Reel Archive

Genre

Romance

2 films · 1935–1950

Love stories from Hollywood and Hindi cinema’s classic years.

Devdas

1935 · 141 min · Romance · India

Directed by P.C. Barua

Starring P.C. Barua, Chandrabati Devi, Jamuna Barua

Devdas, the son of a zamindar, and Parvati, his neighbour's daughter, are childhood sweethearts. However, class and caste differences prevent their marriage. Devdas is sent off to Calcutta, while Paro is married off to an aged rich widower. In Calcutta, as remorse drives him to alcohol, Devdas meets Chandramukhi, a prostitute. All Indian prints of this Bengali version were destroyed in a fire that ravaged New Theatre’s studios. Today, only…

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Rights: Film copyright expired in India (Copyright Act 1957, s.26: 60 years from release). Songs and music may be separately protected.

Cyrano de Bergerac

1950 · 113 min · Romance · United States

Directed by Michael Gordon

Starring José Ferrer, Mala Powers, William Prince

France, 1640. Cyrano, the charismatic swordsman-poet with the absurd nose, hopelessly loves the beauteous Roxane; she, in turn, confesses to Cyrano her love for the handsome but tongue-tied Christian. The chivalrous Cyrano sets up with Christian an innocent deception, with tragic results.

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Rights: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/publicdomain/