Anatomy of a Murder (1959) Directed by Otto Preminger | VIDEO (ISO)

Synopsis :
Based on the best-selling novel by Robert Traver (the pseudonym for Michigan Supreme Court justice John D. Voelker), Anatomy of a Murder stars James Stewart as seat-of-the-pants Michigan lawyer Paul Biegler. Through the intervention of his alcoholic mentor, Parnell McCarthy (Arthur O'Connell), Biegler accepts the case of one Lt. Manion (Ben Gazzara), an unlovable lout who has murdered a local bar owner. Manion admits that he committed the crime, citing as his motive the victim's rape of the alluring Mrs. Manion (Lee Remick). Faced with the formidable opposition of big-city prosecutor Claude Dancer (George C. Scott), Biegler hopes to win freedom for his client by using as his defense the argument of "irresistible impulse." Also featured in the cast is Eve Arden as Biegler's sardonic secretary, Katherine Grant as the woman who inherits the dead man's business, and Joseph N. Welch -- who in real life was the defense attorney in the Army-McCarthy hearings -- as the ever-patient judge. The progressive-jazz musical score is provided by Duke Ellington, who also appears in a brief scene. Producer/director Otto Preminger once more pushed the envelope in Anatomy of a Murder by utilizing technical terminology referring to sexual penetration, which up until 1959 was a cinematic no-no. Contrary to popular belief, Preminger was not merely being faithful to the novel; most of the banter about "panties" and "semen," not to mention the 11-hour courtroom revelation, was invented for the film. Anatomy of a Murder was filmed on location in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Hal Erickson
Title : Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
Directed by Otto Preminger
Duration : 161 min.
Subtitles : English, Portuguese, Spanish + 3
Musical score by Duke Ellington
Audio in English (Mono)
Genres : Drama, Mystery, Music
Countries : United States

Double Indemnity (1944) Directed by Billy Wilder | VIDEO (ISO)

Synopsis :
Directed by Billy Wilder and adapted from a James M. Cain novel by Wilder and Raymond Chandler, Double Indemnity represents the high-water mark of 1940s film noir urban crime dramas in which a greedy, weak man is seduced and trapped by a cold, evil woman amidst the dark shadows and Expressionist lighting of modern cities. Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck) seduces insurance agent Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray) into murdering her husband to collect his accident policy. The murder goes as planned, but after the couple's passion cools, each becomes suspicious of the other's motives. The plan is further complicated when Neff's boss Barton Keyes (Edward G. Robinson), a brilliant insurance investigator, takes over the investigation. Told in flashbacks from Neff's perspective, the film moves with ruthless determinism as each character meets what seems to be a preordained fate. Movie veterans Stanwyck, MacMurray, and Robinson give some of their best performances, and Wilder's cynical sensibility finds a perfect match in the story's unsentimental perspective, heightened by John Seitz's hard-edged cinematography. Double Indemnity ranks with the classics of mainstream Hollywood movie-making. Linda Rasmussen
Title :  Double Indemnity (1944)
Directed by Billy Wilder
Duration : 106 min.
Subtitles : Portuguese
Audio in English
Genres :  Mystery, Drama, Thriller
Extras : Biography & Filmography of Billy Wylder
Countries : United States

How Green Was My Valley (1941) Directed by John Ford | VIDEO (ISO)

Synopsis :
Spanning 50 years, director John Ford's How Green Was My Valley revolves around the life of the Morgans, a Welsh mining family, as told through the eyes of its youngest child Huw (Roddy McDowall). Over the years, the family struggles to survive through unionization, strikes, and child abuse. As they do so, their hometown and its culture begins to slowly decline. Donald Crisp portrays Gwilym, the patriarch of the Morgan household, who dreams of a better life for young Huw. Based on the novel of the same name by Richard Llewellyn, How Green Was My Valley won five Academy Awards in 1941, including Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Crisp), Best Art Director, Best Cinematography, and Best Picture (beating Citizen Kane). The book was later adapted into a 1975 BBC miniseries. Matthew Tobey
Title : How Green Was My Valley (1941)
Directed by John Ford
Duration : 118 min.
Subtitles : English, Portuguese, Spanish
Audio in English
Genres : Drama, Language & Literature  
Countries : United States
Note:
This video has copyright protected content. In some countries they cannot watch your video.

A Double Life (1947) Directed by George Cukor | VIDEO (ISO)

Synopsis :
Ronald Colman won an Academy Award for his portrayal of an off-the-beam actor in A Double Life. A beloved stage star, Anthony John (Colman), has problems with his private life due to his unpredictable outbursts of temper. This trait has already cost him his wife, Brita (Signe Hasso), and threatens to sabotage his career. Nonetheless, Anthony makes his peace with Brita, and the two actors star in a new Broadway staging of Othello. The play is a hit, running over 300 performances, but the pressures of portraying a man moved to murder by jealousy takes its toll on Anthony. In a fit of delirium, he strangles his casual mistress, Pat (Shelley Winters), but retains no memory of the awful crime. Press agent Bill Friend (Edmond O'Brien), unaware that Anthony is the killer, uses Pat's murder as publicity for Othello. Anthony becomes enraged at this cheap ploy, and attacks Friend. At this point, Anthony realizes that he has been living "a double life" and is in fact Pat's murderer. A Double Life was written for the screen by Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin, who occasionally digress from the melodramatic plotline to include a few backstage inside jokes. Hal Erickson
Title : A Double Life (1947)
Directed by George Cukor
Duration : 104 min.
Subtitles : English, Portuguese
Audio in English
Genres : Drama, Family & Personal Relationships, Thriller
Extras : Biography of George Cukor
Countries : United States
Note:
This video has copyright protected content. In some countries they cannot watch your video.

5 Fingers (1952) Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz | VIDEO (ISO)

Synopsis :
Based on a true story, 5 Fingers stars James Mason as a man known to his superiors only as Cicero. Ostensibly the valet of the British ambassador to Ankara during World War II, Cicero is actually a Nazi agent. He holds no particular political viewpoint: the Nazis offered the best price, so for the time being he is loyal to them. Falling in love with the beautiful Danielle Darrieux, Cicero uses her home as a contact point to meet his German associates. At great personal risk, Cicero secures secret British war files and smuggles them to the Germans; they find the information in the files too far-fetched to be taken seriously--and thus are caught unawares on the morning of the D-Day invasion. An ironic coda finds Cicero, setting himself up in luxury in Rio de Janeiro, double-crossed by both Darrieux and the Germans. What else can he do but laugh uproariously? 5 Fingers, based on the memoirs of the real-life "Cicero" L. C. Moyzisch, was adapted into a 1959 TV series, wherein the antihero was converted into a 100% good guy. Hal Erickson
Title :  5 Fingers (1952)
Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Duration : 108 min.
Subtitles : Portuguese
Audio in English
Genres :  Drama, Spy Film, Thriller
Countries : United States