Virginia Brissac
1883 - 1979Virginia Brissac (June 11, 1883 – July 26, 1979) was an American stage and film actress. With her stern features, she often played schoolteachers and other authority figures. Her film career began in 1913 with two short films and ended with Rebel Without a Cause (1955), playing grandmother to the character that James Dean portrayed.
Parents on Trial
Sam Nelson
Jean Parker, Johnny Downs
According to Hollywood, the parents were generally at fault when good kids went bad. This theory is elucidated in Columbia's Parents on Trial, wherein strict disciplinarian James Westley (Henry Kolker) fails to understand or appreciate the real needs and feelings of his teenaged daughter Susan (Jean Parker).
Parents on Trial
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Elia Kazan
Dorothy McGuire, Joan Blondell
In Brooklyn circa 1900, the Nolans manage to enjoy life on pennies despite great poverty and Papa's alcoholism. We come to know these people well through big and little troubles: Aunt Sissy's scandalous succession of "husbands"; the removal of the one tree visible from their tenement; and young Francie's desire to transfer to a better school...if irresponsible Papa can get his act together.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
The Little Foxes
William Wyler
Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall
The ruthless, moneyed Hubbard clan lives in, and poisons, their part of the deep South at the turn of the 20th century. Regina Giddons née Hubbard has her daughter under her thumb. Mrs. Giddons is estranged from her husband, who is convalescing in Baltimore and suffers from a terminal illness. But she needs him home, and will manipulate her daughter to help bring him back. She has a sneaky business deal that she's cooking up with her two elder brothers, Oscar and Ben. Oscar has a flighty, unhappy wife and a dishonest worm of a son. Will the daughter have to marry this contemptible cousin? Who will she grow up to be - her mother or her aunt? Or can she escape the fate of both?
The Little Foxes
Monsieur Verdoux
Charlie Chaplin
Charlie Chaplin, Mady Correll
The film is about an unemployed banker, Henri Verdoux, and his sociopathic methods of attaining income. While being both loyal and competent in his work, Verdoux has been laid-off. To make money for his wife and child, he marries wealthy widows and then murders them. His crime spree eventually works against him when two particular widows break his normal routine.
Monsieur Verdoux
Shadow of a Doubt
Alfred Hitchcock
Teresa Wright, Joseph Cotten
Just when Charlotte ‘Charlie’ Newton, is feeling especially frustrated by the lack of excitement in her small town in California, she receives wonderful news: Her uncle and namesake, Charlie Oakley, is coming to visit. However, as secrets about him come to the fore, Charlotte’s admiration turns into suspicion.
Shadow of a Doubt
Rebel Without a Cause
Nicholas Ray
James Dean, Natalie Wood
After moving to a new town, troublemaking teen Jim Stark is supposed to have a clean slate, although being the new kid in town brings its own problems. While searching for some stability, Stark forms a bond with a disturbed classmate, Plato, and falls for local girl Judy. However, Judy is the girlfriend of neighborhood tough, Buzz. When Buzz violently confronts Jim and challenges him to a drag race, the new kid's real troubles begin.
Rebel Without a Cause
Young Mr. Lincoln
John Ford
Henry Fonda, Alice Brady
In this dramatized account of his early law career in Illinois, Abraham Lincoln is born into a modest log cabin, where he is encouraged by his first love, Ann Rutledge, to pursue law. Following her tragic death, Lincoln establishes a law practice in Springfield, where he meets a young Mary Todd. Lincoln's law skills are put to the test when he takes on the difficult task of defending two brothers who have been accused of murder.
Young Mr. Lincoln
The Snake Pit
Anatole Litvak
Olivia de Havilland, Mark Stevens
Virginia Cunningham is confused upon finding herself in a mental hospital, with no memory of her arrival at the institution. Tormented by delusions and unable to even recognize her husband, Robert, she is treated by Dr. Mark Kik, who is determined to get to the root of her mental illness. As her treatment progresses, flashbacks depict events in Virginia's life that may have contributed to her instability.
The Snake Pit
Love Letters of a Star
Milton Carruth, Lewis R. Foster
Henry Hunter, Polly Rowles
A woman commits suicide after being blackmailed, and her husband resolves to kill the man responsible. Blackmail, suicide, murder, a cover-up not to mention yachts and sea planes all wrapped up in an efficient 66 minutes of screen time with Henry Hunter, Polly Rowles and C. Henry Gordon in the leads, and Lewis R. Foster sitting in the director’s chair.
Love Letters of a Star
All This, and Heaven Too
Anatole Litvak
Bette Davis, Charles Boyer
When lovely and virtuous governess Henriette Deluzy comes to educate the children of the debonair Duc de Praslin, a royal subject to King Louis-Philippe and the husband of the volatile and obsessive Duchesse de Praslin, she instantly incurs the wrath of her mistress, who is insanely jealous of anyone who comes near her estranged husband. Though she saves the duchess's little son from a near-death illness and warms herself to all the children, she is nevertheless dismissed by the vengeful duchess. Meanwhile, the attraction between the duke and Henriette continues to grow, eventually leading to tragedy.
All This, and Heaven Too
Dark Victory
Edmund Goulding
Bette Davis, George Brent
Socialite Judith Traherne lives a lavish but emotionally empty life. Riding horses is one of her few joys, and her stable master is secretly in love with her. Told she has a brain tumor by her doctor, Frederick Steele, Judith becomes distraught. After she decides to have surgery to remove the tumor, Judith realizes she is in love with Dr. Steele, but more troubling medical news may sabotage her new relationship, and her second chance at life.
Dark Victory
