A history professor and his wife entertain a young couple who are new to the university's faculty. As the drinks flow, secrets come to light, and the middle-aged couple unload onto their guests the full force of the bitterness, dysfunction, and animosity that defines their marriage.
Biography of risk-taker and raconteur John Huston from his childhood to become one of the most highly respected filmmakers in the world.
Documentary examination of the role of Hamlet, in which ten prominent actors who have played the part discuss Hamlet's personality, Shakespeare's play, and the enduring popular fascination it has inspired. The actors interviewed are Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud, Richard Burton, Nicol Williamson, Ben Kingsley, Jean Louis Barrault, Vittorio Gassman, Maximilian Schell, Innocenti Smoktunovsky, and Mandy Patinkin. Includes excerpts from various film and television versions of Hamlet, featuring these actors and others.
A playboy who refuses to give up his hedonistic lifestyle to settle down and marry his true love seeks help from a demented psychoanalyst who is having romantic problems of his own.
A Stalinist assassin tracks exiled revolutionary Leon Trotsky to Mexico in 1940.
Starting in late May 1944, during the German retreat on the Eastern Front, Captain Stransky (Helmut Griem) orders Sergeant Steiner (Richard Burton) to blow up a railway tunnel to prevent Russian forces from using it. Steiner's platoon fails in its mission by coming up against a Russian tank. Steiner then takes a furlough to Paris just as the Allies launch their invasion of Normandy.
In 1970s London, Scotland Yard orchestrates the downfall of mob boss Vic Dakin after he crosses the line by blackmailing Members of Parliament.
Henry VIII of England discards his wife, Katharine of Aragon, who has failed to produce a male heir, in favor of the young and beautiful Anne Boleyn.
A French detective in London reconstructs the life of a man lying in hospital with severe injuries with the help of journals and a psychiatrist. He realises that the man had powerful telekinetic abilities.
Julie Andrews starred in Hollywood productions that have become iconic movies, winning an Oscar for her performance as Mary Poppins, a symbol of the magic of musicals from the 1960s. And yet, behind the squeaky-clean image hides a much more tortuous career, with its moments of glory and tough times, all of which explain the longevity of a story that is still being written.
Italy, 16th century. Petruchio, a choleric, lying and poor rural landowner from Verona, arrives in Padua in search of fortune and a wife, while Baptista, a wealthy merchant, announces that he will not allow Bianca, his youngest daughter, to marry until the temperamental and unruly Katherina, his eldest daughter, does.
The retelling of June 6, 1944, from the perspectives of the Germans, US, British, Canadians, and the Free French. Marshall Erwin Rommel, touring the defenses being established as part of the Reich's Atlantic Wall, notes to his officers that when the Allied invasion comes they must be stopped on the beach. "For the Allies as well as the Germans, it will be the longest day"
This movie adaptation of George Orwell's novel follows the reeducation of two people who break the law in a totalitarian state by falling in love.
Baron von Sepper is an Austrian aristocrat noted for his blue-toned beard, and his appetite for beautiful wives. His latest spouse, an American beauty named Anne, discovers a vault in his castle that's filled with the frozen bodies of several beautiful women.
British agent Alec Leamas refuses to come in from the Cold War during the 1960s, choosing to face another mission, which may prove to be his final one.
In North Africa, German Field Marshal Rommel and his troops have successfully fended off British forces, and now intend to take Tobruk, an important port city. A ramshackle group of Australian reinforcements sent to combat the Germans is put under the command of British Captain MacRoberts. The unruly Aussies immediately clash with MacRoberts, a gruff, strict disciplinarian, however this unorthodox team must band together to protect Tobruk from the German forces.
A defrocked Episcopal clergyman leads a bus-load of middle-aged Baptist women on a tour of the Mexican coast and comes to terms with the failure haunting his life.
An engrossing spectacle set in the 4th-century BC, in which Alexander of Greece leads his troops forth, conquering all of the known world, in the belief that the Greek way of thinking will bring enlightenment to people. The son of the barbaric and ruthless King Philip of Macedonia, Alexander achieved glory in his short but remarkable life.
A psychiatrist, Martin Dysart, investigates the savage blinding of six horses with a metal spike in a stable in Hampshire, England. The atrocity was committed by an unassuming seventeen-year-old stable boy named Alan Strang, the only son of an opinionated but inwardly-timid father and a genteel, religious mother. As Dysart exposes the truths behind the boy's demons, he finds himself face-to-face with his own.
Wealthy passengers fogged in at London's Heathrow Airport fight to survive a variety of personal trials.
In the Nazi occupied city of Rome, an assault on an SS brigade draws retaliation from the military governship. "Massacre in Rome" is the true story of how this partisan attack led to the mass execution of Italian nationals under the orders of SS-Lieutenant Colonel Kappler.
The delightful if peculiar story of a day in the life of a small, Welsh fishing village called "Llareggub" in which we meet a host of curious characters (and ghosts) through the 'eyes' of Blind Captain Cat.
Thomas Becket, Henry II's longtime advisor, finds his friendship with the debauched king corroding when he is unwillingly appointed as Archbishop of Canterbury in an attempt to gain absolute loyalty from the Church.
The live version of Jeff Wayne's 1978 bestselling album was brought to the stage in 2006 as part of a sell-out tour of the UK. Filmed at London's Wembley Arena, and using a blend of theatre, music and visual imagery, the production incorporates performers from the original recording, including Justin Hayward, Chris Thompson and Wayne himself. There's also audio and visual elements featuring Richard Burton, as well as the ten-piece Black Smoke Band and the 48-piece Ulladubulla Strings.
A high school girl encounters a variety of kookie characters and humorous sexual situations while searching for the meaning of life.
Alaska: America's last great wilderness frontier. A land of primitive grandeur, of glaciers, mountains and ice-fields. And of ambitious cannery tycoon Zeb "Czar" Kennedy and rugged activist leader Thor Storm, two rough-hewn men whose bitter 40-year rivalry mirrored their powerful land's struggle for statehood.
India. The spoilt and stubborn Edwina Esketh, comes to a small town with her husband. She falls in love with an indian doctor, Dr. Safti. She also meets an old friend of hers, the alcoholic Tom Ransome. An awful earthquake is followed by days of rain.
During the second world war, two British officers, Brand and Leith, who have never seen combat, are assigned a vital mission. Their relationship and the operation are complicated by the arrival of Brand's wife, who had a tryst with Leith years earlier.
A disillusioned, angry university graduate comes to terms with his grudge against middle-class life and values.
Captain Foster plans on raiding German-occupied Tobruk with hand- picked commandos, but a mixup leaves him with a medical unit led by a Quaker conscientious objector.
Secluding herself in an island mansion in the Mediterranean with her servants and nurses, the wealthy Flora "Sissy" Goforth prepares for her impending death -- and she isn't the only one who's waiting. Known for his attraction to the dying rich, poet Chris Flanders ingratiates himself with the wilting Sissy. Although her friend explains Flanders' "Angel of Death" nature to her, Sissy embraces the vulture-like Flanders.
The Faust legend retold (loosely) and applied to a mentally disturbed patient in a hospital run by a doctor of dubious sanity himself. The patient offers the innocent orderly vast riches if he'll help him escape.
A young man plots revenge against the woman he believes murdered his cousin, but his plans are shaken when he comes face to face with the enigmatic beauty.
At a Catholic boys' school, domineering disciplinarian Father Goddard rules over his pupils with an iron hand. When one of his teenage charges confesses to murder, the dogmatic but deeply repressed Goddard finds his faith challenged and his life spiralling dangerously out of control.
American and British tourists get caught up in political unrest in Haiti.
A small southern town has just been rocked by a tragedy: a young white woman has been raped by a black man. When young black man Garth witnesses the Ku Klux Klan's violent retaliation against his innocent friend, Garth declares a one-man war on the Klan and hunts them down one-by-one.
A free-spirited single mother forms a connection with the wedded headmaster of an Episcopalian boarding school in Monterey, California.
Faustus is a scholar at the University of Wittenberg when he earns his doctorate degree. His insatiable appetite for knowledge and power leads him to employ necromancy to conjure Mephistopheles out of hell. He bargains away his soul to Lucifer in exchange for living 24 years during which Mephistopheles will be his slave. Faustus signs the pact in his own blood and Mephistopheles reveals the works of the devil to Faustus.
An aging gay couple owns a barber shop in the East End of London. One of them is a part-time actor about to go on trial for propositioning a police officer. The action takes place over the course of one night as they discuss their loving but often volatile past together and possible future without each other.
In 1942, a cargo ship jammed with British evacuees from Singapore is sunk by a Japanese sub. A small lifeboat carries a beautiful woman, an army officer, a bigoted administrator, and a black seaman. Only the seaman knows the woman is a nun. The men reveal their true selves under the hardships of survival. Told in a too-long flashback frame.
A 60-year-old artist shares a secret, platonic romance with a 16-year-old girl.
Even big stars need to stand in front of the director and audition for their roles, and some of the best screen tests are from the early years of legends. See some of Hollywood's top names and greatest talents in their very first appearances on celluloid. From Dustin Hoffman's 1966 stock and personality tests to Raquel Welch and James Coburn cavorting for Our Man Flint, from The Three Stooges to Rock Hudson, see stars trying to get on film.
When ship's fireman Peter McCabe walks out on his long-suffering wife, he leaves her impoverished, with two young daughters and a boy born soon after his departure. After an absence of fourteen years McCabe returns, sacked and humiliated, trailing trouble in his wake.
A stage production of Hamlet filmed at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre in New York. It was deliberately staged in the style of a "dress rehearsal", but performed in front of a live audience.
Documentary about the making of 20th Century Fox's 1963 film "Cleopatra," then the most expensive film of all time.
Stars celebrate Bob Hope's 50 years with NBC.
Romantic tragedy, the story of Tristan and Isolde.
The headquarters of the Marshal Tito's Liberation Army are surrounded by Axis forces. The Partisans have no choice but to fight their way out of the encirclement and face the enemy on the plains of Sutjeska.
Winston Churchill's life in the years leading up to World War II.
Prospero, the deposed Duke of Milan, who lives in exile on a remote island as a sorcerer, uses his powers to shipwreck his usurper brother on the island.
The charming Adriana gets sick after her husband's death. Her brother-in-law takes her on a journey to meet a doctor, while love overwhelms them.
Two strangers, both married to others, meet in a railway station and soon find themselves in a brief but intense affair.
An old woman fights a group of industrialists who are planning to build a dam and flood the valley where she grew up.
This feature-length Oscar®-nominated documentary focuses on Malcolm Lowry, author of one of the major novels of the 20th century, Under the Volcano. But while Lowry fought a winning battle with words, he lost his battle with alcohol. Shot on location in four countries, the film combines photographs, readings by Richard Burton from the novel and interviews with the people who loved and hated Lowry, to create a vivid portrait of the man.
This is a British drama film from 1950 about a young woman in London in WW2 with amnesia.
A prison governor deals with a variety of different prisoners, including a charming murderer.
Efforts to move Britain into the modern age don't sit well with the people of the small village of Anderia Marsh, who have claimed a right (going back to Henry III) to evade government-imposed import duties and taxes. And when the government decides to curb this right, the whole village quietly rises up in a comical rebellion. After their vessel runs aground during a storm and is impounded by the British authorities, local smugglers must find a way of disposing of their contraband brandy cargo before it's discovered by the Customs Officers.
A TV film made as part of The Buick-Electra Playhouse.
A young doctor returns to his Massachusetts home town at the request of a terminally ill old friend.
This biopic follows the story of Shakespearean actor Edwin Booth and his rise to fame. Edwin's career begins when he replaces his alcoholic father, the great actor Junius Brutus Booth, in a production of "Richard III" after Junius forgets his lines. As an adult, Edwin performs many lead roles and sparks a rivalry with his brother, John Wilkes. But after his brief time as a celebrity, Edwin's career is cut short by family tragedy.
Bizarre nightmares plague Regan MacNeil four years after her possession and exorcism. Has the demon returned? And if so, can the combined faith and knowledge of a Vatican investigator and a research specialist free her from its grasp?
Determined to hold on to the throne, Cleopatra seduces the Roman emperor Julius Caesar. When Caesar is murdered, she redirects her attentions to his general, Marc Antony, who vows to take power—but Caesar’s successor has other plans.
World War II is raging, and an American general has been captured and is being held hostage in the Schloss Adler, a Bavarian castle that's nearly impossible to breach. It's up to a group of skilled Allied soldiers to liberate the general before it's too late.
An atmospheric tribute to the genius of Welsh poet and dramatist Dylan Thomas, using many of the windswept locations where Thomas himself grew up and found his inspiration. The film is hosted/presented by Richard Burton, Thomas's friend, who narrates the story and appears from time to time amidst the Welsh landscape. Burton had already appeared in Douglas Cleverdon's acclaimed BBC radio dramatization of Thomas's 'play for voices' Under Milk Wood in the 1950s and, in the early Seventies, would appear in director Andrew Sinclair's film version as First Voice. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with The Film Foundation and National Screen and Sound Archive of Wales in 2000.
A dramatized account of a Victorian cause célèbre, written by John Osborne and concerning the true story of the last person in England to be tried for blasphemy. Richard Burton plays John George Holyoake, a social reformer who goes on trial for speaking in public about his atheist views. Rachel Roberts plays his wife, and the programme is introduced by Face to Face inquisitor John Freeman.
Won the Academy Award for the Best Documentary Short of 1954. The subject deals with the children at The Royal School for the Deaf in Margate, Kent. The hearing-handicapped children are shown painstakingly learning what words are through exercises and games, practicing lip-reading and finally speech. Richard Burton's calm and sometimes-poetic narration adds to the heartwarming cheerfulness and courage of the children. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with British Film Institute in 2005.
From the elaborate Broadway revival of the 1932 Eva Le Gallienne/Florida Friebus production comes a whimsical retelling of the Lewis Carroll classic.
CBS honors Lucille Ball with this celebration of her three CBS series: I Love Lucy, The Lucy Show and Here's Lucy.
A British multinational company seeks to overthrow a vicious dictator in central Africa. It hires a band of (largely aged) mercenaries in London and sends them in to save the virtuous but imprisoned opposition leader who is also critically ill and due for execution. Just when the team has performed a perfect rescue, the multinational does a deal with the vicious dictator leaving the mercenary band to escape under their own steam and exact revenge.
Drunk and disillusioned Roman, Marcellus Gallio, wins Jesus' robe in a dice game after the crucifixion. Marcellus has never been a man of faith like his slave, Demetrius, but when Demetrius escapes with the robe, Marcellus experiences disturbing visions and feels guilty for his actions. Convinced that destroying the robe will cure him, Marcellus sets out to find Demetrius — and discovers his Christian faith along the way.
A Celebration of the great life of Frank Sinatra with song, dance, and many famous guests.
The story of the three year expedition led by British explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes, which ended in August 1982, and which was man's first and only land and sea voyage around the world crossing both poles, without leaving the Earth's surface.
A brilliant documentary about the growth of Israel into the Jewish homeland. Seventy-three years of struggle for religious freedom is vividly recorded using rare archive film footage and photographs of historic events in the development of 20th century Israel. Beginning with the Dreyfus Affair in 1894, the film covers Theodor Herzl, founder of modern Zionism; the earliest immigration and settlements; the formation of kibbutzim; the Balfour Declaration; the rise of European anti-Semitism; the British occupation of Palestine; Arab confrontations; the United Nations resolution; the "Exodus" incident, and the Six Day War.
Profile of Clint Eastwood.
In 1879, during the Anglo-Zulu War, man-of-the-people Lt. Chard and snooty Lt. Bromhead are in charge of defending the isolated and vastly outnumbered Natal outpost of Rorke's Drift from tribal hordes.
A poet's tale of a day in the lives of the villagers of a Welsh fishing town of Llareggub.
This MGM short film narrated by Richard Burton promotes its upcoming major release "The Sandpiper" (1965), starring Burton and his then wife Elizabeth Taylor. Panoramic shots of the ocean, the seashore, and the desert segue into the artistic community with various of its well-known artists at work and play. It all leads to clips from the film being made.
Richard Burton is interviewed by film critic Kenneth Tynan
Behind the scenes short documentary about the cast and crew during the filming of The Comedians.
Behind the scenes documentary of the filming of Tennessee Williams' The Night of the Iguana.
Promotional short for the film "The Sandpiper".
A dramatic, solemn and refined work, "Per Firenze" spread throughout the world the cry for help that was rising in those hours from the city of Dante and Brunelleschi, giving rise to one of the greatest phenomena of solidarity that has gone down in history under the name of the "mud angels."
A musical special celebrating the fruitful collaboration of Broadway lyricist/librettist Alan Jay Lerner and composer Frederick Loewe. Stars from the current Broadway hit "Camelot" and from past triumphs such as "My Fair Lady," and the film "Gigi" perform the romantic, sophisticated songs of Lerner and Loewe.
Collaborative documentary (credited to a committee rather than to individual filmmakers) detailing the CND march from London to Aldermaston at Easter 1958.
Young orphan Heathcliff is adopted by the wealthy Earnshaw family and moves into their estate, Wuthering Heights. Soon, the new resident falls for his compassionate foster sister, Cathy. The two share a remarkable bond that seems unbreakable until Cathy, feeling the pressure of social convention, suppresses her feelings and marries Edgar Linton, a man of means who befits her stature. Heathcliff vows to win her back. [Originally aired on CBS's DuPont Show of the Month.]
Promotional short film about the making of the 1978 film The Wild Geese.
A behind-the-scenes look at the difficulties of shooting a movie on location in the Austrian Alps.
A dog tries to become a canine star with the help of Zsa Zsa Gabor.
Richard Burton narrates this stunning film of two Polish soldiers struggling to make a living from a derelict farm in Carmarthenshire.
Thirty distinguished astronomers are visited at their observatories throughout the world in this comprehensive report of astronomical theories, research, and discoveries.
Tony Palmer's award-winning feature-length documentary profile of Richard Burton.
Broadway: The Golden Age is the most important, ambitious and comprehensive film ever made about America's most celebrated indigenous art form. Award-winning filmmaker Rick McKay filmed over 100 of the greatest stars ever to work on Broadway or in Hollywood. He soon learned that great films can be restored, fine literature can be kept in print - but historic Broadway performances of the past are the most endangered. They leave only memories that, while more vivid, are more difficult to preserve. In their own words — and not a moment too soon — Broadway: The Golden Age tells the stories of our theatrical legends, how they came to New York, and how they created this legendary century in American theatre. This is the largest cast of legends ever in one film.
The story of Leonardo da Vinci: his life, his thoughts, his times, his art and inventions and the individuals who had an influence on his life.
"Lionpower from MGM" (1967) is an exciting 60's promotional short subject, which showcases MGM's releases for the 1967-68 film season under a "five seasons" theme--fall, winter, spring, summer--plus a "fabulous fifth season". The main music is set to the rousing theme from "The Magnificent Yankee" composed by David Raksin in 1950. The promo is narrated by some of the best voice-over actors of the time, and is an excellent time capsule of a by-gone era.
Collatine's chaste wife Lucrece catches Tarquin's eye. Tarquin pursues her, leading to tragic consequences.
This fascinating documentary explores the mysteries behind the Shroud of Turin, which is believed by millions of Christians to be the burial cloth of Jesus. The program features many interviews with scientists, scholars, religious leaders and theologians that have examined and tested the Shroud.
The son of a Welsh miner, Richard Burton became a Hollywood star and is considered one of the greatest British actors ever. He lived a big life in a short time. This is his epic story, from the village of Pontrhydyfen to global icon, and from the teacher in Port Talbot spotting his talents and transforming his life to being offered $7 million for seven movies and a scandalous love affair with Elizabeth Taylor that captivated the world.
This moving film tribute to a man who had hoped to win the presidency created a historic moment when it brought the Chicago Democratic National Convention to a standstill and the crowd, in tears, to its feet. Commissioned by the Kennedy family, the film begins with the funeral train to Washington, D.C. and follows the triumphs and tragedies in the late Senator's life with extraordinary newsreel footage, archival stills, and home movies. The film was produced in only four weeks, two months after the Senator's assassination, in order to meet the Convention deadline. Guggenheim Productions, with the country's resources at its fingertips, worked around the clock to complete this film honoring RFK's life and the Democratic Party. "Robert Kennedy Remembered" is a poignant film biography that evokes the spirit, quality and commitment Robert Kennedy brought to his life and work. This film went on to win Academy Award® for Best Documentary Short in 1968.
Newly discovered interviews with Elizabeth Taylor and unprecedented access to the star’s personal archive reveal the complex inner life and vulnerability of the groundbreaking icon.
An experimental short film by Sonny Garrett featuring the poem "The force that through the green fuse drives the flower" by Dylan Thomas as narrated by Richard Burton.