matti's - Rented List
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Musical superstar Julie Andrews plays Lili Smith, the singing sweetheart who the troops adore. But she has a secret... she's really an enemy agent! And she's just been assigned a new mission: seduce heroic pilot Major William Larrabee (Rock Hudson). The Major can't resist her womanly wiles... but when Lili realises that he has secrets of his own, she begins to wonder which one of them is the true deceiver. - Director:
- Blake Edwards
- Cast:
- Julie Andrews, Rock Hudson, Jeremy Kemp
- Formats:
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This second series in Granada's compelling crime anthology looks at some of Britain's most notorious murder trials, in which both male and female defendants stood accused of the murder of women. Introduced by Robert Morley, seven hour-long dramas reconstruct sensational trials which shocked Britain, offering in-depth analyses of individuals' motives and methods. The cases include those of bigamist George Joseph Smith, convicted of the murder of three of his wives; Neville Heath, the sex attacker whose savage crimes attracted international coverage; Ethel Le Neve, the mistress of Dr. Crippen whose role in the murder of Crippen's wife remains mysterious; and the concurrent trials of Ronald True and Henry Jacoby, murderers from opposite ends of the social spectrum whose subsequent treatment sparked anger and controversy. Hannah Gordon, Christopher Cazenove, Ian Charleson, Michael Jayston, Kenneth Haigh, Gayle Hunnicutt and Phyllis Calvert feature among the star-studded casts. - Director:
- Nicholas Ferguson
- Cast:
- Joan Sims, Robert Morley, John Fraser
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Happy as Lazzaro (2018)Lazzaro Felice
Lazzaro (talented newcomer Adriano Tardiolo) is a beautiful peasant whose sweet nature makes people mistake him for simple-minded. He happily does the bidding of anyone in his local village, which is ruled over by the evil Marchesa (Nicoletta Braschi). He finds an unlikely friend in the Marchesa's petulant son Tancredi (Tommaso Ragno / Luca Chikovani), who convinces his hapless ally to help him stage a dramatic incident to secure a ransom. 'Happy as Lazzaro' follows the adventures of this young man living on the margins of his society, who can seemingly travel through time, arriving in the big city and appearing as a fragment of the past lost in the modern world. - Director:
- Alice Rohrwacher
- Cast:
- Adriano Tardiolo, Agnese Graziani, Alba Rohrwacher
- Formats:
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Lady Killers: Series 1 (1980)Ladykillers
This disturbing and compelling anthology series helps lay to rest the long-cherished idea that women are the gentler sex. "Lady Killers" presents dramatic reconstructions of seven infamous murder trials where in each case the defendant was female; if convicted, all faced the gallows. From the horrifying case of Victorian 'baby farmer' Amelia Dyer - suspected of strangling hundreds of infants in her care - to the trial and execution of Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in Britain, 'Lady Killers' looks at crimes which shocked and scandalised a nation, examining the individual's motives and often brutal methods in depth. Introduced by Robert Morley, these dramas feature powerful performances from an outstanding cast which includes Elaine Paige, Joan Sims, Rita Tushingham, George Baker, Peter Sallis and Michael Kitchen, among others. - Director:
- Phillip Draycott
- Cast:
- Robert Morley, Charles Kay, Edward Hammond
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To Laura Hammond's large family, she is simply the mother who makes their tumultuous lives run a little more smoothly. But although they don't know it, she is a very successful novelist - and when her screenplay comes to the attention of a Hollywood producer, Laura (Phyllis Calvert) is suddenly plunged into the big time. Perhaps it's time to stop taking Mum for granted..? - Director:
- Michael McCarthy
- Cast:
- Phyllis Calvert, Patrick Barr, Susan Stephen
- Formats:
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The Immortal One (1963)L'immortelle
A sad man meets a beautiful, secretive woman who may or may not be involved in some conspiracy ring dealing in kidnapped women used as prostitutes. After several days of their sadly passionate relationship she disappears. The sad man is unable to locate her as all the local Turkish people pretend not to remember any such woman. He suddenly finds her again (she finds him?) and before she can explain her disappearance she is killed in a car crash while he is in the passenger seat. He replays the accident over and over in his mind trying to remember how she died if he caused the accident himself by grabbing the wheel. - Director:
- Alain Robbe-Grillet
- Cast:
- Françoise Brion, Jacques Doniol-Valcroze, Guido Celano
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At the time of the Invasion of Normandy, an American soldier is asked to impersonate a British General in order to confuse the Nazi spies and assassins in London.
- Director:
- Melville Shavelson
- Cast:
- Danny Kaye, Dana Wynter, Wilfrid Hyde-White
- Formats:
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The Challenge (1960)It Takes a Thief
Jayne Mansfield makes a departure from her usual roles to play tough girl Billy in this dark crime story. Set in London during the 1960s, the film casts Mansfield as the ringleader of a band of robbers. After a failed heist, her boyfriend, Jim (Anthony Quayle), is captured, but not before he stashes the booty in a secret hiding place. Now, Billy and her crew are on a desperate hunt to find the treasure before anyone else does... - Director:
- John Gilling
- Cast:
- Jayne Mansfield, Anthony Quayle, Carl Möhner
- Formats:
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I Vitelloni (1953)I vitelloni
The film is essentially a rites of passage story involving a group of friends growing up together in a small provincial town. This seemingly aimless fraternity is led by Fausto in their daily routine of hanging around in bars and wasting their days whilst dreaming of breaking free of their parochial chains to taste the adventure the world has to offer. Events force the womanising Fausto to choose between responsibility and freedom which in turn prompts the other members of the group to look at their own futures in a new light. - Director:
- Federico Fellini
- Cast:
- Alberto Sordi, Franco Fabrizi, Franco Interlenghi
- Formats:
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Henry Breasley (Laurence Olivier) is an elderly painter whose secluded retirement is invaded by David Williams (Roger Rees), a brash young artist commissioned to produce a biographical study of the great man. Breasley shares his home in the South of France with two young English girls, both former art students, Diana (Greta Scacchi) and Anne (Toyah Willcox). In this strange ménage, David is left in no doubt about his host's views on modern abstract art. However, he is puzzled by the old man's relationship with the girls, especially when he also finds himself strongly attracted to Diana... - Director:
- Robert Knight
- Cast:
- Laurence Olivier, Roger Rees, Greta Scacchi
- Formats:
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Author-explorer Reggie Blake (Terry-Thomas) takes an unorthodox approach to his craft, apparently finding inspiration in the adventures suggested by his agent Charles Lunton (Wilfrid Hyde-White); it matters little that most of his experiences are wildly embellished or even entirely fictitious... Reggie's latest trip, however, has proved a little too authentic. Having lost his way in the desert and subsequently adopted by a remote Bedouin tribe, he has experienced a deep transformation in outlook and personality and one that drives his loyal wife Fran (Janette Scott) to despair. When his pomposity and chauvinism reach alarming new heights, she decides immediate, and dramatic, action is called for! - Director:
- Brian Desmond Hurst
- Cast:
- Terry-Thomas, Janette Scott, Wilfrid Hyde-White
- Formats:
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The Beast (1975)La Bete
Bestial dreams interrupt the venal plans of a French aristocrat attempting to save a crumbling mansion by marrying off his deformed son to a horny American heiress. Initially turned down flat by British censors but presented here uncut, Walerian Borowczyk's most outrageous feature broke new ground in sexual explicitness and remains a truly startling experience even today. - Director:
- Walerian Borowczyk
- Cast:
- Sirpa Lane, Lisbeth Hummel, Elisabeth Kaza
- Formats:
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Backroom rivalry at the Graftondale Royal Hospital surgical unit is unspoken but self-evident. Sir Arthur Gray (Michael Redgrave), a staunch traditionalist, is determined to keep things going his way in spite of his rival's ambitions to "turn the hospital into a laboratory". Then, while carrying out a delicate heart operation, Sir Arthur has a momentary blackout. - Director:
- Brian Desmond Hurst
- Cast:
- Michael Redgrave, Tony Britton, Carl Möhner
- Formats:
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Les Enfants Terribles (1950)The Terrible Children / The Strange Ones
In this compelling tale of obsession, teenage siblings Paul (Edouard Dermithe) and Elisabeth (Nicole Stéphane) create an intense, private world in their shared room. They live, sleep, bicker and play out erotically charged games within their chambre, without heed to the world around them. However, when outsiders intrude into their disturbingly private realm, the scene is set for tragedy. - Director:
- Jean-Pierre Melville
- Cast:
- Jean Cocteau, Nicole Stéphane, Edouard Dermithe
- Formats:
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Le Testament du Docteur Cordelier (1959)Experiment in Evil
"Le Testament du Docteur Cordelier" is a strikingly original adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'. Up-dating the story to 1950's Paris, the film is an insightful and fascinating work that explores what it means to be human in the modern age. Originally made for French television, 'Le Testament du Docteur Cordelier' is perhaps Renoir's most under-rated film and features an astonishing dual performance by Jean-Louis Barrault as both the charming Cordelier and his monstrous alter-ego Opale. - Director:
- Jean Renoir
- Cast:
- Jean-Louis Barrault, Teddy Bilis, Sylviane Margollé
- Formats:
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