Warchild : Genre : F

Theatrical: 1960

Studio: Sony Pictures

Genre: Fantasy

Duration: 100

Summary: Doctor Gulliver is poor, so nothing - not even his charming fiancée Elisabeth - keeps him in the town he lives. He signs on to a ship to India, but in a storm he's washed off the ship and ends up on an island, which is inhibitated by very tiny people. After he managed to convince them he's harmless and is accepted as one of their citizens, their king wants to use him in war against a people of giants. Compared to them, even Gulliver is a gnome.

Theatrical: 1958

Studio: Sony Pictures

Genre: Fantasy

Duration: 88

Summary: When captain Sindbad and his men land on the island Colossa they are confronted with man-eating cyclops. They can escape with the help of the magician Sokurah and his magic lamp. The lamp which contains a helpful demon unfortunately gets lost. Back in Bagdad the magician performs impressive tricks. He wants to start an expedition back to Colossa to bringing the lamp back in his possession. But the kalif rejects the magicians requests. The malicious Sokurah breaks into the rooms of the princess at night and shrinks the princess to the size of an elf. The magician offers his abilities to heal the princess on next day. But one of the magic potions necessary components must be procured from the island Colossa first. So captain Sindbad sails again to the island Colossa and to the dangers expecting him there...

Theatrical: 1989

Studio: Sony Pictures

Genre: Fantasy

Duration: 127

Summary: Monty Python's Terry Gilliam ("Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas") directs this wild, wild version of the stories of Baron Munchausen, pushing the limits of 1989 special effects technology to bring us such sights as a horse divided in half and running around in two parts, and a giant Robin Williams with his head flying off his shoulders. Basically, this is a treat for Gilliam fans, as the sustaining idea of the film runs out of steam, and manic energy alone keeps the momentum going. Casual viewers might find it tedious after awhile. There are nice parts for fellow Python Eric Idle, as well as Sting, Alison Steadman, and Uma Thurman as a dazzlingly beautiful Venus on a half-shell. Gilliam had greater artistic and commercial success with "Brazil", "The Fisher King", and "12 Monkeys". "--Tom Keogh"

Theatrical: 1937

Studio: Warner Home Video

Genre: Fantasy

Duration: 102

Summary: Sir Robin of Locksley, defender of downtrodden Saxons, runs afoul of Norman authority and is forced to turn outlaw. With his band of Merry Men, he robs from the rich, gives to the poor and still has time to woo the lovely Maid Marian, and foil the cruel Sir Guy of Gisbourne, and keep the nefarious Prince John off the throne.

Theatrical: 1903

Studio: Hepworth Manufacturing Co.

Genre: Fantasy

Duration: 8

Summary:

Theatrical: 1933

Studio: Paramount

Genre: Fantasy

Duration: 76

Summary: On a boring winter afternoon, Alice dreams, that she's visiting the land behind the mirror. This turns out to be a surrealistic nightmare, with all sorts of strange things happening to her, like changing her size or playing croquet with flamingos.

Theatrical: 1999

Studio: Lions Gate

Genre: Fantasy

Duration: 86

Summary: Alice traveled to Wonderland once-but now she takes another journey to a fascinating world with memorable characters...Tweedledum and Tweedledee, Humpty Dumpty, Red King and Queen, Red and White Knights, and Jabberwocky. Join Alice on this enchanted and magical adventure sure to delight and amaze the whole family!

System Requirements:
Running Time 86 Min

Format: DVD MOVIE

Theatrical: 1982

Studio: Anchor Bay

Genre: Fantasy

Duration: 118

Summary: Dar, is the son of a king, who is hunted by a priest after his birth and grows up in another family. When he becomes a grown man his new father is murdered by savages and he discovers that he has the ability to communicate with the animals. After that, Dar begins his quest for revenge in this Conan-like movie.

Theatrical: 1946

Studio: EMS

Genre: Fantasy

Duration: 96

Summary: A half-ruined merchant lives in the country with his son Ludovic and his three daughters. Two of the daughters, Felicie and Adelaide, are real shrews, selfish, pretentious, evil. They exploit the third daughter, Belle, as a servant. One day, the merchant gets lost in the forest and enters a strange castle. He picks up a rose for Belle and the castle's owner appear. He is a monster, half-human, half-beast, and possesses magic powers. He sentences the merchant to death, unless he give up one of his daughters. Belle sacrifices herself for her father and goes to the castle, discovering that the Beast is not so wild and inhuman as it seems.

Theatrical: 2007

Studio: ImageMovers

Genre: Fantasy

Duration: 113

Summary:

Theatrical: 2005

Studio: Anchor Bay

Genre: Fantasy

Duration: 103

Summary:

Theatrical: 1975

Studio:

Genre: Fantasy

Duration: 100

Summary: There is a war in the world between the men and the women. A young girl tries to escape this reality and comes to a hidden place where a strange unicorn lives with a family: Sister, Brother, many children and an old woman that never leaves her bed but stays in contact with the world through her radio. Since the content of this picture is not as important as the pictures and allegories, the simple plot can not be described further.

Theatrical: 2005

Studio: Warner Home Video

Genre: Fantasy

Duration: 115

Summary: When Willy Wonka decides to let five children into his chocolate factory, he decides to release five golden tickets in five separate chocolate bars, causing complete mayhem. The tickets start to be found, with the fifth going to a very special boy, called Charlie Bucket. With his Grandpa, Charlie joins the rest of the children to experience the most amazing factory ever. But not everything goes to plan within the factory.

Theatrical: 2005

Studio: Buena Vista

Genre: Fantasy

Duration: 134

Summary: C.S. Lewis's classic novel "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" makes an ambitious and long-awaited leap to the screen in this modern adaptation. It's a CGI-created world laden with all the special effects and visual wizardry modern filmmaking technology can conjure, which is fine so long as the film stays true to the story that Lewis wrote. And while this film is not a literal translation--it really wants to be so much more than just a kids' movie--for the most part it is faithful enough to the story, and whatever faults it has are happily faults of overreaching, and not of holding back. "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" tells the story of the four Pevensie children, Lucy, Peter, Edmund, and Susan, and their adventures in the mystical world of Narnia. Sent to the British countryside for their own safety during the blitz of World War II, they discover an entryway into a mystical world through an old wardrobe. Narnia is inhabited by mythical, anthropomorphic creatures suffering under the hundred-year rule of the cruel White Witch (Tilda Swinton, in a standout role). The arrival of the children gives the creatures of Narnia hope for liberation, and all are dragged into the inevitable conflict between evil (the Witch) and good (Aslan the Lion, the Messiah figure, regally voiced by Liam Neeson).
Director (and co-screenwriter) Andrew Adamson, a veteran of the "Shrek" franchise, knows his way around a fantasy-based adventure story, and he wisely keeps the story moving when it could easily become bogged down and tiresome. Narnia is, of course, a Christian allegory and the symbology is definitely there (as it should be, otherwise it wouldn't be the story Lewis wrote), but audiences aren't knocked over the head with it, and in the hands of another director it could easily have become pedantic. The focus is squarely on the children and their adventures. The four young actors are respectable in their roles, especially considering the size of the project put on their shoulders, but it's the young Georgie Henley as the curious Lucy who stands out. This isn't a film that wildly succeeds, and in the long run it won't have the same impact as the "Harry Potter" franchise, but it is well done, and kids will get swept up in the adventure. Note: "Narnia" does contain battle scenes that some parents may consider too violent for younger children. "--Dan Vancini"

Theatrical: 1995

Studio: Sony Pictures

Genre: Fantasy

Duration: 112

Summary: The fantastic visions of Belgian filmmakers Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet find full fruition in this fairy tale for adults. Evoking utopias and dystopias from "Brazil" to "Peter Pan", Caro and Jeunet create a vivid but menacing fantasy city in a perpetually twilight world. In this rough port town lives circus strongman One (Ron Perlman), who wanders the alleys and waterfront dives looking for his baby brother, snatched from him by a mysterious gang preying upon the children of the town. Rising from the harbor is an enigmatic castle where lives the evil scientist Krank (Daniel Emilfork), who has lost the ability to dream and robs the nocturnal visions of the children he kidnaps, but receives only mad nightmares from the lonely cherubs. Other wild characters include the Fagin-like Octopus--Siamese twin sisters who control a small gang of runaways-turned-thieves--Krank's six cloned henchmen (all played by the memorable Dominique Pinon from "Delicatessen"), and a giant brain floating in an aquarium (voiced by Jean-Louis Trintignant). Caro and Jeunet are kindred souls to Terry Gilliam (who is a vocal fan), creating imaginative flights of fancy built of equal parts delight and dread, which seem to be painted on the screen in rich, dreamy colors. "--Sean Axmaker"

Theatrical: 1981

Studio: Warner Home Video

Genre: Fantasy

Duration: 118

Summary: Perseus has to rescue Andromeda, before she has to marry a monster. Zeus has set up a few tests for Perseus on the way, like capturing Pegasus, defeating Medusa, and finding a way to kill the dreaded Kraken...

Theatrical: 1982

Studio: Dino De Laurentiis

Genre: Fantasy

Duration: 129

Summary: A barbarian trained in the arts of war joins with thieves in a quest to solve the riddle of steel and find the sorcerer responsible for the genocide of his people in this faithful adaptation of Robert E. Howard's sword and sorcery adventures. This film briefly sparked a wave of fantasy films including the sequel, Conan the Destroyer, in the early 80s.

Theatrical: 2006

Studio: Kam & Ronson Enterprise

Genre: Fantasy

Duration: 120

Summary: These LIVE ACTION MOVIES is based on Takeshi Obata & Tsugumi Oba's's best selling graphic novels, "Death Note". Light Yagami finds the "Death Note," a notebook with the power to kill, and decides to create a Utopia by killing the world's criminals, and soon the world's greatest detective, "L," is hired to find the perpetrator. An all out battle between the greatest minds on earth begins, the winner controlling the world.

Theatrical: 1934

Studio:

Genre: Fantasy

Duration: 79

Summary: Death decides to take a holiday from his usual business to see what it is like to be a mortal. Posing as Prince Sirki, he spends 3 days with Duke Lambert and his guests at his dukal estate. Several of the women are attracted to the mysterious prince, but shy away from him when they sense his true nature. But Grazia, the beautiful young woman whom the Duke thought was to marry his son, loves him even when she knows who he is.

Theatrical: 1984

Studio:

Genre: Fantasy

Summary:

Theatrical: 1985

Studio: MGM

Genre: Fantasy

Duration: 128

Summary: A rarely screened cult favorite from Paul Verhoeven, this story of medieval war and revenge should please action fans and admirers of the director and his semi-regular leading man, Rutger Hauer, but its graphic scenes of sexual violence earmark it for mature viewers only. Hauer stars as a 16th-century mercenary hired by a Western European ruler (Fernando Hilbeck) to assault a neighboring kingdom; when the king reneges on his promises to Hauer and his men, they kidnap his son's fiancee (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and hole up in a nearby castle. Hauer and Leigh are standouts in a strong cast that includes Tom Burlinson, Bruno Kirby, the late Brion James, and Susan Tyrrell; Verhoeven's realistic approach to the down-and-dirty facts of medieval life and the bloody aftermath of warfare offers a refreshing alternative to most Hollywood period films, but a pair of brutal rape scenes may be too much for some audiences. MGM's DVD is widescreen. "--Paul Gaita"

Theatrical: 1974

Studio: Sony Pictures

Genre: Fantasy

Duration: 105

Summary: Sinbad and his crew intercept a homunculus carrying a golden tablet. Koura, the creator of the homunculus and practitioner of evil magic, wants the tablet back and pursues Sinbad. Meanwhile Sinbad meets the Vizier who has another part of the interlocking golden map, and they mount a quest across the seas to solve the riddle of the map, accompanied by a slave girl with a mysterious tattoo of an eye on her palm. They encounter strange beasts, tempests, and the dark interference of Koura along the way.

Theatrical: 1941

Studio: Columbia

Genre: Fantasy

Duration: 94

Summary: Boxer Joe Pendleton, flying to his next fight, crashes...because a Heavenly Messenger, new on the job, snatched Joe's spirit prematurely from his body. Before the matter can be rectified, Joe's body is cremated; so the celestial Mr. Jordan grants him the use of the body of wealthy Bruce Farnsworth, who's just been murdered by his wife. Joe tries to remake Farnsworth's unworthy life in his own clean-cut image, but then falls in love; and what about that murderous wife?

Theatrical: 1963

Studio: Sony Pictures

Genre: Fantasy

Duration: 104

Summary: Arguably the most intelligently written film to feature the masterful stop-motion animation of Ray Harryhausen, "Jason and the Argonauts" is a colorful adventure that takes full advantage of Harryhausen's "Dynarama" process. Inspired by the Greek myth, the story begins when the fearless explorer Jason (Todd Armstrong) returns to the kingdom of Thessaly to make his rightful claim to the throne, but the gods proclaim that he must first find the magical Golden Fleece. Consulting Hera, the queen of gods, Jason recruits the brave Argonauts to crew his ship, and they embark on their eventful journey. Along the way they encounter a variety of mythic creatures, including the 100-foot bronze god Talos, the batlike Harpies, the seven-headed reptilian Hydra, and an army of skeletons wielding sword and shield. This last sequence remains one of the finest that Harryhausen ever created, and it's still as thrilling as anything from the age of digital special effects. Harryhausen was the true auteur of his fantasy films, and his brilliant animation evokes a timeless sense of wonder. "Jason and the Argonauts" is a prime showcase for Harryhausen's talent--a wondrous product of pure imagination and filmmaking ingenuity. The DVD contains an informative interview with Harryhausen by filmmaker John Landis. "--Jeff Shannon"

Theatrical: 2007

Studio:

Genre: Fantasy

Summary:

Theatrical: 2006

Studio: 20th Century Fox

Genre: Fantasy

Duration: 108

Summary: In New York, the unemployed divorced Larry Daley is a complete loser. His son Nick is very disappointed with his father that is gong to be evicted, and Larry accepts the job of night watchman in the Museum of Natural History as the substituted for three old security guards that have just retired to raise some money and pay his bills. In his first nightshift, Larry realizes that everything at the museum comes to life at night. The Museum transforms in a complete chaos with the inexperienced Larry, and he learns that since an old Egyptian stone came to the Museum in 1950, the was statues comes to life until dawn. When Larry brings his son to spend a night with him, the three old guards break in the Museum to stole the magic stone. Larry organizes the historic characters to help him to arrest the criminals and save the museum.

Theatrical: 1950

Studio: Criterion

Genre: Fantasy

Duration: 95

Summary: Orphee is a poet who becomes obsessed with Death (the Princess). They fall in love. Orphee's wife, Eurydice, is killed by the Princess' henchmen and Orphee goes after her into the Underworld. Although they have become dangerously entangled, the Princess sends Orphee back out of the Underworld, to carry on his life with Eurydice.

Theatrical: 2006

Studio: Buena Vista

Genre: Fantasy

Duration: 150

Summary: Once again we're plunged into the world of sword fights and "savvy" pirates. Captain Jack sparrow(Depp) is reminded he owes a debt to Davy Jones(Nighy), Who captains the flying Dutch man ,a ghostly ship, with a crew from hell. Facing the "locker" Jack must find the heart of Davy Jones but to save himself he must get the help of quick-witted will tuner(bloom) and Elizabeth swan(knightly). If that's not complicated enough will and Elizabeth are sentenced to hang, unless will can get lord cutler Beckett jack's compass, Will is forced to join another crazy adventure with Jack.

Theatrical: 2005

Studio: Universe Laser

Genre: Fantasy

Duration: 108

Summary: From the famous writers, directors, and producers, Pang Brothers (The Eyes,The Eyes 2). A young love novel writer embarks on her next novel, "Re-cycle". The book deals with the world of the supernaturals. Being a writer, she wants a first hand experience with the supernaturals. After drafting a chapter, she deletes the file which contains the draft from her computer. Later, she begins to see weird things. Soon she finds it increasingly hard to tell what is real and what is imaginary. Slowly she is drawn into the other world, in which she experiences real and pure horror.

Theatrical: 1985

Studio: BMI (No. 9) Ltd.

Genre: Fantasy

Duration: 113

Summary: It has been six months since Dorothy has returned to Kansas from Oz and she still cannot sleep. She has been going on about imaginary places and people so much that Aunt Em takes her to see a doctor. Dorothy promptly escapes from the mental hospital and wakes up in Oz where her favorite chicken can now talk. There she meets a whole new bunch of friends and they set off to rescue the Scarecrow from an evil Gnome King who has found her Ruby Slippers and has used them to lay waste to the Emerald city and take over Oz.

Theatrical: 1964

Studio: Warner Home Video

Genre: Fantasy

Duration: 100

Summary: A mysterious traveling circus unleashes a torrent of magic and mysticism in a dusty Arizona town. "In what may be the finest performance in a fantasy film" (Guide for the Film Fanatic), Tony Randall charms and spellbinds as ringmaster Dr. Lao and his multitude of faces, a virtuoso turn that earned a special Oscar for Outstanding Makeup Achievement. Step inside the tent...and marvel.

Theatrical: 1965

Studio: Hammer Film Productions

Genre: Fantasy

Duration: 106

Summary: After doing military service in the Middle East, British archaeologist Holly, his valet and his handsome young friend Leo are spotted in Palestine and approached by a mysterious oriental who identified Leo by his uncanny likeness to the portrait on an ancient coin. An adventurous search for the lost Pharaonic city of Kuma proceeds relying on a recently-acquired map. Their hasty mini-expedition reaches a hidden city where the Hellenistic age is still alive. It is ruled by the supernatural Ayesha, 'She who must be obeyed', who believes Leo is is the reincarnation she waited for all those centuries of Callicrates, a companion of Alexander the Great. She offers him immortality and to share the throne as her eternal love, but it goes tragically wrong...

Theatrical: 1979

Studio: Kino Video

Genre: Fantasy

Duration: 163

Summary: Near a gray and unnamed city is the Zone, an alien place guarded by barbed wire and soldiers. Over his wife's numerous objections, a man rises in the dead of night: he's a stalker, one of a handful who have the mental gifts (and who risk imprisonment) to lead people into the Zone to the Room, a place where one's secret hopes come true. That night, he takes two people into the Zone: a popular writer who is burned out, cynical, and questioning his genius; and a quiet scientist more concerned about his knapsack than the journey. In the deserted Zone, the approach to the Room must be indirect. As they draw near, the rules seem to change and the stalker faces a crisis.

Theatrical: 2007

Studio: Paramount

Genre: Fantasy

Duration: 127

Summary: The passage from this world to the fantasy kingdom of Stormhold is through a breech in a wall beside an English village. In the 1800s, a boy becomes a man when he ventures through the breech in pursuit of a fallen star, to prove his love for the village beauty. The star is no lump of rock, it's a maiden, Yvaine. Tristan, the youth, is not the only one looking for her: three witches, led by Lamia, want her heart to make them young; and, the sons of the dead king of Stormhold want her because she holds a ruby that will give one of them title to the throne. Assisting Tristan are his mother, the victim of a spell, and a transvestite pirate of the skies. Will Tristan win his true love?

Theatrical: 1982

Studio: Anchor Bay

Genre: Fantasy

Duration: 100

Summary: Lean, lanky Lee Horsley (TV's "Matt Houston") is hardly the iconic image of a medieval warrior, but in this cheesy "Conan the Barbarian" knockoff he makes his swaggering, mercenary Talon a genial smart aleck of a barbarian hero. The plot is pure pulp cliché: evil Cromwell (Richard Lynch) raises a demon to conquer a peaceful kingdom, kill the rulers, and imprison the royal heirs, and the son of a murdered patriot returns to take his righteous vengeance with a projectile-loaded, three-bladed sword. First-time director Albert Pyun apprenticed under Akira Kurosawa and brings with him an eye for handsome images and a fluid sense of action that helps overcome B-movie dialogue ("Unlock this door, wench, and leave that to us!"), scenery-chewing performances, and bargain-basement budget. In one fight sequence a guard punches a rock wall--and dents it! Kathleen Beller (the dark-eyed beauty of "The Betsy") is the rebel princess who enlists Talon to the cause, "Route 66"'s charming wanderer George Maharis is a conniving traitor under an unflattering mop of greasy hair, and Richard Moll dons a latex monster mask to play the double-crossed demon. It's utterly silly and often awkward, but it does have energy to spare. The sequel promised at the end of the film was never produced and Pyun went on to direct some of the best straight-to-video action films of the 1990s, including "Nemesis". "--Sean Axmaker"

Theatrical: 1934

Studio:

Genre: Fantasy

Duration: 104

Summary: In the first sequel to Tarzan, the Ape Man, Harry Holt returns to Africa to head up a large ivory expedition. This time he brings his womanizing friend Marlin Arlington. Holt also harbors ideas about convincing Jane to return to London. When Holt and Arlington show Jane some of the modern clothes and perfumes they brought from civilization, she is impressed but not enough to return. Tarzan wrestles every wild animal imaginable to protect Jane but when he disallows the expedition from plundering ivory from the elephant burial grounds, it is he who takes a bullet from Arlington's gun. Jane eventually believes that Tarzan is dead but he is nursed back to health by the apes. As Jane and the returning expedition are attacked by violent natives, we wonder if Tarzan can rescue them yet again.

Theatrical: 1934

Studio: Warner Home Video

Genre: Fantasy

Duration: 82

Summary: Many actors have slipped on a loincloth and swung from a jungle vine, but nobody reached the treetops of Tarzania quite like Johnny Weissmuller, the Olympic swimmer. And Tarzan's greatest Jane was Maureen O'Sullivan, who moved into T's treehouse for six films at MGM, all collected in this splendid boxed set. It is possible to find these films hokey... but only if you have absolutely no feeling for the magic of early-sound pictures, or no joy in the gee-whiz, Saturday-matinee wonder of Tarzan's prelapsarian lifestyle. To say nothing of the surprisingly overt running theme of (implied) hot jungle sex.
"Tarzan, the Ape Man" (1932), made with the blessings of Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs, establishes the basics of the series (and uses extra Africa footage MGM had compiled for "Trader Horn"). There'd been many Tarzans before, but Weissmuller's buff bod and innocent charm won over audiences. "Tarzan and His Mate" is generally considered the best of the lot; it is also the sexiest, especially after the restoration of a hotsy-totsy nude swimming scene. The formula still works in "Tarzan Escapes", which brings Jane's cousins out for a visit to the Mutia Escarpment, with its elephant-powered elevator for Tarzan's pad. (Always keep in mind that this is Africa of kiddie imagination, not the real deal.)
"Tarzan Finds a Son!" introduces Johnny Sheffield as Boy, and stirs up the nest. Things were getting rote by the time of "Tarzan's Secret Treasure", and the jungle is left behind entirely for "Tarzan's New York Adventure", which has some fun stunts. Also included in the boxed set is the documentary "Tarzan: Silver Screen King of the Jungle", which is a fine overview not just of the MGM Tarzan series but of its predecessors (though it does not mention the fact that Weissmuller went on to crank out more Tarzan pictures at RKO). It does delve into the mystery of just what the heck "ungawa" means. "--Robert Horton"

Theatrical: 1940

Studio: MGM

Genre: Fantasy

Duration: 106

Summary: Prince Ahmad is the rightful King of Bagdad but he has been blinded and cast out as a beggar. Now a captive of the wicked Grand Vizier Jaffar he is cast into a dungeon where he meets Abu, the best thief in all Bagdad. Together they escape and set about a series of adventures that involve a Djinni in a bottle, a mechanical flying horse, an all-seeing magic jewel, a flying carpet and a beautiful princess.

Theatrical: 1939

Studio: MGM

Genre: Fantasy

Duration: 101

Summary: In this charming film based on the popular L.Frank Baum stories, Dorothy and her dog Toto are caught in a tornado's path and somehow end up in the land of Oz. Here she meets some memorable friends and foes in her journey to meet the Wizard of Oz who everyone says can help her return home and possibly grant her new friends their goals of a brain, heart and courage.

Theatrical: 2005

Studio: Sony Pictures

Genre: Fantasy

Duration: 101

Summary: "Zathura", a smart and stylish kid's adventure, launches into action when Danny (Jonah Bobo) twists the key of a dusty science fiction game--a game that unleashes a localized meteor shower and wrenches Danny's house into orbit around a distant ringed planet, bringing Danny's brother Walter (Josh Hutcherson, "Kicking and Screaming") and sister Lisa (Kristen Stewart, "Panic Room") along. Soon a defective robot, a rangy astronaut (Dax Shepard, "Without a Paddle"), and an alien spaceship enter the picture. Only by completing the game can the kids return their house to its proper space-time coordinates, but the game board falls into the hands of some nasty, carnivorous lizards. "Zathura" has some obligatory emotional conflict and resolution between the two brothers, but that's pretty much beside the point; what makes "Zathura" a delight is the wonderful design, the skillful escalation of disasters, and the adroit direction of Jon Favreau ("Elf"), who is quickly becoming the go-to guy for mass-market movies with wit and timing. Some situations may be too intense for younger kids; Favreau ratchets up the suspense at a few points. Based on the book by Chris Van Allsburg ("Jumanji"). Also featuring Tim Robbins ("The Shawshank Redemption"). "--Bret Fetzer"

Theatrical: 1936

Studio: MGM

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 70

Summary: Businessman Gerald Axton goes to his ranch to rest, having had a near-heart-attack due to business worries. But while there (with his female assistant who makes his heart flutter as much as his business worries), a pair of escaped criminals crashes the party, as well as a plane load of passengers who literally crash in. Coincidentally, the plane was carrying the state's governor, whom Axton was at odds with, Axton's ex-paramour and her lover, whom Axton was sending away under false pretenses, and a reporter willing to write up all the sordid details.

Theatrical: 1946

Studio: Warner Home Video

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 114

Summary: Summoned by the dying General Sternwood, Philip Marlowe is asked to deal with several problems that are troubling his family. Marlowe finds that each problem centers about the disappearance of Sternwood's favoured employee who has left with a mobster's wife. Each of the problems becomes a cover for something else as Marlowe probes.

Theatrical: 1946

Studio:

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 96

Summary: This neat, fast-paced perfectly cast film noir reflects the hard-boiled, grim wit of the author of its screenplay, Raymond Chandler. Johnny Morrison (Alan Ladd) returns from the war to find his wife Helen (Doris Dowling) having a party and in the arms of another man. Johnny and Helen have a terrible fight, and later Helen is found dead. Johnny must prove his innocence and he enlists the aid of Joyce Haywood (Veronica Lake), the ex-wife of Helen's lover. Pursued by the cops, and never sure if he is being set-up for the murder, Johnny finally solves the murder and clears his name. Alan Ladd is at his hard-boiled, no-nonsense best as Johnny and Veronica Lake is, as always, the perfect noir femme-fatale, mysterious and alluring. Nicely directed by George Marshall, the film moves with great pace to an exciting, satisfying conclusion. The screenplay, the only one written by Chandler directly for the screen, was nominated for an Academy Award.

Theatrical: 1941

Studio: Warner Home Video

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 88

Summary: "Jigger' Lane forms a band that includes singer Ginger 'Character' Powell, wife of the trumpeter Leo Powelll, and Nickie Haroyen and Peppi. All of them dedicate themselves to work as a unit and to play 'blues' music. The dedication isn't paying off in money and, while riding the rails in a boxcar, they meet and befriend a gangster named Del Davis. He offers them a job at a New Jersey roadhouse, where Powell falls in love with Kay Grant, a former 'real-good friend' of Davis. But when Powell learns that 'Character' is about to have a baby, he returns to her. "Jigger" tries to make Kay the band's singer and, when this fails, runs off with her. She leaves him with nothing to show for him except a nervous breakdown.Back at the roadhouse, after his recovery, Kay shows up, has a quarrel with Davis, shoots and kills him and plans to take back up with "Jigger", who knows better but just can't help himself. While she is waiting in a car for him, along comes cripple Brad Ames, who she put in that condition, and he gets in and drives the car over a cliff, leaving no survivors in the two-passenger crash. The band is back together at the end, still using boxcars as their transportation, but happy playing the blues.

Theatrical: 1948

Studio: 20th Century Fox

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 111

Summary: In 1932, a cop is killed and Frank Wiecek sentenced to life. Eleven years later, a newspaper ad by Frank's mother leads Chicago reporter P.J. O'Neal to look into the case. For some time, O'Neal continues to believe Frank guilty. But when he starts to change his mind, he meets increased resistance from authorities unwilling to be proved wrong.

Theatrical: 1949

Studio: RKO

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 63

Summary: Jim Fletcher, waking up from a coma, finds he is to be given a court martial for treason and charged with informing on fellow inmates in a Japanese prison camp during WWII. Escaping from the hospital he tries to clear himself by enlisting the aid of Martha Gregory, widow of a service buddy he was accused of informing on. Helped also by Ted Niles, a surviving fellow prisoner, he gets closer to finding the answers he needs, and becomes ensnared in a grandiose scheme involving his Japanese ex-prison guard, $10,000,000 of US currency forged by the Japanese and a burgeoning crime network poised to wreak havoc throughout southern California.

Theatrical: 1946

Studio:

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 93

Summary: George Steele, art curator at a small museum, has an apparent mental breakdown one night, convinced he was in a train wreck...which never happened. In flashback, shortly after proposing to x-ray some old master paintings the museum has on loan, Steele is called on an unplanned nocturnal train trip. He suddenly sees another train ahead, speeding toward his... Is George indeed cracking up, or is there a plot to discredit him? The mystery grows murky with shadowy menace...

Theatrical: 1954

Studio: Warner Home Video

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 73

Summary: Three San Quentin escapees (Penny, Hastings and Morgan) kill a cop in a gas-station holdup. Wounded, Morgan flees through black-shadowed streets to the handiest refuge: with former cellmate Steve Lacey, who's paroled, with a new life and lovely wife, and can't afford to be caught associating with old cronies. But homicide detective Sims wants to use Steve to help him catch Penny and Hastings, who in turn extort his help in a bank job. Is there no way out for Steve?

Theatrical: 2004

Studio: Universal Studios

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 88

Summary: Romantic, obsessive Steve Thompson is drawn back to L.A. to make another try for Anna, his former wife. However, Anna belongs now to the L.A. underworld. Steve believes he can rescue her, ignoring the advice and warnings of people who would try to save him. He commits himself to a dangerous course of action that quickly takes everyone somewhere unintended.

Theatrical: 1946

Studio: Bernhard-Brandt Productions

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 76

Summary: Gangster Frank Olins (Robert Armstrong) is to die in the gas chamber much to the dismay of his girlfriend Margot Shelby (Jean Gillie) as he is carrying the secret of the location of $400,000 with him. Margot seduces gangster Jim Vincent (Edward Norris) to get him to engineer the removal of Olins' body from the prison immediately after he dies in the gas chamber. She takes prison doctor Craig (Herbert Rudley) away from his nurse/girl friend (Marjorie Woodworth) and gets him to administer an antidote for cyanide gas poisoning. During the removal of Olins' body, the hearse driver is killed by Tommy (Phil Van Zandt). The revived Olins gives Margot half of a map showing the money location and Vincent, in a fit of jealousy, kills Olins and takes the other half. Because the doctor's plates on his car will get them through the police roadblocks, Vincent and Margot take him with them on the money hunt.

Theatrical: 1947

Studio: Manga Films

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 73

Summary: When mobster Walt Radak tries to trick independent trucker Steve Randall into transporting stolen furs, Steve alerts the police, and Walt's young brother Al is caught and held for a cop-killing. When ruthless Radak tries to extort Steve's help in clearing Al, Steve and his young wife flee for their lives, only to find that the police are also in pursuit. With every man's hand against them, Steve and Anne must repeatedly abandon their temporary refuges. Finally, one midnight, the showdown...

Theatrical: 1951

Studio: Paramount

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 103

Summary: Jim McLeod is a hard-nosed and cynical detective. He believes in a strict interpretation of the law and doesn't believe in turning the other cheek. The current object of his zealousness is Karl Schneider, an abortionist responsible for the death of several young women. Schneider's lawyer tells the precinct lieutenant that McLeod has his own personal reasons for going after his client. It turns out that his wife was a patient before they met, although Jim knew nothing of it. His world suddenly turned upside down, McLeod is too late in re-evaluating his priorities.

Theatrical: 1945

Studio: Image

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 67

Summary: In flashback, New York nightclub pianist Al Roberts hitchhikes to Hollywood to join his girl Sue. On a rainy night, the sleazy gambler he's riding with mysteriously dies; afraid of the police, Roberts takes the man's identity. But thanks to a blackmailing dame, Roberts' every move plunges him deeper into trouble...

Theatrical: 1944

Studio: Universal Studios

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 182

Summary: Director Billy Wilder ("Sunset Boulevard") and writer Raymond Chandler ("The Big Sleep") adapted James M. Cain's hard-boiled novel into this wildly thrilling story of insurance man Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray), who schemes the perfect murder with the beautiful dame Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck): kill Dietrichson's husband and make off with the insurance money. But, of course, in these plots things never quite go as planned, and Barton Keyes (Edward G. Robinson) is the wily insurance investigator who must sort things out. From the opening scene you know Neff is doomed, as the story is told in flashback; yet, to the film's credit, this doesn't diminish any of the tension of the movie. This early film noir flick is wonderfully campy by today's standards, and the dialogue is snappy ("I thought you were smarter than the rest, Walter. But I was wrong. You're not smarter, just a little taller"), filled with lots of "dame"s and "baby"s. Stanwyck is the ultimate femme fatale, and MacMurray, despite a career largely defined by roles as a softy (notably in the TV series "My Three Sons" and the movie "The Shaggy Dog"), is convincingly cast against type as the hapless, love-struck sap. "--Jenny Brown"

Theatrical: 1955

Studio:

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 70

Summary:

Theatrical: 1975

Studio: Geneon

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 95

Summary:

Theatrical: 1942

Studio: Paramount

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 85

Summary:

Theatrical: 1950

Studio: Warner Home Video

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 86

Summary: Since he was a child, Bart Tare has always loved guns. After leaving the army, his friends take him to a carnival, where he meets the perfect girl, Annie, a sharp-shooting sideshow performer who loves guns as much as he. The two run off and marry, but Annie isn't happy with their financial situation, so at her behest the couple begins a crosscountry string of daring robberies. Never one to use guns for killing, Bart is dragged down into oblivion by the greedy and violent nature of the woman he loves.

Theatrical: 1948

Studio: MGM

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 79

Summary: This gritty and often chilling documentary-style noir (based on a true story) about the hunt for a cop killer in Los Angeles is a must-have for fans of vintage crime films. Richard Basehart stars as a cold-blooded thief whose murder of a police officer sets off a citywide manhunt; the law, led by granite-jawed Scott Brady, tracks him relentlessly until the pair square off in the shadow-steeped drainage canals beneath the city (the same locale for the finale of "Them!"). Though Alfred Werker is credited as director, noir and Western vet Anthony Mann actually helmed the majority of the film; his muscular direction lends palpable suspense to the picture, aided in no small part by longtime collaborators John C. Higgins (who co-wrote the script) and cinematographer John Alton, whose Germanic-influenced lighting creates an otherworldly atmosphere. Supporting cast member Jack Webb borrowed the no-nonsense, semi-documentary approach for "Dragnet". "--Paul Gaita"

Theatrical: 1953

Studio: Alpha Video

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 71

Summary: Two carefree young travellers make the mistake of their lives when they pick up a mysterious, and slightly psychotic, hitch-hiker who never closes his right eye -- even when he sleeps!

Theatrical: 1951

Studio: Jack Schwarz Productions

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 61

Summary: Vincent Lubeck is a vicious ex-convict. His criminal activities are despised by his family, but he uses and abuses them in the course of his crimes. Eventually his own brother must stand up to him.

Theatrical: 1952

Studio:

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 98

Summary: A former gangster who joined the army during World War II and became a hero is now leading a respectable life, out of the rackets. However, when he is called before a grand jury probing organized crime activities, his former colleagues in the mob are afraid he'll spill the beans, and prepare to take measures to ensure that he doesn't.

Theatrical: 1949

Studio:

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 73

Summary: Brad Collins, former stevedore, is rising fast in a shipping company when local communist agitators use his former Party affiliation to extort his help in stirring up trouble. When Brad resists, communist femme fatale Christine works through his brother-in-law Don. But Brad's new wife Nan sees that her husband and brother are under pressure; when she investigates on her own, party boss Vanning takes ruthless action.

Theatrical: 1949

Studio: Image

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 111

Summary: In San Francisco, the successful self-made businessman Walter Williams has just bought three factories in Denver with the approval of the board of directors. His beloved wife Irene tells him that she is not feeling well to travel with him, and asks Walter to give a lift to her cousin Jim Torrance. On the highway, Jim, who is actually Irene's lover, tries to kill Walter hitting his head and throwing him in a cliff, and has a fatal accident while escaping driving Walters's car. Walter is considered dead and later his wife is sent to jail accused of plotting his murder. Meanwhile, the wounded Walter sleeps in a moving van and awakes in Larkspur, a small town in Idaho. He is hired as a mechanic in a gas station by the owner, Marsha Peters. For three months, Walter reads the news, expecting revenge with Irene sentenced to death, and he and Marsha fall in love for each other. When Walter discloses the truth to Marsha, she convinces him to return to San Francisco and save his unfaithful wife. The situation changes when Irene accuses him of plotting to kill her lover Jim, and Walter has to prove his innocence.

Theatrical: 1950

Studio: Sony Pictures

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 94

Summary: Screenwriter Dixon Steele, faced with the odious task of scripting a trashy bestseller, has hat-check girl Mildred Atkinson tell him the story in her own words. Later that night, Mildred is murdered and Steele is a prime suspect; his record of belligerence when angry and his macabre sense of humor tell against him. Fortunately, lovely neighbor Laurel Gray gives him an alibi. Laurel proves to be just what Steele needed, and their friendship ripens into love. Will suspicion, doubt, and Steele's inner demons come between them?

Theatrical: 1953

Studio: MGM

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 69

Summary: The Stilwins are on vacation to an isolated beach in Mexico. Walking on a deserted jetty, Doug Stilwin gets his leg trapped under one of the logs. All attempts to move the log are futile and Helen Stilwin takes the car to get help. However, an escaped criminal kidnaps her. Will she be able to return to her husband before he drowns?

Theatrical: 1949

Studio: Tower Pictures Inc.

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 70

Summary: When the owner of a printing shop is found dead, the District Attorney assumes that it was a suicide. But the Assistant D.A., Howard Malloy, suspects that there is a connection with an extremist political group called the 'Crusaders'. When a journalist whose articles had attacked the Crusaders is also killed, Malloy is convinced. With help from the widow of a prominent judge, he conducts an investigation. As he does so, he meets a peculiar political boss and also an attractive night club singer, each of whom could become either a source of help or a source of danger.

Theatrical: 1943

Studio:

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 68

Summary: A US Navy engineer, returning to the US with his wife from a conference, finds himself pursued by Nazi agents, who are out to kill him. Without a word to his wife, he flees the hotel the couple is staying in and boards a ship, only to find, after the ship sails, that the agents have followed him there.

Theatrical: 1952

Studio: MGM

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 99

Summary: Tightly plotted and perfectly cast, "Kansas City Confidential" is film noir at its finest. An obvious influence on Quentin Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs", this riveting 99-minute potboiler builds its escalating suspense on the fate of reformed ex-con Joe Rolfe (John Payne), whose floral delivery truck matches a duplicate truck used in a Kansas City bank heist. Joe's been randomly framed by disgruntled, double-crossing ex-cop Tim Foster (Preston Foster) who masterminded the robbery, and in an effort to clear his name, Joe follows a trail of suspicion to a Mexican hideaway, where Foster's accomplices (a sublimely hardboiled trio played by Lee Van Cleef, Neville Brand, and Jack Elam) have gathered to split their $1.2 million haul. Under Phil Karlson's skillful direction, this nerve-twitching scenario unfolds as a clever case of hidden and assumed identities (having worn masks during the heist and getaway, none of the robbers knows the others' identities), and Payne gives a smart, sweaty-browed performance as a hard-luck case who finds time for romance with Foster's daughter (Coleen Gray) as he struggles to turn his fate around. For noir lovers, this movie's pure bliss as Brand, Van Cleef, and especially Elam fill the screen with slimy greed and infectious mistrust. As an iconic example of gritty film noir, "Kansas City Confidential" remains exciting, unpredictable, and thoroughly entertaining. "--Jeff Shannon"

Theatrical: 1956

Studio: Crown Productions

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 73

Summary: A savings-and-loan bank is robbed; later, a police wiretap identifies teller Leon Poole as inside man. In capturing him, detective Sam Wagner accidentally kills Poole's young wife, and at his trial Poole swears vengeance against Wagner. About three years later, Poole (until then a model prisoner) abruptly takes his chance to kill a guard and escape. It's clear during the ensuing manhunt that Poole is obsessed in pursuit of a single end; but not quite the end everyone supposes.

Theatrical: 1946

Studio: Carlotta Films

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 103

Summary: Two professional killers invade a small town and kill a gas station attendant, "the Swede," who's expecting them. Insurance investigator Reardon pursues the case against the orders of his boss, who considers it trivial. Weaving together threads of the Swede's life, Reardon uncovers a complex tale of treachery and crime, all linked with gorgeous, mysterious Kitty Collins.

Theatrical: 1947

Studio: 20th Century Fox

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 98

Summary: Small-time crook Nick Bianco gets caught in a jewel heist and despite urgings from well-meaning district attorney D'Angelo, refuses to rat on his partners and goes to jail, assured that his wife and children will be taken care of. Learning that his depressed wife has killed herself, Nick informs on his ex-pals and is paroled. Nick remarries, gets a job and begins leading a happy life when he learns one of the men he informed on, psychopathic killer Tommy Udo, has been released from custody and is out for revenge against Nick and his family.

Theatrical: 1949

Studio: Santana Pictures Corporation

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 100

Summary: Andrew Morton is an attorney who made it out of the slums. Nick Romano is his client, a young man with a long string of crimes behind him. After he lost his paycheck gambling, hoping to buy his wife some jewelry, she announced she was pregnant, Later he finds her dead from suicide. When he turns again to robbery he's caught by a cop and Nick pumps all his bullets into him in frustration. Morton's appeal to the court emphasizes the evils of the slums.

Theatrical: 1944

Studio: 20th Century Fox

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 88

Summary: Detective Mark McPherson investigates the killing of Laura, found dead on her apartment floor before the movie starts. McPherson builds a mental picture of the dead girl from the suspects whom he interviews. He is helped by the striking painting of the late lamented Laura hanging on her apartment wall. But who would have wanted to kill a girl with whom every man she met seemed to fall in love? To make matters worse, McPherson finds himself falling under her spell too. Then one night, halfway through his investigations, something seriously bizarre happens to make him re-think the whole case.

Theatrical: 1941

Studio: Warner Home Video

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 101

Summary: Sam Spade is a partner in a private-eye firm who finds himself hounded by police when his partner is killed whilst tailing a man. The girl who asked him to follow the man turns out not to be who she says she is, and is really involved in something to do with the 'Maltese Falcon', a gold-encrusted life-sized statue of a falcon, the only one of its kind.

Theatrical: 1994

Studio: Kino Video

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 92

Summary: Maiku Hama is a private detective working in Yokohama. Hama comes to the aid of a Taiwanese waiter named Yang and agrees to track down his missing brother. Through a series of double-crosses Hama gets embroiled in a gang war and a revenge plot between the two brothers.

Theatrical: 1944

Studio: Manga Films

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 95

Summary: One-time movie crooner Dick Powell literally turned his career around in the 1944 film noir Murder My Sweet. Powell stars as Phillip Marlowe, the hard-boiled private detective antihero created by novelist Raymond Chandler. Hired by hulking, psychotic Moose Malloy (Mike Mazurki) to locate Moose's old girl friend, Marlowe is pitched headlong into a morass of intrigue and deception. The participants include duplicitous glamour-girl Claire Trevor, sodden slattern Esther Howard, suave blackmailer Otto Kruger and dyspeptic doctor Ralf Harolde. At one point, Marlowe is railroaded into a lunatic asylum, where under the influence of drugs he experiences a surrealistic nightmare the like of which would not be seen on screen again until Hitchcock's Vertigo (1958). So fascinating are the 'bad' characters in Murder My Sweet that the two 100% 'good' characters, heroine Anne Shirley and detective Don Douglas, seem wishy-washy wimps by comparison. After years of insipid golly-gee roles, Dick Powell startled his fans with his cynical, world-weary portrayal of Philip Marlowe. The part put him back on top of the box-office tallies and enabled him to extend his acting career into the 1950s, which led to an even more lucrative 'third life' as a powerful TV-studio executive. Murder My Sweet was based on Chandler's Farewell My Lovely, previously filmed in 1942 as The Falcon Takes Over; a remake, also titled Murder My Sweet, was produced in 1975, with Robert Mitchum as Marlowe. SPECIAL FEATURES: Deleted Scenes, Filmographies, Interactive Menu,

Theatrical: 1948

Studio: Criterion

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 96

Summary: Amid a semi-documentary portrait of New York and its people, Jean Dexter, an attractive blonde model, is murdered in her apartment. Homicide detectives Dan Muldoon and Jimmy Halloran investigate. Suspicion falls on various shifty characters who all prove to have some connection with a string of apartment burglaries. Then a burglar is found dead who once had an elusive partner named Willie. The climax is a very rapid manhunt sequence. Filmed entirely on location in New York City.

Theatrical: 1950

Studio: Criterion

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 95

Summary: Richard Widmark never had better exercise for his Cagney-like bouncing-ball energy than "Night and the City", a classic film noir about a hustler's meteoric flame-out. Although acknowledged as one of the great noir pictures, it's actually set and shot in London, which gives an exotic, displaced novelty to the usual noir universe. Widmark's performance as Harry Fabian is a jibbering, wheedling, giggling tour de force, as Harry schemes his way to setting up a wrestling match and finally establishing himself as a "somebody." Instead, he manages to irritate the underworld heavies (memorably, Herbert Lom and Francis L. Sullivan) whose fingers are already deeply into the criminal pie. Gene Tierney and Googie Withers are the women--one good, one bad--who witness Harry's descent. This was director Jules Dassin's final project for a Hollywood studio before the blacklist forced him out, and he packs the film with tortured camera angles and spidery noir shadows; the movie's a real visual clambake. "Night and the City" was remade, tiredly, with Robert De Niro in 1992. Bonus: See how strongly this movie has influenced Martin Scorsese. "--Robert Horton"

Theatrical: 1948

Studio:

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 81

Summary: When heiress Jean Courtland attempts suicide, her fiancée Elliott Carson probes her relationship to John Triton. In flashback, we see how stage mentalist Triton starts having terrifying flashes of true precognition. His partner, Whitney Courtland, uses Triton's talent to make money; but Triton's inability to prevent what he foresees, causes him to break up the act and become a hermit. Years later, Triton has new visions and desperately tries to prevent tragedies in the Courtland family. Can his warnings succeed against suspicion, unbelief, and inexorable fate?

Theatrical: 1955

Studio: MGM

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 93

Summary: In the entire history of American movies, "The Night of the Hunter" stands out as the rarest and most exotic of specimens. It is, to say the least, a masterpiece--and not just because it was the only movie directed by flamboyant actor Charles Laughton or the only produced solo screenplay by the legendary critic James Agee (who also cowrote "The African Queen"). The truth is, nobody has ever made anything approaching its phantasmagoric, overheated style in which German expressionism, religious hysteria, fairy-tale fantasy (of the Grimm-est variety), and stalker movie are brought together in a furious boil. Like a nightmarish premonition of stalker movies to come, "Night of the Hunter" tells the suspenseful tale of a demented preacher (Robert Mitchum, in a performance that prefigures his memorable villain in "Cape Fear"), who torments a boy and his little sister--even marries their mixed-up mother (Shelley Winters)--because he's certain the kids know where their late bank-robber father hid a stash of stolen money. So dramatic, primal, and unforgettable are its images--the preacher's shadow looming over the children in their bedroom, the magical boat ride down a river whose banks teem with fantastic wildlife, those tattoos of LOVE and HATE on the unholy man's knuckles, the golden locks of a drowned woman waving in the current along with the indigenous plant life in her watery grave--that they're still haunting audiences (and filmmakers) today. "--Jim Emerson"

Theatrical: 1947

Studio: 20th Century Fox

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 111

Summary: The long-awaited emergence of "Nightmare Alley" into the light of DVD should achieve two things: make a legendary film noir available to a new generation, and restore the horrific charge to the lately watered-down term "geek", a concept that once had the power to give people very bad dreams indeed.
To his lasting credit, Tyrone Power--20th Century Fox's extraordinarily handsome but not terribly interesting star of the '30s and '40s--begged for the chance to play Stan Carlisle, the predatory charmer who snakes his way through this bracingly unwholesome story. A spieler for--and lover of--carnival mind reader Zeena (Joan Blondell), he displays uncanny skill at "reading" the susceptible rubes, including a tough sheriff who turns to jelly after Stan psychs him out. Once Stan's mastered the intricate code used in Zeena's act, he's set to dump her for the younger, sexier Molly (Coleen Gray) and go bigtime as nightclub psychic "Stanton the Great." After that, it's only a blasphemous bank shot to superstardom as a miracle worker with his own tabernacle and radio show.
Few '40s films ventured as deeply into cynicism as "Nightmare Alley", or dealt so frankly with sexuality (with ripplings of polymorphous perversity yet) and power-tripping. The movie's rhythm is uncertain and Jules Furthman's screenplay telegraphs things, but the overall tone is remarkable, as are individual sequences: the freaky forced marriage of Stan and Molly in accordance with carny morality, and a creepy night scene in a park when Stanton the Great raises a ghost for a high-society client. Cinematographer Lee Garmes's chiaroscuro creates a relief map of the carnival world and what passes for life there. As for the geek... well, you'll find out what "geek" means. Stan does. "--Richard T. Jameson"

Theatrical: 1950

Studio: 20th Century Fox

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 106

Summary: Nominated for the 1950 Oscar® for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay, this intense drama about racial hatred pulls no punches. When a white patient in a hospital dies under the care of a black intern (Sidney Poitier), the victim?s racist brother (Richard Widmark) seeks to destroy the doctor?s career. Although the hospital?s idealistic Chief Resident (Stephen McNally) tries to diffuse the escalating tension, the victim?s ex-wife (Linda Darnell) seems to go along with the vengeance-seeker?until she realizes she?s on the wrong side.

Theatrical: 1951

Studio: Warner Home Video

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 88

Summary: Two peak achievements by as many top noir directors ... a customized vehicle for one of noir's premier icons ... an oddball experiment in making a truly "private eye" movie ... and a Howard Hughes remake of his earliest contribution to the gangster genre. Such are the five titles corralled for Warner Home Video's third box set of film noir classics.
For eye-popping dynamism coupled with ferocious intensity, no noir director matched Anthony Mann. "Border Incident" (1949) was Mann's and cinematographer John Alton's first film for MGM following a string of darkly dazzling low-budget beauties at Eagle-Lion ("T-Men", "Raw Deal", "The Black Book", et al.). In structure it's virtually a remake of "T-Men", transposed from the shadowy city where a Secret Service team battled counterfeiters, to California's Imperial Valley where the Immigration Service sets out to infiltrate a gang exploiting--and often murdering--Mexicans eager to work the farms. From the opening night scene of three laborers trying to recross the border and meeting a grisly end, the movie relentlessly imagines ways the human body can merge with the earth. Visually stunning, and replete with memorable villains (headed by Howard Da Silva, a past master at making affability lethal), this is one of Mann's strongest noirs and surely his most inventive. Its neglect can be explained only by people's assumption that nothing worthwhile could come of a movie top-billing Ricardo Montalban and George Murphy (as the government agents). Wrong, wrong, wrong.
After a scalding first reel in big-city night streets, Nicholas Ray's "On Dangerous Ground" (RKO, 1951) likewise forsakes familiar noir terrain for the countryside--the mountains and snowfields where city cop Robert Ryan seeks a psychotic killer. For both the actor and the director, Ryan's character is an exemplary creation: a man with personal demons whose overzealous pursuit of criminals has pushed him into sadism. His passage from urban darkness into the silent white mountain country becomes a redemptive journey, thanks largely to his interaction with a blind woman (Ida Lupino) in an isolated farmhouse whose younger brother may be the quarry he's after. Ray developed the screenplay with A.I. Bezzerides under the supervision of producer John Houseman (for whom Ray had made his feature debut, "They Live By Night"). The film boasts a thrilling music score by Bernard Herrmann, anticipating his great soundtrack for "North by Northwest".
"His Kind of Woman " (also RKO, 1951) is a vehicle for both RKO's reigning bad boy, Robert Mitchum, and Howard Hughes' definitive coup of distaff engineering, Jane Russell. Their characters cross paths en route to a seaside Mexican resort, where she aims to continue her gold-digger pursuit of Hollywood ham Vincent Price, and Mitchum will figure in a plot to get deported mobster Raymond Burr back into the U.S.A. The slow-brewing romance between this dauntingly tall, broad-shouldered pair gives off little heat, but the players' good-natured, weary-pro rapport as they go through their mostly preposterous paces makes for very good fun. Still more is supplied by Price, who just about steals the movie when he gets to extend his sub-Errol Flynn screen heroism into real life--all the while supplying his own florid running commentary on the action. The urbane director John Farrow filled the movie with one delicious, what-the-"hell"-is-going-on-here scene after another (highlight: a bored Mitchum ironing his money), but that wasn't enough for studio boss Hughes. Richard Fleischer was brought in to stretch the climactic melodrama aboard Burr's yacht in the harbor, and the picture grew to an overblown two hours in length. Not that you're likely to regret a minute of it.
Robert Montgomery directed and played Phillip Marlowe in "Lady in the Lake" (MGM, 1947), Raymond Chandler's novel as adapted by Steve Fisher ("I Wake Up Screaming"). The gimmick is that, apart from a few scenes of private detective Marlowe chatting us up in his office, everything is viewed through his eyes, with Marlowe himself remaining unseen unless he glances in a mirror. This literal-minded conceit is more curious than compelling; the camera simply doesn't "see" the way the human eye does, and the artificiality constantly calls attention to itself. Montgomery, a suave actor who enjoyed playing it coarse and obnoxious on occasion, makes his screen Marlowe more smartass than any other ("dumb, brave, and cheap"). With him cracking wise off-camera, much of the movie is really carried by Audrey Totter, a swell late-'40s dame who has to stand up under more relentless scrutiny than even her shifty character deserves.
"The Racket" (RKO, 1951) is the second film version of a 1920s play about municipal corruption, gangsterism, and the attempt to squash an honest police precinct captain. John Cromwell had acted in the original Broadway production, which may help explain why, as director, he let so much of this movie turn back into a play. Eventually studio boss Howard Hughes, who had produced the 1928 film version (directed by Lewis Milestone), once again called in another director to do salvage work.
That was Nicholas Ray, whose scenes include police captain Robert Mitchum's pursuit of the man who has just bombed his home. Mitchum's fellow cast members include Robert Ryan as the ultra-paranoid gangster; husky-voiced noir blonde Lizabeth Scott as a nightclub thrush romanced by Ryan's brother; future "Perry Mason" D.A. William Talman as a dedicated street cop; and Ray Collins and William Conrad as two municipal officials negotiating a delicate dance with morality and expediency. "--Richard T. Jameson"

Theatrical: 1951

Studio: Forum Productions

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 78

Summary: Low-budget, tabloid-lurid story with high camp value of older man falling for much younger beauty who's busy figuring out how she can kill him now that they're married. Nasty verbal encounters and above all, Beverly Michaels, spike up this flick.

Theatrical: 1953

Studio: Criterion

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 80

Summary: On a crowded subway, Skip McCoy picks the purse of Candy. Among his take, although he does not know it at the time, is a piece of top-secret microfilm that was being passed by Candy's consort, a Communist agent. Candy discovers the whereabouts of the film through Moe Williams, a police informer. She attempts to seduce McCoy to recover the film. She fails to get back the film and falls in love with him. The desperate agent exterminates Moe and savagely beats Candy. McCoy, now goaded into action, confronts the agent in a particularly brutal fight in a subway.

Theatrical: 1947

Studio: Warner Home Video

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 108

Summary: A dazed woman walks the streets of Los Angeles looking for a man named David. After collapsing in a diner, she's taken to the psychiatric ward of a nearby hospital. Flashbacks reveal her obsession for David as a result of borderline personality disorder which ultimately leads to murder.

Theatrical: 1946

Studio:

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 113

Summary: Nick Smith, the middle-aged proprietor of a roadside restaurant, hires drifter Frank Chambers as a handyman. Frank eventually begins an affair with Nick's beautiful wife Cora, who talks Frank into helping her kill Nick, by "accident." But the best laid plans......

Theatrical: 1933

Studio:

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 67

Summary:

Theatrical: 1954

Studio:

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 88

Summary: A bank heist yields $210,000. Soon, sultry Lona McLane, girlfriend of one of the robbers, meets Paul Sheridan and has a torrid affair. When she finds out Paul's a cop, to save herself she sets out to corrupt him. He's a pushover. But it won't be easy for Paul to get his hands on the money when he's part of a complex, peeping-tom stakeout. Soon, he's in much deeper than he'd planned, amid atmospheric night scenes.

Theatrical: 1951

Studio: RKO

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 73

Summary: An L.A. insurance detective starts to get involved with a girl he is increasingly attracted to, even though he sees her as a chiseller. She makes it clear that her tastes are too expensive for him, so he sets about getting a lot of money quickly if illegally. Perhaps too late, she starts to find that she is content with him just the way he is.

Theatrical: 1948

Studio:

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 104

Summary: Horace Vendig shows himself to the world as a rich philanthropist. In fact, the history of his rise from his unhappy broken home shows this to be far from the case. After being taken in by richer neighbours he started to exhibit an obsessive and selfish urge to make more and more money, loving and leaving women at will to further this end.

Theatrical: 1952

Studio: Motion Picture Investors

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 82

Summary: The editor of a New York exploitation newspaper meets the wife he had abandoned years ago, while using another name, at a LonelyHearts ball sponsored by his newspaper. She threatens to expose him as a wife-deserter, wife-beater and an impostor, and, in anger, he hits her with his fist and accidentally kills her. Later, when her body is found, he assigns his protégé reporter to the story, as a good, exploitable follow-up story to the ball. And, then, he is forced to sit back and watch while the reporter slowly tracks down the killer.

Theatrical: 1941

Studio: Warner Home Video

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 90

Summary: Humphrey van Weyden, a writer, and fugitives Ruth Webster and George Leach have been given refuge aboard the sealer "Ghost," captained by the cruel Wolf Larsen. The crew mutinies against Larsen's many crimes, and though van Weyden, Ruth, and George try to escape Larsen's clutches, they find themselves drawn inexorably back to him as the "Ghost" sails toward disaster.

Theatrical: 1949

Studio: Turner Home Ent

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 72

Summary: Over-the-hill boxer Bill 'Stoker' Thompson insists he can still win, though his sexy wife Julie pleads with him to quit. But his manager Tiny is so confident he will lose, he takes money for a "dive" from tough gambler Little Boy...without bothering to tell Stoker. Tension builds as Stoker hopes to "take" Tiger Nelson, unaware of what will happen to him if he does.

Theatrical: 1949

Studio: Columbia

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 79

Summary: Jenny Marsh, still dangerously attractive after 5 years in prison for killing a man in defense of her shady lover Harry, clashes at first with parole officer Griff Marat, who's determined to make Jenny go straight. For lack of other prospects Griff finds Jenny a job in his own home, and his objectivity about her wavers, while Jenny continues to meet Harry secretly. However, when Jenny transfers her affections from Harry to Griff, the situation becomes even more dangerous...

Theatrical: 1950

Studio: MGM

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 83

Summary: Joe Norson, a poor letter carrier with a sweet, pregnant wife, yields to momentary temptation and steals $30,000 belonging to a pair of ruthless blackmailers who won't stop at murder. After a few days of soul-searching, Joe offers to return the money, only to find that the "friend" he left it with has absconded. Now every move Joe makes plunges him deeper into trouble, as he's pursued and pursuing through the shadowy, sinister side of New York.

Theatrical: 1948

Studio: 20th Century Fox

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 91

Summary: After two gang-related killings in "Center City," a suspect (who was framed) is arrested, released on bail...and murdered. Inspector Briggs of the FBI recruits a young agent, Gene Cordell, to go undercover in the shadowy Skid Row area (alias George Manly) as a potential victim of the same racket. Soon, Gene meets Alec Stiles, neurotic mastermind who's "building an organization along scientific lines." Stiles recruits Cordell, whose job becomes a lot more dangerous...

Theatrical:

Studio:

Genre: Film Noir

Summary:

Theatrical: 1948

Studio: RKO

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 95

Summary: In the '30s, three prisoners flee from a state prison farm in Mississippi. Among them is 23-years-young Bowie, who spent the last seven years in prison and now hopes to be able to prove his innocence or retire to a home in the mountains and live in peace together with his new love, Kitty. But his criminal companions persuade him to participate in several heists, and soon the police believe him to be their leader and go after "Bowie the Kid" harder than ever.

Theatrical: 1942

Studio: Universal Studios

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 80

Summary:

Theatrical: 1961

Studio: Globe Enterprises

Genre: Film Noir

Duration: 99

Summary: Fourteen-year-old Tolly Devlin sees four hoods beat his father to death. Twenty years later, the killers have risen to the top of the crime syndicate and Tolly has a plan for revenge.