Sunday, Feb. 27 - The Devils

The Devils (1971)

Cardinal Richelieu and his power-hungry entourage seek to take control of seventeenth-century France, but need to destroy Father Grandier - the priest who runs the fortified town that prevents them from exerting total control. So they seek to destroy him by setting him up as a warlock in control of a devil-possessed nunnery, the mother superior of which is sexually obsessed by him. A mad witch-hunter is brought in to gather evidence against the priest, ready for the big trial.

Friday, Feb. 25 - The Man With a Cloak

The Man with a Cloak (1951)

In 1848, a young Frenchwoman, Madeline Minot, goes to New York City to see Thevenet, the grandfather of her fiance. Thevenet had been with Napoleon and may be sympathetic to the political aims of his grandson. She finds the old man in very bad spirits, living in a large house with a housekeeper and a butler who are just waiting for him to die (and perhaps helping him along a bit) so they can inherit his fortune. They see Madeline as a threat to their plans. She is aided in her dealings with these strange people by a mysterious man in a cloak.

Thursday, Mar. 24 - Dust to Dust

Dust to Dust (TV 1985)

Time For Murder is a six-episode mystery series that has the look of 1980s soap opera but consists of intelligent plots and fine acting. Based on screenplays by some renowned authors such as Fay Weldon, Gordon Honeycombe, and Frances Galleymore, each episode stars a set of protagonists that reveal clues throughout the 50-minute segments about murders that have just occurred.

"Middle aged lady of good family with some wealth wishes to correspond with a single gentleman with a view to eventual marriage. A long and exhaustive investigation by correspondence must be expected before eventual meeting. Serious persons need not fear that their application will not be given careful consideration in the strictest confidence."

Margaret Tutting has a habit of meeting men through lonely hearts ads but her suitors don't realise just what is in store for them but maybe she has met her match in Auston Tupp.

Thursday, Feb. 24 - Fallguy

Fallguy (1962)

Assisting a motorist who is the victim of an automobile accident, teenager Sonny Martin witnesses the murder of King Monarch, the city's rackets boss. Sonny seeks police protection when the syndicate tries to kill him and discovers that the police chief is a gang member trying to frame him for the gangland murder. Sonny escapes from the authorities, whereupon publisher Carl Tamin, secret leader of the gang, contracts a professional killer known as "The Indian" to eliminate Sonny, now hiding in the city slums. Sonny finally visits the home of Dr. Sam Johnson, a prominent physician, and reveals to his innocent daughter, June, that her father is a syndicate member. The two youngsters search for evidence to corroborate Sonny's story, but the racketeers close in on them. In the ensuing gunfight, Sonny and June are wounded while the gangsters kill each other.

Wednesday, Feb. 23 - So Evil, So Young

So Evil, So Young (1961)

The shocking cruelty of reform school life is examined in this tale of a young beauty framed for robbery and sent to an institution run by a vicious warden. While attempting to adjust to her new surroundings, she tries to figure out a way to prove her innocence. But before she is set free, she must face off against the cruel headmistress.

The film begins with two young women breaking into a safe in a house where one of them, Lucy, used to be a maid. They are caught red-handed by the butler, but the other girl, Claire, whacks him over the head before she too can be identified, and they escape. Before she is arrested, Lucy goes to the hip little coffee shop where all the hip young people listen to live music and dance, and drops a piece of the stolen jewellery into the coat pocket of a pretty young innocent, Ann, who has usurped her as the object of the guitarist’s romantic interest. Lucy then spitefully tells the coppers that it was Ann who was her accomplice, and of course they discover the jewellery, and of course Ann gets wrongly convicted.

Both Lucy and Ann get sent to Wilsham, an open borstal for girls. Soon after arrival, they have a fight, Ann seemingly being unhappy about being framed. It appears that due to an oversight they didn’t get round to having that conversation during the entire court process, preferring to save it for prison. Ann is a goody-two-shoes, very much out of place in the borstal, and keeps protesting her innocence… and Lucy is quickly able to turn the other girls against her and get her into trouble...

Tuesday, Feb. 22 - Background to Danger

Background to Danger (1943)

Ankara in neutral Turkey : World War Two. A town of intrigue and of provocateurs. The Germans are planning to leak maps apparently proving that the Russians are about to invade the country. American Joe Barton is in the know and in the middle, along with Zaloshoff and his sister who may or may not be Russians. What is clear though is that odious Colonel Robinson is a full-blown Nazi.

Monday, Feb. 21 - Marty (TV)

Marty
(The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse TV series 1948–1955)

Renowned dramatist Paddy Chayefsky’s poignant and touching character study of a lonely, middle-aged butcher (Rod Steiger) looking for love helped usher in the naturalistic style of television drama in the 1950s. Marty, directed by Delbert Mann, remains an enduring classic of the age of live television.

Sunday, Feb. 20 - I'm Not Scared

I'm Not Scared (2003)
(Io non ho paura)

In southern Italy, Michele, a bright ten-year-old boy, finds a filthy, incoherent boy chained in a cellar hidden outside his village, but fears to speak of it. Putting together what he learns from television, he begins to connect the boy, his own impoverished parents, and a series of unexplained visiting strangers, with a high-profile kidnapping that has the entire nation on edge.

*I read the book.*

Saturday, Feb. 19 - Street Law

Street Law (1974)
(Il cittadino si ribella)

Carlo Antonelli, an engineer from Genoa, gets mugged and decides to take justice into his own hands. At first the muggers seem to get the upper hand, but then he's helped by Tommy, a young robber who takes his side.

Friday, Feb. 18 - Bang the Drum Slowly (TV)

Bang the Drum Slowly
(The United States Steel Hour TV series 1953–1963)

Paul Newman is the star pitcher of a professional baseball team who helps a terminally ill country bumpkin catcher (Albert Salmi) live out one last season on the diamond. A touching and honest tale of friendship, Bang the Drum Slowly is also considered one of the finest baseball stories of all time.

Thursday, Feb. 17 - A Wind From the South (TV)

A Wind From the South
(The United States Steel Hour TV series 1953–1963)

Julie Harris stars as Shivawn, an Irish country innkeeper who finds new meaning in her life when she finally experiences her first love, with a troubled tourist (Donald Woods). Written by playwright James Costigan, A Wind from the South features a typically marvelous performance from Harris and a surprising turn from Merv Griffin, who sings the show’s theme song.

Wednesday, Feb. 16 - Crossroads

Crossroads (1942)

With a lovely new bride by his side and a diplomatic appointment imminent, David Talbot sees his life on an upswing if he is really David Talbot. Blackmailers say he is actually a murderer and thief named Jean Pelletier. As they present their evidence, Talbot, whose past includes incidents of amnesia, begins to wonder if he's been living a lie. William Powell played an amnesiac for laughs in I Love You Again, but here he invests Talbot with the urgency and stunned disbelief of a man whose life is in sudden upheaval. Hedy Lamarr (as Talbot's resourceful bride), Basil Rathbone and Claire Trevor cos-tar in this double- and triple-cross tale located on a crossroads of uncertainty.

Tuesday, Feb. 15 - Strongroom

Strongroom (1962)

During a bank robbery, the manager and a cashier are locked in the strongroom, while the crooks escape. Later when the gang realise, that their plan to release the pair, has gone wrong, they return to the bank, to try and release them , before the police turn up...

Monday, Feb. 14 - One Rainy Afternoon

One Rainy Afternoon (1936)

Actor Philippe Martin and his married date Yvonne plan to neck in a darkened cinema, but he gets the wrong seat and mistakenly kisses lovely Monique, a publisher's daughter. An absurd scandal results. To protect Yvonne, Philippe insists that he was simply overcome by Monique's beauty. This naturally intrigues Monique, but her fiancée feels differently. French bureaucracy is broadly satirized.

Witty, sophisticated screwball comedy about the infamous ""Kissing Bandit"" of Paris.

Sunday, Feb 13 - Green Dolphin Street

Green Dolphin Street (1947)

Sophie loved Edmund, but he left town when her parents forced her to marry wealthy Octavius. Years later, Edmund returns with his son, William. Sophie's daughter, Marguerite, and William fall in love. Marguerite's sister, Marianne, also loves William. Timothy, a lowly carpenter, secretly loves Marianne. He kills a man in a fight, and Edmund helps him flee to New Zealand. William deserts inadvertently from the navy, and also flees in disgrace to New Zealand, where he and Timothy start a profitable business. One night, drunk, William writes Octavius, demanding his daughter's hand; but, being drunk, he asks for the wrong sister.

Saturday, Feb. 12 - Double Feature - Footsteps in the Fog

Footsteps in the Fog (1955)

To his Victorian London friends, Stephen Lowry is a heartbroken widower. Only his housemaid Lily knows that far from dying of gastroenteritis his wife was slowly poisoned by her husband - information she is happy to use to improve her position in the household and to make sure she stays close to Stephen. As his own prospects improve with a business partnership and a romance more of his own class, Stephen decides that Lily must go. Unfortunately for him, his first attempt gives her even more of a hold over him.

Saturday, Feb. 12 - Tenebre

Tenebre (1982)

Tenebrae follows a writer who arrives to Rome only to find somebody is using his novels as the inspiration (and, occasionally, the means) of committing murder. As the death toll mounts the police are ever baffled, and the writer becomes more closely linked to the case than is comfortable.

Friday, Feb. 11 - Death Laid an Egg

Death Laid an Egg (1968)
La morte ha fatto l'uovo

A love triangle develops between three people who run a high tech chicken farm. It involves Anna (who owns the farm), her husband Marco (who kills prostitutes in his spare time) and Gabriella (the very beautiful secretary). Marco continues to kill as jealousy becomes more prevalent on the farm.

Thursday, Feb. 10 - Day-Time Wife

Day-Time Wife (1939)

When Jane Norton inadvertently discovers that Ken, her husband of two years, is dallying with his beautiful secretary, she decides to turn the tables by applying for a job as secretary to philandering architect Barney Dexter, an associate of her husband. Despite cynical advice from her friend Blanche, a three-time divorcée, Jane stays one step ahead of the amorous Dexter and uses Ken's jealousy to get him to renounce his extra-marital indiscretions.

Wednesday, Feb. 9 - The Unknown Man

The Unknown Man (1951)

Prominent attorney Brad Mason takes on the defense of Rudi Walchek, a young hit-man hoodlum accused of murder. Convinced of the youthful thug's innocence, Mason get him acquitted. Later, he learns from the murder-victim's father that Walchek is a low-level member of a protection-racket gang and was undoubtedly guilty. Mason is anxious to get the gang-leader, but when he discovers it is the eminently respected head of the city's Crime Commission, he feels that a conviction in a court-of-law would be impossible. In a rage, he kills the man, but all evidence, including the murder weapon points to Walchek. When the latter is again brought to trial, Mason, although he senses a higher justice is at work, feels he must defend him with the best of his ability.

Tuesday, Feb 8 - Singapore

Singapore (1947)

After the war, Matt Gordon returns to Singapore to retrieve a fortune in smuggled pearls. Arrived, he reminisces in flashback about his prewar fiancée, alluring Linda, and her disappearance during the Japanese attack. But now Linda resurfaces...with amnesia and married to rich planter Van Leyden. Meanwhile, sinister fence Mauribus schemes to get Matt's pearls.

Monday, Feb. 7 - Picture Snatcher

Picture Snatcher (1933)

Ex-convict Danny Kean decides to become honest as a photographer for a paper. He falls in love with Patricia, the daughter of the policeman who arrested him. Mr Nolan, her father, doesn't like that relation at first, but McLean, Kean's boss, convinces him of Kean's good nature. But Kean uses his relation to Patricia to make a photo of an execution. Due to this, Nolan loses his stripes and Kean isn't allowed to see Patricia any longer. But when one of his former friends kills two policemen, Kean sees his chance...

Sunday, Feb. 6 - Confessions of a Police Captain

Confessions of a Police Captain (1971)
(Confessione di un commissario di polizia al procuratore della repubblica)

A dedicated police captain tries to wipe out the bureaucratic corruption that is infecting his city. Balsam gives a fine performance in a heavy-going tale.

Saturday, Feb. 5 - Henri-Georges Clouzot's Inferno

Henri-Georges Clouzot's Inferno (2009)
(L'enfer d'Henri-Georges Clouzot)

Part reconstruction, part investigation, Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Inferno finds co-directors Serge Bromberg and Ruxandra Medrea Annonier attempting to determine what happened with L’Enfer while conveying a sense of what the film might have been like through existing footage and scenes of contemporary actors performing key moments from the film.

Friday, Feb. 4 - Turn the Key Softly

Turn the Key Softly (1953)

Based on a novel by John Brophy, Turn the Key Softly takes place within a single day. The film follows the exploits of three newly released female convicts. Monica (Yvonne Mitchell) is full of hatred for the man who led her into a life of crime. Stella (Joan Collins) is an impulsive streetwalker who is determined not to return to her old lifestyle. And Mrs. Quillam (Kathleen Harrison), an elderly shoplifter, misses out on her chance to start anew in a most ironic fashion.

Thursday, Feb. 3 - Kitten With a Whip

Kitten with a Whip (1964)

Jody, a juvenile delinquent, escapes from reform school by stabbing a matron and attempting to burn down the building and then takes refuge in a house owned by an ambitious politician David Patton. Despite the hellcat's ample charms, the would-be officeholder wants nothing to do with her and tries to drive her away. She responds by shortly returning to his house accompanied by a gang of delinquent pals and taking him hostage. A sudden act of violence causes more trouble, leading Jody and her gang to hijack David and force him to drive a getaway car to Mexico.

Wednesday, February 2 - I'll Get You

I'll Get You (1952)

An FBI agent (George Raft) crosses the Atlantic and joins forces with a British intelligence operative (Sally Gray) to rescue abducted atomic scientists from their Communist captors

Tuesday, Feb. 1 - My Wife's Lodger

My Wife's Lodger (1952)

My Wife’s Lodger finds hapless soldier Willie Higginbottom (Dominic Roche) hoping for a hero’s welcome when he returns home after the war. But, while he was away, shifty spiv Roger the Lodger (Leslie Dwyer) got his arms around his wife and his feet under the table, and now Willie’s ditzy daughter (Diana Dors) only wants to sing, dance and jitterbug!

Monday, Jan. 31 - They Can't Hang Me

They Can't Hang Me (1955)

Sentenced to death for murder, a civil servant reveals that he has long been a foreign agent smuggling secrets out of the country. He meets with special branch officer Inspector Brown and offers to reveal the identity of an elusive master spy in return for a reprieve. With five days before Pitt is to be hung, Brown sets out to trace the identity of the spy without having to reprieve Pitt.