frankie's - 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die List

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Larry Talbot (Lon Chaney Jr.) returns from college in America to his father's (Claude Rains) mansion in Wales. After meeting Gwen Conliffe (Evelyn Ankers) in the local village, he escorts her to the local fair.

She tells him the local legend of the werewolf, but he laughs it off - even when gypsy fortune teller Maleva (Maria Ouspenskaya) and her son Bela (Bela Lugosi) also tell him to beware. Later in the evening Gwen's friend Jenny is attacked by a wild wolf. Larry rescues her, but is bitten in the process. Sure enough, when the next full moon comes round, Larry finds himself transformed into the wolfman - a murderous creature that can only be destroyed by silver.

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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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Somewhat fictionalized account of the life and war service of Alvin York (Gary Cooper), who went from humble beginnings to being one of the most celebrated American servicemen to fight in World War I.

As depicted in the film, Alvin turned to religion when he was struck by lightning during one of his drunken outings. Alvin took his newfound religion seriously claiming to be a conscientious objector when receiving his draft notice. When that was refused, he joined the infantry where he served with valor, capturing a large number of Germans and saving the lives of many of his men who were under heavy fire.

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"Dumbo" remains one of Disney's greatest full-length animated masterpieces - a heartwarming and inspirational tale overflowing with such memorable songs as "Casey Junior", "Baby Mine", and "When I See an Elephant Fly". When Mrs. Jumbo meets her tiny baby elephant, he's the talk of the circus.

But with a pair of over sized ears, baby Dumbo is laughed at and ridiculed. With remarkable courage, and the help of his loyal friend Timothy Mouse, Dumbo overcomes all odds in a triumphant celebration of love and determination. The whole family will enjoy this timeless and touching story of the brave baby elephant with the big ears and an even bigger heart!

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Prohibition era gangster Roy Earle (Humphrey Bogart) walks out of prison...and into two unfamiliar worlds: the jitterbugging 1940s and the towering majesty of 'High Sierra'. This fast-paced, heist-gone-wrong manhunt movie is also a fascinating study of a man time has passed by.

Earle identifies more with the era's homeless Okies than the callow punks he leads on a disastrous hotel robbery. Then the teenager he loves (Joan Leslie) rejects him and only Marie (Ida Lupino), a weary '30s survivor like himself, remains loyal when cops close in.

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Comedy director John Sullivan (Joel McCrea) decides to give up his life of luxury and sets off on the road to research how the other half live. He plans to make "Oh Brother Where Art Thou?", a somber, social conscious movie inspired by his experiences of poverty and desperation.

A chance encounter with failed starlet (Veronica Lake) enables him to escape the studio publicity machine and learn at first hand the true value of entertainment.

Sixty-year-old Huw Morgan looks back on his life as a boy (Roddy McDowall) in a small Welsh mining town. His reminiscences reveal the disintegration of the closely knit Morgans, and his devoted parents (Donald Crisp, Sara Allgood), while capturing the sentiments and issues of their time.

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Penniless husband, Tom Jeffers (Joel McCrea) looks like he is losing his scatterbrained wife, Gerry (Claudette Colbert) to multi-millionaire John D. Hackensacker (Rudy Vallee) when she walks out on him and heads for fun and sun in Palm Beach, Florida.

They become involved with any number of outrageous characters, played by many of the Sturges regulars in hilarious cameos. The witty, sparkling dialogue, poking merciless fun at, amongst other targets, money and sex, is unforgettable.

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Nervous spinster Charlotte Vale (Bette Davis) is stunted from growing up under the heel of her puritanical Boston Brahmin mother (Gladys Cooper), and remains convinced of her own unworthiness until a kindly psychiatrist (Claude Rains) gives her the confidence to venture out into the world on a

South American cruise. On board, she finds her footing with the help of an unhappily married man (Paul Henreid). Their thwarted love affair may help Charlotte break free of her mother's grip - but will she find fulfillment as well as independence?

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Casablanca: easy to enter, but much harder to leave, especially if your name is on the Nazis' most-wanted list. A top that list is Czech Resistance leader VIctor Laszlo (Paul Henreid), whose only hope is Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), a cynical American who sticks his neck out for no one...

especially Victor's wife Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman), the ex-lover who broke his heart. So when Ilsa offers herself in exchange for Laszlo's safe transport out of the country, the bitter Rick must decide what's more important - his own happiness or the countless lives that hang in the balance.

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In Warsaw at the beginning of WWII, Maria Tura (Carole Lombard) and husband Joseph (Jack Benny) perform anti-Nazi plays with their theater troupe until they are forced to switch to Shakespeare's Hamlet. Lt.

Stanislav Sobinski (Robert Stack) falls for Maria and meets up with her during Joseph's famous "To Be or Not to Be" speech as Hamlet. When Stanislav is eventually dispatched for war, he implicates Maria with Professor Siletsky (Stanley Ridges), who has a secret plan to destroy the Warsaw resistance. The Polish theater troupe is then forced to use their theatrical skills to ensure their survival. Eventually, they turn to impersonating Nazi officers - and even Hitler himself - in order to outwit the enemy and keep the resistance safe from spies.

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Irena Dubrovna (Simone Simon), a beautiful and mysterious Serbian-born fashion artist living in New York City, falls in love with and marries average-Joe American Oliver Reed (Kent Smith).

But Irena believes that she suffers from an ancient curse and whenever she is emotionally aroused she will turn into a panther and savage her victims. Oliver thinks that is absurd and sends her to psychiatrist Dr. Judd (Tom Conway) to cure her. But truth is sometimes stranger than fantasy...

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Set in Midwestern America, 'The Magnificent Ambersons' tells the tale of Isabel Amberson Minafer (Dolores Costello) and her son George (Tim Holt), an upper middle class family experiencing social decline at the turn of the century.

With the industrial and technological age taking full force, the chances within the family are self destructing. After the death of her husband Wilbur (Don Dillaway), Isabel is romantically linked with Eugene Morgan (Joseph Cotten) whom she knew from years previous to her marriage. George, unhappy with this courtship, proceeds to do everything in his power to destroy their relationship despite falling for Eugene's daughter Lucy (Anne Baxter). Disaster strikes for the Amberson family and events do not turn out as George expected...

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A musical portrait of composer/singer/dancer George M. Cohan. From his early days as a child-star in his family's vaudeville show up to the time of his comeback at which he received a medal from the president for his special contributions to the US, this is the life- story of George M.

Cohan, who produced, directed, wrote and starred in his own musical shows for which he composed his famous songs.

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On her way back home, a solitary woman picks up a frail flower, and then, she drops her key - and when she finally enters her home - exhausted, she falls asleep in a deep and comfortable armchair.

However, even in her intimate dreams, an intangible and elusive dark presence blemishes her afternoon nap - she tries to catch it; but, in vain. Now, bizarre but perfect doppelgängers of her physical self materialise in the house, catching a glimpse of a record player playing a never-ending silent tune; a telephone, and a sharp bread knife, as the already confined environment becomes more and more a maze-like purgatory. The knife thirsts for blood; the woman hungers for a way out. Can the undivided mind/matter entity escape consciousness?