brr's - Rented List
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Pandora's Box (1929)Die Buchse der Pandora
Adapted from a pair of plays by Frank Wedekind, 'Pandora's Box' tells the story of sex worker Lulu (Louise Brooks), a free spirit whose open sexuality breeds chaos in its wake. When Lulu's latest lover, the newspaper editor Dr. Ludwig Schdn (Fritz Kortner), announces plans to leave her to marry a more respectable woman, Lulu is devastated. Cast in a musical revue written by Schon's son, Aiwa (Francis Lederer), Lulu seduces Schon once more - only to have their tryst exposed, and Schon's plans for a more socially acceptable marriage shattered. Left with no choice but to marry Lulu, Schon meets with tragedy on their wedding night. Lulu stands trial for the incident, facing years of imprisonment. With the aid of her former pimp (Carl Goetz), an infatuated lesbian countess (Alice Roberts) and Aiwa, she flees toward a fate of increasing squalor and peril, finally crossing paths one Christmas Eve with Jack the Ripper. - Director:
- Georg Wilhelm Pabst
- Cast:
- Louise Brooks, Fritz Kortner, Francis Lederer
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Children of Paradise (1945)Les Enfants Du Paradis
Set amidst the glittering theatre world of 19th century Paris, the story revoles around the beautiful and free-spirted courtesan, Garanace, and the four men who compete for her affections; a mime-artist, an actor, an aristocrat and a criminal. As the melodrama unfolds, we are treated to one of cinema's greatest love stories, a captivating tale of passion, deception and murder. - Director:
- Marcel Carné
- Cast:
- Arletty, Jean-Louis Barrault, Pierre Brasseur
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Mata Hari: the name breathes mystery, intrigue and sexual allure. Who better to play the notorious World War I spy than Greta Garbo, the enigmatic, exquisite screen icon called The Swedish Sphinx? Garbo is mesmerizing as the dancer-turned-German secret agent in a wartime Paris seething with secrets and betrayal. The notable supporting cast includes Lionel Barrymore as a Russian general besotted with her, Lewis Stone as an icy master spy, and Ramon Novarro as a handsome aviator who wins the heart Mata Hari did not know she possessed. With the world at war, love was her weapon. And the only men she couldn't seduce were the 12 in the firing squad that ended her tragic and tumultuous life. - Director:
- George Fitzmaurice
- Cast:
- Greta Garbo, Ramon Novarro, Lionel Barrymore
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Rififi (1955)Du rififi chez les hommes
Jean Servais is Tony le Stephanois, a master thief with a battered face and a tubercular cough, souvenirs of a recent stint in the pen. The ageing Tony is reluctant to return to a life of crime, but when he realizes his girlfriend has thrown him over for a rival gangster, he agrees to attempt one last job. Together with three collaborators – a young father, a boisterous Franco-Italian and a sentimental Milanese safecracker – Tony meticulously engineers his biggest heist yet: robbing the most heavily guarded jewelry store in Paris. - Director:
- Jules Dassin
- Cast:
- Jean Servais, Carl Möhner, Robert Manuel
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Life in 1847 Paris is as spirited as champagne and as unforgiving as the gray morning after. In gambling dens and lavish soirees, men of means exert their wills and women turned courtesans exult in pleasure. One such woman is Marguerite Gautier (Greta Garbo), the Camille of this sumptuous romance tale based on the enduring Alexandre Dumas story. - Director:
- George Cukor
- Cast:
- Greta Garbo, Robert Taylor, Lionel Barrymore
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Shirley MacLaine is Irma, a popular Parisian prostitute who has just hired a new pimp, Nestor (Jack Lemmon), a former honest cop who was fired and framed by his boss after Nestor inadvertently had him arrested in a raid. However, Nestor's love for Irma is making his newfound vocation impossible, so he poses as a phoney British lord who insists on being Irma's one and only "client". But when "Lord X" (Jack Lemmon) appears to have become the victim of foul play...further comedic complications ensue! - Director:
- Billy Wilder
- Cast:
- Jack Lemmon, Louis Jourdan, Shirley MacLaine
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Apollo 11: Moon Landing (2019)Apollo 11 Moon Landing: 50th Anniversary Collection
This 50th anniversary collection contains the most important examples of the BBC's comprehensive coverage of the Apollo missions to the Moon. The cultural impact is featured in James Cameron's sobering film 'Nobody Ever Asks Why'. Live commentary is provided by James Burke and Patrick Moore for the first step on the Moon and James Burke's definitive series 'Project Apollo' explains how it all happened, using exclusive interviews with the men that walked on the Moon. '8 Days' marries the voices of the Apollo 11 astronauts with specially shot live action, bringing the drama of Apollo 11 to life. The result is a nail biting story of triumph over adversity. - Director:
- Anthony Philipson
- Cast:
- Patrick Kennedy, Jack Tarlton, Rufus Wright
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Barbara Stanwyck plays a nightclub singer whose snappy street slang attracts the attention of bookish encyclopaedia editor Gary Cooper and his aged bachelor colleagues who devote their lives to compiling the perfect encyclopeadia. At first, their interest in her is strictly professional, but she soon charms the old men into letting her hide from the police (and her gangster boyfriend) in their mansion, Initially, she resents her forced stay, but after a while she falls for the charm of bookworm Cooper, and makes him realise there is more to life than books. - Director:
- Howard Hawks
- Cast:
- Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck, Oskar Homolka
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Monty Python delivers a scathing, anarchic satire of both religion and Hollywood's depiction of all things biblical with their second film. The setting is Judea 33 A.D. , a time of poverty and chaos, with no shortage of messiahs, followers willing to believe in them, and exasperated Romans trying to impose some order. At the centre of it all is Brian Cohen (Graham Chapman), a reluctant would-be messiah who rises to prominence as a result of a series of absurd and truly hilarious circumstances providing ample opportunity for the entire ensemble (John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, Michael Palin and Chapman) to shine in multiple roles as they mock everyone and everything from ex-lepers, Pontius Pilate, and the art of haggling to crazy prophets, Roman centurions, and crucifixion. - Director:
- Terry Jones
- Cast:
- Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Michael Palin
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To escape the burdens of rule, Sweden's Queen Christina rides into the countryside disguised as a boy. There she meets and secretly falls for a dashing Spanish envoy on his way to the royal court. Imagine the envoy's delighted surprise when he and the young "nobleman" must share a bed at an overcrowded inn. - Director:
- Rouben Mamoulian
- Cast:
- Greta Garbo, John Gilbert, Ian Keith
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The Essential Collection features 50 of Charlie Chaplin's legendary early films...
- Director:
- George Nichols
- Cast:
- Charles Chaplin, Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle, Peggy Pearce
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In 'Bullet Train', Brad Pitt stars as Ladybug, an unlucky assassin determined to do his job peacefully after one too many gigs gone off the rails. Fate, however, may have other plans, as Ladybug's latest mission puts him on a collision course with lethal adversaries from around the globe - all with connected, yet conflicting, objectives - on the world's fastest train...and he's got to figure out how to get off. - Director:
- David Leitch
- Cast:
- Brad Pitt, Joey King, Aaron Taylor-Johnson
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The great Walter Matthau stars as Henry, a once-rich playboy who has obliviously spent his entire inheritance. Desperate to marry into further financial support, he meets Henrietta (Elaine May), a shy, awkward, though independently wealthy botany professor. What follows is a giddy tale of dubious legal advice, ruthless skullduggery and ferns. - Director:
- Elaine May
- Cast:
- Walter Matthau, Elaine May, Jack Weston
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One heaves rocks through windows. The other happens by in the nick of time to offer his services as an expert window repairman. It's a system that works. So does everything else about this beloved Charlie Chaplin classic whose blend of laughs and pathos changed the notion of what a screen comedy could be. For the first time as a filmmaker, Chaplin stepped into feature-length storytelling with this tale of the down-but-never-out Tramp (Chaplin) and the adorable ragamuffin (6-year-old Jackie Coogan) who, rescued as a foundling and raised in the School of Hard Knocks by the Tramp, is this inseparable sidekick. Memorable scenes include a lesson in table manners, the bully brawl and the Tramp's angelic dream. - Director:
- Charles Chaplin
- Cast:
- Charles Chaplin, Edna Purviance, Jackie Coogan
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Amarcord (1973)I Remember
A proud woman in red draws leers and admiration. A bosomy tobacconist sparks the fantasies of adolescent boys. A mentally challenged uncle takes refuge in a tree and announces: "I want a woman!" They are among moments and events knit by memory...and a legendary filmmaker in peak form. 'Amarcord', which means "I Remember", is Federico Fellini's lusty, often funny look at growing-up perhaps not unlike his own. The setting is a village in 1930's Italy. Teen hormones are surging. Family, church and friendship are proving grounds of love and loyalty. Fascism's rise is just down the street. Sex is around any corner. And life viewed in the local cinema is a touchstone for life lived. The memories, big and small, endure. - Director:
- Federico Fellini
- Cast:
- Magali Noël, Bruno Zanin, Pupella Maggio
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