The Public Enemy
James Cagney's landmark 1931 gangster film is about the rise and fall of a gang leader during the prohibition period.
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Check out the following films:
The Public Enemy
Gold Diggers Of 1933
Brilliant Busby Berkeley musical with a strong social conscience. Familiar 'backstage' plot set Depression-era Broadway, interspersed with spectacular musical productions, including "My Forgotten Man", "The Shadow Waltz", "We're in The Money". Preceded by The Cairo Club Orchestra performing live on stage.
Lolita
Controversial film about a middle-aged professor who becomes involved with his new wife's sexually precocious twelve year old daughter.
Killer's Kiss
Produced on a shoestring budget, based on Kubrick's original screenplay and story, a New York-set thriller that culminates in a fight in a spooky mannequin factory. Gloomy images of low life tenements in Manhattan cleverly shot make full use of Kubrick's skills (he was a photographer for Look magazine).
The White Ribbon
The fourth entry in our collection is as haunting as it is aesthetically beautiful. Shot in gorgeously rich black and white, The White Ribbon is an eerie tale, a quiet fear lurking unseen just out of frame. Strange events happen in a small village in the north of Germany during the years just before World War I, which seem to be ritual punishment. The abused and suppressed children of the villagers seem to be at the heart of this mystery.
All About Eve
Bette Davis stars as Margo Channing, an aging Broadway star of a production called Aged In Wood, who is menaced by an overreaching younger actress, played by Anne Baxter. This brilliantly cynical comedy drama also features Thelma Ritter, and Marilyn Monroe.
King Kong
Classic version of beauty-and-beast theme. Kong is abducted from his jungle home and taken to New York to serve as a side-show attraction. He escapes and wreaks chaos in a desperate bid for freedom (and love). Willis O'Brien's stop motion effects were light-years ahead of their time and even against today's CGI still manage to be totally effective. Final sequence atop Empire State Building is now cinema folklore. Max Steiner score also memorable.
Lifeboat
Hitchcock's thrilling and daring adventure aboard a lifeboat as a group of survivors comes to terms with their predicament. The lifeboat represents a microcosm of the political arena and climate of WW2. A daring production, Lifeboat was an early precursor to movies that take place entirely one location, with all the action unfolding aboard the titular lifeboat.
Le Samourai
French film-noir masterpiece. A lone hired gun betrays his own code of conduct by falling in love with a woman who bears witness to one of his killings. A compelling character study - Paris of the 60s is well presented, and there's some good detective work as well.
The Postman Always Rings Twice
Film-noir drama about a drifter who meets up with a sensual young woman and plans the murder of her husband who stands in the way of their lustful desires. The pair must then face the dramatic consequences. Based on the James M Cain novel.