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

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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?

When Prince John (Claude Rains) and the Norman Lords begin oppressing the Saxon masses in King Richard's absence, a Saxon lord fights back as the outlaw leader of a rebel guerrilla army.

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Off-screen pals James Cagney and Pat O'Brien teamed for the sixth time in this enduring gangster classic. Cagney's Rocky Sullivan is a charismatic ghetto tough whose underworld rise makes him a hero to a gang of slum punks.

O'Brien is Father Connolly, the boyhood chum-turned-priest who vows to end Rocky's influence. Other ace talents join them: Humphrey Bogart as a scheming lawyer, Ann Sheridan as Rocky's hard-edged girlfriend and the Dead End Kids as worshipful street urchins, all ably directed by Michael Curtiz.

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In this little Provencal village, a new baker, Aimable (Raimu), settles down. His wife Aurelie (Ginette Leclerc) is beautiful and much younger than he. She departs with a shepherd the night after Aimable produces his first breads. Aimable is so afflicted that he can not work anymore.

Therefore, the villagers, who initially laughed at his cuckoldry, take the matter very seriously (they want the bread) and organize a plan to find Aurelie and to bring her back to the bakery.

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Screwball sparks fly when Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn let loose in one of the fastest and funniest films ever made - a high-wire act of invention that took American screen comedy to new heights of absurdity.

Hoping to procure a million-dollar endowment from a wealthy society j matron for his museum, a hapless paleontologist (Grant) finds himself entangled with a dizzy heiress (Hepburn) as the manic misadventures pile up - a missing dinosaur bone, a leopard on the loose, and plenty of gender-bending mayhem among them. Bringing Up Baby's sophisticated dialogue, spontaneous performances, and giddy innuendo come together in a whirlwind of comic chaos captured with lightning-in-a-bottle brio by director Howard Hawks.

The film is set against the impressive backdrop of Monument Valley in Utah and tells the story of a mixed group of travellers who are making their way across the country to Arizona. They are endangered by an Indian War Party and this, along with their personal histories, results in difficulties.

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When Kikunosuke (Shôtarô Hanayagi), the son of a famous actor, falls in love with his brother’s nurse, Otoku (Kakuko Mori), his father vehemently opposes the affair.

Forced to cut ties with his family, Kikunosuke forges his own way in life, but his fortunes dwindle until Otoku decides to sacrifice her own future for the sake of her lover’s. Finding Mizoguchi operating at the height of his powers, 'The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums’ is a beautifully photographed and deeply moving romantic tragedy.

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A young and captivating Judy Garland and that bundle of energy, Mickey Rooney (who was nominated for an Oscar), are the sweethearts in 'Babes in Arms'. This swingtime song-and-dance hit, based on the Broadway smash by Rodgers and Hart, also received an Oscar nomination for its score.

Rooney plays Mickey Moran, the multitalented son of a famous vaudeville team. When his parents and other vaudevillians in the community hit the financial skids, he rounds up all the stage kids and puts on a lavish show to raise. The future looks rosy until a sudden hurricane literally washes the whole enterprise away on opening night!

James Stewart, Jean Arthur and Claude Rains star in this award-winning 1939 classic about an idealistic, small-town politician who heads to Washington and suddenly finds himself single-handedly battling ruthless politicians out to destroy him.

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One of the best-loved movies of all time. 'The Wizard of Oz' (1939) stars Judy Garland as Dorothy, a young Kansas farm girl who is whisked away by a twister to the land of Oz. Accompanied by a brainless Scarecrow (Ray Bolger), a heartless Tin Man (Jack Haley) and a cowardly Lion.

Dorothy and her little dog, Toto, follow the Yellow Brick Road seeking the Wizard of Oz. In order that he may grant her wish to return home.

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Marlene Dietrich and James Stewart ride high in this superb comedic western, both a boisterous spoof and a shining example of its genre.

As the brawling, rough-and-tumble saloon singer Frenchy, Dietrich shed her exotic love-goddess image and launched a triumphant career comeback, while Stewart cemented his amiable every-man persona, in his first of many westerns, with a charming turn as a gun-abhorring deputy sheriff who uses his wits to bring law and order to the frontier town of Bottleneck. A sparkling script, a supporting cast of virtuoso character actors, and rollicking musical numbers - delivered with unmatched bravado by the magnetic Dietrich - come together to create an irresistible, oft-imitated marvel of studio-era craftsmanship.

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A two-fisted adventure tale set in South America, feature stars Cary Grant as the tough-talking head of an air-freight service operating in the dangerous Andes Mountains. Jean Arthur co-stars as a vacationing showgirl competing with Rita Hayworth for Grant's affections.

A potent combination of humor, romance and action...

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Epic romantic drama based on Margaret Mitchell's Pulitzer-winning novel set during the American Civil War. Southern belle Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh) often uses men to get what she wants, but is unable to get the one man she truly desires, Ashley Wilkes (Leslie Howard).

She soon meets her match in the roguish Captain Rhett Butler (Clark Gable) and in the war itself which destroys the genteel way of life she has always known. With determination she rebuilds her life from the shattered remains the Union Army leaves behind.

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Set in a five-story guesthouse in the middle of a Parisian working class neighbourhood, "Daybreak" opens on the top floor of the building with shouts and a gunshot. A door opens and the body of a man tumbles down the stairs.

As the police start to besiege the building and a crowd gathers, the killer, Francois (Jean Gabin), flees the crime scene and locks himself in his room. After failing to shoot their way into his room the police climb on top of the roof, and Francois, starts to recall previous events... His love for Frangoise (Jacqueline Laurent), the beautiful florist, and her love for Valentin (Jules Berry), the attractive dog trainer. Also starring the renowned Arletty as Clara, Valentin's assistant and suggested lover.