Band of Outsiders (1964), Eyes Without a Face - Les yeux sans visage (1959), Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960), The Bishop's Wife (1947), Scent of a Woman (1975), A Little Romance (1979), The Ruling Class (1972), A New Leaf (1971) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best 20th Century Literature On Screen movies.
Storyline: A triangle: Franz, Arthur, and Odile. Franz, a young man with Alain Delon good looks, has met Odile in an English class. She lives in Joinville with wealthy benefactors and has mentioned to Franz that Mr. Stolz keeps a pile of 10,000 franc notes unlocked in his room. Franz tells his friend Arthur, a swarthy guy whose shady uncle is pressing him for money. Arthur and Franz, who mimic American movie tough guys, case Odile's house, pressure her to assist them with a burglary, and make passes at her as well. She's alternately compliant and distressed. Will they pull off the heist?—<jhailey@hotmail.com>
Plot Keywords: neo noir, shootout, nouvelle vague, love triangle, french new wave, burglary, social outcast ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: A Paris surgeon (Pierre Brasseur) tries to fix his daughter's (Édith Scob) face with skin from kidnapped women.
Plot Keywords: captive woman, disfigured face, father daughter relationship, face mask, graveyard, surgeon, professor ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Arthur, one of Britain's angry young men of the 1960s, is a hardworking factory worker who slaves all week at his mindless job for his modest wages. Come Saturday night, he's off to the pub for a loud and rowdy beer session. With him is Brenda, his girlfriend of the moment. Married to a fellow worker, she is nonetheless captivated by his rugged good looks and his devil-may-care attitude. Soon a new love interest Doreen enters and a week later, Brenda announces she's pregnant. She tells Arthur she needs money for an abortion, and Arthur promises to pay for it. By this time, his relationship with Doreen has ripened and Brenda, hearing of it, confronts him. He denies everything, but it's obvious that their affair is all but over.—alfiehitchie
Plot Keywords: factory worker, british new wave, based on novel, british, caught cheating, fair, playground ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: An Episcopal Bishop, Henry Brougham, has been working for months on the plans for an elaborate new cathedral which he hopes will be paid for primarily by a wealthy, stubborn widow. He is losing sight of his family and of why he became a churchman in the first place. Enter Dudley, an angel sent to help him. Dudley does help everyone he meets, but not necessarily in the way they would have preferred. With the exception of Henry, everyone loves him, but Henry begins to believe that Dudley is there to replace him, both at work and in his family's affections, as Christmas approaches.—John Vogel <jlvogel@comcast.net>
Plot Keywords: angel, christmas, faith, church, taxi, miracle, hope ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: An army cadet accompanies an irascible, blind captain on a week-long trip from Turin to Naples. The captain, Fausto, who wants no pity, brooks no disagreement, and charges into every situation, nicknames the youth Ciccio ("Babyfat"), and spends the next few days ordering him about and generally behaving badly in public. In Rome, Fausto summons a priest to ask for his blessing; in Naples, where Fausto joins a blind lieutenant for drinking and revelry, the two soldiers talk quietly and seriously about "going through with it." Also in Naples is Sara, in love with Fausto, but treated cruelly by him. What do the blind soldiers plan? Can Sara soften Fausto's hardened heart?—<jhailey@hotmail.com>
Plot Keywords: bitterness, blind man, female nudity, prostitute, practical joke, suicide pact, teenage crush ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: A French boy (Daniel) and an American girl (Lauren), who go to school in Paris, meet and begin a little romance. They befriend Julius, who enchants them with his storytelling. In an attempt to ensure the teens' love forever, the three journey to Venice.—Felicia H. Berke <feberke@vassar.edu>
Plot Keywords: foreign language adaptation, paris france, first love, based on novel, movie set, movie theater, train station ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: A member of the House of Lords dies in a shockingly silly way, leaving his estate to his son. Unfortunately, his son is insane: he thinks he is Jesus Christ. The other somewhat-more respectable members of their family plot to steal the estate from him. Murder and mayhem ensues.—Mark Logan <marklo@west.sun.com>
Plot Keywords: kiss, river, hanging, hallucination, orchestra, lobotomy, confetti ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Henry Graham has a problem: he's spent his entire inheritance, and is completely broke. With no skills, the only option is to make money the old-fashioned way; marry. With a temporary loan to tide him over, Henry's only 6 weeks to find a bride, marry her, and repay the money, or else he must forfeit all his passions—Drew from Baltimore
Plot Keywords: murder, marriage for money, camping, water skiing, tow truck, crooked lawyer, tea ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: In this psychological war-drama an Army Major is captured by the Germans during World War II. They attempt to brainwash him into believing the war is over and that he is safe in an Allied hospital, so that he will divulge Allied invasion plans.—Patrick Dominick <p-dominick@adfa.oz.au>
Plot Keywords: world war two, brainwashing, year 1944, amnesia, d day, hospital, lie ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Sidney Stratton, a humble inventor, develops a fabric which never gets dirty or wears out. This would seem to be a boon for mankind, but the established garment manufacturers don't see it that way; they try to suppress it.—John Oswalt <jao@jao.com>
Plot Keywords: invention, capitalism, idealism, capitalist, labor union, factory, inventor ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Walking down twenty-seven flights of stairs after the power goes out in the New York City office building he is in, David Stillwell emerges outside on the ground level to find that a man he didn't know either jumped or was pushed out a window to his death. That man was Charles Calvin, the head of Unidyne, a humanitarian organization that works toward world peace. David notices other unusual goings-on. What he considers his normal routine that others he knows should recognize, don't. People that he doesn't know seem to know him, such as the beautiful young woman with who he walked down the stairs but who ran off when they got to the bottom. And things that he thought he saw or thought he knew end up not being the case, such as the multiple sub-basement levels he thought were in that office building which don't seem to exist in the clear light of day. When he finally thinks about it, he believes he has some form of amnesia. As an example, he knows that he works as a cost accountant, but he has no idea what a cost accountant is or does. He soon learns that some people are following him and are after something that he has, he not knowing what it is, and that they will shoot to kill if they don't get it. Conversely, the young woman, who he learns is named Shela and was once a love of his, is trying to convince him to cooperate with the people after him if only to save his life. Every direction David turns for official assistance, he comes up not trusting anyone, with the exception of a novice private detective he hires named Ted Caselle. Shela and the people after David all refer to "the major" as the person at the top who wants what David has. David may have to look deep into his troubled psyche to come out of his amnesia to learn who the major is, what he wants, whether David is willing to give it up if he indeed does have it, and that the death of Charles Calvin had some part to play. But David may be dead before he can even make an informed decision to cooperate or not.—Huggo
Plot Keywords: amnesia, key, punched in the face, violence, hit on the head, fight, punched in the stomach ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Three different stories of Italian social mores are presented. In "Adelina", unemployed Carmine Sbaratti and his wife Adelina Sbaratti survive through Adelina selling black market cigarettes on the street. They are unable to pay for the furniture they bought (which is under Adelina's name), but are able to avoid the bailiff when he comes for the money or to repossess. They come up with a longer term solution to avoid Adelina being prosecuted for non-payment, but that solution has a profound effect on the family, especially Carmine. In "Anna", Anna Molteni, the spoiled wife of a successful businessman, and an artist named Renzo are on the cusp of an affair. Anna is feeling neglected in the marriage, as her husband seems more concerned about success and money than her. But a car accident shows both Anna and Renzo if an affair with each other is really what they want. In "Mara", Mara is a prostitute who works out of her apartment. She befriends Umberto, a young man visiting his grandparents who live in the adjacent apartment, the balconies of the two apartments which are adjoined. Umberto, a seminary student, seems to be attracted to Mara as a woman without really knowing what she does. Umberto's grandmother, who knows what Mara does, believes Umberto's seeming romantic infatuation with Mara will be his downfall. As Mara and Umberto's grandmother ultimately join forces to get Umberto to do the right thing in life, Augusto Rusconi, one of Mara's regular clients who is in town from Bologna, does whatever he can to get Umberto's family issues out of the way so that he can get on with his own wants with Mara.—Huggo
Plot Keywords: woman undressing, episodic structure, rome italy, actor playing multiple roles, actress playing multiple roles, naples italy, husband wife relationship ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Oozing sensuality, the seductively alluring, Eliane Wieck, arrives with her demure German mother and her disabled father in a rural southern French town, in a frilled dress and with a small suitcase in her hand. Pin-Pon, a car mechanic and volunteer firefighter, instantly falls for the charms of the mysterious newcomer--and before long--they get married. However, was it love at first sight for Eliane, too? What links her enigmatic presence to the family's old and dust-covered mechanical piano in the barn? It seems that the stage is set; but, what drives the cryptic young woman? Is it hungry curiosity or is it something far more sinister?—Nick Riganas
Plot Keywords: revenge, breast suckling, pregnant from rape, lesbian kiss, flashback, 1970s, small town ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Work has been going with a bang for freelance assassin Hawkins but a job in England is a different matter. His apparently easy target, a pompous government minister, is off for some hanky-panky at the Green Man on the south coast, where Hawkins is planning to retire him for good. But before he can get on with this the hit-man has a procession of unwanted visitors at home to dispose of - one way or another.—Jeremy Perkins {J-26}
Plot Keywords: based on play, fake identity, radio announcer, husband wife relationship, corpse, tape recorder, finding a dead body ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: A thief awakens Valerie, just 13, taking earrings left to her by her mother. By morning, the earrings have been returned, Valerie's first period has begun, and a troupe and a missionary have arrived in her 19th century town. The thief is Orick; he reports to a cloaked constable who may also be the missionary. Attention to sexuality is everywhere: Valerie's grandmother's puritanical nature, the missionary's sermon to the town's virgins, the parish priest's attempt to seduce Valerie, and lusty adults at play. Valerie's nascent sexuality puts her in great danger. Can she navigate the passage from innocence to experience, a route teaming with vampires, a murderer, and an obscure family tree?—<jhailey@hotmail.com>
Plot Keywords: innocence, grandmother granddaughter relationship, coming of age, incest, sex in public, female nudity, sexual awakening ...
Movie Details Click Here!