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.
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CLEOPATRA (PART 1) (1963)
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One of history's greatest love affairs acted by two of Hollywood's most famous lovers. A sumptuous extravaganza, in its time the most expensive ever made, with some of the most lavish sets and costumes ever recorded, and, with numerous rewrites, way, way over budget.
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CLEOPATRA (PART 2) (1963)
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The second tape of the 4 hour cut of this lavish Hollywood production, with all the bits the studio took out in order to make it fit your cinema's running times and avoid severe bum ache. DVD contains a bonus features disc.
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EL CID (1961)
CertificationPG Our Rating
One of the very finest epics produced, equally impressive in terms of script and spectacle. Heston is aptly heroic as the 11th Century patriot destined to die in the fight to evict the Moors from Spain, Mann's direction is stately and thrilling and Miklos Rosza's superb score perfectly complements the crisp and simple widescreen images. Sobriety and restraint, in fact, are perhaps the keynotes of the film's success, with the result that a potentially risible finale, in which Cid's corpse is born
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FUNNY GIRL (1968)
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The life of comedienne Fannie Brice, from her early days in the Jewish slums of the Lower East Side, when only her mother believed Fanny could make it in show business, to her hilarious debut as a rollerskating chorus-girl and on to the height of her career as a star with the Ziegfeld Follies. Unfortunately she fell in love, and married, the wrong man; handsome, urbane but inept gambler Nick. Streisand won the best actress Oscar in this classic musical.
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FUNNY LADY (1968)
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Now divorced from wealthy Nick Arnstein, Fanny teams up with songwriter Billy Rose, a brash showman bursting with enthusiasm and theatrical ambitions. They make an unusual couple, the polished performer and the upstart producer, but their friendship gradually blossoms into love. Funny Lady lacks the freshness and energy of the original Funny Girl but there are still some dazzling production numbers and Caan and Streisand make a believably feisty couple.
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HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN (1952)
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Hans Christian Andersen's classic fairy tale of the overly inventive village cobbler gets a delightful musical interpretation with music and Lyrics by Frank Loesser. Oscar nominated for the song ‘Thumbelina' and staring Danny Kaye at his peak, this is quintessential rainy weekend family viewing.
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THAT HAMILTON WOMAN (1941)
CertificationPG Our Rating
Real-life lovers Olivier and Leigh gel perfectly and light up the screen in this portrayal of the rise, decline and fall of a courtesan and one of history's great, but doomed, love affairs. With its great dialogue audiences of the time adored this film, as did Churchill who announced it his favourite!
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THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD (ERROL FLYNN) (1938)
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One of the truily great adventure movies, the type that Star Wars paid tribute to, and an example of what the large studios could produce. Glorious colour, sumptuos sets, and a brilliantly choreographed climatic sword fight between Flynn and Rathbone.
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THE PRIVATE LIVES OF ELIZABETH AND ESSEX (1939)
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Nominated for five Academy Awards; Michael Curtiz's expansive period drama sets the tumultuous on-again, off-again affair between Queen Elizabeth I and the second Earl of Essex against Essex's powerful ambition to assume power in England. Having won several important battles, Essex's popularity among the masses is soaring, but despite his own substantial cunning he is ultimately no match for his Queen, a woman Essex greatly admires but has sworn to usurp. An epic, rip-roaring reinterpretation of
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