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 Exterminating Angel (1962)
8.2/10
Director: Luis Bunuel
Starring: Silvia Pinal, Jacqueline Andere, Claudio Brook
Louis Bunuel's masterpiece tells the story of guests invited to a lavish dinner party who find they are unable to leave at the end of the evening. A m... Read more
Dancing at Lughnasa (1998)
6.3/10
Director: Pat O'Connor
Starring: Michael Gambon, Meryl Streep, Sophie Thompson, Catherine McCormack, Kathy Burke,...
Meryl Streep heads a superb cast in this fine screen adaptation of Brian Friel's award-winning play. Set in 1936 it tells the story of five unmarried... Read more
Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001)
7.8/10
Director: John Cameron Mitchell
Starring: John Cameron Mitchell, Andrea Martin, Michael Pitt, Miriam Shor, Alberta Watson
Stepping back into the high-heeled shoes of his acclaimed off-Broadway play's title character, director/co-writer John Cameron Mitchell stars as the b... Read more
Twelfth Night (1996)
7.3/10
Director: Trevor Nunn
Starring: Imogen Stubbs, Helena Bonham Carter, Ben Kingsley
Shakespeare's richest and most haunting 'comedy' of would be lovers and mistaken identity is given lavish treatment with Imogen Stubbs, Helena Bonham... Read more
Wit (2001)
8.1/10
Director: Mike Nichols
Starring: Emma Thompson, Christopher Lloyd, Eileen Atkins, Audra McDonald, Jonathan M Wood...
Vivian Bearing (Emma Thompson) is an English professor with a biting wit that educates but also alienates her students. With her teaching and life bot... Read more
Hook (1991)
6.7/10
Director: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Bob Hoskins, Dustin Hoffman, Julia Roberts, Maggie Smith, Robin Williams
Robin Williams and Dustin Hoffman star in this classic tale about a middle-aged lawyer who discovers that he was once the legendary Peter Pan. An ench... Read more
Sleuth (1972)
8/10
Director: Joseph L Mankiewicz
Starring: Laurence Olivier, Michael Caine
Mystery tour-de-force based on Anthony Shaffer's play starring Laurence Olivier as an eccentric writer of mystery novels coercing his wife's lover Mic... 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
Harvey (1950)
8/10
Director: Henry Koster
Starring: James Stewart, Josephine Hull, Victoria Horn
This beloved comedy stars James Stewart as a good-hearted inebriate whose constant companion is a six foot, invisible rabbit named Harvey that only he... Read more
The Taming Of The Shrew (1967)
7.2/10
Director: Franco Zeffirelli
Starring: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Cyril Cusack, Michael Hordern, Alfred Lynch, A...
An exquisite mounting of Shakespeare's comic look at male-female relationships stars Richard Burton as Petruchio, the wily gentleman from Verona who t... Read more