The BFI continues its successful strand of Archive Television releases with Ken Russell's classic documentary Elgar, which was first shown in 1962 as the 100th programme in the BBC's Monitor series. This partly dramatised account of the life of composer Sir Edward Elgar includes footage of Elgar at the Three Choirs Festival and a recording of the opening of Abbey Road Studios when 'Land Of Hope And Glory' was played. find out more...

1st feature: Set in the 1890s this adaptation of Harold Brighouse's working class comedy sees a tyrannical bootmaker brought to heel when his plain-speaking daughter marries his down-trodden simple-minded employee and makes a successful business. Keen direction and fine performances make this a great comedy. find out more...

English General Charles George Gordon, a devout Christian, is appointed military governor of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan by Prime Minister Gladstone. Ordered to evacuate Egyptians from the Sudan, General Gordon stays on to protect the people of Khartoum, who are under threat of being conquered by Mohammed Ahmed el Mahdi, "the Expected One," the head of the Muslim forces. An out-and-out action spectacle sealed with stunning cinematography. find out more...

Real-life lovers Olivier and Leigh gel perfectly and light up the screen in this portrayal of the rise, decline and fall of a courtesan and one of history's great, but doomed, love affairs. With its great dialogue audiences of the time adored this film, as did Churchill who announced it his favourite! find out more...

John Wayne grabs centre stage as the ruthless Colonel Marlowe in this powerful Civil War Western based on the Grierson Raid, when Union troops cut a swathe deep into the heart of the Confederacy to choke off vital supply lines. A thoughtful and compelling film on the futility of war from the master of the genre, John Ford. find out more...

Visually stunning biopic of Napoleon tracing his rise to power after exile in Elba and culminating in defeat by Wellington at Waterloo, and taking in along the way the consequences of the ravages of war on the common people. Aesthetically and technically impressive, though historically debatable. find out more...

A vivid dramatisation of the young Abraham Lincoln, from his meagre Kentucky roots, his training as a lawyer and his eventual entrance into politics. The Young Lincoln is directed and performed with immense heart, a deserved classic by two of the greats of American cinema about one of the greats of American history. find out more...