Author Archive: Retro

Lorenzo Tucker, known as the black Valentino

Jerry Barker finds a lost boy whose rich father is extorted into paying a ransom for his return but the boy accidentally dies and Jerry goes to prison.

Simple Russian villagers find their happy lives interrupted when the Nazis ignore former treaties and begin a brutal occupation of Russia. Lots of songs written by Ira Gershwin and Aaron Copland. Produced by William Cameron Menzies. Dir. Lewis Milestone

Scotland Yard detective goes undercover to catch a terrorist bomber disguised as the meek owner of a movie theatre. Based on the novel “The Secret Agent” by Joseph Conrad. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock

Jimmy idolizes bootlegger Matt, and when he refuses to implicate his friend, he is sent to reform school. He befriends Shorty, a boy with a heart condition, and escapes to let the world know about the brutal conditions.

A couple’s big dreams give way to a life full of unexpected sadness and unexpected joy.

Two teachers, man-hungry Doris and restrained Marian, visit the Yorkshire moors a year after friend Evelyn disappeared there. On a stormy night, they take refuge in the isolated cottage of Stephen, one-time pianist shellshocked in the Spanish Civil War. Doris flees as soon as the flood subsides; but Marian’s suspicions about Evelyn’s fate, in conflict with her growing love for Stephen, prompt her to stay on among the misty bogs.