Ball of Fire (1941), The Lady Eve (1941), Baby Face (1933), The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946), Christmas in Connecticut (1945), Stella Dallas (1937), Sorry, Wrong Number (1948), Executive Suite (1954) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best Barbara Stanwyck movies.
Storyline: Sexy, wisecracking nightclub singer Sugarpuss O'Shea is a hot tomato who needs to be kept on ice: mobster boyfriend Joe Lilac is suspected of murder and Sugarpuss' testimony could put him away. Naive Professor Bertram Potts meets Miss O'Shea while researching an article on slang and in true romantic comedy fashion the two worlds collide. When Miss O'Shea hides out with Potts and his fellow professors, everyone learns something new: the professors how to cha-cha and Potts the meaning of "yum-yum"!—A.L.Beneteau <albl@inforamp.net>
Plot Keywords: comedy, romance, classic, black comedy, dialogue-driven, musical, witty ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Returning from a year up the Amazon studying snakes, the rich but unsophisticated Charles Pike meets con-artist Jean Harrington on a ship. They fall in love, but a misunderstanding causes them to split on bad terms. To get back at him, Jean disguises herself as an English lady, and comes back to tease and torment him.
Plot Keywords: comedy, romance, black comedy, classic, 1940s, hollywood, romantic comedy ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Lilly (Baby Face) sleeps her way from basement speakeasy bartender, literally floor by floor, to the top floor of a New York office building. Bank sub-manager Jimmy McCoy finds her a job in the bank only to be cast aside as she hooks up with the bank's president. When he complains of not seeing her she says: "I'm working so hard I have to go to bed early every night."—Ed Stephan <stephan@cc.wwu.edu>
Plot Keywords: pre-code hollywood, drama, romance, feminism, prostitution, ambition, sexual liberation ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Three childhood friends, Martha, Walter and Sam, share a terrible secret. Over time, the ambitious Martha and the pusillanimous Walter have married. She is a cold businesswoman; he is the district attorney: a perfect combination to dominate the corrupt city of Iverstown at will. But the unexpected return of Sam, after years of absence, deeply disturbs the life of the odd couple.—yusufpiskin
Plot Keywords: film noir, crime, drama, mystery, romance, psychological thriller, murder ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Journalist Elizabeth Lane is one of the country's most famous food writers. In her columns, she describes herself as a hard working farm woman, taking care of her children and being an excellent cook. But this is all lies. In reality she is an unmarried New Yorker who can't even boil an egg. The recipes come from her good friend Felix. The owner of the magazine she works for has decided that a heroic sailor will spend his Christmas on *her* farm. Miss Lane knows that her career is over if the truth comes out, but what can she do?—Mattias Thuresson
Plot Keywords: comedy, romance, christmas, classic, black and white, 1940s, american film ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Working-class Stella Martin marries high-end Stephen Dallas and soon they have a daughter named Laurel. But Stephen's incessant demands of Stella to become what she isn't leads to their eventual separation. Stephen later marries Helen Morrison (his prior fiancée), and Laurel becomes the focus of Stella's life and love. Nothing is too good for Laurel as far as Stella is concerned. Determined to give her all the advantages, she takes Laurel on a trip to an expensive resort where Laurel makes friends with rich kids. After an embarrassing incident, Stella realizes that her daughter would go farther in life without Stella as her mother. Her subsequent sacrifice is shattering.—Anonymous
Plot Keywords: drama, family, maternal love, sacrifice, social class, mother-daughter relationship, usa ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Leona Stevenson is sick and confined to her bed. One night, whilst waiting for her husband to return home, she picks up the phone and accidentally overhears a conversation between two men planning a murder. She becomes increasingly desperate as she tries to work out who the victim is so the crime can be prevented.—Col Needham <col@imdb.com>
Plot Keywords: thriller, suspense, film noir, crime, murder, psychological, housewife ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Avery Bullard, President of the Tredway Corporation has died. But he never named a clear successor, so the Board members must choose a replacement. The most likely is Loren Shaw, a skilled businessman, but some of the others don't like his calculating ways. But to stop him, they'll have to find someone else they can back. Will it be the engineer Don Walling? That will take convincing, they don't trust his youth and idealism. And he isn't even sure he wants the job, he might be happier creating rather than politicking.—Ken Yousten <kyousten@bev.net>
Plot Keywords: drama, power struggle, business, leadership, succession, 1950s, america ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Lora Hart manages to land a job in a hospital as a trainee nurse. Upon completion of her training she goes to work as a night nurse for two small children who seem to be very sick, but something much more sinister is going on.—Col Needham <col@imdb.com>
Plot Keywords: crime, drama, thriller, film noir, nurse, medical, murder ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Tongues begin to wag when a lonely widow becomes romantically involved with a military man. Problems arise when the gossip is filtered down to her own children.—Daniel Bubbeo <dbubbeo@cmp.com>
Plot Keywords: drama, romance, women, social norms, widow, reputation, remarriage ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Former Union soldier John Parrish (Glenn Ford) wants to sell his ranch and start a new life by settling down out east. However, the ruthless tactics of Lew Wilkison (Edward G. Robinson), the scheming businessman interested in his property, make Parrish reconsider the move, especially after one of his ranch hands is murdered. Adding to the increasingly tense conflict is Wilkison's wife, Martha (Barbara Stanwyck), who is cheating on her husband with his brother, Cole (Brian Keith).
Plot Keywords: western, drama, crime, action, suspense, revenge, gunfight ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Joe Bonaparte's father wants him to pursue his musical talent; but Joe wants to be a boxer. Persuading near-bankrupt manager Tom Moody to give him a chance, Joe quickly rises in his new profession. When he has second thoughts Moody's girl Lorna uses feminine wiles to keep him boxing. But when tough gangster Eddie Fuseli wants to "buy a piece" of Joe, Lorna herself begins to have second thoughts...for that and other reasons. Is it too late?—Rod Crawford <puffinus@u.washington.edu>
Plot Keywords: crime, drama, film noir, courtroom, lawyer, moral dilemma, social criticism ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Assistant District Attorney Cleve Marshall, depressed about marital troubles, is drowning his sorrows in a bottle of whiskey when the mysterious and alluring Thelma Jordon walks in to report an attempted burglary. The two become romantically involved and not long afterwards there is a burglary and murder at Thelma's aunt's house. Cleve is drawn further and further into defending and covering up for Thelma. It soon becomes clear that this road will only lead to disaster.—B.A. Black
Plot Keywords: film noir, crime, drama, mystery, thriller, femme fatale, 1940s ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Sally Morton and Geoffrey Carroll, the latter a struggling artist, get married following the passing of Geoffrey's invalid first wife. Despite quickly falling in love with him, Sally never thought she would marry him when she discovered that he was already married - regardless of his vow to get a divorce - the first Mrs. Carroll's passing which changed the situation. The period of the first Mrs. Carroll's illness arguably resulted in Geoffrey's greatest works, including a portrait of her as the Angel of Death. While Sally brings a house in small town Ashton and a rough-around-the-edges housekeeper named Christine, Geoffrey brings a preteen daughter Bea into the marriage, Bea who openly welcomes Sally into the Carroll family. Their happiness begins to change when Cecily Latham commissions Geoffrey to paint her portrait, Cecily and her mother introduced to the Carrolls by London lawyer, Charles Pennington, Sally's former fiancé, who, while still in love with her, is happy that she is happy in her married life. Their meeting was not solely for the purpose of the commission as Cecily had fallen in love with Geoffrey in previously having seen him in town, he who eventually falls in love with her. In his insanity, Geoffrey starts to plot for Sally to befall the same "true" fate of the first Mrs. Carroll in both wanting to be with another woman and setting up a situation for his artistic genius to come to light.—Huggo
Plot Keywords: film noir, psychological thriller, crime, mystery, romance, drama, murder ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Successful middle-aged businessman Steve Bradford returns to the town where he attended college many years previously. His conscience has been bothering him since whilst a student, he fathered an illegitimate son who was given away to the local orphanage. He returns to the orphanage and meets its current head, Ann Dempster, hoping to persuade her to help him find his son. She refuses but Steve finds himself getting more involved at the orphanage and learns many lessons life had failed to teach him.—Col Needham <col@imdb.com>
Plot Keywords: drama, family, emotional, father-son relationship, coming of age, american film, black and white ...
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