Alice's Playhouse
In Alice's Playhouse you will discover an exceptional collection of feature films adapted from some of the most celebrated plays ever written. Often featuring towering performances, outstanding direction and exceptional writing, this collection is a superb archive of contemporary drama masterfully transferred to the silver screen.
Filmizations of The Bard's work may be scrolled via the 'Shakespeare' sub-feature in green on the left, along with other notable playwrights who have been adapted for celluloid.
For adaptations of novels and short stories, check the 'Special Interest' link and click on 'Based on...'
Right: Marlon Brando and Vivien Leigh relax during the filming of Tennessee Williams' masterpiece, 'A Streetcar Named Desire'.
The Lower Depths (1957)
7.5/10
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Starring: Toshiro Mifune, Isuzu Yamada, Ganjiro Nakamada
Adapted from a play by Maxim Gorky and following the adventures of a boarding home's odd residents, especially the love triangle that develops between... Read more
The Madness Of King George (1994)
7.2/10
Director: Nicholas Hytner
Starring: Nigel Hawthorne, Helen Mirren, Ian Holm, Amanda Donohoe, Rupert Graves, Rupert E...
A film version of Alan Bennett's play about the life of one of Britain's most eccentric kings, George III. After thirty years on the throne, George (N... Read more
The Matchmaker (1958)
7/10
Director: Joseph Anthony
Starring: Shirley Booth, Anthony Perkins, Shirley MacLaine, Paul Ford
In this early adaptation of Thornton Wilder's hit Broadway play, we meet matchmaker Dolly Levi (Shirley Booth), who is always good at arranging things... Read more
The Merchant of Venice (2004)
7.1/10
Director: Michael Radford
Starring: Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons, Joseph Fiennes, Lynn Collins, Zuleikha Robinson, Kris M...
Al Pacino takes the lead role of Shylock the moneylender in one of Shakespeare's most searing plays, with Jeremy Irons as the melancholy Antonio who o... Read more
The Method (2005)
7.3/10
Director: Marcelo Pineyro
Starring: Eduardo Noriega, Najwa Nimri, Eduard Fernandez, Pablo Echarri, Ernesto Alterio,...
A cutting corporate satire from Spain, based on a famous play by Jordi Galceran, it features seven job applicants who turn up for an interview and fin... Read more
The Millionairess (1960)
5.5/10
Director: Anthony Asquith
Starring: Sophia Loren, Peter Sellers, Alastair Sim, Dennis Price, Vittorio De Sica
George Bernard Shaw's aceribic play served as the basis for this romantic satire starring Sophia Loren as a fabulously wealthy beauty who tires of men... Read more
The Millionairess (1972) / The Apple Cart (1975)
Director: William Slater, Cedric Messina
Starring: Maggie Smith, Tom Baker, Charles Gray, James Villiers, Helen Mirren, Prunella Sc...
George Bernard Shaw's brilliant farce on the true relationships between class, capital, power and labour stars Maggie Smith as Epifania, glamourous, c... Read more
The Noel Coward Collection: Volume 1 (1968)
Director: John Gorrie, Philip Saville, Tony Smith, Philip Dudley, Cecilia Brereton
Starring: Margaret Leighton, Richard Warwick, Penelope Keith, Paul Eddington, Patricia Hod...
Noel Coward was a true Renaissance man; a celebrated, playwright, composer, author, and actor. To quote the title of one of his biographies, he had "a... Read more
The Noel Coward Collection: Volume 2 (1968)
Director: Gavin Millar, Jack Gold, John Glenister, Sydney Lotterby, Mike Vardy, Paul Annett, Cedric Messina, Rick Gardner, Alan Strachan, Alan Dossor
Starring: Joan Collins, Julian Fellowes, Donald Sinden, Ian Richardson, Susannah York, Tom...
Noel Coward was among the most innovative and influential figures to emerge from the theatrical world during the 20th century. A playwright, director,... Read more
The Normal Heart (2014)
7.9/10
Director: Ryan Murphy
Starring: Julia Roberts, Mark Ruffalo, Jim Parsons, Taylor Kitsch, Matt Bomer
The story of a community, a city, and a nation confronted with an epidemic that few wanted to acknowledge. The Normal Heart follows a group of gay act... Read more