Warner

It might have been a musical had the studio not done an abrupt about-face on the genre and excised all the songs. Or funnier if director Edward Cline (Million Dollar Legs, The Bank Dick) stayed true to his knack for comedy. Or a career uptick for early-talkie cutie Alice White had it shown her to greater advantage. But the pre-Code crime caper The Widow from Chicago is historic as Edward G. Robinson's first movie at Warner Bros. (First National, to be precise), and the ferocity, intelligence...

Miriam Blaylock collects Renaissance art, ancient Egyptian pendants, lovers, souls. Alive and fashionably chic in Manhattan, Miriam is an ageless vampire. Although "vampire" is not a word you'll hear in this movie based on the novel by Whitley Strieber (Wolfen). Instead, debuting feature director Tony Scott fashions a hip, sensual, modern-gothic makeover. Catherine Deneuve radiates macabre elegance as Miriam, blessed with beauty, cursed with bloodlust. David Bowie is fellow fiend and refined...

Forty-eight-year-old Manhattanite Mel Edison just lost his job. Soon he'll lose his wardrobe, temper, self-respect and maybe his mind. In urban life's grueling guerrilla war, Mel just became The Prisoner of Second Avenue. Adapting his 1971 stage hit, Neil Simon develops Mel's anxiety-ridden plight with razor-edged empathy -- and deliciously clever gags. Academy Award winners* Jack Lemmon and Anne Bancroft are in top form as Mel and his loving wife Edna, skillfully melding zany farce with the...

From director Stephen Frears (The Queen, High Fidelity, HBO's The Deal) and writer Shawn Slovo (Catch a Fire) comes a behind-the-scenes look at Muhammad Ali's historic Supreme Court battle for Conscientious Objector status to the Vietnam War, and a portrait of the changing tides of this country during that turbulent time. Guided by his principles, Ali refused induction into the Army, enduring a protracted legal battle that saw him convicted of draft evasion, stripped of his boxing title, and...

George C. Scott and Trish Van Devere (Scott's future wife) costar in this gritty crime drama directed by Richard Fleisher (who replaced original director John Huston). Scott plays Harry Garmes, a former getaway driver who has retired to a peaceful life in a rural southern Portugal fishing village. Garmes is asked to pull off one last gig; he must drive a young killer (Tony Musante) and his girlfriend (Van Devere) across the border to France. What follows is a lean, full-of-attitude thriller...

The pre-code tale of adultery that squeaked past the censors! Coming at the tail end of 1934, Housewife was released shortly before the imposition of the "Hays Code" would render its subject matter 'verboten!' This turgid melodrama finds modern bachelor girl Patricia Berkeley (Bette Davis) dueling it out with modern housewife Nan Reynolds (Ann Dvorak) for the affections and ministrations of Nan's husband, William (George Brent). Ambitious office manager William finally succeeds in setting up...

Make ready the topsails! Australian-born leading man Rod Taylor portrays English seafaring captain Sir Francis Drake in this sword-clanging, swashbuckling adventure told in bold, colorful strokes that includes Drake's circumnavigation of the globe, a mutiny at sea, raids that brought England a wealth of Spanish gold, Spain's foiled scheme to supplant Queen Elizabeth (and replace her with Mary of Scotland) and Drake's daring battle-at-sea gambit that left the mighty Spanish Armada in ruins....

Soon after L.A. police detective Mike Carter is bounced from the force, the officer who fired him is found dead. Suspect #1: Mike Carter. While the police dragnet draws tighter, Carter scrambles to clear his name, connecting the dots involving Pasadena bluebloods, the meat-packing industry and cop corruption. As Carter, noir icon Lawrence Tierney (Dillinger, Reservoir Dogs) brings grim toughness to this atmospheric whodunit that marks the genre debut of another film noir notable, director...

Sophisticated showgirl Doree Macy (Bebe Daniels) has long enjoyed the attention of wealthy older bachelor John Thornley (Lewis Stone). In town for a show, she accepts an invitation to spend the night aboard his luxury yacht. There, she makes the acquaintance of his younger, married business partner Bob Byrne (Ben Lyon). Although he is initially cold toward Doree, Bob is soon seduced by her during a morning swim. While John gallantly steps aside for Bob, Bob's wife, Connie, (Natalie Moorhead)...

Blaine, Missouri, may be small, but Corky St. Clair always dreams big. Determined to get back to the lights of Broadway, he's created Red, White and Blaine, a musical celebration of the burg's 150th anniversary. This Is Spinal Tap and Best in Show co-creator Christopher Guest plays Corky in this acclaimed comedy. Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Parker Posey, Fred Willard and Bob Balaban costar as stagestruck townfolk who pin their hopes of being discovered on Corky's hilariously hapless theater...

Across the desolate desert terrain on the ride to San Bernardino, gold-laden prospector Ford Smith (Wayne Morris) and former blackjack dealer Mary Smith (Virginia Grey) quickly learn they have company. Three camel-riding Arabs -- played in a capricious bit of casting by Anthony Caruso, George Tobias and John Doucette -- are close behind them, waiting to pounce on Ford's gold and for the unforgiving Mojave to take its toll on the travelers. Temporarily misleading their pursuers, Ford and Mary...

John Wisdom wants to make good, but he'll never get the chance. Convicted of felony car theft, the earnest 23-year-old finds closed doors of opportunity. So he turns bank robber -- with a twist. Armed with an Uzi and nervous bravado, he's a criminal for the people rather than against them, a modern-day Robin Hood rescuing debt-ridden folks from the system's grasp by destroying bank mortgage documents. And now he's wanted by the police in five states. Emilio Estevez and Demi Moore star as...