The Beggar's Opera 1953  N/R, 94 min.
Genre: Musical / Drama
Director: Peter Brook
Cast: Laurence Olivier, Stanley Holloway, George Devine, Mary Clare, Hugh Griffith, Athene Seyler, Dorothy Tutin, Margot Grahame, Yvonne Furneaux, George Rose, Edward Pryor, Daphne Anderson, Eric Pohlmann, Stuart Burge, Gerald Lawson
Based on John Gay's 18th-century opera, this is the story of highwayman Captain MacHeath (Laurence Olivier) who loves the beggar king Peachum's (George Devine) daughter Polly (Dorothy Tutin) but is also interested in Lucy (Daphne Anderson) who is the daughter of the corrupt constable Mr. Lockit (Stanley Holloway). When Polly and Lucy join forces, they manage to have MacHeath sent to prison and condemned to a hanging. While in prison, The Beggar (Hugh Griffith) entertains MacHeath with an opera featuring MacHeath as a hero, and soon after MacHeath is rescued from his death sentence.
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Julius Caesar 1970  G, 117 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Stuart Burge
Cast: Charlton Heston, Jason Robards, John Gielgud, Richard Johnson, Robert Vaughn, Richard Chamberlain, Diana Rigg, Jill Bennett, Christopher Lee, Peter Eyre
This version of Shakespeare's tragedy is good viewing but not as well done as the earlier 1953 rendition.
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Othello 1965  N/R, 166 min.
Genre: Drama / Romance
Director: Stuart Burge, John Dexter
Cast: Laurence Olivier, Maggie Smith, Frank Finlay, Derek Jacobi, Joyce Redman, Robert Lang, Anthony Nicholls, Roy Holder, Sheila Reid, Peter Cellier, Kenneth MacKintosh, Malcolm Terris, Harry Lomax, Michael Turner, Terence Knapp
Laurence Olivier gives a great performance as the Moor, Othello, whose appointment of Cassio (Derek Jacobi) to lieutenant over another soldier, Iago (Frank Finlay), upsets Iago. Iago convinces Othello that his innocent wife, Desdemona (Maggie Smith), has been unfaithful with Cassio, and when Othello sees Desdemona talking to Cassio, his jealousy takes over, and tragedy lies ahead. Oscar nominations went to Olivier (Best Actor), Finlay (Best Supporting Actor), and Joyce Redman and Maggie Smith (Best Supporting Actress).
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| 1. The Beggar's Opera (1953)
2. Julius Caesar (1970)
3. Othello (1965)
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