David Lean's epic romance set against the turbulant backdrop of the Russian revolution. One man's struggle for moral political and personal survival amidst the complex web of intrigue and tangled loyalties that accompanied the fall of the Tsar.

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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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An obscure, but lavish, Ealing romantic historic drama concerning the ill-starred relationship between Sophia Dorothea, wife of the repulsive Elector of Hanover and future George the First of Britain, and the dashing Swedish Count Philip Christoph von Königsmarck. Lots of court intrigue and doomed love. Note: This was the first Ealing picture shot in colour.

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A classic European fairytale comes to vivid Technicolor life in this story of a prince a spoilt princess, a singing ringing tree, an evil dwarf and a bear; oh, and true love. A gloriously gaudy tale... and the bear... did I mention the bear? find out more...

The John Huston classic about the prim missionary lady forced to team up with a drunken ne'er-do-well for a dangerous journey when the war comes to their remote bit of Africa. Their trying odyssey downriver, of course, gradually sees the two incompatibles falling in love, with the as always detached Bogart finally discovering commitment and attacking a German gunboat. find out more...

Set in Shanghai during the Chinese Revolution, the storyline explores the relationship between a missionary, Megan, and a Chinese warlord, General Yen. It's refreshing to see Capra tackling something more alien to him than the struggles of idealistic American men and he seems to have taken a healthy interest in a culture that at the time was still shrouded in mystery and secrecy. The style of the film is infused with the Orient, from its zen-like mise en scene to the director's inclusion of c find out more...

Newly restored to its original splendour, this is a definitive Hollywood epic that charts the intrigues surrounding the Imperial throne, held by Marcus Aurelius and coveted by the corrupt Commodus, that led to the Romans' downfall at the hands of the Barbarians. Superbly portrayed, a cast of thousands, spectacular battle scenes, while La Loren provides the passion. Stunning sets and a stirring score.

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A Regency romp following the lives of two friends from schoolgirl innocence to bitter betrayal. James Mason is on top form as the blue-blooded bounder who marries Phyllis Calvert, while Margaret Lockwood is hot stuff as the treacherous seductress who sets out to steal her best friend's husband. One of Gainsbrough's best and considered to be rather indecent in its day, it's something of a bawdy bodice-ripper.

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