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'.
Heartbreak House (1977)
Director: Cedric Messina
Starring: John Gielgud, Sian Phillips, Barbara Murray, Daniel Massey, Lesley-Anne Down, Da...
Shaw's passionate response to World War I was this rollicking romp through the minefields of romantic entanglement. Captain Shotover (John Gielgud) i... Read more
Equus (1977)
7.2/10
Director: Sidney Lumet
Starring: Richard Burton, Peter Firth, Jenny Agutter
Richard Burton and Peter Firth in the film version of Peter Shaffer's play about a part-time stableboy who has blinded six horses. Burton, as the psyc... Read more
The Collection ( Harold Pinter ) (1976)
6.1/10
Director: Michael Apted
Starring: Alan Bates, Helen Mirren, Laurence Olivier, Malcolm McDowell
Set in the rarefied world of West End boutique owners and fashion designers, The Collection takes as its departure point, the moment when four elegant... 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
David Williamson Collection: Don's Party (1975) / The Removalists (1975) / Travelling North (1987) / The Four Minute Mile (1988) (1975)
8.5/10
Director: Bruce Beresford, Carl Schultz, Jim Goddard, Tom Jeffrey
Starring: Graham Kennedy, John Hargreaves, Ray Barrett, Peter Cummins, Leo McKern, Julia B...
David Williamson is considered one of Australia's greatest living playwrights. Writing contemporary stories about sex, sports and social politics. Mo... 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
Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris (1975)
6.1/10
Director: Denis Heroux
Starring: Jacques Brel, Mort Shuman, Elly Stone
An example of the daring kind of 70s filmmaking which is almost unimaginable today, using a kaleidoscope of imagery and a heady mix of cinematic style... Read more
Mame (1974)
6/10
Director: Gene Saks
Starring: Lucille Ball, Bea Arthur, Robert Preston
Lucille Ball coaxes the blues right out of the horn in this brassy, big-screen musical extravaganza. She stars as an eccentric woman who becomes guard... Read more
Rising Damp: The Complete Series & Movie (1974)
7.6/10
Director: Ronnie Baxter, Joe Mcgrath
Starring: Leonard Rossiter, Richard Beckinsale, Frances de la Tour, Don Warrington
Comic genius, Leonard Rossiter heads the cast of this enduringly popular comedy of lodgers versus their miserly landlord. With lecherous but lovable l... Read more
Rising Damp: Series 1 and 2 (1974)
7.8/10
Director: Ronnie Baxter
Starring: Richard Beckinsale, Leonard Rossiter, Don Warrington, Frances de la Tour
Adapted from a popular play, The Banana Box, this classic British series centres around a seedy boarding house run by the equally seedy Mr Rigsby (the... Read more