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"Von Clausewitz said that war is the logical extension of diplomacy; Monsieur Verdoux feels that murder is the logical extension of business." With his controversial "comedy of murders" Monsieur Verdoux, Charles Chaplin makes his final, definitive break with the Little Tramp character that had brought him fame and fortune. Verdoux (Chaplin), a mild-mannered family man of pre-war France, has hit upon a novel method of supporting his loved ones. He periodically heads out of town, assumes an alias, marries a foolish, wealthy woman, then murders her for the insurance money. He does this thirteen times with success, but wife #14, brassy Martha Raye, proves impossible to kill (nor does she ever suspect what Verdoux has in mind for her). A subplot develops when Verdoux, planning to test a new poison, chooses streetwalker Marilyn Nash as his guinea pig. She tells him so sad a life story that Verdoux takes pity on her, gives her some money, and sends her on her way. Years later, the widowed and impoverished Verdoux meets Nash once more; now she is the mistress of a munitions magnate. This ironic twist sets the stage for the finale, when Verdoux, finally arrested for his crimes and on trial for his life, gently argues in his own defense that he is an "amateur" by comparison to those profiteers who build weapons for war. "It's all business. One murder makes a villain. Millions, a hero. Numbers sanctify..." Sentenced to death, Verdoux remains calmly philosophical to the end. As the condemned man walks to the guillotine, a priest prays for God to have mercy on Verdoux's soul. "Why not?" replies Verdoux jauntily. "After all, it belongs to him." The original idea of Monsieur Verdoux originated with Orson Welles, who'd wanted to make a picture about notorious modern "Bluebeard" Landru. Welles wanted to cast Chaplin in the lead; Chaplin liked the idea, but preferred to direct himself, as he'd been doing since 1914. It is possible that Chaplin might have gotten away with the audacious notion of presenting a cold-blood murderer as a sympathetic, almost lovable figure. Alas, Monsieur Verdoux was released at a time when Chaplin was under a political cloud for his allegedly Communistic philosophy; too, it came out shortly after a well-publicized paternity suit involving Chaplin and Joan Barry. Picketed in several communities, banned outright in others, Monsieur Verdoux was Chaplin's first financial flop. Today, it can be seen to be years ahead of its time in terms of concept, even though the execution is old-fashioned and occasionally wearisome. Monsieur Verdoux doesn't always hit the bull's-eye, but it remains one of Charles Chaplin's most fascinating projects. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In a genre crowded with quality films, director Robert Bresson's POW drama has become legendary, in part because it strips down the experience of a man desperate to escape to the essentials. That's in keeping with the approach Bresson took with all of his films. The filmmaker, who spent a year in a German prison camp during World War II, based this story on the experiences of Andre Devigny, a French Resistance fighter sent in 1943 to the infamous prison in Lyons, where 7,000 of the 10,000 prisoners housed there died either by natural means or by execution. Lt. Fontaine (Francois Leterrier) is certain that execution awaits him, and he almost immediately begins planning his escape, using homemade tools and an ingenuity for detecting the few weaknesses in the prison's structure and routine. For a time, he goes it alone, then takes on a partner, but only reluctantly. Fontaine does get some help from a couple of prisoners allowed to stroll in the exercise yard, but for the most part he is a figure in isolation. For Bresson, the process of escape is all, and in simplifying his narrative he ratchets up the tension, creating a film story of survival that many feel is without peer. ~ Tom Wiener, Rovi

In his first starring role, Steve McQueen plays a typical oversexed, car-lovin' highschooler who can't get anyone to believe his story about a huge meteor, which crashes to earth and begins exuding a pink, gooey substance. Affixing itself to the body of an old man, the "blob" begins parasitically sucking the life out of several unfortunate humans, growing to an enormous size. Problem is, the disappearances of the victims can all be explained (one is supposed to be out of town, another is attending a convention), so the cops still won't believe McQueen or his girlfriend Aneta Corsaut (the future Helen Crump of The Andy Griffith Show). Rallying his teen pals, McQueen finally manages to get the adults' attention-but by now, the Blob is consuming entire city blocks. In 1972, the sequel Beware the Blob followed. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Luis Buñuel's Tristana is a surreal criticism of Catholicism and the modern world, told through the story of the title character, who is portrayed by Catherine Deneuve. Tristana is a young Spanish woman left to the care of Don Lope (Fernando Rey), the protective but impoverished aristocrat. Don sells his possessions to avoid manual labor and champions the causes of the dispossessed and downtrodden of society. He takes advantage of the vulnerable Tristana, who leaves him when she falls in love with Horacio (Franco Nero). Unable to commit to him, she returns to Don Lope when she falls ill. He asks for her hand in marriage, and she accepts after losing her leg to cancer. She chooses to remain in a passionless union rather than be subject to the harsh realities of a society that refuses to change to the needs of women. Taken from the novel by celebrated author Benito Perez Galdos, the film -- wherein director Buñuel takes his usual jabs at religion and politics -- is a tribute to the author on the 50th anniversary of his death. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Jack Klugman is back as the titular L.A. County Coroner's Office medical examiner and self-appointed detective and social crusader as Quincy, M.E embarks upon its fifth season. In the opener, "No Way to Treat a Flower," Quincy seeks out clues as to the source of a chemical that brings out the very worst in marijuana. In the next episode, "Dead Last," (which must have been near and dear to the heart of onetime chronic gambler Jack Klugman) Quincy probes the death of a jockey at a race track -- and "clears" the jockey's horse of complicity in the crime. In subsequent episodes, Quincy uncovers a deadly strain of doctored diphtheria vaccine; he draws a bead on a outwardly avuncular middle-aged man who is actually a serial killer of young runaways; he investigates the supposedly drug-induced death of a controversial evangelist; he proves that a jail fire in Sacramento was deliberately set (while he himself in locked up in the same jail); he runs smack-dab into the brick wall of diplomatic immunity while endeavoring to solve the murder of a foreign attaché; and, along with his restaurateur pal Danny (Val Bisoglio), he is held hostage by insurgent prisoners who hope to expose the murderer of one of their own. The season finale finds Quincy in full messianic mode, as he races against time to protect 90,000 innocent people from a botulism epidemic that has broken out in a football stadium during a championship game. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In Robert Zemeckis's trailblazing combination of animation and live-action, Hollywood's 1940s cartoon stars are a subjugated minority, living in the ghettolike "Toontown" where their movements are sharply monitored by the human power establishment. The Toons are permitted to perform in a Cotton Club-style nightspot but are forbidden to patronize the joint. One of Toontown's leading citizens, whacked-out Roger Rabbit, is framed for the murder of human nightclub owner Marvin Acme (Stubby Kaye). Private detective Eddie Valiant (Bob Hoskins), whose prejudice against Toons stems from the time that his brother was killed by a falling cartoon piano, reluctantly agrees to clear Roger of the accusation. Most of the sociopolitical undertones of the original novel were weeded out out of the 1988 film version, with emphasis shifted to its basic "evil land developer" plotline --and, more enjoyably, to a stream of eye-popping special effects. With the combined facilities of animator Richard Williams, Disney, Warner Bros., Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment, and George Lucas's Industrial Light and Magic, the film allows us to believe (at least for 90 minutes) that "toons" exist, and that they are capable of interacting with 3-dimensional human beings. Virtually every major cartoon character of the late 1940s shows up, with the exceptions of Felix the Cat and Popeye the Sailor, whose licensees couldn't come to terms with the producers. Of the film's newly minted Toons, the most memorable is Roger Rabbit's curvaceous bride Jessica (voiced, uncredited, by Kathleen Turner). The human element is well-represented by Hoskins, Christopher Lloyd, and Joanna Cassidy; also watch for action-film producer Joel Silver as Roger Rabbit's Tex Avery-style director. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A sexy federal agent teams with a timid shaman to defeat a drug-fueled satanic cult that's been carving up the citizens of Mexico City, and draining their blood for the Prince of Darkness. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

This title compiles television and film appearances from Jerry Lee Lewis, one of the first and biggest rock stars in the music's history. Included are clips of "The Killer" performing his most beloved tunes including "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On," "Good Golly Miss Molly," "High School Confidential," and "Blue Suede Shoes." ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

Disturbed businessman Thomas Luster discovers that the mysterious figure whose been destroying his life is none other than his psychotic alter ego, and wages war on the dark half of his personality in a desperate bid to reclaim his sanity. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Divorced father and schoolteacher Terrence (Jason Sylvain) attends a speed-dating event with his womanizing best friend Omar (Dwayne Boyd), and learns that true love is hard to come by. Meanwhile, Terrence strives to become the father he never had. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi