Classics - Movies

The Young Stranger

Classics

Before he gained his fame directing cinematic masterpieces like The Manchurian Candidate and Seven Days in May, John Frankenheimer made his feature film debut with this sensitive father-son drama about troubled youth. When clean-cut Hal Ditmar (Hawaii Five-O's James MacArthur), son of a wealthy movie producer (James Daly), gets into a fight with a movie theater manager (Whit Bissell), no one believes he acted in self-defense. With the police concerned that they have another juvenile delinquent on their hands, Hal's mother (Kim Hunter) thinks the problem lies in the growing gulf between father and son. Heartfelt and effective, Frankenheimer's already sure hand at the helm and the talent that star MacArthur shared with his illustrious mother Helen Hayes buoy The Young Stranger above the common ground of 1950's delinquency dramas.

The World of Suzie Wong

Classics

William Holden and Nancy Kwan star in this soul-searching look at an East-meets-West romance. He's a struggling American artist who's down on his luck. She's a beautiful Chinese prostitute who captures his heart. The scenery is as spectacular as the colorful and exotic streets of Hong Kong in this wonderfully warm story about the strength of true love.

The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad

Classics

In the tradition of grand animated classics, Disney's 11th animated masterpiece, THE ADVENTURES OF ICHABOD AND MR. TOAD, presents two unforgettable children's classics. Through award-winning (Golden Globe, Best Cinematography, 1950) Disney animation wizardry, THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS and THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW come together in one fabulous adventure -- in its original theatrical format. Hang on for a wild motorcar ride with J. Thaddeus Toad as he drives his friends Mole, Rat and Angus MacBadger into a worried frenzy! Then meet the spindly Ichabod Crane, who dreams of sweeping beautiful Katrina Van Tassel off her feet, despite opposition from town bully Brom Bones, who also has his eye on Katrina. The comic rivalry introduces Ichabod to the legend of the Headless Horseman, resulting in a heart-thumping climax! Wonderfully narrated by Basil Rathbone and Bing Crosby, THE ADVENTURES OF ICHABOD AND MR. TOAD brims with high-spirited adventure, brilliant animation and captivating music you'll want to share with your family again and again.

Johnny Guitar (1954)

Classics

Martin Scorsese Presents REPUBLIC REDISCOVERED—over 20 rarely seen films from the storied Republic Pictures library, restored and remastered by Paramount and personally curated by Martin Scorsese. In Johnny Guitar a gambling house operator seeks control of a town as an archrival sets out to force her out of town. The timely arrival of Johnny Guitar thwarts the dark plans, but does not prevent a showdown between the women. The Library of Congress selected this cult classic for preservation in the National Film Registry. From acclaimed director Nicholas Ray (Rebel Without A Cause).

The Greatest Show On Earth

Classics

Master showman Cecil B. DeMille brings the wonder and excitement of the Ringling Bros.-Barnum & Bailey Circus magically to life in The Greatest Show On Earth. Loaded with big-top thrills and chills, it's no wonder this film won the Academy Award for Best Picture.

Visit to a Small Planet

Classics

Curious about humans, Kreton (Jerry Lewis) goes AWOL from his habitat in outer space to make a flying visit to a small planet – Earth. He parks his spaceship in the backyard of the skeptic Roger Putnam Spelding, one of the least informed of the nation’s television commentators. Both get a glimpse of a world they'll never forget! Based on the play by Gore Vidal.

Riding High

Classics

Broadway Bill? "He's the mostest horse we ever did have!" says his handler. He's a lot of movie, too. So much that in 1950, Frank Capra teamed with stars Bing Crosby and Coleen Gray for Riding High, a lively remake of Capra's 1934 gem, Broadway Bill. Der Bingle's fondness for the racetrack is evident throughout this story of a man who abandons the mansion for the stable. And the songs attest to the film's unbridled spirit. There's no need for an address, three square meals a day or lick when you can stay "Someplace On Anywhere Road," bake a "Sunshine Cake" or bet the nest egg on what "The Horse Told Me." Many of the 1934 stars reprise their roles here, and Oliver Hardy (minus sidekick Stan Laurel) has a memorable bit as a railbird desperate for a winner.

Sorry, Wrong Number

Classics

When Lucille Fletcher took on the challenge of expanding her classic 30-minute radio suspenser “Sorry, Wrong Number” into an 89-minute feature film, she opted on the Citizen Kane approach, filling the plotline to the brim with revelatory flashbacks. Barbara Stanwyck stars as bedridden hypochondriac Leona Stevenson, who while trying to make a call from her bedroom telephone gets her wires crossed and inadvertently overhears two men plotting a murder. Anxiously, Leona wades through telephone-company bureaucracy to trace the call, never catching on — until it's too late — that the murder being planned is hers. A series of flashbacks details the disintegrating marriage between the wealthy Leona and her weakling husband Henry (Burt Lancaster), and Henry's subsequent disastrous get-rich-quick schemes involving chemist Waldo Evans (Harold Vermilyea) and a surly gangster (William Conrad). It would have been a near-sacrilege to alter the radio play's ironic ending, which fortunately remains intact on film. Sorry Wrong Number was first heard on radio's Suspense series in 1943, with Agnes Moorehead as the harried Mrs. Stevenson (a role she'd repeat several times on radio and on stage). Though disappointed that she wasn't chosen to star in the film version, Moorehead took some satisfaction in the fact that a recording of the original radio program was played constantly on the set to help keep Barbara Stanwyck "in the mood".

I, Jane Doe

Classics

Martin Scorsese Presents REPUBLIC REDISCOVERED—over 20 rarely seen films from the storied Republic Pictures library, restored and remastered by Paramount and personally curated by Martin Scorsese. In I,Jane Doe an American pilot marries his French girlfriend during World War II, but then leaves without her. What she does not know is that he is already married in the United States, so she sets out on a mission to find him with disastrous results.

Hollywood Canteen

Classics

A serviceman and a starlet find love at the star-staffed serviceman's center.

Doctors Don't Tell

Classics

A naive young doctor, in a misguided effort to impress a young woman, finds himself in over his head when a gangster client demands plastic surgery to achieve the perfect disguise.

When Worlds Collide

Classics

An impending collision with a runaway star signals the destruction of Earth. The government refuses to listen to scientists, but private industrialists finance the building of a spaceship, which will carry a limited number of people to another planet to begin a new civilization. As doomsday approaches, they race against time and the panic of those who will be left behind. The potential pulverizing impact of the collision, the massive tidal waves and devastating earthquakes, and the final cosmic smashup make a chilling panorama of disaster. The balance between human and planetary drama is excellently maintained as the movie builds to its fascinating, unforgettable climax.

Fanny

Classics

Almost 19-year-old Marius feels himself in a rut in Marseille, his life planned for him by his cafe'-owning father, and he longs for the sea. The night before he is to leave on a 5-year voyage, Fanny, a girl he grew up with, reveals that she is in love with him, and he discovers that he is in love with her. He must choose between an exciting life at sea, and a boring life with the woman he loves. And Fanny must choose between keeping the man she loves, and letting him live the life he seems to want.

The Racket (1951)

Classics

Robert Ryan stars as a racketeer and Robert Mitchum stars as the one incorruptible cop on the force, who's determined to bring the mobster to justice in this classic police drama. Top Racketeer Nick Scanlon (Ryan) has anyone he can't bribe murdered until Captain McQuigg convinces Scanlon's moll (Lizabeth Scott) to talk. But McQuigg must still face his fellow cops, who are on Scanlon's payroll, before he can arrest Scanlon.

The Atomic Kid

Classics

Barnaby 'Blix' Waterberry (Mickey Rooney) is a uranium prospector who is eating a peanut butter sandwich in the desert where atom bomb tests are being done. He becomes radioactive, and helps the FBI break up an enemy spy ring. A classic Blake Edwards comedy.

Edward, My Son

Classics

Obsessed with the desire to give his only son the best of everything, a man destroys his whole world in this riveting drama starring Spencer Tracy and Deborah Kerr (in an Academy Award®-nominated performance*). When the boy is five, his father (Tracy) commits arson to pay for a vital operation. This fateful step launches a rocketlike career of business success. In the process he ruins his partner, destroys his wife's love for him and then her will to live, and finally faces jail himself for what turns out to have been an empty dream. Based on the play by Robert Morley and Noel Langley. *1949: Best Actress.

Dunkirk

Classics

It is early May the year 1940. In London, the civil population, lulled into an atmosphere of false security, goes about its business as usual. Even the official war communiqué's merely report activity on the Front. But Charles Forman, war correspondent, knows better. As the war in France takes a turn for the worse, he signs on with the Merchant Navy and volunteers for the greatest mission ever mounted. the evacuation of Dunkirk.

Something to Live For

Classics

An actress becomes an alcoholic after being jilted. She is aided by an Alcoholics Anonymous member with whom she has an affair; however, he is married.

The Grey Fox

Classics

After decades in prison, stagecoach robber Bill Miner (Richard Farnsworth, The Straight Story, Tom Horn) emerges in 1901 a free man without a place in 20th-century society. Times have changed, but in the face of all these changes, neither his good-humored patience nor his joy of life has abandoned him. With the vigor of a teenager, Miner sees a screening of one of the first films, The Great Train Robbery, and is inspired to once again do what he does best. Filmed with the beautiful Pacific Northwest as a backdrop, The Grey Fox is a rare and touching yarn exploring and unravelling a greatly likeable and unlikely hero. Beautifully shot by Frank Tidy (The Duellists) and wonderfully directed by Phillip Borsos (The Mean Season), The Grey Fox is a richly satisfying film experience considered by most as one of the greatest Canadian films of all time.

Richard II

Classics

Richard is King. A man ordained by God to lead his people. A man whose vanity threatens to divide the great houses of England and drag his people into a dynastic civil war that will last for 100 years. RSC Artistic Director Gregory Doran directs David Tennant in the title role of 'a definitive production of a great play.' (Daily Mail)

Classics Movies