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...

Two Ruritanian states go to war after somebody calls President Groucho an upstart. Totally irreverent towards patriotism, religion, justice and anything else respectable. Probably the brothers' greatest movie. find out more...

An awesome film that probes the conflicts between morality and the law. When is a man merely following orders and when does he become responsible for the consequences of his actions? Using the post-war trials of four German judges accused of legalising Nazi atrocities Kramer creates a fasinating exploration of human responsibility.

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Stewart is superb as the young Wisconsin senator put up to the job, who then exposes the corruption in the Senate and upholds true American values. Popular wish fulfilment served up with such fast talking comic panache that you don't have time to question its cornball idealism. A great film! find out more...

Winner of 8 Oscars, this is the story of a misfit who challenges the power of the tough New York Longshoremen's Union. Steiger plays his brother, caught between divided loyalties, and Eve Marie Saint plays the woman he falls in love with. Highly recommended viewing despite its political premises. NB the special pleading on behalf of informers, deriving presumably from the fact that Kazan and Schulberg named names during the McCarthy witch-hunts. find out more...

It's the off-season at the lonely Beauregard Hotel in Bournemoth, and only the long-term tenants are still in residence. Life is stirred up, however, when the beautiful Ann Shankland arrives to see her alcoholic ex-husband, John Malcolm, who is secretly engaged to Pat Cooper, the woman who runs the hotel. Meanwhile, snobbish Mrs Railton-Bell discovers that the kindly if rather doddering Major Pollock, played by David Niven, who won an Oscar for his performance, a retired officer who likes to find out more...

A highly acclaimed and influential account of Algeria's turbulent past made in psuedo-documentary style. The tense plot surrounds the rise of nationalist organisations in '54 and the French government's attempts to quell them. This film was the prototype for most political thrillers of the 1970s. find out more...

A wonderful example of the ability Chaplin had to comment on current issues with witty, visual satire. This film was, Chaplins first "talkie", and has him playing both a persecuted Jewish businessman, and Hynkel, a sharp and accurate lampoon of Hitler. A superb example of Chaplins comic genius. find out more...

War hero Raymond Shaw returns from North Korea after being seized, brainwashed by the enemy and programmed to assassinate key establishment figures. He arouses the suspicions of former colleague Major Marco, but who really controls him? A brilliantly plotted conspiracy thriller with a sterling cast - an unmissable treat. find out more...

A lawyer raising his children alone in the midst of racial hatred, injustice and hypocracy is the only man prepared to defend a young black man accused of rape by a white trash family. A superb study of racism in Americas deep South boasting a wonderful script, photography and acting in an adaptation worthy of the book; A total classic. find out more...