A vivid, visceral Macbeth adaptation, Throne of Blood, directed by Akira Kurosawa, sets Shakespeare's definitive tale of ambition and duplicity in a ghostly, fog-enshrouded landscape in feudal Japan. As a hardened warrior who rises savagely to power, Toshiro Mifune gives a remarkable, animalistic performance, as does Isuzu Yamada as his ruthless wife. Throne of Blood fuses classical Western tragedy with formal elements taken from Noh theater to create an unforgettable cinematic experience.
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HD Trailer for the 1957 Akira Kurosawa film.
A vivid, visceral Macbeth adaptation, Throne of Blood, directed by Akira Kurosawa, sets Shakespeare's definitive tale of ambition and duplicity in a ghostly, fog-enshrouded landscape in feudal Japan. As a hardened warrior who rises savagely to power, Toshiro Mifune gives a remarkable, animalistic performance, as does Isuzu Yamada as his ruthless wife. Throne of Blood fuses classical Western tragedy with formal elements taken from Noh theater to create an unforgettable cinematic experience.
A vivid, visceral Macbeth adaptation, Throne of Blood, directed by Akira Kurosawa, sets Shakespeare's definitive tale of ambition and duplicity in a ghostly, fog-enshrouded landscape in feudal Japan. As a hardened warrior who rises savagely to power, Toshiro Mifune gives a remarkable, animalistic performance, as does Isuzu Yamada as his ruthless wife. Throne of Blood fuses classical Western tragedy with formal elements taken from Noh theater to create an unforgettable cinematic experience.
updated 7 years ago
A vivid, visceral Macbeth adaptation, Throne of Blood, directed by Akira Kurosawa, sets Shakespeare's definitive tale of ambition and duplicity in a ghostly, fog-enshrouded landscape in feudal Japan. As a hardened warrior who rises savagely to power, Toshiro Mifune gives a remarkable, animalistic performance, as does Isuzu Yamada as his ruthless wife. Throne of Blood fuses classical Western tragedy with formal elements taken from Noh theater to create an unforgettable cinematic experience.
It is a shame that this some scenes seem to have been sped up slightly and intercut with normal film speed shots. The sped up scenes are apparent in the smoke seen in the fight from the canon on the right approximately half way through the sword fight and the ADR voice over by George Sanders and Tyrone Power about 2/3rds of the way through it.
Slowing the fight down to 3/4 of the speed still makes for an excellent and well choreographed scene, which seems to provide a more natural looking smoke speed, so regardless of the slight speed up I still think it displays a well worthy of standing sword fight.
The Captive City is a 1952 American film noir crime film directed by Robert Wise and starring John Forsythe.
A small-town newspaper editor defies threats to expose the mob, the screenplay is based on real life experiences of Time magazine reporter Alvin M. Josephy, Jr., who co-wrote the script.
Screen icon Alan Ladd produces and stars in this crime spectacle, shot on location in noir central – San Francisco. Steve Rollins (Ladd) is both ex-cop and ex-con, recently sprung from the stir. Spurning both love (Joanne Dru, as a songstress spouse who strayed) and friendship (William Demarest as his ex-police partner), Steve has one quest: Kill whoever set him up for murder, or die trying. Blending adult drama, detective story and noir, Hell on Frisco Bay is a cinema stew that's heavy on the savor and the flavor. thanks to its colorful CinemaScope and a top-notch supporting ensemble. Heading that ensemble is Edward G. Robinson, delivering one of his most unforgettable mobsters, the utterly repulsive and remorseless Vic Amato. Fay Wray nearly steals the show as a faded screen queen, while Paul Stewart serves up one of his finest performances as Joe Lye, Amato's hired killer with a conscience.
- The speakeasy era never roared louder than in this gangland chronicle that packs a wallop under action master Raoul Walsh's direction.
Against a backdrop of newsreel-like montages and narration, it follows the life of jobless war veteran Eddie Bartlett (James Cagney) who turns bootlegger, dealing in "bottles instead of battles." Battles await Eddie within and without his growing empire.
Outside are territorial feuds and gangland bloodlettings. Inside is the treachery of his double-dealing associate (Humphrey Bogart). It would be 10 years before Cagney played another gangster (in White Heat), a time in which gangster movies themselves became rare. "He used to be a big shot," Panama Smith (Gladys George) says at the finale, marking Bartlett's demise... and signaling the end of Hollywood's focus on the gangster era.
This Technicolor spectacular, directed by Zoltán Korda, is considered the finest of the many adaptations of A. E. W. Mason's classic 1902 adventure novel about the British empire's exploits in Africa, and a crowning achievement of Alexander Korda's legendary production company, London Films. Set at the end of the nineteenth century, The Four Feathers follows the travails of a young officer (John Clements) accused of cowardice after he resigns his post on the eve of a major deployment to Khartoum; he must then fight to redeem himself in the eyes of his fellow officers (including Ralph Richardson) and fiancée (June Duprez). Featuring music by Miklós Rózsa and Oscar-nominated cinematography by Georges Périnal and Osmond Borradaile, The Four Feathers is a thrilling, thunderous epic.
Rome burns. Nero fiddles. Christianity rises. And moviegoers turned out in throngs for this years-in-the-making film colossus boasting eight Oscar® nominations** (including Best Picture) and featuring 110 speaking parts, 30,000 participants and a filmed-on-location panoply of marching legions, magisterial pageantry and massive spectacle that includes the martyrdom of Christians thrown to the lions before cheering Coliseum throngs. Robert Taylor plays the Legion commander whose love for a Christian slave girl (Deborah Kerr) crosses the divide between Empire and a sect with a higher loyalty. Presiding over all is Nero (Peter Ustinov). He is Caesar, madman, murderer - an imperial ruler of the spectacular, and spectacularly doomed, glory that was Rome.
**Other 1951 Nominations: Best Supporting Actor (Leo Genn and Peter Ustinov), Color Art Direction/Set Decoration, Color Cinematography, Color Costume Design, Film Editing and Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture (Miklos Rozsa).
Dashing Errol Flynn triumphs in this lavish, fast-paced version of the Robin Hood legend, a winner of three Academy Awards®** in ravishing Technicolor®. Doing many stunts himself, Flynn is at his athletic, romantic best in a role originally intended for James Cagney. Olivia de Havilland (as Maid Marian), consummate screen villains Basil Rathbone and Claude Rains and a boisterous who's who of character actors co-star. Welcome to Sherwood!
** 1938: Best Film Editing, Interior Decoration and Original Score (Erich Wolfgang Korngold).
Journey through time to a gloriously extravagant setting of lust, violence, and treachery in this meticulously restored Oscar®-winning* masterpiece from legendary filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille. Starring Hedy Lamarr and Victor Mature in the title roles, Samson and Delilah follows the story of the Bible's legendary strongman and the woman who seduces, then betrays him. Also featuring a young Angela Lansbury in one of her early film roles and eye-popping costumes from acclaimed designer Edith Head, Samson and Delilah was an instant classic that remains an enduring favorite.
*Winner: Best Costume Design (Color); Best Art Direction (Color), 1950.
Long live King Arthur and Camelot! Yet in all of ancient England's newfound peace there is "a fraying link in Arthur's chain:" the growing passion between heroic knight Sir Lancelot and beautiful Queen Guinevere.
One of history's most beloved legends is vibrantly retold in an adaptation downplaying fantasy elements and giving 6th-century England a new-kind of fantasy: a dazzling Hollywood sheen bursting with the CinemaScope-sized pageantry, conflicts and imposing citadels of location-lensed 1950s spectaculars. Robert Taylor is Lancelot, sworn to serve his King (Mel Ferrer) but devoted to his Queen (Ava Gardner). Richard Thorpe, who teamed with Taylor for eight films, directs this colorful epic of bravery and honor.
A group of terrorists (Anthony Perkins and Michael Parks) holds an offshore drilling rig and production platform for ransom in the North Sea. Rufus Folkes (Roger Moore) a wealthy mysogynistic eccentric, volunteers to send his crack team of commandos in to stop the terrorists. With few other options available, the British Government James Mason (a stiff upper lipped admiral), David Hedison (a stressed out oil rig official) and Faith Brooks (a strong willed lady prime minister) reluctantly accepts his help.
On his family's plantation, Sam Francis Gifford (Robert Wagner) is a pretentious man who's unsympathetic to the less fortunate. But when World War II strikes, Gifford finds his inherited wealth does nothing to improve his rank in his National Guard unit. As the horrors of war and camaraderie with his fellow soldiers affect him, Gifford's attitude begins to shift toward egalitarianism. Still, Gifford's new outlook causes him to clash with the unstable Capt. "Waco" Grimes (Broderick Crawford).
Four centuries ago, in a barbaric age ruled by violence, vast armies clashed in desperate battles and fierce men struggled to regain their freedom. Taras Bulba, a breathtaking epic that engulfs the screen with high adventure that enthralls from beginning to end. Set in the Ukraine of the 16th century, Taras Bulba stars Yul Brynner (The King and I) in one of his most colorful roles as a powerful Cossack chieftain determined to regain his land from treacherous Polish invaders. Despite bitter dissension in the ranks, he is soon leading his soldiers into savage warfare. But further conflict erupts when his headstrong son Andrei (Tony Curtis, The Defiant Ones) falls deeply in love with a Polish girl. Spectacular battle scenes highlight the nonstop action, arriving at a shattering climax in which father and son must ultimately confront the rift between them. With sharp direction by J. Lee Thompson (The Guns of Navarone) and a strong supporting cast that includes Christine Kaufmann, Sam Wanamaker, Brad Dexter and George Macready. Franz Waxman s rousing score was nominated for an Academy Award®.
- Yul Brynner (Invitation to a Gunfighter) and George Chakiris (West Side Story) shine as the kings of two clashing cultures forced to form an alliance against a mutual threat in this gripping historical saga. Kings of the Sun is packed with intense action and thrilling drama! After a terrible battle leaves young Balam (Chakiris) king of his Mayan tribe, he leads his people out of Mexico to escape the rival clan still hunting them. But upon reaching their new home, a hostile Native American tribe attacks and the Mayans manage to capture Black Eagle (Brynner), the Native American leader. While held prisoner, Black Eagle manages to earn Balam's respect and the kings agree to peace. But when Balam's old rivals arrive looking for a fight, the newly allied kings must take up arms and stand together in order to repel the invading force and save their people. J. Lee Thompson (Taras Bulba) directed this spectacular adventure featuring a rousing score by Elmer Bernstein (The Great Escape) and top-notch widescreen cinematography by the great Joseph MacDonald (My Darling Clementine).
One of Hollywood's toughest and most idiosyncratic filmmakers, Robert Aldrich (Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, The Dirty Dozen) had one of his greatest and most cherished popular successes with the thrilling adventure classic The Flight of the Phoenix, headlined by an all-star cast including James Stewart, Richard Attenborough, Peter Finch, Ernest Borgnine and Hardy Krüger.
A cargo plane carrying an assortment of oilmen and military personnel crashes in the Sahara Desert during a sandstorm. Realising they're too far off course to be found and rescued before food and water runs out, their only hope is to attempt to rebuild the aircraft amidst the unforgiving environment.
An engrossing mix of intensely physical filmmaking and marvellous character turns across the board, The Flight of the Phoenix is a vivid chronicle of men under pressure, with unsettling questions about the nature of leadership. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present a new Blu-ray special edition of the film.
Experience two of the greatest actors of our time in one of the most honored motion pictures in history. Peter O’Toole delivers an electrifying performance as the mischievous Henry II, who surprises England by naming his fellow rogue and trusted confidant Thomas Becket (Richard Burton in a career defining role) as Chancellor. But when Henry next appoints him Archbishop of Canterbury, Becket shocks the world by openly defying the King with his newfound faith and compassion. Will a desperate ruler now destroy a beloved friend to save his splintering kingdom? John Gielgud co-stars in this stunning epic based on the Broadway sensation and brought to the screen by Hal Wallis, the legendary producer of TRUE GRIT and CASABLANCA.
Once thought lost forever, BECKET has now been restored to its original majesty and transferred in breathtaking HD with the support of the Film Foundation and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
This explosive film about the conflict between the spirit and the flesh is the epitome of the sensuous style of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. A group of nuns—played by some of Britain's finest actresses, including Deborah Kerr, Kathleen Byron and Flora Robson—struggle to establish a convent in the Himalayas, while isolation, extreme weather, altitude, and culture clashes all conspire to drive the well-intentioned missionaries mad. A darkly grand film that won Oscars for Alfred Junge's art direction and Jack Cardiff's cinematography, Black Narcissus is one of the greatest achievements by two of cinema's true visionaries.
It's Harry Palmer's Wits Against The World's Deadliest Mind! Secret agent Harry Palmer (Michael Caine, Get Carter) is blackmailed into working for MI5 again on his wildest - and most dangerous - assignment yet. An insane oil billionaire, intent on destroying Communism by starting a new world war, is close to achieving his goal with the help of the world's largest, and most powerful, computer. Harry is the only man who may be able to stop him; but as he races from London to Finland to Latvia to Texas and back, he must determine who of his supposed allies is the one he can actually trust, a sexy Russian agent, Soviet colonel or an American mercenary. Legendary filmmaker Ken Russell (Altered States) directed this third and final film in the great Harry Palmer series. The wonderful supporting cast includes Karl Malden, Ed Begley and Francoise Dorleac.