James Olson

This vivid, high-energy human tableau interweaves the lives and passions of a middle class, small town family against the scandals and events of a transitional America in 1906. Director Milos Forman and producer Dino De Laurentiis have assembled an all-star cast - including legendary James Cagney - that brings the best-selling E.L. Doctorow novel to life in unforgettable fashion, with memorable music by composer/conductor Randy Newman. Ragtime is both a compelling story of human emotions and a reflection of the innocence, excitement and drama of that important time in America's history.

The best-selling novel by Michael Crichton was faithfully adapted for this taut 1971 thriller, about a team of scientists racing against time to destroy a deadly alien virus that threatens to wipe out life on Earth. As usual with any Crichton-based movie, the emphasis is on an exciting clash between nature and science, beginning when virologists discover the outer-space virus in a tiny town full of corpses.