"The Greatest Show on Earth" (1952)

"The Greatest Show on Earth" (1952)

"The Greatest Show on Earth" (1952)

The dramatic lives of trapeze artists, a clown, and an elephant trainer are told against a background of circus spectacle. - "The Greatest Show on Earth" is American drama film produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille; shot in Technicolor; and released by Paramount Pictures. Set in the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, the film, narrated by producer/director, Cecil B. DeMille, stars Betty Hutton and Cornel Wilde as trapeze artists competing for the center ring, and Charlton Heston as the circus manager running the show. James Stewart also stars in a supporting role as a mysterious clown who never removes his make-up, even between shows, while Dorothy Lamour and Gloria Grahame also play supporting roles."

Classic (Released Prior to yr 2000)

"An American in Paris" (1951)

"An American in Paris" (1951)

"An American in Paris" (1951)

Three friends struggle to find work in Paris. Things become more complicated when two of them fall in love with the same woman. - "An American in Paris" is a 1951 American musical film inspired by the 1928 orchestral composition "An American in Paris" by George Gershwin. Starring Gene Kelly, Leslie Caron, Oscar Levant, Georges Guétary, and Nina Foch, the film is set in Paris, and was directed by Vincente Minnelli from a script by Alan Jay Lerner. The music is by George Gershwin, with lyrics by his brother Ira, with additional music by Saul Chaplin, the music director.

The story of the film is interspersed with dance numbers choreographed by Gene Kelly and set to Gershwin's music. Songs and music include "I Got Rhythm", "I'll Build A Stairway to Paradise", " 'S Wonderful", and "Love Is Here to Stay". The climax of the film is "The American in Paris" ballet, a 17-minute dance featuring Kelly and Caron set to Gershwin's "An American in Paris". The ballet sequence cost almost half a million dollars to shoot."

Classic (Released Prior to yr 2000)

"All About Eve" (1950)

"All About Eve" (1950)

"All About Eve" (1950)

An ingenue insinuates herself into the company of an established but aging stage actress and her circle of theater friends. - The film stars Bette Davis as Margo Channing, a highly regarded but aging Broadway star. Anne Baxter plays Eve Harrington, an ambitious young fan who subtly manuvers herself into Channing's life, ultimately threatening Channing's career and her personal relationships. The film co-stars George Sanders, Celeste Holm, and features Gary Merrill, Hugh Marlowe, Thelma Ritter, Marilyn Monroe (in one of her earliest roles), Gregory Ratoff, Barbara Bates and Walter Hampden."

Classic (Released Prior to yr 2000)

"All the King's Men" (1949)

"All the King's Men" (1949)

"All the King's Men" (1949)

The rise and fall of a corrupt politician, who makes his friends richer and retains power by dint of a populist appeal. - "All the King's Men" is the story of the rise of politician Willie Stark (Broderick Crawford) from a rural county seat to the governor's mansion is depicted in the film. He goes into politics, railing against the corruptly run county government, but loses his race for county treasurer, in the face of unfair obstacles placed by the local machine. Stark teaches himself law, and as a lawyer, continues to fight the local establishment, championing the local people and gaining popularity. He eventually rises to become a candidate for governor, narrowly losing his first race, then winning on his second attempt. Along the way he loses his innocence and becomes as corrupt as the politicians he once fought against. As he rises, Stark philanders and gets involved with many women, taking his PR man/journalist Jack Burden's own girlfriend, Anne Stanton, as his mistress."

Classic (Released Prior to yr 2000)

"Hamlet" (1948)

"Hamlet" (1948)

"Hamlet" (1948)

Prince Hamlet struggles over whether or not he should kill his uncle, whom he suspects has murdered his father, the former king. - "Hamlet" is a 1948 British film adaptation of William Shakespeare's play of the same name, adapted and directed by and starring Sir Laurence Olivier. The film was Olivier's second as director, and also the second of the three Shakespeare films that he directed. "Hamlet" was the first British film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. It is also the first sound film of the play in English.

Olivier's "Hamlet" is the Shakespeare film that has received the most prestigious accolades, winning the Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Actor and the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. However, it proved controversial among Shakespearean purists, who felt that Olivier had made too many alterations and excisions to the four-hour play by cutting nearly two hours' worth of content."

Classic (Released Prior to yr 2000)

"Gentleman's Agreement" (1947)

"Gentleman's Agreement" (1947)

"Gentleman's Agreement" (1947)

A reporter pretends to be Jewish in order to cover a story on anti-Semitism, and personally discovers the true depths of bigotry and hatred. - Gentleman's Agreement is a 1947 drama film which was based on Laura Z. Hobson's best selling novel of the same name. It concerns a journalist (played by Gregory Peck) who poses as a Jew to research an exposé on antisemitism in New York City and the affluent community of Darien, Connecticut. It was nominated for eight Oscars and won three: Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress (Celeste Holm), and Best Director (Elia Kazan)."

Classic (Released Prior to yr 2000)

"It's a Wonderful Life" (1946)

 "It's a Wonderful Life" (1946)

"It's a Wonderful Life" (1946)

An angel is sent from Heaven to help a desperately frustrated businessman by showing him what life would have been like if he had never existed. George Bailey is a small-town man whose life seems so desperate he contemplates suicide. He had always wanted to leave Bedford Falls to see the world, but circumstances and his own good heart have led him to stay. He sacrificed his education for his brother's, kept the family-run savings and loan afloat, protected the town from the avarice of the greedy banker Mr. Potter, and married his childhood sweetheart. As he prepares to jump from a bridge, his guardian angel intercedes; showing him what life would have become for the residents of Bedford Falls if he had never lived."

Classic (Released Prior to yr 2000)

"The Best Years of Our Lives" (1946)

"The Best Years of Our Lives" (1946)

"The Best Years of Our Lives" (1946)

Three World War II veterans return home to small-town America to discover that they and their families have been irreparably changed. - The Best Years of Our Lives (aka Glory for Me and Home Again) is a 1946 American drama film directed by William Wyler and starring Myrna Loy, Fredric March, Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright, Virginia Mayo, and Harold Russell. The film is about three United States servicemen readjusting to civilian life after coming home from World War II.

Samuel Goldwyn was inspired to produce a film about veterans after reading an August 7, 1944, article in Time about the difficulties experienced by men returning to civilian life. Goldwyn hired former war correspondent MacKinlay Kantor to write a screenplay. His work was first published as a novella, Glory for Me, which Kantor wrote in blank verse. Robert E. Sherwood then adapted the novella as a screenplay."

Classic (Released Prior to yr 2000)

"Citizen Kane" (1941)

Poster | "Citizen Kane" (1941)

"Citizen Kane" (1941)

When a reporter is assigned to decipher newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane's dying words, his investigation gradually reveals the fascinating portrait of a complex man who rose from obscurity to staggering heights. Though Kane's friend and colleague Jedediah Leland, and his mistress, Susan Alexander, shed fragments of light on Kane's life, the reporter fears he may never penetrate the mystery of the elusive man's final word, "Rosebud."

Classic (Released Prior to yr 2000)