All Films

The Gentle Flame

1959 • 45 min

Operation Universe

1959 • 25 min • United Kingdom

A British documentary that covers the atomic energy developments made in Great Britain since the end of World War II, with a focus towards advancing progress towards space flight.

Die Rückseite des Mondes

1959 • 50 min • Germany

The bizarre story of a play's development at Munich's Kammerspiele theatre.

The Achalunés

1959 • 6 min • France

Organic forms are beating and resorbing, reflections dance to the rhythm of Henk BADINGS 'music, circles of light flash like disturbing eyes, perpetual metamorphoses evoke a great living and throbbing organism.

Dance Chromatic

1959 • 6 min

Dance Chromatic (1959), integrates film and painting. Dance Chromatic reveals that the contradiction between the desire to convey the organic growth of form and painting's lack of temporal extension led Emshwiller into filmmaking. - R. Bruce Elder

Hilton Hotel Construction

1959 • 5 min • United Kingdom

The Hilton Hotel rises from the ashes, surrounded by derelict houses and bomb damaged streets.

Banyan Deer

1959 • 9 min • India

First Indian animated film in color, based on a tale from the Buddhist Jatakas.

The Poet of the Castle

1959 • 11 min • Brazil

A 10-minute portrait of modernist poet and de Andrade’s godfather, Manuel Bandeira, is clear in its affection for it subject, though like many New-Waveish films of the time, depicts the modern urban landscape as an ominous and alienating force.

Alain Mimoun

1959 • 24 min • France

A documentary about French marathon runner Alain Mimoun at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne.

The Sword and the Flute

1959 • 24 min • India, United States of America

Visual images consist entirely of Indian miniature paintings, while an off-screen narrator traces the rise of this art form within the courts of Akbar (1542-1605), who united what is now India and Pakistan, and his son Jahangir (1569-1627). Two schools of the miniature paintings, done by anonymous artists, flourished after Akbar established unity and peace across what had been many smaller states: the Moghul (Islamic) school and the Rajput (Hindu) school. The Moghul paintings record the events of the court, while the Rajput school connects physical beauty and, in particular, the longing of women to the transcendent values of the spirit.

Piccolo

1959 • 9 min • Yugoslavia

Two men in adjoining duplexes, good friends, are enchanted by the song of a bird. One buys a small harmonica and learns to play it; he keeps his neighbor awake. The neighbor buys a larger harmonica, and an arms race ensues; the instruments get larger, until it's a piano vs. a pipe organ, and then they start bringing in larger groups of friends until an entire orchestra is playing the 1812 Overture. The houses collapse from all this, atop the dueling orchestras, and on their way up to heaven, the man puts his small harmonica up for sale.

An Unusual Day

1959 • 30 min • Germany, East Germany

This unusual day was preceded by little Maja's laziness. She didn't feel like doing any schoolwork. When she came to school the next day, the teacher didn't feel like teaching her. Everyone else she wants something from is not in the mood either. Maja begins to wonder whether this strange behavior could have something to do with her "listlessness" yesterday. And she comes to the conclusion that it is not right not to do your homework, as everyone has a duty to fulfill in their place.

Panhandle Scandal

1959 • 6 min • United States of America

Bandit Denver Dooley travels to a lawless western town where he notices a sign, "No Bandits Allowed. Signed, Marshall Woody Woodpecker".

Last of the Giants

1959 • 23 min • United States of America

A Union Pacific production outlining the Big Boy locomotive and the history of the last great steam engine to rule the rails

The Truth About Fidel Castro Revolution

1959 • 50 min • United States of America

Cuban Story: The Truth about Fidel Castro Revolution is a 1959 film documentary narrated by Errol Flynn, and the last known performance work of his career.

Sea Conquerors

1959 • 57 min • Soviet Union

Man Accused

1959 • 58 min • United Kingdom

Soon after celebrating his engagement to aristocratic heiress Kathy Riddle (Carol Marsh), engineer Bob Jensen (Ronald Howard) is accused by an insurance investigator of being a notorious -- and murderous -- jewel thief. Can Bob restore his reputation and regain Kathy's trust? Desperate to prove his innocence, Bob engineers a daring jailbreak and pursues the real culprit. Montgomery Tully directs this crime drama.

Jabberwock

1959 • 4 min

Lewis Carroll adaptation, won the Silver Medallion at the Cannes Film Festival.

The Changing of the Guard

1959 • 8 min • Poland

A stop-motion animation short dealing with matchboxes.

Another Evening with Fred Astaire

1959 • 60 min • United States of America

A one-hour live television special starring Fred Astaire.

Fit to Be Toyed

1959 • 7 min • United States of America

Jonathan P. Grisley, the president of a toy company, is sent to a psychiatrist to find out why he plays with toys. He goes back to childhood and thinks that he's got "toy phobia".

High Journey

1959 • 33 min • France

In this film, ten European countries (France, Italy, Greece, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany and Turkey) are photographed from low-flying aircraft against an evocative soundtrack, revealing the features of their ancient capitals, historical heritage and remarkable landscapes in a new dimension.

The Alphabet Conspiracy

1959 • 60 min • United States of America

Dr. Frank Baxter, with the help of The Mad Hatter and Jabberwock, takes young Judy exploring the world of language, in which she finds out that language is for doing more than just talking.

Marked by Darkness

1959 • 17 min • Czechoslovakia

Short, evocative documentary on the education of blind and partially sighted children.