The Film Detective

In Kansas City Confidential, four robbers hold up an armored truck, getting away with over a million dollars in cash. Joe Rolfe (John Payne), a down-on-his-luck delivery driver who is accused of involvement in the heist, sets out to discover who set him up and to exact revenge. He follows a trail that leads him to a web of hired killers and corrupt police in Mexico. Kansas City Confidential was the source of inspiration for QuentinTarantino's "Resevoir Dogs". An imaginative film noir classic,...

Loosely based on F. Scott Fitzgerald's "Babylon Revisited", The Last Time I Saw Paris tells the story of American Charles Wills (Van Johnson) who returns to Paris and reminisces about his life there after its liberation following WWII. It was then he met Marion (Donna Reid) and also Helen (Elizabeth Taylor), whom he married. Following a tragedy, Charles left Paris but now back, does not know what the future may hold. Director Richard Brooks went on to direct Elizabeth Taylor in the multi-Oscar...

Love Affair stars Charles Boyer as French playboy Michael Marnet, who meets American singer Terry McKay (Irene Dunne) on a transatlantic cruise, where they fall in love despite being engaged to others. The lovers agree to meet in six months atop the Empire State Building, but when tragedy strikes one of them, their plans are changed forever. Love Affair was later remade in 1957 as "An Affair to Remember" with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr.

My Favorite Brunette stars Bob Hope as baby photographer Ronnie Jackson, who tells his story in flashback as he awaits the San Quentin gas chamber. While watching his private-eye neighbor's office, Ronnie is mistaken for the sleuth by the beautiful Baroness Montay (Dorothy Lamour) who hires him to find the missing Baron. With very funny surprise cameos by Alan Ladd and Bing Crosby, this excellent spoof of film noir movie detectives is rollicking good fun!

During the height of the Great Depression, a scavenger hunt party game brings a pair of spoiled sisters, Irene and Cornelia Bullock (Carole Lombard and Gail Patrick) to a city dump looking for a "forgotten man." They find down-and-out hobo Godfrey Parks (William Powell), who accompanies one of the sisters back to the party to be presented as a scavenger hunt find, and ends up warily accepting her offer to become the family butler. Irene falls for Godfrey, but is unaware of his mysterious past....

Night of the Living Dead opens with chaos- the brains of the recently deceased have become mysteriously reanimated, causing the dead to rise and feed on human flesh. While visiting their father's grave, Barbra (Judith O'Dea) and her brother Johnny (Russell Streiner) are attacked by a strange shuffling man. Barbra runs into a farmhouse where she encounters Ben (Duane Jones), and they must find a way to save themselves from the horde of zombies approaching the house. George Romero's Night of the...

This classic screwball comedy stars Carole Lombard as Hazel Flagg, a small-town girl who's dying of radiation poisoning. Recognizing the kind of story that sells newspapers, reporter Wally Cook (Fredric March) whisks Hazel off to New York City and turns her into a media sensation. Wally's self-serving plan becomes more complicated when he starts falling for Hazel. Pioneering three-strip Technicolor and smartly written by Ben Hecht and James H. Street, Nothing Sacred is a sophisticated comedy...

The Red House stars Edward G. Robinson as Pete Morgan who, with his spinster sister Ellen (Judith Anderson) has raised Meg (Allene Roberts) as their own on a secluded farm. Now a teen, Meg convinces her friend Nath (Lon McCallister) to come help with chores on the farm. Despite Pete's warning of terrors within an abandoned red house in the woods, Meg and Nath explore deep into the forest and discover troubling secrets. The gorgeous music score is by Oscar winner Miklos Rozsa who also composed...

Salt of the Earth centers on a long, difficult workers' strike against a mining company in New Mexico. Ramon Quintero (Juan Chacon) fights for equity of wages as well as health and safety issues, but at home he mistreats his wife, Esperanza. When the men are forced to end their picketing, Esperanza joins the other women who demand to play a role in the strike, against their husband's wishes. Written, directed, and produced by members of the original blacklisted "Hollywood Ten," Salt of the...

In Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon, Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) pretends to be a Nazi spy to aid scientist Dr. Franz Tobel (William Post Jr.) whose new invention, the "Tobel Bombsight," could turn the tide in favor of the allies. When Tobel disappears leaving behind only a cryptic message, it's up to Holmes and Watson to crack the code and track down the missing inventor. The Secret Weapon is notable for the first appearance of Dennis Hoey as Inspector Lestrad, a Scotland Yard...

In Sherlock Holmes-Terror by Night, Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) is hired to protect the fabled Star of Rhodesia from theft while it is being transported by train. When the gem is stolen and murders are committed, Holmes must determine who among several suspects is responsible for the crimes. The title is actually a biblical quotation from Psalms 91:5: "Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night." Terror by Night is a suspense-packed Holmes mystery a must see for all Sherlock Holmes...

Smash-Up: The Story of a Woman stars Oscar-nominated Susan Hayward as Angie Evans, a rising nightclub singer who abandons her career to marry budding radio star Ken Conway (Lee Bowman), who soon lucks into a career as a chart-topping crooner. Ken's success forces Angie into idle luxury which proves to be her downfall, as she spirals into alcoholism despite the arrival of their beautiful baby girl. Loosely based on the life of Bing Crosby's first wife, Dixie Lee, Smash-Up: The Story of a Woman...