Crahan Denton

Walk on the Wild Side -- Sup with the devil and you'll taste your just desserts...

Birdman of Alcatraz -- Burt Lancaster stars as a murderer sentenced to Alcatraz, who becomes a world renowned authority on birds. The excellent supporting cast includes Thelma Ritter, Telly Savalas and Karl Malden.

Having been burned by compromises to censors on his earlier films Cat On a Hot Tin Roof and Sweet Bird of Youth, Paul Newman decided to star in as uncompromising a property as he could find. That property was Hud, inspired by a portion of Larry McMurtry's novel, Horseman Pass By. Hud Bannon (Newman) is a young Texas rancher who lives with his cattleman father Homer (Melvyn Douglas) and his hero-worshipping nephew Lon (Brandon DeWilde). Hud is an amoral, cold-hearted creature; his father, who holds Hud responsible for the death of his other son, tries to imbue Lon with a sense of decency and responsibility to others, but Lon is devoted to Hud and isn't inclined to listen. When hoof-and-mouth disease shows up in one of the elder Bannon's cows, Hud is all for selling the herd before the government inspectors find out. But Homer orders the cattle destroyed (the film's most harrowing sequence), driving an even deeper wedge between himself and Hud. Finally, Hud steps over the line by attempting to rape Alma (Patricia Neal), the earthy but warm-hearted housekeeper. Paul Newman was so repellantly brilliant as an unregenerate heel that his Oscar nomination for Hud was a foregone conclusion. Although Newman lost the Oscar to Sidney Poitier in Lilies of the Field, Oscars did go to Neal for Best Actress, Douglas for Best Supporting Actor, and cinematographer James Wong Howe.

How does bitter convict Robert Stroud cope with a lifetime of solitary confinement? The answer, in a sense, comes from above in the form of a feeble sparrow he finds in the isolation yard. Stroud brings this newfound companion to his cell, nurses it to health and, from that point on, there's no turning back. Despite having only a third-grade education, and no hope of parole, Stroud becomes a renowned ornithologist and achieves a greater sense of freedom and purpose behind prison walls than many in the outside world will ever know.

Paul Newman stars as Hud Bannon, the rebellious son of a respectable rancher who's continually at odds with his aging father.

Paul Newman stars as Hud Bannon, the rebellious son of a respectable rancher who's continually at odds with his aging father.

Hud is a man who cares more for himself than he does his young nephew, his dad, or even their understanding housekeeper. When disease threatens the cattle on the Bannon Ranch, the conflict between Hud and his old-line father reaches an all time high.

Gregory Peck won an Oscar® for his brilliant performance as the Southern lawyer who defends a black man accused of rape in this film version of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. The way in which it captures a time, a place, and above all, a mood, makes this film a masterpiece. The setting is a dusty Southern town during the Depression. A white woman accuses a black man of rape. Though he is obviously innocent, the outcome of his trial is such a foregone conclusion that no lawyer will step forward to defend him – except Peck, the town's most distinguished citizen. His compassionate defense costs him many friendships but earns him the respect and admiration of his two motherless children.

Burt Lancaster stars as a murderer sentenced to Alcatraz, who becomes a world renowned authority on birds. The excellent supporting cast includes Thelma Ritter, Telly Savalas and Karl Malden.

Burt Lancaster stars as a murderer sentenced to Alcatraz, who becomes a world renowned authority on birds. The excellent supporting cast includes Thelma Ritter, Telly Savalas and Karl Malden.

Told through the eyes of "Scout," a feisty six-year-old tomboy To Kill A Mockingbird carries us on an odyssey through the fires of prejudice and injustice in 1932 Alabama.

Told through the eyes of "Scout," a feisty six-year-old tomboy To Kill A Mockingbird carries us on an odyssey through the fires of prejudice and injustice in 1932 Alabama.