Tuesday, Nov. 29 - Safe in Hell

Safe in Hell (1931)

Sought by the New Orleans police for accidentally killing the man who raped her and forced her into prostitution, a woman flees New Orleans for a Caribbean island. Surrounded by lecherous criminals, she awaits the return of her fiancé and seems to be holding her own until the treachery of the local police chief leaves her but one choice to gain her freedom.

Monday, Nov. 28 - Registered Nurse

Registered Nurse (1934)

While quarreling over their failed marriage, Sylvia (Bebe Daniels) and Jim Benton (Gordon Westcott) get into a car accident that leaves Jim gravely injured. Sylvia returns to her nursing job at a hospital where she is admired by both Dr. Hedwig (Lyle Talbot) and Dr. Connolly (John Halliday). When Connolly declares his love for her, Sylvia reveals that she's married and that the accident has made her husband insane. Then, to her amazement, Jim arrives at the hospital seeking a surgical cure.

Sunday, Nov. 27 - Brides of Dracula

The Brides of Dracula (1960)

A young teacher on her way to a position in Transylvania helps a young man escape the shackles his mother has put on him. In so doing she innocently unleashes the horrors of the undead once again on the populace, including those at her school for ladies. Luckily for some, Dr Van Helsing is already on his way.

Saturday, Nov. 26 - Girl of the Night

Girl of the Night (1960)

Anne Francis plays the New Jersey-born Robin “Bobbie” Williams, a young woman molested as a child, feeling worthless, told that “sex is an evil and dirty thing,” manipulated by her boyfriend (John Kerr), who is also her pimp. After being beaten by a customer with a cane – a dark, brutal, but implied scene – she is open to the advice of a psychologist (Lloyd Nolan). He attempts to “make her stand on her own two feet,” to understand that the suppressed memories and problems of her childhood need to be fought for her to be a productive member of society

Friday, Nov. 25 - Saboteur

Saboteur (1942)

Los Angeles aircraft worker Barry Kane evades arrest after he is unjustly accused of sabotage. Following leads, he travels across the country to New York trying to clear his name by exposing a gang of fascist-supporting saboteurs led by apparently respectable Charles Tobin. Along the way, he involves Pat Martin, eventually preventing another major act of sabotage. They finally catch up with Frank Fry, the man who actually committed the act of sabotage at the aircraft factory.

Thursday, November 24 - Sully & A Face in the Crowd

Sully (2016)

The story of Chesley Sullenberger, an American pilot who became a hero after landing his damaged plane on the Hudson River in order to save the flight's passengers and crew.

A Face in the Crowd (1957)

Ambitious young radio producer Marcia Jeffries (Patricia Neal) finds a charming rogue named Larry "Lonesome" Rhodes (Andy Griffith) in an Arkansas drunk tank and puts him on the air. Soon, Rhodes' local popularity gets him an appearance on television in Memphis, which he parlays into national network stardom that he uses to endorse a presidential candidate for personal gain. But the increasingly petulant star's ego, arrogance and womanizing threaten his rise to the top.

Wednesday, Nov. 23 - Man in the Dark

Man in the Dark (1953)

A convicted criminal undergoes experimental brain surgery to remove the criminal element in his brain. The operation wipes out all memories of his past life, including where he stashed the loot. He is abducted by his gang and they try to beat the truth out of him. His memories return in the form of weird dreams, and he and his old girlfriend track down the clues to find the money.

Tuesday, Nov. 22 - It's a Joke, Son!

It's a Joke, Son! (1947)

Bigwigs want Beauregard Claghorn (Kenny Delmar) to run for state senator against his wife, Magnolia (Una Merkel).

Monday, Nov. 21 - The Story of Temple Drake

The Story of Temple Drake (1933)

Temple Drake is a Southern belle who leads men on with her sexuality but usually leaves them wanting. She's loved by lawyer Stephen Benbow, whom she likes but doesn't love. While out carousing with one of her beaux, she finds herself stranded with a gang of bootleggers, one of whom, Trigger, rapes her and makes her his sex slave. When another man is accused of a murder Trigger committed, Stephen defends him and sets out to find Trigger. But he isn't prepared for whom he finds with Trigger, or what she's become.

Sunday, Nov. 20 - The Jackpot

The Jackpot (1950)

Bill Lawrence wins a slew of prizes on a radio quiz program. His happiness is short-lived when he discovers he'll have to sell the prizes in order to pay the taxes on them.

Saturday, Nov. 19 - Route 66 - Journey to Ninevah

Route 66 (1960–1964) - Journey to Nineveh (Season 3 Episode 2 - aired 28 September 1962)

Tod and Buz, driving through rural Missouri "about four hours out of Kansas City", decide to detour and go fishing. On the way they pick up a "Jonah" who carries "slapstick" bad luck wherever he goes. Unknowingly, he also carries an engagement ring which will determine whether or not his brother will be freed.

Saturday, Nov. 18 - The Bubble & Night of Lust

The Bubble (1966)

A pilot (Johnny Desmond), a woman (Deborah Walley) in labor, and her husband (Michael Cole) are trapped inside a plastic bubble.

A couple encounter mysterious atmospheric effects in an airplane and find themselves in a town where people behave oddly. They eventually are on their way to maybe escape.

And all in 3-D Space-Vision.

Le concerto de la peur (1963)

The film is about rival gangs in Paris trying to control the Heroin Trade, but the gangsters take long breaks to watch beautiful nude dancers.

Thursday, Nov. 17 - I Mobster

I Mobster (1958)

A crime boss (Steve Cochran) appears before a Senate subcommittee; flashbacks tell his story.

Wednesday, Nov. 16 - Look in Any Window & Patterns

Look in Any Window (1961)

Teen idol Paul Anka plays Craig Fowler, the troubled son of Jackie and Jay Fowler (Ruth Roman and Alex Nicol). When Jay loses his job as a aircraft mechanic, he goes on a drinking binge, passing out on the floor in front of his bored and disappointed wife. Meanwhile, across the back fence, Betty Lowell (Carole Mathews) confronts her philandering playboy husband Gareth (Jack Cassidy) about his extracurricular activities at work - activities which she has conveniently rationalized, as his success has made them the envy of their neighbors. While the parents fight, Craig and Betty's daughter Eileen (Gigi Perreau) indulge in a growing interest in each other. Craig is a peeping tom, by the way, hence the title.

Patterns (1956)

The story of the fierce and corrosive competition that exists in the executive branch of Ramsey & Co., a New York industrial colossus headed by Walter Ramsey, its cold, designing and ruthless chief. It is the saga, too, of Bill Briggs, his longtime second in command, who is swayed by human as well as technological values. And, it is the case of Fred Staples, a comparatively youthful industrial engineer brought in by Ramsey to succeed Briggs. The younger man's views and sensitivities are essentially the same as Briggs'. People are not merely units, they feel. But it is Ramsey's calculated pattern not to fire his aging aide but to create such untenable positions that he will be forced to resign.

Tuesday, Nov. 15 - Death Will Have Your Eyes

Death Will Have Your Eyes (1974) La moglie giovane (original title)

Louisa is a young and attractive woman who wants to make a living for herself in Rome, but soon falls prey to some very shady characters that force her into prostitution. (No they don't, you idiot! Did you even watch this movie?)

Louisa (Marisa Mell) is a young and attractive woman who wants to make a living for herself in Rome, but soon falls prey to some very shady characters that force her into prostitution. (No, no! She goes to work at a hotel switchboard, for crissakes! Don't you know the difference?)

While struggling to keep herself afloat, she meets a fascinating (he's wealthy, she's really not all that fascinated, in truth) doctor (Farley Granger) who is also a would-be poet. However, Louisa doesn't really love him, and falls for another man. When she gets involved in a murder, blackmail and violence ensue until the shocking final revelation. (Gets involved is one way of putting it! She murders her husband might be a better way. And the shocking revelation actually comes at the beginning of the film. The rest is flashback.)

Hey, am I the only person out here who thinks a person should actually watch a movie before they write a synopsis of it?

Monday, Nov. 14 - Band of Outsiders

Band of Outsiders (1964) Bande à part (original title)

Two restless young men (Sami Frey and Claude Brasseur) enlist the object of both of their fancies (Anna Karina) to help them commit a robbery—in her own home.

Sunday, Nov. 13 - Jack the Ripper: Episode 1

Jack the Ripper TV Series (1988– ) Episode 1 (aired 11 October 1988)

In 1888, a reign of murderous terror struck East London. To this day, the case is unsolved. And the killer is known only by his infamous nickname: Jack the Ripper. But the truth may at last have been found.

Based on breakthrough research at the time it was first broadcast in 1988, this gripping “what if” television miniseries suggests who wielded the surgically sharp blade of death – and why his identity has been concealed.

Saturday, Nov. 12 - It's a Dog's Life

It's a Dog's Life (1955)

In the early 1900s, a bull terrier living on the streets of the Bowery rises from a street-tough engaging in dogfights to pedigreed show dog among the upper crust. All the while, he has two ambitions--to be reunited with his mother and to get even with his father who deserted her.

Friday, Nov. 11 - Swing Hostess

Swing Hostess (1944)

Judy Alvin (Martha Tilton) wants to be a singer. All she needs is a break. She has a room at Mrs. Blodgett's Theatrical Boarding House where her friend, Marge O'Day (Iris Adrian) also lives. Also around are a magician, acrobats, specialty acts and a chicken named Mary...the usual crowd at a boarding house. There's also Phoebe Forbes, with a southern accent as shaky as her high notes. She's determined to be a singer, too. Well, demonstration records are made, auditions are taken, Phoebe's singing is mistaken for Judy's, Benny Jackson (as in Benny Goodman, get it?), an orchestra leader about to open a new show, gets confused, his double-talk speaking side-kick doesn't help. After approximately 65 minutes, things start to sort themselves out. There is a happy ending onstage for Judy and Benny, and Phoebe winds up in the magicians box for sawing in two.

Thursday, Nov. 10 - Red-Headed Woman

Red-Headed Woman (1932)

A gold digger (Jean Harlow) breaks up her boss's (Chester Morris) marriage and sins her way to financial success.

Wednesday, Nov. 9 - Too Many Cooks

Too Many Cooks (1931)

Busybody relatives jinx an engaged couple (Bert Wheeler, Dorothy Lee) who are building their dream house.

Tuesday, Nov. 8 - Congo Maisie

Congo Maisie (1940)

Maisie Ravier, a fast-talking showgirl with a heart of gold, is stranded in an African village when she slips out of her hotel window to beat her bill, and stows away on a Congo riverboat in hopes of reaching another town where a job awaits her. On board, she meets the boat's only other passenger, Dr. Michael Shane, a doctor-turned-rubber planter, and the ship's captain Finch, who offers her the dubious privilege of sharing his cabin. When the boat blows a boiler, Maisie and Shane find refuge at a rubber company's medical station manned by Dr. John McWade, the doctor who succeeded Shane, and McWade's wife Kay. At the station, Shane denounces his former bosses at the rubber company for their indifference to the health of the natives, and he urges McWade to leave the shelter of his laboratory and make contact with the natives. Kay, who is lonely and homesick, is on the verge of succumbing to Shane's charms when Maisie intervenes to save the McWades' marriage. After John falls gravely ill, Maisie intercedes once again to save his life by persuading Shane to perform an emergency appendectomy. Soon afterward, all their lives are threatened when the witch doctors incite the natives to rebel. The fast-thinking Maisie quells the uprising by donning her sequined dress and performing a series of magic tricks, which are highlighted by a rain storm that proves her "power" to the natives. Having fallen in love with Maisie, Shane then agrees to take over the medical station with her at his side. Thus McWade and Kay are free to return to America to begin life anew.

Monday, Nov. 7 - The Crash

The Crash (1932)

During the late 1920s, attractive Linda Gault flirts with important men to get stock market tips for her financier husband Geoffrey. In spite of the fact that Linda has just broken off her affair with banker John Fair, Geoffrey asks her to question him once more that evening at dinner. Reluctantly, she does, but Fair is suspicious and refuses to answer. To cover her failure, Linda lies to Geoffrey and pretends that Fair told her the market was going up. When the market crashes, Geoffrey loses his money. Because she is afraid to live in poverty as she did when she was a child, Linda runs away to Bermuda with a letter of credit. While waiting for Geoffrey to recover his wealth, she meets Ronnie Sanderson, an Australian sheep rancher. He falls in love with her and begs her to return to New York, get a divorce and marry him. At first she hesitates, thinking Australia will be dull, but when she learns that Geoffrey has lost everything, she agrees. Linda discovers that her maid, Celeste, has stolen her pearl necklace and sold it to cover her boyfriend's losses on the market. Now Linda has no money either, so she takes a job selling gowns in order to earn money for her divorce. Ronnie follows her from Bermuda and offers to pay all her expenses himself if she will leave with him that evening. She agrees, but on the way to the boat, stops to say goodbye to Geoffrey. When she realizes that he really loves her and that he needs her, she decides to stay with him.

Sunday, Nov. 6 - Mr. & Mrs. Smith

Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941)

New York sophisticates David Smith and Ann Smith née Krausheimer have been lovingly and passionately married for three years, or so they believed. They are told individually that due to a technicality - an unresolved municipal and state jurisdictional issue at the time of their supposed marriage - their wedding was not legal, and as such they are not really married. Despite David saying earlier in the day that if he had to do his life all over again that he would not have married her (even though he loves her), it is Ann that decides not to marry David this second time around due to an action, or in reality inaction, by David in reaction ("an action or inaction in reaction" Gotta remember that one!) to the news of their marriage being invalid. While Ann goes about her life as a supposedly single woman (which includes calling herself Ann Krausheimer), David does whatever he can to win Ann back. But winning Ann's hand may be difficult as part of Ann's new life is dating other men. One of those other men and the most serious is David's best friend and business partner, Jefferson Custer. Ann and Jeff's relationship quickly gets to the point where Jeff introduces her to his visiting parents, with whom Ann and Jeff are going on a skiing vacation to Lake Placid. David hopes to exploit that vacation in order to win Ann back.

Saturday, Nov. 5 - Strange Illusion & The Ladykillers

Strange Illusion (1945) 

Paul, a young man whose father was once lieutenant Governor of California before his untimely death, has a strange, recurring dream in which his mother falls in love with a dangerous man (Brett Curtis), a dream which also contains the image of his father's death in an automobile accident under mysterious circumstances. Through the help of his friend, a psychiatrist, Paul realizes that his dream is coming true, and that his mother is falling under Curtis's influence. Curtis, in fact, is a homicidal maniac who lives as an out-patient at the sanitarium of the unscrupulous Dr. Muhlbach. When Curtis makes an attempt to marry Paul's mother, Paul intervenes, and after a series of events discovers the truth behind his dreams.

The Ladykillers (1955)

Mrs. Wilberforce (Katie Johnson) likes to report suspicious behavior to the police. Unaware of her reputation, the dapper thief Professor Marcus (Alec Guinness) rents rooms in the elderly widow's home for himself and his band of cohorts. Posing as a string quintet, the thieves pull off a bank robbery, but slip up in front of the old woman as they try to escape. Agreed that they need to murder her, the bumbling crooks wind up double-crossing each other and slowly killing themselves off.

Friday, Nov. 4 - Lovejoy: Breaking the Broker

Lovejoy (1986–1994): Breaking the Broker (Season 6 Episode 7 - aired 13 November 1994)

D.S. Arnie Pulver, an old Lovejoy nemesis, has become frustrated by his inability to obtain a case against a "likeable" Polish sea captain who has been smuggling art treasures from the churches of Poland. Pulver feels he needs an antiques expert, so he has Tinker framed on charges of pornography (then drugs) when he lectures a woman's club or erotic art in order to coerce both Lovejoy and Tinker into helping him run a sting on the captain and his British buyer, an upscale pawnbroker.

Thursday, Nov. 3 - Baby Face

Baby Face (1933)

This film follows the sexual escapades of Lily Powers (Barbara Stanwyck), the beautiful daughter of a speakeasy owner. Lily's dreary life in Pennsylvania takes a sudden turn when her father is killed in an accident. Unmoved by her father's death, Lily, along with friend Chico (Theresa Harris), jumps on a freight train and seduces a worker to avoid being arrested. Now in New York City, Lily uses her beauty and sexual prowess to seduce a string of successful men as she works her way to the top.

Wednesday, Nov. 2 - Thou Shalt Not: Sex, Sin and Censorship in Pre-Code Hollywood

Thou Shalt Not: Sex, Sin and Censorship in Pre-Code Hollywood (2008)

Various film historians, film makers, and cultural commentators (including, I'm sorry to say, Camille Paglia) discuss the cultural, political, economic and religious reasons for what is known as the pre-code era of Hollywood movie making in the early 1930s, and those same factors which resulted in the drastic turn to working under the "code" for the twenty or so years starting in 1934.

Tuesday, Nov. 1 - Tough Guy

Tough Guy (1936)

Freddie loves his dog, Duke, more than anything in the world. Unfortunately, his rich father has said he has to get rid of the animal. So Freddie runs away from home and becomes embroiled in a world of crime, courtesy of on-the-lam gangster Joe Calerno. After a rocky start, Joe and Freddie become the best of friends. Meanwhile, the boy's father and the police, thinking Freddie has been kidnapped, close in on Joe.

Monday, Oct. 31 - Everything's Rosie

Everything's Rosie (1931)

Huckster J. Dockweiler Droop is constantly being chased out of carnivals by a sheriff for not having a license. On one such night, he is befriended by a waif called Rosie, who tags along with him, so he becomes her foster father. Fourteen years later, Rosie, now 17, meets handsome Billy Lowe at a carnival and they instantly fall in love. He invites her and Droop to his 21st birthday party to meet his parents and influential townsfolk. But things begin to look dim for Rosie when she learns Billy's friend, Madeline Van Dorn, intends to marry him. And to make things worse, Droop starts a shell game to fleece all the party guests.