Classic Drama
Classic Drama is where you will find most of those great films you either grew up with or have heard of but never got round to seeing. Generally dramatic productions made between 1928 and 1965 fill this section. "Silents" and contempory "Drama" (post 1965) can be found under their respective headings..
Right: Charlton Heston and Stephen Boyd gaze into one another's eyes in "Ben Hur"
The Red Shoes ( Blu-ray ) (1948)
8.3/10
Director: Emeric Pressburger, Michael Powell
Starring: Anton Walbrook, Marius Goring, Moira Shearer, Robert Helpmann, Esmond Knight, Al...
'The Red Shoes', the singular fantasia from Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, is cinema's quintessential backstage drama, as well as one of the m... Read more
The Red Tent (1969)
7.1/10
Director: Mikhail Kalatozov
Starring: Sean Connery, Peter Finch, Hardy Kruger, Claudia Cardinale
A virtually unknown but first-rate film by Soviet filmmaker Mikhail Kalatozov. This ripping adventure epic was funded in Italy and based on an actual... Read more
The Robe (1953)
6.8/10
Director: Henry Koster
Starring: Richard Burton, Jean Simmons, Victor Mature, Michael Rennie
A lavish costume drama set during the crucifixion of Jesus and the birth of Christianity in the Roman Empire. Richard Burton, Jean Simmons star. Trivi... Read more
The Roof ( Il Tetto ) (1956)
7.3/10
Director: Vittorio De Sica
Starring: Gabriella Pallotta, Giorgio Listuzzi
De Sica once again returns to poor, post-war Italy to tell the small and unpretentious story of a young newly-wed couple. Having no money, they first... 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
The Sand Pebbles (1966)
7.7/10
Director: Robert Wise
Starring: Candice Bergen, Richard Attenborough, Richard Crenna, Steve McQueen
This compelling drama features a splendid performance by Steve McQueen as a jaded sailor on an American gunboat on the Yangtze River in 1926. His incr... Read more
The Savage Innocents (1959)
7.2/10
Director: Nicholas Ray
Starring: Anthony Quinn, Peter O'Toole, Yoko Tani
Nicholas Ray's remarkable film is at last available on DVD in a sumptuous, uncut print. Anthony Quinn stars as Inuk, an Eskimo whose daily routine is... Read more
The Scarlet Empress (1934)
7.7/10
Director: Josef Von Sternberg
Starring: Marlene Dietrich, John Lodge, Sam Jaffe
Marlene Dietrich lights up the screen as the Empress Catherine in this historical drama directed by Josef Von Sterberg. Young Princess Catherine's dre... Read more
The Sea Hawk (1940)
7.8/10
Director: Michael Curtiz
Starring: Errol Flynn, Brenda Marshall, Claude Rains, Flora Robson, Donald Crisp, Alan Hal...
Errol Flynn at his finest plays dashing privateer, Geoffrey Thorpe, hired by Her Majesty Elizabeth I (Flora Robson) to make life miserable for any Spa... Read more
The Secret of Santa Vittoria (1969)
7.5/10
Director: Stanley Kramer
Starring: Anna Magnani, Anthony Quinn, Hardy Kruger, Virna Lisi
When German soldiers approaching a small Italian town during World War II threaten to rob the village of its cache of vintage wine, ineffectual mayor... Read more