Charlton Heston

Jesse (Thora Birch) and Sean (Vincent Kartheiser) sent on an adventure to save their father (Dirk Benedict), who during an emergency delivery in a storm crashes somewhere in the mountains.

A pair of grizzled frontiersmen fight Indians, guzzle liquor and steal squaws in their search for a legendary valley 'so full of beaver that they jump right into your traps' in this fanciful adventure.

A Navy Captain uses his experimental Snark to reach a nuclear submarine stuck on an ocean ledge. The USS Neptune, a nuclear submarine, is sunk off the coast of Connecticut after a collision with a Norwegian cargo ship. The navy must attempt a potentially dangerous rescue in the hope of saving the lives of the crew. —Robbie Smith <robsmith@u.washington.edu>

On April 18, 1942, during World War II, a squadron (16 planes) of B-25 bombers (The Doolittle Raid) from the USS Hornet launches a lightning raid on Tokyo. The strike stuns the Imperial Japanese Navy and its commander Admiral Yamamoto (Toshiro Mifune). With hard evidence of the threat posed by the carriers of the American Pacific Fleet to the Japanese home islands, Yamamoto devises a plan to lure out the American fleet and destroy it once and for all by forcing it to sortie against the invasion of Midway Island. At Pearl Harbor, Captain Matt Garth (Charlton Heston) is tasked with gauging the progress of decryption efforts at Station HYPO, headed by Commander Joseph Rochefort (Hal Holbrook), which has partially cracked the Japanese Navy's JN-25 code (they have cracked 10% of the code), indicating that a major operation will soon take place at a location the Japanese refer to as "AF". The US only have 4 carriers and need time to build more. They are concerned that Yamamoto will strike back, due to the Doolittle raid. Rochefort says the Japanese are planning an attack in Coral Sea and give Garth a list of ships they will be using for the attack. Garth is also asked by his son, naval aviator Ensign Tom Garth (Edward Albert), to help free his girlfriend Haruko Sakura, an American-born daughter of Japanese immigrants, who has been interned with her parents, by calling in favors to have the charges against the family dropped. Yamamoto and his staff present their plans for Midway to the commanders (on his flagship battleship Yamato) who have been chosen to lead the attack - Admirals Nagumo (James Shigeta) and Yamaguchi (John Fujioka) of the Japanese carrier force and Admiral Kondo (Conrad Yama) of the invasion force. Kondo is not happy with the plan devised by strategist Captain Kameto Kuroshima (Seth Sakai). The plan calls for Nagumo's carrier-based planes to destroy Midway's US defenses, before Kondo can land his invasion forces there. But the land-based carriers of the US at Midway have a range of 400 miles more than the carrier based planes that Nagumo has. The Jap carriers will be destroyed, if they are spotted. Vice Admiral Boshiro Hosogaya (Dale Ishimoto) wants more time to study the plan and suggests postponing the decision till after Coral Sea. Yamamoto is convinced that the only way to defeat US is to strike now when they are weak. After the inconclusive Battle of the Coral Sea (US lost one ship and sunk one Jap light carrier and some smaller ships. Carrier Yorktown was heavily damaged), Rochefort uses a simple ruse to confirm that "AF" is Midway (He gets the Midway unit to transmit a fake message, which he knows will be picked by the Japanese. Once the Japanese transmit over their radio, they identify the location as "AF", thus confirming that its Midway). Now knowing the location and roughly the date of the attack, Admiral Nimitz (Henry Fonda) and his staff prepare a trap of their own. Captain Vinton Maddox (James Coburn) is the US naval strategist who says that the midway plan is a Jap ruse to divert forces from Hawaii. Maddox says that the safe play is to defend Hawai and give up Midway. Rochefort informs Nimitz that the Japanese have changed the JN-25 code. it will take 2 months to break it. US is now blind. Yamamoto lays out the plan. Hosogaya will attack the Altusian Islands to divert Nimitz's attention away from Midway. 24 hours later, Nagumo will attack Midway and Kondo will move in with his invasion force. Vice Admiral William F. "Bull" Halsey Jr. (Robert Mitchum) would be leading the US fleet, but it would take them 48 hours to get there. By which time, Nagumo would be ready for them. Unknown to them Halsey was injured at Coral Sea and is hospitalized in Hawaii. Rear Admiral Raymond A. Spruance (Glenn Ford) is the replacements, and the Japanese are unfamiliar with his battle tactics (Ray is a cruiser commander and he got the job only because Halsey was asked to recommend his own replacement). Yamamoto is aboard the Akagi (Rear Admiral Ryunosuke Kusaka (Pat Morita) is Yamamoto's COS). Lieutenant Joichi Tomonaga (Sab Shimono) is the air commander filling in for Fushida (who led the air raid on Hawaii), as he is in sick bay with a flu. The carriers USS Enterprise and USS Hornet, augmented by a hastily repaired USS Yorktown that had been damaged at Coral Sea, will sail to a point north of Midway and lie in wait for the Japanese fleet (Raymond plans for a contingency just in case the Japanese are going for Hawaii again). Meanwhile, Matt has been unsuccessful in freeing the Sakuras, infuriating Tom, who ships out on his carrier. The Japanese had sent 2 scout planes to check for the US fleet at Pearl Harbor, but it could not complete the mission as it could not be refueled due to the presence of an enemy ship at the rendezvous point. Yamamoto is advised not to break radio silence to speak with Nagumo and continue as planned. Meanwhile Nagumo is unaware of the failure of the scout planes and since he didn't hear from Yamamoto, he assumes that the US fleet is still at Pearl Harbor. The battle begins on June 4 as Nagumo's carrier force launches its air attack on Midway Island. Nagumo is not sure of the position of the US fleet and holds back half his planes and the best pilots. Kusaka protests, but Nagumo is adamant. The American base is attacked, but the airstrip remains usable, meaning Midway can still launch aircraft. The Japanese carriers are then spotted by American scouts (The US ships had spotted Kondo's invasion force but had still no clue of Nagumo's carrier strike force. So, Raymond launches a second strike of seaplanes to look for the carrier behind a storm front that was hitting Midway). A massive aerial force is launched from the American carriers. Meanwhile Nagumo is elated that the first strike on Midway is a success and Kusaks convinces him to launch the 2nd strike by arming them with contact bombs instead of having them armed with torpedoes against enemy carriers. Meanwhile, Nagumo is shocked to learn of a sighting by a scout plane of an American carrier, throwing his plans into disarray as he orders that the next strike wave (which was being rearmed with bombs for an attack on Midway) be rapidly re-armed for an attack on the carrier. He has to wait more as the returning planes from the first strike on Midway are near empty on fuel, and Nagumo orders them to be recovered before launching the strike against the US carriers. Raymond has intel on only 2 enemy carriers and knows 2 are still missing. He takes a gamble and launches 114 aircraft against the 2 knows carriers. But due to Enterprise and Yorktown waiting to recover their scouts, only the torpedo planes are launched, and the fighters and bombers are delayed by a few minutes. Torpedo bombers from Hornet are the first American planes to locate the Japanese fleet. With fuel running low, they attack without fighter protection and are slaughtered by the Japanese Combat Air Patrol. Tom is severely burned when gunfire starts a fire in his cockpit. The Japanese fighters, however, are drawn down to wave-top altitude by the low-flying torpedo planes, leaving them out of position when dive-bombers & fighters from Enterprise and Yorktown arrive. As the Japanese are preparing to launch their second wave, the American bombers attack and reduce three of the Japanese carriers - Akagi, Kaga and Soryu - to burning wrecks within minutes. The remaining Japanese carrier Hiryu immediately launches aircraft. Following the returning American bombers, they soon discover Yorktown and inflict severe damage. The crew manages to bring the fires under control as a scout plane reports that Hiryu has been spotted. Below decks, Matt meets Tom and reconciles with him. Due to a shortage of pilots, Matt joins the counterattack against the Japanese carrier just before its second wave of aircraft strikes. Yorktown is soon burning, and the order is given to abandon ship. But the Japanese think they have sunk a 2nd carrier, not knowing that they just hit the Yorktown once again. Hiryu is sunk, dealing a fatal blow to the invasion. The American planes return to Enterprise and Hornet, but Matt, his plane badly damaged, is killed during landing. Yamamoto receives news of the loss of all his carriers. The admiral orders a general withdrawal as he contemplates how he will apologize for his failure to the Emperor.

In Los Angeles, California, a sniper (Warren Miller) fires a rifle from the window of his hotel room, killing a middle-aged man bicycling with his wife. At Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Paul (Brock Peters), a security officer, leads a pair of watchdogs into the scoreboard tower before locking all entryways. Meanwhile, the sniper leaves the hotel and drives toward the stadium, where a championship football game is to be played that afternoon between the Los Angeles and Baltimore, Maryland, teams. Football fans from Baltimore arrive at Los Angeles International Airport, including Steve (David Janssen), a short-tempered car salesman, and Janet (Gena Rowlands), his live-in girl friend. After a gambler named Mr. Sandman (Jack Klugman) places a large bet on the Los Angeles team, he is summoned to the hotel suite of Mr. Green (Alan Miller), a gangster to whom Sandman owes $28,000. Green demands the money at the conclusion of the game, or Sandman will be killed. Outside the Coliseum, Mike and Peggy Ramsay (Beau Bridges and Pamela Bellwood) have a picnic on the lawn outside the stadium with their two young sons, along with several other families. Meanwhile, the sniper enters the scoreboard tower undetected, then distracts the dogs with a piece of meat, and breaks the lock to the upper level, which overlooks the interior of the Coliseum. A telephone conversation between police captain Pete Holly (Charlton Heston) and Coliseum manager Sam McKeever (Martin Balsam) reveals that the governors of Maryland and California, the mayor of Los Angeles, and the president of the U.S. will be in attendance. A television crew prepares to broadcast the game from their control room, with several cameras placed around the stadium, including one in the blimp hovering overhead. The game gets underway and Baltimore quickly accumulates an eleven-point lead over Los Angeles. A Catholic priest (Mitchell Ryan) takes a seat next to Sandman, who fears for his life and requests a prayer for the Los Angeles team. Elsewhere in the crowd, Mike Ramsay scans the stadium through his binoculars, and is distracted by an indiscernible presence above the scoreboard. Moments later, the blimp camera detects the sniper. Sam informs the Secret Service of the security breach and deters the president's visit, then calls in Pete Holly. Later, Paul becomes indignant when Sam and Holly question his competence in the performance of his duties, and while they discuss their options in dealing with the crisis, Paul climbs the 60-foot ladder to the top of the tower. Before the two men are able to stop him, Paul reaches the top and is struck by the sniper's rifle stock, causing him to fall his death. Holly orders in the police department's Special Weapons and Tactics (S.W.A.T.) team, as well as three fully staffed ambulances. When the S.W.A.T. team arrives, Holly apprises its leader, Sgt. Chris Button (John Cassavetes), of the situation, and assures him that both governors and the mayor will be evacuated, reducing the chances of a shooting. Button, however, believes everyone in the stadium to be a "probable target." The sergeant deploys his men, placing two in each light tower overlooking the scoreboard, two in the control room to monitor the sniper, and others in and around the scoreboard, none of which are noticed by the more than 90,000 people in attendance. Holly hopes to foil the sniper without incident, and will only turn the operation over to Button after the two-minute warning is sounded, which signals the final moments of the game. In the stands, the priest tries to comfort Sandman, who has admitted that his life depends on the game's outcome. Mike goes to the lobby to tell the police about his discovery of the sniper, but the police take him away for interrogation. Meanwhile, in the control room, the camera signal from the blimp is lost and a police helicopter is called to monitor the sniper. As the Los Angeles team takes the lead, the two-minute warning is signaled with a pistol shot, and Holly orders the S.W.A.T. team into action. Steve and Janet end a bitter argument in the hallway with the decision to get married, but as they return to their seats, the sniper shoots and kills Steve... and then all hell breaks loose. The sniper finally opens fire on the crowd and kills two S.W.A.T. team members and several spectators, including Sandman. Peggy Ramsey is wounded by a bullet to her shoulder as she runs out of the stadium with her two young sons. Mike manages to get away from the police and runs through the panicking crowing trying to find his wife. At the same time, the S.W.A.T. team fires back, but the sniper is undaunted and shoots into the panicked crowd as it stampedes out of the stadium. Holly and Button climb the ladder to the scoreboard, while gunfire from the police helicopter causes the sniper to retreat into the tower. The police follow him inside, and the sniper continues to fire on them from a narrow shaft above the tower. Holly shoots six bullets into the shaft, and the sniper falls. The captain tries to interrogate the dying man but gets no response. The sniper's wallet identifies him as Carl Cook, "a transient from out of state." Elsewhere around the Coliseum, emergency crews treat the injured and identify the dead. Mike is returned to his family as his injured wife is placed in an ambulance. The priest remains in his seat, cradling Sandman's dead body. Later, as Cook's body is lowered from the tower, Button speculates on the killer's posthumous celebrity, and on how the police will likely be criticized for using excessive force.

Columbia Airlines' Flight 409 is a red-eye Boeing 747-100 en route from Washington Dulles International Airport to Los Angeles International Airport. One of the passengers on board is a teenage girl named Janice Abbott (Linda Blair) who is sceduled to have a kidney transplant in L.A. and she is being wheeled onto the plane on a stretcher. Another passenger is the actress Gloria Swanson (herself) going to L.A. for another movie deal. Barney (Sid Ceasar) and Bill (Norman Fell) are two gambling friends whom are planning just another good time in California. Also on board are two nuns named Sister Beatrice (Martha Scott) and Sister Ruth (Helen Reddy) whom take pitty on the ailing Janice and Sister Ruth borrows a guitar and sings a song for Janice and the rest of the passengers. Meanwhile, Scott Freeman (Dana Andrews) is a businessman living in Santa Fe, New Mexico with an urgent sales meeting in Boise, Idaho. Failure to make this meeting threatens half his sales commissions for the coming year. He is en route in his private Beechcraft Baron. However, an occluded storm front has the entire West Coast socked in, with Los Angeles reporting zero visibility. That not only affects the Columbia flight but also precludes Freeman making his meeting in Boise. Both flights are diverted to Salt Lake City International Airport. Freeman's small plane and the giant Boeing 747 enter Salt Lake's entry pattern. Air traffic control assigns the jumbo to enter the pattern first at a low altitude of 10,000 feet, followed by the Beechcraft. As Columbia 409 is making its final approach, the co-pilot and First Officer Urias (Roy Thinnes) feels a vibration on one of the adjacent panels and rises to check it out. Freeman, anxious about his missed meeting, makes a call to the Salt Lake Tower asking about the delay. The tower confirms that he is second to land after the big jet. Freeman suddenly suffers a massive heart attack. As he grabs his chest, the Baron falls out of the pattern and descends into the approach of Columbia 409. The Beechcraft impacts the flight deck just above the co-pilot seat. Freeman is instantly killed by the impact as his small plane explodes. First Officer Urias, still standing, is instantly blown from the cockpit. Navigator and Flight Engineer Julio (Erik Estrada) is struck on the head by debris and killed. Captain Stacey (Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.) is struck in the face by debris and is blinded. The impact knocks a male flight attendant from the upper lounge down to the cabin below. Nancy Pryor (Karen Black), the head flight attendant, rushes up to the flight deck to find Urias gone, Julio dead, and Stacey badly maimed. Fortunately, the captain is able to engage the autopilot and the altitude hold switch to keep the aircraft in the air before losing consciousness. Nancy informs the Salt Lake control tower that the crew is dead or badly injured and that there is no one to fly the plane. She is told to stay on the same radio frequency. Nancy gives the assessment of the damage as a large hole on the starboard side of the flight deck that wiped out most of the instrument gauges over the engineer station. Joe Patroni (George Kennedy), Columbia's Vice President of Operations, is apprised of Flight 409's situation. He seeks the advice of Captain Al Murdoch (Charlton Heston), Columbia's chief flight instructor, who also happens to be Nancy Pryor's former lover. Patroni takes a personal intrest in Flight 409 because his wife (Susan Clark) is on board the plane with their eldest son. Patroni and Murdoch take the airline's executive jet to Salt Lake City. En route, they communicate with Nancy, who is still in the cockpit in the pilot's seat. While the autopilot is keeping the aircraft in level flight, it is inoperable for turns. Something has to be done, as the jet is heading into the Wasatch Mountains. After successfully guiding Nancy by radio on how to perform the turn, radio communications are interrupted and the Salt Lake tower is unable to restore contact. With the low-flying plane unable to turn, leaking fuel, and dodging the peaks of the Wasatch Mountains, an air-to-air rescue attempt is undertaken from a jet-powered HH-53 Super Jolly Green Giant helicopter flown by the USAF Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Service. While the pilot is preparing to be released on a tether, it becomes apparent that Flight 409 is heading straight into the side of a mountain. With radio communications still out, Nancy flies the plane unaided. The badly wounded Captain Stacey is able to give a cryptic clue regarding the decrease in airspeed during a climb in altitude. Nancy realizes that she must accelerate the engines to be able to climb over the mountain and successfully does so. After Flight 409 has leveled off, the pilot is released on a tow line from the helicopter towards the stricken airliner. Just as Nancy is helping him in, the release cord from his harness becomes caught in the jagged metal surrounding the hole in the cockpit. As he climbs in, his harness is released from the tether and he falls to his death. The only other person on the helicopter who can land a 747 is Captain Murdock. He is tethered to the rear of the helicopter, lowered to the jet and successfully enters it through the hole in the cockpit. Despite the controls being smashed and with serious damage to the landing breaks, he then lands the plane safely at Salt Lake City Airport, where the flight attendants successfully conduct an emergency evacuation of the passengers via the inflatable slides on the left side of the 747. Patroni is reunited with his wife and son, and Nancy and Captain Murdock walk away from the damaged plane.

The film opens on Stewart Graff (Charleton Heston) jogging underneath the Hollywood sign. Back home, as he finishes his workout on a resistance machine, his shrewd wife Remy Royce-Graff (Ava Gardner) starts her morning by picking a fight with him. At the peak of their argument, Stewart says to Remy, "You'd hardly call this a marriage wouldn't you?" After he's showered and preparing to leave, Stewart finds Remy unconscious with a bottle of pills nearby. Accustomed to her periodic suicide attempts, Stewart prepares to induce vomiting when a violent tremor shakes the bedroom. Remy bolts out of bed, revealing that she was faking. At the Mulholland Dam, two workers begin a routine inspection of the structure in response to the tremor. One of them is drowned in an elevator shaft which has filled with water after the quake. In downtown Los Angeles, Sgt. Lou Slade (George Kennedy) and his partner Emilio Chavez (Pedro Armendáriz, Jr.) are in pursuit of a suspect. They chase him out of their jurisdiction, finally crashing into the hedges at Zsa Zsa Gabor's house. After a Beverly Hills Sheriff yells at Lou for ruining Gabor's hedges, the angry Lou punches him out. When reprimanded, Lou explains to his supervisor that the suspect had stolen the car, gotten stoned, and then driven over a 6-year old Mexican girl without stopping. To his disgust, he receives a temporary suspension from his unfeeling superior. On his way to work, Stewart visits Denise Marshall (Geneviève Bujold), an actress who is the widow of one of his friends and co-workers. He drops off an autographed football for her son and helps Denise run her lines for a scene she is shooting later that day. A junior staffer, Walter Russell (Kip Niven), at the California Seismological Institute has calculated that Los Angeles will suffer a major earthquake in the next day or two. He frantically tries to reach his superior, Dr. Frank Adams (Bob Cunningham), who is busy placing seismic sensors in the field. Another tremor hits as Adams and his assistant are working in a deep trench and they are buried alive. The scientists at the center argue about whether or not to go public with their prediction of a major quake. The acting supervisor, Dr. Willis Stockle (Barry Sullivan), insists that if they are wrong their funding will be jeopardized. He also argues that the panic such a warning would cause could be worse than the earthquake itself. They agree on a compromise to alert the National Guard and police so that they can at least mobilize to help deal with the fallout. While checking out at a grocery store, a poor young woman named Rosa Amici (Victoria Principal) realizes she does not have enough money to pay for all her items. Jody Joad (Marjoe Gortner), the seemingly kind store manager, insists that she keep the items and make up the deficit the next time she shops. Later, when he hears that the National Guard reserves are being called up on the radio, Jody leaves the store in the middle of his shift, revealing himself to be part of the reserve army. He goes to his run-down boarding house and changes into his NCO uniform, enduring the abuse and harassment of his bullying housemates who accuse him of being homosexual because he's got pictures of bodybuilders on his wall. Blowing off steam at a bar, Lou orders a double bourbon and ignores all the illegal activity he sees. A drunk (Walter Matthau) periodically wakes up to toast random people like 'Bobby Riggs'. Daredevil motorcyclist Miles Quade (Richard Roundtree) arrives with his partner Sal Amici (Gabriel Dell) and his sister Rosa. A pool shark collects $50 that Miles owes him, leaving him short for the propane tank he needs to do a stunt for a talent scout. Miles convinces Lou to loan him the money by having Rosa reveal a tight-fitting t-shirt he's marketing with his name on it. The tremor cancelled Denise's shoot; so, she heads to Stewart's office, pretending to meet with a friend. When she runs into him, he is headed out for a drink. They go back to Denise's house for the drink and end up making love. He promises to come back later that night and invites her to spend the summer with him in Oregon, where he will be overseeing a project. Back at the office, his boss Sam Royce offers to hand over the company presidency to Stewart. He asks for some time to consider the idea. Stewart calls Denise and breaks off their plans for later that night. He goes to Sam's office to accept his offer but is stunned to see Remy there. He assumes she has convinced her father, Sam (Lorne Greene), to offer the promotion to Stewart in order to save their marriage. He storms out and she follows him, accusing him of cheating with Denise. He explains that he never had until that day. When they get outside the building, the main earthquake begins, rupturing the San Andreas Fault, and causing thousands of buildings to collapse and causing hundreds of thousands of people to die while shaking Southern California for nearly six to nine minutes. The earthquake is measured 9.9 on the richter scale at the Seismological Institute. When the earthquake subsides, Sam and most of his employees are trapped on the upper floors of their skyscraper, as the elevators have crashed to the ground. They descend most of the way by the stairs, but the earthquake has sheared off a portion of the building, leaving an impasse of about two stories. Sam rigs a fire hose to a chair and lowers his staff down one at a time. When everyone is safe, he suffers a heart attack, and Stewart climbs up to lower him down in the chair. Meanwhile, Denise's son was caught on a bridge over a freeway causeway when the quake struck. She spies him unconscious on the concrete and climbs down to save him. Unable to climb back out with her son, she hails Miles and Sal who are passing by in their truck. After saving Denise and her son, they drive in search of help, coming across Lou who is organizing rescue efforts in the street. Lou commandeers their truck to use it as an ambulance. After nibbling on a donut in a ruined diner, Rosa has been arrested by the National Guard for looting. Jody, now a sergeant, picks her out of a group of prisoners. Recognizing him from the grocery store, Rosa assumes he is going to let her go, but he claims that the streets are too unsafe for her to go anywhere and he orders her to stay inside a secluded store. Another group of troops arrive with Jody's housemates as prisoners. Jody executes them in an act of revenge for all the long time bullying he endured from them, terrifying Rosa and his subordinates as they now see his dark psychopathic side. Once Stewart gets everyone from his office safely to a shopping center named Wilson Plaza, which has been converted into a triage center, he goes off in search of Denise and her son. He ends up driving Lou around in search of survivors and they come across Jody and his regiment. Jody threatens to fire on them if they come any closer and Rosa emerges when she sees Lou, begging for his help. Lou and Stewart pretend to comply with Jody by driving off while Sgt. Joad's scared men look for an officer to have him face a court martial and detainment. But Lou sneaks back and gets the jump on Jody, who's enraged at Rosa for betraying and rejecting him and tries to rape her. Lou shoots Jody dead in self-defense when Jody tries to kill him with his rifle and rescues Rosa. As they drive away, they hear that another aftershock has threatened Wilson Plaza. After a quick survey of the building, Stewart realizes there are survivors trapped in an underground garage. He and Lou crawl into the sewer and through some rubble with a jackhammer, which they use to drill through to the garage. Stewart is overjoyed to find Denise, who is one of the people trapped inside. As he hugs her, he sees his wife standing just behind her. During the rescue, the Mulholland Dam finally gives way, sending water down the sewers. Lou and Denise make it up the ladder to safety, but as Remy climbs out, a man steps on her hand. She falls back into the water which is sweeping people away. Stewart looks up at Denise, but he cannot bring himself to abandon his wife to her death. He sacrifices himself when he swims after her and both of them are swept away and presumably drown. Denise walks away from the manhole in shock and grief. Lou is holding Rosa when a doctor walks up to him and says, "This used to be a helluva town, officer." Lou mumbles, "Yeah" as he tries not to cry. The camera pans back to reveal a completely destroyed Los Angeles.

In the year 2022, the population has grown to 40 million people in New York City alone. Most housing is dilapidated and overcrowded, and the homeless fill the streets and line the fire escapes, stairways of buildings, abandoned cars, subway platforms, etc. Unemployment is at around 50%. Summers are oppressively hot and humid with temperatures over 90F degrees during the day and night due to Earth's recent climate change resulting from the Greenhouse Effect. Food, as we know it in this present time, is a rare and expensive commodity. Technology is at a standstill as most of planet Earth's natural resources are gone including most trees. Most of the World's population survives on processed rations produced by the massive Soylent Corporation, including Soylent Red and Soylent Yellow, which are advertised as "high-energy vegetable concentrates". The newest product is Soylent Green: small green wafers which are advertised as being produced from "high-energy plankton". It is much more nutritious and palatable than the red and yellow varieties but, like most other foods, in short supply which often leads to weekly food riots. Robert Thorn (Charlton Heston) is a New York City Police Department detective from the 14th Precinct who lives in a dilapidated, cramped one-room apartment with his aged friend and roommate, Solomon "Sol" Roth (Edward G. Robinson). Roth is a former college professor whose job is to sort through the now-disordered remnants of written records and books to help Thorn's investigations. Roth and his like are known as "books." He tells Thorn about the time before the ecological disaster and population crisis of the early 2000s, when real food was plentiful, although Thorn is generally not interested in the stories, finding most of them too hard to believe. Thorn is assigned to investigate the murder of William R. Simonson (Joseph Cotten), a 68-year-old wealthy lawyer living in a luxury high-rise apartment building called Chelsea Towers West. At the crime scene, Thorn first talks with the building superintendent Charles (Philip Stone) about discovering the body. Charles leads Thorn to the 22nd floor and to Simonson's apartment which is 22A. Thorn finds Simonson lying in a pool of blood after having been struck multiple times in the back of the head with a sharp object which is speculated to be a meat hook or an ax. Instead of looking for clues, the poorly paid detective helps himself to the wealthy man's food, liquor and books and even enjoys taking a shower (with real hot water and soap). He questions Shirl (Leigh Taylor-Young), an attractive 23-year-old "concubine" (euphemistically known as "furniture") who comes with the apartment, and Simonson's bodyguard, Tab Fielding (Chuck Connors), who claims that he was told to escort Shirl on a shopping trip when the attack took place. The sanitation crew led by Wagner arrives to take Simonson's dead body away, as Thorn leaves after collecting a written statement from Fielding. Returning to his apartment, Thorn gives Roth the Soylent Oceanographic Survey Report, 2015 to 2019, a two-volume work which he took from Simonson's apartment. Thorn returns to work at the 14th Precinct during that evening where they're hundreds of people lining up to collect death benefit money from recently diseased friends and family members. Thorn talks to his superior officer, Lieutenant Hatcher (Brock Peters), telling him that he suspects the Simonson homicide may have been an assassination, since nothing was stolen from the apartment and the murder seemed professional. Thorn also finds it odd that the luxury apartment's sophisticated alarm and monitoring electronics, including the building's security cameras, happened to be inoperative on the night of the murder, and Simonson's bodyguard just happened to be out of the apartment at the time. Thorn confides in Lt. Hatcher that he suspects that Fielding might have had something to do with Simonson's murder. The next day, Thorn stakes out Fielding's apartment building and sees him leave. Thorn lets himself into Fielding's apartment where he questions Fielding's live-in "furniture", Martha (Paula Kelly), about his work for Simonson. Thorn returns to his own apartment to eat an evening meal of the purloined food taken from Simonson's apartment that Roth prepares for them. Afterwards, Roth tells Thorn about the research he did on the murder victim and that Simonson was a member of the board of directors of the Soylent Corporation. When he presents Roth with a spoon of strawberry jam surreptitiously palmed from Fielding's apartment, Roth tastes it and declares that Fielding's "furniture" is eating some "$150-a-jar" strawberry jam, which is an out-of-place luxury for the mistress of a bodyguard. That evening, Thorn returns to the Chelsea Towers West to question Shirl, who tells him that Simonson became deeply troubled in the days before his death, even taking her to a local Catholic church. Shirl is throwing a party in Simonson's vacant apartment for the other "furniture" girls of the building. Just then, Charles arrives and begins yelling and hitting the women for slacking off until Thorn arrives back in the living room to stop Charles from hurting the girls anymore. After sending Charles and the rest of the furniture girls away, Thorn returns to Shirl and they make love. A little later that same evening, Thorn goes to a local Catholic Church (teeming with hundreds of homeless people) and attempts to question the priest (Lincoln Kirkpatrick) about Simonson's confession, but the priest is almost catatonic with exhaustion and has a hard time remembering Simonson, even though Simonson, as a rich man, would have stood out among the impoverished people who normally frequent the church. When the priest remembers Simonson, he tells Thorn the memory of what Simonson told him during confession which is haunting him, and he is unable to describe what Simonson said to him because it was "too horrible". The next day, Fielding goes to the church and murders the priest in the confessional booth to ensure he never talks again. The next morning, as Thorn begins uncovering more evidence as to why Simonson was murdered, New York State's Governor, Joseph Santini (Whit Bissell), who was once Simonson's partner in a high-profile law firm and who is running for re-election (as shown in the campaign posters on such walls as that of Hatcher's office), instructs Hatcher to close the investigation. However, Thorn continues his investigation into the murder. When Governor Santini learns that Thorn refuses to close the case of the Simonson murder, he orders his chief of security, Donovan (Roy Jensen), to have Thorn murdered. When Thorn is on riot duty during the Tuesday distribution of Soylent Green rations, Simonson's murderer, Gilbert (Stephen Young), a local assassin-for-hire whom was the one that Donovan contracted to murder Simonson, attacks Thorn and fires several shots at him with a silenced pistol as a food riot begins. Thorn chases his attacker into the thick crowd as large dump trucks called "scoops" designed by the NYC Riot Police, arrive to pick up closely packed rioters and "scoop" them into the trucks. But before Thorn can capture Gilbert, who manages to wound Thorn by shooting him in his right calf, the assassin is crushed to death under the "scoop" of one of the riot control vehicles. Thorn goes back to Fielding's apartment and beats him and his mistress Martha for the attempt on his life. Thorn then goes back to Shirl at Simonson's apartment where she removes the bullet and stitches his wound. Shirl tells Thorn that a new tenant will be arriving soon at the apartment and is hoping to move in, but she has romantic feelings for Thorn. Thorn tells Shirl that he will let her know if she wants to stay with him or the new tenant of Simonson's apartment. After resting for about an hour, Thorn leaves the apartment into the evening as sirens for the nightly curfew begin sounding. Sometime later a new potential tenant, a brash high-class businessman, arrives at the apartment and questions Shirl about herself and describes his daily details should he decide move in and want to keep her as "furniture". Meanwhile, Roth examines Soylent's oceanographic reports at the Supreme Exchange, a library and gathering place for fellow "books." The "books" and Roth finally realize that the reports indicate a "horrible" truth which, despite reading it for themselves, they find nearly impossible to believe; Soylent Green isn't made from plankton, it's made from human bodies. Unable to live with what he has uncovered, Roth opts for assisted suicide at a government clinic (in the former Madison Square Garden, which had been converted to a clinic for mass euthanasia), a process referred to as "going home". As Roth is dying, he watches video clips of Earth long ago when animal (sheep, deer, and horses) and plant life was thriving and there was no pollution, while listening to light classical music. Thorn returns to his apartment and finds a note from Roth that he is "going home". Thorn races to the clinic and forces one staff attendant (Dick Van Patten) to allow him to see and talk to Roth. During Roth's final moments, he tells Thorn the secret of Soylent Green, and begs him to follow his body to the processing center and report back to the Supreme Exchange so they can take the information to the Council of Nations to take action. Thorn sneaks into the basement of the assisted suicide facility, where he sees corpses being loaded onto waste disposal trucks. He secretly hitches a ride on one, which is driven to a heavily guarded waste disposal plant just outside the city. The black-clad sanitation drivers are escorted at gunpoint out of the truck where a white-clad plant worker takes over driving. The sanitation worker is escorted to another truck leaving the fortress-like facility to drive back to the city. Once inside the plant, Thorn sees how the corpses are processed into Soylent Green wafers. They are loaded onto a conveyor belt and driven through a large machine about several hundred yards long, and the Soylent Green wafers come out on the other end. But Thorn is spotted by two plant workers and is chased. Thorn kills one and subdues another before he escapes from the plant just when the alarm is sounded. Thorn returns to the teeming city and heads for the Supreme Exchange to report what he found, but is ambushed by Fielding and three other gunmen (all of whom presumably work for the government and are also aware and are trying to conceal the secret about Soylent Green). Thorn manage to get to a police payphone and call Shirl to tell her that he loves her and to stay with the new tenant whom wants to rent Simonson's vacant apartment. Thorn also manages to place a second call to Lt. Hatcher at the 14th Precinct to tell him where he is and that he is being attacked, but then gets cut off when the assassins close in. During a chase through the deserted streets and alleys (cleared of people because of the government-imposed dusk to dawn curfew), Thorn manages to kill all the gunmen chasing him except for Fielding who shoots Thorn in the back. He retreats into a cathedral filled with homeless people and Fielding follows him. After a desperate fight through throngs of sleeping homeless, Thorn kills Fielding by stabbing him with a rusted kitchen knife. When police backup arrives at the church, the seriously wounded and nearly hysterical Thorn confides to Lt. Hatcher the horrible secret behind Soylent Green, while Hatcher looks on with disbelief. As Thorn is being carried away by the police on a stretcher to a local hospital, he urges to Hatcher to spread the word and shouts out to the spectators: "Soylent Green is PEOPLE!! We've got to stop them... SOMEHOW!!!"

After the murder of her lover Caesar, Egypt's queen Cleopatra needs a new ally. She seduces his probable successor Mark Antony. This develops into real love and slowly leads to a war with the other possible successor: Octavius.

A Vietnam vet bomber hijacks a Boeing 707, forcing the crew to fly to Russia amidst tensions and stereotypes of the early 1970s. A crazed Vietnam vet bomber hijacks a Boeing 707 in this disaster film filled with the usual early '70s stereotypes, and demands to be taken to Russia. —Marty McKee <mmckee@wkio.com> Global Airways domestic flight 502 to Minneapolis-St. Paul has the potential for problems after Angie Thatcher, the girlfriend of co-pilot Sam Allen, is re-assigned as lead flight attendant; she is also the ex-girlfriend of the pilot, Hank O'Hara. There is further excitement once in the air as the President of the United States relays a message for one of the passengers. But those two issues take a back seat when a note for one person obviously to find states that there is a bomb aboard the plane and the note writer will detonate said bomb unless the flight is diverted to Anchorage, Alaska. The location of the note means that it had to have been written by one of the passengers in first class: a jazz cellist off to a gig; an army sergeant on furlough to attend his sister's wedding; a US Senator and his young adult son off on a fishing trip together; a young female hippie; a pregnant woman nearing the end of her third trimester traveling without her husband; and a couple past middle age on their latest move due to yet another work transfer, which the husband views as "losing". The flight crew has to view everyone as a suspect in taking whatever each says with a grain of salt. But even if they are able to discover the identity of the hijacker and his/her motivation and end goal, they still have to find and defuse the bomb. —Huggo

Aging cowboy Will Penny gets a line camp job on a large cattle spread and finds his isolated cabin is already occupied by an abandoned woman traveler and her young son. Will Penny, an aging cowpoke, takes a "line-rider" job on a vast cattle ranch requiring him to keep trespassers and squatters moving until they're off the property. Ironically, he discovers that the mountain cabin reserved for the line rider has been appropriated by Catherine Allen and her young son, Horace, whose guide has deserted them en route to Oregon to join Catherine's husband. Too soft-hearted and ashamed to kick mother and child out just as the bitter Rocky Mountains winter sets in, he agrees to share the cabin until the spring thaw. But it isn't just the snow that slowly thaws; lonely man and woman soon forget their considerable dissimilarities and start developing a deep, if awkward and unstated, love for each another. Beyond this, Horace finds in Will the father he's never known, and Will finds in Horace the son he's never known he's wanted. The trio's little refuge is then invaded by Bible-quoting preacher Quint and his murderous family of "rawhiders", who'd earlier nearly killed Will over an imagined insult, forcing Will to defend his own "family". —Alfred Jingle Without a job the solitary middle-aged cowhand, Will Penny, is hired as a line-rider at a vast ranch to watch over the cattle and drive off trespassers from the land. However, the taciturn cowboy comes across the frontier widow, Catherine Allen, and her son, Horace, who have been abandoned by their guide and have taken refuge in his line shack. Much to their surprise, he takes pity on them and gives them a week to move out. But when Will is left for dead in the unforgiving desert by the wandering rawhider, Preacher Quint, and his boys, he will inevitably start rethinking his lonely life, as kind Catherine takes him in, and a quiet affection begins to bloom. Are those unfamiliar and restless feelings powerful enough to forsake a lifetime of solitude? —Nick Riganas

In the Sudan, in 1884 to 1885, Egyptian forces led by British General Charles "Chinese" Gordon (Charlton Heston) defend Khartoum against an invading Muslim Army led by a religious fanatic, Mohammed Ahmed el Mahdi (Sir Laurence Olivier). After an Egyptian Army, commanded by British officers, is destroyed in a battle in the Sudan in the 1880s, the British government is in a quandary. It does not want to commit a British military force to a foreign war, but they have a commitment to protect the Egyptians in Khartoum. They decide to ask General Charles "Chinese" Gordon (Charlton Heston), something of a folk hero in the Sudan, as he had cleared the area of the slave trade, to arrange for the evacuation. Gordon agrees, but also decides to defend the city against the forces of Mohammed Ahmed el Mahdi (Sir Laurence Olivier), "The Expected One", and tries to force the British to commit troops.

In 1864, due to frequent Apache raids from Mexico into the U.S., a Union officer decides to illegally cross the border and destroy the Apache, using a mixed army of Union troops, Confederate POWs, civilian mercenaries, and scouts. During the last winter of the Civil War, cavalry officer Amos Dundee leads a contentious troop of Army regulars, Confederate prisoners and scouts on an expedition into Mexico to destroy a band of Apaches who massacred soldiers and civilians in New Mexico. —scgary66 In 1864, the Apache warriors led by Sierra Charriba slaughter a Union troop of soldiers and a family of settlers. They abduct their three sons and flee to Mexico. Major Amos Charles Dundee, who was disgraced at the Battle of Gettysburg and sent to a POW outpost in New Mexico, decides to hunt down Sierra Charriba and his Apache seeking for glory. He recruits an army of Confederate prisoners-of-war, black soldiers, a reverend that knows the boys and outcast people (thieves, drunken etc.) and chases the Apache group seeking also revenge, crossing illegally the border with Mexico. —Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 1864. After one of his patrols is massacred and some children kidnapped, the commander of the local garrison, Major Dundee, sets out to hunt down the Apaches responsible. He has limited resources so recruits some unlikely allies: Confederate prisoners of war and local civilians. The Confederate commander and Dundee go way back and don't see eye-to-eye. Fighting the Apaches might not be Dundee's greatest concern. —grantss In 1864 Major Amos Dundee leads his troops into Mexico after a group of renegade Apache Indians, led by Sierra Chariba. On a recent raid, they kidnapped some young boys and Dundee is committed to retrieving them. His own Union troops are supplemented by Confederate prisoners of war. Led by Lt. Benjamin Tyree - he and Dundee were once friends - he gives his word that he will follow Dundee's orders until Chariba is caught. Over the course of several months, Dundee and his men not only have to fight the Apaches but also French troops. As the mission continues, tensions rise between the Union and Confederate troops leading to a final confrontation with their foe. —garykmcd

Part I Three wise men (the Magi) Caspar (Frank Silvera), Balthazar (Mark Lenard) and Melchior (Cyril Delevanti) follow a brightly shining star from Asia to Jerusalem in search of the newborn king it portents. They are summoned by King Herod (Claude Rains) the Great, whose advisers inform him of a Messiah mentioned in various prophecies. When Herod remembers that a prophecy names nearby Bethlehem as the child's birthplace, he sends the Magi there to confirm the child's existence, but secretly sends guards to follow them and to "keep him informed." In Bethlehem, the Magi find a married couple, Mary (Dorothy McGuire) and Joseph (Robert Loggia), who are laying their newborn son in a manger. Mary states that the child's name is Jesus (Max Von Sydow). As the local shepherds watch, the Magi present gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to the infant. After observing the distant spies' departure, the Magi leave, then an angel's voice warns Joseph to "take the child" and "flee." The spies inform Herod of what has occurred, and he decides to kill the child by ordering the death of every new-born boy in Bethlehem. He dies after being informed that "not one is alive." However, Joseph and Mary have escaped into Egypt with Jesus. Later when a messenger inform the couple and others of Herod's death, they return to their hometown of Nazareth. A pro-Israel rebellion breaks out in Jerusalem against Herod's son, Herod Antipas (Jose Ferrer), but the conflict is quickly quashed by the Roman Legion who is invited to Jerusalem by Antipas. Herod's kingdom is divided, Judea is placed under a governor, and Herod becomes Tetrarch of Galilee and the Jordan River. Both he and the Romans are convinced that the Messiah that the troubled people cry for, is "someone who will never come." Many years later, a prophet named John the Baptist (Charlton Heston) begins to preach at the Jordan river, baptizing many who come to repent. Now an adult, Jesus appears to John who baptizes him. Jesus then goes into the nearby desert mountains, where he finds a cave in which resides a mysterious hermit, the personification of Satan. The Dark Hermit (Donald Pleasence) tempts Jesus three times, but each temptation is overcome by Jesus, who leaves and continues climbing as John's message echoes in his mind. He returns to the valley, where he tells the Baptist that he is returning to Galilee. Four men, Judas Iscariot (David McCallum) and the Galilean fishermen Andrew (Bert Brinckerhoff), Peter (Gary Raymond), and John (John Considine), ask to go with him. Jesus welcomes them, promising to make them "fishers of men." He tells them parables and other teachings, which attract the attention of a passing young man named James (Michael Anderson Jr.), who asks to join them the next morning, and Jesus welcomes him. The group nears Jerusalem, and Jesus says that "there will come a time to enter". They rest at Bethany in the home of Lazarus (Michael Tolan) and his sisters Martha (Ina Balin) and Mary (Janet Margolin). Lazarus asks Jesus if he can join him, but cannot bring himself to leave all he has. Jesus says that a man cannot follow both God and money and hence asks Lazarus to choose. Before he leaves, Jesus promises Lazarus that he will not forget him. The group soon arrives at Capernaum, where they meet James's brother Matthew (Roddy McDowall), a tax collector whom Jesus soon asks to join them. After consideration, Matthew does so. In the local synagogue, Jesus once again teaches, then miraculously helps a crippled man to walk again. Upon seeing this, many people begin to follow Jesus on his journey and gather to listen to his teachings. Meanwhile, the Jerusalem priests and Pharisees led by Caiaphas (Martin Landau) are troubled by the continuing influence and preaching of John the Baptist, while the governor Pontius Pilate (Telly Savalas) wishes only to maintain peace. Since the Jordan is ruled by Herod, he permits the priests to inform him of what is occurring. When he hears that the Baptist is speaking of a Messiah, Herod sends soldiers to arrest him. Baptist refuses to bow down to Herod and admonishes him for marrying his brother's wife, whom he calls an adulteress. Simon the Zealot (Robert Blake) informs Jesus and his disciples of the Baptist's arrest, and then he is welcomed as one of them. The fame of Jesus begins to spread across the land and two more men, named Thaddeus (Jamie Farr) and Thomas (Tom Reese), join him. In Jerusalem, the priests become suspicious of Jesus and the curing of the cripple, and send a group to Capernaum to investigate, including the Pharisees Nicodemus (Joseph Schildkraut), Sorak (Victor Buono) and Joseph of Arimathea (Abraham Sofaer). Herod hears rumors about an army as a result of the multitudes that follow Jesus. He questions John the Baptist about him. Later Herod begins to consider killing the Baptist, with his wife Herodias's (Marian Seldes) encouragement. John the Baptists says that Jesus is gathering the souls of men and there is nothing that Herod can do about it. Jesus is soon asked to return to Capernaum by another man named James the Elder (David Sheiner). Crowds gather and celebrate his return, something that is noticed by the Pharisees who are present and the returned Dark Hermit. Jesus then defends a woman caught in the act of adultery, who identifies herself as Mary Magdalene (Joanna Dunham). Jesus says that the people can stone her as per law, but only the one without sin should cast the first stone. Everybody steps back. Among the crowd that gathers as he moves away is a sick woman who is cured when she touches his clothes. As word of these incidents spreads, the number of people who believe that Jesus is the Messiah increases even further. Herod begins to wonder about Jesus, and the Baptist confirms that Jesus has escaped from the massacre ordered by Herod's father. Herod then decides to finally kill the Baptist by beheading, which occurs after Salome, Herod's stepdaughter by his wife's first marriage, dances for him. When the Baptist is dead, Herod sends soldiers to arrest Jesus. Jesus teaches a sermon on a mountain to a great crowd. Pilate and the Pharises hear of many of Jesus's miracles such as turning water into wine, feeding five thousand people, and walking on water. Meanwhile, Jesus asks his disciples who they and others say that he is. They respond with different answers, and Peter says that he believes that Jesus is the Messiah, prompting Jesus to anoint him as "the rock on which [he] will build [his] church." At Nazareth, the people refuse to believe in Jesus and his miracles and demand to see for themselves by bringing a blind man named Aram (Ed Wynn) and demanding that Jesus make him see. When he does not, the people are disgusted that he dare call himself the Son of God, and briefly try to stone him. Later Jesus reunites with his mother, and greets Mary, Martha as well as their brother Lazarus who is sick. After Andrew and Nathaniel escort Lazarus to his home in Bethany, Jesus heals Aram's sight. As Herod's soldiers draw nearer, Jesus and the others flee. When informed that Lazarus is dying, Jesus does not go immediately to Bethany, but to the Jordan with the group where he prays. Andrew and Nathaniel return, informing them that Lazarus has died, and Jesus travels to Bethany where he brings Lazarus back to life, a miracle that astonishes the citizens of Jerusalem who witness it, but concerns the Pharisees. Part II Judas questions why Mary Magdalene is anointing Jesus with expensive oil, and Jesus states she is preparing him for his death. Jesus then dons a new garment, and rides on a donkey into Jerusalem. In the courtyard of the Temple, Jesus is angered by the merchants selling items for sacrifices, and drives them and money changers away. Even though it is Passover, the Pharisees' attempt to arrest Jesus are impeded by the large crowd. In the Temple courtyard, Jesus begins to teach, but leaves after Pilate dispatches soldiers to restore peace and close the gates, and many in the crowd are killed. While the disciples gather to prepare and partake in an evening meal, Judas leaves to meet with the Pharisees where he promises to hand Jesus over to them on the condition that no harm comes to him. When Judas returns to the meal, Jesus announces to all that one of them will betray him, and says that by morning, Peter will deny three times that he even knows Jesus. He gives a farewell discourse, then shares the bread and wine with the disciples. After that he tells Judas to "do quickly what you have to do," and Judas leaves again. Later, Jesus goes to Gethsemane to pray while Judas returns to the Pharisees and is paid thirty pieces of silver to lead soldiers to arrest Jesus. When they arrive in Gethsemane, Judas kisses Jesus to indicate that he is the man to be arrested. Knowing that Judas has betrayed him, Jesus orders Peter to "put back [his] sword," and goes quietly with the soldiers. He is put on trial before the Sanhedrin, and Aram appears as one of the questioned witnesses. Many of the members are present, but Nicodemus refuses to take part, and realizes that some (including Joseph of Arimathea) are absent. Meanwhile, the Dark Hermit asks Peter if he knows Jesus. Peter denies it twice and leaves. When Caiaphas asks Jesus if he is the Christ, Jesus's reply causes the members to condemn him. The Pharisees and Caiaphas bring Jesus to the tired Pilate, who after questioning Jesus, and briefly speaking with his wife, can find no guilt in Jesus. Since Galilee is under Herod's authority, Jesus is sent to Herod, though he and his soldiers merely ridicule him and send him back to Pilate. As Jesus is escorted back to Pilate, the Hermit continues to observe, and Peter once again denies Jesus, as a remorseful Judas looks on. In the morning, Pilate presents Jesus before the assembled crowd, and the Hermit cries out several times for Jesus to be crucified. Pilate offers compromises, suggesting that Jesus merely be scourged, and for the release of a prisoner of the crowd's choice. The crowd chooses the alleged murderer Barabbas (Richard Conte) instead. Pilate asks Jesus if he has anything to say, but Jesus merely states that his kingdom is "not of this world," something that the Hermit and others claim is a challenge to the authority of Rome and the Roman emperor. With no other choice, Pilate reluctantly orders Jesus to be crucified. Jesus then carries his cross through Jerusalem while the crowd looks on. When he collapses, a woman wipes his face, and he reassures the pious women. As Jesus falters, Simon of Cyrene (Sidney Poitier), a man from the crowd, helped Jesus to carry the cross. At Golgotha, Jesus is stripped and nailed to the cross, which is then raised between those of two other men. At the same time this is happening, Judas tosses his silver into the Temple, then throws himself into the fire of the nearby altar. From the cross, Jesus intercedes for his executioners, asking God to forgive them. He then asks John to care for his mother. One of the thieves, Gestas, asks Jesus to save him, while the other Dimas accepts his punishment and asks for Jesus to remember him, a promise that Jesus gives to him. Darkness begins to cover the sky, and from the cross, Jesus asks why God has forsaken him. He is offered a drink from a wine soaked sponge, and dies as the storm erupts. A centurion states that he was the "Son of God." Peter mourns as Jesus is being laid to rest in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. The Pharisees ask for Pilate to place guards around the tomb and seal it, to prevent a possible theft of the corpse that could potentially fulfill a prophecy of His resurrection. Pilate agrees, but on the morning of the third day the guards soon discover that the tomb is open and empty. Meanwhile, though Thomas's faith has weakened, Mary Magdalene, along with Peter and others, recall the prophecy and run to see the empty tomb, where an Angel tells Mary that he is risen. Word of the miraculous event quickly spreads throughout Jerusalem, bewildering the Pharisees. Caiaphas claims that "the whole thing will be forgotten in a week," though an elder scribe doubts it. Later, while he was with his disciples, Mary Magdalene, Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea, and others, Jesus ascends to heaven, leaving them with his final commands as clouds engulf him. He then states that he will always be with them, "even unto the end of the world," and his image fades into the clouds, and to a painting of him on the church wall as Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus" plays.

In 1950's Hawaii, a bigoted and ruthless land baron, with political ambitions, bans his sister from marrying a native Hawaiian even though he himself has secretly impregnated an Asian woman. Rich Hawaiian pineapple grower and US Senatorial candidate Richard Howland tries to control everything and everyone around him, including his headstrong sister, Slone. Howland learns the hard way that money and power cannot buy love and happiness. —Marinelle K. Szenasy Hawaii, 1959. Widowed pineapple plantation owner Richard Howland, often called King for his stature in upper class Hawaiian society, is contemplating the request to run in the newfound state's first election for the US Senate, he almost guaranteed to win if he does run. That request coincides with his younger sister Sloane Howland's return from the mainland, San Francisco, where she was attending college. King and his sister-in-law Laura Beckett, who stayed on at the plantation after her sister's death, have done everything in the goal to pass the plantation on to Sloane when the time comes, especially as King's only offspring, a son, died in the same accident that killed his wife leaving King and Sloane the last in the line of Howlands. Sloane returns with news that she and her childhood friend, Paul Kahana, who was attending the same college, have decided to get married, their relationship which only recently moved from platonic friend status to lovers. King objects to the marriage, not because of Paul being unambitious which he admits, but purely on racial lines as Paul is native Hawaiian, that objection only strengthened in King's political ambition. When she was a teenager, Sloane was on the cusp of embarking on something romantic with Paul's older biracial half-brother, now Dr. Dean Kanaha, they stopping themselves before anything happened. While Paul and Dean's mother, Kapiolani Kahana, also has the same racial objection, she coming from it first hand in her first husband, Dean's father, being white, she does bless the union. Complicating matters is that King is in a secret relationship with Asian Mai Chen, who he could probably admit to himself that he loves but will never marry or consider "family" because of her race. —Huggo

One of Hollywood`s greatest epics, Ben Hur follows Judah Ben-Hur, a Jewish prince living a peaceful life who becomes estranged from his friend Messala due to his fanatical loyalty to Rome.

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A New England sea captain in the 1880s arrives at his fiancée's sprawling Texas ranch, where he becomes embroiled in a feud between two families over a valuable patch of land. Retired, wealthy sea Captain James McKay arrives in the vast expanse of the West to marry fiancée Pat Terrill. McKay is a man whose values and approach to life are a mystery to the ranchers and ranch foreman Steve Leech takes an immediate dislike to him. Pat is spoiled, selfish and controlled by her wealthy father, Major Henry Terrill. The Major is involved in a ruthless land war, over watering rights for cattle, with a rough hewn clan led by Rufus Hannassey. The land in question is owned by Julie Maragon and both Terrill and Hannassey want it. —E.W. DesMarais <jlongst@aol.com> Retiring to the American West to marry his fiancée, Patricia Terrill, Captain James McKay enters a land-and-water feud between his future father-in-law, Major Terrill, and the rough and lawless Hannassey family, led by Rufus. McKay prefers peace between himself and the Hannasseys, who repeatedly attempt to provoke violence. But his steadfast demeanor only angers his fiancée and Major Terrill, who won't settle for truces. —Jwelch5742 Sailor James McKay (Gregory Peck), after accumulating wealth and experience sailing the world's seas, meets the beautiful and temperamental Pat Terrill (Carroll Baker) and decides to move to the vast expanse of the West to marry her. Arriving at the ranch of his future father-in-law, Major Henry Terrill (Charles Bickford), he begins to confront the arrogant and inhospitable frontier, just like the ranch foreman Steve Leech (Charlton Heston), who, also in love with his employer's daughter, takes an immediate dislike to his new fiancé. The major himself is also strong-willed and domineering, controlling his daughter's life and demanding the same from his neighbors, with whom he wages a ruthless war over watering rights for their cattle on the estate inherited by the peaceful and tolerant Julie Maragon (Jennifer Jones), who, with great difficulty, tries to broker peace between the major and the family led by the crude and controversial Rufus Hannassey (Burl Ives). —Alessandro

During the War of 1812, Louisiana buccaneer Jean Lafitte assists the Americans in defending New Orleans against the attacking British war fleet. During the War of 1812 against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland: General Andrew Jackson has only 1,200 men left to defend New Orleans when he learns that a British fleet will arrive with 60 ships and 16,000 men to take the city. In this situation an island near the city becomes strategically important to both parties, but it's inhabited by the last big buccaneer: Jean Lafitte. Although Lafitte never attacks American ships, the governor hates him for selling merchandise without taxes--and is loved by the citizens for the same reason. When the big fight gets nearer, Lafitte is drawn between the fronts. His heart belongs to America, but his people urge him to join the party that's more likely to win. —Tom Zoerner <Tom.Zoerner@informatik.uni-erlangen.de> World-renowned pirate Jean Lafitte is drawn in to the defense of New Orleans during the War of 1812 by his love for the daughter of then-Governor of Louisiana Claiborne. He is betrayed by the Americans and must deal with the stubborn General Andrew Jackson to get his crew released from jail. The two strike a bargain and Lafitte comes to Jackson's rescue in the defense of Louisiana, only to be outcast again. —R.B.

The movie follows the life of Moses, from being found by the pharoah`s daughter as an infant to his long struggle to free the Hebrews from slavery at the hands of the Egyptians.

Two brothers and one bride fight amid carpetbaggers in Texas. Former dance hall girl Lorna, masquerading as a lady, meets and marries Confederate ex-officer Colt Saunders, returning to his rich Texas ranch. Everyone there is enchanted with Lorna. But the carpetbag government is set to grab all the big ranches, unless the ranchers (led by Colt) decide to fight. And one of the carpetbaggers knows Lorna's secret. —Rod Crawford <puffinus@u.washington.edu> After the American Civil War, Captain Colt Saunders returns to Texas to his homeland Bar S Ranch, which has belonged to his family for generations. While in town, he has an incident and meets the former gal from St. Louis Lorna Hunter and without knowing her past, he immediately proposes and gets married to her. When they arrive in Bar S, he meets his brother Beauregard 'Cinch' Saunders, the black-sheep of the family that lost one arm in his childhood and blames Colt for the accident. Colt has problems with the commissioner Harrison of the corrupt provisional government of Texas, and the situation gets worse when one of his men identify Lorna as "a flower of the Old South with whom he used to skip around with back in St. Louis". Colt has to deal with problems with the corrupt representative of the government that is collapsing, with his rancorous brother, with his pregnant wife and with his closest friend Innocencio Ortega. —Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

After purchasing Louisiana from France, the USA sends surveyors Lewis and Clark, assisted by a Shoshone guide, to chart the new territory. United States has just acquired Louisiana from France. An expedition led by Lewis and Clark is sent to survey the territory and go where no white man has gone before. Are they able to overcome the dangers with the help of Sacajawea? —Timo Lamminjoki <lamminjo@pcu.helsinki.fi>

La protagonista femenina llega a la selva para comenzar una nueva vida con un marido al que conoce sólo por carta. El primer problema que tiene es que él no parece muy convencido de querer estar con ella en la intimidad, y es bastante hosco en su presencia. El segundo problema es que se aproxima una plaga mortal de hormigas especialmente omnívoras e hiperinteligentes.

Chief of Scouts Ed Bannon works for the US Army at Fort Clark, Texas and he dreams of aiding in bringing peace to the region, despite opposition from both the Army and the Apaches. Chief of Scouts Ed Bannon narrowly avoids an Apache ambush while working with the cavalry stationed at Fort Clark, Texas. The US Army is trying to talk peace with the Apaches and move them to reservations in Florida, and they take Bannon's efforts as detrimental to their new policies, so they fire him. When the Apache chief's son Torinada returns from an Eastern education, Bannon becomes highly suspicious of his motives based run-ins with Torinada in the past. Bannon continues shadowing the proceedings to the chagrin of both the US Army and the Apache warrior. —Ed Sutton <esutton@mindspring.com> Chief of Scouts Ed Bannon doesn't trust Apache talk of peace. When he tries to warn the Army, they fire him. Toreano the son of Chief Chatez of the Tonto Apaches is scheduled to return from Indian School in the East. Bannon is the only one that doesn't trust that his return means peace. —acatlikeme

Buffalo Bill and Wild Bill Hickock work to establish the Pony Express and fight Indians and California Separatists who seek to destroy it. Buffalo Bill and Wild Bill Hickok join forces to establish a mail route that can get mail from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California, in ten days. Along the way they must battle bad weather, hostile Indians and outlaws intent on robbing the mail and shutting down the entire operation.

A white boy raised by the Sioux must choose sides when the Sioux threaten to go to war against the Whites. The only white survivor of a Crow Indian raid on a wagon train is a young boy. He is rescued by the Sioux, and the Sioux chief raises him as an Indian in very way. Years later, the white men and the Sioux threaten to go to war and the Indian-raised white man is torn between his racial loyalties and his adopted tribe. —Les Adams <longhorn1939@suddenlink.net>

The dramatic lives of trapeze artists, a clown, and an elephant trainer are told against a background of circus spectacle. To ensure a full profitable season, circus manager Brad Braden engages The Great Sebastian, though this moves his girlfriend Holly from her hard-won center trapeze spot. Holly and Sebastian begin a dangerous one-upmanship duel in the ring, while he pursues her on the ground. Subplots involve the secret past of Buttons the Clown and the efforts of racketeers to move in on the game concessions. Let the show begin! —Rod Crawford <puffinus@u.washington.edu> "The Greatest Show on Earth" is a dazzling spectacle of life behind the scenes with Ringling Bros.-Barnum and Bailey Circus, the best three-ring circus in the land. Celebrates the extravagant three-ring circus and depicts the passionate scenes of love and jealousy behind the greatest show on Earth. —Jwelch5742 Brad Braden (played by Charlton Heston) is the manager of a circus. The circus is his life and everything else is secondary. The next most important thing to him is Holly (Betty Hutton), a trapeze artist, but she realises she will always take second place. Then Brad hires a world-famous trapeze artist, The Great Sebastian (Cornel Wilde) and Holly is bumped to second place in the trapeze act. The Great Sebastian has a reputation as a womaniser and Holly soon falls under his spell. —grantss To ensure that the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus stays in the black, rugged, money-oriented manager Brad Braden brings in a famed aerialist known as The Great Sebastian to increase sales. However, as Brad's dogged determination moves ambitious trapeze artist Holly to the second ring, driving her into the arms of another man, the unbridled competition between the duelling star attractions invites heartbreak and disaster. And as profound, turbulent feelings emerge, cryptic clowns and villainous racketeers threaten Braden's future. Yet the circus is above all else. What will it take to keep the greatest show on Earth running? —Nick Riganas

An underground gambling joint managed by Danny Haley (Charlton Heston) is closed down by a police raid led by wise cop Capt. Garvey (Dean Jagger) and Danny finds solace with girlfriend Fran Garland (Lizabeth Scott) who works as a night-club torch song singer. Danny is comfortable with Fran but still carries wounds from a former marriage and feels pressured to commit when he doesnt have a stable income. Danny meets former American soldier Arthur Winant (Don DeFore) while visiting Fran at her nightly club performance and Winant tags along with Danny to a late-night poker game. Playing cards with Dannys cohorts ulcerous Barney (Ed Begley, Sr.) and nasty-mouthed Augie (Jack Webb) isnt something Danny enjoys and when the crooked card players rook sucker Winant of five-thousand dollars that he was holding for his company theres a certain satisfaction that theyve made some money. When Winant is discovered the next morning hanged from the chandelier in his hotel room, the news lists it as suicide but Capt. Garvey believes something else is at play and questions Danny about it. When Barney is killed and hanged a general search goes out for the dead Arthur Winants reportedly crazy brother Sidney whom it is believed is tracking down all those responsible and exacting revenge for his brothers losing his money.