Wednesday, September 12, 2018

Tuesday, Sep. 11 - Mill of the Stone Women

Mill of the Stone Women (1960) Il mulino delle donne di pietra (original title)

Hans arrives in a town near Amsterdam to write a story on the reclusive sculptor, Professor Val, who lives on an island in the old mill house the locals call the Mill of the Stone Women. Hans meets the professor's beautiful and seductive daughter, and begins feeling passion for her despite his true love for Lisa Lotta. Slowly he becomes aware of the nefarious experiments being conducted by Val and his furtive assistant Dr. Boles, and local women continue to disappear.

In 19th century Holland, a professor of fine arts and an unlicensed surgeon run a secret lab where the professor's ill daughter receives blood-transfusions from kidnapped female victims who posthumously become macabre art.

Pierre Brice plays Hans van Harnim, a writer in what appears to be late 19th century Holland, who goes to the windmill home of one Prof. Wahl to do a story on his unusual abode and the professor/sculptor's carousel collection of grotesque female statues. What follows, for van Harnim, is quite the nightmarish experience, as he discovers the secrets of both this statuary and Wahl's mysterious daughter, Elfy.

Tuesday, September 11, 2018

Monday, Sep. 10 - Manhattan Parade

Manhattan Parade (1931)

The John Roberts Costume Company is being run super-efficiently by Doris Roberts, but her husband demands that she give up her position to stay at home with their young son. Without her wheeling and dealing skills the company starts to lose money and when John leaves for Europe on a tryst, Doris returns to save the firm. Hooking up with an obviously disturbed producer and a pair of theatrical backers, the costume company seems to be on the road to riches again when John returns and wants his share of the profits.

Monday, September 10, 2018

Sunday, Sep. 9 - The Spy in the Green Hat

The Spy in the Green Hat (1967)

Solo and Kuryakin are assigned to infiltrate a THRUSH secret base located in a Sicillian winery. The base is run by Louis Strago, who in conjunction with former Nazi Dr. von Kronen is planning to detonate atomic bombs in the Atlantic Ocean. The bombs will cause the Gulf Stream to divert, wreaking havoc in Europe and the United States and warming Greenland sufficiently for it to become a strategic new home for THRUSH (“THRUSHland”).

The agents are split up after an encounter with THRUSH, with Solo having to hide overnight in the house of Pia Monteri. When Pia’s grandmother learns of this, she considers it a disgrace to her family’s reputation (despite Solo’s insistence that nothing inappropriate happened) and insists at the end of a shotgun that Solo marry Pia. Solo manages to escape, but Pia and her grandmother enlist the aid of Pia's uncles to find him and return him for marriage. Her uncles are the Stilleto brothers, Prohibition era gangsters in the U.S. who miss the "good old days". Solo barely escapes the wedding.

Kuryakin and, ultimately, Pia are captured by Strago and taken to his island base from which the bombs will be launched. Tortured by Miss Diketon (who truly loves her work), Kuryakin is to be executed at a party held for Strago’s immediate superior in THRUSH, Mr. Thaler. U.N.C.L.E. learns of the plot thanks to Solo’s efforts and sends an assault force to bomb the island, killing everyone on it. With Mr. Waverly’s reluctant approval, Solo attempts a rescue of Kuryakin and Pia before the bombers attack. Strago’s defenses prove too much, however, and Solo finds himself allied with the Stilleto brothers - who have come to the island as well in search of Pia. Miss Diketon betrays Strago due to his dismissal of her over a minor error, and with her help U.N.C.L.E. and the Stilletos are able to stop the missile launch. Strago, Thaler, and von Kronen are killed in the process. Diketon also dies in the fight, enjoying both the physical pain she is feeling and the fact that she saw Strago’s plan fail. Pia’s family finally stops trying to get Solo to marry her, and the film ends with everyone enjoying an Italian dinner.

Sunday, September 9, 2018

Saturday, Sep. 8 - Otley

Otley (1969)

Gerald Otley, a petty thief and garbage rummager, wakes up one morning, after a drunken night on the town, and finds that he is wanted by the police for murder. And that is only the beginning. While being pursued for a crime he did not commit, he is kidnapped by a group of criminals who suspect him of being involved with double agents. Otley manages to escape, but cannot avoid getting into one near-fatal crisis after another, as police and foreign agents chase after him. It is a wild week of misadventures which Otley will never forget!

Saturday, September 8, 2018

Friday, Sep. 7 - Take a Giant Step

Take a Giant Step (1959)

After African-American teenager Spence Scott (Johnny Nash) gets expelled from his private school for arguing with a teacher, he turns to his grandmother (Estelle Hemsley) for advice. Spence, who lives in a genteel white area and has mostly white friends, feels like an outsider. He visits a bar in a black neighborhood, where he meets a few prostitutes, which doesn't help. Eventually, Spence starts a friendship with the housekeeper, Christine (Ruby Dee), who tells him her own difficult story.

Friday, September 7, 2018

Thursday, Sep. 6 - Full of Life

Full of Life (1956)

Writer Nick and his wife Emily are expecting their first child. When a necessary home repair proves too costly to afford, Nick must swallow his pride and visit his father, a proud immigrant stonemason with whom he has a difficult relationship, and ask him to do the work. Confronting the issues of religion and family tradition which have separated father and son causes Nick and Emily to reevaluate their lives and the things they value most.

Thursday, September 6, 2018

Wednesday, Sep. 5 - It Happened in Broad Daylight

It Happened in Broad Daylight (1958) Es geschah am hellichten Tag (original title)

A senior police detective is detached to investigate the murder of a little girl. As the detective hopes for leads while talking with the mother of the murdered girl, he pledges to find her killer – and so, even after leaving the police force, he embarks upon buying a gasoline shop in the remote area where he hopes to find the criminal, and uses a little girl as bait to attract the killer.

Wednesday, September 5, 2018

Tuesday, Sep. 4 - Marked Woman

Marked Woman (1937)

Mary Dwight Stauber (Bette Davis), a nightclub hostess who works for the notorious gangster Johnny Vanning (Eduardo Ciannelli) briefly meets and befriends a young man (Damian O'Flynn) who confides in her that he does not have the money to repay the gambling debt he has accrued during the night. He feels that it's a game, but Mary warns him that he is in real danger. She is shocked, but not surprised to learn soon after that he has been murdered, by Vanning's henchman Charlie Delaney (Ben Welden).

Questioned by prosecutor David Graham (Humphrey Bogart), Mary and the other women refuse to implicate Vanning. They fear his retribution, and while privately detesting him are powerless to free themselves from his influence. Mary's younger sister Betty (Jane Bryan) comes to visit, and unaware of the dangerous situation she has entered, behaves recklessly against the advice of her older sister. When she is killed, Mary agrees to testify against the gangster. Beaten by his thugs, scarred and disfigured, she becomes the "marked woman" of the film's title, but rather than silencing her, it strengthens her resolve to testify. Aware that they can only be free of the gangster if they find the strength to stand against him, the other women agree to testify also.

Tuesday, September 4, 2018

Monday, Sep. 3 - My Foolish Heart

My Foolish Heart (1949)

After a long absence, Mary Jane visits her schoolfriend Eloise, and Eloise's daughter Ramona. Eloise drinks too much and is unhappily married to Lew Wengler. Eloise falls asleep and remembers her time with her true love, Walt Dreiser, at the beginning of the Second World War. She recalls the events that led up to her split with Mary Jane, and how Lew married Eloise rather than Mary Jane.

Monday, September 3, 2018

Sunday, Sep. 2 - Banana Peel

Banana Peel (1963) Peau de banane (original title)

Cathy, a seductive young woman, decides to take revenge on two con men, Bontemps and Lachard, who were responsible for the bankruptcy and ruin of her father. She asks Michel, her ex-husband, to help. There is no other solution for them than to become crooks themselves, so they conceive a shady deal with Bontemps on an island in Brittany. The first part of their plan is a success and they leave with a huge sum of money. The second part is to take place in Monte Carlo, where they can expect a dramatic showdown with Lachard.

Sunday, September 2, 2018

Saturday, Sep. 1 - The Living Skeleton

The Living Skeleton (1968) Kyûketsu dokuro-sen (original title)

The film's plot begins in the past where a gang of pirates commandeer a ship and kill everyone on board. Three years later in a seaside village, a Catholic priest (Masumi Okada) has offered shelter to Saeko (Kikko Matsuoka) as her twin sister, Yoriko (also Matsuoka) has disappeared with her new husband at sea. Saeko later scuba dives with her boyfriend, the couple find a group of submerged human skeletons, chained together at the ankles near the ocean floor. That night, a ghost ship appears in the mist offshore as a voice from the ship calls out for Saeko.

Saturday, September 1, 2018

Friday, August 31 - A Free Soul

A Free Soul (1931)

Morally ambivalent defense attorney Stephen Ashe (Lionel Barrymore) gets mobster Ace Wilfong (Clark Gable) off the hook when he's brought up on charges of murder. The lawyer's impulsive daughter, Jan (Norma Shearer), falls for the slick criminal's surface charm and breaks her engagement to upper-class polo player Dwight Winthrop (Leslie Howard). But when Jan discovers that she can't break away from Ace so easily and Dwight comes to her rescue, it's up to her father to put matters right.