In this true story, Fanny Kemble is a famous star of the English stage, but while touring the United States, she gives up her career to marry wealthy American Pierce Butler. Moving with him from Philadelphia to his Georgia plantation, Fanny sees slavery firsthand, and her outrage leads her to help the family’s slaves in open defiance of her spouse. Undaunted by the consequences, Fanny eventually writes a book that strengthens the anti-slavery movement.
Tag: USA
Using his own money, actor Franchot Tone mounted this courageous film version of Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya. Tone is cast as Dr. Astroff, who falls in love with a woman beyond his reach. All the while, Sonia, the woman who loves Astroff, is neglected and ignored. The titular Uncle Vanya watches the passing parade of humanity, embittered over the opportunities missed in his own life.
The Karen Silkwood case provided the rather obvious inspiration for this fictionalized account of a plutonium plant employee who becomes the target of management as well as union harassment when she tries to blow the whistle on the company for negligent safety procedures, and soon finds her life in peril.
Spacy Callahan has two problems. In the first place, he’s a young teen, which is difficult enough. In the second place, he has been placed “for his own good” in an Iowa juvenile facility which has more than a passing resemblance to a military prison. If a boy breaks one of the innumerable rules of the place, they get placed in a situation where the will probably be sexually molested by their jailer Mr. Kibby, while he quotes Bible verses at them. He has a friend, though, a boy named Gary and together they make the best of things. That is, until it becomes clear that a clueless young inmate could make things really difficult for them – really difficult.
Johnny One-Eye was adapted from one of Damon Runyon’s lesser-known stories. Pat O’Brien and Wayne Morris star as Martin Martin and Dane Cory respectively, former partners in crime who have long since split up. When a new district attorney puts the heat on, Cory, anxious to save his own hide, accuses Martin of an unsolved murder. Holed up in abandoned house, Martin is befriended by a little girl and her dog. It so happens that the girl is the daughter of the crusading DA, and thereby hangs the rest of this tale.
Documentary about the influential comedy team of Mike Nichols and Elaine May. Includes highlights of the team’s many television appearances, featuring recently discovered kinescopes of live performances not seen since their original television broadcasts in the late 1950s and 60s. Four of their radio sketches have been re-created with new animation created especially for the program. Featuring interviews with Steve Allen, Tom Brokaw, Steve Martin, Arthur Penn, Robin Williams, and others.
Alex Cox (REPO MAN) directed this stylized adaptation of Jorge Luis Borges labyrinthine detective story about a totalitarian city of the future plagued by a rash of bizarre crimes. Peter Boyle stars as Lonnrot, a decidedly even headed detective prone to philosophizing and Christopher Eccleston is his nemesis, Red Scarlach, whom Lonnrot believes could be behind these ritualistic crimes. Set in a surreal landscape that provokes Lonnrot’s philosophical musings and leads him through mystical cabals and conspiracies within conspiracies, DEATH AND THE COMPASS is a remarkable adaptation of Borges’ story, and a fascinating, often exhilarating film.
After attending the funeral of a close friend, Katherine Eure decides that life is too fleeting to not be grabbed directly by the horns. Hailing a cab, she embarks on a trip to visit several locations that were important in her life – a trip that leads from Pasadena all the way to Canada. However, this excursion is a bit unexpected to the cabbie, who believed he was just picking up a routine fare! Based on a true story, Cab to Canada is a touching and uplifting tale of friendship, discovery and the extraordinary journey of life.