Pauline Kael: 5001 Nights at the Movies
Movies reviewed in her book
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- DirectorElio PetriStarsGian Maria VolontèIrene PapasGabriele FerzettiA leftist professor wants the truth about two men killed during a hunting party; but the mafia, the Church and corrupt politicians don't want him to learn it.
- DirectorAnthony HarveyStarsPeter FinchLiv UllmannCyril CusackQueen Christina of Sweden abdicates and travels to Rome to embrace the Catholic Church.
- DirectorSydney PollackStarsPaul NewmanSally FieldBob BalabanWhen a prosecutor leaks to a Miami reporter that a liquor wholesaler is suspected in the murder of a union head, the man's life begins to unravel.
- DirectorJulien TempleStarsPatsy KensitEddie O'ConnellDavid BowieIn London in 1958, a young photographer seeks media stardom to keep the love of a beautiful, aspiring fashion designer.
- DirectorKen AnnakinStarsRod SteigerDavid KnightBernard LeeA wealthy businessman attempts to run to Mexico to escape capture for embezzlement. On the way, he switches identities for a visa but that only complicates matters.
- DirectorJohn HustonVincent ShermanStarsHumphrey BogartMary AstorSydney GreenstreetIn December 1941, ex-army captain Rick Leland boards a Japanese ship heading to Asia via the Panama Canal where his Japanese hosts show interest in the American defense plans for the canal zone.
- DirectorPaul AlmondStarsGeneviève BujoldDonald SutherlandMonique LeyracA woman's peculiar religious convictions lead her on a self-destructive path.
- DirectorGeorge CukorStarsSpencer TracyJean SimmonsTeresa WrightThis is an account of the real life experience of actress/playwright Ruth Gordon.
- DirectorBo WiderbergStarsPeter SchildtKerstin TideliusRoland HedlundDuring a strike strike-breakers are being transported to Lunde, where they are assaulted by the strikers. The military are sent in. On the 14th May 1931 there is a confrontation between demonstrators and the military who open fire and five people are killed and five injured.
- DirectorGene WilderStarsGene WilderMadeline KahnMarty FeldmanThe younger brother of the consulting detective tries to steal Sherlock's glory by solving an important case assisted by an eccentric Scotland Yard detective and a lovely but suspicious actress.
- DirectorLewis GilbertStarsCharles AznavourAlan BadelCandice BergenThe wealthy playboy son of an assassinated South American diplomat discovers that his father was really murdered on orders of the corrupt president of the country--a man who was his father's friend and who, in fact, his father had helped put into power. He returns from living a jet-set life in Europe to lead a revolution against the government, only to find out that things aren't quite as black and white as he had assumed.
- DirectorW.D. RichterStarsPeter WellerJohn LithgowEllen BarkinAdventurer, brain surgeon, rock musician Buckaroo Banzai and his crime-fighting team, the Hong Kong Cavaliers, must stop evil alien invaders from the eighth dimension who are planning to conquer Earth.
- DirectorMichael CurtizWilliam KeighleyStarsErrol FlynnOlivia de HavillandBasil RathboneWhen Prince John and the Norman Lords begin oppressing the Saxon masses in King Richard's absence in 1190s England, a Saxon lord fights back as the outlaw leader of a resistance movement.
- DirectorNorman TaurogStarsTommy KellyJackie MoranAnn GillisTom Sawyer and his pal Huckleberry Finn have great adventures on the Mississippi River, pretending to be pirates, attending their own funeral and witnessing a murder.
- DirectorVittorio De SicaStarsPeter SellersVictor MatureBritt EklandAn Italian criminal mastermind, impersonating a film director, plans to grab the loot on a beach where a bogus movie is being filmed.
- DirectorW.S. Van DykeStarsWilliam PowellMyrna LoyJames StewartPrivate detective Nick Charles and his wealthy wife Nora are back home at last and hoping for a quiet New Year when there is a murder. The obvious suspect is his wife, Nora's cousin, Selma.
- DirectorTaylor HackfordStarsRachel WardJeff BridgesJames WoodsA gangster hires an ex-football player to find his girlfriend. When he finds her, they fall in love, and the twists start to appear.
- DirectorMichael AptedStarsDustin HoffmanVanessa RedgraveTimothy DaltonIn December 1926, Agatha Christie's husband asks for a divorce. She leaves her car and goes missing for 11 days. She books into a hotel as Mrs. Neele. A US reporter looks for her and investigates.
- DirectorClarence BrownStarsWallace BeeryLionel BarrymoreAline MacMahonStory of small-town life in turn-of-the-century America, and a young boy's problems facing adolescence.
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsJohn GarfieldJohn RidgelyGig YoungThe crew of an Air Force bomber arrives in Pearl Harbor in the aftermath of the Japanese attack on December 7, 1941, and is sent on to Manila to help with the defense of the Philippines.
- DirectorJack SmightStarsCharlton HestonKaren BlackGeorge KennedyA 747 in flight collides with a small plane, and is rendered pilotless. Somehow the control tower must get a pilot aboard so the jet can land.
- DirectorJohn KortyStarsJack LemmonGeneviève BujoldJames WoodsAlexander Main, a bail bondsman, falls for one of his "customers", a pretty gypsy girl, Maritza, who's been accused of murder.
- DirectorHenry KingStarsTyrone PowerAlice FayeDon AmecheThis send-up of ragtime song and dance begins in 1915 San Francisco when society boy Roger Grant decides to pursue popular rather than serious music.
- DirectorLewis GilbertStarsMichael CaineShelley WintersMillicent MartinAn unrepentant ladies' man gradually begins to understand the consequences of his lifestyle.
- DirectorPietro GermiStarsDustin HoffmanStefania SandrelliCarla GravinaAlfredo, a timid young Italian, lusts after and woos the beautiful Maria Rosa. But when he manages to marry her, he discovers life is not nearly so blissful as he expected.
- DirectorJohn CromwellStarsCharles BoyerHedy LamarrSigrid GurieA wanted jewel thief ensconced in the Casbah meets a beautiful woman who makes him long for an escape.
- DirectorArthur LubinStarsMaria MontezJon HallTurhan BeyA boy prince, raised by forty thieves, takes revenge on the Mongol invaders who murdered his father and stole his kingdom.
- DirectorGeorge StevensStarsKatharine HepburnFred MacMurrayFred StoneA working-class girl is thwarted and embarrassed in her attempts to move up socially by her gauche family and unstable father.
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsEllen BurstynKris KristoffersonMia BendixsenA recently widowed woman is on the road with her precocious young son, determined to make a new life for herself as a singer.
- DirectorNorman Z. McLeodHugh HarmanRudolf IsingStarsRichard ArlenRoscoe AtesWilliam AustinIn Victorian England a bored young girl dreams that she has entered a fantasy world called Wonderland populated by even more fantastic characters.
- DirectorJames CameronStarsSigourney WeaverMichael BiehnCarrie HennDecades after surviving the Nostromo incident, Ellen Ripley is sent out to re-establish contact with a terraforming colony but finds herself battling the Alien Queen and her offspring.
- DirectorCharles EastmanStarsJon VoightNancie PhillipsArt MetranoEpisodic story in six acts ("The Manly Art in Six Rounds") about young boxer Vic Bealer in search for some direction in his life.
- DirectorJohn FrankenheimerStarsEva Marie SaintWarren BeattyKarl MaldenRalph (Karl Malden) and Annabell Willart (Dame Angela Lansbury) are a feuding couple who are constantly bickering over their worthless, good-for-nothing son Berry-Berry (Warren Beatty). When Berry-Berry begins yet another meaningless love affair, this time with an older woman named Echo O'Brien (Eva Marie Saint), he really gets his parents at each others' throats.
- DirectorIrving ReisStarsEdward G. RobinsonBurt LancasterMady ChristiansDuring WW2, industrialist Joe Keller commits a crime and frames his business partner Herbert Deever but years later his sin comes back to haunt him when Joe's son plans to marry Deever's daughter.
- DirectorJean-Claude TramontStarsGene HackmanBarbra StreisandDiane LaddA middle-aged executive's lifestyle and values are turned upside down after he is demoted to chain-store night manager.
- DirectorCarl ReinerStarsSteve MartinLily TomlinVictoria TennantA dying millionaire has her soul transferred into a younger, willing woman. However, something goes wrong, and she finds herself in her lawyer's body - together with the lawyer.
- DirectorLina WertmüllerStarsLuigi DibertiLina PolitoNino BignaminiA multitude of immigrants struggling to survive in Milan rent an apartment and face the reality of everyday life in the metropolis.
- DirectorAlex SegalStarsJean SimmonsRobert PrestonPat HingleMary Follet, a wife and mother in 1915 Tennessee, copes with the loss of her husband and the necessity of raising their children alone.
- DirectorVincent ShermanStarsHumphrey BogartConrad VeidtKaren VerneRunyonesque Broadway gamblers turn patriotic when they stumble onto a cell of Nazi saboteurs.
- DirectorFrank TashlinStarsTony RandallRobert MorleyAnita EkbergHercule Poirot investigates a series of murders in London in which the victims are killed according to their initials.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsRichard DreyfussHolly HunterBrad JohnsonThe spirit of a recently deceased expert pilot mentors a newer pilot while watching him fall in love with the girlfriend that he left behind.
- DirectorRalph SmartStarsPeggy CumminsTerence MorganRonald SquireVictor Hemsley and his daughter, Clare ply their trade at swanky Riviera resorts, where they pose as a married couple---hence the title---and after he disappears with all of her savings, sympathetic money contributions pour in from the wealthy guests. She would prefer a more settled life and meets and falls in love with Terence Winch, an investigator for the British Treasury. He is ostracized by both the guests and the management as his job is to see that none of the British citizens spends more money than permitted by the government. Clare agrees to work with her father on one last scheme in which they sell the hotel in Nice they're staying in. They pull it off, but are paid in counterfeit money and flee to Italy, followed closely by the police and Terence. James Hayter appears as the wealthiest man on the Riviera who is also England's best known tax dodger, while David Hurst is a petty thief who always fails and Charles Goldner is an amorous hotel manager.
- DirectorElia KazanStarsStathis GiallelisFrank WolffElena KaramA young Greek stops at nothing to secure a passage to America.
- DirectorGeorge Stevens Jr.StarsWoody AllenAlan ArkinMartin BalsamA compilation of scenes from 83 films, divided into 5 segments: The Land, The Cities, The Families, The Wars, The Spirit.
- DirectorFloyd MutruxStarsTim McIntireFran DrescherJay LenoThe story of Alan Freed, the pioneering disc jockey who was instrumental in introducing and popularizing rock 'n' roll in the 1950s.
- DirectorFrank CapraAllan DwanRoy William NeillStarsWalter HustonPat O'BrienKay JohnsonSocially-conscious banker Thomas Dickson faces a crisis when his protégé is wrongly accused for robbing the bank, gossip of the robbery starts a bank run, and evidence suggests Dickson's wife had an affair...all during the same day.
- DirectorFranco RossiStarsGeronimo MeynierAndrea SciréVera CarmiMario and the new kid Franco gradually become the best of friends, but their friendship is tested when one of them wins a competition.
- DirectorStuart HeislerStarsAlbert DekkerSusan HaywardFrances FarmerA mentally unstable man who has been kept in isolation for years escapes and causes trouble for his identical twin brother.
- DirectorAlessandro BlasettiPaul PaviotStarsVittorio De SicaDany RobinFrançois PérierA five-part compilation film. In "The Baby," a poverty-ridden couple with children decides that their newborn is too much and decide to leave him in a church, but the mother can't go through with it and decides to leave him in an expensive car; the father cannot go through with that and they take him back home. "The Hand of Providence": An old woman has been brooding for many years while the parish priest has been urging her to unburden herself by telling him all. She tells him that her life seems pointless and that she is thinking of suicide. Trying to dissuade her, the priest trips and falls over the edge of a cliff and saves himself by grasping a hanging bush. This convinces the woman that God holds life precious and she shouldn't give up hers. "On Location": An elderly actor and actress get parts in a film being shot on location and discover that they are old friends. They both confess to being lonely, and while rehearsing their scenes they decide that a future together would be most desirable. They drive off and leave the director needing two actors. "The Amorous Bus Driver": A Neapolitan bus driver does not let company regulations interfere with romance. "The Camera": A woman is after a camera offered as a prize on a chance-board. A man is after her. He borrows the camera to shoot some posed shots with her, but can't make the timer work.
- DirectorJacques RivetteStarsBulle OgierJean-Pierre KalfonJosée DestoopDuring the rehearsals for the production of the tragedy Andromaque, the leading actress and her director, a couple behind the scenes, can't find a way to leave their personal problems at home. And life imitates fiction, creating a real tragedy for this couple when the man finds comfort with other women while the actress prefers to stay focused on her work, as if nothing is happening with her partner.
- DirectorJosef von SternbergStarsAkemi NegishiTadashi SuganumaKisaburo SawamuraFrom June 1944, twelve Japanese seamen are stranded for seven years on an abandoned and forgotten island called Anatahan.
- DirectorRené ClairStarsBarry FitzgeraldWalter HustonLouis HaywardSeven guests, a newly hired secretary and two staff are gathered at a manor house on an isolated island by an unknown absentee host and are killed off one-by-one. They work together to determine who the killer is before it's too late.
- DirectorChester ErskineNicholas RayStarsJean SimmonsVictor MatureAlan YoungStory of a Christian in ancient Rome who befriends a lion.
- DirectorErnst LubitschStarsMarlene DietrichHerbert MarshallMelvyn DouglasA woman and her husband take separate vacations, and she falls in love with another man.
- DirectorJames Edward GrantStarsJohn WayneGail RussellHarry CareyQuirt Evans, an all round bad guy, is nursed back to health and sought after by Penelope Worth, a Quaker girl. He eventually finds himself having to choose between his world and the world Penelope lives in.
- DirectorAlan ParkerStarsMickey RourkeRobert De NiroLisa BonetA private investigator is hired by a man who calls himself Louis Cyphre to track down a singer named Johnny Favorite. But the investigation takes an unexpected and somber turn.
- DirectorArchie MayoStarsPaul MuniAnne BaxterClaude RainsThe Devil arranges for a deceased gangster to return to Earth as a well-respected judge to make up for his previous life.
- DirectorVictor HeermanStarsGroucho MarxHarpo MarxChico MarxMayhem and zaniness ensue when a valuable painting goes missing during a party in honor of famed African explorer Captain Spaulding.
- DirectorJohn CromwellStarsIrene DunneRex HarrisonLinda DarnellIn 1862, a young Englishwoman becomes royal tutor in Siam and befriends the King.
- DirectorJohn HustonStarsAileen QuinnAlbert FinneyCarol BurnettA spunky young orphan is taken in by a rich eccentric, much to the chagrin of the cantankerous woman who runs the orphanage.
- DirectorGeorge SidneyBusby BerkeleyStarsBetty HuttonHoward KeelLouis CalhernThe story of the great sharpshooter Annie Oakley, who rose to fame while dealing with her love/professional rival, Frank Butler.
- DirectorGeorge StevensStarsBarbara StanwyckPreston FosterMelvyn DouglasA romanticized biography of the famous sharpshooter.
- DirectorMichael GordonStarsFredric MarchDan DuryeaEdmond O'BrienThis 'prequel' to The Little Foxes tells how the ruthless members of the old-South Hubbard family got that way.
- DirectorW.S. Van DykeStarsWilliam PowellMyrna LoyVirginia GreyAn explosives manufacturer suspects a young man is out to kill him. He calls in new parents Nick and Nora to sort things out.
- DirectorWoody AllenStarsGena RowlandsMia FarrowIan HolmFacing a mid-life crisis, a woman rents an apartment next to a psychiatrist's office to write a new book, only to become drawn to the plight of a pregnant woman seeking that doctor's help.
- DirectorGiorgos TzavellasStarsIrene PapasManos KatrakisMaro KodouAntigone defies her uncle's decree that her traitorous brother should go unburied and therefore find no rest in the afterlife; however, her actions have tragic consequences.
- DirectorRobert Ellis MillerStarsJane FondaJason RobardsDean JonesEllen Gordon, a New York executive's mistress, falls for the executive's young business associate when he is accidentally sent to use the apartment where the executive and Ellen meet every Wednesday.
- DirectorLewis MilestoneStarsBing CrosbyEthel MermanCharles RugglesA young man falls in love with a beautiful blonde. When he sees her being forced onto a luxury liner, he decides to follow and rescue her. However, he discovers that she is an English heiress who ran away from home and is now being returned to England. He also discovers that his boss is on the ship. To avoid discovery, he disguises himself as the gangster accomplice of a minister, who is actually a gangster on the run from the law.
- DirectorHelmut KäutnerStarsBobby ToddBettina MoissiJoana Maria GorvinAn apple juice producer can't decide between his wife and his secretary and tries to commit suicide. Being committed to psychiatry, he falls asleep and dreams of adventures as Adam and Eve in heaven and hell.
- DirectorSidney J. FurieStarsMarlon BrandoAnjanette ComerJohn SaxonMan tries to recover a horse stolen from him by a Mexican bandit.
- DirectorWilliam A. SeiterStarsCharles BoyerMargaret SullavanRita JohnsonCharming Andre Cassil woos physician Jane Alexander and the two impulsively get married. The honeymoon ends very quickly after Jane voices her progressive views on marriage, which include that the two should keep separate apartments. Andre then tries to make his wife jealous to lure her into his bedroom.
- DirectorStuart RosenbergStarsJack LemmonCatherine DeneuvePeter LawfordA married man enters his boss' apartment to sign papers for a promotion and finds a party of 200 instead. He doesn't fit in, leaves with a woman, spends all night with her, falls in love with her--and finds out she's his boss' wife.
- DirectorFrank MarshallStarsJeff DanielsJulian SandsJohn GoodmanA new species of South American killer spider hitches a lift to a small California town in a coffin and starts to breed, leaving a trail of deaths that puzzle and terrify the young doctor newly arrived in town with his family.
- DirectorAleksandr DovzhenkoStarsSemyon SvashenkoGeorgi KhorkovAmvrosi BuchmaA soldier returns to Kyiv after surviving a train crash and encounters clashes between nationalists and collectivists.
- DirectorJack ConwayStarsJohn BarrymoreLionel BarrymoreKaren MorleyA detective is tasked to capture an elusive thief called Arsene Lupin.
- DirectorRaoul WalshStarsJack BennyIda LupinoRichard ArlenMac Brewster (Benny) is head of an advertising firm that is in debt. The million-dollar Townsend Silver contract could save the firm, but the wealthy playboy Alan Townsend (Arlen) wants an amateur from high society rather than a professional model to become "the Townsend Girl." Upset that she was passed over sight-unseen as a professional, Brewster's top model (Lupino) goes to Miami with plans to bump into Townsend and pass as a society debutante.
- DirectorPaul CzinnerStarsElisabeth BergnerLaurence OlivierSophie StewartA Duke usurps his brother's land and power, banishing him and his entourage into the forest of Arden. The banished Duke's daughter, Rosalind, remains with her cousin Celia. She has fallen in love with Orlando, but he has his own tyrannical brother with whom to contend, so he joins those in the forest.
- DirectorLarry PeerceStarsElizabeth TaylorHenry FondaHelmut BergerAfter getting plastic surgery in Switzerland to help rejuvenate her shaky marriage, Barbara Sawyer has an affair with a younger man while waiting for her husband's arrival from the U.S.
- DirectorJoseph LoseyStarsRichard BurtonAlain DelonRomy SchneiderAfter having been forced to leave the Soviet Union 1929 Trotsky has ended up in Mexico 1940. He is still busy with politics, promoting socialism to the world. Stalin has sent out an assassin, Frank Jacson. Jacson befriends a young communist and gets an invitation to Trotsky's house.
- DirectorPeter BogdanovichStarsBurt ReynoldsCybill ShepherdMadeline KahnFour socialite old friends unexpectedly clash, and switch partners during a party and attempt to make each other jealous.
- DirectorEdward BuzzellStarsGroucho MarxChico MarxHarpo MarxThe Marx Brothers try to help the owner of a circus recover some stolen funds before he finds himself out of a job.
- DirectorRoger CormanStarsMichael ForestFrank WolffBarboura MorrisEvil king Praximedes convinces superhero Atlas to fight for him, but Atlas eventually sees the king's true nature and turns against him.
- DirectorArthur HillerStarsAl PacinoDyan CannonTuesday WeldWhile facing the stress of his play being produced on Broadway, a playwright deals with having to raise his son, his stepdaughters, and his stepsons.
- DirectorJohn KortyStarsCicely TysonEric BrownRichard DysartStory of a black woman in the South who was born into slavery in the 1850s and lives to become a part of the civil rights movement in the 1960s.
- DirectorRobert AldrichStarsJoan CrawfordCliff RobertsonVera MilesA lonely middle-aged woman meets a younger man, but their relationship is threatened when the man's troubled past reveals itself.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsHenry B. WalthallSpottiswoode AitkenBlanche SweetPrevented from dating his sweetheart by his uncle, a young man turns his thoughts to murder.
- DirectorBusby BerkeleyStarsMickey RooneyJudy GarlandFay BainterJudy Garland and Mickey Rooney star in a musical directed by Busby Berkeley as two talented teenagers dreaming of success as Babes on Broadway.
- DirectorCharles ShyerStarsDiane KeatonSam ShepardHarold RamisThe life of super-yuppie J.C. is thrown into turmoil when she inherits a baby from a distant relative.
- DirectorJames BridgesStarsBarbara HersheyCollin Wilcox PaxtonSam GroomAfter Tish Gray gives up her baby for adoption, she is contacted by a childless couple who want her to have the husband's baby because of the wife's inability to conceive. She accepts the offer, but finds that getting to know the couple and developing a relationship with them for the entire pregnancy complicates the simple arrangement.
- DirectorGarson KaninStarsGinger RogersDavid NivenCharles CoburnAn unemployed woman discovers an abandoned baby on the steps of an orphanage, and accepts an offer to take responsibility for the child in return for a job.
- DirectorAlan MetterStarsRodney DangerfieldSally KellermanBurt YoungTo help his discouraged son get through college, a funloving and obnoxious rich businessman decides to enter the school as a student himself.
- DirectorRobert ZemeckisStarsMichael J. FoxChristopher LloydLea ThompsonAfter visiting 2015, Marty McFly must repeat his visit to 1955 to prevent disastrous changes to 1985...without interfering with his first trip.
- DirectorRobert BentonStarsJeff BridgesBarry BrownJim DavisA God-fearing Ohio boy dodging the Civil War draft arrives in St. Joseph, MO where he joins up with a hardscrabble group of like runaways heading west
- DirectorReinhold SchünzelStarsNelson EddyIlona MasseyCharles RugglesA Russian prince disguised as a worker and a cafe singer secretly involved in revolutionary activities fall in love.
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsGary CooperBarbara StanwyckOscar HomolkaA group of professors working on a new encyclopedia while living in a Manhattan mansion take in a mouthy nightclub singer who is wanted by the police to help bring down her mob boss lover.
- DirectorSam PeckinpahStarsJason RobardsStella StevensDavid WarnerA hobo accidentally stumbles onto a water spring, and creates a profitable way station in the middle of the desert.
- DirectorLuis ValdezStarsLou Diamond PhillipsEsai MoralesRosanna DeSotoBiographical story of the rise from nowhere of early rock and roll singer Ritchie Valens who died at age 17 in a plane crash with Buddy Holly and The Big Bopper.
- DirectorVittorio De SetaStarsMichele CossuPeppeddu CuccuVittorina PisanoSardinian shepherds Michele, Peppeddu encounter bandits. Michele evades police, sheep perish. Wrongly charged with murder, impoverished, Michele turns outlaw. He resorts to violence, banditry for survival, fueling a lawless spiral.
- DirectorJohn D. HancockStarsMichael MoriartyRobert De NiroVincent GardeniaThe story of the friendship between a worldly-wise star pitcher and a half-wit catcher as they cope with the catcher's terminal illness through a baseball season.
- DirectorFred SchepisiStarsWillie NelsonGary BuseyIsela VegaAn inexperienced farm boy hooks up with a legendary outlaw in Mexico and both are soon on the run from the law, Mexican bandits, and two families bent on revenge.