1955 movies

The Ladykillers (1955)

Thursday, March 11th, 2010
Genres: Comedy | Crime | Thriller
Countries: UK
Actors: Guinness, Alec | Parker, Cecil | Lom, Herbert | Sellers, Peter | Green, Danny | Warner, Jack | Johnson, Katie | Stainton, Philip | Howerd, Frankie | Connor, Kenneth | Corcoran, Michael | Goodwin, Harold | Griffiths, Fred | Holman, Vincent | Johns, Stratford
Directors: Mackendrick, Alexander
Download: 720p 

A gang of five diverse oddball criminal types rent a two room apartment in an isolated house on a London cul-de-sac from an octogenarian widow with three pet parrots. The group’s mastermind, Professor Marcus, tells her a cover story that they are members of an amateur string quintet and would like to use the rooms to hone their musical skills. In reality, they are plotting to rob a bank and plan to use Mrs. Wilberforce’s naiveté and her Victorian sensibilities to their advantage.

Women’s Prison (1955)

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010
Genres: Drama
Countries: USA
Actors: Lupino, Ida | Sterling, Jan | Moore, Cleo | Totter, Audrey | Thaxter, Phyllis | Duff, Howard | Stevens, Warren | Kelley, Barry | Michael, Gertrude | Marshall, Vivian | Clarke, Mae | Elliott, Ross | August, Adelle | Harvey, Don C. | Moore, Juanita
Directors: Seiler, Lewis
Download: DivX iPod 

U.S. film. Women in prison films have been around a long time. It’s a genre with timeless appeal and this one’s got it all—except nudity and blatant lesbianism (although, it is hinted at). C’mon it’s 1955! It’s got an intensely sadistic, borderline psychotic female warden played by Ida Lapino. There’s the new “fish,” mental torture, beatings, a riot, a sympathetic prison doctor. And, this movie even has a twist—the prison is co-ed and occasionally a male prisoner slips over to the female side to get some loving! A female inmate gets pregnant and in an attempt to find out how the male prisoner found his way over to the female side, the female warden beats the impregnated female. The beating eventually leads to the woman’s death and the female inmates start a riot. They take control of the women’s side of the prison and exact revenge on the warden. The warden goes insane. Jan Sterling is excellent as a street-smart, wise-cracking jailbird. Ida Lupino, Jan Sterling, Cleo Moore, Audrey Totter, Phyllis Thaxter, Howard Duff, Warren Stevens, Barry Kelley, Gertrude Michael, Vivian Marshall, Mae Clarke, Ross Elliott, Adelle August, Don C. Harvey, Juanita Moore. Women’s Prison!

Lady and the Tramp (1955)

Wednesday, July 1st, 2009
Genres: Animation | Comedy | Drama | Family | Musical | Romance
Countries: USA
Actors: Lee, Peggy | Luddy, Barbara | Roberts, Larry | Thompson, Bill | Baucom, Bill | Freberg, Stan | Felton, Verna | Reed, Alan | Givot, George | McKennon, Dal | Millar, Lee | Lee, Bill | Ravenscroft, Thurl | Smith, Max | Stevens, Bob
Directors: Geronimi, Clyde
Download: DivX iPod 

Lady, a golden cocker spaniel, meets up with a mongrel dog who calls himself the Tramp. He is obviously from the wrong side of town, but happenings at Lady’s home make her decide to travel with him for a while. This turns out to be a bad move, as no dog is above the law.

To Catch a Thief (1955)

Wednesday, June 17th, 2009
Genres: Crime | Mystery | Romance | Thriller
Countries: USA
Actors: Grant, Cary | Kelly, Grace | Landis, Jessie Royce | Williams, John | Vanel, Charles | Auber, Brigitte | Martinelli, Jean | Anys, Georgette | Adrian, George | Alderson, John | Blancard, René | Borden, Eugene | Charles, Lewis | Chelland, Frank | Davis, William 'Wee Willie'
Directors: Hitchcock, Alfred
Download: DivX iPod 

John Robie is a one-time cat burglar, now reformed and living a blameless life in a plush villa. When a fresh set of burglaries rocks the Riviera all bearing the hallmark of Robie’s own robberies, he is the natural suspect. Robie sets out to catch the new burglar himself, mainly to prove his innocence. He is aided by an American heiress, who initially is convinced that he is actually guilty. The title of the movie is derived from the proverb “Set a thief to catch a thief”

Court Jester, The (1955)

Thursday, February 19th, 2009
Genres: Adventure | Comedy | Family | Musical
Countries: USA
Actors: Kaye, Danny | Johns, Glynis | Rathbone, Basil | Lansbury, Angela | Parker, Cecil | Natwick, Mildred | Middleton, Robert | Pate, Michael | Rudley, Herbert | Drayton, Noel | Carradine, John | Ashley, Edward | Napier, Alan | Martin, Lewis | Aherne, Patrick
Directors: Frank, Melvin
Download: DivX iPod 

The throne of rightful king of England, the small babe with the purple pimpernel birthmark, has been usurped by the evil King Roderick. Only the Black Fox can restore the true king to the throne—and all he needs is the king’s key to a secret tunnel. And while he’s trying to steal it, someone has to change the king’s diapers. The task falls to Hawkins, the gentlest member of the Fox’s band. The Fox’s lieutenant, Maid Jean, guards Hawkins and the babe while they travel, but when they meet the King’s new jester on the road, they decide to initiate a daring plan for Hawkins to replace him, become an intimate at the court, and steal the key. So, humble Hawkins becomes Giacomo: the king of jesters and jester to the king. But things begin to get zany when the King’s daughter falls for Giacomo, the King falls for Jean, people randomly sing what are supposed to be recognition codes, and a witch with very effective spells (and poison pellets) begins to interfere.

Kiss Me Deadly (1955)

Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009
Genres: Crime | Film-Noir | Thriller
Countries: USA
Actors: Meeker, Ralph | Dekker, Albert | Stewart, Paul | Hernandez, Juano | Addy, Wesley | Carr, Marian | Cooper, Maxine | Leachman, Cloris | Rodgers, Gaby | Dennis, Nick | Lambert, Jack | Elam, Jack | Zinneman, Jerry | Snowden, Leigh | Helton, Percy
Directors: Aldrich, Robert
Download: DivX iPod 

Tough L.A. private eye Mike Hammer gives a ride to Christina, a frightened young woman he finds running along the road one night. His car is run off the road by unseen thugs. Hammer is knocked out and Christina is tortured in an unsuccessful attempt to get information from her. They are put back into Hammer’s car which then is forced off a cliff. Hammer wakes up in the hospital. Velda, his trusty secretary, informs him that Christina is dead. Pat Chambers, Mike’s policeman friend, tells him to stay off the case, but Mike thinks it might be a big story—meaning big money for him—because the FBI is interested. He, Velda, and Nick, his garage mechanic friend, start investigating in hopes of finding out why Christina was killed.

Kid for Two Farthings, A (1955)

Friday, January 16th, 2009
Genres: Comedy | Drama | Family
Countries: UK
Actors: Johnson, Celia | Dors, Diana | Kossoff, David | Robinson, Joe | Ashmore, Jonathan | De Banzie, Brenda | Carnera, Primo | Jacobi, Lou | Handl, Irene | Green, Danny | Tafler, Sydney | James, Sid | Day, Vera | Anderson, Daphne | Tomelty, Joseph
Directors: Reed, Carol
Download: DivX iPod 

In a lower-class London community of small shops, open-air vendors and flea-marketers, Joe, a small boy, lives with his mother, Joanne, who works in and rooms above the Kandinsky tailor shop. Joe is innocently and earnestly determined to help realize the wishes of his poor, hard-working neighbours. Hearing from Mr. Kandinsky the tale that a captured unicorn will grant any wish, Joe uses his accumulated pocket change to buy a kid with an emerging horn, believing it to be a unicorn. His subsequent efforts to make dreams come true exemplify the power of hope and will amidst hardship.

Not as a Stranger (1955)

Tuesday, December 30th, 2008
Genres: Drama
Countries: USA
Actors: de Havilland, Olivia | Mitchum, Robert | Sinatra, Frank | Grahame, Gloria | Crawford, Broderick | Bickford, Charles | McCormick, Myron | Chaney Jr., Lon | White, Jesse | Morgan, Harry | Marvin, Lee | Christine, Virginia | Bissell, Whit | Raine, Jack | Clarke, Mae
Directors: Kramer, Stanley
Download: DivX iPod 

Lucas Marsh (Robert Mitchum), an intern bent upon becoming a first-class doctor, not merely a successful one. He courts and marries the warm-hearted Kristina (Olivia de Havilland), not out of love but because she is highly knowledgeable in the skills of the operating room and because she has frugally put aside her savings through the years. She will be, as he shrewdly knows, a supportive wife in every way. She helps make him the success he wants to be and cheerfully moves with him to the small town in which he starts his practice. But as much as he tries to be a good husband to the undemanding Kristina, Marsh easily falls into the arms of a local siren (Gloria Grahame) and the patience of the long-sorrowing Kristina wears thin. She reasons he no longer needs her and asks for a divorce. A calamity now brings Marsh to his senses. Dr. Runkleman (Charles Bickford), Marsh’s gruff and wise employer, is stricken with a heart attack and requires emergency surgery. Marsh is forced to operate.

East of Eden (1955)

Friday, December 26th, 2008
Genres: Drama
Countries: USA
Actors: Harris, Julie | Dean, James | Massey, Raymond | Ives, Burl | Davalos, Richard | Van Fleet, Jo | Dekker, Albert | Smith, Lois | Gordon, Harold | Dennis, Nick | Abbas, Abdullah | Arias, José | Brooks, Joe | Carey, Timothy | Carr, Jack
Directors: Kazan, Elia
Download: DivX iPod 

Cal Trask is a particularly unhappy young man. He sees himself as the black sheep of the family and is always competing with his brother Aron, who seems to be perfect in almost every way. Aron is also their father’s favorite and Cal desperately wants his father’s love and affection. It’s the period leading up to America’s entry into World War I and these are tumultuous times. After his father loses most of his fortune trying to ship refrigerated lettuce to New York, Cal decides to speculate on a crop of beans and makes a small fortune but he soon realizes that he can’t buy his father’s loves either. Cal’s discovery that his mother is alive - he and Aron were told that she had died - and that she is a madam leads to a final, tragic result for all three of the Trask men.

Guys and Dolls (1955)

Thursday, December 25th, 2008
Genres: Comedy | Crime | Musical | Romance
Countries: USA
Actors: Brando, Marlon | Simmons, Jean | Sinatra, Frank | Blaine, Vivian | Keith, Robert | Kaye, Stubby | Pully, B.S. | Silver, Johnny | Leonard, Sheldon | Dayton, Danny | Stone, George E. | Toomey, Regis | Givney, Kathryn | Borg, Veda Ann | Hokanson, Mary Alan
Directors: Mankiewicz, Joseph L.
Download: DivX iPod 

All the hot gamblers are in town, and they’re all depending on Nathan Detroit to set up this week’s incarnation of “The Oldest Established Permanent Floating Crap Game in New York”; the only problem is, he needs $1000 to get the place. Throw in Sarah Brown, who’s short on sinners at the mission she runs; Sky Masterson, who accepts Nathan’s $1000 bet that he can’t get Sarah Brown to go with him to Havana; Miss Adelaide, who wants Nathan to marry her; Police Lieutenant Brannigan, who always seems to appear at the wrong time; and the music/lyrics of Frank Loesser, and you’ve got quite a musical. Includes the songs: Fugue for Tinhorns, “Luck Be a Lady”, “Sit Down, You’re Rocking the Boat”.