One of the most spectacular epics of all time, even by the standards of Hollywood, the famous twenty minute chariot race alone took three months to shoot, and, along the way, Ben is given a helping hand and converted by Jesus. An unmissable slice of movie history. Won Best Picture at 1959 Academy Awards. find out more...

Perhaps the most influential period in cinema history was the Italian neo-realism period of the late 40s and director Vittorio De Sica was one of the prime reasons for this important period of film-making. "The Bicycle Thieves" is a film about a poor man whose only means for a job is his bicycle, which gets stolen. The film follows him and his young boy throughout war-ravaged Rome in search of the stolen bike. The trip involves some of the most brilliant vignettes in film history; the church, th find out more...

Phyllis Dietrichson is trapped in a loveless marriage to a man who inspires in her nothing but contempt, but rather than leave him Phyllis decides to kill him and collect on the insurance policy she's had set up with the help of her lover, and naive partner in crime, insurance salesman Walter Neff. The only flaws in their plan are the company's reluctance to pay out so much, the diligence of Neff's increasingly suspicious colleague, (and his 'little man'), and the exemplary ruthlessness of Ph find out more...

A psychotic American commander worried about the subversive effects of water fluoridisation on his "vital bodily fluids" starts off an attack on the Soviet Union. No-one can stop the fighters and no-one, as yet, knows about the failsafe Doomsday Machine. Brilliant black comedy. find out more...

The amusing story of a cockney flower girl taken in by an elocution teacher and taught to mix with the aristocracy. An entertaining and escapist little story, with several classic catchy songs, which won Best Picture at 1964 Academy Awards. Shaw detested this lighthearted version of his play "Pygmalion". find out more...

The story of an ambitious young clerk who abandons his real love so he can marry into a rich family. The first of the British "realist" pictures - films that dealt with working class people and the realities of the English class structure - as a change from cosey middle class drama. find out more...

Lemmon is an ambitious young corporate executive who finds promotion comes his way most easily by lending out his flat for his superiors to pursue their extra-marital affaires. It all gets too much when a jilted Maclaine attempts suicide in his flat and he has to take the blame. A comedy classic. Won Best Picture at 1960 Academy Awards.

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Guinness restores the morale of British PoWs by building a bridge which is of military value to the Japanese, and then attempts to thwart the RAF's destruction of it! A classic film which swept 7 Oscars including "Best Picture". find out more...

One of the great sixties films, the one that brought Dustin Hoffman to public notice, as he plays an alienated Los Angelian rich kid searching for a meaning in life and discovering sex. Great movie to be watched, or rewatched, and with a superb soundtrack by Simon and Garfunkel. find out more...

A talented young pool whizz-kid being groomed for the big time comes to grief when he falls in love. A downbeat drama with some brilliantly handled and atmospheric pool hall scenes and a low-life romance. Outstanding performances all round. find out more...