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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 Fugitive Kind (1959)

7.2/10
Director: Sidney Lumet
Starring: Marlon Brando, Anna Magnani, Joanne Woodward, Maureen Stapleton, Victor Jory

Marlon Brando is Val Xavier, a guitar playing, snakeskin jacket wearing drifter who wanders into a small southern town after giving up a life of crime... Read more

Samurai Saga (1959)

7.1/10
Director: Hiroshi Inagaki
Starring: Toshiro Mifune, Yoko Tsukasa, Akira Takarada, Keiko Awaji, Seizaburo Kawazu

Cyrano de Bergerac is given the Japanese Samurai treatment with the legendary Toshiro Mifune as the large-nosed warrior with a poet's heart. He is ut... Read more

The Diary of Anne Frank (1959)

7.4/10
Director: George Stevens
Starring: Millie Perkins, Joseph Schildkraut, Shelley Winters, Richard Beymer, Gusti Huber...

One of the most gripping and heartfelt stories to emerge from the Holocaust, this magnificent adaptation of the acclaimed play is based on the writing... Read more

Desire Under the Elms (1958)

6.6/10
Director: Delbert Mann
Starring: Anthony Perkins, Burl Ives, Sophia Loren

A remarkable adaptation of Eugene O'Neill's provocative play details the disintegration of an affluent 1880s New England farm family. After larger-tha... Read more

Auntie Mame (1958)

8/10
Director: Morton DaCosta
Starring: Rosalind Russell, Forrest Tucker, Coral Browne

Rosalind Russell re-creates her Broadway triumph as the flashy, lovably eccentric socialite who takes her orphaned nephew under her wing and shows him... Read more

The Matchmaker (1958)

7/10
Director: Joseph Anthony
Starring: Shirley Booth, Anthony Perkins, Shirley MacLaine, Paul Ford

In this early adaptation of Thornton Wilder's hit Broadway play, we meet matchmaker Dolly Levi (Shirley Booth), who is always good at arranging things... Read more

Separate Tables (1958)

7.5/10
Director: Delbert Mann
Starring: Rita Hayworth, Deborah Kerr, Burt Lancaster, David Niven, Wendy Hiller, Gladys C...

Based on Terence Rattigan's play, this fine, textured drama, deals with the hopes and heartbreaks of the occupants of a British seaside resort. A kin... Read more

Indiscreet (1958)

6.8/10
Director: Stanley Donen
Starring: Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, Cecil Parker, Phyllis Calvert, David Kossoff, Megs J...

Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant are perfectly cast in this witty comedy, adapted by Norman Krasna from his own stageplay, 'Kind Sir'. Bergman is a weal... Read more

Look Back In Anger (1958)

8.4/10
Director: Tony Richardson
Starring: Richard Burton, Claire Bloom, Mary Ure, Edith Evans, Gary Raymond

Richard Burton is perfectly cast as angry young Brit Jimmy Porter, in this scathingly realistic look at British life in the 1950s. Bristling with heat... Read more

Bell, Book and Candle (1958)

6.9/10
Director: Richard Quine
Starring: James Stewart, Kim Novak, Jack Lemmon, Ernie Kovacs, Hermione Gingold, Janice Ru...

About-to-be-married publisher James Stewart finds himself smitten with Kim Novak, but is shocked to find out she's a witch! Jack Lemmon, Hermione Ging... Read more