Drama Film a Clef Movies (Used, New, Hard-to-Find)


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1	The Women (1939) more movies like this directed by George Cukor featuring Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russell, Mary Boland, Joan Fontaine, Paulette Goddard Based on the Clare Booth Luce play of the same name, this MGM comedy is justly famous for its all-female cast and deft direction by George Cukor. The plot centers on a group of gossipy high-society women who spend their days at the beauty salon and haunting fashion shows. The sweet, happily wedded Mary Haines (Norma Shearer) finds her marriage in ... see all copies from $3.99! new only from $15.48!
2	Citizen Kane (1941) more movies like this directed by Orson Welles featuring Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Everett Sloane, Dorothy Comingore, Ray Collins, Ruth Warrick, George Coulouris Orson Welles first feature film -- which he directed, produced, and co-wrote, as well as playing the title role -- proved to be his most important and influential work, a ground-breaking drama loosely based on the life of William Randolph Hearst which is frequently cited as the finest American film ever made. Aging newspaper magnate Charles Foster ... see all copies from $1.99! new only from $6.82!
3	The Fountainhead (1949) more movies like this directed by King Vidor featuring Gary Cooper, Patricia Neal, Raymond Massey, Kent Smith, Henry Hull, Robert Douglas The hero of Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead is Howard Roark (Gary Cooper), a fiercely independent architect obviously patterned after Frank Lloyd Wright. Rather than compromise his ideals, Roark takes menial work as a quarryman to finance his projects. He falls in love with heiress Dominique (Patricia Neal), but ends the relationship when he has the ... see all copies from $7.98! new only from $15.04!
4	Casino (1995) more movies like this directed by Martin Scorsese featuring Robert De Niro, Sharon Stone, Joe Pesci, James Woods, Don Rickles, Alan King The inner-workings of a corrupt Las Vegas casino are exposed in Martin Scorsese's story of crime and punishment. The film chronicles the lives and times of three characters: "Ace" Rothstein (Robert De Niro), a bookmaking wizard; Nicky Santoro (Joe Pesci), a Mafia underboss and longtime best friend to Ace; and Ginger McKenna (Sharon Stone, in a ... see all copies from $1.99! new only from $6.95!
5	The Five Heartbeats (1991) more movies like this directed by Robert Townsend featuring Robert Townsend, Michael Wright, Leon, Harry J. Lennix, Tico Wells Loosely based on the life and times of several R&B artists (The Dells, The Temptations, Frankie Lymon, Sam Cooke and others) The Five Heartbeats traces the rise and fall of a popular African-American 1950s singing aggregation. The story is told from the point of view of one of the "Heartbeats," played by Robert Townsend (who also co-produced, ... see all copies from $1.99! new only from $7.15!
6	Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1979) more movies like this directed by John Irvin featuring Alec Guinness, Michael Aldridge, Bernard Hepton, Ian Richardson, Michael Jayston Living a premature and somewhat humbling retirement, elderly British spy George Smiley (Alec Guinness) is abruptly resurrected by his former boss Lacon (Anthony Bate) with an ultra-secret mission: find the double agent in the ranks of the British Secret Service. Is it the pompous head of service, Percy Alleline (Michael Aldridge)? The blowsy Bland ... see all copies from $5.00! new only from $45.50!
7	Rope (1948) more movies like this directed by Alfred Hitchcock featuring James Stewart, John Dall, Farley Granger, Cedric Hardwicke, Constance Collier Rope, Alfred Hitchcock's first color film, was adapted from Patrick Hamilton's stage play Rope's End by no less than Hume Cronyn. Loosely inspired by the Leopold-Loeb case, the plot concerns two implicitly homosexual college chums, played by Farley Granger and John Dall. Their heads filled with Nietzchean philosophy by their kindly professor ... see all copies from $1.99! new only from $5.59!
8	Primary Colors (1998) more movies like this directed by Mike Nichols featuring John Travolta, Emma Thompson, Billy Bob Thornton, Kathy Bates, Adrian Lester Mike Nichols directed this Elaine May screenplay adapted from the 1996 bestseller by "Anonymous" (Joe Klein), who fictionalized Bill Clinton's first presidential campaign. In the New Hampshire primary, Governor Jack Stanton (John Travolta) convinces Henry Burton (Adrian Lester), grandson of a respected civil rights pioneer, to become his deputy ... see all copies from $1.99! new only from $7.21!
9	The Rose (1979) more movies like this directed by Mark Rydell featuring Bette Midler, Alan Bates, Frederic Forrest, Harry Dean Stanton, Barry Primus Bette Midler stars as Rose in this somber drama loosely based on the life of the late Janis Joplin. She plays an ill-fated singer who succumbs to the pressures of performing by indulging in drugs and alcohol. Her sweetheart Dyer (Frederic Forrest) is the former chauffeur who naively tries to save her from self destruction, while her British ... see all copies from $1.99! new only from $7.15!
10	To Die For (1995) more movies like this directed by Gus Van Sant featuring Nicole Kidman, Matt Dillon, Joaquin Phoenix, Casey Affleck, Illeana Douglas, Alison Folland The price of fame is murder -- or at least it is in the mind of one woman in New Hampshire. Suzanne Stone (Nicole Kidman) has spent most of her life wanting to be famous; she's attractive, speaks well, and imagines herself to be intelligent ("imagines" is the key word here), so she has set her sights on becoming a TV anchorwoman. However, ... see all copies from $1.99! new only from $4.73!
11 view cover	Quartet (1981) more movies like this directed by James Ivory featuring Alan Bates, Maggie Smith, Isabelle Adjani, Anthony Higgins, Daniel Chatto No relation to the 1949 Somerset Maugham "omnibus" film of the same name, 1981's Quartet is based on the roman a clef by Jean Rhys. Though the names are changed, it is clearly the story of Rhys' romance with Ford Maddox Ford in 1920s Paris. The titular quartet consists of novelist Isabelle Adjani, her Polish husband Anthony Higgins, wealthy ... see all copies from $1.99! new only from $16.55!
12 view cover	Scarface (1932) more movies like this directed by Howard Hawks featuring Paul Muni, Ann Dvorak, Karen Morley, George Raft, Boris Karloff Completed in mid-1930, Scarface, based on Armitage Trail's novel of the same name, might have been the first of the great talkie gangster flicks, but it was held up for release until after that honor was jointly usurped by Little Caesar and Public Enemy. Paul Muni stars as prohibition-era mobster Tony Camonte, a character obviously patterned on Al ... see all copies from $2.95! new only from $11.03!
13 view cover	Strategic Air Command (1955) more movies like this directed by Anthony Mann featuring James Stewart, June Allyson, Frank Lovejoy, Barry Sullivan, Alex Nicol Inspired in part by the true story of baseball great Ted Williams, who after serving in World War II was drafted to serve in the Korean War just as his baseball career was taking off, Strategic Air Command stars James Stewart as "Dutch" Holland, a star third baseman with the St. Louis Cardinals. "Dutch" served with distinction as a fighter pilot ... see all copies from $19.99! new only from $85.00!
14 view cover	Heartburn (1986) more movies like this directed by Mike Nichols featuring Meryl Streep, Jack Nicholson, Jeff Daniels, Maureen Stapleton, Stockard Channing Though she always played coy about the fact in interviews, Nora Ephron's novel Heartburn is a thinly disguised "a clef" rehash of her marriage to Washington Post reporter Carl Bernstein. Meryl Streep plays Rachel, an influential food critic who marries charismatic columnist Mark (Jack Nicholson) after a whirlwind courtship. Warned that Mark is ... see all copies from $3.00! new only from $7.12!
15 view cover	All the King's Men (1949) more movies like this directed by Robert Rossen featuring Broderick Crawford, John Derek, Joanne Dru, John Ireland, Mercedes McCambridge Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Robert Penn Warren, All the King's Men is a roman à clef inspired by the career of Louisiana governor Huey Long. Broderick Crawford won an Academy Award for his portrayal of Willie Stark, a backwoods Southern lawyer who wins the hearts of his constituents by bucking the corrupt state government. ... see all copies from $4.55! new only from $15.59!
16 view cover	White Hunter, Black Heart (1990) more movies like this directed by Clint Eastwood featuring Clint Eastwood, Jeff Fahey, George Dzundza, Alun Armstrong, Marisa Berenson Something of a sleeper in its 1990 release, White Hunter, Black Heart is one of Clint Eastwood's most engaging films. It is based on Peter Vietel's novel about the location shoot of John Huston's immortal The African Queen. But the focus is never on Bogie and Hepburn. Egomaniacal director John Wilson (Eastwood) is far more interested in killing ... see all copies from $2.95! new only from $16.78!
17 view cover	Sweet Smell of Success (1957) more movies like this directed by Alexander MacKendrick featuring Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, Susan Harrison, Martin Milner, Sam Levene Ernest Lehman drew upon his experiences as a Broadway press agent to write the devastating a clef short story "Tell Me About Tomorrow." This in turn was adapted by Lehman and Clifford Odets into the sharp-edged, penetrating feature film Sweet Smell of Success. Burt Lancaster stars as J. J. Hunsecker, a Walter Winchell-style columnist who wields ... see all copies from $2.13! new only from $10.00!
18 view cover	Compulsion (1959) more movies like this directed by Richard Fleischer featuring Orson Welles, Dean Stockwell, Bradford Dillman, Diane Varsi, E.G. Marshall Compulsion is a compelling, stylish thriller, loosely based on the famous 1924 murder trial of thrill-killers Loeb and Leopold, two homosexual students who murdered a young boy to demonstrate their intellectual superiority. Artie Straus (Bradford Dillman) is a sadistic, mother-dominated bully. Judd Steiner (Dean Stockwell) is a submissive, ... see all copies from $5.50! new only from $8.82!
19 view cover	The Last Tycoon (1976) more movies like this directed by Elia Kazan featuring Robert De Niro, Tony Curtis, Robert Mitchum, Jeanne Moreau, Jack Nicholson Elia Kazan directed this curiously constipated film adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's unfinished final novel, about Monroe Starr, a brilliant and efficient studio executive (based upon Fitzgerald's experiences with MGM wunderkind Irving Thalberg). Robert De Niro plays Monroe Starr in a cool and detached manner, and as Kazan pans around the ... see all copies from $1.99! new only from $7.12!
20 view cover	Grace of My Heart (1996) more movies like this directed by Allison Anders featuring Illeana Douglas, John Turturro, Matt Dillon, Eric Stoltz, Bruce Davison, Patsy Kensit Illeana Douglas delivers a superb performance as Denise Waverly, a fictional singer and songwriter whose life bears more than a passing resemblance to that of real-life pop star Carole King. Edna Buxton, the daughter of a Philadelphia steel tycoon, aspires to a career as a singer, and when against her mother's bidding she sings a sultry version of ... see all copies from $1.99! new only from $1.99!
21 view cover	Young Man With a Horn (1950) more movies like this directed by Michael Curtiz featuring Kirk Douglas, Lauren Bacall, Doris Day, Hoagy Carmichael, Juano Hernandez The life of tragic jazz great Bix Beiderbecke is given the "a clef" treatment in Warner Bros. Young Man With a Horn. Kirk Douglas plays the Beiderbecke character, here named Rick Martin. An ace trumpter player, Martin is one of the few white musicians to flourish in the black-dominated jazz scene of the 1920s. Chafing against the dullness of the ... see all copies from $9.98! new only from $15.80!
22 view cover	Marked Woman (1937) more movies like this directed by Lloyd Bacon featuring Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart, Isabel Jewell, Eduardo Ciannelli, Lola Lane, Rosalind Marquis Bette Davis' famous walk-out from her home studio of Warner Bros. may have hurt her financially, but in the long run it paid off with bigger parts in better films. Like many Warners films of the period, Marked Woman was "torn from today's headlines." Specifically, it was inspired by the recent downfall of gangster Lucky Luciano, who at one time ... see all copies from $14.90! new only from $14.90!
23 view cover	Wish You Were Here (1987) more movies like this directed by David Leland featuring Emily Lloyd, Tom Bell, Clare Clifford, Barbara Durkin, Geoffrey Hutchings The British Wish You Were Here served as the auspicious film debut for 16-year-old Emily Lloyd. The scene is a British seaside community of the 1950s, where the local adults are shocked and embarrassed by the libertine Lynda (Lloyd), who dresses provocatively, behaves outrageously, and swears like a sailor (her favorite epithet is "Up your bum"). ... see all copies from $3.99! new only from $5.00!
24 view cover	Talk Radio (1988) more movies like this directed by Oliver Stone featuring Eric Bogosian, Alec Baldwin, Ellen Greene, Leslie Hope, John C. McGinley Monologist Eric Bogosian's one-man theatre piece Talk Radio, co-written by Bogosian and Ted Savinar, is searingly brought to the screen by Oliver Stone. Bogosian plays a provocateur radio talk-show host, whose constant espousal of his inflammatory views and ceaseless hectoring of his callers and listeners reaps equal parts love and hate. As his ... see all copies from $1.99! new only from $1.99!
25 view cover	Last Days (2005) more movies like this directed by Gus Van Sant featuring Michael Pitt, Lukas Haas, Asia Argento, Scott Patrick Green, Nicole Vicius Filmmaker Gus Van Sant wrote and directed this meditation on stardom and its costs, inspired in part by the life and death of rock musician Kurt Cobain. Blake (Michael Pitt) is the leader of an influential alternative rock band who has unexpectedly won a large degree of fame and fortune. Depressed and unsure of what to do with himself or his ... see all copies from $3.95! new only from $8.45!

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