Ralph Richardson

Philippe, a diplomat's son and good friend of Baines the butler, is confused by the complexities and evasions of adult life. He tries to keep secrets but ends up telling them. He lies to protect his friends, even though he knows he should tell the truth. He resolves not to listen to adults' stories any more when Baines is suspected of murdering his wife and no-one will listen to Philippe's vital information. (imdb)

A young naive woman falls for a handsome young man who her emotionally abusive father suspects is a fortune hunter. (imdb)

The career of Shakespeare's Sir John Falstaff as roistering companion to young Prince Hal, circa 1400-1413. (imdb)

Life of a Russian doctor/poet who, although married, falls for a political activist's wife and experiences hardships during the Bolshevik Revolution. (imdb)

In a corporate controlled future, an ultra-violent sport known as Rollerball represents the world, and one of it's powerful athletes is out to defy those who want him out of the game. (imdb)

Five people get lost in a crypt and meet up with a strange crypt keeper who tells them stories of how they died (imdb)

A young boy accidently joins a band of dwarves as they jump from time-period to time-period looking for treasure to steal. (imdb)

Author Eugene O'Neill gives an autobiographical account of his explosive homelife, fused by a drug-addicted mother... (imdb)

A group of rabbits flee their doomed warren and face many dangers to find and protect their new home. (imdb)

Richard's military skills have helped to put his older brother Edward on the throne of England. (imdb)

A King has made a pact with a dragon where he sacrfices virgins to it, and the dragon leaves his kingdom alone... (imdb)

This sprawling, surrealist musical serves as an allegory for the pitfalls of capitalism, as it follows the adventures of a young coffee salesman in Europe. Many actors play multiple roles, giving the film a stagy tone. (imdb)

English General Charles George Gordon, a devout Christian, is appointed military governor of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan by Prime Minister Gladstone... (imdb)

A story of 100 years: a decades-long second world war leaves plague and anarchy, then a rational state rebuilds civilization and tries space travel. (imdb)

A shipping disaster in the 19th Century has stranded a man and woman in the wilds of Africa. The lady is pregnant, and gives birth to a son in their tree house. Soon after, a family of apes stumble across the house and in the ensuing panic, both parents are killed... (imdb)

Essentially true story of how Spartan king Leonidis led an extremely small army of Greek Soldiers (300 of them his personal body guards from Sparta) to hold off an invading Persian army more than 20 times as large. The actual heroism of those who stood (and ultimately died) with Leonidis helped shape the course of Western Civilization, allowing the Greek city states time to organize an army which repelled the Persians. Set in 480 BC. (imdb)

Historical reenactment of the air war in the early days of World War Two for control of the skies over Britain as the new Luftwaffa and the Royal Air Force determine whether or not an invasion can take place. (imdb)

A more psychological telling of the Mary Shelley story has a different kind of monster... (imdb)

Tony successful fighter pilot during World War II marries into the family of a wealthy oil magnate who also designs airplanes. the movie traces the company's attempt to break the sound barrier, as well as tensions between father and daughter. Lots of footage of early 50s jet aviation in Great Britain as well as shots of the comet airliner, world's first jet passenger plane (imdb)

Jim Wormold sells vacuum cleaners in Havana. His daughter Milly, 17, spends a lot of money, so he accepts a job with the Intelligence Service. As he has nothing to report, he invents facts, pretends to recruit agents and to discover secret constructions... Of course, one day all will become much harder... (imdb)

A "documentary" style film to praise the R.A.F. at the start of World War II. The 'Michael Powell' touch adds to the stock footage to bring us the people involved in a bomber attack on the Keil Canal and a Spitfire night fighter repulsion of the Nazi bombers. (imdb)

Set on a Malayan island where a trader becomes a criminal and a huge manhunt is organised to capture him. Trying to start a new life the trader takes refuge at a trading post.

A huge panorama of Wagner's life and work, from before the 1848 Revolution, through his exile in Switzerland, his rescue by the besotted King Ludwig II of Bavaria to the final triumph at Bayreuth. Wagner's radical musical and political ideas, his German nationalism and even his anti-Semitism are set in the context of his life and times. (imdb)

The theme is the founding of the state of Israel. The action begins on a ship filled with Jewish immigrants bound for Israel who are being off loaded on Cyprus. An Intelligence officer succeeds in getting them back on board their ship only to have the harbor blocked by the British with whom they must negotiate. The second part of the film is about the situation in Israel as independence is declared and most of their neighbors attack them. (imdb)

This is a retelling of the old tale of Hansel and Gretel, but set in England in the 1920s. To the children and staff at the orphanage, Auntie Roo is a kindly American widow who gives them a lavish Christmas party each year in her mansion, Forrest Grange. In reality, she is a severely disturbed woman, who keeps the mummified remains of her little daughter in a nursery in the attic. (imdb)

A tontine is established for a dozen children, a tontine being a kind of bet/insurance, money is put in for each to grow with interest and the last survivor is to get the lot. We watch the group dwindle until only two brothers are left... (imdb)

The story of Louis XIV of France and his attempts to keep his identical twin brother Philippe imprisoned away from sight and knowledge of the public, and Philippe's rescue by the aging Musketeers, led by D'Artagnan. (imdb)

Set in post-nuclear-holocaust England, where a handful of bizarre characters struggle on with their lives in the ruins, amongst endless heaps of ash, piles of broken crockery and brick, muddy plains, and heaps of dentures and old boots... (imdb)

Stefan and Dolly Oblonsky have had a little spat and Stefan has asked his sister, Anna Karenina, to come down to Moscow to help mend the rift. Anna's companion on the train from St. Petersburg is Countess Vronsky who is met at the Moscow station by her son. Col. Vronsky looks very dashing in his uniform and it's love at first sight when he looks at Anna and their eyes meet... (imdb)

Lewis Carroll adaptation

A British army officer who resigns his commission on the eve of his unit's embarkation to a mission against Egyptian rebels seeks to redeem his cowardice by secretly aiding his former comrades disguised as an Arab. When his unit is overwhelmed and captured by the rebels, the hero finds an opportunity to return the 'feathers' of cowardice sent to him by his former comrades by freeing them. (imdb)

A timid British department store clerk is endowed with the power to do anything he wants. Well, almost anything.

Jaap van Leyden is in charge of a shipyard in newly occupied Holland. At first he collaborates with the Germans because it is the easiest course to follow. Later a child's rhyme reminds him of his patriotic duty, but how best to resist the Nazis without endangering his wife and fellow workers ? (imdb)

Andrew Manson, a young, enthusiastic doctor takes his first job in a Welsh mining town, and begins to wonder at the persistent cough many of the miners have. When his attempts to prove its cause are thwarted, he moves to London. His new practice does badly. But when a friend shows him how to make a lucrative practice from rich hypochondriacs, it will take a great shock to show him what the truth of being a doctor really is. (imdb)

A war recruitment film for the Fleet Air Arm done in a semi-documentary style.

A stuffy barrister finds himself sharing his hotel room with a coquettish young woman, an act which sets off a myriad of misunderstandings.

Tyrannical but ailing tycoon Charles Richmond becomes very fond of his attractive Italian nurse, Maria. The nurse, in turn, falls in love with Charles' ne'er-do-well nephew Anthony, who plots ways to gain control of his uncle's fortune. (imdb)

A visiting American engages in a bold business promotion, the likes of which the British have not seen. (imdb)

Horse race tipster and journalist Metcalfe is picked for the job of foreign correspondent in Norway when Hitler invades Poland. On the way to Norway his boat is attacked by a German U-Boat, however when he tells the navy about it they disbelief him and, to make matters worse, he is removed from his job. When German forces invade Norway, Metcalfe returns determined to uncover what is going on and stop the Germans in their tracks. (imdb)

A wealthy woman's attempts to help her financially troubled husband go unrewarded. (imdb)

A heartwarming tale of an English minister and his family reunited at Christmas time. Their story includes a remembrance of their WWII trials. (imdb)

At the height of the Cold War, British Intellegence discovers evidence that suggests Soviet missiles are being positioned close to the German border. With no active agents available to investigate, Fred Leiser must be called back to the colors and sent East. Once behind the Iron Curtain, Leiser meets a sympathetic German girl who tries to help him to evade the East German secret police and to complete his assignment. (imdb)

Lighthearted romp of a pre-war spy story: quirky British secret service man finds out who's using a secret weapon to steal experimental planes. (imdb)

A veteran secret service officer from Britain hijacks a government shipment of $15 million of gold out of an irritation for never being knighted. (imdb)

1815. A soldier becomes the governor of St. Helena and jailer of Napoleon. High brow. (imdb)

David Preston, a bank official goes missing for 24 hours and has no memory of the lost time, but when he learns that the steward of his local club has implicated him in a robbery, and has been found murdered. Preston finds he has no alibi, and the police want him to account for the lost hours. (imdb)

In this TV adaptation of the Harold Pinter classic, a seedy poet (Gielgud) shows up at the home of a rich writer (Richardson) and they start reminiscing about the "past." (imdb)

This lackluster 1970 version of Charles Dickens' classic novel, David Copperfield (made as a film twice before) turns Dickens' picaresque tale into an extended flashback, with David Copperfield (Robin Phillips) as a young man, brooding on a deserted beach, recalling his youth. The characters are all trotted out in choppy flashbacks as David remembers his life as a young orphan, brought to London and passed around from relatives, to guardians, to boarding school. (allmovie.com)

A barber commits a petty theft, which leads to his becoming involved in blackmail and murder. (imdb)

It is pouring with rain at one minute to midnight on Friday the thirteenth, and the driver of a London bus is peering through his blurred windscreen as his vehicle sails down an empty road. Suddenly, lightning strikes, and a vast crane above topples into the path of the oncoming bus... Then Big Ben begins to wind backwards. Time recedes. (imdb)

Efficient, but bitter and stubborn, barrister Sir Wilfrid Robarts returns to his office in London, having recovered from a heart attack. He is subsequently invited to defend Leonard Stephen Vole, who is the prime suspect in a murder case. Leonard is a former soldier that fought in World War II and is married to his beloved German wife Christine Helm Vole. He is unemployed and accused of seducing and murdering the wealthy middle-aged single woman, Emily French, to inherit 80,000 pounds. (imdb)

Inspired by a song sung by her new chauffeur, an author's romance novel gives the chauffeur the wrong idea.

Hedda Gabler has just come back from her honeymoon, married to boring but reliable academic George Tesman (Michael Redgrave). Refusing to tie herself down in life and name, Hedda is banking on George being appointed a professorship to secure a better life for the young couple. However, the arrival of cleaned up ex-lover Eilert threatens to destroy everything. Included is the bonus play, The Lady from the Sea starring Eileen Atkins and Denholm Elliott. (amazon.com)

Bulldog Drummond is injured when his sabotaged car crashes and Jack Pennington agrees to masquerade as the sleuth. He is enlisted to help Ann Manders find her jeweler grandfather who has been kidnapped by a gang of crooks who want him to copy a valuable necklace they want to steal. Their plan backfires in the British Museum and the film climaxes in an exciting chase on a runaway train in the London Underground. (imdb)

Charlie Muffin, top British Intelligence operative, has just broken up a major Soviet spy network in England. However, a new Director with new ideas takes over and wants Charlie out. But then a high-ranking Soviet spy-master hints that he wants to defect, and both British Intelligence and the CIA want him and will do anything to get him. (imdb)

The port city of Bristol, England, in the 1800s is home to Java Head, a sailing ship line company. The owner has two sons. One, a handsome seafarer, is in love with a local girl, but cannot marry her due to a long-running feud between their fathers. After a lengthy voyage, he returns with a very exotic, noble Chinese wife, which scandalizes the conservative town. His other son, a "landlubber", seeks to convert to steamships, to the disgust of his father. (imdb)

A noblewoman doomed to a loveless marriage falls into a scandalous affair with the dashing Lord Byron. (imdb)

"Winifred Holtby realised that Local Government is not a dry affair of meetings and memoranda:- but 'the front-line defence thrown up by humanity against its common enemies of sickness, poverty and ignorance.' She built her story around six people working for a typical County Council:- Beneath the lives of the public servants runs the thread of their personal drama. Our story tells how a public life affects the private life; and how a man's personal sufferings make him what he is in public. " (imdb)

The canonical history of the first world war.

During WW2, on the eve of the Battle of Britain, British scientists develop the first radar systems to be employed against the German Luftwaffe. (imdb)

During a wedding rehearsal, an English bride-to-be and an American who was just standing in for the broom accidentally get married. She doesn't mind the idea at first, but things get bumpy very soon. (imdb)

Drummond leads a black-shirted platoon of men from his former unit against foreign interlopers trying to pull England into dangerous overseas entanglements.

Oscar Wilde's homosexuality is exposed when he tries to defend himself against his lover's father.

A television interviewer is determined to get a coup on a dodgy cabinet minister.

Through the pattern of this film a ‘Test’ at Lord’s runs like a thread and a broadcast commentary on the match is imposed on the background of cricket as a game, a craft, an interest of a people, a piece of history. The craftsmen are shown who make the ball and the bat–that ‘fourth straight stick’ with which the batsmen defend ‘the other three’. The craftsmen are shown who play the game, from W. G. Grace in the ‘nets’ to D. G. Bradman and Denis Compton in the thread of the ‘Test’.

Part of BFI collection “They Stand Ready.”

John Smith, a middle-aged married man, is made redundant by his employer; at a loss and despairing, his friend Harry Jones suggests applying to the Embankment Fellowship Centre, a charity that provides hostelling, retraining and help finding work for men in his position.