Sarah Polley
Biography: Sarah Ellen Polley OC (born January 8, 1979) is a Canadian filmmaker, political activist and retired actress. She first garnered attention as a child actress for her role as Ramona Quimby in the television series Ramona, based on Beverly Cleary's books. This subsequently led to her role as Sara Stanley in the Canadian television series Road to Avonlea (1990–1996). She has starred in many feature films, including The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), Exotica (1994), The Sweet Hereafter (1997), Guinevere (1999), Go (1999), The Weight of Water (2000), No Such Thing (2001), My Life Without Me (2003), Dawn of the Dead (2004), Splice (2009), and Mr. Nobody (2009). Polley made her feature film directorial debut with Away from Her (2006), for which she won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Director and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Polley's second film, Take This Waltz (2011), premiered at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival, followed by her first documentary film, Stories We Tell (2012). She also wrote the miniseries Alias Grace, based on the 1996 novel of the same name by Margaret Atwood. In 2022, Polley wrote and directed the film Women Talking, based on the 2018 novel of the same name by Miriam Toews, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Description above from the Wikipedia article Sarah Polley, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Place of Birth: Not available
Birthday: January 08, 1979
Deathday: N/A
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Known For
My Life Without Me
2003-03-07
My Life Without Me
Overview: A fatally ill mother with only two months to live creates a list of things she wants to do before she dies without telling her family of her illness.
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2003-03-07
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The Secret Life of Words
2005-12-15
The Secret Life of Words
Overview: A solitary nurse bonds with a badly burned patient who survived an accident on an oil rig.
Genres: Romance Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2005-12-15
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Dawn of the Dead
2004-03-19
Dawn of the Dead
Overview: A group of survivors take refuge in a shopping mall after the world is taken over by aggressive, flesh-eating zombies.
Genres: Action Horror Science Fiction
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2004-03-19
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The Sweet Hereafter
1997-09-25
The Sweet Hereafter
Overview: A small mountain community in Canada is devastated when a school bus accident leaves more than a dozen of its children dead. A big-city lawyer arrives to help the survivors' and victims' families prepare a class-action suit, but his efforts only seem to push the townspeople further apart. At the same time, one teenage survivor of the accident has to reckon with the loss of innocence brought about by a different kind of damage.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1997-09-25
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Don't Come Knocking
2005-08-25
Don't Come Knocking
Overview: Howard Spence has seen better days. Once a big Western movie star, he now drowns his disgust for his selfish and failed life with alcohol, drugs and young women. If he were to die now, nobody would shed a tear over him, that's the sad truth. Until one day Howard learns that he might have a child somewhere out there...
Genres: Drama Western
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2005-08-25
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eXistenZ
1999-04-14
eXistenZ
Overview: A game designer on the run from assassins must play her latest virtual reality creation with a marketing trainee to determine if the game has been damaged.
Genres: Action Thriller Science Fiction
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1999-04-14
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Exotica
1994-11-30
Exotica
Overview: In the upscale Toronto strip club Exotica, dancer Christina is visited nightly by the obsessive Francis, a depressed tax auditor. Her ex-boyfriend, the club's MC, Eric, still jealously pines for her even as he introduces her onstage, but Eric is having his own relationship problems with the club's female owner. Thomas, a mysterious pet-shop owner, is about to become unexpectedly involved in their lives.
Genres: Drama Mystery
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1994-11-30
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Mr. Nobody
2009-11-06
Mr. Nobody
Overview: Nemo Nobody leads an ordinary existence with his wife and 3 children; one day, he wakes up as a mortal centenarian in the year 2092.
Genres: Science Fiction Drama Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2009-11-06
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The I Inside
2004-03-21
The I Inside
Overview: When Simon awakens in the hospital after surviving a near-fatal accident, amnesia has erased the last two years from his memory. He learns that his brother was killed, he has married a woman he doesn't remember and he's haunted by strange visions of the woman he loved.
Genres: Thriller Mystery Science Fiction Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2004-03-21
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Go
1999-04-09
Go
Overview: A supermarket clerk decides to step in for an absent drug dealer, setting off an explosive, comedic chain of events.
Genres: Crime Comedy Thriller
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1999-04-09
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One Magic Christmas
1985-11-22
One Magic Christmas
Overview: Ginny Grainger, a young mother, rediscovers the joy and beauty of Christmas, thanks to the unshakable faith of her six-year-old daughter Abbie and Gideon, Ginny's very own guardian angel.
Genres: Family Fantasy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1985-11-22
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The Weight of Water
2001-03-30
The Weight of Water
Overview: A newspaper photographer researches an 1873 double homicide and finds her own life paralleling that of a witness who survived the tragic ordeal.
Genres: Mystery Drama Thriller
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2001-03-30
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The Event
2003-01-01
The Event
Overview: Manhattan prosecutor Nick is charged with looking into the untimely death of city resident Matt, a musician who had AIDS. As she questions Matt's loyal family members — mother Lila and sister Dana — she comes to learn that his closest pal, health-care worker Brian, is an ardent believer in assisted suicide and that he threw Matt a big party before his death. This presents a dilemma for the humane but dutiful Nick.
Genres: Comedy Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2003-01-01
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No Such Thing
2002-03-29
No Such Thing
Overview: A young journalist journeys to Iceland to find her missing fiancé only to encounter a mythical creature who longs to die.
Genres: Fantasy Drama Horror
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2002-03-29
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Babar: The Movie
1989-07-28
Babar: The Movie
Overview: Children's book authors Jean and Laurent de Brunhoff's most beloved elephant comes to the big screen in this animated family tale. Elephant monarch King Babar tells the tale, that unfolds via flashback, of how a much-younger Barbar and his girlfriend Celeste save her village from the pugnacious rhinoceroses that have come to raid it.
Genres: Adventure Animation Family Fantasy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1989-07-28
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The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
1988-12-07
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
Overview: An account of Baron Munchausen's supposed travels and fantastical experiences with his band of misfits.
Genres: Fantasy Adventure Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1988-12-07
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Guinevere
1999-09-12
Guinevere
Overview: A young girl from an affluent family rebels and becomes involved with a much older photographer.
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1999-09-12
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Splice
2010-06-03
Splice
Overview: Elsa and Clive, two young rebellious scientists, defy legal and ethical boundaries and forge ahead with a dangerous experiment: splicing together human and animal DNA to create a new organism. Named "Dren", the creature rapidly develops from a deformed female infant into a beautiful but dangerous winged human-chimera, who forges a bond with both of her creators - only to have that bond turn deadly.
Genres: Horror Science Fiction
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2010-06-03
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The Claim
2000-12-29
The Claim
Overview: A prospector sells his wife and daughter to another gold miner for the rights to a gold mine. Twenty years later, the prospector is a wealthy man who owns much of the old west town named Kingdom Come. But changes are brewing and his past is coming back to haunt him. A surveyor and his crew scouts the town as a location for a new railroad line and a young woman suddenly appears in the town and is evidently the man's daughter.
Genres: Drama Romance Western
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2000-12-29
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Last Night
1998-10-23
Last Night
Overview: Various citizens of Toronto anxiously await the end of the world, which is occurring at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Day.
Genres: Comedy Romance Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1998-10-23
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Heaven On Earth
1987-03-01
Heaven On Earth
Overview: An armful of destitute orphans transported to the New World at the turn of the century. This is the turbulent and moving story of four British 'bricks for Empire building' - based on the memoirs of some of the 100,000 'home children' who helped build the new Canada.
Genres: Drama TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1987-03-01
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Trigger
2010-09-12
Trigger
Overview: Ten years after ending their partnership as rock musicians, two women become re-acquainted in the course of one night.
Genres: Drama Music
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2010-09-12
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White Lies
1998-03-29
White Lies
Overview: How can a smart middle class girl suddenly turn into a devoted right wing debater? That's what happens with Catherine when she meets the charismatic leaders of the neo-nazi organization NIM. Catherine, a first-year university student who feels alienated from the liberal campus, joins a hate group through the Internet and becomes their voice, only to gradually question their beliefs even as she becomes more deeply involved.
Genres: Drama Action TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1998-03-29
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Joe's So Mean to Josephine
1997-01-18
Joe's So Mean to Josephine
Overview: Josephine has her eye on Joe, a hot-headed, petty criminal who taps phones for a living. When she finally worms her way into his heart she realises it's not a nice place to be. But is it too late?
Genres: Crime Romance Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1997-01-18
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Jerry and Tom
1998-12-04
Jerry and Tom
Overview: Tom and Jerry are two hit men, they work by day at a third-rate second-hand car dealership. Tom is a veteran and Jerry is a novice in their business, and their attitude toward their profession differs a lot. It shows when Tom is required to kill his old friend Karl.
Genres: Action Comedy Drama Crime
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1998-12-04
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Wrath of Gods
2007-05-06
Wrath of Gods
Overview: When Canadian director Sturla Gunnarsson set upon Iceland to film Beowulf & Grendel starring Gerard Butler and Stellan Skarsgard in 2004, they expected the usual complication involved in making a movie, but what they encountered made them wonder if the Norse gods were actually working against them.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: is
Release Date: 2007-05-06
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Blue Monkey
1987-09-25
Blue Monkey
Overview: While working in a greenhouse, a man receives an insect bite after touching an exotic plant. Immediately, he falls ill and is taken to an emergency room where the doctors diagnose him as suffering from an unknown bacteria, and a strange parasite which emerges from his mouth as a large slimy wormlike creature. Soon, there are more cases of bacterial infection, but the more immediate problem for the hospital is the wormlike creature which after accidental exposure to a genetic growth stimulant grows to monstrous proportions and starts a reign of terror and bloodshed in the hospitals abandoned wing.
Genres: Horror Science Fiction
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1987-09-25
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Siblings
2004-09-14
Siblings
Overview: Joe and his siblings have a couple of problems. First off, their stepparents are despicably evil. Secondly, they seemed to have killed them. Now this mixed up mess of half-sisters and step-brothers have to figure out how to dispose of the bodies, cover up the murders, collect their grandfather's inheritance and somehow stick together as a family -- all without getting caught. Not to mention Joe's incessant need to keep tabs on his promiscuous sister, an eye on the precocious little ones and a lustful watch on the girl next-door. Growing up has its complications. Murder's just one of them.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2004-09-14
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Stories We Tell
2012-10-12
Stories We Tell
Overview: Canadian actress and filmmaker Sarah Polley investigates certain secrets related to her mother, interviewing a group of family members and friends whose reliability varies depending of their implication in the events, which are remembered in different ways; so a trail of questions remains to be answered, because memory is always changing and the discovery of truth often depends on who is telling the tale.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2012-10-12
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Pretty Kill
1987-03-27
Pretty Kill
Overview: A detective tries to track down a serial killer who is murdering prostitutes while at the same time having to deal with his girlfriend's mental problems, which are gradually deteriorating into a split personality.
Genres: Horror Crime
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1987-03-27
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This Might Be Good
2000-09-07
This Might Be Good
Overview: A festival is a concentration of hope. Audiences hungering for something startingly new, famously familiar or just plain "good". Actors hoping their well-conceived sincerity and ritual entrances have that special glow. Press and critics poised to love or hate lucidly. And proud, desperate filmmakers looking for that little blessing on their latest self-projection. All squeezing together for a few days, in a few rooms wondering whether this will truly be the perfect place at the perfect time. Of course, it rarely is. Mostly it's just a collection of almosts. Delicious, shared almosts.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2000-09-07
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Lantern Hill
1989-08-29
Lantern Hill
Overview: In 1935 Toronto, Jane Stuart's mother has taken ill, and the two of them have temporarily moved in with her rich, snobbish grandmother, where Jane is verbally abused and her mother bullied. Jane is forced into a private academy, in which the other girls tell her that her father, whom Jane believes to be dead, is actually alive. Soon after, Andrew Stuart sends word that he would like to meet his long-lost daughter, so Jane is sent by train to Bright River to stay with him, where she encounters an old mystery that she must help her father overcome, new friends, and the chance to bring her father and mother back together again.
Genres: Drama Family
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1989-08-29
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Preludes
2000-11-15
Preludes
Overview: Commissioned by the Toronto International Film Festival to mark the event's 25th anniversary in September 2000, the "Preludes" program consisted of ten short films by Canadian directors which were inspired in some way by the festival. Each film screened as a prelude to a feature film in the 2000 Toronto International Film Festival program. The full "Preludes" anthology was screened on the web in November 2000, and was given theatrical retrospectives at the TIFF Lightbox in the subsequent years.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2000-11-15
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Beowulf & Grendel
2005-09-14
Beowulf & Grendel
Overview: The blood-soaked tale of a Norse warrior's battle against the great and murderous troll, Grendel. Heads will roll. Out of allegiance to the King Hrothgar, the much respected Lord of the Danes, Beowulf leads a troop of warriors across the sea to rid a village of the marauding monster.
Genres: Action Adventure Drama Fantasy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2005-09-14
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The Life Before This
1999-09-15
The Life Before This
Overview: Several innocent persons are hurt after two robbers, fleeing from the police, run into a neighborhood cafe.
Genres: Crime Thriller Drama Action
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1999-09-15
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The Planet of Junior Brown
1997-09-06
The Planet of Junior Brown
Overview: Powerful story about love, struggle and passion of an over protective mother and her piano prodigy.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1997-09-06
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Children First!
1996-01-01
Children First!
Overview: A collection of 7 animation short films inspired by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Each NFB award-winning film, in their peculiar way, deals with children's rights and addresses various aspects of the Convention.
Genres: Animation Family
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1996-01-01
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Luck
2004-04-30
Luck
Overview: Shane Bradley, who is fixated on ideas of luck and destiny, tries to win the girl of his dreams. After their relationship falters, Shane begins to think he might be unlucky and turns to gambling as an outlet for his obsession.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2004-04-30
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Hands of a Stranger
1987-05-10
Hands of a Stranger
Overview: A New York cop becomes obsessed with finding his wife's rapist.
Genres: Romance Crime Drama TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1987-05-10
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Road to Avonlea: The Movie
1990-01-01
Road to Avonlea: The Movie
Overview: After her father is accused of embezzlement, wealthy Sara Stanley is sent to live with her deceased mother's relatives on Prince Edward Island. While there, she must adjust to life in the small rural town of Avonlea, learn to cope with her infamous aunts, Hetty and Olivia, and learn to get along with her jealous cousins who become victims and cohorts in Sara’s antics and misadventures. Everything comes to a head when the adults are called away and her older cousin, Felicity, is left in charge – not knowing what troubles will ensue. Soon Sara must make a heart wrenching decision: whether to stay in Avonlea or return to her father. Through the combination of the episodes “The Journey Begins” and “Proof of the Pudding” this digitally-mastered movie was created as an introduction to the award-winning “Road to Avonlea” series.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1990-01-01
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Confidential
1986-01-01
Confidential
Overview: The year is 1949 and reporter Hugh Jameson is looking for a story. He focuses on Emma Porter, a woman who was accused of the axe murder of her father thirty seven years earlier. Jameson disappears during his search and his wife hires Charles Ripley P.I. to find him. Ripley's search leads him to Emma's son who has his own nasty secrets to protect.
Genres: Horror Crime
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1986-01-01
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The Law of Enclosures
2000-09-15
The Law of Enclosures
Overview: Story of the same couple, first in their teenage years and then in their twilight years, paradoxically set in the same time during the backdrop of the Gulf War in the Middle East.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2000-09-15
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Johann's Gift to Christmas
1992-09-25
Johann's Gift to Christmas
Overview: A mouse from the streets and a church mouse try to help a priest and an organist save Christmas by composing a Christmas carol.
Genres: Animation Family
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1992-09-25
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Love Come Down
2000-08-02
Love Come Down
Overview: Two brothers in their early 20s, one black, one white, each the other's keeper since their family was torn apart by a decade old tragedy. Neville is a comedian struggling with his comedy, and his brother, Matthew, is a boxer consumed with the pleasure and pain of his skin. Neville becomes enchanted with Niko, a beguiling young singer who becomes entangled with him on his journey of self-discovery. With the support of their long-time friend Julian and Sister Sarah, a nun with a past, Neville and Matthew come to understand love in all its forms. Written by Conquering Lion Productions/FilmWorks
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2000-08-02
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Margaret Atwood: A Word After a Word After a Word Is Power
2019-11-07
Margaret Atwood: A Word After a Word After a Word Is Power
Overview: The views and thoughts of Canadian writer Margaret Atwood have never been more relevant than today. Readers turn to her work for answers as they confront the rise of authoritarian leaders, deal with increasingly intrusive technologies, and discuss climate change. Her books are useful as survival tools for hard times. But few know her private life. Who is the woman behind the stories? How does she always seem to know what is coming?
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2019-11-07
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The Hanging Garden
1997-09-05
The Hanging Garden
Overview: William, a once obese and troubled teen, goes back to his family's home after being gone, without word, for ten years and finds it (and his family) haunted with his past. He had moved to the city and become a fit, well-adjusted gay man, but during his visit home, he becomes unhinged as the newly remembered reasons for his miserable adolescence come to life in each of their presents.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1997-09-05
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The Madness and Misadventures of Munchausen
2008-04-08
The Madness and Misadventures of Munchausen
Overview: This is an all new feature length documentary, with interviews from almost everyone involved with the production of the film. Gilliam never shies away from the truth, even when it comes to himself, and so this documentary is self-effacing and refreshingly frank. The documentary details not only the battles Gilliam had with Columbia in getting the film finished and released, but also the imagination and innovation that went into the production.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2008-04-08
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Sugar
2004-05-22
Sugar
Overview: Cliff receives an unusual 18th birthday gift from his younger sister — marijuana, alcohol, a subway token and the mission to lose his virginity. This results in Cliff meeting a young street hustler named Butch. At first, as Butch introduces Cliff to gay street life in Toronto, Cliff is excited by his new relationship. But as the two grow closer, he finds that Butch has problems, including drug addiction, that are cause for serious concern.
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2004-05-22
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The Big Town
1987-09-25
The Big Town
Overview: It is 1957. J.C. Cullen is a young man from a small town, with a talent for winning at craps, who leaves for the big city to work as a professional gambler. While there, he breaks the bank at a private craps game at the Gem Club, owned by George Cole, and falls in love with two women, one of them Cole's wife.
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1987-09-25
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Reel Herstory: The Real Story of Reel Women
2014-08-10
Reel Herstory: The Real Story of Reel Women
Overview: Using rare footage and exclusive interviews with filmmakers from all over the globe, "Reel Herstory" corrects the historic notion that women behind the scenes in motion pictures held peripheral careers compared with their male counterparts.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2014-08-10
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Dermott's Quest
2003-03-01
Dermott's Quest
Overview: A man stuck in a rut takes his girlfriend to a medieval festival.
Genres: Comedy Fantasy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2003-03-01
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