Their U-boat having been blown out of the water by the Canadian air force, six German survivors find themselves on a desolate peninsular of Northern Canada, their only hope, to hijack the Allied plane that has been sent to capture them. This Second World War propaganda film by Michael Powell, intended to encourage a still isolationist America into battle, has to be one of the most intelligent and thoughtful films of its kind, an attempt to understand hearts and minds, regardless of their side, r find out more...

A British made, 1950s epic charting the sinking of the unsinkable. On April 10th 1912, the luxury liner Titanic set sail on its maiden voyage. Four days later, it sank in just 2 hours 40 minutes, needlessly claiming the lives of 1,500 passengers and crew. Infinitely less glamourous than the contemporary Hollywood version, what it lacks in gloss it makes up for with no-nonsense, straightforward storytelling. Truth is, the hard facts are far more shocking than anything Tinseltown could come up wit find out more...

An enduring and endearing romance with Grant and Kerr as two people who inadvertently fall in love aboard ship, despite both being already involved elsewhere. They vow to meet again, but things don't work out as planned. Romantic. find out more...

Mind those steps! Perhaps the most famous movie scene in the history of cinema. The documentary style story of mutiny aboard the Potemkin as the sailors fight oppression and fire on Tzarist troops attempting to quell rebellion in the city of Oddessa. Almost every shot is so beautiful it could work as a still. find out more...

Shot in five sections "How The West Was Won" is a sprawling multi-star epic following the fortunes of one family from 1839 and New York to 1889 and Arizona. 'The Rivers' (dir Henry Hathaway); the Prescotts head west down the Ohio river. 'The Plains' (dir Henry Hathaway); Lily moves to St Louis and on to Caifornia. 'The Civil War' (dir John Ford); Linus and Zeb enlist on the Union side. 'The Railroad' (dir George Marshall); the settlers multiply and cavalry officer Zeb finds himself in a war with find out more...

Hiller is the headstrong young girl who travels to Scotland to marry a rich old man but falls for a seemingly poor young naval rating. Lyrically shot in monochrome it beautifully combines romance, comedy, suspense and a sense of the supernatural. Powell and Pressburger's most eloquent paean to the Brit landscape. find out more...

An epic retelling of the attack on Pearl Harbor and its immediate aftermath which focuses on the effects the attack has on the lives of individuals caught up in the ensuing chaos and brings the emotional issues of its characters into sharp relief. John Wayne delivers an excellent performance as a Captain nearing the end of his career who, faced with redundancy in action, looks to improving other areas of his life, particularly his relationship with his son. Kirk Douglas sees the event as a chanc find out more...

Polanski's first, and arguably his finest, feature film is an economically brilliant exercise in tension. Sparse of cast and props, the atmosphere grows painfully taut as a young couple on a yachting trip and the hitcher they've picked up engage in ever more dangerous emotional games. find out more...

Nine survivors of a torpedoed ship, awaiting a rescue that may never arrive, find themselves in the same lifeboat as the captain of the U-Boat that sank them. Filmed as a propaganda effort, Lifeboat still manages effortlessly to convey the claustrophobia of the setting. Nominated for 3 Oscars, this is a nail-biting thriller from the master of suspense. find out more...

Brooks's adaptation of Conrad's novel, the story of an idealistic young naval officer who is discharged for cowardice and tries to redeem himself by taking some explosives into the unmapped jungles of Sumatra, where he is captured and tortured by a feudal war lord. O'Toole's Jim and Mason's Gentleman Brown discussing the age of the world and the price of evil while sat on a raft in the middle of a fog-bound river is a classic scene, and Freddie Young's photography does for the Asian jungles what find out more...