A well-dressed lady thief (Betty Amann) steals a precious stone from a jewellery shop. The aged jeweller prefers to let the young woman go, but the policeman who catches her explains he is obliged to pursue the case further. She tries to seduce the policeman (Gustav Frohlich), and he gradually succumbs to her charms, but her criminal background dooms their relationship when an argument leads to murder. One of the last great German Expressionist films of the silent era, Joe May's 'Asphalt' is a l find out more...

Two works from the father of narrative cinema. In "Broken Blossoms" (1919); a Chinaman arrives in London to teach the locals the ideals of Buddhism but finds them most unreceptive and, instead, opens a shop which becomes the refuge for a xenophobic boxer's abused daughter. Lillian Gish is brilliant and Griffith poetic. "Abraham Lincoln", (1930), was Griffith's first talkie and is a straightforward biopic from childhood to his premature assassination. find out more...

A silent classic. A temptress toys with three men in a hokey but elegant bit of melodramatic fluff climaxing with death on an iceberg. Renowned for its then electric love scenes the film was a big success because of the off stage Gilbert/Garbo romance. Archive material. find out more...

Chaplin's inventive and devastating satire on the woes of modern industrialised life, featuring the last appearance of his Little Tramp character and his first use of sound effects. The classic scene, in which he gets sucked into a production line epitomises this film's clever inventiveness. find out more...

Shosho is a maid in a swanky night-spot when she's spotted dancing by the club's rakish proprietor, Valentine Wilbur. Soon Shosho has usurped Mabel as the star dancer and object of Valentine's affections, setting the scene for a dramatic denouement. A tenderly restored work, with a new musical score by Neil Brand, and a truly hypnotic early screen goddess in the form of Anna May Wong. 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...

German folklore pervades this romantic tale of a man deciding to murder his wife and then changing his mind, in the end spending an enjoyable day with her. Dreamlike lyricism underlies the moral fable, achieving images of undeniable emotion and beauty. A silent, perhaps THE silent classic. find out more...

THAT NIGHT'S WIFE (Sono yo no tsuma) Young father Shuji turns to crime to pay his daughter's medical bills. Enter Detective Kagawa for a tense night-time stand-off with Shuji's wife, Mayumi. That Night's Wife demonstrates Ozu's masterly handling of drama as the film reaches its emotional climax.
DRAGNET GIRL (Hijosen no onna) By day sweet-faced Tokiko (played by Tanaka Kinuyo [Equinox Flower]) is an ordinary typist but come nightfall she's a fun-loving gangster's moll. When her boyfriend find out more...

The Little Tramp brings his slapstick hijinks to the big top. Charlie Chaplin's film 'The Circus' begins in a fading circus, where the equestrienne can't jump the hoops and the clowns can't make the audience laugh. Outside on the midway, The Little Tramp falls into a series of wonderful comic routines that end when, pursued by a cop, he bursts into the tent's centre ring and wows the audience. The circus owner/ringmaster auditions The Little Tramp as a clown but discovers he is only funny when h find out more...

Samuel Sweetland is a condescending farmer who finds himself all alone after the death of his wife. Along with his housekeeper, Minta, Samuel puts together a list of potential replacements, but his ego is about to take a much deserved battering. Much subtle slapstick and witty caricature, especially in a marvellously sustained sequence at a tea-party. An enjoyable adaptation of the play by Eden Phillpotts. find out more...