Best Of...
British cinema: All genres
Painted Boats (1945)
Charles Crichton
For generations, the Smith and Stoner families have lived and worked on the canals of England, transporting valuable cargoes between the great industrial heartlands of the country...
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Charles Crichton
The Pallisers [TV] (1974)
Ronald Wilson
In the 1860s, Plantagenet Palliser is the heir to a fabulously wealthy dukedom and the most eligible bachelor in England, but he is more preoccupied with his duties as a member of parliament than the inescapable prospect of wedlock...
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Ronald Wilson
Paranoiac (1963)
Freddie Francis
Since the tragic death of their parents in a plane crash, Simon and Eleanor Ashby have lived under the care of their kindly Aunt Harriet at their large country house...
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Freddie Francis
Passport to Pimlico (1949)
Henry Cornelius
When an unexploded German bomb is detonated in an area of central London, a lost vault of 15th Century treasure is revealed, along with a royal charter which makes Miramont Place, Pimlico, the property of the Duke of Burgundy...
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Henry Cornelius
Peeping Tom (1960)
Michael Powell
Mark Lewis is a shy young man who works as a focus puller at a film studio but has aspirations of becoming a film director...
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Michael Powell
The Pianist (2002)
Roman Polanski
Warsaw, September 1939. Wladyslaw Szpilman is making a comfortable living as a virtuoso pianist in Poland when the Nazis invade his country and begin their systematic persecution of its Jewish population... [More...]
Roman Polanski
Warsaw, September 1939. Wladyslaw Szpilman is making a comfortable living as a virtuoso pianist in Poland when the Nazis invade his country and begin their systematic persecution of its Jewish population... [More...]
Pimpernel' Smith (1941)
Leslie Howard
On the eve of WWII, Horatio Smith, an eccentric Cambridge history professor, leads a party of students to Nazi Germany to look for evidence for an ancient Aryan civilisation... [More...]
Leslie Howard
On the eve of WWII, Horatio Smith, an eccentric Cambridge history professor, leads a party of students to Nazi Germany to look for evidence for an ancient Aryan civilisation... [More...]
The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976)
Blake Edwards
Charles Dreyfus, formerly Chief Inspector Dreyfus of the French National Police, is a changed man. He no longer harbours any homicidal feelings for Inspector Jacques Clouseau, the man who drove him insane and robbed him of his position... [More...]
Blake Edwards
Charles Dreyfus, formerly Chief Inspector Dreyfus of the French National Police, is a changed man. He no longer harbours any homicidal feelings for Inspector Jacques Clouseau, the man who drove him insane and robbed him of his position... [More...]
The Plague of the Zombies (1966)
John Gilling
Sir James Forbes, a distinguished professor of medicine, is surprised when he receives a letter from a former pupil, Dr Peter Thompson, inviting him to look into a spate of mysterious deaths in a small Cornish village... [More...]
John Gilling
Sir James Forbes, a distinguished professor of medicine, is surprised when he receives a letter from a former pupil, Dr Peter Thompson, inviting him to look into a spate of mysterious deaths in a small Cornish village... [More...]
The Plank (1967)
Eric Sykes
Two workmen have almost finished laying the floorboards in a new house when they realise that they are short by one plank... [More...]
Eric Sykes
Two workmen have almost finished laying the floorboards in a new house when they realise that they are short by one plank... [More...]
Porridge (1979)
Dick Clement
Escaping from Slade Prison is the last thing on Norman Stanley Fletcher's mind (particularly as he is due for parole in a year's time) but this is the unintended result of his agreeing to do a favour for Harry Grout, the unofficial boss of the prison... [More...]
Dick Clement
Escaping from Slade Prison is the last thing on Norman Stanley Fletcher's mind (particularly as he is due for parole in a year's time) but this is the unintended result of his agreeing to do a favour for Harry Grout, the unofficial boss of the prison... [More...]
Prick Up Your Ears (1987)
Stephen Frears
On 9th August 1967, Joe Orton and Kenneth Halliwell are found dead in the top-floor Islington flat they have shared for almost a decade... [More...]
Stephen Frears
On 9th August 1967, Joe Orton and Kenneth Halliwell are found dead in the top-floor Islington flat they have shared for almost a decade... [More...]
The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933)
Alexander Korda
England, 1536. As one wife mounts the scaffold, another prepares to take her wedding vows. King Henry VIII is confident that this third marriage, to the beautiful but dim Jane Seymour, will be a success... [More...]
Alexander Korda
England, 1536. As one wife mounts the scaffold, another prepares to take her wedding vows. King Henry VIII is confident that this third marriage, to the beautiful but dim Jane Seymour, will be a success... [More...]
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970)
Billy Wilder
Sherlock Holmes is at a loose end when he is summoned to the ballet to attend a performance of Swan Lake with his friend and colleague Dr Watson... [More...]
Billy Wilder
Sherlock Holmes is at a loose end when he is summoned to the ballet to attend a performance of Swan Lake with his friend and colleague Dr Watson... [More...]
Private's Progress (1956)
John Boulting
In 1941, Stanley Windrush has his university studies interrupted when he is conscripted into the British army. Because of his aristocratic background, Windrush is considered officer material, but when he fails to get past an officer selection board, he ends up being posted to a holding unit, under the command of the hard-to-please Major Hitchcock... [More...]
John Boulting
In 1941, Stanley Windrush has his university studies interrupted when he is conscripted into the British army. Because of his aristocratic background, Windrush is considered officer material, but when he fails to get past an officer selection board, he ends up being posted to a holding unit, under the command of the hard-to-please Major Hitchcock... [More...]
Providence (1977)
Alain Resnais
In a dark old house, an elderly man rambles deliriously as he swigs glass after glass of white wine to ease the pain of his bowel cancer... [More...]
Alain Resnais
In a dark old house, an elderly man rambles deliriously as he swigs glass after glass of white wine to ease the pain of his bowel cancer... [More...]
The Pumpkin Eater (1964)
Jack Clayton
As middle-age steals over her, Jo Armitage finds herself trapped in a stale marriage and, in a state of profound melancholia, she looks back on her life... [More...]
Jack Clayton
As middle-age steals over her, Jo Armitage finds herself trapped in a stale marriage and, in a state of profound melancholia, she looks back on her life... [More...]
Pygmalion (1938)
Anthony Asquith
Henry Higgins is a professor of phonetics for whom the rich variety of London accents holds a particular fascination. Whilst navigating Covent Garden one evening, he encounters a flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, and is amused by her strong Cockney accent... [More...]
Anthony Asquith
Henry Higgins is a professor of phonetics for whom the rich variety of London accents holds a particular fascination. Whilst navigating Covent Garden one evening, he encounters a flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, and is amused by her strong Cockney accent... [More...]
Quartet (1948)
Ken Annakin
The writer William Somerset Maugham introduces adaptations of four of his popular short stories. In The Facts of Life, 19-year-old Nicky Garnet blithely ignores three pieces of advice given to him by his well-meaning father before he sets off for Monte Carlo to compete in a tennis tournament: never gamble, never lend money to anyone and never have anything to do with women... [More...]
Ken Annakin
The writer William Somerset Maugham introduces adaptations of four of his popular short stories. In The Facts of Life, 19-year-old Nicky Garnet blithely ignores three pieces of advice given to him by his well-meaning father before he sets off for Monte Carlo to compete in a tennis tournament: never gamble, never lend money to anyone and never have anything to do with women... [More...]
Quatermass 2 (1957)
Val Guest
Professor Bernard Quatermass's ambition to build a colony on the Moon appears to be thwarted as government funds are diverted to other projects... [More...]
Val Guest
Professor Bernard Quatermass's ambition to build a colony on the Moon appears to be thwarted as government funds are diverted to other projects... [More...]
Quatermass and the Pit (1967)
Roy Ward Baker
Whilst workmen are building an extension to the London Underground, a prehistoric human skull is discovered. Palaeontologist Matthew Roney is called in and he concludes that the skull is over five million years old... [More...]
Roy Ward Baker
Whilst workmen are building an extension to the London Underground, a prehistoric human skull is discovered. Palaeontologist Matthew Roney is called in and he concludes that the skull is over five million years old... [More...]
The Quatermass Xperiment (1955)
Val Guest
Professor Bernard Quatermass is both excited and concerned when a rocket that he designed and launched crash-lands in the south of England... [More...]
Val Guest
Professor Bernard Quatermass is both excited and concerned when a rocket that he designed and launched crash-lands in the south of England... [More...]
The Railway Children (1970)
Lionel Jeffries
In 1905, the Waterburys are an idyllically happy family, living a contented life in their plush villa in the suburbs of London... [More...]
Lionel Jeffries
In 1905, the Waterburys are an idyllically happy family, living a contented life in their plush villa in the suburbs of London... [More...]
Reach for the Sky (1956)
Lewis Gilbert
In 1931, a few years after enrolling as an officer cadet in the Royal Air Force, 21-year-old Douglas Bader has his dreams shattered when he crashes an aeroplane in a foolish show of bravado... [More...]
Lewis Gilbert
In 1931, a few years after enrolling as an officer cadet in the Royal Air Force, 21-year-old Douglas Bader has his dreams shattered when he crashes an aeroplane in a foolish show of bravado... [More...]
The Rebel (1961)
Robert Day
Tired of the unending monotony of his life as a lowly office clerk, Anthony Hancock Esq. sets out for Paris to make a name for himself as an artist... [More...]
Robert Day
Tired of the unending monotony of his life as a lowly office clerk, Anthony Hancock Esq. sets out for Paris to make a name for himself as an artist... [More...]
The Red Shoes (1948)
Michael Powell
Boris Lermontov, the manager of a world famous ballet company, expects nothing less than total commitment from those he employs... [More...]
Michael Powell
Boris Lermontov, the manager of a world famous ballet company, expects nothing less than total commitment from those he employs... [More...]
The Remains of the Day (1993)
James Ivory
Mr James Stevens is the butler at Darlington Hall, one of England's grander stately homes. Recently the Hall has changed hands and Stevens now serves Mr Lewis, a retired American congressman... [More...]
James Ivory
Mr James Stevens is the butler at Darlington Hall, one of England's grander stately homes. Recently the Hall has changed hands and Stevens now serves Mr Lewis, a retired American congressman... [More...]
The Reptile (1966)
John Gilling
On the death of his brother, Harry Spalding and his wife Valerie elect to move into his cottage, in a remote Cornish village... [More...]
John Gilling
On the death of his brother, Harry Spalding and his wife Valerie elect to move into his cottage, in a remote Cornish village... [More...]
Repulsion (1965)
Roman Polanski
Carol and Helen Ledoux are two Belgian sisters who live in London and share a mansion apartment near to the South Kensington beauty parlour where Carol works as a manicurist... [More...]
Roman Polanski
Carol and Helen Ledoux are two Belgian sisters who live in London and share a mansion apartment near to the South Kensington beauty parlour where Carol works as a manicurist... [More...]
The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958)
Terence Fisher
Sentenced to death for his diabolical experiments, Baron Frankenstein narrowly escapes his execution and sets up a medical practice in another town, working under an assumed name, Dr Stein... [More...]
Terence Fisher
Sentenced to death for his diabolical experiments, Baron Frankenstein narrowly escapes his execution and sets up a medical practice in another town, working under an assumed name, Dr Stein... [More...]