Based on a true story, the film begins in 1932 with the killing of a Chicago cop and the sentencing of two young men for his murder. Fast-forward eleven years, and the boss of the Chicago Times newspaper is intrigued to find an advert by the mother of one of the killers, Frank Wiecek, asking for information about the crime, clearly Wiecek's mother thinks her son is innocent. PJ O'Neal (Stewart), one of the Times' top reporters, is dispatched to find out whether Mrs Wiecek's opinion is clouded by find out more...

August 1944. German flying bombs are raining down on London and directly under their flight path is a small cottage hospital. Inside the tension is almost unbearable for the dedicated team of surgeons and nurses, and not just because of the 'doodlebugs' and near misses, the close-knit community is torn apart by jealousy, emotional turmoil, the horrors of war and terrible secrets. When the local postman is brought in, delirious but trying to impart an urgent message, the murders begin. The eccent find out more...

The inimitable Sellers in the second of the Pink Panther farces. Although the overall standard is high, it would be worth watching just to see Clouseau impersonating a dentist with a wax nose, or to see him get the girl in the end without even taking his socks off. find out more...

Set within the vibrant dancehalls and low-life hang-outs of 1940s Paris, ambitious young actress Jenny, her covetous, piano-playing husband/manager Maurice Martineau and their devoted confidante Dora Monier attempt to cover one another's tracks when a sexually ogreish high-society business acquaintance is murdered. Enter Inspector Antoine whose seasoned instincts lead him down a circuitous path in this classic whodunit murder mystery. find out more...

It's the off-season at the lonely Beauregard Hotel in Bournemoth, and only the long-term tenants are still in residence. Life is stirred up, however, when the beautiful Ann Shankland arrives to see her alcoholic ex-husband, John Malcolm, who is secretly engaged to Pat Cooper, the woman who runs the hotel. Meanwhile, snobbish Mrs Railton-Bell discovers that the kindly if rather doddering Major Pollock, played by David Niven, who won an Oscar for his performance, a retired officer who likes to find out more...

Murakami is a young detective who loses his gun to a pickpocket, but, before he can get it back, the weapon is sold to a gangster and, before long, a woman has been robbed and shot. In desperation Murakami turns to his wily older partner, Sato, and, together, the two set out across the humid and seamy streets of Tokyo to track down the gun before more people die. Stray Dogs is one of Kurosawa's earlier works and is a highly stylish film, a gritty slice of noir from somewhere other than the North find out more...

Police Sgt Bannion is taken off investigating the apparent suicide of a corrupt cop, is he likely to uncover too much filth? Driven to further unravel the mystery Bannion continues probing until an explosion meant for him kills his wife. He resigns from the force and soon learns that behind it all is a powerful underworld syndicate led by Mike Lagana and the cold-blooded Vince Stone. The Big Heat is a classic slice of noir; a brooding, dark narrative. find out more...

With 13 women murdered, Boston is held under seige by a madman. One by one they fall, each death more gruesome than the last. The actual murders that rocked Boston in the 60s are the gripping subject of this unforgettable police thriller. 'The Boston Strangler' is one of the most powerful films in its genre, with possibly Tony Curtis' finest performance. find out more...

Peter Seller's first movie as bumbling Inspector Closeau. Not only is his wife double-crossing him but she is doing it with his arch enemy the jewel thief. This is the version with all those people dressed up in gorilla suits. find out more...

Classic film noir from the pen and director's chair of Orson Welles. Set in a seedy Mexican border town the local police chief is corrupt and bigoted, his only enemy a crusading Mexican narcotics investigator, determined to bring the policeman to book and expose his murderous scams. Touch of Evil has all the stunning trade mark cinematography of an Orson Welles picture and is a superbly dark and brooding movie with some fine subsidiary characters. Kafkaesque. find out more...