Classic Adventure
Remember those moments where the main character finds himself in a difficult or precarious dilemma, or confronted with a shocking revelation, those thrill-a-minute extravaganzas, those rip-roaring spectacles, swashbuckling and derring-do action, cliff-hanger endings .... that was what Saturday Matinees were made of.
Below is a compilation of the 'essence' of this wonderful genre. See also 'Cliff-Hanger Serials'
Shark (1968)
7.1/10
Director: Samuel Fuller
Starring: Burt Reynolds, Barry Sullivan, Arthur Kennedy, Silvia Pinal
Aka 'Man-eater'. Burt Reynolds plays a tough American smuggler in the Mediterranean hired by what he thinks a scientific expedition. The voyage turns... Read more
She (1935)
6.6/10
Director: Irving Pichel, Lansing C Holden
Starring: Helen Gahagan, Randolph Scott, Helen Mack, Nigel Bruce
A rollicking adaptation of H Rider Haggard's novel about a party of adventurers searching for a mystical element hidden in the Arctic that can provide... Read more
She Gods of Shark Reef (1958)
2.5/10
Director: Roger Corman
Starring: Don Durant, Bill Cord, Lisa Montell
This low-budget schlocker from Roger Corman is set in the South Pacific where two brothers on the run from the law are shipwrecked on an island popula... Read more
Sky Raiders (1941)
7.3/10
Director: Ray Taylor, Ford Beebe
Starring: Robert Armstrong, Donald Woods, Billy Halop
Dastardly spy Felix Lynx attacks our hero Robert Dayton through twelve thrilling chapters of high-flying action! Felix wants to steal Robert's amazing... Read more
Soldier of Fortune (1955)
6.3/10
Director: Edward Dmytryk
Starring: Clark Gable, Gene Barry, Michael Rennie, Susan Hayward
This top-notch adventure saga stars Clark Gable as a smuggler/soldier of fortune who helps beauty Susan Hayward when her photojournalist husband is ar... Read more
Son of Ali Baba (1952)
5.9/10
Director: Kurt Neumann
Starring: Hugh O'Brian, Piper Laurie, Susan Cabot, Tony Curtis, William Reynolds
Tony Curtis and Piper Laurie team up in this Arabian adventure. Curtis plays Kashma Baba, son of the infamous Ali Baba, who rescues the beautiful slav... Read more
Son of Fury (1942)
7.1/10
Director: John Cromwell
Starring: Elsa Lanchester, Gene Tierney, George Sanders, John Carradine, Roddy McDowall, T...
An exciting swashbuckler set in the early 19th century and starring Tyrone Power as the illegitimate son of a British nobleman who is forced into serv... Read more
Son of Samson / Son of Cleopatra (1961)
Director: Carlo Campogalliani
Starring: Mark Forrest, Mark Damon
Heeding an inner voice, the 'Son of Samson,' a loner from an outlying borough scourges the capital, using his high-caliber muscles to break up the Que... Read more
Swallows and Amazons (2016)
6.2/10
Director: Philippa Lowthorpe
Starring: Kelly Macdonald, Rafe Spall, Jessica Hynes, Andrew Scott
Four children (the Swallows) on holiday in the Lake District sail on their own to an island and start a war with rival children (the Amazons). In the... Read more
Taras Bulba (1962)
6.4/10
Director: J Lee Thompson
Starring: Yul Brynner, Tony Curtis, Christine Kaufmann, Sam Wanamaker, Brad Dexter
The legendary tale of the Cossacks' fight for freedom from the Poles over 400 years ago. Yul Brunner stars as a powerful Cossack chieftain leading his... Read more