Serpico
M
USA, Italy, 1973
Genre: Crime, Drama, History
Language: English, Spanish, Italian
Director: Sidney Lumet
Starring: Al Pacino, John Randolph Jones, Jack Kehoe, M. Emmet Walsh, F. Murray Abraham
What's it about?
The real-life struggle of honest New York City cop Frank Serpico (Pacino, in an Oscar-nominated performance) against a corrupt system. Based on journalist Peter Maas' book "Serpico: The Cop Who Defied The System", and directed by Sidney Lumet (12 Angry Men, Dog Day Afternoon, Network).
Streaming until March 17, 2020
The Conversation
PG
USA, 1974
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Language: English
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Starring: Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Frederic Forrest, Harrison Ford, Teri Garr
What's it about?
Surveillance expert Harry Caul (Hackman) is hired by a mysterious client's brusque aide to tail a young couple. Tracking the pair through San Francisco's Union Square, Caul and his associate Stan manage to record a cryptic conversation between them. Tormented by memories of a previous case that ended badly, Caul becomes obsessed with the resulting tape, trying to determine if the couple are in danger. Made by Coppola in between The Godfather and The Godfather Part II, this slow-burning character study is now regarded as one of the director's finest achievements.
The Movie Show reviews The Conversation (Episode 21, 2003)
Streaming until December 31, 2020
Marathon Man
M
USA, 1976
Genre: Thriller, Drama
Language: English
Director: John Schlesinger
Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Laurence Olivier, Roy Scheider, William Devane
What's it about?
A graduate history student (Hoffman) is unwittingly caught in the middle of an international conspiracy involving stolen diamonds, an exiled Nazi war criminal (Olivier), and a rogue government agent (Scheider). Directed by John Schlesinger (Midnight Cowboy, Sunday Bloody Sunday) from a screenplay by William Goldman (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, All the President's Men).
Streaming until December 31, 2020
Chinatown
M
USA, 1974
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Language: Spanish, English
Director: Roman Polanski
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston, Perry Lopez, John Hillerman
What's it about?
Private eye Jake Gittes (Nicholson) lives off of the murky moral climate of sunbaked, pre-World War II Southern California. Hired by a beautiful socialite (Dunaway) to investigate her husband's extra-marital affair, Gittes is swept into a maelstrom of double dealings and deadly deceits, uncovering a web of personal and political scandals that come crashing together. Nominated for eleven Academy Awards in 1975, and winner of one (Robert Towne, Best Original Screenplay).
Streaming until December 31, 2020
Catch-22
M
USA, 1970
Genre: War, Comedy, Drama
Language: English, French, Italian
Director: Mike Nichols
Starring: Alan Arkin, Martin Balsam, Richard Benjamin, Art Garfunkel, Jack Gilford
A bombardier in World War II tries desperately to escape the insanity of the war. However, sometimes insanity is the only sane way to cope with a crazy situation. Based on the novel by Joseph Heller, from director Mike Nichols (The Graduate, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?).
Streaming until December 31, 2020
Paper Moon
PG
USA, 1973
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Language: English
Director: Peter Bogdanovich
Starring: Ryan O'Neal, Tatum O'Neal, Madeline Kahn, Randy Quaid
What's it about?
Played by real-life father and daughter Ryan and Tatum O'Neal (who won an Oscar for her performance, making her the youngest ever winner in any category), a bible salesman and a 9-year-old orphan girl team up to form a money-making con team in Depression-era Kansas. Written and directed by Peter Bogdanovich (What's Up Doc?, The Last Picture Show).
Streaming until December 31, 2020
The Gambler
M
USA, 1974
Genre: Drama, Crime
Language: English
Director: Karel Reisz
Starring: James Caan, Paul Sorvino, Lauren Hutton, Morris Carnovsky, Jacqueline Brookes
What's it about?
James Caan stars as Axel Freed, a college professor who is constantly in debt, and must rely on his former friends and associates to bail him out. As his habit becomes an incurable disease, Caan finds that the only people who will have anything to do with him are those to whom he owes money --particularly the polite but deadly loan shark Carmine.
Streaming until December 31, 2020
The Shout
M
UK, 1978
Genre: Horror, Drama
Language: English
Director: Jerzy Skolimowski
Starring: Alan Bates, Susannah York, John Hurt, Robert Stephens, Tim Curry, Jim Broadbent
What's it about?
A traveller by the name of Crossley (Bates), forces himself upon a musician (Hurt) and his wife (York) in a lonely part of Devon, and uses the aboriginal magic he has learned to displace his host.
Streaming until December 31, 2020
