82% (2) The Last Hurrah 121 min, Approved, [Comedy, Drama] [John Ford] [01 Nov 1958]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 74%, Rotten Tomatoes: 90%, External Reviews
Awards: Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 3 wins.
Actors: Dianne Foster, Jeffrey Hunter, Pat O'Brien, Spencer Tracy
Writer: Frank S. Nugent (screen play), Edwin O'Connor (based upon the novel by)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: An aging politician tries to get re-elected one last time in the changing world of the 1950s when TV started to play a bigger part in politics. Based loosely on the career of multi-term Boston Mayor James Michael Curley, this film examines the good and evil inherent in politics and all the things that go into an election. Tracy's uphill battle to stay in office is set against the political machinery that preyed on ethnic hatred and old-time money.
Rotten Tomatoes: Spencer Tracy stars in John Ford's sentimental adaptation of Edwin O'Connor's novel about the final campaign of a big city mayor, loosely based upon the life of Boston politician James Curley. Tracy is Frank Skeffington, the political boss of an Eastern city dominated by Irish-Americans. Skeffington tries to assist the people of the city and avoids cutting political deals with the power elite. But despite his concern for the people, Skeffington has no friends, just flunkies. The Mayor is greatly admired by his idealistic nephew Adam Caulfield (Jeffrey Hunter), who writes for an opposition newspaper run by Amos Force (John Carradine). When Skeffington needs money for a loan, he asks the powerful banker Norman Cass (Basil Rathbone), but Cass steadfastly refuses. In retaliation, Skeffington appoints Cass's retarded son as an interim fire commissioner. To prevent his son from disgracing the family, Cass agrees to the bank loan. But Cass uses his deep pockets to finance the opposition's candidate for mayor.
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52% (2) The Kentuckian 104 min, Passed, [Drama, Western] [Burt Lancaster] [07 Aug 1955]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 63%, Metacritic: 41%, External Reviews
Awards: 1 nomination.
Actors: Burt Lancaster, Diana Lynn, Dianne Foster, Walter Matthau
Writer: A.B. Guthrie Jr. (screenplay), Felix Holt (novel)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: A frontiersman in 1820s Kentucky finds the area too civilized for his tastes, so he makes plans for he and his son to leave for the wild Texas country. However, he buys an indentured servant along the way, and her presence throws a monkey wrench into his plans.
Rotten Tomatoes: In this western, the recently widowed Burt Lancaster heads towards Texas with his son Donald McDonald. Most of the folks he meets are pretty good souls, despite the raging family feud that motivates the plotline.
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69% (1) The Brothers Rico 92 min, PASSED, [Crime, Drama, Film-Noir, Thriller] [Phil Karlson] [01 Sep 1957]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 69%, External Reviews
Actors: Dianne Foster, Kathryn Grant, Larry Gates, Richard Conte
Writer: Georges Simenon (story), Lewis Meltzer (screenplay), Ben Perry (screenplay)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English, Italian Country: USA
Plot: Eddie Rico has been the book-keeper of an important Mafia boss but now he is an honest merchant and lives with his family in Florida. Everything changes when the police starts to search for his brothers. Now Eddie sees himself forced to get in touch with the Mafia again.
Rotten Tomatoes: In this film, the Rico brothers are mobsters in the employ of syndicate head Sid Kubick. Richard Conte plays the one Rico brother who has forsaken crime. But the other Ricos haven't yet seen the light, causing a deep rift in the brothers' family bonds.
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69% (1) Drive a Crooked Road 83 min, APPROVED, [Crime, Drama, Film-Noir, Thriller] [Richard Quine] [10 Mar 1954]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 69%, External Reviews
Actors: Dianne Foster, Jack Kelly, Kevin McCarthy, Mickey Rooney
Writer: Blake Edwards (screen play), Richard Quine (adaptation), James Benson Nablo (from a story by)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: Eddie Shannon is an undersized, sports-car mechanic who dreams of racing an expensive car in a European meet. He meets and falls in love with Barbara Mathews, and thinks she loves him. She introduces him to Steve Norris and Harold Baker, who ask him to drive the getaway car in a bank robbery they are planning. He refuses, but changes his mind after some gentle persuasion from Barbara. The job is pulled off and, following a wild getaway, Eddie learns that Barbara was just using him and that Steve and Harold have plans to kill him. Gritty retribution is just around the corner.
Rotten Tomatoes: In this film noir, a melancholy mechanic and race-car driver is coerced into assisting two bank robbers pull a bank heist. They lure him in with one of the robber's beautiful girlfriends, and he helps them with the job. The thieves reward him but make plans to dispose of him.
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67% (1) Night Passage 90 min, Approved, [Action, Adventure, Drama, Western] [James Neilson] [26 Aug 1957]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 67%, External Reviews
Awards: 1 nomination.
Actors: Audie Murphy, Dan Duryea, Dianne Foster, James Stewart
Writer: Borden Chase (screenplay), Norman A. Fox (based on a story by)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: The workers on the railroad haven't been paid in months --- that's because Whitey and his gang, including fast-shooting, dangerous, but likeable Utica Kid, keep holding up the train for its payroll. Grant McLaine, a former railroad employee who was fired in disgrace, is recruited to take the payroll through under cover. A young boy and a shoebox figure into the plot when Whitey's gang tries to hold up the train and Grant and the Kid meet again to settle an old score.
Rotten Tomatoes: Night Passage is so similar in spirit to the successful collaborations between star James Stewart and director Anthony Mann that it comes as a surprise that this film is directed by James Nielson. Stewart plays Grant McLaine, ex-railroad employee and the level-headed brother of firebrand gunslinger The Utica Kid (Audie Murphy). When Grant is entrusted to guard a train delivering $10,000, The Kid's gang holds up the train and steals the money. Grant takes off to hunt his felonious brother down and attempts to convince him to go straight. Unfortunately, The Kid refuses, and the brothers face off in a showdown.
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62% (1) The Deep Six 105 min, PG, [Drama, War] [Rudolph Maté] [09 Mar 1958]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 62%, External Reviews
Actors: Alan Ladd, Dianne Foster, Keenan Wynn, William Bendix
Writer: Martin Dibner (novel), Harry Brown, Martin Rackin, John Twist
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: The conflict between duty and conscience is explored in this WWII drama. Alan Ladd stars as Naval gunnery sergeant Alec Austin, a Quaker whose sincere pacifist sentiments do not sit well with his crew members. When he refuses to fire upon an unidentified plane, the word spreads that Austin cannot be relied upon in battle (never mind that the plane turns out to be one of ours).
Rotten Tomatoes: A conservative Quaker (Alan Ladd) works for an advertising agency and is about to marry his fiancée (Dianne Foster). However, the onset of World War II necessitates his enlistment into the Army. Assigned to be a gunner aboard a warship, the man's peaceful intentions are tested by skeptical shipmates and a grudgeful lieutenant commander.
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