trh's - Rented List

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Widely misunderstood and shamefully denigrated at the time of its original release, but now recognised as not simply one of Rossellini's greatest films but as one of the key works of modern cinema, 'Journey to Italy' is a deceptively simple piece.

There is little plot to speak of: a marriage is breaking up under the strains of a trip to Italy, and we watch. But in its deliberate rejection of many aspects of 'classic' Hollywood narrative and its stubborn pursuit of a quite different aesthetic, its meandering story line creates space for ideas and time for reflection.

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Tony and Brenda Last appear to be the perfect married couple - with money, a great country house and an adored son, John Andrew.

When Tony inadvertently invites John Beaver, an idle and penniless young socialite to stay for the weekend, he sets in motion a series of events which drastically disrupts the course of all their lives.

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Sir Thomas More (Paul Scofield), England's Roman Catholic Chancellor, is forced into a difficult position when corrupt King Henry VIII (Robert Shaw) demands his approval to divorce his wife and marry his mistress.

Torn between his conscience and duty to the crown, Sir Thomas chooses to say nothing, sparking the rage of the king. What unfolds is a battle of wills packed with palace intrigue, political brinkmanship and the fate of man, church and country. In the end, his silence spoke loudest of all.

Directed by Robert Hamer, it stars Googie Withers as Rose Sandigate, a Bethnal Green housewife whose Sunday is turned upside down by the re-appearance of an old flame who is now an escaped convict seeking protection from the police.

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Smarmy, psychotic fortune hunter Edward "Teddy" Bare (Dirk Bogarde) has a penchant for the older woman... and for murder! Having plied his elderly wife (Mona Washbourne) with alcohol, the modern day Bluebeard leaves her to die from gas poisoning by the fireplace of their stately home.

Having done the nasty however, his wife's fortune soon turns out to be far smaller than Edward realised, and what there is has been entailed away to a distant sister. He sets his greedy sights on the heavily insured barkeeper Freda (Margaret Lockwood). Edward soon grows restless with his crass new wife, who refuses to give him a penny, and instead targets a third wealthy matron (Kay Walsh). She, however, is no fool and has plenty of her own secrets. Secrets that could expose Teddy. Has he finally met his match?

After four years in the Great War (WWI), Frank Gibbons (Robert Newton) is demobbed and returns home to his wife (Celia Johnson) and their children. They move into a small house which, although homely, becomes the setting for much high drama.

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An immensely popular British crime film, Basil Dearden's 'The Blue Lamp' was scripted by ex-policeman T.E.B Clark, the writer who arguably did the most to define Ealing Studio's post-war identity.

The film marked the first appearance of the character of Jack Warner (Jack Warner) - later to be immortalized in 'Dixon of Dock Green'. The story follows two London policemen whose daily routine is interrupted by a botched robbery and subsequent murder hunt.

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The Topham family live a blissfully happy life together in the lovely market town of Dunmow in deepest Essex. Recently married Basil Topham (David Tomlinson) and his beautiful wife Julie (Petula Clark) are patiently waiting for their house to be built by local builders.

Until then, they are forced to live with Basil s parents and eccentric grandfather (A.E Matthews). Basil and Julie have been entered into the Dunmow Flitch, a competition for the happiest married couple and all seems idyllic with our newly-weds. That is until a beautiful maid Marta (Sonja Zieman) arrives from Hungary to run the Topham family home and inadvertently throws everything into chaos!!

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Nine disparate Britons are transported to a mysterious city where, according to their class and disposition, they find themselves either in an earthly paradise of peace and equality or a hell starved of ambition and riches.

From the pen of JB Priestley, this fantastical allegory is a striking expression of post-war utopian impulses and among Ealing's most unusual features.

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"Beauty and the Beast " is a landmark feat of cinematic fantasy in which master filmmaker Jean Cocteau conjures spectacular visions of enchantment, desire and death that have never been equalled.

Josette Day is luminous yet feisty as Beauty, and Jean Marais gives one of his best performances as the Beast, at once brutal and gentle, rapacious and vulnerable, shamed and repelled by his own bloodlust. Henri Alekan's subtle black and white cinematography combine with Christian Berard's masterly costumes and set designs to create a magical piece of cinema, a children's fairytale refashioned into a stylised and highly sophisticated dream.

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On the mean streets of New York's Lower East Side, Drina hopes to save her brother from a life of crime. But notorious hoodlum Baby Face Martin has come back to his old haunts looking for trouble and threatening to drag the boy down with him. Drina turns to her childhood friend Dave for help.

But can he stop Martin without becoming just like him?

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He was a man who combined the savagery of a real-life Conan the Barbarian with the sheer tactical genius of Napoleon, a man from the outermost reaches of Asia whose armies ultimately stood poised to conquer Europe itself. His name was Genghis Khan.

Today the name of Genghis Khan is synonymous with dark evil yet in his lifetime he was a heroic figure, a supreme strategist capable of eliciting total devotion from his warriors. Born in Mongolia sometime after 1160, Genghis Khan grew up in a brutal world. His father was killed when he was only nine and at the age of 13 he killed his half-brother in a dispute over ultimately who would lead the family. Genghis Khan was to grow into one of the greatest warrior leaders of all time and created a dynasty in his wake. Was Genghis Khan the brutal monster who ruthlessly slaughtered millions in his quest for power, or was he a brilliant visionary who transformed a rabble of warring tribes into a nation capable of world domination? Filmed entirely on location in Mongolia, this epic film tells the story behind the legend that is Genghis Khan. How against all the odds an outcast came to conquer and create an empire larger than the world had ever seen before.

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Following the closure of a gypsum mine in the Nevada town she calls home, Fern (Frances McDormand) packs her van and sets off on the road in this "exquisite film" (Joe Morgenstern, The Wall Street Journal).

Exploring an unconventional life as a modern-day nomad, Fern discovers a resilience and resourcefulness unlike any she's known before long the way, she meets other nomads who become mentors in the vast landscape of the American West.

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Stars Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant and director George Cukor bring their timeless talents to this delectable slice of 1930s romantic-comedy perfection.

Grant is at his charismatic best as the acrobatically inclined free spirit who, following a whirlwind engagement, literally tumbles into the lives of his fiancee's aristocratic family, setting up a clash of values with her staid father while firing the rebellious imagination of her brash, black-sheep sister (Hepburn). With a sparkling surface and an undercurrent of melancholy, 'Holiday' is an enchanting ode to nonconformists and pie-in-the-sky dreamers everywhere, as well as a thoughtful reflection on what it truly means to live well.

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Six years after exploding to stardom in Of Human Bondage, Bette Davis equaled that excitement with another W. Somerset Maugham role as an adulteress using her sexual wiles to escape a murder conviction in The Letter.

The film throbs with sultry tension thanks to Davis, an impeccable supporting cast, atmospheric cinematography and the artistry of three-time Academy Award winner* William Wyler, Davis' director on Jezebel and The Little Foxes.