Subgenre Sampler
Action/Adventure: 2199 Films to Buy & Rent
Purple Plain, The (1954)
- Dir. Robert Parrish
Feat. Gregory Peck, Win Min Than, Bernard Lee…
- Strong psychological drama, shot in lush Technicolor, with Peck as a shell–shocked pilot stuck with wounded comrades behind enemy lines in the…
Robinson Crusoe (1954)
- Dir. Luis Bunuel
Feat. Dan O'Herlihy
- Daniel Defoe's classic novel of a shipwreck's sole survivor. Luis Bunuel directs with a few surrealist flourishes.
Samurai Trilogy, The (Musashi Miyamoto, Duel at Ichijoji Temple, Duel at Ganryu Island) (1954-1956)
- Dir. Hiroshi Inagaki
Feat. Toshiro Mifune
- Sweeping saga of a legendary 17th century samurai Musashi Miyamoto, that made an icon of actor Toshiro Mifune. Played out against the turmoil of a…
Seven Samurai, The (1954)
- Dir. Akira Kurosawa
Feat. Takashi Shimura, Toshiro Mifune
- Kurosawa's classic 'Eastern Western' about a village who hire an elite band of warriors to fend off marauders. Compassionate storytelling with combat…
Ulysses (1954)
- Dir. Mario Camerini
Feat. Kirk Douglas, Anthony Quinn, Silvana Mangano…
- Kirk Douglas muscles his way home in this admittedly pretty, but vacant, adaptation of Homer's Odyssey. Anthony Quinn is gets all the best lines, but…
Beneath The 12-Mile Reef (1953)
- Dir. Robert D. Webb
Feat. Robert Wagner, Terry Moore, Gilbert Roland…
- Adventure yarn about a Greek father and son team off the coast of Florida who dive for living sponges in dangerous waters. Brought down a little by a…
Island in the Sky (1953)
- Dir. William A. Wellman
Feat. John Wayne, Lloyd Nolan, James Arness
- Decent action vehicle for John Wayne, who plays a pilot whose transport plane makes a forced landing in the frozen wastes of Labrador, Canada, where…
Knights of the Round Table (1953)
- Dir. Richard Thorpe
Feat. Robert Taylor, Ava Gardner, Mel Ferrer…
- Sumptuous retelling of the legends of Camelot was MGM's first Cinemascope production. Tayloris excellent as Lancelot while Ava Gardner is inspired…
Malta Story (1953)
- Dir. Brian Desmond Hurst
Feat. Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins, Anthony Steel
- A taut wee adventure set among the special forces of the British Air Force defending the island of Malta during WW2. Real–life locations and a…
Plunder of the Sun (1953)
- Dir. John Farrow
Feat. Glenn Ford, Diana Lynn, Patricia Medina
- Insurance investigator Ford, in possession of a mysterious package, is embroiled in a high stakes treasure hunt in Mexico. Ancient, exotic locations…