A successful actress employs a woman in exchange for her flattery, only to find her employee is scheming her way to the top at her own expense. An intelligent, bitchy script complements the fine acting, making this one of Time Out's top 100 films of all time. Won Best Picture at 1950 Academy Awards.

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A landmark in the history of the cinema; it was ranked Number 1 in the American Film Institute's 100 greatest films of all time in two polls (1998 and 2007) of more than 1,500 film industry movers and shakers and again by UK directors in a BFI poll. "Citizen Kane" narrates the rise and fall of a newspaper tycoon driven by a childhood obssession and is loosely based round the life of William Randolph Hurst, who tried to have it banned, but incorporates elements from the lives of other fat cats il find out more...

A landmark in the history of the cinema. The rise and fall of a newspaper tycoon driven by a childhood obssession - Randolph Hurst tried to have it banned! Unique in technique and narrative structure, if you only ever watch one 1940's movie this should be it. This edition is from a restored, remastered and generally souped-up print, with a heap of extras including a documentary on the wunderkind Welles and an analysis by, ahem, Barry Norman. find out more...

Paul Newman revels in his role as the sassy and irreverent Luke Jackson, a rebellious prisoner, (sentenced for cutting the heads off parking meters one drunken night!), in one of Florida's notorious prison chain gangs. His refusal to conform wins him the respect of his fellow inmates, but, following the death of his mother, he decides to escape. Newman's role won critical acclaim and an Oscar nomination. A witty and well-observed film, with some very funny scenes, (see the boiled egg race!) find out more...

A psychotic American commander worried about the subversive effects of water fluoridisation on his "vital bodily fluids" starts off an attack on the Soviet Union. No-one can stop the fighters and no-one, as yet, knows about the failsafe Doomsday Machine. Brilliant black comedy. find out more...

Acclaimed and imitated, this is Clouzot's classic tale of the sadistic head-teacher who brutalises his unfortunate wife. With the help of her husband's mal-treated mistress, a willing accomplice, the two women set out to exact revenge. But when his body goes astray this macabre story truly unfolds... find out more...

Stewart is superb as the young Wisconsin senator put up to the job, who then exposes the corruption in the Senate and upholds true American values. Popular wish fulfilment served up with such fast talking comic panache that you don't have time to question its cornball idealism. A great film! find out more...

War hero Raymond Shaw returns from North Korea after being seized, brainwashed by the enemy and programmed to assassinate key establishment figures. He arouses the suspicions of former colleague Major Marco, but who really controls him? A brilliantly plotted conspiracy thriller with a sterling cast - an unmissable treat. find out more...

A lawyer raising his children alone in the midst of racial hatred, injustice and hypocracy is the only man prepared to defend a young black man accused of rape by a white trash family. A superb study of racism in Americas deep South boasting a wonderful script, photography and acting in an adaptation worthy of the book; A total classic. find out more...

Fantastic Oscar winning film portraying the jury in what appears to be an open and shut murder case. Only Fonda expresses any doubt against the guilty verdict, and combined with the observations of an older man he begins to call the evidence, the witnesses, and the legal system into doubt. find out more...