Movies and Plays
See also:
Drama and Theater
Television, Film, and Video
2 Days in the Valley
[DVD 868] 1996 HBO
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 104 mins
A mild-mannered hit man is hired by an icy killer to assist him on his latest
job. When two vice cops stumble on the murder scene, their investigation leads
to a colorful array of San Fernando Valley denizens, including a has-been
director and a snobbish art dealer whose lives come together in unexpected and
interesting ways. This clever thriller fits nicely into the eccentric category
of "Only in California." Cast: James Spader, Eric Stoltz, Jeff Daniels, Danny
Aiello.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
12 Angry Men
[DVD 323] 1957 MGM
4 3/4" DVD B&W 1 videodisc, 96 min.
The defense and the prosecution have rested and the jury is filing into the jury
room to decide if a young Latino man is guilty or innocent of murdering his
father. What begins as an open and shut case of murder soon becomes a mini-drama
of each of the jurors' prejudices and preconceptions about the trial, the
accused, and each other. Cast: Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb. Based on the play, all
of the action takes place on the stage of the jury room.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; Law and Government
21
[DVD 859] 2008 Columbia Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 123 mins
Fact-based story about six MIT students who were trained by an unorthodox math
professor to become experts in card counting in blackjack and subsequently took
Vegas casinos for millions in winnings. Cast: Kevin Spacey, Jim Sturgess, Kate
Bosworth.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Mathematics and Statistics
The 39 Steps 
[VHS 1083] 1935 Madacy Music Group
1/2" video B&W 1 cass., 83 min.
A man is falsely accused of murdering a spy and is chased across Scotland as he tries to
uncover a secret organization and catch the real villain. Cast: Robert Donat, Madeleine Carroll, Godfrey Tearle, Peggy Ashcroft.
The Alfred Hitchcock Collection.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
1984
[DVD 479] 1984 MGM
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 110 min.
George Orwell's novel of a totalitarian future society where Big Brother
is watching. Winston Smith endures a squalid existence in totalitarian
Oceania rewriting history the government does not approve of while under
the constant surveillance of Big Brother. His life takes a horrifying
turn when he begins a forbidden love affair and commits the crime of
independent thought. Cast: John Hurt, Richard Burton.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
2001, A Space Odyssey
[DVD 126] 1968 MGM
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 148 min.
The monoliths have been watching us. They gave us the "evolutionary kick in
the pants" we needed to survive at the Dawn of Time. In 1999, we discovered
a second monolith on the moon. Now, in the year 2001, the S.S. Discovery and its
crew, Captains Dave Bowman and Frank Poole, and their onboard computer,
HAL-9000, must discover what alien force is watching us. A science fiction film
which moves from the pre-historic birth of intelligence toward the emergence of
man as pure thought somewhere in the future. Screenplay by Stanley Kubrick and
Arthur C. Clarke. Cast: Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
20,000 Leagues Under The Sea
[VHS 1678] 1916 Kino Video
1/2" video B&W 1 cass., 105 min.
A team of 19th Century American scientists investigate a series of naval
disturbances believed to be caused by a sea monster. They soon find that the creature is
actually the Nautilius, a submarine piloted by Captain Nemo, a hate-driven renegade
seaman. Released by Universal in 1916, the first great special effects spectacular of the
early cinema. Cast: Allan Holubar, Jane Gail, Dan Hanlon. Based on the novel by Jules
Verne.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
The Adventures Of Pinocchio
[DVD 60] 1997 New Line Cinema
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 94 min.
A wooden puppet full of tricks and mischief, with a talent for getting into and out of
trouble, wants more than anything else to become a real boy. Based on a story by Carlo
Collodi. Cast: Landau, Martin, Thomas, Jonathan Taylor. Closed captioned.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Ah, Wilderness! By Eugene O'Neill
[VHS 1833] 1976
Broadway Theatre Archive
1/2" video Color
1 cass., 118 min.
A Long Wharf Theatre Company production of Eugene O'Neill's nostalgic paean to the rites
of adolescence. This affectionate comedy presents a 17 year old boy's coming of age during
a summer in 1906 New England where he experiments with his first romantic crush, poetry,
politics, wicked women and alcohol. Cast: Swoosie Kurtz, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Richard
Backus, William Swetland, Joyce Ebert. PBS television broadcast for Great Performances,
Theater in America.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
After The Thin Man
[DVD 237] 1936 MGM
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 112 min.
Back in San Francisco after solving his last case in New York, Nick and Nora find
another case. Nora's cousin Selma is accused of having murdered her husband, but
for Nick it's clear that she is not the murderer and he starts to investigate.
Cast: William Powell, Myrna Loy, James Stewart.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Air Force One
[DVD 851] 1997 Sony Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 124 mins
Terrorists have seized Air Force One thirty thousand feet in the air with the
President, his family, and more than fifty other people on board. The terrorists
threaten to execute a hostage every 30 minutes if their demands are not met.
Cast: Harrison Ford, Gary Oldman, Glenn Close.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Akira
[DVD 993] 1988 Geneon Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 124 mins
Set in 2019 in the new metropolis of Neo-Tokyo, Kaneda is a bike gang leader
whose close friend Tetsuo gets involved in a government secret project known as
Akira. On his way to save Tetsuo, Kaneda runs into a group of anti-government
activists, greedy politicians, irresponsible scientists and a powerful military
leader. The confrontation sparks off Tetsuo's supernatural power leading to
bloody death, a coup attempt and the final battle in Tokyo Olympiad where
Akira's secrets were buried 30 years ago. Based on a comic book series by
artist-writer Katsuhiro Ôtomo. Animation.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Akira Kurosawa's Dreams
[DVD 928] 1991 Warner Home Video
4 3/4" DVD Color
1 cass., 120 min.
Consists of eight episodes which among other things explore the costs of war, the perils
of nuclear power and humankind's need to harmonize with nature. In Japanese with English subtitles.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; Language: Japanese
Al Otro Lado = To The Other Side
[DVD 818] 2005 Univision Communications / Nuevo Cine
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 85 min.
The story of three young children in three different countries. Despite their
differences and distances from each other, they all share the same dilemma of
losing a parent to another country and then struggling with their loss. In
Spanish and Arabic with optional Spanish subtitles during Arabic dialogue or
optional English subtitles throughout.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Language: Spanish ; Immigration and Emigration
Alexandr Nevsky
[DVD 927] 1986 Mosfilm Studios/Crown Video
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 cass., 112 min.
A historical feature film originally released in 1938. Russian with English subtitles. A
story of the invasion of Russia in 1241 by the Teutonic Knights.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; Language: Russian
; Soviet Union and Russia
Ali
[DVD 51] 2002 Columbia TriStar
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 157 min.
Dramatic biography of boxing great Muhammad Ali, which focuses on the ten-year period of
1964-1974. In that time, the brash, motor-mouthed athlete quickly dominates his sport,
meets and marries his first wife, converts to Islam (changing his name from Cassius Clay),
and defies the United States government by refusing to submit to military conscription for
duty in Vietnam. His world heavyweight champion title thus stripped from him entirely for
political reasons, the champ sets about to win back his crown, culminating in a legendary
unification bout against George Foreman in Zaire, dubbed the "Rumble in the
Jungle." Cast: Will Smith, Jamie Foxx, Jon Voight, Mario Van Peebles, Ron Silver,
Jeffrey Wright, Mykelti Williamson, Jada Pinkett Smith, Nona M. Gaye, Michael Michele, Joe
Morton. Closed captioned.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; African Americans
Alice In Wonderland By Lewis Carroll
[VHS 1834] 1983
Broadway Theatre Archive
1/2" video Color 1 cass., 87 min.
From the elaborate Broadway revival of the 1932 Eva Le Gallienne/Florida Friebus
production comes a whimsical retelling of the Lewis Carroll classic. Cast: Richard Burton,
Colleen Dewhurst, Donald O'Conner. PBS television broadcast for Great Performances,
Theater in America.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
All About Eve
[DVD 485] 1950
20th Century Fox
4 3/4" DVD b&w 1
videodisc, 138 min.
From the moment she glimpses her idol at the stage door, Eve Harrington
is determined to take the reins of power away from the great actress
Margo Channing. Eve maneuvers her way into Margo's Broadway role,
becomes a sensation and even causes turmoil in the lives of Margo's
director boyfriend, her playwright and his wife. Only the cynical drama
critic sees through Eve, admiring her audacity and perfect pattern of
deceit. Cast: Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, George Sanders, Celeste Holm, Gary Merrill.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
All Quiet on the Western Front
[DVD 492] 1930 IFC
Films
4 3/4" DVD b&w 1 videodisc,
132 min.
Adaptation of the Remarque WWI novel on his a searing indictment of the insanity
of war. Focuses on the fates of young Paul Bauman and his classmates who have
enlisted to fight in the German army during WWI. Still on fire with the
patriotism instilled by their teacher, they arrive for training eager to face
death. When they reach the front lines they realize that the German troops have
few supplies and no food. The carnage of the battle shocks the boys and some are
driven mad. Day after day the recruits huddle in the trenches frightened
starving and unable to gain ground realizing that it is not glorious to die for
one's fatherland. Cast: Lew Ayres, Arnold Lucy, Louis Wolheim.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; World War 1914-1918; Europe:
Germany
All the King's Men
[DVD 486] 1949
Columbia Pictures
4 3/4" DVD b&w
1 videodisc, 109 min.
Willie Stark, a charismatic populist Southern politician (inspired by
the real Louisiana Governor Huey Long) who belies his "man of the
people" roots as he ruthlessly maneuvers, lies, and deals his way into
the halls of power. His right-hand man, Jack Burden, a newsman turned
political flack hangs on to Stark's early idealism even in the face of
Stark's most reprehensible acts of corruption. Cast: Broderick Crawford,
John Ireland, Joanne Dru, and John Derek.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Along Came A Spider
[DVD 61] 2001 Paramount
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 103 min.
Dr. Alex Cross is back to work the case of a girl who was kidnapped from her Washington,
D.C. school, a place where senators and diplomats send their children. Its up to Alex to
profile the kidnapper and find the girl. Cast: Morgan Freeman, Monica Potter, Michael
Wincott, Penelope Ann Miller, Dylan Baker, Michael Moriarty, Rika Booren, Jay O. Sanders,
Billy Burke.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Amadeus
[DVD 536] 1984 Orion Pictures.
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 160 min.
Antonio Salieri believes that Mozart's music is divine. He wishes he was himself
as good a musician as Mozart so that he can praise the Lord through composing.
But he can't understand why God favored Mozart, such a vulgar creature, to be
his instrument. Salieri's envy has made him an enemy of God whose greatness was
evident in Mozart. He is set to take revenge on God through the destruction of
Mozart. Cast: F. Murray Abraham, Tom Hulce, Elizabeth Berridge.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Music
American Beauty
[DVD 399] 1999 DreamWorks
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 122 min.
An emotionally & spiritually comatose suburban man decides "to hell with it all"
and reverts to living as he did when he was happiest--as a carefree teenager.
His desperately uptight wife and sullen daughter can only look on as he quits
his corporate job to become a burger flipper, starts getting high with a strange
new neighbor (whose parents are even stranger) and lusts after a pouty blonde
teenager--his daughter’s best friend. Cast: Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
American Gangster
[DVD 876] 2007 Universal Studios
4 3/4" DVD Color 2 videodisc, 174 min.
In 1970s America, a detective works to bring down the drug empire of Frank
Lucas, a heroin kingpin from Manhattan, who is smuggling the drug into the
country from the Far East. Cast: Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
American Graffiti
[DVD 797] 1973 Lucasfilms
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 112 min.
Where were you in '62? A couple of high school grads spend one final night
cruising the strip with their buddies before they go off to college. Cast:
Richard Dreyfus, Ron Howard, Cindy Williams, Paul LeMat. Directed by George
Lucas. see also: More American Graffiti
Subjects – Movies and Plays
An American in Paris
[DVD 283] 1951 MGM
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 114 min.
Jerry Mulligan, a struggling American painter in
Paris, is "discovered" by an influential heiress with an interest in
more than Jerry's art. Jerry in turn falls for Lise, a young French girl already
engaged to a cabaret singer. Jerry jokes, sings and dances with his best friend,
an acerbic would-be concert pianist, while romantic complications abound.
Musical. Cast: Gene Kelly, Leslie Caron.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
American Made
[DVD 478] 1998 American
Film Institute
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 25
min.
A Sikh family on the way to the Grand Canyon is stranded in a remote
area when their car breaks down. The father, clad in a traditional
turban, tries to get the attention of passing motorists, but they speed
by. His teenaged son thinks that no motorists will stop because they
think his dad looks like a terrorist. Thus begins a conflict between
assimilation and identity, faith and compromise, conformity versus
prejudice. Cast: Bernard White, Kalpen Modi, Sakina Jaffrey, Te'amir
Yohannes Sweeney.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Race Relations
American Me
[DVD 966] 1992 MCA Universal
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 126 min.
Tells the story about the creation of one of the biggest hispanic gangs in California, the
Mexican Mafia from the viewpoint of Santana, the co-creator of the gang, from his parents
violent youth all the way to the time he spends in prison. An enthralling look at gang
violence and how it effects our youth as it becomes a truly vicious cycle. Cast: Edward
James Olmos, William Forsythe, Pepe Serna, Evelina Fernandez.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; Latinos/Hispanic Americans
And The Band Played On
[DVD 926] 1993 HBO Home Video
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 cass., 140 min.
Dr. Don Francis, a researcher at the Centers for Disease Control, seeks to uncover the
cause of a number of mysterious deaths. Based on the book by Randy Shilts. Cast: Mathew
Modine, Alan Alda, Patrick Bauchau.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; Diseases: Aids/HIV ; Homosexuality
Andy Goldsworthy's Rivers & Tides
[DVD 337] 2004 Docurama
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 90 min.
Depicts the magical relationship between art and nature while painting a
visually intoxicating portrait of famed artist Andy Goldsworthy. Gorgeously shot
and masterfully edited, the film follows the bohemian free spirit Goldsworthy
all over the world as he demonstrates and opens up about his unique creative
process. From his long-winding rock walls and icicle sculptures to his
interlocking leaf chains and multicolored pools of flowers, Goldsworthy's
painstakingly intricate masterpieces are made entirely of materials found in
Mother Nature who threatens and often succeeds in destroying his art, sometimes
before it is even finished.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Art
Angels In America
[DVD 145] 2003 HBO Video
4 3/4" DVD Color 2 videodisc,352 min.
Set in 1985. Revolves around two very different men with AIDS, one fictional,
one fictionalized. Roy Cohn, personifies all the hypocrisy, delusion and
callousness of the official response to the plague. Nothing shakes Roy's lack of
empathy: even on his death bed, he's fighting with his gay nurse and taunting
the woman he helped put to death, Ethel Rosenberg. The other patient is Prior
Walter, who is visited by an angel and deserted by his self-pitying lover,
Louis. Louis moves on to a relationship with Joe Pitt, a Mormon lawyer whose
closeted homosexuality drives his wife to delusions and brings his mother to New
York. Cast: Al Pacino, Meryl Streep, Emma Thompson. Directed by Mike Nichols.
Based on the play by Tony Kushner. Closed captioned.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; Homosexuality
Angels With Dirty Faces
[DVD 230] 1949 Warner Bros.
4 3/4" DVD B&W 1 videodisc, 114 min.
Rocky Sullivan and Jerry Connolly were tough kids who grew up together in the
toughest part of New York --- Hell's Kitchen. Early on, Rocky gets sent to
reform school, where he learns how to be a first class criminal. Jerry, who had
escaped from the law, goes straight and becomes a priest. As adults, they
reunite in the old neighborhood: Jerry works with the kids who, like he and
Rocky, could end up on either side of the law. Rocky has returned looking for a
safe place to stay till he can get back into his old racketeering organization
-- something that his old partner isn't anxious to have happen. Lots of rapid
fire wisecracks, roughhousing and gunfire ensues. Cast: James Cagney, Pat
O’Brien.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Another Thin Man
[DVD 238] 1939 MGM
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 103 min.
In this adaptation of Dashiell Hammett's "The Farewell Murder". Col.
MacFay, an explosives manufacturer, is being threatened by a mysterious man
wanting revenge for a past injustice. He calls in Nick and Nora (with new baby)
to sort things out. When MacFay is murdered, that man is the obvious suspect-
maybe too obvious. Cast: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Virginia Grey.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Animal Farm
[DVD 925] 1955 Video Images
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 cass., 72 min.
Animated motion picture based on the George Orwell fable about farm animals who, after
revolting against their cruel owner, are taken over by the pigs. Animated film.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; Political Science
Annie Hall
[DVD 543] 1977
Miramax.
4 3/4" DVD Color 1
videodisc, 122 min.
Romantic adventures of neurotic New York comedian Alvy Singer and his
equally neurotic girlfriend Annie Hall. The film traces the course of
their relationship from their first meeting, and serves as an
interesting historical document about love in the 1970s. Cast: Woody
Allen, Diane Keaton.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Antigone
[VHS 1451] 1972 The Broadway Theatre Archive
1/2" Video Color 1 cass., 90 min.
A filmed play adaptation from the Jean Anouilh reinterpretation of the Sophocles tragedy.
First written and produced during the Nazi Occupation. A young woman facing a morally
corrupt world raises powerful questions of human interaction in regard to collaboration,
responsibility and personal integrity. Cast: Genevieve Bujold, Stacy Keach, Fritz Weaver,
Leah Chandler, James Naughton, Betty Miller.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Any Given Sunday
[DVD 858] 1999 Sony
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 150 mins.
A behind the scenes look at the life and death struggles of modern day
gladiators and those who lead them. A star quarterback gets knocked out of the
game and an unknown third stringer is called in to replace him. The unknown
gives a stunning performance and forces the aging coach to reevaluate his game
plans and life. A new co-owner/president adds to the pressure of winning and
must prove herself in a male dominated world. The coach of the fictional Miami
Sharks football team struggles with the a dilemma, what to do with the old
friend who's past his prime and the young hotshot who could save the franchise
but first has to learn what being a team player is all about. Cast: Al Pacino,
Jamie Foxx , Dennis Quaid. Directed by Oliver Stone.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Sports,
Recreation and Fitness
Aparajito = The Unvanquished (Apu Trilogy, #2)
[VHS 916] 1956 Sony Pictures Classics
1/2" video b&w
1 cass., 111 min.
After living awhile in Benares, 10 year old Apu and his mother move in with her
uncle in a small Bengali village. Apu enters a local school, where he does well.
By the time he graduates, he has a scholarship to study at a college in
Calcutta. So off he goes. His mother is torn by his leaving, and by his growing
independence. She loves her son very much and wants him to succeed, but she does
not want to be left alone. Cast: Kanu Bannerjee, Karuna Bannerjee, Pinaki
Sengupta, and Smaran Ghosal. Directed by Satyajit Ray.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Asia: India
The Apartment
[DVD 547] 1960
United Artists
4 3/4" DVD b&w 1
videodisc, 125 min.
Bud Baxter is a struggling clerk in a huge New York insurance company
discovers a quick way to climb the corporate ladder - by lending out his
apartment to the executives as a place to take their mistresses. He
often has to deal with the aftermath of their visits and one night he's
left with a major problem to solve. Cast: Jack Lemon, Shirley MacLaine,
Fred McMurray.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Apocalypse Now
[DVD 6] 1979 Paramount
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 153 min.
A United States Army officer/trained assassin is sent into the depths of a southeast Asian
jungle to seek out a renegade colonel and terminate his command during the Vietnam War.
Inspired by the story: Heart of Darkness / by Joseph Conrad. Originally produced as motion
picture in 1979. Cast: Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Frederic Forrest,
Albert Hall, Sam Bottoms, Larry Fishburne, Dennis Hopper. Directed and produced by Francis
Ford Coppola. Closed captioned.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; Vietnamese Conflict
Apu Trilogy
#1: Pather Panchali = Song of the Little Road
#2: Aparajito = The Unvanquished
#3: The World of Apu
Around the World in 80 Days
[DVD 531] 1956
United Artists
4 3/4" DVD Color 1
videodisc, 183 min.
Adaptation of Jules Verne's novel about a Victorian Englishman who bets
that with the new steamships and railways he can do what the title says.
Cast: David Niven, Cantinflas.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Astaire & Rogers Collection, Volume 1
see titles:
The Barkleys of Broadway
Follow the Fleet
Shall We Dance?
Swing Time
Top Hat
Austin Powers - International Man Of Mystery
[DVD 863] 1997 New Line Cinema
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 94 mins
Frozen in the 60's, secret agent Austin Powers is thawed back into action to
once again battle his archenemy Dr. Evil. With his sexy sidekick Ms. Kensington,
Austin must stop Dr. Evil's outrageous plot to control the world. But first,
this time-warped swinger must get hip quick and discover that there's no free
love in the 90's! Cast: Mike Myers, Elizabeth Hurley, Michael York, Mimi Rogers,
Robert Wagner.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Austin Powers - The Spy Who Shagged Me
[DVD 864] 1999 New Line Cinema
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 95 mins
Dr. Evil is back...and has invented a new time machine that allows him to go
back to the 60's and steal Austin Powers's mojo, inadvertently leaving him "shagless".
Cast: Mike Myers, Heather Graham, Michael York, Robert Wagner, Rob Lowe.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
The Avengers
[VHS 131] 1998 Warner Bros.
1/2" Video Color 1 cass., 89 min.
John Steed and Emma Peel fight crime with style. Sir August DeWynter is an evil genius out
to control the world with his high-tech weather machine. This madman poses quite a threat
to mankind with his raging ice storms, scorching temperatures and mechanical buzz-bombing
bees. But come cold, heat or dreaded plight, our two heroes never lose their cool. Tea
anyone? Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Uma Thurman, Sean Connery.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Baby Take A Bow
[DVD 223] 1934
Fox Films
4 3/4" DVD B&W/Colorized 1 videodisc, 76 min.
When little Shirley Ellison’s ex-con father is accused of stealing a pearl
necklace, the youngster springs into action to solve the mystery through a
hilarious game of hide and seek. Cast: Shirley Temple, James Dunn, Claire
Trevor.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Bamboozled
[DVD 400] 2000 New Line Cinema
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 136 min.
Dark, biting satire of the television industry, focusing on an Ivy-League
educated black writer at a major network. Frustrated that his ideas for a "Cosby
Show"-esque take on the black family has been rejected by network brass, he
devises an outlandish scheme: reviving the minstrel show. The hook: instead of
white actors in black face, the show stars black actors in even blacker face.
The show becomes an instant smash, but with the success also comes repercussions
for all involved. Cast: Damon Wayans, Savion Glover, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Tommy
Davidson, Michael Rapaport. Directed by Spike Lee.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Television, Film and Video ; African Americans
The Barkleys of Broadway
[DVD 243] 1949 MGM
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 109 min.
Josh and Dinah Barkley are a successful (though argumentative) musical-comedy
team, yet Dinah chafes as Galatea to her husband's Pygmalion. When serious
playwright Jacques Barredout envisions her as a great dramatic actress, Dinah is
not hard to persuade. Cast: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Batman Begins
[DVD 909] 2005 Warner Bros.
4 3/4" DVD Color 2 videodisc, 140 min.
The story of how Bruce Wayne became what he was destined to be: Batman. Cast:
Christian Bale, Mark Boone Junior, Richard Brake, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
The Battle at Elderbush Gulch
[VHS 176] 1913 Biograph Co./Kartes Video
1/2" video B&W 1 cass., 25 min.
D.W. Griffith film. Two orphans go to live with their uncle who refuses to let them keep
their puppies. The puppies fall into the hands of some Indians who cooks them for dinner.
The uncle shoots the Chief's son and a battle results.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; Indians of North America
The Battleship Potemkin
[DVD 924] 1984
Crown Video
4 3/4" DVD Color
1 cass., 75 min.
A dramatic reenactment of the mutiny aboard the Russian battleship Potemkin in 1905.
Originally issued as a silent motion picture in the Soviet Union in 1925. Directed by
Sergei Eisenstein. With English subtitles.
Subjects -- Soviet Union and Russia ; Movies and Plays
A Beautiful Mind
[DVD 216] 2001 Universal
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 134 min.
Inspired by the true story of mathematician John Forbes Nash, Jr., one of three
Nobelists celebrated in 1994 for their work in game theory. From the heights of
notoriety to the depths of depravity, John Forbes Nash, Jr. experienced it all.
A mathematical genius, he made an astonishing discovery early in his career and
stood on the brink of international acclaim. But the handsome and arrogant Nash
soon found himself on a painful and harrowing journey, suffering from
schizophrenia.. After many years of struggle, he eventually triumphed over his
illness, and late in life received the Nobel Prize. Cast: Jennifer Connelly,
Russell Crowe. Directed by Ron Howard.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; Mathematics and Statistics ; Psychology
Beautiful Thing
[VHS 1430] 1997 Columbia TriStar Home Video
1/2" Video Color 1 cass., 90 min.
Set in London's lower class suburbs, this is the story of a teenager who has discovered
that he's gay and his love for another teenager who lives next door. Based on the play by
Jonathan Harvey. Cast: Linda Henry, Glen Berry, Scott Neal.
Closed captioned.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; Homosexuality
Beckett On Film : 19 Films X 19 Directors
[DVD 68-71] 2001 Blue Angel Films
4 3/4" DVD Color 4 videodisc
The hugely ambitious Beckett on Film project gathered together 19 different directors to
turn the 19 stage works written by Samuel Beckett into films.
[DVD 68] Waiting for Godot (120 min.); Not I (4 min.); Rough for Theatre I (20 min); Ohio
Impromptu ( 12 min.); Documentary.
[DVD 69] Krapp’s Last Tape (58 min); What Where (12 min.); Footfalls ( 28 min.); Come
and Go (8 min.); Act Without Words I (16 min.)
[DVD 70] Happy Days (79 min.); Catastrophe (7 min.); Rough for Theatre II (30 min.);
Breath (45 sec.); That Time (20 min.)
[DVD 71] Endgame (84 min.); Act Without Words II (11 min.); A Piece of Monologue (20
min.); Play (16 min.); Rockaby (16 min.)
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; Drama and Theater
Behind Locked Doors
[DVD 3] 1948
Kino on Video
4 3/4" DVD B&W 1 videodisc, 62 min.
A journalist fakes mental illness to have himself committed to an asylum where he believes
a crooked judge is hiding. Cast: Richard Carlson, Lucille Bremer, Dickie Moore, Thomas
Browne Henry, Tor Johnson, Douglas Fowley. Film noir.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
The Belle of Amherst
[DVD 923] 1994
Kino on Video
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 cass., 90 min.
Portrays America's first notable poetess, Emily Dickinson, through an examination of her
writing and observations of her life and family. Cast: Julie Harris.
Subjects -- Poetry ; Movies and Plays
Ben-Hur
[DVD 532] 1959
MGM
4 3/4" DVD Color 1
videodisc, 214 min.
Judah Ben-Hur lives as a rich Jewish prince and merchant in Jerusalem at
the beginning of the 1st century. Together with the new governor his old
friend Messala arrives as commanding officer of the Roman legions. At
first they are happy to meet after a long time but their different
politic views separate them. During the welcome parade a brick falls
down from Judah's house and barely misses the governor. Although Messala
knows that they are not guilty he sends Judah to the galleys and throws
his mother and sister into prison. Judah swears to come back and take
revenge. Cast: Charlton Heston, Stephen Boyd, Sam Jaffe, Jack Hawkins.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
The Best Years Of Our Lives
[DVD 50] 1946 MGM
4 3/4" DVD B&W 1 videodisc, 168
min.
Recounts the problems faced by three returning veterans of WWII as they attempt to pick up
the threads of their lives. Captain Derry is returning to a loveless marriage, Sergeant
Stephenson is a stranger to a family that's grown up without him, and sailor Parrish is
tormented by the loss of his hands. Cast: Myrna Loy, Fredric March, Dana Andrews, Teresa
Wright, Virginia Mayo, Cathy O'Donnell, Hoagy Carmichael, Harold Russell, Gladys George,
Roman Bohnen, Ray Collins, Victor Cutler.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; World War, 1939-1945
Better Luck Tomorrow
[DVD 401] 2003 Paramount
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 100 min.
Ben, an Asian American perfectionist and overachiever whose tunnel vision leads
to nothing less than graduating at the top of his class. As he struggles to
achieve social success, he discovers his darker side. He and his friends:
Virgil, Daric and Han lead a double life of mischief and petty crimes to
alleviate the pressures of perfection. As their adopted identity grows, the gang
tumbles into a downward spiral of excitement, excess and fun. Cast: Parry Shen,
Jason Tobin, Sung Kang, Roger Fan, John Cho.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Asian Americans
Beyond The Horizon By Eugene O'Neill
[VHS 1835] 1976
Broadway Theatre Archive
1/2" video Color
1 cass., 117 min.
The play concerns two brothers in love with the same girl. Her rejection of one of them
and marriage to the other tears apart a family and sets the stage for all three
characters' discontent and disillusionment. Cast: John Houseman, Geraldine Fitzgerald,
Maria Tucci. PBS television broadcast for Great Performances, Theater in America.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
The Big Sleep
[DVD 336] 1946 Warner
Bros.
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 114 min.
Private-eye Philip
Marlowe is hired to keep an eye on General Sternwood's youngest daughter,
Carmen, who has fallen into bad company and is likely to do some damage to
herself and her family before long. He soon finds himself falling in love with
her older sister, Vivien, who initially takes a deep dislike to Mr. Marlowe.
However, the plot thickens when murder follows murder. Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren
Bacall.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss
[VHS 1431] 1998 Trimark Home Video
1/2" Video Color 1 cass., 92 min.
A romance about a fledgling photographer (Sean P. Hayes) who falls in love with a gorgeous
musician while re-creating Hollywood's great screen kisses with men only. Cast: Sean P.
Hayes, Brad Rowe, Richard Ganoung, Meredith Scott Lynn.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; Homosexuality
The Birth Of A Nation
[DVD 49] 1915 David W. Griffith
4 3/4" DVD B&W 1 videodisc, 187
min.
This epic story of the Civil War as seen through the lives of two families is a
controversial classic of film history. Griffith had turned a lurid, negro-phobic play
called "The Clansman" into a three-hour Civil War epic that in sweep and scope
set a standard for film spectacle and absorbing historical melodrama. Cast: Lillian Gish,
Henry B. Walthall, Mae Marsh, Miriam Cooper, Robert Harron, Wallace Reid, Donald Crisp,
Raoul Walsh. Originally produced as a silent motion picture in 1915. Music sound track
added in 1992.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Black Caesar
[DVD 922] 1973 MGM
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 cass., 94 min.
Fred Williamson is imposing, tough and unflappable as a street kid who muscles his way
into the big time mob racket. Cast: Fred Williamson, Minnie Gentry, Julius W. Harris,
D'Urville Martin, Don Pedro Colley, Gloria Hendry, Art Lund, Val Avery, Phillip
Roye.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
The Black Dahlia
[DVD 879] 2006 Universal Studios
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 121 mins
Set in 1946, Los Angeles, two cops, Bucky Bleichert and his
partner, Lee Blanchard, investigate the death of Elizabeth Short, a young woman
found brutally murdered. Bucky soon realizes that his girlfriend had ties to the
deceased, and soon after that, he begins uncovering corruption and conspiracy
within the police department. Cast: Josh Hartnett, Scarlett Johansson Director:
Brian De Palma.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
The Black Stallion
[DVD 974] 1989
MGM/UA Home Video
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 cass., 117 min.
A 17-year old boy is befriended by a wild black stallion he saved from a shipwreck at sea.
The boy trains the horse and rides him to victory in a race. Francis Ford Coppola, director.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Blade Runner (4-Disc Collector’s Edition)
[DVD 777] 1982 Warner Bros.
4 3/4" DVD Color 4 videodisc, 117 min. each
Deckard, a blade runner, has to track down and terminate 4 replicants who
hijacked a ship in space and have returned to earth seeking their maker. Based
on the novel "Do androids dream of electric sheep?" by Philip K. Dick. Cast:
Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Edward James Olmos. Includes 3 archival versions
and the 25th anniversary Blade Runner: The Final Cut edition by the director
Ridley Scott.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Blazing Saddles
[DVD 48] 1974 Warner Bros.
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 148 min.
The new sheriff and his sidekick, retired gunfighter Waco Kid, protect the town of Rock
Ridge from the men who want to run the railroad through the town. Cast: Mel Brooks,
Cleavon Little, Gene Wilder, Slim Pickens, David Huddleston, Claude Ennis Starrett Jr.,
Madeline Kahn, Harvey Korman.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Blow
[DVD 860] 2001 New Line Cinema
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 124 mins
Chronicles the three-decade rise and fall of George Jung, a normal American kid
who makes a personal vow against poverty, builds a marijuana empire in the '60s,
multiplies his fortune with the Colombian Medellín cocaine cartel, and blows it
all with a series of police busts culminating in one final, long-term jail
sentence. This is the story of a nice guy who made wrong choices all his life,
almost single-handedly created the American cocaine trade, and got exactly what
he deserved. Based on a true story. Cast: Johnny Depp, Tony Amendola, Penélope
Cruz.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Drugs and Drug Abuse
The Boat
[DVD 948] 1982
Columbia Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color
1 cass., 150 min.
The story of U-96, one of Germany's famed U-boats, on patrol during World War II in the
Atlantic. Originally in German entitled "Das Boot." Dubbed into English.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; World War,1939-1945
Body and Soul
(Paul Robeson: Portraits of the Artist)
[DVD 632] 1925
Micheaux Film/Criterion Collection
4 3/4" DVD b&w, silent 1 videodisc, 102 min.
A melodrama railing against the hypocrisies of the church, casting Robeson in
dual roles as a jackleg preacher and a well-meaning inventor. As a minister he
is malevolent and sinister behind his righteous facade. He consorts with, and
later extorts from, the owner of a gambling house, and betrays an honest girl,
eventually driving them both to ruin. Cast: Paul Robeson, Mercedes Gilbert,
Julia Theresa Russell.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Bonnie and Clyde
[DVD 1079] 1967 Warner Bros.
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 112 mins.
A mythologized biography of the infamous bank robbers Clyde Barrow and Bonnie
Parker. During the Great Depression of the 1930’s, Bonnie and Clyde barrel
across the South and Midwest robbing banks with Clyde's brother Buck, Buck's
frantic wife Blanche , and their faithful accomplice C.W. Moss. Cast: Warren
Beatty, Faye Dunaway, Michael J. Pollard, and Gene Hackman.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Crime and Criminals
Boogie Nights
[DVD 796] 1997 New Line
Cinema
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 155 min.
Eddie Adams, a young man working in a nightclub, is discovered by porn
director Jack Horner, who soon puts Eddie, renamed Dirk Diggler, and his
"talent" on the top of the pornography industry. But when the 1980s arrive,
Dirk and his colleagues in the porn industry have to cope with a new era as
well as the baggage they bring with them from the 1970s. Cast: Burt
Reynolds, Mark Wahlberg.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Borderline (Paul Robeson: Portraits of the Artist)
[DVD 632] 1930
Pool Films/Criterion Collection
4 3/4" DVD b&w, silent 1 videodisc, 63 min.
A negro woman having an adulterous affair with a white man causes his wife to go
mad and re-enforces the towns-folk's prejudice against Negroes. Cast: Paul
Robeson, Eslanda Robeson.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Born On The Fourth Of July
[DVD 217] 1989 Universal
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 145 min.
The biography of Ron Kovic. As young man joins the army and fights in Vietnam,
only to become a wheelchair-bound paraplegic resulting from battle. He becomes
an anti-war and pro-human rights political activist after feeling betrayed by
the country he fought for. Cast: Tom Cruise, Kyra Sedgwick. Directed by Oliver
Stone.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays; Vietnamese Conflict
Bounce
[DVD 7] 2000 Miramax
4 3/4" DVD Color
2 videodiscs, 106 min.
Buddy Amaral is a smooth-talking, skirt-chasing ad exec who is enjoying his high-powered
career. Then, a sudden twist of fate changes everything and leads him into the life of
Abby Janello, with whom he eventually falls head-over-heels in love. Cast: Ben Affleck,
Gwyneth Paltrow, Joe Morton, Natasha Henstridge, Tony Goldwyn, Johnny Galecki, David
Paymer, Alex D. Linz, Jennifer Grey.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Bound For Glory
[DVD 1080] 1976 United Artists
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 147 mins.
A lyrical biography of legendary folk singer Woody Guthrie. As the traveling
1930’s Depression-era vagabond whose music affected generations. Guthrie is
portrayed as an earnest soul whose passion and empathy for the working class
spurs him to inspirational heights. A union organizer who sees the value in
Guthrie's words and music and persuades him to put his music to good use for the
people struggling to earn a living wage. Cast: David Carradine, Ronny Cox,
Melinda Dillon, and Gail Strickland.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Music ; Labor and Trade Unions
Bowling For Columbine
[DVD 125] 2002 United Artists
4 3/4" DVD Color 2 videodisc, 120 min.
The United States of America is notorious for its astronomical number of people
killed by firearms for a developed nation without a civil war. With his
signature sense of angry humor, activist filmmaker Michael Moore sets out to
explore the roots of this bloodshed. In doing so, he learns that the
conventional answers of easy availability of guns, violent national history,
violent entertainment and even poverty are inadequate to explain this violence
when other cultures share those same factors without the equivalent carnage. In
order to arrive at a possible explanation, Michael Moore takes on a deeper
examination of America's culture of fear, bigotry and violence in a nation with
widespread gun ownership. Furthermore, he seeks to investigate and confront the
powerful elite political and corporate interests fanning this culture for their
own unscrupulous gain.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; Law ; Political Science
Boys Don't Cry
[DVD 338] 1999 20th
Century Fox
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 118 min.
Based on actual events. Brandon Teena is the popular new guy in a tiny Nebraska
town. He hangs out with the guys, drinking, cussing, and bumper surfing, and he
charms the young women, who've never met a more sensitive and considerate young
man. Life is good for Brandon, now that he's one of the guys and dating hometown
beauty Lana. However, he's forgotten to mention one important detail. It's not
that he's wanted in another town for assorted crimes, but that Brandon Teena was
actually born a woman named Teena Brandon. When his best friends make this
discovery, Brandon's life is ripped apart by betrayal, humiliation, rape, and
murder. Cast: Hilary Swank; Chloë Sevigny
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Sex and Sex Role
The Boys In The Band
[VHS 1438] 1970 CBS/Fox Video
1/2" Video Color 1 cass., 119 min.
A heterosexual is accidentally invited to a homosexual gathering at a birthday party, and
tension builds as tempers fray. Based on the play of the same title by Mart Crowley. Cast:
Kenneth Nelson, Frederick Combs, Cliff Gorman, Laurence Lukinbill.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; Homosexuality
Braveheart
[DVD 538] 1995 Paramount Pictures.
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 177 min.
Epic based on the life of legendary thirteenth century Scottish hero William
Wallace. Returning to his homeland following the death of an heirless king,
Edward the Longshanks King of England has captured Scotland's throne and
threatens the freedom of all Scottish people. Initially Wallace is content to
stand by the wayside yearning for the simple life of building a home and raising
a family. However when the woman he loves suffers a cruel fate at the hands of
English soldiers Wallace gathers an amateur but passionately rebellious army and
takes a stand against the new rule. Cast: Mel Gibson, Sophie Marceau, and
Patrick McGoohan
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Europe: Great Britain
Brazil
[DVD 481] 1985
Universal Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1
videodisc, 143 min.
Sam Lowry is a harried technocrat in a futuristic society that is
needlessly convoluted and inefficient. He dreams of a life where he can
fly away from technology and overpowering bureaucracy, and spend
eternity with the woman of his dreams. While trying to rectify the
wrongful arrest of one Harry Buttle, Lowry meets the woman he is always
chasing in his dreams, Jill Layton. Meanwhile, the bureaucracy has
fingered him responsible for a rash of terrorist bombings, and both Sam
and Jill's lives are put in danger. Cast: Jonathan Pryce, Robert De Niro
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Bread & Roses
[DVD 53] 2000 Parallax Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 110
min.
A group of immigrant workers take a stand against the million dollar corporations who
employ them. Cast: Pilar Padilla, Adrien Brody, Elpidia Carrillo.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
The Breakfast Club
[DVD 949] 1985 MCA Universal
4 3/4" DVD Color
1 cass., 92 min.
John Hughes's popular 1985 teen drama finds a diverse group of high school students--a
jock (Emilio Estevez), a metalhead (Judd Nelson), a weirdo (Ally Sheedy), a princess
(Molly Ringwald), and a nerd (Anthony Michael Hall)--sharing a Saturday in detention at
their high school for one minor infraction or another. Over the course of a day, they talk
through the social barriers that ordinarily keep them apart, and new alliances are born,
though not without a lot of pain first.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Bride & Prejudice
[DVD 772] 2004 Miramax
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 111 min.
A Bollywood update of Jane Austen's classic tale, in which Mrs. Bakshi is eager
to find suitable husbands for her four unmarried daughters. When the rich single
gentlemen Balraj and Darcy come to visit, the Bakshis have high hopes, though
circumstance and boorish opinions threaten to get in the way of romance. Cast:
Aishwarya Rai, Martin Henderson, Nadira Babbar, Anupam Kher.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Asia: India
The Bridge On The River Kwai
[DVD 65] 1957 Columbia
4 3/4" DVD Color 2 videodisc, 162 min.
British soldiers captured by the Japanese during World War II are forced to construct a
strategic railroad bridge which a commando team is instructed by the British High Command
to destroy. Cast: William Holden, Alec Guinness, Sessh¯u Hayakawa.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; World War 1939-1945
Bright Eyes
[DVD 224] 1934
Fox Films
4 3/4" DVD B&W/Colorized 1 videodisc, 83 min.
When a maid is accidentally hit by a car and killed, her young orphaned daughter
is forced to live with the snooty couple her mother used to work for. A custody
battle soon ensues between an aviator who adores the little girl and the
couple's crotchety Uncle Ned. Cast: Shirley Temple, James Dunn, Charles Sellen
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
The Broadway Melody
[DVD 281] 1929 MGM
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 110 min.
Harriet and Queenie Mahoney, a vaudeville act, come to Broadway, where their
friend Eddie Kerns needs them for his number in one of Francis Zanfield's shows.
Eddie was in love with Harriet, but when he meets Queenie, he falls in love to
her, but she is courted by Jock Warriner, a member of the New Yorker high
society. It takes a while till Queenie recognizes, that she is for Jock nothing
more than a toy, and it also takes a while till Harriet recognizes, that Eddie
is in love with Queenie. Cast: Charles King, Anita Page, Bessie Love.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Brokeback Mountain
[DVD 368] 2005 Universal Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 134 min.
In 1963,two young men hire on as ranch hands
in the Wyoming mountains. During the long months of isolation, an unusual bond
starts to develop between them, one which they are only vaguely aware of--until
one night when it rises to the surface in a passionate encounter. When the
season ends, they part ways, only to realize the true depth of their feelings.
Thus begins a decades-long affair that the two of them desperately try to hide
from those around them--one which will prove simultaneously beautiful and
devastating. Cast: Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Randy Quaid.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Homosexuality
Broken Arrow
[DVD 891] 1996 20th Century Fox
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 108 min.
When a B-3 Stealth Bomber crashes in the Utah desert during a top-secret test
run, the military quickly moves in to retrieve its two "broken arrows." But the
situation spins wildly out of control after one of the pilots reveals the crash
to be part of an incredible nuclear extortion plot. Cast: John Travolta,
Christian Slater.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Broken Flowers
[DVD 402] 2005 Universal Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 106 min.
Confirmed bachelor Don has just been dumped by his latest lover, Sherry. Don
begins to resign himself to being alone and left to his own devices. However, he
becomes compelled to reflect on his past when he receives a mysterious pink
letter by mail. It is from an anonymous former lover and informs him that he has
a 19-year-old son who may be looking for his father. Don is urged to investigate
the contents of the letter by his closest friend and neighbor, Winston. Hesitant
to travel at all, Don nonetheless embarks on a cross-country trip in search of
clues from four former loves. Unannounced, he visits each of these women and
finds that they hold new surprises for Don as he confronts his past. Cast: Bill
Murray.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Bruce Almighty
[DVD 870] 2003 Universal Studios
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 102 min.
Bruce, a frustrated Buffalo TV reporter, stuck doing puff-pieces while a lesser
colleague gets the anchor job he covets. Bruce demands an explanation from God,
who pays him a visit and lets Bruce take over while he takes a brief vacation.
Cast: Jim Carrey, Jennifer Aniston, Morgan Freeman.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Buena Vista Social Club
[DVD 46] 1999 Artisan
Entertainment
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 105 min.
In 1996, music legend Ry Cooder went to Cuba to search for buried treasure. He found gold.
Looking for lost songs and forgotten singers, Cooder discovered an exotic land of passion,
sensuality and music. Performers: Ry Cooder, Ibrahim Ferrer, Rubén González, Eliades
Ochoa, Omara Portuondo, Compay Segundo.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; Music ; Latin America
Burn The Floor
[VHS 1870] 2000 Universal
1/2" video Color
1 cass., 97 min.
This dance extravaganza
features 44 of the world's champion ballroom and Latin dancers and was
filmed at its world premiere in 1999. Features championship dance couples
from fifteen different countries. The show explores beyond Ballroom and
Latin dance styles - including rhumba, samba, cha cha, waltz, jive,
jitterbug, swing, mambo, salsa, tango and quickstep. The traditional pivots,
voltas, swirls and sways of Ballroom dancing have been pulled apart and
stitched back together with sexy, saucy, hip gyrating abandonment.
Subjects -- Dance ; Movies and Plays
Bus Stop
[DVD 8] 1956 Twentieth Century Fox
4 3/4" DVD Color
1 videodisc, 105 min.
A comedy-drama about a naive but brash young cowboy from Montana who goes to Phoenix to
compete in a rodeo and learns about life and love from a cafe singer whom he tries to
force into marriage. Based on the play of the same title by William Inge. Originally
released as a motion picture in 1956. Cast: Marilyn Monroe, Don Murray, Arthur O'Connell,
Betty Field, Eileen Heckart.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
The Business Of Fancydancing
[DVD 403] 2002 Wellspring Media
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 103 min.
Since their high school graduation, former Spokane Reservation best friends
Seymour and Aristotle have taken different paths. Both ventured off to college
in Seattle, but while Seymour embraced the opportunities of the white world,
Aristotle returned home embittered. Sixteen years later, they are brought
together following the sudden death of an old childhood buddy. Seymour, now an
openly gay poet and unofficial spokesman for American Indians, is met with
resentment on “the rez.” At the wake, tensions are heightened, and Aristotle’s
long festering bitterness is dangerously exposed. Cast: Evan Adams, Gene Tagaban.
Based upon Sherman Alexie's book of poetry of the same name.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Indians of North America
Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid
[DVD 921] 1969 Twentieth Century Fox
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 cass., 111 min.
Blends adventure, romance and comedy to tell the story of the West's most likeable
outlaws, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, as they set out for Bolivia with the law on
their heels. Cast: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Katharine Ross. Directed by George Roy
Hill.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Caddyshack
[DVD 905] 1980 Orion Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 98 min.
An exclusive golf course has to deal with a brash new member and a destructive
dancing gopher. Cast: Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield, Bill Murray.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Calendar
[DVD 417] 1993 Zeitgeist Films
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 74 min.
A photographer and his wife take photographs of Armenian churches for use in a
calendar. Their driver, a local resident, expounds on the history of the
churches while the wife translates. The photographer becomes jealous of his
wife's bonding with the driver. In a series of flash-forwards, the photographer
stages identical dinners with several women, who pretend to talk on the phone
while he writes. His wife, now estranged from him, leaves repeated messages on
his answering machine, asking why he never contacts her. (The Essential Egoyan)
Cast: Atom Egoyan, Arsinée Khanjian
Subjects – Movies and Plays
The Candidate
[DVD 174] 1972 Warner Brothers
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 110 min.
While Richard Nixon is on his way to re-election by a landslide, a young,
honest, idealistic lawyer begins to learn the truth about running for office.
Bill McKay, a California Democratic candidate for U.S. Senator, a man of
integrity and ideals, will now let the great American political machine
manipulate him, because now he’s got to win. Cast: Robert Redford, Peter
Boyle, Melvin Douglas.
Subjects - Movies and Plays
Carrie
[DVD 589] 1976 United Artists
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 98 mins.
Carrie White is a shy and abused girl, brought up almost in isolation, by her
psychotically religious mother Margaret. An embarrassing incident at school
causes her fellow pupils to tease Carrie ruthlessly and her teacher disciplines
them severely. Determined to have revenge, the other students hatch a plot
against Carrie, which turns horribly wrong when Carrie's strange mental powers
are unleashed during the school prom. Cast: Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie, Amy
Irving, and John Travolta. Directed by Brian De Palma.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Casablanca
[DVD 9] 1942 Warner
Bros.
4 3/4" DVD B&W 1 videodisc, 103 min.
During World War II, Morocco is seething with European refugees desperate for passage to
neutral Lisbon. Only a world-weary and bitter nightclub owner can help his former lover
and her Resistance-hero husband escape from the Nazis. Originally released as a motion
picture in 1942. Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Conrad
Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Cast Away
[DVD 10] 2000 Twentieth Century Fox
4 3/4" DVD Color 2 videodiscs, 143 min.
A FedEx systems engineer's ruled-by-the-clock existence abruptly ends when a harrowing
plane crash leaves him isolated on a remote island. Originally released as a motion
picture in 2000. Cast: Tom Hanks, Helen Hunt, Nick Searcy.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Cat On A Hot Tin Roof
[DVD 779] 1958 MGM
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 108 min.
Brick, an alcoholic ex-football player, drinks his days away and resists the
affections of his wife, Maggie. His reunion with his father, Big Daddy, who is
dying of cancer, jogs a host of memories and revelations for both father and
son. Cast: Paul Newman, Elizabeth Taylor.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Cautiva
[DVD 508] 2005 Primo Plana Film
Group
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 115 min.
Cristina’s life is thrown into turmoil when she is suddenly escorted from her
strict Catholic school and told that she is really Sofía Lombardi, the daughter
of activists who disappeared in the ’70s. Questioning everything she once
thought true, Cristina embarks on a journey to find her true identity. Meeting
others like herself, the young girl soon discovers the real-life horrors of
Argentina’s relatively recent past and the nightmare that claimed tens of
thousands of lives during the country’s ’Dirty War.’ Cast: Barbara Lombardo,
Mercedes Funes. Spanish dialogue, English subtitles.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Language:
Spanish ; Latin America and Caribbean
Central Station
[DVD 884] 1998 Sony Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 113 mins
Inside Rio de Janeiro’s bustling Central Stations, two very unlikely souls, a
motherless young boy and a lonely retired school teacher become inextricably
linked and form an uncommon bond as they venture from the bustling city to
Brazil's remote northeast region in search of the boy's father. In Portuguese
with English subtitles. Cast: Fernanda Montenegro, Vinícius de Oliveira.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Latin America
and Caribbean
Chaplin
[DVD 970] 1993 Caroloco Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color
1 videodisc, 135 min.
Based on "My autobiography" by Charles Chaplin. Chaplin's poverty-stricken
childhood in England comes to life, along with his friendships with Mack Sennett and
Douglas Fairbanks, his many wives and scandalous affairs, and his relentless pursuit by J.
Edgar Hoover. Cast: Robert Downey, Dan Aykroyd, Kevin Kline. Directed by Richard
Attenborough.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Chaplin Mutuals, Vol. 1
[DVD 967] 1998 Kino on Video
4 3/4" DVD B&W 1 videodisc
Originally produced as short motion pictures in May 1916 through October 1917.
The Immigrant – The Adventurer – The Cure –Easy Street. Cast: Charles Chaplin,
Edna Purviance, Eric Campbell, Henry Bergman, Albert Austin. Originally silent; orchestral
score added.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Chaplin Mutuals, Vol. 2
[DVD 968] 1998 Kino on Video
4 3/4" DVD B&W 1 videodisc
Originally produced as short motion pictures in May 1916 through October 1917. The Count
– The vagabond – The fireman – Behind the Screen. Cast: Charles Chaplin, Edna Purviance,
Eric Campbell, Henry Bergman, Albert Austin. Originally silent; orchestral
score added.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Chaplin Mutuals, Vol. 3
[DVD 969] 1998 Kino on Video
4 3/4" DVD B&W 1 videodisc
Originally produced as short motion pictures in May 1916 through October 1917. One A.M. –
The Pawn Shop – The Floorwalker – The Rink. Cast: Charles Chaplin, Edna Purviance,
Eric Campbell, Henry Bergman, Albert Austin. Originally silent; orchestral
score added.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Chaplin’s Essanay Comedies, Vol 1
[DVD 972] 1915 Image Entertainment
4 3/4" DVD b&w 1 videodisc
His New Job ; A Night Out ; The Champion ; In the Park ; A Jitney Elopement.
Silent comedies produced by the Essanay Film Manufacturing Company. Cast:
Charlie Chaplain.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Chaplin’s Essanay Comedies, Vol 2
[DVD 973] 1915 Image Entertainment
4 3/4" DVD b&w 1 videodisc
The Tramp ; By the Sea ; Work ; A Woman ; The Bank ; His Regeneration. Silent
comedies produced by the Essanay Film Manufacturing Company. Cast: Charlie
Chaplain.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Chaplin’s Essanay Comedies, Vol 3
[DVD 974] 1915 Image Entertainment
4 3/4" DVD b&w 1 videodisc
Shanghaied ; A Night in the Show ; Police ; Burlesque on “Carmen” ; Triple
Trouble. Silent comedies produced by the Essanay Film Manufacturing Company.
Cast: Charlie Chaplain.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Chaplin's Goliath: In Search of Scotland's Forgotten Star
[DVD 971] 1996 Image Entertainment
4 3/4" DVD b&w, Color 1 videodisc, 52 min.
Biography of Eric Campbell, the tall actor who was most famous for playing the
quintessential villan for Charles Chaplin's Tramp character.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Chariots of Fire
[DVD 534] 1981
Warner Bros.
4 3/4" DVD Color 1
videodisc, 123 min.
The true story of two British track athletes competing in the 1924
Summer Olympics. One is a devout Scottish missionary who runs for God,
the other is a Jewish student at Cambridge who runs for fame and to
escape prejudice. Cast: Ben Cross, Ian Charleson.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Europe: Great
Britain
Chicago
[DVD 540] 2002 Miramax.
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 113min.
Murderesses Velma Kelly, a chanteuse and tease who killed her husband and sister
after finding them in bed together, and Roxie Hart, who killed her boyfriend
when she discovered he wasn't going to make her a star, find themselves on death
row together and fight for the fame that will keep them from the gallows in
1920s Chicago. Cast: Catherine Zeta-Jones, Renée Zellweger, Richard Gere.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Children of a Lesser God
[VHS 746] 1987 Paramount Pictures Corp.
1/2" video Color 1 cass., 119 min.
Love story about an idealistic special education teacher and his
relationship with a
headstrong deaf woman named Sarah. Cast: William Hurt, Marlee Matlin.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Children of Heaven = Bacheha-Ye aseman
[DVD 773] 1997 Miramax
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 89 min.
Zohre's shoes are gone; her older brother Ali lost them. They are poor, there
are no shoes for Zohre until they come up with an idea: they will share one pair
of shoes, Ali's. This uncomfortable arrangement leads to one adventure after
another as they attempt to hide the plan from their parents and teachers, attend
to their schoolwork and errands, and acquire a new pair of shoes for Zahra. In
Farsi with English subtitles. Cast: Mohammad Amir Naji, Amir Farrokh Hashemian,
and Bahare Seddiqi.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Middle East
Children of Men
[DVD 518] 2006
Universal Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1
videodisc, 109 min.
Set in 2027, when no child has been born for 18 years and science is at
loss to explain the reason. In London in a climate of nationalistic
violence, Theo Faron, a disillusioned government bureaucrat agrees to
help transport and protect a miraculously pregnant woman to a sanctuary
at sea where her child's birth may help scientists to save the future of
mankind. Cast: Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Michael Caine.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Chinatown
[DVD 945] 1974 Paramount
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 cass., 131 min.
Private eye Jake Gittes, living off the murky climate of sunbaked southern California of
the 1930s, is hired by a beautiful socialite to investigate her husband's extra-marital
affair. He is swept into a maelstorm of double dealings and deadly deceits, uncovering a
web of personal and political scandals that come crashing together for one, unforgettable
night in Chinatown. Cast: Jack Nicholson,
Faye Dunaway, John Hillerman, Perry Lopez, Burt Young, Bruce Glover, Joe Mantell, Roy
Jenson, Diane Ladd, Dick Bakalyan, John Huston.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Chokher Bali: A Passion Play
[DVD 156] 2004 Venus Records & Tapes
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 120 min.
Set between 1902 and 1905, this is a story the deception and relationship
manipulation involving four young people. We are introduced to Binodini (Aishwarya
Rai) who becomes a widow within a year of her marriage. Binodini is an educated
and liberated woman - who refuses to conform to her expected widow status -
something completely taboo in that era. In search of a new lifestyle she moves
to Kolkatta into the rich family of Mahindra (Prosinjeet Chatterji), Ashalata (Raima
Sen) and Behari. Binodini manipulates the female folk of the house so she can
draw closer to the men. Ashalata and Binodini refer to each other as Chokher
Bali, which loosely translates to “sand in the eyes”. Based on the novel by
Rabindranath Tagore. Language soundtracks: Bengali, dubbed Hindi; subtitled in English.
Subjects - Movies and Plays ; Asia: India
A Christmas Carol
[VHS 1216] 1984 20th Century Home Entertainment
1/2" video Color 1 cass., 100 min.
Christmas elicits nothing more than "Bah, humbug!" from Ebenezer Scrooge, a
miser whose sole pursuit of financial success has left him a bitter and lonely old man.
But on Christmas Eve a visit from the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future
ultimately teaches him to open his heart to the spirit of Christmas and the joys of
friends and family. Book by Charles Dickens. Cast: George C. Scott
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Cimarron
[DVD 282] 1931 RKO
Radio Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 131 min.
When the government opens up the Oklahoma territory for settlement, restless
Yancey Cravat claims a plot of the free land for himself and moves his family
there from Wichita. A newspaperman, lawyer, and just about everything else,
Cravat soon becomes a leading citizen of the boom town of Osage. Once the town
is established, however, he begins to feel confined once again, and heads for
the Cherokee Strip, leaving his family behind. During this and other absences,
his wife Sabra must learn to take care of herself and soon becomes prominent in
her own right. Based on the novel by Edna Ferber. Cast: Richard Dix, Irene Dunne.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Cinderella
[DVD 781] 1950 Walt Disney
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 74 min.
When Cinderella's cruel stepmother prevents her from attending the Royal Ball,
she gets some unexpected help from the lovable mice Gus and Jaq, and from her
Fairy Godmother. An animated fairy tale.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Citizen Kane
[DVD 11] 1941 Warner
Bros.
4 3/4" DVD B&W
2 videodiscs, 119 min., 113 min.
An all-powerful press magnate, Kane, dies in his fabulous castle Xanadu, his last word
being "Rosebud", which leads a reporter to seek the meaning behind the word and
find the meaning of Kane. Prominant publisher, William Randolph Hearst, saw the film as a
thinly disguised version of his career and attempted to suppress it. Cast: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Dorothy
Comingore, Agnes Moorehead, Ruth Warrick, Ray Collins, Erskine Sanford, Everett Sloane, William
Alland, Paul Stewart, George Coulouris.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
City Lights: A Comedy Romance in Pantomime
[VHS 1030] 1931 CBS Fox video
1/2" video B&W 1 cass., 87 min.
A blind flower girl falls in love with the little tramp and he with her. He helps her out
of financial troubles and pays for her to have an operation to restore her sight. He does
not know if she will still love him when she can see. Preceded by previews of other
Chaplin films. Cast: Charlie Chaplin,
Virginia Cherrill.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
The Class = Entre Les Murs
[DVD 929] 2008 Sony Pictures Classics
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 130 min.
Teacher François Marin and his colleagues are preparing for another school year
teaching at a racially mixed inner city high school in Paris which represents a
microcosm of the conflicting cultures and attitudes in contemporary France. The
film chronicles François' verbal confrontations with his French, African,
Caribbean, Moroccan, Turkish, and Asian students. Marin tries to get through to
his students, sometimes with success and sometimes resulting in utter failure.
Even Marin has his breaking point, which may result in him doing things he would
probably admit to himself are wrong. But after all is said and done, there is
next year and another group of students. In French with English subtitles. Cast:
François Bégaudeau, Agame Malembo-Emene.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Language: French ; Education
Clerks
[DVD 794] 1994 Miramax
4 3/4" DVD b&w 1 videodisc, 92 min.
A day in the lives of two convenience clerks named Dante and Randal as they
annoy customers, discuss movies, and play hockey on the store roof. Cast: Brian
O’Halloran, Jeff Anderson. .
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Click
[DVD 509] 2006
Columbia
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc,
107 min.
A workaholic architect finds a universal remote that allows him to fast-forward
and rewind to different parts of his life. Complications arise when the remote
starts to overrule his choices. Cast: Adam Sandler, Kate Beckinsale, Christopher
Walken.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Clockers (Spike Lee Joint Collection)
[DVD 381] 1995 Universal Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 128 min.
Strike is a young city drug pusher under the tutelage of drug-lord Rodney
Little, who, when not playing with model trains or drinking Moo for his ulcer,
just likes to chill with his brothers near the benches outside the project
houses. When a night man at a fast-food restaurant is found with four bullets in
his body, Strike's older brother turns himself in as the killer. Det. Rocco
Klein doesn't buy the story, however, and sets out to find the truth, and it
seems that all the fingers point toward Strike & Rodney. Cast: Harvey Keitel,
John Turturro, Delroy Lindo, Mekhi Phifer.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; African Americans
Coal Miner's Daughter
[DVD 946] 1980
MCA
4 3/4" DVD Color
1 cass., 124 min.
Drama of the life of Loretta Lynn, the "Queen of Country Music." At eighteen and
mother of four, she finds time to sing and write songs. After making a record and going to
Nashville, she gets a chance at the Grand Ole Opry, which launches her career into super
stardom. Cast: Sissy Spacek, Tommy Lee Jones.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
The Color Of Paradise
[DVD 622] 1999 Varahonar Film Co.
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc. 90 min.
Mohammad joyfully returns to his tiny village on summer vacation from the
Institute for the Blind in Tehran, unaware of his father’s intention to disown
him. Engaged to be married, the widowed man has kept Mohammad a secret from his
fiance´e, certain the boy’s disability will destroy his only chance for
happiness. With the wedding swiftly approaching Mohammad’s future hangs
precariously in the balance as his father struggles against his destiny, unable
to see the wonder of life and love that is so clear to his son. In Farsi with
optional English, French, or Spanish subtitles.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Middle East
Color Purple
[DVD 667] 1985 Warner Bros.
4 3/4" DVD Color 2 videodisc, 154 min.
Follows the life of Celie, a young black girl growing up in the early 1900's.
The first time we see Celie, she is 14 - and pregnant - by her father. We stay
with her for the next 30 years of her tough life, forced into a brutal marriage
and separated from the only person who she loves and lover her, her sister.
Based on the book by Alice Walker. Cast: Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover, Margaret
Avery, Oprah Winfrey. Directed by Steven Speilberg.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; African Americans
Colors
[DVD 47] 1988 Artisan Entertainment
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 127
min.
Two L.A. cops, one a veteran and one a rookie, try to bring peace to the war raging on the
streets of L.A. Cast: Sean Penn, Robert Duvall, Maria Conchita Alonso, Randy Brooks.
Originally released as a motion picture in 1988.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
The Complete Thin Man Collection
see titles:
The Thin Man
After The Thin Man
Another Thin Man
Shadow Of The Thin Man
The Thin Man Goes Home
Song Of The Thin Man
Alias Nick and Nora: Two Documentary Profiles
The Constant Gardener
[DVD 877] 2005 Universal Studios
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 129 min.
A diplomat on the hunt for his wife s murderer uncovers a treacherous conspiracy
that will destroy millions of innocent people unless he can reveal its sinister
roots. Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
The Contender
[DVD 104] 2000 DreamWorks Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 127 min.
As soon as a woman is nominated to replace the deceased vice president of
the USA, her political enemies search in her private life for ways to bring
her down. Cast: Joan Allen, Gary Oldman, Jeff Bridges, Christian Slater.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; Presidents: United States ; Women’s Studies
Cool Hand Luke
[DVD 12] 1967 Warner
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 127 min.
Set in the southern United States, Luke is caught cutting off parking meters and is
sentenced to the "chain gang." Cast: Paul Newman, George Kennedy, J.D. Cannon,
Robert Drivas, Lou Antonio, Strother Martin, Jo Van Fleet.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
The Cotton Club
[DVD 56] 1984 MGM
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 129 min.
In 1928 New York, spirits are high and jazz, dancing and gangsters rule supreme. Harlem's
Cotton Club is in the center of it all, where rich upper-eastsiders mix with dressed-up
mobsters. On stage is gifted coronet player Dixie Dwyer, who dreams of the big time, and
tap sensation Sandman Williams who can't touch his girl, the lovely singer Lila Rose
Oliver, because of strict club rules. As tension rises, so do tempers, and the nightclub
becomes a pressure-cooker of jilted loves and mob jobs. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola.
Cast: Richard Gere, Gregory Hines, Diane Lane, Lonette
McKee.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Cotton Comes To Harlem
[DVD 33] 1970 United Artists
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 96 min.
St. Jacques is Coffin Ed Johnson and Cambridge is Gravedigger Jones, black cops who
suspect preacher Lockhart's back-to-Africa campaign is a swindle. Neatly combines action
and comedy. Cast: Godfrey Cambridge,
Raymond St. Jacques, Calvin Lockhart, Judy Pace, Redd Foxx, John Anderson, Emily Yancy,
Lou Jacobi, Eugene Roche, J.D. Cannon.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
The Counterfeiters
[DVD 600] 2007 Sony Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc. 99 min.
Germany, 1936. Salomon "Sally" Sorowitsch is the king of counterfeiters. He
lives a life of cards, booze, and women. Suddenly his luck runs dry when he is
arrested thrown into the Mauthausen concentration camp. There, Salomon exhibits
exceptional skills and is soon transferred to the upgraded camp of Sachsenhausen.
Hand-picked for his unique skill, Salomon and a group of professionals are
forced to produce fake foreign currency for the Nazi’s. In German with
subtitles. Cast: Karl Markovics, August Diehl, Devid Striesow. Based on the book
"The devil's workshop" by Adolf Burger.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Holocaust, Jewish 1939
Crash
[DVD 836] [DVD 837] 2005 Lions Gate
4 3/4" DVD
Color 1 videodisc, 113 min. (2 copies)
Several stories interweave during two days in Los Angeles involving a collection
of inter-related characters, a black police detective with a drugged out mother
and a thieving younger brother, two car thieves who are constantly theorizing on
society and race, the distracted district attorney and his irritated and
pampered wife, a racist veteran cop (caring for a sick father at home) who
disgusts his more idealistic younger partner, a successful black Hollywood
director and his wife who must deal with racist cop, a Persian-immigrant father
who buys a gun to protect his shop, a Hispanic locksmith and his young daughter
who is afraid of bullets, and more. Cast: Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Matt
Dillon.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; Race Relations
Crooklyn (Spike Lee Joint Collection)
[DVD 383] 1994 Universal Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 114 min.
Spike Lee's semiautobiographical, film about the good and bad times for a
Brooklyn family in the '70s. The centerpiece of the movie is Troy, a little girl
who views the ups and downs of her parents' experiences, and who navigates the
life of her neighborhood. Cast: Delroy Lindo, Alfre Woodard, Zelda Harris.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; African Americans
The Crucible
[DVD 956] 1996 Twentieth Century Fox
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc,123 min.
A group of teenage girls meets in the woods at midnight for a secret
love-conjuring ceremony. When the ceremony is witnessed by the town
minister, the girls are accused of witchcraft. Soon the entire village is
consumed by hysteria, and innocent victims are put on trial, leading to a
devastating climax. Based on the play of the same title by Arthur Miller. Cast:
Daniel Day-Lewis, Winona Ryder, Paul Scofield.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Cruel Intentions
[DVD 848] 1999 Sony
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 97 mins.
A modern-day teen update of "Les Liaisons Dangereuses". Kathryn makes a bet that
her step-brother, Sebastian, won't be able to bed Annette (a virgin, who wants
to wait until love). If he loses, Kathryn gets his Jaguar, if he wins, he gets
Kathryn. Cast: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, Reese Witherspoon.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Cry Freedom
[DVD 364] 1987 Universal
Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1
videodisc, 157 min.
Donald Woods is chief editor at the liberal newspaper Daily Dispatch in South
Africa. He has written several editorials critical of the views of Steve Biko.
But after having met him for the first time, he changes his views. They meet
several times, and this means that Woods and his family get attention from the
security police. When Steve Biko dies in police custody, he writes a book about
Biko. The only way to get it published is for Woods himself to illegally escape
the country. Cast: Kevin Kline, Denzel Washington.
Subjects – Africa ; Movies and Plays ;
Journalism
Curly Top
[DVD 225] 1935
Twentieth Century Fox
4 3/4" DVD B&W/Colorized 1 videodisc, 75 min.
Wealthy Edward Morgan becomes charmed with a curly-haired orphan and her pretty
older sister Mary and arranges to adopt both under the alias of "Mr.
Jones." As he spends more time with them, he soon finds himself falling in
love with Mary. Cast: Shirley Temple, John boles, Rochelle Hudson.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Dances with Wolves
[DVD 487] 1990 MGM
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 181
min.
Lt. John Dunbar is dubbed a hero after he accidentally leads Union
troops to a victory during the Civil War. He requests a position on the
western frontier, but finds it deserted. He soon finds out he is not
alone, but meets a wolf he dubs "Two-socks" and a curious Indian tribe.
Befriending the very people he's sent to protect the outpost from, the
Sioux Indians, Dunbar slowly comes to revere those he once feared. But
when the encroaching US Army threatens to overrun the Sioux, he is
forced to make a choice, one that will forever change his destiny and
that of a proud and defiant nation.. Cast: Kevin Costner, Mary
McDonnell, Graham Greene.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Indians of
North America
Dark Water
[DVD 519] 2005
Touchstone Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1
videodisc, 105 min.
A mother and daughter, still wounded from a bitter custody dispute, hole
up in a run-down apartment building. Suddenly the apartment seems to
take on a life of its own. Mysterious noises, persistent leaks of dark
water and other strange things begin to happen and they are targeted by
the ghost of former resident. Cast: Jennifer Connelly, John C. Reilly,
Tim Roth.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
The Death of a Salesman
[DVD 954] 1986 Karl-Lorimar Home video
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 135 min.
Arthur Miller's corrosive look at the dark side of the American dream. Cast: Dustin
Hoffman, Kate Reid, Stephen Lang, Charles Durning.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Deer Hunter
[DVD 544] 1978
Universal Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1
videodisc, 182 min.
Michael, Nick, and Steven are three buddies from the steel mill town of
Clairton, Penn. They are like schoolmates, hanging out in a local bar
and enjoying weekends of deer-hunting. But their placid life is soon to
be changed after they enlist in the airborne infantry of Vietnam. So
they all celebrate a goodbye at Steven's wedding and leave for Vietnam.
After some time and many horrors the three friends fall in the hands of
the Vietcong and are brought to a prison camp where they are forced to
play Russian roulette against each other. Cast: Robert De Niro, Meryl
Streep, John Savage, Christopher Walken
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Vietnam Conflict
The Departed
[DVD 541] 2006 Warner Bros.
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 151 min.
Two just-graduated officers from Massachusetts State Police Academy follow
opposite sides of the law: William Costigan is assigned to work undercover with
the Irish mobster Frank Costello to get evidences to arrest him. His true
identity is only known by his superiors. Colin Sullivan, a hardened young
criminal who has infiltrated the state police as an informer for the syndicate,
is promoted in the Massachusetts State Police to a position of power in the
Special Investigation Unit. Each police officer gives his best effort trying to
disclose the identity of the other "rat". Cast: Jack Nicholson, Matt Damon,
Leonardo DiCaprio.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Desert Hearts
[VHS 1433] 1985 Metro Goldwyn Meyer Home Entertainment
1/2" Video Color 1 cass., 91 min.
Vivian is a repressed English professor who goes to Reno in 1959 for a quickie divorce.
She spends the weeks waiting for final divorce papers at a dumpy dude ranch, where she
meets Cay, a beautiful young casino worker. The two develop a friendship that stirs
desires in Vivian she cannot deny. Slowly their attraction deepens into bold sensuality as
they develop a bond that renews their hearts--and breaks all the rules. Based on the
novel: Desert of the heart / by Jane Rule.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; Homosexuality
Destry Rides Again
[DVD 211] 1939 Universal
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc,
129 min
Kent, the unscrupulous boss of Bottleneck has Sheriff Keogh killed when he asks
one too many questions about a rigged poker game that gives Kent a stranglehold
over the local cattle rangers. The mayor, who is in cahoots with Kent appoints
the town drunk, Dimsdale, as the new sheriff assuming that he'll be easy to
control. But what the mayor doesn't know is that Dimsdale was a deputy under
famous lawman, Tom Destry, and is able to call upon the equally formidable Tom
Destry Jr. to be his deputy. Cast: James Stewart, Marlene Dietrich. (The James
Stewart Hollywood legend collection)
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Devil in a Blue Dress
[DVD 335] 1995 Tristar
Prod.
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 102 min.
It is 1948 in LA and Ezikeal "Easy" Rawlins, an
African-American World War II veteran, is looking for work. At his friend's bar,
he is introduced to a white man, DeWitt Albright, who is looking for someone to
help him find a missing white woman assumed to be hiding somewhere in LA's Black
community. This woman, Daphane Monet, happens to be the fiancée of a wealthy
"blue blood," Todd Carter, who is currently the favorite in the city's
mayoralty race. Daphane Monet is known to frequent the Black jazz clubs in LA.
Easy, innocently, accepts Albright's offer; however, he quickly finds himself
amidst murder, crooked cops, ruthless politicians, and brutalizing hoodlums.
Cast: Denzell Washington, Tom Sizemore, Jennifer Beals, Don Cheadle.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; African Americans
The Diary of Anne Frank
[DVD 286] 1951 20th Century Fox
4 3/4" DVD B&W 1 videodisc, 180 min.
Harrowing story of a young Jewish girl who, with her family and their friends is forced
into hiding in an attic in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam during WWII. Based on Anne
Frank's diary, and the stage play. Cast: Millie Perkins ; Joseph Schildkraut ;
Shelley Winters.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; Holocaust, Jewish 1939
Dinosaur
[DVD 13] 2001 Disney
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 82 min.
Dinosaur tells the story of Aladar, an iguanodon who is separated from his own kind and
raised by a clan of lemurs. When a meteor shower destroys their home, Aladar and his
family follow a herd of dinosaurs heading for the safety of the "nesting
grounds." Together they must stand strong amidst food and water shortages, the threat
of Carnotaur attacks, and Aladar's run-ins with the herd's stubborn leader,
Kron. An Animated film.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Do the Right Thing (Spike Lee Joint Collection)
[DVD 382] 1989 Universal Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 120 min.
Spike Lee's incendiary look at race relations in America, circa 1989, is so
colorful and exuberant for its first three-quarters that you can almost forget
the terrible confrontation that the movie inexorably builds toward. Set on one
block in Bedford-Stuyvesant on the hottest day of the summer, the movie shows
the whole spectrum of life in this neighborhood and then leaves it up to us to
decide if, in the end, anybody actually does the "right thing." Cast: Danny
Aiello, Rick Aiello, Paul Benjamin, and Ossie Davis>
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; African Americans
The Doctor
[DVD 700] 1991 Touchstone Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 122 mins.
“Doctors make the worst patients.” This is true for Dr. Jack McKee. He's rich
and he has no problems, until he is diagnosed with throat cancer.
Cast: William Hurt, Christine Lahti, Elizabeth Perkins, and Mandy Patinkin
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Medical Sciences and Nursing
Dr. Strangelove, Or, How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love
The Bomb
[DVD 175] 1963 Columbia Pictures
4 3/4" DVD B&W 1 videodisc, 90 min.
A satire in which the U.S.
president and his military advisors struggle ineptly to avert a holocaust after
a psychotic Air Force general launches a nuclear attack on the Soviet Union
because he fears that the Russians are poisoning the water supply in the United
States. Cast: Peter Sellers, George Scott. Directed by Stanley Kubrick.
Subjects - Movies and Plays
Doctor Zhivago
[DVD 131] 1965 MGM
4 3/4" DVD Color 2 videodisc, 200 min.
A Russian epic, the movie traces the life of surgeon-poet Yury Zhivago before
and during the Russian Revolution. Married to an upper-class girl who is devoted
to him, yet in love with an unfortunate woman who becomes his muse, Zhivago is
torn between fidelity and passion. Sympathetic with the revolution but shaken by
the wars and purges, he struggles to retain his individualism as a humanist amid
the spirit of collectivism. Based on the novel by Boris Pasternak. Directed by David
Lean. Cast: Omar Sharif, Julie Christie, Geraldine Chaplin, Rod Steiger.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; Soviet Union
Don Quixote
[DVD 938] 1933 Video Sig
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 76 min.
Originally issued as a motion picture in 1933. Directed by G.W. Pabst, with Feodor
Chaliapine as Don Quixote and George Robey as Sancho Panza. With the aid of his squire
Sancho Panza, Don Quixote attempts to redress the wrongs of the world.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Donnie Darko
[DVD 696] 2001 20th Century Fox
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 113 mins
A troubled teenager, Donnie Darko, escapes death when a jet-engine crashes in
his bedroom, because he follows a giant bunny leading him outside. The bunny,
called Frank, tells him that the world will end in 28 days. As the final date
comes closer and closer Donnie is drawn into an alarming series of events that
may or may not be a product of growing insanity. Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena
Malone, Mary McDonnell, and Holmes Osborne
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Double Indemnity
[DVD 780] 1944 Paramount
4 3/4" DVD b&w 1 videodisc, 107 min.
An insurance rep lets himself be talked into a murder/insurance fraud scheme
that arouses an insurance investigator's suspicions. Cast: Fred MacMurray,
Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson. Directed by Billy Wilder.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Double Jeopardy
[DVD 838] 1999 Columbia Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 105 mins
Young Libby Parsons has a loving, successful husband, an adorable son, and an
island home to die for. One morning, after a romantic sailing expedition with
her husband, Libby finds herself covered in blood. Her husband's missing, the
boat resembles a murder scene, and there's a knife on the deck. Libby is charged
with murder and jailed, with her young son stripped from her custody. It's all
cut-and-dried, except for one thing, Libby's husband isn't dead, and she's about
to track him down. Thanks to the Fifth Amendment's double jeopardy rule, she
can't be charged twice for his murder. Cast: Ashley Judd, Tommy Lee Jones
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Law
Driving Miss Daisy
[DVD 176] 1989 Warner Bros.
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 99 min.
Set in Atlanta in the
1950's, a textile factory owner insists on hiring an ever-patient chauffeur for
his aging head-strong mother. The Jewish woman and her African American driver
eventually build a relationship over many years. Based on the play by Alfred
Uhry. Cast: Morgan Freeman, Jessica Tandy, Dan Aykroyd.
Subjects - Movies and Plays
Early Summer: Bakushu
[VHS 1388] 1951 Janus Films
1/2" video B&W 1 cass., 135 min.
Details the conflicting senses of obligation and individualism faced by a young daughter
as her family-arranged wedding approaches. Release of the 1951 motion picture Bakushu.
Japanese with English subtitles.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays; Language: Japanese
Earth
[DVD 936] 1998 Zeitgeist Films
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 101 min.
Set in 1947 in Lahore before India and Pakistan became independent, where Hindu,
Sikh, Parsee, and Muslim share a peaceful co-existence. Events are seen from the
point of view of eight-year-old Lenny, a girl from an affluent Parsee family.
Lenny's nanny, Shantya, is involved with the Muslim Masseur. When a train of
Muslims arrives at the local depot and all the passengers are found murdered,
the various sects turn against each other, and the city is soon aflame. Cast:
Maia Sethna. Director: Deepa Mehta. In Hindi with English subtitles.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Asia: India
East Of Eden
[DVD 778] 1955 Warner Bros.
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 115 min.
In the Salinas Valley, in and around World War I, Cal Trask feels he must
compete against overwhelming odds with his brother Aron for the love of their
father Adam. Cal is frustrated at every turn, from his reaction to the war, to
how to get ahead in business and in life, to how to relate to estranged mother.
Based on the novel by John Steinbeck. Cast: James Dean, Julie Harris. Directed
by Elia Kazan.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Eat Drink Man Woman
[DVD 661] 1994
Samuel Goldwyn Co.
4 3/4" DVD Color 1
videodisc, 123 min.
Senior Master Chef Chu lives in a large house in Taipei with his three unmarried
daughters, Jia-Jen, a chemistry teacher converted to Christianity, Jia-Chien, an
airline executive, and Jia-Ning, a student who also works in a fast food
restaurant. Life in the house revolves around the ritual of an elaborate dinner
each Sunday, and the love lives of all the family members. Cast: Sihung Lung,
Yu-Wen Wang, Chien-lien Wu, Kuei-Mei Yang, Sylvia Chang. In Chinese with English
subtitles.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Language: Chinese
The Edge of Heaven
[DVD 1040] 2007 Strand Releasing
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 116 mins.
Nejat seems disapproving about his widower father Ali's choice of prostitute
Yeter for a live-in girlfriend. But he grows fond of her when he discovers she
sends money home to Turkey for her daughter's university studies. After Yeter's
sudden death, Nejat travels to Istanbul to search for Yeter's daughter Ayten. A
political activist, Ayten has fled the Turkish police and is already in Germany.
She is befriended by a young woman, Lotte, who invites rebellious Ayten to stay
in her home. When Ayten is arrested and her asylum plea is denied, she is
deported and imprisoned in Turkey. Lotte travels to Turkey,where she gets caught
up in the seemingly hopeless situation of freeing Ayten. Cast: Nurgul Yesilcay,
Baki Davrak, Tuncel Kurtiz, Hanna Schygulla, Patrycia Ziolkowska.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Middle East
El Norte (The North)
[DVD 638] 1983 Frontera Films
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 141 min.
also available as:
[VHS 1707] 1983 Frontera Films
1/2" video Color 1 cass., 141 min.
A brother and sister, two young Indians from Guatemala, set out to find a better life when
their father is killed by government soldiers and their mother is taken away. Their
journey to the north, the "promised land," is frought with dangers and when they
reach Los Angeles they are "illegals" submerged in an alien culture.,. Cast:
Zaide Silvia Gutiérrez, David Villalpando, Ernesto Gómez Cruz. Spanish and English
dialogue; English subtitles.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; Latin America ; Language: Spanish
Elephant
[DVD 406] 2003 HBO Films
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 80 min.
Gus Van Sant's realistic drama takes us inside an American high school on one,
single ordinary day that very rapidly turns tragic. Elephant demonstrates that
high school life is a complex landscape where the vitality and beauty of young
lives can shift from light to darkness with surreal speed. It's an ordinary high
school day. Except that it's not.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Education
Eleventh Hour
[DVD 455-456] 2005
Granada International
4 3/4" DVD Color
2 videodisc, 90 min. each episode
Scientific troubleshooter for the British government professor Ian Hood, Special
Advisor to the government's Joint Sciences Committee, and his Scottish bodyguard
Rachel Young take on rogue scientists and the world-wide troubles they cause. A
British TV series that lasted for 4 episodes. Cast: Patrick Stewart, Ashley
Jensen
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Emperor Jones (Paul Robeson: Portraits of the Artist)
[DVD 633] 1935 United Artists/Criterion Collection
4 3/4" DVD b&w 1 videodisc, 80 min.
The story concerns Brutus Jones, a black man of the depression era who lacks the
moral stamina to resist the various temptations set before him. He ultimately
finds himself on a remote island where he uses his superior intellect and
physically intimidating presence to set himself up as "Emperor." But his own
past troubles have hardened him. Instead of ruling in justice, he uses his
position to bleed the population--and they revolt against him. A big-screen
adaptation of Eugene O'Neill's play. Cast: Paul Robeson, Dudley Digges.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Empire
[DVD 966] 2002 Universal Studios
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 90 min.
A big time drug dealer is looking to get out of the game and sees his chance
with a big deal with a new friend who happens to be a Wall St. stockbroker.
Thinking this will be his chance to go out on top Victor soon finds out that he
has been double crossed and his last option is to get revenge. Cast: John
Leguizamo, Peter Sarsgaard, Denise Richards.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Latinos/Hispanic Americans
Empire Of The Sun
[DVD 14] 1987 Warner
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 153 min.
Story of James Graham, a boy whose privileged life is upturned by the Japanese invasion of
Shanghai on December 8, 1941. Separated from his parents, he is eventually captured, and
taken to Soo Chow confinement camp, next to a captured Chinese airfield. Amidst the
sickness and food shortages in the camp, Jim attempts to reconstruct his former life, all
the while bringing spirit and dignity to those around him. Cast: John Malkovich, Miranda Richardson, Nigel Havers,
Christian Bale.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; World War, 1939-1945
Employee of the Month
[DVD 853] 2006 Lions Gate
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 108 mins
For years Zack Bradley has been working hard at hardly working at the local
Super Club. That's until a hottie named Amy becomes the new cashier. After
discovering she's willing to date the next guy to become "Employee of the
Month", Zack takes on current titleholder in a super-smackdown to see who will
win the honor, and Amy's heart. Cast: Dane Cook, Jessica Simpson, Dax Shepard.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
The English Patient
[DVD 539] 1996 Miramax
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 162 min.
A dying burn victim, a nurse, a thief, and a Sikh sapper find themselves in each
others’ company in an old Italian villa close to the end of World War II.
Through flashbacks, we see the life of the burn victim, whose passionate love of
a woman and choices he made for her ultimately change the lives of one other
person in the villa. Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Binoche, Willem Dafoe, and
Kristin Scott
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Everything Is Illuminated
[DVD 284] 2005 Warner
Bros.
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 106 min.
A young Jewish American man endeavors to find the
woman who saved his grandfather during World War II in a Ukrainian village, that
was ultimately razed by the Nazis, with the help of a local who speaks weirdly
funny broken English. Based on the novel by JonathanSafran Foer. Cast: Elijah
Wood, Eugene Kurtz.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; Holocaust, Jewish 1939
Fahrenheit 9/11
[DVD 146] 2004 Columbia TriStar
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 122 min.
Through actual footage, interviews, and declassified documents, Michael Moore
illustrates the connections President George W. Bush has to the royal house of
Saud of Saudia Arabia and the bin Laden's, how the president got elected on
fraudulent circumstances and then proceeded to blunder through his duties while
ignoring warnings of the looming betrayal by his foreign partners. When the
treachery hits with the 9/11 attacks, Moore explains how Bush failed to take
immediate action to defend the nation. Special features: "The release of
'Fahrenheit 9/11'" featurette; montage: the people of Iraq on the eve of
invasion; new scene: Homeland Security, Miami style; outside Abu Ghraib Prison;
Eyewitness account from Samara, Iraq; Extended interview with Abdul Henderson;
Ella Lipscomb at the Washington, D.C. premiere; Arab-American comedians - their
acts and experiences after 9/11; Condoleezza Rice's 9/11 Commission Testimony;
Rose Garden press briefing after 9/11 Commission appearance.
Subjects -- Political Science ; Movies and Plays
Family Viewing
[DVD 418] 1987 Zeitgeist Films
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 86 min.
Van's father, Stan, is fond of video, always taping scenes of daily family life.
But he does not take care of Van's grandmother, Armen. Although he could afford
having her at home, she is spending her days watching TV in an old people's
home. Van often visits her. He meets Aline, whose mother is in the next bed. Van
wants to get his grandma out of the old people's home. Aline will help.
Actually, Van, whose mother left, years ago, is looking for a real family life.
(The Essential Egoyan) Cast: David Hemblen, Arsinée Khanjian, Aidan Tierney
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Fantastic Four
[DVD 910] 2005 20th Century Fox
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 106 min.
A group of astronauts gain superpowers after a cosmic radiation exposure and
must use them to oppose the plans of their enemy, Doctor Victor Von Doom. Based
on a Marvel comic book series. Cast: Ioan Gruffudd, Michael Chiklis, Chris
Evans, Jessica Alba, Hamish Linklater.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Far From Heaven
[DVD 792] 2002 Universal
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 108 min.
Cathy is the perfect 50s housewife, living the perfect 50s life: healthy kids,
successful husband, social prominence. Then one night she surprises her husband
Frank kissing another man, and her tidy world starts spinning out of control. In
her confusion and grief, she finds consolation in the friendship of their
African-American gardener, Raymond - a socially taboo relationship that leads to
the further disintegration of life as she knew it. Despite Cathy and Frank's
struggle to keep their marriage afloat, the reality of his homosexuality and her
feelings for Raymond open a painful, if more honest, chapter in their lives.
Cast: Julianne Moore, Dennis Quaid.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Homosexuality ; Race Relations
The Fast Runner
[DVD 127] 2001 National Film Board of Canada
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 161 min.
A small nomadic community is cursed by an unknown shaman. When Atanarjuat falls in love with a
woman already promised to the son of the clan's leader, he has to fight for her.
She is won by Atanarjuat and the leader plots to attack him in his sleep.
Escaping, he sets off running across the ice, embarking on a harrowing adventure
of survival in the brutal wilderness. He returns stronger and wiser to reclaim
his life and stop the curse that has divided his people. Cast:, Paul Apak
Angilirq, Norman Cohn, Zacharias Kunuk. Closed captioned.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; Indians of North America
A Few Good Men
[DVD 869] 1992 Columbia Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 138 mins
At Guantanamo Bay, Gitmo, a marine is assaulted in the middle of the night and
dies shortly thereafter of respiratory complications. The defense counsel for
the two accused marines believes they were just following orders, as part of the
marine's unofficial "code red" where there is self policing within the ranks,
and that there was no intent of murder. In a dramatic courtroom thriller, the
Navy lawyer who has never seen the inside of the courtroom, defends two stubborn
Marines who have been accused of murdering a colleague. Cast : Tom Cruise, Jack
Nicholson.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Law
Fiddler On The Roof
[DVD 197] 1971 MGM
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 179 min.
Musical about Tevye, a poor Jewish milkman with five unmarried daughters to
support in a village in Czarist Russia. With a sharp tongued wife at home and
growing anti-Semitism in the village, Tevye talks to God about his troubles. His
people's traditions keep him strong when his existence is as precariously
balanced as a fiddler on the roof. Adapted from the stories of Sholem Aleichem. Cast:
Topol, Norma Crane. Produced and directed by Norman Jewison.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Fifth Of July By Lanford Wilson
[VHS 1836] 1983
Broadway Theatre Archive
1/2" video Color
1 cass., 117 min.
In Lanford Wilson's acclaimed Broadway play, college friends who agitated for what they
hoped would be a better world, find themselves looking for a way to revive their dreams.
Cast: Richard Thomas, Swoosie Kurtz, Jeff Daniels. PBS television broadcast for Great
Performances, Theater in America
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Fight Club
[DVD 668] 1999 20th Century Fox
4 3/4" DVD Color 2 videodisc, 139 min.
The narrator suffers from insomnia. He tries different ways to cure this, but he
does not succeed. He does get some sleep, but his conditions rebounds back into
it's original state when he meets a lovely young woman, whose name is Marla. He
soon meets an enigmatic young man named Tyler and after a short conversation
both become fast friends. Both like to relieve their inner tensions by hitting
each other. Soon word gets around about their fights, and lots of young people
also get interested, then a club is formed. Cast: Brad Pitt, Edward Norton,
Helena Bonham Carter, Meat Loaf, Zach Grenier.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
The Final Cut
[DVD 520] 2004 Lions Gate
Films
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 96 min.
The story is set in a world where implanted microchips can record all moments of
an individual's life. The chips are removed upon death so the images can be
edited into something of a highlight reel for loved ones who want to remember
the deceased. Robin Williams plays a cutter, someone with the power of final
edit over people's recorded histories. His latest assignment is one that puts
him in danger. Cast: Robin Williams, Mira Sorvino, Jim Caviezel.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Finding Forrester
[DVD 288] 2000 Sony
Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 180 min.
Because of scoring exceptionally high on a state wide standardized exam and being an
exceptionally good basketball player Jamal Wallace, an African American teen
writing prodigy, is sent to a prestigious prep school in Manhattan. He soon
befriends the reclusive writer, William Forrester. The friendship leads William
to overcome his reclusiveness and for Jamal to overcome the racial prejudices and
pursue his true dream - writing. Cast: Sean Connery ; Rob Brown.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; African Americans
Fire
[DVD 935] 1997 Zeitgeist Films
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 108 min.
Two women, Radha and Sita are married to two brothers, Ashok and Jatin. Ashok
decides to become an aesthetic and celibate, and Jatin ignores Sita, to whom his
marriage was arranged, for other women. Alone and ignored, it is only a matter
of time before Radha and Sita look to one another for comfort and to satisfy
their own passions. Banned in India. Cast: Karishma Jhalani, Ramanjeet Kaur
Director: Deepa Mehta. In Hindi with English subtitles.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Asia: India ; Homosexuality
Fires in the Mirror: Crown Heights, Brooklyn and Other
Identities
[VHS 582] 1993 PBS/American Playhouse
1/2" video Color 1 cass., 82 min.
Anna Deavere Smith uses interwoven monologues and assumes the personalities of nearly 30
characters caught in the racial turmoil that erupted in the Crown Heights area of Brooklyn
following the death of an African American child and the stabbing of a 29-year-old
rabbinical student. Closed captioned.
Subjects -- African Americans ; Drama and Theater ; Movies and Plays
A Florida Enchantment
[VHS 1974] 1914 Mad Phat Enterprises
1/2" video Color
1 cass., 63 min.
Frustrated by her fiancé's affairs with hotel maids,
a New York heiress pops one of the magic seeds that change women into men and
men into women. But after shaving "her" morning mustache, she forgets
vengeance under newfound pleasure in embracing other women at the Ft.
Lauderdale resort. Director: Sidney Drew. Cast: Edith Storey, Rosa Rio. Silent motion picture.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; Women’s Studies ; Homosexuality
Flyboys
[DVD 874] 2006 MGM
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 140 min.
Inspired by the true story of the legendary Lafayette Escadrille, this
action-packed epic tells the tale of America's first fighter pilots. These
courageous young men distinguish themselves in a manner that none before them
had dared, becoming true heroes who experience triumph, tragedy, love, and loss
amid the chaos of World War I. Hang on for the ride of your life! Cast: James
Franco, Jennifer Decker.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; World War, 1914-1918
Follow the Fleet
[DVD 244] 1936 RKO Radio Pictures Inc.
4 3/4" DVD B&W 1 videodisc, 110 min.
When the fleet puts in at San Francisco, sailor Bake Baker tries to rekindle the
flame with his old dancing partner, Sherry Martin, while Bake's buddy Bilge
Smith romances Sherry's sister Connie. But it's not all smooth sailing: Bake has
a habit of losing Sherry's jobs for her; and despite Connie's dreams, Bilge is
not ready to settle down. Cast: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Forrest Gump
[DVD 15] 1994 Paramount
4 3/4" DVD Color 2 videodiscs, 141 min.
The story follows the life of low I.Q. Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks) and his meeting with the
love of his life Jenny. The film chronicles his accidental experiences with some of the
most important people and events in America from the late 1950's through the 1970's
including a meeting with Elvis Presley, JFK, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, fighting in
Vietnam, etc. The problem is, he doesn't realize the significance of his actions. Cast:
Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, Mykelti Williamson, Sally Field.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Freedom Writers
[DVD 407] 2003 Paramount Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 122 min.
A true story about a teacher in a racially divided school who gives her students
what they’ve always needed, a voice. Erin Gruwell comes to a southern California
high school bubbling over with naive optimism. She quickly discovers that her
unruly classroom is not easily won over by her good intentions. After a few
floundering attempts to connect with her students, Gruwell gives them the
assignment of keeping journals about their own lives, This assignment is
something that the class can bite into with relish. This eventually bonds them
together and pushes racial rivalries aside. Draws heavily from the published
journals of the real students themselves. Cast: Hilary Swank, Patrick Dempsey.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Literature and Writing ; Race Relations
The French Connection
[DVD 503] 1971 20th Century Fox
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 104 min.
Popeye Doyle and Buddy Russo get wind of a big shipment of Heroin and begin a
tail of the suspects, and their French Connection, two French nationals who are
the European link. As money troubles begin for the hoods they decide to kill
Popeye and Buddy to give them enough room to bring in the Heroin. During the
surveillance and eventual bust is one of the most gripping and memorable car
chase sequences ever filmed. Cast: Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
From Here to Eternity
[DVD 488] 1953
Columbia Pictures
4 3/4" DVD b&w
1 videodisc, 118 min.
The setting is an army base in Hawaii in 1941before the bombing of Pearl
Harbor. Robert E. Lee Prewitt, a bugler refuses to fight for the company
boxing team; he has reasons for giving up the sport. His refusal results
in harsh treatment from the company commander, whose bored wife is
having an affair with the tough-but-fair sergeant. Cast: Burt Lancaster,
Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr, Frank Sinatra, Donna Reed.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; World War, 1939-1945
The Front
[VHS 199] 1976 Columbia TriStar
1/2" video Color 1 cass., 94 min.
A searing indictment of the McCarthy era blacklisting and Communist witchhunts of the
1950's. Woody Allen plays a hapless ghost writer fated to become a symbolic hero. Cast:
Woody Allen, Zero Mostel, Herschel Bernardi, Michael Murphy, Andrea
Marcovicci.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
The Funeral
[VHS 1369] 1987 Itami Productions
1/2" video Color 1 cass., 124 min.
An old man's unexpected death creates hilarious havoc with his family. The traditional
three-day undertaking becomes a sly comedy of manners as the younger generation struggles
with the complex rituals of the Buddhist ceremony. In Japanese with English subtitles.
Title on container: Juzo Itami's The funeral.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; Language: Japanese
Gandhi
[DVD 535] 1982 Columbia Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 188 min.
The biography of Mahatma Gandhi, who rose from a small-time lawyer in South
Africa to India's spiritual leader through his philosophy of non-violent but
direct-action protest. Cast: Ben Kingsley, Candice Bergen, Edward Fox, John
Gielgud.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Asia: India
Gangsters Collection
see titles:
Angels With Dirty Faces
Little Caesar
The Petrified Forest
Public Enemy
The Roaring Twenties
White Heat
The Game
[DVD 16] 1998 PolyGram
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 128 min.
A shrewd and successful businessman is given an unexpected birthday gift from his brother
that threatens to dismantle everything he has built in his life. Cast: Michael Douglas,
Sean Penn, James Rebhorn, Deborah Kara Unger, Peter Donat, Carroll Baker, Armin
Mueller-Stahl.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Gentleman’s Agreement
[DVD 497] 1947 MGM
4 3/4" DVD b&w 1 videodisc, 134 min.
A sometimes powerful study of anti-Semitism in nicer circles. Assigned to write
a series of articles on anti-Semitism, a hotshot magazine writer who has been
blind to the problem, passes himself off as Jewish and watches the WASPs squirm.
Cast: Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, John Garfield, Celeste Holm
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Jews and Jewish Americans
Ghost Rider
[DVD 846] 2007 Sony
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 114 mins
A feature film adaptation of a Marvel Comics title. A young motorcyclist sells
his soul to the Devil to save his father, and then to release himself from his
obligation years later, he becomes the Ghost Rider to defeat the Devil's much
more evil son, Blackheart. Cast: Nicolas Cage, Eva Mendes, Sam Elliott.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Giant
[DVD 955] 1956 Warner Home Video
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc., 262 min.
Bick Benedict, his society-gilded wife and three generations of land-rich Texas sons and
daughters love, swagger, connive and clash in a monumental drama of family strife, racial
bigotry and conflict between cattle barons and newly-rich oil tycoons. Cast: Elizabeth
Taylor, Rock Hudson, James Dean, Carroll Baker, Jane Withers, Chill Wills, Mercedes
McCambridge, Sal Mineo, Dennis Hopper, Judith Evelyn, Paul Fix. Based on the novel Giant
by Edna Ferber.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Gideon's Trumpet
[DVD 953]
1980 Hallmark Hall of Fame
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 110 min.
Clarence Earl Gideon, a semi-literate drifter, is arrested for breaking into a
pool room and for petty theft. When he asks the court to appoint a lawyer for
his defense because he cannot afford one, his request is denied. Acting as his
own lawyer, Gideon is convicted and sent to jail. While in prison, he begins a
hand-written campaign directed to the U.S. Supreme Court, contending that every
defendant is entitled to legal representation. The Court agrees to hear Gideon's
case, and, in a landmark decision, rules in his favor. Cast: Henry Fonda,
Anthony Lewis, David W. Rintels,
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; Law
Gigi
[DVD 277] 1958 MGM
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 119 min.
In turn-of-the-century Paris, Gaston Lachaille is a bon vivant much like his
uncle, Honore (who thanks heaven for little girls). But Gaston is becoming bored
with the high life ... especially the women. He only truly enjoys the time that
he spends with one of his uncle's old friends, Madame Alvarez, and her
grand-daughter, the precocious and carefree Gigi. Gigi is being groomed to
follow in her grandmother's footsteps as a famous courtesan. Gaston and Gigi
enjoy a platonic friendship, until he notices that she is no longer a little
girl. A Lerner-Loewe musical based on the novel by Collette. Cast: Leslie Caron,
Louis Jourdon, Maurice Chevalier.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Girl, Interrupted
[DVD 660] 1999 Columbia
Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 127 min.
Susanna is depressed and directionless after finishing high school in the late
1960's. A suicide attempt lands her in Claymore, a mental institution. She
befriends the band of troubled women in her ward (Georgina the pathological
liar, the sexually abused Daisy, the burn victim Polly) but falls under the
hypnotic sway of Lisa, the wildest and most hardened of the bunch. Cast: Wynona
Ryder, Angelina Jolie.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Gladiator
[DVD 17] 2000 DreamWorks
4 3/4" DVD Color 2 videodiscs, 155 min.
A Roman general refuses to transfer his loyalty to the new Emperor, Commodus. He becomes a
slave and then a gladiator, fighting in the Roman Colosseum in defiance of the Emperor.
Cast: Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Oliver Reed, Derek
Jacobi, Djimon Hounsou, Richard Harris.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
The Glass Menagerie By Tennessee Williams
[VHS 1837] 1973 Broadway Theatre Archive
1/2" video Color 1 cass., 120 min.
Based on the play by Tennessee Williams.
A strong willed mother whose pre-occupation with the past as a southern belle, and her
unrealistic dreams for her children's futures, threaten to smother her painfully shy, lame
daughter and her aspiring writer son. A gentleman caller's visit offers false hope and
disrupts the family's precarious balance. Cast: Katharine Hepburn, Sam Waterston, Michael
Moriarty. PBS television broadcast for Great Performances, Theater in America.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Glory
[DVD 78] 1989 TriStar
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 94 min
Two idealistic young Bostonians lead the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry,
America's first Black regiment in the Civil War. Cast: Matthew
Broderick, Denzel Washington, Cary Elwes, Morgan Freeman.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; African Americans ; United States: History
The Godfather
[DVD 394] 1972 Paramount Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 104 min.
The aging patriarch of an organized crime dynasty transfers control of his
clandestine empire to his reluctant son. Cast: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James
Caan, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Based on
the book by Mario Puzo.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
The Godfather, Part II
[DVD 395-396] 1974 Paramount Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 2 videodiscs, 200 min.
The early life and career of Vito Corleone in 1920's New York is portrayed while
his son, Michael, expands and tightens his grip on his crime syndicate
stretching from Lake Tahoe, Nevada to pre-Revolution 1958 Cuba. Cast: Al Pacino,
Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, John Cazale, Robert De Niro. Directed by Francis
Ford Coppola.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
The Godfather, Part III
[DVD 397] 1990 Paramount Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 169 min.
An aging Don Michael Corleone seeks to legitimize his crime family's interests
and remove himself from the violent underworld but is kept back by the ambitions
of the young. While he attempts to link the Corleone's finances with the
Vatican, Michael must deal with the machinations of a hungrier gangster seeking
to upset the existing Mafioso order and a young protégé’s love affair with his
daughter. Cast: Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, Andy Garcia. Directed by Francis Ford
Coppola.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
The Godfather: Bonus Disc: Behind The Scenes
[DVD 398] 2001 Paramount Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 180 min.
Coppola's notebook on adapting the Mario Puzo novel for the screen.; A
Documentary on the Making of the Films (73 minutes) ; Additional Scenes ; Cast
Rehearsals ; Filming Locations Featurette ; Storyboards ; Cinematography of The
Godfather ; The Music of The Godfather
The Corleone Family Tree ; The Godfather Historical Time Line.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
The Gods Must Be Crazy
[DVD 462] 1980 CAT Films
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 109 min.
A Sho in the Kalahari desert encounters technology for the first
time--in the shape of a Coke bottle. He takes it back to his people, and
they use it for many tasks. The people start to fight over it, so he
decides to return it to the God--where he thinks it came from.
Meanwhile, we are introduced to a school teacher assigned to a small
village, a despotic revolutionary, and a clumsy biologist.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Africa
The Gods Must Be Crazy II
[DVD 462] 1989 Columbia Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 98 min.
Xixo is back again. This time, his children accidentally stow away on a
fast-moving poachers' truck, unable to get off, and Xixo sets out to
rescue them. Along the way, he encounters a couple of soldiers trying to
capture each other and a pilot and passenger of a small plane, who are
each having a few problems of their own.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Africa
Going My Way
[DVD 528] 1944 Paramount
Pictures
4 3/4" DVD b&w 1 videodisc,
130 min.
A new priest shows up at the parish of a crusty old priest named Father
Fitzgibbon. The new man, Father O'Malley, must ingratiate himself with
both the old man and his congregation. There are various ups and downs
in their relationship but on the whole, it all seems to be going rather
well. Then one night, the church burns to the ground. Cast: Bing Crosby,
Barry Fitzgerald.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
The Gold Rush (The Chaplin Collection)
[DVD 390-391] 1942 United Artists
4 3/4" DVD b&w 2 videodisc
Original version was released in 1925. Disc 1, The film (96 min.): (The Little
Tramp (Chaplin) finds himself in the Yukon, along with a swarm of prospectors
heading over Chilkoot Pass (an amazing sight restaged by Chaplin in his opening
scenes, filmed in the snowy Sierra Nevadas). When the Tramp is trapped in a
mountain cabin with two other fortune hunters, Chaplin stages a veritable ballet
of starvation, culminating in the cooking of a leathery boot. Back in town, the
Tramp is smitten by a dance-hall girl (Georgia Hale), but it seems impossible
that she could ever notice him. The Gold Rush is one of Chaplin's
simplest, loveliest features; and despite its high comedy, it never strays far
from Chaplin's keen grasp of loneliness. In 1942, Chaplin reedited the film and
added music and his own narration for a successful rerelease. Disc 2, Special
Features (61 min.)
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Gone With The Wind
[DVD 128] 1939 MGM
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 233 min.
Focuses on the life and loves of the beautiful and selfish Scarlett O'Hara. The story
begins on the O'Haras' Georgia plantation of Tara in antebellum days and moves
through the Civil War and Reconstruction. Based on the novel by Margaret
Mitchell. Cast: Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Leslie Howard, Olivia De Havilland.
Subjects - Movies and Plays ; United States: History
Good Bye Lenin!
[DVD 642] 2003 X-Filme Creative Pool
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 121 min.
A woman with 2 children living in Eastern Berlin during the Cold War loses her
husband to the West and chooses to become a devout and loyal Socialist. She is
even honored for her work by the Socialist Government. In 1989, after seeing her
son protesting against the Socialist she has a Heart Attack and falls into a
coma lasting 8 months. While she is in the coma East and West Germany reunite.
When she awakes from her coma her children are told any shock would be fatal. In
an attempt to save her life the children who now live fully westernized lives
convert one room of their house back into Eastern Socialist style. They keep
their mother there for many months feeding her fake news about the socialist
government included recorded television. In German with English subtitles. Cast:
Daniel Bruhl, Katrin Sass.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Language: German
Good Night, And, Good Luck
[DVD 331] 2006 Warner
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 93 min.
Takes place during the early days of broadcast journalism in 1950's America. It
chronicles the real-life conflict between television newsman Edward R. Murrow
and Senator Joseph McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities Committee. With
a desire to report the facts and enlighten the public, Murrow, and his dedicated
staff - headed by his producer Fred Friendly and Joe Wershba in the CBS newsroom
- defy corporate and sponsorship pressures to examine the lies and
scaremongering tactics perpetrated by McCarthy during his communist
'witch-hunts'. A very public feud develops when the Senator responds by accusing
the anchor of being a communist. In this climate of fear and reprisal, the CBS
crew carries on and their tenacity will prove historic and monumental. Cast:
David Strathairn, Patricia Clarkson, George Clooney, Jeff Daniels.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; Journalism
The Good, The Bad And The Ugly
[DVD 18] 1966 MGM/UA
4 3/4" DVD Color
1 videodisc, 176 min.
During the American Civil War, three men seek hidden loot. With greed as their sole
motivation, they overcome anything that gets in their way--including each other. Very
violent and drawn out western. Originally issued as a motion picture in 1966. Cast: Clint
Eastwood, Eli Wallach, Lee Van Cleef, Aldo Giuffre.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Gorillas in the Mist: The Adventure of Dian Fossey
[DVD 461] 1988 Universal
Studios
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc,
130 min.
The story of primatologist Dian Fossey, a scientist who came to Africa
to study the vanishing mountain gorillas, and later fought to protect
them. She becomes the first person on record to make friendly physical
contact with them while waging sometimes-physical war on natives and
Europeans who decimate the gorillas for trophies or zoo fodder. Cast:
Sigourney Weaver, Bryan Brown, Julie Harris, John Omirah Milu.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Zoology
The Gospel at Colonus
[DVD 641] 2008 New Video Group
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 90 min.
This filmed version of the much-lauded 1985 Philadelphia performance traces the
epic storyline of the original text, while also interweaving aspects of Oedipus
Rex, Antigone, and the Christian salvific narrative. Taking up the dramatic
tension and emotional turmoil of classical tragedy and infusing it with
passionate, inventive performances and an electrifying gospel and soul inflected
musical montage.Cast: Javetta Steele, Isabell Monk, Robert Earl Jones, Carl
Lumbly, Clarence Fountain and the Blind Boys of Alabama.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Music
The Graduate
[DVD 408] 1967 MGM
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 106 min.
Ben has recently graduated college, with his parents now expecting great things
from him. At his "Homecoming" party, Mrs. Robinson, the wife of his father's
business partner, has Ben drive her home, which leads to an affair between the
two. The affair eventually ends, but comes back to haunt him when he finds
himself falling for Elaine, Mrs. Robinson's daughter. Cast: Anne Bancroft,
Dustin Hoffman, Katharine Ross.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Grand Hotel
[DVD 493] 1933 MGM
4 3/4" DVD b&w 1 videodisc, 112 min.
“People come. People go. Nothing ever happens,” one world-weary patron of
Berlin’s finest hotel comments. We witness the glorious comings, goings and
intersecting stories of a ruined aristocrat, terminally ill clerk, ruthless
tycoon, scheming stenographer, and a disillusioned ballerina. Cast: John
Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore, Wallace Beery, Frank Conroy, Joan Crawford.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
The Grapes Of Wrath
[DVD 592] 1940
Twentieth Century-Fox
4 3/4" DVD b&w 1 videodisc. 129 min.
The migration of the Joad family to California from their dust-bowl farm in
Oklahoma during the Great Depression. Based on the novel by John Steinbeck.
Darryl F. Zanuck's production ; directed by John Ford. Cast: Henry Fonda, Jane
Darwell, John Carradine.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Grave Of The Fireflies
[DVD 628] 1988 Studio Ghibli/Central Park Media
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 88 min.
Two orphans in war-time Kobe, Japan, face fire-bombs, hunger, homelessness, and
despair as the war and their lives come to an end. Based on the novel by Akiyuki
Nosaka. written and directed by Isao Takahata. In English and Japanese with
English subtitles.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Language: Japanese
Grease
[DVD 941] 1978
Paramount
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 110 min.
A musical love story set in a fifties high school. Issued as a motion picture. Cast: John
Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Stockard, Channing.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
The Great Debaters
[DVD 590] 2007 Genius Products
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 124 mins.
A drama based on the true story of Melvin B. Tolson, a professor at Wiley
College Texas, a private, historically black, liberal arts college. In 1935, he
inspired students to form the school's first debate team, which went on to
challenge Harvard in the national championship. Cast: Denzel Washington, Forest
Whitaker, Damien Leake, and Gregory Nicotero.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Education ; African Americans
The Great Dictator (The Chaplin Collection)
[DVD 388-389] 1940 United Artists
4 3/4" DVD b&w 2 videodisc
Disc 1, The film (124 min.): Chaplin plays both Adenoid Hynkel, the power-mad
ruler of Tomania, and a humble Jewish barber suffering under the dictator's
rule. Paulette Goddard, Chaplin's wife at the time, plays the barber's beloved;
and the rotund comedian Jack Oakie turns in a weirdly accurate burlesque of
Mussolini, as a bellowing fellow dictator named Benzino Napaloni, Dictator of
Bacteria. Chaplin himself hits one of his highest moments in the amazing
sequence where he performs a dance of love with a large inflated globe of the
world. Never has the hunger for world domination been more rhapsodically
expressed. The slapstick is swift and sharp, but it was not enough for Chaplin.
He ends the film with the barber's six-minute speech calling for peace and
prophesying a hopeful future for troubled mankind. This was the last appearance
of Chaplin's Little Tramp character, and not coincidentally it was his first
all-talking picture. Disc 2, Special Features (113 min.)
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; World War, 1939-1945
The Great McGinty
[VHS 200] 1940 MCA Universal
1/2" video B&W 1
cass., 82 min.
Comedy about the rise and fall of a small-time, bribe-happy politician. Cast: Brian
Donlevy, Muriel Angelus, Akim Tamiroff.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
The Great Ziegfeld
[DVD 278] 1936 MGM
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 176 min.
At the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, sideshow barker Flo Ziegfeld turns the tables
on his more successful neighbor Billings, and steals his girlfriend to boot.
This pattern is repeated throughout their lives, as Ziegfeld makes and loses
many fortunes putting on ever bigger, more spectacular shows (sections of which
appear in the film). French revue star Anna Held becomes his first wife, but
it's not easy being married to the man who "glorified the American
girl." Late in life, now married to Billie Burke, he seems to be all washed
up, but...Cast: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Luise Rainer.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
The Greatest Show on Earth
[DVD 530] 1952
Paramount Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1
videodisc, 152 min.
To ensure a full profitable season, circus manager Brad Braden engages
The Great Sebastian, though this moves his girlfriend Holly from her
hard-won center trapeze spot. Holly and Sebastian begin a dangerous
one-upmanship duel in the ring, while he pursues her on the ground.
Subplots involve the secret past of Buttons the Clown and the efforts of
racketeers to move in on the game concessions. Cast: Charlton Heston,
Betty Hutton, Cornel Wilde.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Groundhog Day
[DVD 178] 1993 Columbia Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 101 min.
A romantic comedy about a
weatherman caught in a personal time warp where it is Groundhog Day again, and
again, and again. First he uses this to his advantage, but then he realizes that
he might be doomed to spend the rest of eternity in the same place, seeing the
same people, and doing the same thing every day. Cast: Bill Murray, Andie
MacDowell, Chris Elliott.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Guarding Tess
[DVD 850] 1994 New Line Productions
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 96 mins
A Secret Service agent unable to get out of his assignment watching over an
exasperating former first lady, widow of a former U.S. President, and close
personal friend of the President. She is very difficult to guard and makes him
crazy with her whims and demands. He wants off her detail. Cast: Shirley
MacLaine, Nicolas Cage.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner
[DVD 775] 1967 MGM
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 108 min.
Joey Drayton brings her fiancé, Dr. John Prentice, home to sunny San Francisco
to meet her affluent parents. Their liberal persuasions are now put to the test,
for although the young man is an ideal choice, he's highly intelligent and
internationally respected in the medical field, and he's impeccably mannered,
handsome, well dressed and of a respectable California family, and he's black.
Cast: Spencer Tracy, Katherine Hepburn, Sidney Poitier.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Race Relations
Guys & Balls
[DVD 1005] 2005 Liberation Entertainment
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 102 mins.
Ecki is thrown off his soccer team when the other members find out he's gay.
With the help of his sister and a former soccer star, he forms an all-gay team
and challenges his old teammates to a grudge match. Cast: Maximilian Brückner,
Lisa Potthoff, Dietmar Bär, and David Rott. In German with English subtitles.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Homosexuality ; Language: German
; Sports, Fitness and Recreation
Hamlet By William Shakespeare
[VHS 1838-1839] 1990
Broadway Theatre Archive
1/2" video
Color 2 cass., 180 min.
This version of Shakespeare's tragedy of Hamlet, prince of Denmark, is presented in modern
dress. Cast: Kevin Kline, Dana Ivey, Diane Venora. PBS television broadcast for Great
Performances, Theater in America.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; Shakespeare, William
Hamlet (Complete Dramatic Works Of William Shakespeare)
[DVD 301] 1981 BBC/Ambrose Films
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 222 min..
Dramatization of William Shakespeare's play in which a Danish prince finally
avenges the murder of his father, the king, by killing his uncle, Claudius, who
murdered the king, usurped the throne, and married Hamlet's mother, Gertrude. In
this richly costumed production, the greatest tragedy ever written maintains all
the tension of a murder mystery as it examines the fundamental issues of
justice, guilt and death Cast: Derek Jacobi, Claire Bloom, Eric Porter, Patrick
Stewart, Patrick Allen.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; Shakespeare, William
The Handmaid’s Tale
[DVD 482] 1990
MGM
4 3/4" DVD Color 1
videodisc, 109 min.
Set in a post-civil war, Fascistic future America, the religious right
has taken over and established the Republic of Gilead. Kate is a
criminal, guilty of the crime of trying to escape from the Gilead, and
is sentenced to become a Handmaid. The ravages of war and pollution has
left only a small percentage of women able to bear children. The job of
a Handmaid is to be a surrogate mother for loyal couples who can’t have
children. After ruthless group training in the proper way to behave,
Kate is assigned as Handmaid to the Commander. At the same time, a
resistance movement begins to challenge the regime. Cast: Natasha
Richardson, Robert Duvall, Aidan Quinn, Faye Dunaway.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Harvey
[DVD 214] 1950 Universal
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 104 min.
A middle aged drunk has been driving his sister and niece wild by introducing
everyone he meets to his pal Harvey. Harvey is a big white rabbit, six feet
three and a half inches tall, which only Elwood (and occasionally his sister
when she's feeling odd) can see. The sister, Veta Louise Simmons, tries to have
Elwood committed to Chumleys Rest sanatorium, but they let Elwood out and lock
her up. After sorting out the mistake, Dr Chumley goes after Elwood himself. .
Cast. James Stewart, Josephine Hull. (The James Stewart Hollywood legend collection)
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
He Said, She Said
[VHS 1535] 1991 Paramount
1/2" video Color 1 cass., 115 min.
Comedy about the co-hosts of a talk show who fall in love, and tell the story of their
relationship. The first segment covers his side, and the second tells the story from her
side. Cast: Kevin Bacon, Elizabeth Perkins. Rated Pg-13.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Heidi
[DVD 226] 1937
Twentieth Century Fox
4 3/4" DVD B&W/Colorized 1 videodisc, 88 min.
When little Heidi is stolen by her cruel aunt (who
sells her) her grouchy grandfather searches for her. Meanwhile she brings
happiness to the invalid daughter of a wealthy man. Cast: Shirley Temple, Jean
Hersholt.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Henry IV, Part I
[VHS 20-21] 1980
BBC-TV/Time-Life
1/2" video Color
2 cass., 147 min.
Presents a dramatization of William Shakespeare's play entitled King Henry IV. Cast: Jon
Finch, Anthony Quayle, David Gwillim.
Henry V
[VHS 75-76] 1945
Films for the Humanities
1/2" video Color
2 cass., 136 min.
Presents a performance of William Shakepeare's Henry V with Laurence Olivier in the title
role. Includes scenes of London's Globe Theatre. Originally released in 1945 by Two Cities
Films.
Hester Street
[DVD 472] 1975 Midwest Films
4 3/4" DVD b&w 1 videodisc, 90 min.
A delightfully quaint film about the assimilation of Jewish immigrants
in America in the late 1800s. Jake is a self-made Yankee who has shaved
his beard and side curls in favor of an updated look. An émigré from
Russia, Jake's been living in New York's Lower East Side for five years,
taking up with a new woman and earning enough money to support his dance
hall ways. To his dismay, his wife, Gitl and son, Yossele, join him from
the Old World. Jake is embarrassed by his wife, who retains her
religious ways, wearing the wigs and scarves that tradition dictates. In
turn, Gitl is distraught over the changes in Jake, who insists on
calling their son Joey and trying to modernize them both. Cast: Carol
Kane Steven Keats
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Jews
High Art
[DVD 699] 2004 Focus Features
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 103 mins.
What will an artist do (or won't) for recognition, and what’s the price for that
recognition? Syd is an editor at a painfully pretentious art magazine; by
chance, she becomes acquainted with lesbian photographer Lucy and her
Dietrich-like, weirdo German girlfriend. Syd becomes captivated with Lucy and
her work and, smelling a career move, offers to feature her in the next issue of
the magazine. The two become attracted, but their relationship is fraught with
perils--Syd loses her rather square boyfriend, Lucy's girlfriend takes a hike,
the avaricious management at the magazine pressures Syd. Soon, the pair begin to
travel down the road of heroin addiction. Cast: Radha Mitchell, Ally Sheedy,
Patricia Clarkson.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Homosexuality
High Noon
[DVD 19] 1952
Artisan
4 3/4" DVD B&W 1 videodisc, 107 min.
A retired marshal's wedding is interrupted when he learns a killer he had sent to jail
will return to town on the noon train to seek revenge. The townspeople refuse to help him,
so he is forced to take up his badge and guns again, alienating his new bride, a Quaker
who is opposed to violence. Cast: Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly, Thomas Mitchell, Lloyd
Bridges, Katy Jurado, Lon Chaney, Henry Morgan, Lee Van Cleef. Originally released as a
motion picture in 1952.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
The Hills Have Eyes
[DVD 861] 2006 Fox Searchlight Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 107 mins
While traveling in a trailer to California through the New Mexico Desert, a
family is misled to a shortcut going to nowhere by the owner of an isolated gas
station and wrecks the car in a rock. Along the night and on the next day, they
are attacked by a group of deformed cannibals, fruit of the atmospheric nuclear
tests conducted by USA from 1945 to 1962 in that spot. Absolutely trapped by the
psychotics, they have to fight to survive. Cast: Ted Levine, Kathleen Quinlan.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
The Hills Have Eyes 2
[DVD 862] 2007 Fox Searchlight Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 89 mins
A team of trainees of the National Guard brings supply to the New Mexico Desert
for a group of soldiers and scientists that are installing a monitoring system
in Sector 16. They do not find anybody in the camp, and they receive a blurred
distress signal from the hills. Their sergeant gathers a rescue team, and they
are attacked and trapped by deformed cannibals, having to fight to survive.
Cast: Daniella Alonso, Jacob Vargas.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Himalaya
[DVD 103] 1999
Kino on Video
4 3/4" DVD Color
1 videodisc,104 min.
The story of a generational struggle for the leadership of a tiny mountain
village between its proud old chief and a headstrong young caravanner. The
balance of power shifts uneasily as they make their annual salt trek across the
Himalayas. In Tibetan with English subtitles. Closed captioned.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; Asia: Tibet
A History Of Violence
[DVD 866] 2005 New Line Productions
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 96 mins
A mild-mannered man becomes a local hero through an act of violence when he
kills two-sought-after criminals at his diner. This thrust him into the
spotlight and sets off repercussions that will shake his family to its very
core. Cast: Viggo Mortensen, Maria Bello.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
The Hitch-Hiker
[DVD 5] 1953
Kino on Video
4 3/4" DVD B&W
1 videodisc, 70 min.
The only true 'film noir' ever directed by a woman, Ida Lupino. This tour de force
thriller is a classic, tension-packed, three-way dance of death about two middle-class
American homebodies (Edmond O'Brien and Frank Lovejoy) on vacation in Mexico on a
long-awaited fishing trip. Suddenly their car and their very lives are commandeered by a
psychopathic serial killer. Cast: Edmond O'Brien, Frank Lovejoy, William
Talman. Closed captioned.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Hollywoodland
[DVD 856] 2006 Universal Studios
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 127mins
This fact-based mystery of Hollywoodland takes place in 1959, with the death of
"Adventures of Superman" TV star George Reeves. Officially ruled a suicide but
never conclusively solved, private detective Louis Simo investigates his death
for his grieving mother who suspects foul play. Cast: Ben Affleck, Diane Lane,
Adrien Brody, Bob Hoskins.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Housekeeping
[VHS 623]
1987 RCA/Columbia Pictures
1/2" video Color
1 cass., 117 min.
In the Pacific Northwest during the 1950's, two young sisters whose mother has abandoned them wind up
living with their Aunt Sylvie, whose views of the world and its conventions don't quite live up the
most people's expectations. Cast: Christine Lahti, Sara Walker, Andrea Burchill.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; Psychology ; Washington State and Seattle
How Green Was My Valley
[DVD 495] 1941 20th Century Fox
4 3/4" DVD b&w 1 videodisc, 118 min.
Sixty year-old Huw Morgan looks back on his life as a 10-year-old boy in a small
Welsh mining town. The youngest of seven children to Mr. and Mrs. Morgan, a
hardy couple who've seen the best and worst of times in their South Wales mining
town. They're facing one of the worst times as Mr. Morgan refuses to join a
miners union whose members have begun a long-term strike. Family tensions grow
and Huw must learn many of life's harsher lessons under the tutelage of the
local preacher, who has fallen in love with Huw's sister. Cast: Walter Pidgeon,
Maureen O'Hara, Anna Lee, Donald Crisp, Roddy McDowall.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ;Labor and Trade Unions
The Hurt Locker
[DVD 1046] 2009 Summit Entertainment
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 131 mins.
War is a drug. Nobody knows that better than Staff Sergeant James, head of an
Explosive Ordnance Disposal team, an elite squad of soldiers tasked with
disarming bombs in the heat of combat. To do this nerve-shredding job, it’s not
enough to be the best: you have to thrive in a zone where the margin of error is
zero, think as diabolically as a bomb-maker, and somehow survive with your body
and soul intact. Cast: Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, and Ralph
Fiennes
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Middle East
Ice Age
[DVD 129] 2002 Twentieth Century Fox
4 3/4" DVD Color 2 videodisc, 81 min.
Twenty thousand years ago, as the Earth was being overrun with glaciers, and
animals were scurrying to save themselves from the upcoming Ice Age, a sloth
named Sid, a woolly mammoth named Manny, a saber-toothed tiger named Diego, and
an acorn-loving saber-toothed squirrel named Scrat are forced to become unlikely
heroes. The four reluctantly come together when they have to return a human
child to its father while braving the deadly elements of the impending Ice Age.
An animated film. Closed captioned.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
The Iceman Cometh By Eugene O'Neill
[VHS 1840-1841] 1960
Broadway Theatre Archive
1/2" video
B&W 2 cass., 210 min.
A group of has-beens in Harry Hope's saloon wait for the annual visit of Hickey (Robards),
a happy salesman. Hickey arrives a changed character and tries to make each man see
reality and face the truth about himself. Cast: Jason Robards, Myron McCormick, Tom Pedi.
PBS television broadcast for Great Performances, Theater in America.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Imitation Of Life
[VHS 1429] 1934 Universal Home Video
1/2" Video B&W
1 cass., 111 min
Bea, an entrepreneurial single mother, and her housemaid Delilah build a fortune
together--but success doesn't save them from sorrow in the passing years. Delilah's
daughter rejects her mother and her race, while Bea must choose between the man she loves
and the daughter who loves him, too. Based on the novel by Fannie Hurst. Cast: Claudette
Colbert, Warren Williams, Louise Beavers, Fredi Washington, Rochelle Hudson, Ned Sparks.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
The Immigrant Experience: The Long, Long Journey
[VHS 719] 1986
Learning Corp. of America
1/2" video Color
1 cass., 30 min.
Drama of a young Polish immigrant at the turn of the century and his "journey",
with disappointments and sacrifices along the way, from greenhorn to a real American which
took all of his life.
The Importance of Being Earnest
[DVD 287] 2002 Miramax
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 180 min.
Whenever Jack Worthing slips away to London from his Hertfordshire estate he says he is
going to see his (fictitious) wayward brother Earnest. Once there he keeps his
privacy by calling himself Earnest - luckily so as his beloved Gwendolen
declares she could only love an Earnest. Her cousin Algy is the one person who
knows Jack's secret and one day he travels down to the estate, announcing
himself to Jack's attractive ward Cecily as bad brother Earnest. Cecily is much
taken with him and with his name, so on Jack's return home and Gwendoen's
unexpectedly arrival it becomes clear there are both too many and too few
Earnests earnestly courting. Based on the novel by Oscar Wilde. Cast: Reese
Witherspoon ; Colin Firth ; Rupert Everett.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
In the Heat of the Night
[DVD 500] 1967 United Artists
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 109 min.
Virgil Tibbs is a Philadelphia Homicide detective home to see his mother in the
rural south. He is arrested on general principles when a rich white man is found
dead, and Tibbs' being Black is enough reason. When his identity is established,
his boss offers his services to the small town sheriff who has little experience
with murder investigations. But neither man can solve this cas alone. Putting
aside their differences and prejudices, they join forces in a desperate race
against time to discover the truth. Cast: Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger
Subjects – Movies and Plays
An Inconvenient Truth
[DVD 334] 2006 Paramount
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 100 min.
Director Davis Guggenheim eloquently weaves the science of global warming with Mr. Gore's
personal history and lifelong commitment to reversing the effects of global
climate change. A longtime advocate
for the environment, Gore presents a wide array of facts and information in a
thoughtful and compelling way. Al
Gore strips his presentations of politics, laying out the facts for the audience
to draw their own conclusions in a charming, funny and engaging style, and by
the end has everyone on the edge of their seats, gripped by his haunting
message," said Guggenheim. An
Inconvenient Truth is not a story of despair but rather a rallying cry to
protect the one earth we all share. It
is now clear that we face a deepening global climate crisis that requires us to
act boldly, quickly, and wisely," said Gore.
Subjects – Environmental Sciences ; Movies and Plays
The Incredibly True Adventure Of Two Girls In Love
[VHS 1436] 1995 New Line Home Video
1/2" Video Color
1 cass., 94 min.
A story of two teenagers who unexpectedly experience the excitement, surprise and romantic
fantasy of first love. Cast: Laurel Holloman, Nicole Parker.
Inherit The Wind
[DVD 321] 1960 United Artists
4 3/4" DVD B&W 1 videodisc, 128 min.
Teacher B.T. Cates is arrested for teaching Darwin's theories. Famous lawyer
Henry Drummond defends him; fundamentalist politician Matthew Brady prosecutes.
This is a very thinly disguised rendition of the 1925 "Scopes monkey
trial" with debates between Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan
taken largely from the transcripts. Cast: Spencer Tracy, Fredric March, Gene
Kelly, Harry Morgan, Dick York.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; Law and Government
The Interpreter
[DVD 878] 2005 Universal Studios
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 128 min.
In one of the hidden corridors of power at United Nations headquarters,
translator Silvia Broome overhears a potentially explosive secret about a
planned assassination attempt. But when federal agent Tobin Keller investigates
her claim and digs deeper into Silvia's dangerous past, he begins to question
whether she is a victim - or a suspect. Cast: Nicole Kidman, Sean Penn.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Inside Man
[DVD 870] 2006 Columbia Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 129 mins
An NYPD Detective struggles to outsmart a high-stakes bank robber who, along
with a well-trained crew of accomplices, has seized control of a Wall Street
bank, turning what initially looks like a hostage crisis into a personal crusade
to expose some mysterious evil secrets. Cast: Denzel Washington, Clive Owen,
Jodie Foster. Directed by Spike Lee.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Iris
[DVD 446] 2001 Miramax
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 91 min.
Based on the life of revered British writer and philosopher Iris Murdoch. As a
young academic, teaching philosophy at Oxford, Murdoch meets and eventually
falls in love with fellow professor John Bayley, a man whose awkwardness seems
in stark opposition to the spirited self-confidence of his future wife. The
story unfolds as snippets of time, seen through Bayley's eyes. He recalls their
first encounter over 40 years ago, activities they enjoyed doing together, and
Iris' charismatic and individualistic personality. These images portray Murdoch
as a vibrant young woman with great intellect and are contrasted with the
novelist's later life, after the effects of Alzheimer's disease have ravaged
her. Murdoch's great mind deteriorates until she is reduced to a mere vestige of
her former self, unable to perform simple tasks and completely reliant on her at
times frustrated yet devoted husband. Cast: Judi Dench, Kate Winslet, Jim
Broadbent.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Literature and Writing
It by Stephen King's
see title Stephen King's It
It Happened One Night
[VHS 1010] 1934 Columbia Tristar
1/2" video B&W
1 cass., 105 min.
Ellie Andrews escapes from her millionaire father, who wants to stop her from marrying a
playboy. En route to New York, Ellie gets involved with Peter Warner, an out-of-work
newsman. Academy Award winner for Best Picture, 1934. Cast: Clark Gable, Claudette
Colbert.
It's A Wonderful Life
[DVD 52] 1946 Republic
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 160
min.
George Bailey, a desperate and suicidal man, is visited by a guardian angel who shows him
how important he has been to those around him in his life. Cast: James Stewart, Donna
Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Thomas Mitchell, Henry Travers, Beulah Bondi, Gloria Grahame.
Produced and directed by Frank Capra. Originally released as motion picture in 1946.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
James Stewart Hollywood Legend Collection
see titles:
Harvey
Rear Window
Vertigo
Winchester ‘73
The Jazz Singer
[VHS 206] 1927 MGM/UA
1/2" video b&w 1 cass., 89 min.
A melodramatic story of a Jewish cantor's son (Al Jolson) who aspires to be a jazz singer
despite his father's objection and religious tradition. In motion picture history, this
was the first feature film to utilize synchronous sound. Jolson's songs include
"Toot, toot, tootsie", "Blue skies", and "Mammy." Cast: Al
Jolson, May McAvoy, Warner Oland, William Demarest, Myrna Loy.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Jericho (Paul Robeson: Portraits of the Artist)
[DVD 634] 1937 United Artists/Criterion Collection
4 3/4" DVD b&w 1 videodisc, 98 min.
During the Great War, a Negro corporal, Jericho Jackson, disobeys an order and
saves crewmen trapped below deck after an attack. A sergeant dies in the
incident; Jackson is court-martialed and sentenced to death. He bolts, and his
captain unjustly gets a five-year sentence for aiding his escape; the captain
vows to bring Jackson to justice. Meanwhile, Jackson has stolen a boat and
sailed from Bordeaux to Morocco where his skills as a physician give him a new
lease on life. He becomes a chief responsible for negotiating peace among tribes
and leading the annual great salt caravan. A confrontation with his old captain
is, however, unavoidable. Cast: Paul Robeson, Henry Wilcoxon.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
JFK
[DVD 782] 1991 Warner Bros.
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 206 min.
Part fact and part opinion, mainly of Jim Garrison and director Oliver Stone, as
to the events surrounding the proposed conspiracy of the assassination of
President John Fitzgerald Kennedy on November 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas. Cast:
Kevin Costner
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Presidents: United States
Jungle Fever (Spike Lee Joint Collection)
[DVD 381] 1991 Universal Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 132 min.
A successful and married black man contemplates having an affair with a white
girl from work. He's quite rightly worried that the racial difference would make
an already taboo relationship even worse. Cast: Wesley Snipes, Annabella Sciorra.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Juno
[DVD 665] 2007 20th Century Fox
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 96 min.
After a one time sexual encounter with her friend Paulie, 16 year old Juno finds
herself faced with an unplanned pregnancy. While in the waiting room of an
abortion clinic, the quirky and whip-sharp Juno decides she is unwilling to
terminate the pregnancy and decides to find an adoptive couple. When she chooses
a couple who placed a classified ad in the PennySaver personals, Juno gets drawn
further into their lives than she anticipated. Cast: Ellen Page Michael Cera.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Juno And The Paycock
[VHS 1090] 1932 Madacy Music Group
1/2" video b&w 1 cass., 85 min.
Drama about one family's tragedy within the struggles of the Irish Republic. The mother,
Juno, has a non-working strutting "paycock" of a husband, a son shot as an
informer, and a pregnant daughter rejected by a lover and boyfriend. Cast: Barry Fitzgerald, Marie O'Neal, Edward Chapman, Sidney
Morgan. The Alfred Hitchcock collection.
Keita! The Heritage Of The Griot
[DVD 1012] 1994 California Newsreel
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 94 mins.
The story of Mabo Keïta, contemporary boy from Burkina Faso, learning the
history of his family. When a djéliba, a master griot or bard, arrives
mysteriously at the home of Mabo Keïta to teach him "the meaning of his name,"
the boy and griot are inevitably brought into conflict with his Westernized
mother and schoolteacher, who have rejected African tradition. The griot reveals
to Mabo the story of his distant ancestor, Sundjata Keïta, the 13th century
founder of the great Malian trading empire. Based on an important work of
African oral literature, the Sundjata epic.
Subjects – Africa ; Movies and Plays
The Kid
[DVD 20] 2000 Disney
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 104 min.
Successful, high-powered Russ Duritz has spent all of his incredibly empty life forgetting
the child he used to be--until one day, he meets him face-to-face! Cast: Bruce Willis,
Spencer Breslin, Emily Mortimer, Lily Tomlin, Chi McBride. Closed captioned.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Kids
[DVD 248] & [DVD 249] 1995 Miramax
4 3/4" DVD Color
1 videodisc, 101 min. (2 copies)
A disturbing portrayal of teenage life, AIDS, and the Kids of New York City.
Controversial in its content, the film exposes the grim reality of a group of
skate-boarders in the space of 24 hours. Primarily the story consists of Telly
(Leo Fitzpatrick) a 17 year old slacker whose mission is to de-flower as many
young girls as possible, whilst unprotected. Things turn bad when an old flame
finds out she has tested positive for HIV and the only person she has had sex
with is Telly. She chases through New York to find him but is too late as he has
already de-flowered yet another innocent pre-teen.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
The King and I
[DVD 251] 1956 20th Century Fox
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 151 min.
Mrs. Anna Leonowens and her son Louis arrive in
Bangkok, where she has contracted to teach English to the children of the royal
household. She threatens to leave when the house she had been promised is not
available, but falls in love with the children and stays. Music by
Rodgers and Hammerstein. Cast: Deborah Kerr, Yul Brynner.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
King Lear
[VHS 28-29] 1983 Films for the Humanities
1/2" video Color
2 cass., 148 min.
Here is perhaps William Shakespeare's greatest most bitter tragedy. Justice does not
triumph, suffering brings no reward, pride does not lead to destruction. Laurence Olivier
leads a brilliant cast in a wrenchingly beautiful production.
King Lear By William Shakespeare
[VHS 1842-1843] 1974
Broadway Theatre Archive
1/2" video
Color 2 cass., 120 min.
A New York Shakespeare Festival production of William Shakespeare's play in which tragedy
occurs when an old king divides his kingdom between his daughters. Cast: James Earl Jones,
Raul Julia, Paul Sorvino. PBS television broadcast for Great Performances, Theater in
America.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Kinsey
[DVD 221] 2004 20th
Century Fox
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 118 min.
Kinsey is a portrait of a man driven to uncover the most private secrets of the
nation, and journey into the mystery of human behavior. His 1948 book Sexual
Behavior in the Human Male irrevocably changed American culture and created a
media sensation. Cast: Liam Neeson, Laura Linney.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; Psychology ; Sex and Sex Role
Koyaanisqatsi: Life Out of Balance
[VHS 602] 1983 Pacific Arts
1/2" video Color 1 cass., 87 min.
Koyaanisqatsi, a word from the Hopi language meaning crazy life, life in turmoil, life out
of balance. Francis Ford Coppola presents an unusual visual of life out of balance using
high-tech filmmaking.
Kramer vs. Kramer
[VHS 745] 1979 RCA/Columbia Pictures
1/2" video Color 1 cass., 105 min.
Ted Kramer's wife leaves him with their six year old son so that she may find herself.
After he comes to enjoy the parenting task and has made progress in his relationship with
his son, his wife returns and wants custody of their child. A custody battle in the courts
ensues. Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Jane Alexander.
The Lady Vanishes
[VHS 1084] 1938 Madacy Music Group
1/2" video b&w
1 cass., 93 min.
An old woman's disappearance during a train ride from Switzerland to England leads a young
couple into a web of international espionage in this mystery-comedy. Cast: Michael Redgrave, Margaret Lockwood, Paul Lukas, Dame
May Whitty. The Alfred Hitchcock Collection.
The Laramie Project
[DVD 110] 2002 HBO Films
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 96 min.
In October 1998, 21 year-old Matthew Shepard was found savagely beaten, tied to a fence and left to die in Laramie,
Wyoming. This film is a dramatization of a town forced to confront itself in the
reflective glare of the national spotlight, responding with love, anger,
sympathy, support, and defiance. Cast: Moises Kaufman, Christina Ricci, Steve Buscemi, Laura Linney,
Summer Phoenix, Peter Fonda.
Subjects - Movies and Plays ; Homosexuality
The Last Emperor
[DVD 21] 1987 Columbia Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 218 min.
The true story of Pu Yi, who, at the age of 3, toddled to the Imperial Dragon Throne to
become "Lord of 10,000 Years," China's last emperor. Cast: John Lone, Peter O'Toole.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; Asia: China
The Last Starfighter
[DVD 907] 1984 Universal Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 101 min.
A modestly budgeted sci-fi with the distinction of offering some of the first
examples of purely computer-generated animation. Alex, a restless teenager,lives
in a trailer court where his mother is manager and everyone is like a big
extended family. When he racks up an impressive score on the Starfighter Video
Game, he finds himself spirited away to the besieged planet and thrust into the
midst of an intergalactic war. The game is actually a test for prospective
starship pilots, planted by embattled aliens under siege from an evil invader.
Cast: Lance Guest,Robert Preston.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Law & Order - The First Year
[DVD 317] 1990 Universal
4 3/4" DVD Color 6
videodisc, 17 hrs., 20 min.
A groundbreaking cop show when it debuted in 1990. It has since earned Emmys
for Best Dramatic Series. The first half of each hour-long episode is
classic police procedural in which "Law," personified in the first
season by partners Greevey (George Dzundza) and Mike Logan (Christopher Noth)
investigate a crime and make an arrest. The second half chronicles the
ensuing trial, as prosecuted by assistant district attorneys Ben Stone
(Michael Moriarty) and Paul Robinette (Richard Brooks) under the supervision
of Steven Hill's Adam Schiff. Several episodes take their inspiration from
the headlines. 22 episodes.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; Law &
Government
Lawrence Of Arabia
[DVD 133] 1962 Columbia
4 3/4" DVD Color 2 videodisc, 227 min.
Presents the story of T.E. Lawrence (Peter O'Toole), the heroic and troubled man who organized the
Arab nations to fight the Turks in World War I and then, having reached a
pinnacle of power in Mideast politics, retired to postwar military obscurity. Based on
T.E. Lawrence's Seven pillars of wisdom. Directed by David Lean. Cast: Peter
O'Toole, Alec Guinness, Omar Sharif.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; Middle East
Leaving Las Vegas
[DVD 659] 1995
United Artists
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc,
111 min
Ben is a former movie executive who's lost his wife and family in a sea of
alcoholic self-destruction. He's come to Las Vegas literally to drink himself to
death, and that's when he meets Sera, a prostitute who falls in love with
him--and he with her--despite their mutual dead-end existence. Cast: Nicolas
Cage, Elisabeth Shue.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Lev Tolstoi (Leo Tolstoy): The Death of Lev Tolstoi
[DVD 740] 1984 International Film Exchange/Ruscico
4 3/4" DVD Color 2 videodisc, 160 mins.
The film consists of two parts: “Insomnia” and “Departure”. We shall meet Lev
Tolstoy in the final years of his life at Yasnaya Polyana. We shall see him
surrounded by his family, friends, acquaintances and absolute strangers who were
coming to the great man and artist from all over the world. We shall hear “the
voice of his thoughts”. In his sleepless nights, we shall follow his memory of
the happy youthful years and the crucial, hard ones. We shall witness Tolstoy’s
tragic departure from Yasnaya Polyana and his death at an obscure little station
of Astapovo. The last film of the classic of national cinema, director Sergey
Gerasimov (“Quiet Flows the Don”, “The Brave Seven”), and of his wife and
corroborator, the famous film actress Tamara Makarova (“Masquerade”, “The
First-Grader”). Music by: Chekalov Pavel. Cast: Gerasimov Sergey, Makarova
Tamara, Navratil Borzhevoy, Petrenko Alexey, Ustimenko Marina, Proskurin Viktor,
Vasileva Ekaterina, Eremenko Nikolay.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Philosophy ; Literature, Writers, and Writing ;
Soviet Union and Russia
The Life of Emile Zola
[DVD 527] 1937 Warner Bros.
4 3/4" DVD b&w 1 videodisc, 116 min.
The biopic of the famous French muckraking writer and his involvement in
fighting the injustice of the Dreyfus Affair, the scandalous railroading
of a military captain for treason in the 1890’s and anti-semitism in
France. The elderly Zola's gradual involvement in the case, climaxes
with his electrifying "J'accuse!" essay and subsequent trial for libel.
Cast: Paul Muni.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Europe: France
; Jews and Jewish Americans
Lilies of the Field
[DVD 512] 1963 MGM
4 3/4" DVD b&w 1 videodisc, 95 min.
Homer Smith, an itinerant handyman, is driving through the Arizona desert
when he meets five impoverished nuns. Stopping to fix their leaky farmhouse
roof, Homer discovers that not only will the Mother Superior not pay him for the
job, but she also wants him to build their chapel for free! Hesitant at first,
Homer soon finds himself single-handedly raising the chapel and the financing.
Cast: Sidney Poitier, Lilia Skala, Stanley Adams.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Little Caesar
[DVD 231] 1931 Warner Bros.
4 3/4" DVD b&w 1 videodisc, 79 min.
Rico joins Sam Ventori's gang. He replaces Sam as leader, pushes rival gang
leader Arnie Lorch out of town, then goes after the job of next-higher-up Pete
Montana. He accepts when "Big Boy" offers him that prize but his
sights are set higher still. They are also cast on his best friend Joe's girl
Olga. Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Douglas Fairbanks Jr.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Little Miss Broadway
[DVD 227] 1938
Twentieth
Century Fox
4 3/4" DVD b&w/Colorized 1 videodisc, 70 min.
An orphan (Temple) is provisionally adopted by the manager (Ellis) of a hotel
populated by show business people. The hotel's owner (Oliver) doesn't like the
entertainers and wants the girl returned to the orphanage. Cast: Shirley Temple,
Edward Ellis, Edna Mae Oliver.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Little Miss Sunshine
[DVD 1059] 2006 20th Century Fox
1/2" video Color 1 cass., 101 min.
Olive is a little girl who dreams of winning the Little Miss Sunshine contest.
Her family wants her dream to come true, but they are so dysfunctional that they
can barely make it through a day without some disaster befalling them. Olive's
father, Richard, is unsuccessful as a motivational speaker. He is barely on
speaking terms with Olive's mother. Her uncle Frank has attempted suicide
following an unsuccessful romance with a male graduate student. Her brother
Dwayne, a fanatical follower of Nietzsche, has taken a vow of silence. And
Olive's grandfather is a loser with a drug habit, but at least he
enthusiastically coaches Olive in her contest talent routine. Circumstances
conspire to put the entire family on the road together with the goal of getting
Olive to the Little Miss Sunshine contest in California. Cast: Steve Carell,
Toni Collette, Greg Kinnear, and Abigail Breslin.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Limelight (The Chaplin Collection)
[DVD 392-393] 1952 United Artists
4 3/4" DVD b&w 2 videodisc
Disc 1, The film 137 min.): Chaplin stars as Calvero, a fading clown who helps a
paralyzed dancer regain the use of her legs and achieve great fame, but of
course at grave cost to Calvero. The film is famous for featuring the only
onscreen teaming of Chaplin with the other legendary comic of the silent era,
Buster Keaton, and is equally infamous for Chaplin having allegedly cut out most
of Keaton's best bits in their sequence together. Disc 2, Special Features (150
min.)
Subjects – Movies and Plays
The Lives of Others
[DVD 480] 2006 Sony Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 110 min.
East Berlin, 1984. Capt. Gerd Wiesler, Stasi officer and surveillance specialist
has a simple assignment: keep an eye on Georg Dreyman, a respected playwright,
and his actress girlfriend. Though Dreyman is known to associate with a
blacklisted director, Dreyman’s record is spotless. Wiesler discovers that the
Minister has an ulterior motive in spying on this seemingly upright citizen.
During the investigation, Wiesler unexpectedly finds himself in sympathy with
the people - or at least to this one particular person. In German with optional
English, French, or Spanish subtitles. Cast: Martina Gedeck, Ulrich Mühe,
Sebastian Koch.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Lolita
[DVD 292] 1962 MGM
4 3/4" DVD b&w 1 videodisc, 152 min.
Middle-aged novelist Humbert Humbert rents a room in Charlotte Haze's house
after he falls passionately in love with her daughter Lolita. There are three
slight problems, though - one, Charlotte is madly in love with him (unrequited,
needless to say); two, Lolita is only fourteen; three, there's a very peculiar
figure by the name of Clare Quilty who keeps popping up in the most unexpected
places (and sporting equally unexpected accents), who seems to have a similarly
unhealthy interest in Lolita. Based on the novel by Vladimir Nabokov. Directed
by Stanley Kubrick. Cast: James Mason, Shelley Winters, Sue Lyon.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Lone Star
[DVD 1051] 1996 Columbia Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 135 mins.
The more a lawman probes into a long-ago murder the more he uncovers layers of
family and racial strife that divide this Texas border town. Cast: Chris Cooper,
Elizabeth Peña, Stephen Mendillo, and Stephen J. Lang
Subjects – Movies and Plays
The Long Walk Home
[DVD 894] 1991 New Visions Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc., 98 min.
Odessa Cotter (Whoopi Goldberg) works as a maid for Miriam Thompson (Sissy Spacek). When
Odessa honors the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott, Miriam offers her a ride. This puts their
lives in danger for civil rights and draws them closer as friends.
The Lord Of The Rings, #1: The
Fellowship Of The Ring
[DVD 134] 2001 New
Line Cinema
4 3/4" DVD Color
2 videodisc,178 min.
In ancient times the Rings of Power were crafted by the Elven-smiths, and Sauron,
the Dark Lord, forged the One Ring, filling it with his own power so that he
could rule all others. But the One Ring was taken from him, and though he sought
it throughout Middle-Earth still it remained lost to him. After many ages it
fell, by chance, into the hands of the Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins. On his eleventy-first
birthday, Bilbo disappeared, bequeathing to his young cousin, Frodo, the Ruling
Ring, and a perilous quest: to journey across Middle-Earth, deep into the shadow
of the Dark Lord and destroy the Ring by casting it into the Cracks of Doom.
Based on the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien. Cast: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv
Tyler, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Orlando Bloom.
Subjects - Movies and Plays
The Lord Of The Rings, #2: The Two
Towers
[DVD 135] 2002 New
Line Cinema
4 3/4" DVD Color
2 videodisc,175 min.
Join Frodo, Gandalf, Aragorn, and brave members of he Fellowship as they
continue their quest to destroy the Ring of Power. As darkness descends on
Middle-earth, a strange creature named Gollum leads the heroes to the Balck
Gates of Mordor. The rest of Middle-earth prepares for a battle that will decide
the fate of all. Based on the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien. Cast: Elijah Wood, Ian
McKellen, Liv Tyler, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Orlando Bloom.
Subjects - Movies and Plays
The Lord Of The Rings, #3:
Return Of The King
[DVD 136] 2003 New Line Cinema
4 3/4" DVD Color
2 videodisc, 200 min.
Frodo makes his way through the darkness to Mount Doom to destroy the One Ring.
Aragon learns of his destiny as the true King and the others prepare for a
massive battle that will determine the fate of Middle-Earth. Based on the novel
by J.R.R. Tolkien. Cast: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Viggo Mortensen,
Sean Astin, Orlando Bloom.
Subjects - Movies and Plays
Lost in Space
[DVD 906] 1998 New Line Cinema
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 130 min.
Based on the 1960’s TV series. With the Earth running short of natural energy
resources the Jupiter mission to colonize and exploit Alpha Prime seems to be
the only chance of survival. Professor John Robinson ('William Hurt' ) together
with his wife Maureen, his family and fighter pilot Don West (lead a desperate
attempt to create a Hyper-Gate in orbit around the planet Alpha Prime to enable
the rescue of Earth to begin. Cast: William Hurt, Mimi Rogers.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
The Lost Weekend
[DVD 529] 1945
Paramount Pictures
4 3/4" DVD b&w 1
videodisc, 101 min.
Don Birnam, long-time alcoholic, has been "on the wagon" for ten days
and seems to be over the worst; but his craving has just become more
insidious. Evading a country weekend planned by his brother and
girlfriend, he begins a four-day bender. In flashbacks we see past
events, all gone wrong because of the bottle, but this bout looks like
it is his last.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Diseases
Lured
[DVD 4] 1947
Kino on Video
4 3/4" DVD b&w 1 videodisc, 102 min.
A serial killer terrorizes London by luring women into meeting with him through the
personal ads in the newspaper and taunting the police with gruesome poems. Cast: George
Sanders, Lucille Ball, Boris Karloff, Charles Coburn, Sir Cedric Hardwick.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Lust For Life
[DVD 950] 1956 MGM/UA
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 123 min.
The life of Vincent Van Gogh. Based on the novel by Irving Stone. Cast: Kirk Douglas, Anthony Quinn, James Donald, Pamela Brown. Directed by
Vincente Minnelli.
Subjects - Movies and Plays ; Artists
M Butterfly
[VHS 555] 1993 Warner Bros.
1/2" video Color 1 cass.,
101 min.
During the Cultural
Revolution in China in the mid-1960s, a French diplomat falls in love with a
singer in the Beijing Opera. Interwoven with allusions to the Puccini opera
"Madam Butterfly", a story of love and betrayal unfolds. Cast: Jeremy
Irons, John Lone.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Asia: China
Ma Vie En Rose = My Life In Pink
[DVD 94] 1997 Columbia/Sony
Pictures Classics
4 3/4" DVD Color
1 videodisc, 88 min.
Ludovic is waiting for a miracle. With seven-year-old certainty, he believes he was meant to be a little
girl and that the mistake will soon be corrected. But where he expects the
miraculous, Ludo finds only rejection, isolation and guilt--as the intense
reactions of family, friends, and neighbors strip away every innocent lace and
bauble. In French with English subtitles.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; Women’s Studies
Machuca
[DVD 1002] 2004 Columbia
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 115 mins.
In 1973, in Santiago of Chile of the first socialist president democratically
elected in a Latin-American country, President Salvador Allende, the principal
of the Saint Patrick School, Father McEnroe makes a trial of integration between
students of the upper and lower classes. The bourgeois boy Gonzalo Infante and
the boy from the slum Pedro Machuca become great friends, while the conflicts on
the streets leads Chile to the bloody and repressive military coup of General
Augusto Pinochet on 11 September 1973, changing definitely their lives, their
relationship and their country. In Spanish with English subtitles. Cast: Matias Quer, Ariel Mateluna, Manuela
Martelli, Aline Kuppenheim
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Latin America and the Caribbean
; Language: Spanish
Madame Butterfly
[VHS 1047] 1997 Columbia Tristar
1/2" video Color 1 cass., 129 min.
Giacomo Puccini's perennially favored opera of sacrifice, love and the clash of East and
West. Opera sung in Italian with English subtitles. Cast: Ying Huang, Richard Troxell,
Ning Liang, Richard Cowan, Jing Ma Fan.
Maedchen In Uniform
[VHS 1440] 1978 Janus Films
1/2" Video b&w 1 cass., 90 min.
Living in the prison-like confines of a Prussian boarding school for the daughters of army
officers, a young girl finds herself choked by the institution's strict regimentation and
rigid discipline. Under the unbending rule of a matriarchal staff, she falls in love with
the school's only caring teacher. When the principal finds out about the affair, her
harsh, cruel punishment drives the girl to the brink of suicide. In German, with English
subtitles.
The Magnificent Seven
[DVD 548] 1960 MGM
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 128 min.
The citizens of a small Mexican farming village hire seven gun fighters to
defend them from a ruthless and exploitative group of bandits led by Calvera. As
Calvera’s next raid approaches, the peasants and the gun fighters work together
to prepare to defend the village. Cast: Yul Brynner, Eli Wallach, Steve McQueen,
Charles Bronson.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Major Barbara
[VHS 371-372] 1941 Janus Films/Voyager Co.
1/2" video Color 2 cassettes
Cast: Wendy Hiller, Rex Harrison, Robert Morley. Major Barbara is a idealistic Salvation
Army soldier dedicated to saving the poor from the abuses of the rich. Based on a play by
George Bernard Shaw.
Malcolm X
[DVD 776] 1992 Warner Bros.
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 202 min.
Screen version of the life of Malcolm X, who through his religious conversion to
Islam, found the strength to rise up from a criminal past to become an
influential civil rights leader. Based on the book "The autobiography of Malcolm
X" as told to Alex Haley. Cast: Denzel Washington, Angela Bassett. Directed by
Spike Lee.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; African
Americans
The Maltese Falcon
[DVD 229] 1941 Warner Bros.
4 3/4" DVD b&w 1 videodisc, 101 min.
Sam Spade is a partner in a private-eye firm who finds himself hounded by police
when his partner is killed whilst tailing a man. The girl who asked him to
follow the man turns out not to be who she says she is, and is really involved
in something to do with the `Maltese Falcon', a gold-encrusted life-sized statue
of a falcon, the only one of its kind. Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
A Man for All Seasons
[DVD 489] 1966
Columbia Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1
videodisc, 120 min.
At the film's heart is the standoff between King Henry VIII and Sir
Thomas More. Henry wants More's official approval of divorce from Queen
Katherine so he can marry Anne Bolyen, but More's strict ethical and
religious code will not let him waffle. More resigns as chancellor,
hoping to be able to live out his life as a private citizen. But Henry
will settle for nothing less than the public approval by the much
respected More to his headstrong course. Cast: Paul Scofield, Wendy
Hiller, Robert Shaw.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Europe: Great
Britain
The Man Who Knew Too Much
[VHS 1082] 1934 Madacy Music Group
1/2" video b&w
1 cass., 74 min.
A child is kidnapped by spies to keep her father from investigating his lead on a murder,
but the father springs into action, finds the child and endangers both their lives.
Cast: Leslie Banks, Edna Best, Peter
Lorre. The Alfred Hitchcock Collection.
The Man Who Planted Trees
[VHS 501] 1987 Direct Cinema Limited
1/2" video Color 1 cass., 30 min.
The story of a man who plants trees and nurtures an oak forest, changing barren
surroundings into an oasis. French title "L'homme que plantait des arbres".
Animated film.
The Manchurian Candidate
[DVD 179] 1962 MGM
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 127 min.
A U.S. Army platoon, captured in
the Korean conflict, is whisked to Manchuria for three nightmarish days of
experimental drug-and-hypnosis-induced conditioning to carry out the orders of
the enemy upon release. When a decorated Korean War veteran who has been
brainwashed starts to commit political assassinations, his old military
commander begins to suspect and must stop him. Cast: Laurence Harvey, Frank
Sinatra, Angela Lansbury, Janet Leigh. Directed by John Frankenheimer.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
The Manhattan Project, The Deadly Game
[VHS 1708] 1986 HBO Cannon Video
1/2" video Color 1 cass., 117 min.
Paul Stevens' high school science project has gotten a little out of hand. He just built
an atomic bomb. Now he's got 11 hours to make sure it doesn't work. Cast: John Lithgow,
Christopher Collet, Cynthia Nixon.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Maria Full Of Grace
[DVD 549] 2004 HBO Films
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 101 min.
In a small village in Colombia, the pregnant seventeen years old Maria
supports her family with her salary working in a floriculture. She is
fired and with a total lack of perspective of finding a new job, she
decides to accept the offer to work as a drug mule, flying to USA with
sixty-two pellets of cocaine in her stomach. Once in New York, things do
not happen as planned. Cast: Catalina Sandino Moreno.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Latin America and Caribbean ; Drugs and Drug Abuse
The Mark of the Hawk
[VHS 852] 1958 Universal
International Pictures
1/2" video Color 1 cass., 83 min.
The man called Obam struggles with the increasingly hostile forces facing
each other in a colonial African country. The African natives want their land
and lives back from the British colonists. Obam's motives are questioned by his
own people, in particular his brother Kanda. With the help of his wife Renee and
missionary Bruce Craig, will he be able to get things under control before the
country self-destructs? Cast: Sidney Poitier, Clifton Macklin, Eartha Kitt, John
McIntire.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; Africa
Marty
[DVD 499] 1955 United Artists
4 3/4" DVD b&w 1 videodisc, 94 min.
Marty is a 34-year-old butcher whose Italian family is constantly after him to
get married. He meets plain-looking schoolteacher Clara. They are both lonely,
unglamorous people who have resigned themselves to their unloved lives. But they
manage, in time, to grope their way to love. Cast: Ernest Borgnine, Betsy Blair
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Immigration & Emigration
Master Harold -- and the Boys
[VHS 161] 1986 Showtime Entertainment
1/2" video Color 1 cass., 90 min.
Young man whose crippled, alcoholic father is to be released from the hospital, discusses
the meaning of life with and vents his frustrations on the 2 black men who work in the
family owned tea room. Set in South Africa, 1950. Cast: Matthew Broder, Zakes Mokae. Play
by Athol Fugard.
Matrix
[DVD 73] 1999 Warner Bros.
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 136 min.
In the near future, a computer hacker named Neo discovers that all life on Earth may be
nothing more than an elaborate facade created by a malevolent cyber-intelligence, for the
purpose of placating us while our life essence is "farmed" to fuel the Matrix's
campaign of domination in the "real" world. He joins like-minded Rebel warriors
Morpheus and Trinity in their struggle to overthrow the Matrix. Cast: Keanu Reeves,
Laurence Fishburne, Carrie Ann Moss.
Subjects - Movies and Plays
Meet The Fockers
[DVD 844] 2004 Universal
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 115 mins
Sequel to "Meet the Parents". This time around, Jack and Dina Byrnes climb into
Jack's new kevlar-lined RV with daughter Pam, soon-to-be son-in-law Gaylord, and
Jack's infant grandson from his other daughter for the trip to Florida to meet
Gaylord's parents, Bernie and Roz Focker. Cast: Ben Stiller, Barbra Streisand,
Dustin Hoffman, Robert De Niro, Blythe Danner, Teri Polo.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Memento
[DVD 409] 2000 Columbia TriStar
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 113 min.
An intricate crime story about a man who has lost his short term memory due to a
rare brain disorder. Now he is out to catch his wife’s murderer, whose identity
he cannot ever know for sure. The more he tries to figure out what is true and
real, the more he sinks deeper into a multi-layered abyss of uncertainty and
surprises. Cast: Christopher Nolan, Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Memoirs of a Geisha
[DVD 664] 2005
Columbia Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 2
videodisc, 145 min.
In 1929, a poor fisherman sells his 9-year-old daughter to a geisha house in
Kyoto. Chiyo will be an unpaid servant until it is determined if she is
beautiful enough for apprenticeship, and the house’s cliente`le Run by Mother,
the ruling geisha is Hatsumomo, and little Pumpkin her only friend. Trained
under strict discipline for a lifetime of entertaining and flattering wealthy
men, Sayuri grows up lovely, accomplished, and the target of jealous rivals.
Love is no part of this cloistered world, although geisha lore hints that even
if they fall in love with clients--the operative word is client, and that love
is never free.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Asia: Japan
The Men Who Step On The Tiger's Tail = Tora no o o
fumu otokotachi
[VHS 1389] 1945 Public Media Home Vision
1/2" video b&w
1 cass., 60 min.
A famous general and his six followers pose as monks in an attempt to escape across the
border, though they learn the authorities who have been ordered to capture them are now
aware of their disguise. Directed by
Akira Kurosawa. In Japanese with English subtitles.
The Messengers
[DVD 865] 2007 Sony Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 90 mins
Desperate for a fresh start after a tough two years in Chicago, the Solomon
family retreats to a desolate sunflower farm in North Dakota. But the calm of
farm life is shattered when 16-year-old Jess and her 3-year-old brother Ben
begin to see nightmarish apparitions throughout their new home that nobody else
can see. As the visions grow darker, they become fear-inspiring experiences and
Jess’ parents start to question their daughter’s sanity. Now, Jess must find a
way to save her family. Cast: Kristen Stewart, Dylan McDermott, Penelope Ann
Miller.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Miami Vice
[DVD 521] 2006
Universal Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1
videodisc, 134 min.
When an informer, his family and two FBI agents are killed by an
international gang of drug dealers, Detectives James 'Sonny' Crockett
and Ricardo 'Rico' Tubbs are assigned to work undercover for the FBI in
a joint operation to disclose which agency leaked the information to the
criminals. Based on the 1980's TV action/drama, this update focuses on
vice detectives Crockett and Tubbs as their respective personal and
professional lives become dangerously intertwined. Cast Jamie Foxx,
Colin Farrell.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Midnight Cowboy
[DVD 502] 1969 United Artists
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 113 min.
Texas greenhorn Joe Buck arrives in New York City for the first time. Preening
himself as a real 'hustler', he finds that he is the one getting 'hustled' until
he teams up with a down-and-out but resilient outcast named Ratso Rizzo. In
their efforts to bilk a hostile world rebuffing them at every turn, this
unlikely pair progress from partners in shady business to comrades. Cast: Dustin
Hoffman, John Voight.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
The Milagro Beanfield War
[VHS 752] 1988 Warner Home
1/2" video Color 1 cass., 118 min.
When a Chicano handyman from the Milagro Valley decides to irrigate his small beanfield by
"borrowing" some water from a large and potentially destructive development
site, he unknowingly sets off a chain reaction. Cast: Sonia Braga, Melanie Griffith, John
Heard, Christopher Walken. Directed by Robert Redford.
Milk
[DVD 801] 2008 Focus
Features
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc,
128 min.
The story of Harvey Milk, and his struggles as an American gay activist who
fought for gay rights and became California's first openly gay elected official.
Using flashbacks from a statement recorded late in life and archival footage,
this film traces Milk's career from his 40th birthday to his murder. Cast: Sean
Penn, Josh Brolin.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Homosexuality
Millennium Actress = Sennen Joyu
[DVD 1000] 2001 DreamWorks
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 87 mins.
After nearly 30 years of living in strict seclusion, the aged film star Chioyoko
Fujiwara grants an interview to journalist Genya Tachibana. As their
conversation begins, Kan intercuts scenes from Chioyoko's films with her
memories of pursuing the mysterious artist she met as a young girl. Accompanied
by his blasé cameraman, Tashibana finds himself within Chioyoko's memories and
films, alternately observing and aiding the woman he adores. Animation. In
Japanese with English subtitles. Cast: Miyoko Shôji, Mami Koyama
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Language: Japanese
Million Dollar Baby
[DVD 490] 2004
Warner Bros.
4 3/4" DVD Color 1
videodisc, 132 min.
“i don't train girls" trainer Frankie Dunn growls. Maggie Fitzgerald, a
poor thirty-one year old waitress from the very lower classes and with a
dysfunctional loser family, decides to make a difference through boxing.
She convinces the experienced hardened boxing trainer Frankie Dunn to
coach her and be her manager, with the support of his old partner Eddie
Scrap-Iron Dupris, who sees her potential as a boxer. Cast: Clint
Eastwood, Hilary Swank, Morgan Freeman.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
The Miracle Worker
[DVD 951] 1962
MGM/UA
4 3/4" DVD b&w 1
videodisc, 107 min.
A drama of Anne Sullivan's attempts to teach her blind and deaf pupil, Helen Keller, to
communicate. Cast: Patty Duke, Anne Bancroft. Based on the play by William Gibson.
The Miracle Worker
[VHS 1973] 2000 Walt Disney
1/2" video Color 1 cass., 90 min.
The contemporary version of the classic true story of Helen Keller and
Annie Sullivan. Based on the play by William Gibson. Cast: Alison Elliott,
Hallie Kate Eisenberg, David Strathairn.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; Deaf Studies and Language
Miss Evers' Boys
[DVD 147] 1997 HBO Video
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc,118 min.
In 1932, Nurse Eunice Evers is invited to work with doctors on the
"Tuskegee Experiment" to study the effects of syphilis. She is faced
with a terrible dilemma when she learns the patients are denied treatment that
could cure them. Cast: Alfre Woodard, Larry Fishburne. Based on the play by
David Feldshuh. Closed captioned.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; African Americans ; Diseases
The Mission
[VHS 1673] 1986 Warner Home Video
1/2" video Color 1 cass., 125 min.
A powerful epic about a man of the sword and a man of the cloth who unite to shield a
South American Indian tribe from brutal subjugation by 18th century colonial empires.
Parts of dialogue are in the Guarani Indian language. Cast: Robert De Niro, Jeremy Irons,
Ray McAnally, Ronald Pickup, Chuck Low, Aidan Quinn, Cherie Lunghi.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Mississippi Masala
[DVD 952] 1992 Columbia Tristar
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 118 min.
Set in Mississippi, a young black businessman falls in love with a young Indian immigrant
whose family was expelled from Uganda by Idi Amin. Cast: Denzel Washington, Roshan Seth,
Sarita Choudhury.
Mo’ Better Blues (Spike Lee Joint Collection)
[DVD 382] 1990 Universal Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 129 min.
Opens with Bleek as a child learning to play the trumpet, his friends want him
to come out and play but mother insists he finish his lessons. Bleek grows into
adulthood and forms his own band - The Bleek Gilliam Quartet. The story of
Bleek's and Shadow's friendly rivalry on stage which spills into their
professional relationship and threatens to tear apart the quartet. Cast: Denzel
Washington, Spike Lee, Wesley Snipes.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; African Americans
Moby Dick
[DVD 22] 1956 MGM
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 115 min.
Consumed by an insane rage, Captain Ahab has but one purpose in life-- revenge on the
great white whale who maimed and disfigured him. Cast: Gregory Peck, Richard Basehart, Leo
Genn, James Robertson Justice, Harry Andrews, Bernard Miles, Mervyn Johns, Orson Welles.
Based on the novel by Herman Melville.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Modern Times (The Chaplin Collection)
[DVD 386-387] 1936 United Artists
4 3/4" DVD b&w 2 videodisc
Disc 1, The film (87 min): Charlie Chaplin is in glorious form in this legendary
satire of the mechanized world. As a factory worker driven bonkers by the
soulless momentum of work, Chaplin executes a series of slapstick routines
around machines, including a memorable encounter with an automatic feeding
apparatus. The pantomime is triumphant, but Chaplin also draws a lively
relationship between the Tramp and a street gamine. She's played by Paulette
Goddard, then Chaplin's wife and probably his best leading lady. Disc 2: Special
Features (134 min.)
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Monsieur Ibrahim Et Les Fleurs Du Coran
[DVD 154] 2003 Sony Pictures
Classics
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 95 min.
During the early 1960s, Paris
was an explosion of life. Against this background, in a working class
neighborhood, two unlikely characters--a young Jew and an Turkish Muslim grocer--begin a friendship. When
we meet Moise, also known as Momo, he is in effect an orphan even though he
lives with his failed father; he is more drawn to the local prostitutes who
treat him with genuine affection. Momo buys his groceries at the neighborhood
shop, a crowded dark space owned and run by Ibrahim, a silent exotic looking man
who sees and knows more than he lets on, telling Momo that he "knows what
is in his Koran". After Momo is abandoned by his father, Ibrahim becomes
the one grownup in Momo's life. Cast: Omar Sharif, Pierre Boulanger.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; Middle East
Monsoon Wedding
[DVD 959] 2001 Universal Studios
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 114 min.
Two families from different cultures come together for an arranged marriage in
New Delhi during the monsoon season. Between a stressed-out father a bride with
a burning passion for someone else and a wedding planner with her own agenda,
forget the rain, it’ll be a miracle if the wedding happens. Cast: Naseeruddin
Shah, Lillete Dubey, Shefali Shetty, and Vijay Raaz.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Asia: India
Moolaadé
[DVD 931] 2004 IFC Films
4 3/4" DVD Color 2 videodisc, 124 min.
Set in Burkina Faso, an inspiring story about a group of women who stand up for
their rights against the traditions of their village. This is the day when six
4-9-year-old girls are to be circumcised. The operation is horrible torture and
sometimes lethal, and that some circumcised women can only give birth by
Caesarean section. Two of the girls have drowned themselves in the well to
escape the operation. The four other girls seek "magical protection" (moolaadé)
by a woman who seven years before refused to have her daughter circumcised. When
a she shelters the group of girls from suffering female circumcision, she starts
a conflict that tears her village apart. Cast: Fatoumata Coulibaly, Maimouna
Helene Diarra, Dominique T. Zeida. Last film written and directed by Ousmane
Sembene. In French with English subtitles.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Africa ; Language: French ;
Women's Studies
A Moon For The Misbegotten By Eugene O'Neill
[VHS 1844] 1975
Broadway Theatre Archive
1/2" video Color 1 cass., 140 min.
In a towering performance, the late, great Jason Robards portrays a cynical, self-hating
alcoholic actor based on O'Neill's elder brother, Jamie. The majestic Colleen Dewhurst
plays the earthy, gruff daughter of his scheming Irish tenant farmer with whom the failed
actor spends a soul-baring night of guilt-ridden confessions, tenderness, and absolution.
PBS television broadcast for Great Performances, Theater in America.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
More American Graffiti
[DVD 797] 1979 Lucasfilms/Universal
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 110 min.
Six years after American Graffiti, George Lucas answered the call for an update
on his classic characters with this ambitious sequel. The action is spread over
four different New Year's Eves in the sixties. Milner is drag racing, the Toad
is dodging bullets in Vietnam, Debbie is a San Francisco hippie, and Steve and
Laurie weather a domestic crisis. Cast: Ron Howard, Cindy Williams, Paul LeMat.
see also: American Graffiti
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Mostly Martha = Bella Martha
[DVD 643] 2001
Paramount Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 106 min.
Martha, the domineering chef at a fancy restaurant, has her rigid routine broken
when her sister dies in a car wreck, leaving behind her 9-year-old daughter Lina.
Martha takes the girl in, but has no gift for maternal expression; she offers
Lina food, but Lina refuses to eat. Meanwhile, her control over her kitchen is
threatened when her boss hires a buoyant Italian named Mario to assist, and
Martha finds herself flailing in an effort to reestablish control of her life.
Cast: Martina Gedeck, Sergio Castellitto, Maxime Foerste. In German with English
subtitles.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Language: German
Moulin Rouge
[DVD 410] 2001 20th Century Fox
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 113 min.
A poet falls for a beautiful courtesan whom a jealous duke covets in this
stylish musical, with music drawn from familiar 20th century sources. Cast:
Nicole Kidman, Ewan McGregor.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Mourning Becomes Electra By Eugene O'Neill
[VHS 1845-1847] 1978
Broadway Theatre Archive
1/2" video
Color 3 cass., 360 min.
A classic American drama of love, revenge, murder and suicide set against the backdrop of
a small New England town in the post-Civil War era. Cast: Bruce Davison, Joan Hackett,
Roberta Maxwell. PBS television broadcast for Great Performances, Theater in America.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
The Movies Begin, #1: The Great Train Robbery and
Other Primary Works
[VHS 1009] 1994 Kino Video
1/2" video b&w
1 cass., 75 min.
Features works by Edwin S. Porter, Thomas A. Edison, Louis Lumiere, Georges Melies, Edward
J. Muybridge, American Muloscope & Biograph Co., The Edison Manufacturing Co, and
others. Homage to Muybridge--The May Irwin kiss--Serpentine dance--Sandow--The Glenroy
brothers--Cock fight--Baignade en mere--Enfants pechant des erevells--Lion--McKinley at
home--Pack train on Chilkoot pass--Le scarabee d'or.
Mr. Deeds Goes To Town
[DVD 1081] 1936 Columbia Pictures
4 3/4" DVD b&w 1 videodisc, 116 mins.
Longfellow Deeds lives in a small town, leading a small town kind of life -
including playing the tuba in the town band. When a relative dies and leaves
Deeds a fortune, Longfellow picks up his tuba and moves to the big city where he
becomes an instant target for everyone from the greedy opera committee to a
sensationalist daily newspaper reporter. Deeds outwits them all until Babe
Bennett comes along. Babe is a hot-shot reporter who figures the best way to get
close to Deeds is to pose as a damsel in distress. A Frank Capra comedy. Cast:
Gary Cooper, Jean Arthur, George Bancroft, and Lionel Stander.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Mr. Smith Goes To Washington
[DVD 23] 1939 Columbia TriStar
4 3/4" DVD b&w 1 videodisc, 130 min.
Washington's youngest senator exposes corruption in high places, almost at the cost of his
career. Cast: Jean Arthur, James Stewart, Claude Rains, Edward Arnold, Guy Kibbee, Thomas
Mitchell, Beulah Bondi. Directed by Frank Capra. Closed captioned.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Mrs. Miniver
[DVD 496] 1942 MGM
4 3/4" DVD b&w 1 videodisc, 134 min.
Mrs. Miniver, a middle-class British housewife holds her family together as
World War II literally hits their home. A memorable WWII spirit-lifter about an
idealized England that tends its prize-winning roses while confronting the
terror of war with a stiff upper lip. A relationship between Mrs. Miniver's
college-age son and the upper-crust Carol dramatizes the erosion of class
barriers under the pressures of wartime.
Cast: Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, Teresa Wright, and Dame May Whitty
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Europe: Great Britain ; World War, 1939-1945
Murder
[VHS 1087] 1930 Madacy Music Group
1/2" video b&w
1 cass., 92 min.
A girl is convicted of murder, but one of the jurors sets out to prove her innocent.
Cast: Herbert Marshall, Norah Baring,
Phyllis Konstan. The Alfred Hitchcock collection.
The Music Man
[DVD 250] 1962 Warner Bros.
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 151 min.
Confidence man Harold Hill arrives at staid River City intending to cheat the
community with his standard scam of offering to equip and train a boy's marching
band, then skip town with the money since he has no music skill anyway. Things
go awry when he falls for a librarian he tries to divert from exposing him while
he inadvertently enriches the town with a love of music. Music by Meredith
Willson. Cast: Robert Preston, Shirley Jones.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Mutiny on the Bounty
[DVD 494 ] 1935 MGM
4 3/4" DVD b&w 1 videodisc, 132 min.
Chronicles the real-life mutiny aboard the Bounty in 1789 against the ship’s
captain William Bligh. The Bounty sails from Britain for Tahiti to obtain a
cargo of breadfruit plants. Captain Bligh is in charge and he over-zealously
enforces discipline by various methods, his favorite being flogging. Bligh cuts
rations and works his men so hard that even first mate Fletcher Christian finds
him hard to comprehend. Tahiti is paradise compared to life on the Bounty under
Bligh. When the Bounty is loaded and sets sail to return, the harsh treatment by
their Captain is too much for the crew and Christian leads a mutiny. They set
Bligh and his supporters adrift on a boat and return the Bounty to Tahiti. What
they did not count on is the Captain's return. Cast: Charles Laughton, Clark
Gable, Franchot Tone
Subjects – Movies and Plays : Europe: Great Britain
My Darling Clementine
[DVD 289] 1946 20th
Century Fox
4 3/4" DVD b&w 1 videodisc, 97 min.
Wyatt Earp and his brothers Morgan and Virgil ride into Tombstone and leave
brother James in charge of their cattle herd. On their return they find their
cattle stolen and James dead. Wyatt takes on the job of town marshal, making his
brothers deputies, and vows to stay in Tombstone until James' killers are found.
A Western retelling the tale of the Shoot-out at the
OK Corral directed by John Ford. Cast: Henry Ford, Linda Darnell.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
My Dinner with Andre
[DVD 636] 1981 New Yorker Films
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 110 min.
Wallace Shawn and Andre Gregory, apparently playing themselves, share their
lives over the course of an evening meal at a restaurant. Gregory, a theater
director from New York, is the more talkative of the pair. He relates to Shawn
his tales of dropping out, traveling around the world, and experiencing the
variety of ways people live, such as a monk who could balance his entire weight
on his fingertips. Shawn listens avidly, but questions the value of Gregory's
seeming abandonment of the pragmatic aspects of life. Cast: Wallace Shawn, Andre
Gregory.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
My Fair Lady
[DVD 279] 1964 Warner
Bros.
4 3/4" DVD Color 2 videodisc, 170 min.
A misogynistic and snobbish phonetics professor agrees to a wager that he can
take a flower girl and make her presentable in high society. A Lerner-Loewe
musical based on the play Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw. Cast: Audrey
Hepburn, Rex Harrison.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
My Neighbor Totoro
[DVD 627] 1988 Studio Ghibli/Walt Disney
4 3/4" DVD Color 2 videodisc. 86 min.
Deep inside a tree trunk, two children discover a fascinating new world
inhabited by Totoros, amazing, charming creatures who become their friends.
Special features (disc 1): Behind the microphone (with Dakota Fanning and Elle
Fanning); opening & ending title sequence art (without credits); original
Japanese theatrical trailer. Special features (disc 2): Original Japanese
storyboards (in English or Japanese, with optional English subtitles). In
Japanese, dubbed English or dubbed French; with optional English subtitles.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Language: Japanese
Naqoyqatsi: Life As War
[DVD 594] 2002 Miramax
4 3/4" DVD Color w/b&w 1 videodisc. 89 min.
In this cinematic concert, the concluding film of the Qatsi Trilogy preceded by
critically acclaimed Koyaanisqatsi ("Life out of balance"), and Powaqqatsi
("Life in transformation"), mesmerizing images reanimated from everyday reality,
then visually altered with state-of-the-art digital techniques, chronicle the
shift from a world organized by the principles of nature to one dominated by
technology, the synthetic and the virtual. Extremes of intimacy and spectacle,
tragedy and hope fuse in a tidal wave of visuals and music, giving rise to a
unique artistic experience that reflects Reggio's vision of a brave new
globalized world.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
National Velvet
[DVD 24] 1944 Warner
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 124 min.
A determined girl and boy and a spirited thoroughbred horse join forces to attain the
seemingly impossible dream of winning the Grand National Steeplechase. Cast: Mickey
Rooney, Elizabeth Taylor, Donald Crisp. Closed captioned.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Nausicaa Of The Valley Of The Wind = Kaze No Tani No Naushika
[DVD 630] 1984 Studio Ghibli/Walt Disney
4 3/4" DVD Color 2 videodisc, 117 min.
Nausicaa is the princess of a rural valley that lives at peace on the edge of a
deadly fungal wasteland, until a ship carrying a weapon from a bygone industrial
age crashes nearby. When warriors from a far country come to retrieve the
artifact, their invasion draws Nausicaa¨ and her people into a sprawling
political conflict. Set 1,000 years after a global war that nearly destroyed all
life on Earth. Special features: disc 1: Behind the microphone with voice talent
from the film: Alison Lohman, Uma Thurman, Patrick Stewart and Edward James
Olmos; original Japanese trailers; The birth of Studio Ghibli featurette (28
min.). disc 2: complete storyboards. Dialogue in English with optional sound
track in Japanese with optional English subtitles.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Language: Japanese
The Negotiator
[DVD 867] 1998 Warner Bros.
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 139 mins
In the midst of an elaborate conspiracy, an expert negotiator is driven to the
edge when he's framed for the murder of his partner, as well as embezzling money
from his department's pension fund. His only chance to prove his innocence is to
take hostages himself, acquire the services of another expert negotiator, and
find out who's running the conspiracy before it's too late. Cast: Samuel L.
Jackson, Kevin Spacey
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Never Cry Wolf
[DVD 897] 1983 Walt Disney Productions
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 105 min.
Tyler, a young inexperienced biologist, is deposited alone onto a frozen arctic wasteland
to study the wolves. Based on the book by Farley Mowat. Cast: Charles Martin Smith, Brian
Dennehy.
New Moon
see title: The Twilight Saga, #2: New Moon
Next
[DVD 852] 2004 Paramount
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 96 mins.
A mediocre Las Vegas magician can see into the future--but only about two
minutes at the most. Just enough to pull off his act and to make some money at
the gambling tables, so long as he's discreet. Unfortunately, he hasn't been
discreet enough and a government agent discovers his precognitive talent and
wants to use him to track down terrorists. Cast: Nicolas Cage, Julianne Moore,
Jessica Biel.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Next of Kin
[DVD 419] 1984 Zeitgeist Films
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 92 min.
Twenty-three-year old Peter Foster is an only child who lives at home, where he
constantly hears his parents arguing. Because Peter does nothing all day, the
family goes to a clinic where a therapist videotapes them. After Peter watches
his tape, he views the tape of a troubled Armenian family, who gave their only
son away for adoption when they arrived in Canada. Peter decides to visit this
family, and he pretends to be their son, Bedros Deryan. The Deryan family
welcomes him with open arms, and Peter tries to patch up the poor relationship
between George Deryan and his daughter Azah. (The Essential Egoyan) Cast:
Patrick Tierney, Arsinée Khanjian, Berge Fazlian
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Night At The Museum
[DVD 889] 2006 20th Century Fox
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 110 mins
Larry Daley, an underachieving inventor waiting for his ship to come in while
getting evicted from one apartment after another, takes a job as night watchman
at New York City's Museum of Natural History. What the soon-to-retire guards
don't tell him is that an ancient pharaoh's tablet in the museum causes
everything on display to come to life at night. Thus, Larry meets
representations of Teddy Roosevelt, Attila the Hun, fire-worshipping cavemen,
and Roman Empire soldiers, and learns to cope with an excitable T-Rex and
man-eating, ancient animals. Cast: Ben Stiller, Dick Van Dyke, Mickey Rooney,
Bill Cobbs.
Subjects - Movies and Plays
The Nightmare Before Christmas
[VHS 121] 1993 Touchstone
1/2" video Color 1 cass., 76 min.
Based on a story and characters by Tim Burton. Jack Skellington, the pumpkin king of
Halloween Town, is bored with doing the same thing every year for Halloween. One day he
stumbles into Christmas Town, and is so taken with the idea of Christmas that he tries to
get the resident bats, ghouls, and goblins of Halloween town to help him put on Christmas
instead of Halloween -- but alas, they can't get it quite right. Animated
film.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Nine Queens = Nueve reinas
[DVD 626] 2000 Patagonik Film Group
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc. 115 min.
A psychological thriller about two small-time con-men who team up to pull off a
big-time score involving a set of valuable counterfeit stamps known as The Nine
Queens. When the rule changes suddenly, the two crooks end up pitted against one
another. Cast: Gastón Pauls, Ricardo Darin. Spanish with English and French
subtitles.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Language: Spanish
No Country for Old Men
[DVD 542] 2007 United Artists
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 93 min.
In rural Texas, welder and hunter Llewelyn Moss discovers the remains of several
drug runners who have all killed each other in an exchange gone violently wrong.
Rather than report the discovery to the police, Moss decides to simply take the
two million dollars for himself. This puts the psychopathic killer, Anton
Chigurh, on his trail as he dispassionately murders nearly every rival,
bystander and even employer in his pursuit of his quarry and the money. Cast:
Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
El Norte (The North)
[DVD 638] 1983 Frontera Films
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 141 min.
A brother and sister, two young Indians from Guatemala, set out to find a better life when
their father is killed by government soldiers and their mother is taken away. Their
journey to the north, the "promised land," is frought with dangers and when they
reach Los Angeles they are "illegals" submerged in an alien culture.,. Cast:
Zaide Silvia Gutiérrez, David Villalpando, Ernesto Gómez Cruz. Spanish and English
dialogue; English subtitles.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; Latin America ; Language: Spanish
Number 17
[VHS 1089] 1932 Madacy Music Group
1/2" video b&w
1 cass., 85 min.
An unsuspecting innocent hobo accidentally stumbles onto a hideout of jewel thieves.
Originally released as a motion picture in 1932. Cast: Leon M. Lion, Anne Grey. The Alfred
Hitchcock collection.
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
[DVD 44] 2000 Touchstone
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 103 min.
Loosely based on Homer's "Odyssey", this is the story of three convicts--
escapees from a prison farm in Mississippi-- and their adventure as they travel home in
hopes of recovering buried loot before it's lost forever in a flood. Cast: George Clooney,
John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson, Charles Durning, John Goodman.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Oedipus the King: The Rise of Greek Tragedy
[VHS 12] 19-- Films for the Humanities
1/2" video Color 1 cass., 45 min.
Seeks to explain tragedy as a form and to acquaint audiences with its foremost example,
Oedipus the King. Presents Oedipus and tragedy as they really are, as psychological
literary expression. James Mason and Claire Bloom.
Oklahoma!
[DVD 430] 1955 Twentieth Century Fox
1/2" video Color 1 videodisc, 145 min.
also available as:
[VHS 1670] 1955 Twentieth Century Fox
1/2" video Color
1 cass., 145 min.
Adapted from Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical play based upon a dramatic play
by Lynn Riggs. Includes original theatrical trailer. A cowboy wins his girl
despite the intervention of a sinister hired hand. Cast: Gordon MacRae, Gloria
Grahame, Shirley Jones, Gene Nelson, Charlotte Greenwood, Eddie Albert, James
Whitmore, Rod Steiger.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Oliver!
[DVD 501] 1968 Columbia Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 153 min.
Musical adaptation of Charles Dickens's classic tale of an orphan who runs away
from the orphanage and hooks up with a group of boys trained to be pickpockets
by an elderly mentor. Cast: Ron Moody, Oliver Reed, Shani Wallis, Mark Lester.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
The Omen
[DVD 666] 2006
20th Century Fox
4 3/4" DVD Color 1
videodisc, 110 min.
A remake of the 1976 horror classic The Omen (1976). An American
diplomat substitutes an orphan for his own stillborn baby in order to
spare his unknowing wife. But after a series of grotesque murders and
dire warnings, he comes to the chilling realization that his young son
may literally be the devil incarnate. Cast: Live Schreiber, Julia
Stiles.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
On Golden Pond
[DVD 26] 1981 Artisan
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 105 min.
While at their summer home on Golden Pond, the Thayer family is forced to renew their
bonds of love and overcome the generational friction that has existed for years. Cast:
Katharine Hepburn, Henry Fonda, Jane Fonda, Doug McKeon, Dabney Coleman, William
Lanteau.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
On the Waterfront
[DVD 498] 1954 Columbia Pictures
4 3/4" DVD b&w 1 videodisc, 134 min.
"I coulda been a contenda." Shot on location around the docks of Hoboken, New
Jersey, in the mid-1950s, it tells the fact-based story of a longshoreman
(Brando's Terry Malloy) who is blackballed and savagely beaten for informing
against the mobsters who have taken over his union and sold it out to the
bosses. Cast: Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, Eva Marie Saint.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Labor and Trade Unions
Once
[DVD 513] 2006 20th Century Fox
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 86 min.
An Irish busker meets a Czech flower seller while singing on the streets of
Dublin. She likes what she hears and lets him know. Turns out she's a musician,
too. They work on a few songs together and a friendship is forged. Since he
broke up with his girlfriend, the guy has been drifting, unable and unwilling to
get his life in order. The girl encourages him to pursue a record deal, and the
guy emerges from his funk. Then he makes a move on the girl, who rejects his
advances. He's confused, but as he comes to find, there's a reason she’s keeping
her distance. Cast: Glen Hansard, Markéta Irglová
Subjects – Movies and Plays
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
[DVD 218] 1975
United Artist/Warner Bros.
4 3/4" DVD Color 2 videodisc, 133 min.
McMurphy has been dating a fifteen year old (fifteen going on thirty-five) and
is sentenced for a short term for contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Rather than spend his time in jail, he convinces the guards that he's crazy
enough to need psychiatric care and is sent to a hospital. He fits in
frighteningly well, and his different point of view actually begins to cause
some of the patients to progress. Nurse Ratched becomes his personal cross to
bear as his resistance to the hospital routine gets on her nerves. Based on the
novel by Ken Kesey. Cast: Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; Psychology
The Onion Movie
[DVD 885] 2008 20th Century Fox
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 80 mins
Based on the satirical nationwide newspaper The Onion. Sarcastic headlines are
turned into slapstick skits starring three news reporters reporting on idiotic
events either live or in the studio. When an anchorman is asked to compromise
his journalistic integrity to please a new corporate sponsor, he doesn't just
get mad, he gets...angry. Cast: Len Cariou, Dana Dobbs, Kip Kendall.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Journalism
Ordinary People
[DVD 533] 1980 Paramount Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 124 min.
The accidental death of the older son of an affluent family deeply
strains the relationships among the bitter mother, the good-natured
father, and the guilt-ridden younger son. Cast: Donald Sutherland, Mary
Tyler Moore, Timothy Hutton.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Psychology
Out of Africa
[DVD 537] 1985 Universal Pictures.
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 150 min.
True story of Karen Blixen, a strong-willed woman who, with her philandering
husband, runs a coffee plantation in Kenya, circa 1914. To her astonishment, she
soon discovers herself falling in love with the land, its people and a
mysterious white hunter. It is rich in beautiful images of Africa and in the
romantic tone surrounding Blixen's gradual discovery of her life and voice.
Cast: Meryl Streep, Robert Redford, Klaus Maria Brandauer
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Africa
The Outlaw
[DVD 291] 1943 Howard Hughes Productions
4 3/4" DVD b&w 1 videodisc, 116 min.
Newly appointed sheriff Pat Garrett is pleased when
his old friend Doc Holliday arrives in Lincoln, New Mexico on the stage. Doc is
trailing his stolen horse, and it is discovered in the possession of Billy the
Kid. In a surprising turnaround, Billy and Doc become friends. This causes the
friendship between Doc and Pat to cool. The odd relationship between Doc and
Billy grows stranger when Doc hides Billy at his girl, Rio's, place after Billy
is shot. She falls for Billy, although he treats her very badly. Interaction
between these four is played out against an Indian attack before a final
showdown reduces the group's number. The first American film that defied
the "Production Code" of the Hays Office, which dictated what could
and could not be shown on screen. Cast: Jane Russell.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
The Ox-Bow Incident
[VHS 510] 1943 20th Century Fox/Key Video
1/2" video b&w 1 cass., 75 min.
When a rancher is reported
murdered by cattle rustlers, the people of Ox-bow decide to take justice into their own
hands. They lynch three men who turn out to be innocent. Starring Henry
Fonda.
Panther
[VHS 1902] 1995 PolyGram Video
1/2" video Color 1 cass., 123 min.
A semi-historic film about the origins of The Black Panther Party of Self-Defense. The movie
spans about 3 years (1966-68) of the Black Panther's history in Oakland. Panther
also uses historical footage (B/W) to emphasize some points. In Oakland,
California, 1968, The Black Panthers led by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale have
armed themselves and are ready to fight for freedom. To the people, they're
heroes, but to the FBI they're Public Enemy Number One. Now the Feds will do
everything they can--on the right or wrong side of the law--to bring them down.
Based on the novel by Melvin Van Peebles. Cast: Kadeem Hardison, Bokeem Woodbine, Joe Don Baker.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; African Americans
Paradise Now
[DVD 933] 2005 Warner Independent Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 91 min.
In Nablus, on the West Bank, Said and Khaled, two Palestinian friends, who’ve
experienced living under another nations rule for their whole lives feel
oppression, humiliation and consider themselves prisoners in their own land. As
soon as a friend presents them with an opportunity to avenge their way of life,
we follow their steps as they prepare themselves for their final act of
resistance, a suicide mission in Tel-Aviv. Cast: Lubna Azabal, Hamza Abu-Aiaash.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Middle East
Parting Glances
[VHS 1441] 1991 First Run Features
1/2" Video Color
1 cass., 90 min.
The hectic rhythms of the Big Apple, a direct confrontation with AIDS and a relationship
in its final stages are the focus of this contemporary New York drama about two gay lovers
saying goodbye. Cast: Richard Ganoung, John Bolger, Steve Buscemi.
A Passage to India
[VHS 65] 1985
Columbia Pictures
1/2" video Color 1 cass., 163 min.
Based on the novel by E.M. Forster. Adela Quested travels to India with her fiance's
mother. They befriend a young Indian man who invites them on a picnic to Marabar Caves and
who is later accused of attempting to rape Miss Quested.
Pather Panchali = Song of the Little Road (Apu Trilogy, #1)
[VHS 915] 1955 Sony Pictures Classics
1/2" video b&w 1 cass., 121 min.
Sometime in the early years of the century, a boy, Apu, is born to a poor
Brahmin family in a village in Bengal. The father, a poet and priest, cannot
earn enough to keep his family going. Apu's sister, Durga, is forever stealing
guavas from the neighbour's orchards. All these add to the daily struggles of
the mother's life, notwithstanding her constant bickering with old aunt who
lives with the family. Cast: Kanu Bannerjee, Karuna Bannerjee Directed by
Satyajit Ray In Bengali with English subtitles.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Asia: India
Patton
[DVD 944] 1970
Twentieth Century Fox
4 3/4" DVD Color 2
videodisc, 170 min.
A story of the adventures of the World War II American general George Patton, who defeated
Rommel in Africa and sped across Europe with his Third Army after the D-Day invasion.
Cast: George C. Scott, Karl Malden.
Paul Robeson: Portraits of the Artist: Criterion Collection
[DVD 632-635] 2007 Criterion Collection
4 3/4" DVD Color, b&w 4 videodiscs
All-American athlete, scholar, renowned baritone, stage actor, and social
activist, Paul Robeson (1898-1976) was a towering figure and a trailblazer many
times over. He was perhaps most groundbreaking, however, in the medium of film.
The son of an escaped slave, Robeson managed to become a top-billed movie star
during the time of Jim Crow America striving to project positive images of black
characters. Increasingly politically minded, Robeson eventually left movies
behind, using his international celebrity to speak for those denied their civil
liberties around the world and ultimately becoming a victim of ideological
persecution himself.
Outsider: [DVD 632] Body and Soul ; [DVD 632]
Borderline
Icon: [DVD 633] Emperor Jones ; [DVD 633]
Paul Robeson: Tribute to an Artist
Pioneer: [DVD 634] Sanders of the River ; [DVD 634]
Jericho
Citizen of the World: [DVD 635] Native Land ; [DVD 635]
The Proud Valley
Subjects – African American ; Movies and Plays
Pay It Forward
[DVD 25] 2001 Warner
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 123 min.
Just imagine. You do a favor that really helps someone and tell him or her not to pay it
back, but to pay it forward to three other people who, in turn, each pay it forward to
three more and on and on into a global outpouring of kindness and decency. When a junior
high student starts "paying it forward" for a social studies project, unusual
things happen in this bittersweet and uplifting tale. Cast: Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt,
Haley Joel Osment, Jay Mohr, James Caviezel, Jon Bon Jovi, Angie Dickinson.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Pearl Harbor
[VHS 129-130] 2001 Touchstone
1/2" video Color 2 cass., 183 min.
Two childhood best friends, Rafe and Danny, grow up wanting to fly planes. When Rafe gets
the chance to join the Royal Air Force during World War II, he takes it, leaving his new
love, Evelyn, a dedicated Navy nurse, and Danny, also a pilot, behind. Danny and Evelyn
are transferred separately to the idyllic paradise of Hawaii, where they eventually meet
through a connection to Rafe, who has been declared missing. But just as the love triangle
begins to get complicated, Dec. 7, 1941 arrives, changing all of their lives forever.
Cast: Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett, Kate Beckinsale, Alec Baldwin, Cuba Gooding, Jr.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; World War 1939-1945
A Peck On The Cheek
[DVD 999] 2002 Film Movement
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 136 mins.
Amudha, adopted by Thiru and Indira and growing up with the couples two sons, is
blissfully unaware of her parentage, until the couple decides to inform her of
it on her ninth birthday. At first shocked into disbelief, Amudha then expresses
her determination to seek out her biological mother who had abandoned her as a
newborn baby. The search takes the family to strife-torn Sri Lanka, where Amudha
comes face-to-face with reality, and reconciles herself to it. In Tamil and
Sinhala with English subtitles. Cast: R. Madhavan, Simran (alias) Rishi Novel
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Asia: India
A Perfect Murder
[DVD 857] 1999 Warner Bros.
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 157 mins.
A powerful Wall Street power broker tries to get his wife's lover to murder her.
Cast: Michael Douglas, Gwyneth Paltrow, Viggo Mortensen.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Persepolis
[DVD 593] 2007
Sony Pictures Classics
4 3/4" DVD b&w
1 videodisc. 95 min.
In 1970s Iran, Marjane 'Marji' Statrapi watches events through her young eyes
and her idealistic family. Their long dream is realized when the hated Shah is
defeated in the Iranian Revolution of 1979. Now ruled by Islamic
fundamentalists, Marji grows up to witness first hand how the new Iran has
become a repressive tyranny on its own. With Marji dangerously refusing to
remain silent at this injustice, her parents send her abroad to Vienna to study.
This change proves an equally difficult trial for Marji and finds herself in a
different culture loaded with abrasive characters and profound disappointments
that deeply trouble her. Even when she returns home, Marji finds that both she
and her homeland have changed too much and the young woman and her loving family
must decide where she truly belongs. An animated feature based on the graphic novel by Marjane
Satrapi. Cast: Chiara Mastroianni, Catherine Deneuve, Darrieux, Danielle. French
or dubbed English dialogue.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Language: French ; Middle East
The Petrified Forest
[DVD 232] 1936 Warner Bros.
4 3/4" DVD b&w 1 videodisc, 83 min.
A rundown diner bakes in the Arizona heat. Inside, fugitive killer Duke Mantee
sweats out a manhunt, holding disillusioned writer Alan Squier, young Gabby
Maple and a handful of others hostage. Cast: Leslie Howard, Bette Davis,
Humphrey Bogart.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Philadelphia
[DVD 413] 1993 Columbia TriStar
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 125 min.
Two competing lawyers join forces to sue a prestigious law firm for AIDS
discrimination. As their unlikely friendship develops, their courage overcomes
the prejudice and corruption of their powerful adversaries. Cast: Tom Hanks,
Denzel Washington.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Homosexuality ; Law & Government
The Piano Lesson
[DVD 82] 1995 Hallmark Hall of Fame
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 104 min
August Wilson's Pulitzer Prize-winning tale of a family caught between their
heritage and a dream for the future. The Charles family clashes over the fate of
a magnificent, carved piano that carries their family's story from their days as
slaves. Boy Willie wants to sell the piano to buy a farm--the same fields their
family worked as slaves. But his sister, Berniece, refuses to part with it. For
her, the piano is their very soul, a legacy of pride and struggle that
symbolizes their survival as a family. To resolve the conflict they must first
deal with the past. Cast: Lloyd Richards, Charles S. Dutton, Alfre Woodard.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; African Americans
The Pink Panther
[DVD 514] 2006 MGM
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 93 min.
Loosely based on the 1964 Peter Sellers original film, where the detective must
solve the murder of a famous soccer coach and find out who stole the infamous
Pink Panther diamond. Cast: Steve Martin, Kevin Kline, Beyonce Knowles.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
[DVD 908] 2005 Walt Disney
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 151 min.
Jack Sparrow races to recover the heart of Davy Jones to avoid enslaving his
soul to Jones' service, as other friends and foes seek the heart for their own
agenda as well. Cast: Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley,
Subjects – Movies and Plays
A Place In The World
[DVD 300] 1993 Transmundo
Films
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 120 min.
Mario and Ana, in voluntary exile from Buenos Aires, live in a remote Argentine valley with their 12-year-old son Ernesto. Mario
runs a school and a wool cooperative; Ana, a doctor, heads a clinic with Nelda,
a progressive nun. Into this idealistic family comes Hans, a jaded Spanish
geological engineer -- surveying the land for the local patron, to see if it can
be dammed for hydro-electric power, which would drive the peasants from the land
into the cities. Spanish with English subtitles.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; Language: Spanish ; Latin America and Caribbean
Platoon
[DVD 506] 1986 MGM
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 120 min.
Chris is a young, naive American who gives up college and volunteers for combat
in Vietnam. As an infantryman his loyalty is tested by two superior officers:
Sergeant Elias, a former hippie humanist who really cares about his men, and
Sergeant Barnes, a moody, macho soldier who may have gone over to the dark side.
A line is drawn between the two officers and a number of men in the platoon when
an illegal killing occurs during a village raid. As the war continues, Chris
himself draws towards psychological meltdown. As he struggles for survival, he
soon realizes he is fighting two battles, the conflict with the enemy and the
conflict between the men within his platoon. Cast: Charlie Sheen, Willem Dafoe,
Tom Berenger.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Vietnamese Conflict
Pocahontas
[VHS 650] 1995 Walt Disney Pictures
1/2" Video Color 1 cass., 81 min.
In 1607, a group of British adventurers, including John Smith, led by the
greedy Virginia Company governor Ratcliffe, set sail for the New World,
seeking gold and other treasures. In Virginia, Pocahontas, Chief Powhatan's
daughter, ponders her life as she is faced with marriage to the stern
warrior, Kocoum. The British establish the settlement of Jamestown, Virginia
and dig up the countryside for gold. Smith meets Pocahontas and they
overcome their initial conflicts. She teaches him about her world. Relations
between the British and the Indians deteriorate. Powhatan captures Smith and
is about to execute him, but Pocahontas intervenes and Powhatan sets him
free. When Ratcliffe tries to kill Powhatan, Smith saves him but is
seriously wounded. He must return to England and Pocahontas must stay.
Animated film.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; Indians of North America ; Women’s Studies
Pollock
[DVD 658] 2000 Sony
Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 122 min.
At the end of the 1940's, abstract expressionist Jackson Pollock (1912-1956) is
featured in Life magazine. Flashback to 1941, he's living with his brother in a
tiny apartment in New York City, drinking too much, and exhibiting an occasional
painting in group shows. That's when he meets artist Lee Krasner, who puts her
career on hold to be his companion, lover, champion, wife, and, in essence,
caretaker. To get him away from booze, insecurity, and the stress of city life,
they move to the Hamptons where nature and sobriety help Pollock achieve a
breakthrough in style: a critic praises, then Life magazine calls. But so do old
demons: the end is nasty, brutish, and short. Ed Harris, Marcia Gay Harden, Amy
Madigan.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Artists
Powaqqatsi: Life In Transformation
[DVD 554] 1988 MGM
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 97 min.
Powaqqatsi, or "life in transformation," is the second part of a projected
trilogy of experimental documentaries whose titles derive from Hopi compound
nouns. The now legendary Koyaanisqatsi, or "life out of balance," was the first.
Naqoyqatsi, or "life in war," is the third. This film calls into question
everything we think we know about contemporary society. By juxtaposing images of
ancient cultures with those of modern life, Powaqqatsi masterfully portrays the
human cost of progress.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Technology ; World History
Pride and Prejudice<
[DVD 369-370 ] 1996 BBC/A&E
4 3/4" DVD Color
2 videodisc, 300 min.
In this lavish, mini-series adaptation of Jane
Austen's 19th century classical romance, Elizabeth Bennett is a strong-willed
yet sensible young woman in a well-off but lower class family with five sisters,
a long-suffering but loving father and a mother anxious to marry them to wealthy
young gentlemen. At a local ball, she encounters one such wealthy young man but
Mr. Darcy is arrogant, cold and rude, it is hatred at first sight. As her older
sister Jane falls in love with Mr. Darcy's best friend Mr. Bingley, and her
youngest sister Lydia flirts with anyone in a military uniform, Lizzie finds herself fighting off the
attentions of the unctuous Mr. Collins and quite taken by the charming Mr.
Wickham - who also happens to be an enemy of Mr. Darcy. Cast: Jennifer Ehle, Colin
Firth
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Literature and Writing
The Proud Valley (Paul Robeson: Portraits of the Artist)
[DVD 635] 1940 Ealing Studios/Criterion Collection
4 3/4" DVD b&w 1 videodisc, 76 min.
David Goliath, a Black American sailor who drifts to Wales by way of England,
searching for work, joins rank - and - file Welsh miners organizing against the
powers that be. Initially he wins the respect of the very musically oriented
Welsh people through his singing (as did Robeson in real life). He shares the
hardships of their lives, and becomes a working class hero as he helps to better
their working conditions and ultimately, during a mining accident, sacrifices
his life to save fellow miners. Cast: Paul Robeson, Edward Chapman.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Psycho
[DVD 219]
1960 Universal
4 3/4" DVD b&w 1 videodisc, 109 min.
A young female embezzler arrives at the Bates Motel after stealing $40 thousand,
which has terrible secrets of its own in the form of an odd proprietor and his
domineering, never-seen mother. Cast: Tony Perkins, Janet Leigh. Directed
by Alfred Hitchcock
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Public Enemy
[DVD 233] 1931 Warner Bros.
4 3/4" DVD b&w 1 videodisc, 83 min.
Tom's bad way of life is constantly set up against his
brother Mike's, who has a job during the day and goes to night school. Mike will
enroll in the Marines to fight in WWI. He will come back and will constantly try
to put Tom back on the right path. Cast: James Cagney, Jean Harlow.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Pulp Fiction
[DVD 384-385] 1994 Miramax
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 164 min.
A clever, dark film that tells 4 separate stories that are gradually brought
together. Involves two low-rent hit men, their boss and his sexy wife, a
prizefighter and a pair of desperate robbers. Cast: John Travolta, Samuel L.
Jackson, Uma Thurman, Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth. Closed-captioned .
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Pulse
[DVD 522] 2006
Dimension Films
4 3/4" DVD Color 1
videodisc, 90 min.
College students discover a kind of wi-fi conduit that allows malevolent
spirits to be transmitted from their afterlife to our world via the
Internet. Cast: Kristen Bell, Christina Milian.
Subjects - Movies and Plays
Pygmalion
[DVD 943] 1938
Janus Films/Embassy Home Enter.
4 3/4" DVD B&W 1
videodisc, 96 min.
George Bernard Shaw's story of professor Henry Higgins' efforts to make Eliza Doolittle, a
flower girl, into an elegant lady of society. Starring Leslie Howard, Wendy Hiller, and
Anthony Asquith.
Quiz Show
[DVD 669] 1994 Hollywood
Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 133 min.
An idealistic young lawyer working for a Congressional subcommittee in the late
1950s discovers that TV quiz shows are being fixed. His investigation focuses on
two contestants on the show "Twenty-One": Herbert Stempel a brash working-class
Jew from Queens, and Charles Van Doren, the patrician scion of one of America's
leading literary families. Based on a true story.Cast: Ralph Fiennes, John
Turturro, Rob Morrow. Directed by Robert Redford.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Television, Film & Video ; Law & Government
The Railrodder and Buster Keaton Rides Again
[VHS 1679] 1995 Kino Video
1/2" video b&w 1 cass., 81 min.
In The railrodder (25 min., col., 1965) Keaton crosses Canada in a gas powered railway
handcar; Buster Keaton rides again (56 min., B&W, 1965) shows Keaton at work on The
railrodder.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Rain Man
[DVD 208] 1988 United Artists
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 134 min.
Charlie Babbitt, a young businessman aggressively pursuing his fortune in
collector automobiles, hears that the wealthy father from whom he has been
estranged for years, has died. He attends the funeral planning to remain only
long enough to hear the will and receive the fortune he believes is coming to
him. He is shocked to learn that most of the fortune has been left in trust to
his mentally handicapped brother he didn’t know he had, Raymond, an autistic
savant. Charlie kidnaps him to California, planning to keep him "hostage"
until the institution where Raymond
has been living, delivers half of Raymond's inheritance he believes rightly to
be his. Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; Psychology
The Rainmaker
[DVD 322] 1997 Paramount
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 135 min.
A young Tennessee lawyer fresh out of college takes the case of his life in this
amazing courtroom drama. When a big insurance company tries to keep from having
to pay for the care that a young man diagnosed with leukemia needs, the family
decides to hire a lawyer. Rudy (Damon) takes on this client in his first case
after the head of his law office has to hide because he's wanted by the feds. He
must overcome many obstacles inside and outside the courtroom as he attempts to
find out what it means to be a lawyer and how far you have to go before you
become a sell-out. Based on the novel by John Grisham. Cast: Matt Damon, Danny
DeVito, Jon Voight. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola.
Subjects --Movies and Plays ; Law and Government
Raise the Red Lantern
[DVD 656] 1991
Era International (HK) Ltd.
4 3/4" DVD Color 1
videodisc, 125 min.
China in the 1920's. After her father's death, nineteen year old Songlian is
forced to marry Chen Zuoqian, the lord of a powerful family. Fifty year old Chen
has already three wives, each of them living in separate houses within the great
castle. The competition between the wives is tough, as their master's attention
carries power, status and privilege. Each night Chen must decide with which wife
to spend the night and a red lantern is lit in front of the house of his choice
and each wife schemes and plots to make sure it's hers. Cast: Li Gong, Caifei
He, Cuifen Cao, Jingwu Ma, Qi Zhao. In Mandarin Chinese with English subtitles.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Language: Chinese
A Raisin In The Sun
[DVD 898] 1996
Monterey Home video
4 3/4" DVD Color
1 videodisc, 171 min.
An insurance check can allow the Youngers to escape their frustrating life in a crowded
Chicago apartment, but escape means different things to each family member. Cast: Danny Glover,
Esther Rolle, Starletta DuPois, Yanckey, Kim.
The Reader
[DVD 1031] 2008 The Weinstein Company
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 124 mins.
Post-WWII Germany: Nearly a decade after his affair with an older woman came to
a mysterious end, law student Michael Berg re-encounters his former lover as she
defends herself in a war-crime trial. Cast: Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes,
Matthias Habich, David Kross.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; World War,
1939-1945
Rear Window
[DVD 213] 1954 Universal
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 112 min.
Professional photographer L.B. "Jeff" Jeffries breaks his leg while
getting an action shot at an auto race. Confined to his New York apartment, he
spends his time looking out of the rear window observing the neighbors. He
begins to suspect that the man opposite may have murdered his wife. Jeff enlists
the help of his society model girlfriend Lisa Freemont and his nurse Stella to
investigate. Cast. James Stewart, Kim Novak. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. (The
James Stewart Hollywood legend collection)
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Rebecca Of Sunnybrook Farm
[DVD 228] 1938
Twentieth Century Fox
4 3/4" DVD b&w/Colorized 1 videodisc, 80 min.
Rebecca's Uncle Harry leaves her with Aunt Miranda who forbids her to associate
with show people. But neighbor Anthony Kent is a talent scout who secretly set
it up for her to broadcast. Cast: Shirley Temple, Randolph Scott
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Rebel Without A Cause
[DVD 778] 1955 Warner Bros.
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 111 min.
Jim Stark is the new kid in town. He has been in trouble elsewhere; that's why
his family has had to move before. Here he hopes to find the love he doesn't get
from his middle-class family. Though he finds some of this in his relation with
Judy, and a form of it in both Plato's adulation and Ray's real concern for him,
Jim must still prove himself to his peers in switchblade knife fights and "chickie"
games in which cars race toward a seaside cliff. Cast – James Dean, Natalie
Wood, Sal Mineo
Subjects – Movies and Plays
The Reckoning
[DVD 373] 2003 Paramount
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 112 min.
Set in 14th century England, Nicholas, a young priest who has broken his vow of
chastity and in turn becomes a fugitive, escaping from his fellow monks and
their judgment. Posing as an actor in a traveling acting troupe, Nicholas, along
with the actors, discovers that a young woman convicted of killing a boy is
actually innocent and the troupe sets out to prove her innocence by
incorporating the crime into their plays. Cast: Willem DaFoe, Paul Bettany.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Red Eye
[DVD 872] 2005 Dreamworks
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 85 min.
A woman is kidnapped by a stranger on a routine flight. Threatened by the
potential murder of her father, she is pulled into a plot to assist her captor
in offing a politician. Cast: Rachel McAdams, Cillian Murphy.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Reefer Madness
[DVD 285] 1936
G&H
Productions
4 3/4" DVD b&w/Colorized 1 videodisc, 66 min.
Propaganda film that relates the story, as told by
high school principal Dr. Carroll to parents at a PTA meeting, of the scourge of
marijuana. The tale revolves around Mae and Jack, accomplices in the
distribution of marijuana, who manage to entice the local high school kids to
stop by Mae's apartment to smoke reefer. The lives of all who are involved with
this menace are inevitably shattered. One youngster becomes so addicted to the
killer weed that a judge orders him to be committed for life to a mental
hospital! Dr. Carroll advises us to not incur the same tragedy. Became a cult
hit in 1972 when the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML)
rescued it from the Library of Congress film archive. Includes all-new color
version and the restored original black-and-white version.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; Drugs and Drug Abuse
The Replacements
[DVD 515] 2000 Warner Bros.
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 118 min.
When the NFL goes on strike, the team owner of the Washington Sentinels, calls
former NFL coach Jimmy McGinty out of retirement to coach a rag-tag team of
replacement players to finish the season's last four games. Cast: Keanu Reeves,
Gene Hackman.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Richard II
[VHS 10-11] 1979
BBC-TV/Time-Life
1/2" video Color
2 cass., 157 min
In the 14th century Kings and Queens ruled by divine right. Even a rebellion against the
most corrupt monarch was viewed as an uprising against heaven itself. This play by William
Shakespeare is the story of just such a rebellion.
The Right Stuff
[DVD 686] 1983 Warner Bros.
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 193 mins
The first seven Mercury astronauts: we go behind the prepackaged, unblemished
saints we knew through the media to find imperfect human beings who were
actually even more heroic. The astronauts are heroes, no doubt about it. As
space pioneer Chuck Yaeger bitterly points out, these men all knew the risks
they were taking as they rode their primitive capsules into space. They knew
they were powered by rockets that could explode them into the tiniest of atoms.
There were the fierce fires of re-entry that could reduce them to cinders, as
well as the possibility of no re-entry, leaving them to perish miserably in
their orbits. Yet these men eagerly took those risks. They were made of the
right stuff. Cast: Sam Shepard, Ed Harris, Scott Glenn, Dennis Quaid, Fred Ward.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Space Exploration
The Ring Two
[DVD 882] 2005 20th Century Fox
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 110 min.
Six months after encountering Samara and her killer video tape, Rachel Keller
and her son Aiden leave the city to live in a small rural town where they think
they'll be safe. Soon after they arrive, however, Rachel hears about a college
student who died nearby in circumstances similar to Samara's past victims. Now
it appears that Aiden's life is in danger from Samara once more, and Rachel must
investigate the little girl's past if she wants to save her son. Cast: Naomi
Watts, David Dorfman.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Road To Perdition
[DVD 72] 2002 DreamWorks
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 cass., 117 min.
Michael Sullivan works as an enforcer for his adopted father, Irish gangster John Rooney.
When Sullivan's son, Mike Jr., witnesses one of his father's killings on Rooney's behalf,
the gangster decides that his ward and his family are liabilities that must be removed.
Sullivan tries to safeguard his son and get even with the man who betrayed him, while his
son focuses on bonding with his emotionally distant father. Cast: Tom Hanks, Paul Newman,
Jude Law.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
The Roaring Twenties
[DVD 234] 1939 Warner Bros.
4 3/4" DVD b&w 1 videodisc, 104 min.
After the WWI Armistice Lloyd Hart goes back to practice law, former saloon
keeper George Hally turns to bootlegging, and out-of-work Eddie Bartlett becomes
a cab driver. Eddie builds a fleet of cabs through delivery of bootleg liquor
and hires Lloyd as his lawyer. George becomes Eddie's partner and the rackets
flourish until love and rivalry interfere. Cast: James Cagney, Priscilla Lane,
Humphrey Bogart.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Rocky
[DVD 504] 1976 United Artists
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 104 min.
The 'Italian Stallion', Rocky Balboa, is an down and out boxer in downtown
Philadelphia. His one chance to make a better life for himself is through his
boxing and Adrian, a girl who works in the local pet store. Through a publicity
stunt, Rocky is set up to fight Apollo Creed, the current heavyweight champion
who is already set to win. Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burgess
Meredith, Carl Weathers.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Romeo and Juliet
[DVD 991] 1968 Paramount
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 138 mins
Shakespeare's classic play of tragic love between members of opposing families.
Franco Zeffirelli's 1968 adaptation of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet was unique
in its day for casting kids in the play's pivotal roles. Cast: Leonard Whiting,
Olivia Hussey. Directed by Franco Zeffirelli.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Shakespeare, William
Romeo and Juliet
[DVD 992] 1996 20th Century Fox
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 120 mins
An unconventional adaptation of William Shakespeare's classic love story. Romeo
and Juliet, the youthful star-crossed lovers of the past have been moved from
it's Elizabethan origins to the futuristic urban backdrop of Verona Beach. Cast:
Leonardo DiCaprio, Claire Danes. Directed by Baz Luhrmann.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Shakespeare, William
Roots
[VHS 1210-1215] 1977
Ruth Carranza Productions
1/2" video
Color 7 cass., 591 min.
An adaptation of Alex Haley's book Roots, in which he traces his family's history from the
mid-18th century when one of his ancestors was captured in Africa and sold into slavery.
Follows the struggle for freedom that began with the boy's abduction to America and
continued throughout the generations that followed. Cast: LeVar Burton, John Amos, Ben
Vereen, Cicely Tyson, Leslie Uggams, Lou Gosset.
The Royal Family By George S. Kaufman & Edna Ferber
[VHS 1860] 1977
Broadway Theatre Archive
1/2" video Color 1 cass., 120 min.
A 1927 comedy about an eminent and slightly eccentric theatrical clan. A Barrymore-like
brood, the Cavendishes are as flamboyant offstage as they are on. Their real-life family
drama occurs in a Manhattan apartment when the grand matriarch, Fanny Cavendish, learns
that her daughter and granddaughter may both be giving up the stage for marriage.
Complicating the situation is the arrival of Fanny's son, Tony-- a matinee idol on the run
from a breach-of-promise suit. Cast: rosemary Harris, Eva Le Gallienne, Sam Levene. PBS
television broadcast for Great Performances, Theater in America.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Run Lola Run
[DVD 644] 1999 Sony Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 81 min.
Lola receives a phone call from her boyfriend Manny. He carelessly lost 100,000
deutsche marks in a subway train that belongs to a seedy gangster. Lola has 20
min to raise this amount and meet Manny. Otherwise, he will rob a store to get
the money. Three different alternatives may happen depending on some minor event
along Lola's run. Cast: Franka Potente, Moritz Bleibtreu. In German with English
subtitles.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Language: German
RV
[DVD 516] 2006 Columbia Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 99 min.
Bob is determined to combine work and pleasure. He rents a recreational motor
home to drive his wife and kids on a scenic vacation to the Colorado Rockies.
While trying to enjoy some much needed, quality time with his family, Bob is
secretly preparing a presentation for a high-stakes corporate merger. Their
dysfunctional road trip leads to repeated encounters with the perky Gornicke
family. The Gornicke’s don’t appear to be too bright, but to Bob, they represent
the familial togetherness that Bob was hoping to regain. Cast: Robin Williams,
Cheryl Hines.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Sabotage
[VHS 1081] 1936 Madacy Music Group
1/2" video b&w
1 cass., 76 min.
A seemingly mild-mannered London theatre manager, unbeknownst to his wife and child, is
actually a deadly saboteur. Cast: Sylvia
Sidney, Oscar Homolka, John Loder, Desmond Tester. The Alfred Hitchcock Collection.
Safe
[DVD 414]
1995 Sony Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 119 min.
Eerie medical thriller shows us that our environment has finally turned against
us. Carol, a typical upper middle-class housewife, begins to complain of vague
symptoms of illness. Her family doctor treats her concerns dismissively and
suggests a psychiatrist. Eventually, an allergist tells her that she has
Environmental Illness. In essence, she has become allergic to the Twentieth
Century. She sees Wrenwood as her only salvation, a New Agey center run (quite
profitably) by a clichéd, easy-talking, demagogic guru. Unsettling and
ambiguous, we are never sure about each character's hidden agenda, as they
revolve around Carol, a timid, frightened pawn, overwhelmed by her condition.
Cast: Julianne Moore, Peter Friedman.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Environmental Sciences
Salaam Bombay
[DVD 934] 1988 Cinecom Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 113 min.
The story of Krishna, Manju, Chillum and the other children on the streets of
Bombay. Sometimes they can get a temporary job selling tea, but mostly they have
to beg for money and keep out of the way of the police. Cast: Shafiq Syed, Hansa
Vithal, Raghuvir Yadav. In Hindi with English subtitles.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Asia: India
Salt Of The Earth
[VHS 1813] 1954 MPI
1/2" video b&w 1 cass., 94 min.
In New Mexico, Mexican zinc miners, fed up with the life-threatening conditions under
which they work, organize a walk-out. The racist management of the company tries to end
the strike, with a variety of extremely violent and cruel tactics. A controversial drama
about the struggles of striking mineworkers in a small New Mexico town whose views are
socialistic and surprisingly feminist. Many of the actors and the film's director were
blacklisted after its release. When SALT OF THE EARTH was first released, it was
considered to be a propaganda film in favor of communism. Some of its makers faced a
McCarthy-era Congress, and its director served time in jail. Cast: Juan Chacon, Charles
Coleman, Will Geer, Rosaura Revueltas, Mervin Williams.
Subjects - Movies and Plays ; Latinos/Hispanic
Americans ; Labor and Trade Unions
Sanders of the River(Paul Robeson: Portraits of the Artist)
[DVD 634] 1935 United Artists/Criterion Collection
4 3/4" DVD b&w 1 videodisc, 98 min.
British District Officer in Nigeria in the 1930's rules his area strictly but
justly, and struggles with gun-runners and slavers with the aid of a loyal
native chief. Cast: Paul Robeson, Leslie Banks.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Sanshiro Sugata = Judo saga
[VHS 1377] 1996 Janus Films
1/2" video b&w
1 cass., 79 min.
Based on the novel by Tsuneo Tomita. Story of a handsome, bumptious young man who wishes
to learn judo as a path to philosophical knowledge, rather than a mere set of self-defense
techniques. In Japanese with English subtitles. Series: The Japanese classic collection.
Directed and written by Akira Kurosawa.
Saving Private Ryan
[DVD 415]
1998 DreamWorks Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 169 min.
After surviving the invasion of Normandy on D-Day, Captain John Miller must take
his men behind enemy lines to find Private Ryan, whose three brothers have been
killed in combat. Faced with impossible odds, the men question their orders. Why
are eight men risking their lives to save just one? Surrounded by the brutal
realities of war, each man searches for his own answer and the strength to
triumph over uncertain future with honor, decency and courage. Cast: Tom Hanks,
Edward Burns, Matt Damon, Tom Sizemore. Directed by Steven Spielberg.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; World War, 1939-1945
Saw
[DVD 845] 2004 Lion’s Gate
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 103 mins
With a dead body laying between them, two men wake up in the secure lair of a
serial killer who's been nicknamed "Jigsaw" by the police because of his unusual
calling card. The two men are chained by their ankles to pipes. They have a
task, one must kill the other by 6:00, or his wife and daughter will die. Cast:
Cary Elwes, Leigh Whannell, Danny Glover.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Scary Movie
[DVD 887] 2000 Dimension Films
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 88 mins.
A group of teenagers including Cindy Campbell and Bobby Prinze, accidentally hit
a man when driving, and dispose of the body, but now they are being stalked by a
very recognizable masked killer. The victim count increases, whilst Cindy must
survive the carnage that has she has seen in so many films before. A parody on
horror movies. Cast: Carmen Electra, Jon Abrahams, Rick Ducommun.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Scary Movie 4
[DVD 888] 2006 Weinstein Company
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 83 min.
Lampoons the latest horror movies. In this case, the main targets are War of the
Worlds, The Village, The Grudge, Saw, and Tom Cruise jumping all over Oprah's
couch (the scariest of the lot). Along the way, potshots get taken at non-horror
fare like Brokeback Mountain and Million Dollar Baby, as well as obvious targets
like Michael Jackson and George W. Bush, among others.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Schindler's List
[DVD 942] 1994
MCA Home video
4 3/4" DVD
Color 2 cass., 197 min.
The true story of the enigmatic Oskar Schnidler, a member of the Nazi party, womanizer and
war profiteer, who saved the lives of more than 1,100 Jews during the Holocaust. Cast:
Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes.Produced
and directed by Steven Spielberg.
School Daze
[DVD 32] 2000 Columbia
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 121 min.
A music-filled, off-beat contemporary comedy that takes an unforgettable look at black
college life. Cast: Larry Fishburne, Giancarlo Esposito, Tisha Campbell, Kyme, Joe Seneca, Art
Evans, Ellen Holly, Ossie Davis. Directed by Spike Lee.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
The Scorpion King
[DVD 886] 2002 Universal Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 90 mins
In an ancient time, predating the pyramids, the evil king Memnon is using the
psychic powers of his sorceress Cassandra to foretell his great victories. In a
last ditch effort to stop Memnon from taking over the world, the leaders of the
remaining free tribes hire the assassin Mathayus to kill the sorceress. But
Mathayus ends up getting much more than he bargained for. Now with the help of
the trickster Arpid, tribal leader Balthazar and an unexpected ally, it's up to
Mathayus to fulfill his destiny and become the great Scorpion King. Cast:
Dwayne Johnson, Steven Brand.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
The Seagull By Anton Chekhov
[VHS 1848] 1975
Broadway Theatre Archive
1/2" video Color 1 cass., 120 min.
A classic comedy-drama depicting man's propensity for destroying those he is close to. The
main protagonists are Trepleff, the youthful aspiring writer who dreams of bringing new
forms to the theatre and Irina Arkadina, Trepleff's self-centered mother, an accomplished
actress, who derides her son's ambitions. Cast: Frank Langella, Blythe Danner, Olympia
Dukakis. PBS television broadcast for Great Performances, Theater in America.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
The Searchers
[VHS 1052] 1956 Warner Bros.
1/2" video Color
1 cass., 119 min.
Originally released in 1956. Ex-Confederate, Indian-hater searches for his young niece
who's been taken captive by renegade Comanches who massacred her family. In his obsessive,
five-year quest, he comes across something he didn't expect to find--his humanity. Cast:
John Wayne, Jeffrey Hunter, Vera Miles, Natalie Wood.
Secret Agent
[VHS 1088] 1936
Madacy Music Group
1/2" video b&w
1 cass., 86 min.
A British spy travels to Switzerland during World War I with his fictional wife and an
eccentric hired assassin to find and kill a German spy, but first they must guess who it
is. Cast: John Gielgud, Madeleine
Carroll, Peter Lorre, Robert Young. The Alfred Hitchcock collection.
Selma, Lord, Selma
[VHS 1706] 1998 Walt Disney
1/2" video Color
1 cass., 88 min.
In 1965, during the turbulent early days of the right-to-vote movement, a young Alabama
schoolgirl (Smollett) is inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (Powell) to resist the
degradation that her fellow African Americans are suffering. Along with a White seminary
student (Astin) from the North, and against the ever-increasing threat of racial violence,
she promises to do what she can to help Dr. King's efforts. Cast: Mackenzie Astin, Jurnee
Smollett, Clifton Powell.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; Civil Rights
The Sentinel
[DVD 880] 2006 20th Century Fox
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 108 min.
There's never been a traitor in the United States Secret Service...until now.
And the evidence points to Pete Garrison, one of the most trusted agents on the
force. Now on the run, with two relentless federal investigators hot on his
heels, Garrison must fight to clear his name and thwart an attempt on the
President's life before it's too late! Cast: Michael Douglas, Kiefer Sutherland.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Serenity
[DVD 523] 2005
Universal Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1
videodisc, 119 min.
When the renegade crew of Serenity agrees to hide a fugitive on their
spaceship, they find themselves in a battle between the relentless
military might of a totalitarian regime who will destroy anything - or
anyone - to get the girl back and the bloodthirsty creatures who roam
the uncharted areas of space. Cast: Nathan Fillion, Gina Torres.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Seven Samurai
[VHS 1049-1050] 1954
Janus Films
1/2" video
Color
2 cass., 208 min.
Originally released in 1954. Directed by Akira Kurosawa. Japanese dialogue with English
subtitles. A 16th century Japanese village hires professional warriors to fend off
bandits.
Shadow Of The Thin Man
[DVD 239] 1941 MGM
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 97 min.
Nick and Nora Charles are looking forward to a day of leisure, but when they
make a trip to the race track, they learn that a jockey, who was recently
accused of throwing a race, has just been found shot to death. Cast: William
Powell, Myrna Loy, Barry Nelson.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Shall We Dance?
[DVD 245] 1937 RKO Radio Pictures Inc.
4 3/4" DVD b&w 1 videodisc, 109 min.
Ballet star Pete "Petrov" Peters arranges to cross the Atlantic aboard
the same ship as the dancer he's fallen for but barely knows, musical star Linda
Keene. By the time the ocean liner reaches New York, a little white lie has
churned through the rumor mill and turned into a hot gossip item: that the two
celebrities are secretly married. Cast: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers.
Subjects -- Movies and Play
Shall We Dance
[DVD 655] 1996
Miramax
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc,
119 min.
On his evening commute, bored accountant Sugiyama always looks for the beautiful
woman who gazes wistfully out the window of the Kishikawa School of Dancing. One
night he gets off the train, walks into the studio, and signs up for a class.
Soon Sugiyama is so engrossed in his dancing he practices his steps on the train
platform and under his desk, and becomes good enough for competition, compelling
his wife to hire a private investigator to find out why he stays out late and
returns home smelling of perfume. Cast: Kôji Yakusho, Tamiyo Kusakari, Naoto
Takenaka. In Japanese with English subtitles.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Language: Japanese
Shakespeare In Love
[DVD 507] 1998 Miramax
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 120 min.
When Will Shakespeare needs passionate inspiration to break a bad case of
writer’s block, a secret romance with the beautiful Lady Viola starts the words
flowing like never before! There are just two things he’ll have to learn about
his new love: not only is she promised to marry someone else, she is
successfully impersonating a man in order to play the lead in Will’s latest
production at a time it was illegal for women to be actors! Cast: Gwyneth
Paltrow, Joseph Fiennes, Geoffrey Rush.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Shakespeare, William
Shane
[DVD 551] 1953 Paramount Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 118 min.
A weary gunfighter attempts to settle down with a homestead family, but a
smoldering settler/rancher conflict forces him to act. Cast: Alan Ladd, Jean
Arthur, Van Heflin.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Shine
[DVD 654] 1996 Fine Line
Features
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 105 min.
Based on the true story of Australian pianist David Helfgott. Telling the story
in flashback we see David as he grows up and into a child prodigy while his
father abuses him and his siblings with the memory of his childhood in Europe
and the loss of his family in the concentration camps. David finally breaks away
from his father and goes away to study overseas, he later suffers a nervous
breakdown and returns to Australia and a life in an institution. Many years
later he is released and through several twists of fate he starts playing a
piano in a bar before finally returning to the concert hall. Cast: Geoffrey
Rush, Armin Mueller-Stahl, John Gielgud, Lynne Redgrave.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Shirley Temple Collection
see titles:
Baby Take A Bow
Bright Eyes
Curly TopHeidi
Little Miss Broadway
Rebecca Of Sunnybrook Farm
Shooter
[DVD 890] 2007 Paramount
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 124 mins
A marksman living in exile is coaxed back into action after learning of a plot
to kill the president. Ultimately double-crossed and framed for the attempt, he
goes on the run to track the real killer and find out who exactly set him up,
and why. Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Michael Peña.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
The Shootist
[DVD 27] 1976 Paramount
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 98 min.
A terminally ill gunfighter seeks to retire quietly but is embroiled in one
last battle. Cast: John Wayne, Lauren Bacall, Ron Howard, Bill McKinney,
James Stewart.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Show Boat
[VHS 2038] [VHS 2039] [VHS 2040] 1936 MGM/UA
1/2" video b&w 1 cass., 115 min.
Musical about life and love among a theatrical troupe on a Mississippi riverboat in the
early 1900's. Cast: Irene Dunne, Allan Jones, Charles Winninger, Paul Robeson, Helen
Morgan, Helen Westley. Adapted from the musical comedy with music, by Jerome Kern and
lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. Based on the novel by Edna Ferber.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Sicko
[DVD 986] 2007 Weinstein Co.
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 123 min.
A documentary by Michael Moore's. As he clarifies from the outset, his subject
isn't the 45 million Americans without insurance, but those whose coverage has
failed to meet their needs. He starts by speaking with patients who've been
denied life-saving procedures, like chemotherapy, for the most spurious of
reasons. Then he travels to Canada, England, and France to see if socialized
medicine is as inefficient as U.S. politicians like to claim--especially those
who receive funding from pharmaceutical companies. Moore finds quality care
available to all, regardless as to income.
Subjects – Medical Sciences and Nursing ; Business ; Movies and Plays
Sid & Nancy
[DVD 54] 1986 Samuel Goldwyn
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 111 min.
Sid & Nancy chronicles the brief, intense attachment of two of Punk's most notorious
poster children, Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious and his girlfriend, Nancy Spungen. Gary
Oldman, Chloe Webb.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; Music
The Siege
[DVD 130] 1998 Twentieth Century Fox
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 116 min.
After the abduction by the US military of a Muslim religion leader, New
York City become the target of escalating terrorist attacks. Anthony Hubbard, the head of the
FBI/NYPD Terrorism Task Force, teams up with CIA operative Elise Kraft to
capture the organization responsible for the terror in NYC. As bomb attacks go
on, The US government decides to send the army into the NYC streets, lead by
the General Devereaux, and declares Martial Law. Cast: Denzel Washington,
Annette Bening, Bruce Willis, Tony Shalhoub.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
The Silence Of The Lambs
[DVD 209] 1991 MGM
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 118 min.
Young FBI agent
Clarice Starling is assigned to help find a missing woman to save her from a
psychopathic serial killer who skins his victims. Clarice attempts to gain a
better insight into the twisted mind of the killer by talking to another
psychopath Hannibal Lecter, who used to be a respected psychiatrist. FBI agent
Jack Crawford believes that Lecter who is also a very powerful and clever mind
manipulator have the answers to their questions to help locate the killer.
Clarice must first try and gain Lecter's confidence before he is to give away
any information. Cast: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Sin City
[DVD 524] 2005
Dimension Films
4 3/4" DVD Color 1
videodisc, 124 min.
Four tales of crime adapted from Frank Miller's popular comics, focusing
around a muscular brute who's looking for the person responsible for the
death of his beloved Goldie, a man fed up with Sin City's corrupt law
enforcement who takes the law into his own hands after a horrible
mistake, a cop who risks his life to protect a girl from a deformed
pedophile, and a hit man looking to make a little cash. Cast: Bruce
Willis, Clive Owen, Mickey Rourke, Elijah Wood.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Sin Nombre = Nameless
[DVD 1009] 2009 Universal Studios
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 96 mins.
Seeking the promise of America, a beautiful young woman, Sayra from Honduas,
joins her father on an odyssey to cross the gauntlet of the Latin American
countryside. Along the way, she crosses paths with a teenaged Mexican gang
member, El Casper, who is maneuvering to outrun his violent past. Together they
have to rely on faith, trust and street smarts if they are to survive their
increasingly perilous journey towards the hope of new lives. In Spanish with
English subtitles. Cast: Paulina Gaitan, Edgar M. Flores.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Latin America and the Caribbean; Language: Spanish
The Sixth Sense
[DVD 873] 1999 Walt Disney Productions
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 106 min.
When Dr. Malcolm Crowe, a distinguished child psychologist, meets Cole Sear, a
frightened, confused, eight-year-old, Dr. Crowe is completely unprepared to face
the truth of what haunts Cole. The discovery of Cole's incredible sixth sense
leads them to mysterious places with unforgettable consequences! Cast: Bruce
Willis, Haley Joel Osment. Directed by M. Night Shyamalan.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Sizwe Bansi Is Dead
[VHS 1410] 1974
Insight Media
1/2" video Color
1 cass., 60 min.
Presents a dramatization of the play by Athol Fugard, John Kani and Winston Ntshona.
Preceding and following the play Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee express views on the play's
theme, the struggle for human dignity in apartheid-ruled South Africa. Filmed as it was
staged at the Royal Court Theater in 1974.
The Skeleton Key
[DVD 882] 2005 Universal Studios
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 104 min.
A hospice nurse working at a spooky New Orleans plantation home finds herself
entangled in a mystery involving the house's dark past and the morbid goings-on
centered around a group of Hoodoo (old African American magic) practitioners.
Cast: Kate Hudson, Peter Sarsgaard
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Slaughterhouse-Five
[DVD 416] 1972 Universal Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 104 min.
Billy Pilgrim has become
unstuck in time and jumps back and forth in his life with no control over where
he is going next. Sometimes he is in his home on Cape Cod, sometimes he is deep
in World War II Europe and sometimes he is on the planet Tralfamadore. In the
end he learns he must concentrate on the good things and ignore the bad in life.
Based on the novel by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. Cast: Michael Sacks, Ron Leibman,
Valerie Perrine.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Literature and Writing
Sleepless In Seattle
[DVD 1063] 1993 TriStar Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 105 mins.
After hearing a man confess his love for his dearly departed wife on a call-in
radio show, a woman falls deeply, inexplicably in love with him. Deciding he is
her destiny, she treks across country on a wildly romantic impulse to meet him.
Cast: Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan, Bill Pullman, Rita Wilson
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Slither
[DVD 525] 2006
Universal Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1
videodisc, 95 min.
A small town is taken over by an alien plague, turning residents into
zombies and all forms of mutant monsters. Cast: Nathan Fillion, Don
Thompson
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Slumdog Millionaire
[DVD 771] 2008 Fox/Warner Bros.
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 120 min.
A Mumbai teen who grew up in the slums, becomes a contestant on the Indian
version of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" He is arrested under suspicion of
cheating, and while being interrogated, events from his life history are shown
which explain why he knows the answers. Cast: Dev Patel, Anil Kapoor, Saurabh
Shukla, and Rajendranath Zutshi. In English and Hindi.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Asia: India
Small Soldiers
[VHS 123] 1998 DreamWorks
1/2" video Color 1 cass., 110 min.
Meet the Commando Elite--toy action figures with an attitude. They've escaped from their
boxes along with the Gorgonites, kindhearted but unusual-looking creatures. Now teenager
Alan Abernathy gets enlisted to help the Gorgonites and rescue the girl of his dreams
before the whole town is turned upside down. Animated film.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Smoke Signals
[DVD 637] 1999 Miramax Films
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 89 min.
A bittersweet comedy about two young Native-Americans, Victor and Thomas, who leave their
small town for an adventure in self-discovery. Based on stories by Sherman Alexie from the
book: The Lone Ranger and Tonto fistfight in heaven. Cast: Adam Beach, Evan Adams, Irene
Bedard, Gary Farmer, Tantoo Cardinal.
Snakes on a Plane
[DVD 881] 2006 New Line Cinema
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 106 min.
An FBI agent takes on a plane full of deadly and poisonous snakes, deliberately
released to kill a witness being flown from Honolulu to Los Angeles to testify
against a mob boss. Cast: Samuel L. Jackson, Julianna Margulies.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Snow Falling On Cedars
[DVD 59] 1999 Universal Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 128 min.
A murder trial has upset the quiet community of San Piedro, and now this tranquil village
has become the center of controversy. For a local reporter the trial strikes home when he
finds his ex-lover is linked to the case. Based on the novel by David Guterson. Cast:
Ethan Hawke, James Cromwell, Richard Jenkins, Youki Kudoh, James Rebhorn, Sam Shepard,
Rick Yune, Max von Sydow.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; Asian Americans ; World War 1939-1945
Some Like It Hot
[DVD 774] 1959 MGM
4 3/4" DVD b&w 1 videodisc, 122 min.
Two struggling musicians witness the St. Valentine's Day Massacre and try to
find a way out of the city before they are found and killed by the mob. The only
job that will pay their way is an all girl band so the two dress up as women.
Cast: Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, Marilyn Monroe. Directed by Billy Wilder.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Song Of The Thin Man
[DVD 241] 1945 MGM
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 100 min.
Nick and Nora Charles are attending a charity benefit aboard a gambling ship.
The festive atmosphere conceals many tensions among those connected with the
ship, with most of the friction centering around Tommy Drake, its unpopular,
spiteful band-leader. When he is murdered later that night, suspicion falls on
Phil Brant, who had argued with Drake earlier in the evening. Cast: William
Powell, Myrna Loy, Keenan Wynn.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Songcatcher
[DVD 55] 1999 Lions Gate
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 116 min.
When musicologist Doctor Lily Penleric is passed over, again, for a prominent teaching
position, she decides to leave the city to visit her sister in the rugged mountains of
Appalachia. While there, Lily, discovers a well spring of emotional "love songs"
(ballads) that have been passed down through generations from the original Irish and
Scottish immigrants who have settled in the area. Determined to document the history of
the songs, and the recording of them as well, she is profoundly changed by the generosity,
strength and freedom of the fiercely proud mountain people. Cast: Janet McTeer,
Aidan Quinn, Pat Carroll, Jane Adams.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Soul Food
[VHS 128] 1997 20th Century Fox
1/2" video Color 1 cass., 114 min.
Sunday dinner at Mother Joe's is a mouth-watering, 40-year tradition. As seen through the
eyes of her grandson Ahmad, love and laughs are always on the menu, despite the usual
rivalries simmering between his mom Maxine and her sisters Teri and Bird. But when serious
bickering starts to tear the family apart, the good times suddenly stop. Now it's up to
Ahmad to get everyone back together and teach them the true meaning of soul food. Cast:
Vanessa L. Williams, Vivica A. Fox, Nia Long, Michael Beach, Mekhi Phifer.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; African Americans
The Sound Of Music
[VHS 1861] 1965 Twentieth Century-Fox
1/2" video Color 1 cass., 175 min.
Julie Andrews lights up the screen as Maria, the spirited young woman who leaves the
convent to become a governess to the seven young children of Captain von Trapp, an
autocratic widower whose strict household rules leave no room for music or merriment.
Based on the musical by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. Cast: Julie
Andrews, Christopher Plummer.
Subjects - Movies and Plays ; World War, 1939-1945
South Pacific
[DVD 252] 1958 20th Century Fox
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 133 min.
Can a girl from Small Rock find happiness with a mature French planter she got
to know one enchanted evening away from the military hospital where she is a
nurse? Or should she just wash that man out of her hair? Bloody Mary is the
philosopher of the island and it's hard to believe she could be the mother of
Liat who has captured the heart of Lt. Joseph Cable USMC. The war gets closer
and the saga of Nellie Forbush and Emile de Becque becomes serious drama. Music
by Rodgers and Hammerstein. Cast: Rossano Brazzi, Mitzi Gaynor, John Kerr.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Soylent Green
[VHS 178] 1973
MGM/UA
1/2" video Color
1 cass., 87 min.
A science-fiction story. The year is 2022 and New York City teems with 40-million
citizens. The environmental erosion is so complete that people must rely on a wafer-like
greenish foodstuff called Soylent. Policeman Thorn investigates the murder of a magnate in
the dictorial Soylent Company. Cast: Charlton Heston, Leigh Taylor-Young, Edward G.
Robinson, Harry Harrison.
Speaking Parts
[DVD 420] 1989 Zeitgeist Films
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 93 min.
A struggling, bit-part actor's job as a hotel custodian is a front for his real
job: being rented out as a gigolo by his woman supervisor. A female co-worker is
obsessed with him, but he ignores and avoids her. He leaves his acting resume in
the hotel room of a woman screenwriter, who is casting for a TV movie based on
the true story of her deceased brother. She hires him to play the lead and the
two begin an affair. She becomes increasingly distraught as it becomes evident
that the movie's producer is changing her story. (The Essential Egoyan) Cast:
Michael McManus, Arsinée Khanjian
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Spellbound
[DVD 74] 1945 Selznick International Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color
1 videodisc, 111 min.
The head of the Green Manors mental asylum Dr. Murchison is retiring to be replaced by Dr.
Edwards, a famous psychiatrist. Edwards arrives and is immediately attracted to the
beautiful but cold Dr. Constance Petersen. However, it soon becomes apparent that Dr.
Edwards is in fact a paranoid amnesiac imposter. He goes on the run with Constance who
tries to help his condition and solve the mystery of what happened to the real Dr.
Edwards. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Cast: Gregory Peck, Ingrid Bergman.
Subjects - Movies and Plays
Spirited Away
[DVD 629] 2001 Studio Ghibli/Walt Disney
4 3/4" DVD Color 2 videodisc, 125 min.
When a young girl gets trapped in a strange new world of spirits, she must call
upon the courage she never knew she had to free herself and rescue her parents
Special features: special introduction by John Lasseter; the art of "Spirited
away"; The Nippon Television special; select storyboard-to-scene comparison;
voice talent featurette; original Japanese trailers. English, French, Japanese
or Spanish dialogue. Written & directed by Hayao Miyazaki.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Language: Japanese
Stagecoach
[DVD 290] 1939 Walter
Wagner Productions
4 3/4" DVD b&w 1 videodisc, 96 min.
A simple stagecoach trip is complicated by the fact that Geronimo is on the
warpath in the area. The passengers on the coach include a drunken doctor, a
pregnant woman, a bank manager who has taken off with his client's money, and
the famous Ringo Kid, among others. Cast: John Wayne, Clair Trevor.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Stand and Deliver
[VHS 751] 1988
Warner Home
1/2" video Color
1 cass., 103 min.
Teacher Jaime Excalante inspires his East L.A. barrio students to pass the National
Advanced Placement Calculus Exam. Based on a true story. Cast: James Edward Olmos, Lou
Diamond Phillips, Rosana De Soto, Andy Garcia.
A Star Is Born
[DVD 940]
1937 Kino on Video
4 3/4" DVD
Color 1 cass., 111 min.
A fading star meets an aspiring actress, falls in love with and marries her. Her career
skyrockets, while his continues to fade with tragic results. Videocassette release of the
1937 motion picture. Cast: Janet Gaynor, Fredric March, Adolphe Menjou, May Robson, Andy
Devine, Lionel Stander.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Star Wars #4: The New Hope
[DVD 596] 1977 20th Century Fox
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc. 125 min.
A rebel ship is being boarded by the tyrannical Darth Vader. Luke Skywalker,
with his new allies, Han Solo, Chewbacca, Ben Kenobi, C-3PO, R2-D2, attempt to
rescue rebel leader, Princess Leia, from the clutches of the Empire. The
conclusion is culminated as the Rebels, including Skywalker and flying ace Wedge
Antilles make an attack on the Empires most powerful and ominous weapon, the
Death Star. Cast: Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill. Directed by George Lucas.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Star Wars #5: The Empire Strikes Back
[DVD 597] 1980 20th Century Fox
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc. 127 min.
Fleeing the evil Galactic Empire, the rebels abandon their new base on Hoth.
Princess Leia, Han Solo, R2-D2 and C-3P0 escape in the damaged Millenium Falcon.
Later, on Bespin, they are captured by Lord Darth Vader. Luke Skywalker,
meanwhile, follows Ben Kenobi's posthumous command and receives Jedi training by
Yoda on Dagobah. Cast: Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Star Wars #6: Return Of The Jedi
[DVD 598] 1983 20th Century Fox
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc. 132 min.
Darth Vader and the Empire are building a new, indestructible Death Star.
Meanwhile, Han Solo has been imprisoned, and Luke Skywalker has sent R2D2 and
C3PO to try and free him. Princess Leia, disguised as a bounty hunter, and
Chewbacca go along as well. The final battle takes place on the moon of Endor,
with its natural inhabitants, the Ewoks, lending a hand to the rebels. Cast:
Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Star Wars: Bonus Disc
[DVD 599] 2004 20th Century Fox
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc. min.
includes the most comprehensive feature-length documentary ever produced on the
Star Wars saga; and never-before-seen footage from the making of all three
films. Cast: Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Stephen King's It
[VHS 1691] 1990 Warner
1/2" video Color 1 cass., 192 min.
It can be anything. A fanged monster that won't stay on the movie screen. Something
ominous lurking in the basement. A malevolent force in a small New England town takes the
shape of a clown, but It isn't clowning around. Instead, It terrifies youngsters with
their innermost fears, bringing some to their untimely doom -- until a group of wily
neighborhood kids fight back. Thirty years later the evil resurfaces: meaner, angrier,
deadlier. And the friends who vividly remember the terrors of their youth reunite to make
a desperate stand against It. Cast: Harry Anderson, Dennis Christopher, Richard Masur,
Annette O'Toole, Tim Reid, John Ritter, Richard Thomas, Tim Curry.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
The Sting
[DVD 491] 1973 Universal
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 129
min.
In 1930s Chicago, a young con man seeking revenge for his murdered
partner teams up with a master of the big con to get even by pulling off
the big con on the mob boss. Cast: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Robert
Shaw.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
The Story of Qiu Ju
[DVD 1004] 1993 Sony Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 100 mins.
A woman is obsessed with exacting an apology from the chief of her small
village. When the chief kicks a chili farmer between the legs, all the farmer's
wife wants is an apology. The chief's reticence sends Qiu Ju on a misguided
journey through the legal system in search of satisfaction. What she gets,
however, is a harsh lesson in "be careful of what you ask for”. Cast: Li Gong,
Peiqi Liu, Liuchun Yang, and Quesheng Lei. In Cantonese with English subtitles.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Asia: China ; Language: Chinese
A Streetcar Named Desire
[DVD 779] & [DVD 28] 1951 Warner Bros.
4 3/4" DVD
b&w 1 videodisc, 125 min.
Disturbed Blanche DuBois moves in with her sister in New Orleans and is
tormented by her brutish brother-in-law while her reality crumbles around her.
Cast: Vivian Leigh, Marlon Brando, Kim Hunter, Karl Malden. Based on the play by
Tennessee Williams. Directed by Elia Kazan.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Sudden Fear
[DVD 2] 1952
Kino on Video
4 3/4" DVD b&w
1 videodisc, 110 min.
A wealthy lady playwright marries a worthless actor who plans to kill her. Cast: Joan
Crawford, Jack Palance, Gloria Grahame, Bruce Bennett, Virginia Huston, Touch
Conners.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
The Sunshine Boys
[DVD 181] 1975 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 111 min.
Two feuding vaudeville comedians who toured the country for
43 years as The Sunshine Boys are reunited after years apart to make a
television commercial. Based on the play by Neil Simon. Cast: Walter Matthau,
George Burns.
Subjects - Movies and Plays
Superman Returns
[DVD 904] 2006 Warner Bros.
4 3/4" DVD Color 2 videodisc, 154 min.
After a long visit to the lost remains of the planet Krypton, the Man of Steel
returns to earth to become the peoples savior once again and reclaim the love of
Lois Lane. Cast: Brandon Routh, Kevin Spacey, Kate Bosworth.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
The Swampdwellers
[DVD 739] 1973 Phoenix Learning Group
4 3/4" DVD b&w 1 videodisc, 40 mins.
Wole Soyinka, Nigerian playwright and novelist, won international acclaim in
1958 when his play, This adaptation of the play was directed and performed by
Africans and is an authentic and personal drama about their changing continent.
A young man returns to his village from the city and discovers he has grown too
sophisticated to accept his parents’ beliefs blindly. He becomes aware of the
corruption, ignorance and superstition in their lives. Disillusioned also by
urban life, he is caught between two conflicting cultures, unable to identify
with either. This is an African interpretation of African life.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Africa
Swing Time
[DVD 246] 1936 RKO Radio Pictures Inc.
4 3/4" DVD b&w 1 videodisc, 103 min.
Lucky is tricked into missing his wedding to Margaret by the other members of
Pop's magic and dance act, and has to make $25000 to be allowed to marry her. He
and Pop go to New York where they run into Penny, a dancing instructor. She and
Lucky form a successful dance partnership, but romance is blighted (till the end
of the film at least!) by his old attachment to Margaret and hers for Ricardo,
the band leader who won't play for them to dance together. Cast: Fred Astaire,
Ginger Rogers.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
[DVD 732] 2007
DreamWorks
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc,
116 mins.
After hard years in exile for a crime he didn't commit, Benjamin Barker, now
Sweeney Todd, returns to London to find his wife dead and his daughter in the
hands of the evil Judge Turpin, the man who sent him away. He opens a barber
shop above Mrs. Lovett's Meat Pie Shop, where she sells the city's worst pie.
With her help, Todd means to rid London of the corrupt aristocracy and in his
anger, goes on a murderous rampage on all London. He lures his victims with a
charming smile before casually ending their lives with a flick of his razor
across their necks, but not one man nor ten thousand men killed can satisfy
Sweeney's lust for vengeance on those who've caused his years of pain.
Cast: Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter. Directed by Tim Burton.
Subjects - Movies and Plays
Swordfish
[DVD 842] 2001 Warner
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 99 mins
When the DEA shut down its dummy corporation operation codenamed SWORDFISH in
1986, they had generated $400 million. They let sit around until fifteen years
of compound interest has swelled it to $9.5 billion. A covert counter-terrorist
unit called Black Cell wants the money to help finance their raise-the-stakes
vengeance war against international terrorism, but it's all locked away behind
super-encryption. A convicted computer hacker, who only wants to see his
daughter again but can't afford the legal fees, is recruited to slice into the
government mainframes and get the money.
Cast: John Travolta, Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Don Cheadle, Sam Shepard.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Sylvia
[DVD 662] 2004 Universal
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 110 min.
Born in Boston, MA, in 1932, Plath developed a talent as a writer and published
her first poem when she was eight years old. That same year, Plath was forced to
confront the unexpected death of her father. In 1950, she began studying at
Smith College on a literary scholarship. In 1955, she was granted a Fulbright
Scholarship to study in England at Cambridge. There, Plath met Ted Hughes, a
respected author. The two fell in love, and married in 1958. However, marriage,
family, and a growing reputation as an important poet failed to bring Plath
happiness. Cast: Gwyneth Paltrow, Daniel Craig, Lucy Davenport, David Birkin.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Poetry
Taming Of The Shrew
[DVD 1001] 1967 Columbia
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 122 mins.
Petruchio is a poverty-stricken gentleman from Verona who journeys to Padua in
search of a wealthy wife. There he meets Katharina, a self-willed shrew who
leads Petruchio on a merry chase before he successfully circumvents her attempts
to avoid marriage. After the honeymoon, Kate helps Petruchio win a wager that he
has the most obedient wife. In reality, Kate has found a more effective way to
dominate her mate. A bawdy version of a Shakespeare classic. Cast: Richard
Burton, Elizabeth Taylor. Directed by Franco Zeffirelli.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Shakespeare, William
Tartuffe, or, The Imposter
[VHS 641] 1984 RKO/Home
Video
1/2" video Color
1 cass., 110 min.
A religious hypocrite establishes himself within a well-to-do Parisian bourgeois
household. A play by Moliere as presented by The Royal Shakespeare Company on BBC-TV.
Cast: Antony Sher, Nigel Hawthorne, Alison Steadman.
Taxi Driver
[DVD 158] 1976 Columbia Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 135 min.
A New York cab driver is driven to obsession when he attempts to save a
teenage prostitute and embarks on a violent rampage against a world of filth and
corruption. Cast: Robert De
Niro, Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd. Directed by Martin Scorsese.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Team America: World Police
[DVD 841] 2004 Paramount
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 98 mins
A group of marionette puppets form Team America, an international police force
dedicated to maintaining global stability. Discovering that a power hungry
dictator, Kim Jong II, plans to destroy the world and is brokering weapons of
mass destruction to terrorists, the team enlists the undercover help of Broadway
star Gary Johnston and embarks on a harrowing mission to save the world. Opposed
to this, is the Film Actors' Guild, or F.A.G., whose members include puppets
representing actors Alec Baldwin, Tim Robbins, Matt Damon, Susan Sarandon and
Sean Penn. In spite of the lack of support they receive, the team sticks to
their plan of saving the world and putting an end to terrorism. Cast: Trey
Parker, Matt Stone.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Terms of Endearment
[DVD 505] 1983 Paramount
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 131 min.
A combative mother and daughter see each other through various ups and downs in
love and loss, and most especially through a terminal illness. Cast: Shirley
MacLaine, Debra Winger, Jack Nicholson, Danny DeVito.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
That's Entertainment!
[VHS 1877] 1974; Turner
Entertainment
1/2" video Color
1 cass., 134 min.
Musical sequences from nearly 100 MGM musicals, commemorating the 50th anniversary of MGM.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Thelma & Louise
[DVD 332] 1991 MGM
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 129 min.
Louise is working in a fast food restaurant as a waitress and has some problems
with her friend Jimmy, who, as a musician, is always on the road. Thelma is
married to Darryl who likes his wife to stay quiet in the kitchen so that he can
watch football on TV. One day they decide to break out of their normal life and
jump in the car and hit the road. Their journey, however, turns into a flight
when Louise kills a man who threatens to rape Thelma. They decide to go to
Mexico, but soon they are hunted by American police. Cast: Susan Sarandon, Geena
Davis, Harvey Keitel.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Them!
[VHS 1392] 1954
Warner Bros.
1/2" video
b&w 1 cass., 93 min.
Man has split the atom and created the ultimate weapon. But how could he have known he
would also create Them? The terror begins when a hardnosed patrolman discovers a dazed
child wandering in the New Mexico desert near a car and house trailer destroyed by a
mysterious force. He next discovers a ransacked general store; its cash drawers are full
but the sugar supply is missing. And on the floor lies a battered corpse containing enough
formic acid to kill 20 men. Cast: James Whitmore, Edmund Gwenn, Joan Weldon, James
Arness.
The Thin Man
[DVD 236] 1934 MGM
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 93 min.
Young Dorothy Wynant approaches amateur sleuth Nick Charles when her inventor
father appears to be a major suspect in a murder case. In fact, Dorothy is so
worried about her father's guilt that she tries to convince Nick that she did
it. Nick's wife Nora wants him on the case so that she can experience some of
the excitement herself. Cast: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Maureen O’Sullivan.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
The Thin Man Goes Home
[DVD 240] 1945 MGM
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 100 min.
Nick and Nora Charles return home to spend time with Nick's family. But Daddy
isn't proud of Nick for being a detective instead of becoming a doctor like him.
Nora thinks Nick solving a case will get him respect from his Dad. She spreads
the word that Nick's out there to solve a case; to stir the skeletons in the
closet and create a case. Will a case appear? Will Nick solve it? As people drop
dead, there's something about a painting that everyone wants! Cast: William
Powell, Myrna Loy, Lucile Watson.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
This Is Spinal Tap
[DVD 795] 1984 Embassy Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 82 min.
Marti DeBergi is a film-maker who decides to make a documentary, a rockumentary
actually, about the world's loudest band, the British heavy metal group Spinal
Tap. The movie is in fact a biting satire and spoof of the whole rock and roll
scene that passes itself off as a real documentary of a real band. Hilarious
behind-the-scenes footage is combined with faux-concert clips to breath life
into the imaginary group. Cast: Rob Reiner, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean,
Harry Shearer, Ed Begley Jr., Dana Carvey, Fran Drescher.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Music
Thousand Pieces Of Gold
[VHS 1416] 1999 Plaza Entertainment
1/2" Video Color
1 cass., 105 min.
True story of a young Chinese woman torn from her homeland and forced to survive in the
frontier land of America. An innocent woman in an Idaho mining town's thriving bordello,
Lalu rebels and pays a terrible price for her fight against racism and sexism. Wagered as
a piece of property, Lalu is handed over to her new owner, Charlie, who opens the door to
a whole new life for Lalu--and for himself. Adapted from the novel by Ruthanne Lum McCunn.
Cast: Rosalind Chao, Dennis Dun, Michael Paul Chan, Chris Cooper.
The Three Faces Of Eve
[DVD 220] 1957
Twentieth Century Fox
4 3/4" DVD b&w 1 videodisc, 91 min.
A depressed housewife, Eve White, is brought by her husband to consult a
psychiatrist because her behavior has been strange. Her surprised doctor is soon
confronted with a different but equally inadequate personality, the sexy Eve
Black. He recognizes the case as an example of the rare condition, multiple
personality disorder, and embarks on a course of psychotherapy in search of the
woman's missing memories. Cast: Joanne Woodward, David Wayne, Lee J. Cobb.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; Psychology
Three Sovereigns For Sarah
[DVD 1033] 2005 PBS
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 180 mins.
Nineteen people were hanged and one man pressed to death, while hundreds went to
jail during the witch hysteria of 1692. An accurate portrayal of the Salem witch
trials, with real characters and original transcripts woven into the dialogue. A
powerful, moving story about three loving sisters accused of witchcraft. Cast:
Vanessa Redgrave, Kim Hunter, Phyllis Thaxter.
Subjects – Women’s Studies ; United States:
History ; Movies and Plays
The Time Of Your Life By William Saroyan
[VHS 1849] 1976
Broadway Theatre Archive
1/2" video Color 1 cass., 120 min.
At a San Francisco bar in 1939 lonely, lovelorn, weary, and cynical characters drift in
and out of the bar and each others lives. At least one of the relationships stands a
chance of enduring: a brawny innocent named Tom is falling in love with a vulnerable young
hooker named Kitty. Cast: Patti LuPone, Gerald Gutierrez. PBS television broadcast for
Great Performances, Theater in America.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
A Time to Kill
[DVD 325] 1996 MGM
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 149 min.
When Tonya Hailey, an innocent little African-American girl is raped and beaten
by 2 beer-guzzling rednecks, the town of Clanton, Mississippi is shocked. Her
father, Carl Lee, is outraged, and figuring he could not see those boys set
free, decides to take justice into his own hands and kills them in the court
house, in front of numerous witnesses. Now it up to Jake Brigance to get Carl
Lee off the hook. Will he be able to prove that a black man can get a fair trial
in Mississippi? Based on the novel by John Grisham. Cast: Samuel L. Jackson,
Matthew McConaughey, Sandra Bullock.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; Law and Government ; African Americans
Titanic
[DVD 939] 1997 Paramount
4 3/4" DVD Color
2 cass., 194 min.
In his search for a blue diamond once owned by Louis XVI that was believed to have gone
down with the Titanic, Brock Lovett discovers an intriguing sketch of a beautiful woman
wearing the diamond on her neck. When the sketch appears on a news program, an old lady
steps forward, claiming to be the woman in the drawing. She then recounts a beautiful
story that took place on the ill-fated ship, a story of love that knew no boundaries.
Titanic. Produced by James Cameron. Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Billy Zane,
Kathy Bates, Bill Paxton, Gloria Stuart.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
To Kill a Mockingbird
[DVD 901] 1962
MCA Home Video
4 3/4" DVD b&w 1 cass., 131 min.
A southern small town lawyer defends a black man falsely accused of rape. His
compassionate, but doomed defense costs him many friends, but earns him the admiration of
his two children. Based on the novel by
Harper Lee. Cast: Gregory Peck, Mary Badham, Philip Afford, Robert Duvall, John Megna.
Tootsie
[DVD 90] 1982 Columbia Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 116 min.
Michael Dorsey is an out-of-work actor who makes
himself up as a woman to get a job. When his girlfriend, Sandy, fails an
audition for a soap opera, Michael dresses up as "Dorothy Michaels"
and lands the part. All goes well until "Dorothy" falls in love with
beautiful co-star, Julie, and Julie's father, Les, falls for
"Dorothy." Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Jessica Lange.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; Women’s Studies
Top Hat
[DVD 247] 1935 RKO Radio Pictures Inc.
4 3/4" DVD b&w 1 videodisc, 101 min.
Showman Jerry Travers is working for producer Horace Hardwick in London. Jerry
demonstrates his new dance steps late one night in Horace's hotel, much to the
annoyance of sleeping Dale Tremont below. She goes upstairs to complain and the
two are immediately attracted to each other. Complications arise when Dale
mistakes Jerry for Horace. Cast: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Toy Story
[DVD 793] 1995 Disney Pixar
4 3/4" DVD Color 2 videodisc, 81 min.
Imagination runs rampant when toys become mobile when not watched. Two toys,
Woody and Buzz Lightyear despise each other like no other. But, when the toys
are separated from their home, a truce is formed between them all in an effort
to journey home. Bonus disc included. An animated film. Cast: Tom Hanks, Tim
Allen.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Toys
[VHS 936] 1993 Fox
1/2" video Color
1 cass., 122 min.
When his army general uncle takes over Zevo Toys, toy designer Leslie Zevo's whimsical,
carefree world changes overnight, and he must find a way to save the company and grow up
without losing his playful spirit. Cast: Robin Williams, Michael Gambon, Joan Cusack,
Robin Wright, LL Cool J.
Traffic
[DVD 847] 2001 Universal Studios
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 147 mins
A tapestry of three separate stories woven together by a common theme: the war
on drugs. In Ohio, there's the newly appointed government drug czar who realizes
after he's accepted the job that he may have gotten into a no-win situation. In
San Diego, a drug kingpin is arrested on information provided by an informant
who was nabbed by two undercover detectives. And south of the border, a Mexican
cop finds himself caught between both his home country and the U.S., as corrupt
government officials duke it out with the drug cartel for control of trafficking
various drugs back and forth across the border. Cast: Michael Douglas, Benicio
Del Toro, Catherine Zeta-Jones.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Transamerica
[DVD 367] 2005 Belladonna Productions
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 104 min.
Bree, a pre-operative, male-to-female
transsexual, holds down two jobs and saves every penny so that she can pay for
one last operation that will make her a woman at last. One week before her
sex-change operation, Bree receives a call from Toby, a 17-year-old identifying
himself as her son from a college liaison. Bree's psychiatrist won't approve the
surgery until Bree deals with this relationship. So Bree flies to New York City
and Toby is handed over to her without
a word of explanation. Toby believes the woman to be some Christian missionary
determined to convert reprobates to Jesus and Bree sees no reason to clear up
the misunderstanding and offers him a ride back to Los Angeles without
disclosing that she is his father. Bree and her family all play their parts in
this exploration of family, gender, and expectations. Cast:
Felicity Huffman, Kevin Zegers.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Sex and Sex Roles
Trainspotting
[DVD 653] 1996
Miramax
4 3/4" DVD Color 2
videodisc, 94 min.
Renton, deeply immersed in the Edinburgh drug scene, tries to clean up and get
out, despite the allure of the drugs and influence of friends. A very honest
film about the nature of addiction, specifically heroin and the alternating
pleasure and pain of substance abuse. Cast: Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Jonny
Lee Miller.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
True Grit
[DVD 30] 1969
Paramount
4 3/4" DVD Color
1 videodisc, 127 min.
U.S. Marshall Rooster Cogburn is hired by a 14-year-old girl to kill the man who murdered
her father and stole the family nest egg. She accepts the help of a Texas Ranger, who is
intent on the reward, and accompanies them on the quest. Cast: John Wayne, Glen Campbell,
Kim Darby, Jeremy Slate, Robert Duvall, Strother Martin. Closed captioned.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
The Truman Show
[DVD 180] 1998 Paramount Pictures
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 103 min.
Truman's life is a fake. He
lives in a big studio with hidden cameras everywhere. His friends and co-workers
are actors who play their roles in the most popular television series in the
world: The Truman show. He thinks he is an ordinary man and has no idea about
how he is being exploited. What will he do when he finds out? Cast: Jim Carrey,
Laura Linney, Ed Harris.
Subjects - Movies and Plays
Tuesdays With Morrie
[DVD 453] 1999 Harpo Films
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 89 min.
Mitch became caught up with his career as a sport commentator and journalist. He
ignored his girlfriend and did not make time to do things in life that are of
the most value to a human being. Morrie was one of Mitch's professors in college
and a famous scholar. One day Mitch was watching television and saw Morrie
giving an interview stating that he is dying of Lou Gehrig disease or ALS. Cast:
Jack Lemon, Hank Azaria
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Diseases
Turtles Can Fly
[DVD 930] 2004 New Yorker Films
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 98 min.
On the Iraqi-Turkish border, enterprising 13-year-old 'satellite (Soran Ebrahim)
is the de facto leader of a Kurdish village, thanks to his ability to install
satellite dishes and translate news of the pending US invasion. Organizing
fellow orphans into landmine-collection teams so that they can eke out a living,
he is all business until the arrival of a clairvoyant boy and his quiet,
beautiful sister. Cast: Soran Ebrahim, Avaz Latif. Directed by Bahman Ghobadi.
In Kurdish with English subtitles.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Middle East
Twilight
[DVD 1034] 2008 Summit Entertainment
4 3/4" DVD Color 2 videodisc, 122 mins.
The big-screen adaptation of Stephenie Meyer's bestselling vampire romance.
Bella Swan moves to the rainy-gray town of Forks, Wash., to live with her dad,
the local sheriff who's puzzled by a series of "animal attacks." On her first
day at school, Bella appears to nauseate her lab partner, Edward. Turns out the
scent of her blood is this vampire's "brand of heroin," and his struggle not to
kill her causes an irresistible pull toward her. Bella falls hopelessly in love
with Edward, which sets her on a dangerous path when a few nomad vampires show
up in town, one particularly keen on tracking the human. Cast: Kristen Stewart,
Billy Burke, Robert Pattinson.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
The Twilight Saga, #2: New Moon
[DVD 1036] 2010 Summit Entertainment
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 130 mins.
Continues with the star-crossed love story of mortal Bella and vampire Edward.
An accident on Bella's birthday reminds Edward that her life is always at risk
when he's around so he chooses to abandon her, sending her into a deep
depression. The only person who helps her heal her broken heart is her friend
Jacob, a member of the Quileute tribe who comes to realize he's not entirely
human either. Bella will discover mysteries of the supernatural world that will
put her in more peril than ever before. Cast: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson,
Taylor Lautner.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Two for the Money
[DVD 855] 2005 Universal Studios
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 122 mins
When Brandon Lang becomes the protégé of the sports gambling's power player, he
swiftly becomes the golden boy of the high-rolling world for consistently
picking football winners. Now, with millions on the line, he finds himself in a
deadly game of con-versus-con with his new mentor. Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Al
Pacino, Rene Russo, Armand Assante.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Two Men and a Wardrobe
[MP 303] 1957
Polish Film University
16mm film b&w 1 reel, 15 min.
A fantasy-parable about 2 men who are denied the hospitality of a town because they carry
a large wardrobe closet with them. Silent film by Roman Polanski.
Uncle Tom's Cabin
[VHS 521] 1987 Republic Pictures
1/2" video Color 1 cass., 108 min.
Harriet Beecher Stowe’s timeless classic of slavery and survival in the Old
South comes alive in this moving tribute to the strength of the human spirit.
Eliza and George run a gauntlet of slave hunters in a deperate flight for
freedom, while a noble slave named Tom falls under the whip of the vicious Simon
Legree. Cast: Samuel L. Jackson, Avery Brooks, Phylicia Rashad, Bruce Dern. Closed
captioned.
Subjects -- Literature and Writing ; African Americans ; Movies and Plays
Unforgiven
[VHS 1051] 1992 Warner Bros.
1/2" video Color
1 cass., 131 min.
Two retired outlaws take up their guns one last time to collect a bounty offered by a
group of prostitutes seeking revenge and run up against the sadistic sheriff of Big
Whiskey, Montana. Cast: Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, Richard Harris.
Winner of four Academy Awards including Best Picture.
The Unforgiven
[VHS 1428] 1960
MGM/UA Home Video
1/2" Video Color
1 cass., 123 min.
A supposedly peace-loving community is shaken when the daughter of one of its white
settlers is accused of being an Indian. Based on a novel by Alan LeMay. Cast: Burt
Lancaster, Audrey Hepburn, Audie Murphy, John Saxon, Charles Bickford, Lillian
Gish.
Vacancy
[DVD 526] 2007
Screen Gems
4 3/4" DVD Color 1
videodisc, 85 min.
A young couple find themselves stranded in the middle of nowhere when
their car breaks down. Without any other alternative, they decide to
spend the night in a nasty low budget motel in the middle of nowhere.
While watching some amateurish slash movies in the VCR, they realize
that they have been shot in their room. Soon they discover that they are
trapped in the place and surrounded by sadistic filmmakers of snuff
movies. Cast: Luke Wilson, Kate Bechinsale.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Valentine
[DVD 839] 2001 Warner
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 96 mins
Five comely and well-to-do female friends receive dire threats inside anonymous
valentines. When two of them meet violent ends, the remaining trio suspect that
the killer may be a former, nerdy classmate whom they spurned years before at a
school dance. Cast: Denise Richards, David Boreanaz.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Vertigo
[DVD 212] 1958 Universal
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 129 min.
San Francisco police detective Scottie Fergusson develops a fear of heights and
is forced to retire when a colleague falls to his death during a chase. An old
college friend (Gavin Elster) hires Scottie to watch his wife Madeleine who has
reportedly become possessed by her ancestor's spirit named Carlotta. Scottie
follows her around San Francisco and is drawn to Madeleine and her obsession
with death. He unwittingly becomes a figure in a complex plot, and is determined
to discover the truth behind it all. Cast. James Stewart, Grace Kelly. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. (The
James Stewart Hollywood legend collection)
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Victim
[VHS 1437] 1997 Home Vision Cinema
1/2" Video b&w 1 cass., 100 min.
Dramatization of the problems of the criminalization of homosexual acts between consenting
adults. Bogarde plays a successful barrister who places his career on the line by 'coming
out' in order to expose a blackmail racket. It was the first British film to concentrate
on male homosexuality and was made with the specific intention of supporting the new
recommendations of the 1957 Wolfenden Committee for the partial decriminalization of male
homosexual acts. Cast: Dirk Bogarde, Sylvia Syms, Dennis Price, Nigel Stock, Peter
McEnery.
La Vie En Rose
[DVD 1052] 2007 Légende Films
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 140 mins.
A biopic of the life of the Little Sparrow, Édith Piaf (1915-1963). Born Édith
Gassion, her mother is an alcoholic street singer, her father a circus
performer, her paternal grandmother a madam. During childhood she lives with
each of them. At 20, she's a street singer discovered by a club owner who's soon
murdered, coached by a musician who brings her to concert halls, and then
quickly becomes famous. Her constant companions are alcohol and heartache, the
tragedies of her love affair with Marcel Cerdan and the death of her only child.
Cast: Marion Cotillard, Sylvie Testud, Pascal Greggory, and Emmanuelle Seigner
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Europe: France
; Music
Vincent & Theo
[VHS 1634] 1990
MGM Home Entertainment
1/2" video Color
1 cass., 141 min.
This film paints a provocative picture of the tragic life of artist Vincent Van Gogh and
his obsessively dedicated brother Theo. Cast: Tim Roth,
Paul Rhys. Closed captioned.
Subjects - Movies and Plays ; Artists
Waltz With Bashir
[DVD 998] 2008 Sony Pictures Classics
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 90 mins.
After not being able to recall the time he spent on an Israeli Army mission
during the 1982 Lebanon War, Ari attempts to unravel the mystery by traveling
around the world to interview old friends and comrades. As the pieces of the
puzzle begin to come together, his memory begins to return in illustrations that
are surreal. The title refers to Lebanese leader Bashir Gemayel. At the end of
the animated film is a very short part of the film that shows real people dead
and alive. This film fuses animation and documentary. In Hebrew with English
subtitles. Cast: Ari Folman, Ron Ben-Yishai
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Middle East
The Wanderers
[VHS 207] 1979 Warner
1/2" video Color 1 cass., 117 min.
An Italian-American teenage gang about to graduate high school, prowl the Bronx in 1963
feeling that something is slipping away from them. This is a rich fabric of comedy and
tragedy, fantasy and farce that recalls every mystery and complexity of adolescence.
Wonderful '60's soundtrack. Cast: Ken Wahl, John Friedrich, Karen Allen, Toni
Kalen. Based upon the novel by Richard Price.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
War Games: The Dead Code
[DVD 849] 2008 MGM
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 100 mins.
A computer hacker engages a government super-computer named Ripley in an online
terrorist-attack simulation game. Little does he know, Ripley has been designed
to appeal to potential terrorists. After certain glitches Ripley becomes
paranoid and is attempting to overtake control over everything and lead
civilization, once again, to the brink of Armageddon. Cast: Colm Feore, Amanda
Walsh, Matt Lanter.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
War of the Worlds
[DVD 458] 2005
Dreamworks
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc,
117 min.
Ray Ferrier is a working class man living in New Jersey. He has become estranged
from his family and his life isn’t in order. His small town life is shaken
violently by the arrival of destructive intruders: Aliens which have come up
from the ground, en masse, to destroy Earth and all the humans living on it. As
the aliens plow through the country in a wave of mass destruction and violence,
Ray must put aside thoughts of himself and come to the defense of his children.
As the world fends for itself, it’s inhabitants must save humanity from a far
greater force that threatens to destroy it. Based on the novel by H.G. Wells.
Directed by Steven Spielberg. Cast: Tom Cruise, Dakota Fanning.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Water
[DVD 937] 2006 20th Century Fox
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 117 min.
In 1938, Chuyia a child bride whose husband dies before their union is
consummated is relegated to life in an ashram in Varanasi (Benares) for other
"unwanted" widows. Narayan, a follower of Gandhi, falls in love with her but can
she break with tradition and religious teaching to marry him? Cast: Sarala, Lisa
Ray, John Abraham Director: Deepa Mehta. In Hindi with English subtitles.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Asia: India
The Weather Man
[DVD 854] 2005 Paramount
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 102 mins.
Popular Chicago weatherman Dave Spritz has a shot at the big time when a
national morning television show calls him for an audition. Professionally, Dave
is on top of the world, but his personal life is in complete disarray. The
harder he tries to hold on, the more he loses his grip. His painful divorce, his
Pulitzer Prize-winning dad's illness, and trouble with his kids have Dave poised
on the knife's edge between stability and calamity. Trying to gain control of
his situation, Dave slowly comes to realize that life, much like the weather, is
completely unpredictable. Cast: Nicolas Cage, Hope Davis, Nicholas Hoult,
Michael Caine.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
The Wedding Singer
[DVD 459] 1998
New Line Cinema
4 3/4" DVD Color 1
videodisc, 97 min.
Robbie Hart is a master of ceremonies, left at the altar at his own
wedding. He becomes someone who can only destroy other people’s weddings
until he meets a waitress named Julia. Julia, however, is about to have
a wedding of her own and may be lost forever. Cast: Adam Sandler, Drew
Barrymore.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
West Side Story
[DVD 45] 1961
Touchstone
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 152 min.
This musical sets the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet against a backdrop of the rivalry of two
street gangs, the Sharks and the Jets, in New York of the 1950s. A young woman who is
sister to the Sharks leader has her first taste of love with the former head of the Jets.
Cast: Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno, George
Chakaris. Closed captioned.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Whale Rider
[DVD 595] 2002 Columbia TriStar
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc. 101 min.
The Whangara people of New Zealand believe their ancestor Paikea was saved from
drowning by riding home on the back of a whale. The tribal group has since
granted leadership positions to the first-born males, believing them to be
descendants of Paikea. But then a young mother dies in childbirth along with her
newborn male son. His twin sister survives and the little girl, Pai, is brought
up by her grandparents. Learning the skills of chiefdom from her uncle, Pai
shows that she possesses a natural leadership ability. Cast: Keisha
Castle-Hughes, Rawiri Paratene, Vicky Haughton.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Pacific Islands
When Night Is Falling
[VHS 1434] 1996 Evergreen Entertainment
1/2" Video Color
1 cass., 94 min.
The story of a teacher at a conservative religious college named Camille whose life is
turned upside down when, through a chance encounter, she meets a beautiful circus
performer named Petra. Walking an emotional high-wire between the familiar past and the
forbidden future, Camille must choose between the love she cannot forget and the desire
she cannot resist.
Where the Spirit Lives
[VHS 68] 1990
Amazing Spirit Productions
1/2" video Color
1 cass., 97 min.
Set in Canada, the story involves two Indian children who are kidnapped by the government
and placed in state boarding schools where they are emotionally and sexually abused. After
learning that their parents are not dead, they escape.
Where the Truth Lies
[DVD 875] 2005 THINKFilm
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 107 min.
A female journalist tries to uncover the truth behind the breakup, years
earlier, of a celebrated comedy team after the duo found a girl dead in their
hotel room. Though both had airtight alibis and neither was accused, the
incident put an end to their act. Cast: Kevin Bacon, Colin Firth, Alison Lohman.
Directed by Atom Egoyan.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
White Heat
[DVD 235] 1931 Warner Bros.
4 3/4" DVD b&w 1 videodisc, 79 min.
Cody Jarrett is the sadistic leader of a ruthless gang of thieves. Afflicted by
terrible headaches and fiercely devoted to his 'Ma,' Cody is a volatile,
violent, and eccentric leader. Cody's top henchman wants to lead the gang and
attempts to have an 'accident' happen to Cody, while he is running the gang from
in jail. But Cody is saved by an undercover cop, who thereby befriends him and
infiltrates the gang. Finally, the stage is set for Cody's ultimate betrayal and
downfall, during a big heist at a chemical plant. Cast: James Cagney, Virginia
Mayo.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Why Has Bodhi-Dharma left for the East?
[VHS 1368] 1996
Milestone Film & Video
1/2" video Color 1
cass., 135 min.
In a remote monastery high up in the mountains an old master, a young monk and an orphaned
boy devote themselves to their Buddhist teachings. As the master faces death, he must lead
his disciples away from their past ties to the outside world and its rapidly changing
values, and point them toward their quest for enlightenment. In Korean with English
subtitles.
The Wild Bunch
[VHS 1053] 1969
Warner Bros.-Seven Arts
1/2" video Color
1 cass., 145 min.
The brutal story of violent men who lived during the Mexican revolution in the year 1913.
Portrays a band of magnificent losers in a dying lawless West. Cast: William Holden,
Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Ben Johnson. Screenplay by Sam Peckinpah.
Wilde
[VHS 1435] 1998 Columbia Tristar Home Video
1/2" Video Color
1 cass., 116 min.
Notorious poet and playwright Oscar Wilde devours all that life has to offer, but there's
only so much that late Victorian England will tolerate. As Wilde delves into a taboo world
of unrealized homosexual desire, his life rapidly becomes a turbulent charade. He cannot
escape the repercussions wrought by a "pure" society, nor will he hide in shame
for being true to his nature. Cast: Stephen Fry, Jude Law, Vanessa Redgrave.
Winchester ‘73
[DVD 215] 1950 Universal
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 92 min.
In a marksmanship contest, Lin McAdam (Stewart) wins a prized Winchester rifle,
which is immediately stolen by the runner-up, Dutch Henry Brown (McNally.) This
"story of a rifle" then follows McAdams' pursuit, and the rifle as it
changes hands, until a final showdown and shoot-out on a rocky mountain
precipice. Cast. James Stewart, Shelley Winters. (The James Stewart Hollywood legend collection)
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Winged Migration = Peuple Migrateur
[DVD 97] 2003 Columbia/Sony
Pictures Classics
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 89 min.
Follows bird migrations flying over the seven continents: from one pole to the other, from the seas to
snowcapped mountains, from the canopy of heaven to mangroves and swamps.
Subjects -- Zoology ; Movies and Plays
Wit
[DVD 64] 2001 HBO
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 99 min.
An English professor, who alienates her students, has always had control over her life.
That is until she is diagnosed with a devastating illness. She agrees to undergo a series
of procedures that are brutal, extensive and experimental. She finds that the fine line
between life and death can only be walked with wit. Based on the 1999 Pulitzer
Prize-winning play by Margaret Edson. Cast: Emma Thompson, Christopher Lloyd, Eileen
Atkins, Harold Pinter. Directed by Mike Nichols.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Witness
[VHS 744] 1985
Paramount
1/2" video Color
1 cass., 112 min.
When an Amish woman and her son get caught up in the murder of an undercover narcotics
agent, John Book, a Philadelphia detective, comes to their aid. Cast: Harrison Ford, Kelly
McGillis.
The Wizard Of Oz
[DVD 31] 1939
Warner
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 101 min.
Musical fantasy tale about a little Kansas girl named Dorothy who visits the magical land
of Oz. Cast: Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr, Jack Haley, Billie Burke,
Margaret Hamilton, Charley Grapewin, Toto (dog).
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
Woodstock - 3 Days of Peace & Music (Director’s Cut)
[DVD 328] 1994 Warner Bros.
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 225 min.
An intimate look at the Woodstock Music & Art Festival held in Bethel, NY in
1969, from preparation through cleanup, with historic access to insiders,
blistering concert footage, and portraits of the concertgoers; negative and
positive aspects are shown, from drug use by performers to naked fans sliding in
the mud, from the collapse of the fences by the unexpected hordes to the surreal
arrival of National Guard helicopters with food and medical assistance for the
impromptu city of 500,000.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; Music
Working By Studs Terkel
[VHS 1850] 1982
Broadway Theatre Archive
1/2" video Color 1 cass., 90 min.
Musical adaptation of Studs Terkel's book examines the average worker's
viewpoint…showing that he or she is anything but average. Based on a series of
interviews with real working people. Working is both an exploration of the individuals'
occupations and a lament for lost hopes and dreams. Songs by James Taylor, Stephen
Schwartz and others. Cast: Barry Bostwick, Rita Moreno, James Taylor. PBS television
broadcast for Great Performances, Theater in America.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays ; Labor and Trade Unions
The World Is Not Enough
[DVD 58] 1999 MGM
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 128 min.
James Bond, Agent 007 is the world's only hope against Renard, a high-tech terrorist with
a most unusual and deadly characteristic: a brain-lodged bullet that renders him
impervious to pain. Cast : Pierce Brosnan, Sophie Marceau, Robert Carlyle, Judi
Dench.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
The World of Apu (Apu Trilogy, #3)
[VHS 917] 1959 Sony Pictures Classics
1/2" video b&w 1 cass., 111 min.
It's the early 1930s, and Apu is a grown man. A dreamer and a writer like his
long-dead father, Apu is working on a novel about his life. When his best friend
asks him to his sister's wedding, Apu has no idea that he'll be the one going
home with the bride. Poor Aparna is betrothed to an insane man and when his
illness becomes apparent, the wedding is cancelled. But Aparna will be cursed
unless another bridegroom is found. Apu, in a weak moment, agrees to marry
Aparna in return for a job. Then the unexpected happens. Aparna and Apu fall
deeply in love. But Aparna dies in childbirth, Apu leaves Calcutta, crazy with
grief, and his son Kajal is left abandoned with his wife's parents. Only after a
long period of total indifference to worldly responsibilities, does Apu become
capable of returning to the world. Cast: Soumitra Chatterjee, Sharmila Tagore.
Directed by Satyajit Ray. In Bengali with English subtitles.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Asia: India
World Trade Center
[DVD 840] 2006 Paramount
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 129 mins
A dramatization of the events of World Trade Center on September 11th, 2001. The
unforgettable true story of the courageous rescue and survival of two Port
Authority policemen who were trapped in the rubble after they volunteered to go
in and help. An intimate look at the events of the day as seen through the eyes
of the survivors, their families and their rescuers. Cast: Nicolas Cage, Michael
Peña. directed by Oliver Stone.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; United States: History
X-Files
[VHS 126] 1998 Twentieth Century
1/2" video Color 1 cass., 122 min.
When a terrorist bomb destroys a building in Dallas Texas, FBI agents Fox Mulder and Dana
Scully are drawn into a dangerous conspiracy. With the dubious assistance of a paranoid
doctor, Mulder and Scully risk their careers and their lives to hunt down a deadly virus
which may be exterrestrial in origin -- and could destroy all life on earth. Cast: David
Duchovny, Gillian, Anderson.
Subjects -- Movies and Plays
X-Men
[DVD 911] 2000 20th Century Fox
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 104 min.
Two mutants come to a private academy for mutants whose resident superhero team
must oppose a powerful mutant terrorist organization. Cast: Patrick Stewart,
Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
X-Men United
[DVD 912] 2003 20th Century Fox
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 133 min.
the second film of this Marvel comics franchise ups the ante on Professor Xavier
and the superhero mutants from the first film, pitting them against a
mutant-hating scientist who's determined to wipe out the mutant race by tricking
Xavier into abusing his telepathic powers. Cast: Patrick Stewart, Brian Cox,
Halle Berry.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Yesterday
[DVD 320] 2004 HBO Films
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 95 min.
After falling ill, Yesterday learns that she is HIV positive. With her husband
in denial and a young daughter to tend to, Yesterday’s one goal is to live
long enough to see her child go to school. Set against the awesome, harsh
landscapes of South Africa. Cast: Kenneth Khambula, Leleti Khumalo
Subjects – Movies and Plays, Diseases: Aids/HIV ; Africa
You, Me and Dupree
[DVD 837] 2006 Universal Studios
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 110 mins
Newlyweds Carl and Molly are just beginning their life together when Carl's
oldest friend, the down-and-out bachelor Randy Dupree, crashes on the couch.
Cast: Owen Wilson, Kate Hudson, Matt Dillon.
Subjects – Movies and Plays
Young And Innocent
[VHS 1085] 1937
Madacy Music Group
1/2" video b&w
1 cass., 82 min.
A fugitive on the run and a young girl who is convinced of his innocence form the basis of
this early Hitchcock thriller. Cast: Nova
Philbeam, Derrick De Marney. The Alfred Hitchcock collection.
Zodiac
[DVD 843] 2007 Paramount
4 3/4" DVD Color 1 videodisc, 157 mins
A serial killer in the San Francisco Bay Area taunts police with his letters and
cryptic messages. We follow the investigators and reporters in this lightly
fictionalized account of the true 1970's case as they search for the murderer,
becoming obsessed with the case. An cartoonist becomes an amateur detective
obsessed with tracking down the Zodiac killer. Based on Robert Graysmith's book,
the movie's focus is the lives and careers of the detectives and newspaper
people. Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Anthony Edwards, Robert Downey Jr.
Subjects – Movies and Plays ; Law
Zoot Suit
[DVD 902] 1991 MCA Home
Video
4 3/4" DVD Color
1 cass., 104 min.
Dramatization of the events surrounding the zoot suit riots in Los Angeles in the 1940s
and the Sleepy Lagoon murder trial in which the police tried to frame a group of Mexican
Americans. Cast: Daniel Valdez, Tyne Daly, Charles Aldman, Edward James Olmos. Based on a
play by Luis Valdez.
|
to Subject Listing |
