True Stories
True Stories are those based (sometimes loosely!) on fact. They cover topics as diverse as drug addiction, poverty, political unrest, the corruption of power, alcoholism, class divisions, sexual inequality, mental illness and other human struggles. Meet some of history's most intriguing characters, find out what it's really like to climb a mountain or paint a masterpiece. Truly, the True Story is one of cinema's most engaging and enthralling genres.
Bio-pics feature in this section and are also gathered together separately under the 'Biography' sublink left.
Pictured: Inside the Las Vegas mob, Scorsese's unromantic 'Goodfellas'
Cleopatra ( Blu-ray ) (1963)
7/10
Director: Joseph L Mankiewicz
Starring: Andrew Keir, Cesare Danova, Elizabeth Taylor, George Cole, Hume Cronyn, Martin L...
Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton star in this truly mammoth production filled with spectacle and a cast of thousands. The legendary story of the Qu... Read more
Alone Across the Pacific (1963)
Director: Kon Ichikawa
Starring: Yujiro Ishihara
Director Kon Ichikawa's ('An Actor's Revenge', 'The Burmese Harp') incredible real-life tale of one man's epic journey across the Pacific Ocean is bas... Read more
Cleopatra (1963)
7/10
Director: Joseph L Mankiewicz
Starring: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Rex Harrison
Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton star in this truly mammoth production filled with spectacle and a cast of thousands. The legendary story of the Qu... Read more
Lawrence of Arabia ( Blu-ray ) (1962)
8.3/10
Director: David Lean
Starring: Alec Guinness, Anthony Quayle, Anthony Quinn, Arthur Kennedy, Claude Rains, Jack...
Director David Lean follows the heroic, true-life odyssey of T.E. Lawrence (Peter O'Toole) in this dramatic portrait of the famed British Officer's jo... Read more
Dr Crippen (1962)
6.3/10
Director: Robert Lynn
Starring: Coral Browne, Donald Pleasence, James Robertson Justice, Samantha Eggar
The true story of American-born Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen (Donald Pleasence ), who was hanged in London in 1910 for poisoning his wife, Belle (Coral B... Read more
The Longest Day ( Blu-ray ) (1962)
7.8/10
Director: Andrew Marton, Ken Annakin, Bernhard Wicki
Starring: Curt Jurgens, Eddie Albert, Gert Frobe, Henry Fonda, Jeffrey Hunter, John Wayne,...
Acclaimed as one of Hollywood's greatest epics, producer Darryl F. Zanuck's brilliant re-creation of the Allied landing at Normandy on June 6, 1944 fo... Read more
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
8.3/10
Director: David Lean
Starring: Alec Guinness, Anthony Quayle, Anthony Quinn, Arthur Kennedy, Claude Rains, Jack...
Director David Lean follows the heroic, true-life odyssey of T.E. Lawrence (Peter O'Toole) in this dramatic portrait of the famed British Officer's jo... 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 Counterfeit Traitor (1962)
7.6/10
Director: George Seaton
Starring: William Holden, Lilli Palmer, Hugh Griffith
William Holden stars as Eric Erickson, a Swedish-American businessman blackmailed by British Intelligence into posing as a Nazi sympathizer while actu... Read more
The Trial of Joan of Arc (1962)
7.6/10
Director: Robert Bresson
Starring: Florence Carrez, Jean-Claude Fourneau, Roger Honorat, Marc Jacquier
A masterful retelling of the trial of one of history's most famous martyrs, this beautiful film focuses on the psychological and physical torture Joan... Read more