Publisher's Synopsis
Five films from the 1940s featuring actress Gene Tierney. William A Wellman directs the WWII aviation drama 'Thunder Birds' (1942). John Sutton stars as Peter Stackhouse, a British aviophobe who is nonetheless determined to become a pilot. Stackhouse's resolution comes from his desire to serve his country, and his strength is recognised by Steve Britt (Preston Foster), who takes him under his wing and becomes his patient teacher. The two men's bond is tested, however, when they both fall for the same girl, Kay (Tierney). John Ford directs the 1941 hillbilly comedy 'Tobacco Road', in which shiftless Jeeter Lester (Charley Grapewin) and his long-suffering wife and family live in a rural backwater where their ancestors were once wealthy planters. Their slapstick existence is threatened by a bank's plans to take over the land for more profitable farming. Subplots involve the affairs and marriages of son Dude (William Tracy) and daughter Ellie May (Tierney). Otto Preminger directs the celebrated film noir 'Laura' (1944), based on Vera Caspary's novel. A policeman investigating the alleged murder of a mysterious woman called Laura (Tierney) finds himself falling in love with her - and soon realises he is not the only one. Cornel Wilde plays opposite Tierney in the classic melodrama 'Leave Her to Heaven' (1946). Tierney plays Ellen, a jealous woman engaged to a politician. Uninhibited by this commitment, she lures the handsome Richard (Wilde) into marriage after knowing him for only a few days. But Richard soon learns from her sister and mother that Ellen's selfish, possessive love has ruined other people's lives. Rex Harrison stars in the comedy 'The Ghost and Mrs Muir' (1947) as the salty old sea dog ghost of a ship's captain who befriends a beautiful widow (Tierney) and persuades her not to re-marry a ghastly man. Inevitably romance blossoms between the two worlds.