“This is the story of a confidence-man — that often unsung but seldom unhung aristocrat of the old west.” Conman Candy Johnson (Clark Gable) is getting tired of running from town to town to escape trouble. He hopes the next city he lands in will be his permanent home. Hope grows when he meets Elizabeth Cotton (Lana Turner) on a train. She’s headed from Boston … Continue reading Honky Tonk (1941)
“Nobody can tell you where your place is.” When Hilary Ames (Reginald Gardiner) has a problem with his sink just as he’s preparing to host a cocktail party, the last person he expects to fix the problem is a young woman. He mistakes visitor Adam Belinski (Charles Boyer) for the plumber before Cluny Brown (Jennifer Jones) arrives, wrench in hand and ready to get to … Continue reading Cluny Brown (1946)
“A journey into the absurd, with a delightful companion, and no consequences and no regrets!” Jean (Ginger Rogers) and David (Ronald Coleman) are passing each other on the street one day when he wishes her good luck. Soon after, Jean is given an expensive dress for free and becomes convinced the stranger genuinely brought her good luck. Sure that he’s a lucky man, Jean asks … Continue reading Lucky Partners (1940)
“The dove of peace was a pigeon. A dead pigeon.” Dr. Heinrich Bernhardt is in Paris, post-war, to attend a secret UN conference focused on German reunification. Elsewhere, a mysterious message has been found — “9850,” “21:45,” the letter “D,” and “Sulzbach” — attached to a dead pigeon. The police are unable to figure out the coded message but know that it’s some sort of … Continue reading Second Looks: Berlin Express (1948)
Barbara Worth (Margaret Lockwood) is a beautiful noblewoman, but she doesn’t exactly act the part. Mean-spirited and continuously sharpening her tongue, Barbara escalates to true crime when she decides to masquerade as a highwayman to scare a society rival. On the road, she meets the intimidating Jackson (James Mason), a criminal both feared and admired by the local community. They soon begin to fall in … Continue reading The Wicked Lady (1945)
Corky Jones (Dennis Morgan) and Gil Borden (Don DeFore) are looking for jobs in Burbank, California when they’re plucked from obscurity to champion the war effort at the very respectable Lockheed aircraft factory. Though the U.S. is technically still neutral when they’re hired on, it’s preparing for war, producing large numbers of fighter jets and bombers. While awaiting his first paycheck, Corky stays with his … Continue reading Wings for the Eagle (1942)
“This is a story of the Unconquerable Fortress: the American Home… 1943.” Anne Hilton (Claudette Colbert) is left to keep her family afloat after her husband volunteers for Army service. She and her teen daughters — Jane (Jennifer Jones) and Bridget (Shirley Temple) — do the best they can, rationing their food, planting a victory garden, and taking in a boarder (Monty Wooley) to help … Continue reading Since You Went Away (1944)
The war is on, and Dave Stewart has been on active duty for over a year with his buddy Fixit Gilman. They’re finally being given a short leave to visit California. While on their three-day pass, Dave and Fixit head to Pasadena, where Dave went to college. On the bus, they meet Cora Colton (Faye Emerson) and Janet Wheeler (Eleanor Parker). Girl-crazy Fixit is instantly … Continue reading The Very Thought of You (1944)
Frank Enley (Van Heflin) was lucky to survive his time spent as a prisoner of war in a Nazi camp during the second World War. When he returns home and settles down in a small California town, he is known as a war hero and a well-respected member of the community. Frank’s Wife, Edith (Janet Leigh), knows that Frank moved them across the country from … Continue reading Act of Violence (1949)
Buzzy Bellew (Danny Kaye) is a nightclub entertainer… and a part of the criminal underworld. His life has been pretty busy, of late. He’s preparing to testify against a mobster named Ten Grand Jackson (Steve Cochran), and preparing to wed his girlfriend/fellow singer, Midge Mallon (Vera-Ellen). Of course, with his plans to testify, he’s become an enemy of Jackson, who swiftly decides to have him … Continue reading Wonder Man (1945)
