Proposed Movies for Branch Screenings
by our patrons’ selection
Dear Members and Friends of the Branch,
The Lounge Committee is seeking feedback for future Branch Movie Nights. We invite you to complete a short survey, and help us decide which films to show next.
Please read the synopsis of each of the films below and complete the survey located here.
Thank-you on behalf of the Lounge Committee!
Curated Selections:
- The Man Who Would Be King (1975) Adventure
Synopsis: Two British adventurers take over primitive Kafiristan as “Godlike” rulers. They meet a tragic end through their desire for a native girl. An epic of splendor, spectacle, and high adventure. Based on Rudyard Kipling’s short story and packed with spectacle, humour, excitement and bold twists of fate.
Director: John Huston
Cast: Sean Connery, Michael Caine, Christopher Plummer - The Long, Long Trailer (1954) Comedy Romance
Synopsis: Nicky and Tacy are going to be married. Nicky wants to save up money for a house, but Tacy dreams of starting off with their own home on wheels—a trailer. After the two are hitched, they hitch up their trailer and begin their honeymoon. The humor comes from several disastrous adventures the couple has while traveling including Tacy’s awkward attempt to cook dinner in a moving trailer, and a cliffhanging ride through the mountains that nearly destroys their marriage.
Director: Vincente Minnelli
Cast: Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Marjorie Main, Kenan Wynn, Moroni Olsen - The Man Who Never Was (1955) Drama Espionage
Synopsis: Based on the book of a first hand account by Lt. Cmdr Ewen Montagu that chronicles ‘Operation Mincemeat’ in 1943, British Naval Intelligence devises a ruse to decoy German forces from the Allied invasion of Sicily by creating a false identity of ‘Major Martin’.
Director: Ronald Neame
Cast: Clifton Webb, Stephen Boyd, Robert Flemyng, Gloria Grahame, Josephine Griffin - The Man from Snowy River (1983) Drama; Western; Romance;
Synopsis: Shot in Australia’s breathtaking high country, this film chronicles a boy’s difficult passage into manhood. Burlinson stars as an orphan who returns to the mountains to conquer the wild horses.
Director: George Miller
Cast: Kirk Douglas, Tom Burlinson, Sigrid Thornton - Zulu (1964) Drama; War
Synopsis: Two Lieutenants, find that their 140-man contingent in Natal has been isolated by the destruction of the main British Army column and that 4,000 Zulu warriors will descend on them in hours. Each has a different military background in tactics and they are immediately in conflict on how to prepare for the attack. Nearly a third of the men are in the infirmary, as the Welsh company tries to somehow survive with no help in sight. Based on a true story.
Director: Cy Endfield
Cast: Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, Michael Caine - Rat Race (2001) Comedy; Ask a Stupid Question
Synopsis: Director Jerry (“Airplane!”) Zucker marks his return to comedy with this ensemble film about easy money, greed, manipulation and bad driving. The story tells of a Las Vegas casino tycoon who pits 6 ordinary people against each other in a wild dash for two million dollars jammed into a locker hundreds of miles away.
Director: Jerry Zucker
Cast: Rowan Atkinson, Dean Cain, Lanai Chapman, John Cleese, Whoopi Goldberg, Cuba Gooding Jr. - Cleopatra (1963) Drama; Romance; Biography – BE FOREWARNED, IT’S FOUR HRS.!
Synopsis: In 48 B.C., Caesar pursues Pompey from Pharsalia to Egypt. Ptolemy, now supreme ruler after deposing his older sister, Cleopatra, attempts to gain favor with Caesar by presenting the conquerer with the head of Pompey, borne by his governors, Pothinos and Achillas. To win Caesar’s support from her brother, Cleopatra hides herself in a rug, which Apollodorus, her servant, presents to Caesar. The Roman is immediately infatuated; banishing Ptolemy, he declares Cleopatra Egypt’s sole ruler and takes her as his mistress. A son, Caesarion, is born of their union. Caesar, however, must return to Italy. Although he is briefly reunited with Cleopatra during a magnificent reception for the queen in Rome, Caesar is assassinated shortly thereafter, and Cleopatra returns to Egypt. When Mark Antony, Caesar’s protégé, beholds Cleopatra aboard her elaborate barge at Tarsus some years later, he is smitten and becomes both her lover and military ally. Their liaison notwithstanding, Antony, to consolidate his position in Rome, marries Octavia, sister of the ambitious Octavian. The marriage satisfies no one. Cleopatra is infuriated, and Antony, tiring of his Roman wife, returns to Egypt. There he flaunts his liaison by marrying Cleopatra in a public ceremony. Sensing Antony’s weakness, Octavian attacks and defeats his forces at Actium. Alarmed, Cleopatra withdraws her fleet and seeks refuge in her tomb.
Director: Joseph Mankiewicz
Cast: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Rex Harrison, Roddy McDowall, Pamela Brown - The Four Feathers (2002) Adventure; Drama; Literary Adaptation
Synopsis: Set in 1898 Sudan, this fifth film to be adapted from the A.E.W. Mason novel follows a British officer who resigns his post right before his regiment ships out to battle the rebels. Perceiving his resignation as cowardice, his friends and fiancee give him four white feathers, the symbol of cowardice, but little do they know he’s actually going undercover and plans to redeem his honor.
Director: Shekhar Kapur
Cast: Heath Ledger, Wes Bentley, Kate Hudson, Djimon Hounsou, Michael Sheen, Alek Wek, Kris Marshall - Invictus (2009) Drama; Biography
Synopsis: The film tells the inspiring true story of how Nelson Mandela joined forces with the captain of South Africa’s rugby team to help unite their country. Newly elected President Mandela knows his nation remains racially and economically divided in the wake of apartheid. Believing he can bring his people together through the universal language of sport, Mandela rallies South Africa’s rugby team as they make their historic run to the 1995 Rugby World Cup Championship match.
Director: Clint Eastwood
Cast: Matt Damon, Morgan Freeman, Scott Eastwood, Langley Kirkwood, Robert Hobbs, Tony Kgoroge, Grant Roberts, Bonnie Henna, Patrick Holland - The Americanization of Emily (1964) Comedy; Drama; War
Synopsis: On the eve of the Normandy invasion, a young British war widow falls in love with an American officer. From the novel by William Bradford.
Director: Arthur Hiller
Cast: Julie Andrews, James Garner, Melvyn Douglas, James Coburn, Liz Fraser, Joyce Grenfell - The Godfather Trilogy (1972/1974/1990) Drama; Thriller; Literary Adaptation; Crime;
Synopsis: The definitive, Oscar-winning record-breaking, trend-setting crime film. A serious, epic vision of an Italian-American family features Marlon Brando as the utterly amazing Corleaone patriarch. An acknowledged cinematic masterpiece.
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Cast: Marlon Brando, James Caan, Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton
Writer: Mario Puzo - Maltese Falcon (1941) Mystery
Synopsis: Director Sam Spade’s thrilling chase for the fabulous Falcon. Bogart is Dashell Hammet’s “hero” Sam Spade, Astor his client, Lorre the evasive Joel Cairo, Greenstreet the Fat Man, and Cook the neurotic Gunsel Wilmer.
Director: John Huston
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Peter Lorre, Elisha Cook - Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) Crime
Synopsis: Nick Smith, the middle-aged proprietor of a roadside restaurant, hires drifter Frank Chambers as a handyman. Frank eventually begins an affair with Nick’s beautiful wife Cora, who talks Frank into helping her kill Nick, by “accident.” But the best laid plans……
Director: Garnett T.
Cast: Lana Turner, John Garfield, Cecil Kellaway, Hume Cronyn, Leon Ames, Audrey Totter, Alan Reed - Strangers on a Train (1951) Drama; Thriller
Synopsis: Aboard a Washington to New York train, two strangers meet and two murders are plotted…however, only one is executed.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Farley Granger, Robert Walker - Sabrina (1954) Comedy; Romance
Synopsis: Sabrina is the young daughter of the Larrabee family’s chauffeur who has been in love with David Larrabee for all her life. David is very spoiled and crazy for women, and has been totally ignoring Sabrina for years. When Sabrina goes to Paris for a few years, she returns a very attractive and sophisticated woman, and David is quickly drawn to her. David’s brother Linus sees this and fears that David’s imminent wedding with a very rich woman may be endangered. If the wedding is canceled, so will a great corporate deal with the bride’s family. So, Linus tries to keep Sabrina off his brother, and the best way to do so is by charming her himself.
Director: Billy Wilder
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn, William Holden - The Shining (1980) Horror; Thriller; Literary Adaptation
Synopsis: An unemployed teacher, Jack Torrance accepts a position as a caretaker in a hotel which is isolated in the mountains and deserted during the winter months. He moves in with his wife Wendy and young son Danny. He looks forward to taking the opportunity to write a book. Danny, gifted with clairvoyance, soon becomes the object of strange manifestations and Jack himself undergoes an unusual psychological transformation. This state leads him to want to murder his son. His wife attempts to stop him, all the while a raging snow storm is blocking all viable routes, rendering escape almost impossible.
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Cast: Jack Nicholson, Shelly Duvall, Danny Lloyd, Scatman Crothers, Barry Nelson, Philip Stone - The Third Man (1949) Black & White Thriller; Mystery
Synopsis: An out of work pulp fiction novelist, Holly Martins, arrives in a post war Vienna divided into sectors by the victorious allies, and where a shortage of supplies has lead to a flourishing black market. He arrives at the invitation of an ex-school friend, Harry Lime, who has offered him a job, only to discover that Lime has recently died in a peculiar traffic accident. From talking to Lime’s friends and associates Martins soon notices that some of the stories are inconsistent, and determines to discover what really happened to Harry Lime.
Director: Carol Reed
Cast: Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Orson Welles, Trevor Howard, Bernard Lee, Ernest Deutsch