Sturges's direction, given the confining nature of the settings, is masterful, and the cinematography headed by Howe and pieced together by many others is sometimes stunning.

A huge, sprawling western with just about everything: brilliant photography, superb music, an intelligent script, and excellent performances, including one from Heston that is one of the best of his career.

Though the political lesson drives the movie, the action is also effective as the odd couple flees from their oppressors. This is an engrossing depiction of racial tensions and an oppressive penal system.

Jack H. Harris, the cheapie producer who went on to make the forgettable Mother Goose A Go-Go, struck it rich with this silly picture that gave McQueen his first starring role after a few supporting jobs in Somebody Up There Likes Me and Never Love A Stranger.

The performances are the thing in this film version of the Tennessee Williams stage triumph, led by Ives, repeating his stage role like a force of nature.

The film is both fun and frightening, and can also be viewed (however modest its intentions) as a commercialized techno-version of Franz Kafka's allegory Metamorphosis.

Overbaked but enjoyable, and a banquet for the eyes, thanks to the visual wonder of the Minnelli-Beaton teaming.

As in the first, THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN, he concentrates upon the figure of Cushing as basically a well-meaning doctor who runs a charity hospital but is the victim of undue prejudice. The gory effects, however, come out the same, with this one surpassed in its shocking effects perhaps only by Warhol's version.

VERTIGO is also a masterpiece of filmmaking which includes one of the most important technical discoveries since the dawn of cinema--the dolly-out, zoom-in shot, which visually represents the dizzying sensation of vertigo. The result is a shot unique to Hitchcock, unlike any other before in film, one which will always bear his stamp.

This has become a minor cult classic and is one of Mitchum's more interesting (and bizzare) efforts.

Bloody well done. Hammer finally gave the Dracula legend the treatment it deserved here, entrusting it to the brilliant director of The Curse of Frankenstein, Terence Fisher, who injected glorious life into the familiar material.

Under veteran helmer Roy Ward Baker's solid direction, Kruger makes a surprisingly sympathetic "enemy" protagonist, and one can't help but root for the brave and determined young German in his escape attempt.

The entire film, in fact, is one of the better submarine dramas ever made, tense and claustrophobic, with a minimum of dalliances back at the base (in defiance of the Hollywood dictum that no movie without a love interest can succeed).

The story is simply told and absorbing, with excellent performances all around.

Dietrich steals it. WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION is a witty, terse adaptation of the Agatha Christie hit play brought to the screen with ingenuity and vitality by Billy Wilder.

This nightmarish descent into dark entertainment has so much weirdness going on it's amazing.

The best-ever adaptation of a Faulkner novel for the screen, directed with passion and perception by Sirk.

Their attachment to the dog will serve as a test for their strength and love in this powerful and moving film.

This is a harrowing and still very effective antiwar film that ranks with Lewis Milestone's epic All Quiet On The Western Front in its power.

This intelligent and exciting WWII tale, masterfully helmed by Lean (at the start of his "epic" period), features a splendid performance from Guinness as Col. Nicholson, a British officer who has surrendered with his regiment to the Japanese in Burma in 1943.

Not to be confused with the suggestive, subversive melodramas of Sirk and Minnelli, this is the kind of hypertensive trash that gives melodrama a bad name, cynically tempering its naughty bits with smug moralizing.

All shook up and enjoyably bad, JAILHOUSE ROCK captures early Elvis in all his leg-quivering, nostril-flaring, lip-snarling teen idol glory.

Directed by actor Malden, the film is a tightly structured piece that forces its audience to think about the difficult issues it raises. Malden makes excellent use of his cast, wringing out emotion without bathos and adding flashbacks to Korea at crucial moments.

The camerawork and cutting during the intense racing scenes are particularly strong, but racing fans will probably find the film more enjoyable than those looking for an involving plot.

The film is basically a two-character piece featuring Woodward and Cobb and probably would have made a very good play. Cinematically, it's lacking on several levels.

Cagney is riveting as Chaney (who died in 1930 at the age of 47), enacting the many great roles the silent star made famous in startling cameo performances.

This is a landmark western, redefining what the genre was capable of doing, and is one of Daves's best works.

This film is one of the most effective tearjerkers ever made and is given sophistication and style by its consummate lead actors.