Movies watched in 2021
Exactly what it says on the tin: these are movies I watched for the first time in 2021.
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- DirectorHoward HawksStarsMiriam HopkinsEdward G. RobinsonJoel McCreaMary Rutledge arrives from the East, finds her fiance dead, and goes to work at the roulette wheel of Louis Charnalis' Bella Donna, a rowdy gambling house in 1850s San Francisco.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsIsabel JeansFranklin DyallEric Bransby WilliamsA recently divorced woman hides her scandalous past from her new husband and his family.
- DirectorBill RobertsStarsBilly BletcherJohn McLeishWalt DisneyRather out of place at a swanky dog show, Pluto flirts with Fifi, a dainty Pekingese. The judge orders Mickey and Pluto to leave, but when a fire breaks out Pluto rescues Fifi and is proclaimed a hero.
- DirectorEdwin S. PorterA baker's assistant throws a handful of dough at a rat. The dough sticks to the side of a barrel and the assistant proceeds to sculpt the dough into various faces and shapes. There is some experimental use of stop motion.
- DirectorJames WilliamsonStarsMr. JamesMr. LepardFlorence WilliamsonThe titles tell us this film is based on an incident in the Boxer Rebellion. A man tries to defend a woman and a large house against Chinese attackers. They attack with swords, guns, and paddles. He's over-matched. What will become of the mission, its defenders, and its occupants?
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsTyrone PowerMarlene DietrichCharles LaughtonA veteran British barrister must defend his client in a murder trial that has surprise after surprise.
- DirectorEdwin S. PorterReveals the most important stages of life, through one couple.
- DirectorRoscoe 'Fatty' ArbuckleStarsRoscoe 'Fatty' ArbuckleBuster KeatonMolly MaloneBuster manages the store while Roscoe delivers the mail, taking time out for hide-and-seek with Molly. The constable, also interested in Molly, steals $300 while being observed by Buster.
- DirectorAtom EgoyanStarsChristopher PlummerKim RobertsAmanda SmithWith the aid of a fellow Auschwitz survivor and a hand-written letter, an elderly man with dementia goes in search of the person he believes to be responsible for the death of his family in the death camp to kill him himself.
- DirectorErich von StroheimRichard BoleslawskiStarsGloria SwansonWalter ByronSeena OwenA convent girl is abducted and seduced by a prince before being sent off to a brothel in East Africa.
- DirectorAlan J. PakulaStarsWarren BeattyPaula PrentissWilliam DanielsAn ambitious reporter gets in way-over-his-head trouble while investigating a senator's assassination which leads to a vast conspiracy involving a multinational corporation behind every event in the world's headlines.
- DirectorTakashi YamazakiStarsKan'ichi KuritaKiyoshi KobayashiDaisuke NamikawaLupin III goes on a grand adventure to uncover the secrets of the Bresson Diary, which is tied to the legacy of his famous grandfather.
- A family of seven entertain themselves by putting on a pageant on Christmas Eve.
- DirectorLouis Aimé Augustin Le PrinceA frame sequence featuring a man walking around a corner.
- DirectorJosef von SternbergStarsMarlene DietrichVictor McLaglenGustav von SeyffertitzThe Austrian Secret Service sends its most seductive agent to spy on the Russians.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsJames KirkwoodMarion LeonardAdele DeGardeA society couple, neglect their young daughter in favor of their social life. When the girl becomes seriously ill, the father realizes the errors of his ways and stays home with her, demanding his wife do likewise. She sneaks out to a dance and the child takes a turn for the worse. By the time she returns home the child is dead. After her husband leaves her, the mother realizes her selfishness and begs forgiveness at her daughter's grave.
- DirectorRobert KurtzmanStarsTammy LaurenAndrew DivoffAngus ScrimmA demonic djinn attempts to grant its owner three wishes, which will allow him to summon his brethren to Earth.
- DirectorMichael PowellEmeric PressburgerStarsMoira ShearerRobert RounsevilleLudmilla TchérinaA melancholy poet reflects on three women he loved and lost in the past: a mechanical performing doll, a Venetian courtesan, and the consumptive daughter of a celebrated composer.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsHenry B. WalthallFlorence BarkerW. Chrystie MillerBefore the revolution in France the nobility exercised a most despotic rule over the peasants, subjecting them to abject slavery. Not only did they suffer pecuniary oppression, but their humble households were invaded and defiled by the noble profligates. Henri Provost, a perfumer, receives a call from his landlord in quest of some perfume. During his visit this nobleman is attracted by Henri's pretty young wife. Her beauty so enthralls him that he, during her husband's absence, exercises his presumed rights, and invites, or rather commands her to attend his house fete. Here he dresses her in finery and promises to make a great lady of her, so that when her husband, who finding whither she had gone, bursts into the palace, she denies him. The heartbroken perfumer at first would return to the palace and in vengeance murder both his wife and the nobleman, but the old priest stays him, by showing him the crucifix, the emblem of Christian charity and making him swear he would never kill them. Indicating that vengeance belonged to God. Henri takes this oath and lives up to it. Some time later the peasants chafing under aristocratic tyranny revolt, with the perfumer a leader. The revolutionists invade the home of the nobleman, the occupants of which flee in panic. The nobleman himself, with the perfumer's wife, who is still with him, make their way to her former home, which she imagines is deserted. The perfumer enters, and upon meeting the guilty pair, sees his chance to wreak vengeance. He is about to run them through when the old priest again appears and shows him the crucifix, reminding him of his oath. He then waves back the mob, who haven't seen the nobleman, with the exclamation, "This is my wife." The mob dismissed, he takes the couple to an inner room where they exchange their finery for peasant's attire. Thus they leave to take their chances of evading intemperate revolutionists who are parading outside, devastating everything and destroying everybody aristocratic. What a bitter lesson she has been taught. Her covetousness has brought her only shame, terror, poverty and isolation.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsDorothy WestClara T. BracyHenry B. WalthallReliable authority states that nine million human lives were sacrificed through the zeal of fanatical reformers during the Christian epoch. Religious fanaticism was in most cases the cause, still there were many victimized to satisfy a personal grudge, and this Biograph subject shows how easily such a crime can be perpetrated. Play upon the minds of a superstitions people and you may lead them blindly to any end. In 1692 the agitation was so great in Salem, Mass., that many people lost their self-possession, some even believing themselves to be witches. On the other hand, a number of the inhabitants moved away fear of being accused of being witches. There are many relics of those days still in existence at Salem, and while conditions are such as to prevent our using the actual spots, yet many of the scenes of the picture are closely contiguous to them, our company of players making the trip there for the purpose. The story tells of the old mother and her child living on the sea coast, care free. The mother ekes a living telling fortunes and nursing the sick among the village folk. The girl we might term a child of the sea, as she spends most of her time among the wave-lashed rocks of the coast, scampering from jut to jut more resembling a sprite than a human. Off in the hills we find a trapper at the camp of Mohawk Indians, on his way to the sea, of which he had heard but never seen. A Mohawk brave volunteers to guide him to the great waters of the Atlantic leaving him there overwhelmed with awe at the grandeur of the spectacle. Here he meets the p pretty maiden and an attachment develops which later ripens into love, a betrothal resulting. As the girl reaches her home she is accosted by a hypocritical Puritan deacon, whose insulting advances she indignantly repulses. He in revenge goes to the other churchmen and accuses the girl and her mother of being witches. Proof sufficient to convince these narrow-minded fanatics is easy to obtain, for the fact of the old lady's care and curing the sick is known to all, hence they purposely construe her kindness to be witchcraft. The poor souls are seized and thrown into prison and later condemned by a prejudiced jury to be burned at the stake. As they are carried to the jail they are met by the trapper sweetheart, who learning of her pending danger, rushes off to enlist the aid of his Mohawk friends to rescue her from this awful fate. The mother is first to be made a victim and while she is suffering the injustice inflicted upon her the deacon visits the girl's cell and shows her from the window her mother's fate, with the hope of weakening her determination. She still repulses him and so is led forth to be victimized as was her mother. Meanwhile, her sweetheart has gotten his Mohawk friends and is rushing to the rescue, arriving just as the torch is put to the brushwood piled up around the girl. With a mad dash the Indians rush upon the scene, knocking down and scattering the fanatics and carrying the girl off before the Puritans realize what has taken place. In fact, it was done so quickly that some of the more superstitious thought she went up in smoke.
- DirectorOtis TurnerStarsKing BaggotViolet HornerWilliam Robert DalyGeorge, an "unathletic" young man, falls for Clarice, a healthy, athletically-inclined young woman. Unfortunately for George, a strapping, muscle-bound stud is also after Clarice, and she seems to prefer him to George. After reading an article by a female writer saying that women prefer the "caveman" type of man, George decides that if that what it takes to get Clarice, then that is what he will be.
- DirectorWilliam HumphreyStarsEarle WilliamsEdith StoreyWilliam HumphreyThe Jester falls in love with the Princess. The Princess cannot abide him and when he declares his love, she laughs derisively and points to the water of the fountain at which he is sitting, telling him to gaze into it and behold the reflection of his unattractive countenance. He recognizes the hopelessness of his suit, and when he discovers the Princess in tryst with the handsome young shepherd, the Jester is filled with jealous rage and at once notifies the King. The shepherd is arrested and brought to the King, who pronounces a sentence of death upon him. The Princess throws herself upon the neck of her lover and clings to him, while she implores her father to spare his life. The King's Jester is touched with remorse. He immediately sets about freeing the shepherd and helping the young couple to escape from the kingdom. He goes to the chamber of the Princess and tells her of his plans, then hastens with his dogs to the King's court, where he finds the young shepherd bound before being led to the scaffold. At once the Jester starts his pranks, putting his dog through many tricks and setting the whole court in roars of laughter, and entirely absorbing their attention. Passing behind the shepherd, he cuts his bonds and tells him to hasten forth into the garden, where he will find the Princess and two horses waiting for him and to make haste across the borders of the kingdom, while he holds the audience. Upon discovering the escape of the shepherd, all is excitement. Search is made for his whereabouts, but too late. The Princess and the shepherd are far beyond their reach.
- DirectorHarry SolterStarsFlorence LawrenceArthur V. JohnsonAlbert McGovernA mother unknowingly commits bigamy when her first husband, who was supposed to be dead, unexpectedly returns. She makes the ultimate sacrifice in order to preserve her innocent child's legitimacy.