From the Earth to the Moon (1958)

“No one on this Earth will ever know the secret of Power X!”

Synopsis:
In post-Civil War America, ambitious munitions manufacturer Victor Barbicane (Joseph Cotten) develops a source of power strong enough to propel a rocket. He enlists the help of rival scientist Stuyvesant Nicholls (George Sanders) in building a rocket to the moon — but Nicholls [...]

Strangler, The (1964)

“Everyone has to grow up, Mrs. Kroll — even your son.”

Synopsis:
An overweight lab technician (Victor Buono) strangles a series of women, due to sublimated rage towards his overbearing mother (Ellen Corby).

Genres:

Criminal Investigation
Grown Children
Serial Killers

Review:
Made during the midst of the infamous Boston Strangler killings, this reasonably effective exploitation flick (much less “authentic” than 1968’s The [...]

Snake Pit, The (1948)

“The whole place seemed to me like a deep hole, and the people down in it were strange animals — snakes! And I’d been thrown into it, as though I were a snake, too…”

Synopsis:
Upon experiencing a sudden nervous breakdown, troubled newlywed Virginia Cunningham (Olivia de Havilland) is sent by her concerned husband (Mark Stevens) to [...]

Hitler’s Madman (1943)

“You think words will stop the Nazis?”

Synopsis:
During World War II, Czechoslovakian resistance fighters — led by paratrooper Karel Vavra (Alan Curtis) — plot to assassinate Nazi Commander Reinhard Heydrich (John Carradine), with devastating consequences.

Genres:

Assassination
Douglas Sirk Films
Nazis
Resistance Fighters
World War Two

Review:
Notorious as both Douglas Sirk’s American directorial debut, and the best film to come out [...]

When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (1960)

[Note: The following review is of a non-Peary title; click here to read more.]
“Bars in the daytime are like women without make-up…”

Synopsis:
A widowed bar hostess (Hideko Takamine) struggling to survive in post-war Japan must decide whether to remarry or open an establishment of her own.

Genres:

Character Studies
Feminism and Women’s Issues
Japanese Films
Survival
Widows and Widowers

Review:
Only two of [...]

Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

“Bonnie and Clyde are the Barrow gang, I’m sure you all have read / How they rob and steal, and those who squeal, are usually found dyin’ or dead.”

Synopsis:
When Bonnie Parker (Faye Dunaway) meets young criminal Clyde Barrow (Warren Beatty), sparks immediately fly; soon the two are on a cross-country rampage, robbing banks and shooting [...]

Nightmare Alley (1947)

“It gives you a sort of superior feeling — it’s as if you were in the know, and they were on the outside, looking in…”

Synopsis:
An ambitious carnival worker (Tyrone Power) uses trickery and psychology to convince audiences he’s telepathic, and soon he and his beautiful young wife (Colleen Gray) have a successful nightclub act together. [...]

Savage Innocents, The (1960)

“To the white man, Arctic ice and snow are pitiless enemies; but to the Eskimo they can be useful friends.”

Synopsis:
Eskimos Inuk (Anthony Quinn) and his wife Asiak (Yoko Tani) survive happily together in the Arctic, until the day they arrive at a trading post and Inuk accidentally kills a missionary (Marco Guglielmi). Eventually Inuk is [...]

Young Girls of Rochefort, The (1967)

“I’ve looked everywhere, I’ve sailed the seven seas… Can she be far? Is she close to me?”

Synopsis:
In the town of Rochefort, twin sisters Delphine (Catherine Deneuve) and Solange (Francoise Dorleac) Garnier hope to meet their true loves. Meanwhile, their mother (Danielle Darrieux) pines after her long-lost fiance (Michel Piccoli); an American composer (Gene Kelly) [...]

World of Henry Orient, The (1964)

“Don’t all young girls begin to dream about romance at that age?”

Synopsis:
When a wealthy teen named Val (Merrie Spaeth) develops a mad crush on womanizing pianist Henry Orient (Peter Sellers), she and her new friend Gil (Tippy Walker) pursue him all around New York, repeatedly disrupting his plans to seduce a nervous married woman (Paula [...]