119m; U.S.
Director: Tay Garnett
Cast: Greer Garson, Gregory Peck and Donald Crisp
Synopsis (IMDB): Mary Rafferty comes from a poor family of steel mill workers in 19th Century Pittsburgh. Her family objects when she goes to work as a maid for the wealthy Scott family which controls the mill. Mary catches the attention of handsome scion Paul Scott, but their romance is complicated by Paul’s engagement to someone else and a bitter strike among the mill workers.
90m; U.S.
Director: John M. Stahl
Cast: Irene Dunne, Charles Boyer and Barbara O’Neil
Synopsis: Washington Post columnist and American Prospect editor Harold Meyerson is one of the most incisive political commentators in the United States. Harold has also written about movies and entertainment (He is author of the book “Who Put the Rainbow in the Wizard of Oz?” about the lyricist Yip Harburg) so I asked him to write about anything he wanted to related to movies and politics. Harold can write authoritatively about almost anything. His fascinating review of the 1930s movie When Tomorrow Comes – a film he calls the “Lefty-est Thirties studio movie you’ve never heard of,” can be found at http://www.politicsfilm.blogspot.com/ Hope you enjoy this look back in film history which is an implicit critique of the state of filmmaking today. Kelly Candaele
102m; China
Director: Zhu Chuan-ming
Cast: Mao Mao, An Qi
Synopsis: Broad, realistic love story set in a cold winter in a poor outer suburb of Beijing. In the middle of the bustle and the crowds, a clothes seller and a prostitute find each other. But will it make them any happier?
Contact: International Film Festival Rotterdam Production Department: production@filmfestivalrotterdam.com
113m; U.S.
Director: Mike Nichols
Cast: Melanie Griffith, Harrison Ford and Sigourney Weaver
Synopsis (IMDB): Tess McGill is a frustrated secretary, struggling to forge ahead in the world of big business in New York. She gets her chance when her boss breaks her leg on a skiing holiday. McGill takes advantage of her absence to push ahead with her career. She teams up with investment broker Jack Trainer to work on a big deal. The situation is complicated after the return of her boss.
120m; Canada
Director: Jacob Tierney
Cast: Liane Balaban, Jay Baruchel and Taylor Baruchel
Synopsis: Leon Bronstein is a high school student in Montreal West who is absolutely convinced he is the reincarnation of Leon Trotsky. After leading a hunger strike with some of his fellow private school peers against his father, the owner of a textile factory who will not allow the workers to unionize, Leon is sent to public school. There he finds apathy, but also potential and begins to organize a student union, while also pursuing an older woman he is convinced he must marry. A very funny and smart film that includes a lot of genuine moments about the power of organizing, and a lot of jokes about labor and left-wing history.
Trailer
99m; U.S.
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Cast: Margaret Sullavan, James Stewart and Frank Morgan
Synopsis (IMDB): In Budapest, Hungary, the Matuschek and Company store is owned by Mr. Hugo Matuschek and the bachelor Alfred Kralik is his best and most experienced salesman. When Klara Novak seeks a job position of saleswoman in the store, Matuschek hires her but Kralik and she do not tolerate each other. Meanwhile the lonely and dedicated Kralik has an unknown pen pal that he intends to propose very soon; however, he is fired without explanation by Matuschek in the night that he is going to meet his secret love. He goes to the bar where they have scheduled their meeting with his colleague Pirovitch and he surprisingly finds that Klara is his correspondent; however, ashamed with the unemployment, he does not disclose his identity to her. When Matuschek discovers that he had misjudged Kralik and committed a mistake, he hires him again for the position of manager. But Klara is still fascinated with her future fiancé and does not pay much attention to Kralik.
85m; U.S.
Director: Ray Enright
Cast: Pat O’Brien, Henry Fonda and Stuart Erwin
Synopsis (IMDB): A veteran lineman takes an awe-struck young farmer under his wing, but problems arise when he introduces him to his occasional girlfriend, a pretty nurse.
99m; U.S.
Director: Richard Quine
Cast: Judy Holliday, John Williams and Paul Douglas
Synopsis (IMDB): Laura Partridge is a very enthusiastic small stockholder of 10 shares in International Projects, a large corporation based in New York. She attends her first stockholder meeting ready to question the board of directors from their salaries to their operations. These are not the questions which the board expected to be asked of them, especially since they are all crooked, except for Edward McKeever, the current CEO who has resigned in order to take an advisory position at the Pentagon. Following the meeting, he bumps into Laura and offers to drive her home. On the way there, Laura displays her enthusiasm for being a stockholder, as a result, Edward takes a liking to her. With Edward in Washington, John Blessington and Clifford Snell establish their hold on International Projects – They see greater riches now that Edward has influence with the US senate, especially with the awarding of federal contracts.
71m; U.K.
Director: Shane Meadows
Cast: Thomas Turgoose, Ireneusz Czop and Piotr Jagiello
Synopsis: Two teenagers, both newcomers to London, forge an unlikely friendship over the course of a hot summer. Tomo (Thomas Turgoose) is a runaway from Nottingham; Marek (Piotr Jagiello), a Polish immigrant, lives in the district of Somers Town, between King’s Cross and Euston stations, where his dad is working on a new rail link. When Marek agrees to let homeless Tomo move into his room, unbeknownst to his father, the pair forms a strong bond, as they work odd jobs for an eccentric neighbor and compete for the attention of Maria, a beautiful young French waitress whom they are both infatuated with. But it’s only a matter of time before Marek’s dad discovers what’s going on…
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