warning from space

1956



Warning from Space (宇宙人東京に現わる) is a science fiction tokusatsu film produced by Daiei during the science-fiction boom following in the wake of the success of Toho's Godzilla (1954). Warning From Space was the first Japanese science-fiction film produced in color.

In contrast to the usual anti-nuclear message of the Japanese science-fiction film genre, Warning from Space seemingly takes the position that nuclear weapons can be put to good use. The film features one-eyed, star-shaped aliens from the planet Paira who take on human forms to warn the earth about an impending disaster.The Pairan aliens were designed by prominent avant-garde artist, Tarō Okamoto.

This film is available online as a free download.

mr. wong, detective

1938



Monogram Pictures Corporation was a Hollywood studio that produced and released films, most on low budgets, between 1931 and 1953. Monogram is considered a leader among the smaller studios sometimes referred to collectively as Poverty Row. The principle behind the studio was that when the Monogram logo appeared on the screen, everyone knew they were in for action and adventure.



In 1938 Monogram began a long and profitable policy of making series and hiring familiar players to star in them, such as Boris Karloff and the "Mr. Wong" mysteries. Mr. Wong, Detective is the first film in the series.

This film is available online as a free download.

palooka

1934



Palooka is a comedy film based on the comic strip Joe Palooka by Ham Fisher. Fisher's strip concerns the exploits of a heavyweight boxing champion. With the efforts of Fisher, along with various assistants and successors, the strip lasted for over half a century and inspired spin-offs to radio, movies, television and merchandising. Fisher originally changed the appearance of Palooka to fit each reigning real-life champ, but with the coming of African-American Joe Louis in the 1930s, the image of the cow-licked blond Palooka remained unchanged.



In the film Joe Palooka (Stuart Erwin) is a naive young man whose father Pete (Robert Armstrong) had been a champion boxer. The elder Palooka's lifestyle had caused Joe's mother Mayme (Marjorie Rambeau) to leave him and to take young Joe to the country to raise him. But when a shady boxing manager (Jimmy Durante) discovers Joe's natural boxing talent, Joe decides to follow him to the big city, where he becomes a champion and begins to follow his father's path of debauchery, much of it including the glamorous cabaret singer Nina Madero (Lupe Velez). The film also stars William Cagney, the younger brother of actor James Cagney.

Palooka is available online as a free download.

vengeance of the zombies

1973



Vengeance of the Zombies (La Rebelion de las Muertas) is a Spanish horror film directed by León Klimovsky and starring Paul Naschy.



Paul Naschy is a Spanish film actor, working primarily in horror films. His portrayal of numerous classic horror figures such as the wolfman, hunchback, Count Dracula, and mummy, have earned him recognition as a Spanish Lon Chaney. Although not appearing in this film, the werewolf Waldemar Daninsky is without a doubt Paul Naschy's most famous horror character, since he played him in 12 different "Hombre Lobo" films. In fact, Naschy holds the record for playing a Wolf Man the most number of times, easily beating out even booze-bag Lon Chaney Jr. who played a Wolf Man only seven times during his career.



This film is available online as a free download.

panic in the streets

1950



Panic in the Streets is a semidocumentary film noir directed by Elia Kazan shot exclusively on location in New Orleans, Louisiana and featuring numerous New Orleans citizens in speaking and non-speaking roles. The film tells the story of Clinton Reed, an officer of the U.S. Public Health Service (played by Richard Widmark) and a police captain (Paul Douglas) who have only a day or two in which to prevent an epidemic of pneumonic plague after Reed determines a waterfront homicide victim is an index case. Co-stars include Barbara Bel Geddes (as Reed's wife Nancy), Walter Jack Palance (in his film debut) and Zero Mostel, the latter two play associates of the victim who had prompted the investigation.

This film is available online as a free download.