fmj's - Rented List

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Set on the French Riviera, the charming daughter (Claudette Colbert) of a destitute aristocrat (Edward Everett Horton) catches the eye of a dashing millionaire (Gary Cooper).

After a brief courtship, she accepts his marriage proposal, only to find out on their wedding day that he has been down the aisle before - seven times! Determined to teach him a lesson, she makes a mockery of their matrimony in a variety of side-splitting situations.

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In the antebellum South, headstrong coquette Julie Marsden (Bette Davis, who won the Best Actress Oscar) loves to kindle competition among men. Her machinations cost Julie her fiancé (Henry Fonda), though, after she makes a public display of herself.

She vows to win back her man, but her scheming goes awry, resulting in another suitor's demise. Will the self-absorbed Julie rise to the occasion when the chance for atonement arises?

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Set against the backdrop of 19th-century France, 'Les Miserables' tells an enthralling story of broken dreams and unrequited love, passion, sacrifice and redemption - a timeless testament to the survival of the human spirit.

Hugh Jackman plays ex-prisoner Jean Valjean, hunted for decades by the ruthless policeman Javert (Russell Crowe) after he breaks parole. When Valjean agrees to care for factory worker Famine's (Anne Hathaway) young daughter, Cosette, their lives change forever.

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Fields plays small-town grocer Harold Bissonette – Pronounced ‘Bee-son-ay’ by his wife – who puts up with difficult customers and annoying neighbours.

Bissonette has ambitions to own a California orange grove and, aided by an inheritance – and from selling his business – acquires what, on their arrival, turns out to be a worthless shack set in scrubland. Her suspicions confirmed, Mrs.. Bissonette begins to leave with their children but the land turns old to be more valuable than it looks…

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The film is Fritz Lang's seventh Hollywood feature, made in 1953 on a miniscule budget and shot in just twenty days by one of the best 'noir' cameramen Nicholas Musurca and is considered one of his best murder mystery films. Norah is a pretty telephone operator engaged to a soldier posted overseas.

When she receives a letter from him ending their engagement, feeling despondent, she falls for the charms of Officer Lothario and agrees to a date. They go to the Blue Gardenia Club, where he gets her drunk and then takes her back to his apartment. She is later forced to fight off his lecherous advances by bludgeoning him to death and flees, leaving behind her handkerchief, high heels and a blue gardenia at the scene. She awakes the next morning remembering nothing while a nationwide murder hunt gets underway, but journalist Casey Mayo offers his support and suggests an interview in exchange for a fair trial.

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Charles Laughton won an Oscar for his masterful portrayal of Henry VIII, one of Britain's most notorious monarchs, who is better known for his succession of wives than his prowess for ruling the nation.

Alexander Korda's landmark film from 1933 lavishly, and often humorously, charts Henry's exploits: his hasty marriage to Jane Seymour on the day of the public execution of Anne Boleyn; his remarriage again, in order to maintain European alliances; his infatuation with Katherine Howard whilst awaiting the arrival of his new bride, Anne of Cleves (played by Laughton's wife, Elsa Lanchester), and he and Anne's subsequent divorce; and the execution of Katherine following her affair with courtier Thomas Culpeper. Finally, we see King Henry as a bitter, enfeebled old man, persuaded to marry his children's nurse and lady-in-waiting, Catherine Parr. Charles Laughton's portrayal of Henry, from flamboyant womaniser to henpecked glutton, is a wonder to behold and, for many, the definitive depiction of this colossal figure. Deservedly, 'The Private Life of Henry VIII' was the first British film to score a major box-office hit in America; it paved the way to Hollywood success for Laughton's co-star Merle Oberon, and earned Alexander Korda an Oscar nomination for Best Picture.

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A gallery of high-living lowlifes will stop at nothing to get their sweaty hands on a jewel-encrusted falcon. Detective Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart) wants to find out why - and who'll take the fall for his partner's murder.

An all-star cast (including Sydney Greenstreet, Mary Astor, Peter Lorre and Elisha Cook Jr.) joins Bogart in this cracking mystery masterwork written for the screen (from Dashiell Hammett's novel) and directed by John Huston.

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In this long-awaited film adaptation of Judy Blume's classic, groundbreaking novel, eleven-year-old Margaret (Abby Ryder Fortson) is uprooted from her life in New York City to the suburbs of New Jersey, going through the messy and tumultuous throes of puberty with new friends in a new school.

She relies on her mother, Barbara (Rachel McAdams), who is also struggling to adjust to life outside the big city, and her adoring grandmother, Sylvia (Kathy Bates). A timeless coming-of-age story, 'Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.' sparkles with insightful humour while candidly exploring life's biggest questions.

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Ranked at No. 30 on the American Film Institute's list of the 100 all-time greatest American films, 'The Treasure of the Sierra Madre' is a genuine masterpiece that went on to win 3 Academy Awards.

Bogart gives a tremendous performance as a vicious down-and-out wage worker who stakes his meagre earnings on a gold-prospecting expedition.

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In the white-knuckle action movie 'Plane', pilot Brodie Torrance (Gerard Butler) saves his passengers from a lightning strike by making a risky landing on a war-torn island - only to find that surviving the landing was just the beginning.

When most of the passengers are taken hostage by dangerous rebels, the only person Torrance can count on for help is Louis Gaspare (Mike Colter), an accused murderer who was being transported by the FBI. In order to rescue the passengers, Torrance will need Gaspare's help, and will learn there's more to Gaspare than meets the eye.

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Directed by a true genius of early cinema, Cecil B. DeMille's The King of Kings is both a sincere and major work of religious devotion and an epic milestone in cinema history.

First premiered in 1927, the film follows the life of Jesus Christ from the conversion of Mary Magdalene through the Crucifixion, Resurrection and Ascension. Inspired by the works of the great Classical artists, DeMille composes each scene with breathtaking skill, while emphasising and celebrating the gentleness and dignity of Christ. At His triumphant resurrection, this black and white film suddenly bursts into colour - a truly stunning cinematic device portraying a world redeemed. A work of timeless passion and beauty, The King of Kings still has the power to move and inspire.

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Fredric March stars as Valjean, the ex-convict who rises against all odds from galley slave to mayor. Charles Laughton is Javert, the fanatical police inspector who dedicates his life to recapturing Valjean.

A vivid depiction of the appalling poverty and social strife of 19th-century France, this version of Les Miserables does splendid justice to the original novel.

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EO, a grey donkey with melancholic eyes and a curious spirit, begins his life as a circus performer before escaping on a trek across the Polish and Italian countryside.

During his travels, he encounters an eclectic cast of characters, including a countess, a young Italian priest and a riotous Polish football team. An equine hero, EO boldly points out societal ills and serves as warning of the dangers of neglect and inaction, all while on a quest for freedom.

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Naive Marianne Madison (Sidney Fox) is fed up with the dull routine in her life. Seeking an escape, she becomes smitten with brooding and handsome con artist Valentine Corliss (Humphrey Bogart), who lands in her small town looking for new opportunities to exploit.

Valentine soon sweet-talks Marianne into gaining her wealthy father's endorsement for his latest money making scheme, and disappears with the profits. Heartbroken, Marianne returns home and begs her jilted fiance Dick (Conrad Nagel) for forgiveness. By now, though, he has turned his attention to Mariannes enchanting older sister, Laura (Bette Davis)...

World War II separated pianist Christine Radcliffe from her great love, cellist Karel Novak. Unexpectedly reunited with Karel, Christine desperately strives to hide her wartime dalliance as the mistress of a wealthy, sadistic composer. She'll lie to keep her shameful past a secret. But will she also murder?