4 Star Films From Halliwell's Filmgoer's Companion 2008
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- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsLillian GishMae MarshHenry B. WalthallThe Stoneman family finds its friendship with the Camerons affected by the Civil War, both fighting in opposite armies. The development of the war in their lives plays through to Lincoln's assassination and the birth of the Ku Klux Klan.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsLillian GishRobert HarronMae MarshThe story of a poor young woman separated by prejudice from her husband and baby is interwoven with tales of intolerance from throughout history.
- DirectorCharles ChaplinStarsCharles ChaplinEdna PurvianceEric CampbellThe Little Tramp escapes from prison; saves a girl and her mother from drowning; and creates havoc at a swank party.
- DirectorCharles ChaplinStarsCharles ChaplinEdna PurvianceEric CampbellAn alcoholic checks into a health spa and his antics promptly throw the establishment into chaos.
- DirectorCharles ChaplinStarsCharles ChaplinEdna PurvianceEric CampbellA reformed tramp becomes a police constable who must fight a huge thug who dominates an inner-city street.
- DirectorCharles ChaplinStarsCharles ChaplinEdna PurvianceJackie CooganThe Tramp cares for an abandoned child, but events put their relationship in jeopardy.
- DirectorDonald CrispBuster KeatonStarsBuster KeatonKathryn McGuireFrederick VroomTwo spoiled rich people find themselves trapped on an empty passenger ship.
- DirectorSergei EisensteinStarsAleksandr AntonovVladimir BarskiyGrigoriy AleksandrovIn the midst of the Russian Revolution of 1905, the crew of the battleship Potemkin mutiny against the brutal, tyrannical regime of the vessel's officers. The resulting street demonstration in Odessa brings on a police massacre.
- DirectorCharles ChaplinStarsCharles ChaplinMack SwainTom MurrayA prospector goes to the Klondike during the 1890s gold rush in hopes of making his fortune, and is smitten with a girl he sees in a dance hall.
- DirectorClyde BruckmanBuster KeatonStarsBuster KeatonMarion MackGlen CavenderAfter being rejected by the Confederate military, not realizing it was due to his crucial civilian role, an engineer must single-handedly recapture his beloved locomotive after it is seized by Union spies and return it through enemy lines.
- DirectorAlan CroslandStarsAl JolsonMay McAvoyWarner OlandThe son of a Jewish Cantor must defy the traditions of his religious father in order to pursue his dream of becoming a jazz singer.
- DirectorTed WildeHarold LloydLewis MilestoneStarsHarold LloydJobyna RalstonWalter JamesA sheriff's milquetoast son has a chance to prove himself when a medicine show run by con artists comes into town.
- DirectorAbel GanceStarsAlbert DieudonnéVladimir RoudenkoEdmond Van DaëleA film about the French general's youth and early military career.
- DirectorGrigoriy AleksandrovSergei EisensteinStarsBoris LivanovNikolay PopovVasili NikandrovA large-scale view on the events of 1917 in Russia, when the monarchy was overthrown.
- DirectorF.W. MurnauStarsGeorge O'BrienJanet GaynorMargaret LivingstonA sophisticated city woman seduces a farmer and convinces him to murder his wife and join her in the city, but he ends up rekindling his romance with his wife when he changes his mind at the last moment.
- DirectorCarl Theodor DreyerStarsMaria FalconettiEugene SilvainAndré BerleyIn 1431, Jeanne d'Arc is placed on trial on charges of heresy. The ecclesiastical jurists attempt to force Jeanne to recant her claims of holy visions.
- DirectorJames ParrottStarsStan LaurelOliver HardyEdgar KennedyAt a rail crossing, a small fender-bender incident turns into a major tit-for-tat retaliatory war among various motorists.
- DirectorJames W. HorneLeo McCareyStarsStan LaurelOliver HardyJames FinlaysonOllie and Stanley are two Christmas Tree sales reps who get into one of their usual mutual-destruction fights with a disgruntled homeowner.
- DirectorEdgar KennedyStarsStan LaurelOliver HardyWilson BengeMembers of a municipal band, Stanley and Oliver seem to be always following someone else's lead, rather than that of the temperamental conductor. Soon they're out of a job, as well as their lodgings when the landlady finds out they've been fired. The boys try their luck at being street musicians, but the tiffs they get into with each other soon spread to passersby in general, until the street is filled with men pulling each other's pants off.
- DirectorLewis MilestoneStarsLew AyresLouis WolheimJohn WrayA German youth eagerly enters World War I, but his enthusiasm wanes as he gets a firsthand view of the horror.
- DirectorJosef von SternbergStarsEmil JanningsMarlene DietrichKurt GerronAn elderly professor's ordered life spins dangerously out of control when he falls for a nightclub singer.
- DirectorJames ParrottStarsStan LaurelOliver HardyRussell CusterOllie can't find his hat, much to the amusement of his wife and maid. Then Ollie and Stan attempt to install a rooftop radio antenna.
- DirectorRené ClairStarsRaymond CordyHenri MarchandRolla FranceSeeking better life, two convicts escape from prison.
- DirectorCharles ChaplinStarsCharles ChaplinVirginia CherrillFlorence LeeWith the aid of a wealthy erratic tippler, a dewy-eyed tramp who has fallen in love with a sightless flower girl accumulates money to be able to help her medically.
- DirectorRouben MamoulianStarsFredric MarchMiriam HopkinsRose HobartDr. Jekyll faces horrible consequences when he lets his dark side run wild with a potion that transforms him into the animalistic Mr. Hyde.
- DirectorJames WhaleStarsColin CliveMae ClarkeBoris KarloffDr Henry Frankenstein is obsessed with assembling a living being from parts of several exhumed corpses.
- DirectorJames W. HorneStarsStan LaurelOliver HardyHarry BernardStan and Ollie try to hide their pet dog Laughing Gravy from their exasperated, mean tempered landlord, who has a "No Pets" policy.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsPeter LorreEllen WidmannInge LandgutWhen the police in a German city are unable to catch a child-murderer, other criminals join in the manhunt.
- DirectorAlexander KordaStarsRaimuPierre FresnayFernand CharpinMarius is faced with a choice whether to fulfill his passion by sailing the seas or stay and marry the woman he loves.
- DirectorRené ClairStarsAnnabellaRené LefèvreJean-Louis AllibertAn impoverished painter and his rival engage in a race across Paris to recover a jacket concealing a winning lottery ticket.
- DirectorJean RenoirStarsMichel SimonMarcelle HainiaSévérine LerczinskaA bookseller saves a tramp from drowning and shelters him, but the tramp's odd behavior starts to wear everyone down.
- DirectorMarc AllégretStarsRaimuPierre FresnayFernand CharpinAfter Fanny's boyfriend leaves her and sails away, she finds out she's pregnant.
- DirectorJames ParrottStarsStan LaurelOliver HardyBobby BurnsAfter a messy house party while his wife is away, Oliver asks Stanley to help him clean up the place, but free help isn't always a bargain.
- DirectorRouben MamoulianStarsMaurice ChevalierJeanette MacDonaldCharles RugglesA Parisian tailor finds himself posing as a baron in order to collect a sizeable bill from an aristocrat, only to fall in love with an aloof young princess.
- DirectorJames ParrottStarsStan LaurelOliver HardyDinahLike the legendary Sisyphus, deliverymen Laurel and Hardy struggle to push a large crated piano up a seemingly insurmountable flight of stairs.
- DirectorGeorge MarshallStarsStan LaurelOliver HardyBilly GilbertAlthough they are successful fishmongers, Stan convinces Ollie that they should become fishermen too, but making a boat seaworthy is not an easy task.
- DirectorErnst LubitschStarsMiriam HopkinsKay FrancisHerbert MarshallA gentleman thief and a lady pickpocket join forces to con a beautiful perfume company owner. Romantic entanglements and jealousies confuse the scheme.
- DirectorLloyd FrenchStarsStan LaurelOliver HardySamuel AdamsHired to sweep the chimney at Professor Noodle's house, the boys wreck the living-room and end-up in the mad scientist's laboratory where they interact with a rejuvenation potion.
- DirectorLeo McCareyStarsGroucho MarxHarpo MarxChico MarxRufus T. Firefly is named the dictator of bankrupt Freedonia and declares war on neighboring Sylvania over the love of his wealthy backer Mrs. Teasdale, contending with two inept spies who can't seem to keep straight which side they're on.
- DirectorJames WhaleStarsClaude RainsGloria StuartWilliam HarriganA scientist finds a way of becoming invisible, but in doing so, he becomes murderously insane.
- DirectorMerian C. CooperErnest B. SchoedsackStarsFay WrayRobert ArmstrongBruce CabotA film crew goes to a tropical island for a location shoot, where they capture a colossal ape who takes a shine to their blonde starlet, and bring him back to New York City.
- DirectorGeorge CukorStarsFreddie BartholomewFrank LawtonEdna May OliverA gentle orphan discovers life and love in an indifferent adult world.
- DirectorFrank CapraStarsClark GableClaudette ColbertWalter ConnollyA rogue reporter trailing a runaway heiress for a big story joins her on a bus heading from Florida to New York and they end up stuck with each other when the bus leaves them behind at one of the stops along the way.
- DirectorWilliam A. SeiterStarsStan LaurelOliver HardyCharley ChaseWhen Stan and Ollie trick their wives into thinking that they are taking a medicinal cruise while they're actually going to a convention, the wives find out the truth the hard way.
- DirectorJames WhaleStarsBoris KarloffElsa LanchesterColin CliveMary Shelley reveals the main characters of her novel survived: Baron Henry Frankenstein, goaded by an even madder scientist, builds his monster a mate.
- DirectorRichard BoleslawskiStarsFredric MarchCharles LaughtonCedric HardwickeIn early-19th-century France, an ex-convict who failed to report to parole is relentlessly pursued over a 20-year period by an obsessive policeman.
- DirectorSam WoodEdmund GouldingStarsGroucho MarxChico MarxHarpo MarxA sly business manager and the wacky friends of two opera singers in Italy help them achieve success in America while humiliating their stuffy and snobbish enemies.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsRobert DonatMadeleine CarrollLucie MannheimA man in London tries to help a counter-espionage agent, but when the agent is killed and the man stands accused, he must go on the run to save himself and stop a spy ring that is trying to steal top-secret information.
- DirectorMark SandrichStarsFred AstaireGinger RogersEdward Everett HortonAn American dancer comes to Britain and falls for a model whom he initially annoyed, but she mistakes him for his goofy producer.
- DirectorMarcel PagnolStarsRaimuPierre FresnayOrane DemazisHonoré Panisse is dying, cheerfully, with friends, wife, and son at his side. He confesses to the priest in front of his friends; he insists that the doctor be truthful. But, he cannot bring himself to tell his son Cesariot that his real father is Marius, the absent son of César, Cesariot's godfather. Panisse leaves that to Fanny, the lad's mother. Dissembling that he's off to see a friend, Cesariot then seeks Marius, now a mechanic in Toulon. Posing as a journalist, Cesariot spends time with Marius and leaves believing tales he is a petty thief. Only after the truth comes out can Marius, Fanny, César, and Cesariot step beyond the falsehoods, benign though they may be.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsSylvia SidneySpencer TracyWalter AbelWhen a wrongly-accused prisoner barely survives a lynch-mob attack and is presumed dead, he vindictively decides to fake his death and frame the mob for his supposed murder.
- DirectorAlexander KordaStarsCharles LaughtonGertrude LawrenceElsa LanchesterThe respected painter takes to drink and faces down scandal after his wife dies.
- DirectorSam WoodStarsGroucho MarxChico MarxHarpo MarxA veterinarian posing as a doctor teams with a singer and his friends as they struggle to save an upstate New York sanitarium with the help of a misfit racehorse.
- DirectorJean RenoirStarsJean GabinDita ParloPierre FresnayDuring WWI, two French soldiers are captured and imprisoned in a German P.O.W. camp. Several escape attempts follow until they are eventually sent to a seemingly inescapable fortress.
- DirectorMarcel VarnelStarsWill HayMoore MarriottGraham MoffattWith the help of a relative, a hopeless railway employee is made stationmaster of Buggleskelly. Determined to make his mark, he devises a number of schemes to put Buggleskelly on the railway map, but instead falls foul of a gang of gun runners.
- DirectorJames W. HorneStarsStan LaurelOliver HardySharon LynnStanley and Ollie are enlisted to deliver the deed to a goldmine in a small village, only for it to be stolen.
- DirectorMichael CurtizWilliam KeighleyStarsErrol FlynnOlivia de HavillandBasil RathboneWhen Prince John and the Norman Lords begin oppressing the Saxon masses in King Richard's absence in 1190s England, a Saxon lord fights back as the outlaw leader of a resistance movement.
- DirectorSergei EisensteinDmitriy VasilevStarsNikolay CherkasovNikolai OkhlopkovAndrei AbrikosovThe story of how a great Russian prince led a ragtag army to battle an invading force of Teutonic Knights.
- DirectorJohn G. BlystoneStarsStan LaurelOliver HardyPatricia EllisStan, who has remained faithfully at his World War I post for twenty years, finally comes home where his best friend, Ollie, takes him in, thus allowing him to discover the many conveniences of the modern world.
- 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.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsMargaret LockwoodMichael RedgravePaul LukasWhile travelling in continental Europe, a rich young playgirl realizes that an elderly lady seems to have disappeared from the train.
- DirectorAnthony AsquithLeslie HowardStarsLeslie HowardWendy HillerWilfrid LawsonA phonetics and diction expert makes a bet that he can teach a cockney flower girl to speak proper English and pass as a lady in high society.
- DirectorGeorge MarshallStarsMarlene DietrichJames StewartMischa AuerDeputy sheriff Destry tames the town of Bottle Neck, including saloon singer Frenchy.
- DirectorVictor FlemingGeorge CukorSam WoodStarsClark GableVivien LeighThomas MitchellA sheltered and manipulative Southern belle and a roguish profiteer face off in a turbulent romance as the society around them crumbles with the end of slavery and is rebuilt during the Civil War and Reconstruction periods.
- DirectorWilliam DieterleStarsCharles LaughtonMaureen O'HaraCedric HardwickeIn 15th-century France, a gypsy girl is framed for murder by the infatuated Chief Justice, and only the deformed bellringer of Notre Dame Cathedral can save her.
- DirectorMarcel CarnéStarsJean GabinJacqueline LaurentArlettyAfter committing a murder, a man locks himself in his apartment and recollects the events that led him to the killing.
- DirectorFrank CapraStarsJames StewartJean ArthurClaude RainsA naive youth leader is appointed to fill a vacancy in the U.S. Senate. His idealistic plans promptly collide with corruption at home and subterfuge from his hero in Washington, but he tries to forge ahead despite attacks on his character.
- DirectorJean RenoirStarsMarcel DalioNora GregorPaulette DubostA bourgeois life in France at the onset of World War II, as the rich and their poor servants meet up at a French chateau.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsJohn WayneClaire TrevorAndy DevineA group of people traveling on a stagecoach find their journey complicated by the threat of Geronimo and learn something about each other in the process.
- DirectorVictor FlemingKing VidorStarsJudy GarlandFrank MorganRay BolgerYoung Dorothy Gale and her dog Toto are swept away by a tornado from their Kansas farm to the magical Land of Oz, and embark on a quest with three new friends to see the Wizard, who can return her to her home and fulfill the others' wishes.
- DirectorEdward F. ClineStarsW.C. FieldsCora WitherspoonUna MerkelHenpecked Egbert Sousé has comic adventures as a substitute film director and unlikely bank guard.
- DirectorJames AlgarSamuel ArmstrongFord Beebe Jr.StarsLeopold StokowskiDeems TaylorThe Philadelphia OrchestraA series of eight famous pieces of classical music, conducted by Leopold Stokowski and interpreted in animation by Walt Disney's team of artists.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsHenry FondaJane DarwellJohn CarradineAn Oklahoma family, driven off their farm by the poverty and hopelessness of the Dust Bowl, joins the westward migration to California, suffering the misfortunes of the homeless in the Great Depression.
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsCary GrantRosalind RussellRalph BellamyA newspaper editor uses every trick in the book to keep his ace reporter ex-wife from remarrying.
- DirectorHumphrey JenningsHarry WattStarsQuentin ReynoldsKing George VIQueen Elizabeth the Queen MotherA tribute to the courage and resiliency of Britons during the darkest days of the London Blitz.
- DirectorGeorge CukorStarsCary GrantKatharine HepburnJames StewartWhen a rich woman's ex-husband and a tabloid-type reporter turn up just before her planned remarriage, she begins to learn the truth about herself.
- DirectorNorman FergusonT. HeeWilfred JacksonStarsDickie JonesChristian RubMel BlancA living puppet, with the help of a cricket as his conscience, must prove himself worthy to become a real boy.
- DirectorLudwig BergerMichael PowellTim WhelanStarsConrad VeidtSabuJune DuprezAfter being tricked and cast out of Bagdad by the evil Jaffar, King Ahmad joins forces with a thief named Abu to reclaim his throne, the city, and the Princess he loves.
- DirectorWilliam DieterleStarsEdward ArnoldWalter HustonJane DarwellA nineteenth-century New Hampshire farmer makes a pact with Satan for economic success, then enlists famed orator Daniel Webster to extract him from his contract.
- DirectorOrson WellesStarsOrson WellesJoseph CottenDorothy ComingoreFollowing the death of publishing tycoon Charles Foster Kane, reporters scramble to uncover the meaning of his final utterance: 'Rosebud.'
- DirectorHumphrey JenningsStewart McAllisterStarsLeonard BrockingtonJoseph MacleodBud FlanaganA depiction of life in wartime England during the Second World War. Director Humphrey Jennings visits many aspects of civilian life and of the turmoil and privation caused by the war, all without narration.
- DirectorJohn HustonStarsHumphrey BogartMary AstorGladys GeorgeSan Francisco private detective Sam Spade takes on a case that involves him with three eccentric criminals, a gorgeous liar and their quest for a priceless statuette, with the stakes rising after his partner is murdered.
- DirectorPreston SturgesStarsJoel McCreaVeronica LakeRobert WarwickHollywood director John L. Sullivan sets out to experience life as a homeless person in order to gain relevant life experience for his next movie.
- DirectorHarry WattStarsJohn CobbRichard PeirsePercy Charles PickardThe planning and implementation of an RAF night raid on Germany in World War II, concentrating on a low level mission by a Wellington bomber on an oil storage facility by the Rhine.
- DirectorJames AlgarSamuel ArmstrongDavid HandStarsHardie AlbrightStan AlexanderBobette AudreyThe story of a young deer growing up in the forest.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsHumphrey BogartIngrid BergmanPaul HenreidA cynical expatriate American cafe owner struggles to decide whether or not to help his former lover and her fugitive husband escape the Nazis in French Morocco.
- DirectorSam WoodStarsAnn SheridanRobert CummingsRonald ReaganThe dark side and hypocrisy of provincial American life is seen through the eyes of five children as they grow to adulthood at the turn of the century.
- DirectorOrson WellesFred FleckRobert WiseStarsTim HoltJoseph CottenDolores CostelloThe spoiled young heir to the decaying Amberson fortune comes between his widowed mother and the man she has always loved.
- DirectorLuchino ViscontiStarsClara CalamaiMassimo GirottiDhia CristianiGino, a drifter, begins an affair with inn-owner Giovanna, and they plan to get rid of her older husband.
- DirectorErnst LubitschStarsCarole LombardJack BennyRobert StackDuring the German occupation of Poland, an acting troupe becomes embroiled in a Polish soldier's efforts to track down a German spy.
- DirectorFrank CapraAnatole LitvakStarsWalter HustonVictor Bulwer-LyttonKai-Shek ChiangThe official World War II US Government film statement defining the various enemies of the Allies and why they must be fought.
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsFred MacMurrayBarbara StanwyckEdward G. RobinsonA Los Angeles insurance representative lets an alluring housewife seduce him into a scheme of insurance fraud and murder that arouses the suspicion of his colleague, an insurance investigator.
- DirectorLaurence OlivierStarsLaurence OlivierRobert NewtonLeslie BanksIn the midst of the Hundred Years' War, the young King Henry V of England embarks on the conquest of France in 1415.
- DirectorDavid LeanStarsCelia JohnsonTrevor HowardStanley HollowayMeeting a stranger in a railway station, a woman is tempted to cheat on her husband.
- DirectorAlberto CavalcantiCharles CrichtonBasil DeardenStarsMervyn JohnsMichael RedgraveRoland CulverGuests invited to a weekend in the country share their supernatural stories, beginning with Walter Craig, who senses impending doom as his half-remembered recurring dream turns into reality.
- DirectorMarcel CarnéStarsArlettyJean-Louis BarraultPierre BrasseurThe theatrical life of a beautiful courtesan in 1830s Paris and the four men who love her.
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsRay MillandJane WymanPhillip TerryThe desperate life of a chronic alcoholic is followed through a four-day drinking bout.
- DirectorRoberto RosselliniStarsAnna MagnaniAldo FabriziMarcello PaglieroDuring the Nazi occupation of Rome in 1944, the Resistance leader, Giorgio Manfredi, is chased by the Nazis as he seeks refuge and a way to escape.
- DirectorGarson KaninCarol ReedStarsDwight D. EisenhowerLeslie BanksWinston ChurchillA documentary account of the allied invasion of Europe during World War II compiled from the footage shot by nearly 1400 cameramen.
- DirectorWilliam WylerStarsMyrna LoyDana AndrewsFredric MarchThree World War II veterans, two of them traumatized or disabled, return home to the American midwest to discover that they and their families have been irreparably changed.