Author Archive: Retro

Elderly woman, burned at the stake as a witch, puts a curse on the local preacher and his family, causing a series of tragic events. Based on actual witch trials of the early 17th Century. English subtitles.

Clever college boy comes home from school to make his home town an important place in the country. Gale Storm’s first big role. Dir. Louis Malle.

A former boxing champion, now an innkeeper, is accused of stealing a watch from a party of guests at his inn, who happen to be members of English royalty. The old man is arrested and thrown in prison. His son, knowing that his father didn’t steal the watch and suspecting a frame-up, follows the royal party to London, where he poses as a wealthy “gentleman” and insinuates himself into the English court in an effort to find out who framed his father and why.

Animated feature from France, “Johnny the Giant Killer” incorporates Disney, Dali, Tex Avery and Hanna-Barbera into a crazy, frenetic adventure. A group of boys stumble upon a giant’s castle, get captured and shrunken into miniature, and are then imprisoned. One boy escapes, is given refuge by a kingdom of bees, and then leads an insect invasion of the giant’s castle.