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...

The original big screen romantic epic that fired the hearts of generations to come. Set against the backdrop of the American Civil War and telling the tale of the love between Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler, it's the history of a selfish woman who doesn't want to admit her feelings about the man she loves, and finally loses. Won Best Picture at 1939 Academy Awards. find out more...

An immensely influential silent film that intercuts 4 short stories from history. Intolerance and its terrible effects are examined in four historical eras; in ancient Babylon, a mountain girl is caught up in the religious rivalry that leads to the city's downfall. In Judea, the hypocritical Pharisees condemn Jesus Christ. In 1572 Paris, unaware of the impending St Bartholomew's Day Massacre, two young Huguenots prepare for marriage. Finally, in modern America, social reformers destroy the lives find out more...

 Frank Capra's classic bittersweet drama about George Bailey (James Stewart), a small town businessman who has long considered himself a failure. Things come to a head one Christmas Eve in 1946, when facing financial ruin and arrest he contemplates suicide. Standing on a bridge and ready to jump George's fate now rests in the hands of an Angel eager to earn his wings. It's a Wonderful Life is widely considered to be one of the finest films ever made, it is certainly one of the greatest f find out more...

Re-issued gem from the little master. "The Gold Rush" is acclaimed as one of his funniest by many critics, and was re-edited by Chaplin himself to incorporate sound, 17 years after it's original 1925 release. find out more...

Ford turns Monument Valley into an interior landscape as Wayne, and a half breed, pursue his five-year odyssey, a grim quest to kill both the Indian who abducted his niece and the tainted girl herself. Essential viewing and generally hailed as one of the greatest westerns. find out more...

Peckinpah completely rewrites John Ford's Western mythology by looking at the passing of the Old West from the point of view of marginalised outlaws rather than law-abiding settlers. While never ignoring their brutality he contrasts their code of loyalty with that of the corrupt railroad magnates. In purely cinematic terms, the film is a savagely beautiful spectacle, Lucien Ballard's superb cinematography complementing Peckinpah's darkly elegiac vision. find out more...