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. They are broadcast on:
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 May 3-4
When baby photographer Ronnie Jackson (Bob Hope) office-sits for traveling PI Sam McCloud, he finds his dreams of playing detective coming all too true all too soon when mysterious damsel-in-distress Carlotta Montay (Dorothy Lamour) sashays into his office. Soon our hero is up to his ski-nose in trouble as he and his comely client are chased by a gang of cutthroats with designs on Carlotta's uncle's uranium (that's right, uranium!).
Weekend of May 10-11
Terrorizing 1866 Indiana, the Reno brothers gang (Forrest Tucker, J. Carrol Naish, Myron Healy, Denver Pyle) uses the town of Seymour as a safe haven, paying off three crooked town officials. Sent in to clean up the gang is Peterson Detective Agency operative James Barlow (Randolph Scott), who poses as an outlaw to gain the confidence of the officials and the thick-headed brothers. Events heat up and rage surfaces as Barlow sets up the gang in a dawn train robbery.
Weekend of May 17-18
Nick Condon (James Cagney) is a newspaper reporter working in pre- WWII Tokyo who refuses to toe the Japanese line on the expansionist policies of the anti-democratic Imperialist government. When it becomes clear to the authorities that Condon isn't going to cooperate and that he has some valuable information and contacts, they decide to get him in their clutches to interrogate him, then dispose of him.
Weekend of May 24-25
This stirring historical drama brought Laurence Olivier (Hamlet, Richard III) and Vivien Leigh (Gone With the Wind, That Hamilton Woman) together on screen for the first time. Set during the reign of Elizabeth I, Fire Over England boasts dazzling cinematography, grand sets and costumes, and a first-rate cast. The then-unknown Olivier stars as a dashing naval officer whose daring leads the British to victory over the Spanish Armada. Proving himself a true swashbuckler, he charms many a maiden, infiltrates King Philip's court, and escapes by his sword and his wit. Leigh is exquisite as the lady-in-waiting who wins his heart forever. Dame Flora Robson co-stars as the courageous yet vulnerable Queen Elizabeth I.
Now Streaming
When her fiancé’s car accident brings together a woman (Annabella) and a stranger (David Niven), sparks fly. When her wealthy father is murdered, the daughter looks for those who might have plotted against him in this romance/mystery.
Now Streaming
Sulking in a Panama tavern after the events of "Treasure Island," Long John Silver (Robert Newton) learns that a rival pirate has kidnapped the governor's daughter and Jim Hawkins (Kit Taylor). After convincing the governor that only a pirate can catch a pirate, Silver sets out to rescue Jim, who has a medallion showing the location of hidden treasure. Silver tries to return to Treasure Island but is marooned with Jim on Socorro Island, where the foiled and angry kidnapper is hiding.
nOW sTREAMING
The first and only "Road" movie in Technicolor has American song-and-dance men Harold Gridley (Bob Hope) and George Cochran (Bing Crosby) dodging a double-barreled shotgun wedding in Australia by signing on as deep sea divers on the exotic island of Bali, Indonesia. There the fun-lovin' pair falls in love with beautiful Princess Lalah (Dorothy Lamour) and meet a chimp that holds a strong resemblance to one well-known ski-nosed actor! With Murvyn Vye, Carolyn Jones; look for cameos by Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, and Jane Russell.
Now Streaming
Featuring an Academy Award-winning screenplay co-written by Dorothy Parker, this film tells the story of hopeful, young would-be actress Esther Blodgett (Academy Award winner Janet Gaynor) whose career is launched by movie star Norman Maine (Academy Award winner Fredric March), who also wins the young actress' heart. Esther becomes leading lady Vicki Lester and Mrs. Norman Maine, but as Maine's career flounders, he sinks into an abyss of alcoholism. Esther chooses to sacrifice her stardom to care for her husband, but he will not allow Esther to abandon her dreams for him.
Now Streaming
Adopted by the wealthy rancher Arch Strobie, orphan Owen Daybright (Burt Lancaster) grows to be a respectable foreman on Strobie's ranch. Strobie's natural son, Lee (Robert Walker), is jealous of Owen and finally finds a way to undermine his upstanding brother. When Lee conceives an illegitimate child with Lily Fasken (Sally Forrest), who refuses to name him as the father, he tells her revenge-minded brothers that Owen is to blame, hoping they'll take his half-brother out of the picture.