A respectable, sincere film of Robert Bolt's literate play, with Scofield as Sir Thomas More, endorsing the divine right of the Pope over and above his King, Henry VIII, who wishes to divorce Katherine Of Aragon and marry Anne Boleyn. Watch out for Orson Welles in a marvellous cameo as Cardinal Wolsey. The film won 6 Oscars. find out more...

In a move designed to subordinate the Catholic Church to the state, Henry II gave the office of the Archbishop of Canterbury to his close friend and ally Thomas Becket. With Becket now installed as his 'man on the inside' Henry could be forgiven for thinking that the church would more easily acquiesce to his bidding. Henry, however, had neither bargained on Becket's ecclesiastical fervour nor realized his zealous nature. Thus the stage was set for one of the greatest battles of supremacy between find out more...

Filmed during the Nazi occupation of Denmark, Carl Dreyer's Day of Wrath is a harrowing account of individual helplessness in the face of growing social repression and paranoia. Anna, the young second wife of a well-respected but much older pastor, falls in love with his son when he returns to their small 17th century village. Stepping outside the bounds of the village's harsh moral code has disastrous results: Anna faces the stake, accused of witchcraft. find out more...

Elmer Gantry is a man on a mission, a mission from God, but behind the raging sermons of fire and brimstone there lurks a man whose conscience has long ago deserted him. A hustler par excellence Elmer has no qualms about what he takes and who he may hurt, but when an old flame re-enters his life the carefully constructed world he has created starts to dramatically fall apart. Elmer Gantry is a powerhouse performance from Burt Lancaster who deservedly won an Oscar in a role of awesome intensit find out more...

A beautiful and elegantly simple film about the life and works of Francesco Di Assisi, founder of a religious order that expressed Christianity in a form devoid of materialism but rich in compassion; a faith that the orthodox church, by the time of Francesco's birth in the late 12th century, had long dispensed with. Neorealistic in style and obviously close to Rossellini's heart, this is now acknowledged as one of his greatest masterpieces. find out more...

Hazel Woods is a beautiful young country girl, living in the hills on the Anglo-Welsh border, whose heart and soul are at one with the country around, she's raised a fox and communes with nature, but her happy and innocent existence is under threat from the local fox-hunting and handsome cad of a squire, who is obsessed with having her, and is a spirit completely at odds with her own kind nature. It's him or the incredibly boring, but well-meaning vicar, that she will chose. Gone To Earth was or find out more...

Schoolteacher John Scopes is placed under close arrest for advocating Darwin's theory of evolution to his pupils in violation of a stifling Tennessee law banning anything that 'denies the divine creation of man as taught by the Bible'. The case is taken up by a cynical newspaper-man who takes an interest when the champion of the Fundamentalists and three-time presidential candidate is named prosecutor. A fascinating and absorbing dramatisation of the famous 1925 'Monkey Trial'. find out more...

In the 17th Century a group of nuns claimed to be possessed by the devil with Joan, the convent head, leading the possession stakes with at least 8 demons on her slate. An innocent young priest, the latest in a long line sent to investigate, is going to have to go to hell and back to save her soul. Chronologically the film acts as a sequel to Ken Russell's 1971 shocker 'The Devils', and if you've seen that you'll know what a lying bitch Joan is. Superb black and white photography gives an expres find out more...

'Ordet' is the story of religious rural families in 1920s West Jutland divided internally, and between each other, by different interpretations of their faith. Devout Morten has three sons, one an atheist, one who believes he is Jesus Christ and one who would like to be married, but whose prospective father-in-law objects to his sect. It's going to take a miracle to heal these differences... find out more...

Among the lavish sets one can detect a plot in which one of Nero's Roman commanders falls in love with a Christian girl and they both get thrown to the lions. Ustinov barks, foams at the mouth, sets fire to the eternal city, and steals the show. Rivetting acting in one of the last great cinema epics.

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