Stereotype Breaking Films
The oddball films that actors/actresses starred in that breaks their own stereotype. Comedy actors/actress play thrillers, villains playing heroes, heroes playing villains. There is something strange here!!
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- DirectorRobert SiodmakStarsDeanna DurbinGene KellyRichard WhorfA young femme fatale-type woman realizes that the man she married is an incorrigible wastrel.Gene Kelly and Deanna Durbin star in a film noir as a psychopath and a femme fatal. Considering both actors became well known for dancing and comedy, it is a strange film to watch!! 8/10
- DirectorFrank BorzageStarsCharles BoyerJean ArthurLeo CarrilloA wealthy divorcée falls for a charming Parisian, but her insanely jealous ex-husband will do anything to get her back.Jean Arthur plays an abused wife to Colin Clive, and the film is overall a thriller. Jean Arthur plays a character so broken down it is unnerving!! Completely opposite to her stereotype as a strong, independent female lead. It is like watching a woman who is about to give up on life and is eerily quite disturbing. The storytelling is very well done, and definitely worth a watch!! 8.5/10
- DirectorW.S. Van DykeStarsWilliam PowellMyrna LoyJames StewartPrivate detective Nick Charles and his wealthy wife Nora are back home at last and hoping for a quiet New Year when there is a murder. The obvious suspect is his wife, Nora's cousin, Selma.The villain is the reason why this film is on this list. Came out of nowhere, and is very well acted!! 7.5/10
- DirectorPeter GodfreyStarsRonald ReaganShirley TempleRory CalhounMary Hagen lives in a small town in Ohio and goes to Jordon Junior College. For years, there have been whispers, rumors and gossip about who her real parents are. After Tom Bates returns to town, he takes over the house and practice that Judge Merrivale left him following his death. As Tom has been away a number of years, this leads to more gossip and Mary believes that he is her father. The popular and rich Ken loves Mary, but his family and friends constantly remind him that she is 'not one of us'. Julia, a teacher at school encourages Mary but Mary cannot get a break in anything she does, or is accused of doing. Tom knows the answer to her true identity, and he is silent.Shirley Temple is the victim of gossip and ostracization in this film. It is rare to see a comedy actress in a psychological drama, definitely a lovable child star like Shirley Temple. However, that is what you get in this film and it is great!! 7.5/10
- DirectorDavid MillerStarsDoris DayRex HarrisonJohn GavinIn London, a recently-wed American woman's sanity comes into question after she claims to be the victim of a threatening stalker.Doris Day is in a horror film that is actually really well made and unnerving!! 8/10
- DirectorDelmer DavesStarsGlenn FordVan HeflinFelicia FarrBroke small-time rancher Dan Evans is hired by the stagecoach line to put big-time captured outlaw leader Ben Wade on the 3:10 train to Yuma but Wade's gang tries to free him.Glenn Ford plays a very convincing villain here. Eventually, the polite but manipulative demeanor will get on anyone's nerve by the end! 9/10
- DirectorByron HaskinStarsLizabeth ScottDon DeForeDan DuryeaThrough a fluke circumstance, a ruthless woman stumbles across a suitcase filled with $60,000, and is determined to hold onto it even if it means murder.Elizabeth Taylor plays a greedy and murderous housewife in this film. This is actually my first introduction to Elizabeth Taylor and I think is definitely her best performance from the stereotypical heroine. 8.5/10
- DirectorCharles BartonStarsDan DuryeaElla RainesWilliam BendixA wealthy family goes on vacation, leaving their butler in charge of their house. The butler meets a beautiful woman, and soon gets himself in all sorts of trouble.Dan Duryea is a butler. Yeah, that makes sense!! 6.5/10
- DirectorMel GibsonStarsAndrew GarfieldSam WorthingtonLuke BraceyWorld War II American Army Medic Desmond T. Doss, serving during the Battle of Okinawa, refuses to kill people and becomes the first man in American history to receive the Medal of Honor without firing a shot.
- DirectorRobert SiodmakStarsGeorge SandersElla RainesGeraldine FitzgeraldBachelor Harry Quincey, head designer in a small-town cloth factory, lives with his selfish sisters, glamorous hypochondriac Lettie and querulous widow Hester. His developing relationship with new colleague Deborah Brown promises happiness at last...thwarted by passive, then increasingly active opposition from one sister. Will Harry resort to desperate measures?George Sanders is the victim in this. It is rare to see a man who usually plays vile villains to be someone super sympathetic and nice. It is a great change of pace!! 8/10
- DirectorDouglas SirkStarsGeorge SandersLucille BallCharles CoburnBritish police are after a serial killer who lures his female victims through newspaper personal ads and sends cryptic poem clues to the cops.Lucile Ball and George Sanders are romantic leads in this film and it weirdly works!! Plus, it is rare to see Lucille Ball as an undercover cop. 7.5/10
- DirectorKing VidorOtto BrowerWilliam DieterleStarsJennifer JonesJoseph CottenGregory PeckBeautiful, biracial Pearl Chavez becomes the ward of her dead father's first love and finds herself torn between two brothers, one good and the other bad.Gregory Pecks is a rapist in this film and it is incredibly unnerving!! I still don't know whether I love or hate this film!! Definitely controversial.
- DirectorWilliam A. WellmanStarsGregory PeckAnne BaxterRichard WidmarkA pistol-packing tomboy and her grandfather discover a band of bank robbing bandits taking refuge in the neighboring ghost town.Gregory Peck walks a fine line of creep, and hero. Very unpredictable, and a great thriller!! 7.5/10
- DirectorWilliam WylerStarsOlivia de HavillandMontgomery CliftRalph RichardsonA naive young woman falls for a handsome young man her emotionally abusive father suspects is only a fortune hunter.
- DirectorDan TrachtenbergStarsJohn GoodmanMary Elizabeth WinsteadJohn Gallagher Jr.A young woman is held in an underground bunker by a man who insists that a hostile event has left the surface of the Earth uninhabitable.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsJames StewartDoris DayBrenda de BanzieAn American doctor and his wife, a former singing star, witness a murder while vacationing in Morocco, and are drawn into a twisting plot of international intrigue when their young son is kidnapped.
- DirectorCharles LaughtonStarsRobert MitchumShelley WintersLillian GishA self-proclaimed preacher marries a gullible widow whose young children are reluctant to tell him where their real dad hid the $10,000 he'd stolen in a robbery.
- DirectorJohn BrahmStarsLaraine DayRobert MitchumBrian AherneJust before a wedding, the bridegroom hears a complex tale painting his lovely bride as devilish and unbalanced.
- DirectorJohn SturgesStarsSusan PetersAlexander KnoxPhyllis ThaxterA jealous, manipulative stepmother confined to a wheelchair interferes with her stepchildren's romances so that they will not get married and leave home.
- DirectorGeorge StevensJean NegulescoStarsMax von SydowDorothy McGuireCharlton HestonAn all-star, large scale epic movie that chronicles the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.
- DirectorWilliam DieterleStarsCharlton HestonLizabeth ScottViveca LindforsGamblers who "took" an out-of-town sucker in a crooked poker game feel shadowy vengeance closing in on them.
- DirectorJohn McTiernanStarsSean ConneryAlec BaldwinScott GlennIn November 1984, the Soviet Union's best submarine captain violates orders and heads for the U.S. in a new undetectable sub. The American CIA and military must quickly determine: Is he trying to defect or to start a war?
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsCary GrantJean ArthurRita HayworthAt a remote South American trading port, the manager of an air-freight company is forced to risk his pilots' lives in order to win an important contract as a traveling American showgirl stops in town.
- DirectorSergio LeoneStarsHenry FondaCharles BronsonClaudia CardinaleA mysterious stranger with a harmonica joins forces with a notorious desperado to protect a beautiful widow from a ruthless assassin working for the railroad.
- DirectorHenry KingStarsGregory PeckJoan CollinsStephen BoydA man is chasing four outlaws who killed his wife and finds them in a small town's jail, but they escape to Mexico.
- DirectorIrving PichelStarsRobert YoungSusan HaywardJane GreerOn trial for murdering his girlfriend, philandering stockbroker Larry Ballentine takes the stand to claim his innocence and describe the actual, but improbable-sounding, sequence of events that led to her death.
- DirectorTerence YoungStarsAudrey HepburnAlan ArkinRichard CrennaA recently blinded woman is terrorized by a trio of thugs while they search for a heroin-stuffed doll they believe is in her apartment.
- DirectorGavin HoodStarsHarrison FordAsa ButterfieldHailee SteinfeldYoung Ender Wiggin is recruited by the International Military to lead the fight against the Formics, an insectoid alien race who had previously tried to invade Earth and had inflicted heavy losses on humankind.
- DirectorRonald NeameStarsDeborah KerrHayley MillsJohn MillsAn elderly woman hires a governess with a mysterious past to look after her disturbed, spoiled teenage granddaughter, who eventually understands the meaning of self-sacrifice as an example of love and grows into a better person.