Cinematic Era: 1953 Vintage

Comedy from Hong Kong directed by Chiang Wai-Kwong.

CLEOPATRA FOLLIES aka FLAME OF ISLAM was the first of five burlesque shorts presented in “Gorgeous Multi-Color” anaglyphic 3-D by Oakland and San Francisco burlesque theater magnate, Harry A. Farros. CLEOPATRA FOLLIES starred popular dancers Paula French and Shirley Hayes, aka The Pussy Cat Girl. The long-lost 1953 3-D burlesque short by the great Ed Wood Jr., writer and director of such timeless classics as GLEN OR GLENDA, BRIDE OF THE MONSTER and PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE. Photographed in “exciting Multi-Vision Third Dimension,” CLEOPATRA FOLLIES was recently discovered and restored by the 3-D Film Archive.

Len Lye made this experiment in animating poetry circa 1953 utilising a clip of Sir John Gielgud reciting a passage from The Tempest.

A monumental piece of art bringing the heroes of the ancient Czech myths back to life. The picture consists of seven parts: Cech the Forefather, Bivoj, Libuse, Premysl, Girls War, Horymir, Lucka War.

Acting as a local chieftain leader on behalf of his ailing father, Herman made a relentless call to his people to unite and help build the road to transport their goods when the government falls deaf on their petition to do the project. His call at first was responded hesitantly by his people but with the help with his former girlfriend Nita, people heeded the call and helped with the road construction. With Ofelia making amends with her father and saying sorry to her teacher, the movie ends with Herman and Nita realizing their dreams.

The bizarre tale of Pennsylvania Railroad fireman Henry who is involved in a hunting accident. He ends up in Limbo where a supernatural figure explains that he is now required to cause accidents on the railroad line to gather other souls for his patron. This unique premise allows the filmmakers to show nearly all types of accidents, from switch weights dropped on feet to maiming and — death.

Past Lovers (Italian: Amanti del passato) is a 1953 Italian melodrama film that was directed by Adelchi Bianchi and starring Lia Amanda, Vittorio Sanipoli and Irene Genna.

The best foremen of the two competing collective farms, Olga Stepanova and Maxim Orlov, have long been in love with each other. But between the bride and groom there is a quarrel on the industrial soil, and everything goes to the gap.

A documentary film about parachute training in the Voluntary Union of People's Aviation.

A STRING OF BLUE BEADS is a slight little Christmas tale that was a pilot for an anthology series of short stories that never came to be. What makes this little film fascinating is it was one of the earliest color broadcasts on television and happily is one of the few early color productions for TV that can be seen in color now. Early color television productions seem to have had a limited color capability much like the early 1930's attempts at Technicolor. This actually adds to the charm of this little Christmas story giving in an "old time" feel.

Popeye and Bluto fight over taking Olive out; she decides they'll all stay home together. While looking over a family album, Popeye tells the story of a day-long fight he and Bluto had as infants.

An instructional film profiling the dragnet fishing technique as practiced by Danish sailors.

A pickpoket falls in love with one of his victims.

Filmed in Uganda, Man of Africa was assembled by legendary documentary producer John Grierson. The film depicts the mass migration of the Bakija and Batwa tribes to a new territory after the natural resources of their native soil has been depleted. The pro-ecological message is always present, but never so much as to degenerate into fatuous speechmaking. As a means to introduce the semblance of a plot, writer/director Cyril Frankel concentrates on the trials and tribulations of clerk-cum-farmer Jonathan (Frederick Bijurenda) and his native sweetheart Violet (Violet Mukabuerza). Print quality in Man of Africa varies from adequate to murky.

Worldy renowned for his masterpiece The Housemaid (1960), Kim Ki-young debuts with his first short film I Am a Truck (1953), which was sponsored by UN and made a year after the armistice of the Korean War. This film is a fascinating glimpse into the mind of a soon-to-be powerful auteur and influential filmmaker in the post-war Korean cinema, if not the whole history of Korean cinema.

After returning home from war, an ill-tempered young soldier must deal with his sweetheart having married another man.

Bou Thakuranir Haat is a Bengali drama film directed by Naresh Mitra based on a novel of Rabindranath Tagore in the same name, published in 1883. The film is based on the real-life story of Jessore Raj Pratapaditya. Pratapaditya is described as an antagonist more than a protagonist in this film.

Another race between the hare and tortoise but this time the hare bets on the tortoise to win. But no matter how much the hare slows down, the tortoise remains far in the rear. He finally attaches some jets to the tortoise but they backfire and the hare wins for the first time, but loses again because of the bet.

Two-part biopic about General Karol Świerczewski, living embodiment of the party line, and the group of party members from his hometown fighting the fascist forces towards the socialist state of affairs.

A man's pursuit of a luxurious life and creative ambition leads to a mysterious death, forcing him to face the dark consequences of his divided loyalties.

Schwalk, the new shaft foreman of a road construction brigade, is a go-getter and used to success - both at work and with women. But this time things don't go so smoothly. Although he initially has an easy time with the brigadier Erika, who falls in love with him, things come to a head at work. His ambition to win a competition causes him to slip up during road construction. Erika is outraged by his selfish behavior and suspects that he is just looking for an erotic adventure with her. She turns her back on him. However, Schalk recognizes his mistakes and does everything he can to make up for the damage - to the building site and to Erika. The road is handed over on schedule.

An apartment building with apartments for single women is the setting for Faustman's drama about a group of women struggling with life and love, in particular with Eva, mistress to a man whose wife Anna also lives in the building.

This film deals with the administration of justice on the local level in Canada, as seen in the activities of Roderick Haig-Brown, fisherman, writer and magistrate in rural British Columbia. A portrayal of a few of the typical cases on his roster indicates the variety of criminal offences which come under the jurisdiction of a country magistrate's court. In showing the discharge of his responsibilities the film reveals the magistrate's important position in the community, the constant demands on his time, and the integrity of judgment required to uphold the law on the one hand and to act in executive restraint of police powers on the other. Based on parts of the book Measure of the Year by Roderick Haig-Brown.

Pullaiah is sent by his father to work in the city for a landlord. Pullaiah faces a lot of hardships and goes to jail, but finally is proved innocent.

This could be considered the inaugural film of the Jacobean fiction film. Its argument follows the adventures of a group of children of a Mexican Children's Choir, who travel as pilgrims to Compostela, coinciding with the Holy Year. On their journey, they meet a rich and elegant woman, with a sad and dark past, which will provide protection to them.

Rosa Maria, whose father is a sailor, was picked up by Tomé, having a child of her son Renato, who is expelled from home.

Laila is a beautiful and delicate woman. She lives with her grandfather in the Grand Palace, and he forbids her from going out or meeting strangers. The Pasha travels for Hajj, leaving Laila with her uncle to take care of her. Anwar and his colleague Shafshaq come to fix the broken phone in the palace. Anwar falls in love with Laila, believing that she is a housemaid, and they agree to get married.

Ismail and Abdo work at an antiquities shop. One day, they bring a box with a mummy inside. They are watched by a man who claims to be an archaeologist, but it turns out that he has a devilish plot that will get Ismail in big trouble.

A satire of the Cold War, Italian style. Soviet flunkey Boris Popovitc is sent on a goodwill mission to Rome, where he is to deliver a symbolic dove of peace to a group of WW II freedom fighters. Somehow, Boris winds up in Venice minus the dove. As he searches up street and down canal for the missing bird, he meets and falls in love with luscious flower-girl Maria.

Strict and always dissatisfied grumbler Mr. Angel gets a voucher for summer recreation. He rejects it at first but he eventually decides to use it and spend 14 days in unionist hut Jezerka together with other merited co-workers.

When Prachandudu kills Chandirani's mother and imprisons her father who is a king, she decides to eliminate him to avenge her mother's death and to save the people of the kingdom too.

A cheerful painter makes life impossible for a very serious girl.

General Electric sponsors this explanation of atomic energy, detailing some of its uses besides the bomb. Using animation and an off-screen narrator, the film describes the atom, elements and isotopes, the discovery of transmutation, experiments in artificial transmutation, and the reasons for the power of nuclear fission. The film argues that now, besides war, the atomic age holds promise for energy, farming, medicine, and research. The promise of the atomic age will depend on human wisdom.

Short about the daily life of the Apaches, including their ceremonies.

During the time of the confrontation, a group of young men led by Harun broke through the barricades of the Dutch navy patrol and landed at Mentawai Island. Their special mission is to detain Kafedo who is accused of collaborating with the enemy. Both men are romantically involved with Hiya. When the Dutch troops land on the island, Kafedo bravely demonstrates his love for the nation. So in the end, Harun allows Kafedo to marry Hiya.

People living on an island finds a treasure, but it does not only do them good.

A jockey buys his favorite horse.

A bankrupt man tries to marry a millionaire woman, which triggers a whole series of misunderstandings.

A policeman discovers that his girlfriend's father heads a drug smuggling band.

Spanish horror comedy from 1953.

Honoré, a valet, has an extremely logical mind and is unable to tell a lie. This comes in very fortunate for the family he works for.

A comedy about a white yacht and four attractive young women who want to impress a sailing club with their seaworthiness. A fifth "girl" turns out to be a photo reporter in disguise, who joins the voyage instead of his sister in order to get ahead professionally. Two of the women eventually get hitched.

Camille is a drag parody of the 1936 Garbo classic, filmed on Fire Island with an all-male cast of local residents and friends.

This film is a powerful reminder of the importance of human freedom and the need to protect our rights and liberties. It follows the inauguration of Columbia University's new president, General David Eisenhower, and includes speeches from a number of dignitaries, including former Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe, Admiral Leahy and Halsey. The film emphasizes the need to be educated and aware of the dangers of statism and communism, and the importance of preserving our freedoms and liberties, including the right of property, profit and wage incentives, competition, a free market, and a government that serves us, not rules us.

Not a feature film but episodes of the TV series "Ramar of the Jungle" edited together and released as a feature.