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EL CID (1961)

CertificationPG Our Rating

One of the very finest epics produced, equally impressive in terms of script and spectacle. Heston is aptly heroic as the 11th Century patriot destined to die in the fight to evict the Moors from Spain, Mann's direction is stately and thrilling and Miklos Rosza's superb score perfectly complements the crisp and simple widescreen images. Sobriety and restraint, in fact, are perhaps the keynotes of the film's success, with the result that a potentially risible finale, in which Cid's corpse is born find out more...
ELGAR (1962)

CertificationU Our Rating

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...

Certification15 Our Rating

When wealthy John du Pont invites Olympic wrestler Mark Schultz to move to his estate and help form a wrestling team for the 1988 Seoul Olympics, Mark sees a way to step out of the shadow of his charismatic and revered find out more...


CertificationPG Our Rating

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...

CertificationPG Our Rating

Fritz Lang, one of the masters of the German expressionist cinema, turns his sinister imagination and shadowy techniques to a web like take of wartime espionage. Set in Czechoslovakia during the Nazi occupation, the film depicts an Eastern Europe populated by spies, traitors and revolutionaries, a deadly funhouse of political intrigue in which every personal encounter brings with it the threat of betrayal. Much of the nightmarish quality of Hangmen Also Die is attributable to playwright Bertolt find out more...

CertificationU Our Rating

Hugely acclaimed and moving tale of the childhood of Huw Morgan, told in retrospect. Morgan grew up in a small Welsh mining town, and events leave his normally close-knit family facing terrible strains. Screen legends Maureen O'Hara and Walter Pidgeon star in this superbly moving, touching drama. Won Best Picture at 1941 Academy Awards. find out more...

Certification15 Our Rating

Arrested for the fatal beating of an old lady, petty thief and prostitute Barbara Graham is truculent and aggressive with the police who arrest her as a suspect, but when the evidence against her begins to pile up Barbara relises it's not just her innocence she's going to have to fight for, it's her very life. 'I Want To Live' is a harrowing but utterly addictive story, with an Oscar winning tour de force by Susan Hayward in the central role.

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CertificationU Our Rating

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...

CertificationPG Our Rating

A masterpiece of Soviet Socialist Realism. In 1547, Ivan IV (1530-1584), archduke of Moscow, crowns himself Tsar of Russia and sets about reclaiming lost Russian territory. In scenes of his coronation, his wedding to Anastasia, his campaign against the Tartars in Kazan, his illness when all think he will die, recovery, campaigns in the Baltic and Crimea, self-imposed exile in Alexandrov, and the petition of Muscovites that he return, his enemies among the boyars threaten his success. Chief among find out more...

CertificationPG Our Rating

Ivan takes on the boyars in a battle for power in the second part of Eisenstein's projected trilogy. This was not released till 1958 as Stalin sensed its critical nature, especially its depictation of the secret police. Eisenstein's untimely death robbed us of the chance to see the final part. A Classic. find out more...