Favourable First Viewings of 2011
Movies seen for the first time this past year which I would rewatch and recommend. Listed in order seen.
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- DirectorA. Edward SutherlandWesley RugglesStarsBing CrosbyW.C. FieldsJoan BennettCrosby plays a Philadelpia Quaker engaged to a Southern belle. He becomes a social outcast when he refuses to fight a duel. Fields then hires him to perform on his riverboat, promoting him as "Colonel Steel...the notorious Colonel Steel...the singing killer." The plot then follows a predictable course, but there are plenty of scenes featuring W.C. Fields.
- DirectorMichael GordonStarsKim NovakJames GarnerTony RandallFour men bored with their Thursday nights out from their wives (and mom) rent a love nest in New York City, equipped with a blonde. What they don't know is that she's writing a postgraduate thesis on sexual fantasies of urban men.
- DirectorMichael PowellStarsConrad VeidtValerie HobsonHay PetrieEarly in World War II, Danish sea captain Andersen, delayed in a British port, tangles with German spies.
- DirectorPierre CoffinChris RenaudStarsSteve CarellJason SegelRussell BrandGru, a criminal mastermind, adopts three orphans as pawns to carry out the biggest heist in history. His life takes an unexpected turn when the little girls see the evildoer as their potential father.
- DirectorJules DassinStarsJoseph SchildkrautRoman BohnenOscar O'SheaIn this classic Edgar Allan Poe story, a man commits a murder, but afterward the victim's beating heart torments the murderer's mind.
- DirectorFielder CookStarsVan HeflinEverett SloaneEd BegleyWhen Fred Staples is recruited onto the board of a high-powered New York corporation, he finds his ethics and ambition at odds.
- DirectorMark SandrichStarsBert WheelerRobert WoolseyThelma ToddTwo yokels try to crash royal society by posing as the King's physicians.
- DirectorPhil KarlsonStarsJohn PayneEvelyn KeyesBrad DexterA former boxer turned cab driver has to hide from the police when his badgering wife is murdered by the jewel thief she was having an affair with.
- DirectorRobert FloreyStarsJohn PayneSonny TuftsEllen DrewWar hero recovers from amnesia and is confronted by his criminal past.
- DirectorCurtis BernhardtStarsHumphrey BogartAlexis SmithSydney GreenstreetAn engineer trapped in an unhappy marriage murders his wife in the hope of marrying her younger sister.
- DirectorWilliam A. WellmanStarsWalter BrennanPhil HarrisBrandon De WildeAn old man and a young boy who live in the southeastern Mississippi swamps are brought together by the love of a dog.
- DirectorZoltan KordaStarsHumphrey BogartBruce BennettJ. Carrol NaishAfter the fall of Tobruk in 1942, during the Allied retreat in the Libyan desert, an American tank picks-up a motley group of survivors but they face advancing Germans and a lack of water.
- DirectorMarcel CamusStarsBreno MelloMarpessa DawnLourdes de OliveiraA retelling of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth, set during the time of the Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro.
- DirectorWesley RugglesStarsMae WestCary GrantGregory RatoffCircus performer Tira seeks a better life pursuing the company of wealthy New York men with improbable comic complications along the way.
- DirectorDean DeBloisChris SandersStarsJay BaruchelGerard ButlerChristopher Mintz-PlasseA hapless young Viking who aspires to hunt dragons becomes the unlikely friend of a young dragon himself, and learns there may be more to the creatures than he assumed.
- DirectorRouben MamoulianStarsGary CooperSylvia SidneyPaul LukasMan joins a gang to free his girlfriend from prison.
- DirectorDon ChaffeyStarsTodd ArmstrongNancy KovackGary RaymondThe legendary Greek hero leads a team of intrepid adventurers in a perilous quest for the legendary Golden Fleece.
- DirectorGeorge SidneyStarsStewart GrangerJanet LeighEleanor ParkerIn France during the late 18th Century, a man sets out to avenge the death of his friend at the hands of a master swordsman.
- DirectorRobert SiodmakStarsFranchot ToneElla RainesAlan CurtisA devoted secretary risks her life to try to find the elusive woman who may prove her boss didn't murder his selfish wife.
- DirectorGeorg Wilhelm PabstStarsLouise BrooksFritz KortnerFrancis LedererThe rise and inevitable fall of an amoral but naive young woman whose insouciant eroticism inspires lust and violence in those around her.
- DirectorLloyd BaconStarsJames CagneyPat O'BrienGloria StuartA cocky guy joins the Navy for the wrong reason but finds romance and twice is cited for heroism.
- DirectorMervyn LeRoyStarsGreer GarsonWalter PidgeonFelix BressartAfter losing her young son, Edna Gladney opposes the unfair laws discriminating against children whose parents are unknown, and opens an orphanage for those children.
- DirectorNathan GrenoByron HowardStarsMandy MooreZachary LeviDonna MurphyThe magically long-haired Rapunzel has spent her entire life in a tower, but now that a runaway thief has stumbled upon her, she is about to discover the world for the first time, and who she really is.
- DirectorWalter LangStarsBetty GrableDan DaileyMona FreemanIn this chronicle of a vaudeville family, Myrtle McKinley (class of 1900) goes to San Francisco to attend business school, but ends up in a chorus line. Soon, star Frank Burt notices her talent, hires her for a "two-act", then marries her. Incidents of the marriage and the growing pains of eldest daughter Iris are followed, interspersed with nostalgic musical numbers.
- DirectorLewis MilestoneStarsWilliam BoydMary AstorLouis WolheimTwo American soldiers are captured by the Germans on the Western Front during World War One and escape a POW camp only to stumble into further life-threatening adventures when they come across an Arabian king's daughter while on the lam.
- DirectorNorman TaurogStarsJackie CooperRobert CooganMitzi GreenSkippy, the mischievous son of a wealthy doctor, meets Sooky in poverty-ridden Shantytown, and together they try to save Sooky's pet from a cruel dogcatcher.
- DirectorAlbert LamorisseStarsPascal LamorisseSabine LamorisseGeorges SellierA red balloon with a mind of its own follows a little boy around the streets of Paris.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsTakashi ShimuraNobuo KanekoShin'ichi HimoriA bureaucrat tries to find meaning in his life after he discovers he has terminal cancer.
- DirectorTom McGrathStarsWill FerrellJonah HillBrad PittEvil genius Megamind finally defeats his do-gooder nemesis, Metro Man, but is left without a purpose in a superhero-free world.
- DirectorHerbert RossStarsAlan ArkinVanessa RedgraveRobert DuvallTo treat his friend's cocaine induced delusions, Watson lures Sherlock Holmes to Sigmund Freud.
- DirectorWilliam A. SeiterStarsClaire TrevorJohn WayneGeorge SandersIn 1759, in Pennsylvania's Allegheny Valley, local settlers and Indian fighters try to persuade the British authorities to ban the trading of alcohol and arms with the marauding Indians.
- DirectorGeorge MarshallStarsWilliam HoldenGlenn FordClaire TrevorTwo young men head west in search of fortune and adventure.
- DirectorSam TaylorStarsMary PickfordCharles 'Buddy' RogersSunshine HartA department store's stock girl falls in love with a co-worker, the son of the store's manager; the feeling is mutual though he is engaged to a debutante and focusing on becoming successful without the influence of his father.
- DirectorDavid LeanStarsKatharine HepburnRossano BrazziIsa MirandaAn American spinster's dream of romance finally becomes a bittersweet reality when she meets a handsome--but married--Italian man while vacationing in Venice.
- DirectorTay GarnettStarsJean-Pierre AumontGene KellyCedric HardwickeA group of French soldiers during WWII are captured by German troops and sent to a POW camp. There they have to make use of his best resources to stay alive - and sane, while at the same time scheming a way out.
- DirectorMichael CurtizWilliam DieterleWilliam A. WellmanStarsRuth ChattertonGeorge BrentLois WilsonAlison Drake, the tough-minded executive of an automobile factory, succeeds in the man's world of business until she meets an independent design engineer.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneTatsuya NakadaiKeiju KobayashiA crafty samurai helps a young man and his fellow clansmen trying to save his uncle, who has been framed and imprisoned by a corrupt superintendent.
- DirectorWilliam A. FrakerStarsLee MarvinJeanne MoreauJack PalanceAn aging cowboy realizes that the West he knew and loved will soon be no more--and that there will be no room for him, either.
- DirectorTod BrowningStarsLionel BarrymoreMaureen O'SullivanFrank LawtonAn escaped convict uses miniaturized humans to wreak vengeance on those who framed him.
- DirectorW.S. Van DykeStarsSpencer TracyGladys GeorgeFranchot ToneA World War I veteran who married the girlfriend of his presumed-dead war buddy falls into the racketeering business.
- DirectorMax OphülsStarsJames MasonBarbara Bel GeddesRobert RyanAn ambitious young LA department store model gets her wish of marrying a millionaire but she eventually discovers that rich life isn't always a happy one.
- DirectorWilliam K. HowardSam WoodStarsRamon NovarroJeanette MacDonaldFrank MorganA romance between a struggling composer and an American singer.
- DirectorLloyd BaconStarsDick PowellJoan BlondellAdolphe MenjouDick Purcell is an American taxi driver who wants to become a singer promoting cheese products. Oddly he thinks the way to do it is to become a gondolier from Venice. Along the way he sings and woos a sassy secretary Alice.
- DirectorRichard ThorpeJohn FarrowJames C. McKayStarsJohnny WeissmullerMaureen O'SullivanJohn BucklerAn expedition seeking to bring Jane back to civilization, and Tarzan into captivity, gets more than it's bargained for.
- DirectorEdgar WrightStarsMichael CeraMary Elizabeth WinsteadKieran CulkinIn a magically realistic version of Toronto, a young man must defeat his new girlfriend's seven evil exes one by one in order to win her heart.
- DirectorKing VidorStarsHedy LamarrRobert YoungRuth HusseyA man who lived his life as he was advised to do, not how he would have chosen to, is brought out of his shell by a beautiful young woman.
- DirectorGeorge PollockStarsMargaret RutherfordRon MoodyCharles 'Bud' TingwellWhen Miss Jane Marple joins a theatrical company after a blackmailer is murdered, several members of the troupe are also dispatched by this mysterious killer.
- DirectorWilhelm ThieleStarsJohnny WeissmullerFrances GiffordJohnny SheffieldAs World War II rages, a formation of German paratroopers land in the hidden city of Palandria to exploit its wealth and they start taking hostages. Can Tarzan, the king of the jungle, and his animal companions Cheeta and Buli save them?
- DirectorJohn FordStarsHenry FondaAlice BradyMarjorie WeaverA fictionalized account of the early life of the American president as a young lawyer facing his greatest court case.
- DirectorHarry KellerStarsEsther WilliamsGeorge NaderJohn SaxonA beautiful teacher is protective of a high school boy who sexually harassed her, and later he becomes a murder suspect.
- DirectorKurt NeumannStarsAudie MurphyLloyd NolanJane WyattTHIS SUMMARY CONTAINS SPOILERS! Danny is a juvenile delinquent sentenced to Variety Club Ranch in lieu of jail. He charms the headmistress and goads everyone else. The marshal sets out to find source of Danny's rage, and learns he mistakenly believes he is responsible for his mother's death. After a final crime spree and escape attempt, Danny learns he's not to blame. Court return him to Ranch on the marshal's conviction that he's redeemed from life of crime. Danny goes on to graduate from Texas A&M's ROTC program.
- DirectorRoy Ward BakerStarsJohn GregsonKathleen RyanJacqueline RyanCaptivating drama of a lovable little Irish girl and how she helps her tippler father find work.
- DirectorJames WhaleStarsMae ClarkeDouglass MontgomeryDoris LloydA prostitute's self-loathing makes her reluctant to marry an idealistic soldier during World War I.
- DirectorRobert FloreyStarsJohnny WeissmullerBrenda JoyceGeorge ZuccoTo escape from an arranged marriage to Aquatania's pagan god, a desperate maiden ends up in Tarzan's fishing net. But soon, he, too, finds himself before a well-planned conspiracy. Can Tarzan save the mermaid from the barbaric idol's will?
- DirectorDon SiegelStarsRobert MitchumJane GreerWilliam BendixAn army lieutenant accused of robbery pursues the real thief on a frantic chase through Mexico aided by the thief's fiancee.
- DirectorAnthony MannStarsTom ConwayAnn RutherfordRichard LaneA confused man with a gash on his head stumbles into the taxi cab of Patty Mitchell. He says that he can't recall his own name, any facts about his life or even what he was doing before he got in the cab.
- DirectorMervyn LeRoyStarsVivien LeighRobert TaylorLucile WatsonMyra and Roy meet and fall in love on Waterloo Bridge during an air raid. Their love will be one of the war's unspoken casualties.
- DirectorCurt SiodmakHerbert L. StrockStarsRichard CarlsonKing DonovanJean ByronThe Office of Scientific Investigation sends A-Men agents to investigate reports of unusual magnetic activity in various communities.
- DirectorRoy Ward BakerStarsJames DonaldAndrew KeirBarbara ShelleyA mysterious artifact is unearthed in London, and famous scientist Bernard Quatermass is called in to divine its origins and explain its strange effects on people.
- DirectorMark OsborneJohn StevensonStarsJack BlackIan McShaneAngelina JolieTo everyone's surprise, including his own, Po, an overweight, clumsy panda, is chosen as protector of the Valley of Peace. His suitability will soon be tested as the valley's arch-enemy is on his way.
- DirectorPhil KarlsonStarsVan HeflinTab HunterKathryn GrantA powerful rancher always protects his wild adult son by paying for damages and bribing witnesses, until his crimes become too serious to rectify.
- DirectorJoseph M. NewmanJack ArnoldStarsJeff MorrowFaith DomergueRex ReasonAliens come to Earth seeking scientists to help them in their war.
- DirectorJules DassinStarsMelina MercouriPeter UstinovMaximilian SchellA conman gets mixed up with a group of thieves who plan to rob an Istanbul museum to steal a jewelled dagger.
- DirectorRichard WallaceStarsGeorge MurphyLucille BallEdmond O'BrienStephen is a shy, quiet man who is an executive for a shipping firm. He meets Dot at the opera where she had his seats, and the next day she shows up as his temporary secretary. Then Coffee Cup comes to town to see Dot, his gal. When Stephen is with his fiancée Cecilia, everything is boring. When he is with Dot and Coffee Cup, everything is exciting and he falls for Dot. But Coffee is getting out of the Navy in a few days and he plans to marry Dot.
- DirectorGordon DouglasStarsVirginia MayoGene NelsonFrank LovejoyAfter her Hollywood career fails, an actress returns to Broadway and tries for a comeback in a stage show directed by her former lover.
- DirectorHenry CassStarsAlec GuinnessBeatrice CampbellKay WalshWhen a lonely, unappreciated farm-equipment salesman discovers he has only a few weeks to live, he withdraws his savings for a final holiday at a "posh" resort.
- DirectorMichael CurtizBusby BerkeleyStarsJack CarsonJanis PaigeDoris DayRomantic misunderstandings abound when spouses suspect each other of being unfaithful, and a nightclub singer takes a cruise under a false identity.
- DirectorRoy Del RuthStarsMarian MarshDavid MannersWarren WilliamAn executive hires a mousy, plain woman as his secretary so she will not divert him from his work, but she still becomes determined to win his heart.
- DirectorRoy RowlandStarsMickey RooneyBrian DonlevyAnn BlythFollowing a mishap in the ring, hard-nosed lightweight Tommy "Killer" McCoy gets mixed up with a big time gambler and falls for his educated daughter Sheila, against her father's better wishes.
- DirectorEdward F. ClineBuster KeatonStarsBuster KeatonBartine BurkettCharles DoretyA drifter at an amusement park finds himself both the bodyguard and hit man of a man targeted by a criminal gang.
- DirectorEdward F. ClineBuster KeatonStarsBuster KeatonSybil SeelyJoe RobertsA newly wedded couple attempts to build a house with a prefabricated kit, unaware that a rival sabotaged the kit's component numbering.
- DirectorRoy Ward BakerStarsRichard WidmarkMarilyn MonroeAnne BancroftAfter being dumped by his girlfriend, an airline pilot pursues a babysitter in his hotel and gradually realizes she's dangerous.
- DirectorRoy Del RuthStarsWarren WilliamLoretta YoungWallace FordA working girl is menaced by her tyrannical employer.
- DirectorGeorge B. SeitzStarsFranchot ToneMaureen O'SullivanVirginia BruceA young surgeon loves a married nurse, then meets and falls for an heiress with appendicitis.
- DirectorDavid YatesStarsDaniel RadcliffeEmma WatsonRupert GrintHarry, Ron, and Hermione search for Voldemort's remaining Horcruxes in their effort to destroy the Dark Lord as the final battle rages on at Hogwarts.
- DirectorRouben MamoulianStarsMaurice ChevalierJeanette MacDonaldCharles RugglesA Parisian tailor finds himself posing as a baron in order to collect a sizeable bill from an aristocrat, only to fall in love with an aloof young princess.
- DirectorRobert StevensonStarsCharles BoyerMargaret SullavanRichard CarlsonFive years after meeting and falling in love with a banker, a willful shop girl decides to become his mistress upon learning he has since gotten married and had a son.
- DirectorRaoul WalshStarsJoel McCreaVirginia MayoDorothy MaloneOutlaw Wes McQueen escapes jail to pull a railroad robbery but, upon meeting pretty settler Julie Ann, he wonders about going straight.
- DirectorRobert StevensStarsRory CalhounMary CostaJames GregoryA "confidence couple" pose as husband and wife while attempting a bank heist.
- DirectorJames WhaleStarsClaude RainsGloria StuartWilliam HarriganA scientist finds a way of becoming invisible, but in doing so, he becomes murderously insane.
- DirectorBusby BerkeleyStarsDick PowellAdolphe MenjouGloria StuartRomantic antics abound among the guests at a luxury hotel, including a stage director, an eccentric millionaire, and the daughter of a financial backer.
- DirectorEdward F. ClineStarsW.C. FieldsCora WitherspoonUna MerkelHenpecked Egbert Sousé has comic adventures as a substitute film director and unlikely bank guard.
- DirectorJohn G. AdolfiStarsGeorge ArlissMarjorie GatesonDudley DiggesA king finds himself with no purpose in his reign, abdicates his throne to return to the wife and child he left many years ago when he was called to duty to be the king of his country.
- DirectorGeorge StevensStarsCarole LombardAnne ShirleyBrian AherneA nurse loses her job after selflessly taking the blame for a fatal mistake her sister and co-worker made. She is subsequently employed at a poorly-equipped hospital, where she finds romance and tragedy.
- DirectorLowell ShermanStarsMae WestCary GrantOwen MooreIn the Gay Nineties, a seductive nightclub singer contends with several suitors, including a jealous escaped convict and a handsome temperance league member.
- DirectorMichael AndersonStarsRichard ToddAnne BaxterHerbert LomAt Kimberley Prescott's villa, a stranger shows up and claims he is her brother who supposedly died the previous year in a car accident.
- DirectorGuy RitchieStarsRobert Downey Jr.Jude LawRachel McAdamsDetective Sherlock Holmes and his stalwart partner Watson engage in a battle of wits and brawn with a nemesis whose plot is a threat to all of England.
- DirectorTate TaylorStarsViola DavisEmma StoneOctavia SpencerAn aspiring author during the civil rights movement of the 1960s decides to write a book detailing the African American maids' point of view on the white families for which they work, and the hardships they go through on a daily basis.
- DirectorWilliam Desmond TaylorStarsLewis SargentKatherine GriffithMartha MattoxHuckleberry Finn, a rambuctious boy adventurer chafing under the bonds of civilization, escapes his humdrum world and his selfish, plotting father by sailing a raft down the Mississippi River. Accompanying him is Jim, a slave running away from being sold. Together the two strike a bond of friendship that takes them through harrowing events and thrilling adventures.
- DirectorJennifer Yuh NelsonStarsJack BlackAngelina JolieJackie ChanPo and his friends fight to stop a peacock villain from conquering China with a deadly new weapon, but first the Dragon Warrior must come to terms with his past.