Blithe Spirit 1945  N/R, 97 min.
Genre: Comedy / Fantasy
Director: David Lean
Cast: Rex Harrison, Kay Hammond, Constance Cummings, Margaret Rutherford, Hugh Wakefield, Joyce Carey, Jacqueline Clarke, Noel Coward, Marie Ault, Johnnie Schofield
Based on Noel Coward's play, this is a well-performed comedy about a first wife Elvira (Kay Hammond) being summoned back to this world during a seance. British novelist Charles Condomine (Rex Harrison) has invited a medium, Madame Arcati (Margaret Rutherford), to his home for dinner, and she manages to conjure up the ghost of Elvira. Now Elvira sticks around to create chaos in the lives of Charles and his new wife Ruth (Constance Cummings).
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 The Bridge on the River Kwai 1957   N/R, 161 min.
Genre: Adventure / Drama
Director: David Lean
Cast: William Holden, Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins, Sessue Hayakawa, James Donald, Geoffrey Horne, Andre Morell, Percy Herbert, Harold Goodwin, Peter Williams, John Boxer, Ann Sears
A Japanese colonel (Sessue Hayakawa) is in charge of building a bridge with a work force of British and American prisoners of war. Alec Guinness plays the proud Col. Nicholson who starts out proving British superiority and ends up devoted to the successful completion of "his" bridge. This great film won the Academy Award for Best Picture, David Lean won for Best Director, and Alec Guinness won for Best Actor. It won four other Oscars as well: Best Writing, Cinematography, Film Editing, and Musical Score. 1 User Review
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| | TREMENDOUS, BUT SECOND TO BRIDGES OVER TOYKO REA | DIAMONDQB 03/27/2007 | | |
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Brief Encounter 1945  N/R, 85 min.
Genre: Drama / Romance
Director: David Lean
Cast: Celia Johnson, Trevor Howard, Stanley Holloway, Joyce Carey, Cyril Raymond, Everley Gregg, Irene Handl, Valentine Dyall, Sydney Bromley, Marjorie Mars, Margaret Barton, Alfie Bass, Wallace Bosco, Dennis Harkin, Richard Thomas
In pre-World War II England, British housewife Laura Jesson (Celia Johnson) and a married doctor, Alec Harvey (Trevor Howard), meet in a train station and form a friendship during which they meet weekly at the station. They realize that they have fallen in love, but both Laura and Alec know that neither will be able to break their ties to the families they love. The story is sympathetic to their chaste affair.
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 Doctor Zhivago 1965 N/R, 197 min.
Genre: Drama / Romance
Director: David Lean
Cast: Omar Sharif, Geraldine Chaplin, Julie Christie, Tom Courtenay, Alec Guinness, Rod Steiger, Ralph Richardson, Rita Tushingham, Klaus Kinski, Adrienne Corri, Siobhan McKenna, Jeffrey Rockland, Tarek Sharif, Bernard Kay, Gerard Tichy
Costuming and scenery are terrific in this Hollywood extravaganza. The Russian Revolution is the backdrop for Boris Pasternak's story about Dr. Yuri Zhivago (Omar Sharif) who falls in love with Lara (Julie Christie). There is one problem: he is already married to Tonya (Geraldine Chaplin). The film won five Academy Awards and was nominated for five others, including Best Picture, Director, and Supporting Actor (Tom Courtenay as Pasha, a revolutionary). 1 User Review
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| | Bettu 08/19/2007 | | I saw Doctor Zhivago in 1965 and to this day watch the video/DVD about 5-6 times a year. And ..... I have personally seen Omar Sherif buying fish in the Zamalek quarter of Cairo, Egypt!! |
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 Great Expectations 1946 N/R, 118 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: David Lean
Cast: John Mills, Bernard Miles, Finlay Currie, Martita Hunt, Valerie Hobson, Alec Guinness, Jean Simmons, Francis L. Sullivan, Freda Jackson, Torin Thatcher, Tony Wager, Ivor Barnard, George Hayes, Hay Petrie, John Forrest
Charles Dickens' classic–in the hands of Director David Lean–is a "must see." The story is about poor orphan boy Pip (Tony Wager as young Pip and John Mills as older Pip) who is raised by blacksmith Joe Gargery (Bernard Miles) and his wife (Freda Jackson). As a young lad, Pip rescues and becomes a friend of escaped prisoner Magwitch (Finlay Currie). Pip falls in love with his playmate Estelle (Jean Simmons) who is being raised by bitter Miss Haversham (Martita Hunt) to have higher expectations in life than those of Pip. Later, Pip gains wealth through the help of a mysterious benefactor who, it turns out, is Magwitch repaying Pip for his friendship. Now, Pip can attain "gentleman" status and do well in the Victorian world of the social elite.
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Hobson's Choice 1954 N/R, 107 min.
Genre: Comedy / Drama / Romance
Director: David Lean
Cast: Charles Laughton, John Mills, Brenda De Banzie, Prunella Scales, Daphne Anderson, Richard Wattis, Helen Haye, Joseph Tomelty, Raymond Huntley, John Laurie, Derek Blomfield, Julien Mitchell, Gibb McLaughlin, Philip Stainton, Dorothy Gordon
Henry Horatio Hobson (Charles Laughton) is a shoemaker with three independently thinking daughters–Maggie, Alice, and Vicky (Brenda De Banzie, Daphne Anderson, and Prunella Scales). Maggie proves a match for her stubborn father when she decides to marry Willie Mossop (John Mills) who is one of his employees. Next, Maggie encourages Alice and Vicky to choose their own husbands and ignore the directives of their father to not marry.
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In Which We Serve 1942 N/R, 115 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Noel Coward, David Lean
Cast: Noel Coward, Bernard Miles, John Mills, Celia Johnson, Kay Walsh, Joyce Carey, Michael Wilding, Richard Attenborough, Penelope Dudley-Ward, Philip Friend, Derek Elphinstone, Robert Sansom, Ballard Berkeley
Written, produced, and directed by Noel Coward, this film focuses on the survivors following the sinking of the H.M.S. Torrin during World War II. As they find a haven in their life raft, crewmembers remember their pre-war experiences. Co-Directed by David Lean. In addition to Coward's receiving Academy Award nominations for Best Picture and Writing, he received an honorary Oscar for Outstanding Production Achievement for this film. Look for Richard Attenborough as a young stoker.
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 Lawrence of Arabia 1962 N/R, 222 min.
Genre: Adventure / Drama
Director: David Lean
Cast: Peter O'Toole, Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn, Omar Sharif, Arthur Kennedy, Claude Rains, Donald Wolfit, Anthony Quayle, Jose Ferrer, Jack Hawkins, Michel Ray, Zia Mohyeddin
For a glimpse of understanding the mindset of the Middle East, this movie is a must. It is the story of T.E. Lawrence's (Peter O'Toole) adventures as a young British officer when he was sent to protect his country's interests in the growing animosities between the Arabs and Turks during World War I. Among the kudos given this picture were seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Director, and Cinematography. Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif were nominated for Best Actor and Supporting Actor Oscars.
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Madeleine 1950  N/R, 101 min.
Genre: Drama
aka: The Strange Case of Madeleine
Director: David Lean
Cast: Ann Todd, Norman Wooland, Ivan Desny, Leslie Banks, Elizabeth Sellars, Edward Chapman, Barbara Everest, Andre Morell, Barry Jones, Anthony Newley, Patricia Raine, Eugene Deckers, Susan Stranks, Ivor Barnard, John Laurie
Madeleine Smith (Ann Todd) was a 19th-century Scottish woman who was accused and put on trial for poisoning her French lover Emile L'Anglier (Ivan Desny) in 1857. The trial is reenacted in this interesting film that leaves the audience guessing. Based on a true story.
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Oliver Twist 1948 N/R, 116 min.
Genre: Drama / Adventure
Director: David Lean
Cast: Robert Newton, Alec Guinness, Kay Walsh, Francis L. Sullivan, John Howard Davies, Anthony Newley, Henry Stephenson, Diana Dors, Mary Clare, Henry Edwards, Josephine Stuart, Ralph Truman, Kathleen Harrison, Gibb McLaughlin, Amy Veness
This is a very good version of Charles Dickens' story about the inhumane world of apprenticeship in 19th-century England. Beginning with his being left at an orphanage as a baby and enduring a hard life at the orphanage, the story then continues to Oliver's (John Howard Davies) escape to the streets. Now, Oliver, under the watchful eye of his tutor, the cruel Fagin (Alec Guinness) becomes a pickpocket on London's streets where more problems follow–until good luck finally shines on Oliver.
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A Passage to India 1984 PG, 163 min.
Genre: Adventure / Drama
Director: David Lean
Cast: Judy Davis, Victor Banerjee, Peggy Ashcroft, James Fox, Alec Guinness, Nigel Havers, Richard Wilson, Antonia Pemberton, Saeed Jaffrey, Art Malik, Michael Culver, Clive Swift, Roshan Seth, Ann Firbank
David Lean succeeds again in this story that takes place in 1928 when a young Englishwoman (Judy Davis) leaves for India, where she is to marry. During a visit to the Marabar caves, she is apparently raped, an event which ends in a court trial. Academy Awards were received for Best Supporting Actress (Peggy Ashcroft) and Musical Score. There were also nine other nominations, including Best Picture, Actress, and Director.
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The Passionate Friends 1949 N/R, 95 min.
Genre: Drama
aka: One Woman's Story
Director: David Lean
Cast: Ann Todd, Trevor Howard, Claude Rains, Betty Ann Davies, Isabel Dean, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Arthur Howard, Marcel Poncin, Guido Lorraine, Natasha Sokolova, Helene Burls, Jean Serret, Frances Waring, Wanda Rogerson, Helen Piers
Based on H.G. Wells' novel, this is the story of Mary (Ann Todd) who is married to wealthy Howard Justin (Claude Rains) but cannot find the love with her husband that she knew with Professor Steven Stratton (Trevor Howard) who she loved before her marriage.
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 Ryan's Daughter 1970 PG, 194 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: David Lean
Cast: Sarah Miles, Robert Mitchum, Trevor Howard, Christopher Jones, John Mills, Leo McKern, Barry Foster, Marie Kean, Arthur O'Sullivan, Gerald Sim, Barry Jackson, Evin Crowley
Set in Ireland, this is the love story of Rosey (Sarah Miles), the wife of aging schoolteacher Charles Shaughnessy (Robert Mitchum). She meets and falls in love with an officer in the British occupying forces, Randolph Doryan (Christopher Jones). Their affair leads to her being accused of aiding the British against Ireland. Oscars were awarded for Best Supporting Actor (John Mills) and Cinematography; nominations were received for Best Picture and Sound.
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The Sound Barrier 1952 N/R, 118 min.
Genre: Drama
aka: Breaking the Sound Barrier
Director: David Lean
Cast: Ralph Richardson, Ann Todd, Nigel Patrick, John Justin, Denholm Elliott, Dinah Sheridan, Joseph Tomelty, Ralph Michael, Leslie Phillips, Jack Allen
This distinguished British offering is filmed in documentary style and relates the story of the early British jet planes, their courageous pilots, and attaining the dream of breaking the sound barrier.
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Summertime 1955 N/R, 99 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: David Lean
Cast: Katharine Hepburn, Rossano Brazzi, Isa Miranda, Darren McGavin, Mari Aldon, Jane Rose, Andre Morell, Jeremy Spenser, MacDonald Parke, Gaitano Andiero
With Venice for its setting, this beautiful David Lean film involves a middle-aged spinster (Katharine Hepburn) who, while on vacation, falls in love with a married antique-dealer (Rossano Brazzi). Academy Award nominations were received for Actress and Director.
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This Happy Breed 1944 N/R, 110 min.
Genre: Drama / Comedy
Director: David Lean
Cast: Robert Newton, Celia Johnson, John Mills, Kay Walsh, Stanley Holloway, Amy Veness, Alison Leggatt, Laurence Olivier, Eileen Erskine, John Blythe, Guy Verney, Betty Fleetwood, Merle Tottenham
Adapted from Noel Coward's play, this is the story of the defeats and victories of a British family during the 20-year period between World War I and World War II. The lower-class Gibbon family–father Frank (Robert Newton), mother Ethel (Celia Johnson), and two children Queenie and Reg (Kay Walsh and John Blythe)–move into a large Clapham house but find that it takes more than a house to make a family.
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| Oscars: Best Director for The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), Best Director for Lawrence of Arabia (1962) |
1. Blithe Spirit (1945)
2. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
3. Brief Encounter (1945)
4. Doctor Zhivago (1965)
5. Great Expectations (1946)
6. Hobson's Choice (1954)
7. In Which We Serve (1942)
8. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
9. Madeleine (1950)
aka: The Strange Case of Madeleine
10. Oliver Twist (1948)
11. A Passage to India (1984)
12. The Passionate Friends (1949)
aka: One Woman's Story
13. Ryan's Daughter (1970)
14. The Sound Barrier (1952)
aka: Breaking the Sound Barrier
15. Summertime (1955)
16. This Happy Breed (1944)
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