Movies

The Andy Griffith Show The Greatest Ever

2009-06-26T01:10:00.010+05:30

The Andy Griffith Show is an American sitcom first televised by CBS between October 3, 1960 and April 1, 1968. Andy Griffith portrays a widowed sheriff in a fictional small community of Mayberry, North Carolina. His life is complicated by an inept but well-meaning deputy, Barney Fife (Don Knotts), a spinster aunt and housekeeper, Aunt Bee (Frances Bavier), and a young son, Opie (Ron Howard). Local ne'er-do-wells, bumbling pals, and temperamental girlfriends further complicate his life.

Though neither Griffith nor the show won awards during its eight season run, series co-stars Knotts and Bavier accumulated a combined total of six Emmy Awards. The series was a hit, never placing lower than seventh in the Nielsen Ratings and ending its run at number one. The show spawned a spinoff series Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. (1964), a sequel series, Mayberry R.F.D. (1968), and a reunion telemovie, Return to Mayberry (1986). The show's enduring popularity has generated a good deal of show-related merchandise. Reruns currently air across the United States, and the complete series is available on DVD.

Great Directors - John Ford

2009-03-03T09:53:00.005+05:30

John Ford (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973)[1] was an American film director of Irish heritage famous for both his westerns such as Stagecoach and The Searchers and adaptations of such 20th-century American novels as The Grapes of Wrath. His four Best Director Academy Awards (1935, 1940, 1941, 1952) is a record, although only one of those films, How Green Was My Valley, won Best Picture.

His style of film-making has been influential, leading colleagues such as Ingmar Bergman and Orson Welles to name him as one of the greatest directors of all time. In particular, Ford is a pioneer of location shooting and the long shot which frames his characters against a vast, harsh and rugged natural terrain. Ford has further influenced directors as diverse as Akira Kurosawa, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Sam Peckinpah, Peter Bogdanovich, Sergio Leone, Clint Eastwood, Wim Wenders, Pedro Costa, Judd Apatow, David Lean, Orson Welles, Ingmar Bergman, Quentin Tarantino, John Milius, François Truffaut, and Jean-Luc Godard.

Stagecoach (1939)

2009-03-03T09:52:00.000+05:30

Stagecoach is a 1939 western film directed by John Ford, starring Claire Trevor and John Wayne in his breakthrough role. The screenplay, written by Dudley Nichols and Ben Hecht, is an adaptation of "The Stage to Lordsburg", a 1937 short story by Ernest Haycox. The film follows a group of strangers riding on a stagecoach through dangerous Apache territory.

Although Ford had made many silent films in the Western genre prior to Stagecoach, this was his first with sound. It was also the first of many films which Ford made on location in Monument Valley, in the American southwest on the Arizona-Utah border, many of which also starred John Wayne.

Young Mr. Lincoln (1939)

2009-03-03T09:44:00.001+05:30

Young Mr. Lincoln is a 1939 fictionalized biography/drama film about the early life of President Abraham Lincoln, directed by John Ford and starring Henry Fonda. Ford and producer Darryl F. Zanuck fought for control of the film, to the point where Ford destroyed unwanted takes for fear the studio would use them in the movie. Screenwriter Lamar Trotti was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Writing/Original Story.
In 2003, Young Mr. Lincoln was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

The Grapes of Wrath (1940)

2009-03-03T09:43:00.001+05:30

The Grapes of Wrath is a novel published in 1939 and written by John Steinbeck, who was awarded the Pulitzer Prize and the Nobel Prize for Literature. It is frequently read in high school and college literature classes. A celebrated Hollywood film version, starring Henry Fonda and directed by John Ford, was made in 1940; however, the endings of the book and the movie differ greatly.

Steinbeck wrote The Grapes of Wrath at his home, 16250 Greenwood Lane, in what is now Monte Sereno, California. Set during the Great Depression, the novel focuses on a poor family of sharecroppers, the Joads, driven from their home by drought, economic hardship, and changes in the agriculture industry. In a nearly hopeless situation, they set out for California's Central Valley along with thousands of other "Okies" in search of land, jobs, and dignity.

How Green Was My Valley (1941)

2009-03-03T09:38:00.000+05:30

How Green Was My Valley is a 1941 American drama film directed by John Ford. The film was produced by Darryl F. Zanuck, written by Philip Dunne, and based on the Richard Llewellyn novel of the same name. The film stars Walter Pidgeon, Maureen O'Hara, Anna Lee, Donald Crisp, and Roddy McDowall. It was nominated for ten Academy Awards, [1] winning five and beating out such classics as Citizen Kane, The Maltese Falcon, and Sergeant York for Best Picture.

The film tells the story of the Morgans, a close, hard-working Welsh family at the turn of the twentieth century in the South Wales coalfield at the heart of the South Wales Valleys. It chronicles a socio-economic way of life passing and the family unit disintegrating. In 1990, How Green Was My Valley was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Drums Along the Mohawk (1939)

2009-03-03T09:34:00.000+05:30

Drums Along the Mohawk is a 1939 historical Technicolor film based upon a 1936 novel of the same name by American author, Walter D. Edmonds. The film was produced by Darryl F. Zanuck and directed by John Ford. Henry Fonda and Claudette Colbert portray settlers on the New York frontier during the American Revolution. The couple suffer British, Tory, and Indian attacks on their farm before the Revolution ends and peace is restored. The film was well received, and nominated for two Academy Awards.

My Darling Clementine (1946)

2009-03-03T09:29:00.000+05:30

My Darling Clementine (1946) is a western film, directed by John Ford, and based on the story of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral between the Earp brothers and the Clanton gang. It features an ensemble cast including Henry Fonda, Victor Mature, Walter Brennan, and others.[1] The movie was adapted by Samuel G. Engel, Sam Hellman, and Winston Miller from the book Wyatt Earp, Frontier Marshal by Stuart N. Lake. The title derives from the folk song "Oh My Darling, Clementine", which is sung in the movie. Whole scenes from an earlier version, produced by Sol M. Wurtzel, 1939's Frontier Marshal, directed by Alan Dwan, were reshot by Ford for this remake. In 1991, this film was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.

The Fugitive (1947)

2009-03-03T09:24:00.000+05:30

The Fugitive is a 1947 American-Mexican drama film starring Henry Fonda and directed by John Ford, based on the novel The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene. It was shot on location in Mexico by Mexican cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa.

Rio Grande (1950)

2009-03-03T09:18:00.000+05:30

Rio Grande is a 1950 western film and the third installment of John Ford's "cavalry trilogy", following two RKO Pictures releases: Fort Apache (1948) and She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949). John Wayne stars in all three films, as Captain Kirby Yorke in Fort Apache, then as Captain of Cavalry Nathan Cutting Brittles in She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, and finally as a promoted Lieutenant Colonel Kirby Yorke in Rio Grande (scripts and production billing spell the York/Yorke character's last name differently in Fort Apache and Rio Grande). The film is based on a short story "Mission With No Record" by James Warner Bellah, that appeared in the The Saturday Evening Post on September 27, 1947, and the screenplay was written by James Kevin McGuinness.

How the West Was Won (1962)

2009-03-03T09:06:00.001+05:30

How the West Was Won is a 1962 epic Western film which follows four generations of a family (starting as the Prescotts) as they move ever westward, from western New York state to the Pacific Ocean. Filmed in the Cinerama curving widescreen process, the movie is set between 1839 and 1889.The all-star cast includes Carroll Baker, Walter Brennan, Lee J. Cobb, Andy Devine, Henry Fonda, Carolyn Jones, Karl Malden, Harry Morgan, Gregory Peck, George Peppard, Robert Preston, Debbie Reynolds, James Stewart, Eli Wallach, John Wayne, and Richard Widmark. The introductory, intermediate, and closing narration is voiced by Spencer Tracy.The movie consists of five segments, three directed by Henry Hathaway ("The Rivers", "The Plains" and "The Outlaws"), and one each by John Ford ("The Civil War") and George Marshall ("The Railroad"), with transitional sequences by the uncredited Richard Thorpe. The screenplay was written by John Gay (uncredited) and James R. Webb. Popular western author Louis L'Amour wrote a novelization based on the screenplay.

The picture was one of the last "old-fashioned" epic films made by MGM to enjoy great success. In 1997, How the West Was Won was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Allegheny Uprising (1939)

2008-12-29T23:05:00.000+05:30

Allegheny Uprising is a 1939 film produced by RKO Pictures, starring Claire Trevor and John Wayne as pioneers of early American expansion near the forks of the Ohio in Pittsburgh. Although the film's publicity suggested that filming was on location in and around Pittsburgh, nothing about the film itself supports the notion. Indeed, virtually every location in the film is a recognizable southern California locale, particularly the Lake Sherwood and Sherwood Forest areas.Clad in buckskin and a coonskin cap (as he would be a decade later in The Fighting Kentuckian), Wayne plays real-life James Smith, an American coping with British rule in colonial America. The film is loosely based on a historical event known as the Black Boy Uprising during the 1760's.The film, though entertaining and having since become extremely popular, initially did not fare as well. In Great Britain, the British were, by the film's release, already at war against the Nazi regime, and many felt it was the wrong time to place the British in a bad light.[citation needed] In addition to this, the superficially similar John Ford film Drums Along the Mohawk had been released only one week prior to the release of Allegheny Uprising.

Young Mr. Lincoln (1939)

2008-12-29T21:14:00.000+05:30

Stalag 17 (1953)

2008-12-07T23:14:00.000+05:30

Stalag 17 is a 1953 war film which tells the story of a group of American airmen held in a German World War II prisoner of war camp, who come to suspect that one of their number is a traitor.Produced and directed by Billy Wilder, it starred William Holden, Don Taylor, Robert Strauss, Neville Brand, Harvey Lembeck, and Peter Graves (Strauss and Lembeck both appeared in the original Broadway production); Wilder also cast fellow Austrian film director (and Jew) Otto Preminger in the role of the evil camp commander.
The movie was adapted by Wilder and Edwin Blum from the Broadway play by Donald Bevan and Edmund Trzcinski who were both prisioners in Stalag XVII-B. (Trzcinski appears in the film as a prisoner.) The play was directed by José Ferrer and was the Broadway debut of John Ericson as Sefton. It began its run in May 1951, continued for 472 performances and was based on the experiences of its authors, both of whom were POWs in Stalag 17B in Austria.

The Naked Spur (1953)

2008-12-07T23:08:00.000+05:30

The Naked Spur is a 1953 American western movie directed by Anthony Mann and starring James Stewart in their third collaboration. The screenplay was written by Sam Rolfe and Harold Jack Bloom. The original music score was composed by Bronislau Kaper and the cinematography was by William C. Mellor.

2008-12-07T22:38:00.000+05:30

The Woman in the Window (1944), is a film noir directed by Fritz Lang that tells the story of psychology professor Richard Wanley (Edward G. Robinson) who meets and becomes enamored with a young femme fatale.Based on J. H. Wallis' novel Once Off Guard, the story features two surprise twists at the end. Scriptwriter Nunnally Johnson founded International Pictures Incorporated (his own independent production company) after writing successful films such as The Grapes of Wrath (1940) and other John Ford films, and chose The Woman in the Window as its premiere project. Director Fritz Lang substituted the film's dream ending in place of the originally scripted suicide ending, to conform with the moralistic Production Code of the time.The term "film noir" originated as a genre description, in part, because of this movie. The term first was applied to American films in French film magazines in 1946, the year when The Maltese Falcon (1941), Double Indemnity (1944), Laura (1944), Murder, My Sweet (1944), and The Woman in the Window were released in France.

The Ox-Bow Incident (1943)

2008-12-07T22:29:00.000+05:30

The Ox-Bow Incident is a 1943 western movie directed by William A. Wellman and starring Henry Fonda, Dana Andrews, Mary Beth Hughes, Anthony Quinn, William Eythe, Harry Morgan and Jane Darwell in an ensemble cast. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.[1] In 1998, The Ox-Bow Incident was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.The movie was adapted from the 1940 novel of the same name, written by Walter Van Tilburg Clark.

Treasure Island (1950)

2008-11-24T13:29:00.000+05:30

Treasure Island is a Disney film, based on Robert Louis Stevenson's novel Treasure Island, and was released on July 19, 1950. It starred Bobby Driscoll as Jim Hawkins, and Robert Newton as Long John Silver. It was Disney's first completely live-action film.A sequel to the film, Long John Silver, was released in 1954, with Newton reprising his role of Long John Silver. Newton went on to play Silver again in a TV series, The Adventures of Long John Silver (made 1954-55), also shot at Pagewood Studios Sydney, and started (in Technicolor) before Australia had television!

Meet John Doe (1941)

2008-11-24T13:13:00.000+05:30

Meet John Doe is a 1941 comedy drama film directed and produced by Frank Capra and starring Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck. The film, about a "grassroots" political campaign, created unwittingly by a newspaper columnist and pursued by a wealthy businessman, became a box office hit and was nominated for an Academy Award for best original story (for Richard Connell and Robert Presnell Sr.).
Though the film is less well known than other Capra classics, it remains highly regarded today. It was ranked #49 in AFI's 100 Years... 100 Cheers.

Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

2008-11-24T13:03:00.000+05:30

Miracle on 34th Street (also titled The Big Heart in the UK) is a 1947 film written by Valentine Davies, directed by George Seaton, and starring Maureen O'Hara, John Payne, Natalie Wood and Edmund Gwenn. It is the story of what takes place in New York City following Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, as people are left wondering whether or not a department store Santa might be the real thing.
The film won Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Edmund Gwenn), Best Writing, Original Story (Valentine Davies) and Best Writing, Screenplay. It was also nominated for Best Picture, losing to Gentleman's Agreement.
Davies also penned a short novella version of the tale, which was published by Harcourt Brace simultaneously with the film's release.

Reunion in France (1942)

2008-11-24T12:55:00.000+05:30

Reunion in France (1942) is a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer feature film starring Joan Crawford, Phillip Dorn, and John Wayne in a story about a woman who, suspecting her well-heeled lover has Nazi connections, aids a downed American flyer. The screenplay by Jan Lustig, Marvin Borowsky and Marc Connelly was based upon an original screen story by Leslie Bush-Fekete. The film was directed by Jules Dassin and produced by Joseph L. Mankiewicz.

Night and the City (1950)

2008-09-28T07:44:00.000+05:30

Night and the City (1950) is a film noir based on the novel by Gerald Kersh, directed by Jules Dassin, and starring Richard Widmark and Gene Tierney. Shot on location in London, the plot evolves around an ambitious hustler whose plans keep going wrong.The picture is considered a classic of the film noir genre. Director Dassin later confessed that he never read the novel the movie is based upon. In an interview appearing on The Criterion Collection DVD release, Dassin recalls that the casting of Tierney was in response to a request by Darryl Zanuck, who was concerned that personal problems had rendered the actress "suicidal," and hoped that work would improve her state of mind. The film's British version was five minutes longer, with a more upbeat ending and featuring a completely different film score. Dassin has endorsed the American version as closer to his vision.

Ice-Cold in Alex (1958)

2008-09-28T07:39:00.000+05:30

Ice-Cold in Alex (1958) is a British film based on the novel of the same name by British author Christopher Landon. Directed by J. Lee Thompson and starring the late Sir John Mills, the film was a prizewinner at the Berlin International Film Festival, is frequently shown on television, and is also available on video and DVD.
A recut version of the film — 48 minutes shorter than the original — was released as Desert Attack in 1961 in the US.

I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)

2008-09-28T07:35:00.000+05:30

I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang is a pre-Code 1932 crime/drama film in which Paul Muni stars as a wrongfully-accused escapee from a chain gang. The film was written by Howard J. Green and Brown Holmes from Robert Elliott Burns's autobiography, I Am a Fugitive from a Georgia Chain Gang. It was directed by Mervyn LeRoy.The film was controversial on its release because of its subject matter (it was banned in Georgia) and contributed to the elimination of forced labor in the penal system in the United States.[citation needed.In 1991, I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

The Desert Rats (1953)

2008-09-28T07:31:00.000+05:30

The Desert Rats is a 1953 war film starring Richard Burton and Robert Douglas directed by Robert Wise. It features a cameo appearance by James Mason as General Erwin Rommel.

Alphaville (Godard, 1965)

2008-09-26T17:11:00.000+05:30

Alphaville is a 1965 black-and-white French science fiction film directed by Jean-Luc Godard. Its original French title is Alphaville, une étrange aventure de Lemmy Caution (Alphaville, a Strange Adventure of Lemmy Caution). The film stars Eddie Constantine, Anna Karina, Howard Vernon and Akim Tamiroff. The film won the Golden Bear award of the Berlin Film Festival in 1965.

Alphaville combines the genres of dystopian science fiction and film noir. Although set far in the future on another planet, there are no special effects or elaborate sets; instead, the film was shot in real locations in Paris, the night-time streets of the capital becoming the streets of Alphaville, while modernist glass and concrete buildings represent the city's interiors. In addition, the characters refer to twentieth century events; for example, the hero describes himself as a Guadalcanal veteran.

Eddie Constantine plays Lemmy Caution, a trenchcoat-wearing secret agent. Constantine had already played this role in dozens of previous films; the character was originally created by British pulp novelist Peter Cheyney. However, in Alphaville, director Jean-Luc Godard moves Caution away from his usual twentieth century setting, and places him in a futuristic sci-fi dystopia, the technocratic dictatorship of Alphaville.

The Philadelphia Story (1940)

2008-09-26T17:09:00.000+05:30

The Philadelphia Story is a 1940 romantic comedy film starring Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, and James Stewart, and directed by George Cukor. Based on a Broadway play of the same name by Philip Barry,[1] with screenplay by Donald Ogden Stewart and an uncredited Waldo Salt, the film is about a socialite whose wedding plans are complicated by the simultaneous arrival of her ex-husband and an attractive journalist. It is considered one of the best examples of a comedy of remarriage, a genre popular in the 1930s and 1940s, in which a couple divorce, flirt with outsiders and then remarry – a useful story-telling ploy at a time when depicting extramarital affairs was banned in American film.The play was Hepburn's first great triumph after several movie flops which had led to her being labeled "box office poison", and she purchased the film rights to the play in order to control it as a vehicle for her movie comeback.[2] The film was a great success.The Philadelphia Story was nominated for six Academy Awards, and won two: Stewart for Best Actor and Donald Ogden Stewart for Best Adapted Screenplay. It was adapted in 1956 as the musical High Society, starring Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Louis Armstrong.In 1995, The Philadelphia Story film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.

Paths of Glory (1957)

2008-09-26T16:52:00.000+05:30

Paths of Glory is based loosely on the true story of four French soldiers, under General Géraud Réveilhac, executed for mutiny during World War I; their families sued, and while the executions were ruled unfair, two of the families received one franc each, while the others received nothing.

Great Expectations (1946)

2008-09-26T16:39:00.000+05:30

Great Expectations is a 1946 British film directed by David Lean and based on the novel by Charles Dickens. It stars John Mills, Valerie Hobson, Finlay Currie, Martita Hunt, and Alec Guinness. It was the first of two films Lean directed based on Dickens' novels, the other being his 1948 adaptation of Oliver Twist.

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)

2008-09-25T03:43:00.000+05:30

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is John Huston's 1948 feature film adaptation of B. Traven's 1927 novel of the same name, in which two American down-and-outers (Humphrey Bogart and Tim Holt) in 1920s Mexico hook up with an old-timer (Walter Huston, the director's father) to prospect for gold. The old-timer accurately predicts trouble, but is willing to go anyway. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre was one of the first Hollywood films to be shot almost entirely on location outside the United States (in Tampico, Mexico), although the night scenes were filmed back in the studio. The film is quite faithful to the novel.

A Christmas Carol (1984)

2008-09-25T02:49:00.000+05:30

A Christmas Carol is a 1938 film adaptation of Charles Dickens's novelette.
Made by MGM, and originally intended to star Lionel Barrymore, who played the role of Scrooge annually on radio, but was forced to drop out of the film because of his arthritis, the movie starred Reginald Owen as Scrooge and Gene and Kathleen Lockhart as the Cratchits. Terry Kilburn, better known for his portrayal of Colley in Goodbye, Mr. Chips, costarred as Tiny Tim and a young June Lockhart appeared as one of the Cratchit daughters. Leo G. Carroll played Marley's Ghost. The characters of Fred (Scrooge's nephew), and Elizabeth, his fianceé (his wife in the novelette), were greatly expanded in order to work in a romantic angle to the story that Dickens did not intend. The couple was played by Barry MacKay and Lynne Carver. Ann Rutherford, better known as Polly Benedict in the Andy Hardy films and as Carreen O'Hara in Gone with the Wind, was a young and attractive Ghost of Christmas Past, rather than the somewhat unusual creation that Dickens described. The music for the film was composed by Franz Waxman, in contrast to most MGM films of the period, whose scores were composed by Herbert Stothart.

A Tale of Two Cities (1935)

2008-09-25T02:34:00.000+05:30

A Tale of Two Cities is a 1935 film directed by Jack Conway and Robert Z. Leonard (uncredited), adapted by W.P. Lipscomb and S.N. Behrman from Charles Dickens' novel A Tale of Two Cities.

The film stars Ronald Colman as Sydney Carton, Donald Woods as Charles Darnay, Elizabeth Allan as Lucie Manette and Blanche Yurka as Madame Defarge.

The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.

The 49th Parallel (1941)

2008-09-25T02:21:00.000+05:30

49th Parallel (1941) is the third film made by the British writer-director team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. It was released in the United States as The Invaders. Despite the title, no scene in the movie is set at the 49th parallel, which forms much of the U.S.-Canadian border. The only border scene is at Niagara Falls, which is located further south.

The British Ministry of Information approached Michael Powell to make a propaganda film for them, suggesting he make "a film about mine-sweeping." Instead, Powell decided to make a different film to help sway opinions in the still-neutral United States. Said Powell, "I hoped it might scare the pants off the Americans [and thus bring them into the war]." [1] Screenwriter Emeric Pressburger remarked, "Goebbels considered himself an expert on propaganda, but I thought I'd show him a thing or two." After persuading the British and Canadian governments, Powell started location filming in 1940.

The Night of the Hunter 1955

2008-09-24T04:02:00.000+05:30

The Night of the Hunter is a 1955 film noir, starring Robert Mitchum and Shelley Winters, and the only film Charles Laughton ever directed.[1] The film is based on the novel of the same name by Davis Grubb, adapted for the screen by James Agee and Charles Laughton. The novel and film draw on the true story of Harry Powers, hanged in 1932 for the murders of two widows and three children in Clarksburg, West Virginia. The film's lyric and expressionistic style sets it apart from almost all other Hollywood films of the 1940s and 50s, and has influenced later directors such as David Lynch, Martin Scorsese, Terrence Malick, and the Coen Brothers.

In 1992, The Night of the Hunter was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress and was selected for preservation in their National Film Registry.

Stagecoach (1939)

2008-09-24T03:59:00.000+05:30

It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

2008-09-24T02:29:00.000+05:30

It's a Wonderful Life is a 1946 American film produced and directed by Frank Capra and based on the short story "The Greatest Gift" written by Philip Van Doren Stern.

The film takes place in the fictional town of Bedford Falls shortly after World War II and stars James Stewart as George Bailey, a man whose imminent suicide on Christmas Eve gains the attention of his guardian angel, Clarence Odbody (Henry Travers) who is sent to help him in his hour of need. Much of the film is told through flashbacks spanning George's entire life and narrated by Franklin and Joseph, unseen Angels who are preparing Clarence for his mission to save George. Through these flashbacks we see all the people whose lives have been touched by George and the difference he has made to the community in which he lives.

The film is regarded as a classic and is a staple of Christmas television around the world, although, due to its high production costs and stiff competition at the box office, financially, it was considered a "flop." The film's break-even point was actually $6.3 million, approximately twice the production cost, a figure it never came close to achieving in its initial release.[2] An appraisal in 2006 reported: "Although it was not the complete box-office failure that today everyone believes... it was a major disappointment and confirmed, at least to the studios, that Capra was no longer capable of turning out the populist features that made his films the must-see, money-making events they once were."[3]

It's a Wonderful Life was nominated for five Oscars without winning any, but the film has since been recognized by the American Film Institute as one of the 100 best American films ever made, and placed number one on their list of the most inspirational American films of all time.

12 Angry Men (1957)

2008-09-23T15:27:00.000+05:30

12 Angry Men is an American drama film produced in 1957 by first-time director Sidney Lumet based on the play of the same name by Reginald Rose. It is about a jury member who tries to persuade the other 11 members to acquit the suspect on trial on the basis of reasonable doubt. The film is notable for its almost exclusive use of one set: with the exception of three minutes of screen-time split between the beginning and the end and two short scenes in an adjoining washroom, the entire movie takes place in the jury room.

Apart from two of the jurors swapping names on leaving the courthouse, no names are used in the film: the defendant is referred to as "the boy" and the witnesses as the "old man" and "the lady across the street".

In 2007, 12 Angry Men was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

The Wrong Man (1956)

2008-09-23T15:20:00.000+05:30

The Wrong Man is a 1956 film by Alfred Hitchcock which stars Henry Fonda and Vera Miles. The film is based on a true story of an innocent man charged for a crime he didn't commit, even though witnesses swear he's guilty.

The story was based on the book The True Story of Christopher Emmanuel Balestrero by Maxwell Anderson and the article "A Case of Identity" (Life Magazine, June 29, 1953) by Herbert Brean.

For many years, it has remained one of Hitchcock's least famous films. However it has had a significant influence on many directors. The Wrong Man provoked the longest piece of criticism written by Jean-Luc Godard.

Jamaica Inn (1939)

2008-09-23T14:55:00.000+05:30

Jamaica Inn is a novel by the Cornish writer Daphne du Maurier, first published in 1936. It was later made into a film, also called Jamaica Inn, by Alfred Hitchcock. It is an eerie period piece set in Cornwall in 1820; the real Jamaica Inn still exists and is a pub on the edge of Bodmin Moor[1] . The plot follows a group of murderous wreckers who run ships aground, kill the sailors and steal the loot.

It Happened One Night (1934)

2008-09-23T14:41:00.000+05:30

It Happened One Night is a 1934 screwball comedy directed by Frank Capra, in which a pampered socialite (Claudette Colbert) tries to get out from under her father's thumb, and falls in love with a roguish reporter (Clark Gable). The plot was based on the story Night Bus by Samuel Hopkins Adams, which provided the shooting title. It Happened One Night was one of the last film romantic comedies created before the MPAA began enforcing the 1930 production code in 1934. The final title is an oddity, as the movie takes place over several nights and none is particularly key to the plot.
The film was the first to win all five major Academy Awards (Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, and Screenplay), a feat that would not be matched until One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) and later by The Silence of the Lambs (1991). In 1993, It Happened One Night was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
It was remade as a 1956 musical comedy, You Can't Run Away from It, starring Jack Lemmon and June Allyson.

The Grapes of Wrath (1940)

2008-09-22T10:48:00.000+05:30

The Shop Around the Corner (1940)

2008-09-22T10:40:00.000+05:30

The Shop Around the Corner (1940) is a romantic comedy film, directed by Ernst Lubitsch, and starring James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan.[1] It appears to have been inspired by Parfumerie (1937), a Hungarian play written by Miklós László.[2] This film was ranked #28 on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Passions. In 1999, The Shop Around the Corner was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

2008-09-22T10:01:00.000+05:30

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is a 1939 drama film directed by Frank Capra about one man's effect on American politics. Nominated for 11 Academy Awards – it won Best Screenplay – the film made James Stewart a major movie star. The film also starred Jean Arthur and featured a bevy of well-known supporting actors, among them Claude Rains, Edward Arnold, Guy Kibbee, Charles Lane, and Thomas Mitchell. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington was written by Sidney Buchman, based on Lewis R. Foster's novel, The Gentleman from Montana (although the state is only mentioned once in the movie).

My Man Godfrey (1936)

2008-09-22T09:59:00.001+05:30

The great depression of the 30s, in a way, created inequality in this country. On the one hand, great fortunes were made and many more were lost. In those days Hollywood's idea for escapism was the screwball comedy, with an emphasis in presenting how the privileged classes lived. This was in sharp contrast with what the majority of regular citizens were experiencing.

With that background, Gregory La Cava, a man who knew how to entertain an audience, took the direction of "My Man Godfrey". In the film we are given, on the one hand, what appears to be a city dump near to Sutton Place, one of the richest areas in Manhattan. We are shown a destitute man, Godfrey, who comes in contact with a couple of rich girls out on a scavenger hunt. Godfrey will change their lives forever.

"My Man Godfrey" gathered a distinguished cast. William Powell and Carole Lombard were at the pinnacle of their popularity. Both actors exuded charisma in any film they graced with their charming presence. They both left a mark of distinction in this comedy. Both are elegant and sophisticated, and they make us care about the characters they are playing.

The best thing about those 30s comedies were the marvelous ensemble casts assembled to support the stars. Thus, one is treated to delicious performances by Gail Patrick, Eugene Palette, Alice Brady, Micha Auer, Jean Dixon and Alan Mowbray.

This is a classic film that will live forever.