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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'.

Mister Roberts (1955)

7.8/10
Director: John Ford, Mervyn LeRoy
Starring: Henry Fonda, Jack Lemmon, James Cagney, William Powell

A classic comedy-drama about the dehumanizing aspects of war. Mister Roberts is aboard a US cargo ship, working in the Pacific during the Second World... Read more

I Am A Camera (1955)

6.7/10
Director: Henry Cornelius
Starring: Laurence Harvey, Julie Harris, Ron Randell, Shelley Winters, Anton Diffring, Mal...

Henry Cornelius's adaptation of the play which was later more famously filmed as the musical 'Cabaret'. It's Berlin in the 1930s, and a young writer b... Read more

The Rose Tattoo (1955)

7.2/10
Director: Daniel Mann
Starring: Anna Magnani, Burt Lancaster

Anna Magnani won an Oscar for her portrayal of a Sicilian-born widow in a small Louisiana fishing town whose morbid faithfulness to her late husband i... Read more

We're No Angels (1955)

7.5/10
Director: Michael Curtiz
Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Aldo Ray, Peter Ustinov, Leo G Carroll, Basil Rathbone, Joan Be...

This entertaining black comedy would be the last collaboration of Humphrey Bogart with director Michael Curtiz. Not best-known for his comedic work, B... Read more

Anything Goes (1955)

6.2/10
Director: Robert Lewis
Starring: Bing Crosby, Donald O'Connor, Jeanmarie, Mitzi Gaynor, Phil Harris

An effervescent musical comedy, based on the play by Guy Bolton and P.G. Wodehouse, with Bing Crosby and Donald O'Connor as Broadway stars on the look... Read more

The Seven Year Itch (1955)

7.2/10
Director: Billy Wilder
Starring: Tom Ewell, Marilyn Monroe

While Hollywood censors carefully watched the filming of this notoriously racy production, Marilyn was pure perfection as a sexy, yet innocent, starle... Read more

Picnic (1955)

7.4/10
Director: Joshua Logan
Starring: William Holden, Rosalind Russell, Kim Novak

One of the biggest box-office attractions of the 1950s, "Picnic" was adapted by Daniel Taradash from the Pulitzer Prize-winning William Inge play abou... Read more

Richard III (Olivier) ( Blu-ray ) (1954)

7.5/10
Director: Laurence Olivier
Starring: Laurence Olivier, Stanley Baker, Claire Bloom, John Gielgud, Cedric Hardwicke, R...

Shakespeare's tragic, twisted king is brilliantly portrayed by Laurence Olivier, who also produced and directed. With Cedric Hardwicke, Ralph Richards... Read more

Richard III (Olivier) (1954)

7.5/10
Director: Laurence Olivier
Starring: Claire Bloom, John Gielgud, Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richardson, Cedric Hardwicke...

Shakespeare's tragic, twisted king is brilliantly portrayed by Laurence Olivier, who also produced and directed. With Cedric Hardwicke, Ralph Richards... Read more

The Country Girl (1954)

7.3/10
Director: George Seaton
Starring: Bing Crosby, William Holden, Grace Kelly, Anthony Ross, Gene Reynolds

Bing Crosby, in a riveting performance, is the alcoholic singer on the comeback trail with the help of wife Grace Kelly - playing against type as the... Read more