Blackmail (1929) Directed by Alfred Hitchcock | VIDEO (ISO)

Synopsis :
Alfred Hitchcock's first sound film utilized the new sound technology in a rather creative way off-camera. Hitchcock's lead actress, Anny Ondra, had a strong Eastern European accent that was difficult for English audiences to understand, so Hitchcock's solution was to have British actress Joan Barry speak Ondra's lines of dialogue off-camera. The film concerns a woman who kills a man who tries to assault her. Ondra plays Alice White who, while having dinner in a fancy English nightspot with her husband-to-be Scotland Yard Detective Frank Webber (John Longden), begins to flirt with an artist (Cyril Richard) seated at the next table. The artist invites her up to see his studio, and she goes but balks when the artist asks her to pose in the nude. When the request becomes a demand, Alice stabs him to death. She rejoins her fiance and tries to forget the murder, but her conscience keeps bothering her. To make matters worse, sniveling rat Tracy (Donald Calthrop) materializes to blackmail Alice for the crime. Paul Brenner
Title : Blackmail (1929)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Duration : 75 min.
Subtitles : Portuguese, Spanish
Audio in English
Genres : Crime, Thriller   
Countries : United Kingdom

The Oyster Princess (Die Austernprinzessin, 1919) Directed by Ernst Lubitsch | VIDEO (ISO)

Synopsis :
The daughter of an oyster king wants to marry a prince, but her attempts to make the union a reality do not go as planned.
Title : The Oyster Princess (1919)
Original Title : Die Austernprinzessin
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch
Duration : 47 min.
Subtitles : English, Français, Portuguese, Spanish + 5 more languages
Original version Deutsch
Genres : Drama, Romance, Comedy  
Countries : Germany

 

Rancho Notorious (1952) Directed by Fritz Lang | VIDEO (ISO)

Synopsis :
The original title for Rancho Notorious was Chuck-a-Luck, which is also the title of the soundtrack ballad (written by Ken Darby) which unifies the plotline, à la High Noon. Frontiersman Vern Haskell (Arthur Kennedy) wanders throughout the West in search of the man who robbed and murdered his fiancée. He is told that he'll probably find the culprits at Chuck-a-Luck, a combination horse ranch and criminal hideout overseen by saloon chanteuse Altar Keane (Marlene Dietrich). To gain entrance to Chuck-a-Luck, Haskell poses as an escaped prisoner. Keane warns him that the ranch has only one rule: "Don't ask questions." Still, he has ways of finding things out. Haskell is compelled to keep up his charade when the dirty denizens of Chuck-a-Luck plan a big bank holdup, but this has the result of exposing the killer of his girl. Director Fritz Lang had a rough time with RKO head Howard R. Hughes, who insisted upon making changes in the film that might have hurt it irreparably. The biggest argument centered over the title; Hughes complained that no one overseas would understand the meaning of Chuck-a-Luck, whereupon Lang riposted sarcastically that "I'm sure that everyone will understand Rancho Notorious." One of the principal villains was Lloyd Gough, but you'd never know it from the opening titles; Hughes, incensed that Gough had refused to testify at the HUAC "witch hunt," ordered that the blacklisted Gough's name be removed from the credits. Hal Erickson
Title : Rancho Notorious (1952)
Directed by Fritz Lang
Duration : 89 min.
Subtitles : English, Portuguese
Audio in English
Genres : Western, Drama, Romance, Action, Adventure
Countries : United States

Late Spring (Banshun, 1949) Directed by Yasujiro Ozu | VIDEO (ISO)

Synopsis :
Veteran Japanese writer/director Yasujiro Ozu's second postwar production was 1949's Late Spring or Banshun. Chisu Ryu plays another of Ozu's realistic middle-class types, this time a widower with a marriageable daughter. Not wishing to see the girl resign herself to spinsterhood, Ryu pretends that he himself is about to be married. The game plan is to convince the daughter that they'll be no room for her at home, thus forcing her to seek comfort and joy elsewhere. What makes this homey little domestic episode work is the rapport between Chisu Ryu and Setsuko Hara, who plays the daughter. Late Spring is no facile Hollywood farce; we like these people, believe in them, and wish them the best. Hal Erickson
Title : Late Spring (1949)
Original Title : Banshun
Directed by Yasujiro Ozu
Duration : 107 min.
Subtitles : English, Portuguese
Card in Japanese
Genres :  Drama
Countries : Japan
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Les Cousins (1959) Directed by Claude Chabrol | VIDEO (ISO)

Synopsis :
This was the first of several films that would win international awards for French New Wave director Claude Chabrol. His aloof, innovative approach to the simple story says as much as the plot itself in which two cousins symbolize polar opposites. Charles (Gerard Blain ) is the cousin from the provinces with "bourgeois" values. His steadfast determination unfortunately does not help him pass exams or at first, succeed with women. Paul (Jean-Claude Brialy) is the urbane, rather debauched and decadent cousin who appears to conquer all. Appearances can be deceiving as they soon discover when Charles falls for Paul's friend Florence (Juliette Mayniel) -- and tragedy waits in the wings. Eleanor Mannikka
Title : Les Cousins (1959)
Directed by Claude Chabrol
Duration : 112 min.
Subtitles : Portuguese
Audio in French
Genres :  Drama, Romance
Extras : Biography and filmography of Claude Chabrol
Countries : France