A young Boston lawyer, Albron Hamlin, goes to Haiti in 1802 to find Lydia Bailey, whose estate he must settle. The island is war-torn in the strife between Toussaing L'Overture, the black president, and the French who are trying to retake possession of the country. Hamlin finds Lydia and, against the background of war and rebellion, they fall in love while helping the Haitians against the French.
On the 35th anniversary of the release of the landmark film "The Godfather," (March 15, 1972) we look back at the time and place of the film's conception and shooting.
Short documentary about prohibition and gangsters and how it affected the movies of the day.
A group of disillusioned American expatriate writers live a dissolute, hedonistic lifestyle in 1920's France and Spain.
Documentary about legendary Paramount producer Robert Evans, based on his famous 1994 autobiography.
The turbulent life and professional career of vaudeville actor and silent screen horror star Lon Chaney (1883-1930), the man of a thousand faces; bearer of many personal misfortunes that even his great success could not mitigate.
A look at the motion picture production code and its effects on Hollywood.
A convicted bank robber, serving his sentence and yearning for freedom, becomes entangled with a psychotic, homicidal inmate. This inmate turns on him, terrorizing his wife and murdering his friends.
A biography of powerful Hollywood agent and executive Lew Wasserman.
Straight-forward production stories from the Hollywood players who made the movie happen.
An exposé of the lives and loves of Madison Avenue working girls and their higher-ups.
Filmmaker Alan Smithee finds himself the unwilling puppet of a potentially bad big budget action film, for which he proceeds to steal the reels, and leaves the cast and crew in a frenzy.
Vanity Fair Special Correspondent Dominick Dunne has become known the world over for his vociferous championing of the rights of the victim in high-profile murder cases. His powerful commentaries have made compelling reading in Vanity Fair for a quarter of a century. Now, aged 82, Dunne is covering his last murder trial for Vanity Fair -- the trial of music producer Phil Spector -- and reflects upon his past as a decorated WWII Veteran, his rise and spectacular collapse as a Hollywood producer, and his rebirth as the writer we know today. Dunne's mind offers a fascinating insight into the American psyche and its obsession with fame.
Homage to the cult classic “Mondo Hollywood”, a groovy mushrooms dealer and a man from the 5th dimension journey through Hollywood to find the meaning of “Mondo.”
Set against the contrasting backdrops of Manhattan and Los Angeles, this film examines the life of one of the world’s greatest celebrities of print journalism - Dominick Dunne. Drawing on the memories of big names in Dunne’s field, including Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter, Tina Brown, Joan Didion and octogenarian New York Post gossip columnist Liz Smith as well as legendary Hollywood producer Robert Evans (The Godfather, Chinatown), the film uncovers what lies beneath a life. The film examines Dunne’s life from childhood, and his early days of being “an outsider on the inside”: a theme that has informed his whole life. From his World War II service that made Dunne return an unlikely hero – awarded the Bronze Star for bravery – to his rise and ultimate fall in Hollywood and then total reincarnation as a writer in his fifties, this film explores the nature of reinvention, belief in oneself, and the all-pervasive cult of celebrity.
Film producer Sy Lerner makes a bet with a fellow film executive that he can turn any nobody into a star at the Cannes Film Festival. A New York cab driver who is visiting the festival is chosen as the test subject to settle the bet and Sy uses his skills of hype and manipulation to try and turn the cab driver named Frank into the talk of the town. Many celebrities make cameos throughout the film.
Seventy critics and filmmakers discuss cinema around the conflict between the artist and the observer, the creator and the critic. Between 1998 and 2007, Kléber Mendonça Filho recorded testimonies about this relationship in Brazil, the United States and Europe, based on his experience as a critic.
Retrospective documentary on the making of 'Rosemary's Baby' (1968).
A camera crew follows Helmut Newton, the fashion and ad photographer whose images of tall, blond, big-breasted women are part of the iconography of twentieth-century erotic fantasy. He's on the go from L.A., to Paris, to Monte-Carlo, to Berlin, where he was a youth until he escaped from the Nazis in 1936. We see him on shoots, interviewing models, and discussing his work.
Producer Robert Evans dominates with his trademark promotional style, but Schlesinger gets a short time on camera (one of his few available interviews about the film), and Hoffman has even more. A highlight is the celebration of Olivier's final shooting day, complete with speeches and a toast.
This retrospective documentary offers a first-rate account of the making of 'Marathon Man'. Hoffman, Scheider, Keller and Goldman all share their memories, many of which are remarkably detailed. Even the change in the ending is addressed, and twenty-five years later, Goldman seems to have resigned himself to the rewrite.
A documentary on the roles of women in gangster movies.
Features Kevin White, Aramis Hudson, Zach Saraceno, Nico Hiraga, and Olan Prenatt skating, having fun, and getting into all of the hijinks that we’ve come to expect from the Civ.
Hollywoods biggest talents explore what is the recipe for blockbuster, flops, and how absolute happenstance and controlled luck can make movie magic.
A movie director-screenwriter finds a man to finance his latest project but soon discovers that the producer is actually an undercover FBI agent working on a mob sting operation.