Red Buttons, Sylvia Miles & Sam Waterston in Who Killed Mary What's'er Name? (1971)

Obscurity factor: 10

This forgotten little film has some great talent in it. On his release from the hospital after going into insulin shock, Mickey (Red Buttons) goes straight to the scene of a crime no one else cares about - the murder of a hooker in lower Manhattan. As he tries to find out what happened he enlists the aid of an out of work insurance investigator (Conrad Bain), an avant gard film maker (Waterston) and his daughter, played with great aplomb by Alice Playton. He's not exactly welcome in the ghetto but the former boxing champ isn't discouraged easily. Along the way he meets Christina (Miles), another hooker, Boulting (David Doyle) a stock broker and Larry (Ron Carey) a bartender. But who is the culprit?

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Though this film drags a little around the middle, it's great to see these performers early on in their careers. It's moody, dark and cornerish and shows a seedy side of the city that's virtually non-existant now.

It's not available on YouTube, it doesn't even have a Wikipedia entry. Above is the radio spot for it, along with some stills, uploaded by DIODT2008. It can be watched in its entirety on YouTube but the uploader has disabled embedding. Click the link for part 1: http://youtu.be/7j3N6DXQvck

Obscurity factor: 10 (virtually unknown today, not on DVD, can be watched on YouTube)

Rex Harrison & Dharmendra in Raders of the Sacred Stone (1978)

Obscurity factor: 8

This 1970's Bollywood film is all about adventure. S. S. Kumar (Dharmendra) is a petty thief who cons his way into the estate of Sir John Locksley (Rex Harrison) who is hosting a house party. Little does Kumar know that the guests are all master criminals and Sir John, who is dying, is picking a successor to the title of greatest criminal mind by tempting them to steal the fabulous Shalimar diamond from him.

This film has a very James Bond quality, with our hero moving heaven and earth to succeed at his game, and of course there's a girl at stake as well. Look for American actors John Saxon and Sylvia Miles as rival jewel thieves. It's a fun watch, and worth a look.

This film is available on DVD and can be seen on YouTube, however the upload has no subtitles. The first installment is posted above and begins with a fun dance number that you don't need to speak Hindi to understand. The soundtrack was released and is still known in the Indian music scene.

Obscurity factor: 8 (known in its native India, relatively unknown in the states, on DVD)