fmj's - Rented List
-
Lewis Gilbert's classic comedy drama portrays the antics of a British Army Searchlight Squad during World War II. Lieutenant Ogelby (Ian Carmichael) has his work cut out to keep his 'legionaires' at their post and not rampaging through the local countryside. The McGaffey brothers (Benny Hill and Tommy Steele) create havoc with their light-fingers and light-loving with the local girls, whilst Smithy (Johnny Briggs) pines for his sweetheart. The Searchlight Squad is a rag-tag band of men brought together by the war, who must now learn how to live and fight together in order to survive. As the Nazis continue their bombing raids, Lance Tomlinson has to tread a fine line between upholding the army's discipline and remaining one of the boys. - Director:
- Lewis Gilbert
- Cast:
- Ian Carmichael, Tommy Steele, Benny Hill
- Formats:
-
-
It is a moment before dawn, and the river traffic on the Thames begins to ease its way through the fog. The River police find the body of a young girl left dry by the ebb tide. Her body is brought ashore and her possessions examined. Who is she? And what drove her to take her own life? For the young married couple (Judi Dench and Norman Rodway) love brought them together, but now marriage and a child have driven them apart. The young husband would rather stay out than return home to a wife kept awake by a teething baby daughter. Their story is witnesses by their friend (Joe Melia), a bachelor, who is exposed as the loneliest of them all. - Director:
- Anthony Simmons
- Cast:
- Ann Lynn, Judi Dench, Norman Rodway
- Formats:
-
-
Belfast is a poignant story of love, laughter and loss in one boy's childhood amid the music and social tumult of the late 1960's. Buddy's family lives in a largely Protestant district with a few Catholic families, but one day his community and everything he thought he understood about life is suddenly turned upside down. Buddy's family gets caught in the mayhem and must decide to stay or leave the only place they have ever called home. Through it all, his passionate parents (Caitriona Balfe and Jamie Dornan) and quick-witted grandparents (Academy Award winner Judy Dench and Ciaran Hinds) keep the joy alive through music and the magic of movies in this feel-good story that reminds us that no matter how far you go, you never forget where you came from. - Director:
- Kenneth Branagh
- Cast:
- Jude Hill, Lewis McAskie, Caitriona Balfe
- Formats:
-
-
Although Belgium's premiere sleuth Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh) plans a spectacular Egyptian vacation aboard a glamorous river steamer, the trip turns into a terrifying search for a murderer after a picture-perfect couple's honeymoon is cut tragically short. Set against a sweeping landscape of pyramids and desert vistas, 'Death on the Nile' features a stunning ensemble cast. Based on Agatha Christie's beloved novel, this tale of unbridled passion and jealousy is filled with wicked twists and turns that will have you guessing until the shocking finale. - Director:
- Kenneth Branagh
- Cast:
- Tom Bateman, Annette Bening, Kenneth Branagh
- Formats:
-
-
English journalist Charleston has spent the 1930s trying to make the public aware of the dangers of Hitler's Germany. But it seems no-one wants to listen. In anger and defeat, he takes up residence in a Lake Michigan lighthouse. There, in his solitude, he is forced to reconsider the merit of turning his back on the world. - Director:
- Roy Boulting
- Cast:
- Michael Redgrave, Barbara Mullen, James Mason
- Formats:
-
-
Hotshot reporter Frank Burdon is thrilled to land a job at the only newspaper in the wee Scottish town of Baikie. His first assignment is to interview the local politician, wealthy William Gow, who is running for Parliament. Burdon is shocked to find that despite Gow's glowing reputation, the man is totally insensitive. The final straw comes when the politician refuses to speak to a destitute ice cream vendor whose dog he impounded when she could no longer afford to pay the license. Indignant, Burdon's puff piece begins to take another direction... Despite himself, Burdon can't help but fall for Gow's beautiful daughter Vickie. When his piece breaks, hundreds of British press descend on the tiny town. When a pack of impounded dogs including the ice cream vendor's hound are set free, how will Burdon prove his innocence? This rare British foray into the Screwball genre sees Rex Harrison take his first starring role. If you don't watch 'Storm in a Teacup' for the hilarious script, impeccable acting, adorable doggy talent or fascinating anti-fascist undercurrents, watch it to see two burgeoning Hollywood icons at the very start of their huge careers! - Director:
- Ian Dalrymple
- Cast:
- Vivien Leigh, Rex Harrison, Cecil Parker
- Formats:
-
-
Lucy (Phyllis Calvert), Charlotte (Dulcie Gray) and Vera (Anne Crawford) are three sisters who are pursued by three very different kinds of men asking for their hand in marriage. Geoffrey (James Mason) is an ambitious, carousing businessman who pursues Charlotte because he believes a demure, stay-at-home wife will make his career progress more rapidly and his extra-marital social activities more pleasant. William (Peter Murray-Hill) is a dependable, kindly man who recognises in Lucy a kindred spirit. Vera is a social butterfly with no interest in anyone but herself, so when Brian (Barry Livesey) offers to marry her, she accepts as a marriage of convenience and takes lovers when she desires. As time passes the three sisters suffer joy and heartache, but as the cruel, sadistic behaviour of Geoffrey threatens to send Charlotte insane, the sisters decide to unite together with momentous consequences... - Director:
- Arthur Crabtree
- Cast:
- Phyllis Calvert, James Mason, Hugh Sinclair
- Formats:
-
-
In a depression-ravaged northern English mining town, a group of miners refuse to work a dangerous seam. The ensuing struggle sees two friends escape their underground destiny; Davey Fenwick wins a university education, while Joe Gowlan leaves for a life of commerce. As they grow up - one idealistic and determined, the other cunning and opportunistic -their paths and love lives clash and cross, before meeting in a thrilling climax back in their home town. This was the film that established the credentials of Carol Reed, arguably Britain's greatest ever director. Although he had already made several well-received films, here he had the budget, the stars and the source material (A.J. Cronin's impressive 1935 novel) to deliver the visual sense, character treatment and political sensitivity that would famously feature in his later films like The Third Man, Trapeze (1956), Our Man in Havana (1960), The Running Man (1963) and Oliver! (1968). - Director:
- Carol Reed
- Cast:
- Michael Redgrave, Margaret Lockwood, Edward Rigby
- Formats:
-
-
Golden-age Hollywood's humanist master Leo McCarey brings his graceful touch and relaxed naturalism to this sublime romance, one of cinema's most intoxicating tear-wringers. Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer are chic strangers who meet and fall in love aboard an ocean liner bound for New York. Though they are both involved with other people, they make a pact to reconnect six months later at the top of the Empire State Building - until the hand of fate throws their star-crossed affair tragically off course. Swooning passion and gentle comedy coexist in perfect harmony in the exquisitely tender 'Love Affair' (nominated for six Oscars), a story so timeless that it has been remade by multiple filmmakers over the years - including McCarey himself, who updated it as the no less beloved An Affair to Remember. - Director:
- Leo McCarey
- Cast:
- Irene Dunne, Charles Boyer, Maria Ouspenskaya
- Formats:
-
-
Esther Waters (Kathleen Ryan) is a young woman living in 1880's London. Forced by her abusive father to start work she becomes a servant in an aristocratic household. She falls in love with the handsome footman William Latch (Dirk Bogarde), who seduces and then abandons her. Esther returns to London and then quite by chance they meet again and while Esther initially rejects William's advances, eventually they marry. However William falls ill and hopes for a big killing on the horses so he can to move his family abroad. Will he succeed and change their lives for the better or will the family face financial ruin and disaster? - Director:
- Ian Dalrymple
- Cast:
- Kathleen Ryan, Dirk Bogarde, Cyril Cusack
- Formats:
-
-
Separated from his wife and embittered by lack of promotion, Harrington Brande is posted to a small port in Spain. With him goes his young son Nicholas, a shy boy forced to lead a quiet life by his domineering father. At their new home they meet their gardener, José, who strikes up a friendship with the boy. As Nicholas's father realises this, out of jealousy, he bans them from speaking. Things go from bad to worse when Nicholas's watch is stolen and planted on Jose, who is then arrested. Will his father realise the meaning of true friendship before it is too late? - Director:
- Philip Leacock
- Cast:
- Dirk Bogarde, Maurice Denham, Jon Whiteley
- Formats:
-
-
Bedelia Carrington (Margaret Lockwood) is living happily, it appears, in Monte Carlo with her husband Charlie Carrington (Ian Hunter). But a cultivated young artist, Ben Chaney (Barry K. Barnes), begins probing into her past with curious concern. Chaney, who is really a detective, learns that Bedelia's obsession for money knows no boundaries, and will kill for it. - Director:
- Lance Comfort
- Cast:
- Margaret Lockwood, Ian Hunter, Barry K. Barnes
- Formats:
-
-
John (Viggo Mortensen) lives with his partner, Eric (Terry Chen), and their daughter, Monica (Gabby Velis), in California, far from the traditional rural life he left behind years ago. John's father, Willis (Lance Henriksen), a headstrong man from a bygone era, lives alone on the isolated farm where John grew up. Willis is in the early stages of dementia, making running the farm on his own increasingly difficult, so John brings him to stay at his California home so that he and his sister Sarah (Laura Linney) might help him find a place near them to relocate to. Unfortunately, their best intentions ultimately run up against Willis's adamant refusal to change his way of life in the slightest. - Director:
- Viggo Mortensen
- Cast:
- Sverrir Gudnason, Lance Henriksen, Terry Chen
- Formats:
-
-
In 1943, two intelligence officers from the Royal Navy (Clifton Webb, Robert Flemyng) attempt to pull off the most daring espionage mission of the Second World War. The Allies are about to invade Sicily - but the Germans must be convinced that their real target is Greece. A briefcase containing plans for the fake invasion is attached to a body dressed as a British major and given an elaborate false identity. The 'man who never was' is then left at sea for the Germans to find. However, Nazi intelligence believes that the find may be just too good to be true - and a desperate cat-and-mouse game begins in the heart of war torn London... - Director:
- Ronald Neame
- Cast:
- Peter Sellers, Clifton Webb, Gloria Grahame
- Formats:
-
-
The Snows of Kilimanjaro (2011)Les neiges du Kilimandjaro
Despite losing his job, Michel lives happily with Marie-Claire. They have been in love for more than 30 years... Their children and grand-children delight them... They have plenty of close friends... They are proud of their union and political struggles... Their conscience is as clear as their view of life. This happiness will be shattered by two young men, armed and masked, who beat them, tie them up, snatch their wedding rings and flee with their credit cards... The shock will be all the more violent when they discover that this brutal attack was organised by one of the young workers laid off at the same time as Michel. Michel and Marie-Claire gradually discover that their attacker, Christophe, only did what he did because he had no choice.. - Director:
- Robert Guédiguian
- Cast:
- Ariane Ascaride, Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Gérard Meylan
- Formats:
-