Tag: 1950s

  • Evita

    The hit musical based on the life of Evita Duarte, an Argentinian actress who eventually became the wife of Argentinian president Juan Perón, and the most beloved and hated woman in Argentina.

  • Chocolat

    A mother and daughter move to a small French town where they open a chocolate shop. The town, religious and morally strict, is against them, as they represent free-thinking and indulgence. When a group of gypsies arrive by riverboat, the Mayor’s prejudices lead to a crisis.

  • The Bookie & the Bruiser

    In 1959 New York, a pensive Jewish fellow named Rivner befriends an oversized Italian-American tough named Boscolo from the Lower East Side. Both men served overseas during WWII and returned changed, no longer fitting inside the lives they’d left behind. Uninterested in taking orders from bosses or playing by the rules of polite society, the two friends partner up as a bookmaker and an enforcer and create an illicit gambling operation that proves to be very profitable, though risky, and their situation gets rather sticky when they find themselves stuck between a powerful Irish gang and the Mafia.

  • Going All the Way

    Korean War–era veterans and ex-classmates “Gunner” Casselman and “Sonny” Burns reunite upon their return home. Gunner, who spent the war years abroad, is trying to convince his mother that his gal Marty is good enough for him, while Sonny, who was stationed stateside, is torn between loyal Buddy and tempting Gale Ann. As they commiserate, the men realize that they’re outgrowing the lives they lived before the war.

  • L.A. Confidential

    Three detectives in the corrupt and brutal L.A. police force of the 1950s use differing methods to uncover a conspiracy behind the shotgun slayings of the patrons at an all-night diner.

  • Beefcake

    A look at the 1950s muscle men’s magazines and the representative industry which were popular supposedly as health and fitness magazines, but were in reality primarily being purchased by the still-underground homosexual community. Chief among the purveyors of this literature was Bob Mizer, who maintained a magazine and developed sexually inexplicit men’s films for over 40 years. Aided by his mother, the two maintained a stable of not so innocent studs.

  • Gods and Monsters

    It’s 1957, and James Whale’s heyday as the director of “Frankenstein,” “Bride of Frankenstein” and “The Invisible Man” is long behind him. Retired and a semi-recluse, he lives his days accompanied only by images from his past. When his dour housekeeper, Hannah, hires a handsome young gardener, the flamboyant director and simple yard man develop an unlikely friendship, which will change them forever.

  • The Day Silence Died

    A handsome and mysterious stranger, played by Darío Grandinetti, walks into the town square of Villaserena one day and strategically places loudspeakers around the town, blaring a variety of musical tunes. Soon, he begins to sell airtime to the various locals, who broadcast their own personal love dedications and (more frequently) insults for all to hear. A subplot evolves between Abelardo (the stranger), Celeste (a young woman who is chained inside her father’s house to stop her running away), and José (a young man).

  • Liberty Heights

    This semi-autobiographical film by Barry Levinson follows various members of the Kurtzman clan, a Jewish family living in suburban Baltimore during the 1950s. As teenaged Ben completes high school, he falls for Sylvia, a black classmate, creating inevitable tensions. Meanwhile, Ben’s brother, Van, attends college and becomes smitten with a mysterious woman while their father tries to maintain his burlesque business.

  • Snow Falling on Cedars

    In the 1950s, a Japanese-American fisherman is suspected of killing his neighbour at sea. For Ishmael, a local reporter, the trial strikes a deep emotional chord when he finds his ex-lover is linked to the case. As he investigates the killing, he uncovers some startling clues that lead him to a shocking discovery.