This is essentially three stories that George Stevens has rolled into one, long, family melodrama. It all starts when "Bick" (Rock Hudson) travels from his massive Texas ranch to buy an horse from "Dr. Lynnton" (Paul Fix). The first thing he sees though is not the beautiful black stallion, but the man's daughter "Lesley" (Elizabeth Taylor) riding it. After a sticky start, she is on her way to his home, as his wife, where she must settle into a life where women like her are expected to provide children and live otherwise fairly ornamental lives. Needless to say, she isn't really up for that and the next portion of the film follows her efforts to find a purpose. "Jett Rink" (James Dean) is a general factotum on their place. Disliked by "Bick" but protected to an extent by his sister "Luz" (Mercedes McCambridge). Tragedy strikes and "Jett" finds himself the beneficiary of that to the tune of a small plot of land where he quickly discovers oil. That changes the dynamic of the relationships and with the onset of WWII, the traditional lives of all concerned are shaken to the core. The final third, if you like, has probably the strongest message: those who fought together during the war regardless of race or creed are now (largely) back home, victorious, but are expected to fit back into their social demographic - and Stevens uses a swathe of new characters, including their son (Dennis Hopper) and the briefest of appearances from Sal Mineo to illustrate the hypocrisy and double standards that entailed. This third is, in my view, also the weakest section of the story. Perhaps because a degree of ennui was setting in after two hours already, but the flawed characterisation of Dean is a bit too superficial and Miss Taylor - who really does dominate this film - takes too much of a back seat as the familial discord and the effects of the bottle start to dominate the plot. Though Hudson is maybe not the strongest of character actors, here he does provide a degree of accruing decency to his character and at times there is a spark of chemistry between the two leads who, despite themselves, do actually love each other. It's certainly a grand piece of cinema with some spectacular photography. The make-up artistes make a decent stab at facilitating the ageing process as the film progresses and Dimitri Tiomkin manages to adapt his score from the initial Western style genre to a modern modern one creatively. It really does need a big screen and a comfortable seat to get the best out of the performances, but it is definitely worth it.
Jack Irish is thrown into a world of club owners, drug dealers and killers when he is hired by a judge to find a mysterious red book.
As woodsmen, brothers Kemal and Cemal struggle with an uncertain future, living in a house inherited by their father, on the outskirts of a village. Kemal has always been a father to his brother. Nalân, arrives one day with Kemal, and adopts the house as her own. Her presence soothes Cemal, who's shaken by his mother’s death.
The adventures of two good old boys from Texas, no-account buddies who are finally forced to face reality for themselves and for their girlfriends.
Michael Morda, a young sculptor living in San Francisco, is madly in love with Elinor Hunter, and they plan to be married. When Elinor becomes jealous of Julie Stressman, an old friend of Michael's and one of his models, Michael reluctantly asks Julie not to visit him at his studio. They agree to meet only at the construction site where he is working on a sculpture for which Julie is modeling. When Elinor also shows up at the site, Julie leaves so as to avoid a confrontation, but she is killed by some falling materials. Julie's dying request is that Michael adopt her daughter Mitzi, whose father died years earlier. In order to prevent Mitzi from being taken to an orphanage, Michael lies and says he is her father. Elinor hears this, and without asking questions, leaves him and marries another man the same night.
Average Texas teen, Billie Jean Davy, is caught up in an odd fight for justice. She is usually followed and harrased around by local boys, who, one day, decide to trash her brother's scooter for fun. The boys' father refuses to pay them back the price of the scooter. The fight for "fair is fair" takes the teens around the state and produces an unlikely hero.
Set in the early 1960s, the story revolves around high school sweethearts Jonas and Agnete, their friendships and families, trials and tribulations.
In this biographical drama, Selena Quintanilla is born into a musical Mexican-American family in Texas. Her father, Abraham, realizes that his young daughter is talented and begins performing with her at small venues. She finds success and falls for her guitarist, Chris Perez, who draws the ire of her father. Seeking mainstream stardom, Selena begins recording an English-language album which, tragically, she would never complete.
Inspired by true events, a friendship rivalry between three high school girls escalates into a shocking act of violence, and soon one of them is dead. Now the dead girl's mom is determined to find her missing child... and get justice for her daughter.
The four sons of Katie Elder reunite in their hometown of Clearwater, Texas for their mother's funeral, and discover that the family ranch is now in the hands of Morgan Hastings, the town's gunsmith.
It is 1879 in the Dakota Territories, a band of men who set out to find and recover a family of settlers that has mysteriously vanished from their home. Expecting the offenders to be a band of fierce natives, but they soon discover that the real enemy stalks them from below.
When Eve, an interior designer, is deserted by her husband of many years, Arthur, the emotionally glacial relationships of the three grown-up daughters are laid bare. Twisted by jealousy, insecurity and resentment, Renata, a successful writer; Joey, a woman crippled by indecision; and Flyn, a budding actress; struggle to communicate for the sake of their shattered mother. But when their father unexpectedly falls for another woman, his decision to remarry sets in motion a terrible twist of fate…