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 Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964)
6.8/10
Director: Charles Walters
Starring: Debbie Reynolds, Harve Presnell, Ed Begley
Debbie Reynolds is the feisty title character who earns her moniker by surviving a trip on the Titanic. Based on the true story of the wealthiest woma... Read more
Becket (1964)
8/10
Director: Peter Glenville
Starring: Richard Burton, Peter O'Toole, John Gielgud
Richard Burton and Peter O'Toole star in this grand historical drama adapted from the Jean Anouilh play about the tumultuous relationship of an archbi... Read more
Send Me No Flowers (1964)
7/10
Director: Norman Jewison
Starring: Rock Hudson, Doris Day, Tony Randall, Paul Lynde
One of the finest Doris Day/Rock Hudson pairings casts Rock as a hypochondriac so sure of impending death that he's trying to fix wife Doris up with a... Read more
The Balcony (1963)
6.1/10
Director: Joseph Strick
Starring: Lee Grant, Leonard Nimoy, Peter Falk, Ruby Dee, Shelley Winters
Shelley Winters is the madame of a house where customers play out their erotic fantasies, oblivious to a revolution which is sweeping the country. Whe... Read more
Toys in the Attic (1963)
6.9/10
Director: George Roy Hill
Starring: Dean Martin, Gene Tierney, Geraldine Page, Wendy Hiller, Yvette Mimieux
Sisters Carrie and Anna Berniers have been supporting their ne'er-do-well brother Julian through various failed businesses; now, he returns home with... Read more
The Caretaker (1963)
4.2/10
Director: Clive Donner
Starring: Donald Pleasence, Alan Bates, Robert Shaw
The Caretaker was the play that made Harold Pinter's name when it was first performed at the Arts Theatre, London in 1960, and it remains probably his... Read more
Uncle Vanya (1962)
7.2/10
Director: Stuart Burge
Starring: Joan Plowright, Laurence Olivier, Max Adrian, Michael Redgrave, Sybil Thorndike
The film of the highly acclaimed Chichester Festival Theatre production of Anton Chekhov's play. Chekhov's portrayal of the frustrations and disillusi... Read more
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Billy Rose's Jumbo (1962)
6.3/10
Director: Charles Walters
Starring: Doris Day, Stephen Boyd, Jimmy Durante, Martha Raye, Dean Jagger
This Rodgers and Hart musical was nominated for an Oscar for its score, and stars Doris Day and Jimmy Durante as circus owners who are going down the... Read more
The 47 Ronin ( aka Chushingura ) (1962)
7.6/10
Director: Hiroshi Inagaki
Starring: Yuzo Kayama, Koshiro Matsumoto, Toshiro Mifune, Tatsuya Mihashi, Yosuke Natsuki,...
One of the most retold stories in Japanese cinema is this historical samurai saga set at the turn of the 18th century, in which 47 loyal ronin seek ve... Read more
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