Houdini (1998)
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A biography of the renowned escape artist Harry Houdini, examining his fascination with the occult and his promise to his wife on her deathbed that he would speak from the beyond.
By the early 1900s, the extraordinary Houdini earned an international reputation for his theatrical tricks and daring feats of extrication from shackles, ropes, handcuffs, and Scotland Yard's jails... The film depicts Houdini's memorable escape from any pair of handcuffs produced by the audience; the outdoor exhibition, when he allows himself to be hanged upside down from his ankles, suspended from the roof of a high building, in a strait jacket; and, the dramatic act, when he accepts to be shackled with irons and placed in a box that is locked, roped, and submerged in frozen waters...
In what would cause a fantastic media frenzy, Clifford Irving (Gere) sells his bogus biography of Howard Hughes to a premiere publishing house in the early 1970s.
The biography of Ron Kovic. Paralyzed in the Vietnam war, he becomes an anti-war and pro-human rights political activist after feeling betrayed by the country he fought for.
On a tour of Britain in 1926, Harry Houdini enters into a passionate affair with a psychic out to con the famous magician.
A biography of Woody Guthrie, one of America's greatest folk singers. He left his dust-devastated Texas home in the 1930s to find work, discovering the suffering and strength of America's working class.
A masochistic cop, who hides her predilection from her cop husband, gets involved in pursuing a kidnapper nicknamed Harry for Harry Houdini
Follow the man behind the magic as he finds fame, engages in espionage, battles spiritualists and encounters the greatest names of the era, from U.S. presidents to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Grigori Rasputin.
Al Stump is a famous sports-writer chosen by Ty Cobb to co-write his official, authorized 'autobiography' before his death. Cobb, widely feared and despised, feels misunderstood and wants to set the record straight about 'the greatest ball-player ever,' in his words.
Biopic about 1970s British marijuana trafficker Howard Marks, whose inventive smuggling schemes made him a huge success in the drug trade, as well as leading to dealings with both the IRA and British Intelligence. Based on Marks' biography with the same title.
28-year-old Kansas University doctoral student Omar Razaghi wins a grant to write a biography of Latin American writer Jules Gund. Omar must get through to three people who were close to Gund--his brother, widow, and younger mistress--so he can get authorization to write the biography. Written by Marisa_Gabriella, edited by Krystal Frauendienst
Jailed unjustly for a murder he did not commit, a young man uses his amazing powers of escape to free himself and pursue the actual killers, who hold his fiancée captive.
Biography of Loretta Lynn, a country and western singer that came from poverty to fame.
Two children in 1917 take a photograph, believed by some to be the first scientific evidence of the existence of fairies. Based on a true story
Fictionalized biography of George Gershwin and his fight to bring serious music to Broadway.
The movie show us how life was in Argentina for dissident people, in the seventies, under the military government.
The Jolson Story is a 1946 musical biography which purports to tell the life story of singer Al Jolson. It stars Larry Parks as Jolson, Evelyn Keyes as "Julie Benson" (approximating Jolson's wife, Ruby Keeler), William Demarest as his manager, Ludwig Donath and Tamara Shayne as his parents, and Scotty Beckett as the young Jolson.
A girl calls on her brother's imaginary friend to banish a mischievous boogeyman who has framed her for his pranks.
A Broadway playwright puts murder in his plan to take credit for a student's script.
Two interwoven stories. The first is a biography of anarchist Sakae Osugi which follows his relationship with three women in the 1920s. The second centers around two 1960s' students researching Osugi's theories.
George Wallace is a 1997 television film starring Gary Sinise as George Wallace, the former Governor of Alabama. It was directed by John Frankenheimer, who won an Emmy award for it; Sinise and Mare Winningham also won Emmies for their performances. The film was based on the 1996 biography Wallace : The Classic Portrait of Alabama Governor George Wallace by Marshall Frady, who also co-wrote the teleplay. Frankenheimer's film was highly praised by critics: in addition to the Emmy awards, it received the Golden Globe for Best Miniseries/Motion Picture made for TV. Angelina Jolie also received a Golden Globe for her performance as Wallace's second wife, Cornelia.
The young and self-confident Danny blufs at the local police-station that he will escape out of prison within one hour. What follows is a flashback about his childhood with his uncle and aunt, which are 'vaudeville'-artists themselves.
Georg is a biography drama film about Estonian singer Georg Ots.
A biopic based on the life story of J.C. Daniel, the pioneer of Malayalam cinema. It is a detailed account on Daniel's life, making of his film Vigathakumaran and the tragic story of Vigathakumaran's heroine P. K. Rosie. The film is particularly based on the novel Nashta Naayika by Vinu Abraham (which details the story of Rosie) and the biography of J. C. Daniel by Chelangatt Gopalakrishnan.
A film about the troubled and controversial life of the master comedy filmmaker.
The autobiography of a Somalian nomad circumcised at 3, sold in marriage at 13, fled from Africa a while later to become finally an American supermodel and is now at the age of 38, the UN spokeswoman against circumcision.
Cremaster 5 (55 min, 1997) is a five-act opera (sung in Hungarian) set in late-ninteenth century Budapest. The last film in the series, Cremaster 5 represents the moment when the testicles are finally released and sexual differentiation is fully attained. The lamenting tone of the opera suggests that Barney invisions this as a moment of tragedy and loss. The primary character is the Queen of Chain (played by Ursula Andress). Barney, himself, plays three characters who appear in the mind of the Queen: her Diva, Magician, and Giant. The Magician is a stand-in for Harry Houdini, who was born in Budapest in 1874 and appears as a recurring character in the Cremaster cycle.
In February, 1962, as the civil rights movement reaches Bayonne, Louisiana, a New York journalist arrives to interview Jane Pittman, who has just turned 110. She tells him her story dating back to her earliest memories before slavery ended. In between the chapters of her life, the present-day struggles of Blacks in Bayonne, urged on by Jimmy, are dramatized.
A seedy writer of sleazy pulp novels is recruited by a quirky, reclusive ex-actor to help him write his biography at his house in Malta.
It is winter in the mid-1970s in Tornio, a village near the northern border between Finland and Sweden. Esko is a boy with a lot of problems. He has succeeded in getting on the wrong side of his gang.
Biography of the British painter Francis Bacon. The movie focuses on his relationship with George Dyer, his lover. Dyer was a former small time crook.
A detachment of the Polish IFOR forces in Bosnia is led by Major Keller, who is being investigated for insubordination during a patrol in Srebrenica. The investigation is to be led by two arriving officers - Lieutenant Czacki and Major Kusz who will also replace Keller as CO. When the camp's RTO receives a communication from a downed Norwegian chopper, Keller ignores his standing orders and leads a platoon to rescue the crew.
Famed reporter Stephen O'Malley travels to a small town to investigate the death of a national hero.
"Intimate Grammar" is a sensitive study of an inner journey rich in detailed observation. A dysfunctional family and delayed puberty make life miserable for a pre-adolescent growing up in Jerusalem in the 1960's. The film, an adaptation of David Grossman's "The Book of Intimate Grammar", shows our hero, Aharon Kleinfeld, striving to survive his domineering mother, his anti-intellectual father and his own diminutive stature in a setting of a lower-middle-class housing development where gossip is rampant and appearances are all important.
Biography of the legendary entertainer Bill Robinson, also known as Mr. Bojangles.
In 1974, a group of 11-year-old boys spend the last carefree summer of their childhood, unaware that the world of grown-ups, with its loves, passions, prejudices and curses, is about to seal their fate. Aaron, Stelios, Sakis, Galanos and Verios, "the acrobats", are best friends. School has closed for the summer holidays and the children spend their time playing games, running errands, and riding their bikes. Life is a game, into which they channel all their physical energy and imagination. They practice their diving abilities in a big cistern. It is a game through which their special talents and competitive spirit unfold. One is good at balancing acts, another at diving and another at somersaults. It is in this neighborhood that Aaron will spend the most important summer of his life: a rite of passage from childhood to adolescence, a time for learning about love, jealousy and friendship.
A New York stockbroker refuses to cooperate in a large securities fraud case involving corruption on Wall Street, corporate banking world and mob infiltration. Based on Jordan Belfort's autobiography.
One in a Million: The Ron LeFlore Story was a 1978 made for TV movie telling the story of Ron LeFlore, a troubled Detroit youth who rose from Michigan prisons to star in Major League Baseball with the Detroit Tigers. The movie was based on LeFlore's autobiography, Breakout: From Prison to the Big Leagues.
It follows LeFlore from his heroin addiction, to his time in Michigan's Jackson State Penitentiary, and tells of his discovery in prison by Billy Martin, who was then the manager of the Detroit Tigers. The role of Ron LeFlore was played by LeVar Burton. Larry B. Scott portrayed Ron LeFlore's younger brother.
Former Detroit manager Billy Martin played himself, and former Tiger players Norm Cash, Bill Freehan, Al Kaline, and Jim Northrup also appeared as themselves. The movie first aired on CBS Television on September 26, 1978.
This sometimes confusing erotic drama about the incestuous relationship of a mother and daughter is based on the autobiography of Italian theater actress Piera Degli Esposti though it focuses more on her mother Eugenia (Hanna Schygulla).
A lonely and emotionally neglected rich kid forms an attachment to one of the men who kidnap him during a botched robbery of his father's safe.
This biographical drama, based on the late actress's autobiography, chronicles her attempts to rescue her drug addicted son while simultaneously trying to overcome her life-threatening cancer.
A family living on a farm finds mysterious crop circles in their fields which suggests something more frightening to come.
As bareknuckled boxing enters the modern era, brash extrovert Jim Corbett uses new rules and dazzlingly innovative footwork to rise to the top of the top of the boxing world.
A gathering of friends. A gift of love. A celebration of life.
A chronicle of Nelson Mandela's life journey from his childhood in a rural village through to his inauguration as the first democratically elected president of South Africa.
In this biographical film, glamorous yet lonely star Joan Crawford (Faye Dunaway) takes in two orphans, and at first their unconventional family seems happy. But after Joan's attempts at romantic fulfillment go sour and she is fired from her contract with MGM studios, her callous and abusive behavior towards her daughter Christina (Diana Scarwid) becomes even more pronounced. Christina leaves home and takes her first acting role, only to find her mother's presence still overshadowing her.
Marine bandmaster John Philip Sousa (Clifton Webb) becomes famous for his marches and inspires the sousaphone.
A young man aspiring for recognition of his talents battles against his estranged father's sentiment towards him as the father deals with his own demons.
A biography of Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd, a gangster who started his career at a young age after seeking revenge for his father's murder.
A young black pianist becomes embroiled in the lives of an upper-class white family set among the racial tensions, infidelity, violence, and other nostalgic events in early 1900s New York City.
Control is the biography of Joy Division lead singer Ian Curtis, taking his story from schoolboy days of 1973 to his suicide on the eve of the band's first American tour in 1980.
A satiric tragi-comedy about two women and their lover Robert who is an emigrant that keeps coming back. This film shows chaotic post-communist Europe after the fall of totalitarianism. Two opposite characters, women, meet during the Velvet Revolution in November 1989. Intellectual dissident Nona and a Communist secret police bossâ mistress Ester. They meet at an anti-regime demonstration and become friends. They donât want anything to do with politics, both want to get married and have kids, but also get rich. Crazy plans and risky attempts to realize their shared dreams land them in many sticky situations in the post-revolution chaos. Too much money gets in the way of the power of friendship.
The film is a biography of Pope John Paul II. It starts in 1926 when the boy Karol Wojtila was celebrating Christmas with his father in Poland. Some years later Nazi Germany attacks Poland and invades the country while Wojtila seeks refuge at the house of Cardinal Wyszynski. Also appear all the other important stations of the life of the Pope.
The story of the rouge sorcerer Simon Magus, re-imagined and set in contemporary Paris.
Interrupted Melody is the inspirational filmed biography of world-renowned Australian soprano Marjorie Lawrence. Sheâs a foremost Wagnerian, equal to the vocal and physical demands of the composerâs oeuvre. And sheâs a beacon of triumph to anyone who fights back when personal tragedy strikes.
A biography of the dancer Isadora Duncan, the 1920s dancer who forever changed people's ideas of ballet. Her nude, semi-nude, and pro-Soviet dance projects as well as her attitudes on free love, debt, dress, and lifestyle shocked the public of her time.
All Cassie Nightingale (Catherine Bell) wants for her birthday is for her family and friends to be together. While her husband Jake (Chris Potter) suggests an intimate dinner at a fancy restaurant in their hometown of Middleton, Cassie would rather have a party at The Grey House, with all her loved ones in attendance. And since Jake's kids, Brandon (Matthew Knight) and Lori (Hannah Endicott-Douglas), are growing up with lives of their own, it might be their last chance to unite as a family for a long time. As Cassie's special day is fast approaching, Lori discovers disturbing parallels between Cassie and Cassie's great aunt, nicknamed the Grey Lady, who disappeared at her own birthday party years before. With signs of a curse looming over her, it's clear that Cassie needs to conjure up more than a little magic to make things right again. Is there birthday magic in the air or is it a birthday curse?
An unsuccessful over-the-top actress becomes a successful over-the-top authoress in this biography of Jacqueline Susann, the famed writer of "The Valley Of The Dolls" and other trashy novels. Facing a failing career, Susann meets a successful promoter who becomes her husband. After several failures to place her in commercials and a TV quiz show, he hits upon the idea for her to become a writer. In the pre-60's, her books were looked upon as trash and non-printable. But then the sexual revolution hit and an audience was born for her books. The story shows the hidden behind the scenes story of Susan's life, including her autistic son and her continuing bout with cancer that she hid up to her death
Serpico is a 1973 American biopic directed by Sidney Lumet and starring Al Pacino. It's based on Peter Maas' biography of NYPD officer Frank Serpico, who went undercover to expose corruption in the force. The film and its principals were nominated for numerous awards, and together with Scarecrow, which was released the same year, it marked the big breakthrough for Al Pacino. The film was also a commercial success.
A man in search of his past, and a woman who lives in the moment, are brought together when they pursue the origins of a stray parrot in this comedic and romantic drama.
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