Loosely adapted from Steinbeck's tragic tale of two unlikely friends travelling from place to place during the 'great depression'. Malkovich is superb as the simpleton Lennie whose life is turned upside down by the arrival of a beautiful but bored, young woman into their lives. find out more...

Set in 1930s California, this adaptation of Steinbeck's novel ‘Of Mice and Men' paints a bold, vivid picture of life in the depression era and tells the tragic tale of George and Lenny two itinerant farm hands searching for a safe haven from the cruelties of the world. find out more...

Gentle drama in the best British tradition. Classics master Finney is coming to the end of his career at a public boy's school, only to realise that his years of devotion have made absolutely no impression on his young charges, while his wife has been knocking off one of his colleagues. An excellent performance from Finney. find out more...

Spielberg's aclaimed adaptation of Alice Walker's novel of a poor black girl, raped and rejected by her father, separated from her beloved sister and given into a life of domestic servitude and virtual imprisonment to her farmer husband. A bleak tale of hope and eventual liberation warmly told. find out more...

Made almost contemporaneously with the 1930s setting, this authentically portrays the poverty and repression of the migrant 'Okies', evicted from their dustbowl farms and treated like slaves in California. Adapted from Steinbeck's book, often called 'THE Great American Novel' and with outstanding performances coming from Henry Fonda (Tom Joad) and John Carradine (John Casey) a preacher with a fondess for vice, but a true heart... fantastic. find out more...

Set during the Great Depression, Jacob Janowski finds his promising career as a vetinary student shattered by family tragedy. Bereft and confused Jacob joins the Benzini Brothers circus as the vet for their animals and in particular the company’s elephant, Rosie. But it is the ringmaster’s wife that really holds the young Jacob’s attention, and it is this mutual attraction that forms the heart of the story. Based on Sara Gruen’s best selling novel, ‘Water for Elephants’ is a sumptuous but relati find out more...

Superb adaptation of Graham Swift's novel about growing up in the poverty stricken, primitive, rural Fenland. Irons is peerless as the ageing and troubled history teacher, disillusioned as his students with dry facts and figures, taking them on a field trip though his personal history re-exploring his marriage to his childhood love and the often tragic experiences that befell them. Brilliant and moving. find out more...