“We're not here to play dominoes.”
Canon City (Crane Wilbur, 1948)
Dec
30
1947
A calendar page. It's December 30, 1947. DP: John Alton.
Balada pro banditu [Ballad for a Bandit] (Vladimír Sís, 1979)
Dec
24
Christmas Eve – Nikolas
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The bandit and his bride. DP: Viktor Růžička.
A Nikolas or Nicholas for Christmas Eve.
The tale of legendary highwayman Nikola Šuhaj from Koločava.
“Sloane! Be lucky!”
Nowhere to Go (Seth Holt + Basil Dearden, 1958)
Dec
22
Tue
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A man checks into a hotel. A wall calendar reads December 22, a Tuesday. DP: Paul Beeson .
– Paul Gregory
“Écoute les orgues
Elles jouent pour toi
Il est terrible, cet air-là
J'espère que tu aimes
C'est assez beau, non ?
C'est le requiem pour un con”
Le pacha [Pasha / Showdown] (Georges Lautner, 1968)
Dec
19
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Jean Gabin and Dany Carrel in a still on the cover of Serge Gainsbourg's Requiem pour un con 7” (via). DP: Maurice Fellous.
– Serge Gainsbourg, Requiem pour un con (1968)
“The mattress is soft and there're hangers in the closet and stationary with “Bates' Motel” printed on it in case you want to make your friends back home envious.”
Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
Dec
11
Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) in front of the family motel. DP: John L. Russell.
– Norman Bates
L'ange et la femme [The Angel and the Woman] (Gilles Carle, 1977)
Dec
3
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Gabriel (Lewis Furey) and the woman he named Fabienne (Carole Laure). DP: François Protat.
A caregiver*
A woman is brutally murdered and taken home by a young man. This man – this angel – takes away her wounds, returns her to life, and nurses her. They fall in love.
* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for December has a few dateless themes. This is one of them.
“Mister Moldovan, this is not for the first time that a criminal case is entrusted to you. It is precisely your political objectivity that made us choose you.”
Un comisar acuză [A Police Inspector Calls] (Sergiu Nicolaescu, 1974)
Nov
26
1940
DP: Alexandru David.
Takes place on the night of November 26-27, 1940.
– Alexandru Dincă
Report (Bruce Conner, 1967)
Nov
23
1963
Television footage of JFK's state funeral with the caption “November 23, 1963”, superimposed over it.
“You take away my life and offer me a favor in return. That's what I call a 'bargain'.”
The Walking Dead (Michael Curtiz, 1936)
Nov
16
John Ellman (Karloff), dead man walking. DP: Hal Mohr.
– John Ellman
“I'm trying to run an impersonal business. Killing is very personal. Once it gets started, it's hard to stop.”
The Big Combo (Joseph H. Lewis, 1955)
Nov
15
1946
A man's hand holds up a photo negative of a black-and-white picture, showing two men and a woman, and the date 11-15-46 underneath. DP: John Alton.
– Mr. Brown