Hold Back Tomorrow (1955)

“He wants to have some fun. Music, dancing — y’know. To kill time.”

Synopsis:
As his final request, a death-row prisoner named Joe (John Agar) asks for a girl to be sent to his cell. When a suicidal prostitute named Dora (Cleo Moore) shows up, Joe is at first disappointed — but soon the two misfits realize [...]

Cat Women of the Moon (1953)

“Four of us will be enough. We will get their women under our power, and soon we will rule the whole world!”

Synopsis:
Five astronauts (Sonny Tufts, Victor Jory, Marie Windsor, William Phipps, and Douglas Fowley) on a trip to the moon discover a colony of man-hating “cat women” with psychic powers.

Genres:

Aliens
Mind Control and Hypnosis
Science Fiction
Space Exploration

Review: [...]

First Time, The (1983)

“While others get laid, Charles, you will make love!”

Synopsis:
An aspiring virginal filmmaker (Tim Choate) lusts after a beautiful young co-ed (Krista Errickson) who wants nothing to do with him.

Genres:

College
Romantic Comedy

Review:
Charlie Loventhal’s semi-autobiographical debut film received promising reviews from the New York Times upon its release — but it’s truly difficult to understand why. This [...]

Soup for One (1982)

“Soup for one… It’s the story of my life.”

Synopsis:
A single New Yorker (Saul Rubinek) hoping to meet Ms. Right falls in love at first sight with his “ideal woman” (Marcia Strassman) — then must convince her to marry him.

Genres:

Dating
Flashback Films
Looking for Ms./Mr. Right
Romantic Comedy

Review:
After his successful role in Ticket to Heaven (1981), Saul Rubinek [...]

Sugarbaby (1985)

“I spied on you, I tracked you down — and then I nailed you!”

Synopsis:
A lonely, overweight mortuary employee (Marianne Sagebracht) falls obsessively in love with a handsome young subway driver (Eisi Gulp), and plots to ensnare him romantically.

Genres:

German Films
Misfits
Obsessive Love
Romantic Comedy

Review:
Two years before his breakthrough film — Bagdad Cafe (1987) — writer/director Percy Adlon [...]

Beau James: The Life and Times of Jimmy Walker (1957)

“There’s his one true love — the cockeyed city of New York!”

Synopsis:
New York’s flamboyant, song-writing mayor, Jimmy Walker (Bob Hope), has an open affair with a showgirl (Vera Miles) while dealing with charges of political corruption.

Genres:

Biopics
New York City
Political Corruption

Response to Peary’s Review:
As Peary notes, this biopic of New York’s “dapper mayor” (who served in [...]

Three in the Attic (1968)

“You’ve heard of the sexual revolution… Well, I’m probably one of its first casualties.”

Synopsis:
A womanizing college boy (Christopher Jones) is imprisoned as a sex slave by his girlfriend (Yvette Mimieux) and two other girls he’s been secretly dating (Judy Pace and Maggie Thrett).

Genres:

Black Comedy
Prisoners
Revenge
Womanizers

Review:
Shortly after the release of Wild in the Streets, [...]

Swamp Women (1955)

“This stinkin’ swamp water stinks!”

Synopsis:
An undercover policewoman (Carole Mathews) joins a gang of female cons — Vera (Beverly Garland), Josie (Marie Windsor), and Billie (Jil Jarmyn) — as they search the Louisiana bayou for stolen diamonds.

Genres:

Deep South
Ex-Cons
Roger Corman Films
Undercover Cops and Agents

Review:
Roger Corman’s first directorial effort features many of his worst signature elements: interminable [...]

Terror of Tiny Town, The (1938)

“Here comes Buck Lawson — hit leather!”

Synopsis:
The son (Billy Curtis) of a rancher (John T. Bambury) falls in love with the niece (Yvonne Moray) of his father’s enemy, “Uncle Jim” (Billy Platt). When Jim is shot, Buck (Curtis) is the suspect — but the real killer (’Little Billy’ Rhodes) is on the loose.

Genres:

Dwarfs and Little [...]

Crimes of the Heart (1986)

“I didn’t like his stinkin’ looks…”

Synopsis:
Three grown sisters — Meg (Jessica Lange), Lenny (Diane Keaton), and Babe (Sissy Spacek) — reunite in their Southern childhood home when Babe is accused of shooting her husband (Beeson Carroll).

Genres:

Deep South
Homecoming
Play Adaptations
Siblings

Review:
Crimes of the Heart — directed by Bruce Beresford and starring a triumvirate of Oscar-winning actresses — [...]