King Vidor’s OUR DAILY BREAD (1934) Karen Morley – Tom Keene



WE LIVE! WE LOVE! WE FIGHT! WE HATE!

Our Daily Bread is a 1934 film directed by King Vidor and starring Karen Morley, Tom Keene, and John Qualen. Vidor tried to interest Irving Thalberg of MGM in the project, but Thalberg rejected the idea. Vidor then produced the film himself and released it through United Artists. The film is also known as Hell’s Crossroads (American reissue title)

The film depicts a couple, down on their luck during the Great Depression, who move to a farm to try to make a go of living off the land. They don’t have a clue at first, but soon find other people down on their luck to help them. Soon they have a collective of people, some from the big city, who work together on a farm. There is a severe drought, killing the crops. The people then dig a ditch by hand almost two miles long to divert water from a creek to irrigate the crops. The film is an entertaining, uplifting political allegory about the virtues of collective, non-corporate action, self-sufficiency, and the rewards of hard-work rather than the rewards of rapacious finance capitalism.

Cast
Karen Morley as Mary Sims
Tom Keene as John Sims
Barbara Pepper as Sally
Addison Richards as Louie Fuente
John Qualen as Chris Larsen
Lloyd Ingraham as Uncle Anthony
Sidney Bracey as Rent Collector
Henry Hall as Frank – the Carpenter
Nellie V. Nichols as Mrs. Cohen
Frank Minor as Plumber
Bud Ray as Stonemason

From Wikipedia

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Today I Hang (1942) CRIME-MYSTERY



Stars: Walter Woolf King, Mona Barrie, William Farnum
Directors: Oliver Drake, George M. Merrick
Writer: Oliver Drake (story)

Henry Courtney, a wealthy importer is found murdered and the famous DeNormand necklace has been stolen. The false testimony of two witnesses, Rand and Hobbs, puts Jim O’Brien in the shadow of the hangman’s noose. Martha Courtney, widow of the murdered man and Jim’s former sweetheart is convinced he isn’t guilty, and promises crooked lawyer Roger Lanning the necklace – which Jim doesn’t have – if he can arrange for Jim’s escape. Rand and Lanning killed Courtney, but Lanning doesn’t know that Rand has the necklace.

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Night of the Living Dead



“Night of the Living Dead” is an American independent horror and cult film directed by George A. Romero and starring Duane Jones, Judith O’Dea and Karl Hardman. It premiered on October 1, 1968, and was completed on a US$114,000 budget. After decades of cinematic re-releases, the film ultimately became a financial success, grossing $12 million domestically and $18 million internationally. “Night of the Living Dead” was heavily criticized at its release owing to explicit content, but eventually garnered critical acclaim and has been selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry as a film deemed “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.

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Double Cross (1941) CRIME DRAMA



Stars: Wynne Gibson, Kane Richmond, John Miljan
Director: Albert H. Kelley
Writers: John A. Albert (original story), Milton Raison (screenplay)

A gambling joint run by Fay Saunders is raided by the police. Fay grabs the pistol of her sweetheart, police officer Steved Bronson, and kills one of the raiding policemen.Steve seizes the gun from her and is riddled by hie fellow officers who think he has turned on them. Steve, on his hospital death-bed tells his friend and fellow officer, Jim Murray, the real story, and Jim sets out to clear Steve’s name.

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The Dawn Express (1942) CRIME THRILLER



Stars: Michael Whalen, Anne Nagel, William Bakewell
Director: Albert Herman

A Nazi spy ring is after a U.S. Army formula that increases the power of ordinary gasoline!

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Dangerous Passage (1944) CRIME DRAMA



Stars: Robert Lowery, Phyllis Brooks and Charles Arnt
Director: William Berke
Writer: Daniel Mainwaring (original screenplay

Joe Beck leaves Central America so that he can return to Texas and collect a large inheritance, but he picks a dangerous ship on which to travel.

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Law of the Jungle (1942) MANTAN MORELAND



Stars: Arline Judge, John ‘Dusty’ King, Mantan Moreland
Director: Jean Yarbrough
Writers: George Bricker (original screenplay)

A former member of a stranded theatrical troupe, earns a temporary living singing in a café in Duakwa, Africa. The café owner is secretly in league with two foreign agents with a goal of making the natives restless!

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Cosmo Jones, Crime Smasher (1943) MANTAN MORELAND



Stars: Edgar Kennedy, Richard Cromwell, Gale Storm, Mantan Moreland
Director: James Tinling
Writers: Walter Gering (original story and screenplay)

An amateur detective and a janitor attempt to uncover a kidnapped heiress!

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Rain – 1932 – Joan Crawford – Full Movie



Joan Crawford and Walter Huston give powerful performances in this drama directed by Lewis Milestone. Controversial for its time, the film tells the story of prostitute Sadie Thompson and the lustful preacher who tries to ‘save her’ when their ship makes an unscheduled stop over on the South Sea island of Pago Pago.

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