The Good Marriage

Oscar Wilde’s comic jewel sparkles in Anthony Asquith’s film adaptation of The Importance of Being Earnest. Featuring brilliantly polished performances by Michael Redgrave, Joan Greenwood, and Dame Edith Evans, the enduringly hilarious story of two young women who think themselves engaged to the same nonexistent man is given the grand Technicolor treatment. Seldom has a classic stage comedy been so engagingly transferred to the screen.

Lucy Worsley restages the wedding of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Each detail is brought back to life in a spectacular ceremony as Lucy reveals how this event saved the monarchy and invented modern marriage. Aided by a team of experts, Lucy recreates the most important elements of the ceremony and the celebrations, scouring history books, archives, newspapers and Queen Victoria's diaries for the details. She reveals how every moment was brilliantly stage-managed for maximum effect. Like every good marriage celebration, the film is a heady mix of fine food, fabulous clothes, music, emotion, gossip and intrigue.

This odd film is a major representative of an even odder film genre: direct-to-celluloid opera. It was commissioned by the Portuguese master of style, director Manoel de Oliveira from composer João Paes. Musically, it ranges from 19th-century romanticism to popular, modernist and even "post-modernist" styles. In the initially tame story, a host-narrator tells the story of a wedding between the two lovebirds: Viscount d'Aveleda and the beautiful Marguerite. However, what happens in the bridal chamber is incredibly bizarre. The events after that are even stranger (the film out-does even Luis Buñuel in that department), and the wedding guests and family indulge in cannibalism, among other perversions.

A kindly grandfather sits down with his ill grandson and reads him a story. The story is one that has been passed down from father to son for generations. As the grandfather reads the story, the action comes alive. The story is a classic tale of love and adventure as the beautiful Buttercup, engaged to the odious Prince Humperdinck, is kidnapped and held against her will in order to start a war, It is up to Westley (her childhood beau, now returned as the Dread Pirate Roberts) to save her. On the way he meets a thief and his hired helpers, an accomplished swordsman and a huge, super strong giant, both of whom become Westley's companions in his quest.

Another complicated extravaganza by Chu Yuan and I Kuang with a tortuous plot, rudimentary special effects, and uninspired fight sequences. This time, it's set in approximately 1753 (we're told it's been 18 years since the accession of Emperor Chien Lung), and involves a main story having to do with the Emperor's supposed Han origins, a subplot having to do with temporary hostilities between Hung Hua, China's premier crime society and a smaller organization from Tieh Tau Mansion, a sub-subplot having to do with alleged fornication by a member of Hung Hua with its female Chief No. 11, and a sub-sub-subplot having to do with the hasty marriage of two members of the two temporarily hostile societies. All of this for a stinky anti-Ching conspiracy!

A work of poetry and dark humor, Les visiteurs du soir is a lyrical medieval fantasy from the great French director Marcel Carné. Two strangers dressed as minstrels (Arletty and Alain Cuny) arrive at a castle in advance of court festivities - and are revealed to be emissaries of the devil, dispatched to spread heartbreak and suffering. Their plans, however, are thwarted by an unexpected intrusion: human love. Often interpreted as an allegory for the Nazi occupation of France, during which it was made, Les visiteurs du soir - wittily written by Jacques Prévert and Pierre Laroche, and elegantly designed by Alexandre Trauner and shot by Roger Hubert - is a moving tale of love conquering all.

Jon Dichter directs this taut psychological thriller about a narcissistic man getting his overdue comeuppance from a vengeful telephone operator. Lawyer Gary Wheelan (Michael Laurence) lives the good life – he has a beautiful wife, a huge bank account, and an excess of young female associates. He is accustomed to getting what he wants, and he tends to have a fit when he does not get it. Dissatisfied with his phone service, he berates the operation with such vituperation that the badly rattled woman (Jacqueline Kim) resolves to fight back. Using a vast computer network, the operator slashes his credit rating, drains his bank account, and eventually ruins his marriage. The formerly smug Gary is soon overwhelmed and frantic as he tries to regain control of his life.

Rich American socialite Lady Edwina Esketh, who obtained her title by marrying English Lord Albert Esketh, travels to Ranchipur where Albert hopes to buy a prize stallion from the Maharani. Theirs is not a happy marriage and after she meets a prominent local doctor, Rama Safti, falls madly in love with him.

Winner of the 1952 Venice Film Festival silver lion award, Kenji Mizoguchi’s compelling chronicle of female suffering is an exquisitely crafted tragedy. A portrait and criticism of feudal Japan as seen through the eyes of a woman, THE LIFE OF O-HARU tells the story of O-Haru (Kinuyo Tanaka), a beautiful courtesan in 17th century Japan, who falls in love with a commoner (Toshiro Mifune) and is punished for her lapse from social grace by being sent into exile. DVD info.