Forbidden planet 1956 - The ultimate predecessor of cinematic space voyages

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IMDB Rating: 7,7

Director: Fred M. Wilcox
Main Cast: Walter Pidgeon, Anne Francis, Leslie Nielsen, Warren Stevens, Jack Kelly, Richard Anderson, Earl Holliman, Robby the Robot

"At the time Forbidden Planet came along, science fiction hadn't existed for all that long as a movie genre, having really only established itself after World War II as distinct from horror films and movie serials. And there had been some serious science fiction films made up to that time - most notably, Robert Wise's The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951). But science fiction was still considered primarily a genre that appealed to children, centered on action and adventure, without undue plot complexities or character relationships. Forbidden Planet changed all that, without sacrificing a genuine sense of wonder and other elements that juvenile audiences could enjoy. At the time, people mostly noticed the special effects, perhaps the best ever done up to that time and for many years beyond; it was the first movie that could convince viewers, moment to moment, that they were out in space or on some alien planet. Forbidden Planet's real importance, however, lay in respecting its audience, including the kids, enough to steep its plot in psychology and to make some statements about human nature that were pretty strong stuff in the midst of the Cold War, with both sides detonating H-bomb tests on a regular basis. The movie walks an even more precarious tightrope with its subplot about nubile Anne Francis' relationship with her father and the officers of the starship that has just landed in their two-person paradise. The plot was adapted from William Shakespeare's The Tempest, which flabbergasted (and distressed) some critics but helped draw a new, more serious viewer to this kind of movie. Forbidden Planet was so good, in fact, that it proved an impossible act to follow, and no one tried for almost a decade. But its influence trails out for a half-century beyond: Gene Roddenberry drew most of his ideas about the crew, officers (and their personal relationships), and setting of Star Trek from Forbidden Planet's script and set designs, and George Lucas' funny androids (not to mention Lost in Space's helpful robot servant) have their origins in Forbidden Planet's Robby the Robot. And one can only guess at what luck Stanley Kubrick might've had getting financing for 2001: A Space Odyssey, especially out of MGM, had it not been for the precedent of Forbidden Planet." - www.allmovie.com

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Red river 1948 - Epic, emotional Western; a clash between the old and the new

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IMDB rating: 7,8

Director: Howard Hawks
Main Cast: John Wayne, Montgomery Clift, Joanne Dru, Walter Brennan, Coleen Gray, Harry Carey Sr., John Ireland, Noah Beery Jr., Harry Carey Jr.

"In his first collaboration with John Wayne, Howard Hawks examines capitalism and dueling masculinities in the rousing context of a Western cattle drive. A Mutiny on the Bounty for Big Sky country, Red River features a challenge between Montgomery Clift's Matthew Garth and Wayne's Tom Dunson that becomes a contest between new and old models of Western manhood - a clash enhanced by the different performance styles of ambiguous, Method-acting, proto-rebel Clift and stolidly imposing star Wayne. Young and adaptable, Garth sees the necessity of finding new markets and cooperating with a community, including such potential adversaries as John Ireland's gun-loving Cherry, while Dunson's Old West individualism becomes an inflexible, economically ruinous monomania. The unsympathetic Dunson challenged the traditional Wayne persona, presaging the disturbed Western heroes that proliferated in the 1950s and 1960s, including Wayne's later role as psychotic Ethan Edwards in John Ford's The Searchers (1956) and in the films that Red River writer Borden Chase wrote for director Anthony Mann. Powered by Russell Harlan's dynamic yet moody black-and-white cinematography and Dimitri Tiomkin's score, Red River became a substantial hit, confirming Clift's star quality in his film debut and earning Oscar nominations for Chase and action editor Christian Nyby; it still stands as one of Hawks's top Westerns." - www.allmovie.com

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Genroku chushingura (The 47 ronin) 1941 - An epic tale about the legendary Japanese vendetta

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IMDB rating: 7,5

Director: Kenji Mizoguchi
Main Cast: Tokusaburo Arashi, Yoshizaburo Arashi, Daisuke Kato

"Director Mizoguchi abandoned his usual fascination with modern-day social problems in favor of epic patriotism that he shows here. Produced over a two-year period, the stylistic elements are all in place in The 47 ronin: elegant composition, minimal cutting, subtle but telling use of a tracking camera, and concern with psychology rather than action. This is not, in fact, an easily accessible film for Westerners, as it is concerned with ritual and customs that aren't always made explicit. It is a movie of long takes of formal conversation, as the ronin loyal to their late master wrestle with how they will respond to his humiliating death. Even if the reference points aren't always clear, the emotions expressed are universal, and it's fascinating to imagine Japanese theatrical audiences in the early days of World War II watching this tale of men of honor willing to give up everything, including their lives, to uphold their principles." - www.allmovie.com

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(720p, 4 GB):

http://uploaded.net/file/brb43hdp/Japanese_The_47_Ronin_1941_720p_WEB_DL_H264_KG_4LMXEyS37TnYRT.part1.rar 
http://uploaded.net/file/jrlbouja/Japanese_The_47_Ronin_1941_720p_WEB_DL_H264_KG_4LMXEyS37TnYRT.part2.rar 
http://uploaded.net/file/znq9p1es/Japanese_The_47_Ronin_1941_720p_WEB_DL_H264_KG_4LMXEyS37TnYRT.part3.rar 
http://uploaded.net/file/9gesaxxx/Japanese_The_47_Ronin_1941_720p_WEB_DL_H264_KG_4LMXEyS37TnYRT.part4.rar

To have and have not 1944 - A classic war time action-romance in the shadows of Casablanca

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IMDB rating: 8,0

Director: Howard Hawks
Main Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Walter Brennan, Dolores Moran, Hoagy Carmichael

"A masterful blend of comedy, romance, and action, Howard Hawks' To Have and Have Not is filled with the director's signature situations and relationships. The characters could have been lifted from any one of a number of Hawks films: a strong, stoic hero (Humphrey Bogart), a clueless sidekick (Hawks regular Walter Brennan), and a bold, sexually-charged heroine (Lauren Bacall, in her screen debut). A few scenes even recur in the director's other films, such as the classic, post-kiss line, 'It's even better when you help'. Jules Furthman and William Faulkner loosely adapted the screenplay from an Ernest Hemingway novel; though the setting of To Have is the Caribbean, the characters and Bogart's unselfish transformation is clearly reminiscent of 1942's Casablanca. Hawks would exploit the tremendous chemistry between Bogart and Bacall again in his next film, 1946's The Big Sleep.
The film's enduring popularity is primarily - if not solely - due to the sexy chemistry between Bogart and Bacall, especially in the legendary 'You know how to whistle, don't you?' scene. The most salutary result of To Have & Have Not was the subsequent Bogart-Bacall marriage, which endured until his death in 1957. For the record, a more faithful-to-the-source cinemadaptation of the Hemingway original was filmed in 1950 as The Breaking Point." - www.allmovie.com

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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 eagle and the hawk 1933 - A forgotten anti-war aviation

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IMDB rating: 7,2

Director: Stuart Walker
Main Cast: Fredric March, Cary Grant, Jack Oakie, Carole Lombard, Guy Standing

"A stirring and accomplished anti-war film, The Eagle and the Hawk is a little-known gem that deserves greater recognition. Although Eagle does have its flaws, including a slight tendency to get on a soapbox about its worthy message, it's told with compassion and skill and is a thoroughly captivating film. Screenwriters Seton Miller and Bogart Rogers have deftly laced the drama with some genuine humor and wit, yet haven't let it interfere with the seriousness of the picture. Seemingly inspired by the story they have adapted, they have produced work that is top drawer and emotionally affecting. Stuart Walker directs carefully; he doesn't imbue the material with a strong directorial vision, but he serves the material very nicely and creates atmosphere and tension that add to the overall effect. The action sequences have drama aplenty, but he can also play up the more romantic moments admirably. Eagle's finest asset, however, is its strong cast. Though the love story involving her is perhaps the film's weakest aspect, Carole Lombard is such a magnificent figure and brings such personality and charm to the film that one scarcely cares about how it all fits in with the rest of the show. Cary Grant, in an early part, is still defining his screen persona; it's mostly there, but there are enough slight rough edges to surprise and delight. Fredric March is simply aces in the lead role, grabbing hold of the drama and running for all it's worth. And Jack Oakie's humor makes the character's ultimate fate the more devastating." - www.allmovie.com

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Tarzan, the ape man 1932 - The one and only original Tarzan movie that started it all

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IMDB rating: 7,2

Director: W. S. Van Dyke
Main Cast: Johnny Weissmuller, Maureen O'Sullivan, C. Aubrey Smith, Neil Hamilton, Doris Lloyd

"Tarzan, The Ape Man was not only MGM's inaugural Tarzan film, but also the first to star former Olympic swimming champ Johnny Weissmuller as The Lord of the Jungle (strange but true: one of the pre-Weissmuller Tarzan candidates was Clark Gable!)
Utilizing scads of stock footage from MGM's Trader Horn (1931), the film begins with great white hunter James Parker (C. Aubrey Smith) trekking through darkest Africa in search of the legendary Elephant Graveyard. Accompanying Parker is his daughter Jane (Maureen O'Sullivan) and her erstwhile beau Harry Holt (Neil Hamilton). The expedition is habitually sabotaged by the ecology-conscious Tarzan, a white man who'd been lost in the jungle years earlier and raised by Apes. Tarzan kidnaps Jane and spirits her away to the treetops, where she gradually overcomes her fear of the Loinclothed One and teaches him to speak English. The perfect gentleman, Tarzan returns Jane to her father and swings off into the distance. When Parker, Jane and Holt are captured by pygmies, Tarzan comes to the rescue, with an entourage of his elephant friends. At fade-out time, Jane has decided to renounce civilization and spend the rest of her life with Tarzan.
The only one of the MGM Tarzans actually based on the Edgar Rice Burroughs originals, Tarzan the Ape Man proved a surprise hit, spawning an endless parade of sequels and remakes.
The movie was one of Irving Thalberg's 'pet' projects at MGM, an opportunity to take an existing franchise (Edgar Rice Burroughs' jungle lord had been a film staple since beefy Elmo Lincoln donned a loincloth, in 1918), give it 'A'-list production values and a 'name' director (W.S. Van Dyke), introduce charismatic actors as the leads (28-year old multiple Olympic champion Johnny Weissmuller and 21-year old Irish import Maureen O'Sullivan), and create a 'definitive' success for the studio." - www.allmovie.com

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Seas beneath 1931 - Visually interesting sea adventure

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IMDB rating: 5,7

Director: John Ford
Main Cast: George O'Brien, Marion Lessing, Mona Maris

"Seas Beneath is a rousing sea adventure from John Ford that takes place in the closing months of World War I. Largely unavailable for decades, Seas Beneath remains a solid and gritty war picture that is also guilty - like much of Ford's work - of idealizing history. About half of the film takes place in a Spanish port town, where German spies abound. These scenes suffer from a stasis probably dictated by the technical restrictions of the early sound era, but Ford injects them with a seediness and mysteriousness that makes them compelling nonetheless. When Seas Beneath really comes alive, however, is when Captain Kingsley and company leave port and embark on their cat-and-mouse game with the German U-boat. With the invaluable aid of some remarkable location camerawork (as well as the assistance of the U.S. Navy), Ford places the viewer into the center of the action, creating a sense of authenticity that makes these scenes all the more dramatic, and leading up to a stunning climactic sea battle. The battle scenes are the highlight of the picture, and some credit must go to the sound crew for capturing the intensity of the action as the U-boat bombards the schooner over and again while Kingsley waits for his chance to strike. Another valuable element to the film is Ford's wise decision to actually have the Germans speak German, with only a minimal use of intertitles to translate the more important dialogue. The cast is solid, especially Mona Maris as the seductive spy Lolita. Seas Beneath is not a classic, but it deserves to be far better known and more widely seen." - www.allmovie.com

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Hell's angels 1930 - The first great action epic of the talking era

IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0020960/?ref_=nv_sr_1
IMDB rating: 7,9

Directors: Howard Hughes, Marshall Neilan, Luther Reed
Main Cast: Ben Lyon, James Hall, Jean Harlow, John Darrow

"No one was surprised in 1929 that aviation mogul Howard R. Hughes would produce a paean to World War I flying aces like Hell's Angels. Given Hughes' comparative inexperience as a moviemaker, however, everyone was taken slightly aback that the finished film was as good as it was. The very American Ben Lyon and James Hall play (respectively) Monte and Roy Rutledge, a couple of British brothers who drop out of Oxford to join the British Royal Flying Corps. Several early scenes establish Lyon and Hall's romantic rivalry over two-timing socialite Helen (Jean Harlow). While flying a dangerous bombing mission over Germany, the brothers are shot down. The commandant (Lucien Prival), who'd earlier been cuckolded by one of the brothers, savors his opportunity for revenge. He offers the boys their freedom if they'll reveal the time of the next British attack; if they don't cooperate, they face unspeakable consequences. Roy, driven mad by his combat experiences, is about to tell all when he is shot and killed by Monte. The latter is himself condemned to a firing squad by the disgruntled commandant - who, it is implied, will soon meet his own doom at the hands of the British bombers.
Nobody really cares about this hoary old plot, however; Hell's Angels culls most of its strength from its crackerjack aerial sequences. The highlight is a Zeppelin raid over London, one of the most hauntingly effective sequences ever put on film. From the first ghost-like appearance of the Zeppelin breaking through the clouds, to the self-sacrificing behavior of the German crew members as they jump to their deaths rather than provide 'excess weight', this is a scene that lingers in the memory far longer than all that good-of-the-service nonsense in the finale. Also worth noting is the star-making appearance of Jean Harlow. When Hell's Angels was begun as a silent film, Norwegian actress Greta Nissen played the female lead. During the switchover to sound, producer Hughes decided that her accent was at odds with her characterization, so he reshot her scenes with his latest discovery, Harlow. While she appears awkward in some of her scenes, there's no clumsiness whatsoever in her delivery of the classic line about slipping into 'something more comfortable'. Originally, Marshall Neilan was signed to direct the film, but became so rattled by Howard Hughes' interference that he handed the reins to Hughes himself, who was in turn given an uncredited assist by Luther Reed. Also ignored in the film's credits are the dialogue contributions by future Frankenstein director James Whale, who'd been hired as the film's English-dialect coach. Modern audiences expecting a musty museum piece are generally surprised by Hell's Angels' high entertainment content: they are also startled by the pre-code frankness of the dialogue, with phrases like 'The hell with you' bandied about with reckless abandon. In recent years, archivists have restored the film's two-color Technicolor sequence, providing us with our only color glimpses of the radiant Jean Harlow." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/hells-angels-v22079

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