Good King Richard of England is away at war, and in his absence, his proxy Prince John shows an increasing lust for power: levying extreme taxes on the poor, ruling with an iron fist, and plotting a total takeover.  The stage is set for a hero:  Robin Hood!  The dashing former nobleman (played by Errol Flynn in his quintessential role), lives in hiding deep in the Sherwood Forest, answering Prince John’s greed and lust for power by robbing from rich wayfarers and sharing the spoils with the poor victims of oppression.   So infamous is this bandit that court officials fear his name, even as they resent his upstart presumption to question their authority.  Among the most critical is Maid Marian (lovely Olivia de Havilland), of the court of Prince John.  But when her own coach is robbed in the woods, and she is spirited away to Robin Hood’s secluded encampment (which he shares with a band of merry accomplices), Marian is given a glimpse of the hardship and misery that exist outside of the castle walls, and of the tender heart that beats in her captor’s noble breast.  This timeless cinematic retelling of an equally timeless tale is a jewel to behold in brilliant Technicolor.  It features a superb cast, including Alan Hale as “Little John,” and sinister Basil Rathbone as slimy Prince John.  A brilliant music score and acrobatic sword fights round out this thrilling movie marvel.

A rousing entry in the Star Trek feature films produced in the 1980s, this imaginative and handsomely produced adventure tale was notably also directed by Leonard Nimoy, famous as the series’ Mr. Spock.  Our heroes, the officers of the USS Enterprise, begin the story in trouble: having recently destroyed their beloved ship (for a good cause) in the previous episode, they set out for Earth in a new craft to face the consequences of their extreme, if principled, actions.  But a new mission is discovered.  A strange, cylindrical object moves through space toward Earth, emitting a sound that disables space vessels and earthly power facilities.  Spock recognizes the sound as that of long-extinct humpback whales, and determines that only if the object is answered in kind, will its harmful effect be neutralized.  A new plan is set in motion: the crew must now travel back in time to visit Earth of the 20th century, retrieving a whale to save the day.   This they do in a whirl of fantastic special effects and comical capers, deploying futuristic powers while necessarily concealing these from the unsuspecting earthlings around them.  Only beautiful scientist Dr. Gillian Taylor (Catherine Hicks) is let in on the secret, initiating a tug-of-war with Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) as the pair balance professionalism and the high-stakes mission with a growing romantic attraction.  The film features star turns by the beloved cast, including DeForest Kelley as “Bones” McCoy, James Doohan as “Scottie,” Nichelle Nichols as Uhura, George Takei as Sulu and Walter Koenig as Chekhov.

Sailor and harpooner Ned Land (Kirk Douglas) has seen danger and excitement on the high seas, but nothing in his life has prepared him for the strange adventure that awaits in this magnificent adaptation of Jules Verne’s classic adventure tale.  In 1866, as more and more British ships are lost at sea (along with the lives of countless sailors), rumors mount about a terrifying sea monster which targets ships for destruction.  Strapping Ned laughs off such superstitions until, from shipboard, he sees the sudden and rapid approach of a dark figure with glowing eyes, which indeed, capsizes and destroys the ship.  Even more amazed is he to be rescued, along with fellow travelers, scientist Dr. Aronnax (Paul Lukas) and his assistant Conseil (comical Peter Lorre)—and brought aboard what turns out to be not a sea-serpent, but The Nautilus: a fantastical submarine commanded by brooding Captain Nemo (James Mason).  Learning of Nemo’s maniacal hatred for warships, Ned must play the part of a cooperative guest while plotting his escape.  Stunning views of undersea life from the ocular window in Captain Nemo’s chambers, epic battles with horrific sea creatures, exotic stopovers on tropical islands and the Nautilus itself—an unbelievable fantasia of production design—compete to make this undersea classic one of the most engrossing and thrilling adventure movies ever filmed.

Alfred Hitchcock’s stylish psychological thriller is one of the famed director’s most personal and engrossing films, and one of his most beautiful.  San Francisco police detective Scottie Ferguson (James Stewart) is forced into early retirement after developing a fear of heights.  Weighing his options, including the prospect of marriage with artist girlfriend “Midge” (Barbara Bel Geddes), Scottie is mystified when his old school friend Gavin Elster asks him to do one more detective job: trailing Elster’s glamorous wife Madeleine (Kim Novak), who daily wanders San Francisco in a daze, seemingly at the command of some deep, inner voice.  Reluctantly, Scottie takes the case, slowly becoming enthralled by Madeleine’s beauty and her air of mystery.   Unexpectedly making his beautiful subject’s acquaintance, Scottie begins his own rapid downward spiral into obsession, as drama and danger spin to ever more dizzying heights.  Hitchcock’s own obsessive attention to detail (colors, glances, hair and clothing) invest the picture with a fetishistic intensity seldom seen in American film.   Furthermore, almost no movie takes better advantage of location, from the weird topography of San Francisco to the power of the San Francisco Bay, to the timelessness of remote Spanish missions and the eerie, still beauty of a redwood forest.  A staggering rush to the senses, this masterful thriller continues to bewitch new audiences, half a century after its original release.