontologist is pursued by a flighty and often irritating heiress and her pet leopard, Baby.
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsCary GrantRosalind RussellRalph BellamyA newspaper editor uses every trick in the book to keep his ace reporter ex-wife from remarrying.
- DirectorFrank CapraStarsCary GrantPriscilla LaneRaymond MasseyA Brooklyn writer of books on the futility of marriage risks his reputation after he decides to tie the knot. Things get even more complicated when he learns on his wedding day that his beloved maiden aunts are habitual murderers.
- DirectorRichard BrooksStarsGlenn FordAnne FrancisLouis CalhernA new English teacher at a violent, unruly inner-city school is determined to do his job, despite resistance from both students and faculty.
- DirectorWilliam WylerStarsBette DavisHenry FondaGeorge BrentIn 1850s Louisiana, a free-spirited Southern belle loses her fiancé due to her stubborn vanity and pride, and vows to win him back.
- DirectorAnatole LitvakStarsErrol FlynnBette DavisAnita LouiseThree daughters of a small town pharmacist undergo trials and tribulations in their problematic marriages between 1904 and 1908.
- DirectorWilliam WylerStarsBette DavisHerbert MarshallTeresa WrightThe ruthless, moneyed Hubbard clan lives in, and poisons, their part of the Deep South at the turn of the twentieth century.
- DirectorVincent ShermanStarsBette DavisClaude RainsWalter AbelPopular and beautiful Fanny Trellis is forced into a loveless marriage with an older man, Jewish banker Job Skeffington, in order to save her beloved brother Trippy from an embezzlement charge.
- DirectorEdwin L. MarinStarsMary CarlisleBuster CrabbeCharles StarrettA campus flirt who has been "pinned" by most of the boys of Sigma Chi fraternity falls for a no-nonsense athlete who doesn't have time for such diversions as women.
- DirectorJean NegulescoStarsJeanne CrainDale RobertsonMitzi GaynorA young woman enters college and learns some hard truths about sorority life, including snobbery and the cruelty of hazing.
- DirectorElia KazanJohn FordStarsJeanne CrainEthel BarrymoreEthel WatersA light-skinned black woman falls in love with a white doctor, though he is unaware of her true race.
- DirectorJohn FarrowStarsAnne ShirleyJames EllisonBarbara ReadAnne Shirley plays Alice Fisher-the daughter of a small grocer who at the last minute gets to go to little Talbot College. She learns that joining a sorority is an essential thing at the school. Unfortunately her late admission means that none of the sororities know about Alice and initially she is not even rushed. Fortunately her roommates have their own sorority problems and she soon falls in love with the BMOC.
- DirectorCharles WaltersStarsJune AllysonPeter LawfordPatricia MarshallGolden Globe winner June Allyson and Peter Lawford star in this enjoyable musical about a football hero who falls in love with his French tutor.
- DirectorJohn M. StahlStarsClaudette ColbertWarren WilliamRochelle HudsonA struggling widow and her daughter take in a Black housekeeper and her fair-skinned daughter; the two women start a successful business but face familial, identity, and racial issues along the way.
- DirectorAlfred L. WerkerStarsBeatrice PearsonMel FerrerSusan Douglas RubesThis story is a true account of the lives of Scott and Marsha Carter. Having graduated from medical school, Scott Carter, a fair-skinned African American, marries Marsha Mitchell and moves to Georgia. When he arrives at the black clinic in Georgia, he discovers that the job must inconveniently go to a Southerner. Discussions between two nurses at this clinic suggest that Scott's light skin may have some bearing on the decision not to hire him. Defeated but not conquered, Scott returns to Massachusetts to live with his in-laws until he can get employment. He tries unsuccessfully to obtain employment as an African American. Because Marsha is pregnant, Scott decides to take a job at Portsmouth Hospital, but he reluctantly does so as a white man. While there, he manages to save the life of Dr. Bracket, who encourages him to take a postion in Keenham, New Hampshire. Scott decides to continue "passing" for white. In Keenham, Dr. Scott Carter proves to be quite a success for the town. For twenty years, Dr. and Mrs. Carter live peacefully in Keenham with son, Howard and daughter, Shelley. All goes well until Scott and Howard decide to enter the military during World War II. When Scott applies for officer status with the Navy, an investigation reveals his black heritage, and he is barred from receiving a commission.
- DirectorJames YoungStarsClara Kimball YoungEarle WilliamsHerbert BarryPart One: The estate of Terrebonne, in Louisiana, had been heavily mortgaged by the owner, Judge Payton, who, when he died, left the estate to his brother's widow and her son George, making Mrs. Peyton the guardian of Zoe, his natural daughter by a quadroon. Zoe is a very attractive girl and wins the heart of George Peyton, who has been pledged to marry his cousin, Dora Sunnyside. Zoe captures other hearts as well. Scudder, a Terrebonne overseer, and McClosky, a slave trader, both fall victims to her charms and rivalry between them becomes intense. The mortgage on Terrebonne is suddenly foreclosed. McClosky discovers that the Free Papers on Zoe were taken out by Judge Peyton after the date of the mortgage, an illegal proceeding. Zoe is therefore an octoroon and still a slave of the estate. McClosky determines to obtain Zoe for himself. Mrs. Peyton is expecting a check that will redeem the mortgage. If McClosky can delay the check, the estate will be sold and he will then be able to buy Zoe. Mrs. Peyton sends Paul, a little slave boy, to fetch the mail, expecting the check with it. On his way back Paul notices the tin-type camera of Scudder, the overseer. He tells Wah-No-Tee, an Indian and his protector, to remove the cap from the camera. McClosky approaches the boy from behind and strikes him with a heavy club. McClosky opens the mail bag and extracts the letter and check, which he places in his bosom. The Indian thinking that the camera is a sort of gun that has killed Paul, smashes it with his club. Then he buries Paul in a nearby cane-brake. Part Two: Zoe is put up for sale. McClosky bids highest. Paul is called and found missing. A search is made and the rifled mail bag found and close to it the club with which the boy had been killed. McClosky points out that the club is the property of the Indian Wah-No-Tee and accuses him of the murder. When the Indian is brought he describes with gestures how he had found the body, of the burial, and of smashing the camera. Scudder picks up his camera and finds that in its fall the dark slide had automatically closed. He takes the plate and develops it. The photograph shows McClosky kneeling by the body and opening the mail bag. The sheriff takes the murderer, and the check is found on him. George Peyton confesses to his mother that he still loves Zoe. She overhears his declaration and knows that as a slave, George cannot marry her. She goes to the slave quarters and gets some toothache cure, which is poisonous. Meanwhile. Wah-No-Tee is on the trail of McClosky, who has escaped. Scudder and the others allow the Indian to wreak his vengeance, return to the house, bearing the check that will redeem the estate and free Zoe. Zoe comes into the house and seeks out Dora Sunnyside whose forgiveness she asks, having won the love of George Peyton, placing Dora's hand in his. Zoe swoons and is brought back to consciousness by Dora and George. She tells George to fill a glass with water and empty the headache medicine into it. Thus, she dies by the hand of the man she loves, just as Scudder enters with the check that would have obtained her freedom.