# Name a little-known movie that deserves more recognition

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-little-known-movie-that-deserves-more-recognition/969922>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Tags:** movies\
**Created:** [August 18, 2022, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-little-known-movie-that-deserves-more-recognition/969922 "2022-08-18T23:52:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 15\
**Page:** 19

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**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\
**Post date:** [October 12, 2022, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-little-known-movie-that-deserves-more-recognition/969922/363 "2022-10-12T21:27:22Z")

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The Music of Chance.

And…

> **[Out of the Furnace (2013) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1206543/)**
>
> Out of the Furnace: Directed by Scott Cooper. With Woody Harrelson, Dendrie Taylor, Carl Ciarfalio, Nancy Mosser. When Rodney Baze mysteriously disappears and law enforcement doesn't follow through fast enough, his older brother, Russell, takes...

How this movie got passed over is beyond me. Check out the talent:  
Christian Bale  
Woody Harrelson  
Zoe Saldana  
Forest Whitaker  
Willem Dafoe  
And they were all fantastic.

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**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2022, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-little-known-movie-that-deserves-more-recognition/969922/365 "2022-10-13T03:33:03Z")

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Most of the movies I used to like that were little known have become cult films at worst.

Death Race 2000  
Lets Scare Jessica to Death  
Black Noon

Gargoyles hasn’t picked up much of a following though its probably well known in these parts.

I guess ill throw out

> **[A Cold Night's Death](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Cold_Night%27s_Death)**
>
> A Cold Night's Death (also known as The Chill Factor) is a 1973 American made for television horror-thriller film. The film was shown on January 30, 1973, on the ABC network.
> The film was directed by Jerrold Freedman and starred Robert Culp, Eli Wallach, and Michael C. Gwynne. Culp and Wallach are two research scientists at the Tower Mountain Research Station (filmed at the University of California's high altitude Barcroft Research Station) who are trying to unravel the mysterious death of a col...

Also anything with Charles Grodin deserves a look.

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**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2022, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-little-known-movie-that-deserves-more-recognition/969922/366 "2022-10-13T03:35:56Z")

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> [@Pavelb1](#):
>
> Gargoyles hasn’t picked up much of a following though its probably well known in these parts.

It was on Svengoolie a few weeks back. I’ve seen it several times and find it cheezy fun.

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**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2022, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-little-known-movie-that-deserves-more-recognition/969922/367 "2022-10-13T04:11:42Z")

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Yeah. Saw it first time when it was first shown on TV. Pretty good for a TV movie at the time.

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**Author:** ![tullsterx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tullsterx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tullsterx)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2022, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-little-known-movie-that-deserves-more-recognition/969922/368 "2022-10-13T15:15:09Z")

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I’ve been getting Netflix DVDs recently and I just added Gargoyles after seeing the guys on Sea of Tranquility, on YouTube, talk about it. They have a great selection of DVDs. Plus usually pretty early new releases.

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**Author:** ![tullsterx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tullsterx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tullsterx)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2022, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-little-known-movie-that-deserves-more-recognition/969922/369 "2022-10-13T15:18:57Z")

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Faults: I think I saw it on. . . Amazon Prime, or Netflix, not sure. Really creepy and great performances. It’s basically about a guy who “deprograms” people that are in cults, but he’s hit hard times. Stars Mary-Elizabeth Winstead and Leland Orser. Leland is just awesome in this.

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**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2022, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-little-known-movie-that-deserves-more-recognition/969922/370 "2022-10-13T16:21:06Z")

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[Tokyo Godfathers](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0388473/)

> **[Tokyo Godfathers (2003) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0388473/)**
>
> Tokyo Godfathers: Directed by Satoshi Kon. With Tôru Emori, Yoshiaki Umegaki, Aya Okamoto, Shôzô Îzuka. On Christmas Eve, three homeless people living on the streets of Tokyo discover a newborn baby among the trash and set out to find its parents.

Our daughter turned us on to this movie a few years back, and we now watch it every year at Christmas. I thought, from the title, it would have something to do with organized crime but it does not. The three main characters are homeless - an older transvestite (my daughter says transgender but that wasn’t the sense I got), an older man who ruined his life with alcohol, and a teenage girl runaway who was taken in (and taken care of) by the other two.

And the baby they found.

It’s truly a magical film.

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**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\
**Post date:** [October 14, 2022, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-little-known-movie-that-deserves-more-recognition/969922/371 "2022-10-14T01:18:31Z")

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Cake (2014, with Jennifer Aniston)

Really sweet!

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**Author:** ![Bonum\_Legatum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bonum_legatum/32/6183_2.png) [@Bonum\_Legatum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bonum_Legatum)\
**Post date:** [October 14, 2022, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-little-known-movie-that-deserves-more-recognition/969922/372 "2022-10-14T15:44:13Z")

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_Young and Willing_ (1943) with William Holden, Susan Hayward, and Robert Benchley. A screwball comedy about a group of unemployed young actors.

Unfortunately, the version I saw suffered from hissing on the soundtrack.

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**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\
**Post date:** [October 14, 2022, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-little-known-movie-that-deserves-more-recognition/969922/373 "2022-10-14T15:57:55Z")

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I never hear much talk about _Affliction_. Great cast, good story. About a small-town cop who’s life slowly unravels and spiral down the drain. Defoe, Nolte and Coburn all put in strong performances. One of the All-time great movie quotes can be heard…

Catch it if you get the chance.

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**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\
**Post date:** [October 14, 2022, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-little-known-movie-that-deserves-more-recognition/969922/374 "2022-10-14T18:32:50Z")

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Someone (@silenus maybe?) mentioned [Let It Ride](https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0097731/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk) in the thread about Robbie Coltrane’s passing. This is a fantastic comedy. It’s a feel good, light comedy but one packed with over the top comic performances by the entire cast.

Briefly this is a story about a cab driver who overhears information about a sure thing at the horse track. He places a bet on that horse, wins, and then has to decide whether to leave with his winnings or ‘let it ride’ and bet on the remaining races. The denizen gamblers at the race track provide a Runyanesqe backdrop to the story. It does have the up and down pace of a day at the track so don’t let a brief lull dissuade you from watching to the end, the action and the laughs will pick up again shortly.

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**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\
**Post date:** [October 14, 2022, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-little-known-movie-that-deserves-more-recognition/969922/375 "2022-10-14T19:01:38Z")

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> [@Mama\_Zappa](#):
>
> Our daughter turned us on to this movie a few years back, and we now watch it every year at Christmas. I thought, from the title, it would have something to do with organized crime but it does not.

I’ll bet the title was a play on the movie _The Three Godfathers._ A 1948 movie from John Ford about three down and out guys who end up with a newborn …

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**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\
**Post date:** [October 14, 2022, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-little-known-movie-that-deserves-more-recognition/969922/376 "2022-10-14T21:04:13Z")

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And that was a remake of a 1916 silent version of the movie with Harry Carey as one of the godfathers. It was remade again in 1948 with his son, Harry Carey Jr., as a godfather. The remake also starred Pedro Armendariz as another godfather. His career had little notice except for one of his last films, From Russia With Love, playing Karem Bey, the MI6 operative in Istanbul. Armendariz was one of many people along with John Wayne who developed cancer after working on the film The Conqueror at a nuclear test site in Utah. He found out he had cancer during filming and committed suicide soon afterwards  
Later, his son, Pedro Armendariz Jr. had a role in another Bond movie, A License To Kill in 1989.

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**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\
**Post date:** [October 14, 2022, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-little-known-movie-that-deserves-more-recognition/969922/377 "2022-10-14T23:10:40Z")

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Yeah, I mentioned the 1948 version, but I didn’t know about the silent version. Thanks! Cool about both Harry Careys playing “godfathers.”

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**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\
**Post date:** [October 15, 2022, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-little-known-movie-that-deserves-more-recognition/969922/378 "2022-10-15T14:14:11Z")

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Thanks for this recommendation. I finally got around to this movie last night and enjoyed it. I especially liked the way it captured the essence of its surroundings in that time period.

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