Little Known Classics
A collection of quality classic films that, for one reason or another, have not received a lot of attention (all of these have less than 2000 votes at the time of writing, many under 1000). If you enjoy a good classic and have not seen these, they are all very much recommended for viewing!
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- DirectorGeorge SeatonStarsJames GarnerEva Marie SaintRod TaylorGermans kidnap an American Major and try to convince him that World War II is over so they can get details about the Allied invasion of Europe out of him.
- DirectorFielder CookStarsHenry FondaJoanne WoodwardJason RobardsComedy western in which a traveler bets more money than he can afford in a poker game, and unusual events follow.
- DirectorRobert AldrichStarsJack PalanceLee MarvinEddie AlbertIn 1944, an American Infantry company sets up an artillery observation post, but tensions between Captain Cooney and Lieutenant Costa run high.
- DirectorPeter UstinovStarsRobert RyanPeter UstinovMelvyn DouglasWhen a kind-hearted sailor is made to join an English vessel at war in 1797, he finds himself caught between devotion to his crewmates and obedience to their hated, cruel master-at-arms.
- DirectorJohn CromwellStarsEleanor ParkerAgnes MooreheadEllen CorbyA gentle, naive, pregnant 19-year-old widow is slowly, inexorably ground down by the hardened criminals, sadistic guards, and matron at a woman's prison. Will she be the same person when her sentence is up?
- DirectorRichard ThorpeStarsJames StewartJean HagenWendell CoreyDavid Marshall Williams is sent to a prison farm where he works in the tool shop and eventually develops the precursor of the famous M-1 Carbine automatic rifle used in World War II.
- DirectorWilliam WylerStarsJohn BarrymoreBebe DanielsDoris KenyonA successful attorney has his Jewish heritage and poverty-stricken background brought home to him when he learns that his wife has been unfaithful.
- DirectorJoseph M. NewmanStarsJeanne CrainMichael RennieMax ShowalterWhen a beautiful bride boards an ocean liner with her new husband, he goes into hiding, and she becomes the target of a murder conspiracy.
- DirectorMitchell LeisenStarsJean ArthurEdward ArnoldRay MillandWhen a wealthy banker throws his wife's expensive fur coat off a roof and it lands on the head of a stenographer, everyone assumes she is his mistress and has access to his millions.
- DirectorWilliam K. HowardStarsWilliam PowellMyrna LoyUna MerkelThe neglected wife of a high profile attorney dallies with a unscrupulous womanizer and finds herself involved in blackmail and murder.
- DirectorRobert WiseStarsWilliam HoldenBarbara StanwyckJune AllysonWhen the head of a large manufacturing firm dies suddenly from a stroke, his vice presidents vie to see who will replace him.
- DirectorPaul WendkosStarsFred MacMurrayLin McCarthyDorothy GreenA robber who is falsely accused of murdering a deputy sheriff tries to start a new life in a border town near Mexico, but his past catches up with him.
- DirectorWilliam WylerStarsMargaret SullavanHerbert MarshallFrank MorganA naive girl just out of a cloistered orphanage finds that being a 'good fairy' to strangers makes life awfully complicated.
- DirectorGiuliano MontaldoStarsJanet LeighRobert HoffmannKlaus KinskiTo pull off a daring diamond heist in Rio during Carnival, a retired schoolteacher hires four professionals who must contend with a revolutionary alarm system and a taciturn secretary.
- DirectorAndrew V. McLaglenStarsJames ArnessAngie DickinsonRobert J. WilkeTwo bank robbers abandon their wounded partner to the posse and run with the loot but their partner, after serving time in prison, seeks revenge.
- DirectorJoseph L. MankiewiczStarsEdward G. RobinsonSusan HaywardRichard ConteAfter years in prison, Max promises revenge on his brothers for their betrayal. His lover Irene and memories of his past yield him a broader perspective.
- DirectorJohn BrahmStarsLaird CregarLinda DarnellGeorge SandersA promising classical musician finds his life poisoned by a music hall dancer -- and by the strange gaps in his memory.
- DirectorLewis GilbertStarsAlec GuinnessDirk BogardeMaurice DenhamOn the H.M.S. Defiant, during the French Revolutionary War, fair Captain Crawford is locked in a battle of wills against his cruel second-in-command Lieutenant Scott-Padget, whose heavy-handed command style pushes the crew to mutiny.
- DirectorDelmer DavesStarsGlenn FordErnest BorgnineRod SteigerA new foreman rejects the sexual advances of a frustrated rancher's wife, which leads to conflicts that could get him killed.
- DirectorJack ConwayStarsWilliam PowellMyrna LoyGail PatrickA wife suspecting infidelity starts divorce proceedings, so the husband pretends to be insane in order to delay the divorce and clear up the misunderstanding.
- DirectorDouglas SirkStarsGeorge SandersLucille BallCharles CoburnBritish police are after a serial killer who lures his female victims through newspaper personal ads and sends cryptic poem clues to the cops.
- DirectorLeo McCareyStarsVictor MooreBeulah BondiFay BainterAn elderly couple are forced to live hundreds of miles apart when they lose their house and none of their five children will take both parents in.
- DirectorRaoul WalshStarsErrol FlynnJames BrownWilliam PrinceA platoon of special ops are tasked to parachute into the remote Burmese jungle and destroy a strategic Japanese radar station, but getting out isn't as easy.
- DirectorLewis MilestoneStarsGregory PeckHarry GuardinoRip TornDuring the Korean War peace talks, U.S. troops fight to retake a hill from the Communist Chinese forces.
- DirectorWilliam KeighleyStarsErrol FlynnPatrice WymoreScott ForbesIn California during the Civil War, a Confederate patrol and a Union troop must set their differences aside in order to survive a Shoshone attack.
- DirectorPhil KarlsonStarsJohn DerekDonna ReedBroderick CrawfordThe editor of an exploitation newspaper commits a murder and assigns his protégé to investigate hoping to divert attention away from himself.
- DirectorDavid MillerStarsJoan CrawfordJack PalanceGloria GrahameAfter an ambitious actor insinuates himself into the life of a wealthy middle-aged playwright and marries her, he plots with his mistress to murder her.
- DirectorRowland V. LeeStarsRobert DonatElissa LandiLouis CalhernAfter greedy men have Edmond Dantes unjustly imprisoned for 20 years for innocently delivering a letter entrusted to him, he escapes to get his revenge on them.
- DirectorRussell RouseStarsGlenn FordJeanne CrainBroderick CrawfordIn the western frontier town of Cross Creek, storekeeper George Temple is a polite and soft spoken man with a secret past. When 3 bank robbers on the lam stop in town to change horses, George's past comes back to haunt him.
- DirectorHenry HathawayStarsWilliam EytheLloyd NolanSigne HassoBill Dietrich becomes a double agent for the F.B.I. in a German spy ring.
- DirectorMitchell LeisenStarsGene TierneyJohn LundMiriam HopkinsEllen McNulty loses her hamburger joint and goes to see her son, who marries a socialite at the same time. Due to her modest background and a case of mistaken identity, Ellen poses as the newlyweds' cook.
- DirectorGeorge StevensStarsJean ArthurJoel McCreaCharles CoburnDuring the World War II housing shortage in Washington, two men and a woman share a single apartment and the older man plays Cupid to the other two.
- DirectorRobert MulliganStarsGregory PeckEva Marie SaintRobert ForsterU.S. Army soldiers round up a group of Apache, mostly women and children. Surprisingly, they find among them a white woman and her half-Apache son.
- DirectorDaniel MannStarsMarlon BrandoGlenn FordMachiko KyôIn post-WWII Japan, an American captain is brought in to help build a school, but the locals want a teahouse instead.
- DirectorAnthony MannStarsHenry FondaAnthony PerkinsBetsy PalmerA cynical former sheriff turned bounty hunter helps a young, recently appointed acting sheriff with his advice, his experience and his gun.
- DirectorRudolph MatéStarsGlenn FordBarbara StanwyckEdward G. RobinsonA bitter land dispute causes a Civil War veteran to take extreme action.
- DirectorVincent ShermanStarsPaul NewmanBarbara RushAlexis SmithA promising lawyer tries to handle his social and professional problems while climbing the ranks in Philadelphia.
- DirectorJules DassinStarsRichard ConteValentina CorteseLee J. CobbA war veteran turned truck driver attempts to avenge the crippling and robbing of his father at the hands of an amoral produce scofflaw.
- DirectorKarl MaldenStarsRichard WidmarkRichard BasehartDolores MichaelsDuring the Korean War former prisoner of war, Major Harry Cargill admits to having collaborated with the enemy but military investigator Colonel William Edwards wants the details.
- DirectorRobert WiseStarsJames CagneyDon DubbinsStephen McNallyWith no law within 200 miles horse rancher Jeremy Rodak runs his spread with an iron hand and deals with rustlers even more ruthlessly.
- DirectorRonald NeameStarsAlec GuinnessJohn MillsSusannah YorkAfter World War II, a Highland Regiment's acting Commanding Officer, who rose from the ranks, is replaced by a peace-time Oxford-educated Commanding Officer, leading to a dramatic conflict between the two.
- DirectorWilliam A. WellmanStarsRobert TaylorDenise DarcelHope EmersonA trail guide escorts a group of women from Chicago to California to marry men that have recently begun settling there.
- DirectorGeorge MarshallStarsGlenn FordDebbie ReynoldsCarl ReinerTV writer Elliott Nash buries something under the new gazebo in his suburban backyard. But the nervous man can't let it rest there.
- DirectorMervyn LeRoyStarsEdward G. RobinsonMarian MarshH.B. WarnerThe City Editor of a sleazy tabloid goes against his own journalistic ethics to resurrect a twenty year old murder case... with tragic results.
- DirectorRoy Del RuthStarsDon DeForeAnn HardingCharles RugglesTwo homeless men move into a mansion while its owners are wintering in the South.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsBrian DonlevyWalter BrennanAnna LeeAfter the German administrator of Czechoslovakia is shot, his assassin tries to elude the Gestapo and struggles with his impulse to give himself up as hostages are executed.
- 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.
- DirectorRichard BrooksStarsBette DavisErnest BorgnineDebbie ReynoldsWhen Jane tells her parents that she is getting married to Ralph Halloran, her mother Agnes starts planning an elaborate wedding, even though Jane does not wish it.
- 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.
- DirectorCharles VidorStarsDoris DayJames CagneyCameron MitchellA fictionalized account of the career of jazz singer Ruth Etting and her tempestuous marriage to gangster Marty Snyder, who helped propel her to stardom.
- DirectorHenry HathawayStarsJames CagneyAnnabellaRichard ConteWhen spy chief Bob Sharkey finds out one of his agents-in-training is actually a Nazi double agent, his strategic decision not to arrest him results in tragedy.
- DirectorWilliam KeighleyStarsJames CagneyGeorge RaftJane BryanA corrupt D.A. (Thurston Hall) with political ambitions is angered by news stories implicating him in criminal activity and decides to frame the reporter (James Cagney) for manslaughter in order to silence him.
- DirectorWilliam A. WellmanStarsJohn WayneLloyd NolanWalter AbelA C-47 transport plane, named the Corsair, makes a forced landing in the frozen wastes of Quebec, and the plane's pilot, Captain Dooley, must keep his men alive in deadly conditions while waiting for rescue.
- DirectorIrving ReisStarsEdward G. RobinsonBurt LancasterMady ChristiansDuring WW2, industrialist Joe Keller commits a crime and frames his business partner Herbert Deever but years later his sin comes back to haunt him when Joe's son plans to marry Deever's daughter.
- DirectorSam WoodStarsClark GableWalter PidgeonVan JohnsonArmy generals struggle with the decision to prioritize bombing the German factories producing new jet fighters over the extremely high casualties the mission will cost.
- DirectorStephen RobertsStarsWilliam PowellJean ArthurJames GleasonA wealthy mystery writer uses her doctor ex-husband's non-payment of alimony to coerce him into a reconciliation.
- DirectorRoy William NeillStarsBoris KarloffMarian MarshRobert AllenIgnoring an ancient prophecy, evil brother Gregor seeks to maintain his feudal power on his his Tyrolean estate by murdering and impersonating his benevolent younger twin.
- DirectorJack WebbStarsJack WebbDon DubbinsJackie LougheryA no-nonsense Drill Instructor is convinced that he can make a recruit, that is haunted by his family combat history and who falters under pressure, into a Marine.