Suddenly 1954 - Man with the Golden Arm 1955 - My Dear Secretary

Suddenly 1954 - Man with the Golden Arm 1955 - My Dear Secretary 1948 - The Big Trees 1952- DVD9 [DDR]


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Suddenly (1954) - Frank Sinatra, Sterling Hayden [DDR]

Suddenly is a 1954 American film noir thriller directed by Lewis Allen with a screenplay written by Richard Sale.
The drama features Frank Sinatra, Sterling Hayden, James Gleason and Nancy Gates, among others.
The tranquility of a small town is jarred when the U.S. President is scheduled to pass through and a hired assassin takes over the Benson home as a perfect location to ambush the president.
The film is among the films in the public domain.

CAST:-
Frank Sinatra as John Baron
Sterling Hayden as Sheriff Tod Shaw
James Gleason as Peter "Pop" Benson
Nancy Gates as Ellen Benson
Kim Charney as Peter Benson III (Pidge)
Paul Frees as Benny Conklin, Baron's Accomplice (also TV announcer voice)
Christopher Dark as Bart Wheeler
Willis Bouchey as Dan Carney, Chief Secret Service Agent
Paul Wexler as Deputy Slim Adams
James O'Hara as Jud Kelly
Kem Dibbs as Wilson
Clark Howat as Haggerty
Charles Smith as Bebop
Dan White as Desk Officer Burg

Directed by Lewis Allen
Produced by Robert Bassler
Screenplay by Richard Sale
Music by David Raksin
Running time 75 minutes

MOVIE PLOT:- Suddenly (1954)
In post-war America, the President of the United States is scheduled to journey through the small town of Suddenly, California. Claiming to be checking up on security prior to his arrival, a group of FBI agents arrive at the home of the Bensons, on top of a hill that looks down upon the station where the Presidential train is due to stop. However, they soon turn out to be assassins led by the ruthless John Baron (Frank Sinatra), who take over the house and hold the family hostage.

Sheriff Tod Shaw (Sterling Hayden) arrives with Dan Carney (Willis Bouchey), a Secret Service agent in charge of the President's security detail. When he does, Baron and his gangsters shoot Carney and a bullet fractures Shaw's arm.

Baron sends one of his two henchmen to double-check on the President's schedule but he is killed in a shootout with the police. Jud (James O'Hara), a television repairman, shows up at the house and also becomes a hostage. Pidge (Kim Charney) goes to his grandfather's dresser to fetch some medication and notices a fully loaded revolver which he replaces with his toy cap gun.

Baron is confronted by the sheriff on the risks and meaning of killing the President and Baron's remaining henchman begins showing some reluctance. For Baron, however, these are the very least of his concerns and it soon becomes clear that he is a psychopath whose pleasure comes from killing – who and why he kills being the least of his problems.

A sniper's rifle has been mounted on a metal table by a window. Jud discreetly hooks the table up to the 5000 volt plate output of the family television. Pop Benson (James Gleason) then spills a cup of water on the floor beneath the table. Although the hope is that Baron will be shocked to death, his remaining henchman touches the table first and is electrocuted, firing the rifle repeatedly and attracting the attention of police at the train station as he struggles to free himself. Baron shoots Jud, disconnects the electrical hookup and aims the rifle as the president's train arrives at the station, but to his surprise, doesn't stop (having been alerted to the risk). Ellen Benson (Nancy Gates) shoots Baron in the chest and Shaw shoots him again. Baron's last words are, "Don't... please."

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The Man with the Golden Arm (1955) - Frank Sinatra, Kim Novak [DDR]

The Man with the Golden Arm is a 1955 American drama film, based on the novel of the same name by Nelson Algren, which tells the story of a heroin addict who gets clean while in prison, but struggles to stay that way in the outside world. It stars Frank Sinatra, Eleanor Parker, Kim Novak, Arnold Stang and Darren McGavin. It was adapted for the screen by Walter Newman, Lewis Meltzer and Ben Hecht (uncredited), and directed by Otto Preminger.

It was nominated for three Academy Awards: Sinatra for Best Actor in a Leading Role, Joseph C. Wright and Darrell Silvera for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White and Elmer Bernstein for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture. Sinatra was also nominated for best actor awards by the BAFTAs and The New York Film Critics.

The film was controversial for its time; the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) refused to certify the film because it showed drug addiction. The black-and-white film uniquely portrayed heroin as a serious literary topic as it rejected the standard "dope fiend" approach of the time. It was the first of its kind to tackle the marginalized issue of illicit drug use. Because it dealt with the taboo subject of "narcotics," Hollywood's Production Code refused to grant a seal of approval for the film, and it was released without the MPAA's seal of approval. This sparked a change in production codes, allowing movies more freedom to more deeply explore hitherto taboo subjects such as drug abuse, kidnapping, abortion and prostitution. In the end, the film received the code number 17011.

Director Otto Preminger had previously released a film lacking the Production Code with The Moon is Blue (1953). He told Peter Bogdanovich why he was attracted to Algren's novel: "I think there's a great tragedy in any human being who gets hooked on something, whether it's heroin or love or a woman or whatever."

Frank Sinatra — who jumped at a chance to star in the film before reading the entire script — spent time at drug rehabilitation clinics observing addicts going cold turkey. The script was given to Marlon Brando around the same time as Sinatra, who still harboured some anger at Brando, since the latter had beaten Sinatra for the lead role in On the Waterfront.

CAST:-
Frank Sinatra as Frankie "Dealer" Machine
Eleanor Parker as Zosh Machine
Kim Novak as Molly
Arnold Stang as Sparrow
Darren McGavin as Louie Fomorowski
Robert Strauss as Zero Schwiefka
John Conte as Drunky John
Doro Merande as Vi
George E. Stone as Sam Markette
George Mathews as Williams
Leonid Kinskey as Dominowski
Emile Meyer as Detective Bednar, Chicago Police Department
Shorty Rogers as bandleader at audition
Shelly Manne as drummer at audition

Directed by Otto Preminger
Produced by Otto Preminger
Screenplay by Walter Newman
Music by Elmer Bernstein
Running time 119 minutes

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My Dear Secretary (1948) - Laraine Day, Kirk Douglas [DDR]

CAST:-
Laraine Day as Stephanie 'Steve' Gaylord
Kirk Douglas as Owen Waterbury
Keenan Wynn as Ronnie Hastings
Helen Walker as Elsie
Rudy Vallee as Charles Harris
Florence Bates as Horrible Hannah Reeve
Alan Mowbray as Deveny
Irene Ryan as Mary
Gale Robbins as Dawn O'Malley
Grady Sutton as Sylvan Scott

Directed by Charles Martin
Produced by Joseph H. Nadel (associate producer), Leo C. Popkin (producer)
Music by Heinz Roemheld
Running time 94 minutes

MOVIE PLOT:- My Dear Secretary (1948)
Successful novelist and playboy Owen Waterbury (Douglas) hires aspiring writer Stephanie 'Steve' Gaylord (Day) as his secretary; a dream come true for Steve who admires Owen and his work. Steve soon finds out that the egomaniacal Owen has gone through a series of secretaries who have left when they are fed up with his behaviour. He is constantly in debt and cannot begin to write a contracted novel that will pay his bills including a lucrative advance by his publisher. Steve perseveres until the novel, based on the events of Steve's life and that mentions a character based on his publisher shown in an unflattering light, is refused publication.

Owen claims he cannot have a wife and a secretary so fires his wife and goes back to his old ways, hiring an admiring and attractive female to be his secretary. In the meantime Steve takes Owen's rejected manuscript to her former companion, Charles Harris, who is a major publisher. Harris, who now employs Elsie, Owen's former secretary before Steve, also asks to see Steve's manuscript.

Harris finds Owen's manuscript interesting but ordinary, but believes Steve's manuscript to be not only worthy of publication but a serious candidate for literary prizes. Steve initially refuses publication due to hurting Owen's fragile ego but soon changes her mind because of the philandering. She hires an attractive male secretary and the two writers compete with each other.

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The Big Trees (1952) - Kirk Douglas, Eve Miller [DDR]

The Big Trees is a 1952 film starring Kirk Douglas and directed by Felix E. Feist.
It was Kirk Douglas's final film for Warner Brothers, a film he did for free in exchange for the studio agreeing to release him from his long-term contract.

The film has fallen into the public domain. Douglas plays a greedy timber baron who seeks to exploit the Sequoya forest, while facing the protest of the Quaker colonists.

CAST:-
Kirk Douglas as Jim Fallon
Eve Miller as Alicia Chadwick
Patrice Wymore as Daisy Fisher
Edgar Buchanan as Yukon Burns
John Archer as "Frenchy" LeCroix
Alan Hale, Jr. as "Tiny"
Roy Roberts as Judge Crenshaw
Charles Meredith as Elder Bixby
Harry Cording as Cleve Gregg
Ellen Corby as Mrs. Blackburn

Directed by Felix E. Feist
Produced by Louis F. Edelman
Screenplay by John Twist and James R. Webb
Music by Heinz Roemheld
Running time 89 min.

MOVIE PLOT:- The Big Trees (1952)
In 1900, lumberman Jim Fallon (Kirk Douglas) greedily eyes the big sequoia redwood trees in the virgin region of northern California. The land is already settled by, among others, a religious group led by Elder Bixby (Charles Meredith) who have a religious relationship with the redwoods and refuse to log them, using other smaller trees for lumber. Jim becomes infatuated with Bixby's daughter, Alicia (Eve Miller), though that does not change his plan to cheat the homesteaders. When Jim's right-hand man, Yukon Burns (Edgar Buchanan) finds out, he changes sides and leads the locals in resisting Jim. The locals combat Jim's loggers with a sympathetic judge with Jim fighting back by using Federal laws.

Elder Bixby is killed when a big sequoia tree is chopped down by Jim's men and falls on his cabin. Jim's desperate attempt to rescue Alicia's father saves him from being convicted of murder. Meanwhile, timber rival Cleve Gregg (Harry Cording) appears on the scene, making it a three-way fight. Gregg and his partner Frenchy LeCroix (John Archer) try to assassinate Jim, but end up killing Yukon instead. Jim has a dramatic change of heart and leads the settlers in defeating Gregg and Frenchy. Afterwards, Jim marries Alicia and settles down.

Students from Humboldt State University played members of the Quaker congregation and members of its choir.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS:-
Video Codec:MPEG-2
Video Bitrate: 3368 kbps
Video Resolution: 720x480
Video Aspect Ratio: 1.333:1
Frames Per Second:29.970
Audio Codec: AC3
Audio Bitrate: 192kb/s CBR 48000 Hz
Audio Streams: 2
Audio Languages: English
Subtitles:None
Ripped by: Trinidad [DDR]
Run Time 378 mins