1954 – Stream On Demand

Burt Lancaster and Gary Cooper in the 1954 western by Robert Aldrich

‘Vera Cruz’ – The proto-spaghetti western on Prime Video

!Featured, Amazon Prime Video, Blu-ray, Classic Movie, DVD, Hollywood Classic, SVOD, western 11/30/2023 Sean Axmaker

Burt Lancaster and Gary Cooper are American mercenaries selling their services to the highest bidder in Robert Aldrich’s energetically cynical south of the border western

‘Touchez pas au grisbi’ – the criminal code in the mercenary French underworld on Kanopy

!Featured, Blu-ray, Crime, Criterion, DVD, film noir, Free, French noir, gangsters, heist, International Classics, Kanopy, SVOD 11/16/2023 Sean Axmaker

Jean Gabin stars as the smooth elder statesman of gangsters in the French underworld in Jacques Becker’s graceful, wistful gangster film .

Rod Steiger and Marlon Brandon in the Oscar-winning film by Elia Kazan

Marlon Brando in ‘On the Waterfront’ on Criterion Channel

!Featured, Academy Award, Amazon Prime Video, BAFTA winner, Blu-ray, Classic Movie, Criterion, drama, DVD, Essential Viewing, Hollywood Classic, National Film Registry, SVOD 06/11/2023 Sean Axmaker

Elia Kazan’s drama set on the mob-dominated docks of New York costars Karl Malden, Rod Steiger, and Eva Marie Saint and won eight Academy Awards.

‘From Here to Eternity’ – love in the time of World War II on Max

!Featured, Academy Award, based on a novel, Blu-ray, Classic Movie, drama, DVD, Essential Viewing, Max, Romance, SVOD, war 01/04/2023 Sean Axmaker

Burt Lancaster, Deborah Kerr, and Montgomery Clift star in the Oscar-winning classic romantic drama set in the days leading up to Pearl Harbor.

‘Creature from the Black Lagoon’ – beauty and the beast on Criterion Channel

!Featured, Blu-ray, Classic Movie, Criterion Channel, Cult Movies, DVD, Essential Viewing, fantasy, giant monsters, Halloween, horror, SVOD 12/03/2022 Sean Axmaker

Jack Arnold’s horror classic introduced one of the most iconic movie monsters of all time.

The original ‘Godzilla’ on HBO Max, Peacock, and Criterion Channel

!Featured, Blu-ray, Classic Movie, Criterion Channel, DVD, Essential Viewing, giant monsters, International Classics, Max, Peacock, Science Fiction, SVOD 11/03/2022 Sean Axmaker

The greatest atomic age giant monster rises from the radioactive depths and descends upon Tokyo in the 1954 classic, now restored to its original Japanese cut.

Toshiro Mifune stars in ‘The Samurai Trilogy’ on HBO Max and Criterion Channel

!Featured, Academy Award, adventure, based on a novel, Blu-ray, Criterion Channel, DVD, historical, International Classics, martial arts, Max, samurai, SVOD 04/19/2022 Sean Axmaker

Hiroshi Inagake’s three-film adaptation of Eiji Yoshikawa’s epic novel embraces the mythic dimensions with a removed, distant style that elevates the character to tragic hero.

Jane Wyman and Rock Hudson star in the 1954 melodrama classic by Douglas Sirk

‘Magnificent Obsession’ – grand melodrama on Criterion Channel

!Featured, Academy Award nominee, based on a novel, Blu-ray, Classic Movie, Criterion, Criterion Channel, Cult Movies, drama, DVD, Hollywood Classic, literary adaptation, remake, Romance, SVOD 02/02/2022 Sean Axmaker

Rock Hudson and Jane Wyman star in the first great melodrama by director Douglas Sirk, an operatic tale of hubris and loss and sacrifice and rebirth in a Technicolor world.

Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, and Vera Ellen star in 'White Christmas'

‘White Christmas’ on Netflix

!Featured, Blu-ray, Christmas, Classic Movie, DVD, Hollywood Classic, Musical, Netflix, SVOD 12/19/2021 Sean Axmaker

Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, and Rosemary Clooney star in the 1954 Christmas classic, still one of the most beloved holiday films of all time.

‘Riot in Cell Block 11’ on Criterion Channel

!Featured, American Independent Cinema, Blu-ray, Classic Movie, Crime, Criterion, Criterion Channel, Cult Movies, DVD, film noir, SVOD, thriller 01/26/2021 Sean Axmaker

It may not have been obvious at the time but Riot in Cell Block 11 (1954) was a perfect match of film and filmmaker. Don Siegel later made a name for himself with his gritty Clint Eastwood collaborations (not to mention his brilliant Invasion of the Body Snatchers) but was just a promising journeyman director […]