From the basement of PBS Fort Wayne, Subterranean Cinema is the place to enjoy classic Hollywood movies. This weekly film series is hand-picked to be enjoyed by film fans of every generation.
Once they premiere on-air, these movies are also available through the PBS app on your smartphone, tablet or smart TV, at pbs.org, and on the PBS Fort Wayne YouTube channel.
Weekend of October 5-6
Dr Robert Morgan (Vincent Price) is the lone survivor of a plague that spread across the world. The plague caused the entire population of Earth to die, but the doctor soon realizes that they are not going to remain dead. This horror classic is a tour de force for Price. Based on the Richard Matheson novel, “I Am Legend,” it is the first of several cinematic remakes of Matheson’s story.
Weekend of October 12-13
A lowly flower-shop assistant nurtures a carnivorous plant with a taste for human flesh. This cult movie, starring Jonathon Haze was famously shot in two days by legendary low-budget horror director Roger Corman and includes an early role for Jack Nicholson as a masochistic dental patient.
Weekend of October 19-20
A beautiful woman by day - a lusting queen wasp by night. A cosmetics queen is transformed into a murderous monster after she uses wasp royal jelly chemicals to preserve her beauty. Another classic directed by low-budget horror meister Roger Corman.
Weekend of October 19-20
In one of his signature roles, Vincent Price plays an eccentric millionaire who offers five guests $10,000 each if they can spend the night in his genuine haunted house. As the evening progresses, the guests are trapped inside the house with ghosts, ghouls and the things that go bump in the night. Will they survive?
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John Mason (Jimmy Stewart, billed as “James Stewart”), a passionate and ambitious young lawyer, swiftly falls in love with the vivacious Jane (Fort Wayne’s Carole Lombard), and hastily ties the knot. Their blossoming love faces a tumultuous journey as they combat a disapproving mother, financial strain, and the arrival of a baby. As they navigate the trials of marriage and career, unexpected tragedy strikes, challenging the young couple to confront their deepest vulnerabilities and fight to preserve their love and future together.
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When Sen. Reynolds urges his daughter, shallow society maven Jo McBain (Rosalind Russell), to join the Women's Army Corps, she enlists under the belief that she'll be given special privileges... like a Paris transfer for a rendezvous with her new flame, Lt. Col. Sky Fairchild (William Ching). But when the Army treats Jo like a regular private, she is outraged. Meanwhile, pinup model Clara (Marie Wilson) joins the service to gain respect, and the two women form an unlikely friendship.
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Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) and Dr, Watson (Nigel Bruce) hunt for three music boxes containing directions to the whereabouts of six valuable engraving plates stolen from the Bank of England. They find themselves in competition with professional thieves also out to find the clues, which were hidden by a spiteful jailbird before the music boxes went up for auction.
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British intelligence fakes the death of Edgar Brodie (John Gielgud) to send him on a mission in Switzerland, where, as Richard Ashendon, he is to locate and kill a Germany spy. Accompanying Brodie are fellow agents Elsa Carrington (Madeleine Carroll), who is to play Brodie's wife, and an eccentric assassin known as The General (Peter Lorre). Locating the spy on a train, Brodie and Elsa have second thoughts about their mission just as an American (Robert Young) ingratiates himself with them.
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After witnessing a murder, Frank Johnson goes on the run to avoid being killed himself. His wife, Eleanor (Ann Sheridan), seems almost apathetic about finding him when questioned by Investigator Harris (Robert Keith), due to a marriage on the rocks. However, after learning that Frank has a grave heart condition, Eleanor recruits reporter Dan Leggett (Dennis O'Keefe) to help track down Frank. Discovering new love for her husband along the way, Eleanor must get to Frank before the killer does.
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Kathy's (Anna Lee) father is intrigued by the stories Umbopa (gifted actor Paul Robeson), a man they meet on their way to the South African coast, tells them about Solomon's diamond mines. So, he steals away in the night, leaving Kathy with a group of relative strangers. To find her father, To find her father, Kathy enlists the help of hunter Allan Quartermain (Cedric Hardwicke) for a journey to the mines, where they are met with some less than hospitable natives — who do not plan on making their task any easier.
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In this Depression-era screwball comedy, a Park Avenue brat, Irene (Fort Wayne’s Carole Lombard, in an Academy Award nominated role), is looking for a ‘forgotten man’ (William Powell, “The Thin Man”) in a scavenger hunt, and goes on to bring him home to be the family’s new butler, much to the chagrin of her spoiled sister, Cornelia, who does her best (or worst) to get Godfrey fired. As Irene falls for her new butler, Godfrey turns the tables and teaches the frivolous Bullocks a lesson or two.
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British pirate William Kidd (Charles Laughton) captures Adm. Blayne's (Randolph Scott) treasure ship and hides the bounty in a cave. Three years later, Kidd, posing as a sea captain, offers his services to the king as an escort ship. Seeking a social position, Kidd also negotiates for Blayne's title and lands, if he can prove Blayne was associated with piracy. On his mission, Kidd is unaware that Blayne's son, Adam (also Scott), is among the crew, determined to clear his father's name.
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American sibling song-and-dance team Tom (Fred Astaire) and Ellen Bowen (Jane Powell) are in London in 1947, when all of England is in a tizzy over the impending nuptials of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip. Ellen falls head over heels for the dashing Lord John Brindale (Peter Lawford), and Tom becomes equally smitten with the elegant Anne Ashmond (Sarah Churchill). The film features one of Astaire's most legendary dance performances, dancing across the ceiling of a hotel room.
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This film broke new ground with its realistic look at the life of a heroin addict. When illegal card dealer and recovering heroin addict Frankie Machine (Frank Sinatra) gets out of prison, he decides to straighten up. Armed with nothing but an old drum set, Frankie tries to get honest work as a drummer. But when his former employer, small-time con man Schwiefka (Robert Strauss), and Frankie's old drug dealer, Louis (Darren McGavin), re-enter his life, Frankie finds it hard to stay clean and eventually finds himself succumbing to his old habits. Based on the novel by Nelson Algren.
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During the Pacific phase of World War II, Marine Col. Thorwald (Randolph Scott) puts together a special strike force to capture Makin Island, a strategic territory held by Japan. He goes out of his way to select soldiers who are rugged or labeled as misfits, such as former boxer "Pig-Iron" Matthews (Bob Mitchum) and yokel Rube Tedrow (Rod Cameron). As their raid draws closer, Thorwald dispatches with all ranks and titles, and trains his group using unconventional methods. Based on the true story of Carlson's Raiders.