Monday, November 30, 2015

Sunday, Nov. 29 - Moby Dick

Moby Dick (1956)

This classic story by Herman Melville revolves around Captain Ahab and his obsession with a huge whale, Moby Dick. The whale caused the loss of Ahab's leg years before, leaving Ahab to stomp the boards of his ship on a peg leg. Ahab is so crazed by his desire to kill the whale, that he is prepared to sacrifice everything, including his life, the lives of his crew members, and even his ship to find and destroy his nemesis, Moby Dick.

Saturday, November 28, 2015

Friday, Nov. 27 - The Hurricane

The Hurricane (1937)

In the colonial era, island native Terangi (Jon Hall) spends a blissful honeymoon with his bride, Marama (Dorothy Lamour). Soon after, however, their relationship is torn asunder when Terangi is sent to prison for punching a prejudiced white man. Prominent members of the community -- including the governor's wife, Mme. De Laage (Mary Astor) -- petition the governor for clemency, but he refuses to budge. However, all pretense of law and order are soon shattered by an incoming tropical storm.

Friday, November 27, 2015

Thursday, Nov. 26 - Mr. Belvedere Rings the Bell

Mr. Belvedere Rings the Bell (1951)

An urbane, sharp-tongued expert on how to stay young interrupts a lecturing tour to prove his theory at a dilapidated old people's home. To the despair of his agent and the alarm of the priest running it, he infiltrates the home by lying about his age and sets about lifting the occupants' spirits and making them feel young again.

Thursday, November 26, 2015

Wednesday, Nov. 25 - Perry Mason: The Case of the Caretaker's Cat

Perry Mason: Season 2, Episode 19 The Case of the Caretaker's Cat (7 Mar. 1959)

Peter Baxter's family are shocked to learn that he prepared a new will shortly before his death in a tragic fire leaving everything to his caretaker, James Hing. Kenneth Baxter and his cousin Stuart Baxter are particularly distressed and have every intention of challenging the validity of the will in court. James Hing approaches Perry Mason to help him defend the will and his inheritance but he isn't' being entirely truthful with him. In fact, James is arrested for Baxter's murder and the convoluted truth finally emerges. Wanting to test the loyalty of his heirs, Baxter wanted to test their loyalty and respect and planned to fake his death. James Ling admits to setting fire but Baxter was not supposed to die. Perry takes on the case knowing that someone other than his client made it impossible for Baxter to leave the burning house.

Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Tuesday, Nov. 24 - I Sell Anything

I Sell Anything (1934)

Fast-talking auctioneer Spot Cash Cutler is content with his Second Avenue existence selling pawned goods for highly inflated prices. One day, a Fifth Avenue society lady picks up a priceless belt buckle for a song at Cutler's shop. Cutler tries to get his cut of the true price, but she makes a counter-offer of an expensive auction house and a scheme to auction off a house full of fake antiques.

Monday, November 23, 2015

Sunday, Nov. 22 - The Safecracker

The Safecracker (1958)

Ray Milland plays Colley Dawson, an expert safecracker who can open a safe by listening to the tumblers. While in prison, he is recruited by the British to break into a safe in Germany and photograph a list of their spies working in Britain.

Sunday, November 22, 2015

Saturday, Nov. 21 - Hail the Conquering Hero & Danger UXB: Digging Out

Hail the Conquering Hero (1944)

Having been discharged from the Marines for a hayfever condition before ever seeing action, Woodrow Lafayette Pershing Truesmith (Eddie Bracken) delays the return to his hometown, feeling that he is a failure. While in a moment of melancholy, he meets up with a group of Marines who befriend him and encourage him to return home to his mother by fabricating a story that he was wounded in battle with honorable discharge. They make him wear a uniform complete with medals and is pushed by his new friends into accepting a Hero's welcome when he gets home where he is to be immortalized by a statue that he doesn't want, has songs written about his heroic battle stories, and ends up unwillingly running for mayor. Despite his best efforts to explain the truth, no one will listen.

Danger UXB: Season 1, Episode 7 Digging Out (19 Feb. 1979)

Ash works on a bomb outside a destroyed office building while the men of 347 Section try to rescue a woman trapped inside and with another bomb right beside her.

Saturday, November 21, 2015

Friday, Nov. 20 - Sitting Pretty

Sitting Pretty (1948)

Tacey and Harry King are a suburban couple with three sons and a serious need of a babysitter. Tacey puts an ad in the paper for a live-in babysitter, and the ad is answered by Lynn Belvedere. But when she arrives, she turns out to be a man. And not just any man, but a most eccentric, outrageously forthright genius with seemingly a million careers and experiences behind him. Mr. Belvedere works miracles with the children and the house but the Kings have no idea just what he's doing with his evenings off. And when Harry has to go out of town on a business trip, a nosy parker starts ugly rumors.

Friday, November 20, 2015

Thursday, Nov. 19 - Goodnight Mommy & 17 Sinister Street

Goodnight Mommy (2014) "Ich seh, ich seh" (original title)

Twin boys who do everything together, from collecting beetles to feeding stray cats, welcome their mother home after her reconstructive surgery. But with her face wrapped in bandages, and her demeanor distant, they grow suspicious of her identity.

Grabenplatz 17 (1958)

A sickly young boy witnesses a gang of vicious criminals murder his mother and is subsequently kidnapped by them. When one of the kidnappers, a singer who was forced into helping with the job, discovers that the boy will die in a week without treatment, she turns to the investigating police before disappearing herself.

Thursday, November 19, 2015

Wednesday, Nov. 18 - A Pair of Briefs

A Pair of Briefs (1962)

A recently-qualified barrister is annoyed when he finds his firm is taking on the boss's niece. The two youngsters soon find themselves in court on opposite sides in a case on the restitution of conjugal rights where both plaintiff and defendant seem to have things to hide. The irascible and rather fearsome judge has little time for the goings-on, least of all the way the two young lawyers seem rather too keen to squabble with each other.

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Tuesday, Nov. 17 - Goke, Body Snatcher from Hell & Malibu High

Goke, Body Snatcher from Hell (1968) "Kyuketsuki Gokemidoro" (original title)

The survivors of a plane crash in a remote area are attacked by blob-like alien creatures that turn their victims into blood-thirsty vampires.

Malibu High (1979)

Bitchy, surly, calculating high school senior Kim Bentley ain't having a good time of it. She's been dumped by her jerky boyfriend Kevin, lives with her shrewish, overbearing mother, is still traumatized by the suicide death of her father, and is flunking all of her classes. Kim immediately starts to improve her miserable lot in life by seducing all of her male teachers and earning extra cash by servicing numerous guys in back of a van for scuzzy no-count pimp Tony. Things get even better for the seriously ruthless and amoral sociopath Kim when she leaves Tony and hooks up with smooth crime kingpin Lance. Next thing you know Kim is bumping off folks for Lance as a deadly assassin!

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Monday, Nov. 16 - It Can Be Done... Amigo!

Si può fare... amigo (1972)

Coburn is pursued by the gunfighter and pimp Sonny, who wants to kill him for seducing Sonny’s sister Mary, but not until they have married so she is made an honest woman. When they confront, Sonny usually gets knocked out. Coburn meets the boy Chip, whose uncle has just died, and takes him to his hometown. They settle in Chip’s house. Franciscus, the town priest, sheriff and judge – who is rumoured to be responsible for people being run out of the area – offers to buy the place and so does eventually a stranger who buys buckets of dirt and tastes them. Chip refuses the mounting offers, to Coburn's consternation. Franciscus allies with Sonny, and they capture Coburn and marry him to Mary. However, when Sonny is about to shoot Coburn Mary says that she is pregnant, so Sonny decides to postpone the killing until the child is 21. Franciscus protests and is knocked out. He sends his secret partner, the horse thief Big Jim (who earlier received a good thrashing when he tried to rob a bank where Coburn was to make a deposit) to shoot Coburn. But Sonny, who is promised one third of the house by Chip, shoots off his pants. Franciscus and Big Jim return in force when the wedding party has started, and there is a big brawl. The fireworks explode and oil gushes from the well. The bandits are flattened, but Franciscus leaves together with Sonny and the girls. Mary reveals to Coburn that she lied about the pregnancy, and he sets about to redress this so enthusiastically that the house rocks, while Chip smiles.

Monday, November 16, 2015

Sunday, Nov. 15 - The Sin of Harold Diddlebock

The Sin of Harold Diddlebock (1947)

Two decades after a game-winning touchdown and praise as a college football hero, the once hopeful Harold Diddlebock (Harold Lloyd) has been beaten down by the drudgery of office life. When Harold is fired by his egotistical boss, E.J. Waggleberry (Raymond Walburn), he wanders into a bar and orders a drink -- the first of his life. After the kindly bartender (Edgar Kennedy) invents a cocktail just for him, Harold goes on a wild binge, and his luck starts to change.

Sunday, November 15, 2015

Saturday, Nov. 14 - Poison Ivy

Poison Ivy (1953) "La môme vert de gris" (original title)

Two million dollars have vanished into thin air. Lemmy Caution, an American agent, is assigned by the FBI to investigate in Casablanca. He soon finds out about a gang of gold smugglers, whose boss might be Saltierra, but Saltierra's mistress, Carlotta de la Rue, nicknamed "La môme vert de gris" stands in his way, at times helping Saltierra at other times helping him. Only when her brother is gunned down by the gang does she choose her side, Lemmy of course.

Saturday, November 14, 2015

Friday, Nov. 13 - Hoedown

Hoedown (1950)

Cowboy movie star Stoney Rhodes has made one western film and thinks he is on a personal appearance tour paid for by the studio, but he and his film were so bad that the studio, unknown to Stoney, has cancelled his contract, and his mother has mortgaged her home to supply the funds necessary for the tour and expenses of Stoney and his agent. Reporter Vera Wright, following him to get a story of a failure, informs Stoney that he is a never-was has-been, and they find themselves stranded in the hometown of Eddy Arnold, where Eddy's film "cousin" Carolina Cotton quickly takes a shine to the shy and clumsy Stoney.

Friday, November 13, 2015

Thursday, Nov. 12 - Going Hollywood

Going Hollywood (1933)

Sylvia is the French teacher at Briarcroft's School for Girls, but she wants to find romance. When she hears Bill on the radio, she decides to leave and thank him. But he is on his way to Hollywood with Lili to make a movie. When Sylvia gets to Hollywood, she finds that seeing Bill again is almost impossible, but she gets a job in the chorus. Then when Lili quits the picture, Sylvia is tapped to play her character. But the part she wants is with Bill, a part that Lili seems to have.

Thursday, November 12, 2015

Wednesday, Nov. 11 - Twice Told Tales: Rappaccini's Daughter

Twice-Told Tales (1963)

In "Rappaccini's Daughter", Vincent Price plays a demented father innoculating his daughter with poison so she may never leave her garden of poisonous plants.

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Tuesday, Nov. 10 - The Avengers: The Decapod

The Avengers: Season 2, Episode 3 The Decapod (29 Jan. 1991)

The president of a Balkan Republic is menaced by a masked assassin. Although Steed is sent to augment the visiting dignitary's security detail, his bodyguards are murdered one by one.

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Monday, Nov. 9 - Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Pennsylvania Gun

Sherlock Holmes: Season 1, Episode 3 The Case of the Pennsylvania Gun (1 Nov. 1954)

As Holmes and Watson are discussing a newspaper account of the recent murder of Squire Douglas, a message comes from the inspector in charge of the case, asking for Holmes's help. They travel to Sussex, and visit the castle where the crime occurred. The murder was committed with an unusual weapon, a sawed-off shotgun made in Pennsylvania, in the USA. When Douglas was shot, the castle was sealed up, and there seem to be only two possible suspects. But Holmes quickly realizes that the situation is more complicated than it looks.

Monday, November 9, 2015

Sunday, Nov. 8 - The Twilight Zone: What's in the Box? & The Masks, Twice Told Tales: Dr. Heidegger's Experiment

The Twilight Zone: Season 5, Episode 24 What's in the Box (13 Mar. 1964)

Taxi driver Joe Britt usually makes his way home to his wife Phyllis but theirs is not a happy marriage as they constantly bicker and she accuses him of having a girlfriend. The obnoxious Joe is having his TV fixed but after the repairman leaves, Joe sees himself with his girlfriend in scenes from the recent past. Soon after, he has a glimpse of what will happen in the near future.

The Twilight Zone: Season 5, Episode 25 The Masks (20 Mar. 1964)

When his doctor tells him that he could die at any moment, the wealthy Jason Foster gathers his heirs including his daughter Emily Harper, her husband Wilfred and their children Paula and Wilfrid Jr. Jason doesn't think much of any of them and it's clear they can't wait to get their hands on his fortune. It's Mardi Gras time in New Orleans and he has one last request - for each of them to wear a carnival mask. Each of the masks is meant to reflect some aspect of their personality - and leave a lasting impression on them.

Twice-Told Tales (1963)

In the 1st story titled "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment", Dr. Carl Heidegger (Sebastian Cabot) reanimates his long-dead fiancée.

Sunday, November 8, 2015

Saturday, Nov. 7 - Mr. Holmes & Newsfront

Mr. Holmes (2015)

This BBC film has an aged Sherlock Holmes, in failing health, living in retirement in the country, and trying to remember his last case.

Newsfront (1978)

In post war Australia the men and women of Cinetone struggle to produce the weekly news reels for the movie going public.

Saturday, November 7, 2015

Friday, Nov. 6 - The Great Man Votes

The Great Man Votes (1939)

Illustrious actor and celebrated souse John Barrymore portrays a former Harvard professor and man of letters who has fallen on hard times following the death of his beloved wife. The widower barely manages to support himself and his children by working as a night watchman. His job and parental custody are thrown into jeopardy when his kids get in a fight with the son of a big shot politician who called their dad a “drunk old bummer.” The kids will have none of that, because they know the old man only puts away a quart a day. Luckily, fortune smiles on the literate lush when his vote becomes crucial in the city’s mayoral election.

Friday, November 6, 2015

Thursday, Nov. 5 - Espionage: The Gentle Spies

Espionage: Season 1, Episode 4 The Gentle Spies (23 Oct. 1963)

An Aldermaston-type ban-the-bomb group is staging sit-in demonstrations around London, even on the steps of Whitehall. Worse, they keep releasing top secret documents in fliers and press releases, so a young agent is sent to infiltrate them to discover who their government source is.

Thursday, November 5, 2015

Wednesday, Nov. 4 - Sherlock Holmes: The Case of Lady Beryl

Sherlock Holmes: Season 1, Episode 2 The Case of Lady Beryl (25 Oct. 1954)

Annoyed by a newspaper account that fails to give Sherlock Holmes proper credit for solving the Cunningham case, Dr. Watson goes to Scotland Yard to complain to Inspector Lestrade. While Watson is with the inspector, word arrives that a murder has been committed at the home of Lord Beryl. Lestrade takes Watson with him, and sends word for Holmes to join them, but Holmes delays his departure because he is absorbed in a chemical experiment. When Lestrade and Watson arrive, Lady Beryl confesses to shooting the victim, an Austrian agent. Later, when they tell Holmes the facts of the case, Holmes is immediately convinced that Lady Beryl is innocent, and he sets out to find the real murderer.

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Tuesday, Nov. 3 - Terror Aboard

Terror Aboard (1933)

A ship at sea finds it is on a collision course with a large luxury yacht. The captain and crew try to hail the yacht to get it to change its course, but it does not respond. Realizing that there is something wrong over there, the ship's crew take a small boat over to the yacht and find it abandoned. They find a couple of bodies including that of a woman dressed in formal evening attire who has frozen to death in a tropical climate. The visiting captain finds the top half of a telegram that has been ripped in half that indicates someone aboard the ship has been indicted by a grand jury. At that point the film flashes back to the actual receipt of that telegram...

Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Monday, Nov. 2 - Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Cunningham Heritage

Sherlock Holmes (1954–1955) TV Series

Based on the characters created by Arthur Conan Doyle: Dr. John Watson returns from Afghanistan, and decides to share lodgings in Baker Street with Sherlock Holmes, an acquaintance of one of Watson's own friends. Not long afterward, Holmes brings Watson with him when he solves a murder case that has confused Inspector Lestrade. Watson soon becomes Holmes's friend, assistant, and chronicler, as the private detective takes on one baffling case after another.

Sherlock Holmes: Season 1, Episode 1 The Case of the Cunningham Heritage (18 Oct. 1954)

Peter Cunningham has been found stabbed to death, with his fiancée standing over him holding a knife - but Scotland Yard's Inspector Lestrade is baffled by the lack of a motive for the crime.

Monday, November 2, 2015

Sunday, Nov. 1 - The Legend of Hell House

The Legend of Hell House (1973)

A team consisting of a physicist, his wife, a young female psychic and the only survivor of the previous visit are sent to the notorious Hell House to prove/disprove survival after death. Previous visitors have either been killed or gone mad, and it is up to the team to survive a full week in isolation, and solve the mystery of the Hell House.

Sunday, November 1, 2015

Saturday, Oct. 31 - The Mummy

The Mummy (1959)

In the 1890s a team of British archaeologists discover the untouched tomb of Princess Ananka but accidentally bring the mummified body of her High Priest back to life. Three years later back in England a follower of the same Egyptian religion unleashes the mummy to exact grisly revenge on the despoilers of the sacred past.