Cinematic Era: 1944 Vintage

A Nazi spy sneaks into the U.S., hoping to release hundreds of German prisoners. He fails, but not until plenty of bullets have been spent.

Evelyn, an emotionally vulnerable and unstable woman, stays at the home of her doctor Dan Proctor. There she meets and falls in love with his brother, Douglas, who is happily married to Ann. Evelyn then sets forth to break up the happy marriage and win the love of Douglas.

The teens of a defense-plant town hop on the road to juvenile delinquency while their parents are busy with the war.

Reporter Michael Gordon uncovers intrigue in Damascus, where the Allies and Nazis struggle for control of Arab sympathies.

Three modern-day pilgrims investigate a bizarre crime in a small town while on their way to Canterbury.

A sea captain about to be hanged for a murder he didn't commit is rescued from the gallows by two of his crewmen. They head for the island of Pulinan, where they believe the real murderer--the captain's former partner--is hiding so the captain can clear his name. As it turns out, their troubles are only beginning

Snafu learns of the folly of hoarding and wasting military food supplies.

Based on the play of the same name by Georgi Mdivani. In September 1941, lieutenant Ilya Streltsov, who graduated from the flight school, was assigned to the fighter aviation regiment guarding the sky of Moscow. He meets in part the nurse Zoya, with whom he grew up in the same yard and with whom he has long been in love. During the first training flight on the "Seagull", lieutenant Streltsov shot down a German plane and received the nickname "Lucky." Streltsov is jealous of the squadron commander to nurse Zoya, believes that he is finding fault with him. For a whole month he is not allowed to fly sorties. In October 1941, lieutenant Streltsov made his first sortie, he shot down one plane and rams the second. For this battle, he is awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union.

American conductor John Meredith and his manager, Hank Higgins, go to Russia shortly before the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union. Meredith falls in love with beautiful Soviet pianist Nadya Stepanova while they travel throughout the country on a 40-city tour. Along the way, they see happy, healthy, smiling, free Soviet citizens, blissfully living the Communist dream. This bliss is destroyed by the German invasion.

Backstage before a performance, a French actor recalls his time in Madagascar during World War II, when he secretly ran a Resistance radio station under the watch of a collaborationist police chief. His story unfolds in flashback, revealing espionage, deception, and divided loyalties within the French ranks. Made for Britain’s Ministry of Information, this 1944 French-language propaganda short satirizes Vichy opportunism and wartime hypocrisy, and was shelved for decades before its release in 1993.

A idealistic shipyard worker interests a beautiful Hollywood star in staging a musical tribute to the war industry, but they disagree on some important issues.

Sent to investigate a payroll robbery, Marshall Rocky meets his old friends Ken, Eddie, and Max. He has the serial numbers and when Pop puts on his medicine show they get one of the bills. This enables Ken to see through Sorrell's scheme that threw the blame on an innocent rancher and he sets out to prove it. Written by Maurice Van Auken

Donald Duck is ordered to wipe out a Japanese airfield. After parachuting out of an airplane, he lands in a Japanese forest. He uses an inflated canoe to cross the river, but as soon as it fills up with water, Donald is running for his life. He makes sure the canoe hits nothing that would pop it. When he gets to the edge of a cliff, he sees the airfield. The canoe has already exploded, causing water to flow. This large amount of water splashes onto the airfield, wiping the whole thing clean, but leaving disfigured airplanes

The Way of Drama unfolds in the world of kabuki in Osaka, but also addresses the politics of popular culture and the rivalry between theatrical styles like those used by amateur actors to dramatise contemporary events.

A 1944 propaganda film that depicts the fictionalised career of IJAAF pilot Tateo Kato, who led the 64th Sentai during the early months of the Pacific War. The film has scenes featuring Ki-43 fighters escorting Ki-21 bombers to attack Rangoon, where they are attacked by P-40 Warhawk and Brewster Buffalo fighters.

Newlywed bliss surround O'Driscoll and Beery until they get on board the ship for their honeymoon in South America. Then she starts sneezing, and hay fever's uncontrollable grip does not seem to want to let up.

A group of people are invited to a party at a creepy mansion where legend has it a ghost appears once a year.

The surrealist film shows repetitive imagery involving a string fashioned in a bizarre, almost spiderweb-like pattern over the hands of several individuals, most notably an unnamed young woman and an elderly gentleman. The film also shows a shadowy darkness and people filmed at odd angles, an exposed human heart, and other occult symbols and ritualistic imagery which evokes an unsettling and dream-like aura. Considered an unfinished film.

The American Beauty Association is about to hold its annual trade show in New York City and songwriter "Tiny" Lewis (Billy Gilbert) has just sold a song to Ina Ray Hutton ('Ina Ray Hutton'), the leader of an all-girl band headlining the show. Lewis shares an apartment with Bradley Miller ('Ross Hunter') and Michele (Fritz Feld), an artist, and Miller has just invented a non-staining lipstick called "Rosebud." Preparing to get a booth at the show, Miller is told by J. Webster Hackett (Alan Mowbray), a very devious "Cosmetics King,", intent on selling a big lipstick order to buyer Edgar Pomeroy (Thurston Hall), that it will cost him a $1000 to join the association and get a booth, which is about $999 more than Miller and his roomies have between them. But Miller's beauty-parlor girl friend, Janet Wilson ('Ann Savage'), meets factory-owner P. G. Grimble (Hugh Herbert), and money is soon no issue.

Artist David Stuart is blinded by a jealous model whose portrait he is painting. His fiance's father generously offers his eyes for a sight restoring operation. There's only one hitch: Stuart has to wait until after the man dies. Not surprisingly, when the benefactor dies a very premature death, suspicion falls on the artist.

Six-year-old "Mike" goes to live with her pregnant older sister, Babs, who plays string bass in José Iturbi's orchestra. And the orchestra is rapidly turning completely female, what with the draft. As the orchestra travels around the country, Babs' fellow orchestra members intercept and hide her War Office telegram to protect the baby.

A rich but naive young woman is in possession of some priceless jewels. She herself doesn't know it, but a gang of jewel thieves does.

A cowbody acquires a ranch whose previous owner is believed to be dead.

The Hitler Gang adopts the style of a gangster film as it charts Adolf Hitler’s rise from small-time politico to dictator of Germany.

In an unspecified Renaissance kingdom, no sooner has Anube's gypsy tribe encamped near Baron Tovar's village when Count Orso is found murdered. The wicked baron blames the gypsies and imprisons them all in his castle. Meanwhile, a mysterious stranger on a white horse has hidden the murder arrow and won the heart of gypsy belle Carla, to the discomfiture of her erstwhile fiancée Tonio. Baron Tovar is also fascinated by Carla...especially when he notices her heraldic pendant.

In Elliot's initial appearance as Red Ryder, he finds himself framed for murder. Little Beaver then foils the crooked Sheriff's attempt to have Red killed escaping jail. When Hannah Rogers gives the Sheriff a note, Red sees her give him a signal. Gabby lifts the note and Red decodes it. The Duchess then gets a confession from Hannah enabling Red to set out after the outlaws.

A town in Arkansas makes national headlines when a local sow gives birth to 18 piglets.

Three friends enlist in the Australian Army and serve in North Africa, holding the city of Tobruk against Rommel's forces.

In this tuneful western, two curious actresses head West to find out the name of their secret admirer. Songs include: "Amor," (Sunny Skylar, Gabriel Ruiz), "Hey Mabel" (Fred Stryker), "By the River Sainte Marie" (Edgar Leslie, Harry Warren), "She Broke My Heart in Three Places" (Oliver Drake), "When It's Harvest Time in Peaceful Valley" (Robert Martin, Raymond McKee), and "There'll Be a Jubilee" (Phil Moore).

A concert pianist, the romantic idol of many women, is seduced away from his wife. The seductress's husband takes in the pianist's wife, and all four pretend to be happy with the new arrangement.

A newsman tracks down a phantom killer of murder-trial jurors.

A man from the countryside becomes London’s newest music hall sensation, and competes with a rival music hall performer for the audience’s attention.

A love triangle occurs between the publisher's daughter Betty Moody. comic book artist Tim Jones, and the company's wily manipulative manager Hilton Payne. In addition, Betty's dad, Phineas Moody suffers from severe melancholy; and an emergency cure of laughter is required to save his health.

Evil Hassan slips back into his native land of Ahad and plots to overthrow his twin bother, Kasim, who has just been crowned the Caliph. Hassan enlists the aid of the chief Chamberlain, Faud and they send several henchmen into the royal palace, who then knock Kasim unconscious. Faud and Hassan dispatch a couple of different hirelings to take Kasim into another part of the town and murder him.Kasin comes to and gets away, but has been wounded. Omar, a beggar, takes Kasim to his home and nurses him back to health. But, it takes a few weeks for Kasin to get healthy and, by that time, Hassan has a firm grip on the duties of a Caliph. In a storeroom, Kasim finds a coat of mail with a great hawk emblazoned across the chest and promptly decides this is the costume he will wear while fighting to get his old job back. Meanwhile, the Emir of Telif shows up with his daughter, Princess Azala, with the intent of marrying her off to the local Caliph.

A delightful animated appeal to help bringing in Scotland’s harvest, made by the legendary Lotte Reiniger.

Know Your Ally: Britain was a 45-minute propaganda film made in 1944. It was narrated by Walter Huston and produced by the United States War Department and Signal Corp to solidify Anglo-American solidarity within the ranks as well as counter Nazi propaganda aimed at weakening the Alliance.

People from different walks of life mysteriously find themselves at the gate of an unknown city

Charlie Chan is an agent of the US government working in Washington DC and he is assigned to investigate the murder of the inventor of a highly advanced torpedo. Aiding Chan is his overeager but dull-witted son Tommy and his daughter Iris.

Nora and Stefan fall in love with one another after an accident takes place, but then end up losing sight of one another later on. Stefan ends up saving the life of young Christine and becomes her fiancée. Christine, however, is Nora’s daughter (can’t see where this is heading, huh?). When Christine finds out that mom and her hubby-to-be had a rather intimate history, she takes a boat ride on a stormy lake. But the prophecy of disaster associated with the bronze figure “Melusine” does not come to pass: Stefan looks for Christine, finds her in one piece and stays with her. Nora, for her part, decides incest might be a bad thing and gives up Stefan forever to go back to the man she divorced (hey, way to feel wanted!). For some reason, the Nazis didn’t like the plot’s moral message and banned it after its completion.

A story of of the captain of an oil tanker during World War II, Captain Bart Manson, who rescues Katherine Hall when her ship is sunk by a German U-boat.

Candlelight in Algeria is a 1944 British war film directed by George King and starring James Mason, Carla Lehmann and Raymond Lovell. This drama follows the exploits of Eisenhower's top aide, Mark Clark, and other important Allies as they journey to an important meeting held on Algeria's coast. The precise location of this vital secret gathering is upon a piece of film which must not fall into enemy hands

Jan-Erik Widgren meets the lonely Bertha Olsson, a woman struggling with alcoholism. Though Bertha is already linked to Caligula, Jan-Erik's heartless teacher, she begins a relationship with the boy anyway. When Caligula learns that Jan-Erik is having an affair with Bertha, he begins to torture his student psychologically. He reserves his cruelest behavior for Bertha, however, which results in a tragic turn of events.

A criminal psychologist tries to help a beautiful heiress going mad in a haunted mansion.

First half of film portrays life in port, including rum issue, distribution of letters, and taking on ammunition, the remainder tells the story of an action against German S-boats, in a stock-shot compilation including some captured film. Officers briefed; boats leave harbour, put to sea, "action", a Nazi naval flag is reclaimed from wreckage in the sea, and the motor torpedo boat (MTB) returns to port flying it below the British White Ensign. Film ends with a sequence showing the funeral of a Canadian seaman.

In the Caucasus foothills, battles rage against the German fascist invaders who have broken through. Reinforcements, including Russians, Ukrainians, and Kazakhs, are moving to defend the region. Along the way, the soldiers stop at a half-ruined ancient castle. There, a grey-haired old man recounts the legend of Dzhurga, a valiant warrior who once lived there. The legend comes to life on the screen, depicting a wedding feast in the castle where Dzhurgai celebrates his union with a shepherdess. However, the festivities are interrupted by a foreign enemy attacking Georgia. Led by Dzhurgai, Georgian warriors fight bravely and emerge victorious against the Mongol hordes.

The election to determine if Texas will become a state is near and men opposed are running contraband across the border. Sunset and Frog are Border Patrolmen and have an agent that tips them off by carrier pigeon. The Army arrives and the commander is Sunset's brother. When the agent is found out and murdered, his fake replacement then leads the soldiers astray.

Brazil is perhaps the best of the handful of US films made by singing sensation Tito Guizar. In typical screwball-comedy fashion, the plot is set in motion by authoress Nicky Henderson, who has hit the best-seller charts with her latest tome, Why Marry a Latin? While researching her next book in Rio De Janeiro, she finds out "why" when she meets handsome songwriter Miguel Soares. Upon learning about Nicky's book, Miguel decides to teach her a few lessons in the affairs of the heart. Edward Everett Horton is also on hand, twittering his way through the role of a well-meaning buttinsky. Thanks to the "Good Neighbor" policy of the 1940s, South American musicals were a glut on the market, but Brazil was good enough on its own merits to pay its way at the box office.

Woody is standing outside the Seville Barber Shop looking at the ads. Wanting a "victory haircut", he decides to enter the shop only to find the owner has stepped out for a physical. Woody decides to cut his own hair ("I cut my own teeth") but unfortunately is mistaken for the owner when two other customers enter, one an Indian who wants a quick shampoo and the other, a construction worker who wants "the whole works" and, unfortunately, gets it.

Pvt. Snafu thinks he's too smart to get caught by an enemy booby trap, but he soon finds that the traps are alluring and that he is every bit the booby.

During Italian renaissance, young painter Raffaello Sanzio falls in love with Margherita, a maiden of the people, becomes her lover and lives with her. But this relationship arouses the jealousy of a beautiful aristocrat who secretly orders the kidnapping of the girl. Raffaello falls into a state of prostration and does everything he can to find Margherita...

While her husband is abroad, Luisa receives a visit from an old love, her cousin, who becomes a "dangerous attraction". Her husband's stay abroad is prolonged and her loneliness overwhelms her and her attraction to her cousin increases.

The German conquerors are above nothing, not even the slaughter of small children, to break the spirit of their Soviet captives. Suffering more than most is Olga, a Soviet partisan who returns to the village to bear her child, only to endure the cruelest of arbitrary tortures at the hands of the Nazis. Eventually, the villagers rise up against their oppressors-but unexpectedly do not wipe them out, choosing instead to force the surviving Nazis to stand trial for their atrocities in a postwar "people's court." (It is also implied that those who collaborated with the Germans will be dealt with in the same evenhanded fashion).

A WWII flyer fails to join the RAF so he joins the Air - Sea Rescue instead. His boat is out in all conditions picking up downed pilots and taking them to safety.

A young husband becomes a game-show participant in the hopes of winning the cash to pay his pregnant wife's doctor.

Jerry runs into a dog pound (and right on top of a napping Spike) to escape a rather mangy-looking Tom. To avoid being ripped to shreds, Tom borrows the head of a nearby dog statue. This easily fools the dogs, but not Jerry, and Tom keeps losing his newfound head...

In Sing a Jingle, Allan Jones plays popular radio crooner Roy King, who goes to work in a war plant after being declared 4F. He falls in love with Muriel Crane, the boss' daughter, who is at first unaware of the fact that King is the heartthrob of millions (he's gotten the job under an assumed name).

The Utah Kid was a late entry in Monogram's "Trail Blazers" series. These low-budget westerns usually featured three cowboy stars; this time, however, there are only two, Bob Steele and Hoot Gibson. Though neither star is a spring chicken, Steele is the younger of the two, so he's the "Utah Kid" by default. The plot, involving a gang of crooks who go around fixing rodeo results, was designed to accommodate yards and yards of stock footage.

Tom and Cora Elliott love their active social life so much that they neglect their daughter Mary and son Les. Fred Mason, Tom's neighbor and the doctor at the defense plant employing Tom, worries about the effect that Tom and Cora's drinking and socializing have on the children....

Framed for two crimes he didn't commit, and betrayed by his girl, Cliff Banks finds himself on the run from the police. Now distrustful of everyone, he finds a safe haven hiding out at a quaint country cottage under the care of a kindly old farmer and his daughter, a Cinderella-like blind woman who seems to be able to communicate with nature. There he is forced by their love to question his misanthropy.

This short celebrates the 20th anniversary of MGM. Segments are shown from several early hits, then from a number of 1944 releases.