Author: Ian Carruthers

ON DVD

The first of Alfred Hitchcock’s adaptations of Daphne du Maurier’s literary work, this film is a period piece about the Jamaica Inn, headquarters for a group of pirates who bait innocent ships into their rocky coasts where they face a premature death. Mary (Maureen O’Hara), the niece of the landlord, fears for her life when she realizes what is going on, and in her quest to find safety she uncovers a disturbing secret.

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Starring: Charles Laughton and Maureen O'Hara

Directed By: Alfred Hitchcock

Written By: Sidney Gilliat, Joan Harrison

Genre: Drama

Run Time: 108 minutes

ON DVD

In this offbeat comedy, a group of criminals and a seemingly innocent British couple (played by Humphrey Bogart and Gina Lollobrigida) are on their way to Africa in search of riches when they become stranded in Italy while their steamer is being repaired. They act as though they are selling vacuum cleaners, but in actuality, they plan on buying land that contains Uranium.

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Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Jennifer Jones, Gina Lollobridgida, Robert Morley and Peter Lorre

Directed By: John Huston

Written By: James Helvick (novel), Truman Capote, John Huston

Genre: Crime, Drama, Romance, Comedy

Run Time: 89 minutes

ON DVD

Max Schreck stars in this 1922 silent German expressionist film as the vampire Count Orlok. Hutter (Gustav von Wangenheim), an employee at a real estate agency, pays a visit to Count Orlok’s home on behalf of his employer. During his stay, Hutter gets more than he bargained for as he realizes Orlok is not just the eccentric gentleman up the road.

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Starring: Max Screck and Gustav von Wangenheim

Directed By: F.W. Murnau

Written By: Henrik Galeen

Genre: Horror, Thriller

Run Time: 94 minutes

ON DVD

Reporter Wally Cook (Fredric March) is a problematic newspaper reporter given one last chance by his editor to interview the dying Hazel Flagg (Carole Lambard). Love sparks between the two, and Flagg becomes a public icon; but scandal erupts when the public finds out that Flagg is not dying, and the two must figure out how to cope with the humiliation.

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Starring: Fredric March, Carole Lombard and Walter Connolly

Directed By: William A. Wellman

Written By: Ben Hecht, Ring Lardner Jr., Budd Schulberg

Genre: Romance, Comedy, Drama

Run Time: 77 minutes

ON DVD

This film is an adaptation of Heinrich Mann’s novel Professor Unrat and is considered the first major German sound film. When Professor Emmanuel Rath (Emil Jannings) follows his students to a local speakeasy to scold them, he unexpectedly falls for the club’s dancer, Lola Lola (Marlene Dietrich). As he pursues a relationship, he finds that his life subsequently falls apart and must find a way to piece it back together.

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Starring: Marlene Dietrich and Emil Jannings

Directed By: Joseph von Sternberg

Written By: Heinrich Mann, Carl Zuckmayer, Karl Vollmoller, Robert Liebmann

Genre: Drama, Musical

Alternate Title: Der Blaue Engel

Run Time: 124 minutes

ON DVD

This comedy stars William Powell as Clarence Day Sr., a meticulously organized Wall Street broker by day and father of four by night. Day tries desperately and lucklessly to run a ship-shape household, but finds that the only way his family acknowledges him is with criticisms and demands.

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Starring: William Powell, Irene Dunne and Elizabeth Taylor

Directed By: Michael Curtiz

Written By: Donald Ogden Stewart, Howard Lindsay (story & play), Russel Crouse (story & play)

Genre: Comedy

Run Time: 118 minutes