Sahara 1943 - A first-rate war movie, one of Bogart's finest

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IMDB rating: 7,7

Director: Zoltan Korda
Main Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Bruce Bennett, J. Carroll Naish, Lloyd Bridges, Rex Ingram, Dan Duryea

"Zoltan Korda's Sahara was one of the more exciting action movies to come out of World War II, with a brace of fine performances and a plot - derived, in part, from The Lost Patrol as well as from a Soviet-made documentary entitled The Thirteen - that has been reused at least a dozen times since (most directly in a solid western called Last of the Comanches). But it was also a movie that helped its director find his own 'voice' as a filmmaker, and stands as a uniquely leftist (but not communistic) action film to come out of Hollywood in the middle of World War II. Director Zoltan Korda was the left-leaning brother in the filmmaking family led by Alexander Korda, and throughout the 1930s had been forced to sublimate his own ideological leanings to those of his far more conservative brother.
Sahara, made for Columbia Pictures rather than for Alexander Korda, was the movie where Zoltan's sympathies with colonized and oppressed peoples finally broke out into the open, and his antipathy toward British imperialism finally manifested itself. The hero is American, portrayed in low-key fashion by Humphrey Bogart. He's almost an archetype, a cool, clear-thinking tactician, unencumbered by racial or class prejudice, and immediately takes charge of the contingent of British soldiers on the run from the Germans, telling them how to survive, how to fight and, in many ways, how to live. The British aren't depicted as evil so much as aloof in terms of their officer class, and motivationally out of reasons for fighting the Germans. The movie is a subtly ideological work with a heavy emphasis on action, and it gave Bogart (as well as Bruce Bennett and Dan Duryea) a chance to play uniquely clear and richly heroic roles.
The filmmaker would later bring Alan Paton's Cry, The Beloved Country to the screen at a time when few people outside of South Africa knew or cared about the racial divisions in that country." - www.allmovie.com

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The thief of Bagdad 1940 - An enchanting fairy tale for the whole family

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IMDB rating: 7,7

Directors: Ludwig Berger, Michael Powell, Tim Whelan (Alexander Korda, Zoltan Korda, William Cameron Menzies)
Main Cast: Conrad Veidt, Sabu, June Duprez, John Justin, Rex Ingram

"In ancient Bagdad, Abu, a good-natured young thief (Sabu), befriends the deposed king Ahmad (John Justin) as both are imprisoned in the palace dungeon, awaiting execution under orders from the evil vizier Jaffar (Conrad Veidt), who has seized the throne. But they escape and make their way to Basra, where Ahmad, now living as a beggar, meets and falls in love with the Princess (June Duprez), who has been betrothed by her father the Sultan (Miles Malleson, who also wrote the screenplay) to Jaffar. Their fight for the love of the Princess triggers a series of adventures for the young Abu that brings him halfway around the world and into mystical realms with help from a towering genie (Rex Ingram), brushing up against the gods and transforming the little thief into a hero in the process. Along the way, we encounter a wide array of characters, some of them charming, such as the gentle Old King (Morton Selten), and some sinister, such as the devious Halima (Mary Morris), plus a range of color and lushly designed sets and set pieces (and special effects) that still dazzle the eye seven decades later. And it all leads to an amazing and suspenseful ride on a magic carpet, and a race against time to save the king and his beloved.
The Thief of Bagdad is one of those rare fantasy films that has only improved with age as a dazzling example of the screencraft of the era. If seams and joins show on some of the special-effects work, it doesn't hurt, because we accept the film as a fantasy tale woven before our eyes; just as no one minds the brush-strokes on a truly great painting. It has endured as an artifact of a lost world of innocence and wonder - Thief of Bagdad was the last major movie started in England before the outbreak of the Second World War, and the last fantasy film released before America's entry into World War II. And, like Frank Capra's Lost Horizon (1937) and Mervyn LeRoy's production of The Wizard of Oz (1939), the movie speaks from a time before A-bombs, air-raids, and concentration camps, and as such, provided a two-hour escape for those seeking refuge from the horrors of war, which still resonates seven decades later." - www.allmovie.com

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The edge of the world 1937 - Powell's breakthrough movie with stunning visuals

IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0028818/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2
IMDB rating: 7,4

Director: Michael Powell
Main Cast: Niall MacGinnis, Belle Chrystall, John Laurie

"A key film in the career of director Michael Powell, The Edge of the World was his first original idea to be realized onscreen, and its success attracted the attention of producer Alexander Korda. Korda's bankrolling of Powell's next several films catapulted the filmmaker into the first rank of British directors. Powell was attracted to the idea of building a dramatic story around the evacuation of St. Kilda, an island north of Scotland, whose aging population could not sustain life there. Forbidden from filming on St. Kilda, Powell and his crew journeyed farther north to Foula, an island whose sheer cliffs play an important role in the story. Two young men, Robbie Manson (Eric Berry) and James Gray (Niall MacGinnis), disagree on their island's economic future. James loves Robbie's twin sister Ruth (Belle Chrystal). The rivalry between the two men and their strong-willed fathers threatens to tear apart the island community, but an unexpected pregnancy and a rescue in dangerous seas serve to unite the islanders in common purpose. Powell took full advantage of the magnificent locations to tell this simple but affecting story of survival and adaptation to changing times. This is a primeval landscape, reflected in the mythic qualities of the story: two rivals, the woman between them, the feuding parents, the community as a kind of Greek chorus (the film's soundtrack has its own chorus, with the Glasgow Orpheus Choir performing traditional songs). Though not as celebrated as some of Powell's other films (The Red Shoes, A Matter of Life and Death, I Know Where I'm Going!), The Edge of the World deserves more attention for its solid storytelling skills and splendid use of one of the most breathtaking locales ever put on film." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/the-edge-of-the-world-v15310

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(720 Blu-Ray, mkv, 2,65 GB):

http://d01.megashares.com/dl/VyWu6le/The.Edge.Of.The.World.1937.720p.BluRay.x264-CiNEFiLE.mkv 

Rembrandt 1936 - A portrait of a genius - by a genius

IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0028167/?ref_=fn_al_tt_3
IMDB rating: 7,1

Director: Alexander Korda
Main Cast: Charles Laughton, Gertrude Lawrence, Elsa Lanchester

"Looking uncannily like the real artist, Charles Laughton makes Rembrandt a memorable motion picture experience. Not that the film is without other assets. The script is literate (a bit too much so in places, bogging down in dialogue when it needs to soar a bit more), although it follows the grand cinema tradition of taking dramatic license with historical fact. And while it is hardly more than a series of vignettes, it does provide Laughton with the requisite big scenes and chances for character delineation. Director Alexander Korda and his cinematographers also do a fine job of giving the film a visual texture that is reminiscent of Rembrandt's work. And the supporting cast, especially marvelous Elsa Lanchester and the rarely-seen (on film) Gertrude Lawrence, are a definite plus. Still, the film rises or falls upon Laughton, and he is up to everything that is required of him. The tortured soulfulness that is underlie so much of Laughton's work - that feeling that there's an angel caught inside a monster's form - is given greater rein here. Laughton also perfectly captures the stubbornness (or determination, depending upon one's point of view), temperament, scorn and tenderness, and he takes full advantage of such showcase pieces as the declamations on the wonder of love and on the foolishness of humans that frame the film. Although the film could have used a more cohesive script, Laughton's performance alone makes it a not-to-be-missed classic." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/rembrandt-v40892/

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The Scarlet Pimpernel 1934 - Who was he? What was his strange power?

IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0025748/
IMDB rating: 7,6

Director: Harold Young
Main Cast: Leslie Howard, Merle Oberon, Raymond Massey, Nigel Bruce

"This film from director Harold Young is the second big-screen adaptation of Baroness Emmuska Orczy's 1905 novel The Scarlet Pimpernel and is among the screen's most enduring and frequently filmed action/adventure stories, but it is the 1934 version with Leslie Howard in the title role that stands out for most fully re-creating the setting of the French Revolution. Were it not for his role as Ashley Wilkes in Gone With the Wind this would likely be the performance for which Howard is best remembered. He dominates the film, though not so much that there is not space for several of the supporting actors to shine, most notably Merle Oberon and Raymond Massey. Most of the credit for the film should be given to British producer Alexander Korda, who produced low-budget films with a look and feel that approached the best Hollywood efforts of the 1930s. Of particular note is the cinematography of Harold Rosson and the fast-paced editing of William Hornbeck." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/the-scarlet-pimpernel-v43093

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The private life of Henry VIII. 1933 - The movie that put British cinema on the map

IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0024473/
IMDB rating: 7,3

Director: Alexander Korda
Main Cast: Charles Laughton, Robert Donat, Merle Oberon, Wendy Barrie, Elsa Lanchester, Binnie Barnes

"Charles Laughton became an international star by chewing both mutton and scenes in his Oscar-winning turn as King Henry VIII. Alexander Korda's British super-production also put the British cinema on the map, which, until this film, received precious little respect in the international film community. The film, with tongue planted firmly in cheek, details the private life of the famous British monarch.
Laughton's Oscar-winning performance as Henry VIII rises above the stuffy limitations of the period piece to give us a portrait as rounded and exuberant as any on film. Laughton is well-supported by fine actresses as his wives, particularly Wendy Barry as the doomed Jane Seymour and Merle Oberon as the dim but delightful Anne Boleyn. Director Alexander Korda is the chief beneficiary of Laughton's larger-than-life performance, as his conservative helmsmanship fails to provide the film with a distinctly personal stamp. However, the sensual gusto in the scenes of Henry's indulgences is enthusiastically presented, and Korda deserves credit for giving us a very human portrait of this controversial figure. The film also benefits from some insidious dialogue by Arthur Wimperis (based on the story by Lajos Biro) that punctures the pomp of the English costume drama with tongue-in-cheek humor. Particularly entertaining are the exchanges between Henry and his prospective and coquettish wives (and mistresses), while some of the minor characters deliver wickedly insightful social criticism directed more at the state of the world's economy in 1933 than at the film's period." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/the-private-life-of-henry-viii-v39313

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Marius 1931 - The charming first part of Pagnol's Fanny trilogy

IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0022125/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2
IMDB rating: 7,7

Director: Alexander Korda
Main Cast: Raimu, Pierre Fresnay, Fernand Charpin, Alida Rouffe, Orane Demazis

"In this touching romance, the first in Marcel Pagnol's Marseilles or Fanny trilogy - the other two being Fanny and Cesar - Pierre Fresnay stars as Marius, a young man tending bar who dreams of a life at sea. Because he so desires to become a sailor, he cannot commit to marriage even though he loves Fanny (Orane Demazis). When the rich Honore Panisse (Charpin) proposes to Fanny, Marius becomes enraged, but still refuses to ask for her hand. At the bar, Fanny confesses her love for him and tells Marius she has rejected Honore's proposal. Marius admits his love for her as well and they retire to a back room to make love. When Marius is told a spot has opened up on a departing ship, he declines to sign on, not wanting to leave Fanny, but he still refuses to marry her. Fanny overhears the conversation, and not wanting to hold Marius back from the life at sea he so desires, tells Marius she has changed her mind and accepted Honore's proposal. Heartbroken, Marius rushes to pack and catches the departing ship." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/marius-v31479

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