Island of Doomed Men (1940)

An undercover agent gets paroled to a remote tropical island with a diamond mine manned by slave labor run by a sadistic landowner.

Predictable crime drama with a sinister touch; Peter Lorre does his thing and makes it worth the watch.

Maltin**: "Stock characters, stale melodramatics."

Les Misérables (1935)

In early 19th Century France an ex-convict who failed to report to parole is relentlessly pursued over a 20 year period by an obsessive policeman.

Nearly perfect Hollywood adaptation of the classic novel, fast-paced and straightforward, with excellence in all departments, especially cast, photography and settings.

Halliwell****: "Solid, telling, intelligent version of a much-filmed classic novel; in adaptation and performance it is hard to see how this film could be bettered."

Maltin***1/2: "Meticulous production..."

Imitation of Life (1934)

Bea Pullman and her daughter Jessie have had a hard time making ends meet since Bea's husband died, but help comes in the form of Delilah Johnson.