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'.
Torch Song Trilogy (1988)
7.7/10
Director: Paul Bogart
Starring: Anne Bancroft, Matthew Broderick, Harvey Fierstein
Harvey Fierstein adapted his Broadway hit play about the trials and tribulations of being a sexually active, gay urban male in the 1970's for the big... Read more
Middle Age Spread (1978)
6/10
Director: John Reid
Starring: Donna Akersten, Dorothy McKegg, Grant Tilly, Peter Sumner, Bridget Armstrong
A unique "comedy of manners", based on Roger Hall's stage play which was a smash hit in NZ and the UK. Colin (Grant Tilly) is the deputy principal of... Read more
The Exonerated (2005)
6.7/10
Director: Bob Balaban
Starring: Susan Sarandon, Danny Glover, Brian Dennehy, Delroy Lindo, Aidan Quinn
Adapted from the highly acclaimed off-Broadway play, this film tells six true stories of death row inmates proven innocent and released after serving... Read more
The Woodsman (2004)
7.2/10
Director: Nicole Kassell
Starring: Kevin Bacon, Kyra Sedgwick, Eve , Mos Def, David Alan Grier, Benjamin Bratt
After twelve years in prison, Walter (Kevin Bacon) moves into a small apartment, gets a job and keeps to himself. But as a convicted sex offender his... Read more
A Midsummer Night's Dream - Shakespeare Retold (2005)
Director: Ed Fraiman
Starring: Imelda Staunton, Bill Paterson, Lennie James, Sharon Small, Zoe Tapper, Dean Len...
Polly (Imelda Staunton) and Theo (Bill Paterson) have come to Dream Park to celebrate the engagement of their daughter in this updated BBC version of... 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
Six Degrees of Separation (1993)
6.9/10
Director: Fred Schepisi
Starring: Stockard Channing, Will Smith, Donald Sutherland, Mary Beth Hurt, Bruce Davison,...
John Guare adapted his hit Broadway play, based on a true incident, about a man pretending to be Sidney Poitier's son who works his way into the lives... Read more
Macbeth (Welles) (1948)
6.6/10
Director: Orson Welles
Starring: Orson Welles, Jeanette Nolan, Dan O'Herlihy
This adaptation of the Bard was shot in 23 days on a western backlot at Republic Studios and is pure cinema: moodily magnificent photography reinforce... Read more
The Wild Duck (1984)
6.3/10
Director: Henri Safran
Starring: Liv Ullmann, Jeremy Irons, John Meillon, Lucinda Jones
Director Henri Safran adapts Henrik Ibsen's timeless play to an Australian setting and a turn-of-the-century ambience in this poignant story of an ill... Read more
One, Two, Three (1961)
8/10
Director: Billy Wilder
Starring: James Cagney, Arlene Francis, Horst Buchholz
James Cagney's 'retirement' film was this hilarious comedy about a Coke executive in contemporary West Berlin freaking out when the boss's visiting da... Read more