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'.
Tartuffe (1926)
7.3/10
Director: F W Murnau
Starring: Hermann Picha, Rosa Valetti, Lil Dagover, Werner Krauss, Emil Jannings
Famous German filmmaker FW Murnau's interpretation of Moliere's satirical play about a devious housekeeper who convinces her master to cut his son out... Read more
Spanish Fly (1976)
4.9/10
Director: Bob Kellett
Starring: Leslie Phillips, Terry-Thomas, Frank Thornton, Graham Armitage, Nadiuska
Leslie Phillips is the debonair Mike Scott who visits Menorca to arrange a series of glamourous photo shoots. After arriving he meets up with an old... Read more
Anna Christie (1930)
6.9/10
Director: Clarence Brown, Jacques Feyder
Starring: Charles Bickford, Marie Dressler, Greta Garbo, George F Marion, Theo Shall, Hans...
Along with the director and cinematographer, Garbo was nominated for an Oscar in her first 'talkie' role in this rivetting adaptation of Eugene O'Neil... Read more
Detective Story (1951)
7.6/10
Director: William Wyler
Starring: Eleanor Parker, Kirk Douglas, William Bendix
Set amidst the hectic activity of a New York City police station, Kirk Douglas stars as the principled, rigid detective whose personal code has become... Read more
Grand Hotel ( Blu-ray ) (1932)
7.6/10
Director: Edmund Goulding
Starring: Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore, Wallace Beery
Welcome to Grand Hotel - a beautiful Berlin establishment filled with palatial splendor and whose occupants include Greta Garbo as a fading ballerina,... Read more
Hamlet (Olivier) ( Blu-ray ) (1948)
7.8/10
Director: Laurence Olivier
Starring: Eileen Herlie, Laurence Olivier, Basil Sydney
A brilliant adaptation of Shakespeare's play about the Danish prince 'who just couldn't make up his mind'. Hauntingly photographed in Elsinore, Denmar... Read more
Dinner at Eight (1933)
7.8/10
Director: George Cukor
Starring: John Barrymore, Marie Dressler, Jean Harlow, Wallace Beery, Lionel Barrymore, Ed...
Based on George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber's Broadway hit, in which an elaborate dinner party reveals a web of intrigue and romance. With a sparkling... Read more
The Jazz Singer (Special Edition) (1927)
6.7/10
Director: Alan Crosland
Starring: Al Jolson, May McAvoy, Warner Oland
It's more than a movie; it's history - this groundbreaking production is heralded as the first feature-length film with spoken dialogue ('talkie'). Ri... Read more
Sophia Loren Collection: Heller In Pink Tights (1960) / Desire Under the Elms (1958) / A Breath of Scandal (1960)
Director: Delbert Mann, George Cukor, Michael Curtiz
Starring: Sophia Loren, Anthony Quinn, Burl Ives, Anthony Perkins, Maurice Chevalier, Ange...
This classic collection features three films from Italian screen beauty Sophia Loren. 'Heller In Pink Tights' - Based on the novel by Louis L'Amour, t... Read more
Miss Julie (2014)
5.5/10
Director: Liv Ullmann
Starring: Jessica Chastain, Colin Farrell, Samantha Morton
1890, Ireland. Over the course of a midsummer night, Julie (Jessica Chastain), the daughter of Anglo-Irish aristocracy, encourages her father's valet... Read more