Right from the outset, this film mis-fires. Walter Brennan comes across as a fish out of water and Cornel Wilde, with his rather ropey French accent, just doesn't work at all well, either. The latter man, having just arrived in Philadelphia from France for the US Centennial Exposition, soon becomes the object of the affections of two sisters - Jeanne Craine ("Julie") and Linda Darnell ("Edith"). Which of them will win his affections? The problem with this film is that, though colourful - there is absolutely no chemistry anywhere to be seen. The songs from Jerome Kern are pleasant enough, but there is no showstopper - and the singing, well those are either ensemble efforts or solos from actors who, frankly, aren't very good singers. The execution of the story is not without the odd bit of humour, but the presentation looks frequently quite stagey with plenty of set piece choreography that, again, might have looked fine in a theatre but is somehow rather dated and stilted on a big screen. It is watchable, and Darnell steals the show, if anyone does, but I struggled with this rather procedural and stilted melodrama.
In 1863, when a legless, shipwrecked man washes up on the Acadian coast, he's taken to the home of Jean the Corsican, a burly and bitter former soldier, and his childless young wife, Julitte. The man, who is young, handsome, and well-dressed, remains mute as Julitte nurses him back to health. Jean, meanwhile, who is inexplicably estranged from Julitte and an outsider to townspeople, continues his hunt for pirate treasure, rumored to be hidden in a cave by the sea. The treasure is his ticket out of Acadia. As loneliness and Eros draw Julitte and the mysterious Jérôme together, something's got to give.
Stefan Luchian is a passionate painter who rebels against conservative art groups, determined to create a new form of art that celebrates beauty and nature's wonders, while racing against time to leave his artistic legacy before his illness overtakes him.
Sharpshooter Calamity Jane takes it upon herself to recruit a famous actress and bring her back to the local saloon, but jealousy soon gets in the way.
Heinrich wishes to conquer death through love, and when he meets Henriette, the wife of a business acquaintance, she expresses interest in a suicide pact when she learns she has a terminal illness.
A small-town girl wins a date with a Hollywood star through a contest. When the date goes better than expected, a love triangle forms between the girl, the celebrity, and the girl's best friend.
The civil war in China has ruined many lives including General Pang's. A wounded General Pang is saved by a beautiful young woman along with two other men. Together they vow to eradicate the rebels.
In 1879, during the Anglo-Zulu War, man-of-the-people Lt. Chard and snooty Lt. Bromhead are in charge of defending the isolated and vastly outnumbered Natal outpost of Rorke's Drift from tribal hordes.
Kanichiro Yoshimura is a Samurai and Family man who can no longer support his wife and children on the the low pay he receives from his small town clan, he is forced by the love for his family to leave for the city in search of higher pay to support them.
A snobbish investor and a wily street con-artist find their positions reversed as part of a bet by two callous millionaires.
A Victorian surgeon rescues a heavily disfigured man being mistreated by his "owner" as a side-show freak. Behind his monstrous façade, there is revealed a person of great intelligence and sensitivity. Based on the true story of Joseph Merrick (called John Merrick in the film), a severely deformed man in 19th century London.
Eight women gather to celebrate Christmas in a snowbound cottage, only to find the family patriarch dead with a knife in his back. Trapped in the house, every woman becomes a suspect, each having her own motive and secret.